Mind games

Of Love and Flowers

"Oi, Sasuke! Look at this!" Naruto darted into the training grounds, late (as usual), waving something above his head.

Sasuke pushed off the tree he had been waiting against and took two or three steps to meet Naruto in the middle. Naruto came to a sudden halt, his hand outstretched. In his grasp was nothing other than a yellow flower.

"Do you know what this is?" He demanded.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, "A flower?"

"It was on my doorstep this morning when I left," Naruto explained in one breath, "There was no note with it or anything. Do you think it was a mistake?"

"No," The onyx-eyed boy replied slowly, "No, I don't think it was a mistake."

"Why not?"

"Well, that's a Chrysanthemum."

"So?"

"So? A yellow Chrysanthemum stands for 'secret admirer'." Sasuke stated, matter-of-factly.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "How do you know?"

"I've had plenty of girls give me them. Of course I know what it stands for." He scoffed.

"Well, it's not so secret if they hand it to you in person, now is it?" Naruto replied, going to set the flower down so they could spar.

Sasuke laughed.

----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.

The next day Sasuke sat peacefully in a booth at the back of the ramen shop, poking at his food. He had never much liked ramen, but Naruto insisted on eating nothing else and so he was slowly beginning to acquire a taste for the food. Naruto walked in and set two flowers down on the table without a word.

"More?" Sasuke asked, picking up the purple flower and twirling it in his fingers.

Naruto huffed and sat down.

"Maybe they're from Hinata," Sasuke suggested, placing the flower back on the table. "I'm pretty sure she likes you."

Naruto blanched. "Hinata? No way. What do they mean anyways?"

"Well, this one is a lilac," The dark haired boy picked the purple flower up once again, "And it means 'first love'. The other one is a Hyacinth, which means 'sincerity'. So they're trying to tell you that you're their first love and they really mean that."

"This is too complicated. Why can't they just come out to my face and say it?"

Sasuke shrugged.

----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.

The boys had parted ways after the ramen shop, but bumped into each other again later in the day. Naruto was red-faced and fuming, pacing circles in front of one of the benches in town. Sasuke had stopped for a moment, trying to determine if he really wanted to go over and see what had upset Naruto. Finally he decided to do it and closed the gap between them.

Naruto must have seen him coming because he held up yet another flower and began yelling when Sasuke was only half way to him, "What the hell is this one?"

Quickly the avenger closed the gap between the two of them and looked at the flower, "A sweetpea."

"And it means...?"

Sasuke almost couldn't stifle his laughter as he replied "'Shyness'."

"What the hell? Who gives someone a flower meaning 'shyness'? What is that supposed to mean, anyways?"

"Don't you remember?" Sasuke asked. And when Naruto rounded on him with a furious expression, he continued, "You asked earlier why they wouldn't just tell you to your face how they feel. This is obviously their answer."

Naruto was ready to bash his head into a wall.

----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.

The final flower that Naruto received was an Apple Blossom with a small note tied around the stem. Written in sloppy handwriting on the piece of paper was an address and a time, nothing more. Frustrated once again, Naruto sought after his best friend who had also become his resident flower expert.

Sasuke glanced up when he saw Naruto coming and immediately looked to the flower in his hands. "It means promise," he said as Naruto approached.

"Promise..." Naruto echoed after him, "It came with a note that had an address and a time. You don't think--?"

"That they're promising to meet you there at that time? Sounds like it to me." Sasuke said, tossing another kunai at the target on the tree. "Looks like you'll finally get to solve your mystery.

"How do you know so much about flowers again?" Naruto asked, looking at the delicate flower in his hand. He was almost too distracted to register Sasuke's answer.

"My mom used to be into gardening. You know, when she was..." His voice trailed off. Before Naruto could point out the discrepancy, Sasuke continued with a new train of thought. "Anyways, I've got to go. And you've got to go to meet your mystery admirer. Good luck with all of that."

And just like that he walked away.

----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.----.x.

Naruto stood under a Sakura tree that he had stood under many times before, his sweaty palms inside his pockets as he tried to look cool and collected. He couldn't deny, however, that his eyes were darting up and down the street, looking for someone headed this way. He couldn't ignore the little seed of an idea (and hope) that had begun to form in the back of his mind.

What if Sasuke had--

"Naruto-kun?" A voice drew Naruto out of his reverie.

He looked up to see a dark-haired girl standing in front of him, blushing. "Hinata?"

Disbelief threatened to swallow Naruto whole. Not to mention the crushing disappointment that was filling every empty space in his body. It had been Hinata all along? But she was so shy! And she didn't---couldn't like him! Naruto shook his head in an attempt to regain his thoughts.

"Those flowers? They were from you?"

"Ne? Hinate said, twisting her hands together in front of her, "No, no. Sasuke-kun sent me here to tell you that he was going to be a few minutes late."

"Sasuke sent you? Sasuke Uchiha?" Disbelief swelled in him again as Hinata looked up at him surprised. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "That is--yeah, that's fine. I'll wait for him. Thanks, Hinata!"

She disappeared as quickly as she had come and even redder than ever. The seed in Naruto's mind began to grow and blossom into a full understanding. Of course it was Sasuke. Of course.

"Oi, Dobe." Sasuke strolled up casually, looking the way he always did, crooked smirk in place.

"It was you!" Naruto exploded immediately, thrusting a finger against his best friend's chest, though not necessarily in anger. "That's why you knew what they meant!"

There was a moment of silence before Sasuke replied, "Did you think it was Hinata? When she showed up, I mean."

"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto punched Sasuke in the shoulder with anger, but more with humor. The two of them smiled at each other for a moment before the real question Naruto had been wanting to ask his mistery lover slipped out of his mouth unbidden, "Did you mean it? Everything you said with those flowers?"

Sasuke took a step forward and pressed his lips against Naruto's. After a moment, they separated and he said, "Every word."

"You know," Naruto mused, "You're not so shy."

"No," Sasuke said, kissing him again, "Not anymore."