Between the Rose and Rain

[Yori]

Blood red petals twirled carelessly within the air. Light glisten from the mature flower covered in raindrops. It was the first sight which greeted the youngest female Hisano as she walked through the streets after a brief rain shower. It was this discovery which vivid green eyes now focus on; the rose which she held delicately in her grasp. The thorns were still in tack and needless to say, small dots of blood covered her palm. It hadn't hurt her though, not that she would every admit it if it had. Many times Yori would go out for one of her strolls only to come home with small cuts and bruises. Whether it was from actually battles or not wasn't questioned.

Slowly, her steps became smaller and smaller until Yori stopped walking altogether. Before her head even tilted up to take sight of the cliff Yori knew where she was. The monument dedicated to the four Hokages of this village. Her village for the past three years. It was strange to think about now, but as Yori sank down onto the grass the thoughts consumed her.

The now forgotten rose laid by her left side as Yori's eyes took on an even more glaze appearance than usual. Thick wavy dark red hair danced playfully in the breeze which occurred every few minutes. In the overcast of the day, Yori's hair seemed almost an unnatural shade of beige. Freckles stood out fiercely against ghostly white skin as her now scarred hands sat clenched on top of her lap. The knees supported her body weight as she sat with her feet tucked underneath.

It would have probably seemed awkward to any passerby. A young lady sitting with her head tilted upward toward the great monument. A single rose by her side and green eyes glazed over in a dreamy stare. Not to mention the fact of a light mist which started to form only a few minutes ago. Water clung to Yori's clothing as a few raindrops began to fall.

[Gamma]

The light drizzle of water did not bother Gamma. It was welcomed as a renewal of life, regeneration, and health. Being close to a toad did make water seem life the gates of heaven, so Gamma enjoyed it as such. The forehead of the 3rd proved to be a great place to just lay and be rained on. It was up high out of the chilling spring wind, and the rain gathered in little puddles in the dimples and cracks that had formed over the years. It was moist, it was dark, and it had mosquitoes aplenty, and that was just how Gamma liked it.

Gamma sat up and yawned. Her clothes were soaked, and her ninja headband had slipped over her eyes. She readjusted it and glanced down the side of the 3rd's head. She saw a girl that looked not much older than she was. Upon a closer look, she realised it was Yori. Gamma knew practically who everybody in and out of the acadamey was, and Yori was one of those she knew. Yori was just sitting there doing nothing, and Gamma found that to be strange. She waved down to her, although Gamma probably looked like a big bird perched on the head.

[Yori]

A slight movement from out of the corner of her eye interrupted Yori's pondering. On impulse, Yori moved quickly onto the balls of her feet. With her left hand within an inch of her kunai and her body close to the ground it seemed as if she was more like an animal than anything. After a few minutes of just watching the small speck on top of the third Hokage's forehead wave a hand back and forth, Yori finally realized who the person was.

"I'm becoming paranoid." Yori muttered under her breath as she stood up and waved back at Gamma. Though Gamma was just a speck, there was no mistaking that girl. Yori just didn't know how Gamma did it. That girl seem to know everyone around this village.

Yori tighten the knot that kept her ninja headband in place around her neck. It was a strange replacement for a necklace, but Yori preferred the headband not to be on her head, if that made any sense at all. Despite the slippery condition of the rock engraved monument and the moist air, Yori decided to join Gamma. "I'm coming up!" Yori announced as she began to climb. On a normal sunny day, Yori would have just jumped from stone to stone until she reached the top, but this time her instincts told her otherwise.

Short shallow breaths greeted Gamma first as Yori pulled herself onto the third Hokage's forehead. Great, my stamina is deteriorating. Yori thought to herself as she caught her breath. "Hey Gamma, how have you been?" Yori spoke in a light hearted tone as she smiled slightly over at the younger girl.

[Gamma]

"Much better than you, it seems. You look exaughsted after climbing the cliff. Were you doing some kind of chakra-consuming jutsu earlier?" Gamma asked. Yori did seem a little out of breath. It hardly took Gamma any work to get to the top of the monument, but that may be because she used a rope which was now tightly tucked into her knapsack.

Gamma swatted at a mosquitoe that had found something interesting about her ear. "What were you doing down there? You looked like some kind of zombie just staring up at the cliff." Gamma added. To be slightly amusing, she pulled at her face, imitating the glazed zombie-like expression that Yori had had when she was down at the base of the cliff. Gamma was obviously exaggerating with her imatation, but it was amusing none the less.

[Yori]

A small bead of water slide from her temple and fell onto the rock. Quickly, Yori wiped away the trail the water droplet left only to get specks of dirt attached to her cheek. Her eyes cast down wards as she shrugged in response to Gamma's question and observation. "Well, all I did was walk around. I did train earlier in the morning..." Yori glanced over at Gamma as she swatted at a pasting mosquito.

Yori couldn't help but break into a grin and laugh at Gamma's impersonation. "I hope you're exaggerating." She spoke in between laughs. Strands of red hair bounced back and forth as Yori shook her head. "I just zoned out." Yori explained as she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and her face in her palms. "Thinking about when you would come along and ruin my fun time." Of course, Yori meant it only as a joke. It was obvious by the way she cheekily grinned over at Gamma.

[Gamma]

Gama laughed. It wasn't the first time that somebody had said something like that. "Well you know me, I'm a joy-kill." she said. Normally she would be out pranking, so people didn't always like seeing her around. She'd been known to ruin many a good day with a bucket of water, spray paint, and some good old fashioned black mail. In fact, she had gotten somebody kicked multiple times in the rear end with a skillfully planted 'Kick Me' sign just an hour and a half ago. Gamma changed the subject "Do you like toads?" she asked. It was a complete tangent in their conversation, but Gamma was quite curious. Not many people did like the slimy amphibians, rumored to give warts. Many people were suprised at how Gamma, being toadly herself, had no warts at all.

