[Uchiha, Kai]

Rain still fell today, as it did the days before, while a young man peeked from shop window to shop window. Window shopping, as it was known by so many. He kept the rain out of his eyes by... Well, actually, he didn't keep the rain out of his eyes. Kai was, getting quite literally his parade rained on. But that was mostly his fault- His jacket was still drying back at Sachi's place.

So instead, he was in a t-shirt, just letting the cold rain fall on him, ignorant to its effects. He had a mission today. After all the nice things Sachi had been doing for him... Well, needless to say, he felt like he owed something. He didn't, supposedly, but there was this certain... Mood. Feeling, in his heart. She worked so tirelessly for him, in his eyes. He wouldn't sleep well until he did something nice for her back.

Especially after his episode. So, under the guise of going out on a 'mission', he had made his way through town, his breath fogging up glass after glass.

What did a girl like Sachi like? Clothes? No... She made her own clothes. Why would she want those? A new pipe? No no, the one she had clearly meant something to her. Ninja gear? No, no, no... What use would she have for that? She probably had money anyways. 

Taking a seat on a wet bench, the confused Uchiha would stare forward at the ground, letting the rain fall upon him, a look of frustration deeply set on his face. He was truly at a loss here on what he could purchase the young Kunoichi...

"But what do girls even like...?" The words left his lips unintentionally, but really. It's not like anyone was watching... Or listening, right? 

[Honō Saya]

Saya loved it when it rained.

Many of her peers found the near constant presence of rain and clouds in the later months of the year bothersome, annoyed by the wetness, the cold, the quiet but unending noise that echoed across the tile roofs and paper walls. And to a degree, she could understand the sentiment; the autumn rains were often a difficult time for farmers and Shinobi alike, with constant issues cropping up that both had to deal with on top of it being wet, cold, and generally miserable outside. But for her? This was the best time of the year.

Walking down the muddy street, the redhead smiled, enjoying both the sound and feel of the droplets as they impacted on both her umbrella and the swaths of exposed skin that were visible beneath her outfit. She had gone with something a bit bold today, choosing a lighter yukata of white and red that hung off of her right shoulder, complete with a short hem that came down only to her knees and a single slit on the right side. She paired it with a wide black obi through which she kept Hitsukien tight against her left hip. The right sleeve was also quite a bit longer than the left, stretching almost a foot past her hand, while the left ended just above her elbow, creating an unevenness to the design that was both visually distinct and aesthetically pleasing all at once.

So it was that the Hono Genin found herself walking down the road, taking in the beauty of Kusagaure in the rain, when she heard a voice, soft but male and clearly frustrated, coming from somewhere to her right. The redhead blinked, her honey-yellow gaze moving across the empty road, looking for the source- only for her to turn about fully, walk back about twenty feet, and glance down a side alley that led to the shopping district… where she spotted him, sitting on a bench at the end of the alley.

Boy. Tall. Older than me by the look of him. Konoha-nin. She’d heard that Konoha and Kusa were some kind of mission exchange program for Genin, but it hadn’t occurred to her that any of the people involved might actually have arrived. Although, given the look on his face and the words she’d overheard, it was entirely possible he was simply here for a short while and decided to go looking for a gift of some kind. In the rain. Without an umbrella. Like a boy.

Letting loose a soft, subtle giggle at her joke, Saya walked down the alley towards the Konoha-nin, holding her umbrella lightly, lips parted in a soft, understanding smile. Once she got there, the girl stopped, her voice calm and polite as she turned her head towards the boy, noting his dark hair and handsome features; whoever he was, his girlfriend had landed a very nice catch indeed. "That depends on the girl in question, actually."

Uchiha, Kai

[Uchiha, Kai]

Kai shook the rain water out of his hair for a moment as he sat up, staring over at the approaching woman. He heard her coming- Although every Shinobi was subtle, this one had a certain chipper aura around her, which was rather difficult to miss.

He noted her own features. Seemed to be around his age. Fair features. Were he looking, she'd certainly tick a lot of boxes for him. As it stood though, he was more worried about Sachi right now, what she was doing, and what he was going to get her. He contemplated ignoring the girl- Not out of intentional malice, but more so because his mind was so glued to this that he worried that it might drift elsewhere-

Before he sighed in defeat, realizing he was at his wits end, and if whoever was up there decided to give him an out, he might as well take it.

