"Thank you for visiting Yamanaka flowers, please come again."

Ino sighed to herself as she watched the customer leave with a full bouquet in hand, the young man smiling vibrantly as it was obvious he was going to give them to someone special.

No, not entirely obvious.

Ino could simply tell, because of the way in which the man had eagerly yet unsurely strode into the shop, the way his eyes had roamed all over the flowers as he searched for the most beautiful ones, and the way he scratched his head and muttered under his breath over and over as to whether or not 'she' would like this or like that.

It hadn't taken her long to move over to the man and adeptly select the adequate mix and blend of roses that he had immediately smiled and possessed the expression on his face that said 'this is the one'.

She wished she had someone special who would give her flowers.

She placed her hand on her chin over the counter, staring blankly at the passing people in the streets - her eyes wishing she would come upon a familiar lock of black hair, before her train of thought stopped, entirely unbidden.

"But...Isn't that the same reason why you like Sasuke-teme?"

She couldn't help the annoyance that ran through her form.

Every time she even thought about Sasuke, any single second that he was brought up in her mind, Naruto's words would strike down the thought with the vengeance and brutality of a Jonin assassinating an Academy Student.

It was made even annoying because she had been unable to find or meet the person who had uttered them to her, for over an entire month now, and she had all but given up on the search.

Naruto was still alive, that much was certain, and he would be at the academy again.

Choji claimed that he had seen him with some bruises and a lot of dust as if he was repeatedly falling onto the ground, so all she had to do was wait, and wait, and try and re-evaluate the reasons why she liked Sasuke while conjuring up random theories as to why Naruto asked her out on a whim.

She liked Sasuke because... he looked good.

That couldn't be all right?

Well, it was mostly because he was mysterious and dark and had a deep, dark and troubled past -

She slammed her head into the counter and let out a groan.

No, that couldn't be it either.

That'd be saying that she only liked him because he was broken and she wanted to fix his 'brokenness'.

That'd also be saying that if he was a happy, perky and normal person without a tortured past she'd have no interest in him at all, which just made her a horrible, horrible person.

Her mind drew from the question of her crush and infatuation back to the knucklehead that had made her realize just how superficial it had been.

She still pondered on what Shikamaru had told her, and tried to make some sense of whether or not Naruto really was different, or not.

Looking back, his grades had always been below mediocre, and he only ever tried once or twice.

She could recall in class when Mizuki-sensei would ask Naruto a simple question like 'what is chakra' and he would respond 'chakra is the stuff that lets us do cool jutsu' and be berated. People would laugh and call him an idiot, Naruto would simply smile and scoff and then boisterously claim that when he was Hokage, no one would need to answer such questions.

Of course, that'd just make people laugh at him even more, tell him to pipe down, and dismiss his declarations without a second thought.

Wait... now that she thought about it... he had skipped class the following three days after that event.

Then there was the time he had lost in a spar to Kiba, his Academy Style Taijutsu was filled with so many holes and openings that people had once again laughed and mocked it... whereas Kiba used his Clan's Taijutsu to beat him, and then claimed that Naruto couldn't become Hokage if he barely knew how to fight.

He didn't show up in class for about three weeks after that day.

Was it a pattern, or was her father's overly paranoid nature beginning to seep into her own mind?

She groaned and let out a tired breath.

Her gaze turned to the door.

"I wish the knucklehead would just barge in and save me the headache..."

Shaking her head, she turned around to organize the remaining few flowers in the display behind her, only to hear the bell ring.

"Welcome to - oh, it's just you forehead."

Ino was somewhat surprised when she did not hear the resounding shout or denial or comeback that was associated with the banter between herself and her 'rival' Sakura.

The pink-haired, green-eyed girl seemed unusually subdued, making Ino's brow rise.

Now that she thought about it, what was Sakura doing here?

Their rivalry over their affection of Sasuke had been one of the things that had torn a huge wedge in their friendship, and invariably ended up making them enemies. As far as she knew, Sakura had stopped branching by her house and seeing her outside of class.

"Hey Ino... are - are you alright?"

Ino's eyebrow furrowed.

"I'm perfectly fine."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between them, in which Sakura seemed to be contemplating saying something, but was holding back, and Ino was slowly finding it grating on her nerves.

