AN: This is my first story, but I would like thank FleetingInterest for allowing me to use parts of his story I could almost fall for him. It gave me the inspiration to write this story, so be sure to check it out. It was the point when Ino said those words in the anime that made me start shipping NaruIno. Anyway, on with the story.

Normal text – "Naruto"

Thought text – 'Ino'

Jutsu/Bloodline – Rasengan

The Hero and The Florist

[Naruto's PoV]

Naruto was walking through the Village Hidden in the Leaves, still overwhelmed at the praise and friendliness of everyone he passed after defeating Pain, his sibling student of the late Jiraiya. Even though he was filled with immense hatred at Pain for killing his master and devastating his home, Pain used his Rinnegan to bring back everyone who died. This was due to Pain's belief that Naruto can change things in the ninja world for the better.

Not only that, but his mind was also filled with thoughts on what lead him to almost give up complete control to the Nine-tailed Fox – Hinata saving his life and her confession, only for her to get thrashed, stabbed through the gut, and seeing her seemingly lifeless eyes as blood poured out.

He knew he owed her big, and despite his deepest wishes, he knew Sakura would always love their former teammate, even if he was now a traitor who abandoned his home for the power necessary to fulfill his "ambition" of killing his older brother, Itachi.

'Man, what should I do? That's the first time anyone's confessed to me like that… even to go so far as to risk her life to do so…' He thought as he mindlessly wandered the village. 'Maybe I should buy her a bowl at Ichiraku and by then, I'll have an answer on what to do. Lord knows Sakura won't give me a chance. She's still in love with Sasuke, even if he left on his own, knocking her out when he left.'

Naruto inwardly groaned at that. 'She doesn't even realize how much it hurt me when she asked me to bring him back to her, making it a "once in a lifetime request." Sometimes I hate that I never go back on my word. Even if she hadn't made that request, I'd still bring that idiot back. He's like a brother to me.'

'I feel like I'm forgetting one other thing that I needed to do after getting back to the village... Oh, right…I need to do something about my sick little green friend. Maybe I should see if she can help my plant. Heh bet she'll be surprised that I garden, even if she is the reason I took up the hobby.'

He then made his way to his place to pick up his plant, "Come on, time to get you fixed up. I know if anyone can help, it's Ino." He smiled and started to make his way to the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

[Ino's PoV]

"'I could almost fall for him…' did I really say that out loud?!" questioned Ino Yamanaka.

She thought back to the previous day's events that lead to her current frustration. She was clutching Shizune's dead body in tears from not being able to save her mentor, Choji informing her of Kakashi's sacrifice to save his life, her Dad reassuring her that he and Shikaku were gonna stop him once and for all via their telepathic link only to unintentionally overhear his conversation with Naruto regarding his plan to deal with Pain by talking to him. This surprised her, especially since he stood up to her father, and even more so when Uncle Shikaku actually backed Naruto up by asking dad to trust Naruto.

She then remembered hoping he had a plan to come back unscathed. Then minutes later, the ground shook, and from the site that Naruto defeated the Six Pains alone, came a gigantic being of chakra. It opened its mouth and seemingly fired out a multitude of lights. She then thought that Naruto failed and that this was an attack to finish them all off, only for one of the lights to hit Shizune. Her being shocked by this was completely normal. What shocked her more was when she looked around, she saw the other mysterious orbs of light hit the other dead bodies of her companions. Then she felt her mentor's cold body suddenly warm up and come back to life. She knew this could not be possible seeing as how she tried everything to revive her black-haired teacher to the point she exhausted all her chakra reserves. Somehow deep down, she had a feeling that Naruto managed a miracle that brought back their deceased companions to the land of the living which was proven true when Tsunade's summoned slug, Katsuyu, relayed the information back to all of them about how he managed to change Pain, which in turn, caused him to decide to sacrifice his life to bring back the fallen of today. Almost immediately after the message was finished being relayed, she heard a loud cheer. The villagers were actually praising Naruto and were starting to chant his name. She could not imagine that this was really happening.

She could not believe that the village prankster and number one bane to the villagers' existence would one day be praised as, "The Hero of the Hidden Leaf." She saw all the villagers welcome him back with such warmth and cheer that for a moment, she forgot that they all used to see him as a nuisance.

Ino also recalled feeling grateful that Naruto managed to do all this and, for the first time, felt a tinge of jealousy towards Sakura who Naruto had feelings for and towards Hinata who just confessed to him in front of everyone. She then realized that she made the wrong call only going after cool guys like Sasuke, who ended up betraying them, and Sai, who was hopelessly clueless at life. She actually thought that she should have gone after Naruto instead.

