The Ardor of Every Day

3.

Sasuke was constantly a part of Naruto's head for the next couple days. He'd see him and keep a lookout for him whenever he went to work and left work. He was steadily observing Sasuke whenever he saw him, as to figure out what kind of person he might be. Through all of his observations, Naruto saw that Sasuke was pretty distant from his father and brother and kept to himself. He didn't seem to converse with them much, his methods of communication included a few words and mostly just head nods. He never expressed much on his face either.

Naruto was creating a plan this whole time to introduce himself to Sasuke soon. He planned to take one of his friends along with him on his next day off to the flower shop, as to use them as a buffer if anything goes wrong. He'd just have to hope that Sasuke would be working that day or at least be at the shop.

He was hanging out with his friend Hinata the day he planned to execute his plan. He felt like a child, he thought to himself the night before. He didn't tell Hinata about his plan. The day of, he got dressed up and walked to Hinata's house to pick her up. Most of the people he knew lived walking distance. He texted her when he reached her place.

Naruto: "I'm here, hurry up."

Hinata: "Yeah, wait up, I'll be out in a second."

Hinata was Naruto's best friend. They had grown up together and gone to the same schools since they were children. She had beautiful long black hair and grey eyes. Naruto would also make fun of her for being so petite. She came through the front door with her tote bag swinging in one hand and her water bottle in the other.

"So what are we doing today?" She asked while lightly kicking Naruto's calf.

"Oi don't do that. And I don't know, I was just thinking we could walk around on the beach looking for some shells-"

"Can we get something to eat too?, I skipped breakfast." Hinata interrupted.

"Yes, I was just gonna say that, only if you'd let me finish." Naruto nudged her with his elbow.

"Also I want to visit the flower shop that just opened beside our store before I drop you back home." Naruto crossed his fingers in the hope that she wouldn't ask any questions.

"Huh? Why do you want to go to the flower shop?" Of course, she would ask questions he thought.

"My mom told me to grab some for the dining table." Naruto was not a good liar but at this moment, Hinata didn't think she had anything to suspect.

"Oooh ok, I'll grab some tulips for my mom as a surprise too, she'll be so happy!" Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and started skipping her steps.

After walking around for some time, they took the bus and went to their favourite local ramen spot for a late lunch. They sat there a bit longer than planned because the air conditioner just felt too good compared to the heat outdoors. With their bellies full they decided to take a walk on the beach as it was just nearby. Naruto, as usual, spent most of his time staring into the distance of the ocean, while Hinata collected some elegant shells and struggled to capture some good photos of herself. They later got some iced drinks to cool their bodies and got back on the bus to go to the flower shop.

On the bus, Naruto was still breaking a sweat and felt a tad insecure about what was going to happen next. Hinata noticed this unusual behaviour but didn't want to say anything to upset him or make him feel conscious further. After getting off at the bus stop, Naruto kept his fingers crossed the whole time.

As they stood in front of the shop, Hinata read out loud, "Uchiha Florist".

The signage that Sasuke had been painting was now complete. It looked beautiful. It had a black background with the words written in lilac. He had also painted vines that surrounded the letters to lift it from being perceived as boring.