Work Text:
1.
Almost every day after she met Sakura, Ino came home talking about her. By the end of the week, her parents were sure they heard just about everything about the pink-haired girl. The first day it was about the girl she found crying and how the other kids were too mean to her. As time went on it continued, only it stopped just being about how she wanted to help her. She would talk about how she was pretty but didn’t seem to know. Then it was about how fun she was to play with and to share whatever ‘gossip’ she had. As time passed, she started to talk about her confidence too, how she came out of her shell and was much stronger than she originally thought.
A few months after they met Ino still almost always returned from school with a new story about her friend. How they played the best game or spent lunch sharing whatever gossip they happened to hear. How Sakura dealt with some of the annoying boys in their class who didn’t shut up until she went off on them. How she knew every answer to questions their teacher asked. How she was the perfect friend and wanted to spend time together forever.
As she arrived home after school she already had another one to share about how Kiba brought his dog to school but let it trample over the flowers they picked for flower crowns. Sakura had chased him down and forced him to apologize. She never had a friend who stuck up for her like that before.
“Ino, do you think you could help with some of the new inventory?” her father called as she entered the shop.
“One second,” she called back, rushing into the back room to put her bag down. She always loved the chance to help her father in the flower shop, creating arrangements and displays. Her favorite things to do with him were always related to the flower shop. When they worked in the garden and when he taught her how to make good arrangements or the meanings of specific blossoms.
When she returned to the main store her father was working on adding some new flowers to the displays, carefully placing each of them so their beauty was displayed properly without blocking anything else. When she reached him he was working on arranging new pink calla lilies, checking each one to make sure they were perfect.
“What did you want help with?” she asked, stopping beside him. He was almost finished with the calla lilies, but there were still plenty of other flowers left to set out.
“Just restocking today,” he explained, passing her some tulips to arrange.
Just as she started to set them out her mother entered the shop, making her way over to them. She didn’t know quite as much about the flowers as Inoichi, but she still helped them when she could. Ino had heard dozens of stories about her father giving her mother different flowers when he first liked her, normally with a message in the language of flowers. At first, her mother had not known that some of the flowers she received contained another message, but when she did it was the moment she knew how much she loved him.
When she reached them she didn’t even get a chance to say anything before Inoichi pulled one of the pink calla lilies from the display and presented it to her.
“For my beautiful wife,” he said with a smile as she took the pink blossom from his hand. “A pink calla lily.”
“Would you mind reminding me what the pink ones mean?” she asked, clutching the flower in her hand, a soft smile on her lips. “I can’t quite remember.”
“Admiration and adoration,” he replied, leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on her lips. “And there is no one I admire and adore more than my lovely wife.”
Most kids her age would cringe away from such affection, but Ino had always been a romantic. Whenever she saw a couple in real life or a movie she would wonder if that could be her someday receiving flowers and a kiss. Most of the time it would be some faceless guy her mind conjured up since that was what the heroines of the romances she saw always got, but today it was different. When her dad said the flower was for someone he admired and adored, the face that flashed in her mind was Sakura’s.
That couldn’t be right. Sakura’s a girl , she reminded herself, but something still seemed right. She did admire the pink-haired girl. Her strength, her intelligence, and her confidence that seemed to grow every day. She also couldn’t think of anyone she liked to spend time with more. She wanted to give her one of those pink calla lilies. She wanted to share her feelings through flowers the same way her father did even though Sakura was a girl. She probably wouldn’t know what it meant anyway so what could it hurt?
“Dad, can I have one of those calla lilies?” she blurted out before she could get the chance to change her mind. Giving the other girl a flower wouldn’t hurt anything. She could give her friend a flower if she wanted. Almost no one outside her family knew the meaning behind flowers so they wouldn’t think anything of another meaning.
“Of course Ino,” he replied, plucking a second calla lily from the display and handing it to her. “Did you have someone special in mind for it?”
“No,” she lied, hoping her cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt. Her parents didn’t need to know who the flower was for. It could be her secret.
