A/N: SORRY IT'S LATE!! THE INTERNET AT MY HOUSE DIED AND I HAD TO DRIVE TO MY UNIVERSITY TO STEAL THE WiFi! (cries) I want my internet back. D:
Thank you to everyone who wished me a wonderful trip in Japan—I had a great time, and it was the first time I'd had my birthday overseas. It was so bloody hot in Tokyo. I got to eat authentic ramen at a really well known ramen shop, and now I can understand why Naruto eats it every day. It's so good. (drools)And guess what—I met Kishimoto Masashi!! Just kidding. XD I'll make it my goal to find him next time I go. XD Happy birthday to all those who said their birthdays would be around the time I put this out for you to read. And I hope the wait was worth it.
This chapter contains Pre-Chuunin Exam Festival fun! And I've finally decided what I'm going to do with Shikamaru and Ino's relationships, though they don't really play a big role here, so I'm not going to announce what I've decided. And I suppose this chapter is kinda fanservice because I ended up including most people's favourite pairings on the side: NaruHina, NejiTen, ShikaIno, ShikaTema, and there will be an interaction with Ino with someone else. Who? You'll see. :p
P.S. Not trying to antagonize Temari at all when you meet her. It's told from Ino's point of view, and in her eyes, Temari is an antagonist. :P I actually really like Temari.
Warning: Looooooooonnnnnnngggggg!! :
Chapter Forty-Nine: Snapshots
"Thanks for helping me with the groceries this morning, Naruto," Sakura said with a smile to her loudmouthed teammate.
"No problem, Sakura-chan," Naruto said with a wide grin, "You know I'll do anything you need me to, anytime."
"Thanks," she uttered, not sure what to say to this exactly, "I still feel bad having to ask you though. It's been so hectic ever since the graduation ceremony, as the Chuunin Exam officially begins at the end of this week. I haven't had time to grocery shopping, and the only reason I'm doing it so early in the morning is because in an hour I have to go to the hospital to clean out my office space."
"Really?" Naruto asked, looking puzzled, "Are they throwing you out?"
She laughed, "No, not exactly. I'm going to be a field medic, meaning that unless for some reason that I can't go out on missions, I won't be working at the hospital that much anymore. Hopefully once Sasuke passes the Chuunin Exam we can go back to our regular mission schedule."
"Yeah, it's been pretty boring without having anything to do," Naruto said, looking at the sky in a disgruntled manner, like he was blaming God or something for the lack of missions, "He'd better pass."
"He will," Sakura said confidently, looking up at the sky as well, the sun very low on the eastern horizon, "He's been working so hard for this, harder than I ever remember him working before—and considering all he's been through, and accomplished, some heads will roll if he doesn't pass."
"But still, I can't believe he chose training over helping you with groceries," Naruto commented, shaking his head, "After all these months, he still can't treat you with courtesy?"
"I'd hardly call you the master of courtesy, Naruto," Sakura said with a frown, "But he didn't choose training over shopping—he doesn't even know that we went, he's still asleep."
"What?" Naruto asked, looking incredulous, "Slacking off?! The Exam starts in three days! If anything, he should be training harder than usual."
"He has been. That's why he's asleep right now. He was so tired yesterday he just fell on the bed and went to sleep. I think you were the last one to train with him yesterday, what on earth did you do to him?" Sakura said with a berating tone, "And besides, I could have woken him—he probably would have wanted that, but he was so exhausted, I thought it would have been cruel. Not to mention, he's not much of a morning person."
"Ugh, I know," Naruto said, obviously recalling some long-past event, "Remember that one mission when he got so mad at me one morning that he activated his Sharingan just so he could make sure he hit me when he threw that…what was it again?"
"It was his eating knife," Sakura said, recalling the same particular incident, "It was a nice shot, I have to admit; you're lucky he was half asleep so it hit your sleeve instead of your arm. I hardly blame him though, I wouldn't have interpreted Kakashi-sensei's: 'Naruto, go wake up Sasuke,' as 'go poke him continuously'."
"Well, at the time, the two were easily confused," Naruto said defensively, making a disgruntled face, "He should be more considerate of you though, Sakura-chan, in the mornings that is."
"He is, actually. I know he doesn't want to be up, but he gets up without complaining, and while I can just sense his inward complaining, he doesn't voice it."
"Of course not. Does Sasuke voice anything?" Naruto laughed.
She found herself smiling, "He didn't used to… I think since he's been brought back, things have changed a lot for him. It makes me happy."
"You still really love him, don't you?" Naruto commented after a pause.
"Yeah," Sakura replied mellowly, smiling softly. She hadn't really told anyone that she did, but it wasn't exactly the world's best-kept secret. She didn't mind telling Naruto though, "Why mention this now?"
Naruto shrugged lightly, and then stopped on the street corner. They were near the Hokage's Tower, and Naruto's gaze was rest upon it, looking up and beyond to the cliff with the Great Stone Faces carved into it. Sakura stopped too; looking at him pensively, wondering what he was going to say. People who were walking behind them almost crashed into them as they stopped and wandered around, grumbling as they went. There was a soft nostalgic smile on Naruto's face, and when he looked at her, his eyes were affectionate.
"You know, Sakura-chan, I liked you for a long time before I got to know Hinata-chan better. I loved you, or thought I did," Naruto said calmly, his voice serious in a way that she had only seen it a couple times before.
"I know," she replied, looking away, picking her words carefully, "I wasn't fair to you about it, I know, clinging to hopes of Sasuke when chances were low. But I didn't want to try being with you because I knew it would even less fair to you for me to go out with you when I didn't love you in the way you wanted me to. I'm sorry, Naruto."
He shook his head, "Don't be sorry, Sakura-chan. It's behind us now, and I have Hinata-chan, which is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I still love you, but I realize it's not the in the way that I thought I did. I don't feel the same way about you like I do with Hinata-chan. I love you in the way that I would if you were my sister, just like Sasuke is my brother."
"I loved you in the same way, Naruto," Sakura said, finally returning his gaze, "I still do. To me, you're my second brother, and I don't know what I'd do without you. But just like you love Hinata, I love Sasuke, and I don't know if that's ever going to change."
"I had always wanted to make you happy, to be the one next to you, doing whatever it took to make you smile," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head, "But it seems that miraculously Sasuke is doing it for me. You're very strong, Sakura-chan. You didn't need me to make you smile or to protect you, and that's okay. I've found someone who does, and I think things turned out better this way."
"You've helped me more than you give yourself credit for, Naruto," Sakura said sternly, "You were my brother, remember? You helped me like any member of my family did. Especially when things were the roughest for me."
"Well, don't forget then that your brother is still here for you, no matter what," he said pointing his thumb at his chest, and she felt her face soften a bit, "And like all good brothers, he wants his sister to be happy."
"I am happy, Naruto," she said reassuringly, "I have everything I could ever want right now."
