Love and Lust

13

You smiled and gently touched the dying petal of your Chrysanthemums. It's been a little more than three weeks since Sasuke left. The flowers lasted this long because you took great care of them, but now, they're finally starting to die. Sasuke has been constantly on your mind.

When will he be back? Is he okay? Does he miss me?

You didn't want to admit this, not even to yourself, but you missed Sasuke. You missed his rare smile, his ivory eyes, his shy attitude. You missed your talks, your walks together, and laughing with him.

_____________________________

"Naruto!" Ino exclaimed. "What a surprise. Are you here to get something for Hinata?"

"Uh, yeah," he muttered. "And ____."

"Really?" She said. "That's so nice of you! You and Sasuke." She smiled and walked out from behind the counter. "What were you looking for?"

"And Sasuke?" Naruto said.

"Well, yeah," Ino said. "Sasuke came here a few weeks ago and bought Chrysanthemums for Sakura. Such a sweet gesture," she cooed. "But, what's the occasion?"

"Well, I wanted to get ____ a new bouquet of flowers, since the ones are her house are dying, and get a present for Hinata, just because," he said.

"How sweet," she said. "So, what were you looking to get?"

"So, Sasuke bought Chrysanthemums for Sakura?" Naruto said.

"Yeah," Ino said. "Why are you so interested in Sasuke and his flowers?"

"No reason," Naruto said. "Uh, I know nothing about flowers, so can you create the bouquets?"

"I'd love to!" Ino said.

____________________

You smiled and soothed down your modestly tight dress before walking into the restaurant. Ino smiled and waved you over to the booth she sat at.

"Wow," she said. "You look gorgeous."

"Thank you," you said. "So do you."

"Please, have a seat," she said. "Get whatever you want. Sai's treat." She giggled.

You sat across from her and smiled. "That's very nice of him," you said.

"Yeah, he's just showing his support in his own way. I was thinking," she paused. "If this dinner goes well, we can go back to my place and, ya know." she muttered shyly. "Get better acquainted."

"That sounds good," you said with a smile.

"Oh! So how was work?"

"It was good," you said. "Much less hectic compared to when I first started working here."

"I bet," she said. "I heard from Shikamaru that the office is so much more organized with you around. He may not say it, but he really appreciates you being there."

You smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. So, you and Shikamaru are close?"

"Yup! We were on the same genin team with Choji. The Ino-Shika-Cho formation is a generational thing between our clans. You must not know much about our past, huh?"