[Yori]

'Hmmph.' The soft noise was the only real response Yori could give to what Gamma said. The two hadn't spent much time together outside of the Academy classes, but now that they were both genins...Who knew how much time the two would be spending together. Her posture stiffened slightly at the thought of teams. However, before Yori could ask if Gamma knew anything about team assignments, the girl asked her own question. And what a strange question it was.

"Well, I don't hate them." Yori answered with a confused expression. Toads honestly never bothered Yori. Not as much as most other girls. Seeing that Gamma might want a more elaborate answer considering how she changed the subject to toads so rapidly, Yori continued. "I haven't given toads much thought. I guess they would be alright critters." She spoke the last part softly, hoping not to upset Gamma in anyway.

She shuffled slightly in her place and hoped for the best. This had to be the strangest conversation Yori ever engaged in. Even Yori's younger brother Asa never bothered her with this question. He would get a kick seeing how out of place she was when talking about amphibians.

[Gamma]

"I'm glad that somebody besides me doesn't hold anything against them. Most people think that they're disgusting slimy creatures." Gamma said, sitting cross legged. She held her feet together with her hands and leaned a little bit forward. Her long green hair flowed over her shoulders, and some of it fell over her face. "A lot of people think that toads would give them warts, but that's not true. I handle toads all the time and I haven't gotten a single wart from them." Gamma could've gone on and on about toads, but she fell silent. She looked at Yori with a smile and laughed at herself. "I like toads too much."

[Yori]

Absentmindedly, Yori's head tilted slightly over to the left as Gamma continued to speak. One wave of red covered vivid green as Yori's not fully grown out bangs slide over to cover her right eye. By this time, Yori had completely forgotten about the state she was in. Her clothes were soak and dripped with water. Her headband that was worn around her neck engraved with the Konoha's symbol radiated with coldness. Metal and moisture didn't make a great combination when worn. The silver ring which she worn on her left thumb glistened in contrast against the dull rock stone. However, her skin tight black bracelet worn on her left wrist brought no attention to itself. Neither did her worn out sky blue scarf which hung loosely from her navy blue pants. Dirt and grim hugged itself against her scarf. Mother would not be please...

Though her appearance seem to be that of a homeless orphan, Yori took no notice. Gamma really does like toads. Why? The basic outline of her thoughts were that simple. Not one thought of the state of her attire or what her parents would say when she came home that night. All her thoughts were focus on the present. One step at a time, the outcome would come eventually. That motto echo across her mind as Yori continued to think about Gamma's reasonings. No one creates an obsession based off of nothing. No matter how 'crazy' that person is dubbed by society.

Gamma's laugh broke Yori out of another daze. She blinked once in order to regain her bearings before speaking. "Everyone is entitle to one obsession." She smiled over at Gamma before her attention focused upon the lack of vision in her right eye. With one strong breath, Yori blew her bangs to the side. Finally, sight was restored. Not that it made much of a difference. She could have just stared at Gamma through her left eye only. "Whether it be toads or not." Yori added in as an afterthought.

[Gamma]

"I suppose you're right. Although I have a very good reason for my obsession. My name means toad." Gamma stated. It had always been a Repitan trait to name you're children after an amphibian or reptile. For instance, Gamma's mother was Kame, which meant turtle. Gamma asjusted her headband. "I think that my parents were prety right on. People that don't know my name or clan have told me that I remind them of a toad." Gamma had always taken that as a compliment. Unfortunately the people that would tell her that used it as a dreaful insult.

[Yori]

The corners of Yori's mouth turned slightly up wards. Toad, now that was an interesting name. Not that there was anything wrong with a name that meant toad. It was just uncommon. "Gamma means toad huh?" Yori spoke the sentence in such a way that it sounded more like a statement than actually question. Green eyes twinkled as she continued to stare straight at Gamma. Now that the girl mentioned it, Gamma did seem similar to a toad. Not looks of course, but just characteristics.

"So, what exactly does your clan do?" Yori knew of Gamma's last name and that her family was part of the clan. For the past three years though, her focus wasn't on clans. Actually, her focus wasn't on pretty much anything. Yori wasn't the most observant person. It was obvious by the way she constantly dazed.

[Gamma]

"Well, we do have a lot of secrets and stuff, but I'm sure I can tell you the basics. When somebody in our clan is born, we name them for a a cold blooded creature. The jutsu that that person would use would be associated with that animal. for instance I use the Sticky Tongue Jutsu, which is pretty self explanatory. My mom would use the TurtleBack Jutsu since she was named for a turtle." Gamma explained. She didn't go into much detail since she knew that she would get in trouble if she let too much out. Gamma didn't mention her blood trait, that part had slipped her mind for the moment.

[Yori]

Silently, Yori placed her head on top of her knees as she listened. It almost seem as if Yori was in a fetal position after she wrapped her arms around her legs. Not one expression crossed her face as Gamma spoke. She wasn't expecting Gamma to go into detail about her clan, so Yori was not at all surprised when Gamma only spoke briefly about it. It was fun to note, however, that their names related to the jutsu they performed. Life must be a lot easier that way.

"That's neat." Yori finally spoke up with a soft smile on her face. "I don't know what's better; Being part of a clan or not." A sigh escaped her pale pink lips as she thought it over. "I guess it must be less strenuous not being part of a clan." Green eyes stared at the moist rock surface for a moment before staring back at Gamma. "Than again, it's nice to know that you're already different from the rest. Plus, it makes for a great history."