Ino Yamanaka sighed heavily, leaning against the counter. When a woman came up to buy the bouquet she was holding, Ino plastered a big, fake smile on her face. After handing the woman her change, she said, "Have a nice day."

Her voice was practically dripping in brightness. She was almost disgusted by it. Ino could tell by the woman's returning smile that Ino was radiating happiness, when her actual thoughts were somewhere along the lines of: Damn it, I'd give anything to get out of here.

She was in absolutely no mood to deal with any more customers, so when the bell above the door rang, she glanced up sharply to snap at the unlucky patron. When she saw who it was, she smiled a genuine smile.

The Sixth Hokage walked up to the counter, smiling broadly like he always did.

"Hey, Ino-chan," he said. "You're working today?"

"Morning, Lord Hokage. Yeah, working."

"Ino-chan, you don't always have to call me 'Lord Hokage'. I'm still Naruto."

Ino smiled again. No matter what he said, Ino knew how proud he was that he was finally Hokage, and she knew he loved it when people called him by his title. But he was always modest around his friends. Ino only knew about his pride from Sakura.

"Alright, Naruto-kun," she said, leaning her elbow on the counter.

Naruto Uzumaki frowned. "Naruto-kun?" he repeated.

"You still call me Ino-chan, I still call you Naruto-kun."

Naruto laughed. "Fair enough."

Years ago, that same remark would have set him off whining. It was amazing how much Naruto had grown since their Academy days. Twelve years ago, no one would have thought he'd actually be Hokage someday…

He'd grown in looks, too. His blonde hair, still looking like it had been hacked at with a kunai, had grown slightly longer and somehow shaggier. His turquoise eyes shone brightly, set in a chiseled, angular face made wide by his ever-present smile. He'd grown into his body, getting taller and leaner.

Ino had changed too; everyone had. Lee was still an impersonation of Guy, and Neji looked a bit the same, but Tenten had gotten rid of the childish chignons and began wearing her hair down. Hinata had grown out of her shyness, and styled her hair into a sophisticated braid, Kiba was as wild and mussed as ever, Shino still wore the dark glasses but had ditched the hood-and-high-collar look. Sai had grown out his hair a bit, but Shikamaru and Chouji looked almost exactly as they had at age fifteen.

Ino resisted the impulse to fidget with her own long blond hair. She had done something different with her ponytail, putting it loosely near the front instead of atop her head. Her hair fell gently over her shoulder, down her front. She swooped her bangs out of the way.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Naruto blinked. "Oh, right. I want to get some flowers for Sakura-chan. Her birthday's tomorrow."

Ino smiled. "You remembered this year."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I told Sakura-chan not to hold that against me. I warned her that I would forget."

"So, what would you suggest?"

He shrugged. "That's why I asked you. I've never bought flowers for her before, I'm not sure what she likes."

"Say no more."

As Ino pointed out different flowers she knew Sakura liked, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Naruto truly cared for Sakura. Sakura was so lucky to be loved so much—she had Naruto and Lee chasing after her, and even Sai was beginning to like her. Lee, luckily, was settling down, and he was starting to realize Tenten's feelings for him.

Sakura had only gotten more beautiful as years went by. She'd kept her hair cropped short, which was probably a good idea, as it framed her face nicely. Her emerald eyes were still stunning, and her power as a kunoichi constantly mystified men.

By the time Ino had sent Naruto on his way, she had succeeded in thoroughly depressing herself. Closing up the Yamanaka Flower Shop early, she decided a walk would help her not think about her currently loveless life.

"Ino?"

Ino turned her head in surprise. Shikamaru Nara, her teammate, stood a little ways off from her, his hands in his pockets. He was—and looked—older, still retaining the subtle hotness he'd always had. Ino was almost relieved to see the twenty-four-year-old was not smoking.

"Hi, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looked a bit shell-shocked to see her. "Why are you out here? Don't you work on Thursdays?"

"Well, yeah…" She sighed. "I wanted to take a break. Closed early."

He nodded slightly. "You did something different with your hair…"

She absently touched her ponytail. "You like it?"

"It looked fine the way it was, you didn't have to change."