"So you just came to the shop for the first time in almost three years just to ask me that? What gives Sakura?"

At this, the girl seemed to regard her warily. "Ino, you still like Sasuke-kun right?"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The Yamanaka heiress had her lips somewhat thinning as the question was brought up, especially considering the fact that she had been debating the issue herself.

"Where's this coming from?"

It was at that gesture that Sakura seemed to explode.

"You've not been yourself Ino! For the past one month! You don't even look in Sasuke-kun's direction anymore or pay any attention to him! Whenever the girls are talking about him you just go excuse yourself and leave! Then last week in class, you sat next to him the entire day, but you didn't even look at him once!"

That sounded like news to her.

"I sat next to Sasuke?"

Sakura looked appalled.

"You - you didn't even notice?"

No, no she hadn't.

Her thoughts had been apparently too preoccupied with other things, but how in the world had she managed to sit near him for an entire class without even turning in his direction?

A month ago, if she sat next to the affection of her crush, she would be squealing and swooning and rubbing it in Sakura's face for the next six weeks at the very least.

Now, it just seemed kind of pointless.

"Wait, just Sasuke? Not Sasuke-kun? Ino - what's going on? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me Sakura -"

Sakura vehement in her denial.

"Something is wrong with you! You've been different ever since you lost that bet - you've been staring off into space, ignoring Sasuke-kun, and you've been stalking the baka of all people! You Ino!"

She was unable to help the splutter of incoherent words that came out of her mouth at the accusation.

"I'm not stalking Naruto -"

Well, she technically wasn't.

Stalking would assume that she was following him around, and that would work solely on the assumption that she could find him.

What she had been doing was going to his most known or recently frequented locations, and then waiting for hours upon end to see if he would show up there -

Wait, that wasn't stalking was it?

Sakura seemed to heavily disagree, shaking her held back and forth.

"You've changed Ino."

There was a small part of her that felt incredibly, incredibly annoyed in the manner that Sakura had made that utterance.

It was that part of her that could not absolutely stand for it, the part of her that was peeved at the manner in which Sakura had implied that her change was for the worse - as though she was the one in err.

"And why do you care?"

Sakura took a step back.

"What do you mean? We're fri -"

Sakura had stopped that sentence realizing what she was going to say.

"No. No we're not friends."

Ino said, her voice dropping, "We're not friends remember? We ended our friendship years ago when we both realized we liked the same guy - the same guy who still hasn't noticed us over three years later - so we're not friends."

A thick cosseting silence blanketed over them, and green orbs met violet, two eyes which had gone through the years, gazing at each other with companionship and closeness, drifted apart with jealousy, anger, rivalry - all over what?

Ino found herself asking herself that question, now that she realized it.

They had become rivals over what?

They had sacrificed their friendship over what?

Moments spent laughing in each other's company, grooming each other's hair, sharing everything they had, discussing fantasy weddings and magnificent white knights, envisioning themselves as princesses within each other's courts, caring, joking, smiling, all of it, sacrificed, replaced with vicious name-callings, arrogant remarks, violent outbursts and confrontations - for what?

For Uchiha-bloody-Sasuke.

She had sacrificed the closest thing she had to a sister, for a boy's affection.

How stupid was she?

"Ino... you didn't answer my question. You still like Sasuke-kun, right?"

She had taken one step forward.

"Right?"

Sakura's emerald eyes were almost glistening, searching, as though trying to convince herself of something, though Ino did not know what.

What Yamanaka Ino did know however, was certain.

"There are more important things in life than Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura recoiled, as though physically slapped.

Her mouth opened, and then it closed, and then she shook her head.

"Sakura -"

The girl had not said a word as she departed from the store, and the door closed with a soft resounding click.

Ino Yamanaka felt an urge to slam her head into the nearest wall.

Really, this is your response? You won, I don't want Sasuke, I want my friend!

Ino screamed inside her head.

Her thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and longing for the friendship that seemed to be slipping through her fingers.

So why are you running?

Can't we be friends?

But her turbulent thoughts were abruptly halted by the sound of the door opening. She looked up and there he was—Takaie, the enigmatic figure who had captivated her curiosity.

