"Hey, Ryume, are you ready yet? You've been in there forever." Hikuro called from outside Ryume's room.
"Well sheesh, sorry I overslept. I had a busy night last night." She answered as she brushed her long brown hair.
"Busy?" Hikuro asked; a bit annoyed that he was waiting for her. He leaned against the wall next to the doorframe and crossed his arms, sighing.
"Yeah," Ryume said; now changing into her training clothes, "We had a big party at the restaurant and the manager needed extra help. So I-"
"Offered to help, I know." Hikuro finished for her, "I know you too well. Of course you'd do that."
Ryume smiled to herself as her best friend spoke the truth. Even though he'd woken her up early in the morning (six-thirty) to make her spar with him and train, she still envied his enthusiasm, no matter what the situation. Grabbing her fan –her 'special weapon'—she opened the door and found Hikuro munching on some chocolate she had made. He had his back to her and didn't notice her sneak up behind him and flick him on the head. He jumped and mumbled an 'ouch' as he rubbed his head, a piece of chocolate still in his mouth.
Ryume rolled her eyes and laughed. "All right you clown, let's go." She said and walked towards the door. Hikuro put down what was left of his chocolate and followed her out muttering something about evil clowns.
They were both outside and there few clouds in the light blue sky. It was slightly humid so Ryume put her hair up in a loose ponytail. Hikuro sneaked a glance at her but then looked away when he felt his face turn pink. He'd never seen Ryume's hair up in a ponytail and he mentally smacked himself for being embarrassed about his best friend's looks. He sighed quietly making Ryume look at him questioningly. He shook his head and put his hands in his deep pockets of the oversized tan jacket.
The two reached the training field and found Naruto and Risu there training also. Risu was Ryume's other best friend and teammate of Team 11. Naruto was Risu's other best friend and crush. Naruto was the first to notice them arrive and rolled his eyes at Hikuro. They didn't get along very well.
Risu bonded up to Ryume and flung an arm around her friend's neck, "Hey, what's up Ryume?" She asked cheerfully, her medium length blonde hair swaying.
Ryume smiled back, "Hikuro woke me up and made me go train with him." She teased.
"Well, sheesh, if you really don't want to be here, you can go back." Hikuro said, offended but also annoyed.
Ryume laughed at him and ruffled his messy long dark brown hair that was always covering his eyes. His green eyes bored into hers as he watched her laugh. He loved seeing her like that and always wished he'd never have to see her upset again. The last memory of seeing her upset made him shudder. It was something he wished would never happen again and he'd forget. But he knew it was stick to him every time he'd see her smile.
"I was kidding Hikuro!" Ryume said as she saw Hikuro's down face. "I don't mind being out here with you guys." She said.
Hikuro suddenly grinned and gave her a quick hug before walking across the field, readying himself for a spar. Naruto snickered at Hikuro's action and put an elbow on Risu's shoulder. "Good luck Ryume-Chan!" He called out. Risu gave them both a thumbs-up.
Ryume smiled and faced Hikuro. "Don't go easy on me!" She called out to him. All he did was grin and shake his head. Ryume waited as he took off his huge jacket, fling it to the side and straighten his dark blue and black shirt. "Ready?" She asked, and her question was answered once she saw Hikuro run towards her, a fist in the air. He flung his fist at her, which she neatly dodged followed by a kick. He also dodged that and tried to grab her fist she flung at him. Holding her fist he twisted her around when she tried to attack him. Once her back was facing him, he tried to force her to the ground, unsuccessfully when she spun around and tried to knee him. Another dodge.
"This isn't going to end too soon, is it?" Naruto asked, his elbow still leaning on Risu's shoulder.
Risu shrugged, "Who knows? Those two can make it either really short or pretty long. We better go warn the ramen guy once they're done." They both laughed.
