Language of Flowers
To everyone who reviewed me, thanks a million. And special note to Raining, hi, long time no see, thanks for the reviews, i was shocked when i woke up that morning to see so many emails.
Ok, this is the second chapter, hope you guys like it, it's kinda hard to write this story actually because of the fact that i'm an idiot at flowers and it's hard to link interpersonal relationships with flowers... (lightnings and thunders)
Disclaimer: Sorry, not this time... and like i said, the meanings of flowers varies with everyone... so don't sue...
Chapter 2: Flowers of Love
"Oh, I'm full. I really am." Naruto patted his stomach before tucking his hands behind his head.
"Yeah, on my bill that is…" the complaint came from Yamato, keeping his wallet as he stepped out of the ramen bar. "All right, I'm off for other work."
The instructor bid them goodbye and zipped away before they could even wave, leaving the team in the middle of the road.
"There's somewhere I need to go." Sai said suddenly. Sakura and Naruto turned to look at the Anbu. Usually he would tag along to places they go, so what he said came as a surprise.
"Where?" Naruto asked out of curiosity, though on the inside he's bursting with relief that he won't be coming.
"Some lessons." Sai smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
He turned in the other direction and leaped off. Sakura watched as he landed on the rooftop and disappeared into another street. He's taking classes? What class?
"So, want to go on date with me, Sakura-chan?" the sickening question came again and broke the kunoichi out of her thoughts.
Sai jumped off the last rooftop and landed some paces outside the shop. From outside, he could see her wrapping the bouquet of red roses and smirking. And it took seconds for him to realize who the customer was.
"Red roses, to tell her you love her?" he said to the customer who just left the shop.
"Oh, hello." Shikamaru looked up to see Sai smiling. "Yeah, for Temari. Kind of like our anniversary. Troublesome…"
Shikamaru said embarrassedly and rubbed his temple.
"Congratulations. I'm sure she'll like them." Sai said, smiling all the time. Shikamaru blinked for two rounds, taken aback by the fact that it came from someone who knew almost nothing about human relationships and someone who nearly attacked him…
"Uh, thanks." Shikamaru said after a while before Sai took a step forward and entered the flower shop. The genius frowned at that action and stood outside to watch, not long before he realized he was late and hurried off.
"Hello beautiful." Sai greeted her as he approached the counter.
"Hi handsome." Ino chuckled as she put the stack of wrapping paper away on the shelf behind. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to learn more about flowers." He explained. "Yesterday's lesson was useful."
"Lesson?" Ino turned around abruptly from her attempt to put back the paper that she missed and the stack crashed on her head.
"Ark!"
"Are you all right?" Sai rounded the counter and crouched down.
"I'm fine. I'm fine." Ino said and brushed off the papers that are on her. "I didn't give you any lessons, I merely explained."
"I know, but they are really helpful and I want to lean more about them to help me improve interpersonal relationships…" Sai said as he tried to cover his blush by picking up the scattered squares of paper. "Can you teach me?"
Ino stared in the midst of clearing up the mess. He came back to her to ask for help, among all the people he could get, he chose her. And he's so keen on learning to improve. Just now many people out there have the knowledge of interpersonal skills but chose not to use them, and try to hurt the people around them. Sai isn't one of the millions, he's someone who wants to help him and others, but he doesn't have the skills. Also he's a comrade now. How could she say no?
"Sure. But prepare yourself. My lessons aren't that easy!" Ino tuned up her haughtiness.
"Thank you, beautiful." It's that smile again, the smile that first caused her to blush, and now to melt. Deep down, Ino was hoping the lesson yesterday did not end. Since young and being brought up in a flower shop, she has this special bond with flowers. And yesterday, she felt this bond being strengthened by Sai's presence and his eagerness to learn about them. It's the first time, she felt… happy.
"All right," Ino said once she put the papers back into their rightful place. "What do you want to learn today?"
Sai looked around the shop and caught sight of the red roses.
"I want to know about, uh," Sai started to get awkward and scratched his cheek. Ino cocked an eyebrow at him and tilted her head.
"Love."
At that, Ino raised both her eyebrows. Then she turned to see what he was looking at a few seconds ago and saw the rack of roses.
