Dear Mama and Papa,

I finally found time to write to you! I've been so busy here, I just can't seem to find the time to just sit down and put words on paper. But I think I should write you at least once while I'm here. Please don't worry about me.

I'm having a really wonderful time at Sasuke-san's house! His family is very nice to me. He has a wife named Ino and five children, three boys and two girls. I don't really know the boys that well because they're out of the house so much, so I've been spending a lot of time with his daughters. The youngest is only a year older than me and we get along very well, even though I only really see her at the end of the day. Her name is Karai, she's a ninja, just like Sasuke-san and her brothers. Ino-san is also very kind to me too, I help her cook dinner almost every night. She's very pretty.

I got a job here too! Ino-san's father owns a flower shop and I've been going there and helping Nadeshiko-san put arrangements together and clean at the end of the day. Nadeshiko-san is Sasuke-san's older daughter, and she doesn't say much but she's very nice to me. She knows so much about flowers! It's all we talk about at work. We talk about other things too, of course, but I think that it's nice to talk about something so nice.

Sasuke-san and I train together every night. He says I'm improving a lot. I'm really glad that I'm not letting him down.

We went to the doctor the day after I arrived and they did some things to my blood. Sasuke-san's brother really was my father. But Sasuke-san told me that I didn't have to call him "Uncle" or anything so I'm not.

Please don't worry about me, I'm doing fine and they're taking very good care of me here.

I still miss you a lot and I think about you both every day. I hope everything's okay at home. Have things been okay with me gone? Have people been treating you well? I'm sorry I can't help you with the chores, Mama. I suppose I'm making up for it with Ino-san. She's always telling me that I'm too helpful sometimes.

I like it here, but I still can't wait to come home. I haven't talked to Sasuke-san much about it yet but he says it might be best to bring me home in September after some sort of tournament in the city. He says it's very exciting and I should watch it. I can't wait.

I love you very much and I'll try to write home again soon.

Your son,
Yakata

- From a letter to his parents, dated August 10th, 27 AU

ACT 6

MARIGOLD

Chapter 41 - Gerbera Daisy

At the kitchen table, Yakata was applying fresh bandages to his hands. He wasn't doing a very good job of it, but he needed them.

His knuckles had become a spotty patchwork of bruises and scabs in the week since he'd come to live with the Uchiha family, and they complained when he so much as brushed against them. The bandages helped dull the pain, and cushion them for when training began again, after dinner.

Sasuke had been building up his stamina and reflexes, teaching him a few drills that involved punching at a series of wooden dummies with revolving arms.

Yakata was still getting used to it. The dodging he picked up on fairly quickly, but wood was still not the softest thing to be punching.

The sore muscles from all the running, the jumping, he could get used to. A hard day in the fields was no different. He was fine with that.

(His forearms, his shins were especially sore. Blocking hurt.)

Yakata… didn't doubt that he'd be healing better if Sasuke didn't have him training for hours every evening, constantly, but it was tolerable. That was what ninja training was supposed to be, wasn't it? He was training his other student—some boy, they'd never been introduced, but Sasuke talked about him some—every morning and afternoon, and his children Karai and Inou were always out of the house doing the same.

It would be ungrateful of him to complain.

Besides, he had the entirety of the day to rest up; that was when Sasuke was out of the house the most. So Yakata took the time to sleep in late, tend to his injuries, and ask Ino if there was anything he could do around the house.

None of this suited Ino much at all.

Presently, she was washing dishes while Yakata clumsily wrapped the bandages around his knuckles, failing to get them loose enough, tight enough, and trying again. Every few seconds she would look over her shoulder at him, and then return to her task, before giving in again and scrubbing half-heartedly at the rice cooker pot, from lunch.

It was on one of the innumerable glances back that she noticed something. "Yakata-kun, ah, are you trying to wrap your wrists or your hands up?"

He looked up, a wrinkled bandage halfway off his hand. "Oh, um, my... my hands, I suppose…?"

Ino had given him, when he had asked, just a roll of standard bandages, with the assumption that he was using them for training. She had told him where she kept all the medicine, as well, in case he needed them, since he seemed to have memorized where everything else was in the house. Which mildly unsettled her, but was nothing she could do anything about.

She took off her rubber gloves and joined him at the table. "Let me see your hands," she said. She sucked her breath in, seeing the blossoms of red and brown there. "Goodness, why didn't you tell me you'd scraped up your knuckles like this? Hold tight, I'll be right back."

