New Friends [P.][Akira/Ryan/Invite]

The day seemed warm, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, and all seemed... busy. This wasn't any kind of special day it was actually quite normal but everyone seemed to be very busy. The streets were full, the shop owners sure were happy, and the children were playing. Of course, when Hana left her home this morning she was not informed of this or she may not have left. Her mother was always trying to get her to go out and make friends but she was always too nervous to go alone. However, today her mother had got her to leave on her own with a bit of trickery and dodging of questions. Hana would shake her head slightly and smile as she thought back to the very morning she had.

It had started off with the girl sitting at her table eating breakfast. Her long red hair slightly fluffed and sticking off her head. Her headband still on her bed, along with her outfit for the day. Her shoes still next to the door. For the time being, she would be wearing black sweat pants and a black T-shirt. When she was finished, her mother would enter the house after having been out in the village. She would greet her daughter and go over the list of things she still needed done. It was at this moment she realized she had forgotten something and turned to look to Hana once more where the girl would be staring out the window, which looked out into their small garden of flowers. A moment later the girl would hear her mothers voice and turn to look at her. "Hana, will you go out and get some things for me? I forgot to get them and I just thought that maybe you'd like something to do." Hana would ask a series of questions such as: "What do you need?" "How many people are out?" Or "Do I have to go alone?" Her mother of course having known her better than anyone would dodge and answer questions so it didn't seem like much. After a while, the girl would accept and run to get ready.

The girl had thrown on a different black T- shirt. Its sleeves were long enough to cover half of the tattoo on the girls left arm. The tattoo was the girls clan symbol, which her mother had agreed to let her get only if it was that. She wore blue jean shorts that stopped half way down her thighs. On her head just behind her bangs she would wear her black headband and on her feet the black shinobi sandals. Of course, the girl brushed out her hair and tied it up in a black ribbon leaving two strands to frame her face and her bangs that hung over her forehead. Soon enough, she was out the door.

The girl soon realized that her mother had done what she did on purpose hoping the child would make friends. Now she knew why she ended up where she was now. Hana was walking down the streets holding the small list her mother had given her. She would keep her brown eyes on the words written so she wouldnt have to look at anyone around her. Little did she know when she got to the square there would be more people and if she had been looking she might have seen that.

As the girl continued on, her eyes would stay glued to the words. Hana would look at the ground periodically just to make sure she wasn't goin to trip. However, she didn't look up to see that she was fixing to run into someone until it was too late. Hana would stumble back after hitting the person in front of her and drop the piece of paper she was holding. The girl's face immediately turned red as she started to speak,"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I wasnt watching where I was going. It was all my fault."

His body ached as he rose from bed, his sheets falling off of his chest as he did so. He flung his sheets off slowly, revealing his pink polka dotted boxers underneath. He placed both feet firmly on the wooden ground below them and walked towards the shower where he would quickly wash all of his body; especially his hair. It was always greasy when he didn't wash it thoroughly. As he got out of the watery stand stall, he would walk into the kitchen with a towel around his waste to see his grandfather and brother eating oatmeal at the table. "Nice of you to join us Utsukushi." Shousha, his brother would remark. Grey frowned as his older brother referred to him by his actual name. He hated it with a passion simply because beautiful was generally used to describe girls.

"Go get some clothes off and join us for breakfast." His grandfather said politely with a smile on his face. He lifted his arms in an away motion . Grey scattered into his room and grabbed a white tee shirt as well as a pair of black slacks and limped back into the kitchen where he would grab a bowl from the shelf before lifting the pot containing the oatmeal and pouring himself a serving. The hot bowl sat on the counter as he grabbed it and took it to the table, using a tablespoon to devour large helpings of it at a time. "Slow down before you choke." His grandpa would say, though the boy would obviously pay no attention to it. Grey wolfed down all of his food and looked back up at his brother. "So do we have any training today?" His brother would shake his head and go on to explain that he was completely booked today. "That means you have a free day today. I expect you to train hard." Grey nooded but in his mind he thought, 'Yea fuck that...'. After he finished eating, he would walk towards the door and wave goodbye to his family. He walked out the door with his left foot ahead of his right and squinted his eyes as the bright sun hit his face.

