~Ino's Family Shop~

Tuesday, 11:20 a.m.

It had been nearly a week since Ino's team's last real mission, but it didn't bother her to much as she went though the task of caring for the plants that filled her family's shop. A nice break from all the extra training Asuma-sensei was putting them through and a little easy money was always nice, but the main reason was she just enjoyed being in the store.

She would never even humor the thought of giving up being a shinobi, but that didn't mean she didn't have other interests.

'For instance there were boys' she thought amusingly as she began to list all the potential candidates her village had to offer. Of course the list started with Sasuke and now that he made it to Chunin she felt Shikamaru had earned his own place on it, much lower though of course.

She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't even hear the bell clang as someone walked through the front door.

"Excuse me, but is this the Yamanaka's residence?" the voice was almost enough to make Ino jump as she spun around and noticed the woman in the store with her.

She was maybe four or five years older and was obviously a shinobi judging by her gear and the headband had the leaf of Konoha, but Ino could not recall ever actually meeting this woman before.

But more than that what struck her was how beautiful the woman was. From every angle the light seem to always hit her just right, her hair seem to be flowing in the wind though there was obviously no breeze in the shop, and her vest did little more than accent her obviously very feminine figure every curve and slope exactly where you would want it. Ino couldn't help but feel jealous.

'Will at least I know why I didn't sense her coming in' Ino thought as it was apparent, from the way the woman held herself, she was defiantly an experienced ninja.

It took a second before Ino noticed the woman was still staring at her, before she remembered the question.

"What? Oh yes, this is the Yamanaka's Flower shop" Ino said laughing, trying to cover up her embarrassment from staring and being caught.

"Good" was all the woman said as she looked around the place as if searching for something.

Ino didn't know why but for some reason the word sent a tingle down her spine. It was like she was becoming bewitched by the woman, and didn't care. All she knew was she wanted to help her in anyway she could.

"So than I guess that would make you Ino Yamanaka, I presume?" as she asked this the woman quit looking around the room and focused her deep red eyes on her.

Something about those eyes seemed familiar, but Ino wasn't able to think straight. The woman knew her name that was what was important.

Something about the woman's voice made her inside churn and she could fell the giddiness began to rise. When she used her name Ino had felt her heart skip. When they locked eyes Ino could feel herself began to shake, her skin was tingling, and her head began to swirl.

A blush began to spread on Ino's face under the woman's gaze.

For her part the woman just stared for a second before a smirk spread on her lips. Lips Ino could now not find the strength to look away from as she licked her own.

"Ino do you mind if we go somewhere more.. private, to talk?" the woman said in a more sultry voice than she had been using. It sounded like smooth silk to Ino and she didn't have the breath now to answer. So she nodded instead.

"Good girl" the woman said again, as she pulled a loose strand of hair from Ino's face. The gentle touch of the older woman's hand was enough to make Ino's knees buckle.

It was a few hours later when Ino snapped back, the strange woman was still in front of her setting on a chair. It was than Ino realized something odd… they were no longer in the shop. Somehow they had ended up in the back storage room.

'What the hell' Ino thought 'weren't we just in the store?' She tried to remember but all the memories seemed fuzzy and slipped from her mind as soon as she thought on it, like slick soap from your hands.

It was the woman's voice which snapped Ino back to the present "Thank you Ino, for the tea" said the woman as she put down the cup on a bench by them.

'Did she have that cup a second ago?' Ino thought before the woman continued.

"It was nice to chat about something other than missions for once" the woman laughed, it was a beautiful laugh Ino thought.

'Wait, why did I think that?' Ino began to panic a little. Her mind said everything was fine, but her instincts and more importantly her training said otherwise.

'Training' she thought 'of course.' She started an exercise her dad had once taught her for memory recall, but something was wrong. Her memories for some reason weren't linear they were swishing around like they were adrift in a storm.

It was than she felt a tight iron grip on her shoulder and looked up to lock eyes with the woman. The eyes were harder than the grip, and when Ino's meet them she felt lightening shoot through her system.

The pain was enough to make Ino tremble, but it felt like pure ecstasy. Every nerve ending in Ino was screaming and her skin felt like liquid fire was being poured on it. She should have been screaming, but instead her breath were coming out in short gasps, sweat began beading on her skin, and she was squirming on her chair from the heat that had began to build there. Than like a blink it was over.

Ino sat there smiling at the slightly panting woman across from her "I'm sorry did you say something?"

