((I decided to improvise for this, so let me know if I've said something that wouldn't happen - I'll edit my post. Also, sorry if it is a bit short ))

It was amazing how fast White Day came around. Now it was Rin's turn to receive some sort of gift. Hayaki had been very vague with everything, and refused to tell her what he intended to do. She'd be fine with three times what she'd given him, though hopefully not just quantity. It was her first White Day, really. After all, she never really gave out chocolates until now, and so boys didn't have to give her anything. This time she was going to get something - and from the boy she liked, too.

That's how she found herself in the botanic gardens, sitting at a bench overlooking a pond. The pitter-patter of a small waterfall pouring into it was very relaxing, as was the babble of the stream the pond became. She could see the koi swimming around in the water, giving a multitude of colour to it matched only by the carefully arranged flowers around her. Hayaki-kun certainly chose a nice place... Rin thought as she waited patiently in her blue and yellow kimono. She'd shown up 10 minutes early this time, to make up for arriving late at Valentines. That wasn't a problem for her - she could enjoy the scenery and the relaxing sound of the water for some time. Even if he was 10 minutes late, Rin wouldn't have a problem.

Masakatsu Hayaki

OOC: Sorry for lateness.

IC: Hayaki was no more late than Rin had been early. In fact he had been there for quite some time just thinking about life in general and enjoying the scenery. He was concealed by the branches of the tree he was sitting in, supported by a fork in the branches. There were only leaves now but there would be blossoms and flowers soon enough when Spring really came around. The tree was built like a giant bonsai tree overlooking the area he had asked Rin to meet him.

He was dressed almost all in white today to commemorate the occasion. His shoes were black, but his cargo shorts, t-shirt, and jacket were all white. And they were spotless.

When the time came, Hayaki let a few minutes pass to bring Rin to the conclusion that he was late, or he had forgotten, or... During that time he slipped down from the tree and carefully picked his way towards her. Once closer, when he was sure that he would be noticed because there was nothing to pay attention to but their surroundings, he cast Shunshin no Jutsu.

Hayaki appeared in an explosion of smoke. He used the cover to scoot over next to Rin on the bench and held out a meticulously flawless white rose to her, blue eyes earnest under his spiky blonde hair.

Asukai Rin

((Better late than never, I say . It was amusing to look up the meaning behind white roses, too! *did so on a whim*))

She had to admit that Hayaki certainly had good taste in scenery. Rin had been here before - though not recently - and she really enjoyed the serenity of the environment. It was much more lavish than the garden at the Asukai residence. As the girl slowly took in her surroundings, she began to wonder just what it was that the boy had planned. He said he would do something big, but she couldn't think of what it could be. What could be three times hand-made, personalised chocolate? Rin wasn't too fussed so long as he kept his promise, but to say she didn't like gifts would be a lie.

Though she hadn't been keeping track of the time, she did start to think that he was taking longer than he should. She didn't mind - after all, she herself had been late, and the scenery was very alluring. Asides from a few occasional glances to the path, Rin waited patiently, wondering if what he was doing required some sort of preparation as well. She was unaware that he'd been in the tree above her for perhaps longer than she'd been waiting.

Suddenly, there was a noise in the branches above her head. She looked up in surprise, and saw the cause - a large puff of white smoke. One of Akira-sensei's tricks? Hayaki-kun's surprise? A ninja attack? She had no idea what was going on, though she was trying to make sure that she was ready for anything. Fortunately for her, it was a pleasant surprise, and one that would be revealed in a second.

A light sound next to her and the feeling of the presence of another caused her to turn around and come face-to-face with Hayaki. In his pure white outfit. Holding a white rose out to her. Rin's heart skipped a beat. She'd been thinking too complex about what he might do, completely skipping over the idea of something like this. The was beauty and elegance in simplicity. The girl slowly reached towards it and took it gently, admiring the flower he'd selected.

"Oh... Hayaki... it's beautiful..." She said finally, clearly happy with what he'd done. Rin threw her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you. This is the best White Day I've had." Technically, the only one - her father giving her chocolates didn't really count. However, she wasn't going to say that to ruin the moment. She was just so happy that he'd done something like this. It was incredibly... dare she say... romantic.