"Ah, uh, oh, okay…" Yakata covered one hand with the other, staring at the table while Ino stood up and went to get a small tube of ointment from the cupboard.

"I can do something about the scrapes but the soreness is going to remain for a little bit. Give me your hand, here." Yakata held out one of his hands, and she held it with both of hers, concentrating healing chakra in the area. "I'll put on some ointment to ease that and wrap the bandages for you properly. You know you can always ask me after you're done training with Sasuke to treat you. I don't want you to be in much pain."

(Because Inou was so reluctant to seek out help, and Karai took care of herself. She had been taught a basic amount of medical jutsu at an early age. Inou had refused to even be taught.)

"Th-thank you, Ino-san…"

Ino rubbed the ointment on his knuckles, taking great care, even though the scabs were gone. Gently, tightly, she measured a length of bandage, tore it, and began wrapping it. "You know, Yakata-kun… if you ever think you're pushing yourself too hard when you're training with my husband, you can always ask him to stop so you can rest. You have every right to."

(Because somehow Ino got the idea that Sasuke would listen to him.)

"Oh, no, it's… it's okay, I can, I can, I can handle it…" Yakata replied. "Sasuke-san's very strict but, but he's a very good teacher! Um. He, he, he says I'm improving a lot."

("You're making weeks of progress over the course of… days," Sasuke had told him, on the way home one night, when Yakata had anxiously asked him if he was doing a good job. "You're doing a great job.")

"Mm..."

(She had a feeling that Yakata was too polite to speak up, though. But it had been worth a try.)

"Other hand," she said, and Yakata gave it to her. She healed it, added ointment, wrapped it.

"Thank, thank you, again, Ino-san," said Yakata. He held one hand in the other, again, and smiled slightly. "Would… would you like me to, to, to put all of this away for you?"

"No, no, please, I'll take care of it," Ino said. She picked up the bandages, the tube of ointment, and stood up.

Yakata's eyes fell, and rose after some thought. "Ah, well, uh… is, is there anything I, I, I can do for you, anyways? Help with the dishes, maybe?"

Ino opened the cupboard, looked over her shoulder. "Wash the dishes? I just put fresh bandages on your hands. I don't want to put new ones on you so soon."

"Ah…"

She put things away, closed the cupboard, tossed the soiled bandages in the garbage.

"Then, then, uh, is, is, is there anything you need cleaned…? Dusted?"

The lid of the garbage can slammed shut. "Yakata-kun, honestly, you don't need to keep offering to help like that! Goodness!"

"Ah! I'm, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get you angry… I, I just… I just want to, h-help, if, if I can at all."

Ino looked at the boy, sitting, shoulders risen uncomfortably, in the chair. He had his hands in his lap. "You don't need to do anything for me, Yakata-kun. You should focus on getting your rest when you're not with Sasuke. Goodness knows you need it…"

(Because Ino could handle her own household, and she did not like it much at all when people interfered in what she viewed as her rightful duty. Her power.)

(And if she could at least help this one child, maybe she'd feel like she had power there, as well.)

(Even considering who Yakata was.)

"I rest up as… as much as I can, Ino-san… But, but thank you. A-again."

Ino, given nothing else to do, brushed her hands off on her apron, and cleared her throat. "Why don't you go watch some TV, Yakata-kun?" She tilted her head, putting on her most effortless smile.

"Oh, uh, thanks but, I, I don't… I don't like watching the television much." Yakata's eyes slid sideways. (She'd asked before. He'd tried.) "Sorry…"

"What, nothing to apologize for! Takeru personally hates that thing, anyways…" Her most effortless, casual tone of voice. "You should find something to keep you busy, though… I bet you're just dying with boredom, what with everyone out of the house…"

He tilted his head sideways, thinking. "Well, I, I, I wouldn't mind something to, to read…"

Ino paused. "Well if you want to, you can always go up to Nadeshiko's room and find a book there, she probably won't mind much at all if you borrowed one…"

"Nadeshiko-san's room…?" Yakata looked up. "Oh, I, I'd been meaning to ask… Where, where is she, most of the day?"

Ino's smile lost just that mild shine of believability. "What, Nadeshiko?"

Yakata nodded. "Yeah, because, um, she, she doesn't seem to be out training like, like everyone else—and I, I, I already asked Sasuke-san about it, and, and, and he said Hajime-san and Takeru-san both have jobs outside, but he… he said nothing about her… Does, does she have a job too?"

