Hanakotoba no Kazukazu

... The Many Meanings of Flowers

x:x:x:x:x

Summary: In which Sasuke Uchiha pursues a shy Yamanaka. A series prompted by Road to Ninja.


Black Bryony ~ Be my support

And Ino, feeling such a strong surge of emotion, complied to the boys wishes. Not able to resist it even if she wanted to. And the funny thing was, she didn't want to. She wanted Menma to hold her like this. She didn't care as much about Hinata loving Menma.

Because lying there in that moment, Ino felt at ease. So safe. As if even if the world were to end right now... As long as she stayed wrapped in those arms that wouldn't matter. All that mattered... Ino opened her eyes, blue orbs shining in a new found determination.

Is that I know what to do now.

That's what I said last night but... Ino had her eyes open widely in panic as she stood in front of the gate entrance of the Hyuga Manor, home of one furious Hinata Hyuga. I don't know if I'll be able to do it! For the past thirty minutes Ino had been standing in front of the entrance gate debating whether or not to knock or run away and pretend it never happened.

But then Ino thought to what Kushina told her last night about running away and fighting your own battles. She sighed. After what happened between her and Menma last night she absolutely couldn't run off this time! After all... She looked to her left and beside her stood a stoic Sasuke. Uchiha-san needs to here what I have to say also. "I... I'm feeling kind of nervous right now, Uchiha-san." She said, laughing nervously in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Well don't be." He said. "The worst you'll have to worry about is the perverted one after all." It took all of Sasuke's strength not to smile. He always enjoyed his past experiences with the two perverts of Team Guy. Rock Lee, the panty-stealer. And Neji Hyuga, the lecherous and immature cousin of Hinata.

Ino shuddered, "Th-thank you for reminding me, Uchiha-san..." She muttered under her breath sarcastically.

"..." Sasuke looked at the shy girl. His onyx colored eyes completely focused on her actions. "You've really seemed to open up a bit." He finally stated, making Ino's blue gaze dart up at him. "It must because of all the handing out with Menma that's done that."

Red colored Ino's cheeks at the mentioning of the of the boy. And looked down at her feet. "Maybe." She thought back, she hadn't felt as if she'd opened up. But maybe it just took longer to realize things about your own self than it is to realize things about other people. "Thank you for coming with me, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke shrugged and gave his usual light crooked smile, "No biggie, Yamanaka-chan." He nodded at the door. "Just get on with the business."

"Ha-hai!" Ino nodded in agreement and she raised her hand to the tall wooden door, and paused right before doing knocking. I don't know if I can do this... Her mind was frantic with worry. Ca... Can I really stick up to Hinata-chan? Can I?! But a pale hand covering hers snapped her back into it as it firmly, yet softly, made her tiny fist knock on the door. But he quickly let go.

"You were taking to long..." He grumbled, cheeks flushed as he looked away from Ino's curious look. Rubbing his neck, embarrassed. Was it her or did all the people Ino interacted with in this town have a weird habit of rubbing their necks? Ino didn't have time to ponder because the door opened, she braced herself...

But it was not the Hyuga that Ino wanted. In fact, it was probably the one that she wanted to see the least. Neji. And his nose was flaring in excitement. "Ooohh~, Ino-san! How very nice to see you!" When he looked to Sasuke his super kindness faded away instantly. "Uchiha."

Sasuke felt an eyebrow twitch irritably, "Hyuga."

I should probably intervene now... Ino sweatdropped and bowed politely. "Excuse us, Neji-san... But is Hinata-chan home?"

When Ino bowed Neji was practically snorting in excitement, and Hinata-sama wasn't right there to interrupt him! The gods were definitely on his side today. "She's training with Hanabi-sama at the moment. Would you like me to bring her for you?" Inwardly Neji begged that she wouldn't say yes.

And you could imagine how happy he was when Ino shook her head, "Uchiha-san and I were hoping to go and meet her ourselves." She said, but immediately looked at her now twiddling thumbs. "Be-because I know the way around the Compound." The Hyugas were one of the very prestigious Clans in Konoha and probably wouldn't appreciate outsiders walking around on the inside.

Then again, the last few times the medic-nin had gone there Hiashi had declared her practically a part of the family and proceeded to drink sake until he dropped, and his twin brother Hizashi, apologized profusely. So maybe they wouldn't get as mad as Ino had thought.

Neji stepped aside, a huge -and of course pervy- grin spread about his face, "Follow me then." Then glaring pointedly at Sasuke he shrugged as if he could care less what the Uchiha boy did. Sure, Neji greatly admired Itachi, but he and Sasuke never saw eye to eye.