"Ahh the Town Square. Always full of bright eyed people." He could feel the sunlight glint off of his face as his hair shaded the majority of it. He smiled as he walked, though he couldn't stop looking around as he walked. There was just so much to see. Street performers, dogs stealing bread, the occasional pickpocket. The village was an eyeful. However, his lack of concern of where he was going would come back to bite him in the ass. As soon as he turned his head back in the direction of which he was walking, it was too late. He forcefully collided with a girl in front of him and immediately fell to the ground. He landed on his butt, but he scraped his elbow once it made connection with the ground. Lifting his head to scold the person before him, he stopped once he saw her face. She had red hair and brown eyes. She wore a black tee and a sorry expression on her face as apologies began pouring out of her mouth. His face turned red. 'She... she's cute...' He would say to himself in his mind before standing quickly. "No no! Its okay! I should have been watching where I was going." He extended a hand for her, to help her up.

WC: 594

Hana would stop apologizing as the boy looked at her. She didn't know what else to say and she noticed his face looked a little red. She didn't know if it was because he was angry or maybe it was something else. However, that's what she would think until he stood and offered to help her. It sort of confused her a bit. Usually, when she did something especially to a boy they would make fun of her and run off. This one offered to help her and apologized? Hana would blink as she looked at the boy's hand but would look around for a moment before taking hold of it. After finding the list she was looking for, the girl would take hold of the boy's hand and stuff the small piece of paper in her pocket. The girl would then stand and dust herself off.

With a shy smile, Hana would look back to the boy that she had run into. Her cheeks were slightly red because she wasn't any good when it came to boys. She would look the boy over a bit. She started off by looking at his hair. Hana noticed his hair was different colors, which was something she didn't see on most other boys. She would then notice his eyes. They were different colors but Hana took a liking to them. Hana liked different because to many people that's just what she was. It did of course make her feel bad and she seemed lonely most of the time but her mother was there to make her feel good about being different. Her eyes would then move to his piercings. Hana liked piercings though her mother would only allow her to get her ears pierced but she didn't have any earrings to put in them at the moment. Hana would. then look to see the tattoos on the boys neck this would make her look to her left arm. Hana would slide her sleeve up a bit and look at her own tattoo. She thought it would make her look cooler and her mother wanted her to be happy. However, she was only allowed to get it on the one condition that it was something meaningful. So, she went with her clan symbol. This way everyone would know where she belonged.

After a moment of not speaking, the girl realized she hadn't said a word. The girl would look back to the boy and her face would once again turn red. "I.. I'm sorry. Wher are my manners?I.. I am Hana.. Uzumaki." The girl would smile another shy smile and then she would frown a bit. "Most know me as Cherry though. I'm sure you've heard that name before." The girl would sigh and wonder if this boy would make fun of her too after hearing her nickname. It had been given to her by the boys in her academy class and stuck with her all the way through to this day. "May I ask... your name?" Hana was trying to keep herself straight. Boys made the girl very nervous.

As she grasped his hand he couldn't help but to give out an awkward chuckle. He lifted the girl up and put his hand behind his back, rubbing it a bit with his other. Her hands were really soft, though he couldn't expect less out of a cute girl. He noticed her eyes moving all over him, first at his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he felt extremely self conscious about his eye color, as only freaks had that of two different dyes. He could feel his pupils dilate despite the fact that he was nervous. Her eyes then moved to his lower lip; he gulped as she did so. 'She probably thinks I'm some sort of common street rat... All these piercings and tattoos and hair and...' His mind was moving too rapidly. He forced himself to calm as he took in a deep breath. He wasn't about to look like a geek in front of the first girl he really took time to talk to. She gazed at his tattoos before lifting her sleeve, revealing hers. The symbol on her arm made it clear that she was an Uzumaki! A rival clan of the Uchiha! However, he didn't think too much about it. He wasn't one for the whole clan wars ideal. However, he did think it was neat that they both had tattoos.