And Ino took a while to answer, though the words managed to escape. "She… spends a lot of time at my family's flower shop, working there."

(Her heart almost sank when she saw how Yakata's eyes lit up.)

"A flower shop? Your, your family owns a flower shop?"

"Well… my side of the family, not Sasuke's… It's been in our hands for generations," Ino replied, lightly. "Really, it's nothing special…"

"Oh, but that's so wonderful! I, I love flowers and plants and things," Yakata said. "I have a neighbor, back, back home—um, in Tamina, I mean. She had this really wonderful flower garden. I… I loved watching it grow in the spring and summer…"

(Of course his neighbor didn't appreciate it whenever she caught him.)

("What are you doing here?")

"Is that so. That's nice," Ino said.

"I, I, I wouldn't mind seeing, um, y-your family's flower shop, Ino-san."

(Her heart sank into her stomach.)

"Oh, really, Yakata-kun, it's nothing special…" she said, waving her hand. "Just a flower shop."

"Ah, but, but, still… I'm… I'm sure it's really nice. Can… can you at least tell me where it is? I, I mean, I'm sure you're, you're really busy, Ino-san, so you, you don't have to… take me yourself, I'm sure I could make my way over by, by myself. I sort of understand the, the layout of the city..."

Ino bit her lip.

(What would Sasuke say if he found out?)

(But the poor thing had nothing else to do.)

Ino breathed in, breathed out.

(If she could do nothing else.)

And she told him where it was. "Right past the transport station, you'll know you're in the right area once you find it. But be back well before dinner, you understand?" she added; her voice was barely sharp. "I don't want either of us getting in trouble."

"Trouble?" Yakata's expression grew apprehensive, almost scared. "Wh-wh-why would either of us be…?"

"Oh never mind, forget I said anything. Go out and enjoy yourself," Ino said, quickly, waving her hand, again. She went to put her gloves on, to return to the dishes.

Yakata swallowed. She'd said to forget, and though he worried, he'd try. He smiled, with his mouth closed. "Th-thank you, Ino-san."

"Mm."

She listened as he went down the hallway, to the foyer, and put on his shoes; she heard him open and close the door.

If she could do nothing else, she could at least help him there. That was within her power.

Yakata figured he had to have been in the right place. He had found the transport station—a noisy, noisy place full of people and sound that had left him timid and shaking and almost running to find where he was supposed to be—and gone on from there, and the sign outside the shop said "Yamanaka Flowers," and there didn't seem to be any other flower shops in the area, and he hadn't passed any on the way there, for that matter.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't where he was supposed to be.

But… it was a flower shop. And flowers, plants, anything that grew held an almost innate comfort for him. Beyond that, hadn't Ino told him to come up with something to do?

So he went in anyways.

There was an older man minding the shop, reading a book; he wore reading glasses, and his eyes were the same color as Ino's. He looked up when Yakata entered, putting the book down. "Ah, may I help you, young man?"

Yakata fidgeted. "Ah, um, is, is, is this the, uh, the, the Yamanaka Flower Shop…?"

"If it isn't then I must be more senile than I thought, wandering into someone else's shop!" the man said.

"Oh! Oh, no, then, um…" Yakata almost started heading for the door. What, was there really some mistake…?

("Get out of here.")

The old man laughed. "I'm just having a little fun with you, kid. Of course this is the Yamanaka Flower Shop. What can I do for you?"

"Just, um. Just, just, just looking for now, I guess…" Yakata replied. He took a step further inside. "Is, is that, um, is that okay…?"

"More than fine! We don't charge for smells, after all," the man replied. "Take all the time you need. I'm here if you have any questions."

The old man's smile was warm, and it managed to make Yakata smile, himself. "Thank you, I'll, I'll, I'll be sure to, um. Re-remember that."

And so, the man went back to his book, and Yakata walked, slowly, to a wall of flowers, and he lost himself in them.

He wouldn't let himself touch them, not even remotely.

(Even though, maybe, here, it would be okay.)

("Get your filthy hands away from them!")

But his eyes drank in the colors of the petals, the gentle curves and ripples.

It was familiar, and it was beautiful. Even though these were no longer growing flowers.

And then there was Nadeshiko, coming out of a back room. "Yakata-kun…? What are you doing here?"