"I could almost fall for him…" said Ino with a heart-warming smile on her face.

She was staring right at Naruto and did not notice that she accidentally said it out loud. Her teammates, who were standing right next to her, heard her say it and were shocked. They immediately gave a surprised reaction and tried to pester her to explain herself, but she didn't answer. She didn't mind at all nor did she show any hint of embarrassment.

Today was Naruto's moment and even she had to admit that he was very cool at that moment.

"Sigh. I messed up pretty badly and let a good catch get away. I can't believe it! I actually want to date Naruto now," said Ino to herself as she was bored tending to her family's flower shop.

She was alone at the counter when, speak of the devil, Naruto unexpectedly stepped inside their shop.

"Yo, Ino. What's up?" casually strolled the blonde ninja with a big goofy smile on his face.

[Normal PoV]

He was happy to see Ino working today and noticed that she was bored at the counter tending to a single flower. Though she seemed bored, he noticed that she had a different look in her eyes than usual when she was taking care of that particular flower. He thought that it must be special.

"Oh hey! What's the big 'Hero of the Hidden Leaf' doing here?" Ino looked up as she teased him.

"Haha. You're embarrassing me, Ino. Just call me Naruto as always. I actually need some gardening help."

"You garden?!"

Ino was flabbergasted. She didn't know that Naruto had a cute sensitive interest like this. She giggled a bit on the inside.

"Hell yeah I do! Watering plants is actually a hobby of mine. See for yourself! Here's my pet project," said Naruto as he revealed a potted plant from behind his back.

"Hmm. Looks like it's lacking in nutrition. What happened to it?" said Ino as she carefully examined the plant.

"I forgot to take it with me when I went training to be a Sage, so I missed a couple of days to water it." He said feeling rather bad about it.

"Hmmm. I can definitely take care of it. Leave it with me for a week and I'll make sure it's back to good health. No charge."

"Thanks, Ino! I knew I could rely on you. You've always been a good friend through the years!" said Naruto flashing that goofy grin again.

"Always?! What're you saying?! We've only really started talking to each other after we graduated from the academy. I don't remember knowing you for that long at all." Ino was taken aback as to how close Naruto made it seem they were.

"Really? Well I got a good memory and I remember this one time before we started at the academy," said Naruto as he crossed his arms and started recounting what he remembered.

"What happened?!" At this point she was desperately trying to remember what could have happened between them.

"It happened during enrollment. I was outside by the swings while the Third was talking to the teachers to enroll me when you showed up. You were bored while your parents spoke to the teachers as well and you decided to sit next to me."

While Naruto was saying this, it hit her as she suddenly remembered a chance encounter from long ago.

[Flashback Start]

"Hey! Nice hair. It's a little messy and spiky, but I like the color," said a smiling girl his age with the same hair color as him.

She was pretty and had a nice hair slide on.

"Are you talking to me?" questioned a despondent looking boy as he wasn't used to people talking to him.

"Of course, silly, do you see anyone else around?"

"Are you sure you should be talking to me?"

"Why not? You look like you're just as bored as me and two bored blondes got to stick together, right?"

"He-hehe."

"You finally managed to smile. That's great. You should smile more often! You have a really nice smile."

"Thank you."

"Hey. Let's have a game. Let's try to see who can swing the highest."

"You're on!"

They swung for a bit, but after a while, they slowly came to a stop. The boy wanted to know more about this mysterious person so he asked her a question.

"So, what does your family do for a living?"

"My family owns a flower shop so I know a lot about plants and stuff."

"Wow. Really?!"

"Yeah. Hey, you know what? I heard that if you ever feel lonely, you should talk to the plants while you water them. They'll respond to your feelings by growing up to be nice and healthy."

"Oh really?! Thanks!"

"Yeah! So, you should stop by our shop if you ever need any help with plants. That's a promise," said the girl while extending her pinky.

"Sure."

The boy extended his pinky as well and they entwined the two together signifying their promise.

"Hey. I have to go. It was nice to meet you. Let's hang out again next time," said the girl as she noticed that her parents motioned to her that they were done with their business and that they had to go.

Before she left, she gave him a light peck on the cheek. Naruto was so surprised, that he ended up forgetting to ask the girl what her name was.

[Flashback End]

After Naruto finished his story, he noticed that Ino's cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

"You feeling okay there, Ino?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" said an embarrassed Ino as she remembered that she technically gave her first "kiss" to Naruto.

