The hills were alive with color today. The gentle breeze ruffled the grass spreading the sweet scent of flowers everywhere. At the bottom of one of the many rolling hills sat Nanami. She'd been in her home for a little over a week and even introverts get cabin fever. Today was still strange for what it was though. If she were ever to unnecessarily leave the house it'd be for arcade games or to grab a bite to eat but, her stomach was fairly full and her fingers didn't itch to beat some kid's high score on whack-a-mole. She just wanted to be outside.

Nanami grazed her finger against the water top taking in the view of everything around her. There were many small wildflowers that sprouted near where she sat. Thus why she chose to sit there but upon closer inspection, there was nothing useful or special about the flowers but at least they were pretty. There were a bunch of small rocks in the stream. Most were perfect for skipping so she collected a few for potentially going to the lake later. Nanami peered deeper into the stream looking to see if there was any wildlife.

A small colorful frog swam under the water darting under a rock after Nanami made a grab for it. She thought about pursuing the little guy further but it was his lucky day. She'd worn her better clothes today and was smart enough to not dirty them over a frog no matter how badly she wanted to admire its colors. She wore a red skirt made of a flowy material that billowed in the wind and a fitted cream colored button up that looked sheer in the sun.

If leaving the house wasn't strange enough Nanami began to feel lonely. She longed for someone to enjoy the weather with her or even just a nice conversation. She didn't want to be alone at the moment. She shifted to sit on her knees and look down at herself. She knew why she came out here today. She had hoped to meet someone and talk to someone other than Kana. A mother was nice but she needed more than just that. Falling flat on her back Nanami looked up at the clouds. She'd just have to stay a little bit longer.

WC:397

Konohagakure was so very much different from Kirigakure and that fact alone made almost everything exciting and irresistible to Hanza. New species of trees to test his abilities on, to gain valuable information about, and to simply absorb into himself as useful knowledge. As his first true start-to-finish day in this new land, and he has endeavored to make the absolute most of it. At the break of dawn, Hanza found himself walking down a neat little dirt trail through the forest just outside of Konoha. He would stop regularly to just touch the plant-life and expose it to his chilling Hyōton, then take down mental notes of what occurred as a result.

He was dressed in more casual gear, but of course prepared for any undesirable encounters, his headband secured to his forehead and his small, tan colored weapons pouch holding his kunai and shuriken. He left behind his jacket as it was now uncomfortable for him to wear it, temperatures being much higher in the land of fire. He wore a grey short-sleeved T-shirt with khaki shorts. His shoes were more aligned for hiking, white socks coming up to his ankles. His white mess of hair occasionally buffered by a gentle breeze, anyone looking on might have met his greyish-green eyes as they gently scanned the surroundings with child-like bewilderment.

As he followed another path, he discovered an entire person resting alongside a stream of water. The greenery here was lush and vibrant, many flowers had blossomed over the hillside and that struck Hanza as an opportunity. The even greater opportunity, however, would be trying to freeze that stream.

The very petite young woman had green hair, and wore a beautiful red skirt, accentuating the fitted tan colored button up pretty nicely. While his goal was to learn about the environment, something odd happened to Hanza as he analyzed the other person, and he forgot to watch where he was walking. In a matter of seconds, the young Kōri felt gravity pulling him horizontally. In other words, he had tripped, and with an unfortunate splash, he was drenched, now sitting in an entire stream, staring back at the green-haired girl.

It was very, very cold.

WC: 377

Lying in the sun Nanami took in all the shapes of the cloud. She didn't want to leave her spot. Who cares if no one showed up to hang out with her. Her thoughts were becoming irrational and she knew it. Of course, nobody came! She didn't invite anyone. She didn't know anyone to invite in the first place. She wasn't mad.


So she wasn't upset at herself because she wasn't crazy. Her logic was stupid and she knew it but, she ignored the feeling anyways. There were a few very puffy clouds up in the sky. All formed in very precarious shapes. The first one she noticed was large and possibly shaped like a chicken? Or a dragon? It was definitely a dragon. If only someone were here to tell her whether she was right or wrong. Or to offer a new opinion. No later than Nanami had wished for someone to share this cloud debate with had it happened.