Yakata turned, and saw her standing there; she was carrying an armful of daffodils, and her heavy eyes were widened, very, very slightly. "Oh, uh, Na-Na-Na-Nadeshiko-san! Hi there! Your, um. Your, your mother told me that, that her family owned a flower shop, and I, I, I wanted to, um. See it."

"Is that so." She walked to him, daffodils in arm, and began placing bunches away into the display.

"Nadeshiko, you know this boy?" the old man said. He was looking at her from over the top of his glasses.

"Yes. This is Honbo Yakata-kun, the child our family's keeping for the summer," she replied, putting away another bunch of daffodils. "Yakata-kun, this is my grandfather."

"Ah! Hello there! Nadeshiko's told me a fair bit about you." The old man stood up slightly. "You can call me Inoichi, if y'want."

"Inoichi-san… It, it's nice to meet you!" Yakata bowed, slightly, and received a small, amused one, in return. "Are, are you, um. Ino-san's father? I, I mean, your… your names are similar and, and you're Nadeshiko-san's grandfather…"

"You're a sharp kid! That's right," Inoichi replied.

"And what brings you to the shop today, Yakata-kun?" Nadeshiko had finished with the daffodils; she wiped her hands on her skirt, falling long, to her calves.

"Um, well, I, I, I suppose now that I'm, I'm here that I don't really… I don't really know…" Yakata shifted his weight from one foot to the next. "You, you work here, right, Nadeshiko-san?"

"I do."

"Well, um." Yakata thought; he couldn't just stand around and look at flowers for a whole afternoon. "I'm, I'm sorry if it's, um. Ou-out of place for me to offer, but, is, is, is there… is there anything I can do to, to help around the shop? I, I mean, since I'm here…"

"Well aren't you eager! We're a pretty small shop, so there's not much to do," Inoichi said.

Yakata bit his lower lip. "Ah, well, um, I'm, I'm, I'm just asking… I, I mean, I don't, I, I don't expect pay or anything, I just need… something to do, I guess… I, I mean, I've got nothing else…"

Nadeshiko turned around, and left, into the back room. And Yakata found himself almost flustered, as if he had said something wrong, until she came back with a small spray bottle in her hand.

"I think I have something for you to do, Yakata-kun, if you need to keep yourself busy." She handed the spray bottle to him. "Just spritz the flowers with this, inside and outside the shop. It shouldn't be too hard on your hands."

Yakata held the bottle close to his chest. "My, my, my hands don't… don't hurt that much…"

She didn't say anything more, beyond, "Once you're done with that I'll see if there's anything else you can help with."

So Yakata did his work, and he took his time with it. There weren't many customers at all; of the few that did come in, Yakata listened to the conversations they had with Inoichi. Nadeshiko stayed largely silent, emerging every now and then from the back room with cuttings of flowers, bouquets, completed orders. The most he ever did hear her say was a simple, "Here you are," or a gentle, "Thank you for your patronage."

It was a nice day, a hot summer day, even in the shade of the alcove where the flowers were kept outside. The time passed slowly, quickly, Yakata couldn't tell. The sound of transports rattling out of the city on their rails was almost comforting, muffled by distance and the humid air, and removed from the hordes of strangers.

(Strangers who were probably going to stare at him.)

What he did know, however, was that Nadeshiko was there almost the moment after he was done spraying the flowers. "Beautiful job. I'm sure they enjoy it."

Yakata looked at her, there, holding the half-empty bottle. "Um, they…?"

A warm smile, though it lasted for only a moment. "The flowers. A little water keeps them fresh. I have another job for you, if you're interested."

"Oh, please!" She walked back into the shop, and he followed. "What, what would you like me to do?"

"Just follow me." She brought him to the back room. "You can put the spray bottle on that shelf. Come sit with me here."

There was a table, in the back room, pushed against a wall with a window; two stools were pushed beneath it, on one of which Nadeshiko sat down. Dried leaves and petals were weakly tossed around on the surface. Yakata put the spray bottle on the nearest shelf—covered in finished bouquets, balls of twine, clippers—before joining Nadeshiko at the table.

She handed him a pair of scissors, and pushed a spool of ribbon his way with the back of her hand. "I need to put together some arrangements. If you can, I'll need some sections of ribbon to cover the tape that I use to keep them together. You think you can do that?"

"Sounds… easy enough," Yakata said. He smiled, slightly. "I, I think I can do it."