Naruto started walking forwards again. "Not everything," she heard him say quietly.
Sasuke held the sheet of paper up in front of him, squinting over the information written on it for what must have been the fiftieth time that day. It was the registration sheet that he was required to fill out before he was allowed to participate, and he was just making sure that all the information was correct (again) before giving it to Kakashi, who, as usual, was late meeting him. There was only one place on the sheet that he was having difficulty figuring out how to fill out, and he wanted to ask Kakashi about it. There was only the issue of Kakashi not being there.
He looked up from the paper and sighed with frustration, looking around vainly for his sensei. Sakura was waiting at home for him, and he needed to get this over with quickly. Sakura had insisted that they attend the New Year's/Pre-Chuunin Exam Festival this year, which meant formal robes, and time preparing for the Festival. Sasuke hadn't participated in the festival the first time, not liking formal events, and spent time training instead. But Sakura said that everyone was going, and they were going to meet as a group, so he had to come. He didn't really want to go, not liking the crowds, or the bright colours—not that he could see them very well anyways—and the light bouncy music. But more and more often he found himself relenting to Sakura's requests, he somehow couldn't say no anymore.
It wasn't like she was asking for anything unreasonable, so he supposed he didn't mind so much. The unidentifiable feeling he had frequently felt around her was now becoming a constant occurrence, and that had him puzzled as well, more than concerned. It wasn't like it was an unpleasant feeling either, though he didn't know why he only felt it around Sakura, and not anyone else. He was also too afraid to dwell on it too much, in case he found out.
"Been standing there long?" came the telltale voice of Kakashi from above him, his chakra signature appearing suddenly as he appeared in a cloud of smoke.
"What do you think?" Sasuke replied automatically, looking up into the tree. Why the laid-back jounin always appeared in trees, he never knew.
"Yes well, I'm sorry for being late. You see, on the way I ran into Anko, who was just heading off to grab a bite to eat, and she asked me I wanted to come along, and having not eaten yet I—" Kakashi started, but never got to finish.
"I wish you would just tell the truth about being late, instead of coming up with lousy excuses," Sasuke grumbled, rolling his eyes.
"I am! I did meet Anko along the way, and she wanted—"
"Right," Sasuke said with a dismissive air, "Are you going to come down out of the tree so I can talk to you properly or not?"
Kakashi muttered to himself as he leapt down from the tree, and while Sasuke caught every word of it, he didn't really pay any attention to what was said. Instead, he gave the registration sheet over to his sensei rather forcefully, crossing his arms impatiently. Kakashi's visible eye scanned over the sheet lazily, and then looked at Sasuke.
"What seems to be the problem?" Kakashi asked.
"The section where you are supposed to list your teammates—I don't have any, currently," Sasuke replied in a subdued manner, "Both Naruto and Sakura are already Chuunin."
"Don't worry about that, stuff like this happens all the time," Kakashi said, folding up the piece of paper and putting it in a vest pocket, "Sometimes a teammate dies before the exam can be taken, or just like in your case, teammates have already passed. I will make arrangements so that you will have a team for the exam, though I doubt you'll be with anyone you know."
"That's fine," Sasuke replied. In Oto, he had known no one very well, and when he was paired up with people on missions, he was often trusting people he didn't know or truly trust. While he was required to work together with them, and they worked together well, he knew that they trusted him as much as he trusted them. And since he had always kept his guard up to prepare himself in case any of them decided to stab him in the back, that just showed how much they trusted him. At least in this case, he was going to be partnered with people who had less sinister intentions.
"You'll probably end up doing the written portion without a team at first though. But you'll definitely have some teammates in time for the Forest of Death," Kakashi told him, "Is there anything else?"
Sasuke shook his head, "Just let me know when I have a team."
"Alright, ja mata, ne," Kakashi said with a slight wave and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke again.
Sasuke waited outside the back door of the house, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He was garbed, much to his reluctance, in a men's kimono—one that had once belonged to his father. He hadn't wanted to dress formally for the festival, and would have much rather gone in his normal attire, but Sakura had insisted since it was the first day of the festival it was a special occasion. Not to mention that they had merged the Pre-Chuunin Exam Festival with the New Year's festival, as not to disrupt the exam, she said, so that made it an even more special occasion. Or so she said. Sasuke didn't care either way.
He rolled his shoulders slightly, feeling slightly uncomfortable in the garb—not that it was difficult to move in, he just wasn't used to so much fabric on his shoulders, he felt heavy. He opened his eyes to look at it, and flicked off a stray thread off the surface. It was navy blue—or so Sakura had told him, as his colour vision was still somewhat poor—he wasn't able to tell the navy blue colour apart from a grey one. He didn't really remember this kimono; the only time when he had seen his father in formal wear before was when he himself was probably no older than four or five years old. To think that now he was as tall as his father was, and could wear his kimono—it boggled his mind just a little bit.
One of the two chakra signatures left in the house moved towards him and shortly the door opened next to him. He looked up at Sakura's mother as she exited, and she gave him a smile. Sakura's mother had come over to help Sakura get into her kimono—which apparently was a very difficult job, seeing as the two of them had taken just under half an hour just now. Sasuke had offered Sakura his assistance but she had only laughed and said that while she appreciated the offer, she didn't think he knew how to tie a room-long obi sash properly.
"Sakura's just fixing up her hair right now, and she'll be ready to go soon," the woman said with a kindly smile, "You look very dashing by the way."
"Thanks," Sasuke replied somewhat awkwardly; he couldn't hardly remember the last time he'd seen his father dressed up formally, but he couldn't remember ever being dressed formally at all. He wasn't used to being paid compliments like that.
"Did it belong to your father?" she asked, and he gave a mute nod, "It's in good condition, and the craftsmanship is very nice."
Sasuke looked down at the fabric again. Silver-stitched koi fish swam across the dark folds winding themselves around the black sash around his middle. An Uchiha insignia was sewn on the back of the collar at the back of his neck, and a simple white under robe contrasted the shadowy colour, making him not seem too dark. It was nice, he supposed, it wasn't overly elaborate or fancy—it was simple enough for his tastes.
"I can't remember him wearing it," Sasuke said smoothing out a crease through one of the fish; the one time he remembered his father dressing up fancily, he remembered him wearing something different.
Sakura's chakra signature removed itself from the bathroom area and began wandering towards them, seeming finally done with her hair. Sasuke let out an inward sigh of impatience.
'Finally,' he thought to himself.
"Well, I'm sure it looked just as nice on him as it does on you," Sakura's mother said kindly, oblivious so Sakura's approach.
"Okay, I think I'm ready," came Sakura's voice from inside, standing just inside the door, "Just let me get my shoes on."
"Well, don't you look lovely," Sakura's mother said, a smile on her face.
