Konoha summers could be worse. With the breeze that traveled through their valley and the cliffside blessing them with shade, Ino thanked her ancestors they hadn't settled in the Sand village. It explains why Gaara and them are always around, she mused. Nevertheless, she wished she were inside today- inside an air conditioned room, not watering the last of the Yamanaka flower shop's stock. Her mother had insisted that they begin sprinkling three times a day instead of two, and for Ino, that meant an additional half hour in the sun.

There were less pleasant fates. Her village had enjoyed months of peace since the last war. The hubbub had begun to die down- homes were rebuilt, inter-village politics settled, and people had begun to stop grimacing at the moon. Even the fanfare surrounding Sasuke's return (and subsequent departure) had subsided as Konoha healed. Unfortunately for Ino, this recovery had not left anyone with much time to rest. For the past six or seven months, there had been work to do daily for the rebuilding effort- there was little downtime between missions, with perhaps a day or two to recover before being assigned the next task. Rebuilding costs money, and that meant work.

Ino poured herself a glass of water and sighed as she sat down. While the rest of her team had been roped into more than they asked for- Shikamaru reluctantly having been promoted to Jonin- Ino had jumped at the chance to excuse herself from duty for a while as things began to quiet. Her Mother happily welcomed her home- losing a single loved one to war was enough. It had been the garden life ever since. Ino didn't mind. She appreciated the constant availability of indoor plumbing.

It was that comforting thought that kept her from groaning aloud as the bell chimed at the door. With as much pep as she could muster, she started, "Hello! Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers, where-" Ino relaxed at the sight of her customer. "Oh," she breathed, "It's you. You're back already?"

The subject of her familiarity bore the traditional Ninja attire- although he wore his flak jacket with the collar zipped, Naruto looked every part a Jonin. It had been a week since he left the village; doing what, she knew not, but Tsunade had kept him busy. In fact, since he recovered from the war, it seemed he hadn't rested whatsoever, taking almost no time off between excursions.

"Ino! How's it going? Do you, uh- do you have that stuff I bought last time...?" He looked almost sheepish as he trailed off. He startled as Ino slapped her hands onto the countertop and said "Did you forget your plants again?"

"Well- I had to visit Gaara- Tsunade's been-" His eyes widened.

"I've told you that you can't just leave them without setting up a drip line or telling a neighbor or something to-"

"I know, but- I've been trying to-" He seemed to deflate a little. "I'm sorry."

She let out an exasperated huff. "Here." She stepped from behind the confines of the counter and walked across the shop, plucking a bottle from a far shelf. "You're lucky we have this in stock. With a summer like this, it moves fast." As she walked past Naruto, she couldn't help but notice how tall he'd gotten. It wasn't the first time she'd noticed. She rolled her eyes again. Idiot. After the war, most girls had noticed.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as she handed him the bottle. "Oh, yes! Thank you, thank you Ino!" He nearly danced taking the bottle and fished out some bills. It was hard to stay mad at the fellow. At least he made an attempt to keep up with his plants (whatever they were), green thumb be damned.

"Yeah, yeah… Just don't come in here telling my mother about your plants. She'd give you a real lecture" Despite herself, Ino smiled. As she took the money, Naruto thanked her again and turned to leave, spring in his step and all. Ino bit her lip; she paused, then just as he reached the doorway, committed.

"Hey. Why do you even keep the plants you have, anyway?"

The man turned- his face bore a bewildered expression. Ino blushed. Why exactly she felt the need to pry at this moment, in this heat, she didn't know. "I mean- well, you're always leaving, and…" She trailed off. His face didn't calm her any as he scrunched his eyes at the thought, searching for an answer. She was regretting this more and more by the second.

Rather suddenly, Naruto grinned. "Wouldn't you, Ino?" He said, laughing. "I can't just let 'em starve." With that, he smiled wider, winked- the absolute fool, what was he winking for?- and, still smiling, sauntered out of the shop. Ino was left struck, with the door chiming once again as she cursed the heat- for it was the heat, of course- for making her so flush. Winking, she thought.

Idiot.