An Evening in the Park {Open}

[Hyuuga Hinata]

The springtime air was sweet. The crisp cool of the breeze was refreshing. One foot crossed in front of the other, she sat on the edge of a bench in the park. It was all quite serene. Usually, the young Hyuuga would be heading home now that the twilight was obviously begining to brush over the skies, spreading it's darkened clouds and painting the sky dark. The moon would soon take the place of the sun in the sky and the transformation from day to night would be complete. Still, she couldn't bring herself to move. On an evening such as this, she found it quite nice to just sit there in the park.

A cloud of worries still hung over her head. "What if father gets worried that I'm not home..?..Maybe I should just leave..." She began to let her better judgment get a hold on her. It was irresponsible to be out that late. Especially when her father knew that she was home promptly before sundown each night.

A sigh worked its way from her lips. Why was she always so careful? Many other young adults would take the risk and stay out late. The park was certainly not going down in crowd. Actually, the number of people was increasing as the twilight began to show itself. Closing her eyes, she figured she'd put some more thought into it, and then talk herself into going home now.

Her eyes bolted open. This was her chance of taking a small step into adulthood...wasn't it? She would be showing that she was responsible enough to stay out late, yet, reasonable enough to go home at a time that she would not be in too much trouble for. What was the worst that could happen if she tried?

She blinked.

Had she just talked herself *into* doing something?

Indeed she had. A rare occasion, yet, she had managed to talk herself into staying seated there, in the park, for a bit more time. Who could blame her? The night-time air was cool and refreshing. The air was still sweet from the blossoms falling from the trees as well. It was a nearly irritable temptation to stay, and she had chosen to risk it and give in to her desire to remain in the park, sitting on the bench.

The sky was a dusky shade of navy. The stars began to shimmer in the twilight abyss. The street lamps turned on, and the evening was official. Sunset truly was amazing--the way an area could change from dark to light like that.

Leaning back in the bench, she figured that if she would have closed her eyes right then and there, she would have fallen asleep. She was a bit tired by now. The wind gently whisked through her hair. She simply tucked the blown strands behind her ear and sat down. She sat up straight, yet, she took advantage of the bench's back and leaned against it. Heaving another small sigh, Hinata let her gaze wander back and forth. Beautiful, yet risky--the evening was worth staying outside for. She had just seen a bright and sunny day birth a calm, darkened evening. Truly wonderful. Even more so since she wasn't in her usual place--her room.

[kanda]

The kunai: a beautiful weapon. Simple, Subtle, Sleek and unobtrusive, it cut through the wind, a deadly dark missile, and ready to pierce the place where its master had aimed it. All it took was a quick flick of the wrist, and it would pierce a vital organ and cripple an enemy. Of course, piercing the wood of the bulls-eye and earning its wielder that satisfaction was pretty sweet, too.

There was no doubt in Kaito’s mind that he would hit the target. He knew the exact angles of it; he could execute the action of aim so effortlessly, that he hardly even thought about it. As he hopped swiftly from tree branch to tree branch, feeling the sinuous stretch of muscles as he easily made each leap and landing, his eyes searched for the target that he wanted this time. The day before, he had scattered a few of them throughout a small area in the forest, but the wilderness had a way of hiding them again. Glancing around a bit Kaito finally spotted it. The last of the five he had set up was half-hidden by some creeping tendrils of weeds, but it was there. Kaito crouched lightly on a branch, turning to narrow his eyes at his prey. His knees were loosely bent, but the muscles in his lower legs were tight, ready to spring. It wasn’t as though he was on the lookout for anyone, but it was always good practice. With one swift movement, he hefted that beautiful kunai he held, and with a forward flick of the wrist sent it flying straight at the half-concealed target.

In his mind, he had already felt every motion, seen his kunai hit the target. In a moment, it happened in reality, the knife sank deep into the painted wood of the target, dead cantered just as he’d wanted. Grinning, Kaito hopped neatly down from his branch, coiling his legs lightly as he hit the ground so that they would absorb the impact. But hardly a moment later he had straightened and was walking towards the target, still smiling to himself about his practically perfect hit. As he reached over to yank the embedded kunai from the target, he had a moment to regret as he cut himself because of simple carelessness. Sighing he ignored the blood that was now dripping from his thumb and yanked the knife from the wood, he grinned and blew lightly on the blade. “Another go?” He questioned himself lightly, tossing the kunai with a slight spin before catching it. Why not?

