Yamanaka Ino folded her arms, looking around the flower exhibit. She was ‘dressed for the occasion’ in a cute tank and shorts, missing all her nets and ninja gear. She was, of course, on a ‘vacation’ and not a mission. “Oh come on… These aren’t exotic flowers. I can get all these cheap, and I do. And we sell them.” She sighed. “The sign promised special flowers… This is supposed to be my birthday present to me! I’m turning 17 tomorrow!!”
“Those are in another exhibit.”
“Ah!” Ino swirled around to the voice, pointing at the person who had spoken. “You! …uh… Buggy.”
“These flowers are all native to Konoha.” Shino pointed to one sign, “The exotic ones you’re looking for are in the next room.” He pointed to another sign. Like her, he was dressed more normally—his hood was down rather than over his head, and his glasses were a more normal pair of sunglasses, also missing ninja gear.
“…I knew that. Why’re you here anyway, Buggy?”
“Aburame Shino. And I imagine the same reason you’re here. To look at the flowers.”
“…Okay, creepy. Bye now.” Ino waved, quickly hurrying into the next room and exhaling. “Man… That guy’s really freaky… Pretty!” she ran over to the first flower.

About two hours later, Ino stopped and looked around through the trees she was now in. She’d continued through all the sections and ended up in the small forest, losing the small path while paying attention to the flowering vines on the trees. “Oh man…”
She squinted upwards, managing to notice that it was beginning to get dark, and it wasn’t just the trees. “Closing time is soon and I have no idea where I am…”
Ino started walking again, before flopping down in front of a tree. “Hopelessly lost… I hope they send people through here at night… Before they lock the doors… I’m inside and I’m lost in the woods!”
She pulled her knees to her chest. “At least there aren’t any wild animals or bugs… Well, plenty of bugs… No –dangerous- bugs… I think…”
“That depends on your definition of dangerous.”
“Ah!” Ino jumped up quickly, turning toward the voice again. “Bu—Shino! You’re still here?”
“Apparently so. They’re locking up in 30 minutes. We need to hurry.”
“But we’re lost. This isn’t the path.” Ino started to sit down again.
“Come on.” Shino caught her arm and pulled her. “You may be lost, but I know where all the exits are. Follow me.”

She stumbled after him, “You know? How—Oh. The bugs, right?”
“Correct.”
“…Which ones?”
“The butterflies. They like the flowers, they know where they all are, and which ones are located nearest to the exits.”
“…Chouji is helpful.” Ino exhaled, “…You can let go of my arm now. I can follow on my own.”
“Sorry.” Shino let go, continuing to walk.
When they arrived, Ino pushed and pulled at the door. “Ahhh, come on!”
Shino checked his watch. “…We’re 5 minutes late. The doors are on an automatic timer, no one comes out.”

“We’re dead!” Ino sunk down in front of the door. “I haven’t eaten today… I’m dead…”
“It takes three days to die of thirst and three weeks to die of starvation—assuming you at least have water. So unless you haven’t eaten for much longer than today—“
“I get it!” Ino stood up, “Gee, why have you gotta be so serious, Shino? Even Shikamaru doesn’t point things like that out when I say it anymore, and he’s stupid.”
“I disagree with that statement. But I’ll remember not to point out the obvious to you. Like the staff break room with a vending machine just over there—with no door.”
Ino blinked, folding her arms. “I saw that.” She strolled over to the staff room, sitting down in one of the chairs. “Not very comfortable…”
“Unless you prefer the ground.” Shino followed her inside, going over and frowning at the vending machines trying to find something semi-healthy to not upset the poor bugs in his body.

