Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ 14 Gifts ❯ Ninety-nine Roses ( Chapter 10 )

February 10th - Ninety-nine Roses

"You want how many roses?" the ex-Yamanaka now Nara Ino yelled in amazement.

"Ninety-nine," the copy-nin replied calmly, his unmasked face revealing nothing to the astonished blonde.

The yell that came from the front of the store had caught the attention of Ino's mother, who quickly came to the rescue. Even though Ino was married to Shikamaru and was still on active duty as a shinobi, she still helped her mother run the shop. Especially now since her father had passed.

"Kakashi-san," the elder Yamanaka greeted bowing. The matriarch glared at her daughter before turning and asking, "What can we do for you?"

"I was just telling Ino that I need ninety-nine roses by noon today," he repeated. It was already nine in the morning. He realized it was a tall order to complete in such a short period of time, but he also knew that the Yamanaka's would do anything to get the sale.

"Oh! Well, do you have a specific color request?"

"Um, no."

Ino's mother turned to her daughter. "Leave us for a moment, will you?"

Ino grumbled but nodded to her mother, giving in. She turned to glare at Kakashi before leaving the storefront to go to the back room.

When the elder woman was satisfied that her nosey daughter had left them, she turned to the male in front of her and took a good look at him and what she saw made he smile. She recognized the signs of a man completely in love.

While her husband Inoichi had the gift to see into people's minds, she had the ability to see a person's soul and what she saw in the one male she had thought would never find a woman to his liking, was that he had found his soul mate. The absolutely amazing thing in her mind was that it was her daughter's best friend, Haruno Sakura.

Plus, the woman had the ability to manipulate flowers for specific occasions, and she had an idea.

"I think I know exactly what you need, Hatake-san. Please tell me what you plan to do with the roses."

oOo

Sunday's turned into housekeeping days for Sakura. It was amazing that she could find relaxation in such mundane tasks such as vacuuming, mopping, dusting and sweeping but it must have been due to her civilian roots.

Her mother, at an early age, had drilled certain things into her young daughters mind. Knowing how to prepare an exquisite meal with next to nothing in the cabinet and keeping a neat and tidy home were those things, all meant to prepare Sakura for when she would find herself a husband. Those two things were the most important weapons that a civilian female had in her arsenal to attract a good husband.

Sakura snickered at that thought. Civilian she was not and Kunoichi rarely settled down into a domestic role. It was almost sad that all of those lessons that her mother had taught her would eventually go to waste, and honestly it made Sakura sad.

But that was why she had her boys. While she didn't care for them in her own home as she would a typical wife, she did feed them from time-to-time. Whether she had them over for a home-cooked meal (when she wasn't pulling double-shifts at the hospital) or she brought them hand made bento for lunch during training or missions, she still used those skills that her mother had taught her well.

As she had the morning before, Sakura got out of bed and poked her head out of her front door to see if there had been any gifts left for her and she was surprisingly disappointed that nothing had been left that morning. She chalked it up to her mystery male having gone on a mission or that she would possibly see the gift later and began her Sunday routine.

At noon there was a knock at the door.

"Coming!" she yelled from the kitchen that she was just mopping. Putting the mop aside, she jogged over to the door and opened it, revealing no one. Then she looked to the ground.

There sat the most incredible bouquet of blue roses. She leaned down and picked up the bouquet, noting that there was a card attached to it. Bringing the roses into her apartment, Sakura pulled the card off and read it.

'Sakura: Do not be anxious for our meeting as it will come in due time. With these blue roses, please accept them as a calming influence over your anxiety.'

"Well these are definitely different," she mumbled looking at the iris-colored petals on the flowers. She took them out of the cellophane and trimmed the ends before looking for another vase to put them in, since the one she usually used was filled with her daisies from before. She set them on her coffee table before getting back to work on her mopping.

It couldn't have been 30 minutes later when there was another knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" she asked no one in particular.

She opened the door only to discover the hallway was once again vacant. Except for the lavender-colored roses left on her doorstep. Again, there was a card attached.

