Onryuu - A typically female ghost who exacts revenge.
Otsukimi - (or 'Tsukimi') - The Moon-viewing festival, normally occurs in 'two parts' so to speak, where the autumn moon is honoured. The honour of the full moon is normally on the 15th day of 8th month and the waxing moon on the 13th of the 9th month (September and October respectively, in relation to a modern calendar). On these days offerings of sake, chestnuts, dango and other foods are brought as well as ornaments of grasses, generally susuki.
Written for the devART KakaSakuFC's Fall Art and Writing Contest - whoo for Halloween! ^_^ (The max word limit was only 1500, hence this is so little, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!)
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Otsukimi – (Moon-viewing festival)
"But what is it?" The kuniochi asked, for about the fifth time to a distracted – though manically grinning – Naruto,
"Uh a pum…no, a pamku…pimpmin..nah, a s-something," he waved his hand as though to brush the question aside as he leant down to rest his chin on the table, staring at the thing. Sakura, however, was unimpressed from where she stood beside him, starting at the large, proud looking orange blob. All it needed was its stalk painting yellow and a haitai-ate and it would have done for a mirror (Kami knew it was already the closest thing to there being one in the grubby, Jinchuuriki's apartment).
"Are you sure you didn't cast a jutsu wrong?"
"There's no need for that, hag-face." Sai began, with a disproportionately polite tone of voice, "I believe that it is a form of squash known as a Pumpkin. They are particularly popular during this time of year in Western culture." Sai's creepy smile stole back to his lips, now that they were no longer occupied by speech;
"…Huh…" Sakura's eyebrow lowered, but it was at best a feint – she didn't feel any less sceptical; the kabocha [squashes] in Konoha weren't normally so…monstrous.
"They're used for both eating and…carving, I think,"
"Carving? Why would anyone want to carve a fruit?"
"Vegetable–"
"It has seeds, right? It's a fruit,"
"Apparently not according to Western culture, where they're widely regarded as vegetables…in the culinary sense," Sakura sighed loudly as she reigned in the rarely-quelled urge to deck the late addition to Team 7.
"Where did you even get this, Naruto? Gii's 'pumpkins' are significantly more–"
"–Crappy? I know! I got this off some Obaa-chan in Earth Country…had to use a special jutsu to make sure it stayed fresh on the journey back," Naruto happily babbled, only to be interrupted by a deeper, familiar voice,
"And who had to waste the chakra to cast the jutsu?" The medic did her best to hide the tinge that ran down her spine at the sound of his words, but it seemed like everything she did these days was out-of-character…or that somehow drew attention to them. It was ridiculous really, for neither of the boys had apparently noticed, though it was a mirrored concern – one that brought as much apprehension as it did excitement.
"Ah-hahah! Kakashi-sensei, you made it!" The shinobi's eye curved closed, denoting a smile, as he stepped off the windowsill, sliding the frame back into place behind him, blocking out the chilly October air; his slivery hair rustling the small orange and black paper spiders Naruto had hung up around the space. One of which snagged on the Copy Nin's locks and clung on, as though it had a brain of its own and decided that it liked the – ironically ghostly – shock of silver hair much better than the cold corner.
All three of the younger shinobi immediately decided that they rather liked the…addition; it gave Kakashi a delightfully festive feel that all too rarely accompanied the generally sombre individual. Swiftly averting their attentions from the hysterically conspicuous neon-orange spider nestled in the otherwise-fearsome Copy Ninja's hair, and onto the moment – which was, admittedly, a rather strange, twisted hybrid between Naruto's desire for a 'Halloween party' and the group's typical observation of Otsukimi – the moon viewing festival.
"I thought you were supposed to have carved it by now, Naruto!" Kakashi placed the small bag he'd been carrying on the table beside the decidedly untouched(i) pumpkin,
"I couldn't decide between an onryuu or an evil shinobi!" He rebutted, unconcerned, whilst he rummaged in the bag Kakashi had set down, pulling out the boxes of chestnuts and saké – just as he'd agreed, Sakura had brought the Tsukimi dango and susuki [Japanese pampas grass] decorations leaving Sai to bring the taro and edamame dishes, since Naruto was hosting. "Alright! C'mon, c'mon, let's go and watch the moon!"
