Sinking Under Stars
By Keo Siph
Naruto © Masahi Kishimoto, Shounen Jump
Stars, moons, planets, all there, all here. Did it ever change? Yeah, now and again, when some random wisp of a cloud would cover the moon, the stars seemed to shine all the brighter.
It had been months since his Jounin exam, and three weeks since his last mission. He was quite accustomed to this spot on the hill, clouds covering the sky, darkness enveloping him. He was always lethargic after missions, and hardly anyone bothered him anymore. Ino was off, seeing someone, and most of the male Jounin's were at a buffet tonight. Which was fine with him, he had no problem with not eating every time the marketplace was over-run with Jounin's just returned from the mission.
They were all still alive, miracle as it was. Chouji, Naruto, Lee, even Tenten, Ino and Sakura survived training long enough to pass the Jounin exam. It was perfectly normal, and the Hokage had begun to take pity on them and allow them to return at the same time to chat together. For such a rivalry-ridden bunch, they were continuously close-knit.
Which was more than unnerving for the cloud-watching Jounin.
Wind whipped hair into his face, midnight black to a point that he hadn't been able to tame it for years, eventually giving up on it all together.
The multitude of the ladies had begun to settle down from their sudden urge around twenty or so to date every living creature in the hidden village, excluding him. He believed he had seen Chouji and Ino even eating together once, though that wasn't his problem. His issue was Tenten, who had even backed off a few weeks ago.
A line of purple and black clouds moved in from the north-west, seeming to be a large range of mountains that suddenly began to float towards the Leaf. He slid a small portion deeper into the slick grass. Soon, the darkness of the cold front would surround him completely.
Directly after the Jounin exam, he dashed off, leaving many questions unanswered for those left behind. He had his own agenda for now, and he had every intention of seeing it all through.
Afterwards, he had arrived and left three days before the other's missions ended, so the only person he met upon the way was Asuma, who gave him a curiously humourous look but kept his comments to himself. It was a relatively simple mission, but he drew it out a bit, almost unconciously, so that he arrived at the Leaf village as close to the others as possible, and since their hadn't been any unrest in ages, the whole country was finally celebrating a national holiday that hadn't been celebrated in years: Festival of Shinobi. Everything was lit up with lights, there were candles everywhere, and open stalls of food and games in every possible nook known to man. With the shinobi helping as well, this was bound to be… interesting. Which also scared the poor Jounin. Back in the academy…
But, then, people had grown since then, too. It was beginning to all smooth over, except for the new Chuunins, who were wreaking havoc upon Genins and Jounins alike.Konohamaru hadn't grown up in all those years, but Naruto was doing a good job of keeping him in line… even if the means were enough to make Ino whack him over the head. Which happened frequently, so there wasn't much left for the pitifully orange-ridden Jounin to fear.
The front had almost come. Time to make an appearance.
He was, almost, curious to see their reactions. After the news of his almost-defection, there might be more than a few curious glances. Way more than a few. Of course, in his opinion, one was more than enough, as the large crowds got to him after the long time spent in the wilderness, away from the masses. As soon as he could see the actual lights, the first person to jump out at him was Sakura, with her bright pink hair and pale pink kimino, standing next to Lee, who was trying and failing without dignity to win a game of strenght, where one would throw water balloons at the milk bottles until they all fell over. The large prizes hanging above him sat there a very long time until, a few places down, Naruto handed one over to the white-clad blonde kunouichi. Down farther, Tenten was dragging Gai towards another simple game, while Iruka, Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma watched from the sidelines, far beyond amused. He passed a few more stalls before he came to an interesting looking game. A dart throw, but if you could throw the darts over your shoulder with a bandana on, you doubled the prize. Konohamaru was doing his best forward, while his friends were attempting it backwards, and they all had needle marks in one place or another, except for a small girl on the sidelines who was cheering on the late Hokage's grandson.
There was a pause as the Jounin almost walked past it, but failed to see any other reason to go speak to his comrades. The very least he could do was to come in with avengence, right? Out of character, but at least they'd remember he was there. And, by the yells of failure earlier, most of the Jounins had already lost cash on this one, even though all the prizes were still intact.
There was a loud buzz coming to Naruto's right, and he shot a look that way just as someone walked into his line of sight. When he finally managed focus on the obstruction in the candle light, he was hit upside the head.
"Naruto! The very least you can do is pay attention to me! Seriously, you take me here, and the first thing you do is-"
"Winner, third row, second level prize," came slowly from behind the counter at the hardest game in the festival, and the prize offered was placed on the counter again as the contestant started up again. Naruto aimed through the crowd towards the booth, catching a whisper of black hair before being dashed to one side by a throng of sugar-high school girls, all ready to oggle at the newest shinobi. A few moments later, the second level prize was handed in for a third, then again for a fourth, the largest possible one. The only winner of the prize began "shoo"-ing the crowd out of his way.
There he is. Naruto, still orange-clad and hyper, although currently drop-jaw. Heh. Also as clueless as usual, the weirdo. He was empty-handed too. The black-clad shinobi paused in his descent down the hill from his latest win, meeting the eyes of the holder of Kyubi. Now, let's stir things up. He had had WAY too little fun in his childhood.
The bright white pug hit Naruto full in the chest, before the owner wandered off from the crowd into the shadows. The orange shinobi stared before registering that he DID have a present for Ino-chan.
"Tired of the crowds already, Defector?" A shinobi of the same age as the before-mentioned black shinobi. The latter gave him a half-grin in return.
"You could say so. They're too much fun to watch, anyways."
"True."
"… So this is the batchelor's corner?"
"You could say so, yes."
"Shikamaru!" The shadow-prone shinobi winced, and the newcomer paused as a squeel shot out over the crowds. "SHIKAMARU!"
"Well… partially batchelor."
"More like wishfully."
"Shut up, Uchiha."
"Same to you, Nara."
Sasuke slid into the newly-vacated spot amongst the shadows as Shikamaru slipped deftly into the crowd.
The stars were as bright as usual.