-Raindrops [P]

[Masakuni?!]

-Burning with the red hot intensity of a thousand suns!

Burn the whole damn place down...

This was not, perhaps, the wisest course of action. Tsukune rubbed the back of his neck with a gloved hand, letting out a protracted sigh. He shrugged away the tempting notion of arson, instead opting to slam the door behind him. It rattled on its frame, and he didn't care one bit as he walked away. Sometimes, it really sucked to live on his own. He hated sitting in his empty apartment, waiting for something to happen. It gave him too much time to think about things. He shrugged his shoulders, as if to flick those thoughts out of his head, and started off down the street.

It was what some people would call a dreary day in Konohagakure. Dark clouds hung over the sky, waiting in pregnant silence to let loose a barrage of rain on the village below. A cold wind was whipping up dust from the streets, and everyone was hurrying to finish their business and get inside. He ambled down the road, unconcerned with his destination. He didn't mind the coming storm. He had always liked rain, when he had other people to share it with. There was something nice about friends coming together to seek shelter from the rain.

“Right... friends...” The thoughts slipped from his lips unbidden, bitter accidental words unheard by the crowd around him. Tsukune didn't really have friends any more. Not that he had been extremely popular, being the orphan kid at the academy, but since becoming a Genin, most people shied away from him like he was a time-bomb. He supposed that there had been a few accidents with his techniques. It still bothered him, sometimes, but the loneliness bothered him more. He hated that more than anything.

“Well, who needs 'em?” He growled at the air, forcing a smile...

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[--Megumi--]

Rain was always calming to her. Though many people seemed to run from it and take shelter from it, she didn't mind it. Sayuri felt like the rain, as it fell, just washed away all of her problems and all of her stress. Even better was when a thunderstorm rolled in. Then the thunder muted out her thoughts and the lightning blinded her sight. Needless to say, it was her favorite kind of weather.

Having left the Kurama district and traversing the streets, she watched as the villagers disappeared into their homes or hibernated in the stores. It was almost comical in a sense. It hadn't started to rain yet, but the perpetual dullness in color in her surroundings from the gray clouds overhead was all it took to drive people away. It was times like this she wished she had someone to laugh at these people with, or just enjoy in the wash out that rain always did for her. That seemed oddly impossible though.

I wonder if the people of Amegakure feel the same way that I do? Or perhaps they are just sick of the rain. I'm going to go there one day...

The Kurama noticed now however another figure among the whipped dust of the now empty street. It was a young boy who only seemed vaguely familiar. She most likely had seen him around either at the training field or around the Academy at some point. However no other memory was their to garnish any other kind of response. But there was a question that riddled her mind.

Why was he out here, casually walking down the street, midst the beginnings of a storm? It had her curious. The two neared each other, paths crossing like that of two people fated to meet, or perhaps just coincidence and she was overly dramatizing it within her mind. Regardless, a smile etched itself on her lips as she glanced to him with her bright, golden amber eyes and tilted her slightly in acknowledgement.

"You should find somewhere to go to escape the rain. It's not normal for someone to be simply walking around at the start of the storm."

Not like she had much room to talk, though.

[Masakuni?!]

-Burning with the red hot intensity of a thousand suns!

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Who is she?

He found himself wondering as she approached, the only other person who wasn't fleeing before the oncoming precipitation. She was a little shorter than he was, with flowing brown hair held back by numerous ties and a set of rounded bells. She had eyes the colour of crystallized amber, and purple seemed to be the colour of choice for her attire. A faint smile cracked the expression of depression on his face, subtly brightening his demeanour. He smiled slightly at her as they approached one another, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

Not normal, is it?

“I could say the same to you,” Tsukune said, lightness suffusing his voice. He looked her up and down for a moment, his face neutral. She didn't seem overly concerned with the weather. Much to the contrary, in fact, there was a sort of serenity on her face that seemed totally out of place with the ominous grey on the horizon. It made him curious, despite himself. He wanted to know why she was so peaceful under the clouds. Anything to avoid being alone once again. He nodded once, looking around him.

“There's a park nearby,” He said, by way of agreement. “There's a few covered bridges and shelters.” He gestured out behind him, down the street and around the corner. His eyes flicked back to her, waiting to see if she was interested in walking with him. Truth be told, he didn't want to leave a girl out in the cold and the rain. It was dangerous. Not that it would hurt her in any real way, but no one liked getting sick, and the cold and wet could do that to you in a flash. He smiled at her, more widely this time. “So why are you out in the storm, then?”

