Delicate Flowers [Kiba and then Open]

[Yamanaka Ino]

Yamanaka Ino

The morning had gone on like any other morning. Waking up at sunrise, Ino had taken her time and got herself all cleaned up and ready for the day. Her hair had gotten rather messed up over the night before, so it took a little bit longer to straighten out than it normally did. It was a good thing her father wasn't rushing that morning. Afterwards she made the bed and a quick breakfast being heading out for the flowershop.

Today there had been a special order of flowers that had to be tended to. A local family had asked for a flower that the store surprisingly didn't had, but it was easily obtained. Just a quick search around at various flower fields and an order was made. All that had to be done now was make sure they survived the trip and get them ready to be delivered.

Flipping the sign from "Closed" to "Open", Ino took a quick look over at the clock as she put on her yellow apron. It was around seven thirty or so, and this early in the morning business would be slow. At least she wouldn't be bothered as she tended to the flowers. It would take some time though since she had to make sure none of them had broken and gotten damaged, and then she could go and have them prepared for delivery.

There wasn't any point simply standing there doing nothing. Heading to the back, she found the delivery, and checked to make sure they were the right ones; Perennial larkspurs, also known as Blue Delphiniums. These were still kind of young, but there were still some clusters of the deep, blue flowers that it grew. Very lovely plants. It was too bad that they had a bit of a short life span.

One quick glance to make sure that no one was coming in, and it was time to get to work.

Konoha's Flower Girl

[OOC:Yeah, I had to research some flowers first XD.]

[Kiba Inuzuka]

It was a normal morning in the Inuzuka household, Tsume was nowhere to be found, Hana seemed to be at work and there didn't seem to be anything holding him back from exploring the world this early in the morning. Yet, there was one big thing...Kiba was still snoring his head off. Yes, the Inuzuka boy loved his sleep as shown many times, including the camping trip that Kiba and Ino had a little ways back. The sun filtered into his room, yet he didn't move.

One factor to this is that his alarm wasn't set this morning, not in any apparent hurry due to the fact that he wasn't planning on training today, simply for the fact that he'd done twice as much stuff yesterday and missed the blond haired girl that he thought about so much these days and wanted to visit her today. That was Kiba's mindset anyways, but at this rate, he'd sleep the day away.

Akamaru sat at the foot of Kiba's bed, awake solely by the sunlight that smacked the dog squarely in the face, and towered over the boy, watching him as he snored peacefully. After a few minutes of watching, the dog figured that he'd had enough and let out a low growl, just audible to Kiba, knowing he'd react to this.

"Akamaru...Come on, go lay down..." Kiba mumbled, turning over in bed, pulling his blanket over his head. Akamaru wasn't about to quit and let out another growl, following that up with licking Kiba's feet. "GAH!! Leave me be dog!!!" Kiba cried out, curling up under the blanket. That was the last straw with Akamaru, and the huge dog simply took hold of Kiba's blanket, and a large-scale tug-of-war ensued. "Let it go!!" Kiba growled, only to be answered with a louder Akamaru growl. Each pulled as hard as they could, but ultimately, Kiba was pulled off his bed and landed on the ground with a loud Thud as Akamaru stole the blanket from his owner.

"Boy, you're really asking for it this morning Akamaru..." Kiba said lowly, crossing his arms. Looking to his alarm clock, it slowly hit him. "Oh geez, I gotta go see Ino at the shop!!" He cried out, getting to his feet and moving to his closet, pulling out his leather jacket and pair of pants. Kiba rushed to the other side of the room and found his forehead protector and tied that on as he pulled the jacket and his pants on. "My shoes..." He growled, looking around quickly. "Under the bed..."

A few moments later, Kiba was around and rushing downstairs, Akamaru slightly behind him as he still seemed mad at Kiba for sleeping in. After a quick arguement between the two and a piece of toast for both, it was around 7:30 or so and the two, managed to put their morning-time differences behind them and walk into the heart of the village.