Jumping back a couple of yards, Kaito placed the kunai in his mouth. Concentrating chakra into his legs and feet he began to run up a nearby tree. Upon reaching the top, he spat at the kunai and twirled it playfully in his hands. In the blink of an eye Kaito sent the kunai hurtling towards the tree. Grimacing he hopped down from the tree and just gazed at what his kunai had hit. Instead of the wooden target he had planned for it had instead struck a bird in the wing, pinning the poor creature to the ground. With a sigh he gently pulled his kunai out and walked away. Kaito simply didn’t have enough patience to sit there and watch the bird.

As Kaito walked through the forest his stomach started to growl. Deciding to get a bite to eat he dashed through the forest and ignored the sounds of leaves rustling under his feet. Coming to village gates he just pulled out his headband and dashed straight through. Thinking of the quickest route to get to his favorite eatery Kaito halted. After a moment of pondering he figured it be quickest to just head through the park. Dashing in the direction of the park Kaito laughed for the first time in months.

Enjoying the feeling of the night air blowing through his hair Kaito closed his eyes for a few moments. When he opened them he abruptly came to a halt at the sight of a woman. He wasn’t exactly sure why but she seemed kind of familiar to him. Not old friends familiar but he knew he had seen her face somewhere before. After a moment of puzzlement he realized that she was a member of the Hyuuga clan’s main branch or something along those lines. Figuring it be entertaining to get better acquainted with her, Kaito hopped onto the bench she was sitting on. He said nothing to her figuring if this was going to work she should be the first one to speak.

[Hyuuga Hinata]

A young boy sat next to her now. Who was he? She had absolutely no clue. She began to study him. He was younger than her and had black hair. She blinked. Why did he sit next to her? To Hinata, the socially awkward Hyuuga heiress, this was very odd. Suddenly, she realized that she had been staring. She quickly snapped her gaze to the sky in front of her, knowing that even though he may be younger than her, staring was still very rude on her part.

The stars were absolutely brilliant tonight. She always liked the evening, but, she would usually be home by now. She hoped that no one would worry about her while she was out. She *was* much older now. Couldn't she just come out without having to worry that someone was looking for her? No...she couldn't. That was the sad part. She caught sight of the moon. It too was bright. It was even more brilliant than the stars. Tonight, the moon was full. It was as if it were proving it's superiority over the stars by being greater in size than they.

No matter how she tried, though, her peripheral vision still caught sight of the boy, thus, she could not completely snap her attention from him. She was very curious, yet, she didn't know what to say. He looked as if he wanted something from her. An introduction? Help with something? What could it be? She was asking herself too many questions.

She took a deep breath before she finally said, "Konbonwa..." in a soft tone. 'Good Evening' seemed like a decent conversation starter at this time. She knew that it was evening--a beautiful one at that. If starting a conversation was inevitable, why not start a conversation by saying so?

She figured that talking to the boy was the only way that she would ever find out what he wanted. Since he didn't seem to want to be the one to start the conversation, she would have to do so--no matter how foreign it was to her. The only two people that she ever really talked to much were Kiba and Shino, and they were her team mates, so communication was a very important factor. She still couldn't talk to Naruto without fidgeting or blushing uncontrollably. No. That was another story. A story that she best not bring up at this time.

She looked back to the boy. She smiled softly. What had she to worry? Talking to someone new was never a bad thing. She just had to try and stay positive. Yes. Stay positive. Why did she always get so nervous, anyway? She usually was the quiet wallflower, but, given the chance, she was okay to hold a conversation. She was alright to chat with her comrades. Though she did not know the boy yet, he was probably a villager of Konahagakure. For all she knew, he was a shinobi. That made him her comrade. Perfectly understandable. Yes. She could definitely talk to him. What was the big deal?

No. There was no big deal. She finally got over the shock of someone randomly sitting next to her. She wasn't used to that, after all. That was all it was. Just a small shock. It was perfectly understandable of her. Now that she had calmed herself down, she would be able to talk to the boy--no problem. Everything was fine.

[[OOC: Sorry it took so long to write this short post. My muse is currently on low. ^^;; ]]