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Flower Girl by chronicxxinsanity

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Story notes: I had written this story a long time ago, and made it to about chapter forty. I tried to pick it up again, but the plot holes and general mistakes I made a year ago when writing this were bugging me a lot, so I'm rewriting the entire thing.
I love knowing what people think when they read this, so please let me know. :)
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001 - The Challenge of the Flower Girl


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He was persistent, which was about the only thing she could say concerning Maito Gai that could possibly be positive. Irritating, loud, wore that green jumpsuit, too energetic... and persistent. "Gai, please, we go through this every day."

"Every other day, my sweet flower." Gai stood confidently in the back room of the flower shop – when he had invited himself past the 'employees only' sign, she couldn't be sure – and was busy inspecting the rows of flowers organized by color, then size. At first, she felt awkward with him in such a close space, but had eventually gotten over that by the hundredth comment about her resembling the beautiful flowers. Instead of replying with a blush like she had months ago, she rolled her eyes and continued her work, trying her best to ignore the man. Every now and then he would come in handy – another point in his favor, albeit small – when she had trouble reaching one of the higher shelves. One thing she appreciated was the fact that he didn't tease her at every opportunity about her height...challenges. (Not something she could say about her grandmother, who was even shorter than her; or any of their customers, for that matter.) However, on days where she just wanted to be left alone, she would have preferred using a stool to asking him, even if it did make her feel like an eight year old.

Each day it became more apparent to her that he was more of a hindrance than a help. Sure, he could reach the top shelf with an ease that left her a little jealous, but after he helped he would wander around and inspect the flowers – his idea of inspecting often included picking up a flower and somehow mangling it in his grasp. Every time he would pluck one out of it's place on the shelves she would smack his wrist and grab it from his hands, putting the disheveled flower back in it's place (or on the center table, if it was beyond repair) before more damage could be done.

Unfazed by the slap on the wrist, his booming voice filled the back room once again. "Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays I have extra training with my prodigy at this exact time. If it were not for that, dear flower, I would be spending said time here, with you."

"Okay. We go through this every other day," the girl corrected, letting a breath escape through her clenched teeth when Gai made to grab another daisy off the shelf. "Drop it!"

She wasn't sure what made her think that Gai would ever listen to her – even if she was using the most threatening tone she could muster. As of today, he never had. The light pink flower was taken off the shelf, earning Gai another slap on the wrist and an irritated glare that sadly didn't have the effect on him that she wanted. Gai's wide eyes moved from the flower now bent at an odd angle hanging from the girl's hands to her face. Six months of Gai's...persistence... made her aware of what that expression – puppy-dog eyes, for a lack of better names - meant. "No."

"Please?"

"No." She smacked away the hand that was attempting to put a large peach-colored dahlia behind her ear. When did he snatch that? Gai's hand – now flowerless – hung in the air for a moment before falling back down to his side, his fingertips brushing against one of her bandaged arms in what he must have assumed was a romantic gesture. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Everything's a romantic gesture to him. He looked a little disheartened, but the girl's experience with the man told her that he was far from giving up. One would think that months of being rejected would give Gai a clue as to how effective his methods were; however, they would be sorely mistaken, and obviously knew little about Gai's legendary determination.

She glanced down at the flower. Not too much harm done. She then looked to where the rest of the dahlias were and silently cursed the man clad in green – the top shelf.

To ask or not to ask. If she asked him to put it back, the 'gesture' could be twisted to her somehow leaning on him for emotional support – it had happened before. She took all of two seconds to make her decision and motioned for Gai to step back so that she could drag the stool out from under the counter. Gai merely turned away and looked around the room at the other flowers while she reached up and put the flower back in its place, kicking the stool back under the counter. She turned back to the table – ignoring Gai as best as she could – and began sorting through the mangled flowers, trying to decide which ones were okay enough to go back on the shelf.

"So, what were we talking about? Oh yes, I believe I will be free Saturday evening-"

"No," she interrupted, having heard that exact line a week before when he was trying to convince her to go out on a romantic date with him.