The spar went on longer than expected but was stopped when Ryume ran out of breath and was caught off guard when Hikuro snuck up on her and tackled her to the ground. Hikuro sat on her back and grinned down at her, "Had enough?"
Ryume nodded. Hikuro chuckled and got off of her, offering her a hand to help her up. She took it and lifted herself up with his help. "Thanks." She said and was received her favorite grin. A small sharpened tooth –almost like a fang— showed from Hikuro when he grinned. Ryume thought it was hilarious.
When Ryume stood up straight, she stumbled and put a finger to her temple. Hikuro grabbed her arm and helped her to Risu and Naruto. "Hungry?" Risu asked and put her hand at the top of Ryume's head. Ryume grinned and nodded. Risu grinned back and faced Naruto, "Told ya."
They all walked to the ramen bar and ordered their shares talking among themselves about random things from training to how the ramen tasted. Ryume laughed along with Risu and Naruto as Hikuro sat quietly next to Ryume, gazing at her.
"Ryume," A low voice sounded from behind them. They all turned around and saw Kasaigaru in his wolf form standing behind them. "Tsunade has a small mission for us." He said.
"Right now?" Ryume asked, a bit upset.
"Right now." Kasaigaru's emotionless face confirmed. His black and blue streaked hair at the top of his head covered part of his glowing green eyes as he spoke. Ryume shrugged and nodded as she jumped down from her high chair.
"See you later, Ryume." Hikuro said and waved to her. She waved back to all of them and went with Kasaigaru, sneaking a grin/smile before turning around. "Well," Hikuro started, pushing his empty bowl away, "I guess I'll be out training some more." And he got off his chair also, Risu and Naruto following his action.
"Hey, Naruto, Hikuro!" Kiba's voice followed by a small bark called. Kiba walked over to them with Hinata, Rynn, Itazura, Sakura, and Rock Lee. "Wanna go hang for a bit?"
"Sure. Got nothing else better to do." Hikuro shrugged.
"Hey, anyone seen Kinaga?" Risu asked while they walked.
"He's on a mission." Sakura said. Risu mumbled an 'oh' and continued to walk.
"Ugh!" Rynn suddenly blurted out, "Why does it have to be so damn humid today?! I hate it!" She cried out and ruffled her own hair crazily. Rynn had long blonde hair and blue eyes with a crazy, teasing, fun, attitude. She may get on some people's nerves –a lot- but everyone seemed okay with it. In other words, you had to get used to her –in a good way.
"Hey, where's Ryume-Chan?" Lee asked, ignoring Rynn's continued protests.
"She had to go on a small mission or something." Naruto said.
"Oh, well let's hope it is short, everyone's saying there's going to be a lot of rain tonight."
"So?"
"I just don't want them getting rained on." Lee said.
"Tell Ryume that and she'll go nuts that we were worrying about her." Kiba joked.
"Who's this We?" Rynn said, matting down her hair. Risu glared at her. "Sheesh I was just kidding…" Rynn muttered.
Hikuro sighed, "Whatever, this is so boring."
Kiba shrugged "Yeah, pretty much, we're just gonna hang at the fields for a bit. Better than out here."
"I guess I'll come too." Hikuro said
Risu stopped walking, "I'm gonna go train with Taiyou. We haven't spent time together lately, see you guys later!" She waved and ran off with Hinata and Sakura agreeing to also leave. Leaving Naruto, Hikuro, Kiba, Rynn, and Rock Lee to go to the training fields.
"Anybody know where Itazura is?" Hikuro asked after a while of silent walking.
"He said he'd meet us at the fields. He should be there right now." Rynn answered.
Hikuro replied with a 'cool' and put his hands in his deep pockets, flinging his long dark brown hair out of his eyes. The group reached the training fields and sure enough, Itazura was there waiting, leaning against a tree in the shade with his eyes closed. "Hey what's up, Itazura?" Hikuro asked his best friend –that wasn't Ryume.
