The sunlight cascaded through the sheer lavender curtains, illuminating the room and the young blonde that laid in bed. As minutes ticked by the sun eventually shone on her face, causing the blonde haired beauty to awaken. Her eyes fluttered open and she rolled over onto her back, stretching widely, and letting out a yawn. The Yamanaka girl sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and throwing her legs over the side of the bed gracefully resting the pads of her feet on the cool wood. She stood up, and made her way over to her vanity - her eyes instantly locking onto the picture of a handsome long blonde haired older man, Inoichi. She picked up the frame in her hands, and smiled a small tear rolling down her face.

"I miss you..." She whispered, setting it back down and trading it for her hair brush.

After her typical morning routine, Ino entered the kitchen dressed for the day and saw her mother sitting at the table and breakfast already piled around her. Ino walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a box to put some food in, "Good morning mother, I'm going to take my breakfast to go this morning! Get an early start at the shop," Her mother smiled cheerfully.

"Alright dear, try not to overwork yourself," She hummed, and went back to reading some book that Ino never took interest in learning what it was. Her mother seemed to be on a different book every week.

Arriving to the shop, Ino walked in and quickly shut the door behind her, setting her breakfast down on the counter. She leaned forward and gripped the counter - a heavy weight in her chest was present this morning. Sometimes the loss of her father really weighed down on her, and today happened to be one of the days that her heart felt like it was missing a piece of itself. Her ocean eyes scanned the shop, not much had changed over the years except the arrangement of flowers. She spent most of her time her as a child, roaming the shop with her father - helping sell flowers, tending to the flowers, and of course becoming an expert botanist. Ino now felt like it was her duty to ensure the shop maintained its customers loyalty, and upheld the best service since her father's passing. She groaned, opening her breakfast and plunging her fork into the over easy eggs her mother made, soaking up the yolk with a roll. As she finished, she flipped over the sign to 'Open', unlocked the door, and began her day.

It was a very slow day, by mid afternoon she had only had about 5 customers. But it was fine to her, her mood was keeping her from being her chipper self. The bell rang as the door flicked it, a sign Ino had a customer. She turned away from the roses, a faux smile adorning her slim face.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to Yamanaka - - Oh! Hello Sai!" Ino exclaimed, and walked over to the young man.

He was dressed in an all black outfit, not his usual garb for missions. Sai smiled at the blonde, "Hello Ino, how are you today?"

Ino and Sai's conversations were always short-lived, she of course found him attractive but they never seemed to have much in common, and he was a pretty silent person. Always reading, painting, or training - at least that's what she knew of his hobbies.

"I'm doing pretty well," The young blonde lied, "So, what brings you in today? Buying some flowers for someone special?" She giggled, adding a wink for effect. Sai was looking around, when he brought his eyes back to the Yamanaka girl - giving a cool smile that made Ino pink in the cheeks for some reason. Ino felt her heart feel lighter for the first time that day - but why his smile made it float was unknown to her.

"Not at all, they're actually for me".

Ino crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow, "Ohhh - are you going to paint them? Or spruce up your place?"

Sai nodded, "Precisely, I'm just not sure what kind to pick...how about you pick out some of your favorites".

"My...favorites?" She questioned, and then pursed her lips, "Oh!" She nodded her head in the direction of the counter. He watched the blonde disappeared behind he counter and through a stripped sheet - after a few moments she popped her head back through "You coming?" He blinked a few times, and followed her into the back.

"Wow, I didn't think you had a giant garden in the back of the shop.." He breathed, a little amazed at all the flowers, and irrigation systems. Everything seemed to have a place in this meadow of flowers. "This is beautiful, Ino".

Her eyes snapped over to him, as she was holding the beginning of a bouquet in her hands, "Really? You think so?"

Sai nodded, giving his signature closed-eyed smile, "Yes. It is very calming here, I'd probably hang out back here all the time if I worked here".

Ino smiled at him, and continued collecting flowers - once she had made a trip around the room she wrapped them in paper and handed the aromatic flowers to him. All cool tones of blues, greens, purples, and some deep reds - "Here!" She smiled warmly at him, "On the house".