Ino folded her arms on the table and watched him. “…Are you gonna get something or not?”
“I think I’ll wait. There’s nothing that would agree with me.” He sat down.
“Suit yourself then.” Ino sat up, pulling a fruit bar out of her purse.
Shino opened his mouth to comment, then closed it and shook his head.
“Here.” Ino set it in front of him, “That’s more your style, right?”
“…Aren’t you going to eat that?”
“I only packed it because mom insisted, I hate those.” Ino stood up, going over to the machine, “Blueberries make me choke, so you can have it.”
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She pulled out her wallet, getting a pack of strawberry pop-tarts and sitting back down. “I won’t be sleeping tonight, this is way too much sugar…”
“You have that reaction to sugar as well?” Shino unwrapped the blueberry bar, carefully taking a bite.
“Really, who doesn’t?” Ino unwrapped her’s as well, breaking it in half. “Then again, I’ve never seen Shikamaru hopped up on sweets… and sugar effects Chouji in a completely different way…”
“It effects most people the same. Shikamaru avoids it, and Chouji seems to need it for his chakra.”
“That’s about right.” Ino nibbled at the Pop-tart. “So… Did you come to see the flowers for you, or for the bugs?”
“Both. Or all three.”
“All three?”
“There are also bugs here to see.”
“Oh yeah. …Which reminds me, what dangerous bugs are here? You said there were.”

Shino shrugged. “Your average dangerous bug. Bees, wasps, ants, various spiders.”
“No scorpions?”
“Not where we are. The temperature and moisture annoy them.”
“Well good, they can stay annoyed with it.” Ino took another nibble of the pop-tart, then pushed it aside. “Yeah I’m done.”
“Weren’t you starving?”
“Not really.” She put her head on the table. “I just like being dramatic.”
“…Well you’re dramatic very well.”
“Thanks.” She rolled her eyes slightly, then sighed. “….When does the park open again?”
“Look at the sign to your left.”
“You could just say ‘8:00’.” She closed her eyes.
“Tomorrow’s Sunday, the park is closed.”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST SAY THAT?!” Ino jumped up, then sat down again, “Oh man… I didn’t take a shower this morning, I’m going to die…”
“…You could stand under the sprinklers.”
“Yeah you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“What?”
Ino rolled her eyes, “Yeah, keep pretending you don’t know what I mean.”
“…Well there’s also the pond if you don’t like the sprinklers.”
“Yeah you’d REALLY like that.”
“I have no idea what you’re implying.”
“Are you even human?” Ino looked up at him.

“The answer is both yes and no.” Shino adjusted his glasses.
Ino covered her face. “Come on. For just a second, don’t be so serious. Pretend you’re Naruto or something.”
“…I’d prefer not to. The way his thought process works makes me highly uncomfortable.”
“Well if you’d think like him for a second—“
“You seem to be the one who’s implying things. And normally when one implies things so loudly—“
“Silence half-human!”
“I’m fully human. I simply also have insect qualities.”
“I’m going to sleep on the couch.”
“It’s only 8:00.”
“You’re annoying.” Ino curled up in the chair.
“…The couch?”
“I’m going outside.” She got up, walking out.
Shino raised an eyebrow. “…Insect males never have to deal with this. They just get killed. She’s strange.”
“I AM NOT!! You’re the one in there talking to yourself or bugs. I don’t know which one is creepier.”
“I thought you were moving away from me?”
“….I don’t want to be alone.”
“Then come back inside here.”
“But you’re in there. I’m not alone out here.”
“There’s a spider in your hair.”

She shot back in, grabbing onto him. “Get it!!”
Shino gently pulled it out. “This one’s only a writing spider. She’s harmless. Not even the type to kill a husband. You accidentally hit her web.” Shino put the spider back outside.
“Sorry spider. I didn’t mean to.” Ino rubbed her head to check for any bits of web left in.
“You got it all out.” Shino looked back inside. “Would you prefer I stay out here instead?”
“Um… Well not being mean or anything…”
“I understand.” Shino sat down by the door, looking out over the trees.