`Lavender signifies feminine beauty. You, my dear Sakura, are just like these flowers. You are the example of femininity and a beauty to behold.'

Every thirty minutes, another delivery would arrive. A bouquet of green roses showed up next with a note about being optimistic in their future together and how anytime he saw green he thought of her beautiful eyes. Next came a bouquet of orange roses. These were a symbol of confidence, satisfaction and a passion for life.

Then came white blossoms, which he related to her elegance and modesty for someone so gifted and strong. Yellow flowers came after the white, a symbol of friendship and a hope for a new beginning and happiness.

By this point, Sakura was surrounded by the multi-colored roses and she didn't know where she would put them all! She had counted sixty-six flowers so far and she was relieved that she had never had an allergy to deal with. But before she could think, there was another knock at the door.

"Ugh!" she moaned. "More?"

Yes more. However, these were pink blossoms and they were in a vase.

"Thank Kami!" she said to the heavens above. She was already having a problem finding a place to keep all of the other flowers and she was running out of counter space. It would only be a matter of time before the neighbors complained about the smell.

The card attached to this bunch was just as simple as the rest.

`Pink symbolizes youth, innocence and joy. These are three things I see in you. You are young, yet have seen so much loss and destructions and have maintained your innocence. Throughout the pain of loss, you have brought me much joy. Though, it's hard not to see your hair in these particular flowers.'

The flowers were really beautiful and very close to her hair color.

This made her count up to seventy-seven roses. And where did he get the unusual colors? As far as she knew, there were no such things as blue roses or green ones for that matter. However, before she could think more on it another knock came to her door.

'Maybe I should just leave them there,' she thought. 'This is just too much!'

She was feeling overwhelmed by the flowers and the words on the cards. It was almost like he was suffocating her with affection and they hadn't even met!

There was another knock at the door and she figured she might as well answer.

Of course there was another set of roses there, but this time they were purple. 'Purple!?'

'Though you've struggled to get as far as you have in life and in your career, you have my utmost admiration for making such amazing accomplishments. I am and have always been proud of you, Sakura. Through all of your hardships, you still came through for not only your friends and comrades, but for yourself.'

Eighty-eight and counting.

When the next rap at the door was heard, Sakura was waiting. When she opened there stood the Yamanaka Flower Shop delivery boy.

"YOU!" Sakura yelled.

"What?" he yelped back as the angry Kunoichi grabbed his shirtfront.

"You're the one inundating me with all of these flowers!" she barked at him, taking out her frustration at the youth. "Who sent these flowers?"

"I-I d-don't kn-know," the teen stammered. He was obviously a civilian hired on by Ino's mother to help make deliveries. Sakura knew better that the delivery boys were never aware of who ordered the flowers. Just whom they were supposed to be delivered to.

Sakura let the boy go and at the corner of her eye she saw the most beautiful arrangement of red roses in a crystal vase with a large red ribbon around it. The boy took the moment that Sakura was distracted to hightail it out of there.

She picked up the vase and brought it into her heavily perfumed apartment and sat the new flowers on an open space on her table. The flowers had an almost velvety texture and their color a deep crimson.

These were definitely high quality and she was not unaware of the meaning of a crimson rose. Desire. Passion.

Honestly, no card was needed for him to convey his thoughts here but Sakura took the small card off of the little fork that sat inside the vase and read it anyway.

'Sakura,

By now you are probably pretty tired of the scent of roses, but I wanted you to know all of the reasons I have fallen for you. You are strength, beauty, innocence, and intelligence, everything that a man could want in a life partner. I admire you and consider you my best friend. You give me joy and hope at a possible happy future. The strength of my affection is conveyed in this last bunch of flowers.

It is said that ninety-nine roses signifies forever. If, after I reveal myself, you can find it in your heart to accept me and possibly return my affection, I will eternally be yours.'

Sakura was near tears by this point. How could she not find some sort of affection for this male who in a matter of almost five hours, poured out his entire being to her in these small cards and simple words. However, she now knew that it was someone that had known her for a long time and had maybe even grown up with her.

Whoever it was, was slowly making their way into her heart.