At Ino's response the woman straighten up a bit.

"I was just saying it's nice to get a break from all the seriousness of being a shinobi from time to time." The woman said smiling, a little winded.

It was than Ino noticed the sweat that was covering her own body. 'I need to turn up the A/C' she thought off handily.

"Yes it was nice to…" Ino froze mid sentence as she tried to recall what exactly it was they had talked about. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman tense.

Her memories seemed to of been blurred, but suddenly images of Sasuke began to surface.

"..to talk about boys with someone other than Billboard brow." Ino finished it sounded odd to her, but for some reason she didn't care.

"Oh yes your friend Sakura" the woman said an obvious sigh escaping her lips as she noticeably relaxed.

"Ha friend, more like number one rival" Ino injected earning a laugh from the older woman.

"Yes I suppose so, but if you want to beat her you need to be drastic. Love doesn't come to you, you go to it." It was than that the woman looked out the window "will I need to get going, thanks for the talk I enjoyed it."

"Likewise," Ino replied, though she couldn't remember why she'd enjoyed it.

Before the woman had even left Ino was already forgetting the entire event like it had all been a dream. The only part that stuck out was "Love doesn't come to you, you go to it."

It took Ino all of five minutes to close up the store, though it looked like she had forgotten to take care of about half the plants, but of course that was impossible. Five minutes to close up and inter the streets of Konoha. A plan already forming on how to score Sasuke for her own once and for all.

~Team Guy's Field~

Same day, 2:40 p.m

Naruto laid sprawled out on the ground panting heavily from exhaustion his eyes close. His muscle were tired and felt like taffy, the many minor cuts and scarps that covered his body had already started to mend themselves, but that didn't make him any less tired.

The girl who was the cause for his current condition sat less than ten yards away underneath a tree her eyes going from watching the clouds to the young boy in front of her. Watching as the cuts mended themselves right before her.

"Naruto-tei how do you do that?" Tenten asked as she gave up on sitting and just laid back against the tree.

"-tei?" Naruto asked from his own laying spot as he looked over at Tenten who smiled back.

"Would you prefer, Otouto?" she asked laughing at the sudden frown on Naruto's face.

"Hey, hey I'm a real ninja" he complained "not a little kid."

Tenten allowed her laughter to subside before she continued. "Yap you are, Otouto" it was hard for her not to laugh again at the expression on Naruto's face.

"You still have a long way to go on your aim, but in the last couple of hours you've mastered dodging" Tenten said thinking back on the past two hours. It was about a quarter way through her teaching him how to dodge more efficiently, for the most part unsuccessfully she added to herself, than about thirty minuets into it Naruto had started making shadow clones to dodge behind.

Before it was over he had to of had close to a thousand clones. The part that was odd to Tenten though was the fact that it seemed the more clones he had and the more she engaged the quicker he learned. 'I wonder why that is' she thought to herself.

"Hmpf" Naruto grunted before continuing, his usual smile back on his face "I wish Sakura-chan had been here to see this" Naruto said amusingly as he recalled the past few hours himself.

Though in his on memory he skipped the parts that had him looking like a pin cushion and instead focused on all the awesome moves and tricks he had managed. That of course meant his own replay was cut by nearly… all of it. So he was done thinking back on it quickly.

It was than Naruto heard the sighing and looked over to see a smiling Tenten shaking her head.

"You know, Otouto" Naruto purposely ignored the nickname "your problem is you have all the spirit but none of the class."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked confused.

"Will you need a plan" Tenten continued "anybody can say they love you, but you have to prove it."

Tenten paused to give it a second to sink in, but she quickly realized it was just going straight over her new younger brother's head.

"What I'm saying is you need to figure out what she likes and surprise her" Tenten finished.

"Ooohh" Naruto said.

"You don't get it do you?" Tenten sighed.

"Not really." Naruto answered

"Don't worry you will" Tenten said trying to reassure the confused boy.

"Didn't your parents teach you anything on this?" Tenten asked. It was her turn to immediately regret asking a question when she heard the answer.

"Actually" Naruto started "I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents."

The single word hit Tenten like a knife in her heart. What hurt her worse was the fact saying it didn't seem to bother the younger shinobi at all.

'How long did he have to carry this pain before he was able to over come it? How many nights did he stay up alone feeling like no one was there?' The thought was almost enough to make Tenten start crying again as she recalled the day her own older brother had died.

"Oi, Tenten you okay." when she woke from her little daze Naruto's face was right in front of hers.