"Yes, dear granddaughter, please?" A high-pitched cackle came from the door as an old woman backed into the room, a wooden box full of freshly picked flowers in her arms. The door swung shut behind her as her laughter died down to mere chuckles at her granddaughter's distraught expression.

"Granny Lee, this is not up for discussion. I'm too busy right now to be dating anyone." The woman looked far from believing her excuse, and fixed her with an incredulous, knowing look before setting the box on the large table. The woman brushed her hands off on her blue blouse, her gaze never wavering from her granddaughter. "The answer is no."

A soft bell sound rang through the store and she took this as her chance to escape – even for a moment. She was out the door and into the small flower shop before Gai or her grandmother could throw another argument at her.

As usual, the customer did most of the talking, explaining what and who the flowers were for and exactly how her grandson had landed himself in the hospital with a butter knife in his foot. Something about an angry fiancee and a two year old? She had missed out on the full explanation, but she had gotten the gist. She wrapped the stems in a blue paper, nodding and smiling politely whenever the one-sided conversation called for it. The woman didn't appear put-off, though, the regulars knew that a conversation between themselves and her would have to consist of a huge effort on their part – a very different situation would occur if the talkative grandmother was behind the counter, though. She came to the conclusion that most of them merely liked to hear themselves talk, and went about her business, quietly helping whenever they needed it. For such a long story that normally left her bored to tears, she found herself watching the woman's retreating back - how had she not noticed that hideously green shirt before now? - and wishing she could call her back to the counter. If nothing else, she would have another person other than herself to witness the oddity that was Maito Gai. The fact that her grandmother refused to admit that the man was insane made her feel oddly alone in the situation, no matter how full or empty the store was. A moment after the bells over the front door stopped chiming – and it was too late to run after the woman or make a silent escape using the departing customer to mask her leaving - Gai was leaning against the counter with an odd expression on his face. Wide eyes, high eyebrows, pursed lips...

"Puppy-dog eyes don't work on me, Gai." A flash of green went passed the front door; just the distraction she was looking for to get him to look anywhere but at her. "I think your 'prodigy' is training without you today."

"Lee, you rascal!" A wave of wind forced Hana's hair out from behind her ear, leaving her looking slightly disheveled and wide-eyed at the mere speed in which he moved. Gai kicked the door open with an amount of gusto that was unusual, even for him. In a second flash of green and an incoherent rant about beautiful flowers, love, and tomorrow, Gai disappeared.

"Hana?" Granny Lee called from the backroom. With a sigh, she moved away from the counter and pushed her hair back behind her ear; she knew that tone. Hana crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame. She slid her sandal against the wood floor, letting it catch on the threshold before pulling it free, getting herself comfortable for the lecture that would surely ensue. However, instead of the knowing – and slightly condescending – tone she had been expecting, Hana was met with a worried gaze, something that had honestly caught her completely off guard. "Maybe getting out once in a while would be good for you. Even if it is just with him."

"Whose side are you on?" The astonished words escaped her mouth before she could stop them, feeling slightly betrayed by her own grandmother. Granny Lee knew exactly how she felt about Gai; he was irritating, annoying, loud...how could her grandmother expect her to go out with him? It would mean a never ending onslaught of date requests and love confessions, things that were already grating on her nerves.

Granny Lee shrugged off the question at first and picked up a handful of flowers from the wooden box, spreading them out on the table to be sorted. "Whatever side convinces you to get a fresh breath of air and see the light of day without being blinded by the sun."

Hana rolled her eyes, knowing where the conversation was going. "I'm not a vampire, Granny, I do go outside."

"Once a week." Granny Lee's dark gray eyes narrowed and it almost sounded like her grandmother was challenging her to argue. The competitive side of Hana that was hidden away – often hog-tied and gagged in the back of her mind – crept forward and forced her to reply.

"More than that!" Hana kicked the threshold again.

"Nope. I've been counting. You go to the grocery store once a week and aren't outside for more than twenty minutes. You're becoming reclusive." Her matter-of-fact tone was what caused both an embarrassed – she left the house more than that, right? - and annoyed reaction. The woman is impossible! Hana pushed herself away from the door frame, watching for a moment as her grandmother grabbed a handful of red flowers and set them on the shelf. She busied herself with sorting the others by color, that hint of a smirk on her face showing that she knew she had won the argument.

