Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

AN: Thank you very much for the follows, favorites and especially the review. Thank you for reading and your continuous support to my story.

"Speech"
'Thoughts'

Chapter 36: Snow globe

—oOo—

Ino's POV

—oOo—

It was another day in Konoha. She got up from her bed and began preparing for the day. After getting herself ready, she went to the kitchen to make breakfast. As she was cooking, her father made his presence known.

"Good morning Princess. Are we having pancakes for breakfast? They smell divine." Inoichi greeted.

"Stop flattering me. These pancakes are not that special anyone who followed the instructions at the box will get the same result." She embarrassedly replied.

"Do I have to remind you about the gooey black pancakes a few months ago that Sakura made for us?" Inoichi asked.

"Sakura is an exemption but the rest of the people who followed the recipe achieved the same result." She responded.

"Shikaku said otherwise when Yoshino tried the recipe last week." Inoichi pointed out.

"Aunt Yoshino's case was different. She was used to preparing Japanese dishes and not western food. I'm sure the pancakes will be edible after her third try." She defended her surrogate aunt.

"No need to pout princess. I'm just pointing out that not everyone achieved results such as yours and I am just a proud father." Inoichi replied.

"Fine but you're too proud of me" She harrumphed.

"Were you saying anything princess?" Inoichi asked.

"I said breakfast is ready." Ino said.

"Great." Inoichi replied as he sat at his chair and waited for his breakfast.

—oOo—

Her father escorted her towards the flower shop before he went to the T&I department.

"I'll be off now." Inoichi said as they reached the shop's front door.

"Take care Daddy and have a nice day." Ino replied.

"I'll be careful princess. Now repeat the new rules that I am telling you." Inoichi ordered.

She sighed then began reciting: "Naruto is not welcomed at the shop and any sighting of Naruto in the area should be reported to you immediately."

"That's my princess, very pretty and brilliant." Inoichi exclaimed as he hugged her goodbye.

"Daddy, put me down. This is embarrassing." She hissed to Inoichi.

"But I haven't done that for a long time." Inoichi pouted.

"I'm a big girl now Daddy and stop pouting already. Just go already or you'll be late." She reminded Inoichi.

"Bye Princess" Inoichi said as he left.

—oOo—

She began moving the plants on the front of the shop then made a final sweep before she flipped the shop's sign open. She was browsing her magazine when the bells jingled. She began customary greeting but stopped upon identifying the visitor.

"Aren't we a little early today?" She asked.

"Hn" the visitor replied.

"Really Sasuke, you're going back to your antisocial self. Did your mission to Wave country made you forget my rule about your unsociable side?" She asked. She was interrupted before she began her monologue on how unsociable Sasuke is not welcome because unsociable Sasuke is boring and if she wanted to be bored she'll stare at the flowers all day long.

"You're so noisy in the morning… my mistake you're noisy at any time of the day." Sasuke taunted her with a smirk.

"Why you good for nothing chicken butt? I'll teach you what happens to those who provoke Ino Yamanaka." She growled as she jumped towards Sasuke to pummel him. Sadly the Uchiha proved himself as a better shinobi and was able to stop her attacks by hugging her from behind.

"Still short tempered I see." Sasuke mused as he leaned his head above her head.

"Remove your big head from my person Silkie." She warned.

"I'm hurt Ino. What happened to the friendship we have? Here I am waking up earlier than usual just to present you this thing that I saw in Wave country. I even have Sakura's approval that you'll like it." Sasuke said.

"Souvenir? You bought a souvenir for me." She exclaimed with glee as she faced Sasuke's head but since Sasuke's head was leaning above hers their faces ended up really close to each other. She could not help but stare at Sasuke's eyes. 'Sasuke is a really handsome man. I could get lost on those inky black eyes.'

—oOo—

"Pardon me for the intrusion. I hope I am not interrupting something but Inoichi sent me here to keep an eye for a blonde hokage-to-be. I guess I should add flirty Uchiha on the report." Shikamaru said as he entered the shop.

