28 Chapter – 25 The Yamanaka Flower Shop
Morning of the Next Day, Shopping District, Konohagakure
After leaving his apartment, Sasuke made his way toward the Shopping District of Konohagakure. His destination was the Yamanaka Flower Shop.
The Yamanaka Flower Shop has existed since the founding of Konohagakure, and it has monopolized the Flower industry in and around Konohagakure. The flower industry… while it may not appear as such, it is actually a very profitable business as flowers are used in various industries and walks of life such as Ornamental Decoration material, gifts, medicine, attar & fragrances, culinary, dyes, flavoring, and in creating poisons.
Even if the Yamanaka Clan is not the strongest Shinobi Clan in Konoha, and generally serves as the support, because they monopolize the flower industry, they have garnered immense wealth over the years.
In fact, it's not just the Yamanaka Clan, the other major Clans in Konoha also have one or the other industry under their control. The Nara Clan monopolizes the medicine industry with the Yamanaka Clan serving as their support, the Akimichi Clan has a chain of restaurants often used by common folks and ninjas of Konoha, the Hyuga Clan monopolizes the Gemstone industry, and until a few years ago, the Uchiha Clan used to monopolize the Weapon (Ninja Tool) industry.
That's right, aside from complete control over the Konoha Military Police Force, the Uchiha Clan also had complete control over the Weapon (Ninja Tool) industry. In fact, the 'abandoned city' Sora-ku where the Uchihas store their weapons was also established to help out with the Uchihas Weapon Industry. Almost all the ninjas in Konoha used to buy their ninja tools from the shops owned by the Uchihas. After all, Uchihas are naturally Bukijutsu experts, so it made sense that they ran the weapon industry.
However, that changed after the night of the Nine-tails' attack over eight years ago. As the Uchihas were pushed to the edge of the villages, their shops were also pushed away from the center of the village. At that time, since Uchihas were under suspicion and scorned; the people of Konoha sort of boycotted the weapons made by the Uchihas and stopped visiting Uchiha weapon shops, so the ones buying the weapons from the Uchiha weapon shops were only the Uchiha Clansmen, and no one else. Because of the sudden drop in sales that did not increase at all, the weapon industry owned by the Uchiha died over the next few years as more and more weapon shops owned by non-Uchihas (primarily the Sarutobis as well as the Shimuras, Utatanes, and Mitokados) were opened in the Shopping District because of the sudden market demand that appeared since people of Konoha refused to buy weapons from Uchihas.
Now, the Uchihas could have found a solution to save the Weapon industry by selling their weapons to other nations, but that would further jeopardize the lives of Konoha shinobi going on missions, it would be akin to betrayal to the village. The Uchihas were prideful people, they had no intention of betraying the village they co-founded. Moreover, if word got out that the Uchihas were selling weapons to the enemy nations, that would further complicate their situation, so they chose to let their weapon industry die and only created weapons for themselves.
'The Uchihas were not only isolated politically but they were also isolated physically, socially, and economically to the point that Coup d'état was the only option left…' With such a thought, Sasuke soon arrived in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop located at the heart of the Shopping District and went inside.
Ching-aling!
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Yamanaka Flower Shop, Konohagakure
Ching-aling!
As the bell at the gate resonated, two individuals within the shop, in the midst of arranging flowers, paused their tasks, and turned their attention toward the gate, acknowledging their customer with a greeting., "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flowers~" "Welcome to the Yaman––whaaaa! Sasuke-kun?"
The first person was an elegant-looking woman in her early thirties with brown hair, while the other person was none other than Yamanaka Ino.
The older woman noted Ino's surprised exclaim, and asked curiously, "Ino-chan… do you know the boy?"
Realizing that she had overreacted, Ino's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, she glanced at the boy from the corner of her eyes as she answered the older woman, "Okaa-san, he… he… is Uchiha Sasuke… we are in the same class at the Ninja academy…"
"Ohh…" The older woman's eyes widened in surprise. From just a single sentence spoken by her daughter, Yamanaka Ruri understood a lot of things, and looked at the boy with a thoughtful expression, 'Survivor of the Uchiha Clan Genocide?'
