It was late spring in the village of Kohona; the weather was pleasant and warm, making it a perfect day for ice cream.

Taking advantage of a momentary lull in the shop Nariko massaged the sore muscles in her arms and shoulders.

The business of the day was going well, and she was pleased, sharing a happy smile with her sister. Neither of them had known what to expect when they had first come to the hidden village to start up their exotic flavored ice cream shop. The location had been everything they'd wanted; a hidden village like their own, large enough to support another luxury concession but not already saturated with businesses similar to theirs.

However as a hidden village it had been almost impossible to obtain all of the necessary licenses and permits and even after that hurdle the villagers had remained openly suspicious of them when they first moved in.

Still they'd worked hard and refused to give up, doing just about anything to bring in business and win the hearts and minds of the villagers. They handed out free samples of their ice cream; Nariko would go out front and play the flute or Kaori would get dressed up and perform traditional dance, or sing silly songs. They were quirky and silly and completely disarming. It worked, the customers started coming and hadn't stopped.

In fact business was so good; they'd hired a part-timer.

"Hey Hinata-chan," Nariko called out to the young girl who was cleaning off tables, "Would you please get some more waffle cones? We're out."

"Yes Nariko-san," the girl said, trotting to the back of the store.

She's such a cute and shy thing, she thought, watching the girl. She'd been surprised at first when the girl applied for the job as she was from a wealthy family and was also a genin but the reason why had soon become apparent.

"Speaking of the devil," she muttered under her breath as the door's bell rang and the young boy energetically entered the store.

"Naruto-kun!" She smiled. She couldn't help herself; the boy was just so cute and eager. Every time she saw him she just wanted to hug him, and judging by the yearning look on her sister's face, she knew she wanted to do the same exact thing.

Hearing a soft thump in the back in response to her call, an evil thought suddenly entered her mind as the boy came grinning up to the counter.

"What can I get you?" She asked as the boy studied the case of ice cream with a look of intense concentration.

Finally he looked up, "Azuki flavored please! Two scoops!"

"Why don't you go sit down while I get it?" She said smoothly, "we're just getting more cones out right now."

"Okay," he said, paying for his ice cream and grabbing one of the empty tables.

"Oh Hinata-chan," she called out, sharing a mischievous grin with Kaori, "where's those cones?"

"Anou," the girl said, tip toeing from the back of the shop with a big box of cones. She took one look at Naruto and blushed, trying to duck under the counter.

"Now, now," Nariko said, pulling the girl up from underneath the counter with one hand while opening the box of cones with another, "Naruto ordered a double scoop of azuki, why don't you bring it to him? In fact," she added, taking two cones and filling one with azuki and the other with peach, "why don't you join him? It's time you had a break anyway."

The girl blushed an even deeper red, "Anou," she began, tapping the tips of her forefingers together.

"Go on," Nariko said encouragingly, "peach is your favorite isn't it?"

The girl finally nodded and smiled, and taking the ice cream shyly approached Naruto, who greeted her with his usual energy.

It was almost a disaster when Hinata turned beet red and looked about to faint, but luckily she fell into the seat next to Naruto's who took his ice cream and started talking to her, totally oblivious to her reaction towards him.

Such a sweet boy, she thought, but he's gotta be the densest person I've ever met.

"Good one," Kaori said beside her, watching as Hinata loosened up a little and started eating her ice cream.

"That girl's main purpose in working here is to see Naruto-kun," Nariko said, "so she might as well get the most out of it."

"Speaking of which," Kaori said as she wiped the counter, "we need to hire another part-timer, with business getting as busy as it is."

"Your right," Nariko said, "maybe Hinata can recommend somebody?"

"Good idea."

A few days later as Nariko watched the new hire work the counter, she wondered if it really had been such a good idea.

"Please enjoy your ice cream," the boy said monotonously, handing the cone to the young boy, who smiled nervously before moving away.

"Uh, Shino-kun?" Kaori said hesitantly, "don't you think you'd be more comfortable without that jacket?"

The boy looked fairly ridiculous, wearing an apron over an oversized jacket, its collar obscuring the lower half of his face. At least he had his sleeves rolled up, but honestly!

He shook his head silently and the two women shrugged, giving each other exasperated looks behind his back. At least he was a good worker, and he and Hinata had a good working relationship already, so she wasn't so nervous around him.

"Oh boy," Kaori called out, "here comes trouble."

Nariko laughed as she saw Naruto come into the shop with a man she hadn't seen before. He's cute, she thought, her eyes immediately drawn to the scar that ran across the bridge of his nose.

Turning she saw Kaori staring at the man with an air of fascination. Oh dear, she smiled.

Kaori POV

'Oh boy, here comes trouble", she said with a big smile as she saw Naruto entering the shop. That boy was so cute; she could just hug him to death.

Eager and grinning in anticipation, it took her a moment to realize that the boy wasn't alone.

Coming in after him was a rather handsome man with a long horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose. She felt her heart thump so loud that she was sure someone would be able to hear it. Pressing a hand against a stomach suddenly churning with fluttering butterflies she greeted the young boy.

"Hello Naruto-kun" Kaori said with a big smile, practically pushing her sister away from the counter "who's your friend?"

"This is Iruka-sensei," Naruto grinned, putting his hands up behind his head, "he's treating me today."

"Is that so?" she said with a smile, "then please take your time," she said gesturing towards the case full of tubs of ice cream. "We also have a new soft serve flavor today, cinnamon."

"That sounds interesting," Iruka said, giving her a friendly smile, "I'll try that."

"And I'll have the green tea!" Naruto decided, "Three scoops!"

"Coming right up!"

Kaori turned to get the soft serve, but saw that Nariko was already doing it. Her sister turned her head a little and gave her an encouraging smile.

"You and your sister," Iruka asked while waiting for the ice cream, "are you twins?"

"Yes," Kaori nodded, "but we're not identical."

"Yeah, I can see the differences though from first glace you two do look identical."

"We get a lot of that," she said as Nariko handed him and Naruto their cones. "I hope you like it."

"I'm sure we will," he said as he and Naruto went to sit at one of the tables.

"Heh, heh," she heard Nariko say smugly.

She turned to see Nariko and Shino-kun watching her with interest.

"Oh hush," she pouted while Nariko giggled.

"Well that's not very nice," Nariko pouted, "Come on Shino-kun; let's go take a break in the back."

The boy nodded and the two of them left Kaori alone at the counter.

Kaori growled a moment, but turning back to see the heartwarming display of affection between Naruto and Iruka made her forget her discontent.

She was so glad that they'd come here. While she worked and watched the people in the shop enjoy their ice cream treats she reflected on what had possessed her and Nariko to set up their exotic ice cream shop in the hidden village of the leaves.