The young man landed in the water with a heavy splash. Nanami bolted up and hurried away as to not get caught by the water. She had barely heard him before he fell into the water. The debate working its way around her head had he full attention. A small giggle passed her lips as she looked at him. He looked dumbfounded as if he couldn't believe he fell. He looked rather odd from her angle. His skin was near ghostly pale and he had green eyes with a hint of grey. His longish hair was drenched from being in the water but it seemed to be white.

It was almost like some artist took every cool color they knew existed and used it to create him. Even his clothing didn't carry a single warm tone in them. Nanami moved from laying on her back slowly to peering over him as he lay in the stream.


Nanami knew very little of the Kiri-Konoha exchange except the obvious. Was he lost? he obviously didn't know where he was going. He didn't seem stupid though. How could a stream have bested him the way it did? Nanami realized how rude she was being about a minute too late. She scrambled up to her feet and smoothed her skirt.



She wanted to slap herself as soon as she heard her voice falter the way it did.


She chided herself all the while smiling and trying to seem as friendly and welcoming as possible. Nanami extended her hand down to him.

WC:448
TWC:845

There were hundreds of oddly dancing little thoughts in Hanza’s head at that moment as the stream continued to brush across his soaked pants. It was not a deep stream, to his relief, but it was enough to rush over his legs entirely. The bottom of his shirt was also being grazed. He stared in confusion for but a moment at the green haired girl, who he could now see had the brightest red eyes. It was after he made eye contact and recognized that he had suffered no injury that his mouth curled into a smile that then blossomed into a full laugh. His voice was on the lower end of center for a male but not quite that of a bass.

“Being this cold reminds me of a rainy day in my homeland. Those were so frequent and so lovely. Although Kirigakure was awfully boring after seventeen years to thoroughly explore it. The Village Hidden in the Leaves is much nicer, isn’t it? I haven’t even seen anyone get mugged yet!”

He took her hand and accepted her help climbing up from the stream. With the water dampening it, his hand would feel bone chilling to her when she grabbed it, potentially a shocking surprise as she helped him from the water.

He stood, now fully realizing that he was quite a bit taller than she, he scanned her over gently and did a small bow of thanks for her kindness.

“Usually after a plunge in the water I’d expect my eyes to be burning from the salt content and my mouth to have that disgusting flavor of salt water. But oh no, not in Konoha. This might very well be the best body of water I’ve ever fallen into. Top of the line. Anyways, thank you for the hand. My name is Hanza. Kōri, Hanza.”

Hanza was immediately distracted by a most magnificent creature he saw hopping through the water of the stream.

“Is that variety of frog any sort of religious or cultural significance in your land?!” he would ask as he reached into his pocket and secured a shuriken, looking over at his new acquaintance and nodding as he prepared to throw the shuriken at the innocent creature “I would really love to study him!” Hanza would say this with a glimmer of excitement and determination, seeing absolutely no flaw or fault in his decision to take away the life of the small defenseless creature. It was his social ineptitude in full force.

His hesitation would be enough for the girl to stop him if she were moved to do so, but if she did not it was still a pretty low possibility of landing, as he was still a new shinobi.

WC: 463
TWC: 840

Shocked was an understatement. This man first fell into the water somehow and then laughed. Was he some type of maniac? There was no answer or explanation to how one could wet their clothes falling into a stream and be absolutely ok with it. Maybe he was the type to not care for that sort of thing. Either way, his behavior was strange. Nanami was well aware she'd asked whatever power was out there for friends but...

The young man grabbed her hand and Nanami jolted and nearly pulled away from his cold skin. Why did it feel that way? It wasn't the type of cold where you'd been in an air conditioned room all day but much more severe. Would she be ignorant to ask if that was a Kiri thing? The young man did confirm he was from Kiri after laughing and admittedly frightening the young woman quite a bit. Just because he was odd didn't give her any reason to be rude.

Nanami wasn't a well traveled individual. Kana traveled often but she never really brought Nanami with her. It was fine as a young girl she would've rather stayed inside anyways. Surprisingly enough for someone who's kekkei genkai was involved with nature she burned easily. She often used this little fact as a reason not to meet new people. New people never stayed around long and they never truly seemed to get her anyways. There was also the fear of running into her biological mother. Kana had informed Nanami that her biological mother hadn't left Konoha but she did sell the cardboard box of a home they were living in. Kana tried helping her come out of her shell regardless but that wasn't an option for young Nanami at the time. Besides how would she have learned about different types of plants kana didn't approve of if she were out all the time.

