ɴᴀʀᴜᴛᴏ ᴜᴢᴜᴍᴀᴋɪ ɴᴀᴍɪᴋᴀᴢᴇ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘᴜᴅᴇɴ (on Hold)

Chapter 41

It had been a week since team 7 saved Gaara from the Akatsuki, and they were taking rest from missions.

In the Morning, Naruto decided to walk around Konoha. It was still relatively early, so only a few people were out, just a few shop owners setting up stores. As Naruto looked around the street, he spotted the Yamanaka flower shop, which was opening. Changing direction, Naruto made a Beeline for the store; as he opened the door, the bell rang, signaling his entrance.

"Hello, what can I- oh Naruto-kun!" Ino said in surprise before her voice turned flirtatious. "So what can I get you, or did you just come to see me."

Naruto resisted the urge to grow; despite having grown up and gotten more muscular, it was plain to see that Ino had not lost her fan-girlish tendencies; still, Naruto figured it would be rude not to converse with her. "Not this time, I'm afraid; I just came in to get some flowers."

"Oh..." Ino's voice dropped slightly in disappointment, "so who are they for?" she figured Naruto was getting them for his girlfriends.

"My parents," Naruto said with a sad smile.

"oh..." the platinum blond found herself cursing for ruining such a good mood. "In that case, I would suggest a bouquet of roses," Ino said as she led Naruto to the section where e roses were. She rearranged them before putting them into a plastic wrap; when she was done, Ino led Naruto to the front desk. Typing in a few numbers on the cash register, she rang up his total, "That will be 150.00 yen."

Naruto nodded and, with a puff of smoke, had Gama-chan out of its seal; opening it up, he grabbed the necessary money and handed it to Ino. "Thanks, Ino," Naruto said as he grabbed the roses.

Memorial Stone

Yugao placed the single flower she had next to the memorial stone; standing back up, she looked at the one name that had meant the world to her.

Hayate.

The ninja community knew that the two were dating; she and Hayate had been together since they were genin. What was less well known was that she and Hayate had been engaged for nearly six months before the Konoha invasion. They were in the final stages of planning their wedding when a wind blade killed Hayate. She was removing him from her life, leaving her empty. She'd been lost since then, her entire life seeming to revolve around her fellow swordsman. She felt like she was ghosting through life now that he was gone.

Her friends, of course, had tried to help to the best of their abilities, trying to get her out of the apartment she had shared with Hayate. They had even tried to hook her up with another man by taking her out on the town, hoping she would at least smile. However, none of it had worked; she could not bear the thought of leaving the place she and Hayate had shared so many memories. She rarely goes out to her friends except to drink; Yugao usually did some kind of S-class mission or was hospitalized after the mission went wrong. And no one else could ever fill the void that Hayate's death had caused; a part of that may have been her fault, but she did not feel like moving on.

It felt like she would be betraying Hayate's memory.

"Excuse me, miss, do you mind if I stay here?"

Yugao's eyes widened in surprise as she twirled around; when her gaze landed on the figure, her eyes widened even more. "Naruto," Yugao spoke in shock, staring into the blue eyes of Naruto.

Naruto was about to correct her when he found his gaze traveling along the woman. She was beautiful, with long purple hair, two large bangs falling over her shoulder, and several petite bangs covering her face. Her eyes were a dark brown, which contrasted nicely with her pale milky skin. She had a heart-shaped face, small yet pouty pink lips, and a small nose. She wore the Anbu attire for female kunoichi, which did nothing to hide her fantastic figure. Lovely, well-rounded, firm hips, a narrow waist, and a luscious mid-to-high C-cup chest. All in all, the woman was the epitome of beauty, yet not these qualities attracted his attention. It was that he knew this woman.