It didn't happen the first time he saw her.

They were merely children then.

She had just been formally declared heiress, her elder cousin receiving the Caged Bird seal at the tender age of four. At three, she made her first public debut.

Itachi didn't think much of her at the time. He was six then, and she was little more than a toddler to him. Sasuke was the same age, which was the only real thought he connected to her at the time.

From then on he saw her in passing every so often. As the heir of another large clan – also doujutsu to boot – they were bound to run into each other. She even ended up in Sasuke's academy class, and when he had the time to pick up his brother as he liked, he often saw her waiting for her own attendant.

He never saw her father come for her. Nor her cousin, though their bond was likely strained. Itachi didn't like to assume, but he had a feeling that young Neji was likely quite bitter to his cousin. A matter of minutes had determined their ranks, and he had to wonder what he would feel had he stood in Neji's shoes. The seal had to weigh on his mind every moment of every day.

It didn't happen at their graduation, both her and his brother advancing to become genin in the same year. He was surprised – she had always looked so timid and unsure, he had wondered if she had what it took to become a shinobi. For the first time, he truly realized that, despite being connected to her in so many ways, he really didn't know a thing about her.

She was placed in a team that was entirely unconnected to his brother, so their contact dropped. Itachi became far more involved in his ANBU work, and for a long while he practically never saw her.

In fact, he didn't really see her again until she was sixteen, he himself twenty-one.

It was then that it happened.

A festival had arrived in Konoha. The events were rare in the shinobi village, given that there was usually something conflicting happening. Shinobi hardly ever had time where things were at rest long enough to afford such a leisure. Itachi hadn't planned on attending, but his brother – of all people – had convinced him.

"You work too much," Sasuke had muttered, picking out a yukata. "I think you should go."

"Are you?" Itachi asked, glancing over. He hadn't thought his brother was the type.

"Yeah, I got someone who wants me to go..." He'd blushed ever so slightly, and Itachi had grinned.

"I see...well, I will think about it."

In the end he'd agreed.

He accompanied Sasuke to the festival's start. Apparently the younger brother was meeting his date a while into the affair.

"Is this match...forbidden?" Itachi asked, perking a brow at their arrangement.

"Tch...as if that would matter," his brother had muttered, pouting slightly. But he refused to elaborate, and Itachi didn't want to push him.

But one moment Sasuke had been beside him, and the next, he was alone.

Itachi deadpanned. Wonderful, he thought to himself, sighing gently. What fun was there in attending a festival alone? He did not have any friends outside the clan – his work kept him too busy, and most of his friendly kinsmen had their own dates or groups.

The heir's mood soured slightly as he wandered aimlessly. Lanterns brightened the evening streets, the noise of talk and laughter filling the air. Games and shops were full of onlookers and participants, buyers and sellers. But none really seemed to call to him – he had no one to enjoy them with.

"Ah, Itachi san!"

Glancing over, Itachi paused and blinked.

He hardly recognized her for a moment. But there was no mistaking those eyes, nor the lengths of midnight hair that glowed like amethyst. "Hinata san."

She was garbed in a lilac kimono, which began as black at the hems and lightened into purple, and nearly white at her shoulders. Delicate boughs of wisteria hung across the fabric, loose petals dancing like snowflakes toward the hem. Her hair was pulled up into a simple style that revealed the slender planes of her neck. As far as he could see, she wore no makeup – all the better in his opinion.

It was then, when her name rolled off his tongue and into the open air that he felt it. A kind of weightlessness, as though gravity had suddenly had enough.

It startled him.

Shyly, she left her party – made up of several other females her age as well as their dates – and moved to stand nearer to him. She wore no blush, but her cheeks pinked all the same. "Are you alone, Itachi san?"

"I'm afraid I am," he managed to reply, feet slowly starting to approach the ground again. "Sasuke was here with me, but he left for better company, I suppose."

"O-oh...well, you are more than welcome to join us!" She gestured to her group. He recognized Neji, her cousin, with a brunette in a coppery kimono. Sakura, his brother's teammate, was with the other, Naruto. A blonde he did not know was standing with a black-haired man. Odd – his usually up-styled hair was down in a lower tail.

