Ame looked up from the mission report she was in the middle of writing, her hand starting to cramp from her attempt at keeping her writing as neat and legible as possible. She was tired of missions, and was in thorough need of a break, but she'd promised her sensei that she'd have her mission reports handed in at the mission desk by the end of the day and the backlog of work was getting to her. She leaned back in her chair, playing with her pen and tilting her head to stare at the ceiling. She was so bored. D-rank mission reports were the most dulls things one could possibly write. True, she was in a comfy pair of pyjamas and had had a cup of coffee (or two) already, but she itched to go outside and do something. Whatever that something may happen to be. She wasn't looking for a wild adventure, but stretching her legs would be nice after being cooped up in her stuffy bedroom for so long.

She got up and stretched, slinking around her room to get properly dressed for the day. If her mother were to walk into the room and see her in her pyjamas past seven o'clock Ame was bound for a beatdown. The thought motivated her enough to changed quickly, peeking through the crack in her door to see if her mother was lurking every few minutes. Her attire was rather simple, a dark red turtleneck jumper and a pair of black leggings. Her waterproof ankle-boots sat next to the door, used often when she went out, due to the unpredictability of Kumo's storm systems. One moment it could be sunny and warm and the next you'd be caught in a raging typhoon. Ame grabbed an umbrella on her way out, calling a quick goodbye to an empty house. She didn't know why she always did it, but her mother never responded even when she was there, so it was a waste of time. 

The compound was calm and quiet that morning, most of her relatives cooped up inside their own homes due to the slight drizzle. She continued on her path to nowhere, maneuvering through the throngs of people and umbrellas that moved down the streets. A little rain never deterred anyone in Kumo. It was a daily occurrence, just part of the routine of life. The crowd around her hummed with the usual chatter of civilian gossip, but Ame tuned it out, following the age-old path her feet still remembered. It lead all the way out of the masses of people and the bustling daytime market. Out past the fairly well inhabited residential area and into a lesser known part of the city. Here the air was clean and fresh with growth. Ame took a deep breath and stepped through the gateless fence, into the playground beyond.

It was just as she remembered, the slide with rainwater pooling at the bottom. The jungle gym she'd fallen off countless times before. And her favourite - the swing set. She could imagine herself sitting there, with her father pushing her. That had been so long ago, back when she was still a naive little girl. It was nice back then, when all she worried about was whether or not she would get what she wanted for her birthday. She took a few steps forward involuntarily until she stood right in front of the swing seat. With her umbrella now shielding it, no more rain fell onto the seat, but it was still covered in droplets. She wiped them off with a hand, not caring whether or not she'd get her ass wet. She was a bit bigger than she had been back then, but it still held the same memories, and it still made her happy. The rain became suddenly heavier, echoing loudly as it bounced off of her umbrella. Ame didn't mind the rain at all, and she turned her face to the clouds, letting the droplets splash against her cheeks and make her smile. It was cold, but she barely noticed, focusing on the feeling of being lost in a world of her own.

She'd always loved the rain.

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Flames licked at his skin as he ran through a small
village set ablaze. Ryder looked around, the fire on the buildings roaring like demons from hell itself, bodies litter the ground, bodies of his family, his friends. Ryder looked down the main road and saw hooded figures walking his way, in fear he ran into the woods. A few minutes of running Ryder came to a stop on a small cliff over looking a river, he went to turn around to come face to face with the hooded group. He took a single step back, a few rocks falling into the water below. Ryder glared at he men who spoke a single word. "Come" The figure in the middle put out his hand, Ryder turned and dove into the water.

Ryder was woken by a blast of thunder, his nightmare coming to an end. Ryder was laying on a bench looking up at the clouds over head, the rain now just started to hit him, with a sigh and rolled from the bench and got to his feet. Ryder was still in the village of the lightning, not even he knew why he was still here. He put his hands behind his head and started to walk toward the park figuring he could sleep under a picnic table that was there. Ryder was consumed with the thoughts of the nightmare he just had, it was less of a nightmare and more of a memory he wished he could forget. Pushing the thoughts from his head and continued to walk through the rain.