"Are all Kusa-nin so friendly?" He mused idly, as the rain fell on his face. He wiped it off, standing tall- Or rather, trying to- She was certainly a head or two above the usual Kusa-nin he met- And extended a hand.

"Uchiha, Kai. If I explained her, I'd come off as lovestruck." Which, in truth, from the way he was talking about her and the way he looked, he was. He was madly in love with Sachi, who was not only a romantic partner now, but dipping into territories he didn't know she could- Helping him with issues he thought were impossible to solve.

"If you must ask, though, she's a lovely girl named Sachi." He decided to continue anyways, leading on from his rather short words beforehand to a much more verbose sentence. It was a bit out of character for him, but in truth, his time around Sachi was slowly starting to change who he was as a person around others. Opening him up, so to speak, though he doubted it was her intention in the slightest.

That said, he didn't denote her appearance yet or what she did, on the off chance that this woman knew her from the Academy. It was worth a shot, was it not?

[Honō Saya]

"No, but I am." Saya said, her smile beaming through her voice as she watched the boy wrestle with his thoughts, clearly weighing whether he wanted to take her up on her offer of help or not. And she could understand why; she was a total stranger, one with no likelihood of knowing what his girlfriend might like… and she was pretty on top of it. Not that she’d stoop so low as to even attempt to steal someone else’s man, but still. It was something every girl worried about, even if only briefly. And then he gave his name, and her interest shifted from that of a curiously helpful bystander to an invested helper in the blink of an eye.

"Saya Honō." She replied, extending her free hand for Kai to shake as she twisted her umbrella with the other, her honey-yellow eyes gleaming with something akin to glee. "And I am very familiar with Sachi. I was her first friend when she joined the Academy." Which, of course, didn’t exactly cover the depth of their friendship, but it would be enough for the Uchiha boy to at least believe her when she started guiding him to the right kind of gift.

"Why don’t we get out of this rain, and I’ll help you find her something nice, eh?" Saya said, her smile never wavering as she gestured for Kai to follow her- and if he didn’t? Well, she’d simply grab his hand and pull him along anyway, regardless of how much he outweighed her. It wasn’t like he was going to fight back.

Uchiha, Kai

[Uchiha, Kai]

Ah. She was made of even more energy than Sachi. Though to be fair, it was a different kind of energy. His arms stretched out as she explained herself, the rain falling delightfully onto his body as she extended a hand to shake.

He looked down at it for a moment, carefully, then back up to her lovely yellow eyes, before... Okay, yeah, he shook her hand.

"Saya, huh? That's a good name." He was simple with her- Words again, down to minor sentences that perhaps didn't always paint the full picture of what he was thinking about. His lazy attitude still had its grips on him, even now, when he was being anything but lazy.

He was quite literally the opposite of a deadbeat right now, in fact. Going out of his way to get gifts his girlfriend didn't even ask for. Still, it was quite interesting to hear that this girl knew not only Sachi, but knew her well, apparently. She never spoke about a Saya before. Then again, why would she?

Was it really her duty to tell Kai literally every little thing about her life? He scolded himself for even suggesting such a thing, but he smiled back at Saya. It seemed he wasn't paying attention, and she'd grabbed his hand in the meanwhile, tugging him along the rainy streets behind her.

Kai himself wasn't a heavyset fellow- He was tall, sure, and muscular, but he wasn't heavy. You could put muscles in a Uchiha, but it took more then some fancy muscles and armor to break away from the fact that his Clan was physically on the fragile side.

"Ah... I appreciate that. I've been looking all day..." It was still morning. "And I still don't know what she'd like..." He sighed, again with that defeated attitude. For all the cleverness and genius that a Uchiha had stored in their mind, it seemed when it came to matters of social behavior around others, in the case of Kai, he was still catching up.

Regardless, they ran past building to building- The streets were full of different stalls and vendors and shops. It was a good thing this place was such a trade hub- It meant a lot of goods were misplaced, fell off caravans and other things, and just generally ended up in the wares of random merchants. It wasn't banditry or theft, mind you- Just the nature of when you had so much trade run through your country, you tended to pick up bits and bobs here and there, even if the people of Kusagakure were still traditional in their ways.

