Visiting Hours
Chapter Four: "Rivals"

Although it was called the Hidden Leaf Village, the Yamanakas liked to think that its history was written in flowers—their flowers, to be exact. Theirs weren't the only flower shop in the Hidden Leaf, but it was the best. They were well respected for being excellent ninjas, and their shop profited from their reputation, as well as from their excellent service and lovely arrangements. Business was at its best not only during joyous times like holidays, weddings, festivals, and rank promotions, but also during tragic times like funerals and major hospitalizations. The Yamanakas had provided flowers for the Fifth's induction and the funerals of the Fourth and the Third. They also were providing flowers for the visitors to the young Hidden Leaf ninjas who were hospitalized in the attempt to retrieve Sasuke. And having visited her teammates, Yamanaka Ino was busy making and selling flower arrangements for the rest of her fellow genin. Her father had already handled a special order from Kakashi, so the rest were for her classmates. Most of the customers didn't know what exactly to send, so Ino personally picked out the flowers for them, playing on the language of flowers to send along messages of "Get well soon." And after Tenten walked out with an arrangement each for Neji and Lee, Ino took the opportunity to sit down.

"What a day," she breathed. She felt guilty about complaining—after all, this was nothing compared to what her friends had gone through—but she was still exhausted. They'd had to take thirty-three orders in the past hour alone. She'd never realized how many friends Kiba, Neji, Lee, Naruto, and Chouji had until now. And it was funny, because of that group, she only anticipated Kiba to have that many well-wishers. He was loud and brash, but likable and easy to befriend. The other four were outcasts by comparison.

The door opened again, and she moaned, "Not again," before looking over to see Haruno Sakura walking in. She suddenly felt a sympathy she hadn't felt in years; Sakura had never looked as unhappy as she did now. This was something she'd have to handle delicately.

"Sakura?" she asked gently. "Do you need any help?"

"Oh, no thank you, Ino," Sakura answered. "I'm just browsing." Ino felt a little worse at Sakura's lack of emotion. Normally, she'd have yelled something by now.

"Okay then. Just tell me what you want, and I'll put an arrangement together for you."

"Thanks."

Ino felt strange watching her browse through the flowers. She lingered around the purple hyacinth before taking several. Purple hyacinth meant "I'm sorry." Sakura was apologizing to someone—probably Naruto—through those flowers. Ino felt bad about Chouji's injuries and Shikamaru's failure, but she hadn't gone so far as to apologize through flowers. Chouji would receive the usual "get well" bunch of bright flowers she usually sent to her friends, full of wishes to return to health and happiness. And for Shikamaru, irises—faith, hope, wisdom, and valor: everything he needed right now. And even though there weren't a lot of people who knew the language of flowers, nobody had decided that purple hyacinths would be a good choice. Most had chosen carnations or roses. If Sakura specifically wanted these flowers, she had to be feeling extremely guilty about Naruto's injuries.

"These are for Naruto, right?" she checked, putting them in a vase. Sakura nodded. "Are you sure he won't want something a little brighter? I mean, he'd love anything you give him, what with that crush and all—" And here Sakura slightly winced, so Ino cut off the topic. "Is this all?"

Sakura knew there was no kidding Ino. Ino had taught her everything she knew about flowers, after all. She knew exactly what the hyacinth message to Naruto was, but not why. And for some reason she couldn't begin to understand, she wanted to tell her:

"I want to apologize to him for what happened. He keeps telling me it's not my fault. He thinks it's his, and he keeps promising me that he won't fail next time."

Ino pulled out a ribbon and tied it around the vase. "I really don't see how it's your fault. I'm upset that Sasuke's gone too, but I have to admit that it was his choice, as much as it hurts to say it."

"But did you ask Shikamaru and Chouji to bring him back?" Ino froze for a second, indicating to Sakura that she'd said the wrong thing. "I'm sorry, Ino. I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

"I know," she said. "It's just tough. I didn't get the chance to see Chouji—Lady Tsunade said it wouldn't be a good idea for his health just yet—but just knowing that he nearly died… It's hard. It's really hard."

