Blooms of Silk and Vines of Thread

A delicate hand caressed blue petals as the owner of said hand forced chakra into the plant before her. Forcing chakra into a plant allowed for fuller flowers and longer blooming time, but shortened the life of the plant dramatically. However, this said plant was to be cultivated for its blooms, leaves, and delicate roots, which made an excellent tea that this kinochi only brewed for her most favored customers, but brewing said tea was a talent in itself. The entire plant had to be carefully stripped and dried out before she could make the tea; a task most long and tiresome to those without her patience.

So, without further ado, she pushed the plant into its prime, plucking the dying plant up from its pot of soil and laying it out upon her countertop in her store. She stripped the leaves of the plant and placed them to the side, starting on the soft blue blossoms next. She severed their bases from the stems with her small knife, gently placing them side by side, one by one. She smiled softly down at the blue blooms and then moved to her last task, the roots. She cut them off also, throwing her stems into her mulch bin. Softly, she shook the dirt from the hair-like roots, gently combing them with her turquoise painted fingernails until they all lay straight and neat. Finally, she set all the parts on a large tray, setting them out in the sunlight in her window along with many of her other products.

Glancing up from her place in the window, she spotted a young man in the street and blushed timidly as she looked at him. He had been coming around recently, visiting other shops of course, and for some reason she had developed a bit of a little crush on him. He wasn't bad looking, but he just never seemed to look toward her shop. Then again, he was always disappearing into the weapons shop right across from her own; an obvious indicator that he had not a care for the delicate and complicated art of raising flowers.

However, there was also another thing that got in her way of speak to him, or even waving his way. She was so terribly shy, this lovely turquoise haired and eyed kunochi, and had not the courage to call out to him. One day he had turned toward her shops way and she had ducked beneath her counter in an attempt to hide.

She sadly hung her head and sighed, going back to sprucing up her plants. Sometimes she believed herself to be absolutely hopeless, especially now that she was quite alone in this new village. Her long delicate fingers arranged flowers in such a way that they presented their best buds to the viewers on the streets and made her shop look like a perfect paradise. The ringing of the bell on her door dragged her attention back into reality and she moved back behind the desk, her long, pink, and lotus adorned kimono swishing and swirling about her.

Once positioned behind her countertop, she looked down at her seedlings on the desk. The rare plants had just come in and were being frustratingly slow in growing. "How might I help you?" she inquired, pushing her long turquoise hair out of her way as she focused on tending her plants. Her shy eyes stayed focused on them, even though she wished to stray away. "If your looking for the most popular flower this season, I recommend the Vanda Orchid. However, it is high maintenance, so if your unable to take care of it, I wouldn't recommend wasting you money. Or perhaps your here to try one of my popular teas? I can brew you a cup full if you'd like to test a flavor or two." she questioned gently, her hands softly moving over each plant on her desk, and her eyes still downward gazing.

A ray of radiant sunlight beamed across the morning sky in a beckoning manner. It lit up the dawn around the marketplace as if to say hello to the newborn hours of the day. A smile crept across my face as I soaked it all in. The magic of the forest I have grown to call home, grown to call my own, has really found a way of raising the hopes of myself and the people around me. Through the treetops above, I could hear my people waking, and the creatures of the wood blinking off drops of dew. I averted my attention back to ground level just in time for a beautiful scent to flow through my nose. Curious, I turned to find the source of the scent. Flowers. Of course, my forest was known to produce elegance, but even moreso when a practiced hand nurtured it. I walked through the door as the practitioner was speaking to another patron. I decided I would let her be as I began to browse the shop.

The patron eventually settled on a dark red, fully bloomed rose bush. He carried it over to her counter and she set him up, making sure to include plant food and instructions for perfect care. Then she rung him up, taking his money with the softest of smiles and gentlest thank you. As she watched the man leave, her turquoise orbs focused on another, his back turned to her as he gazed upon her plants.

Slowly and quietly, she made her way over to where he was, her hand cupping the delicate blossom of an golden chrysanthemum. "You would give this one to someone you admire secretly." she gently plucked the flower pot up and carried it over to the counter, and as she turned she caught a glimpse of his face and blushed furiously.

Oh kami be cursed! The one she had been secretly admiring had wandered into her shop! She hid behind the plant, gently pruning it as she hid from his view. Now that she was up close and personal, she could recognize exactly who her crush was, and how futile it was for her to look his way.

He was Skar Dovahkiin, the kage of this village and the man who had sent out a call for those of her kind. She wondered briefly if he even knew who she was, if he'd taken the time to look her over. She peeked around the bush, a soft smile upon her delicate face. "How might I be able to assist you today, dear sir?" she inquired, trying her best not to stutter as she spoke. "Do you have anything specific in mind? Or are you just browsing?"

