A/N: No longer a One-Shot.

Ino tried to wave the embarrassment out of her face; it wasn't very relieving to be so flustered so early. She sneaked a glance at the image reflecting from the frozen section, nipping her bottom lip as she realized just how bothered she looked. Sulking, she sighed as she continued to push the cart through the aisles. It was Sunday morning, ten in the morning to be exact, and according to Miss Yamanaka it was too early-it could even be considered godless hours to her. But then again, she couldn't sleep from that dream that instilled on her hours before.

Dream, yes, because it was in fact that-a mere dream. After hours of contemplating on what exactly happened, Ino woke in a daze and settled it on the idea of last night being a dream. Of course Naruto would not dare wake her up to tell her something on those lines; in fact she wasn't much acquainted with him to begin with. Besides, she's been dazing for a while lately; maybe the whole Naruto incident was an example of just how much of a beautiful dreamer she's become.

"Yes," She nodded to herself, followed by an abrupt pause, for the third time that morning she caught a fleeting look on both of her sides. "Shit, I have to stop talking to myself…" Another attempt at counting the tiles ended, and Ino couldn't quite understand just what exactly was going on. Focusing was becoming a difficult task recently, and she didn't particularly know if she could handle it. 'Great…" Opting between mental thought and verbal, Ino chose to remain silent for the rest of her grocery shopping, at least to herself that is.

She could still sense it, his lips pressed against hers, the moment of anxiety riddling into her veins, the shock and surprise washing over her like water. Drifting her finger across her lips, she began to take this as a new habit. "Let's see…Skim…Whole…Half on Half? What the…" Ino clutched at the moistened carton, slightly cringing at how cold it was against her touch. Yet, as amusing as the drawing of the cow over the moon was, what caught her attention was the orange tint that seemed to glisten to her far left. Impulsively, she turned to see Naruto gaping in her direction, a familiar smile gracing his features.

And somewhere, inside that layer of cold toast and eggs, something panged against the flow of her heart beat, and it jerked her nerves. That orange blur that lightened the whole store had her attention, which was not something Ino could admit so easily. This time, her cheeks were flared, not mild. Somehow, she returns her gaze to meet the dull carton, blood rushing through her veins. 'Me, was he looking at me?' She thought to herself, she could feel sapphire boring into her subconscious. Ignoring urges to touch her bottom lip once more, she dared to take another quick glimpse at the young man.

Surprisingly, he remained at his post, lifting his arm to gesture a wave. Her eyes widened what?

Was he waving his hand at her, calling her over? Instead of standing, he began pace closer to her, eyes continued to be fixated on her. Ino took a step back, her limbs trembling with unease. Staring into the dark pupils, outlining the faint streaks that graced his features, she could not fight herself to move another inch.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, his grin growing, he fastened his strides, opening his arms. In that instant, shoving aside all common sense, Ino managed to slowly reach her hand out, that uncontrollable electricity pouring through her, smiling giddily at the handsome young adult only a few feet from her.

"H-"A small huff of air escaped her mouth, what was expected to be a greeting died in an instant as a certain a rush of pink blurred past her to embrace the blonde. Ino could feel shame sink into her soul, grating into the realization that Naruto was calling Sakura and not her. In front of her stood two long time friends reminiscing over their past childhood, and Ino found that she could not take it anymore. Leaving her cart, Ino picked up the dignity that she had left and escaped from that realm of humiliation, before anyone noticed.

"STUPID, stupid! I…I'm an idiot! Why the HELL do I care anyway! I didn't care two days ago, why should I even be concerned!" Ino laughed the restlessness off, ignoring the fact that she was alone. This was not the time to kill off old habits.

Sleeping really wasn't an option that night; she had jitters that had her bucking her legs as she covered her waist with the blanket that made no difference. Either way, she took glances to her side to stare at the direction of the door. Inside that conscious of her, in a guilty way, she wished it a knock would bombard her the way it had the night before, in her dream of course. Exaggerating her sigh, Ino formed a fist, punching the pillow that she clenched against her chest. "I guess not today."

Disappointed ran through her, she groaned at the thought of getting her hopes up. Still, even as the glow from the moon kept her company, she hated loneliness. "Aye, I guess maybe it was a dream." Ino whispered to herself in defeat, finally able to admit that there really were no chances with the loudest Shinobi in Konoha. Turning away from the window, Ino shut her eyes tight and prayed for sleep, and it complied with her wish.

DRRRIIIIINNNNNG

It dwelled on her; she flung her palm, smacking it against the alarm clock, cursing herself to install it a few hours before. She clicked on the snooze button and nuzzled against her pillow. Yet, the insane thing continued to ring

DRRIIIIIINNNNG

"What the-?" She lifted her head to look at the alarm clock, which read three in the morning. Tired eyes scanned the room to check for another buzzer, finding the phone to light in its glory. Without thinking twice, Ino pushed the talk button and settled back onto the mattress, "…Argh...Who is this?" She croaked into the phone.

"Hey you," A voice answered, husky and tired as well. It snapped the exhaust out of Ino; she quickly sat up, staring at the phone in sudden attentiveness.

"N-Naruto?" She could hear her heart beat thud alongside her ears.

"The one and only," A low whisper came through the receiver.

"What are you doing, it's three in the morning!" She shouted, latching onto her alarm clock to assure her theory.

"Ah, sweetheart, don't scream." A chuckle rustled into her senses. "I can hear you fine."

"Why are you calling?" She asked the obvious,

"To talk to you, silly,"

"That isn't…" Ino groaned, hating to play these stupid mental games, well no…it wasn't that she hated playing it was that she was so accustomed to being on the leading end of the stick. "That's not what I mean," She finished, clearing her throat, "What are you doing-"

"I love you." He interrupted with his rugged voice, filled with fatigue, hinting of drowsiness.

"What?" Her voice shrunk into a mere whisper,

"I said, I love you," And with those final words, a click was followed afterwards, the tone flaring her hearing. She didn't quite realize what exactly happened until the operator began to explain how to turn off the phone. Nevertheless, she was left wondering, once more, what had just happened.