They began their work.

It was silent work, for the longest time. And, in all honesty, there wasn't much at all for Yakata to do, beyond tying the ribbons.

He found himself not caring much, however, too taken in by Nadeshiko's hands to notice how very little he himself did. There was something incredible in the way she so effortlessly, almost instinctively put the flashier flowers near the center, the smaller ones beside it, and how she seemed to make them both even lovelier by the contrast. Nothing ever seemed to be out of place; each blossom was arranged with purpose, never haphazardly.

"Ribbon, please." And Yakata would tie it at the bottom with a length of red ribbon over the tape as best he could, and she'd set it aside and start on the next one.

Given how prone he was—well, at least he felt that way—to random, awkward conversation, Yakata found himself surprised when Nadeshiko began speaking to him, somewhere around the third or fourth arrangement. "Did you know that there's a language to flowers?"

"Oh, um, sorta?" Yakata replied. "I, I, I know that… that roses mean 'love,' and, and forget-me-nots mean, well, 'forget me not,' but that's about it…"

She reached for a white spray of blossoms. "A very good start. Did you know that different-colored roses mean different things, though? A red rose signifies a more passionate love than a pink rose, and yellow roses mean friendship."

"Huh, ne-never knew that…"

"You learn something new every day, I suppose," she replied, looking at him for a moment and returning to her work.

What little conversation they had for the rest of that day mainly had to do with the flowers. Every now and then, Nadeshiko would reach for a different flower, and suddenly be speaking about what it meant. "This is lavender. It means luck." "Orange blossoms stand for generosity, or a happy outcome."

"Wha-what's a… fern doing in there?" Yakata asked, when he saw her putting one of those leaves into place, after fetching it from the front of the store—it complimented the flowers, sure, but it seemed almost out of place.

"Fascination," she replied, with an almost-smile, an almost-laugh.

And then, suddenly: "Yakata-kun, could you put these in the refrigerator? It's behind the cash register." She was holding out a tray of all the arrangements they'd made together, and Yakata put his scissors down.

"Oh, sure, gladly," he replied, and got off his stool, taking the tray. It was light.

Inoichi was still reading when Yakata went to put the flowers away, though he did look up when he saw Yakata trying to open the sliding glass of the refrigerator with one arm, holding the tray with the other.

"Put the tray down first, boy!" he said, taking it from Yakata's arms. "You don't want the flowers to fall, now, do you?"

"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…!" Yakata said. He bowed, once, twice. "I, I, I should have thought of that…"

"It's fine, it's fine," Inoichi replied. "No need to be so apologetic, boy. Here, I'll hold this and you can put them in."

Hands almost shaking, Yakata began at his work. He'd almost messed up, ah, no, that would have been bad…

(What would Nadeshiko say? He wouldn't want to get her angry, not after she'd been so nice to him…)

"She does good work, doesn't she? My granddaughter," Inoichi was suddenly saying.

"Ah, yeah. It's… it's really nice," Yakata replied.

"And you seem to be doing a fair job yourself! Excellent ribbon-tying."

Yakata looked at the floor, putting away the last arrangement. "It, it, it's just ribbon-tying."

"Takes a good pair of hands to make nice bows like that, though."

Yakata held out his own bandaged hands, eyes still to the floor. "I'd, I'd, I'd like the tray back, please."

Inoichi just laughed and gave it back, and Yakata began on his way back toward the back room. "Y'know, kid, I can't shake the feeling that we've met before."

"…really?" Yakata looked over his shoulder.

Inoichi looked up, thought for a moment, hand on his chin, and then shook his head. "Nah, must be my imagination. Either that or I'm just gettin' used to you!"

Yakata lowered his head again, not responding, though he didn't deny the small smile that took up residence on his face.

Nadeshiko was already working on the next arrangement by the time he got back. "Just in time. Ribbon, please."

Yakata put the tray down and picked up his scissors. "Coming right up!"

The afternoon continued on, gently, with the talk of flowers, with the cutting of ribbon, with the only indication that time was even passing the occasional times where Yakata had to take the tray out of the back room and into the front, and receive a smile or a wave from Inoichi; in the yellow curtain of light across the shop's wooden floor moving, slowly, from one end to the other.

Well, that and when Nadeshiko suddenly began taking the flowers out of their vases on the table and putting them into the display up front. "Um, what are you doing…?"