She told him her name and he smiled. 'She goes by Cherry. Thats adorable', he thought to himself. He grinned because they both went by nicknames rather than their real names. "Well it's nice to meet you Cherry. My name is Utsu-" He stopped himself before revealing his full name. 'If she knows my real name, she'll definitely think I'm a dork!' He thought to himself. Such a dilemna. "My name is Grey Uchiha. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintence." He gave a deep bow before realizing that was no longer the proper way to greet people. He was so embarassed, he stayed stuck in the bow, hoping she would be dorky enough to do the same to spare him the shame.

WC: 350

Hana had noticed the boy's reactions as she looked hI'm over though she hadn't said anything about them. She wondered why he did those things. In Hana's mind, all boys were not afraid of anything, they never got nervous, they never got sad, and most of them were mean as snakes. This was due to the fact that she had never spoke. to a boy and she never knew her father. Growing up in a house with just her mother, Hana didn't know much about a number of things. However, one day she hoped to learn more so that she could grow and become someone that people looked up to. She didn't want to stay that clueless girl in the background. This is where she would start. Talking to this boy is where Hana would start to try and peel away her shell. Although, she might not know it yet.

Hana would look at the boy as he grinned and then he would speak her nickname. This would make her face turm red once again. She didn't understand why he was grinning. Was it because her nickname was funny to him? Maybe he liked her nickname? She started to wonder why she was worrying so much. She. was afraid to get too close for the time being just to make sure he wasn't just faking or to make sure she wasn't reading him wrong. She started to wonder if this would be easier if her father were still here. However, she would soon drop the thought as she noticed the boy didn't finish his sentence. It made her a little curious as to what he was going to say. Maybe that would be a topic for later if there was a later.

Hana would soon see the boy bow after stating his name. This would make her giggle slightly. "Well, I could say the same to you." Hana would make a slight bowing gesture in return. She hadn't done that to greet anyone before but she didn't mind to do it. "Ya know... I like your style Grey. I like your eyes most though." Hana would then close her mouth and her face would turn red. She hadn't ever said anything like that to anyone other than her mother before. The bad part about it was she used the words "Ya know." Somehow, she had gotten stuck with those words and tried not to say them much and normally only spoke them at home. 'He's going to think I'm weird. He's going to tell everyone how weird I am. Great just great. What is wrong with me?' Hana would think these thoughts to herself and sort of nervously smile at Grey. Her face still red.

Grey began to make the observations that Shousha had always told him to when meeting new people. The Uchiha were widely notorious by the spinning eye in their skull known as the sharingan. A lot of people hunted the eyes of the Uchiha in order to transplant them into themselves and grow in power. The fact that Cherry was acting a bit nervous was a bit odd to Grey. With his head bowed, he kept thinking of the fact that she sounded nervous. While he was no longer distracted by her cute face, everything became clear. She was clearly doing all of these dorky things to fit in with him, get close, and steal his sharingan. 'That vixen!' He would think to himself. Why else would she go around acting foolish only to make him comfortable. And she even had an Uzumaki tattoo, the rival of the Uchiha. Everything looked a bit too suspicous to be overlooked. He would put her through sly, yet rigorous questioning to determine her true motives.

"So... You're a ninja here in the village right? And an Uzumaki. Your tattoo looks really nice." If one could see into his mind, they would see him smiling hysterically and giggling to himself with his hands on the top of his lips, eyes looking into the air. In reality, both of his hands were behind his backs and he stared at her adoringly, eyes wide with interest. Hopefully she wouldn't be too powerful for him to overpower when she launched her inevitable attack on him. "I'm a Genin. I just graduated last year but I haven't been able to do much work due to the fact that I've been fighting off bounty hunters. Just so much work to do nowadays. " He let out a sigh with his eyes closed as he waited for her to bite the hook. He would reel her in as fast as this fishy metaphor allowed!

The sun began to beat down on his hair. The black color of his folicles always absorbed all of the heat in the air as well as the moisture, causing it to become even puffier than ever. Luckily, today was not one of those days. Every now and then, he would pat his head just to make sure as he listened to what she had to say. The whole time he kept a smile on his face. Ocassionally he would look down at his lip stud and see the sunlight shine off of it, making it seems as if it was glenting.

