Disclaimer: This is a not-for-profit story. All characters and locales taken from the source material (Naruto, both the anime and manga) do not belong to me, nor do I take any credit for them.
A/N: For this story I wanted to experiment with something a little different. Each paragraph is told from the perspective of a different character. Additionally, each paragraph also introduces the character of the next paragraph in some way.
As an experiment, I'm fairly happy with how this turned out. Hope you enjoy the following holiday special.
Naruto: The Winter Festival
The Winter Festival. The three days and nights before Frost-night. That short, magical time of the year when the village hidden in the Leaves sees weather cold enough for snow. No-one has ever been able to explain this strange phenomenon where snow comes to a part of the world where it does not belong, but for a handful of days in the middle of the coldest of seasons a magical blanket of white descends upon the village and the citizens celebrate with bright lights, exchanged gifts and lots of food.
Sarutobi stood at the top of the Hokage building contemplating the days to come as the cold wind ruffled his white hair. The temperature had dropped drastically over the course of the day and the first layer of snow had just settled, allowing the shopkeepers to begin dressing their shop fronts with lights of all colours, as well as all kinds of other types of decorations. The great man known as the third Hokage smiled gently as he spotted a flash of yellow hair running down the street, it's arms wrapped around a large basket. Before too long however, his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of his assistant.
"Lord Hokage, I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid there's work that you must see to before tonight."
"Yes, of course. Thank you." As he turned and slowly made his way down the stairs, a single thought ran through the mind of the village's mightiest shinobi. 'I wonder when Hanah will start serving her famous pudding?'
Ino Yamanaka ran down the street, her arms full with a basket full of flowers to be delivered to various people. The blonde Kunoichi loved this time of year. She loved picking out the outfits that she got to wear only for these fleeting days, she also loved how pretty the whole village looked all dressed up and she loved being able to help make it pretty thanks to her father's flower shop. She even enjoyed the food, the Winter Festival was the one time of the year when most girls, Ino included, threw diets out the window. After all, how could anyone resist sticky apples, or Hanah's famous 'Black-forest Pudding'? Her cheeks warmed at just the thought of the delicious desserts. And on the topic of food, there at the end of the street was Ino's destination, Karen's BBQ and Grill.
Choji Akimichi was hungry. While not being the least bit surprising, this information did explain why he was sitting in a booth of Karen's BBQ and Grill in the middle of the afternoon, gobbling down short ribs. He placed another round of tasty snacks on the grill to cook, then jerked his head up as a loud commotion disturbed the restaurant's quiet atmosphere. Realising that the crash had come from outside, he stuck his head out the window and promptly chuckled at the sight of Ino sitting in the middle of the street, rubbing her stomach and yelling at a very abashed Rock Lee. He chuckled for a while at the funny scene, before the delicious smell of roasting pork dragged his attention back to the meal in front of him.
Rock Lee was running very, very late. The knowledge consumed him, driving him on through the village, faster and faster. It never occurred to him that it wasn't his fault, that the delays caused by waiting for Shikamaru Nara, and running physically and violently into Ino Yamanaka, had been unavoidable. No, the only thought that raced through his straight forward mind was that he was about to break his word by not being where he said he would be at the proper time, a situation that was absolutely unacceptable. Given his frame of mind, it was perhaps no surprise that he flew past his mentor and idol, Maito Gai, without seeing him at all.
Shikamaru Nara would have liked nothing more than to be able to find a nice quiet spot to lie down, probably somewhere the wind would blow gently across his face, and watch the day pass lazily by. Unfortunately he had been discovered by his sensei before finding that perfect spot, and was now trapped within a particularly long game of shogi. Having already anticipated Asuma's next five moves across a total of thirty possibilities, he had to raise a hand to try and cover a yawn of boredom. His sensei raised an eyebrow at the indifferent gesture, then reached out and moved his chosen piece.
"You know Shikamaru, you could pay a little more attention to this game. I mean it's not like you have to do anything else right now, since you finished gathering those ingredients for Hanah." Shikamaru shrugged as he made his own move, setting up one of his Knights for a fall.
"Asuma, do you really think I wanted to spend today playing Shogi? I should be out keeping Choji company during his training."