She immediately jumped away from Sasuke and blushed. She looked at her best friend and said. "Don't be ridiculous. This is Sasuke we're talking about. He's not flirting with me and in order to consider what he was doing as flirting then he had to be interested in me. We both know that I'm way off his radar. So Daddy sent you. He doesn't trust me." She pouted.

"He trusts you Ino. He was just adding some precaution." Shikamaru assured her.

"Yeah right. He doesn't trust me." She repeated.

"Okay I am not really here on Inoichi's orders but my mom volunteered for my help to your Father when she heard Inoichi asking for advice to Dad." Shikamaru confessed.

"You must be really lazy since the day of your return if Aunt Yoshino was making effort to get you out." She teased.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru muttered.

"You're hopeless" She replied. "So what is it?" She asked as she sidled up to Sasuke once her blush was totally gone.

"Why don't you try guessing?" Sasuke answered while he draped his arm in her shoulder.

"Aren't we getting a little touchy lately? Have you given up being mini Itachi and switched to mini Shisui?" She asked.

Sasuke grimaced upon hearing her question. He removed the arm from her shoulder. "I never wanted to be a mini Shisui. So are you going to guess?" Sasuke asked.

"I am glad you don't want to be a mini Shisui. We already have Naruto for that. Guessing would be entertaining but you better give me some decent clues to start with." She replied.

"It would seem that my presence is not needed here. Just tell Mom that you sent me to do some errands when she dropped by." Shikamaru interrupted her conversation with Sasuke.

"But Shika we haven't really caught up on what we've been up to since your return." She reasoned.

"You seem busy maybe some other time." Shikamaru replied as he left the shop quickly.

She hoped that Shikamaru was not mad at her she did not intentionally ignored his presence but her feelings towards Sasuke is not as over as she believed.

"He's not mad at you. He'll come around soon." Sasuke interrupted her thoughts.

She smiled. "Thanks Sasuke. So give me the clues already. Time is running out." She ordered.

"Still bossy too." Sasuke teased.

She smacked Sasuke's shoulder. "Keep your unwanted remarks to yourself and spit those clues already." She commanded.

—oOo—

The day was over and she was back at her room. She grabbed Sasuke's souvenir for the nth time. She could not believe that Sasuke saw her as more than a fan girl during their academy days.

*Flashback*

"I give up. So what is it?" She asked after hours of guessing.

"Why don't you open and see." Sasuke suggested while he gave her a wrapped packaged.

She tore the wrapper immediately and was greeted by a wooden box. She opened the box and found lots of crumpled paper and bubble wrap. She sorted the crumpled paper and bubble wrap and found a snow globe. She was ecstatic about the gift.

"A snow globe? You gave me a snow globe? Thank you Sasuke." She happily thanked Sasuke with a hug.

Sasuke smiled at her. "It's not an ordinary snow globe. Try pressing the button at the bottom of the globe." Sasuke suggested.

She pressed the button and was amazed by the result. The snow globe played Canon in D major while the tulip in the middle of the globe glowed purple and bloomed. She looked at Sasuke for an explanation to the mechanism or why he chose this specific globe.

"I heard from Sakura that you like snow globes when we passed the store selling snow globes then I saw the tulip snow globe and was reminded of the memory where (1) I saw you dig in the gardens of the academy because you thought that the tulips might die due to the snow. Iruka had to drag you away from the plant box before you get yourself a frostbite then he explained to you that the tulips would be fine because they can survive in the snow. When I was about to purchase it the shopkeeper informed me that the snow globe can be customized. I asked what kind of customization are they offering and he answered that they can add music, change the color of the snow, make the figurine move and make the figurine glow. I remembered that you often dance in the flower fields while humming Canon while we were in the academy so I asked the shopkeeper to add the tune of Canon in D major. The purple glow was because you like purple. I would ask the snow to be changed to purple if I didn't think that it was going overboard." Sasuke explained.

"It's lovely just the way it is. Thank you Sasuke." She smiled at Sasuke.

*Flashback End*

She squealed at her pillow upon remembering the day's events. She glanced at the snow globe and gave it one last shake before going to sleep.

—oOo—

AN: Thank you for reading my story. I would love to hear your opinions. I am still looking for a beta reader.

(1) Inspired by Kimi to Boku