While she had indeed heard of the boy from her husband, this was the first time she had met the boy.
The other important thing she noticed from her daughter's sentence is that her daughter seems to have a crush on the Uchiha boy. Yamanaka Ruri had never seen her daughter react in such a manner toward any other boy, therefore, she had such a feeling.
Taking a closer look at the boy's appearance, she couldn't help but think to herself, 'Well, the boy is indeed cute… no wonder Ino-chan has a crush on him.'
Yamanaka Ruri is a supportive mother, if her daughter likes the Uchiha boy, then she doesn't mind supporting her.
Smiling to herself, Yamanaka Ruri lightly nudged her daughter, "Since Uchiha-kun is your classmate, why don't you assist him with his purchase?"
Ino was takenaback by the sudden suggestion from her mother, and exclaimed, "What? Okaa-san, Me?"
"You don't want to?" asked Ruri with a frown, then heaved a helpless sigh as she spoke, "If that's the case, I suppose I have no other choice but to do it myself…"
"NO! I will do it!" Ino exclaimed hurriedly.
Hearing Ino's response, Ruri smiled knowingly, "Fufufufu~"
Noting the 'knowing' smile on Ruri's face, Ino realized that her mother had seen through her feelings and blushed heavily as she exclaimed in dissatisfaction, "Okaa-san!"
Yamanaka Ruri giggled, and whispered lightly, "This is a good opportunity Ino-chan… don't miss it." Then she turned around, and left while leaving behind her words, "I will check on the state of vases… so take your time…"
Although embarrassed that her feelings were seen through, Ino also realized that this was her chance. If she manages to leave a good impression on Sasuke by assisting him in his purchase, then she might be able to become friends with him. Friendship is the first step to a successful marriage, and Ino was determined to properly take her first step.
As Yamanaka Ruri went to the back to 'check' on vases, Ino took a deep breath and with a nervous heart approached Sasuke who had been patiently waiting at the counter. With the brightest smile she could muster, Ino spoke to the young Uchiha, "Welcome to the Yamanaka Flowers, Sasuke-kun~ How may I help you?"
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P.O.V. Change
"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flowers, Sasuke-kun~ How may I help you?"
"..." Sasuke did not respond immediately as his mind was focused somewhere else. He was trying to sense all the presence inside the Yamanaka Flower Shop, and thought to himself, 'I only sense that lady from before and Ino… Yamanaka Inoichi is not at the shop?'
Aside from buying flowers, Sasuke's purpose for coming to the Yamanaka Flower Shop was to memorize the Chakra Signature of Yamanaka Inoichi. He wanted to memorize the Chakra Signature of the Yamanaka Patriarch so that he would be able to sense his presence at the time he sneaks inside the Yamanaka Clan compound in order to steal the scrolls of Yamanaka Clan's Secret Jutsu.
Noting Sasuke's slightly distracted expression, Ino waved her hand in front of his eyes, and called out, "Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke immediately 'woke up' and looked at the little girl with blonde hair and green eyes, and muttered, "Ino…"
Ino's eyes widened, 'Sasuke-kun called out my name… Ahh… Sasuke-kun is so cool when he speaks…' Moreover, Ino realized that Sasuke did not use any 'suffix' which can only mean one thing… Feeling his 'intense' gaze upon her as he spoke her name, Ino blushed shyly and squirmed her arms, "Ahhh… Sasuke-kun~" Then she realized that she was leaving a poor impression on him by squirming around and not catering to his purchase request. Immediately, she recovered Cough and asked him with hot cheeks, "That… Sasuke-kun… how… how can I help you today?"
Ino is trying to be professional, but she can't help it, she was just a little girl getting the chance to talk with her crush!
Sasuke answered lightly, "I need White Chrysanthemum."
"I… I see… White Chrysanthemum…" Hearing the name of the flower that Sasuke had come to purchase, Ino's eyes widened, the blush on her face completely disappeared, and the color of her face was also drained.
White Chrysanthemums are often associated with mourning and death. They are commonly used in funeral arrangements and are placed at gravesites to honor the deceased.
Ino, who understands this, also understands that Sasuke is currently mourning the deceased, and feels terrible in her heart for her earlier thoughts, 'How could I have thought of using this opportunity to leave a good impression on him…?!'