"We should probably leave soon, if you want to get home before my father does," she said.

And suddenly Yakata remembered what Ino had said. "Oh, um, I…"

(But how did she know?)

And then there was a hand on his back, for a brief, brief moment. "Don't worry about it. I'll bring you home."

There, and gone. "Thanks, Nadeshiko-san… Um, you, you really don't have to, though…"

"It's easier for the both of us," she replied, and took the final vase away. "Come on, now."

She said goodbye to her grandfather—Yakata giving a halting goodbye of his own afterwards—and the two of them set off down the road, together.

And it was then that, like so many other times before, Yakata's words began coming out. Maybe it was the silence, maybe it was the walking, maybe it was the approach of the station and the people and the staring eyes, but he just couldn't help himself.

"So, um, do, do you work here every day, Nadeshiko-san?"

"If I can."

"Wh-why do you say that…? Do, do you… do you do ninja stuff on the side or something?"

The barely-present smile disappeared, like it had never existed. "…no, not any longer."

In the distance, a transport-whistle.

Yakata almost felt like had committed a crime.

(This wasn't an unfamiliar feeling.)

("Witch-boy.")

"Oh, um, I… I see…" He swallowed, with difficulty.

She wasn't looking at him.

"I'm sorry…!" The apology shot out of him, like his apologies always did, when they weren't oozing out of him painfully. "I'm really sorry, I, I, I didn't mean anything by that, I just…"

Her hand was on his head, briefly. "It's all right."

And when Yakata looked up and saw that smile in miniature on her face, a strange sort of suggestion came upon him, one that unsettled and yet comforted him at the same time.

Her eyes, strange and large and dark, were like his father's, in a way. They had that same shape, those same, heavy lashes.

(That same, indefinable sadness, present even as a child, in a photograph.)

And for reasons he could not quite put into words, he truly felt that it was all right, like she had said.

The station and its noises began to fade with his anxiety.

He still kept his mouth shut as they walked back home together, side by side. Nadeshiko's words had been like a salve, but he didn't want to risk another sting.

It didn't stop Nadeshiko. "You know, I really appreciated your help in the shop today, Yakata-kun."

"Ahh, um… really?" He held the thumb of one hand in the palm of the other, and looked up at her, uneasily. She was taller than Sasuke.

"Yes. And if you'd like, I wouldn't mind at all if you wanted to join me again."

His gasp filled his lungs with an air that made his heart jump. "You, you, you really mean it…?"

"I do. I really did enjoy your company today, Yakata-kun."

He had to look away, at that. His fingers laced themselves into each other, but they did not stay still. "…I'd really like that…" he finally said. "I, I, I, I mean, if, if you want me to…"

"I do want you to. We can go back tomorrow, if you want. Together."

His smile felt hot on his face.

"Though, for your sake, I would recommend not telling my father about this."

She kept her face away from his, even when he looked up, again. Anxiety tightened in his chest.

He remembered what Karai had said.

("Witch-boy!")

"I, I um. I, I understand, but, um. But, but if he wouldn't want me there then, then, then I don't…!"

Is that what that had been, that sense of wrongness, when he stood in front of that shop?

("Get out of here! You don't belong!")

Her hand was on his head again, and it stayed. "If you want to be there at the shop, I don't want him to stop you because of me. That wouldn't be fair to you."

"Be… cause of you…?"

She didn't answer his question. She took her hand off his head.

Yakata's stomach grew cold and his eyes glued themselves to the road for the rest of their walk. He couldn't even apologize.

When they got home, she took of her shoes and was heading up the stairs before he could even ask her anything.

(Even though he had no idea what he wanted to ask her in the first place. He wanted to ask why, he wanted to ask so much, but something inside him was keeping him from prying.)

Ino called out from the kitchen. "Yakata-kun? Is that you?"

"Ah! Y-yes, I'm, I'm back," he said.

She came down the hallway a moment later. Her smile—this time—seemed real, relieved. "Oh, good, you're just in time. Did you have fun over there?"

He nodded. "Yes, I, I, I did..."

"Well you were over there an awfully long time. What did you do over there?"

"I, um, I, I, I helped Nadeshiko-san put flower arrangements together…"

Her smile faded, just that little bit. "Ah, is that so?"

Yakata bit his lip. "I, I only was with her for, for a little bit, though, uh, was I, was I not… supposed to…?"

He couldn't look her in the eyes.