"Oh, you saw Shikamaru just now?" Ino realized.
"Yeah, he said it was their anniversary." Sai explained.
"Ah yes. Well, you don't know anything about love, do you?" Ino asked carefully.
"Except the fact that it happens between a man and woman, generally, and that they…" Sai trailed off, not knowing what he's talking about in the first place. "I don't know…"
"Ok," Ino snickered. "In fact, I don't really know everything about love, but let's see what I can do. Take Shikamaru and Temari for example,"
Sai nodded. Ino made a little jump across the counter and landed next to Sai.
"Well, their history goes like this. They met at the Chuunin exam, the third exam specifically. They were opponents." Ino said, making her way to the lilies with Sai trailing behind. "Then they fought, then Shikamaru caught her with his shadow."
Sai remembered the day when he first met Shikamaru, he tried to use his shadow to catch him.
"Well, at that time, Temari was under orders, with her brothers to attack our village, so they were enemies, so to speak." Ino took the pail and started collecting the flowers which are wilting or already dead. "Then when the whole attack was under control, and Sasuke-kun went over to Orochimaru's side, Shikamaru and the others were under mission to bring him back."
Sai reached out to take a dead tiger lily and handed it to her.
"Then when Shikamaru was in a tough battle with a Sound nin, Temari came under orders to help. And then, they got to know each other better, since Temari became the Sand ambassador and I wonder if Tsunade-sama was doing it on purpose because whenever she came, Shikamaru was assigned to be her escort."
Ino continued to explain, while holding out the pail for Sai to put the dead flower in.
"Well, then as time passes they realize they like each other, more than just work or friends, then the feeling grew to become love. It's a strong liking or passionate affection that one feels for another." Ino then moved on to another rack where orchids are blooming. "Well, you'll know it when love finds you."
She chuckles as she saw the confused expression on his face and continued with her work. In fact, that's all she knows about love, for she didn't have experience in that field before. That stood her on same grounds with Sai. Sometimes she would question herself about her feelings for Sasuke. Yes she likes him, but then it's no more than just an ordinary crush, unlike Sakura, who is near obsession, in Ino's opinion…
"How do you know when it finds you?" Sai asked, dropping a purple orchid that looked like its petals were being unceremoniously crushed into the pail. Taken aback, Ino's gaze shifted outside of the shop.
"Well, you blush when you see her, you can't find the right words to express what you intend to, you start to get nervous, your heart skip some beats, you have no idea what are you doing… many signs if you ask me…" Ino said, her voice trailing off. Then she smiled and looked down at the flowers, continuing her work.
"All right, now to the flowers…" Ino said enthusiastically, turning the atmosphere around before Sai could say anything. She placed the pail of dead flowers behind the counter and turned around to face the entire shop.
"The more common flowers to be associated with love are Roses and Carnations, and you know about them now, right?" Ino leaned back on the counter.
"Roses in general mean love and gratitude, but different colors of roses have different meaning. Pink roses, being the more prevalent color among roses would naturally take the basic meaning. It also signifies grace and elegance, as well as sweetness and poetic romance. Different shades of pink also mean differently. Dark pink symbolizes gratitude and appreciation while light pink roses are associated with gentleness and admiration,
"White roses generally mean purity and innocence because of its color. They are also called 'bridal rose' and a representation of unity, virtue, and the pureness of a new bond of love and commonly used for weddings. It also carries honor and reverence, used as a memorial for a departed loved ones or a sign of farewell.
"Red roses represent love and romance and are used for sending the strongest message of love. It's a popular way of saying, "I love you" to someone special. For the budding relationship, a red rose bouquet signals the beginning of romantic intentions. They can send a message of commitment and an invitation to take the next step."
Ino stared at the ninja in front of her as he repeated what she said yesterday like a tape recorder.
"Do you have some kind of super memory or something that allows you to memorize whatever you hear once? Ino said with a frown. "Oh let me guess, its part of some training you had as an Anbu right?"
"Well, something like that…" Sai gave a little smile.
"Ok, then what about carnations?" Ino challenged.