“Well, take your time not taking your flower to anyone,” her father replied with a smile, seeing right through her as always. Knowing him he probably knew exactly where she was taking it as well. “Just be back by dinner.”
Ino darted out of the store, deciding not to worry about what her father may know, and made her way through the village to Sakura’s house. She had been there a few times before and knew the way there by now. Hopefully, Sakura wouldn’t read too much into her bringing over the flower because at this point she still couldn’t really say why she was doing this.
By the time she reached the Haruno house she was beginning to wonder if this was a bad idea, but she never got the chance to reconsider because she was sitting outside on the porch. She had a book in her hands but still managed to look up at just the right moment to spot her friend. Placing the bookmark between the pages she gave a friendly wave and she knew she couldn’t back off now.
“Hey Ino,” she called out as the blonde reached her porch. “What are you doing here?”
“I just…” she started, taking a deep breath and hoping for the right words to not make this sound weird. This didn’t need to be so hard. “We were arranging some new flowers in the store and I wanted to bring you one.”
She blurted out the words so quickly as she held out the pink calla lily to Sakura. Hopefully, she wouldn’t see the blush Ino knew was creeping onto her face. She might think she was being weird. She never should’ve tried this in the first place.
But then the other girl's face was filled with the biggest smile. She took the flower then threw her arms around Ino pulling her into one of the biggest hugs she had ever gotten.
“Thanks Ino! It’s so pretty!” she said the excitement on her face coming through in her tone. “You’re such a great friend!”
Between the way her heart seemed to jump at her smile and sink at the word ‘friend’ she knew: Ino had a crush on her best friend.
2.
Ino still couldn’t say why she told Sakura she liked Sasuke as well. For some reason, she blurted it out when she realized the pink-haired girl liked him, but she didn’t have any idea why. She didn’t even like Sasuke in general, let alone as a crush. He was standoffish and rude yet all the girls in their class were obsessed with him. He wasn’t even that good-looking either (although she didn’t think she even liked guys so maybe she was biased). Why had she done that? She lost her best friend because of something completely stupid.
She tried not to let the tears fall as she ran through the door to her house, and headed straight for her room. As the door slammed behind her she collapsed onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow. How could she have done something so incredibly stupid?
“Ino?” her father’s voice called along with a gentle knock on the door.
“Go away!” she yelled back, words slightly muffled by the pillow.
She heard the door open and soon after felt the bed move as he sat down at the end. Her dad always knew when something was wrong and he somehow always managed to be there right away. He didn’t say anything, just sat down waiting for her to be ready. Still, she waited wondering if he would just leave her alone this time.
“I said go away,” she insisted, rolling over. She knew he wouldn’t though. She also knew she didn’t really want him to.
“I just wanted to make sure my little girl is alright.”
She wanted to tell him to go away again. She wanted to keep her tears in and not be as upset as she was. She wanted to go back and not tell Sakura she also liked Sasuke. But she couldn’t do any of that.
“Sakura and I aren’t friends anymore.”
As tears began to fall down her face Inoichi pulled her into a hug. She let herself cry into her father’s chest, still not sure why she let things go this far. If she went back to Sakura now she would have to explain why she did it and that wasn’t an option. She dug herself into a hole she couldn’t escape.
“I’m sure you two will figure it out,” her father reassured her as her tears began to stop. She wanted to believe him but knew it wasn’t that simple. “If you want to tell me what happened I’m here to listen.”
“We both have a crush on Sasuke,” she explained, whipping her eyes with her sleeve.
She expected her father to respond with his usual understanding, maybe a bit of exasperation at the reason even if it wasn’t obvious. Instead, he looked almost shocked. He didn’t even really try to hide it.
“You like Sasuke?” he asked, after a moment, the surprise still evident in his voice.
“Of course I do!” she lied, hoping he would see through it like he always did. It wasn’t too much of a stretch since everyone seemed to like him. She liked boys she probably would like him so it made perfect sense.
“I just thought that-” he stopped short, seeming to reconsider his words. “I’m sure the two of you will get past this.”
