Ino stretched her body out, wiggling her toes and fingers, desperately trying to yawn out the sleep in her as she rolled out of bed. Her toes scrunching up the carpet beneath her feet. She walked towards the bathroom, turning on the faucet as she stared herself down in the mirror. Pulling her hair back, she let the sink fill to the top before turning off the tap. She twirled her finger in the water, testing the temperature before splashing it onto her face. She grabbed her hand towel near by, dabbing herself dry, and looked into the mirror once again.

Recalling all the events that transpired, she felt like walking on air but her heavy heart kept her grounded. That night at the bar had taken a turn she hadn't expected. She had finally gotten a chance to communicate some of her feelings to Naruto, an act she had been dreading for months. She had hoped to talk to Tenten about everything that had happened but a mission alert on Tenten's part dwindled her plans.

Stripping off her clothes, she proceeded into the shower, letting the warm water wash away her worries. Dipping her head under the nozzle, she relished at the feel of water steadily running down her body. This was what showers were made for, to cleanse, in more ways than one. Resting her forehead against the tile, she closed her eyes and let the sound of droplets overrun the noise in her heart.

She stepped out naked, using the towel to wrap up her hair instead. She opened up her closet to fish out her white spaghetti strapped dress, hauling it over her head, letting the hem flutter against her upper thighs. Moving over to the vanity, she sat down and combed out the knots in her hair. Parting it in the middle, she decided to leave it down.

Rushing through the house, she picked a neutral coloured cardigan while slipping on her sandals. She had a few flower arrangements to send out in the morning. She locked the front door and sprinted towards the street. The village bustling, shops overflowing with customers as children enjoyed themselves on the playground. She smiled, finally reaching the front doors to her shop, one of the workers on her shift minding the counter.

She greeted her politely, running past her to collect the bundle of flowers. She counted the amount she had to send off, before leaving herself. She walked down the known streets of regular customers, checking out the stands as she popped her head in to signal the arrival of their purchases. Vendor's often bought flowers to display around their stores. It brightened up the spaces. She still had a few more stops to visit when she left a popular dango shop in the middle of town. The owner had ordered a beautiful bouquet of lilies for his wife's birthday. The heat was sweltering, and with the sun blinding her sight she missed a step coming down, colliding hard into the chest of a stranger. Their strong arms keeping her steady, saving the vase of roses in her hands.

She flushed at the embarrassment, apologising profusely to the other participant, bowing deeply before facing them, her arm pulsing at the impact. She felt her heart flutter at the sound of laughter, a cross between light and hearty. Ino quickly raised her head, eyes landing directly on to his. He held a playful smirk on that handsome face of his, bangs hanging over his eyes. His stature hovering over her lithe body, muscles flexing beneath his shirt as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yo," He smirked, eyeing her rubbing her arm. "You ok?"

"Naruto?" Ino gaped.

"That'd be me, my name's written somewhere on this shirt." He joked, pulling at the collar of said material, before pointing to her arm this time.

"Yea, It's fine." Ignoring it completely, she hadn't been aware of how much time had passed. When Tenten had gotten her mission status. she told the blonde it included the participation of team seven. The mission time was estimated to be around three to four weeks, depending on the reports. She hadn't heard from Tenten, so she assumed they were still out of the village. She was quite surprised to see the rambunctious blonde walking around the district carefree.

"What are you doing here?" She finally managed to ask.

Naruto raised a brow. "In Konoha? You know, living I guess."

"No," exclaimed Ino, before clearing her throat from the raising of her voice. "I mean, on the market streets."

"I get the impression that you don't want me around." Naruto teased.

"No, of course not! Thats not what I meant," Ino blushed. "I'm just surprised to see you back, is all."

Naruto laughed, he found her flushed cheeks cute. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Naruto eyed Ino up and down waiting for her response. She looked different. It had only been three weeks, two and a half at best since he saw her last, but she had changed up her look. He was surprised to find she owned any other colour than purple in her wardrobe. Her skin was lightly sun kissed, her eyes a tad bit bluer if that were even possible, and he noticed how firm and lean her body looked, someone clearly started working out again. He plucked a golden strand from behind her ear, twirling it around his finger, he'd never seen her without her signature hairstyle.

Ino pouted. "When did you get back?"

"Sometime late last night."

"Why aren't you home or with Sakura?" She asked, swatting his hand away from her hair.

"I don't spend all my time with Sakura." Naruto defended, huffing at the accusation.

"You could have fooled me." Ino whispered to herself, continuously pouting.

"What was that?"

Her eyes widened a bit before smiling sweetly at the boy in front of her, shaking her head. He snickered inwardly at her little comment, letting her off with a warning by smacking her playfully on the backside. She squeaked out and turned to any possible audience members around them, the busybodies to engrossed in their own tasks to witness the action. She'd have to watch that, her slight resentment towards his relationship with Sakura was ever so present lately. After the mission was announced, she couldn't help the anger that came with the thought of Sakura being alone with Naruto after the night in the alley. They had departed so suddenly, she hadn't even gotten the chance to talk about what had happened. She turned away from him, slowing walking deeper into the busy massed crowd.

"You're welcome." He shouted back, following her.

Ino looked up puzzlingly, her eyes questioning the look he had on his. He pointed down to the roses she held on to dearly, her mind quickly putting the pieces together.

"Oh," Ino's mouth forming a cute little circle before giggling. "I forgot, thanks for catching me earlier."

He shrugged his shoulders, glancing at the flowers in her hand. "You sending them out?"

Nodding her head, she smiled. "I'm out for deliveries."

"Need any help?"