Itazura looked up and lifted his eyelids, revealing his calm black eyes. Itazura belonged to Team 12, the same as Hikuro and Kinaga's team. Him being the quiet and slightly humorous one has a crush on the loud, hyper, funny Rynn on Ryume's team. Team 11. No one really understood it but everyone respected it because no one didn't like Itazura. His dark hair with streaks of red and hair in his face along with the bow and arrow on his back matched his blue, red and white outfit. Enough to suit his quiet attitude.
Giving Hikuro a single nod, he walked over to everyone else with Rynn waving, "Itazura! Hey! What's up?" She grinned put her elbow on his shoulder, making him look away, slightly embarrassed. "So uhh… what now, you guys? I'm bored out of my mind! And my hair is bugging the heck out of me!" She cried out her last few words and ruffled her hair.
Hikuro shrugged and leaned against a tree, "Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Rynn… for once." Then he lifted his eyebrow as he saw Kiba sneak a smirk with Naruto. "And what the heck are you smirking about dog-boy?"
Kiba's smirk got even bigger, ignoring the comment. "Oh nothing… Just thought of something we can do."
"Training?" Lee asked excitedly.
"No, Lee." Everyone said in unison.
Lee's face fell for a moment and Naruto continued, going up to Hikuro, grinning. "You, like Ryume-Chan, right?"
"NO FREAKING DUH!" Rynn blurted out, making Itazura smirk and everyone else chuckle.
Hikuro's face turned slight pink and he looked away. "Yeah… So? Why the hell you care?"
Naruto and Kiba's faces turned red from holding in laughter. Then Naruto and Kiba split up and said the same thing, breaking it up:
"Hikuro Atsukai-"
"We dare you-"
"Yes, you-!"
"To ask-"
"Ryume Kazemizu-"
"Out on a date!" Kiba and Naruto said at the same time.
Hikuro's was caught off guard and lost his balance, making him fall face-first to the ground (anime style). His face was almost red from embarrassment as he looked up. "WHAT THE HELL?! ME ASK RYUME OUT!?"
"Yeah, why not? You're best friends, right?"
"But-" Hikuro was interrupted as laughter echoed from behind him.
Rynn Kuragari was on the ground holding her side from laughing so hard, her face red and tears streaming out of her eyes. In between breaths, she managed to get out, "I… Can't… Breath!… This… Is… Too… GREAT!" Her last word made her laugh even harder as her face started to hurt from smiling and her side ache from laughter. Itazura rubbed the back of his head, looking away. He wasn't too impressed on the dare as much as Hikuro was either. "Well?" Rynn asked, still laughing, "Are you going to?"
Hikuro blushed and looked away, "I don't know… I don't want to ruin our friendship."
Rynn made a sound with her lips, "Yeah right! Do you honestly think something like that will ruin your friendship with her? She's waaay too nice for that!"
"You know… She's got a point there." Kiba said with hand under his chin.
"You're not helping!" Hikuro snarled.
Kiba shrugged.
"So?" Rynn urged. "You gonna ask her?"
Hikuro looked away from everybody and thought about spending the day with Ryume. He'd love it so much but is unsure about how Ryume would feel. "Maybe it can just be us two as friends spending the day together…" He mumbled to himself. "It doesn't have to be called a 'date'."
"There we go!" Rynn said.
Hikuro hesitated. So many things could happen… He scratched his head, confused. Then he raised his head proudly and grinned. Saying it loudly, he raised his fist in the air and said, "I, ATSUKAI HIKURO, AM GOING TO ASK OUT KAZEMIZU RYUME ON A DATE!" Everyone laughed at him as Hikuro fell back and lay on the grass, as if the words blew the wind out of him. Rynn was on the ground laughing and Kiba and Naruto high-fived, grinning.
Everyone was laughing except Itazura. Why do I feel as if something's going to happen…? Hikuro's not making a wise decision… He shook his head at the thought.
I hope I'm wrong.