"I am not," she answered lamely.

"Are too." Hana grit her teeth and turned away, shutting the door between the back room and the store. If only that door would slam. She cursed it, turning away and leaning against the counter with a frown settled on her face.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo


"Nobody in the world can make me smell that; it looks hideous." Hana crossed her arms, trying to assume the position she held whenever she was arguing with her grandmother. It rarely worked with the old woman, but perhaps it would finally drive some sense into the man leaning across the counter, waving a black, wilted flower in front of her face.

"Please? Smell it! I swear, it smells delightful."

"Nothing like that can smell 'delightful'. Toxic, maybe...," she muttered, taking a step back when the flower was pushed even closer to her nose in an attempt to make her give in.

"It's a little wilted-" Gai admitted, giving the flower an affectionate glance.

"A little?" Hana's eyebrow shot up.

"-but it hasn't lost its beautiful fragrance." He finished his words with confidence, staring back down at Hana with a hopeful glint in his dark eyes.

"Like me," Granny Lee added with a chuckle, brushing passed Hana to stand in front of the register and inadvertently - yeah, I'm sure she didn't mean to - pushing Hana closer towards Gai. The man never missed a chance to tell her grandmother how 'youthful' she was in her old age (suck up!) and Hana had to ignore that part of the conversation to keep the last bit of her sanity that hadn't already been demolished by Gai.

Hana raised an eyebrow. "You have a 'beautiful fragrance'?" By the sharp look she received, she could tell that the incredulous tone was not appreciated in the slightest.

"Watch yourself, child. I made the man that brought you into this world and I can take you right back out." Hana turned away to hide the fact that she was both smiling and rolling her eyes. That was a common threat – could it even be called a threat? - from her grandmother. She was her blood and family, and that gave her the right to take her down if she didn't respect the 'authority' she held over her granddaughter.

"Very mature of you, Granny."

"I claim to be wise, not mature." The mischievous smirk was apparent in her voice. The smile on Hana's face faltered.

"Oh? So is it 'wise' to drug your granddaughter when she's sick?" Gai looked at the two, caught between defending the girl or the frail old woman that could very much be the key to him getting a date with said girl.

"That thing?" Granny Lee scoffed. "I would never drug you, silly girl. I informed you before that I would be putting something into your tea-" Hana snorted in disbelief, but let her grandmother continue "-and you must have not heard me. I was merely helping you get over that nasty flu you had." There was an odd, light tone in her voice as she held her head up high. She had obviously justified the entire thing to herself before the act was even committed.

"And how does sake help?" She was no medic, but wouldn't alcohol slow the healing process? Hana was caught between feigning irritation for the sake of their playful argument and actually being irritated with her grandmother. She had initially been outraged that the woman would pull a stunt like that, but she found that she couldn't be truly angry at her grandmother for long.

"I'm sure it somehow helped." She waved off the look of disbelief on Hana's face. "You're better now, aren't you?" Hana huffed and the dead flower that she had forgotten about was pushed back under her nose. She reeled back, determined not to smell it and took a few steps away from where Gai was practically laying across the counter.

"I'm not smelling that."

Granny Lee stepped between the two and inspected the flower in Gai's hands, squinting her eyes and touching one of the withered petals gently. "Where did you find it, anyway?"

"Approximately a mile north of here." Granny Lee plucked the flower from Gai's hand and around Hana to set it on top of the register, although she couldn't fathom as to why that was supposed to be a good place for it.

"You should go and see if there are any live ones." The words were said with a smirk and a wink sent to Gai over Hana's shoulder. The two were ganging up on her. Traitor!

Gai brightened up immediately, straightening and composing himself, and Hana dreaded having to face him for she knew the exact 'suave' smile and wiggling eyebrow that she would encounter. The expression came right on queue.

"Why, dear flower, I would love to escort you to where I found them. You will be dazzled by the beauty, much as I am dazzled..." Hana tuned him out, her arms hugging her stomach as she shot a death glare to the back of her grandmother's head. The nerve of that woman! One minute she was leading Hana to believe that she understood how she felt about Gai, and the next she spun around and was entirely on Gai's side! It's completely unfair, Hana thought with a frown.

