It was a beautiful day. Most of the teams had days off, so they could concentrate on self-development or have a good time relaxing, except Inojin, who had to work in a flower shop to help his mother a bit. He did not complain. From an early age, the boy loved flowers and enjoyed their beauty. After all, that's how he was brought up. Flowers played a big, important role in his life. Of course, he felt sorry for not being able to meet friends who had no other responsibilities. Did he envy them? Maybe a bit. Instead of thinking about that, he focused on watering plants, while his mother was serving customers. Suddenly all of them heard a noise coming from the entering.
"Yo!" The Yamanaka could recognize Boruto's voice without turning around.
"Go away," Inojin hissed in a response, leaving the other boy hanging. "I'm busy."
"No way. Seriously?" He sighed, approaching the blonde. "I've got a brand new video game. Wanna play?"
"I'm not interested," he answered, minding his own business. "Can you please stop being so annoying?"
"Can you please stop being so mean?" Uzumaki furrowed his eyebrows. "Come on, Shikadai and Mitsuki are waiting outside."
"And? Should I pay you to leave me alone?" He glanced at him before he took a ladder to reach other plants. After realizing that Boruto is not going to give up, he looked at him one more time. "I may join you later," he said, seeking fot his mother approvement, who was glaring at him. "After I finish my work," he added quickly.
"That sucks. We want to play it now," he insisted, but Inojin just sighed.
"Then go and do it." He shrugged, pretending to be uninterested.
"Fine. We will see each other later!" Boruto waved and joined his friends outside.
To be honest Inojin hoped that they will wait for him, but it didn't happen. It's never happening. It looked like they had fun without him, which was painful for the blonde, but he wouldn't admit that.He bowed his head and started preparing a bouquet for a client.
"Inojin, put those flowers outside. I hope it will draw people's attention," Ino ordered, handing him a heavy box.
He stepped outside, but stopped when he saw a group of people he knew and heard their conversation. They didn't even notice him.
"Come on, I know you want it." Boruto put his arm around Shinki. "We hardly ever see each other!" he complained, trying to persuade the other.
"W-we are on a mission. We don't have time for things like that. Right, Shinki?" Araya interrupted, but his teammate didn't react.
"I guess a short break wouldn't be bad," he said making Boruto smile. The masked boy was in a shock.
"Are you kidding me? Are you going to play a video game? Don't you think this is a waste of time?"
"I agree with Shinki," Yodo said as she was invited by Sarada and Chocho to join them. In the Sand Village there weren't many girls to spend time with, so she was glad to hang out with them.
"Huh?" Araya almost screamed in disbelief.
"Araya, calm down," Shinki spoke and put his hand on boy's arm. "Kankuro wanted to visit Aunt Temari anyway. I see no contraindications."
"B-but..."
"Chill!" Boruto cut his sentence. "You are as boring as Inojin. Guys, you seriously need to chill out, dattebasa!" His smile and amusement vanished, when he heard a crack and saw Inojin behind. At first he didn't react, but as soon as he noticed his face expression he started to apologize."I didn't mean that! I promise!" He bowed himself to show his regrets.
"No, it's fine." Yamanaka smiled, but that smile was colder than ice. "Don't waste your time here. You must be bored, right?"
"Well..." Uzumaki completely didn't know what to say.
The silence was too uncomfortable to bear.
"I think we better go," Shikadai said and walked away. Soon he way followed by the others apart from Araya, who was staring at the blond.
"What are you looking at, you creep?!" He glared at him, making him nervous.
"I-I... I don't," he stuttered, but fortunatelu he was saved by Inojin's mother, who stepped outside.
"Inojin! Why is it taking you so long?" she yelled at him. "What does that mean? What happened?" She poined to the broken crates and the scattered earth with flowers.
"It slipped out of my hands," he explained, looking in the other direction. "Sorry."Ino sighed and shook his head.
"I-It's my fault! I bumped into him. I didn't notice him," Araya spoke and bowed himself. "I'm sorry."
"My, my... I guess it won't draw people's attention." She chuckled, but when she noticed that miserable look upon her son's face she stopped. "Nothing's wrong, honey. I'm not mad. Just clean it up, and get the new ones." She smiled at him.
"Yeah," he mumbled in a response.
"I can help you," the masked boy offered.
"Wonderful," Ino replied, since she knew Inojin wouldn't accept that. "You are from the Sand Village, right?" she asked, while the blonde boy was cleaning up. "Good. Inojin will show you our village." The woman smirked at her child, as she heard his sigh. She looked at him. "You heard me. You are free now, but don't forget to bring the flowers here when you finish your small sight-seeing." Ino waved them with a pure smile.
