I do not own Naruto and I am NOT the manager of the lovely community Wishful Thinking.

This fanfiction is dedicated to the Wishful Thinking community that is managed by liltle. The theme and title do not belong to me, I just wrote this for the community because I liked the theme and love the pairing even more.

Ino had a crush on him over the years, way before Sasuke entered the picture. She has recently decided in her sixteenth year that it was all wishful thinking, but Kakashi's recent actions aren't adding up and Ino's going to get to the bottom of it. KakaIno

Wishful Thinking

Chapter 1: Over The Years

Ino propped up her arm to rest her head on her hand. The other one hand was flipping through a flower magazine with pen marks all over it. It was marked to show the orders her family was going to make for the next month.

The loud mouthed girl forgot about the magazine as she heard the bell ring. It was just after opening time, way too early in the morning for regular people, but she guessed this hour suited him since he was here every day on the dot like clockwork. Ino gave that one cliché to him and him alone.

"Hello Kakashi. Your regular order right?" Ino smiled as she handed him the already wrapped flowers. She had been waiting for him since she opened the shop.

The silver haired man spoke, "Thank you, Ino, keep the change."

"See you tomorrow morning!"

He hesitated a moment, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "One of your parents isn't going to open the shop?"

"No," Ino answered. She blushed at the extra attention, even if it didn't have anything to do with her. "Dad is getting ready for a mission and mom is over in Suna."

"Yes. I heard that your family was going to set up another flower shop over there. Wasn't it something about bringing the two countries closer?"

Ino looked down at the counter, "Yeah."

She liked the way his eyes crinkled in a smile that no one ever saw beneath his mask. He wished her a good day and told her he would see her tomorrow. Ino watched the silver haired man walked out of the shop and disappear down the street.

It had been quite a few years since Ino Yamanaka had developed a crush on the older man, Kakashi Hatake. The whole thing had started innocently enough.

Seven year old Ino Yamanaka was ready for the ninja world and every harsh trial it had. She was full of wisdom and strength.

The young blond watched herself in the mirror and pumped her fist upwards. She was beyond excited to meet some of her father's friends.

Ino ran down the stairs at full speed when she heard talking downstairs. She skidded to a stop as her mother started to scold her and her father introduced her to his friends at the same time. The blond girl didn't care about anything at the moment her eyes landed on a silver haired man who had his lower face covered with a mask.

"This is Kakashi, Ino." Inoshi stated when he found his only child staring at the older man.

"Hello, Kakashi."

Kakashi's eyes crinkled in what Ino hoped meant that he was smiling. "Hello. I hear you're at the top of your class."

Ino lifted her head at the mention and bragged, "Yes, I am higher ranked than most of the males in the clans and I am the strongest female in my class. The other girls don't even come close."

He nodded. "That is good. You shouldn't brag so much though, it's not attractive."

She gasped and blushed. "I-I will try to not brag so much."

Ino watched him throughout the dinner. There was no one like Kakashi. All of the other boys in her class were too shy or too rude and this older man was just so charming to the young girl.

It must be love! Ino thought as he taught her a jutsu in her family's huge back yard. Everyone else was laughing and joking around the campfire her father had made, but Kakashi patiently taught her something rather than joke around with the other adults.

"Why aren't you with the other adults Kakashi?" She asked him after she had gotten too tired to learn another jutsu.

"I only came here out of respect for your father's birthday."

Ino wanted to know but she didn't push. Instead she smiled and said, "Do you ever take off that mask?"

"No."

"Really? It must be hard to eat then!" She joked. Kakashi eyes crinkled down at her. She took it as a smile.

It was the best smile a girl could receive.

Ino blinked at the rapidly rising sun. It had already been an hour and all she had been doing was day dreaming of Kakashi. She thought that she was beyond this! The loud mouthed girl learned a long time ago that the love she thought she had for him was just a one-sided crush. Ino was thankful that she never told him or anyone for that matter and when Sasuke had become drastically different and Sakura declared their friendship over because of a stupid rumor she had forced herself to act like she was one of the Uchiha's fan girls rather than to think about how she would never have that silver haired older man.

The one problem was that she never stopped liking Kakashi.

Over the years she saw him less and less except for the rare days that Ino got stuck with the earliest shifts in the flower shop. Even now he still got the same flowers. The ones meant for mourning. She had always wondered quite a few things about the mysterious man.

Why did he always wear the mask?

Who were the flowers for?

The questions always made Ino's head spin. She had no way to get the answers she wanted without being overly noisy and since she was now sixteen it would be well known that she had a crush on him rather than just simple curiosity and Ino couldn't stand the teasing she would get from that.

She didn't even want to think about being rejected by the one guy who has never hurt her.

The bell rang again and people came into the shop. "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. How may I help you today?" She really had to learn to quit thinking about Kakashi.

XXX

The day was half over and Ino wasn't quite sure where the time had gone. She waved goodbye to her dad, who had taken over the flower shop and headed to the training grounds to practice by herself. Ino wasn't surprised that Sakura was there alone as well. They had planned to do some sparing together, but the loud mouthed blond didn't think that the pink haired girl would have waited for so long just to train together.

They had tentatively formed their friendship again and were no longer rivals. It had taken some time to heal all of the wounds, but Ino admitted that the two could pretty much talk about everything now. Everything except two things that is:

The first thing was Sasuke Uchiha and the second was Ino's secret crush on Kakashi.

"So, Ino, I think I am going to go out with Naruto. What do you think?" Sakura asks like it's an opinion about something as simple as shoes, but Ino knows better.

"He's a bit of a loser," Ino got cut off by Sakura.

"Ino, he's done more for this village than…" Sakura stopped when Ino held up her hand.

"…but he'll treat you better than anyone else. Well, minus Lee, but I highly doubt you want to go out with that bushy eyebrow freak."

Sakura and Ino both shiver at the thought. "True." The pink haired girl admits before she turned her attention on Ino's love life. "What about you Ino? Is there anyone you like?"

Ino looks away, but Sakura caught on, "No."

"You're not still in love with Sasuke are you?"

The blond looked down at her feet before admitting one of the things she never told her best friend. "I never liked him."

"What? Really Ino lying is completely childish!"

"I'm not lying!" Ino yelled before she lowered her voice. "I only acted like I had a crush on him because the real person I have a crush on would never feel the same way about me."

Sakura wrapped her arms around Ino to comfort the loud girl, but now the other girl was curious, "Who did you like Ino?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Come on!" Sakura whined, "I thought we were best friends. Don't best friends tell each other everything?"

Ino rolled her eyes at the guilt trip that Sakura was giving her. The other girl had strangely mastered that strategy. She mused that it must have been when they were rivals because Sakura was never that good at making her feel bad.

"Okay, I'll tell you! It's…"

Woo hoo! Chapter one is done! There are four chapters in all, it's a relatively short fic, but at the same time super cute! Reviews will be welcomed.

Next up! Ino tries to find out why Kakashi is acting so strange…