Masakatsu Hayaki

Hayaki returned the hug but at her words he started to laugh unabashedly as he often did and spoke in the same manner. "This is the only White Day I've celebrated outside the family!" he told her, unable to fight off the mischievous grin that was overtaking his expression. "How many White Days have you had?" Asked playfully and unintentionally giving rise to embarrassment in the girl.

"Not another boy, Rin-chan?" he asked leaning closer to see what blush he might be able to find on her face. He was smiling and sort of smirking all at the same time but the question out of his mouth was put into play by a voice well-versed in acting: hurt, but mature.

"I couldn't imagine that I would have gone to such trouble, picking a beautiful rose and buying it with a year's worth of chores~"

Asukai Rin

((Love your avatar, Hayaki!))

Ahhh, so he's the same as me. Rin thought, smiling at his declaration of this being his only one. However, Hayaki apparently caught on something that she hadn't intended to imply. He was apparently under the impression that she'd celebrated other White Days in the past. However, that had just been with her family, and didn't really count. Especially not in the way he was thinking!

She started blushing furiously when he suggested that there was another boy out there. Before Rin could protest this, he continued, talking about the great trouble he went to for what he'd done for her. "No no no, it's not like tha..." The kunoichi finally managed to protest his accusations, but stopped when she looked at his facial expressions. Now that they weren't locked together, she could see that his smirk did not match his words or voice.

"Ha-ya-ki-kuuuun~!" Rin angrily said to him, upset at his little joke, though she'd calm down soon enough. Every other time Hayaki had angered her in some way, she returned to her normal self soon enough. "You know I don't like it when you deceive me like that!" Of course, that could very well be the reason why he was doing it - because it amused him to see her turn bright red in embarrassment. She went to hit him on the back of the head, though only hard enough to be felt and remind him that he'd ruined a good moment.

Masakatsu Hayaki

OOC: Thanks!

IC: The older genin started to laugh at Rin's reaction, but his head jerked forward and down when she hit him. "Ow!" He looked at her in confusion for a moment, almost appearing genuinely hurt before it cleared away and it was a happy, smiling, amused face. He took his hand away from the rose's stem careful not to snag his hand on any of the thorns. He couldn't stop grinning, now that his ploy had obviously worked very well. Supposedly Rin wouldn't live this down in his memory.

"You sound like my mother scolding me!" Hayaki snickered. "'You know I don't like it when'--!" He reached forward to pat her shoulder reassuringly to indicate that he didn't mean any harm even though he might have sounded like it. "But I don't know. I didn't know you don't like if when I deceive you like that." His smile widened until it was almost a smirk but all his expressions seemed to have some sort of mischievous nature behind them and now was no exception. "I thought no one liked it!"

He tilted his head slightly back. "Hah." He turned his back to the bench and leaned against it, spreading his arms across the top. He looked at the scenery around them. "So what do you think?"

Asukai Rin

At first, Rin was a little worried that she'd hit the boy a little harder than intended - but when she saw the smile on Hayaki's face, she realised that she'd been duped yet again. Was he that good, or was she just that easy to trick? However, instead of getting more upset, she ended up returning the smile. The boy's enthusiasm was apparently contagious. And besides, feigning injury wasn't nearly as bad as implying she had more than one boyfriend. Wait, did I just admit Hayaki is my boyfriend!?! Have I admitted that before? One boyfriend was already more than she expected to have - and more than enough.

She'd have to try and get used to his playful nature. Her team-mate continued on, describing her attitude as being similar to his mother. Though she'd never met his mum, she could imagine it being said. He then claimed that he didn't know she didn't like that. But this time, Rin didn't fall for it. Instead, she gave him a questioning expression. "Oh?" She asked, asking for him to elaborate. I thought no one liked being deceived. As soon as she thought it, Hayaki outright stated it. So, you're doing it even though people don't like it? Rin thought, questioning his motives. Not that she was innocent, of course, but in this case, it was happening to her.

