Raiku stood with his summon Ramer next to him as they were training and were in the middle of a break. “Man, don’t you wonder what it’s like to be a human Ramer? I mean, I know I can transform into a crow but… well you don’t have hands so you can’t really do much besides wind jutsu.”
“What? Why would I want to stop being a bird? We’re awesome, I can fly and you can’t.”
“Well… whatever. All I’m saying is, maybe we could work even better if you understood my point of view.”
“Yeah, well that’s never going to happen. It’s not as if I can transfer my mind to your body or something.” Raiku paused for a moment and then looked at his summon.
“Hold on… a mind transfer technique… That’s actually possible Ramer! In fact, one of the clans of the Leaf, the Yamanaka are renowned for being able to do just that. It’s their signature hidden.”
Ramer looked shocked, while an idea began forming in Raiku’s head. Sure, Ramer couldn’t do jutsu to perform a mind transfer technique, but just maybe… something else could be arranged.
Raiku unsummoned Ramer and began making his way towards the Yamanaka’s Flower Shop. He remembered that he had a classmate from there from when he was still in the Academy.
Maybe she could help me…
Raiku eventually reached the shop and entered it. He noticed a girl around his age behind the counter and waved at her with a smile.
“Hey, Ino. It’s me, Raiku Uchiha from the Academy. How are you?”
The young Yamanaka girl was watering some plants behind the counter when she heard the door to her family run flower shop open. She expected it to be another usual customer that came every day or so, but it was Raiku Uchiha instead! The girl was quite shocked at first as she never expected the antisocial Uchiha to make time to come this flower shop? The girl did her best to hide cover her anxiousness and quickly tidied her hair to make herself look presentable to the boy.
She could only wonder why Raiku had come today. Was he here to get flowers? Who were they for? Another girl? His girlfriend?! Ino shook her head quickly to clear herself of those thoughts before she heard Raiku call out her name. Calming herself, Ino found the black eyes of the Uchiha as she returned a greeting.
“Oh, hey Raiku. I’m doing well. Taking care of the family business stuff, you know? How about you? Here to get some flowers?”
“I’m doing good as well. I’d love to buy some of your beautiful flowers. Of course, they’re not as beautiful as you are. Say, Ino, would you like to talk privately about something? I’m fine with waiting for you to finish working though.”
The girl would’ve fainted if she didn’t have a job after hearing the words come out of Raiku’s mouth. He called her beautiful and then said he wanted to talk to her privately. Did he like her? Was he going to ask her out?! In an attempt to keep up her calm composure, Ino went back to watering her plants as she responded. “Um, yeah, sure. I finish in like an half hour anyways. You can tell me now if you want though, since it’s just and me in here right now.”
"Well, in that case... Simply put: I have a favor to ask of you. The final exams are nearing soon, and I'd like to be better prepared for whatever obstacles come my way. I'd really appreciate it if you could graciously help me with a matter of... your expertise."
Raiku stopped and realized that this sounded like a business deal. As if he was asking her to assassinate someone for him.
Hold on... maybe I need to be more casual.
"Well, only if you want to, haha. It'd be nice to spend some time with you, though."
The girl blinked as it took her a few seconds to understand what Raiku was talking about. Her expertise? Besides her expert taste in boys, she was also a Yamanaka and had the special capability to utilize her clan’s hiden. That must’ve been what the boy was after, since Raiku didn’t seem like the type to directly ask a girl like her out. Or maybe not.
“Yeah, we haven’t talked much since our Academy days. Well, we didn’t really talk much then either...” the girl said with a nervous chuckle. “It would be nice to catch up while doing whatever it is you want. Though, if this about my clan’s hiden, then I’m gonna need something more...” Ino said like she was making a special deal with him as she leaned forward on the counter between them. This was her clan’s speciality, so it wasn’t like she could just give it a way because a boy asked her nicely.
Raiku gave a small chuckle back at her comment about during the Academy, which was true. However, the girl made it clear she would not be so easy to get help from regarding her clan's hiden. The Uchiha suspected as much though, deciding already he had to at least try.
As Ino leaned forward on the counter between them, Raiku decided to be bold and do the same. The boy's dark Uchiha eyes looking deep into the girl's blue Yamanaka ones. He had noted that she didn't completely decline his request, asking for something more...
"To be honest, you got me. I am asking for help about that... though if you want to catch up or if you need something more, I'm fine with doing so. I'll buy some flowers for you, at least, to show I'm serious about needing your help and giving you what you need."
If I wanted too... I could just use my Sharingan and make her help me using Genjutsu. After all, we're making such direct eye contact... but I'd rather not have to do that to someone from my village.
Needless to say, Ino didn’t expect Raiku to also follow her action. He was so close to her and she found herself gazing into his deep black eyes. She mentally cursed the Uchiha and their naturally good looks. Even if they all seemed to be lacking social skills, their attractiveness made up for it. Like the boy in front of her, for example. Backing up so she wouldn’t do something she’d regret, Ino let out a sigh.
“Fine. Buying flowers helps the family store, so you’re basically paying the clan in return for some of our secrets. You have a deal, Raiku.” Ino said that last part playfully as she put her right hand out for a handshake as if they were going to confirm a deal.
Raiku backed up as well in unison and listened as she agreed to help him out. When she extended her hand out for a handshake, the Uchiha did as well and finished the handshake with a grin on his face.
"I'll get some lavender flowers. Thank you, Ino. You said you're going to finish working in around half an hour right? I'll wait until then."
With that, Raiku took out his wallet and paid for the flowers he was purchasing. Of course, he wouldn't keep them, they were for Ino anyways.
"By the way, I didn't see you during the exams. What happened to you?" Raiku asked while looking around the shop, enjoying the other flowers.
The girl didn’t expect Raiku to wait for her to finish, but appreciated his company. Lavender flowers weren’t a bad choice either. Smiling, the girl took his money and completed the transaction as they talked.
“Thank you for the flowers. But yeah, I made it to the forest of death but ended up getting beat by some other ninja. Mom and Dad were disappointed, but they didn’t let me get to down. I’ll just pass for sure next time!”
Raiku turned and looked at Ino with a smile. “I’m sure you will. Just keep on practicing and you’ll be good enough to pass. By the way, how are Choji and Shikamaru doing?”
…Thirty minutes passed along with some idle chatter between the two and Ino finally finished working. She notified Raiku of this who was starting to get excited for the training that was about to happen. First, Ino demonstrated her basic techniques when they arrived at the training grounds. Raiku quickly learnt the basics, but actually applying them would end up taking the Uchiha a couple of weeks. Most of his training during this time was specifically on learning the basic mind transfer jutsu. Fortunately, Raiku has the Sharingan, which helped to streamline the process. Once Raiku finally managed to get the mind transfer technique to work against minimal resistance, it was then that he asked Ino the question that would reveal his true motives for learning this technique, attempting to combine it with his own idea for Ramer.
“Is there anyway for me to connect my mind with my summon’s?”
Ino looked at him for a moment thinking. After a short discussion, they reached the conclusion that it was indeed possible. Before parting ways with the girl he’d spent the past few weeks training with, Raiku asked her to gather information on the other participants as well. Having no reason to deny her boyfriend, Ino agreed. Raiku then spent the remaining time before the exams attempting to utilize the mind transfer technique to bring the idea he had for Ramer to life. It was quite the tedious process, but Raiku remained determined to make his goal a reality before the exams...