☽ SEREIN ANTHESIS, itachi uchiha

i. introduction

   THE WARM SUMMER RAIN fell against her skin, sticking to her like honey. The droplets always made her feel soothed, like any moments of worry would be washed away. Suki Senju was counting down the minutes until she was done with her training.

With each step she took she could hear the splashes of puddles. She didn't mind them, Suki felt like each time her foot moved into the water it felt like her chakra nature increased. Water was a connection that ran through her. With any contact with natural water, it felt like the purple-haired girl experienced a sense of control.

With an approach of upcoming steps, Suki's dark black eyes followed the sense. It didn't take her any time to spot her grandmother, Shikha, watching her from afar on the porch. "Suki, my dear." Her melodious voice spoke, "It's probably best for you to come in now. The rain is starting to pick up."

As she spoke, Suki started to look towards the gloomy weather cloud that now was presently dripping on her. The early morning of the glistening summer sky was no longer to be seen. The light droplets were soon about to turn into a downpour.

She did not mind the rain, no matter what state it was presented in. Compared to her mother, Misaki, would insist on finding shelter quickly. Stating how things like small droplets of rain always ruined her mood.

"Oh! It's pouring buckets, the flowers are going to be ruined." Suki could imagine her panicky mother whining around the house as she would pick up pots of plants outside, trying her best to save them from overwatering. Despite Suki having a family of gardeners on her mother's side, it felt like the interest did not pass down by genetics.

She just wasn't as passionate as she was. It was not a bad thing or anything. With her mother experiencing many things she could sympathize with why she picked up the hobby of gardening to the extreme level she did. Having so much love and dedication to the pursuit, Misaki opened up her little flower shop in the middle of Konoha, right near the Yamanaka flower shop.

Yet Misaki was always so busy with work at the hospital; Suki learned quickly how to properly take care of flowers and vegetables. She found the simple tasks quite bothersome. But for the sake of her mother, and her own good, Suki did what she had to do. Even if it interrupted her days of training.

Her annoyance could be seen from miles away, but if she did not say anything she would be fine. The days of being put into a gardening hat while wearing a belt of tools could last for hours. She would find herself placed everywhere in Konoha. To look for saplings or as requested by her mother, even look for herbs.

Suki felt like she was always getting the dirty work of her mother. Even if her mother was a medical ninja, she relied mostly on the herbs of the land.

The Senju girl was always more exhausted gardening than doing actual training. Even if the training days could be long, she wished she started to value it more. Oh, how Suki would dread the days of learning chakra control, but really it was quite amazing.

Gardening was a hassle. And was completely an unnecessary skill for a ninja like her.

That was why Suki appreciated the rain. Especially the hard rough droplets of rain

that felt like they could take you away. It made simple worries like that empty away as she could spend time training rather than gardening.

As she broke away from watching the fragile clouds, Suki gathered up her grandmother's war fans and took them up to the porch her grandmother was at. Giving them one last final shake to discard the rain, Suki closed them before setting them out on a table to dry.

"Thank you for allowing me to use them. I am not quite adjusted to them yet," Suki said with a soft tone. As they approached the inside of their estate, her grandmother, looked down at her with an eye smile.

"You're progressing quickly. We can try out those fans some more, and include your grandfather's katanas in there as well." Suki's eyes peaked in interest, like her dark eyes produced something iridescently, "Are you serious? That's something grandpa always keeps away! You really think he would allow me?"

Her grandmother nodded as she let out a laugh, "Ahh come on now. Go wash up. You spent hours outside. No more practicing today. You have the next couple of days for new opportunities." Suki nodded, she was willing to do anything to make her grandparents pleased. She did not want to mess up any chances to see a family heirloom.

"Whenever you're done with that, how about you go study some more. I'll prepare a little snack. And hopefully, your father will be here soon to pick you up." as Suki listened intently, her grandmother continued her lecture, "But seriously, Suki... We can't always have you practicing in the rain." Her happy demeanor turned into frustration as her brown eyes looked toward the puddle near the door. "It gets everywhere! Droplets and mud are everywhere! You're ruining my home!"

The young girl gleamed with a smirk before laughing. She could feel her grandmother's light brown eyes burning into the back of her head as she ran away quickly towards the washroom. Just this once, Suki was going to ignore her grandmother's request–hopefully, this would not affect her chances of using her grandfather's weapons.

She loved her grandmother, but Suki loved the rain just a slight bit more.

Maybe a huge amount more.

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