Unaware of Ino's thoughts, Sasuke questioned, "Do you have them?"
Ino nodded hurriedly, "Ah… yes… yes, we do have White Chrysanthemum!" She was no longer blushing or squirming, rather, she was a little downcasted as she asked, "How many?"
"Three thousand…" answered Sasuke.
"Three… three thousand?" Ino exclaimed in shock. To buy three thousand White Chrysanthemum, Ino couldn't help but wonder just how many people Sasuke is mourning today.
Sasuke nodded, "Yess… if you don't have that many White Chrysanthemums, it's fine to add White Carnation, White Lotus, Plum Blossom, or Camellia to make up the total number."
Similar to the White Chrysanthemum, White Carnation, White Lotus, Plum Blossom, & Camellia are also associated with life & death, and they are often used to honor the deceased, for this reason, he does not mind adding the other four flowers in case they do not have enough White Chrysanthemum.
"Alright… please wait a moment Sasuke-kun, I will ask Okaa-san about what we can do…" leaving these words, Ino immediately went to the room her mother had gone to 'check' on the vases. Three thousand flowers are a big number, that's not the kind of order she can handle on her own. It's better to leave it to either her mother or father.
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A few moments later, Ino returned with the older woman from earlier. The older woman looked at Sasuke with a complicated expression, and asked, "Three thousand White Chrysanthemum?"
Sasuke nodded, "Yes…"
Yamanaka Ruri pondered for a moment, then spoke, "For such large stock, you have to give the order in advance… it's a bit difficult to arrange three thousand White Chrysanthemum on such short notice…"
While arranging that many White Chrysanthemums on such short notice is not a problem, they can definitely do that if they really want, but the problem is, if they were to sell that many White Chrysanthemum, they would run low on stock of that particular variety of flower, as a result, they wouldn't be able to provide these flowers to other customers that may come to the Yamanaka Flowers. So, Ruri was a little hesitant.
Sasuke sighed, "I was unaware… and I did say that it's fine to mix White Carnation, White Lotus, Plum Blossom, & Camellia along with White Chrysanthemum to make up the total number…"
Yamanaka Ruri nodded, "I will see what I can do… but it may take a while to arrange that many flowers…" Then asked, "As for the payment…?" Three thousand flowers would cost more than three hundred thousand Ryō, and unless the Uchiha boy can pay that amount, they wouldn't be able to start the preparations, because more than three thousand Ryō, that's not a small amount. A ninja needs to complete at least a Rank-A mission to earn that kind of money. Yamanaka Ruri was not certain if the Uchiha boy would have that kind of money.
While she did appear a little insensitive and heartless for asking for money from the boy before the purchase despite understanding his reasons for buying the flowers, she is running a business here, and can't allow her compassion and pity to affect their business.
Sasuke shrugged, "That's fine by me… I will wait… as for the payment," he paused and took out a scroll from his Shinobi bag that he passed on to Ino's mother, "Here it is… I have prepared Four hundred Thousand Ryō…"
While it's true that Uchiha Clan's weapon industry completely disappeared, that doesn't mean Sasuke is short on funds. Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto were incredibly strong Jōnin ninjas, and they completed hundreds of missions in their life as shinobi that ranged from Rank-D to Rank-S. The combined sum earned by them is more than enough for him to spend in a lifetime. Besides, it's not as though Sasuke is an extravagant person, rather than eating out, he almost always cooks food at home, and other than his frequent visits to the Konoha Hot Spring, he hardly ever spends money on things he doesn't need.
Therefore, he has no problem spending a few hundred thousand Ryō on the flowers he is going to place on the graves of the deceased Uchiha Clansmen.
After passing the scroll to Ino's mother, Sasuke added, "If, that's not enough, do tell me…"
Yamanaka Ruri shook her head, "No, this should be more than enough…"
Sasuke nodded, "Then please…"
Yamanaka Ruri said, "Alright, I will start making arrangements… please wait for a while…" Then she turned to her daughter, and spoke to her, "Ino-chan, in the meantime, you keep Uchiha-kun company…"
"Understood, Okaa-san…" nodded Ino.
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