Ino frowned, beginning to get annoyed. "Sometimes change is good, Shikamaru. It livens things up."

He smirked at her, his trademark expression. "Who says you need to be livened?"

She scowled, making him laugh.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go to lunch. My treat."

She hurried to catch up with him as he turned and walked in the direction of the barbecue shop.

"Thanks," she said. "But why are you being nice? Shikamaru Nara, what did you do?"

He chuckled, smiling. "So I can't offer you lunch unless it means I'm in trouble?"

"Pretty much, yes."

"Well, I'll start by saying this: I have not done anything wrong." He waited a beat before adding, "Yet."

"Yet?" Ino raised her eyebrow.

"It's still early. Plenty of time for me to screw up."

She giggled, realizing with surprise that being around Shikamaru, she had forgotten about how disappointed she was. Her mood changed.

Shikamaru looked at her sideways, sensing her sudden change in emotion. "What's wrong?" She didn't say anything, and he stopped walking. "Ino, what's wrong?" He grabbed her arm gently, turning her so she had to look at him.

She sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just being stupid."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Well, I figured that, you always are…But you seem like something's really bothering you." She still remained silent. "Ino…You're sad, aren't you?"

Ino started. She smiled gently. Shikamaru had always been able to read her, even if he was usually too dense to care. He frowned a little.

"You're being troublesome," he said.

Ino began to glare, before she saw his smile. Then it dawned on her that he, Shikamaru Nara, was joking with her. She punched his shoulder playfully.

"Shikamaru," she said. "You're the troublesome one." She sobered. "Yeah, fine, you got it, I'm sad."

He waited. When she didn't say anything else, he coaxed her on. "And? The reason is…?"

"Well…" Shikamaru's not going to understand, I really shouldn't bother… "Everyone's paired up, almost, and Sakura's got a bunch of guys who like her, and Hinata's dating Kiba, and, and, I'm jealous! No one likes me!" Ino clamped her mouth shut and looked down. She felt like such a baby, whining to Shikamaru like this…

He chuckled. "That's why you're so sad? You're jealous? Huh, I never pegged you for…well, actually, you do seem like the jealous type, but really, Ino, that's a pretty strange reason. You don't have much to support that—"

"You're such a jerk!"

Shikamaru blinked. "Huh?"

She glared at him. "How can you say that, you insensitive…boy! You don't understand anything!"

"Now, hold on, Ino, before you start yelling at me—"

"Why should I hold on? You deserve to be yelled at!"

"Ino—"

They both froze when they heard a chuckle. Kurenai stood a few feet away, watching the exchange.

"Lovers' quarrel?" she asked sympathetically, holding her child's hand. The little one was eight now.

"Lovers' quarrel?" Shikamaru repeated, confused, at the same time Ino yelled, "No way! We aren't…that's not…we're not…"

Kurenai laughed. "I always knew the two of you would end up together. You look so cute next to each other."

Shikamaru then realized what Kurenai was implying and his cheeks turned pink. It looked ridiculous on the twenty-four-year-old. "We are not—"

"I've gotta run," Kurenai interrupted. "See you soon, you two."

When she had walked away, Shikamaru realized Ino's mouth had dropped.

"Shikamaru!" she said. "Why didn't you explain??"

"In case you didn't notice, I tried. It didn't work out that well. And what about you? Why weren't you trying to explain?"

"I did try!"

"Yeah, I can see that," he scoffed sarcastically.

"Ugh! I hate this!" She turned away from him angrily.

Shikamaru sighed, stepping toward her. "Look, Ino, I'm sorry."

"You should be."

A vein pulsed in his forehead. She is so agitating. But he kept his tone soft. "Alright, I am. It caught me by surprise. Besides, you know Kurenai. There was probably nothing we could have said to convince her."

Ino didn't say anything. Her back was still to him. He put a hand on her arm and she peeked at him cautiously.

"You like giving me the cold shoulder, don't you?" he asked, smiling.

"You're making it very easy to be mad at you," she replied.

He laughed. "Didn't I tell you earlier? Plenty of time to screw up."

She smiled back, turning to face him fully.

"Now," he said, "I believe I promised lunch."