Lilies and Roses
The first time Yamanaka Izumi had laid her eyes upon Hatake Kakashi was at the tender age of four. The silver-haired boy had just entered the Yamanaka clan's flower shop alongside his father, the infamous Hatake Sakumo. For a moment, the father-son duo lingered at the entrance with clutched hands, identical charcoal eyes drinking in the ever-so changing rows of various flowers in front of them, so bright and inviting, before moving towards the counter. Behind it stood Yamanaka Miho with a smile gracing her lips as she welcomed the new customers.
"Long time no see," the woman chuckled, referring to Sakumo's almost-weekly visits to the shop, "what can I do for you today, Hatake-san?"
In an instance, Sakumo's gaze travelled over the selection of flowers the shop had to offer, as he always did before revealing his order, only to settle on the Yamanaka's attentive features. "Flowers. I want to buy flowers."
Again, Miho chuckled. "I would be concerned if you wanted to buy anything but flowers at a flower shop." she said, smiling brighter, "Although you are welcome to try. Can't promise you will succeed, though."
Sakumo faux-frowned, "There go my plans for today."
"Always the charmer, eh?" she teased the man. "Anyways-"
"Can you get to the point already." huffed out a small voice, putting a stop to the conversation of the two adults.
The older Hatake barked out a laugh. "Always the impatient one, 'Kashi. Although, next time, let Yamanaka-san finish her sentence," he mused, ruffling his son's hair teasingly. Though, the child in question promptly moved his head away in order to escape his father's hand, inevitably so, as Sakumo's hand followed relentlessly. Then, Sakumo offered his son a smile. "Why don't you pick out some flowers while I catch up a little with her?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his father. "But I don't know which. You always choose."
Miho interjected, clapping her hands excitedly. "A fantastic idea, Hatake-san!" Her warm gaze shifted towards the young boy, who looked more irritated than anything. "No need to worry about which to choose. I know exactly who could help you." For a moment, her eyes took on an eager glee before she turned away from the boy to look behind her. "Izumi," Miho spoke gently, "why don't you help pick out some flowers, it would be great practice for you."
Izumi lifted her head from the book that she clutched tightly in her small hands, looking at her mother with her blue eyes blown wide. The brunette went on to pick up the bookmark that sat neatly on her lap to then neatly place it in between the pages she was reading, before hopping off of the stool to make her way to the counter, the book left behind. Shyly, Izumi peeked her head out to take a look at the customers she was supposed to help, only to shuffle away. Miho on the other hand softly placed a hand on her daughter's back to nudge the brunette forwards from behind the counter.
Sakumo looked at the brunette girl before looking at Miho again, unconsciously tilting his head slightly to the side in an attempt to form a connection between the two. It wasn't that the mother-daughter duo had dissimilar features or looked as though they couldn't be related at all, but more that Izumi had inherited a majority of her features from her father rather than her mother. Instead of the light-blonde, slightly frizzled hair of Miho and the pale skin that complimented her so well, Izumi had inherited her father's dark brown hair and beige complexion. Features Miho and Izumi both shared were the general construction of their faces: feminine, soft, with a rounded jaw and piercing blue-toned eyes.
"This is my daughter. She has just started learning more about flowers and flower arrangements. Even if I weren't her mother, I would say she is just as good at this as I am." Miho chuckled yet again, looking as proud as ever, "though, a little practice never hurt anybody."
Izumi's gaze shifted from the silver-haired duo to the gentle features of her mother. Do it, they urged her. So she complied, although a little hesitant, and took one step forward and then another until she almost stood in front of the boy she was supposed to help.
Wild silver hair sticking up into many directions, gravity-defying one might say, that almost completely covered his left eye. His right one on the other hand was left uncovered, a shade of deep charcoal, under which Izumi felt scrutinized, almost naked. He almost looked sharp for his age, more mature than she did and a little cold due to the pale tone his skin took on underneath the bright lights of the shop. His expression was indiscernible because of the mask adorning the lower parts of his face, hiding who-knows-what underneath the dark and skin-tight fabric.
"I'm Izumi." she introduced herself and stuck out her hand to the boy, hoping to connect the face to a name.
For a moment he simply stared at her small hand before grasping it in his slightly-bigger one, shaking it firmly. "Kakashi." Then he let go.
Izumi's hand dropped to her side as both children said nothing for a moment. He - no, Kakashi seemed to watch her closely and under his gaze, Izumi shifted her feet uncomfortably. Was he trying to read me? I am no book! She bit back a scowl.
"So ..." Izumi started before averting her eyes awkwardly to avoid Kakashi's gaze, opting to instead look at the variety of flowers in front of the two, "what do you want to say with the flowers?"
Kakashi looked at her incredulously, "Say with the flowers? They can't speak."