It took about twenty minutes to reach the park, bring his eyes up he noticed a single person there, after a few seconds he saw the blue hair, and a smile crossed his lips. Coming up behind her he places his hands on the chains of the swing and gave it a slight push. Fancy meeting you here again Ame. He bent slightly looking down at her with a smile.

Ame was lost in her own little world for a while, before she felt a familiar presence behind her. Before she could turn, two hands gripped the chains of the swing and gave her a soft push. "Fancy meeting you here again Ame."  Ame turned to him as he leaned down and smiled. "Ryder. I certainly didn't expect to see you here today." For all she'd known, Ryder had left Kumo soon after their first meeting. She hadn't expected to see him around for a long time. Not until he'd come wandering back into the village again. "So have you decided to make Kumo a more permanent residence, or have your travels really brought you back her so quickly?" She was curious as to his answer. Ame swung her legs a little to give herself more momentum, the old chains creaking at the effort and letting her swing a bit higher. Not much though, as she didn't want to knock Ryder over by accident.

Ryder looked like he'd been walking around in the rain for a while, and the water was soaked into his hair, as well as his clothing. He must have been freezing, as even she was starting to feel the cold through her thick jumper. With his more open attire she wouldn't be surprised if he ended up catching a cold. "You know, being outside in the cold and wet does make you sick right? Aren't you cold at all?" She wondered if he would say no, as most shinobi often pretended they were practically invinceable, at least to the weather, when actually the opposite was true. If he did say as much, she was prepared to get up and find them some shelter at a moment's notice.

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Ryder moved his hands from the chains of the swings and placed them on her back pushing her a bit higher in the air. "I didn't plan on staying to be honest, but I don't know, this place is, interesting. Ryder thought for a second, what was the reason he hadn't left yet, not even he was one hundred percent sure of the reasoning. "Permanent huh? I wouldn't mind sticking around for a while, permanent or not. He smiled slightly, Ame was just as interesting as the village itself, or to him she was. Shy but outgoing at the same time, a walking paradox in itself.

He continued to push her the rain coming down over his head, listening to the creaking of the chains and the drops smacking the ground around them. At her question about being cold he looked up a little allowing the rain to hit him in the face and smiled a little more. No, not at all really. My body runs a bit hotter, something to do with my blood I don't know, but the cold doesn't seem as cold, and the hot doesn't seem as hot. I also travel a lot so I have grown used to being outside in the rain, or snow, or what ever mother nature wants to send my way, so a little rain like this isn't much to me. Ryder looked back down at the back of her head to keep pushing her at the same rate as before. "So, what brings you out on a loomy gloomy day such as this Ame?

As Ryder moved his hands to her back, Ame contemplated his words. She understood that for people who were used to travelling it could be hard to settle down into one place. She had no experience with the matter of course, considering that she'd been tied to Kumo her whole life, but she could imagine what it was like. If she were free to travel as she pleased she probably wouldn't be too eager to settle down, unless she had a very good reason. Even then she'd go somewhere quiet, away from the big shinobi villages. Maybe an island somewhere in the northern sea. There she'd be a lot less likely to end up caught in the middle of conflict. She sighed softly, a wry smile on her face as he said he wouldn't mind staying. It would be nice to have him around. "Mm, Kumo's a beautiful place, at least when you don't look too closely."

She listened to his explanation dutifully, eye's widening in curiousity as he continued. So he had a kekkei genkai then? It sounded pretty useful, considering the kind of conditions missions often got you to put up with. His next question brought her out of her reverie and Ame looked down, realising that she was damp from her mid-thighs downwards and progressing steadily upwards. She tilted her umbrella backwards and let the rain splash against her cheeks again, as Ryder did the same. She laughed and reached a hand out, the water making easy work of her thick woolen jersey, and let the droplets slide across her fingertips. "I love the rain. Always have. It reminds me of-" She hesitated, but decided that it wouldn't do any harm, "It reminds me of my dad." She finished softly, pulling her hand back under the safety of her umbrella. "And you Ryder? What brings you out here on a day like this?"

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~THREAD CLOSED~