Curious, Sasuke looked towards the door, but couldn't quite see Sakura. He straightened up off the wall to get a better look, but he needn't have bothered, Sakura exiting at that precise moment. Sasuke was momentarily caught unawares when she stepped into his view—her appearance was so much different than what he was used to. A long pale pink kimono clung to her body, falling downwards and fading into a shade of cherry red. The white circle that was the symbol of the Haruno clan decorated the bottom edge of the kimono, and above it was stitched a pattern of golden dragonflies skimming across a design of still water. The white edge of her under robe was just visible near her neck down the front a little before disappearing at the v-neckline. The white obi sash was wrapped around her petite waist, tied at the back in a large bow, and in her hand she held a small folded fan. Her hair wasn't all that different, except she had parted it to the side and stuck some simple, yet elegant hair clips into it, making her look a little older, more mature.
"Thanks, Mom," Sakura said, smiling at her mother, "And thanks for your help. I don't think I'd ever had gotten this on if it weren't for you."
"No problem, sweetie," Sakura's mother said affectionately, "I always loved this time of year especially when the Chuunin Exams were on. Your father and I would go out for dinner every time. I can understand why you want to go out tonight."
It was then that Sakura looked at him, smiling softly, "Don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't said anything yet."
"He's just shocked into silence by your overwhelming beauty," Sakura's mother said playfully.
Sasuke cleared his throat, a smirk coming to his lips, "Maybe."
"Well, I'll take that ambiguousness as a compliment," Sakura said confidently, "Shall we go? The rest are probably waiting for us—it took a little longer than I anticipated."
Sasuke gave a nod and took her arm without much thought, clasping his hand with hers. Sakura looked back towards her mother.
"Do you want to come along, Mom?"
"No, that's alright, honey, I've got other plans this evening," she replied sweetly, "I'll see you later. Okay? You two have a good time."
"Alright, we'll see you later then," Sakura said with a wave as Sasuke tugged insistently on her arm, leading her around the corner of the house and out of sight.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Ino demanded with her hands on her hips, looking Shikamaru square in the eye, a displeased look glinting behind her own.
"I meant no," Shikamaru replied, shoving his hands in his pockets in a stubborn manner.
"Well, why ever not?" Ino demanded, shifting her hands from her hips and crossing them over her chest.
"Ino, I'm not going to spend my money playing some ridiculous game just so you can win a stuffed animal," Shikamaru stated, rolling his eyes heavenwards, "That's for boyfriends, and lovers, and people like that, to do."
"Well, Naruto's doing it for Hinata," Ino said, making a gesture to a nearby stand where Naruto could be seen expertly throwing rings at some target out of sight, Hinata standing close to him, observing.
"That's because Hinata's his girlfriend, Ino," Shikamaru replied, sounding almost exasperated—almost. Just enough for Ino to comfortably ignore.
"What's your point?" she asked; it was her way to be this direct, blatant, and pushy. She knew Shikamaru didn't consider her his girlfriend, but if she imposed the idea on him insistently enough, he'd have to give in at some time. He cared about her, she was certain of it, he just didn't realize how much yet.
"Didn't I just say? The point is that you're not my girlfriend," Shikamaru responded with irritation, "Maybe if you were, I'd do it, but even then I don't know…"
"Well, why can't you do it anyways, Shika-kun?" Ino asked, giving him what she hoped was an adorable, yet pleading look.
"Ino, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here," he replied, "You know I usually have so much stuff with the Exams going on that I'm usually too sick of it to want to go to the festival. I only came because you insisted—you said it was New Years, and told me that everyone else would be coming. So far we've only run into Naruto and Hinata."
"The rest are coming. Sakura promised she and Sasuke would come, and I know for a fact she'll be the only one to get him to come. And Neji wouldn't deny Ten Ten his company here, she wouldn't want to go alone, and he'd do anything for her. He adores her—it's hardly a secret," Ino assured him.
"What I'm saying is: I'm here—now. What more do you want from me?" he sighed.
"For you to win me a door prize," Ino answered without missing a beat, "And you know what? Since you're being so fussy about it, I've decided that tonight I'm designating you as my honorary boyfriend."
"What? Why should I have to agree to this?" Shikamaru asked, looking both startled and disgruntled.
"Because I said so," Ino shot back, grabbing his arm, leading him to the nearest stand.
"Why can't Chouji be the honorary boyfriend?" he asked, barely putting up resistance, probably knowing he wasn't going to get out of it if he tried.
"Because. I. Said. So."
"…Troublesome."
It was half an hour before Sasuke and Sakura arrived at the grounds where the festival was being held. Being attired in formalwear meant that there was no hurrying via leaping across rooftops and it was very difficult trying to hurry with the excess fabric, but Sakura didn't mind. She was content walking happily arm in arm with Sasuke down the empty roads of Konoha, the light chatter flowing between them. She had agreed with Ino, Ten Ten and Hinata to head to the festival together and they would all meet with their respective significant others—regardless of if those significant others knew how significant they were.
The trip down was rather uneventful, and they didn't see all that many people until they arrived on the outside of the grounds of the festivities. Sakura couldn't stop turning her head in every direction looking at all the different stands and decorations scattered over the grounds. The colour red could be seen everywhere it seemed, and every building had a string of coloured lights strung from it to the building across the street from it.
There were many stands set up, and the population became denser as they traveled inwards. There was everything from concession stands to food stands. Peddlers could be seen here and there, and Sakura found herself grow excited, wanting to partake in the events. Not until they met up with the others, she reminded herself, but she still felt a bubble of excitement in her.
As they approached the area where they were supposed to meet, Sakura could see nobody there; were they really that late? Had everyone given up on them and left to partake in their festive fun without her and Sasuke? Her face fell. She hadn't realized how late they were.
"Where is everyone?" she asked aloud. It was more a rhetorical question, but as with most rhetorical questions, Sasuke answered anyway.
"The dobe and the Hyuuga girl are over there," he said, pointing, "Ino and Nara Shikamaru are over there, by that stand, Hyuuga Neji and the Ten Ten girl are there by that concession stand."
Sakura opened her mouth to ask how on earth he knew, but then shut it hurriedly. Chakra signatures, right. Well, at least they hadn't wandered far, but she couldn't blame them for moving—they were rather late. It was Ten Ten who spotted them first; grabbing Neji's arm, she excitedly pointed them out. And after Neji had shoved some money into the vendor's hand, they quickly hurried over, Ten Ten in the lead.
"You guys finally came!" Ten Ten exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning.
"Yeah, sorry we're late, I had a couple of setbacks when putting the kimono on," Sakura replied sheepishly.
"Totally worth it, though. You look great," Ten Ten beamed.
"Thanks," Sakura retuned, "You're looking great yourself."