"They can't, but they do have their own language." the brunette explained, though to no avail. If anything, Kakashi simply looked more confused than he was before, eyes blown a little wide and eyebrows furrowed. It looked as though he wanted to comment, but kept himself from saying more.
At his reaction, Izumi almost snorted. "Well ... uh, every flower has a meaning, they express something. These yellow roses for example," she pointed towards a bundle of yellow roses, "they stand for friendship. Red roses on the other hand," she shifted towards the red roses, "symbolize love. Depending on what you want to tell a person, on what you want to express, you choose a fitting rose."
He nodded to show that he understood, charcoal eyes busy inspecting the array of flowers she had just pointed at.
Who are you getting the flowers for? Izumi wanted to ask but refrained from doing so. The boy in front of her appeared so close-off, as though he always kept to himself rather than putting himself out in the world. Hypothetically, it indeed was her business because she did require the necessary information to be of help. But in the end, her main objective was to help him express his message to someone, not pry about said someone. If he wanted her to know or found it necessary for her to know, he would mention it. Would he? She wasn't sure, she didn't even know him. Inwardly, she cursed herself for not listening to the conversation of the boy's father and her mother. Would this be how she chased her first customer away?
"What is it that you want to say to someone?"
Kakashi averted his gaze from the flowers and back to Izumi, wearing the same unreadable expression on his features as he did before. He seemed to ponder about his answer before averting his gaze from her face yet again, a faint blush blossoming on his fair skin.
Izumi's lips pulled into a small smile at his show of shyness. Not so unreadable as she initially thought. She decided to prod a little further, to get him to reveal his cause to her.
"It doesn't have to be a lot, y'know?" she began, offering Kakashi a smile. "It can be something as simple as a thank you, or a goodbye, or maybe even a love confession," at that, she giggled a bit before continuing: "anything you want to say! And through flowers, you can do that."
Silence engulfed the two children. It was awkward, to say the least with a tension-building that was thick enough to be cut through with a knife. At least that was until Kakashi spoke, "I guess, I want to say that I miss her."
If Izumi hadn't been situated that close to the silver-haired boy, she probably wouldn't have heard his reply. It was faint, a little meek but drowned in emotions, so expressive.
"That is something we can work with, come on!" Now a wide grin spread across her features. Finally, she could aid her first customer! Without considering her actions, Izumi took a swift step towards Kakashi and reached out for his hand, only to grasp it tightly. Then, she pulled him softly towards the flowers she had in mind for the bouquet, mindful to not rush Kakashi.
"Here we are." Now the two stood in front of a different assortment of flowers, mostly in various shades of white, pinks and reds. Among them were even red roses like the ones Izumi had mentioned to him earlier, but these were darker and had a more crimson appearance. Izumi let go of his hand just as swiftly as she had grasped it, his own feeling colder to him now. At the thought, the faint blush that tinted his cheeks brightened to match the colour of the red roses.
The brunette meanwhile went to collect the flowers necessary for the bouquet that was already forming her mind. If she closed her eyes, she could see the piece of art she was envisioning perfectly: an assortment of flowers of two different kinds that complement each other, a mix of white, pink and red. Those were the flowers that called out her name at his explanation, the ones that flickered in her mind at the emotions of Kakashi's faint words. Though before she went to work, Izumi made sure to pull a glove across her hands so the thorns of the flowers wouldn't scar her skin, double-checking whether she secured them correctly.
First, she reached for the dark pink roses, grasping a few of them in her left hand before turning towards Kakashi to explain the purpose of each piece of the assortment she had in mind. "These dark pink roses represent thankfulness," Izumi explained to him before adding: "I guess when you miss someone, you usually are also thankful for them."
The boy in front of her did not reply at first, which made her nervous. Izumi could practically feel the shade of red rising from her neck towards her face, to dust it in a colour similar to her hair. Her hands felt sweaty all of a sudden underneath the gloves she was wearing and she could swear that her stomach felt queasy too. There was no denying of her nervousness as she anticipated his reaction. He was her first customer after all and she was determined to not mess this up, to make her mother proud.
Kakashi nodded, face still dusted red, and Izumi felt like she could burst from the relief she was feeling. She did not mess things up!
Feeling successful, she quickly went to retrieve the next piece: several red roses. Before they were even clutched tightly in her hands, Izumi began to explain her intentions to the boy. "As I told you earlier, red roses symbolize love. It can be romantic or familial. But it also symbolizes respect. I like to think thankfulness and respect go together quite nicely."
"I like to think so too." hummed a voice suddenly, making Izumi jump and almost drop the flowers she had just collected. Behind her stood Sakumo with a gentle smile, gaze focused on the flowers in Izumi's hand. He raised his hand to his neck and rubbed it sheepishly, "I couldn't have chosen better. Roses were my wife's favourite, your selection would have been just her taste."