She didn’t try to argue with him, just decided to hope he was right, but as time went on nothing changed. Sakura still liked Sasuke and still thought she did as well. The rift between them seemed to grow as time went on, the other girl becoming her rival in everyone's eyes. They were always competing with one another, fighting for ‘Sasuke’s’ attention.
For a little while she even thought her crush had faded, but it always seemed to come back again. Everyone thought she fought her for Sasuke, but she still couldn’t see what everyone liked about him. Sakura was far too good for him. Someday she would get the girl to notice her. Prove that she was a better choice than he ever would be.
At least Sasuke didn’t seem to show any interest in her despite everything she did to draw his attention. None of the girls who went after him ever did. As long as he kept ignoring her, Ino could hope Sakura would just give up on him and move on. At least based on everything that happened so far it didn’t seem likely he would so much as glance at her.
Then genin team assignments came. From the start, Ino knew her team would be Shikamaru and Choji. Their families had been in teams together for generations so they didn’t really have to wait for team assignments. She figured that like most people, Sakura would be placed with some random classmates of theirs, but then Sasuke was placed on her team. The worst person she could’ve possibly been teamed up with.
She could no longer just keep hoping he would never notice her. With them being on the same team there was no chance they wouldn’t see each other, even with Naruto making a mess of things all the time. He may even push them together as they both did their best to avoid him. Then again he seemed almost as obsessed with the dark-haired boy as the rest of the girls so they might not be able to get time without him.
When she got home from school that day and went down to help out in the flower shop she noticed one of the displays looked off. On closer inspection, it seemed a customer had put a pink calla lily back in the wrong spot. The very same flower she gave Sakura a few years ago. The one that came with a message she never said out loud.
She knew exactly what she could do. She could say plenty through flowers even if she couldn’t say it out loud. At least she could feel like she said something even if no one could understand it. She needed a way to say she wasn’t just going to give up and let Sasuke take her away. If she gave a flower to Sakura she might realize it so she had to find another way.
She spent the rest of the night going over ideas in her head but nothing seemed right. As she walked to class the next day she was almost ready to give up when she spotted the solution. Growing on the side of the road was a small patch of tansy flowers, their yellow standing out against the grass. Resistance. Resilience. A declaration of war . It was perfect.
She plucked the tansy and rushed off towards the school hoping she wouldn’t be too late. For all she knew their team may have already left for their first day together. She had no idea when their teacher planned to meet them. Apparently, they were working with Kakashi who was well known in the village as a strong shinobi so he may have had them get an early start.
When she reached them, their whole team was luckily still there. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she was going to do. If she didn’t do it now, just like with the last flower she would regret it.
“Sasuke!” she called out with a cheerful wave, causing him to turn his usual scowl her way. “I picked this tansy for you.”
She held out the flower to him but he didn’t take it. It didn’t matter though. She did what she needed to do. She offered Sasuke her own little declaration of war. She wouldn’t give up on Sakura. She wouldn’t let him take her away from her.
3.
When it came time for the Chunin exams once again Ino was glad she wasn’t going into it with Sakura as her enemy. After their fight the first time they attempted them something had changed. Their rivalry had begun to turn back into the friendship they shared before even if they both bickered. Their decision to train together as medical-nin and Sasuke’s disappearance had helped that too. They spent plenty of time training together and began to fall into their old friendship. Even if what happened to Sasuke was horrible, not having him between them made things easier as well.
This time they had both made it to the final round of the exams and if things went well they might both end up being made Chunin. They weren’t paired against each other this time either so they would have to worry about knocking the other out at least for now.
When Ino reached the arena she had made up her mind on a few things. First, she would get rid of her fake crush on Sasuke. She would stop answering with his name when people asked who she liked and she wouldn’t let the fake feelings get in the way of her friendship again. Second, she would pass this exam along with Sakura and continue to prove how strong of a ninja she was. If she just kept proving that maybe the other girl would eventually see her in a different light and quit focusing so much on Sasuke. And finally, she would once again give Sakura flowers and this time she would tell her what they meant.