After looking through the wide assortments of delicate flowers, a gentle voice brushed up against my ear. The whisper was intimate, maybe even personal. It was majestic and kind; it was, dare I say, beautiful. Interesting. A voice has not caught my attention quite like this since the early days of my adolescent years. And even then, I doubt her voice quite sounded as subtly gorgeous as this one did before me now. Intrigued, and a bit shocked, I turned around to meet her. As soon as my eye caught hers, I lost my breath. My eye dove into hers, as hers pierced mine, and I realized something that I never thought would come true. She was a dov. She was dragonkin, like me. The soul of a dragon burned through the windows of her eyes like a kindling fire. It was so obvious, but so very unbelievable. Had someone finally answered my call? I had never met another Dovahkiin before. She was beautiful. Maybe now I could actually be ready to settle with another. Someone of my own race, someone just like me, someone born with the soul of a dragon and not of a human. She astounded me in many ways in the blink of an eye, and I didn't know what to say. It wasn't until right then that I noticed she had asked me a question. How to go about this? She was someone I would definitely want to apprehend in the future, but how would I even start? As the Tsurukage, I had not dealt romantically with anyone in a very very long time, I have only been dealing with politics and students. Debating and training, but no loving. How would I do this? Without thinking, I said the first thing that came to mind, "I.. I'm looking for a white lily. The white lily has always been my favorite flower. It's elegance has always fascinated me. Simple, but.. beautiful." As I said that last word, I felt my face light up with a deep red tint that contrasted the dark tan shade of my skin rather embarrassingly. I had compared her to the flower.. how cliche of me. Hopefully she wouldn't notice..

She smiled softly from behind her chrysanthemum plant, eventually picking it up and traversing across the shop again to place it back in its spot. Slowly and poised, she straightened back up, listening intently to his request. Her face saddened slightly as she walked over to her assortment of lilies, eyes downcast.

So, he already had a lover. She assumed immediately that she must have been too late in reaching out to him; something that had happened more than once. Silently, she cursed her shyness and the lucky receiver of his affections as she perused her plants with extreme scrutiny and care. Eventually, her turquoise orbs settled on a full bloom of a calla lily, and an idea sprung up into her mind. She reached out with her left hand and grasped it, and then with her right hand and the aid of a scalpel, she severed it from the plant, hurried rushing over to various other small white flowers to add too it.

Then, with everything scooped up in the makeshift pouch she'd made out of her sleeve, she returned to the counter and poured the contents out, arranging them carefully before reaching under the desk and extracting a wooden comb attachment. Slowly and meticulously, she bunching the things together, then extracted a tube of glue from underneath her desk. Then she began to glue things down until she believed everything to be perfect. Once it was done, she stepped around the counter to stand close to him and hold out the hair decoration in her hand. "Perhaps this will suit your love? In my opinion, I would believe myself to be a very lucky woman to be on the receiving end of your affections, especially if I was to receive this." she stated softly, eyes darting from his eyes to the hair decoration she was offering out in her hand. "Take it as a gift." she said calmly, her delicate hands quivering as her shyness began to take over again.

Watching this girl prepare me my request, I listened to her intently, hanging on the edge of her every word. Everything that came out of her mouth seemed to flow like honey. It sounded so sweet.. but then she said something that caught me off guard. That I was in love already? Confused, I immediately began searching through my last statement for something that I had said to point her in that direction. "Great," I thought to myself, "She thinks I'm taken. This is what you get for now being romantic in the last 14 years. Well, I better fix this before I lose her for good." Gathering up my wits, I said to the fair lady, "I have no love to suit.. yet. That is, I mean.. I'm still looking. I think." I stuttered on saying that I was still searching.. because I didn't know if I was anymore or not. What if I didn't have to search any further? What if she was it? I had just met this girl.. but I wanted her. I wanted her very badly. So badly, that I was almost uncomfortable with it. She was so beautiful.. like a picture painted out in front of my eyes by the forest's finest artists. How would I go about doing this though? I realized that I had been staring into her eyes thinking of all of this for about 20 seconds whilst she was waiting for the rest of my response. Shaking out of it, I quickly answered without even thinking, "What if you were to receive it?" Just as I said it, I could feel my heart try to pull what I had said back into my mouth. What had I done? It was too forward.. and almost creepy. What would she say? My cheeks were more red then I think they had ever been before.