"Quit bashing on me Akamaru...I hate the morning alright..." Kiba muttered as the two approached the Yamanaka Floral Shop. "I mean geez, it must be nice to wake up with the sun everday..." Kiba growled, receiving another growl back. The two occasionally argued like this from time to time and it wasn't always over the morning routine, it ranged from amount of treats to how hard they trained at times. "Ugh...stay out here Akamaru..." Kiba muttered. It wasn't like Akamaru would stay there the whole time, as the big dog would wander to the back of the shop and stay out of trouble there.

Kiba, on the other hand, saw that the shop was open and slowly opened the entrance door, trying to make the least amount of noise as he could. "I wonder what she'll do once she sees me standing around... Kiba thought to himself with a chuckle. Not immediately hearing Ino, Kiba tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Ino to appear and react to his presence. "What in the world is she doing? She's normally bummed out about being here this early..." He said lowly, yawning slightly. "I'll just wait for her right here..." He thought to himself, leaning against the front counter lazily.

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[Yamanaka Ino]

Yamanaka Ino

Ino hadn’t made much progress in the back. So far everything looked alright, and none of the flowers seemed to be heavily damaged. Still, the sheer number of them was making it a rather tedious task as she had to check the stems, petals, buds, and if possible, roots of the plants to make sure they were in the best condition possible. There was no possible way that the Yamanaka’s would sell off sub-par flowers afterall. They were the best in Konoha, and she meant to keep it that way. Now if only that could have been done without getting up so early.

Letting out a slight yawn, she stood up to stretch for a quick moment. The constant bending down to look at the plants was a stress on her back, and it was starting to feel a little sore. A yawn escaped, but her arms were over and head as part of her stretching, so she couldn’t cover it up. She paused for a second to make sure that no one heard her and, when all she heard was silence, assumed no one did. Looking at the clock and then at the plants, she decided to take a break from the Blue Delphiniums and take care of the other plants. Looking over at the watering can, knowing how full of water it was, and she deeply wished that Kiba was helping out around the place today. Physical labor and quality time with her boyfriend; the perfect two for one deal.

Almost as if someone heard her thoughts, the sound of the door opening and a subsequent bell signaled the arrival of the Inuzuka boy. Coming in from the back, she found him standing impatiently at the counter lazily and probably half asleep. Apparently not much of a morning person, was he? Leaning on the counter in front of him, she ruffled up his already messy hair to get him to wake up before talking.

”Hey there sleepy head, decided to come and visit me this morning? It’s good timing really because I really need your help on something,” she asked, playing the role of a damsel in distress a bit in hopes of guilt tripping him into help. If he could take care of watering the plants, she could focus on getting those flowers ready. Sure, she could make him do it, but the inspection had to be handled delicately, and, while no offense to Kiba at all, she couldn’t trust him to not accidentally rip apart the flowers.

”You see, we had a special order of flowers come in, and since they could have been damaged getting here I have to make sure that they are all in good condition. But all these other plants are going to need tending to, so while I deal with the plants in the back could you please water them for me? I assume you can handle it, or do you need me to give you another little lesson on flower maintenance?” she asked, giving him a teasing smile before finally freeing his head.

Without even waiting for an answer from him, she went to the back and grabbed ahold of the water can. Hefting it onto the counter, letting some of the loose drops splash on him to wake him up again. In another fell swoop, she handed him over one of the spare yellow aprons. He was probably used to this by now; whenever Ino had a ‘request’, it almost always turned out more like a draft.

Konoha's Flower Girl

[Kiba Inuzuka]

Kiba had nearly drifted off to sleep standing at the counter when suddenly he felt his hair get messed with roughly, getting all ruffled up by the Yamanaka girl. Kiba couldn't help but grin lightly and let out a small chuckle as the blond picked on him playfully, calling him "a sleepy head". The Inuzuka simply let out a small yawn and listened to Ino as her tone of voice changed at the end of her statement, causing him to look slightly more attentive as he tried to figure out what was wrong. "Hmm? You need help?" Kiba asked lowly, stopping as Ino began to explain her situation.

Kiba simply blinked and looked at all the flowers in the front that would need watering, it wasn't very much work to actually do it, but it meant lugging around a heavy watering can to spritz the flowers with the right amount of liquid, which Ino emphasized over and over again the last time Kiba had helped out in the floral shop. "Uhh...I'm sure I can handle that, I haven't drowned a plant yet have I?" Kiba asked, looking at her with an eyebrow raised and small, unconcerning grin on his face.