[Honō Saya]

"Don’t worry about it." Saya said as Kai mumbled through what probably passed for a gushingly emotive thank you for someone like him. She hadn’t known him for more than a few minutes, but the young Konoha-nin had all the hallmarks of someone afflicted by the laziness bug; his posture, his semi-defeatist attitude, the way he allowed himself to be dragged around by a complete stranger… All of these were glaring signs that he didn’t like to put much effort into things. Into anything, really. Which makes it all the more surprising he went looking for a gift on his own.

"I’ve got an idea that should work." The Hono said as she led Kai through the streets, weaving around the many vendors and stalls that had popped up along the roads, even in the light rain. Profit was a powerful motivator, after all, and there was money to be made on days like this, if you were willing to get a little wet. But they weren’t looking for the various nick-knacks and oddities the street vendors sold- no, she had a very specific shop in mind, one that Sachi probably hadn’t even thought of visiting yet, given how new it was.

"You should know," Saya began as she pulled Kai through a particularly narrow side street, emerging from between the two buildings (a butcher’s shop and a honey vendor) with a smile as she pointed towards their destination, "-that Sachi makes her own clothes and jewelry. So buying her a dress or a necklace wouldn’t really make for a good gift." The shop in question was small, perhaps twenty feet wide by fifteen feet long, with no windows to advertise its wares- only a small sign of worn wood covered in fresh paint that said "Ohariko.”

"But that doesn’t mean you can’t get her the material for a dress." She said, letting Kai’s hand go as she stepped to the side, allowing the young man to pass her should he wish. He’d probably still need her help picking out something Sachi would actually like (boys could be so terribly hopeless about things involving fashion) but, for now at least, she could bask in the sense that she had done something worthwhile. Had helped, if only in a small way.

Uchiha, Kai

[Uchiha, Kai]

As said before, Kai was quite the changing man. He was going through those oddball changes in life that happened when something significant was going on for him. That said...

She seemed to have an idea, and she was pulling him along like a downhill cart. That is to say, moving very, very, quickly. And well, yeah, he was still getting wet- And she wasn't. The rain was also coming down in waves at this point, and he was sheltering his head with his free arm to get away from it. Why did he forget to wear his jacket...

What was more interesting than that, however, was the looks they got as they walked. They were close to holding hands, and it was easy for some to get misconceptions here- It wouldn't be surprising if someone who didn't know either thought them to be some sort of couple or pairing. Close in age, out in the rain, pulling him along cutely. Come on.

A picture was worth a thousand words, but only few of them held the true meaning. That said, Kai listened to what the woman had to say about Sachi. He had to agree on that- He knew she made her own clothes, but it wasn't until very recently. Same with her jewelry. Fortunately for Saya's sake though, her advice wasn't useless because Kai was an idiot and totally didn't think about buying materials for a dress.

He smacked his head with his palm as if the answer was obvious.

"Of course! Gahh..." He groaned, looking over at the shop that said "Ohariko". Was this that place Sachi was talking about? ...Maybe, he couldn't recall. He was really wet though, so he first shook off all the rain. Or tried to, anyways. His shirt was damp and clung to his body well- Showing off his toned form. Typical for a shinobi, though.

"Uh..." He wandered around the store with her for a good minute or so, looking completely clueless, before he turned towards Saya.

"I have no idea what I'm looking for. Maybe something... Pink?" He asked, scratching at his head. He looked lost- She was right on the money when she thought that boys were hopeless when it came to fashion.

"...Would that work? Or maybe a... Giant ball of yarn..." Oh please Saya. Help this poor boy.

[Honō Saya]

Saya watched the Uchiha boy as he shook off the rain from his shirt and hair, still drenched but decidedly less drippy now, his face a jumbled mess of thoughts and conflicting ideas. He wandered the store for a good minute, looking at various fabrics, scratching his head in confusion and embarrassment, unable to think of what to get his girlfriend. The red-head gave a small chuckle at Kai’s antics, then strolled over towards the counter, her lips parting in a small smile as she spoke to the attendant, not quite ignoring the Leaf-nin, but certainly not acknowledging his request outright.

"Excuse me," she began, glancing back at Kai for a moment, "would you mind helping me and my friend here? He needs help picking out some cloth for his girlfriend." The Hono girl paused then, her honey-yellow gaze warm and inviting as the attendant blinked at her, glancing between the Uchiha boy and herself, clearly confused- but after a moment, she nodded and walked around the counter towards the Leaf-nin.

