Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Sasuke does. Musashi Kishimoto has the rights to his characters and any oc's belong to me.
Please R&R. The more reviews I get the more I write. And I do take flames I want to now what I did wrong and how I can improve.
Chapter two: Night of the festival and the mysterious masked man
Naruto woke up to a loud knock coming from his front door. He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and quickly ran to the door.
"Coming, coming!" The blond yelled, opening the door.
"Come on Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "If we don't go now we won't be finished before the festival starts."
Naruto became wide-awake and rushed to get dressed. When he came back to the door where Sakura was waiting she grabbed the blonds arm and both rushed down to their stand. They unpacked the already made masks and set them up, and as they finished they figured they had enough for everyone. Now Naruto started to wonder why he had to wake up so early, they had hours to kill before the festival started. He slouched in his chair and sighed.
"How are things going?" Kakashi questioned, appearing out of nowhere.
"We finished just in time sensei." Sakura said excitedly.
"That's good." He smiled.
He looked at the masks laid out on the table. The half fox mask caught the jonin's interest and he picked it up to examine it closer.
"Perfect." Kakashi said to no one in particular. "How much?"
"Um…" Sakura thought. "100 Ryo."
"Selling cheap I see." He said as he fished the money from his pocket.
He laid it on the table, took the mask, said his goodbyes and disappeared as quickly as he appeared.
"Wonder what that was about?" The pink-haired girl wondered out loud.
Naruto stood up, he was fed up with all the mystery his sensei was keeping them in.
"Naruto?" Sakura questioned.
"You're not curious?" The blond asked. "Why Sensei bought the mask. Or even what Sasuke's up to? We haven't seen him since yesterday. It's really getting on my nerves not knowing what's he's doing."
Sakura was trying to keep off the subject knowing the rivalry between the two boys, but sense the blond brought it up first she couldn't complain.
"Of course I'm curious." She replied.
"The festival doesn't start for another few hours." Naruto said in a suggestive voice.
Sakura knew where he was getting at and sighed, but inside she was glad she would finally get away from their stand. The pair nodded and headed off in attempt to track down their sensei.
"This is useless." Sakura said, leaning against a nearby tree. "We are never going to find him."
"He couldn't have gone far." Naruto answered, looking around for any sign.
By this point in time they were already well into the forest near their village. Naruto was getting fed up with this and was about to head back when he heard rustling. The two quickly hid behind trees, spotting an abandoned hut off in the distance Sakura and Naruto looked on straining their ears to listen.
"Now that you have it down you can take a brake before the festival." Kakashi said, walking out of the hut. "But you're going to have to be silent, your identity must remain a secret."
A sigh came from the hut and a person wearing what looked like a samurai outfit only more formal walked out. The hiori was a dark blue and the kimono underneath was a light blue, his pants were a pure white. And on his face, the half fox mask Kakashi had bought from them. The silver-haired jonin then handed the boy a couple of small fans, the boy went to say something but Kakashi stopped him then disappeared. Reappearing again in front of his two students, both jumped back in surprise.
"S-sensei." Sakura stuttered, trying to find her voice.
"You're curious?" He asked, a smile showing threw his own mask. "I bought the mask for him."
He pointed back to the boy in costume who was fidgeting uncomfortably by the heaviness of the layers of clothes.
"Who is he?" Naruto questioned.
He looked familiar with his short black hair, but plenty of the kids in the village had that kind of hair so it could be anybody. And with the mask hiding his eyes it was impossible to tell who it really was.
"Don't worry about that." He answered, looking up through the trees to the sky. "It's about time the festival started. You should get back."
The two didn't realize how much time they wasted while looking for their sensei. They forgot about the boy in question and rushed back to their stand for the on coming crowd.
The main street was lit up with lanterns strung from the buildings, the smell of different food filled the air and the sound of music lightened up the mood. People from different villages came to join in the activities, Konoha was more alive than ever. Naruto and Sakura's masks were a big hit with small kids and grown-ups alike, they had miscalculated the number they needed and quickly ran out of them. They became disappointed when they had to take the stand down, but realized they could take part in the different things going on. Naruto grinned, this practically means he could go on a date with his crush.
"Sakura-chan! Why don't we get something to eat?" The blond asked. "My treat!"
Sakura nodded her head, she couldn't complain about free food. And coming from Naruto it was like she was in an alternate universe. So the blond dragged her down to where Kiba's Takoyaki stand was, just to try some. As they reached there they saw the masked boy from the forest again, he laid down some money in return for a plate of Takoyaki. He bowed a bit for a thank you and went to leave, almost bumping into Naruto.
"Hey it's you again." The blond almost yelled.
The boy's cheeks became red with embarrassment and he tried to find an escape rout but Naruto seemed to block him pining him in a corner. He gulped then offered his plate of Takoyaki to Naruto just to get him off his back, and it seemed to work. Kiba noticed this.
"Hey kid." Kiba called out, motioning for him to come over.
He silently obeyed.
"I'm sorry about my friend." He apologized. "Please for your trouble take this Takoyaki plate, on the house."
The boy bowed as he accepted the plate from Kiba, then made a quick escape before the blond could get anywhere near him again.
"I swear he looks so familiar." Naruto muttered.
Kiba's glaring eyes pierced the back of the blonde's head, making him turn around with a nervous smile. The brunette outstretched his hand.
"Pay up Naruto." Kiba growled.
"What? Why?" Naruto yelled, confused at why he had to pay for something someone else already paid for.
"He may have paid for the first plate." The dog lover started. "But because we gave him the second one free, that means you have to pay for it."
"But why?" The blond whined.
"You stole his first one." Shino explained from the back.
"But he gave it to me!" Naruto tried to defend himself.
"That's because you cornered him." Kiba was starting to lose his patients.
Not wanting to get Kiba any more heated Naruto paid and left. He then handed it to Sakura.
"What none for you?" The pink-haired girl asked.
"I'll get something else." Naruto answered.
As the night came all the villagers gathered to the chunin exam stadium, used as a make shift auditorium, to watch the finally to the Sakura festival.
"Now comes the best part." Sakura whispered to Naruto. "I heard there is a dance performed at the end."
"A dance?" Naruto questioned.
"You never heard of it Naruto?" Kiba asked sitting in back of him. "You missed out all these years. It's the fan dance to welcome the sprouting cherry blossoms."
"It's really pretty to watch." Said Ino who was sitting in back of Sakura. "This year they chose some one new to take over. Billboard-brow, where's Sasuke-kun? He'll miss out."
"How should I know?" Sakura answered a bit aggravated she couldn't see her crush. "I haven't seen him sense he went home yesterday."
Everyone became quiet as someone came out in the middle of the field. A spotlight hit him and Naruto, Sakura, and Kiba's mouths practically hit the floor. It was the same boy from before, except he had two fans, one in each hand. He took a graceful position before the music played, the spotlight dimmed and it looked like a soft moonlight. As a slow classical sort of music started to play the boy moved his feel along with the beat and moved the fans too. As the music went on the footwork and the fan weaving became more elaborate, and it seemed like everyone was in awe.
Naruto didn't see anything more beautiful in his life, for a guy he sure was flexible. Just as the boy finished he practically got a standing ovation.
"Hey Ino." Naruto turned around to talk to the blond girl. "Who did the fan dance before?"
"I don't know." She answered. "But I do know it was a girl, though I can tell you this guy is a thousand times better."
The light turned off and the fireworks went off, indicating the official end of the festival for Konoha until next year.
And that does it for chapter two! Don't think this story is over yet! I'll see you all in chapter three! 3