WC: 427

Hana would wait to see what kind of reply she would recieve from Grey. However, all he would do is ask her questions. Maybe he didn't find her as weird as she thought he would. This boy seemed very friendly unlike the others she had met. Perhaps she could become frends wth him... if he would like of course. Hana stll didn't know how to go about being friends wth someone since the only person she ever talked to was her mother. So, she would simply answer his questions and be as nice as possible.

"Yes, I am." Hana would say with a smile and then her attention turned back to the blue colored tattoo on her arm. "Thank You. My mother wouldn't let me get it unless it was something meaningful and well to me my clan means a lot." Hana would stare at her tattoo a moment. It brought a smile to her face when she looked at it because she knew if there was ever anywhere she belonged... it was with her clan. So, for this reason she would show off her tattoo and make it known that she was an Uzumaki. Though, many didn't believe her because of her brown eyes. It sort of through people off, which wasn't completely a bad thing, but it did make her look like a liar. Hana would turn her eyes back to Grey as he continued to speak. This would then make the girl tilt her head slightly, "Oh yeah. Uchiha have that sharingan thing don't they? I've read it somewhere before and I've been told about it. Of course, being an Uzumaki you'd think Id know more but I really don't care for the clan hate thing..." Hana's words would stop. It seemed quite abrupt but it was a topic she could never get too far into. Her reasoning was related to her father, who she would never talk to anyone about but her mother.

Hana had seemed to stare off into space when she stopped talking. However, she was soon dragged back in with a slight shake of the head. "I'm sorry. Anyways, I just graduated not too long ago myself. Obviously, I'm a Genin as well. I train with my mother a lot and that's about it. Nothing special to me." The girl would sort of smile after speaking. She hoped she wasn't being to weird or saying too much. The fact she didn't know what she should and shouldn't say made her a bit afraid to speak. However, she didn't want yo be rude so she would say whatever it was that came to.mind and hope it wasnt anything wrong.

She had answered every last one of his questions with absolutely no resistence. However, at one point it did seem as if she had dozed off into space after gazing admirably at her tattoo. Should he have been able to, Grey would have looked at his own, however he was not dumb enough to be seen trying to do so. While she faded into an alternate reality, Grey assessed what had happened in the last few moments within his mind. She seemed to be telling the truth entirely, based off of what he had seen from her. She gave no indications of lying, and it was admittedly a relief that she had no interest in clan rivalries between the two, fore he and his little family had no love for them either. He just wanted to go about his life without being involved in such hatred.

As she said she was too a Genin, he normally would have smiled. If his subconscious had a face, it would have been smiling from ear to ear over the fact that the two were in the same level and rank. He hoped she had no squad yet and since she passed the oral exam he had been issuing, he would offer her to be in a squad with him. 'Please let her say yes...," he thought to himself. He yearned to be able tos spend time with her as often as possible. Being a ninja would feel less like work and more like a job if he could do it with her. He noticed he too now had been dazing off into space, thinking about it, but he pinched himself before he was done drifting, allowing him to return to the real world before she had. "Well, coming right out of the academy, I don't suppose you have a team. To be honest, all of my class mates were paired together, leaving me with no one else." The truth was that Grey had refused to team with anyone who called him Utsukushi, which was everyone in the class. "Maybe you and I could talk to the Hokage about becoming a team... if we found a sensei and a third Genin of course. Actually, I think it could be a Chunin too!" He realized he was talking too much and put a hand over his mouth, but only mentally. In the real world, he was just silent.

WC: 408

Hana had noticed that everything between the two was quiet while she was off in her own little world. Even though the square was loud, all she payed attention to was the silence. Was he waiting for her to say something? Was he thinking about something too? She wouldn't look in his direction until he started to speak and when he did she would listen carefully. Although she had been listening, the girl would blink a couple times before speaking herself. "You want... to be in a squad.. with me?" Hana didn't quite believe what she had listened to. So, the girl would look around slightly... just to be sure. She didn't have much experience with anything and nobody really wanted to be on her team, which was most likely why she didn't have one yet. In all honesty, it was fine with her. All the other students in her class made fun if her red hair and called her a liar. The reason they called her a liar of course was because she had an Uzumaki tattoo and the red hair however, she didn't have the blue eyes. "Anyone can color their hair, Cherry," They'd all tell her. Hana tended to overlook that though because her mother was there for her when she needed it. She always believed that she would never need anyone else.