"Uh… sure. Do you know what kind of outfit she’ll be making?” The attendant asked as she walked, gesturing for Kai to follow as she moved deeper into the shop, away from the fancy silks and towards the simpler fabrics, though she lingered for a moment near a bundle of hot-pink silk, glancing between the black-haired teen and Saya, still not quite certain what to make of the pair.

"Something practical, like a hanten or a thick haori." She said, looking to Kai to add in a bit of his own feedback this time. "Oh, and she’ll need something to wear under that, so probably enough for a kimono or a yukata as well." Sachi was something of a traditionalist, so some of the more… adventurous options available to her would simply not happen, no matter how cute she might look in them. Still, she could help steer Kai in the right direction- provided he knew enough about his girlfriend to discern her favorite color, of course.

Uchiha, Kai

[Uchiha, Kai]

Kai felt completely, utterly, and totally lost. Which was fair, it's not he was used to searching for items to make clothes. Generally, he just... Bought a jacket, and had someone stick a logo on it. It was simple, but it worked. Now though, Saya was having him walk around the store, look for the right items to pick out, and probably would have ended up buying something pretty mediocre, had Saya not swooped in to help the lost Uchiha.

Ah, help from the store owner. He smiled, waving a bit- Nervously of course- Before she asked about what kind of outfit he'd be making. A lot of ideas came to mind of course, but in reality... Well, Saya beat him to it. Practical clothes seemed to be her favorite- And the idea of her dressed in something more fancy made him shiver. If she ever did end up in something to try and get his attention more than usual, she'd probably have him on his knees barking like a dog.

... Man, what was with him and dogs? A rub at his head as she mentioned a komono, a yukata, a hanten, a haori... He had to really think for a moment here on what a girl like her liked. Color wise, she always wore pink. But didn't she say something wanting to avoid looking too childish? Hrm, the ideas ran through his mind, until finally, standing still in an awkward place in the middle of the store, having let them move forward, he snapped his fingers in a revelation.

"She loves pink, but she does want to look a bit more adult. Maybe... Pink... Gold... White... And black?" A quad of items off the top of his head that he thought would lead to a rather mature looking, but still cute outfit, at least in his mind.

"Don't worry about the price- I can pay for it." He was going to put himself into serious debt to buy all this, but he gave no mind to that- This was a gift, for someone who was so kind and loving back to him.

[Honō Saya]

Saya listened to Kai as he answered the store owner’s questions, listing a series of colors that, while certainly not bad, would have probably bankrupted the poor boy buying a single bolt of cloth for them all, let alone enough to make a whole outfit. The store owner seemed to understand this, and though she smiled and nodded along to what the Konoha boy was saying, she could already tell he was about to have to pick a different set of colors. Now that’s what I like to see. An honest businesswoman.

"Those are good choices, but gold doesn’t exactly pair well Sachi’s eyes." The redhead said, chiming in before the store owner had a chance to speak, stepping up to the table of cloths and fabrics that Kai had stopped at, honey-yellow eyes scanning the product for a few moments before she pointed to a bolt of bright red cotton, not pink but warm all the same, a durable looking fabric that wasn’t too terribly expensive.

"This one. For the kimono." She said, glancing at the owner and Kai before she continued one, looking through fabrics for another few moments before points to another bolt- a soft green, darker than what Sachi usually wore, but matched well with the red from earlier… and, more importantly, it was of a thicker fabric than the rest, perfect for an outer garment. "And that one, for the hoari. Include a second bit for a hood, in case she wants to keep her hair dry."

Not everyone could afford an umbrella, after all.

Uchiha, Kai

[Uchiha, Kai]

Well, it seemed like Saya had all the answered already picked out, because as Kai tried to grab for some cloth that he figured would look good, Saya clearly knew the better deals when it came to purchasing. Though, it wasn't as if Kai himself was poor. On the contrary, he was stacked- But he didn't bring a whole lot of ryo with him on this particular outing, so in truth, he'd have to work on whatever budget he could.

"Yeah, uh, you know what? What she said. Go with what she said." He smiled briefly. He thought the gold would look great with her eyes, but Kai also thought that anything would look great on Sachi. That was the tragic part of love, really. No sense of flaws.

Kai instead let her pick each and every cloth as he just sort of... Followed along, looking a bit blushy and shy at his inability to pick good items.