Things seemed to cool down between them as they got over the mental assault of Hayaki and the physical one from Rin. "You mean, asides from you tricking me?" Rin asked, bringing it up in passing. "You couldn't have picked a better spot. And that was pretty amazing what you did, as well. I'm not sure if a rose is worth three times that as home-made chocolate... but I'll let it by." The girl smiled, not for a moment caring about the physical worth of their respective gifts. Hayaki had done a good job, even if he did mess things up a little bit in the end.

Masakatsu Hayaki

"This place is more amazing early on a more wintery morning," Hayaki told her, smiling reminiscently at the blue sky. It was a perfect day for White Day - anyone who took advantage of today would know that this was just the sort of weather they could hope for. He lifted one hand from bench, the one that Rin could see, and pointed at the small waterfall somewhere across from them, his gloves folding against his knuckles as he raised his index finger to indicate the base.

"That water is very surreal when it's frozen. Maybe you've seen it." He glanced over at the girl cheerfully. "Kumo does get pretty cold, after all. Problem is, White Day didn't switch with Valentine's Day, so..." He shrugged, as if he just couldn't help the circumstances. "The sight of that might have gotten me a few more points, right? We could take a look around Christmas," he nodded, foreseeing that they would still be working, talking, training, or hanging out together even as so many months passed them by. He had no doubts.

Hayaki chuckled softly to himself, then added brightly, overenthusiastically enough that, unless Rin missed the hint, it was clear he was messing around again, "Or, if you want, a kiss could make today worth more."

Asukai Rin

It was hard to believe that it'd look better during winter - after all, spring meant that all the flowers were starting to bloom. It was more lively than it would be in winter. However, that being said, winter was definitely a low more peaceful and tranquil, and the frozen environment could take on an almost mystical appearance. "No, I haven't really been here too much at all, let alone in winter." Rin said, answering his question. Generally she was too busy trying to improve her skills, or else exploring places further out from the village.

The idea of returning in winter to this place appealed to her, however. The place was already very nice, so she had no qualms with returning. "That sounds good - but don't cut yourself short. The present sight is already worth plenty of points." Really, it was already perfect as it was - complaining about what could have been was pointless. Especially since it meant that they'd be able to return later when it was how he wanted.

Then he mentioned a kiss. Rin instantly started to blush, even though she realised that it was a joke after thinking about it for a moment. "Haha... yeah..." She started to say, her voice a bit higher than normal. "You aren't going to trick me this time." Though she'd seen through it comparatively faster than his other little jokes, the thought of it had embarrassed her greatly.

Masakatsu Hayaki

While Rin spoke her last words Hayaki froze in confusion as though he had no idea what she was talking about. He looked very serious too, and when he spoke it wasn't unconvincing except that he had really sounded like he was joking just a second ago. "...I wasn't tricking you," he told her seriously, pulling his arm away from the bench so that he could face her more directly again. "I meant every word that I spoke. I'm sorry you thought it was all a trick."

With a heavy sigh he leaned back against the bench, draping his arm over the top again as he gazed sorrowfully at the sky, though his expression was more melancholy than sad. But, slowly, his eyebrows went up, the line of his mouth lengthening, and his eyes widened, until a sudden, quick heave of his chest caused air to escape him in a puff of breath like the shortcomings of a snicker in a quiet room. A moment later, he burst out laughing.

Hayaki gave Rin a little push on the shoulder with his palm as if she had been the one kidding him. "Ha ha! You blush so easily! You even told me you didn't believe me." His arm twisted so that he was patting her on the shoulder instead, in a friendly manner that almost didn't go with his voice at the moment. "Ahh, it really is fun to hang out with you. I don't mean to make you feel bad."

Asukai Rin

It could have ended there. The joke could have stopped at that moment, and she'd have regained her composure in a minute or so. But Hayaki's composure changed. He looked serious... he looked hurt. Rin's heart skipped a beat when he said he wasn't joking, and skipped another when he said he meant it. Her face was burning up, and she was divided. On one hand, she'd treated his advances as a joke, and dismissed them as easily as one.