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[--Megumi--]

Sayuri slowed in her pace, turning to the boy before her. There was something about him that made her sad. Something about his eyes that portrayed that this storm and the gloom it brought made him feel at home. Of course, she could have been wrong, and likely since she had been wrong before. But regardless, it was something about his eyes that drew her own amber ones in. It was odd. Usually she was used to having others stare into her eyes, not the other way around. In fact, it was almost refreshing for once, in an odd sense of things.

“I know of it,” she started, following his movements to gesture with him. “It’s down the street passed the grill and diner.” She smiled a soft smile and began towards the way to the park with a nod. It would be a good place to wait out the storm without truly hibernating in doors somewhere as if afraid by it. Best part about it though was the fact that she wouldn’t have to do it alone. It would be nice to share a storm with someone for once rather than just enjoying it by her lonesome. “I like storms.”

She remained quiet for a moment as they continued down the street, glancing up into the sky as a singular raindrop broke free from the clouds and landed on her forehead. “Heh. I feel like storms wash away everything you have doubts about.” She would look over to her walking companion and smile. “It let’s me have a metaphorical restart. I know that sounds odd, but it’s always been that way for me.”

The two of them would turn the corner and pass the grill and diner that she had spoken of earlier. The park was ahead now and she looked back to the boy next to her, smiling. “What about you? What brings you out here in this kind of weather? I’m sure it wasn’t to see all the people run and hide, right?” She would chuckle a little and look straight ahead once more. It had been a while since she had time like this to goof off or go to the park. With all the missions she had been doing with Naota it seemed as though any semblance of normalcy had been erased from her life.

“My name is Sayuri, by the way. Kurama, Sayuri. Sorry I hadn’t introduced myself before. What about you, my fellow storm-goer? What might I call you?”

[Masakuni?!]

-Burning with the red hot intensity of a thousand suns!

“That's a good philosophy,” Tsukune said after a moment. “I like the sound of doubts getting washed away.” He thought about it for a long moment, sneaking glances at the girl next to him when he could. She seemed really nice. It was a rare kind of person who wouldn't just ignore you when you looked kind of down. Most people just walked on by. He smiled at her, before looking up at the clouds, at the faint droplets of rain that were starting to land all around them.

Uh-oh.

“I like storms too, actually,” He admitted. “But mostly, I just wanted to get out of the house. I don't like sitting there by my self.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. It was a slip of the tongue; something he wouldn't normally admit in normal conversation. He must have been a bit out of sorts. He grinned at the girl, trying to put the admission behind him. As they approached the park, the rain started to pick up, hitting them and the ground around them in a steady rhythm.

“My name's Hekinori Tsukune,” he said. He shoot a glance up at the rain starting to fall harder from the clouds, and then down at her, smiling. “We should probably find some shelter, shouldn't we?” His words were light, even as his jacket started to soak through from the rain streaming down from the sky. It plastered his hair down to his head, dripping in rivulets that ran down his face. He lifted his hand, gesturing to one of the nearby covered bridges. His hand hovered in the air between them for a moment, as though he wasn't sure if he wanted to grab her and pull her along with him.

I'm gonna be soaked to the bone, soon.

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[--Megumi--]

“It’s how I’ve always thought of the rain. It makes it less depressing and makes me feel better.” She smiled at him, staring at him intently. It was nice to find someone else her age with close to the same thought process as herself. After all, it wasn’t often she really interacted with many people due to the status of her clan and how it angered her that no one knew who they were. Sayuri knew that this boy would be no different, but for the time being it was nice to act normal with someone for once.

“I don’t like sitting in the house either, though I’m not usually by myself. Why would you be all by yourself in the house? You’re still rather young to be out on your own.” As she said this the rain started to pick up and really pour. Her clothing started to cling to her form and her hair became heavy as it plastered down to the sides of her face and neck. Grumbling a bit, she couldn’t help but chuckle a little afterwards and hold her hands up while shrugging. This was a storm after all.

I didn’t expect it to pour down like this so soon, guess we better hurry.

“Well Tsukune, let’s get to that covered bridge, hm?” The Genjutsu user stared at his hovering hand and for a reason unbeknownst to her, she grabbed a hold of it. However instead of the typical fashion of the boy pulling the girl along it was the opposite. Once she grabbed his hand she began running towards the covered bridge that was just a head. From running the rain pelted down on them even harder and really soaked them, their clothes thoroughly wet all the way through. Thankfully it didn’t take too long to get underneath the bridge.