"Carnations generally mean fascination, devoted love. Red ones mean admiration, usually for someone special, like a teacher or mentor, or even someone you like. Dark red version expresses deeper sentiments of love and affection. Pink ones mean the person sending flowers would never forget the receiver. It also means gratitude, to thank someone for what they have done for you. White carnation would means purity, luck, and innocence, sweet and lovely. Represents pure love, and you can be telling the person he or she is adorable. Yellow and striped ones would mean rejection and disappointment." Sai recited as if from a book. Ino widened her eyes, impressed by her student's ability.
"Not bad!" Ino commented, and earned a blush and a scratch on the head by the ninja. This is getting rather interesting…
"Well, now for new things." Ino said and turned her head around to survey the whole shop's façade. "Ah."
She headed for the shelf of tulips.
"Tulips generally signify perfect love. Red tulips are most strongly associated with true love, yellow tulips has evolved somewhat from hopeless love to a common expression for cheerful thoughts and sunshine."
She brushed her hand over the different colored tulips lightly. Sai noticed the hint of bliss on her face as she neared flowers.
"Well, in love, there are different kinds of love." Ino said as she turned to the ninja behind her, who raised his eyebrows. "You can be conveying a message or telling someone something."
"Like a conversation?" Sai asked. Ino smiled and nodded.
"For love, the simplest would be 'I love you', so red roses and carnations are the most common way of saying that.
"Then for new love, something like the beginning of a relationship, you can have Lilac for the first emotions of love, red or pink hyacinth to say 'playful love', or Primrose to say 'I can't live without you'."
Sai nodded as his head turned in different directions as Ino pointed. He took note of the color of the flowers and how they looked like; the five-petal primrose, the four-petal lilac…
"Then for passionate love, a more deeper love, you can have a deep red carnation saying 'my heart aches for you', a yellow iris would say 'my love is passionate', red roses can also convey the same messages, and you can say 'our love is pure and ardent' with a white carnation." Ino said, getting more into the mood of love as she talked.
Sai couldn't help but notice some difference about her when it comes to flowers and love, compared to the usual Ino he saw previously. He wondered if it was the power of love, and also the influence of flowers…
"Then you have devoted love, being loyal and faithful, you can have a Daffodil to say 'you're the only one for me', bellflowers and bluebells can be saying 'my love for you is everlasting', dogwood would be saying 'our love will endure adversity', lemon blossoms would be a true and faithful love, and sincere love would be baby's breath poesies." Ino said, just in time when a customer called.
Sai looked at the flowers she introduced to him once again and took notice of their meaning carefully while she answered the call. As his eyes dart from one flower to another, he actually felt happy. He couldn't explain why he felt like this, but there's just something about these flowers that just brings him joy. Or could it be…
"Well, guess what? The over-romantic guy called." Ino said as she retracted from her stretched position while answering the call.
"So what flowers is it this time?" Sai asked as his attention turned back to his teacher.
"Amaranths for "my love for you is undying, yellow tulips for 'I'm hopelessly in love', and deep red carnations for 'my heart aches for you'…" Ino said with a weak smile as she picked out the flowers that were requested and headed over to the counter to do packaging. And with well-practiced techniques, the flowers were arranged into a nice bouquet, ready for delivery.
And she was about to turn around to shout to her mother when Sai stopped her.
"I'll do the delivery." He said with a smile. Ino turned back, her ponytail of blond hair swinging around vigorously.
"Huh?" Ino frowned. The offer came as a surprise nonetheless, though she felt relieved since she hated to do that particular delivery anyway.
"I want to see the reaction of the girl when she received the flowers." Sai said, the blush returning to his face as he scratched his cheek again. Ino chuckled and shook her head, an indication of surrendering to his offers.
"Ok, be careful with the ends, don't grab to hard." Ino said as she handed him the bouquet. "Thanks."
"You're welcome, beautiful." Sai's smile was never-leaving the whole time, but as usual, the use of nickname does wonders.
"See you, handsome." Ino beamed back.
That night, Sai retired back to his apartment. There was something on his mind, something in which he found himself to be a novice at.
Then, the once emotionless Anbu sat down in front of his drawing stand and began to paint…
So how was it? nice? hate it? keep your flowers, i mean reviews coming, i just love receiving them... hehe. reviews, i mean...