Ino had secretly been a fan of mystery novels, finding delight in unraveling the motives and actions of characters, placing herself in the shoes of both the protagonist and antagonist.

Three years ago, her interest had been piqued by a peculiar classmate who had entered the shop using the transformation jutsu. It was his attire that gave him away; his clothes were backward, a rookie mistake that screamed transformation jutsu to Ino's trained eyes.

Furthermore, his attempt to disguise himself as someone distinctly not Sasuke, yet bearing a striking resemblance, had been almost comical.

It was as if he thought adopting Sasuke's likeness would somehow achieve his objectives.

But it was the name "Takaie" that truly ensnared Ino's curiosity.

A character from "The Pillow Book," a novel she had read and adored.

The coincidence—or was it deliberate?—was too tantalizing for Ino to ignore. She was hooked, determined to uncover the identity of this enigmatic figure and his intentions.

Ino, with her imagination running wild, liked to fancy that Takaie visited the shop with the secret hope of catching her eye. Perhaps, she mused, he was a bashful boy who had taken on Sasuke's guise to draw her attention, but his actions—or lack thereof—belied such romantic notions.

Each visit was the same; he'd enter, pick up whatever minor items he needed, and leave, without so much as a lingering glance in her direction.

Ino's heart, craving the thrill of a hidden admirer, couldn't help but feel a touch of disappointment.

Driven by curiosity and a dash of hopeful whimsy, Ino had attempted to uncover his true identity, sneaking around with the stealth of a seasoned shinobi. Yet, every time she tried to follow him, he would disappear as completely as if he were a specter, leaving no trace of chakra or presence. He was like a ghost within the village, there one moment and gone the next, eluding her grasp.

I once thought you were Sasuke.

I hoped that.

Now, please be someone other than that Emo bastard.

"Hey," Takaie greeted, unloading an array of items onto the counter with a thud. Fertilizer, garden trowels, seed packets, and a few brightly colored flower pots formed a small mountain between them.

Ino couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise.

He'd never bought this much before.

"That will be 1500 Ryo," she said, trying to mask her curiosity.

The guy nodded, pulling out a quirky frog wallet, and handed over the money.

"Thank you for your purchase," Ino muttered, her voice devoid of its usual warmth.

"What's wrong?" Takaie asked, his concern genuine, which Ino found unexpectedly endearing.

"I don't know what to do with a problem I have," she confessed, more to herself than to him.

"Well, I try to just destroy the source," Takaie suggested, a straightforward solution that made Ino chuckle internally. The idea of obliterating Sasuke from her concerns certainly brightened her mood.

"Thanks," she said, her gratitude genuine despite the simplicity of his advice.

Then, to her surprise, Takaie reached out and plucked a flower from one of the pots he'd just purchased, offering it to her with a slightly awkward gesture.

"Girls are happy when you give them flowers, right?" he said, uncertainty lacing his words.

"What an adorable dork," Ino thought, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she accepted the flower, touched by the gesture.

As Takaie turned to leave, Ino called out, "Hey."

He paused, turning just in time to catch a bottle of perfume she tossed his way.

"I made that," she explained, a hint of pride in her voice.

"Try it and tell me what you think."

"Sure, I will try it. Dattebayo," Takaie responded, and for a brief moment, Ino's heart skipped a beat. That familiar catchphrase made her suspect the mysterious gardener was actually Naruto. But she quickly dismissed the thought as preposterous.

Why would Naruto, of all people, have any interest in gardening?

...

As soon as he was out of sight, Takaie dashed into the alleyways, and with a small puff of smoke, he reverted back to his original form—Naruto.

The sudden transformation might have baffled any onlooker, but for Naruto, it was a simple yet ingenious solution to a persistent problem.

Whenever he tried to shop for himself, whether it was for a cool book he spotted or some nice flowers to brighten up his apartment, he was either outright ignored or asked to leave.

So, Naruto turned to the transformation jutsu, a technique he frequently used to blend in and get what he wanted without the hassle.

It was a clever workaround, albeit a bit sad that he had to resort to such measures just to buy the simplest of things.

Holding the bottle of perfume Ino had given him, Naruto took a sniff.

"This is nice."