Ten Ten was wearing a white silk kimono with a light feather patter stitched across it in pearl hued thread. And a pale yellow obi was tied around her middle. Instead of the usual twin buns that she normally wore her hair in, Ten Ten had opted for a single bun. Neji was wearing a similar coloured kimono, white, but a scene of an ocean bottom sewn on it instead. The Hyuuga clan emblem looked quite out of place among the fish and oysters.
"Well, you're the first one to mention it,' Ten Ten said, casting Neji a pointed look, "Nobody else has said anything at all."
"If you wanted to know what I thought, you should have asked," Neji replied, giving her a quick quirk of the eyebrow.
"Fine, then. Hyuuga Neji, what do you think of how I look tonight?" Ten Ten said flatly.
"You look nice," Neji replied, and Ten Ten looked torn between wanting to smile and wanting to facepalm.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Sasuke looked mildly amused. She herself smiled. It was a strange relationship that Neji and Ten Ten had. They weren't officially together, but they did a lot of things together and Ten Ten had confessed that Neji had kissed her once—but she was still unsure of what they were. Sakura glanced at Sasuke again—what were they? Definitely past the point of friends, or at least she thought so, but in what direction were they headed?
" 'Nice'?" Just 'nice?' You're giving me such a generic answer?" Ten Ten exclaimed then, seeming to go with neither smiling or facepalming, and swinging a paper fan at Neji's head.
Neji placidly removed himself from the fan's path, remaining unharmed, "Yes. I think in a very generic manner."
"Hmph. Well, in which case, you look very generic tonight, Neji," Ten Ten retorted, crossing her arms.
"Why thank you, Ten Ten," Neji stated with a polite air.
"That wasn't a compliment!"
"I took it as one."
"Neji!"
Neji was only like this when he was around Ten Ten, and since Sakura didn't spend much time with the both of them together, she didn't see this side of Neji very often. Sasuke, however, had never seen this aspect of Neji before—evidently—and was looking very surprised.
"Sakura! You finally arrived!" came Ino's voice as she approached from the right, "Gods, what took you so long?"
Ino's kimono was a colour of blue that matched her eyes exactly. A landscape of towering mountains was embroidered into it with royal blue thread. A matching coloured obi went around her middle. She was holding a stuffed animal that depicted a giraffe. An annoyed Shikamaru was standing next to her, wearing a dark green kimono with a forested pattern along the bottom. His arms were hanging limply by his side, the lack of pockets seeming to have proved a dilemma for him.
"Kimono trouble," Sakura offered apologetically.
Ino's eyes widened as she looked at Sasuke, "Oh, I see. I didn't know Sasuke was helping you."
Sakura felt her face go bright red, while Sasuke gave Ino a look that clearly stated: are you stupid or something? Ino looked at Sakura again, confused.
"My mother came over and helped me, actually," Sakura clarified, clearing her throat.
Before there was any more awkwardness to be added to the situation, any further elaboration was avoided in the form of Naruto, who, with his bright orange kimono, couldn't be missed a mile away. Naruto had come flying out of seemingly nowhere and tackled Sasuke—Sasuke, having his chakra senses deactivated at the time, hadn't anticipated this and naturally, the Uchiha reacted to being attacked. Only Sasuke could free himself from an attack from behind in a kimono and not look ruffled afterwards.
"The hell, dobe?" Sasuke shouted with irritation, "If you want me to beat the crap out of you, you could ask nicely and save me the trouble of getting fed up with you."
Naruto picked himself up off the ground, straightening out his citrus orange kimono—Sakura couldn't tell what was sewn on the fabric, it was too bright. "Wow, Naruto. Trying to make some people go blind are we? Sasuke just got his sight back, I'd prefer it if you didn't take it away right away," she said teasingly.
Naruto examined himself, "What d'you mean, Sakura-chan?"
"Never mind," she sighed.
"Naruto-kun, a-are you o-okay?" came the alarmed, yet still timid voice of Hinata from behind Sasuke.
Hinata was garbed in a powder purple kimono, a pattern of lilacs across the fabric in white thread. A darker purple obi was around her waist and she held a matching purple uchiwa fan.
"Yep, don't worry Hinata-chan," Naruto grinned at the timid girl, "Sasuke couldn't hurt me if he tried."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, dobe," Sasuke said, still looking irritated.
"As much as we're all excited to see the outcome of this, let's not find out now," Sakura said stepping between the two.
"Moving slowly onwards," Ino said loudly, causing the three of them to look over at her, "Plans for the evening, anyone?"
In the end it was decided that they would all find something to eat and spend the next couple hours together, participating in activities arranged by the festival. Afterwards, people were free to do what they wished, whether it was going home or staying out until the fireworks at midnight.
"Alright, I vote we get some grub!" Ten Ten declared loudly, "Come on, Neji!"
The group began to move towards the area where all the different stands of food had been set up, and Sakura was moving forwards as well, when Sasuke froze beside her. She halted at looked at him quizzically. His eyes were closed, and a frown was etched on his face, like he was concentrating.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I sensed a strange signature—a powerful one," he said calmly, but quietly so nobody else would hear.
"Well, there are lots of powerful shinobi coming into the village because of the exam," Sakura said in response, "What's so different about this one?"
"You don't understand. I've only sensed one signature with more chakra than this, and that was Naruto," Sasuke replied, opening his eyes, "And what's more, I've sensed this one before."
"Really? When?"
"In Kumogakure, the day we left, just after the Raikage almost had me arrested," Sasuke replied, quieter still.
It was Sakura's turn to be stunned. That could mean a number of different things—none of them good.
"Oi, what's holding you guys up? Come on!" Ino called.
Sakura sighed…they'd have to deal with this later.
Perched atop one of the rooftops over the main area where the festivities were saturated, crouched a lone figure, inky irises scanning the crowds with mild interest. There were bright coloured lights everywhere, and lots of people dressed in different coloured kimono, milling around making certain individuals difficult to spot.
What the point of such activities were, specifically, the observer didn't really know. People came together under bright lights, and did what? Talked—about what? Why did they have to come here to do so? Played games for prizes—why do that when you could easily buy the prizes elsewhere and gain one hundred percent certainty of obtaining the object? Danced—spinning around while talking didn't seem like a form of entertainment. Buying food—could easily be made at home. Why were the lights coloured? Certainly normal white light would suffice? He didn't understand why it was necessary to wear kimono either. Why not wear what they normally wore?
The observer stood and straightened up, having been unable to locate the person he was seeking in this area of the festival. He wasn't sure if he had missed his target—it was hard to see with all the bright colours—but one thing was certain, he would be sure to find him before the evening was finished. The observer scanned the crowd again, wondering where his target would likely be. From what he heard, he could deduce that the target was much like himself, and therefore it was likely that the target was where the observer would be during a festival. The observer pondered neutrally the fact that he would be at home, which meant the target would be at home. However he had been assured that his target was present at the festival that evening. The observer had no idea where he would be if he were at a festival, instead of home.