On the other... he wanted to kiss her! She wasn't ready for something like that! Rin turned even redder and started spluttering. "A-a-a-a.... k... ki......r-r-real... b-b-but...." Rin didn't know what to say. After all, there was so much to say. Ask if he was serious. Apologise for treating it like a joke. Say that it was too soon. Tell him she was a bit flattered regardless. Like hell the last part!

It turned out that she didn't have to say anything, though, as Hayaki burst out laughing. She stared at him as he joked around, confirming that it had all been a joke. Rin wasn't just red from embarrassment now. She was angry with him. Again he was toying with her emotions for the fun of it, Making her ask questions about her own feelings. She didn't like that at all.

"HA-YA-KIIIIIII!" Rin shouted at him in anger, finally letting loose. "You say that you don't mean to make me feel bad, but you do! Stop saying those things if you don't mean them, you idiot!" She punched him in the shoulder before pouting. Rin didn't like being made a fool of, which was exactly what he'd done in her mind. At least she'd gotten the chance to let loose - Rin would probably be over it shortly now that it was out of her system.

Masakatsu Hayaki

Hayaki threw his arms up in defense and this time he didn't have anything to say about the punch to the shoulder. He looked more unsettled than he was hurt or scared - he wasn't old enough to truly know a woman's wrath. He turned away a little. He placed his hands together on the bench, his palms flat and his white-gloved fingers curling around the edge of the bench that he was seated farther back on. He looked away sort of at the ground littered with grass, dirt and stone but Rin still would have been able to see part of his face.

His parted bangs only partially hid the bit of a pout he had himself but there wasn't much other than that. After a moment of silence he said quietly, "Sorry." He waited a little longer and then turned his head slightly back towards Rin which was more a movement of his eyes than his head but if he closed his eyes he could have been facing forward. His slightly raised shoulders might have been taken as apologetic too.

"But... you said you had gotten better, right...?" Maybe he was a bit embarrassed too. His bright blue eyes were less illuminant but they weren't exactly sorry. At least not until he had a full examination of the situation. "Ninja aren't supposed to let themselves be affected by their emotions... and I was joking around earlier too so I thought you would have known..."

Asukai Rin

When the boy apologised, Rin felt a pang of guilt. She turned and saw Hayaki looking at the ground a moment before her faced her. I've done it again, haven't I? She thought, thinking of her violent outburst. It seemed that that's the way she responded to any strong emotion that she didn't understand. It didn't help that she was easily fooled by his words, and that words of that nature worried her.

She let Hayaki continue, as he explained his reasoning. He made it feel as though she had let him down. The girl felt as if she'd fallen short of some sort of invisible bar of standards. And he was right about ninja being in control of their emotions. That's impossible... how can anyone control their emotions? And if we did, what would that leave us as? An unfeeling machine without any hopes or dreams. But.... just because she disagreed on that point didn't take away the fact that she'd over-reacted.

"I'm sorry... I acted rashly..." Rin said sincerely, hoping to make amends. "It's just... you know how I feel about that sort of thing, and I act on the words before I think about their intent. And then I get upset at you for making a fool of me, and upset at myself for being fooled." She started explaining herself to Hayaki, and felt a bit ashamed to have acted in such a way. She'd always thought that the girls at school were stupid for getting worked up over things like love... but she was a girl as well, like it or not. Her body reminded her of that all the time, and it wasn't going to change any time soon.

"So... I'm sorry about hitting you and yelling at you, and I hope you forgive me. Just think of me as a bomb with a short fuse!" Rin made an attempt at making light of the situation - and herself - to try and break the tension in the air. It bothered her that she was so prone to mood swings when it came to this, but it's just the way she was, and after it's happened, all she could do is apologise.

Masakatsu Hayaki

[ ^^;; Been a while... ]

Hayaki's gaze remained somewhere past Rin, looking at the ground. He was a little disappointed at both of them but maybe a little more with Rin. He was regretful. He started to pull on the fingertips of one of his gloves while Rin spoke to try to make light of the situation, almost like he wasn't interested in making up for what had just happened. It might have taken a moment to notice but he was starting to smile, slowly.

