It was an early morning in Konoha. The birds were chirping and flying past the little flower shop that sat on the outskirts of the Konoha shopping district. Ino pulled together roses, petunias and other plants; making them into small bouquets before placing them in the open rack outside for sale.

Adjusting some of the leaves in the other bouquets, Ino still couldn't smile. Seeing the couples that would come into the store, the looks on their faces of pure happiness; it made her incredibly jealous. It was only 3 weeks ago she felt like that, she was with someone that she loved and yet now, Ino didn't know if she was ever going to see him again.

Dusting off her hands onto her apron, Ino wondered what time Neji was going to be back from his mission. He was a good distraction for her, and she knew he didn't mind either; they both had an unspoken agreement.

"Sweetie,"

Looking over her shoulder Ino gave a small smile to her father. Over the years he had begun to let himself go. He was no longer needed when it came to protecting Konoha, so when he had the chance to work at the flower shop full time he really meant spending all of his time there.

"You were sleeping out the back again, weren't you?" Ino giggled.

He stretched his arms above his head, his shirt riding up showing is pop belly. Ino cringed. "I would have slept longer if you didn't wake me up. Why are you here this early anyway?"

Ino removed the hair tie from her short hair, it barely fell above her shoulders. "I had nothing better to do, besides everyone is busy working, I guessed I should do the same."

Inoichi nodded. "I suppose this is a bad time to tell you some of your friends came back last night."

Ino felt her brows furrow. "Which friends exactly?"

"Team Guy."

It took only seconds for Ino to remove her apron; she was out the door faster than the speed of light.

O0o0o0oo0

"Temari, do you understand the seriousness of the situation? We've had to pull back three teams from Tonika. There are now fears they may have been affected."

Temari nodded at the council member, trying to hide her frustration.

"We cannot continue to help the Leaf Village, we are wasting valuable resources and potentially losing qualified and skilled nin!"

"Where are they now?" Temari asked, rubbing her forehead.

Kankuro placed a hand on his sisters shoulder as he glared at the surrounding council members. "Still in quarantine. We had to be sure."

Gaara, I know this is short notice but I need your help again. There is a village bordering the land of fire, Tonika Village. Scouts have reported strange sightings. Civilians vomiting blood, bodies lying in the streets. We're not sure if it is some kind of massacre of if it is some kind of plague. I'm sending a team to investigate, but I would like your help as well. You have medic nin that saw what the disease had done to Ino, and we also have nin that have seen the disease. We need reports, we need to know what we are up against. Please, as your friend, I'm asking for your help. Naruto.

Where the hell was Gaara? This wasn't something Temari was qualified for. She was only hoping he would be gone for a few days, all she would have needed to do was sign a few papers. But a plague? A potential plague? She didn't sign up to this, she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Why did her brother put some much blind faith into her?

The last thing Temari expected this morning was to see Matsuri in her office only after 3 days. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest rising rapidly like she had been running for her life. The look in her eyes told Temari everything she needed to know. There was no massacre at Tonika.

"Its everywhere," Matsuri said between breaths her eyes sick with worry. "Children, adults. They all have it."

"Matsuri, did you come into contact with it at all?" she responded with a nod. Temari slammed her fist on the desk. "Dammit! You and your team, to the hospital now! You need to be quarantined!"

It wasn't long before the nin were being medically examined. The hospital still had some viles Sakura had left behind for the treatment of Ino, so they did their best to recreate the solution. Temari had gathered another team, but this time she made sure they knew what they were getting themselves into.

"You are not to come into contact with civilians. If you do you must be wearing a haz suit. You are there to contain the outbreak, nothing more. Do you understand?"

"Yes Kazekage!" They said simultaneously.

It wasn't long after that she was called into a council meeting.

There was so much going on in Temari's head she constantly questioned whether she was making the right decisions or not. Was Naruto sending a team to help contain the virus too? Surely he couldn't be relying on Suna to everything for him, right?

Gaara trusted him, so Temari had to as well.

Where was he?

O0o0o0o0o0o

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Ino ran as quickly as she could to the Hyuuga compound. She jumped the large fence bordering the area before sneaking around the corner until she found where Neji stayed. Why was he back a day early? He would normally call when he would return from anything. Ino couldn't help but feel a pang of worry in her chest. She banged on the door again.

The door slowly creaked open, the morning sun shining into the dark room. The pale colour of Neji's eyes lit up as the sun hit them, and Ino felt a sense of relief. He was alive. She watched carefully as he opened the door some more, the cursed mark on his head visible, framed by his dark hair that hung loosely around his face.

"You came back last night?" She whispered, a worrying look on her face as she made sure no one could see her.

Neji pulled her inside, her shoulders slightly grazing across his bare chest. He took one last look outside before shutting the door.

"Why didn't you tell me? You said you would call." Ino gruffed lightly.

"Plans changed," Neji said quietly as he threw on a loose t-shirt.

Ino frowned. She had been waiting the last week to see this guy, he said he was going to call her and the only excuse he could come up with was that plans had changed? Ino wasn't sure if she was disappointed in Neji, or if she was disappointed in herself. Did she really just run to his compound to see him? Did she forget her job, leave her father behind just to see him? No. Ino was lonely, she knew that. All she wanted to do was be held and comforted, to feel like she wasn't the only lonely person in this world, right?

"Well, what happened?" She asked curiously, crossing her arms over her chest.

Neji raked a hand through his long hair. It had been a long week, the mission didn't go as planned; they didn't know what they were getting themselves into until they saw the Suna nin. Blood. There was so much blood.

"Just be thankful the majority of the leaf village has been immunised," he said under his breath.

Ino flinched.

As usual, Neji watched as her chakra went crazy with emotion. He didn't even need to ask how she was feeling; he could see it. Worry, fear, sadness.

She looked to the ground. "Is it what I think you're saying?"

"Yes."

Ino was far more emotional than she gave off. She tried to pretend she was strong; and she was, just not in the way Neji knew her. She needed to be cared for, to have someone near her all the time. He watched as she pulled her arms to her chest, her eyes wide with concern. With a deep breath she walked to the door.

Neji grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know, anywhere. I need to think about this. I need to help."

"No you don't," Neji said quietly.

He pulled her close to him, his hands running through her short blonde locks. Ino couldn't help but keep her eyes closed as his finger tips worked magic on her scalp. She felt her back hit the door as Neji took the opportunity to pull her legs around his waist. He watched Ino as her cheeks flushed a slight shade of red, her blue eyes avoiding direct eye contact with him. He smiled to himself before lifting her chin, softly pressing his lips against hers. Ino couldn't help but melt in his embrace.