Author: Take
Date: 7/10/08
Rating: K+
Summary: Love and duty.
Love is not enough. It must be the foundation, the cornerstone - but not the complete structure. It is much too pliable, too yielding.
-- Bette Davis
It was the seventh day of the seventh month, and Konoha was preparing for the Tanabata Festival, which would begin at sundown, as per the Hokage's orders. Officially, it was supposed to start at the moment the first stars appeared in the sky, but Uzumaki Naruto was not known for his patience nor his ability to sit still for any period of time.
Sasuke wandered through the festival grounds, his hands stuck casually in his pockets. All around him, vendors were busy with last minute preparations for the expected numbers of festival attendees. Brightly colored flags and banners fluttered gaily in the breeze, the sun hot on his head and shoulders. The Uchiha gracefully side-stepped a bunch of children running toward a stall selling tako- and tai-yaki(1). As he continued down the street, Sasuke continuously catalogued possible hiding spots and potential weak points in security. If he knew Naruto - and he did - he wouldn't be content to watch the festivities from afar. No, his blond would be right here in the thick of things tonight.
Satisfied with his reconnaissance for now, Sasuke took to the rooftops towards the Hokage's Tower. The noise from the festival grounds faded away in the distance.
Naruto's nose twitched as the Uchiha slipped quietly through his office window. The various smells that clung to the shinobi's clothes, hair and skin were identified and filed away. "Paranoia satisfied?" he teased, propping an elbow on his desk, hand cradling one whiskered cheek.
Sasuke shrugged. "It's not paranoia if it's good sense." He leaned against the wall, arms folded. He had made his opinion clear on the matter of the Rokudaime's attendance at the festival. Anything more would have been nagging.
Naruto rose to join him by the window, resting his arms on the sill as he peered at the sky. "Good. Looks like there's little chance of rain," he said. "We don't want Orihime to miss her lover for a whole 'nother year, eh?"
Sasuke 'hnned' noncommittally. He wasn't in the mood to start a fight with his lover, which was what would happen if he let his opinion of the story behind the festival be known. The princess and the cowherd (2). Bah.
The high notes of the wooden flutes sang in sharp counterpoint to the beat of the taiko, the drummers' seductive rhythm inviting revelers to join in the dancing. Clad in an orange yukata - what else? - and clutching a stick of grilled squid, Naruto wove easily through the crowd, his movements unconsciously timed to the music. Sasuke trailed a pace behind, the cloth of his midnight blue yukata a stark contrast to his lover's ensemble. The heavy weight of the metal war fan tucked into his belt was a comfort in such a crush of people, as were the kunai and senbon tucked up his sleeves. One eye was always on Naruto, the other was scanning the crowd for potential dangers.
Sasuke had never told anyone why he didn't particularly care for Tanabata. It was because he didn't really like the story behind the festival. He didn't find the tale of the separated lovers romantic; instead, he found it contemptible. It was because they were too occupied with each other to do their duty that Orihime and Hikoboshi were punished. Duty was what defined a shinobi, all other things - such as love - took second place. To neglect the former for the latter was unthinkable. Naruto knew it, Sasuke knew it. They expected no less of each other.
This was his life. As a captain of the ANBU, as a shinobi of the Leaf, his duty was to protect the Hokage and Konoha. Sasuke was lucky enough that his duty had never really conflicted with his personal life.
Drawing abreast of Naruto, he accepted the brush the blond handed him. Together, they wrote their wishes on their strips of paper, hanging them from the bamboo. Naruto's wish would no doubt be for the continued safety and prosperity of Konoha. Sasuke's wish, however, was a little more selfish.
Having safely deposited his wish, Naruto turned to him with a smile that eclipsed the brightest of the festival lanterns. "C'mon, Sasuke! Enjoy yourself for once!" With that, the blond turned, already listing the booths he wanted to visit.
Sasuke followed a moment later, the slightest of smiles on his lips.
Later, as the wishes were burned, the writing on one was briefly exposed before going up in flame, carried to the ears of the gods.
May my duty and heart never conflict.
Culture notes:
(1) Tako yaki are grilled balls of batter filled with bits of octopus (and/or other things, depending on how the person makes it). Tai yaki are sweet batter filled with an (sweetened azuki bean paste) grilled in the shape of a fish.
(2) The Tanabata festival (the Star festival) celebrates the meeting of Vega and Altair. Based off of the Chinese folk tale "The Princess and the Cowherd", it is the story of Orihime, a princess who falls in love with the cowherd Hikoboshi. So absorbed with each other, they forgot to fulfill their duties and were thus punished by separation. They are allowed to meet once a year; the clear sky Naruto alludes to refers to the fact that the bridge that reunites the lovers is made of magpies, who do not come if it is raining. For more info, go to wikipedia. org.
Author's Note:
Huh. Read in the newspaper that we were going to have our own Tanabata festival. Ah well, summer's the time, ne? Korean culture festival is this weekend. Saw some yukata at one of the shops at a mall yesterday. Pity I don't have time to attend - for a pink yukata, was pretty, especially paired with the blue obi. Oh well. Got to eat Itokiri dango, so I'm happy.