When she reached the arena Sakura was already there, her beautiful pink hair pulled back by her headband, looking as strong as ever. Ino had no doubt Sakura would pass these exams; she just needed to be sure she could alongside her.
“Sakura,” Ino said as she reached the other girl, making sure to put on her prettiest smile. “I have something for you.”
She held out the stalk of green blossoms, bells of Ireland, not one of the prettiest flowers around, but they conveyed the message she needed.
“Bells of Ireland. They mean good luck.”
This time her message didn’t have any reason to stay secret. Wishing someone good luck was common among friends even if they normally only did it in words. That wasn’t the only reason she decided to share the meaning behind the flowers though. She wanted to give Sakura the chance to realize that every time Ino gave someone a flower she considered the meaning, not just the look. Even if it could end in rejection eventually she wanted her to know any flowers she gave in the future would mean something.
“You know the meanings behind different flowers?” Sakura asked, looking down at the blossoms in her hand.
“My dad taught them to me when I was little,” she explained. Now that the other girl knew how much she knew about flower meanings she would have to consider that whenever she gave them to her.
“Thanks, Ino, but,” she started, her pause causing Ino’s heart to sink as the other girl looked down at the blossoms. Then she carefully broke the stalk in half offering one of the pieces back to Ino. “I want you to have some luck too.”
4.
Sakura had stopped chasing after Sasuke. She hadn’t really gotten much choice after it really became clear to everyone that Naruto and Sasuke’s obsession with each other ran deeper than friendship. Ino had begun to wonder if that might be the case for a while between Sasuke’s lack of interest in any of the girls who went after him no matter how pretty they were and how the two of them seemed to only see each other when they were together. Even when it was masked by their ‘rivalry’ the two of them seemed to be the only person for each other. No one else in their village or any other could match them the same way.
With Sasuke out of the way Sakura was now wide open and Ino wouldn’t miss her shot this time. She needed to do something before another suitor decided to push their way in and take her away again. Luckily anyone she thought might have moved on giving her a bit of time to make her move. She didn’t even know for sure if Sakura liked girls since the only crush she heard about was Sasuke and all the people that previously tried to ask her out were also men.
She fiddled with the bouquet of red carnations in her hands. Maybe this was a mistake. It risked their friendship, all the ground she had regained since their falling out. The flowers she would give her this time had a more romantic meaning than any she had used before: love and affection. My heart aches for you . If she decided to learn their meaning there would be no way to get out of this one.
Even with her resolve to do this no matter what she still didn’t know if she could do it face to face. If Sakura asked her what they meant she didn’t know if she was ready to say the words to her directly. Even after so long it still felt scary. She had completed more missions than she could count and almost died on plenty of them yet this still scared her. It felt pathetic, but she still couldn’t do it.
Instead, she laid the bouquet by some of Sakura’s things at the hospital. She would find it later and hopefully know who it was from. She didn’t know of anyone else who had ever given her flowers. Sasuke certainly never had and even while Naruto had his crush on her he didn’t seem the type. Rock Lee may have, but she wouldn’t think they were from him because it was fairly common knowledge that he was now after the sand village’s Kazekage Gaara. Even if she didn’t figure it out plenty of people around the hospital may have spotted her and told Sakura. No going back now.
As she left the hospital she decided it would be better to wait a bit before going home. When Sakura found the flowers she would probably go there first and needed some time to collect her thoughts. She let her feet guide her and ended up in the woods near the village at a spot where she used to train with her old Genin squad. At least she had a good way to pass the time.
She let herself fall into the familiar motions of training she lost track of time. The drills and exercises she had run so many times that they came as naturally as breathing. She only noticed how long it had been as the light began to fade from the sky, signaling her that she should probably return home. She sheathed her kunai and began to make her way home.
By the time she reached her house almost all the light had faded from the sky, street and porch lights illuminating the road. As she entered the store she made her way towards the backroom, assuming it would be empty since they closed almost an hour ago. She only made it a few steps before a voice made her stop in her tracks.
“Ino,” said a voice she could recognize even without turning around.