The following morning, Ino rolled off the couch with a thud. “…Ow.”
Shino opened his eyes and leaned in the door, having stayed outside the whole night like he’d promised, “…You alright, Ino?”
“Yeah…” she sat up, rubbing her head. “It’s smaller than my bed so I fell off…”
“As long as you aren’t hurt.” Shino stood up and stretched. “I’m going to take a walk. As long as we’re stuck here I’m going to enjoy it.”
“Don’t you leave me alone!” Ino shot out beside him.
“That’s why I waited for you to wake up. I wasn’t going to go yet, I was stretching.”
“Oh…” Ino rubbed her head slightly, “…I knew that?”
“I’m sure. Since you’re apparently awake, then, shall we go?” Shino put his hands in his pockets.
“Um… Yeah, alright.” Ino followed him through the trees, looking around. “It really is pretty in the morning..”
“The sprinklers activated last night, so it gives the impression of morning dew. That is why I enjoy coming early.”
“…But you’re not wet.”
“I was protected. Another reason it’s better for me to be outside. You probably would have been frightened if the bugs got in the way of the water to keep you dry.”
“…Yeah, if it woke me up. What a nightmare. I don’t like the crawly feeling.”
“You get used to it if it’s constant. I think I would miss it.”
“Yeah…” Ino sighed, folding her arms and looking around.

They walked in silence for several more minutes before Ino spoke again, “…So how long have you had them? The bugs I mean… You weren’t born with them, right?”
“I was born without them. But it was probably only hours after my birth once they were sure both I and mother were healthy that I was entered into the contract with the bugs. I’ve had them all my life.”
“Wow… Being with anything that long you’d get attached to it.. So it doesn’t feel strange at all to you.”
“It would only feel strange if they were gone. As far as I know, that won’t happen.”
“I hope not.” Ino scooted up a bit to walk beside him instead of behind. “….So.”
Shino turned his head to look at her. “Yes?”
“Since we’re on speaking terms and all, there’s something I’ve been dying to ask since we were in Academy.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly, “And what might that be?”
“Just what do your eyes look like under there? Are they sensitive to sunlight or something?”
“Light in general. The sunglasses sort of… well, I’ll explain… You’ve noticed how when it’s dark, insects will fly into your window and land on any source of light and stay near it?”
“Yeah, there’s always ladybugs on my ladybug lamp. …I mean real ones.”
“While our eyes look normal, because of all of the bugs who also use our eyes, they work a bit differently so the bugs can also see properly. The glasses keep the bugs from being able to see changes in light, so we aren’t distracted by their desire to flock to it.”
“I get it. So it’s sort of like Sasuke’s Sharingan, but not… They’re special, but not in the same way.”
“Not because of my blood, that’s right.”
“More because of your chakra… because that’s what those bugs eat, right?”
“You know more about me than you let on.” Shino glanced over at her. “I don’t believe you’re particularly close to anyone on my team, unless I’m mistaken.”
“Not really.” Ino rubbed her head, “Tsunade-Hokage was just telling me if you’re ever wounded and I’m the one who has to heal you, it’ll be different. So I had to learn all that. Or at least the basics… She tells everyone a little about the Aburame so we don’t hurt the bugs if we help you while you’re unconscious.”
“I see. I’ll count on you if something happens here then.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen, right?”
“Nothing should.” Shino stopped by the pond, sitting down.