At the time, she only wanted to cheer him up, but now that she had these feelings for him, she was really embarrassed. The awkward silence broke when Naruto suddenly interjected.

"It's too bad we never got to hang out after that. You were my first ever friend and I never got your name till way later. It made it really hard to approach you."

Ino remembered that there was a time that she wanted to hang out again with her new friend. However, she started hearing bad rumors about Naruto and painfully decided not to because she didn't want her other friends to not like her. Now that she remembered, she felt really guilty that she was so childish and immature to ignore a good friend just to conform to the norms.

"That's too bad. Tell you what, to celebrate the remembrance of our first encounter, let's go have ramen! It'll be my treat, Naruto!"

"Oh really? You're the best, Ino. I love you!" said a grinning Naruto as free ramen was not something he would ever pass up.

He was so excited that he didn't even notice that he said such an embarrassing line that made Ino blush again.

"Oh wait. We should invite Choji and Shikamaru as well," said Naruto as he didn't want Ino's teammates to be left out.

"Oh, don't worry about them. If Choji finds out about this, he'll force us to go get yakiniku instead. If you invite Shikamaru, Choji is bound to find out."

"Hmmm. You got a point there. Oh well. If they ever find out about it, I'll make it up to them somehow."

"Yup."

He then stopped and thought for moment. "Hey Ino. What should I do to make up for this?"

"What do you mean? You don't need to do anything, silly!"

"I got it. I'll buy some flowers."

"Oh really?" said an embarrassed Ino since she was surprised that Naruto would be considerate and started thinking that it'll be meant for her.

"Yup. I need to thank Hinata for saving my life, not to mention, give a reply to her confession. So, I'll support one friend's shop while giving another a present. Yes, that's such a great idea!" said a beaming Naruto with a big thumbs-up to show Ino that he really thought it was the perfect idea.

"Oh right," replied Ino with her high hopes dashed and she was instantly brought back down to reality.

She realized that just because she rediscovered this secret past between the two of them, it didn't change the fact that she was too late. Hinata loved Naruto the most and the longest. She deserved a chance to be happy and have her feelings reciprocated.

"Well, do you know what she likes?"

Ino tried to her best to hide her tiny bit of disappointment and be happy for Hinata.

"I don't know what kind of flowers she likes, but I do know that I want a flower that says something about her bravery. Umm… is there a flower like that?"

"Yup there is. I'm an expert and studied the language of flowers. That's my hobby and you definitely asked the right person. Check out this nice bouquet of peonies."

"Thanks, Ino."

"So, what're you gonna say to her?"

"Well her confession caught me by surprise since I never saw her in a romantic way, but I think I'll give it a try. It's about time that I move on from Sakura who, as we all know, will never stop loving Sasuke. Also, it's the first time someone ever told me that they loved me from the bottom of their heart. I was kinda touched," said a slightly embarrassed Naruto.

He tried to laugh it off, but Ino could tell that he was really excited about this. But being a girl that never truly gives up on what she wants, she saw her chance hearing that he never saw her in a romantic way, she quickly thought of a way to discreetly plant a seed of caution in Naruto's mind without making it obvious. So she decided to tease him before executing her plan.

"Oh. That's nice. Look at you, Naruto, all grown up and mature now. I'm proud of you."

"Haha."

Ino then paused before she started again, somewhat hesitantly, knowing how she's going to sound, "However Naruto, you should find out how and why she loves you."

Naruto gave her a questioning gaze, "…What do you mean, Ino?" wondering why she'd even bring this up.

Sensing this Ino quickly made it clear, fearing she'd be caught. "W-what I mean is, yeah she saved you in order to confess to you, but think for a second, she blushes everytime you get close or talk to her, and faints when you say something that could be taken out of context, whether you mean to or not. I don't know. But what I'm trying to say and I know this is gonna sound bad on my part…"

She trails off hesitantly, hoping he understands, "But, what she's feeling could be idolism, or hero worship… Granted I don't know why she likes you, but don't you think it's weird she has the same Nindo you do? 'To never give up, and never back down, no matter what?' I'm just saying this to you so you don't get hurt in the long scheme of things…" She finishes with a slight blush threatening to give away that she, herself, likes and wants to be with him.

He was too busy thinking about what Ino had said to notice, thinking to himself, 'she's right… I never gave it much thought, Hinata's always been a timid girl… but that shouldn't be reason enough to faint or blush so badly whenever I'm near her. Hell, I thought she was sick or something…'

Ino noticed his pause and hoped he wasn't mad at her, but then he speaks up, calming those fears. "You're right… I think I'll do that. Thanks, Ino" Giving her his famous Mega Watt smile again.

