: festival :

: a time of celebration marked by a special occasion


The streets of Konoha were all lit up with lanterns, and every turn, you'll see stalls, selling nic-nacs and hosting mini games for all ninjas and civilians alike

Large drums, flutes, and strings were all played on different stages, with mics and speakers amplifying their sounds, different songs played in different sections.

"Woooow!!" Sakura yelled in awe, twirling around in her pink winter yukata, her short pink hair adorned with a red ribbon kinzashi, "I haven't been to a festival in so long!"

"Yeah! Come to think of it-" Naruto said as he looked around like a child, "This would be the first real one I'd be able to celebrate since I have money!"

Sakura's eye twitched as she looked at the blonde, "Just what do you think you're wearing?"

"Um... My mission gear?"

"Shanaro! You should've worn festival clothes!"

"A-Ack! But I don't own a-"

"You just said you had money!"

"Not enough for a yukata!"

"You could've at least worn casual clothes!!"

"Now, now" Sai intervened, wearing an overly dramatic yukata, "I'm sure Naruto can be excused for his negligence just for once"

"Hey!"

"You're right" Sakura agreed, patting her clothes clean, then she made a scolding finger at Naruto and said "But the festival is three days long, so tomorrow and the day after, you better wear at least casual clothes, got it?!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Naruto saluted in fear.

"That aside," The pinkette said as she turned and looked up at the Hokage faces, Kakashi's to be specific, "I would've never guessed that Kakashi-sensei would actually become Hokage"

"Yeah!" The blonde yelled, "He should've given it to me! He stole my spot!"

"No," Sai said, "You're just too stupid to become Hokage"

Naruto gloomed.

He then pouted and poked his fingers, "We don't actually know if that's the real reason"

"Shit!"

Team 7 quickly turned and looked at where the sudden curse came from.

"Oh, Kiba!" Sakura cheerfully greeted at the retreating brunette, "You're here!"

Kiba flinched and quickly faced them with his arms out, as if trying to block something, "O-Oh, hey! Sakura! Sai! Found you guys!"

"Hey! I'm here t-" Naruto was cut off by Kiba hushing him loudly, "I know!"

"I, as well, am here" Shino said, Akamaru barking along.

Shino was wearing a yukata of his own while Kiba wore a black and grey attire of pre-winter clothes.

"So, hey, uh!" Kiba said, as if he was in a hurry, he grabbed Shino by his shoulder and said "We should go, Shino! Before-"

"Kiba-kun, I found okonomiyaki..! We should hurry before a line builds up!"

"Gahaa!!!" The Inuzuka screamed as he shoved his shoulder against Shino's in a panicked state.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, tipping on his toes slightly to peak over Kiba's shoulder.

The brunette further panicked when the girl behind him let out a soft little whine and tugged on his sleeve, dropping his shoulder a little, "Mahh, Kiba-kun, there's okonomiyaki..!"

And as his shoulder dropped, Naruto's eyes shined.

"Hinata! You're here, too!" He cheered loudly.

Hinata clearly perked up, peaking in between Kiba and Shino with a bright smile, looking up at the blonde, "Naruto-kun!"

She suddenly blushed, feeling shy. She grabbed the back of Kiba's black jacket and hid half of herself behind him, shyly looking up at Naruto, "I-It's, um... It's a beautiful evening f-for a festival"

With a defeated sigh, Kiba looked down behind him at Hinata and said "Oh come on, Hinata. It's not like it's Naruto's first time seeing you in a yukata. Right, Naru- Eh?!"

Kiba was surprised at Naruto's dumbstruck face.

The Uzumaki's bright blue eyes were wide and shining in awe, stuck studying the Hyūga. His lips were parted, as if he hadn't realized that his jaw has dropped.

"Ohh, Hinata!" Sakura cheered cheekily, skipping around the two men and latching her arms around Hinata's and pulling her away from behind Kiba, "You look so pretty!"

The pinkette made a sneaky glance at Naruto, seeing how quickly his gaze followed Hinata.

"S-Sakura-san, you look very beautiful, too" Hinata returned the compliment as she smiled back at Sakura.

Hinata's yukata wasn't really special in particular -- at least, it wasn't as fancy as her other kimonos. It was purple and white, and her hair was fixed up with a silver dragon kinzashi. The fur around her neck and covering down to her shoulders made her smaller than usual, and what caught Naruto's attention the most was-

"You're wearing the earrings that I got you" The Uzumaki said in awe, making the Hyūga blush and reach up to her ear with a shy smile, "Y-Yeah..! I figured that it suited my yukata tonight..."

"Yeah! It looks so cool on you!" Naruto complimented loudly, putting his hands to his waist, he then said, "Hey, you were talking about okonomiyaki, right? I'll come join y-"

"No!" Kiba quickly cut him off with his arms forming a cross, he then raised his hand holding a pink and lavender bag, "I'm the one carrying Hinata's kinchaku, sooooo yeah! C'mon, Akamaru! Hinata! Shino! We're buying okonomiyaki, right?! Alright! Bye!"

Team 8 left team 7 in the dust as Kiba dragged his teammates.

"What's his problem?" Naruto muttered, Sakura crossed her arms, "What's gotten into him?!"


The 6th Hokage's Festival was lit up brightly, people of Konoha cheerfully enjoying everything.