The moment Ino let go of his head however, Kiba did a slight headdesk, still feeling slightly tired and sighing a bit to make sense of everything Ino had just told him. Even before Kiba could give an answer or even a halfway coherent comment about doing the work, Ino had lugged the watering can before him and set it down in a way in which a collection of annoying drops hit the boy in the face. "Hey!!" Kiba growled, not able to even react quick enough to catch the classic yellow apron that she tossed at him, allowing it to land on his head. "What a morning... He thought to himself as the apron hung atop his head. Kiba knew there was no going back once Ino had the gears turning and materials handed out, so he didn't put up a fight and slowly drug his feet to get going on the small errand.

"Aww alright..." He groaned with another yawn, groaning as he grabbed the watering can from the table and began lightly showering plants and flowers, giving them enough to drink without soaking them too much. "Ugh, What's so special about some flowers in the back anyhow? I mean, flowers are flowers..." Kiba grumbled to himself, knowing that if Ino heard him say that, she'd lecture him or smack him on the head or something of that nature.

"Meh, this is easy I guess...Why complain? It keeps Ino happy and gives me something to do." Kiba thought to himself. "Lets just hope that no one comes in and embarrasses me again." The boy thought to himself as he began watering some roses.

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[Yamanaka Ino]

Yamanaka Ino

”No, you haven’t drowned any yet. Which is why I’m letting you take care of it for me,” she replied with a smile, hoping to get the Inuzuka boy to brighten up a little. He must have just gotten recently if he felt so tired about it. Hopefully he wouldn’t take a nap while watering the plants. Then again, if he did she might have to follow him in that and take her own nap.

Before waiting for a response from him, she went and got everything he needed. She had to let out a small laugh when the apron landed on his head. He complained a little about the water, but she just acted as if she hadn’t heard him. It was just a sprinkle of water after all; it wasn’t going to kill him. Besides, a little cold water would be a great way to get him to wake up. With a yawn the Inuzuka had gotten up and running, and since her presence was no longer needed up front, she was beginning to head out to the back to take care of the flowers. However, she stopped when he grumbled about the flowers. It sounded as if he wasn’t that interested in a response, but she wasn’t going to let him get away that easily.

”Oh, well, if you really want to know about the flowers, I guess I can tell you about them. Just give me a second so I can bring one out here so you can see.”

She disappeared from the front of the store and into the back. Grabbing one of the plants, she started to head to the front when an idea hit her. Kiba knew about some of the basic flowers and such, but he probably didn’t know anything about these flowers. She could tell him anything she wanted about these flowers and he’d believe her. There was no way she could simply give up this opportunity to mess with him…and to see just how much she could push him. Now, she wouldn’t be cruel about it, but she kind of wanted to see how he’d handle under pressure. She had heard enough gossip to know that some guys, when under pressure, tend to make a run for it. And while she highly doubted Kiba would do such a thing, it wouldn’t hurt to test him.

”Well, here it is, Aconitum variegatum, part of the Aconitum genus of flowers.” she said, working to keep a straight face through it all. The flowers were actually Delphiniums, a very different family. However, they looked similar enough that, should Kiba actually know something about those families, she might still pull it off. The flowers were young, so they weren’t too tall, but the blue flowers were tightly packed together as they grew upwards.

”Now, some common names for these kind of flowers include Monkshood and Wolfsbane, and you have to be very careful with them. You see, these kind of flowers normally poisonous, and can get some pretty nasty side effects like nausea, vomiting, sense of burning, tingling, and numbness, and a whole lot of other stuff too. The order came from the Konoha Hospital as they wanted to have a large sample of the group to develop poisons and antidotes for them.”

She paused for a moment to wait for the look on Kiba’s face, to see if whether or not he actually believed her story. It was all factual; if he protested she could pull out a book somewhere and show him (making sure there was no picture of the plant). Besides, she was the flower expert between them; he had no reason to suspect it. Mentally she was having a giggling fit, but she kept up the appearance of looking completely serious.

Konoha's Flower Girl