Kitsune and Neko

Chapter 19

-Flashback (Konoha)

Ino Yamanaka had just closed off her flower-shop after a busy day. Her mom had left the shop early as she had to buy groceries and prepare dinner. She sighed after closing off the doors of the shop and then started walking over to their greenhouse. On her way to the greenhouse, thoughts of what to make for dinner started occurring to her. She had moved out of her parents' house to become more independent. At first Inoichi was against this idea but finally agreed. She still saw them every day but she now had a two bedroom flat not so far away from her parents house.

'Perhaps I could go to the barbecue place or Ichiraku.' She thought, opening the doors of the greenhouse. She had to open the ventilation ducts for the greenhouse so that her flowers would not die. She looked at the clock on the glass wall. Seven o'clock. She sighed again. That day was a bitter-sweet day for her. It was her one year anniversary with Naruto but she could not celebrate it with him. She understood it though but that didn't help brighten her mood up.

'Maybe, I'll just make instant ramen, that's the closest I'll feel to him.' She thought walking over to the last opening. She smiled when she saw the orange and purple tulips planted next to each other. The two had planted the seeds when they were younger. After looking at them closely she saw a silvery white star shaped flower, with its stem wrapped in a piece of paper. 'An Edelweiss?' She thought, picking up the flower. Curiosity got the best of her and she opened the note. It read:

'Between Every Rise

And Every Set Of The Sun,

I Only See The Blue Of Your Eyes

Happy Anniversary, Ino-chan! '

Her lips curved upwards in a placid smile and her eyes lit up. Along with being a goofball, deep down he was a romantic and wasn't afraid to show it. It was just one of the things Ino loved about him. Her eyes focused back on the note.

'You didn't think that I would forget our anniversary, if you did well surprise, I didn't forget it. I'm sorry that I'm not in Konoha but I did arrange a date for us. Meet me a little far away from the gates of Konoha at 7:30. I'll make sure to distract the guards while you sneak away. Don't bother changing into anything, I already have an outfit ready for you.

P.S: I will not be wearing the same disguise as always, just ask me a personal question and if I answer correctly, you can be sure that's it's me. Or you can just find out when we reach there, okay, I'm going to stop before this letter begins to turn into a rambling letter. Can't risk getting caught, ya know! And burn this down or hide this somewhere safe.

Forever yours,

Whiskers.'

Naruto had managed to cheer her up in his own twisted way. The frown that was present on her face since morning had been replaced by a bright smile. She quickly finished all of the work and rushed to her flat. Even though Naruto had told her not to change, she didn't feel right meeting him in her mud stained clothes and apron. She quickly changed into her usual purple attire and put the edelweiss in her hair and decided to leave. She reached the gate at 7:25 and waited for the distraction.

At 7:30 exact, an explosion was heard from the forest facing Suna. A cry was heard right after. Normally Ino would have rushed to the place, but she knew that it was a diversion so she waited for the 'Eternal Guards' to leave and check it out. As soon as the Guards were out of sight, she ran through the gates and into the woods and rushed opposite to where the guards had gone. As soon as she was a far enough, a hooded bulky man with a bear mask appeared.

"Ino-chan?" The figure asked.

"Before I confirm who I am, tell me this. Who makes the worst ramen?" She asked, unsheathing her blade. She wouldn't let her guard down until she was sure that he was her whiskers.