"That woman..." Inojin was embarrassed by his mother's behaviour.
"Your mom is nice," Araya stated.
"You don't know her. She's evil," he replied and put his hand inside the pockets of his hoodie. He was wearing it whenever he worked at their flower shop instead of his mission clothing. "I'm not going to babysit you."
"You don't have to," he hissed.
They both were standing in a silent, not knowing what to do. How could they talk to each other in a situation like that?
"Well... Do you want to eat someting?" Inojin looked at the other from the corner of his eye.
"Y-yeah..."
It's always nice to share a meal with someone else. It's not like Inojin wanted to spend some time with Araya. Not at all.. At least he would not admit that the was interested in that boy. No, he was not in love with him or attracted to him. He didn't even like him. His character just intrigued him and he wanted to get to know him better. Perhaps the fact that he felt lonely had something to do with that.
"So what are you doing here?" Inojin asked, staring at the other one while sipping a fizzy drink. "I guess you are on a mission, but what's your goal?"
"We were just checking the areas, but then we got a message from Kazekage that a man, who is suspected of robbery, was somewhere around us. We captured him and we handed it over to the authorities of The Leaf. Taking the advantage of the opportunity our teacher wanted to visit his sister," he explained tapping his fingers nervously on the table.
"I see..." He looked at his hands. "Why are you nervous?" The blonde rested his chin on his hand.
"I'm not," he denied, making the other on lift his eyebrow.
"Oh really? Your voice is shaking, you're tapping your fingers and you're not eating," he noticed, and put both elbows on the table. "Why are you wearing this ugly mask all the time?"
"I feel safier and more comfortable with that," Araya replied simply. "And you?"
"What do you mean?" The blonde one frowned, watching the other.
"Why are you wearing a mask?"
"What are you talking about? I'm not wearing any mask!" Inojin was really confused by that sudden question and he didn't even bother himself hiding it. "I would never hide my face behind some ugly mask!"
"At least I can admit that the look upon my face isn't real unlike you."
"What?" Yamanaka was speechless. He was just staring at the older one without a word, before Iwabee and his team approached them.
"Inojin? Boruto told us that you are very busy." Denki smiled at the boys. "Huh? You must be Araya! Nice to meet you! I saw your fight. It was-"
"Actually, we are busy," Inojin interrupted as he got up.
"Well, they didn't lie when they warned us that you are not in a good mood," Iwabee laughed. "So what's more important than us this time?"
"Everything," Inojin replied, rolling his eyes. He was just kidding. At least it looked so. "I'm sorry, but we have to pick up some flowers for my mother and I don't want her to be mad at me, so excuse us." He stood right before the boys. "Unless you want to explain it to her," he said, smiling like his father used to.
"N-no..." Metal stuttered and took a step back.
"Good. See ya!" He tilted his head with a smile and left, pulling Araya by his jacket's sleeve. "They can be really annoying."
"We don't have to hurry, do we? Then why did you runaway from them?"
"Just like I said, they are annoying."
"Aren't they your friends?" he asked, glancing at the shorter boy just to check if he showed some emotions.
"Why do you even care?" Inojin glared at him and looked away. "That's none of your business."
Araya didn't say anything. He began to regret his decision. He no longer liked the prospect of spending time with this boy.
"Here we are," Inojin announced, showing the other one a beautiful meadow full of flowers.
"Wow, it looks nice," he stated, looking around. "Does it belong to your family?"
"Yes. This is the place from which we take the flowers. It requires a lot of work and time, but the results are satisfactory. Have a look!" He smiled. There was pure joy in his face. Finally, the smile was not fake or forced.
"I see. You like that place, don't you?" Araya glanced at him. He couldn't deny that seeing him so happy was somehom pleasurable.
The boy nodded enthusiastically. "I grew up here. When I was little, my mother often took me here and talked about the types of flowers and what they meant. I loved listening to her. Being here fills me with nostalgia and joy. Sometimes I miss those times," he explained dreamily, before he shook his head. "Enough of this chit-chatting. Let's get to work," the blond ordered and started picking up the flowers.
At first Araya didn't know what to do. It's not a secret that he's not a specialist if it comes to plants, so he was watching the other boy carefully. After Inojin's explanation, he could help him and they finished their work before the sun went down. Tired boys sat down on the grass, staring at the sunset.
"Which one do you prefer?" Inojin turned to the masked boy, drawing his attention. "Sunset or sunrise?"