"How do you know all of this?" Was she a clothes maker as well? Just how well did she know Sachi? Kai realized, in that moment, as she picked out specific things, he was a bit lost when it came down to it.

"--Ohh, a hood would be a good idea. I love hoods." He snapped his fingers at that one, though it was a more personal then that. He wore hoods everywhere- Except today. When it was raining a ton. When he probably should have had one of those... Or an umbrella. Or both.

[Honō Saya]

"Sachi and I are good friends." Saya said absently as Kai followed behind her, looking for all the world like a lost, wet puppy. Which he was, in a way; she had heard the Kisei girl had nabbed herself a boyfriend, but hearing about it and meeting the boy in question were two very different matters. And despite his… frazzled appearance, the Hono knew he was as head-over-heels for Sachi as a boy could get and still be sane. "I was one of the first people she met when she moved to Kusa, and we’ve kept in touch."

The Hono girl didn’t bother answering his other question at first; if the Konoha-nin couldn’t look at her outfit and tell she had a sense of style, then he was quite a bit more hopeless than she thought. Which was saying a fair bit, given how hopeless he’d shown himself to be in this regard already. Instead, the redhead pointed to another section of cloth, then another, pulling them up to feel them for the right consistency before finally settling on a thick, water-resistance wool of dark-red, to match the haori.

"This one. In case she wants to go for a brighter look." She said, at last turning her attention to Kai as the store-owner collected the various bits and bobs she had picked out, drawing out the cloth to length in order to ensure everything was as requested. "And I know these things because I make my own outfits, for the most part. As does Sachi, though she’s a lot more traditional in her tastes than I am." Which wasn’t to say her tastes were bad or anything, just… different.

"And don’t think I didn’t catch you looking." Saya said, her voice soft and slightly teasing as she twisted her umbrella in a circle, the tip resting gently against the wooden floor, her face lit up in a warm, somewhat smug smile. She was poking fun, of course, but it would interesting to see his reaction- if he was even half as interested in her friend as she thought, it would be quite illuminating to see how much he freaked out at being poked. "Thinking of dumping her already?"

Uchiha, Kai

[Uchiha, Kai]

"Were you...?" He'd have to ask about her from Sachi then. Two sides to every story and all, as the young teen placed his hands to his sides and walked with her. Yeah, okay. She had a sense of style, but that didn't mean he did. Did she see what he wore walking around? As she picked out cloths, he grabbed them, then to the woman who properly measured them.

Once they were done, he heard her speak about making her own outfits, which did get him interested. His eyes wandered up her form- Naturally so, more looking at what she was wearing than what she looked like. Yeah, Saya was cute. Super cute, in fact. But that didn't matter. Sachi was his love, not this girl! He smirked though when she asked about him looking.

"You wish." He responded to her thoughts on him dumping Sachi. "Sorry, you were a month late and a ryo short to that dance." He grinned, crossing his arms as they reached the counter, looking over her form again.

"Really though. Not even close. Sachi and I are tighter then a kunai and an explosive tag, I think." He nodded at his own poor analogy as he hummed to himself.

"Now that I think about it though... You think I should wrap this?" He questioned, glancing over at Saya as he began to bring out his money. He was paying, after all.

[Honō Saya]

Saya listened to Kai’s response, her smile widening to something far warmer and more genuine as the Konoha-nin spoke, his enthusiasm for her friend obvious. He really was cute in a lost puppy sort of way; he was clearly a devoted boyfriend as well, even if he hadn’t known Sachi very long, which was also a plus. Now if only she could find a way to ensure he didn’t have the teenaged-boy brain when it came to being close to a girl…

"Good." She said, nodding as she and the Uchiha walked over to the counter, the rain outside building into something stronger and more potent; a storm was brewing, a big one by the sound of the wind. Still, that didn’t stop the Hono girl’s smile, nor dampen her spirits one wit…. Although, with the coming storm outside, her tone shifted just a hair, lowering to something colder and far, far too sharp for the bright smile that sat on her face. "I’d hate having to castrate you for hurting her."

With that, the redhead nodded, the store owner already wrapping the fabrics in thick brown paper, then slid them into a thick, well-worn leather satchel, which she slid over to Kai before taking the boy’s money. "Give that to your little lady; she can bring it back when it isn’t so stormy outside.”

Uchiha, Kai