On My Mind

"Often enough, kunoichi have to go undercover as civilian women on missions. The art of arranging flowers can be very helpful in such missions. After all, you want to be able to blend in perfectly, not merely adequately." explained Miyoko-sensei with a stern expression.

All the girls nodded in understanding, with the exception of Sen, who instead sat with her eyes closed. The kunoichi lessons had been moved outside to the fields last minute, leaving the girls participating with no choice but to sit on the grass.

"That is why all of you are here today, attending this class. I will be teaching you various skills so one day you will be able to go undercover without being discovered. Discovery can endanger the mission, and we want to avoid that. After all, a mission always comes first, so our goal is to succeed. To do that, us kunoichi should be able to imitate civilian women and their skills such as flower arranging, which is what we will do today."

Izumi felt delighted at the prospect of being given the task to create a flower arrangement. Perfect.

"Your task is to create a flower arrangement based on the knowledge you already possess. This way I can see how much each of you already knows. Then, we will extend that knowledge," Miyoko-sensei allowed her cold gaze to wander across the many kunoichis seated before her. "Now, begin."

At that, all the kunoichis awake sprung up from their position and began to scatter around the flower field they had sat in, eager to begin the creation of their very own flower arrangement. Izumi meanwhile nudged Sen with her elbow, waking the older girl from her little nap.

"What?" groaned Sen, a lone black eye open and focused on the brunette before her.

Izumi gave the Nara yet another nudge to make a point. "We have to make flower arrangements, Sen. You can't sleep through them."

Sen merely closed her eye before she resumed the relaxed posture she had previously. "I can and I will." And with that, she turned to her side and continued her nap.

How troublesome.

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The brunette with shoulder-length hair and purple stripes on the sides of cheeks kneeled in between various flowers, delicately attempting to make a matching bouquet, though to no avail. She found that no matter what flower she added to the cosmos, it simply wouldn't match. Something about her arrangement looked out of place, and she couldn't put her finger on what it was. A little frown tugged down her lips in defeat.

"To cosmos, you can always add marigolds."

Rin turned her head towards the owner of the voice, a little startled by the sudden intrusion. Behind her stood a girl with dark brown hair pulled into two low pigtails, the rest hanging off in bangs, who wore a kind expression and a wide smile on her features.

"Yamanaka Izumi is the name!" Her voice dripped with confidence as she stuck her hand out to Rin, hoping the girl would accept.

On the inside, on the other hand, Izumi felt a whirlwind of nervousness surfacing, bubbling up in the pit of her stomach. She felt a little queasy at that, but chose to ignore the sensation. She could make a friend, she could do it. Kakashi had accepted her and so had Sen (more or less), so Izumi could make another friend, or so she hoped.

Rin's hands were soft and her grip was just as gentle. "Nohara Rin." The smile painting her lips was just as soft.

Relief and delight both flooded Izumi. She released the breath she had actively held in anticipation.

"So, Rin, if you want to make a bouquet with cosmos, you can always add a marigold. The flowers are what you call companion flowers."

"Why is that?"

The Yamanaka went on to ramble all about the marigold flower. To Rin, she explained how the flower often symbolized positive emotions and energy. The 'herb of the sun' as it was called is often associated with happiness, joy and optimism due to its bright hues such as a fiery red or yellow. The cosmos on the other hand symbolized order and harmony, but can also stand for balance, peace, innocence, joy and beauty. Together these flowers, at least in Izumi's opinion, created a unique arrangement, with one the creator could express so much

Rin nodded as she intently followed the explanation Izumi gave, hanging along to every work rushing past the girl's honey-lips. Once she had finished, Rin bent down again in order to retrieve more cosmos for her bouquet. "If you say so, I better try that then." Her chocolate-toned eyes began to wonder over the field, on the lookout for the flower which had just been described to her.

"It's over there, I should have mentioned that earlier." Izumi pointed over to another part of the field where indeed, as the girl had said, the flower grew.

"Thank you for showing me. And for teaching me. I never knew flowers had such a deep meaning."

Izumi shrugged. "Most people don't."

"I do now! It's a shame most don't." Rin wore a thoughtful expression for a moment before she continued. "I better tell my friend Obito about it then."

"Obito?"

Briefly, a face came to Izumi's mind. She thought of a boy with spiky raven-black hair with a rather round face and who constantly wore a pair of goggles on his head or face.