"Sheesh" Tenten said as she pushed Naruto away "lesson one, don't crowd a girl, okay?"

It was than Tenten remembered the time and stood from her spot. The sudden protest from her muscles reassuring her she had trained hard enough today… though by the way Naruto was now going around picking up all the ninja tools she had used she was wondering if he was even tired.

Tenten just stood there and waited for a minute until Naruto's arms were full and he was still trying to get a couple more. Than she threw her hands into the release seal and all the weapon, tools, and knives just vanished in a puff.

The sudden loss of the weapon's weight he was so carefully balancing was enough to make Naruto lose his own footing as he fell face first to the ground for the second time that day.

And the second time that day he heard the girl's voice behind him, but this time he felt her hand on his shoulder helping him to his feet "Sorry about that, Naruto-tei" Tenten said laughing "but you made it to easy."

"Hmpf" Naruto tried to act indigent, but the prankster in him couldn't help but point out that it was pretty funny.

"Will see you later, Otouto" Tenten said a few minuets later as she waved goodbye "and good luck with Sakura."

Naruto just waved bye himself before he realized he was now alone in the middle of the field with nothing to do.

Sasuke was out of the village so he couldn't spar with him and his next mission wasn't tell tomorrow.

It was than it occurred to him what Tenten had said "Figure out what she likes".

Naruto had already did something close to that before. When he became Sasuke to try and get close to her. Sakura had not figured out the truth so it might be worth trying it again, but this time he would be doing it just to see what Sakura liked.

It was full proof. Sasuke was out and Naruto hadn't known so he was sure Sakura wouldn't know yet either, and as long as he didn't have to run to the bathroom again they should be able to spend the whole day together.

Normally Naruto might of thought this type of spying was a bit much, but the same 'can do anything' feeling he had had that morning was coming back.

So a few seconds and a small puff of smoke later Naruto became the exact double of Sasuke, and was heading for Konoha.

~Somewhere in Konoha~

same day, 3ish p.m.

Ino had adopted her own henge and had been looking though Konoha for Sasuke with no luck. Furthermore she kept nearly giving herself away when she would forget she was suppose to be Sakura Haruno and not Ino Yamanaka mid conversation when asking about the heir to the Uchiha legacy.

Finally she had sat down on a bench somewhere in one of Konoha's main markets to rest her feet sighing dejectedly.

Ino had nearly given up on the ideal, tell a very familiar hair style caught her eye. 'Sasuke' was walking across the street from her looking around like he was searching for something, and Ino had to fight the urge to just run up to him.

'Remember' she reminded herself 'your Sakura, act like Sakura'. It took all her strength not to laugh at the sudden ideal, as Sakura she could do some very serious pay back on her rival, but she instead resisted and ran up to 'Sasuke' with the biggest smile she could.

"Hey Sasuke I've been looking everywhere for you" Ino as Sakura exclaimed running and grabbing onto his arm.

It wasn't tell after the act that she realized she had done what she would of done and not Sakura.

'Damn it' she scolded herself 'Sasuke going to see through this disguise for sure, now.'

Trying her best smile she hopefully looked up into 'Sasuke's' eyes and was shocked. Instead of the normal predatory gaze he usually carried, there was a softer and gentler gaze to it, and Ino was even sure he seemed to be blushing.

'No..no way' Ino thought 'it can't be… does this mean they already have this type of relationship?'

...

And here is my next chapter to the ongoing saga!

Okay okay it's not THAT epic, but I still like it .:P

Anyways I have already learned something from this story... Its fun writing Tenten. So for all my Tenten fans out there (thats right all four of you)
I have decided to forgo her original role in this story and give her some actual parts in the bigger picture so expect to see a lot more of her.

Two more side notes A.) the next few chapters are already done and I will be trying to post every Friday and Sunday from now on and B.) a special thanks for those of you who left reviews. It really helps an author want to work on their story when they know they have fans who care enough to post. :P

And guys trust me (looking at you IR and Fox-sama :D) I have a pretty good ideal how this story will end and who will be with who... or do I? No, no I do.. I do.

Anyways if you have any Q's and want some A's go ahead and ask in the review section and I'll just stick them on the next chapters note... unless it gives to much away.;)

Also I want to ad I accept constructive criticism... I wont read it, but I will accept it. :)

If you have a problem with that, see previous instructions on what to do with that lemon.

And finally as always Read, Review, and Enjoy.