Chibi: Hi again! I finally got around to writing the third installment of the Cookies series, The Festival! (Though, to be honest, I already had 4 and 5 written .) Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed the other stories!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF NARUTO! I DO, HOWEVER, OWN NANASHI, KOUKATSU, ANKOKU, REIKO, NORIKO, RYOU, AND THE PLOT.
The Festival
Nanashi grumbled under her breath as her teammates attempted to prepare her for the festival later that day. Her back and butt were aching from sitting for an hour as Noriko attempted to style her impossibly long hair, and her face felt heavy from the makeup that Reiko had applied. "Rei-chan, Nori-chan, how much longer is this gonna be? I'm pretty sure my ass fell asleep."
The blonde behind her grumbled under her breath, trying to get the dark haired girl to stay still. "You have too much hair, Nashi. I'll be done in ten minutes, but only if you stay freakin' still!"
Their other teammate chose to sit back and watch the interaction, having finished everyone's makeup. She winced every time a yelp came from the black haired girl or a curse came from the blonde, but she chose to keep her opinions to herself. Finally an idea came to the auburn haired girl. "Nashi, Gaara's gonna be there, don't you want to go see him?"
"Y-yeah, but Nori-chan is taking forever! And after this, you guys are going through my whole goddamn kimono collection… I'll never get to go at this rate!" She whined when Noriko gave a particularly harsh tug.
After a few minutes of tugging and pinning hair into place, Noriko sighed in relief. "Finally! Nashi, Rei-chan, what do you think?"
Nanashi gaped at the girl in the mirror, "I love it! How do you two do this so well?"
Her teammates shrugged, replying simultaneously. "A lot of practice."
"Now what?" Nanashi asked as she stood up, "What am I wearing?"
Reiko immediately pulled out the two she and Noriko had chosen, "These are off limits."
Nanashi rolled her eyes, "Oh, heaven forbid I decide to wear my own clothing." She went over to her closet, pulling out a deep red kimono with black rose petal prints, some full roses at the bottom, and a black obi settled around the waist. "Perfect!"
As soon as they were finished getting dressed, the girls left Nanashi's house in search of their other friends. After a few minutes of wandering, Nanashi was already shoeless as they came up to the ramen stand. "There you three are!" They heard a familiar voice call out.
They turned to find almost all of the Konoha Twelve behind them, all decked out in their best clothes. Nanashi greeted them all with hugs before she realized something. "Sassy isn't here?"
Sakura and Ino stifled giggles at the nickname before they replied, "He'll be here soon, he's with Itachi-san."
"Right. Brotherly bonding time, I forgot."
"Teme said not to wait for him," Naruto commented, "He'll catch up later.
Reiko's smile faltered a little, "O-oh, alright then. Are Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro here yet?"
"Yes." A deep voice answered from directly behind Nanashi, startling her.
The clumsy kunoichi stumbled back into the newcomer, earning a pained grunt from them. "S-Sorry!" She whipped around, coming face to face with the red haired man. "Ga-Gaara-san, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean t-"
She was silenced by his hand covering her mouth. "Nanashi. Calm down before you injure someone else." She nodded, wide eyed. As he lowered his hand, he added, "And I thought we spoke about you calling me that."
"R-Right. Sorry Gaara-sa-I mean Gaara." She corrected, blushing at the intense stare. "Sorry again…"
"It's alright…" He realized how close they were and took a few steps back, only to be swarmed by Naruto, Lee, Reiko, and Noriko. "What the hell do you four want?"
All four had the same look on their face. "What was all of that about, Gaara-san?" Lee asked excitedly, "Do you have… feelings for the beautiful Nanashi-chan?"
"Yeah!" The Uzumaki twins chimed in, "Do ya?!"
As the poor redhead was questioned, Nanashi sheepishly backed away, casting him an apologetic look. Sakura, Ino, and Tenten pulled her aside just as Temari, Kankuro, and the Uchiha brothers joined the large group, thoroughly confused. Nanashi gave the older Uchiha a wave in acknowledgement before turning her attention to the girls. Temari and Hinata soon joined them out of curiosity as Tenten asked in a hushed voice, "What's up with you and Mr. Broodypants, Nashi?"