And while the followed the Branch Hyuga, they could hear the sound of Hinata and Hanabi sparring. And from what they could tell, Hanabi was getting her behind handed to her on a platinum platter.

"Wa-wait Onee-sama!" Hanabi yelled.

WHAP!

"You gotta move faster if you're gonna dodge my hit, runt!" Hinata yelled back, not caring at all. When it came to sparring, Hanabi was nothing but a punching bag.

BOP!

"You're moving too fast!" Hanabi squealed.

THUNK!

"No," Hinata screamed. "You're just moving too slow!"

Ino winced at every hit she could here. Hinata was very competitive and aggressive by nature, and by the end of the session, Hanabi almost always ended up with a bruise everywhere on her body. "Hinata-chan is really letting Hanabi-chan have it..." She mumbled, this was only adding on to her panic of standing up to Hinata.

Neji nodded in agreement, "But she's in an especially bad mood today." He said, for once being more mature than he actually once.

Sasuke wasn't reacting any better than Ino. Sakura did say that Hinata didn't go easy on you at all when you spar with her but... He inwardly winced again when he heard another FWAP! But this is just ridiculous! She really is in a bad mood. He thought, for once agreeing with what Neji said.

When they finally arrived to the Hyuga Training Field, Ino wasn't all that surprise when she saw Hanabi splayed out onto the ground. But she was shocked when she saw a practical blood waterfall gushing from her nose! No matter how hard Hinata was on her sister, she never made her bleed -intentionally- before. She loved her sister very much despite her abusiveness towards her.

As if Hinata could sense them approaching -which she probably did because of her Byakugan eyes- she whipped her head around. "What do you want now, you perv-" She stopped her sentence abruptly. "What the hell are they doing in our compound."

Ino's skin paled and she took a deep breath to prevent herself from backing out once more. She had spent half the night practicing everything she was going to say to her best friend. And is everything went wrong she would have to hope all her training with her team would keep her ready for any sudden attacks. But I'm not sure that'll be enough with Hinata-chan... "I..." She cleared her throat slightly. "I'm came to talk to you." She got out at last. "Both of us did."

There things that both Hinata and Sasuke needed to hear.

"..." Byakugan activated, Hinata gave her sister and cousin a pointed glare to exit the premises, and they got out of there faster than a kunai knife. "You too, Uchiha." She growled.

Sasuke just gave her a demeaning look, " She said both of us, Hyuga." He spat back coolly, and Ino held up her hands defensively. This wouldn't go well if the two of them started a fight with one another.

Her eyes met Sasuke's, "Please don't antagonize her, Uchiha-san..." Ino asked softly while Hinata crossed her arms. It was quiet for a moment, so the Yamanaka girl took that as her moment to take control of the situation. She cleared her throat and looked back at Hinata, her arms now laying back down at her sides.

Hinata nodded her chin at her expectantly, "What do you want now, home-wrecker?" The blunette sneered.

Ino winced slightly, "I needed to tell you something. Both you and Uchiha-san." From the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke give her a questioning look. She never said she wanted to tell him and Hyuga something. "It's..." She directed her eyes at her feet as she felt Hinata's pearl-white glare. "It's about Menma-kun."

She heard Sasuke sigh in an expectant manner, like her saw all of this coming before it actually happened. "Hinata-chan," She looked back up. "You've already known long before this that I actually liked Uchiha-san for a long time now..." Ino fought the blushing rising up her neck. "And I was always too scared to say anything because I already knew of your status, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke squirmed a bit.

"And Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan never wanted me to be with you in the first place. So I really tried my best to avoid him advances on me, which was when..." Ino paused a moment to catch a shaky breath. "Around the time I ran into Menma-kun, the night you saw me and him, Hinata-chan. He was trying to avoid Kakashi-sensei and in the end it turned out into a night at Ichiraku's-"

Hinata cut her off angrily, "So it was a date, you conniving-"

"Let her finish before you start waving your hands away, Hyuga." Sasuke cut her off in return, and Ino gave him a grateful glance.

The only blonde in the room took another deep breath, "Then our argument happened, and after a run-in with Nadeshiko-san, Uchiha-san helped me and for a tad moment I did feel as if I still loved him." She folded a hand over her other hand, clasping them tightly together. "But after I met Kushina-san... I realized that I've been running from something.

