Haurutsuki: Melting of Beautiful Snow

6. Traditional Wedding Gift

They stood in front of a video camera from within the Yamanaka Flower Shop, "Hinata-" Miyuki said. "Naruto-" Ryuu added, "Congratulations!" The three beamed in unison. "May your marriage be filled with happiness-" Katsu continued. "Love-" Ryuu smile. "And laughter." She chuckled out. "And cut! Wow, guys. That was great. Hey, do you know where Ino is? She's up next." Konohamaru said as he put down his video camera. "Sorry, but she's off today. She did say something about meeting with Shikamaru and Choji though." She recalled. "That's right. Choji said they'll be catching up at Yamaniku BBQ today." Ryuu remembered. "Alright! Thanks, you guys. Well, see ya 'round." Konahamaru said, heading for the door. The trio greeted him as he left before turning to each other.

"I can't believe those two are getting married so soon. Wasn't mum and dad 27 when they got married?" Ryuu asked. "Well, father and mother had to wait until he became the official Head since marrying mother was against the rule of marrying a pure Haurutsuki at the time. She was half Yuki, remember?" She explained. "Oh, right. Well, age doesn't matter anyway. To think three months ago we were frozen in ice, and now we've been invited to our new friends' wedding? I'm just... I'm just so happy for them!" He burst out excitedly. "I feel old." Katsu frowned. His siblings chuckled.

"I better get going. My lunch break is almost over, and my boss is not a patient man. I swear, you'd think his paying me." Katsu said in slight annoyance. "Yeah, I should get going too. It's my turn to wait on tables after lunchtime." Ryuu added. "And I have a flower shop to maintain, so off you two go. Go on. Shoo." playfully said. Her brothers smiled. With that, they were off.

She was at the cash register tallying the finances when she heard someone come in, "Welcome to Yamanaka's Flower Shop. How may I help you, si-? Oh... Good morning, Kakashi. What brings you here?" She contently smiled. He spoke as he strode over with his hands in his pockets. "What? No 'Old man' today? Can't say I'm not surprised." He moved to rest his chin and elbow on top of the cash register as he looked up at her. "Let's just say I'm in a good mood today. How long has it been, three weeks?" She asked, continuing to jot down numbers on her clipboard. He shrugged, "I guess. Hard to keep track of time. Maybe we should go out for ramen together more often." He nonchalantly suggested. "Yeah, Ryuu would love that." She beamed, missing his hint.

He began tapping his finger on his cheek. "So... were you in a good mood before or after I walked into the store?" He asked. "Tch. How about you buy some flowers, and I'll tell you." She smugly retorted before putting her clipboard down and lifting the small vase beside it. She took out a cloth from her apron pocket and began cleaning the vase. "Fair enough. So, uhr, are you going to Naruto's wedding?" He asked, his taps getting more impatient.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, of course. Me and Ino are overseeing the flower arrangements for the wedding. We've been requested by Hinata." She explained, suspicious of his motives. "Well, you must've bribed one of them for that." He casually stated. She halted wiping the vase, an irk mark twitched on her forehead. Then an evil smirk grew. "Speaking of weddings, why haven't you had one yet. Eh, Old man?" He stopped tapping his finger on his cheek, averting his gaze. "Guess no one is good enough." She scoffed. "Arrogant as ever, I see." She set the small vase down and walked away from the register, heading to one of the flower batches. He turned and watched her, patiently waiting for her to return with a bouquet and a pair of large scissors in hand.

"What about you? Surely you had a husband back in the Hidden Mist." He tried to remain aloof. She burst out laughing from her side of the cash register, "Yeah, right! My dad would kill me for even considering marrying anyone." He sweat-dropped, "You mean you never considered it?" Her laughter halted, "Well, I wouldn't say never. I kind of did, once or twice. But we were always fighting and training, learning and killing. There were so many missions and so much death... I don't know. Other things just occupied my mind I guess." She said, shrugging off her rambling. "I know what you mean..." He thought aloud.