Nanashi's face turned pink as she stuttered, "I-I'm not sure what you mean…"
"She's had a huge crush on Gaara since our first Chunin exams," Temari said casually.
"Mari!" Nanashi yelped, causing everyone's eyes to land on her. Her blushed darkened as she felt Gaara's eyes boring into her. "N-Not so loud…"
Itachi walked over to the flustered girl, a smirk growing on his face, "What? I don't get a hug?" Nanashi beamed up at the older Uchiha brother, giving him a hug in greeting. "Now, what's going on here?"
"Nanashi-chan and Gaara-san had a moment earlier and everyone was wanting to know why…" Hinata said quietly.
Itachi grinned down at the girl next to him. "Does your little fanboy Kenji know you have a thing for someone else?" His grin widened when his friend paled considerably. "No?" He raised his voice so the entire group could hear, "Where is Kenji, anyway?"
"Don't you dare, Weasel," Nanashi hissed as Gaara's stare turned into an ominous glare. Itachi just shrugged innocently.
"I'm just wondering, considering I saw him looking for his hime earlier."
"Don't call me that, dammit!"
"Oh no, wait, that was Reiko's boyfriend. You were tenshi or koneko, weren't you?"
Reiko looked absolutely mortified. "Ritsu isn't my boyfriend!" She glanced shyly over at Sasuke, who seemed a little relieved, "I-I… I don't have a boyfriend…"
Gaara, on the other hand, looked positively murderous. Temari smirked at him, "It's rather unbecoming for you to be so jealous, Gaara."
"Shut up," he snapped.
Nanashi, oblivious to the raging Kazekage, scowled at the elder Uchiha, "Please don't remind me."
Itachi chuckled, moving away from the small girl to speak to Sakura and the Uzumaki twins. As soon as he made his presence known, Noriko pointed at him, yelling, "YOU! Join us in the ramen eating contest!"
Itachi raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't aware that there was a contest."
"We just started one!" Naruto exclaimed, "Now are you going to join? Or are all Uchiha too chicken?"
Itachi and Sasuke both glared at the two hyperactive ninja, "Oh it is on."
Soon, the contest consisted of the twins, the two Uchiha, Chouji, Kiba, Lee, Shikamaru, Tenten, and the three sand siblings. Shino and Neji stood awkwardly out of the way, next to the girls that weren't competing.
"Maybe we should eat elsewhere," Shino said quietly, "I can't see this ending well."
Neji nodded in agreement, "There should be a place just down there."
As the two men walked off, Nanashi turned to the other girls. "We should go explore!" She looked over at her other friends, who were busy shoveling ramen into their mouths. "I think Shika's gonna pass out."
"That's okay, Temari's there if he does," Ino chimed, linking her arm with Reiko's.
"Oh, they'll be fine," Sakura said reassuringly. They heard Lee gasping for water, "I think."
As they walked around the festival, they found a few gift stalls. "We should get something for everyone," Hinata suggested, smiling.
They soon returned to the ramen stand bearing gifts. Some of them liked their presents, some weren't too amused. (Shikamaru put his new travel pillow to use immediately, whereas, upon receiving a small rubber duck, Sasuke demanded he get his real present.) As it turns out, Chouji, Naruto, and Itachi were the last three in the contest. They had to stop when Ayame informed them that they were out of food.
As the festival came to an end, the large group gathered on the bridge to watch the ceremonial fireworks. Nanashi stood at the railing, Itachi on her left and Gaara on her right. She sighed happily as she watched the beautiful display, subconsciously leaning against Gaara. "It's so pretty! I love fireworks…"
Gaara smirked, staring up at the sky, "So do I. It's very peaceful tonight."
"God dammit, Dobe, get off of me!"
"You know you love it, Teme!"
Itachi glanced over at Gaara, an exhausted look on his face, "You were saying?"
"Fuck OFF, noodle boy!"
END
Chibi: Note that this series is set in a Non-Massacre AU, so Sasuke's not as stick-up-the-ass as he usually is, but he's still a jerk to most people, so Nanashi doesn't like him. At all. Reiko is just a teammate of Nanashi, but their other teammate is Noriko Uzumaki, Naruto's twin sister.