Stand By Me

Once again Ino was left wondering if she was imagining the flowers were growing more vibrant every day. It shouldn't be possible, Ino's mom has been taking care of these same flowers since she was a kid, and not once have they looked this bright before. She noticed that the stems seemed stronger and the petals longer. She stared down the aisle of many roses and lilies, lost in thought until she saw a tuft of golden blonde hair sticking over the top of the shelves the flowers were on. Ino couldn't stop the bright blush that now adorned her face, as her thoughts went back to a few hours ago.

"Orange suits you." Upon realizing what the blond laying on the ground was referring to, she grabbed her skirt and kicked him before running away.

'How dare he look under my skirt!' Ino was beyond flustered, she wanted to be sucked into the ground and never come out. How could she be so oblivious? The embarrassed kunoichi turned back to the greenhouse, "THERE BETTER NOT BE A SINGLE PIECE OF DIRT IN THERE BEFORE YOU LEAVE!"

Since that moment Ino has been avoiding him at all costs. She was mortified as the words kept playing on in her head in his low, scruffy voice. Ino wouldn't be able to meet his eyes, possibly ever again. She would rather fight the other four great nations by herself than talk to Naruto right now.

Or that's how she felt before the bell chimed and in walked a kunoichi with pink hair. As soon as Ino saw Sakura, all of that embarrassment turned into fierce, burning jealousy. It made her hands tremble and her chest felt like it was caving in on her.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" She heard him call out to her and she felt a coldness wrap around her heart. "I don't know where Ino-chan is, maybe she's taking a break?" Ino's blood began to get hotter even as the coldness around her heart grew. She could hear the smile as he talked to the pinkette.

"Actually, I came here to see you," The Yamanaka heir felt as if the entire weight of the village was sitting on her heart. "Kakashi-sensei told me something happened to you and that you'd be here." The mind walker couldn't stop herself from glaring daggers in the direction of the front door. 'It's not like you even care. You never once visited him in the hospital.' Ino's thoughts only made her blood hotter before her eyes widened in worry, 'If he tells her what happened, she'll never leave his side again. Then Naruto-kun will ignore me! Don't tell her! She doesn't deserve to know! She wasn't there for you, not even for a second! I was there for three days straight and she didn't even think about you! Even now Kakashi had to tell her to see you, she doesn't deserve that honorific, your attention, your smile. It should be me and for me alone.'

"Really? Why would he say that I'm perfectly fine!" The boy followed with a famous ear-splitting grin.

"I don't know, he just said I should see you and that it wasn't his place to tell me what happened." The pinkette was confused, even more now than she was before. Kakashi had told her that something happened to Naruto and she should go talk to him. She found him working at the Yamanakas' flower shop and just tells her that he was fine. Before she could question him about it further a beeping sound could be heard from a small black box on her arm. Looking at the device in question Sakura gave a tired sigh, "Well it seems that duty calls," The heavy sarcasm was followed with an exaggerated eye roll, "I have to go Naruto, I'll see you soon." They both waved to each other as Sakura walked out of the door.

Further back in the shop, out of the way of the door, Ino let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The young Yamanaka took a second to calm her racing heart, her lips curled in a frown 'What was that? That's his teammate, my friend…and his crush' Before Ino got angry again she was brought out of her thoughts with a small yelp.

"It's because you love him silly." Ino turned to face her mother and her face turned beet red for the second time today.

"N-no I don't!" Her mother just chuckled to herself and waved her hand dismissively.

"It's okay to be selfish when you're competing for something you really desire…" The older blonde let the thought hang in the air before giving her embarrassed daughter a wink and going back to looking at a list of orders.

(Later that day, Dusk)

The bell chimed at the front door and not a second later did the words come out automatically, "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop, how can I help you today?" Ino was on autopilot ever since her mom's teasing. 'I don't love him… I just care about him… and I don't want him to get hurt again.'

Convincing herself with her thoughts she looked up to both her teammates, "What's up guys?" Ino felt the pressure begin to build on her chest again except this time it was a feeling of dread. Shikamaru and Choji were her best friends, they grew up together, but ever since they became ninja the trio hadn't spent much time together outside of missions. Seeing them both walk up to the counter, she knew why they were here.

"Hokage-sama has an urgent mission for us, get your stuff ready, and meet us at the gates." Shikamaru was oozing an aura of boredom but his words carried annoyance at having to do any amount of work.

"What kind of mission…?" The teal-eyed shinobi could barely hear, the sound of her heart pounding away at her ribs, trying desperately to break free of its prison, filling her ears.

"We'll talk on the way there." Choji gave a smile before the two began walking towards the exit.

Behind their backs, however, their teammate was frozen. 'I can't leave him alone… what if something happens! He'll be all alone! What if he tells Sakura what happened while I'm not here to remind him who stood by him in the hospital' Her mind wasn't allowed to think those dark thoughts for long as she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. She turned to see her mother smiling and it brought some comfort. "Don't worry I'll keep the girls away from him."

Once again Ino's face donned, a now common blush, "I told you it's not like that!" Her mother could only laugh as her daughter stormed upstairs in order to get ready for her mission. 'Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll finish this mission and come see you as soon as I get back.' With that final thought, she rushed towards the village gates.

(Night)

"Mrs. Yamanaka I finished!" Naruto called out from deep in the storage closet. The older woman had been working him hard, leaving him sweating. Even a few of his clones that he summoned had their jackets tied around their waist and were laying around the shop wherever they had been asked to help.

"Alright, I believe that's all for the day. Thank you Naruto-san." She smiled kindly at the young blond as he was sitting on some bags of dirt. In truth, the flower shop would be able to run for a few weeks or maybe even months before they needed to stock up again thanks to the jinchuuriki and his clones. The older Yamanaka chuckled when he fist-pumped at her words before the clones started dispersing in puffs of smoke.

"Where's Ino-chan?" He asked as he stood up. He loosened his jacket from his waist and slid his arms back through leaving it unzipped. He hadn't seen her since… He shook off his embarrassment before looking at the older woman.

"She had to leave for a mission a little bit ago. Apparently, Hokage-sama said it had to be finished ASAP." She shrugged her shoulders with a sigh, "Her teammates didn't even tell her what they were doing before they left, but she should be back soon."

"Oh…" Naruto's face became dejected as his eyes found the floor in front of his feet, before looking back up to the shop owner, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." He flashed a smile before walking to the door. 'She didn't even tell me she was leaving… What if she doesn't come back for a week. What if… What if she doesn't come back at all..?' That thought left a foreign feeling in the blond genin. Naruto's hand was reaching for the door to let himself out when a sudden sharp pain in his chest made him lose his balance. His head hit the handle of the door splitting it open before falling to the ground unconscious, a puddle of blood beginning to form around his head.

[A/N] Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I know it's a little shorter than normal but I couldn't think of a better place to end this one, sorry! I'll make it up to you guys in the next chapter, hopefully… I actually finished this one the same day as the last chapter but I don't want to burn myself out by posting updates every day. And I can't spoil you guys too much! The next chapter will is already taking me longer than this one but I'll try to have it out in a week. I am moving real soon so I'm trying to write as much as I can before then.

I think from now on I'm going to keep my AN at the end of the chapter for those of you who take time to read them. If I have something important or if a lot of people are confused about something I'll probably put that at the start.

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's day, if you have a partner please don't ever take the moments you spend for granted.

Anyways, as always feel free to leave a review with your thoughts or questions. Until next time, Ja Ne.