Chapter One – My Heart's Bouquet

Shikamaru dodged behind a nearby stump as a flurry of pointed weaponry flew at his head. This wasn't good, there wasn't anywhere he could run; and his opponent knew his abilities all too well. He chanced on a basic trick and sent a clone running in one direction as he ran in the other. No luck. He found himself ducking a kunai that would have otherwise pinned his nose to the tree he was passing. He rolled forward to hide behind a large boulder. All he had were academy tricks at this point. He quickly formed hand signs. Moments later a tabby cat emerged from behind the rock.

"And just where do you think you're going?" He heard his foe screech, followed by the sound of a senbon flying through the air and hitting his transformed clone. He had done it. Now his location was unknown to his adversary. Now if he was careful enough…

CRACK! A rock the size of his ponytail smashed Shikamaru in the back of the head. As he fell to the ground he rolled over clutching where he had been struck. "Damn it" he thought to himself, his vision clearing up just in time for him to spring backwards out of the way of several kunai. Where the hell was she getting all these weapons from? He spun around to hide behind a tree. Gritting his teeth in frustration he finally cried out;

"Alright, I'm sorry!"

He waited for a response of some kind. None came. He chanced a peek around the trunk. He saw his opponent standing, facing away from him, arms folded, loose scrolls by her side. Making a mental note to thank Tenten, he walked cautiously over to the sulking girl.

"I didn't mean it to sound how it did" he explained, putting his hand on the girls shoulder. "When I said it was pointless I meant that you shouldn't care that much about your appearance. I wasn't trying to insinuate that you're f-"

That's as far as he got before being sent flying across the training grounds as Ino had swung around to deliver a right hook that would have made even Tsunade flinch. Before Shikamaru could recover, the blonde kunoichi ran away, tears flowing from her eyes. Within minutes she was back home. Her father was busy with an interrogation and her mother was in Suna arranging a business deal with their florist; so she was undisturbed.

She wished she could control herself better; but it really got to her. Everyone told her that her dieting was pointless, that she didn't need it. Even if they explained themselves she heard it as "Dieting is pointless; you will always be fat". Normally she could just ignore it. But when Shikamaru said it, she felt as though she'd been stabbed; and she knew how that felt, so this was no exaggeration. She already felt useless, which was why she was trying to learn from Tenten how to use various ninja tools to make up for her lack of useful combat jutsu; and that was on top of medical training. To feel like she was fat at the same time was too much.

But she knew that wasn't really why she had been hurt by Shikamaru's comment. As much as she might try to convince herself that she liked Sasuke, that she could only be interested in the coolest guy in the village, she knew it was all a façade. For nearly five years she'd been lying to herself. After all, who could love such a lazy, obnoxious, know-it-all, unmotivated, reasonable, caring, friendly….

"Damn it, Ino!" she scolded herself as she began sorting through the shop's inventory to try and distract herself. She couldn't help but comment on the meaning of each flower as she went; Amaryllis – Pride, Timidity, Angelica; inspiration, Baby's Breath; everlasting love… she stopped. Picking up a stalk of the last one she sighed slightly. She'd had enough. No more hiding, no more lying. She laid out a sheet of paper and placed the white baby's breath along it.

She added red carnations between each strand of baby's breath; admiration, and a heart that aches for the recipient. In the middle of these she placed one stalk of forget-me-nots; True Love, memories. As she placed this she remembered how Shikamaru had always looked out for her and Chouji on their missions, and even more so how he had always watched over her body while her soul was out of it, how she wished he would hold her while her mind was present. She couldn't help but smile as she danced back and forth between the stock and the front counter; adding more flowers to the bouquet: Acacias, gladiolus, white jonquils, red tulips, magenta zinnia. Ino bit her lower lip when she rolled it up. The size it had gotten and she hadn't even made the centre yet.

She was very precise with the flowers she put into the centrepiece. A ring of white violets; "let's take a chance on happiness". Blue salvia for the inner ring; "I think of you". Two pink, thornless roses; love at first sight and perfect happiness. And in the very centre: A white chrysanthemum. Truth. Ino carefully placed the centrepiece amongst the rest; finishing the bouquet.

She looked at it with a determined smile. "I'm going to give this to Shikamaru before the week is through" she thought to herself. She placed it on the front desk and sat down sighing. "At least, that's what I'd like to believe". She muttered to herself. She felt herself dozing off when suddenly.

"Wow that's a big bunch of flowers" sang a cheerful voice.

Ino's round blue eyes snapped open. Leaning back in her chair she saw Tenten admiring the bouquet. Before she knew what she was doing, Ino had swiped the bouquet from the table and dashed upstairs to put it in her room. She came back to an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Ino, what was-" she began, but the blonde kunoichi cut her off.

"A-an order! A customer called in and….what!?" she asked noticing a sly grin spread across Tenten's face. Ino glanced sideways at the mirror that ran along the middle of the wall. Oh no! She was blushing furiously! It was times like this she cursed her pale skin and light hair, it made the red really stand out. She almost jumped clean through the roof when she turned back to find her friend's mischievous smile an inch from her face.

"So who's it for" she asked, clearly struggling not to giggle. Ino suddenly became very interested in a chipped floor tile off to the side.
"None of your business" she answered huffily. The brunette slid down to crouch in front of her field of vision; persistent little pest. Tenten thought to herself: it couldn't be Sasuke, because he was still… away… so who else? One of her team mates? Well if that were the case Chouji wasn't very likely, no offence to either of them but Ino was a little bit shallow and he was… a little bit on the large side… so…

"Shikamaru?"

Ino gulped and answered a bit too loudly to be plausible, "N-no! Of course not!", so much for 'no more lying'. Not that it mattered, her reaction was all the excuse Tenten needed to squeal and hug her tightly, spouting off comments like "You're so cute when you're defensive" and, "I'm so happy for you, moving on, and you two would make such an adorable couple!".

Once Ino had regained her breath and was certain that all her ribs were intact, she sat back down and stared gloomily at the floor, still blushing like crazy. Tenten gave her a questioning look. She sighed and sat cross legged on the floor in front of her, placing the tip of her finger on Ino's chin she lifted her head up.
"I've never seen someone so unhappy to be in love, what's wrong" she asked, although she had a slight idea.
Ino's blushed deepened at the word "love". She babbled incoherently for moment, and when she was finally able to stammer out a sentence she made a mental note to apologise to Hinata for all the times she had teased her for her nervousness; it must feel horrible to feel like this all the time.
"I-I-I don't know how t-to give it to him" she finally stuttered, "Sh-should I give it to him in person, or leave it for him to f-find?"

Tenten put a hand t her chin in thought. That was a good question. Though a better one would be could Ino give it to him in person? It didn't seem like it just yet. But then it would be a case of where to leave the bouquet? How to get it there without Shikamaru noticing anything; after all he was a sharp guy… though apparently not when it came to girls, she thought. Eventually she figured that it would have to be the second option. Ino gulped when Tenten explained her logic.
"But… how? And where? And when?" the blonde asked nervously. Tenten thought for a minute, she had wondered this too. Suddenly her sly smile from earlier returned.
"We'll get some… expert advice…"