1

If Ino had a mental list of people she expected to show up in her family's flower shop just a few days before New Year's Eve, Hyuuga Neji would be at the bottom of it.

Yet there he was, red-faced and shivering as he brushed the snow out of his hair. Ino was lost for a moment watching it—it was criminal that hair that beautiful was wasted on a boy—but then she remembered her job and her manners and called out a greeting in her most professional voice.

"Welcome! Can I help you?"

Neji started, almost as if he hadn't expected someone to actually be there working in the shop. "Just looking" was his terse reply; Ino was a little miffed that he hadn't even bothered to say 'thank you,' but this was Neji after all, the same person who wasn't even the least bit interested when she turned her charm onto him...not that that bothered her or anything.

She preoccupied herself by going over the orders for the next two months; Asuma-sensei had ordered a suspiciously large number of roses, probably for Kurenai-sensei. There were at least a dozen cancelled orders of flowers for Sasuke; it had been a month since he left the village, and Ino still couldn't believe that he was actually gone. There had been several missions to search for him or for clues that could lead to him—Ino had even gone on a few of them—but so far, no luck.

Ten minutes passed, and Neji was still in the shop and hadn't made a selection. Ino sighed and dragged herself away from the counter.

He was poking at the leaf of an African violet, probably marveling at how fuzzy it was, when Ino rounded the corner and cheerily asked if he needed any help.

"Careful," she said as he jerked his hand away from the plant. "Those are delicate. And if you kill it, you pay for it."

"I didn't hurt it."

"Then there isn't a problem," she said with a smile. "So, are you sure you don't need any help? I promise that I'm qualified to find flowers to suit any occasion."

"Of course you are." Neji looked back at the African violet before sighing in defeat. "Is this all you have in stock?"

Ino looked around the shop. For the middle of winter, the selection was actually quite good. "Yes? Is it not to your satisfaction?"

Neji shook his head. "It's not that. I only need one flower, not ten; you don't have any single flowers for sale?"

"Of course we have single blooms for sale," Ino snapped. "I could have told you that if you'd asked for help as soon as you came in. Come on."

She led him up to the counter where she pulled out the catalog of winter stock and pushed it toward him. "Of course, we don't have too much right now because it is winter, but we do keep some flowers in our greenhouse."

"I see." Neji carefully turned the pages, taking his time looking over each flower. This surprised Ino, who hadn't expected him to have much interest.

"So…who are you buying flowers for?" she asked, unable to hold back her curiosity. "Is it a Christmas present?"

"A flower," Neji corrected. "And that's none of your business."

"Actually, it is my business," Ino retorted. "You're here in my family's shop, aren't you?"

Neji looked up at her blankly, then sighed in acquiescence. "Very well. It's for someone's birthday."

"Excellent, thank you; that gives me something to work with." Ino cracked her knuckles, making Neji wince, and started circling flower names with her pencil. "What you'd probably want is an iris, since it means "good news" and "good fortune" and all that, but you could also do a winter peony or a daffodil…"

"The flowers have meanings?"

"Of course they do; haven't you heard of the language of flowers?" When Neji shook his head, she continued. "Every flower has a hidden meaning, so when you give one as a gift, you're not just brightening the person's heart with the beauty of the flower, you're conveying a special meaning that adds a whole other layer. Get it?"

"Yes…" Neji looked back at the list of flowers. "And you understand this language?"

"Duh." Ino rolled her eyes. "Every girl learns it at some point. Even in the academy, we had to practice flower arranging."

"I see. Forgive my ignorance, but I am not a girl."

"Obviously not."

Neji gave the barest hint of a smile. "So…based on your available stock, which flower means "I respect you"?"

"Well, the best choice would be a daffodil; we might be out right now, but you can always order one."

"I need the flower today."

"All right. Let me check in the back and see what we have. Wait here, please."

Ino took her time in the greenhouse, her favorite part of the shop. It was always warm and bright there, no matter what the weather was outside, and the perfume of the exotic flowers growing there always managed to cheer her up after a bad day.

Neji was in luck; there was one daffodil plant in bloom. Ino carefully trimmed the stem and wrapped it in a wet cloth and paper before coming back.

"Today's your lucky day," she sang as she came through the door. "There was one left; that'll be 1200 ryou, please."

Neji counted out his coins and placed them on the tray. "I'm guessing the elevated price is because it's winter?"

"Yep. Customers who know they have a need for flowers in winter usually order them in advance. That way, we can guarantee out-of-season flowers will be in stock, and you can get them at in-season prices." She handed him his flower and a receipt. "Something to keep in mind in case you need a flower next year; birthdays tend to be an annual thing."

"How far in advance would I need to make such arrangements?"

"Spring or summer are the best times, but really, any time before winter is fine," Ino said.

"I'll keep that in mind; thank you for your help." To Ino's surprise, he bowed before he turned and left the shop without a backwards glance.

Well, that was weird, she thought. She spent the rest of her shift trying to figure out who Neji of all people respected enough to actually buy a birthday present for. Maybe Lee or his other teammate (whose name Ino could never remember) had a winter birthday? Maybe Gai-sensei? It was a mystery that kept her happily occupied until closing time.

The next morning, she bumped into Hinata at the bakery and complimented her on the new bracelet she was wearing.

"Thank you, Ino-san," Hinata said. "I don't think it suits me that well, but it was a birthday present from my sister, and I wanted to be polite."

And just like that, the pieces fell into place.

Author's Notes: I'm trying something different: a story about friendship-not my usual thing! Neji and Ino don't often interact in canon, so it's a little difficult writing them, but here's hoping I'm doing a convincing job. There will be some one-sided romance later, though; note which characters are tagged. I don't know how often I will update, but the story is almost finished, and the final chapter will be out December 27th, no matter what.