Izumi gasped a little as she understood. "Oh! You mean Uchiha Obito?"

The short-haired brunette looked delighted at the mention of her friend, nodding eagerly in confirmation.

"I remember! He sparred with Kakashi just a few days ago. That was so cool!"

Rin nodded again. "It really was awesome." Then, she looked away a little, chocolate-gaze wandering over the various flowers in the field. "Say, Izumi, you train with Kakashi, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Does he always fight like that?" A light blush covered Rin's cheeks and a curious glint shone in her eyes.

Izumi kept quiet for a moment, mulling over her answer. She bit the inside of her cheek in thought, attempting to determine whether he did or did not. I don't know, does he? When Kakashi had fought with Obito, to her it seemed that he fought with more determination and was harder on the boy than he was with her. Did that make her an unworthy opponent of his, one he was unable to take seriously enough to dedicate his skills to? Was she weak in his eyes?

She evaded the question a little. "He's really talented and a great sparring partner, I'm glad I am able to learn from him."

"I think so too, that he is talented."

"Yeah, like, everyone thinks so. Even all the senseis adore that annoying little brat." spoke Sen, who had suddenly joined the conversation. She stood by the two girls with her arms crossed, gaze as nonchalant as always.

"Sen!" Izumi smiled in delight at the sight of the girl. "Have you finally had enough of napping?"

"Impossible. Napping is my one true friend, besides you twerp. Now, flower power, mind helping me with my arrangement?"

Izumi turned to look over at Rin, who nodded at the girl. "Sure." She made her way over to her troublesome friend, but not without sending the other brunette a wave. "Bye, Rin."

The girl waved back.

Sen meanwhile reached out towards Izumi's hand, grasping it lazily before she began to march into another direction, pulling the taller girl with her. Along the way, Izumi stumbled a few times to keep herself from walking into the older girl ahead of her, the size of their legs making quite the difference in the size of their steps. They passed several others of their classmates, some in a seated position among the countless flowers, others standing with flowers already in hand. When they reached a more secluded part of the field, the raven-haired dropped Izumi's hand before she sat down to lean against a lone tree.

Sen let out a groan. "What a bore."

"I rather like this class."

"Of course you do, it's like this class was made for you, Izumi."

"That's why I like it so much."

"As expected. And I dislike it."

"As expected of you, Sen."

The Nara looked over at the Yamanaka who had seated herself among various flowers. Izumi was focused on the flowers in her field of vision, already having plugged several ones Sen couldn't put a name to. Delicately, the younger girl clutched them in her non-dominant hand, careful to not ruin them in any way. Sen chuckled at the sight.

"What's so funny?" Izumi's heard turned upwards to now focus on the other girl.

"You really are in your element, huh?" Sen found it curious how someone could be so dedicated to flowers.

"You enjoy napping, I enjoy flower arrangement. Between the two of us, there is not much of a difference if you think about it."

Izumi was right with that. It was a similarity between the two, a quality they shared: dedication to their respective art. Whether it was the art of taking a good nap, one that replenished, or the art of making a flower arrangement the creator could be proud of. Both were dedicated to what they enjoyed.

"You could see it that way."

"And what would be the other way?"

The raven-haired paused for a moment, not having expected the retaliation. "That I'm lazy and you are not, that you are hard-working."

Izumi smiled gently. "I prefer the other way."

"Why?"

"Because it must be exhausting to be as smart as you. I mean, all the thoughts that must go through your head. It's understandable that you need a break or quiet to think."

"It can be exhausting. Sleeping is great because you don't have to think, you just do." Sleeping or taking a nap was a break from the constant thoughts running through her head

"That's flower arranging for me."

Sen raised an eyebrow, urging her friend to continue.

"I don't really have to think, most of the time, anyway. I just do. I'm not sure how to explain this, but my hands just do their things, and it turns out well. It's like they can act on my knowledge on their own if that makes sense."

"Makes sense to me."

A gasp rushed past Izumi's lips. "Really?"

Sen hummed, closing her eyes. "Seems like we have something in common, miss flower power."

"What a great foundation for a friendship."

She opened one of her dark eyes to peek at Izumi, still sitting between all the flowers. "Right, friendship."

They were friends and Izumi couldn't be happier about that.