When Ino opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was an unfamiliar crystal vase stuffed full of cosmos flowers before her. She struggled to get up and rubbed her eyes.

"Mom!" Ino called, "Why did you put flowers in my room?" But as she looked more carefully, she could tell that it was definitely not her mother's handiwork. There were far too many cosmos for the arrangement to be pleasing to the eye, and the leaves hadn't been trimmed properly. Even for something as small and insignificant as this, her mother was a perfectionist. There was no way she could have been the one who put this here. After a short pause, her mother replied that she hadn't, which confirmed Ino's nagging suspicions.

Sakura.

Ino felt her lips tugging at the corners and flung her blankets back on the bed without bothering to fold them. She'd do it later. First, she had something much more important to do. She needed to thank Sakura.

"Ino, someone is here to see you!"

Sakura!

Ino shoved her bedroom door with more force than necessary in her haste and stubbed her toe as she sprinted down the stairs. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her foot, she turned the corner and almost collided into her mother.

"Someone's a little eager," Ino's mother noted, smiling lightly.

"Yeah," Ino panted, "I just had to thank –" she stopped abruptly when she saw who was leaning against the front door of her house.

"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, stunned.

In answer, Sasuke held out a friendship bracelet. "You dropped this."

Ino moved forwards and took it gratefully. "Arigatou, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke flinched noticeably. It was at that moment that Ino's mother chose to walk away, leaving them alone. She smiled cheerfully all the way to the kitchen, humming to herself and thinking about how her darling Ino-chan had finally grown up.

"What is it?" Ino asked when her mother had gone.

"Oh, nothing," Sasuke shook his head as if to clear it. "Anyways, I have to go. Sayonara, Ino." Without waiting for a reply, he left the house.

Ino was crestfallen at the sudden departure. She then remembered that she still had yet to visit Sakura and she brightened immediately. She walked towards the kitchen where her mother was waiting for her. She looked surprised when she saw that Sasuke had left so quickly, but she didn't press for details.

"I'm going to go look for Sakura-chan," Ino announced, before she dashed out the front door.

-:-

Ino found her lying in the shade of a cherry tree, scribbling at a notepad with a pencil crayon.

"Hey, Sakura!" she greeted her, running up the short stretch of dirt road before stopping directly in front of her friend. Sakura looked up, her eyes sparkling.

"Ino-chan!" she cried delightedly.

Ino tackled Sakura to the ground and gave her a bear hug.

"What was that for?" Sakura asked, giggling madly and trying to smooth out her hair with her pencil crayon.

"Thanks for the cosmos, Sakura-chan," Ino said, her throat suddenly constricting. "I appreciate it."

Sakura smiled sweetly. "Thank you for teaching me how to cut flowers, Ino-chan. I was practising, and I thought you might like them."

Ino's felt a sudden rush of affection for the other girl. She was so thoughtful sometimes, it made her feel bad.

"Ino-chan? I have a question."

"Ask away," Ino replied in amusement.

Sakura frowned slightly. "Haruko-chan asked me to go shopping with her tomorrow, what should I do?"

Ino was overjoyed. Sakura was starting to get along with her friends! "What do you mean, what do you do? You go with her of course!"

Sakura's frown deepened. "But I wanted to hang out…with you."

"You do?" Ino asked blankly, not truly registering what Sakura had said. When she did, her mouth fell open. "Sakura, I…well, that…I'm flattered," she said at last. "But you still should go shopping with her."

Sakura's mouth opened, but no words came out.

"Besides, what use would it be to hang out with me and my flowers all the time? You should talk to other people too, and you'll find them fun to be around, trust me," Ino insisted.

Ino was thrilled that Sakura liked to be around her so much, but the girl needed to talk to others too. It would improve her self-confidence, she decided. Sakura was on the road to becoming popular and well-liked, Ino could see that. She smiled smugly, watching her pink-haired friend give a hesitant nod.

"Okay, Ino-chan," she said bravely.