The observer reached back over his shoulder and felt for the zipper located on a backpack strapped across his back. After tugging the zipper open, he pulled out a book that was tucked just inside the flap. Flipping through the book, scanning the pages carefully, he looked for the picture he had been studying for the past hour. It was on page fifty-eight, and a pair of faded obsidian eyes stared out of the page at the observer's own inky ones. Blankly, the observer made note of all the prominent features of the person on the page.
The picture was one that was supposedly more recent than any others—dark hair, which stuck up at the back, and eyes that were dark like his, yet were sightless when they stared out of the page. The expression was blank, and impossible to distinguish anything beyond that. The mouth was the very image of neutrality, the forehead and corners of eyes devoid of any evidence of muscle movement. The observer was an artist who used his skills in both assassination and in his free time, his eye was trained to note the subtle features of each thing he observed. The subject in the picture before him was unlike most people he had needed to seek out before—save for one other.
The observer had always been able to draw the features of those he saw, save for his own. He had never done a self-portrait in realism before, as his features were always blank and emotionless as well, it was impossible to distinguish uniqueness when there was none. The same could be held true here as well; save for the subtle hint that there was sightlessness in the eyes, the face was completely emotionless.
"Hm," the observer hummed, closing the book and tucking back inside the backpack. It was time for some reconnaissance.
Ino considered herself a very well-mannered person. She considered herself quiet, polite, kind, and self-effacing. Okay, so maybe she wasn't all that quiet—she was quite loud, and wasn't afraid to use her voice when she needed it. Many people had backed down in an argument after she had started raising her voice. It came in handy when she wanted her way and saw no other way to get it. And maybe she wasn't all that polite either—lots of less than pleasant words had often crossed her lips at her victims and she knew the power of language. But she was kind, really she was—when she felt like it. And it depended who she was dealing with, and what the circumstances were. There were some people who simply didn't deserve her kindness. And self-effacing…no, she was pushy, bossy, and overbearing. Okay, so maybe she was none of those things, but there was one thing she was certain about, and that was that she was drop-dead gorgeous.
There were very few people in this world who were nearly as beautiful as she was. She knew she was being vain, but why hide the truth from herself? She knew her other friends were pretty, and each had one aspect she envied, but on the whole, they didn't have enough of them to add up the beauty that had been summed up in herself. No, she considered herself almost perfect—other than having to deal with the few extra pounds that would sometimes try and attack her when she wasn't paying attention.
Maybe it was because of this that Ino hated Temari so much.
Temari was one of those few people in the world that was nearly as beautiful as she was. There was something about the woman from Suna that made her gorgeous. Whether it was the shape and colour of her eyes, the colour and style of her hair, Ino didn't know, but Temari was beautiful, even Ino would begrudgingly admit it. She also had a very headstrong attitude, which matched Ino's. And what made Ino frustrated was that somehow this woman's pushy attitude had made her appear…sassy.
One thing about having someone as beautiful as you around, is that whoever is more beautiful then becomes more and more dependant on the beholder. And while Ino believed that she was clearly the more beautiful of the two, she couldn't seem to get Shikamaru to see just as clearly. Or at least that's what she thought. Shikamaru spent more time with Temari than Ino had seen him spend with any other woman—voluntarily. He even wrote to her when she wasn't bodily around. She didn't understand this behaviour, because whenever she saw Shikamaru with Temari, she seemed to boss him around.
In short, it could be said that Ino disliked Temari a lot. And it was for those reasons that when she and Shikamaru had separated from the rest of the group later that evening, that she became very displeased upon the first sight of Sabaku no Temari. Only to be further displeased when Temari caught first sight of them.
"Oi! Nara!" the blonde woman waved over at the two of them, Ino caught one look over her and already she was irritated.
Temari, as per usual, looked stunning. Dressed in a beautiful red kimono embroidered with a scene of a desert landscape, complete with a black obi, she was definitely the personification of gorgeous, and Ino couldn't stand it. At the call of his name, Shikamaru looked over lazily, and much to Ino's frustration, a lazy smile passed over his lips when he saw her. It was the first time he had smiled since he had been brought to the festival against his will.
"Hey," Shikamaru replied lazily, "I thought you said you weren't going to get involved with the exam this year."
"Yeah, well, I can still come to watch, can't I?" Temari replied with a wink, causing Ino to seethe silently.
"Ino, you remember Temari," Shikamaru said then.
"Of course. I don't think I could ever forget her," Ino replied icily, casting a dark look at Temari.
"Likewise," Temari said with a sassy-looking smirk. How Ino hated that look—Temari could be polite while being nasty, and not let it show to everyone else around her, "Ino, how are you?"
"I've been better, let me assure you," Ino replied coldly.
"Well, I hope you feel better soon," Temari replied evenly, smiling at her.
Shikamaru looked at the both of them, from Ino to Temari and back to Ino; he sighed heavily, "I don't understand you women—the words you say are so normal, but you say them with such malice. I don't get it."
"Don't be silly, Nara," Temari said with a dismissive air, "So what are you two up to this evening?"
"We were out enjoying the…sights, together," Ino said with a stiff air, casting a warning glance at Temari, "Tonight, he's agreed to be my boyfriend."
The older woman only smiled at Shikamaru, "I see you finally got yourself a girlfriend. I just didn't think you'd pick Yamanaka."
"Eh? When did I agree to that?" Shikamaru complained folding his hands behind his head, "I don't really want to be here anyway. The colours are too bright, and the sky is too dark to watch clouds. I find festivals troublesome."
"Well, if that's the case, then you two won't mind if I tag along with you, now?" Temari said with a sweet smile.
"Yes, we would," Ino said plainly and Shikamaru turned and looked at her, a disapproving look on his face.
"Oi, what's with that, Ino? She can come along, it's not like it's a date or anything," he said; Ino frowned but didn't say anything. She had been hoping it would be a date. One thing was certain, she wasn't going to spend time with Temari.
"What about our agreement?" she argued, narrowing her eyes.
"I already won you a stuffed animal Ino, can't we call it even and let it go for the evening?" Shikamaru asked, sighing again, "Just let Temari come with us."
Ino looked at Temari, whose face had lost the smile and was looking genuinely confused, and then at Shikamaru, who was looking like he didn't care at all either way. This was not how she wanted the evening to turn out, but it looked like her control of the situation was slipping away faster than water through her fingertips. Anger bubbled inside of her, and a prickling sensation began to form behind her eyes. She hated not being in control, it made her feel like things would go terribly wrong in short order if she couldn't maintain her handhold. There was only one way to take control again.
"Actually, I just remembered something that I needed to do anyway," she said with a huff, "You two have fun."
And with that, she stormed off, leaving the two of them behind. She could no longer control Shikamaru's situation, but she could at least control her own. She was not going to let Temari ruin her evening, she swore, walking briskly around a corner. And most importantly, she would not cry.