Originally she had expected to face her tonight, but after taking so long to make it home she assumed Sakura would have gone home. Her shift at the hospital had ended over an hour ago. Had she really waited that long? What did she have to say that talking couldn’t wait until morning? Surely the meaning of the flower wasn’t that important to her.
“I asked your father about the flowers,” she explained, after a moment of silence. So she already knew. She had stayed too late to respond to her confession. The logical part of her brain knew it was probably to let her down since she didn’t have any signs to suggest otherwise. The side of her that was a hopeless romantic screamed that she would only wait that long if she felt the same. “Not just the carnation, the others too.”
“Others?” she asked, her words coming out nervous and quiet, nothing like her usual tone. Did Sakura really remember all the times she gave her flowers?
“The pink calla lily you gave me when we were little,” she started to explain taking a step towards Ino. “Admiration and adoration. Back then I was always nervous you didn’t actually want to be my friend as much as I wanted to be yours, but when you came all the way to my house just to give me a flower I stopped worrying so much. I didn’t know what the flower meant, but to me, it meant that you cared just as much as I hoped.”
So that’s what she meant. She remembered the simple calla lily from so many years ago. Ino had never forgotten about it, but she always assumed the other girl had. Apparently, it meant more than she ever thought. Even without Sakura knowing the message behind it she had still received it. From a simple flower, she did realize how much the other girl adored her.
“The tansy you gave to Sasuke,” she continued, which surprised her even more than her remembering the calla lily. She wasn’t even the one who got the tansy. “I never knew why the flower stuck in my mind after you gave it to him. At the time, it made me so mad that you did something like that right after I thought I won our fight for him. It was the only time I remember you making a point of giving him a flower even with your crush and you specified the name. When I asked your dad about the other flowers I had to know about that one too. A declaration of war. You have it to him and not me. All this time I thought we were fighting over him, but you were fighting against him.”
It was only then she realized how close the other girl had gotten. She was about a foot away now and Ino’s heart was beating faster in her chest now. Sakura had found each of the messages she placed for her over the years, even the ones Ino hadn’t thought about in years. Between that and their proximity suddenly returned feelings didn’t seem so far-fetched.
“Of course, there were the bells of Ireland you said were to wish me good luck, and then today you left me red carnations. Love and desire. Apparently also used to mean ‘My heart aches for you’. I don’t want your heart to ache anymore.”
Sakura closed the gap between them, saving Ino from having to think of a response. She didn’t think she could have if she wanted to anyway. All she could think about now was the girl whose lips were now against her own. The girl she loved for so long and finally saw her the same way.
5.
When Ino arrived at Sakura’s door she once again held a flower in her hand. It felt fitting to bring one for their first date since flowers were how she got it in the first place. After years of wishing for this day, it was finally happening.
She had spent most of the morning changing her mind about what she would wear because she wanted it to be perfect. Shikamaru and Choji, who she invited over to help, had finally told her she had to just stop switching outfits. Neither of them had much knowledge of fashion or any of the other things she needed for her date, but aside from Sakura, they were her best friends. They really had ended up helping by pointing out that Sakura had seen her looking her worst before after rough fights and looks wouldn’t matter. Shikamaru had actually said “Who fucking cares about clothes, why are you asking me about this? She’s not even gonna care.” before Choji added some kinder words about how Sakura would like her no matter what.
As she left for her date, she found her father waiting for her in the shop with a single rose sitting by him on the counter. He looked up from some paperwork he was going over when she entered and smiled.
“I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see the day when you finally took Sakura out,” he’d told her with a small laugh. Of course, he had known. He had probably known about feelings as long as she had. He had a sixth sense that way.
“I thought you might want something to give her,” he explained, holding out the rose to her. “It’s a much simpler and more well-known message that she will understand right away. It’s also the same kind of flower I gave your mother on our first date.”
Ino hadn’t just taken the flower from him, instead, she pulled her father into a hug. He was always there right when she needed him most. He let her take that first flower to her, he was there when their friendship ended, and for everything else.
“Thank you, Dad,” she said, finally taking the rose. “For everything.”
