Just… post-war fic with Ino visiting her father's grave and flowers and KibaIno since that's what I'm shipping right now 'cause it's fabulous. I hope the flower meanings in this are right—I checked what I could and it all seemed to agree on those. If anyone happens to know the language of flowers and the meanings I used are wrong, could you please tell me? Enjoy. c:
Disclaimer: No, no Naruto. That's still Kishimoto's.
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The first time she visits his grave, two months after the funeral, she brings cypress with her, clutched in both hands against her chest. It means death and mourning, despair and sorrow, and it matches what she feels perfectly—it symbolizes the death of her father, the mourning that has taken place (and still is, probably always will be), and the despair and sorrow she and the whole of her clan and everyone else who knew him feel.
She places it on his grave, below the flat headstone, and sits down next to it. "So. It's… it's been two months since we buried you, and everyone expects me to be… well, not over it, exactly—I don't think they'll ever expect me to be over it—but they expect me to be better than I am. Sakura's over every night she can be, what with Sasuke back, and when she isn't there it's someone else. Shikamaru or Choji, usually, but when they can't be there it's someone else, another of our little group. I don't think I've spent one night alone in the last two months, really. There's always someone there, someone to stay with me and listen and just… be there for me.
"Other than that, though, I don't really think there's that much to tell you. I've taken over leading the clan, of course, like you always said I would someday. The village is still a bit crazy now that the war is finally over, but it's settling down now. There have been dignitaries from all of the other big villages in and out at all times—I don't think it's been purely Konoha people since everyone returned. There's always someone from another village here, delivering messages from the other Kages—the alliance is still strong, surprisingly. After the war, everyone seemed to expect it to fall apart, but it didn't. It's something about Naruto, the way he holds it all together—Tsunade is still Hokage, of course, but Naruto's now officially in training to be her successor and he's been handling a lot of the work with the other villages, though it all still goes through Tsunade, so that he doesn't manage to start the next war." She smiles and shakes her head slightly. "I think that's everything, really, so I guess I'll go now." Standing, she lingers for a moment more. "See you next time, Dad. Love you."
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The second time she visits, two weeks after the first time, it's with marigold in hand: pain and grief, this time. It's what she's feeling now, so she felt it would be appropriate. She sets it next to the now withered cypress, and sits down with the flowers again. She gives him a half smile, waves as if he's there and can see her and wave back. "Hi, Dad. It's been really calm lately, since the village has finally gotten back to some semblance of normalcy—as much as we can have after everything, anyways—so we're all settling into a sort of rhythm, a pattern. Missions aren't as common anymore; since the villages are in an alliance, still, we're not heading off to fight each other as much. Everyone's had more free time lately; I've been using mine to make plans to open up the shop again. I need to redo the scheduling, since you're not around to work shifts anymore, and hire some people and train them. It'll be a while until I can get back open again, probably a couple weeks, but it's going to be worth it—I miss the shop, working there, surrounded by flowers. To most, I suppose that it isn't too exciting of a job, but I love it anyways; flowers can mean so many different things, be used for so many reasons, and for such different occasions, and I love that."
She smiles down and stands. "I've got to go now, Dad—I'm really sorry to cut this visit short, but I've got a mission with Shikamaru and Choji, and I can't be late. I'll be back as soon as I can be. Bye, Dad—love you."
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The third time she visits him, three and a half weeks later, she brings aloe with her. It means grief, plain and simple, and again it is perfect for what she feels. There is still pain, of course (there will always be pain, however strong it is) but it is much less than it was the last time she was here; so, this time she brings only grief in her flower.
The cypress and marigold are still there, though withered beyond recognition; if she hadn't been the one to place them there, she wouldn't have known what they were. The aloe goes next to them, and she sits before all three. "I'm sorry it's been a while, Dad. It's been crazy for me lately, since I just opened the store back up—I'm trying to get into my old rhythm, almost, but it's hard without you around. I've got some people working, but they aren't fully trained yet, so I have to be there most of the time, which is why I haven't found much free time on my hands. I've also been on some longer than usual, for me, anyways, missions, so that's interfering with my free time as well." She smiles wearily but also happily, reaching up to touch something tucked into the knot her hair is pulled into. "Kiba's been helping me out a lot, lately, funnily enough—do you remember him? I don't know if you would have ever met Kiba; he's an Inuzuka, really tall, and was in my year at school. Always has a dog with him, Akamaru. He has a surprisingly extensive knowledge of flower meanings, though you wouldn't ever guess it by looking at him. I wonder where he picked that up from. Maybe his sister taught it to him; she's in the shop a lot. His sister is Hana—she used to help out a bit before the war."
She pulls out a flower from her hair, twirling it gingerly. "He brought me this a couple days ago," she tells him, carefully waving the blossom at him. "It's a rose—a yellow one, meaning friendship—and it's absolutely gorgeous." She looks up towards the sun, gauging the time by its position, and suddenly jumps up, hurriedly tucking the rose back into her hair. "I'm going to be late! I'm really, really sorry, Dad—I know I just got here a while ago—but I've got somewhere important to be, and I can't miss this, so I need to cut our visit short again." She waves to him like always. "Bye, Dad. I love you."
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The fourth time she comes to visit him it's been a much longer interval, almost three months since her previous visit. Again, she brings flowers, this time rosemary, meaning remembrance. In her hair is another flower, this time a bright red rose, meaning love. She sets the rosemary next to where the other flowers, cypress and marigolds and aloe, once were, and sits next to them. "It's been crazy for me lately, Dad, a whirlwind; that's why I haven't been by in so long, almost…what, three months? I've been spending time with everyone, working at the shop, going on missions, planning things…" She stops and laughs, fiddling with something on her left hand. "Dad… I'm getting married soon. It's to Kiba—do you remember me telling you about him? He's the one who brought me that rose, the yellow one, and he's why I had to leave in such a rush the last time; he'd asked me to dinner and I was about to be late. We've been going out every week since, and last month, he proposed, and of course I said yes. You'd like him, I know you would—he's kind, and always respectful towards me and everyone else. On the outside he seems rough and hard-edged, but once you get to know him he's incredibly sweet, and utterly loyal." She turns towards the entrance of the graveyard and waves to someone before turning back to the grave. "I brought him with me today, so that he could meet you, in a way."
A boy sits down next to her, spreading out long legs to reach across to Ino. A dog trots not far behind, sprawling between the two when it reaches them. The boy's most definitely rough looking, with shaggy brown hair and red, fang-shaped markings on his cheeks, but there's just an air of innate goodness about him. The dog is huge, covered in cream fur with spots of brown. The boy, probably Kiba, smiles and waves in the direction of the grave. "Hello, sir—I'm Kiba, the one Ino's going to marry sometime soon. I don't know if you would have liked me—Ino says you would have, though. I hope that's true.
"Anyways, I promise to you that I'll keep her and any children we might have in the future perfectly safe. I think that's what you would have cared most about, that your daughter and eventual grandchildren were in good hands, and I swear she is."
Ino smiles at him, warm and gentle and affectionate. "Yeah, he definitely would have liked you, Kiba." She stands up, pulling on his hand and entwining it with hers. "Come on—we ought to get home soon if we're going to meet everyone else for dinner." As he stands, she turns to her father. "Bye, Dad—I love you." She waves with her free hand, and the turns toward Konoha with Kiba, walking off into the setting sun.