It was in her hurried state of trying to retain her composure that she crashed headfirst into someone that threw her mind far away from either Shikamaru or Temari.
Hinata had never felt happier in her life. She felt her joy overflowing through her so much that she knew if she became any happier, she would probably faint dead away. That wasn't an exaggeration—it wouldn't have been the first time that she fainted from joy. But if you had told her three years ago that she would be spending New Years/Pre-Chuunin Exam Festival with Uzumaki Naruto and as his girlfriend, she would have thought you were lying or she'd have passed out from sheer bliss.
Reflecting on it, that seemed to happen a lot. She had such low blood pressure, that the slightest thing that startled her, or overwhelmed her, she was on the floor. But not tonight, she resolved, casting a glance to her left at her boyfriend, Naruto. She was going to keep conscious tonight!
The two of them were sitting in front of Ichiraku's special ramen stand that had been set up to try and comb in some new customers while the festival was on, but a special discount had been laid out for regulars. Naruto was more regular than any of the regulars—he was beyond regular, he practically lived at the ramen stand, Hinata thought with a small giggle. Naruto of course wanted to take advantage of this discount while he still had money, and Hinata could never say no to Naruto, let alone want to.
A hot bowl of steaming ramen was put down before each of them, and Hinata looked down into it. Beef ramen—her favourite.
"She gets a discount because she's your girlfriend, Naruto," the owner said, giving the orange-clad boy a wink.
"You're the best, old man," Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin, "Itadakimasu."
"Ano…what kind of ramen did you get, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked timidly, looking over at his bowl. Within it there were a number of strange vegetables that she had never seen used in ramen before.
"I dunno. It's new, so I thought I'd get it," Naruto replied with a shrug, "You wanna try some, Hinata-chan?"
"A-a-ah, uh, um…S-sure," she stuttered, feeling her face start to get warm.
"Here," he fished around with his chopsticks and held what looked like some okra up to her face.
'I will not faint,' she thought fiercely, 'I will not faint, I will not faint, I will not faint.'
Slowly she leaned forwards opening her mouth wide. She could feel her face going redder and redder the closer she leaned to the vegetable. She was feeling lightheaded as her mouth closed over the piece of okra, but she refused to faint. She chewed slowly and then carefully swallowed. She wouldn't faint—she hadn't fainted yet, she could keep it up.
"I-It's good," she stammered out.
"That's good. I'm glad you like it, Hinata-chan!" Naruto said enthusiastically, "I can't wait to try it!"
Hinata sat silently for moment; she had eaten food off of Naruto's chopsticks and she hadn't fainted! She had just been fed by Naruto, and she hadn't fainted! She was able to give an intelligent response, without fainting! She didn't faint! She didn't faint! She didn't—
The sound around her started to sound hollow and distant, her vision began to tunnel on the edges, her head felt light. Suddenly she was looking at the sky and she could hear Naruto's voice squawk in alarm.
"Ack! Hinata-chan!"
Hinata fainted.
The observer had long left his perch, and now was wandering through the crowds, searching. He no longer observed, so he no longer was an observer. He now sought, so rightfully he could be called a seeker. The seeker was having difficulty, the sheer number of people lowered his chances of finding what he sought. He had not intended on taking so long in finding his target, it was getting late, and the fireworks at midnight were an hour away. It was likely his target would leave after that, and while his residence could easily be found, he had standing orders not to approach the target in his domestic surroundings. He had no intention of approaching his target this evening either, he was merely here to discover what lay in waiting for him. He needed to be prepared if he were to fulfill his mission.
He stood on the corner of a street, looking aimlessly up and down it, wondering if he was going about this entirely the wrong way and wondering if he should try a different approach. He was speculating over what to do next when all of a sudden, somebody collided with him from behind. Reflexively he caught himself and spun about, his hand reaching for his knife. But he was not required to draw it.
Before him was a young woman, a woman about his age, who was knocked over on the ground. She wore a blue kimono and had long blonde hair. He squinted quizzically at her, wondering if this had been an accident or if she actually wanted something with him; she looked up at him then, her eyes meeting his. His artist's eye noted that they were the exact same hue as her kimono, and that they were slightly glassy with unshed tears. It was a difficult thing to match two hues so precisely—she had a good eye for colour.
He took his perspective away from that of an artist and switched it to that of a strategist. The seeker was now required to deal with this situation, and had to do so accordingly. Society's current beliefs dictated that a man must be gentlemanly when confronted with this type of situation and be decisive by apologizing for his actions and assisting the woman wronged.
"Ah, sumimasen," he said politely, extending his hand towards her in what was the proper way of assisting her, "I did not mean to stand in your way."
He should also smile, he added as an afterthought, though he knew he had been unable to do it properly. He was not using it for deception or to attain anything, so perhaps it didn't make a difference whether or not he could do it properly. Right now he was merely trying to blend with the crowd.
The young woman took his hand when he smiled at her. It must have worked in some way or another, because she was looking at him in the strangest way. It took her a couple seconds to let go of his hand once she had risen to her feet, and she was still looking at him the entire time. It was like she had become physically incapable of looking away from him. She looked dazed, and the glassiness from the tears had vanished.
"No, the fault…was all mine," she replied; she must have impacted him harder than he initially thought, because she sounded winded and breathless.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, knowing that he should then express concern for her well-being.
"No, I'm fine," she replied, still sounding short of breath, "Never been better. Are you hurt, um…?"
"No, I am unharmed," he replied, uncertain of why her last sentence had trailed off. Perhaps she was injured.
"Well that's good to hear," she replied, "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."
"That's because I didn't say it," the seeker replied, wondering if her hearing was off as well.
"Oh," her face fell slightly, "Well, what is it?"
"What is what?"
"Your name!"
"Oh," the seeker replied, "My name is…"
How many names had he been through in his lifetime? More than he could count off the top of his head. There were so many he could offer to her, not that it mattered either way. He could give her the name that had been assigned for this mission—it would not affect the outcome, he believed. He smiled at her again, hoping that maybe this time he would get it right so that she wouldn't look at him so strangely.
"…Sai."
"Well, Sai, I'm pleased to meet you," the woman replied, extending her hand, "I'm Yamanaka Ino."
He looked at her hand for a moment; it was a gesture of welcoming and greeting, acknowledging respect for the receiver. In social occasions it was used to engender a feeling of community and friendship. He knew the correct way to reciprocate this gesture, though he had never before done so in his life. He took her hand uncertainly and shook it.
"Yamanaka-san, please honour me with your friendship," he said, bowing slightly in the correct social gesture, giving the required reply.
She laughed, "Sai-kun, please. You mustn't be so formal. Please, call me Ino."
He froze inwardly. Informal situations. He had never had to deal with them before. He was unsure of the social bearing that an informal situation would have on his conversations with this woman and how he would interact with her. He had not expected her to be so open and friendly to him after just meeting. He would revert to being as informal as his knowledge allowed and try to remain formal enough not to offend her. (That broke Sai's brain—just a little.)