“I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up. I hope she makes you as happy as I think she will,” he told her, then with a laugh he added, “and I’m glad I don’t have to give her the threatening dad talk because I know you’re plenty strong enough to fight your battles. Plus I doubt she would do anything to need that.”
Now on Sakura’s doorstep, she knew she was definitely ready. She raised her hand and gently knocked on the door.
When it opened and Sakura stepped out everything seemed to slow down just like the time before they kissed. She wore a simple dress, but it was perfect. She looked so beautiful it took her a moment to get her words back. She had rarely seen her dressed nicely since they both normally dressed for their missions and now she couldn’t keep herself from staring. She still didn’t fully trust herself to speak so instead she just held out the flower.
“I know what this one means,” Sakura said, her beautiful smile lighting up her face as she took the flower. Sakura truly had an effect on her that no one else did. She could practically knock her off her feet with a smile.
“You’re beautiful,” she finally said, her voice coming out completely firm because she knew she meant it. How had she gotten this lucky?
“Not as pretty as you,” she replied with a flirty smile that made her blush more than she cared to admit.
“Shall we go?”
Ino offered the other girl her hand and they set off together to the start of something Ino hoped would never end.
+1
It had taken forever to get home after work. Shikamaru and Naruto had shown up just as she was leaving and would not stop talking. It was very unlike Shikamaru to waste any time in getting home, but Naruto could talk anyone’s ear off. Somehow she had ended up listening to the two of them talking about just about everything under the sun for about thirty minutes before they finally let her excuse herself. It hadn’t been easy since any time she tried one of them would bring up something else and cut her off. It almost felt like a stalling tactic.
When she arrived at her and Sakura’s apartment, already behind schedule, she didn’t have quite as much time to get some work done before cooking dinner. Lost in thought she almost didn’t notice the flower or the piece of paper waiting for her on the front porch.
Just as she was pulling out her key she noticed the pink petals out of the corner of her eye. At first, she thought a flower may have ended up there by accident but it was directly in front of the door on top of a folded piece of paper. And it was a peony. Maybe they had been stalling for something. It would explain why Naruto had kept her from leaving for so long.
She bent down to pick them up and then gently unfolded the note. In Sakura’s neat handwriting, it said Meet me at your parent’s flower shop . Sakura had invited her somewhere special with a peony. Could it mean what she thought? Did she know what a peony meant?
Ino didn’t waste another moment waiting and wondering. She turned away from her door without even going inside and raced towards her family’s flower shop. She didn’t even know if this really meant what the flower suggested, but if it did she didn’t want to waste another second.
When she reached the shop a few more peonies were scattered on the ground just outside. Normally she would have picked them up, but that would take time she didn’t want to waste. If Sakura had learned their meaning in the language of flowers Ino didn’t want to wait to find out.
She pushed open the door to the shop and she was almost sure this was what she thought. The shop was empty apart from Sakura who stood in a ring of peonies carefully laid out on the floor. It was in the same place they shared their first kiss. Ino stepped forward to join her in the ring, trying everything she could to stay calm.
“Ino, you were one of my first friends. Over the years you have been one of the friends I trusted most even if we fell apart for so long. Then in this same spot about five years ago we shared our first kiss and then became more to each other than younger me would have ever imagined. You make me every single day. There is no one else I could ever imagine spending the rest of my life with. No one is as beautiful and perfect as you are. You’re smart and strong. You’re always there when I need you.”
Then Sakura reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box as she dropped to one knee.
“Yamanaka Ino, will you marry me?”
No time passed between the end of her question and Ino saying yes. Sakura slipped the ring on her finger and then kissed her. It was even more perfect than their first kiss had been which she would have said would be impossible if someone asked the day before.
“I wanted to do something with the language of flowers,” Sakura explained when they finally parted. “Since you did it for you so many times it seemed like the perfect way even if it tipped you off. I’m sure you caught on.”
“Peonies,” Ino replied with a smile, taking the beautiful pink blossom she first found on their doorstep and tucking it behind Sakura’s ear. It went perfectly with her pink hair. “Often featured in bridal bouquets because they’re used to symbolize a happy marriage.”