Ino took a long time to answer, and with each second that passed, his gut twisted further. "Yakata-kun, what's the matter…?" she finally said.

As much as he wanted to say he was all right, as much as he remembered the strange looks that Ino had given him, her kindness that afternoon was too fresh in his mind to deny.

(And hadn't she been the one to send him to the shop, anyways?)

"Well, it's just… Na-Na-Na-Nadeshiko-san said… not to tell Sasuke-san I was there, or, or that…" He looked up at her, suddenly. "I, I, I'm not, I, I, I, I'm not d-doing anything wrong, am I?"

"No, no, no, of course you're not!" Ino said. She stepped forward, like she was going to hug him, but she didn't.

"Then, th-then wh-wh-why did she say that? Duh-duh-does he not want me there, at the shop?" He closed his eyes, tightly. "I'm, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I, I don't mean to cause any trouble…!"

"Yakata-kun, please, calm down, okay…?" Ino's voice was soothing in the way that a piece of candy was to a crying child. "There's nothing for you to worry about, it's more than fine for you to be at the shop! I wouldn't have sent you if you weren't allowed."

"Then, then why did she say…?"

Ino sighed. "It's… nothing to do with you, Yakata-kun. Nadeshiko is just worried about what… my husband would think about you hanging around with her."

Yakata remembered what Karai had said.

"Is, is, is it because Sasuke-san doesn't get along with her…?"

Ino's silence almost forced another apology out of him, if she hadn't said something first. "Sasuke… has never been close with Nadeshiko. And she's got a bad habit of… over-compensating with things, by the way, when it comes to other people. I think she thinks that he'll stop being nice to you if you're around her at all. Which won't be the case, trust me. He's… too fond of you to let something like that ruin his opinion of you."

There was a smile on her face but such a pain in her eyes, when Yakata finally looked at her. "You, you, you really… you really think that's what's, what's going on…?"

(But why was Ino not denying that he hated Nadeshiko so much?)

"She's my daughter. I know how she thinks," Ino said. "And I also know how Sasuke thinks. He might not like that you went to the flower shop, if he found out—I don't know why, but he just hates that place—probably my fault—but what he doesn't know won't kill him." The pause, the change in subject made his stomach drop, though the wink that followed it was a bare comfort. "It might be better if we don't talk about it in front of him just yet, though, okay?"

Twist. "So I, I, I still shouldn't tell him…?"

"I think your happiness is more important than keeping him from getting a little annoyed. How you spend your time alone is none of his business, and that's what I'll tell him if he ever gets uppity about it."

"You, you're sure…?"

"Absolutely."

The sweetness of her voice carried a surprising power to it, and Yakata couldn't help but nod, and mean it.

"So! Why don't you help me with dinner, then?" she said, clapping her hands.

"Sure, I, I, I'd be glad to…" Yakata slipped off his sandals and followed her down the hallway, and into the kitchen.

Uneasily, he helped peel vegetables, set the table. And though Sasuke greeted him warmly when he came home for dinner, he could only muster a half-hearted hello.

Sasuke didn't notice. Thank goodness.

At dinner, when he asked where Yakata had been, Ino answered for him. "He went to the library. Asked me for directions."

Sasuke glanced at her, eyes narrowed. "You let him out of the house alone?"

"Well he had nothing else to do. Poor dear looked bored out of his mind, he's had nothing to do since he's come here, anyways."

Never mind that Yakata was right there. He lowered his eyes, his head, letting them speak for him.

(Just like the first night.)

"I don't want him going out alone again, Ino."

"Fine, fine! I'll go with him next time, goodness!" Ino said, sharply, quietly.

Sasuke didn't reply to her, instead asking Yakata, "So, did you have a good time at the library?"

"Ah, yes, I… I had a fine time…"

"Didja check out any good books?" Karai asked.

"N-no, um, I, I didn't, actually… I, I just, um. Sat and read in there while I was… there…"

"Oh, you should get a library card, then! You think they'd let him get one, Mom?"

"Karai."

Just like she always did, Karai cut herself back at her father's tone.

"The library isn't so bad a place to be, if you need to kill some time," Sasuke continued. "I'd prefer you staying at home, but if you must, just ask to be taken there. I don't want you going out alone."

"But I…" But nothing had happened while he was out, but he was totally okay, but he knew his way around the city already. "Yes, Sasuke-san, I, I understand." Yakata picked at his food with his chopsticks and tried not to look at Nadeshiko, across from him, eating silently. She always ate quickly, and finished first.