She helped balance his weight and pull him up from the stream. He paused for a second before doing an oddly polite bow. Most weren't so formal. Or maybe that's just because they'd just met. The white haired boy, Hanza, went off speaking about the difference of the water in Konoha compared to Kiri. Apparently it was cold there and violent from what she could gather. He'd given her so much information in so little time. Her mind was still reeling from how cold his skin was. He went as far as to call the water from the stream top of the line. Nanami couldn't help herself and laughed. She didn't take him for a jokester at first glance but maybe that was because he was soaked and she was mildly concerned.

Well, she thought he was funny until he raised his kunai at a frog. The exact frog she'd seen earlier actually! It swam through the water with skin shimmering green and bright yellow under the sun. It was rather small and Nanami felt for the thing. She wasn't sure if it was because she didn't get to see it first or if it was because the creature was simply pretty. Which ever one she didn't pause on for long before acting.

" Woah there buddy," Nanami grabbed his wrist and this time the sudden cold did cause her to pull away. His skin felt like she'd reached her hand into a bucket of freezing cold water. Was this guy even for real. Her brain must be playing tricks on her she thought. A stranger coming up to her who's appearance embodied winter itself fell into a stream and upon gaining his footing almost killed a frog for researching purposes. It didn't seem real. It felt like a prank. An elaborate and cruel one but a prank nonetheless. Or maybe this is just how he was. Why was she judging him?

A feeling of guilt plagued her. Was this normal for him? She looked at him. He looked a bit goofy still soaked and he wasn't hostile. Well, towards her at least. She asked for a friend and he appeared. Beggars can't really be choosers. Nanami cleared her throat gently to break up the small silence that ensued after she grabbed his wrist.

"There's a lot of different wildlife here in Konoha," She started " I'm not sure if that one particularly had much value but I think it'd be better to study it alive if possible. I'm sorry I let that one get from you but that can't be the only frog of that species though, If you'd like we can find another."

Nanami was the type to think before she acted often yet she propelled herself to slip off her socks and shoes and perch herself at the edge of the stream to look harder into it hoping to see the little frog dart out again. She looked back to the young man and gave him a half smile.

"Come on Hanza. I promise you won't fall in this time."

WC: 860
TWC: 1,705

Hanza had felt the nervous jolt from Nanami as her hand touched his. She was as shocked as anyone else would be at the extremely cold touch of his delicate hands. It was not dissimilar from the jolt  into action she sprung to the moment he chose to dispatch a frog in order to research it and learn about a new species of wildlife in the land of fire. She did recoil this time after touching his skin, perhaps he was simply unbearable to touch, as he always maintained a severely low body temperature as what he called an evolutionary step for mankind as a whole.

He had not always been so untouchable. In his younger days, when he was only a small boy, Hanza had yet to discover his passions just yet. Without his passion for cryogenics and preservation of the body through Hyōton, he was only the slightly chilled level of cool that came with being a practitioner of Ice Release. During that time, when there was no real reason for his loved ones to remain distant and keep hands off of him, it was odd that his parents still did not care much for or distribute much in the way of physical affection.

His home was always a place of learning without nonsense. His parents were wealthy people, living in the upper class of The Hidden Mist. The only leniency and or victory which came from that upbringing was the fact that these rich sort were often more likely to be hyper attentive to children if their own who were struggling or needy. Rich parents always seemed to coddle their kids and nothing was ever that child’s fault unless it was an embarrassment to the estate itself.

Nevertheless, Hanza grew up with a gently cold family setting, and he himself had grown a little cold the world itself. So these jolting of retracting responses to his actions often left Hanza in a state of wonder. He had yet to truly feel the pain of such a response on his ego, as it was not yet something he was fully socially conscious of. For the moment he would simply carry on, business as usual, wondering why Nanami had not wanted him to take the creature down for study.  Instead she proposed a live capture of one, perhaps that same one or apparently there were many more where the beautiful yellow and green hopping boy came from.

Hanza followed her down the stream quickly, inevitably leading off to a side path, which Hanza quickly beaconed for her to come too. At the end of this path was a serene looking clearing with a singular mass of still water. All around the pond was littered  thick vegetation, even some fruit trees. It was a gorgeous view, and from what he could see, dozens and dozens of frogs and other creatures freely inhabited this little oasis in the woods.

“Will these species do, Nanami?”

He smiled and laughed in glee as he awaited her response.

WC: 506
TWC: 1346