"Can you throw these out?" Granny Lee interrupted the rant with an apologetic look to Gai. Hana grabbed the box of mangled and wilted flowers from her grandmothers hands and moved toward the third door to throw them out; Gai hot on her heels.

"Um...that's a sweet offer, but no. I'm sure one of your ninja-friends would love to go with you."

"But, why not?" Gai asked, completely ignoring the attempt to change the subject or move Gai's sights off to a different girl. She would feel horribly guilty if she succeeded, she knew, but it would be worth it to be able to work a full week without having to fight off both Gai's advances and her grandmother's arguments about how she should date the 'fellow'.

"You don't even know my name-"

"But I see you every day – every other day – and you still refuse to tell me, and even your youthful grandmother won't let your name slip." Gai followed Hana out the back door, holding it open with his foot so that it wouldn't automatically lock them out.

"It's just far too amusing to tell you now. That would spoil all my fun." Hana shrugged off Gai's exasperated expression and pushed the lid off of the giant garbage bin, wrinkling her nose at the smell before quickly dumping the old flowers into it. She let the lid fall down with a loud thud that made her jump, and turned back to where Gai was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

"So you're saying, if I can guess you're name...you'll go on a date with me?"

"No! I never said-" Hana's eyes widened the moment she saw the trap he was herding her towards. The man was competitive, of course he would turn this into some kind of challenge. Hana crossed her arms and shifted her weight to the side, attempting to create an 'I'm not a fool, don't mess with me' front. Her attempt was quickly dismissed or ignored - she wasn't sure which - when Gai took a step closer, letting the heavy door slam shut behind him. Hana let out a groan.

Great, now she was stuck back here with him until her grandmother unlocked the door, and knowing the sneaky old woman, she would make several excuses to lock the two back there for hours on end. The idea brought a shiver to Hana's spine. Granny Lee may be insane, but she's not cruel, Hana thought, her confidence in the woman wavering the more her mind lingered on that thought. She glanced behind her, hoping that the brick walls surrounding them would have disappeared, or at least parted enough to let her slip through so she could escape. She had no such luck, and was forced to turn back to Gai with a defeated sigh.

"It's perfectly clear, lovely flower. I shall escort you to where I have found this gorgeous flower, my gorgeous flower. What time do you get off work tomorrow? Actually, no. Tomorrow I promised Lee we would do one thousand squats together. But surely you're free the day after that." Gai's hopeful expression gave Hana a pang of pity, however, she wouldn't feel any more guilty about turning him down than she had the past six months.

"Gai, I-"

"Is he bugging you?" A thud beside her made her jump, her breath hitching in her throat as she flew into the side of the garbage can in a leap that wasn't quite as graceful as she would have liked. The wooden box in her hands fell to the ground with a rattling ring that echoed through the small alleyway. She rubbed the sore spot where the edge of the garbage clan had dug into her bandaged arm and glanced to the man beside her. Hana blinked, trying to process what had happened outside of the fact that a man just fell from the sky and landed in a neat crouch beside her before straightening up and nodding to Gai in a pleasant greeting. Clearly, he was a ninja. The only way for him to get into the small area was to jump down from the rooftop or scale the impossibly high fence at the end of the long alley. The typical headband that Hana had accustomed to Konohagakure ninja was pulled down over one eye - how can he see possibly see with his eyes covered like that? - and a mask was pulled up to his nose. His only visible eye was lazily half-opened as he quickly scanned the alley. The oddest thing about him was the shock of silver hair sticking up, although now that she was used to Gai and his oddities, this ninja wasn't quite so weird. Although the man was slightly shorter than Gai, he still towered over Hana, even after she straightened herself up and decided to take a spiteful stance against Gai.

"Yes, in fact-"

"No, arch rival! We were simply setting up a date for a romantic picnic." Great, even if she wanted to speak up her voice could hardly be heard over Gai's. Even when she wasn't around strangers - something that had become completely nerve-racking for her - her voice was anything but booming.