Ino stuttered a bit, stunned but pleased at the offer. It was getting a little tiring doing it all by herself. "That would be awesome."

He smiled, grabbing the flowers from her hand. She only had a few more establishments to hit before they could call it quits, which went by quickly with Naruto's help, his stamina coming into great use.

"Is that it?" asked Naruto, dusting of his hands.

"Yep, that was the last house," Ino huffed out, slightly out of breath, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Thanks so much Naruto, I really appreciate it."

"You did most of the work, I just came at the end," said Naruto before laughing. "Ha, I just heard myself."

"I would offer you an award but now I'm not so sure you deserve it."

"Can I pick the prize?"

"Not unless it's a glass of water."

"I guess that'll do, it's not as soft as what I had in mind but just as wet."

She glared at him, blushing once again as she playfully nudged him in the ribcage, making him gasp out in mock pain. She tugged at his jacket, leading him to the flower shop. Once they got inside, Ino dismissed the worker, giving her the rest of the day off. Now that the deliveries were finished, she could watch over the store. She jerked Naruto to a stop, her palm placed on his chest, signalling him to say as she headed to the back. A customer's only sign resting on the door. Nodding his head, he swirled around, glancing at the rows of plotted plants hanging below the ceiling in the far corner of the room.

He whizzed back around when she came into view, carrying two bottle's of water. She tossed one to Naruto, who caught it with ease. "This is nice." He pointed to all directions of the store. He hadn't really been inside the flower shop before.

Ino nodded in agreement, taking a hefty gulp of her water. "Yea, I've always liked it."

He chuckled, continuing his investigation, glancing at the plants, and reading off their name cards in his head. "How was your mission by the way?" Ino interjected, curious to know how it went.

"Good I guess," He answered, taking a sip from his own drink, still engrossed in reading the plant information cards "It was more surveillance than anything."

"So nothing happened?"

"Mission wise, no."

He stretched out his arms, feeling his muscles crack when he spotted Ino looking at him questionably.

"Tenten was being…mildly aggressive."

"To you?!" Ino mentally cursed, she really had to explain the situation to Tenten before she harmed either one of them…physically, mentally, or emotionally.

"She mainly sassed me. It was Sakura who she fought with the most," Naruto answered. "She seemed angry at the start of the mission, so I tried my best to stay out of her way but you know how Sakura is."

Ino shook her head. Oh, she knew full well how Sakura could be. She's a strength enhancing little monster wrapped up in cotton candy coating.

"Wasn't to bad, though?"

"Nah. It entertained the hell out of everybody, except for Sakura, of course." He laughed.

Ino paused, picturing the pinkette crying into Naruto's arms about how mean TenTen was being. "She probably leaned on you a lot for support." She whispered under her breathe, clear aggression hinting through.

Naruto had caught it…again. He didn't say anything but looked at her. Her gaze on the ground, fiddling with her dress. He rolled his eyes, he didn't understand why she was still bringing Sakura up in conversation. The topic seemed to unsettle her greatly, and he was curious to know what was happening between the two. They use to be close, closer than any one he knew but then it changed. He never understood why.

"What's going on between you two anyways?" He asked, leaning against the counter.

She looked up to face him, surprise evident. "Why do you ask?"

"You bring her up constantly," Naruto answered. "So clearly somethings up."

Ino hesitated, she didn't exactly want to tell him the truth because honestly, she didn't know it herself. "I never get you to myself," She lied, switching the subject to him. "I'm nervous."

"Of what?!"

"I don't know," Ino exclaimed. "She's always been the barrier or the ice breaker, what if you don't like me without her there?"

"Ino Yamanaka, I already like you," Naruto confessed. "You know this, that's the last thing you need to worry about."

Ino's lips twitched up into a small smile. "Yea well, whatever." Ino pouted cutely.

"You must have the biggest crush one me." He teased, leaning in closer.

"I do not have a crush on you." She retorted quickly.

"This coming from the girl that asked me whether I like, like her when she was pressed up against a wall." Naruto responded through fits of laughter.

Ino paled, turning rather serious. "I really don't recall." She rubbed her chin in thought.

"Oh, need a reminder?" Naruto asked innocently, a devious undertone present.

"If you insist really," said Ino, shrugging. "If you think you've got the skills to re-jog my memory?"

Naruto shook his head at her ploy, grinding his teeth in slight annoyance. Ino knew how to wind him up. In two seconds he was in front of her, hauling her up against the counter, wrapping her legs around him. He inhaled her lavender scent and felt the hairs on his arms stand up. He always did love how she smelled. He loved it even more when it mixed in with his own scent. He wouldn't admit how territorial he could be, he preferred to show it.

She yelped, not expecting him to make good on his words. She circled her arms around his neck for balance. "We haven't talked since that night," Naruto spoke. "We really should lay down some ground work."

Ino smiled back in response, composing herself rather quickly. "We really should. How about we talk more after I finish work."

He was nippling at her ear now. "Dad's still out of town?"

"It got extended, the skills of a mind walker are high in demand these days." She explained seductively.

"Oh, I bet." said Naruto, trailing hot kisses down her throat.

Slipping his hands up her thighs, his fingers digging into her flesh as he dragged her closer to his warm body, gently whispering into her ear. "I'll see you tonight, Yamanaka."

And just like that, he let her go, thanking her for the water as he walked through the front exit, leaving Ino both hot and bothered. Her body was tingling all over at his touch. The asshole. She was looking forward to spending some quality time with the rambunctious blonde though. She hopped down, smoothing the lines of her dress out and leaning over the counter instead. However, she was unaware of the pair of eyes following the blonde male stepping out of her family's store.