"So, Sai-kun, did you come to the festival by yourself?" the girl named Ino asked, smiling at him in a strange way—it was different from most smiles he had previously observed, and her eyes were still stuck on him.
"Yes, that is correct," he replied carefully.
"Now what is someone like you doing alone on this night of all nights?" she asked, looking mildly dissatisfied.
"I was looking for someone," he replied, trying not to give away that he felt he was quickly falling out of his league of knowledge of his type of social situation.
"Really? Well, my friends tell me that I'm a social busy-body, and that I seem to know everyone," she replied in a sweet voice, but there was something about it that made Sai unable to decipher her true intentions, "Perhaps I know this person you're looking for."
He didn't know what to say. In fact he was beginning to feel more and more unhinged as she wrapped both of her arms around one of his. This had not been covered in his ANBU training, at all. He was unsure of what to do or say to this girl now that she had dragged him into a social setting that he was completely unfamiliar with and that she was obviously a local.
"Actually, I lost the person I came with," she said sounding mildly saddened, "So why don't I help you look? It's the least I can do, after crashing into you."
His mind was working faster than it had ever worked before. He had encountered dozens of enemies and defeated them, he had completed hundreds of missions, avoided death a number of times. Yet here he was, in Konoha, his home territory feeling more lost than he had ever been previously on the battlefield. The only thing that registered was her offer to assist him in finding his target—gathering information and using resources were the only things that faintly showed up in this situation. And he was going to cling to them.
"I would be eternally grateful if you would assist me, Ino-san," he said, but the polite air was somewhat washed away as she began dragging him off in a arbitrary direction, she didn't seem to be paying attention to what he was saying, but was more or less focused on remaining latched on to him.
"So, who're you looking for?"
It had been a while since Sasuke and Sakura had split off from the rest of the group. For the most part, they hadn't done anything but wander around, hand in hand. Which was perfectly alright with Sakura. Sasuke, of course, wasn't interested in participating in any of the game events, and neither of them were all that hungry after dinner. At first the two of them had hunted around carefully for the strange powerful chakra signature that Sasuke said that he had detected earlier, but Sasuke hadn't been able to detect it again, suggesting that the owner of the signature had left the festival.
They had gone walking around afterwards, and Sakura had bought a small present for her mother, but other than that, they had done nothing more than enjoy the sights. Sasuke, Sakura was pleased to observe, seemed to be having a good enough time, seeing as he didn't usually enjoy this sort of thing. He had almost smiled on four occasions, and each time that had happened, Sakura felt joy well up in her.
It was as they were passing a little stand down one street that Sakura found herself asking Sasuke to do something for her for the first time that evening. The man at the stand was someone whom Sakura recognized from years ago—it was the photographer that had taken their pictures right after they had graduated as Genin; the photos for their information forms that would be kept in the village archives.
"Like your picture taken with your boyfriend, missy?" he asked, indicating to his camera and a painted backdrop of a street of Konoha at night with coloured lanterns.
"Sasuke? Can we?" she turned to him, looking up at him, and she knew her eyes were bright with excitement.
"But we're not—" he started with a look of disapproval on his face.
"I know that!" Sakura said exasperatedly, "But does that really matter? That doesn't mean we can't have our picture taken together, now does it?"
"I suppose not…" he still sounded reluctant.
"Sasuke, please? It would mean a lot to me," she said pleadingly.
"Alright," he said submitting; she knew he realized that he had been rather silly in refusing, and he was only defensive because the photographer had suggested they were together. She knew he was still nervous about the mere suggestion of it, which hurt her a little.
"Alright, stand close together there," the photographer directed, positioning them in front of the backdrop.
The man scuttled back behind his camera, adjusting the lens. Automatically, Sakura smiled at the lens, standing up a little taller.
"Sir with the messy hair, smile a little more," the photographer ordered, "The pink-haired lady is out shining you."
"Try for me, please?" Sakura said without breaking her smile.
"That's better," the photographer said, "Alright. Cheese."
Neither Sasuke nor Sakura said the word, but Sakura endeavored to make her smile nicer.
"Good, the picture should be ready in about ten minutes for pick up," the photographer said to both of them.
"Can we have two copies made?" Sakura asked.
"Sure," the photographer shrugged, "Cost you a little extra, though."
"That's fine," Sakura assured him, and then turning to Sasuke said: "What shall we do for the next ten minutes?"
"There's been an area set up near here for dancing," suggested the photographer, "Most of my clients go there—if you're interested."
"Sure," said Sakura slowly, "We can practice your dancing, Sasuke."
"So you're looking for Uchiha Sasuke, huh?" Ino asked the mysterious—not to mention hot—man, Sai.
The instant she had bumped into Sai, Shikamaru had been driven from her mind with equivalent force. The instant her blue eyes had met his inky ones, she was certain she had died and gone to heaven—but no, she was somehow still alive and not dreaming, and this beautiful specimen of a man was standing before her. He was just as—if not more so—handsome as Sasuke. He was pale, dark haired, broad shouldered, and trim, with a nice set of abs. Ino had become well-practiced in appreciating the male figure, but this was by far the best sample she had seen since Sasuke. And she was determined not to let this one get away.
"Well, luckily enough for you, Sai-kun, I just happen to know him personally," Ino declared proudly, "Knowing Sasuke, he's with his teammate, Sakura, right now. Which narrows things down quite a bit."
"It does?" the embodiment of a god asked.
"Yep, because Sakura's got bright pink hair, and not many people get to witness that very often," Ino replied, "If we ask around for her, we'll be certain to find Sasuke with her."
"…Ah, I see," Sai said uncertainly as Ino tugged at his arm.
"Of course, I'll come with you," Ino said before Sai could do something like thank her for her help and be on his way again, "so I can introduce you properly."
"Oh," Sai said softly as she marched him in the direction that she had last seen Sasuke and Sakura. She personally couldn't wait to show off what a hot catch she had landed.
Sasuke's hands were rested on Sakura's hips and her arms were around his neck. The two of them were swaying in slow circles in the square to a mellow tune without any words. Sasuke was looking up at the coloured lights above them appreciatively. He had missed his sight and the colours that had come with it—it was nice to see once again. Next time, he vowed, he wouldn't be so careless with his choices, so he wouldn't be forced to resort to something like blinding himself, again.
"What are you thinking?" Sakura asked, looking up at the lanterns too.
"I missed seeing the colours of the world," he replied softly, "And to never be so foolish again."
"In a way," Sakura said slowly, reaching up and tilting his head to look at her, "I'm glad you were so foolish, because if you hadn't taken your sight, you may have been dead now, or worse. Or you would have still been blind to the important things even though you could see."
He touched his forehead to hers affectionately, "I should have never have been blind to begin with. I was stupid, and I know that now. I can only learn from my mistakes and hope that I never do the same again."