Her blush only seemed to increase, and she could feel it too, so she quickly turned, averted her gaze to hide said blush, and noticed the flower she'd been taking care of before he walked in.

Calming her blush, or trying to at the very least, she picked it up. "Have this nice yellow camellia to add to your personal collection. You can keep it if you want, but for now, it can replace the one you left with me."

Ino gave Naruto a pot with a single yellow camellia flower growing. Naruto noticed that this flower was the one he noticed at the counter when he walked in. It seemed really special and distinct from the others. He could also tell that a lot of care was put into it by how healthy and radiant it looked.

"Oh really? It's nice. So, what's this flower mean in their language?"

She paused at this, knowing it meant longing but couldn't tell him that. Not without raising his suspicion. "It means… gratitude. I want to give it to you as thanks for everything."

"Oh really? Thanks a lot, Ino! I'll make sure to take care of this." He beamed at this, happy to take this amazing gift from his fellow blonde.

"Since you're about to meet up with Hinata, let's take a rain check on that ramen outing. Have fun on your date, Naruto!"

"Thanks again for all your help," said Naruto as he waved goodbye and walked towards the door.

Before he stepped out however, he turned around and said one last thing to Ino.

"You know, Ino, I should be the one to thank you. You don't know how much I owe you. You were my first friend, you gave me my love of plants and you gave me a reason to smile more often. Those were all thanks to you. I never said this to anyone, but you were my first love, Ino, and I thank you for being my first friend from the bottom of my heart," said Naruto before walking out the door.

For the first time, Ino saw Naruto blush a bright red.

[Ino's PoV]

For a moment she stared at the door where Naruto had left, not believing what she just heard come from him.

"Sigh. I have such a terrible luck. I could've been with the guy I like now a long time ago," self-deprecatingly said a melancholy Ino to herself as she mockingly laughed at her current state.

This situation reminded her of those cheesy romance novels that she read. As she was talking to herself, her dad came back and entered through the shop entrance, where he proceeded to question Ino about Naruto's visit, and her giving the flower she had been saving to give to someone special. He then went on to give her some teasing encouragement, which naturally caused his daughter to lash out defensively and get embarrassed when he stated he wouldn't mind and would fully support if she and Naruto did end up going out in the future.

Still being embarrassed, she again lashed out defensively, telling him to mind his own business. It was with that he finally returned upstairs to their house.

"Sigh. I hope I am right about Hinata, but if I am, I highly doubt he'll be in any mood to move on from Sakura for awhile… all I can do is to be there for him if it is hero worship…" She sighed once more. "Man, I'm pathetic, secretly stepping between Hinata and her lifelong crush. Well, I better not think too much about it. Let's go out with the girls for some drinks and have some laughs. They'll get a kick out of this story. I wonder what Sakura would think? Heh, at least I one-upped her somehow since I was technically Naruto's first love."

[Naruto's PoV]

At the same time, Naruto was fighting to get his vibrant blush down after his confession to Ino as he walked though the streets at a slightly quicker pace.

'I can't believe I told her that…! And right when I'm about to confront Hinata about her feelings for me and make sure that what she feels is really love. Ino made a good point. I did stand up to her cousin, Neji, during the Chunin Exams, but she was fainting and blushing around me before that. Am I forgetting something that happened in the past?'

'Maybe I should go home, drop off Ino's gift and cool off before going to go see Hinata. I can't be thinking about Ino while I'm out with Hinata. and Ino called it a date. I guess it could be if her feelings are real.' He then paused briefly at that thought. 'But what if they aren't….? What if Ino's right? Will I be able to move on from that, will I go back to chasing after Sakura? Ino did promise me a ramen outing, which…could be considered a…. date….'

Again, he pauses at that realization as a frown appears across his brow. 'Oh, my god! Ino asked me out on a date, and I talked about giving Hinata flowers after she asked me out! I really am an idiot… She must be so mad at me right now.'

Saddened by this, he decided that dropping off Ino's gift was the best course of action in order to calm down and focus on his plan to confront Hinata.

Well that's the end of this chapter. Please review and let me know if I can do anything better, follow if you liked and/or favorite if you enjoyed it. And before any of you say that I stole a good portion of this chapter from FleetingInterest, he's given me permission to use his story for mine and he's even agreed to be my Beta Reader. This is my take on his story, kind of an AU or Fanfiction of a Fanfiction. But from the next chapter on it will be all me.

Next chapter will be out shortly after this is out with any luck. After that I don't know when the next chapter will be.