The offer that Grey had thrown out however, wasn't such a bad idea to her. He seemed really nice and sweet. When he called her Cherry, it didn't seem like an insult so she didnt mind it. Really after a while, the nickname didn't feel like such an insult anymore it felt.... normal. Also, as she had said before.. she liked the boys look. She liked the fact he had seemed so excited about the thought. It would make her smile slightly. "Ya know... I mean." She would stop a moment and take a deep breath after having said those words. She had no idea where they came from but they drove her crazy. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I can't do much but I do try to do the best with what I have. So, sure. Id love to be on a squad with you. If we can pull it off." Hana would say with a big smile on her face. She started to think of the fun she could have and how proud her mother would be. She could only wish her father were her to see her but she knew he was close.

The girl seemed really nervous, almost as if she was about to dodge his question in some way. A frown could be seen forming on his face, but very slowly as this happened. He felt his heart thud against his chest as he hoped that she would agree to join him. However, even if she did the two would have to find a third member to join them. That didn't seem that bad of an idea however, seing as they would be able to meet one new person other than just to the two of them. Though the way things were going, she would not want to join him and he would just be stuck with Shousha and two spots to fill. His brother did indeed already tell him that he would not be recruiting and would only be willing to teach a squad should Grey supply it. 'But why, Shou?' Grey remembered himself asking. The older brother simply pat him on the head without even looking at him, but rather the scenary around them. The he would look at the younger brother, very closely with an eerie expression, as if he was to reveal a secret, 'I am lazy,' he said before laughing. 'And a grown man walking around trying to find children is odd.'

Grey snapped back into reality that also seemed like a dream as Hana agreed to be in his squad. A smile reached his face as he held in his excitement. 'Uchiha are supposed to be cold and cool. Calm down.' He had to to tell himself in his mind. His smile dropped into a look of apathy. "Yea that's cool or whatever." He would say. The only problem was that his voice broke at the end of the sentence, causing him to blush intensely. 'Play it off!' He told himself mentally as he kept his straight face, cheeks bright red from the experience. He was so embarrassed he didn't know what to do so his just started rambling. "Yea so my brother will be our sensei cause you know he's a pretty strong ninja but not like the strongest but still pretty strong because he's a jounin and they don't just make anyone those and he knows cools stuff but he's pretty tough and he like to help me-" He caught himself rambling and forced his mouth closed with all the might of his jaw.

WC: 406

Hana would notice the boys face began to move into a smile. However, it quickly turned to something else. The girl would tilt hee head slightly as she looked at the boy. Her mouth stayed closed as he spoke but when he finished his first statement the girl heard something happen with his voice. Hana would hold back the laughter she wanted to let out. 'That would be rude Hana." She would say this over and over in her mind as he continued to ramble on and speak of his brother. However, he would eventually stop speaking and the ending would be rather abrupt. This is when Hana would start to giggle. She was beginning to notice he was trying to act differently than he wanted. She could figure out why that would be though. It crossed her mind once before she decided to speak herself. The girl didn't want to seem rude and certainly didn't want Grey to be nervous, embarrassed, or anything. "Well, if we are going to be teammates then we better get to know each other right? How about we do something today?" Hana would offer this considering she didnt have to be home until later.

Hana would stand with her hands behind her back. Although she may be coming off less nervous than before, she was feeling quite the same. She really hoped Grey wanted to spend some time with her. She wanted to know what it was like to have fun with friends. Well, first she had to know what it felt like to have a friend. She also wanted to know what it felt like to not be nervous around someone that wasn't her mother. If the girl were yo be asked she may say this was more for the both of them however, it was really more for herself. Hana wanted to feel like a normal person with friends for once and Grey was really nice. Hana would be glad if Grey were her first friend because he wasn't like the others. He was really quite the opposite of them. To her he was nice, sweet, funny, and sort of different. Hana would come back to reality and realize she had been lost in her thoughts. Her face had stayed the same so she hoped he didn't notice. Alrhough she didn't want him to.notice, she couldn't help but feel her cheeks become warm and her face started to turn red. However, she would try to act as though she didnt even notice. Again the same words ran through hher mind, "He's really gonna think you're weird. What's wrong with you?"