Izumi held back a frown at the older man's wording. Were. The word had struck Izumi the most, were were were. Either he and his wife were separated or she had passed away. Izumi allowed her focus to shift from Sakumo to Kakashi, whose face revealed almost nothing. He appeared stoic, except for the sliver of sadness glimmering in his charcoal eyes. Combined with the solemn tone of Sakumo, she assumed the woman in question was deceased.
... I miss her. Kakashi's words lingered in her mind, they tugged at her heart. Izumi couldn't even imagine living without her mother, the woman who had taught her so much, to whom she went for comfort. And he did. She refrained from making her realization evident by almost frowning yet again. I miss her. I miss her.
"I have to agree," Miho joined the man's side, interrupting her daughter's thought process. She too, hummed, looking proudly at her only child. "a great selection so far, sweets. You are doing great. What else do you in mind?"
The brunette chose to focus on the task on hand, pushing the thought of Kakashi's mother aside and replied promptly: "White roses for innocence, they go quite well together with the dark pink and red roses. It creates sort of a contrast between the dark and light colours and gives the bouquet variety. And then maybe white lilies for peace. They also go together with the white roses. And, uh ... lastly maybe dark crimson roses, they stand for mourning after all. I think they would tie everything together quite nicely."
"You're right, they do."
As Izumi collected the remaining flowers she had just described, her mother helped her a little by reaching for the exact flowers her daughter pointed at. To Izumi, the silence all for the chatter of her and her mother felt almost suffocating, uncomfortably so. Had she offended Hatake-san and Kakashi-kun? Had she gone too far? She attempted to banish those thoughts from her mind but failed as guilt started to settle. The four of them made their way to the counter with the almost finished bouquet grasped tightly in Izumi's gloved hands. Only the last flair of her vision was missing: the packaging, preferably a cream-shaded packaging paper alongside a soft-pink ribbon to wrap around the stems, keeping the individual flowers all together.
While Miho made her way to the counter with Sakumo in tow, Izumi changed her path to a table to the side of the counter where she could add the finishing touches. There, Izumi gently placed the bouquet down upon a prepared sheet of paper before she bent down slightly in order to access the different kinds of ribbons kept underneath the table. Immediately, she found the shade she was looking for. A big grin spread across her features. Gotcha! With a pair of red scissors, she cut off a piece of the ribbon and began tying it around the flowers, making sure to secure it tightly. As she began to wrap the cream-toned sheet around the bouquet, Izumi noticed a charcoal gaze lingering on her hands, Kakashi.
To her, he appeared in a sort of trance, watching her every move. The way the gloved tips of her fingers pushed down a single stem when it fell out of place in the carefully-constructed piece of art and how her other hand meanwhile made sure to protect the soft and delicate petals of the flowers, almost cradling it, he noticed it all. He even seemed intrigued by what Izumi was doing.
She chose to explain the process of tying the flowers together to him, mentioning how they are the last step of the process. "The ribbon either ties the piece together or ruins it completely. Had I for example selected a yellow one, it would have looked alright with the colour palette of the flowers, but not been complementary. Complementary does not necessarily mean the same colour, but a matching - no - fitting one. In this case, I chose a similar colour, pink," Izumi pointed raised the neatly-wrapped ribbon a little, "but black would also have complimented the flowers well. They would stand out a little more."
"Would a purple ribbon fit?" Kakashi asked, his interest in the subject becoming apparent.
Izumi rubbed her neck a little shyly. "It would fit colour-wise, yes, but not really match. Purple is often associated with royalty, luxury and a sense of mystery. It clashes too much with the message the flowers convey."
"I see."
Never had Kakashi met someone who was this passionate about flowers or had so much knowledge on the topic. To him, flowers never really had any depth, they were merely what they were on the surface: colourful plants that people sometimes gifted to each other. When buying various bouquets for the grave of his mother, never before had he dwelled on the meaning of them, on the message he was conveying. They weren't simply flowers, a gift of appreciation, they were a message from him to his mother. He couldn't stop the small upwards tug of his lips underneath his mask.
"Thank you for your help today, Izumi-chan. This might be the prettiest bouquet we have picked up so far." Sakumo smiled at the girl while he picked up the finished bouquet, turning it around in his hands several times before settling it in a comfortable grip against his shoulder.
Izumi blushed at that. First customers, a success!
Sakumo gave his son a little nudge.
"Thank you," said Kakashi then. Izumi noticed that his gaze travelled everywhere except to meet hers. She didn't question it, it was not her place to do so.
The father-son duo left the store with a little wave from Sakumo, leaving an air of accomplishment in their wake.
"You did well, sweets. I couldn't be prouder," Miho looked elated, identical blue eyes highlighting her words. "Although if you continue like this, you might put me out of a job in a few years."
Izumi grinned.
Lilies and roses, the flowers often associated with love.