I'd never even thought about it because of our rules and conduct of friendship. I never wanted to hurt you, but I can't run from my heart either." She looked Hinata directly in the eye, "I... I think that I might like Menma-kun too, and I'm really sorry..." She quickly gave her dark-eyed companion a look of apology, but he didn't seem all the sad. He looked more like he expected this also.

She looked back at Hinata, whose bangs had covered her eyes. "What did you just say?" The Hyuga grounded out furiously.

Something within Ino snapped right then and there. It was like Alternate-Ino had taken over her body and soul. So with the meanest glare the shy Yamanaka could produce, she stared Hinata right in the eye. "That's right... I said that." She said, her voice deepening with adult-like maturity. "I said that I like Menma-kun, too."

This had to be the greatest moment of Ino Yamanaka history.

"But I can't stop being your friend either." She said, taking a small step towards her best friend.

Sasuke stopped her by her forearm, hesitant to let her near the angered Hyuga. It would be a bad idea to let her near the other girl no matter the status of their friendship. But when she looked back him with a look that read 'It's alright, Uchiha-san', relunctantly, he let go of her. Looks like Menma won this time, He smirked as he stared at Ino's back. That boy could make even the shyest of people turn courageous in moments like this.

"So..." Ino began. "What I'm asking is for your blessing, and your friendship back." With a gulp she raised her two small fists. "Because... I'll- I'll fight you if I have to do!" She clenched her eyes shut as she waited for the awaited fist. But it never came.

"Heh heh..."

Ino and Sasuke looked at Hinata as if she lost her mind. Was she... laughing?! What just happened to all the tension in the room?

"I never thought I'd ever meet someone with the balls, existent or not, to stand up to me like that." The blunette said with a forced smile, her eyes finally fell out of there Byakugan. But the sadness in them remained. "Especially a crybaby like you, Ino."

"So you..." Ino's eyes widened. "So you mean I can?"

With as much willpower she could make herself produce, Hinata nodded. "No guy can ever become between best friends right?" She said, her forced smile still on her face. Ino felt the pain in the other girls heart easily from where she was standing. "But you better step up your A-game, you here me, Yamanaka! You too, Uchiha!"


"Itai!"

"Damn it, Ino! Hold still already!" Hinata snapped, almost finished doing Ino's hair.

Sakura sweatdropped, "Maybe you're pulling too hard, Hina." She said, as she worked on Ino's bangs. But Hinata simply snorted, muttering that Ino was simply tender-headed. "There you go!" Sakura exclaimed cheerfully as she snapped the hair clip in place.

Hinata fluffed up Ino's newer, and higher, ponytail. "I'm done up here, too."

Ino looked at the mirror, astounded. "Is that really me?" Her hair mirrored her Alternate-self's hair perfectly, from the flat bang over her right eye to the hair clip to the left.

"It definitely is." Both Hinata and Sakura said in unison.

For the Spring Festival, Hinata and Sakura refused to let their friend wear her hair like a sheep dog. So with a bit of force and some help from Shiori, they were able to convince Ino to put her up. On her body she adorned a purple and lavender yukata, while Hinata wore a blue one and Sakura wore a pink one.

Hinata put her hair up in her favorite side ponytail. It was guaranteed knock out in her words, perfect to wow Menma. Ino gave a small smile. Even though the two of them rekindled their friendship, Hinata still said that she wouldn't go down without a fight. But until her wish actually happened, she decided to be both her teammates 'friend date'.

And Sakura, her eyes glistening, had her hair in a feathery bun held up with a red hair clip, the tips out to the side. And to Ino's pleasure, the pinkette agreed to be Shikamaru's date to the festival.

Everything was falling into place.

Ding Dong. "Girl's!" Shiori called. "The boys are here!"

Ino suddenly felt nervous. Hopefully Menma would like her new hair style. But she didn't get time to contemplate it, for Hinata pulled her up out her seat. "Well," the blunette said. "Lead the way, Ino." Sakura smiled and nodded.

Ino gave a short giggle, "Yeah." she nodded. "Yeah."

~ Fin ~


UPDATE NO JUTSU!
Wow... I never thought I'd make it to the second before final chapter of HnK... Don't I feel extremely proud of myself. And I couldn't of done it without all the reviews, favorites, follows, and supports from all my fans/readers. It was nice writing for you all.

So I hope you'll all enjoy the last installment of HnK and the sequel coming up.

~SunshineSketch

Next Chapter: Special Mentionings Preview: Ue O Idō Suru ~ Moving On
Summary:
In which the Hyuga and Uchiha learn to move on. A series prompted by Road to Ninja. Sequel to Hanakotoba no Kazukazu.