He was smiling almost sadly, at least until he closed his eyes and dipped his head. His shoulders shook slightly in a soft snicker as he turned on his entire body on the bench, making them parallel with his view of the other genin. His left leg was bent against the bench resting almost in front of him now while his right continued to support him against the ground. He leaned against the back of the bench, placing his arm over it and letting his hand droop in the air.

"Of course I forgive you," Hayaki told her and his eyes were earnest and well-meaning. "We're still in this together. Even after our team has been all over the place, we're still working together, aren't we? We can't let something as little as this get in the way!" He held out a hand for teamwork, waiting for her to grab it and shake on it. "Right!?"

Asukai Rin

((Hayaki, you ninja! Since I can never catch you on, I laid a bunch of traps to catch you! There was the blackboard eraser that dropped on your head when you went to NSP, the nails that stabbed into your hand when you pressed the login button, and when the page loaded, you tripped on the tripwire and landed on an inkstone. Take that, you ninja-y shadow person thing that I never see!))

Rin was starting to get worried that she'd finally gone too far. She was violent - probably... no, definitely something she inherited from her mother. She tried to control herself, but these things just kept happening. Hayaki just looked like he was disappointed in her. It hurt more than if he would just tell her off. That was something she could understand. This disappointment was new.

However, it looked like her words had reached him - or he'd again been joking around - as when he looked at her and spoke, it was just nice, honest words. Though she had a feeling it wasn't the case, she decided to assume that her words reached him. Not out of naivety, but because she didn't want to angry at him being deceptive again. It was better to believe that than go for a triple-megaton-punch combo.

Rin gave him a relieved smile and took his hand. "Of course. We're team-mates." Then she chuckled a bit. "Just remember that you're flirting with death when you're flirting with me." Rin seemed to realise what she said and blushed again. It sounded funnier and less wrong in her head. "A-anyway, is there anything else, or does it finish with your presentation? Not that I didn't enjoy it! I'm just wondering if you had anything else in mind."


((P.S. There's a pitfall trap when you go to post))

Masakatsu Hayaki

[ OOC ] I'm too ninja to be caught by such amateur traps.

[ IC ] His smile widened at Rin's slip of the tongue but he decided not to comment on it. Instead he chuckled and withdrew his hand. "I wanted to do something else, but..." He tucked his hands behind head and interlocked his fingers. "I couldn't really think of anything." Hayaki stared at the sky for a moment before. "Something worth three times more than what you got me on Valentine's."

"Hmm."

He made a face, then faced Rin again. "I thought about it for a while." He paused to dig his hands into his jacket pockets. He pulled out two circular objects, each about a finger's width across and two or three lengths long. He held one in each hand as he offered them to Rin in his palms. He wasn't quite so playful now, more serious... like he meant it and there wasn't a chance he was trying to trick her.

"So I made these. Well... my sister helped me, but I did my best." He laughed, "This one is for strength. You should stay strong. And this one is for harmony, to make sure you remember to balance your skills and your emotions." He smirked a little at that, kindly. Sure enough the bracelets made of wire and interwoven with reddish-roan-burgundy string, leather, and beads, formed the black symbols for "strength" and "harmony," the character stretched to wrap around wrists.

"I hope these are worth it."

Asukai Rin

((*clicks fingers and triggers a cascade of household items on Hayaki* Fufufufufu~))

Fortunately, she managed to cover up her little stumble and Hayaki didn't call her on it... or at least overlooked it, which was pretty much the same thing. Rin listened to Hayaki as he explained how he tried to meet the expectations of White Day. Despite him saying that he couldn't think of anything, she had a feeling that this was just a lead-up. So she waited patiently for him to continue.

As expected, he reached into his pockets and pulled something out. Hand-maid bracelets. Rin wasn't really much of a person for jewellery and accessories, but these were hand-made, and quite nice in her opinion. She smiled as he laughed, not caring that his sister helped. It was the thought that counted, and he did help. She even laughed at the remark on her emotions! It was true, after all!