Sasuke took him to the training grounds after they were finished eating, before Yakata could volunteer to help clean up. He noticed the bandages that night, unlike the other nights. "They look tighter today."

"Oh, um, well, I-I-Ino-san wrapped them for me."

"Did she. That was good of her." His tone held no admiration at all. "You ought to learn to do that for yourself. Ask her, if you want to."

"Oh, um. I, I will," Yakata replied.

He rubbed his wrists, preparing for the drills.

His hands didn't hurt nearly as much, this time, as he lost himself in his punches.

He took a bath, after training, like always, and exchanged his bandages for new ones. He remembered the ointment, this time, and how Ino had wrapped them. His hands weren't as shaky any more, certainly. He'd been trying to use chopsticks again, though failing to varying degrees until that night. Maybe, at the rate things were going, he'd be able to write to his mama soon? It had been well more than a week since he'd left home, so she must have been worried about him…

When he got upstairs to his—no, Hajime's room—he went through the drawers of his desk to see if he could find some paper. Maybe for the day after, or the day after that… he didn't know. But he had to write a letter soon.

And in putting the paper on the desk, he saw, again, the little gathering of flowers he'd gotten on his second day in the house. It had wilted, and started to dry; crumbled pieces of leaf littered the corner of the desk, near the copy of "Ghost Stories of the Land of Water" that he kept propped up near the lamp, near the picture of his father, of Sasuke, of the grandparents he would never meet.

(Even back home in Tamina, he didn't have grandparents. His mama, his papa, did not have pasts. He knew nothing about them, beyond when he had become their son.)

Karai had told him that Nadeshiko liked to do things "like that;" and Nadeshiko herself had told him "You're welcome," when he had thanked her.

"Did you know that there's a language to flowers?" she had said.

He couldn't help but think, now, that there was a meaning to what she had given him. Though he could barely identify the flowers, now, wilted as they were…

And his stomach tensed up again, thinking about if he was going to even ask her.

"We can go back tomorrow. Together."

Did he even want to go back…?

Even though Ino had told him that he'd done nothing wrong, that he had every right to go to the flower shop.

(Even though she said not to tell Sasuke about it.)

"I really enjoyed your company today, Yakata-kun."

He couldn't forget how warm that smile had been, in the shop, even if it had only lasted for a second. He couldn't forget how at ease he had felt, even.

When Nadeshiko had told him that it was all right, he had believed her.

He turned off the lights and held his arms in each other under the sheets.

Even with Sasuke's disapproval, invisible and hypothetical; even with how he felt about Nadeshiko; everything telling him that he didn't belong there.

…he felt like he actually belonged, in that flower shop. He felt like he was welcome there.

(…for once.)

He dreamed of rhododendrons, that night, like the ones in his neighbor's garden, thick and suffocating. They almost held him, restrained him, no matter how he tried to run.

And then there was an arm, reaching for him, and he was running towards it, to hold onto it and be pulled away from it all, when he suddenly woke up.

When he came down for breakfast he found that Nadeshiko was in the kitchen, reading, and she looked up when Yakata came down the hallway. "Good morning," she said.

"Ah, g-good morning…" he replied. "Wha-what are you… what are you doing here, Nadeshiko-san…?"

"I thought I'd… wait for you," she said. "Father was so adamant about you not traveling alone, so…"

Yakata's eyes slid sideways. "Ah, well, but…"

"Ahh, good morning, Yakata-kun! What would you like for breakfast?" It was Ino, and she was holding a wooden spoon, stepping away from the stove. "We have some miso soup left, and I can make you some fish if you want."

"Just… just soup is fine," Yakata replied. A half-formed smile slid on his face as he went to sit at the table with Nadeshiko. "So, uh, you, you really… y-you really do want me to come with you…?"

"I did mean it, when I said I had enjoyed your company," she replied. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, though. I understand. It's your decision."

He had dreamed of rhododendrons, suffocating and emptily beautiful. He had dreamed of a hand, and he had reached for it.

"…I'll go with you. A-after breakfast, though," he added, almost like it was a joke.

And there was that warm, rare smile again.

"Then that's what we'll do."

(From the stove, Ino filled a bowl with soup for Yakata and quietly, quietly prayed that nothing would go wrong.)

And after he ate, they went to the flower shop.

Together.