Based on the look on her face, she obviously wasn't believing in the charade he attempted to put on for like three seconds. He would obviously have to use another tactic to impress her. His mind kept trying to reason with him with the generic 'just be yourself. If she doesn;t like you for you, then it won't matter either way.' Though he brushed off that speculation extremely fast. He would do his best to make her wow in his presence. He would perform of deed of deeds to impress her. Though it would probably take longer than he liked and he would likely be unable to do it until he was at least Genin. He would save the entire village from bandits, or better yet, Ninja from a rival country. He would destroy all of those in his path. It played out in his mind like it was a movie.

Hundreds of ninja from Iwagakure stormed down the hillside into the land of fire as the villagers exclaimed in fear. "Uchiha God Grey! Please save us!" Grey would teleport to the field with a smile on his face, his bright white teeth flashing in the sunlight. His musclar body and luscious hair caught the sun quite well as he stood, a man of art in front of the entire battlefield. Standing at Six feet, two inches, he towered over the likes of the enemies. His brother cheered him on from the sidelines and referred to him. not as Utsukushi, but as Grey. "You can do it Grey, I believe in you and always knew you were much better than me from the beginning!" Grey rushes onto the battlefield, destroying every single opposer in his path, leaving not a single survivor, but rather a mass grave above ground as adoring fans took his picture while he flexed. Through the crowd of paparazzi, Hana would run through them, arms open and swing into his strong arms. "Oh Grey, you're my hero!" As if on cue, he would lean in for the kiss of his lide.

And then he snapped out of it, realizing what Cherry asked him. She wanted to hang out... with him!? "S-sure! I would love to-" He stopped himself and put a straight expression on his face as he responded as cooly as possible. "I mean, yea man whatever. What do you wanna do?" In his inner mind he smiled to himself. 'Nailed it.' He would think while crossing his arms and staring straight up into the sky, pretending not to care.

WC: 430

Hana would stand for a moment thoughts flooding her mind as she waited for an answer from Grey. 'What if he doesn't want to? What if he does want to? What if.. what if.. what if.. ?' The girl was trying to come up with a million different things to do or say in certain situations. She didn't know how to just do so instead she decided to just plan. Even while she was planning she would ask questions about her planning. It was quite odd to her, which only.made her feel weirder. Eventually, the girl would just wipe her mind and mentally sigh. All her planning efforts had jumbled together in a big mess. What was she to do now? Hana had no idea what she would do so it looked as if she would just have to wait.

Hana would wait only a few more moments her eyes still on the Uchiha. As he began to speak, she could see he was cutting off sentences and still acting... different. She wondered what this could be about. She listened to his answer and then thought a moment. She hadn't thought about what she would want to do. However, she dis know what she would want to say. "Well, first let me start off with this. I can tell something is going on in that head of yours no matter how hard you try to hide it." Hana would giggle as she went to poke his head. "This means that I know you're not being you because you are actually making it obvious." Hana would keep a smile on her face. Her words came out nice and almost as if she was picking on the Uchiha a bit. She didn't want to sound as if she were being mean or anything. "I'm smarter than I may look." The girl would continue to look at the boy with a smile. She hoped his reaction was going to be something like she expected. She hoped he wouldn't take anything she said in a wrong way as well.

Hana would proceed to think about what it was she wanted to do. She really hadn't done anything in a while besides training. Also, everything fun she had done would be considered playing at the park with her mother or something small like that. The girl really didn't know what all there was to do. So, the girl would speak again, "Hm... also why don't you pick something. I really don't care what it is. I've been training so much anything is better than that right?" Hana's smile seemed to never fade. After going over in her mind what she had said, the girl would pick out two goals for the day. The first one was getting this Grey Uchiha to act himself and the second was having some fun. This would make Hana feel more comfortable knowing she was working towards something. It made her feel better she was trying to improve herself and her skills with others. Shs always wanted to be the best in everything so that's just what she was going to work towards. No matter what it was.