She blushed deeply now, small dots of crimson arising on her pale skin as she fixed her eyes on the hair accessory in her hand. She had assumed wrong earlier; he was free for the taking! As she gazed up and spotted the matching blush on his cheeks she realized that he was trying to woo her. If she hadn't been so shocked shy she might have giggled at the look on his face.

Carefully, at his question, she took the adornment and slipped it into her hair, a soft smile on her face as she tried to establish a calm between them. "I would wear it proudly, however, I do prefer dango and tea over frivolous hair accessories, sir." she stated simply, offering him a way out of his embarrassment. She pushed back pieces of her hair that was loose with the back of her hand, her turquoise gazed fixed on his. "In other words, I'd prefer if you took me out on a date sometime... Perhaps this weekend? My schedule is free if yours is also." she offered softly, so very shyly as she looked away. Perhaps she was being too forward? "Unless thats bad for you.." she added quickly and quietly.

I smiled a bright, beaming smile as she asked me out on a date. It had been awhile.. how would I act I wonder? Kira was surely long dead now.. and she was nothing to my life as the Tsurukage. But wait.. I had been invited to Arashigakure to forge an alliance with the Kage, Takeshi. I was to leave at once, and couldn't arrange a date.. I was suddenly sad, but couldn't let her see it. I had never felt this way about a women in nearly 14 years. I was shaking I was almost too excited. Quickly, another option popped into my head. What if she were to meet me in Arashi? Perfect! I needed only to ask her. "I actually have diplomatic matters to attend to.. and I have to leave right away. In fact, I have to go on the road with my companions tonight, after I leave this shop. But I would be delighted if you would meet me there? The road is not dangerous and is well-traveled. You will not find sleeping in a comfortable inn to be hard to find. What do you say?" I was so hopeful she would say yes, I had almost gotten my hopes up.

She smiled brightly, and if she hadn't been a more well trained and civilized young lady, she might've launched herself across the counter at him. Instead, she paused, looking as if she was pondering the idea, and she pulled out the calendar that she always kept beneath that counter. She needed to make sure everything was free in case things went ary on her trip; it never hurts to be prepared.

She flipped carefully through the pages, finding today's date and then looking forward to the end of the week and beyond. There were no shipments coming in or going out, no special orders, and no holidays coming soon. She was absolutely and completely free to go. She smiled up at him from her calendar and put it away, her hands shaking nervously.

"I will be glad to meet you there, but where exactly am I headed? I need to know where I'm headed sir." she inquired calmly as she walked carefully around the counter to stand near him, the flower arrangement in her hair dangling delicately in her hair shaking with each step. "By the way, my name is Enzeru. Enzeru Dovahkiin." she stated with a soft smile, standing close enough to him to admire his handsome features even more. She blushed slightly, and glanced down, twisting her fingers together as she waited for him to answer her.

I saw her start to contemplate the idea, leaving me on a cliffhanger. I was leaning on every single word she spoke, hoping the next one would be "Yes." Well, I wasn't too far off. I had forgotten to give her directions! How could I expect her to just know what I was talking about without ever bringing it up? I was embarrassing myself. Me, a battle-hardened burly Tsurukage, was flustered by a girl. I kinda liked it. "Oh of course! All you have to do is follow the coastline of the gulf directly west of here. Just follow the road out of the west gate, and stay on it for roughly 3 days, and you should arrive there no problem. Stay on the main road though, don't take any of the branching, smaller roads that lead to other places. Easy enough, right?" I said with a hopeful smile. Maybe this diplomatic meeting wouldn't be so tough anyway with such a lovely girl there to visit?

She noddedn softly, her hands twisting tightly together and turquoise eyes glittering in the glint from the sunlight on the windows. She smiled up at him, her long hair falling back in waves over her shoulders and down her back. " Yes. I know where we are headed. I'll meet you in Arashi, and I'll stay with my family while I wait for you."

She blushed and got up on tip toe, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek and then turning away to get some of her flowers ready for her vacation. She was unsure as to what to say now, so she ducked her head down, staring intently at an orchid plant's supple branches. "I'll see you soon, Skar." she stated softly, eyes hidden from him under thick lashes.

She would wait patiently until he left, and would gaze at him once he walked away out of sight. Then, throughout her building and into the street a yell of unbound joy would fill the air. The old shopkeeper across from her building would laugh at the sight through his great long windows of her hugging an orchid plant to her chest and dancing around her shop in utter glee.

(Exit Enzeru)

As I walked away from the shop, my heart began racing. She kissed me! Grant it, it was on the cheek, but still! I needed to compose myself. Calm down, Skar. Calm down. It was then that I made my journey home to the castle to prepare for my journey.

[Exit]