Set during the time skip, not too long after the 'Sasuke being a bitch' arc.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Something More
Ino and Sakura train at opposite ends of the same field. Training alone isn't the most efficient way to train but Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji are on their own missions, which they seem to get more often then the two girls. That and Ino would as soon stab herself with a kunai before asking Sakura to spar with her.
Not that she hasn't thought about it.
She'd been hoping that after everything that happened in the exams maybe they would go back to being friends, but Sakura is still pretending that they are rivals. Ino doesn't see much point to it now that Sasuke is gone, but she plays along because she doesn't know what else to do. Sasuke will be back soon anyway and Sakura will go back to fawning over him. Ino will do the same thing, though she got over him long ago. Keeping up appearances is such a bother, as Shikamaru would say, troublesome.
She hates being rivals with Sakura, sometimes tries to hate Sakura for starting the whole thing. She tries to convince herself that their friendship wouldn't have lasted, even if Sasuke didn't come into the picture.
Still she misses having Sakura as a friend. Shikamaru and Chouji are her friends but they are not quite the same as Sakura. She has slept beside them on missions, shared meals with them, and put her life on the line for them as they have done for her. But she cannot braid daisies into Shikamaru's hair or tie it back in a ribbon or teach them how to arrange flowers and there are certain things she cannot see herself talking to them about. She could do all of that with Sakura.
She watches Sakura out of the corner of her eye when she can, and sometimes she thinks she sees her doing the same.
Spring means working extra hours at the flower shop and less training, but Ino doesn't mind. She's always been good with the plants, and the ones she keeps in pots on her windowsill always bloom into beautiful flowers.
Outside she can hear Naruto yelling. He just got back from an out of the village mission and as always insists on greeting everyone loudly. It's annoying.
The bell that signals someone entering the shop rings and she's surprised to see Sakura walking in the doorway. Sakura quickly makes her way to the other end of the store without looking at Ino, who takes it as a sign her ex-friend knows what she's looking for and takes out a magazine instead of asking Sakura if she needs help with anything like she does with most customers.
She doesn't read her magazine; instead she watches Sakura over the top of it and acts like she's reading it while Sakura acts like she's interested in the arrangements that she's not really looking at.
Time drags on and Sakura looks at nearly everything before finally deciding on one. Ino wishes she would have taken longer or decided to leave the shop that way she wouldn't have to face Sakura. She's been avoiding her lately for reasons she's not entirely sure of.
Sakura sets her bouquet of choice on the counter and Ino feigns surprise, acting like she didn't notice her and avoiding her eyes as she checks the price of the flowers and rings it up. She looks at Sakura's hand instead of her face when Sakura pays.
Of course, as luck would have it, the cash register decides at that very moment not to open.
"Stupid thing." She frowns and taps it. "It's been malfunctioning lately." She explains though she doesn't think Sakura cares. "Who're the flowers for?" Small talk is good and she really is curious as to why Sakura would be buying flowers if they weren't for Sasuke.
"Naruto," Sakura lies, a light shade of pink shading her cheeks. "He's in the hospital, difficult mission you know, so I uh, thought I should buy him some flowers to cheer him up."
"Oh," Ino says nodding and seeing right through the lie. "That's nice of you." She frowns again and slams a fist on the cash register. It's drawer pops open and Ino smirks in triumph as she takes out Sakura's change.
"Have a nice day," She says with a grin as she hands Sakura the bouquet and her change. She looks Sakura in the eye this time and Sakura smiles at her, the first smile Ino's seen on her face in a long while.
"Bye Ino-pig," Is the response she gets, said with a little malice but with what Ino thinks is a bit of friendly teasing too.
As Sakura walks out of the shop, Ino thinks that they can probably never go back to being best friends like they once were, but maybe, just maybe, they can be something more.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
This came out better in my head.