He would have never said this to anyone else but Sakura. He knew he was wrong, and it was so painfully obvious he had been, but it was so hard to say it to himself—out loud, harder still. Only to her he could say these things, only to her, whom he trusted in so absolutely.
"Arigatou," he murmured to her, like had done on that night three and a half years ago, "for helping me see again."
She said nothing to that, and he could feel her chakra signature fluttering with different emotions—she was struggling for words she did not have, because there was nothing to say, nothing she could say. He knew it was impossible.
After a few minutes, he felt Yamanaka Ino's signature come within range of the dance area. At first he almost disregarded, knowing that a henpecked Shikamaru was probably going to have to humor Ino in a dance or two, but then he realized that Shikamaru's signature was no where near them, and almost out of detectable range entirely. There was signature that was trailing around in very close proximity to Ino's, right next to her, in fact—this signature was foreign to him. Also, there was something different about this chakra signature, there was no underlying emotion attached to it—there was, but it was suppressed, subdued so that the amount of emotion was undetectable. Sasuke had never run into this before, and it unnerved him. One strange chakra signature after another.
"Ino's here," Sasuke said, raising his head away from Sakura's forehead, "With someone I don't recognize."
"What? Where?" Sakura asked, her eyes looking around them.
"Behind me," Sasuke murmured, pulling Sakura against him in a close embrace so she could see more easily over his shoulder, "Who's with her?"
"I don't know who he is. I've never seen him before," Sakura said, uncertainly, "Where's Shikamaru?"
"Nowhere near here," Sasuke replied.
"That's so strange…"
"It's none of my business," Sasuke said, closing his eyes and turning on his chakra senses, "but I want to know why her associate is observing me like that."
"The photographer was very helpful," Ino said in a sweet tone to Sai as they walked down the street towards where they had been directed, "It was a nice picture of Sasuke and Sakura, too."
Sai said nothing to this, making this the third failed attempt at making conversation with him. Ino scowled inwardly. Trying to have a conversation with Sai was like trying to have a conversation with Sasuke, which, she added as an afterthought, was almost an impossibility. How on earth was she going to get to know Sai well enough to the point where they could keep in touch after this evening if she didn't know him well enough to ask him for an address where she could locate him?
"Why are you looking for Uchiha Sasuke anyways?" Ino asked curiously, trying again.
Sai didn't answer right away, "I am required to observe him."
Required? Ino didn't ask. She was afraid that she would find out that Sai was an underling of some rival in the Chuunin Exam, or something like that. Maybe her mother was right, her imagination was way too vivid. There was no way that Sai was going to harm Sasuke, right? He seemed too kind of a person.
"I see them!" she said happily, pointing into a group of dancing people.
Sasuke's forehead was touched against Sakura's and they were talking quietly to each other. Ino was suddenly filled with both joy and frustration at the same time. Sakura! How dense could she be? If that wasn't an obvious sign of affection, what was? Silly, silly Sakura and her stupid fear of getting hurt for being too adventurous. Was it only obvious to Ino that Sasuke had feelings for her best friend? She muttered something to herself.
"Did you say something, Ino-san?" Sai asked her, and Ino instantly directed her attention back to him.
"No, nothing at all, Sai-kun," she said flirtatiously, "I'd love to introduce you to both Sasuke and Sakura, though."
"No, that will be unnecessary," he said, his eyes fixed on the couple.
Ino turned her eyes back to them and saw that Sasuke had pulled Sakura into his arms. Sakura saw both Ino and Sai when her head rested on Sasuke's shoulder. Ino waved at her and smiled.
"You're right, Sai-kun," Ino said, nudging him off again, "They do look a little busy at the moment. I would hate to interrupt."
She pushed Sai away from the dancers, "But…I can give you my address and number if you want to talk to them later though."
"Uh…" was all Sai could say in reply as Ino felt that she had confidently trapped him in her web.
"Here you go, missy," the photographer said in his gruff voice as he handed the two copies of the picture to Sakura.
Looking over her shoulder, Sasuke looked curiously down with her at the photo. The two of them were standing comfortably next to each other, Sakura was smiling radiantly as usual, and Sasuke was surprised to see that he didn't look as surly as he thought had. He knew it wasn't a smile on his face—it was a smirk with a touch of softness to it, but it was probably the closest he had come to the real thing since nine and a half years ago. And Sakura looked pleased too, smiling softly at the photo of him.
"Thank you, Sasuke," she muttered quietly, and he felt his features soften a little. For some reason, for which he blamed the unknown emotion, her joy right now, made him feel happy too.
It was close to midnight and the group had gotten back together, and were perched atop a rooftop just outside the festival grounds. The nice thing about being ninja was that you could get away with sitting on people's roofs. Neji and Ten Ten were talking quietly to each other on the edge of the rooftop, while Hinata was pleasantly listening to what Naruto was yammering on about. From what Sakura could gather, the Hyuuga Heiress had fainted again at some point. Meanwhile, Ino had lost her companion from earlier, but seemed pleased enough with herself, though she was refusing to speak to Shikamaru for some reason. Something to do with Temari, Sakura heard—so even though Shikamaru and Ino were sitting next to each other, Ino had put a good meter between them. Shikamaru had given up in trying to apologize, knowing Ino would be mad at him for the next few days.
And then there was Sasuke, looking contentedly up at the sky, the most relaxed expression on his face she had seen in ages. She smiled and squeezed his hand that was in hers. He looked at her, looking mildly surprised by the gesture.
"I know it's a week early, but…Happy New Year," she said, just as the first of the fireworks soared up in the sky, exploding in a colourful glow of white.
A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, "Happy New Year."
Above them, the sky rained a million sparkles, mixing with the stars.
A/N: Hate. Big. Group. Scenes. So hard to get everyone to talk. Ugh. Lol, yes. Sai. Originally, I hadn't intended on him coming into Blind at all. Not until the sequel. But it's one of those things that happened without me wanting it to happen. The story kinda developed it own mind and ran away with me, and then all of a sudden we have Sai here. Except Naruto hasn't forked him with the Fork of Common Sense, so he's still kind of a blob. A very sexy blob, according to Ino. Still failing at social skills, but not because he's trying to understand bonds—he's going about it like it's tactical exercise or something.
And omg, the anomaly signature! It's back! Le gasp! I told you I wouldn't be touching on it until about now. I still laugh about the number of people who thought it was magical Kisame. Again, not magical Kisame—if he was in Konoha, that'd be rather random. He would have taken a wrong turn on his way to Amegakure, that's for sure. Not to mention that ANBU would freak out. XD I'm not entirely satisfied with the last little bit, but I'm too lazy to fix it. Especially after coming this far, I don't want to have to do any more. (sigh) Ummm, have I finished commenting on all the specialness? ….I think so. Yeah. Later guys.