"I would not want to intrude, Hinata san," Itachi replied, bowing. "It would seem your party has already been established, and I do not know the others well enough to let them feel at ease."

It was Hinata's turn to blink as she stared. But she averted her gaze after a moment. "Ah, w-well...I was, um..." She blushed, but managed to keep from twiddling her fingers. "I was hoping that you could...even out our group?" It was uttered more like a question than an observation.

Oh. He paused, and then mentally chastised himself. She was without a date! How could he have failed to notice? "I..." He floundered, for once without words to make up for his mistake.

"If you don't want to, you d-don't have to," Hinata offered quickly, waving her hands with a nervous laugh. "I guess none of them are really people you know well. Though maybe you recognize Naruto kun and Sakura san?"

"I...I do," he admitted. "But I must acknowledge that I have not held many conversations with them as of yet. Out of your group, it is only you I can claim to know to any real extent. And even then...I must question just how well I truly know you."

She blushed, caught off guard by his revelation. "I...I see. W-well, um..." She glanced back, suddenly looking a bit forlorn. "If I may also m-make a confession...I do not think my presence is really noticeable among them. They probably would hardly realize it if I left."

"Then perhaps we two vagabonds could keep one another company instead?" Itachi offered, smiling a bit. It was only after he spoke that he realized how brash he sounded.

Oops.

But Hinata considered him honestly, looking only a small bit surprised. "I...I would enjoy that v-very much!"

Huh. Suddenly he had a date.

And he had no idea what to do. He had never been in that particular circumstance.

"Is there anything you would like to do first? I must admit I am not too familiar with the goings-on of festivals. More often than not I am unable to attend."

"Oh!" Hinata smiled. "W-well, neither am I, but...we'll find something!" Suddenly she seemed much more cheerful, and folded her hands before her as she started toward a booth.

First she played a game. No shinobi skills were allowed, but somehow she managed to steal a little fish without losing it, and was given the little goldfish to keep. Itachi wasn't one for games, but watched patiently as Hinata tried her luck at a lottery game. Her first draw was empty, but the second rewarded her with a small plush bunny.

"S-sorry," she offered shyly. "I know watching i-isn't very fun..."

"You were enjoying it," Itachi replied gently. "And you won – that alone is enough for me."

She beamed, giggling.

They paused as a resounding boom echoed through the air, followed by a soft crackling. Looking up, they caught the tail end of a firework blast.

Both released a small, relieved sigh. As shinobi, their first reaction had been to suspect a bombing. But as they glanced at one another, they both laughed nervously, realizing the truth.

"Do you want to watch?" she asked.

"I would enjoy that very much," he replied. Before she could protest, he wrapped an arm around her waist and shot off into the air, landing gently on a rooftop for an unobstructed view. A few other shinobi had gotten the same idea, barely silhouettes in the dark. But as another explosion sounded, a few familiar faces were illuminated by the blast.

Itachi blinked. "Sasuke?"

Hinata blinked. "Hanabi?"

The two younger siblings were snuggled together on the rooftop, but both stiffened and glanced at their siblings. Each three years their elder's junior, they blanched as they were caught.

Awkward silence was broken by another firework.

"Well, what a coincidence," Itachi finally said lightly, looking unperturbed. "Uchiha brothers with Hyuuga sisters..."

"Y-yeah..." Hinata added, sounding a bit faint. "Odd..."

Sasuke shrugged. "Well, now you know why I had to wait. Though I guess you're in the same boat, eh?"

Itachi blushed lightly across the bridge of his nose. "This was not arranged..."

"Well, you're still here now," Sasuke countered with a grin. "Anyway, why don't you two take a load off? You're missing the show."

The older siblings glanced shyly at one another before taking their seats, side by side. At first, there was no contact. But after a few moments, Hinata relented and rested her head against Itachi's shoulder, sighing lightly in contentment.

Suddenly, he was weightless all over again.

Greetings my lovely readers!

So, here we have a bit of a longer drabble, but one I still decided to include in my collection rather than posted on its own. Festivals always make for great settings for fics, I think, and I decided to give it a bit of a try for this prompt in my Challenge. I hope you enjoyed it! n_n

~BlackRoseDragon13