Akamaru was nowhere to be seen, and the situation was looking bad. It seemed like the dog was either in a building, or outside of the village. Both situations were not ideal, since it would cost him either way. Kiba let himself stop to catch his breath, which was near panting by now. As the brunette looked over the area, he noticed Yamanaka Flowers was nearby. Where a scream came from no sooner than a minute later.
'Figures,' Kiba thought, 'Hana can't keep a herbal garden because of him.' Kiba quickly ran towards the building with the flower sign. Now that he looked, the door was wide open. Inside the shop was what one would call a disaster, dirt and broken pots were all over the building.
In the middle of it all was Akamaru, Kiba's loyal companion, who was shaking a flower he had just ripped out of a pot. As the brunette scanned the room, he noticed Ino peeking out from behind the counter that held the cash register.
"Akamaru! Get over here!" Kiba yelled angrily. The flower dropped to the floor as Akamaru turned his head to Ninja companion. Scattered around the dog's feet were torn roses.
"Do something," Ino shouted, "The whole store will be ruined at this rate." The blonde carefully ran over to Kiba, avoiding the dirt when possible. As soon as Ino was standing behind him, Kiba pulled out a whistle. Realization struck the girl, it was a dog whistle. No audible sound was produced for the teens, but Akamaru was whimpering slightly. All destructive actions were halted as the dog obediently laid on the floor.
"Akamaru, go home!" Kiba commanded. Akamaru dashed out of the building, only waggin his tail when he was out of the brunette's sight. Kiba turned towards Ino, while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm sorry, he is usually well behaved."
"Next time, keep that thing on a leash!" Before the argument could go further, Inoichi entered the shop. A grimace stayed on his face the whole time he looked over the damage. It was fair to say the price would be steep, and Kiba was right.
"The total for the destroyed plants is 13,864 yen," Inoichi said after ringing it through the till. Kiba took out his wallet, it did not look like he had enough. He handed Inochi what he did have, and the man re-calculated the cost. Kiba felt nervous, he had not owed this much money since he broke a neighbor's window as a child.
"Your new total is 8,860 yen."
"Actually, that's all I had," Kiba admitted sheepishly, "I could take a mission, and come back with the money in a few days."
"Not that I don't trust you," Inoichi said, "But could you work here, it will free up my schedule to order more inventory." Kiba hesitated for a moment, as if thinking it over, before agreeing. Ino's displeased look did not go unnoticed by her father, who silenced her with a slight glare.
'Dogs and flowers don't mix,' Ino thought with a sigh.
"Of course, Ino will be working with you," Inoichi said, "Now if you'll excuse me." Ino almost wanted to slam her head into a wall after her father left, though she decided against it for now.
"The store opens at 9 am sharp, come a few minutes early."
"Yeah, yeah," Kiba muttered, "See you tomorrow, I guess."
The sky was fairly cloudy that morning, the horizon housed dark clouds. Bitterly cold wind, with the strength of a weak Wind Style Jutsu, blew through the village. After the recent gust, Kiba tiredly yawned as he slowly made his way to Yamanaka Flowers.
Tsume, Kiba's intimidating mother, had punished him for not keeping Akamaru on a leash. Kiba had been told several times during his life, but he had been busy around the time Akamaru escaped. The brunette spent most of last night cleaning the kennels around the compound. Although, Akamaru got it no better. He was locked in a cage, several yards from busy areas of the dog pen.
Shortly after arriving, Ino had made Kiba water the flowers they had as overstock. Things were not so easy however, some of the flowers needed to be repotted. The responsibility landed on Kiba's shoulders, considering Ino was the only one of the two allowed to work with the customers.
In his spare time waiting for Ino, Kiba managed to mend any pots that had not been smash too badly. Shortly after fixing the last one, the brunette yawned. Ino slammed her book on the counter, and glared menacingly at Kiba.
"I know this is boring, but can't you stop yawning for a minute!" Ino angrily commented.
"I wouldn't be bored if you closed the door behind you."
"Oh, so now this is my fault?" The argument continued to escalate as the gloomy day passed them by.
A few days passed by in very similar ways, even if no one admitted it. Kiba rolled around in his bed restlessly, his dog pawprint boxers getting more twisted around with each movement. The once neatly made bed, was now disheveled and scattered around the area. This had not happened before, but Kiba knows the cause. Everytime he tried to sleep, a certain blonde popped into his head.
'Why am I thinking of her? Do I like her?' Kiba thought. This was not so different from Ino, who was also having trouble sleeping. Feelings have been developing for approximately two years now, but neither one would ever admit it though.
The sun shone happily in the sky as a new day arrived. It almost seemed like it was mocking Kiba. Who was dragging himself slowly down the street, just wanting the day to end. The brunette had been sent on a flower deliveries around the village, none of them being in the same area. Most of the deliveries had been to restaurants and shops who liked to brighten their shops with flowers. The others had been for the hospital, and some elderly families. Oddly, the Nara's had a few bouquets as well. Kiba didn't think the Nara's were that lazy until he delivered the flowers.
Later that afternoon, Kiba was fertilizing some of the flowers that did not need a skilled hand. Not that his hand was not at least partially skilled at this point. He did not like doing this job at first, but as time passed by he had begun to like it.
Even though his team went on a B-Ranked mission without him, Kiba did not feel as jealous as he would have two weeks ago. It seemed like Akamaru's stunt had worked wonders on his master's personality. The dog was not getting thanked for the trouble though, there was no need for a repeat offence.
Ino set her book onto the counter with a sigh before speaking, "Say Kiba, it would be a shame to waste this nice day completely. Would you like to go for a walk around the village?" A hint of a blush dusted the blonde's cheeks. Which made Kiba's smile a little bigger.
"That would be great! I'll go wash my hands before we go!" Kiba ran into the back of the shop to use the small washroom located there for employee use. Ino rested her chin on the palms of her hands, quickly losing herself in thought.
As he came out of the back, Kiba spotted Ino spacing out by the counter. He quietly walked over, with a single thought swimming around in his head. A heavy blush over taking his cheeks as he leaned closer to Ino. Lips ever so gently touched, causing an electric like reaction. Ino quickly regained her senses, and kissed back with all the passion she could muster. It was pure bliss, neither one had seen this coming a couple weeks ago. The pair pulled back reluctantly, both wore an equally scarlet blush.
"W-What was that for?" Ino stuttered. She look could not look at Kiba during the seconds of silence.
"A prince has to wake up his sleeping beauty somehow," Kiba replied with a slightly nervous, but confident look in his eyes. Ino was speechless for a minute, before a light, airy giggle escaped her lips.
"Well, Prince Charming, shall we be on our way?" Kiba stuck out his hand, which Ino happily took. The pair left the shop hand in hand, not returning until after dark.
