Disclaimer: Naruto (&all characters) belong to Kishimoto. Mandubunny owns nothing. Mandubunny is poor…
AN: I don't know if this counts as angst. Is this angsty? Maybe. Nothing against Temari ~ she's just a catalyst for jealous!Ino
Sunflower
"Sunflowers follow the sun, wherever the light is shining, they'll be there. Chasing, basking, and glowing in the presence of their one and only Sun."
Glancing out at the street was completely involuntary.
It was something she told herself every time she looked out the storefront.
She couldn't quite help jumping to attention every time someone with dark ebony hair walked by. Upon the development of this very involuntary habit she had come to find that a frustrating amount of people in Konoha seemed to be brunettes, a fact which didn't quite help her already sensitive nerves.
Usually, the brunette her eyes would lock onto was not the one she was certainly, most definitely not looking for.
Usually, they were false alarms.
Usually.
This was not usually.
His body was ever so slightly leaning towards his left while one hand rested in the pocket of his flak jacket and the other hand rising sheepishly behind his head. A familiar pose but one intended for an infuriating woman. It was impossible to miss the ridiculous, overgrown tessen strapped to the back of that hussy. (Besides, who else wore pigtails at that age! A novice in the hair department obviously.) A ridiculous grin was growing on his face. When had he ever expanded beyond his one blank expression of utter boredom? And by that she meant when had he started to smile for someone other than her?
She took no notice as the arrangement she had been working on shuddered and wilted from the sheer amount of killing intent leaking out. The sound of a dozen stems snapping however got her to look down. She opened her hands to see the crushed mess she had made out of the flowers. She'd just spent the past half hour trimming them and took a brief second to mourn her wasted efforts. The mourning quickly turned back to irritation as she zoomed back in on what had caused her to demolish her work.
She cursed the fact that the counter was placed facing the door.
She cursed her parents for choosing the glass windows that spanned from ceiling to floor (conveniently forgetting that she had basically bullied her dad into getting them, all the better to admire herself in the reflection of course).
But most of all, she cursed him.
Her snort of derision seemed to be amplified by the empty store.
Stupid store. Stupid windows. Stupid flowers. Stupid Shikamaru.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
The glass walls she had once admired herself in seemed to be mocking her.
Reflection, reflection, on the wall, who is the stupidest one of all? Why, you Ino, you!
He was making an utter fool of himself pandering to that Sand woman.
She could nearly see a tail wagging (slowly, this was Shikamaru after all) in contentment.
He never once glanced over to the store. Not at the Yamanaka Hana sign their team had had to paint for one of their first D-rank missions. Not at the sunflowers (the only flowers, he had once slipped and said were as bright and beautiful as her) artfully arranged outside.
Shikamaru was smiling. He looked…happy.
She wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or cry.
AN: Poor Ino...I still love you :3 Please be kind with reviews! :3 It's been awhile.