She took the bracelets and put them on straight away - one around each wrist. "Oh, they're worth it. The rose and presentation was worth one, and these bracelets are one each. So, that's three times since Valentines!" It was funny how often 'harmony' and 'balance' kept on coming back to haunt her. Was she that unbalanced? She'd even been trying to be more balanced lately.

"I'll definitely stay strong... and I'll try my best to be harmonious. I'm sure these charms will help out." She grinned at the boy. "Thank you for this - clearly thinking for a while gave you a couple of good ideas!" The bracelets felt a little odd around her wrist, but Rin guessed it was because she wasn't used to wearing such things. Given time, she assumed she'd grow used to them.

Masakatsu Hayaki

"Heeey!" The blue-eyed genin pouted. "I think! ... Sometimes." He held back a laugh that was bubbling up under his pout. He folded his arms across his chest and turned his head away but he couldn't stop the smile that surfaced. The smile turned into a chuckle. It was almost a giggle. He slid off the bench and turned around to face Rin, carefully composing himself while dusting himself off.

"Anyway, I'm glad you like what I set up for today!" Hayaki grinned brightly. He pointed at the rose he had given her earlier. "And don't forget about that." He interlocked his gloved fingers and stretched his arms out in front of him. He didn't say anything for a moment as he let the quiet settle so that they could hear the sound of running water from the small falls in the park. He dropped one hand to his side and held out the other to Rin to help her up. "Let's go for a walk."

He smirked again playfully...

"Show off your gifts, hmm?"

Asukai Rin

Though Hayaki may have tried to repress the urge to laugh, Rin didn't. She laughed at the joke about sometimes thinking - clearly it was only sometimes if he so often said things to make her hit him. Of course, if he only sometimes thinks, then I only sometimes restrain myself... at best. The thought wasn't a negative one, though. Now that the bad feelings had gotten themselves out of the way, she could look back on it with humour. "I won't." She said with a smile, fully intending to put the rose in a vase with water as soon as she got home.

The girl took the hand offered to her and pulled herself up. "Heh, alright." Rin wondered if the boy had anything in mind with this walk. Knowing him, it could be just a walk, or he might have yet another surprise for her. Well, anything extra is just a bonus, and it's nice to just walk with him, anyway. "Are we going anywhere in particular?" She asked, not minding whether they were or not. It wasn't like she had anything planned today... except for this.

"Nope!" Hayaki answered promptly. He wasn't worried when the whole day was ahead of him and he didn't care if he used it all by lying in the grass and staring at the clouds, or sleeping. He gave his shirt a downward swipe with his hands to straighten out the folds before starting down the winding path around the waterfall. They wouldn't have gotten far before his mouth caught up to this thoughts, though it would have been anyone's guess that he ever thought about what he was saying before he said it.

He glanced at his friend. "Rin-chan, have you thought about what's going to happen to our team? The third person keeps disappearing and our sensei keep changing." He sounded a little concerned. "I mean, I'm glad Misamai-sensei is no longer with us, but... are we ever going to make it to the chuunin exams at this rate?" Maybe it wasn't the right topic to discuss on a day such as White Day, but as usual, Hayaki wasn't thinking a whole lot about that.

She was enjoying the silence as they walked together. However, the girl turned her head to face Hayaki when he brought up their team. Rin was never one to think talking about such things was inappropriate. In fact, it was much easier for her to talk about the status of their team, considering how important it was. "I'm a bit worried about that as well, to be honest." The kunoichi started, sounding like she'd already thought of this in the past.

"Still, I think that just means we have to work twice as hard to make up for it. Maybe even harder. It'll be easier without Misamai-san, at least. We should definitely train together, and maybe arrange to be taught by others, too. I know a few people who might be willing." Her father, for one, and Sayuri would be another good choice. Though, these came with their own set of problems - hopefully Hayaki knew someone who could help as well. "Still, without a team-mate or the required amount of missions on our belt, we'd be illegible anyway, but we should still train like our life depended on it! We're ninja now, after all!"