"Hmph. You mean sleeping through his training, don't you? Besides, this isn't so bad. I saw Gai heading towards your place on my way over this morning, what do you think you'd be doing right now if he had found you instead?" That got the reaction he wanted, Shikamaru bolted upright in horror. Squaring his shoulders and hunching over the game board, he muttered loudly in a terse voice.
"Shut up and play Sensei!"
Kakashi Hatake often found himself regretting the day he had made friends with Maito Gai. Surprisingly, today was not one of those days.
"So Kakashi, our usual contest?"
"Sure. Usual stakes, loser buys the Sake tonight."
Gai flashed a blinding smile and lifted his head in agreement, then bent over and started loosening up with some quick stretches. He eyed the street critically, planning his route out in his head. His eyes snagged on kunoichi with spiky purple hair a ways down the street and he just had time to silently berate Anko Mitarashi for her addiction to sweets before a light cough from his rival alerted him to the fact that the challenge was about to begin.
Anko took her seat inside the dumpling shop and was instantly greeted with a hot, steaming plate of sweets. This year she had picked out the perfect seat to watch one of the hidden Leaf's most interesting traditions, the annual street decorating contest between Kakashi and Gai. It was amazing to think that a contest which had started out as a drunken challenge was now one of the village's most cherished traditions, one so popular that every year the street was crowded with people eager to watch the spectacle. It was just like the local shop owners said, it wasn't so much the fact that the two shinobi decorated the entire street for the upcoming festival, but rather the incredible speed at which they did so.
Anko slid the first of her tasty treats into her mouth, relishing the heat it radiated on such a cold day, just in time to watch Kakashi throw a kunai into the air. When it hit the ground, the challenge would begin. She spared a thought for poor Hana Inuzuka, who had declined Anko's offer to join her for the occasion. There was no way the other kunoichi was having as much fun right now as her.
Hana wrinkled her nose at the awful smell assaulting her keen senses, picked up the offending item and flung it at her younger brother.
"Hey! What was that for?" She stared down his squawk of protest until he reluctantly rose to toss the slimy projectile in the bin, then wash his face and fingers in the nearby sink. Hana continued watching him, waiting for the perfect moment to speak.
"How many times have I told you not to leave that mutt's leftovers lying around the kitchen?" She spoke with a hard edge in her voice, forged from the righteous anger boiling within her chest. The satisfaction she derived from watching Kiba's attempts at firing back, the water flowing from the sink still gushing through his mouth, only mildly dampened the emotion.
Eventually Kiba calmed down enough to stop spluttering and form a coherent sentence. Surprisingly, it was a question rather than the expected insult.
"What are we having for dinner?"
Hana blinked at her younger brother stupidly, then turned and strode out of the room, tossing her answer flippantly over her shoulder.
"Barbecue Beef. Don't forget to find something for dessert."
Kiba pulled the front door closed violently, it's sturdy wooden frame shuddering under his furious emotions. That rotten sister of his had walked out on him, dumping the responsibility for buying dinner squarely in his lap without even the chance to protest. Now he would have to walk all the way out to Karen's BBQ and Grill through the cool evening air and gathering holiday crowds.
Flipping the hood of his white jacket over his wild messy hair, Kiba stepped out into the street and straight into the path of a speeding shinobi. Thrown to the ground by the collision, he spent a few infuriating seconds rolling around in the dirt before managing to get upright. A flash of orange at the end of the street told him that the shinobi who had just run over him had not bothered to stop, a fact that only made Kiba angrier. Jumping to his feet, he screamed his frustration at the top of his lungs, hoping it would chase after Naruto Uzumaki and give the blonde an ear ache.
Naruto ran down the empty street, sandals crunching loudly on the snow and hot breath curling away in the cold air. He rounded the corner at full tilt and slipped easily into the crowd in the next street. Pushing his way through the press of bodies, he stepped out and stared up at the dazzling display of coloured lanterns, fancy dresses and intricate toys. It was a sight that filled him with wonder and delight every year. He spun around, giggling lightly, and stared in awe at the swirling confusion of colour, light and noise that made up the mid-winter festival. Then, spotting a display someone had set up of life-size dolls sitting around a table drinking tea, he dived into the chaos, wonder and delight of the most magical night of the year.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one-shot, just in time for the Christmas holidays. In addition to the unusual style, I wanted to take a brief look at how & why the Leaf village might celebrate a holiday at this time of year.
Happy Christmas everyone!