"Both of them are beutiful. It's hard to say, but I'd go with sunset. I hardly ever get an opportunity to see a sunrise." He shrugged and looked at the blonde from the corner of his eye. "And you?"
"Definitely sunset," he replied immediately. "I love watching it on my own... But it's feel better to share that moment with someone else, though."
"Don't your friends do this with you?" He didn't take his eyes off him.
"Friends," he repeated. He tried to force a smile, but failed. Instead, his lips trembled and he hid his face between his knees to hide his sadness. "What friends?"
Araya watched the boy silently. He did not know if it would be wise to bring up the subject any further. On the other hand, this could be the moment Inojin would finally open up to someone and take off that mask. However, he decided not to put any pressure on him. He wanted him to do it by himself.
"You know that feeling of rejection? When you are excluded from society, when no one is waiting for you and no one needs you?" he asked quietly, not lifting his head. "Ever since Mitsuki showed up, it seems everyone has forgotten my existence. Do not get me wrong. I have nothing against him, I quite like him, but... it hurts. I feel abandoned, lonely. I miss the times when it was just me and Shikadai. We were best friends until Boruto showed up. Later our relationship worsened, but we were still friends. And now? Nothing but the team connects us now", he explained, letting the tears run down his cheeks. "Why am I even telling you about this? Forget it."
"No, please, continue," Araya ecouraged him. "I'm glad to be the person to whom you decided to confess this." He smiled, which Inojin couldn't see, but for sure he could feel it.
Yamanaka looked at him with teary eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke, "I think I loved Shikadai. My mom told me that the feeling I described to her is love. So I confessed it to him, but he laughed. I don't think he wanted to hurt me. He thought it was a joke. Well, it sounded like a joke. I'm so pathetic."
"Why do you say such things?"
"Boys can't be in love with boys. It's ridiculous," he mumbled.
"It's not!" Araya spoke loudly. "There is nothing wrong with that. Love is love. You shouldn't be so tough on yourself. You have to accept yourself as you are because you're wonderful"
"Said someone, who doesn't show his real face," Inojin said sarcastically.
"W-we're not talking about me. Besides, you can't judge me. You're smiling all the time, thinking that nobody will ever know what you feel. You're afraid to show your real emotions. We are not as different as you think."
Inojin didn't answered immediately. He knew that Araya was right. He wasn't going to deny that, so he smiled with a pride. "At least my mask is pretty, unlike yours," he chuckled.
"H-hey!" He was slightly ashamed by his words, but Inojin just stuck out his tongue. "Maybe you're right," he added quietly, before he noticed that the shy was getting darker. "It's late. I have to go back to my team. We're meeting in front of the gate."
Inojin nodded and stood up. "Well, I have to go as well before my mum gets mad," he laughed and pick up the crates.
"I will help you with that," he offered and took one box.
As they walked, the streets of Konoha were almost empty. This time they talked quite a lot, so the road to the florist's shop was surprisingly fast. Inojin had his own keys, so when he opened the door, the boys carried the boxes inside.
"Thank you," the blond started, looking at the taller one.
He scratched the back of his head and spoke, "You have nothing to thank for. I had it on the way, so that's no problem."
Inojin shook his head, smiling softly. "I'm not thankful for that. I'm talking about your words. It helped me a lot. I guess I needed to hear that."
"Ah! That is... It is..." he mumbled nervously. His face was all red and his hands began to sweat.
His heart skipped as Inojin stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Of course, the puppeteer was still wearing the mask, so he couldn't feel it against his skin, but it was enough to embarrass him. In the meantime, the blonde put a flower behind the ear of the older boy, which he did not even notice.
Inojin smiled with a light blush.
"I-I have to go. S-see you," he mumbled and turned away.
"Don't forget to visit me, when you're around!" he said playfully, waving his hand.
Araya walked away without any other word. He was too embarrassed to speak, which his teammates could easily noticed, when he reached them. Shinki narrowed his eyes and approached him. "What's this?" he asked, showing him the small flower.
The masked boy was speechless. He wanted to die. Shinki seeing his reaction lifted an eyebrow in a confusion and Yodo just chuckled.
"I don't know what were you doing today, but you had fun, didn't you?" She asked with a smirk.
"P-please, stop..." he said resigned, making the girl laugh.
The end! I'll tell you a secret. This oneshot is older than my second book. I didn't like it at first. In my opinion it was boring a little, so I made it more interesting. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought. Well, I hope so...
One more thing, tank you Merrliq for your beautiful works and your support. I'm glad that I found your account. Wish you all the best! <3
I send you all huuuge amounts of love.