Ino sat beside him without skipping a beat, “It’s just flowers and bugs… You’re not allergic to any of them are you?”
“Luckily, no. It’d be ironic, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, come to think of it.” Ino sweatdropped, “I’m allergic to wasps. I swell up real bad and get very sick. Of course I brought something with me in case I get stung, so don’t give me a look.”
“Good. I didn’t bring anything. I didn’t count on being here long.” He watched the water.
“No one does.” Ino sighed closing her eyes, “Man… It’s not like I had plans today, but…”
“I did, but it’s already passed.” Shino looked down at the water. “…I could have gone, but I didn’t want to leave you alone.”
“You could’ve—what?” Ino blinked and looked at him. “The doors are locked, how could you have—“
“I know a teleportation technique. But I’m not at the level to bring someone with me.”
Ino just stared at him.
“Technically I shouldn’t know it yet, it’s a Jounin-level technique… But my father taught it to me young since Taijutsu isn’t something that an Aburame gets into. I needed an escape if it came to that.”
“So… You could’ve gone and done whatever it was you had to do… But you stayed here so I wouldn’t be alone?”
Shino nodded, “It isn’t right to leave a comrade. You’re from the leaf village, if not on my own team.”
“Yeah…” Ino reached back, absently messing with her ponytail, “So… What was it you were going to do, anyway? I hope it wasn’t a mission or something like that.”
“No. A Jounin test.”
Ino jumped up, pointing at him. “You skipped a test to become Jounin to stay with me?! Go, go reschedule it right now! You can do that thing, do it!”
“It isn’t that important, it can be rescheduled at any time. Plus today is your birthday, I can’t leave you alone on that day.”
Ino blinked, surprised, before remembering. “Oh yeah… you were there when I said it.”
Shino looked up at her, “…So you can sit down, because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah…” Ino sighed, sitting back down. “Still… There was supposed to be a party… They’ll get worried I’m not home…”

“If I could take us both out, I would, but… Trying when I’m unsure of what could happen could hurt or kill both of us.”
“Yeah.” Ino sighed, looking in the water. “Some birthday…”
After another few minutes of silence, Shino nudged her slightly. “Look over there.” He nodded to a rock a bit away.
Ino sighed and looked over, then blinked at several ladybugs lined up to spell out ‘Happy birthday Ino’.
“Ah! You!” she whacked him, blushing, “Don’t do something like that!”
Shino rubbed his shoulder slightly. “I suppose I shouldn’t give you the gift I bought then. That’s the entire reason I came yesterday.” He had also turned a slight shade of pink, “I knew I’d be busy during your party so I couldn’t drop it off… But I heard you were coming here, and it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for me to come…”
Ino just stared at him talking.
“I just got too embarrassed to give it to you yesterday.” He went into his pocket, holding out a little blue wrapped package.
“Well, um…” Ino slowly took it, still pink, “Thank you, Shino…” she slowly untied the bow, then opened the box and blinked inside.

Ino stared down at it. “…This is that one Ladybug collection statue… They’re expensive…”
“But you get one every year.”
“It never has a… name… on… it.” Ino looked over at him.
Shino adjusted his glasses slightly, “I was never invited to your party, but I always liked you… So I bought you a ladybug because I knew you liked them.” His cheeks were still pink.
Slowly she put the top back on the box and set it aside before hugging him, his face going from pink to red.
“You really aren’t that creepy you know… I only ever said it because everyone else thought so…” Ino shook her head, “You’re a nice guy.”
Shino slowly put his arms around her shoulders, “…You might not be glad that we got stuck here, but I am.”
“I kind of am too… I think this is probably the best birthday I’ve had.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
Shino’s face slowly started to return to normal.
“Flowers and a new boyfriend.”
His face went back to red, and he stuttered a bit.
“You don’t want that?” Ino looked up at him.
“No, I, you, uh, we, then, and..” he squeaked.
Ino grinned, kissing his cheek. “You’ll be okay.” She snuggled to him again.
Shino blushed, watching the water.

After another hour, Ino blinked and looked up at him, “…The doors can be unlocked from outside, right?”
“If you know the code.”
“Do you know the code?”
“I know how to get it.”
Ino sat up and whacked him.
“Ow! What?!”
“Teleport out there and unlock the door!”
Shino blinked a few times. “I could do that. But why?”
“…So we can run and hide if they try to find us?”
“Interesting plan. I’ll do that then.” Shino stood up.
“Not to mention it gives us the rest of the park to ourselves too.”
“Wish I’d thought of that… We still can’t get out the front gates. Completely different way of working. You need a key for that.”
Ino nodded, standing up. “Well we haven’t got to leave. But I didn’t get to see the whole park, and you probably know it better than me.”
“I’ll give you the tour.”