"I felt the same when I saw Naruto earlier," Sakura admitted, trying to erase the image of his bandaged body from her mind. "It's funny, I guess, in a weird way. We see them all the time and we think they're immortal, so it's hard to think of them hurt like that." Then, changing the subject, she said, "At least Shikamaru was lucky enough to escape injury, thanks to Temari."

"Yeah," Ino agreed, "but the battle nearly killed his self-confidence. I ran into Temari earlier, and she said that he tried to quit. His father tried to talk him out of it, but it wasn't until Lady Tsunade and Shizune told him that everyone was going to live that he decided not to give up."

"That's good," Sakura answered. "At least something good came out of it." Then, realizing that she was holding a civil conversation with Ino, she shook her head. "Look at us: two rivals talking to each other like friends. How did that happen?"

Ino laughed. "I don't know. I guess all that history just flew out the window. Crazy, isn't it?"

"It's not all gone," Sakura replied, a determined look in her eyes replacing her earlier regrets. "Sasuke may be gone for now, but not as long as I have anything to say about it. Between Naruto and me, we'll bring him back."

"You?" Ino asked incredulously. "Naruto's strong—I'll give you that—but there's no way you can get Sasuke back. It'll be me, Shikamaru, and Chouji who save him."

"You're not training under Lady Tsunade," Sakura replied, and Ino gaped. "She agreed to take me on as her apprentice. I'll be learning medical jutsu, among other things."

"You…" Ino started, and then she groaned in frustration. "Fine! I can't believe I ever though that we could get over this rivalry."

"Right," Sakura agreed. "But this time, the victor is whoever saves Sasuke."

"It's a deal."

"Rivals forever."

They stared at each other with intense faces before Sakura's eyes strayed to the purple hyacinths. Her face softened as she remembered why she bought them. Ino's face fell soon after.

"I guess I'd better bring those to Naruto," Sakura commented.

"He said it wasn't your fault," Ino argued.

"I asked him to. I made him promise. Maybe if I hadn't, he wouldn't have let himself get hurt so bad. Maybe he would have pulled back beforehand."

"And you really believe that?" Ino asked. Sakura didn't look at her. "Sakura, I don't know Naruto the way you do, but I know that he and Sasuke were rivals even more than you and I are. He wouldn't have pulled away for anything."

"I guess."

"You know. You're just feeling too guilty over it to admit it to yourself." She reached over to the iris arrangement she was saving for Shikamaru and gave a flower to Sakura. "I think you need this more than Shikamaru does right now."

"Faith, valor, wisdom, and hope," Sakura remembered.

"Most of all hope," Ino said. "Everything's going to be all right. You just need to let yourself see that."

"I know. That's why I asked to be Lady Tsunade's apprentice."

"And she wouldn't have taken you on if she didn't believe in you. You know that too."

"Yeah." Sakura nodded, feeling her self-confidence slowly rising. It was strange how Ino always managed to get her feeling better. "Ino, I'd like to add some more flowers to this. Nothing special—just something bright."

"No messages this time?"

"No. Naruto knows what I mean anyway."

"Okay," Ino replied and started taking some of the brightest, cheeriest flowers she could find and adding them to the vase. "Anything else?"

"No. That's it," Sakura answered, paying. As she started to walk out the door, she stopped suddenly and turned around. "Hey, Ino?"
"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. Sometimes you need someone to knock some sense into you."

"Yeah," Sakura replied with a laugh. "It really felt like old times. It was nice."

Again, a short chapter, but there's only so much that could be said. The "flower messages" information came from a site with info on Victorian use of flowers to convey messages—something I intended for a Kingdom Hearts fic I may or may not write. They probably don't mesh well with the Japanese culture, but this was the best I could do.