He clutched at the bloated pumpkin and scurried off to his balcony, leaving his guests to bring the snacks and drinks; Sai took an immediate seat in the free space next to Naruto as Sakura and Kakashi sat themselves behind the two. The moon was bright, full and bathed Konoha in an ethereal silver glow; as though the great satellite itself was aware of the occasion, and had turned out specially. As the – now Jounin medic-nin – took a seat beside the Copy Nin (whom she'd recently begun to date) she couldn't help but think what a romantic scene it made.
For the past few months Sakura had found herself the centre of attention from the great dark orb that was Kakashi's seemingly all-seeing eye. She brushed it off at first, thinking it was to do with the fact he knew she'd accidentally seem him nearly naked – she'd been passing by his apartment, intent on giving him a message, when, upon landing on the window sill, she came face to face with her once-sensei's bare body, glistening with droplets from a recent shower (with only a towel covering the second most important bit of him – the first being his face, of course, which was obscured by the bathroom doorway, which he'd just stepped out of). The kuniochi reacted on instinct and darted away again, her face as red as the shirt she wore, unable to get the image from her mind for nearly a week after.
(And it took nearly a month before she could look him in the eye again without feeling like some sort of pervert.)
It was ridiculous, she was 24 and a medic, for Kami's sake, it wasn't as though any of it was strange to her…it was more that fact that it was Kakashi's body she'd seen and as for the fact it had been by accident, without his knowledge made it all seem to…scandalous. Scandalous enough to chase a guilty thrill down her spine whenever she thought about it…though admittedly, the guilt was a little stronger whenever she found herself meeting Kakashi's gaze that seemed to follow her wherever she went.
So, much to her surprise, some two weeks ago, she and Kakashi had found themselves alone after Sai had left and carried Naruto with him after one of their little gatherings (though more alcohol had been consumed); it had been for their former sensei's birthday and the kuniochi felt bad for making him clear up all of the mess on his own…especially since it was his apartment and they'd barged in on him. The silence at first had been awkward, though Kakashi, when he'd imbibed, tended to be a good deal more talkative and the shinobi began to ramble about one thing or another that Sakura hadn't really been listening to.
All too swiftly, however, and in true Kakashi style, he'd managed to not only get her attention, but also to nearly send her into cardiac arrest, in only a few sharp sentences. Apparently he had known she was at his window that night and it hadn't been an entirely coincidental, he'd wanted to 'test the water' for some time–the sudden sensation of Kakashi's fingertips brushing over the muscle of her thumb before slipping beneath the curl of her fingers to join their hands. His larger one, rough with the material of his fingerless gloves, easily slipped around her own and, whilst the sensation was still something of a novelty, it registered as deep, though subtle comfort.
The Copy Nin's hand squeezed gently around her own before pulling away again – though Naruto and Sai were both distracted and facing away from them with drawing and carving pumpkins respectively, but it would take no effort for them to turn around and discover the – currently – tentative secret. Both shinobi were still uncertain of how they would develop and neither of the two were keen to advertise; whilst they knew each other very well, they had no idea how their relationship would handle one last change in dynamic – from friends to lovers – and the last thing they needed were eyes and opinions and, worst of all, gossips.
As quickly as Kakashi had pulled her attention, his hand slipped from hers and moved to pick up his saucer of saké in a single smooth action; though the cool air had her hand mourn the lost warmth of his, such subtle, hidden actions were so alike Kakashi that it brought a smile to her face. The kuniochi turned her attention finally back to the bright, full moon, which faced competition only with the occasional lantern and glittering Halloween ornaments dotting over the rooftops of Konoha.
The adored orb didn't seem to mind, however, as it smiled down as though knowing about the budding secret, hidden in plain sight, between the two shinobi; instead it blessed them with its ghostly, silvery light.
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