A letter?

Two blonde eyebrows furrowed together, masculine hands reaching down and picking up the sealed envelope resting on his phillow.

How did this get here?

With a short flick of his wrist, Naruto broke the seal that held the envelope closed and pulled out the letter. A neat paragraphed letter in a nice and round handwriting, the way most girls write. He skimmed down to the bottom part first. One of his eyebrows rose unconciously.

It's from Ino...

Not that he received many letters or anything (most letters he ever received were about mission business, except for that joint Team Seven birthday card they had sent him two years ago - it had been a long time), but Ino? This was weird to say in the least.

How did she enter anyways? I locked the door... Maybe Sakura gave her that spare key, although they weren't on that good terms when I left... Things have changed.

He sat himself down on the bed, lying back.

And then he read.

Ino sighed. Saturdays were her least favorite days. Each saturday (except when she was needed on a mission), her father would force her to help her mom in the shop. As the older woman prepared the most beautiful floral arangements to put in display, Ino stood behind the counter and kindly helped the people who came by and desired to buy flowers. All. Day. Long. She didn't dislike working, or the flowers, but she couldn't stand all those people coming by and thinking that a bouquet of flowers could mend things between them and their love partners perfectly. Roses had their thorns, Ino knew. Not all cracks could be fixed.

A deep breath escaped her lips as she sat back onto the stool behind the counter after helping what would probably be the last costumer of the day. Her mom had left her to close down, so it was just her and the flowers. Or so she thought.

Confidant, striding footsteps coming Ino's way caused her to raise her head from the magazine she'd been reading. Then... Shock.

He had grown. She'd expected him to have done some growing (it had been two years, after all) but this handsome? She didn't think it possible. Yet there he was - spiky blonde locks of hair, bright cerulean eyes matching her own. He was way taller than her now. He could look down on her. It made her smile.

We're not little kids anymore, ne, Naruto...

Trying very, very hard to make something understandable out of the mess in her head, a small sentance escaped Ino's lips.

"So, you're back..?"

He nodded.

"Just entered through the gate this morning. I already saw Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei, and Shikamaru... And that girl from the sand, what's her name..."

"Temari?" Ino offered. She received a bright smile in return.

"Yeah, that's it. Baa-chan is immidiately putting me under pressure again, telling me to go training first thing in the morning tomorrow. I can't even have a day off!"

She eyed him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? You've just had a vacation of almost two years!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in defense. "Ah, well, it wasn't all fun you know! Ero-sennin made me work really hard! He's a very cruel man most of the time, but I think he hides his true nature to get more girls... He's a dirty pervert, know that?"

Ino couldn't hold in the snicker that escaped her lips just then. "I'm sure he does. So... Why'd you come here? Need some flowers? Got a girl to impress now that you've been gone so long?" She accompanied her words with a saucy little wink.

A gentle, pink haze rose to his cheeks. "Not really, no. I don't think so. Is there anyone I should be sending flowers? I didn't forget Sakura-chan's birthday again, did I!?"

She shook her head. "No, you're fine. But if it's not for the flowers, why are you here then? We're closing down in..." After a quick glance on her watch, she continued.

"...five minutes or so."

Naruto grinned. "I came to see you, Ino-chan!"

Ino quirked a brow at the nickname. "Why?"

"I got your letter."

Oh... Yes, the letter... Damn. I knew I shouldn't have written that letter...

"I wasn't really thinking when I wrote that, so don't mind it too much. It doesn't really matter. You see-"

Naruto tuned out the girl's voice and instead focused on her facial features. She was still the same, breathtakingly pretty girl she had been when he left a few years ago. Of course he hadn't really known her back then, and still didn't, but that could be worked out. It wasn't an issue.

The warm fuzzy feeling he had gotten from reading the letter she'd sent him returned. It made his stomach loop-de-loop in his belly and his brains run overheated in turmoil. Love was a complicated thing.

"Ino."

The commanding tone in his voice surprised her, and she halted in her line of words, the endless exuses she'd been spilling so far. He'd never spoken like that before.

"H-Hai?"

She dared to look up and immidiately her breath hitched high, heart beating faster than she thought healthy. Naruto was leaning towards her, hands planted firmly on the counter for support. His eyes were sparkling brightly with a mix of unindentifiable emotions. He knew. The grin was still plastered on his lips, bright as always.

His hand was warm when he placed it on her neck, pulling her closer. Not until that moment did she realise she had slowly been pulling away. She hadn't wanted to though. She wanted to lean in, she wanted to have him close. For the first time in her life, Ino desired to be physically connected to the blonde outrage.

And so it happened. He stopped her from backing away, and she relaxed at the gentle, reassuring squeeze his hand gave the side of her neck. Before Ino knew it, instincts made her eyes flutter shut and right at that second his lips pressed firmly onto hers. She let him carry her to unknown shores of happiness and bliss and weaved her arms around his neck. Naruto's hands travelled slowly down her sides, sending shivers all over her body at his very touch before his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, never to let go. They continued to wrap up in one another that eventually, both bodies were draped across the counter just to reach eachother the most and share the best kiss of their lives.

God, she had missed this boy. More than she thought. As sudden as it had started, he backed away and broke the contact. But not for long. Breathing is essential to ensure survival, after all.

He understood her secret message, the words she'd been screaming at him from between the lines of her letter. The words she'd refused to say because there was still something named pride and she valued it greatly. And Ino felt the emotions behind his kiss, the answer to her plee.

I love you.