Rambles & Ambles
サスケ & ナルコ

Two children, the rain, a park, ducks, and a pond, and all the chaos that implies. Kids will be kids after all, and all the rain is the perfect excuse for fun and mischief. Childhood Fluff. SasuNaruko.

Oneshot I
Give Me Rain, Give Me Sunshine, Give Me Frogs

Cagoule; A British English term for a lightweight (usually without lining), weatherproof raincoat or anorak with a hood, which often comes in at knee-length.
Wellies; also known as Wellington boots. A type of boot based upon leather Hessian boots. They were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. This novel "Wellington" boot became a staple of hunting and outdoor wear for the British aristocracy in the early 19th century.

Naruko kicked at the puddle in frustration as the rain splattered down around her, and her amphibious companion croaked comfortingly by her feet.

It had been raining all day, and she'd been bored stupid stuck inside with her two older brothers. So, she had snuck on her cagoule, and crept outside with some bread to go play with the ducks at the park.

That had been okay, and a nice old man she thought owned the corner-shop gave her some pieces of newspaper and showed her how to fold them into a boat. Then the bread ran out, and one of the ducks sunk her newspaper-boat.

Boredom returning, she had pulled up her hood, and started exploring the south side of the park. Her parents didn't normally let her go into that side of it, because it was a bit further from the house, but she was bored...

And of course once she found a cluster of frogs in one of the ponds, she had to make friends with one and follow it as it hopped along the pathway.

Now she didn't know where she was, and she was wet, and it was dark, and the rain had started coming down even worse, and her Mum was going to be really, really angry if she didn't get home!

She could probably walk back through the park, but it was dark, and she didn't want to walk all the way back in the dark! It was scary, and there might be strangers! That said, she couldn't stay here either.

Even if she ventured past the park boundaries, she didn't know these streets. She wouldn't be able to find her way back home...

A croak emerged from the mud at her feet, and Naruko tried to glare at the frog she had befriended from the pond.

Then she felt guilty for blaming her new friend. Quickly, she bent down, scooped the creature up in her hands and planted a peck on its head, between its eyes in apology before setting him back on the ground and giggling.

Maybe her frog-friend would turn into a frog prince now! Her mama had told her that story, and it was her favourite in her whole book of fairytales.

Returning to her predicament however, she had several options, the most important goal being that she had to figure out how to get home!

She might be able to ask at one of the houses on the edge of the park she could see beyond the park fence. One of them had a play-car, so of there was another kid living there, then that one might be safe enough.

But maybe not - she might meet a stranger, and she wasn't supposed to talk to them. Maybe if she just followed the path until she found a policeman, he could call her daddy.

Her daddy was in charge of a lot of policemen, so one of them would be able to tell him she had got lost. One always walked past her house every hour, so she could probably find one...

Plan decided, she darted down the path towards the park gate, her Wellies splashing in the muddy puddles and rain pelting her face as she pulled her hood up tight to keep her hair dry a bit.

Before she could get completely out of the park, she inevitably tripped. With a squeak of surprise, she fell face first into a muddy puddle, as ended up completely soaked from head to toe.

Picking her self up, she bit the inside of her cheeks, trying with all her might not to cry. Naruto would tease her again. He said crying was for wussies, and she wasn't a wus! But she was wet, and muddy, and cold, and her hair was falling out, and she didn't know how to get home and...

The frog croaked soothingly beside her, and Naruko sniffed as tears started forming despite her efforts. She was so stupid! She should have gone home when the ducks did!

When the frog croaked again, she finally did what any six-and-three-quarter year old would do, and started crying.

As she stood in the mud with her frog-friend feeling sorry for herself, she didn't hear the sound of footsteps splashing through the puddles towards her until the rain had stopped.

Sasuke watched the blonde girl from his living room window in curiosity.

He'd been inside with his brother all day because of the weather (not that playing video games with Itachi was a bad thing), and he was a little bit bored now. He had spotted her from the corner of his eye a few minuets ago, or rather, her bright orange cagoule.

She was just beyond the park fence, seemingly playing with a frog of all things. Sasuke didn't really see how a frog could be a good playmate, but he might be wrong. Itachi told him not to judge things at first glance, so he could make his mind up later about frogs.

Pressing his nose closer to the glass, he watched as she bent down, back to him, presumably talking to the frog for a moment, before standing up again, lancing around, and darting down one of the paths, her frog friend following with faithful hops behind her.

Then she tripped up and fell face first in the mud; Sasuke didn't quite know what made him go into the hallway and pull on his wellies and and cagoule, but he picked up an umbrella too, and darted out of his house towards the now crying blonde girl.

Holding the brolly out over her head, he paused as he thought about what to say - was it strange for someone to do something like this? Would Itachi do it? Probably - Itachi was nice to everyone.

"Um... Are you alright?" he asked, still holding the brolly out over their heads.

The blonde girl jumped back, falling on her bum in the mud, staring up at him in surprise. Sasuke blushed bright red as she gave him a very scrutinising stare.

"You're... Are you my frog?" she asked, a hopeful smile moving onto her face.

Sasuke stared at her in confusion.

"I'm not a frog, but I saw you fall over. And you look wet..."he said plainly.

She drooped a little, and scuffed her green wellies in the mud at their feet, like she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have. Sasuke could tell, becuse he always scuffed his feet when he got into touble too.

"I got bored at home so I snuck out to play with the ducks and got lost... Are up sure you're not a frog?" she asked again; Sasuke shook his head stubbornly.

"You can come inside if you want - I live there. My mum can call your house for you" he said, pointing towards his house (where his mother stood at the door with confusion all over her face).

A croak from their feet drew the girl's attention to the frog that made the noise for a moment, before she picked it up and put it in her pocket, before pausing.

"Your mum isn't a stranger is she?" she asked warily.

Sasuke shook his head.

"No, she's my mum. And I'm Sasuke. What's your name?" he asked.

"Naruko" the girl replied.

Her face turned a little red, and not seeing any more need to stay out in the mud and the rain, he took hold of her hand and quickly headed through the gate, across the street to the door where his mother was waiting.

Sasuke's mum did a lot more than just call Naruko's parents.

First she found her some of his older pyjamas for the girl to wear after letting her use a bath, and gave her some toast and same hot chocolate (which she forced down his throat too).

The frog had been taken from Naruko's pocket and placed on a tub with some dirt and a pot of water, and only after his mother was sure she was moderately safe from 'catching something', did she ask who her parents were, and sent them both off to sleep.

It was rather strange sharing his bed with a girl, but Sasuke had decided he liked Naruko. She was a bit weird - who talked to frogs? - but she wasn't boring, and she was warm too.

He probably wouldn't mind being a frog sometimes if they could be friends. He'd like being her friend. And if she liked toy boats then that was good too. He had an electric one! He could show her at the park one day...

"Sasuke? Can we be friends?" Naruko asked sleepily, turning to look at him on the other side of his pillow in his old Playdays pyjamas.

He nodded, and she snuggled down, soon falling into sleep. Contented, Sasuke soon joined her. The frog croaked in the box on his bedside cabinet, but Sasuke didn't mind.

Frogs weren't so bad after all.

It was raining all day in KiltLand, so I doodled Naruko in the rain in one of my boring classes. ChidorixBlossom then told me to do another one with Sasuke holding out an umbrella, so I did, and then I had to write about it.

To be clear, Playdays was a kids programme that ran in the UK from 1988 to 1997, and I have very fond memories of it. I loved Why Bird so muc Anyone else old enough to remember it? XD

My first ever oneshot - expect more soon :)
Nat.
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