Sai blinked perplexed, and grabbed the flowers from her dainty hands. Making contact with her soft skin, and brushing his finger tips lightly against the back of her hand as he took the flowers from her.

"My personal favorite, the bushclover" Ino pointed out the purple flowers in the bouquet, "It's also our Clans flower".

"Thank you, Ino"

"No problem, come hang out anytime I'm here - I'll gladly let you hang out in the back. Just so long as you paint me a picture.." She looked at him seriously, and then laughed.

They walked out of the back, and Ino opened the front door for him, "Have a great day! Thanks for coming in, and I'll see you later Sai!"

Sai nodded, and waved goodbye, disappearing down the street with the specially picked flowers from the young blonde.

Finally, Ino's favorite time of day - closing time. She checked on all of her plant babies, and flipped the sign over to 'close', exiting the shop she locked the door giving the knob a jiggle to ensure it was locked and walked down the road. The sun was starting to set, and as she looked up into the sky that was now painting itself in oranges, golds, and pinks she felt her stomach twist into a knot.

"Guess I forgot lunch today..." She rubbed her stomach, and started to head home - only to realize today was Monday. Which meant her mother was in a meeting with the other mothers of the town. A group she was in charge of that ensured the safety of families during attacks, and such.

"No point in making dinner..."

With that, her feet led her to one of her favorite restaurants in the town - a little family owned spot. As she walked in, her eyes rested on the back of a black haired head. She smirked and walked over, "Hey!"

The young man turned his attention toward her, and once again flashed his signature smile, "Oh, hello Ino. Long time no see". He chuckled softly at his own joke.

"Yeah, you mind if I join you? Or are you on a date with someone?"

Sai shook his head, and gestured for her to sit across from him. Ino figured that if she was going to eat, might as well not eat alone.

The two sat and talked for a few hours, Ino shared a light history of her Clan and the flowershop. Sai had no clan, and mainly just talked about his muses for painting, and such. It was a cheery dinner, one Sai almost didn't want to end. He had never known the blonde to be such a cheery figure, he usually witnessed her and Sakura arguing, or Ino drilling her Teammates.

As they left the restaurant, Ino turned to face him, her long blonde hair almost wrapped around her body then unfurled in a deep golden wave. Her slender face was a perfect match for her deep, yet bright, ocean eyes.

"Thank you, for letting me join you for dinner Sai," Ino smiled, her cheeks seemed to be rosy. He stared at the beauty, after a fruitful conversation, he was seeing a different side of her. One that really intrigued him.

"No problem Ino, I really enjoyed having dinner with you," He noticed her face turn another shade, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm, alright..I'll see you later!" Ino exclaimed, and quickly turned he watched her walk away quickly. Smiling, he turned and bumped right into a rather large figure.

"Oh, pardon me - " He exclaimed, only to realize it was her teammate, Choji.

"Oh its okay man," Choji smiled, he was always so kind and light hearted, but Sai and him typically never had anything to talk about..except for now.

"Was that Ino I just saw running off?" Her teammate questioned, Sai looked back to where the blonde disappeared and then his eyes met with Choji, nodding.

"You two go on a date?" Choji pryed even more.

"N-No..." Sai raised an eyebrow, "She happened to come in to eat as I was ordering. So she joined me".

"Hmmm..she walked away rather fast...must've said something..."

Sai opened his mouth to talk, and then rubbed his chin - "I just told her I enjoyed dinner..maybe she wasn't feeling well. Her face seemed flush".

Choji smiled wide, and put an arm around Sai's shoulder, "Oh she's feeling juuuuust fine! I think she might like ya!" He laughed, and hugged the former ROOT Shinobi closer to him, "Just be ready if you do take her out on a date. She can be a handful!"

And with that Choji walked away, chuckling and entered a BBQ shop across the street.

Sai placed his hands in his pockets, and walked away from the restaurant. Now his mind was weighing heavy with the blonde, and words from her comrade.