Once there, Sayuri heaved and tried catching her breathe. However there was still a smile on her face. A roar of thunder echoed through the sky and she looked up to catch a flicker of lightning. This made her realize that she was still holding Tsukune’s hand to which she let go immediately. “Ahem, well, soaked or not, at least we can attempt to keep from getting any wetter under here.”

And stay here for a while so we can dry. It’s really pouring out there…

[Masakuni?!]

-Burning with the red hot intensity of a thousand suns!

Ah.

She was pulling him along before he realized she had taken his hand. He had been too busy, in fact, noticing the storm soaking her clothes, stamping them down to her body and making them cling to her curves. Before things became awkward, however, she was moving, dragging him through the rain. After a moment he got his feet under him, and he was running along with her, laughing a little bit as the rain pelted the both of them. It was cold, hard rain, coming down like icy little golf balls.

“I live by myself,” Tsukune said after a long moment, once they reached the bridge. He pretended that he didn't notice the way she let go of his hand, trying to prevent a faint blush from creeping into his cheeks. He gave her soaked form an appreciative side-long gaze, then leaned over, settling his arms on the railing of the bridge and looking out at the rain-swept park. Now that the storm had arrived, they were the better part of alone, even out in the middle of an open park. “I have for quite a while now.”

He didn't elaborate much beyond that. It wasn't the sort of thing he tended to talk about. No one liked it when someone brought up their dead parents into casual conversation. He didn't have a lot of people to talk about it with anyway, even if he was interested in sharing his feelings. Which he wasn't, most of the time. He looked over at the girl for a long moment, wondering about her. What thoughts did she want to wash away, like she said? “We did get a bit wet, didn't we?”

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[--Megumi--]

Sayuri didn't push the subject. She knew better and was smart enough to assume what that could imply. After all, living in a world that had once been plagued by war left many young children orphaned and alone. The had to fend for themselves and harden their resolve in order to survive. She looked up to those kinds of people since she, despite her clan's situation, still had been quite lucky in that department.

"Well, I'm sorry to here that." She started, not entirely sure where to go from this. Her eyes too gave a side glance to the boy next to her, taking in his form with a bit more interest than what she normally would to anyone else. In fact, she normally didn't really give many people the time of day to begin with. That was her own problem and he own fault, however it was different now.

He's like me in some ways. He needs a friend and I need a friend, so why not?

Sayuri leaned her back against the railing, facing away from Tsukune, and stared out to the other side of the bridge. The rain still fell hard as the wind blew it to the side and almost threatened to flood the area of the bridge they stood upon. Thankfully it didn't and they could try and dry off longer. "You know, we'll probably catch cold at this point. But it's better we stay here and dry off first."

She looked back over to him before turning to mimic his stance and lean against the bar he was, looking outward. "You would happen to know any Katon would you? We could probably burn something if you did. Unfortunately I don't, so I won't be much help."

[Masakuni?!]

-Burning with the red hot intensity of a thousand suns!

“Hm.”

His response was quiet, noncommittal. He had never quite known how he was supposed to answer when people expressed their condolences. At least she didn't make a big deal out of it. He was thankful for that, even if he wouldn't say it out loud. He wasn't the type to voice a lot of those internal feelings. Some people would call him repressed, or make some sort of reference to bottling emotions and breaking dams. He didn't really give a damn. It was better than the alternative.

Eh?

“I do, actually.” It was oddly coincidental, the way her thoughts had moved. He wondered for a second if she had been stalking him, but he brushed it aside with a bemused smile. “I mean, most of the stuff I know would blow this whole bridge up, but...” He frowned, reaching out a hand. “Let me try this.” He focused for a second, realigning his chakra into the fire nature, making it radiate with all its strength. He focused it into a single point above his palm, trying to contain all that radiant energy in one place.

There was a spark, a puff, and then a ball of flame, no larger than two of his fists put together, burst into existence an inch and a half above his palm. Immediately, it began to radiate heat, sinking into his bones and drying his palm off. He was somewhat insulated by his own chakra, but he was careful to hold the little ball of flame a little away from Sayuri, so as not to hurt her. “Come a little closer and it'll warm you up; just be careful. I've never really tried this before.”

SPOILER: Click to show

Enkou Shinka, 'D' rank.

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