Arch rival? So they had a history together. She wasn't sure whether she should feel sorry for the man beside her or sorry for herself, depending on how much like Gai this man turned out to be. Still, even if he was odd like Gai, a savior was a savior, and Hana would accept any help she could get now that her grandmother had done a complete one-eighty on the subject.

"You still haven't guessed my name." She spoke up - wonderful, her voice sounded like it was barely more than a squeak! - feeling slightly spiteful towards Gai who was now giving a good-natured glare to the ninja beside her.

"How would you like to battle with me, Kakashi?" The name sounded familiar, but Hana couldn't place where she had heard it before. She fought the urge to roll her eyes - of course, Gai would turn anything he could into a competition.

"Battle for what?" The man seemed completely at ease, hands stuffed into his pockets and weight shifted to one foot - completely the opposite of how Hana felt while she was fighting off Gai's 'advances' in 'pursuing' her (her grandmother's words, exactly).

"A date with my beautiful flower, and a chance to win the heart of this pretty young youth! You see, my darling blossom has presented me with a challenge that I cannot ignore! I will win against you, Kakashi, to prove that my gorgeous flower and I are destined to be together." Kakashi tilted his head to give the girl a calculating glance, his eye curved in what looked like a pitying smile. She felt her face redden, but as soon as he looked at her, he looked away.

"I'm not going on a date with you-"

"Hush, little flower." Gai's hand reached out, apparently attempting to shush her the way he did when they were close together by pressing a finger to her lips. It never ceased to irritate her.

Her attention was brought to Kakashi, who had shifted his weight and was giving her another, oddly calculating look through his only visible eye. "So, what's the challenge?"

"The challenge, Kakashi, is to figure out the name of this darling lady."

Kakashi sighed and shrugged, a motion that felt a little demeaning to her. He was willing to take time out of his day and put up with Gai - an insane feat, in and of itself - and the fact that the 'prize' didn't seem to interest him one bit puzzled her. If he wasn't interested in her enough to look at her for more than a moment, why bother battling Gai? "Sure."

"Great!" Gai's booming voice dragged Hana out from her thoughts, causing her to jump and turn back to him as he continued. "Whoever finds out the name of my pretty flower wins a picnic with her!"

"What's going on back here?" Hana sighed in relief when the backdoor opened, pushing Gai out of the way in the process. It appeared that she wouldn't be trapped back here for as long as she thought. Granny Lee's large, gray eyebrow rose when she spotted Kakashi, but she seemed to dismiss his presence as soon as she noticed him, and turned back to Hana. "You said you were just throwing those old things away!"

"I did, Grandma. Gai's here." That was enough of an explanation for anybody in Hana's opinion, and her grandmother seemed to agree.

"Oh, well, you need to get back to work." Hana nodded and watched her grandmother leave. She lunged forward to grab the door when she realized that it was swinging shut and felt her face heat up when both sets of eyes were on her, eyebrows raised in equally amused expressions.

"Duty calls," Hana said awkwardly, pointing inside and feeling even more like an idiot. This is what happens when you open your mouth in front of people!

"Well, I suppose our meeting here is finished. Until tomorrow-"

"The day after tomorrow-" Hana corrected with a hint of a smirk.

"The day after tomorrow," Gai disappeared in one elaborate jump; they watched as he kicked himself between the brick buildings until he finally made it to the roof tops, and disappeared. Hana heard a cough beside her, and realized that she had forgotten Kakashi had been standing there. One hand was still stuffed into his pocket, but the other was holding the fallen wooden box out to her.

"What do you say we cheat?" Hana could have sworn she saw a smirk pass over his face, although with what she could actually see of it, it was hard to know for sure. The idea was about to be dismissed when she heard her grandmother ringing the bell by the counter three times. The woman would probably gang up with Gai and tell him her name. It wasn't cheating if both sides were doing it, right? Her and Kakashi versus Granny Lee and Gai...it seemed like fair teams. With the idea justified in her mind, she grabbed the wooden box from Kakashi's hand, making sure to keep her foot in the doorjamb so that it wouldn't close.

"Anything to avoid a date with him."
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