All except for-

"Where's Shikamaru?" Ino asked, Choji munched on the ikayaki on his one hand three sticks of karaage on the other then said with food still in his mouth, "Wrll, thish fshtivrl ish shtill r rasht minute thing... He's still running errands to keep the festival in check"

"That's too bad, I wanted to show him this" The Yamanaka said with a cheeky smile, showing the Akimichi the prize she had in her hand, "Oh! That looks like Temari's wielder"

"I know, right?"


"What do you mean it's not done yet?!" Shikamaru asked, "Madame, I'll have you know-"

"No, I'll have you know!" The old artisan shakily yelled, not even stopping her sewing, "I've made the embroidery for the first Hokage's formal attire when I was fourteen! Each and every Hokage, I have sewn for! It's not my fault that you only ordered this last month! Lord Sixth told me that he won't be needing a cloak a year ago, but noooo!"

Shikamaru groaned.

"Great... Kakashi really did it this time. He pushed the limit of his 'I am not really Hokage' thing" He thought as his eyes followed the shaking of the old woman's hair, "It's not yet finished... And the inauguration is in three hours!"


"Lucky that we got early!" Kiba cheered as he paid the man at the stall, "Nice eye, Hinata!"

"You keep telling her that, but she's a Hyūga" Shino said as he passed the okonomiyaki to his friends, "That's a given"

"Haha! Got'cha there, Kiba!" Naruto laughed as he slapped Kiba's back, "What the-?!"

"Yeah! Good going, Hinata!" Sakura cheered, "Three more for us, please, mister! You'll have some, too, right, Sai?"

"Of course" Sai said.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Kiba asked, Sakura took a bite of her food and said "We followed you guys because you were acting strange"

"Yeah! And the festival would be more fun together, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered, before smiling down at Hinata beside him, making her blush and giggle behind her hand.

The brunette grumbled before crossing his arms, "Fine, fine! You lonely losers can come join us. But, Naruto! You better not do that 'thing' again!"

"Wha- Me?!" The blonde asked, "What did I do?! What 'thing'?!"

"The 'thing' where you tag along and then steal Hinata when Shino, Akamaru, and I aren't aware!" Kiba accused, "You've been stealing our 'Hinata quality time' all year long"

"Don't worry, these two aren't leaving my sight!" Sakura pumped her fist, "We'll stick with you guys! Right, Sai?! ... Sai?"

Shino silently pointed at Sai who was brutally judging a street artist with his painting and technique.

"Well, there goes Sai" Naruto said, before his attention got caught by a skill game, "Hinata, look! Is that Ninja Tamago?!"

"Ah! It is!" Hinata cheered, making Naruto nod in determination, almost marching his way over, "Come on, Hinata! I bet I can win-"

"Oh no you don't" Sakura cut him off, holding him by the back of his collar, "Not without us!"

"Yeah!" Kiba cheered in the background, "Just for the rest of the festival!"


Shikamaru impatiently tapped his fingers on the floor, "Why is she starting from the bottom top, anyway? Troublesome..."

He looked at the artisan and groaned.

"Damn... My legs are falling asleep" He thought as he glared at his legs.

"SHIKAMARU!" "Whoa- oh my!" The artisan accidentally threw the cloak high up in surprise as the door slammed open, Shizune frantically yelled "What's taking so long?! We've got an hour left and we still haven't gotten all the people we need at the mansion!"

"What?!" He asked in shock.

He then hissed as he looked at the old woman frantically running around trying to catch the slowly falling cloak, "I guess I have no choice, then!"

"Sorry about this!" Shikamaru yelled as he jumped over the artisan and snatched the cloak, then quickly snatching a patch with 'sixth' on it.

Quickly sewing on the patch lousily, he nodded at it and said "That's good enough! Let's go, Shizune-san!"

"Right!"

"M-My work!" The artisan yelled as the two ran out.


"Man, we need a leash for this guy" Sakura joked as she, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino followed closely behind Naruto and Hinata who were both pointing at everything, "Don't you have leash, Kiba?"

"Unlike you-" Kiba said, taking slight offence, "Team 8's dog is trained!"

"He's not a pet!" Sakura retorted, "I'm more of his baby-sitter"

The two laughed at that.

"Mahh, you guys are so mean to me!" Naruto whined from ahead, making the two laugh harder.

"If it makes you feel better, Naruto" Shino said as he carried the prizes all five of them have been earning, "Kiba is more of a handful than Akamaru"

"Ohhh" Sakura reacted, now laughing at Kiba, the brunette stomped his foot and said "Am not!"

But Akamaru barked along the joke, "Not you, too, bud!"

"NAAAAARUTOOOO!!! HINATAAAAA!!!!"

The group all turned around and found Shikamaru running full speed with the Hokage cloak lousily folded in his hands and Shizune following far behind.

"Sh-Shikamaru?!" Naruto asked, "What's wro- UWAAAH!!"

"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! LET'S GO!!!"

"Kyaah!"

In a blink of an eye, Naruto was being dragged away by the back of his collar and Hinata was hanging on Shikamaru's shoulder with tears in her eyes out of confusion.

Sakura looked up and saw that a piece of clothing was slowly falling, Shikamaru must've accidentally threw it when he kidnapped Naruto and Hinata, "Wait... Is that-?"

"Sorry about that!" Shizune apologized as she jumped to grab the cloak and continued running.

"Well... That was new" Sakura said, "Usually, it's only Naruto's name that is yelled at situations like this"

Receiving no reply, she turned to the two other men, Kiba looking at her with a disappointed look, making her raise a brow and ask "What?"

The Inuzuka bluntly said "You failed us"

"Eh?!"


"Wait-wait-wait!" Naruto yelled as a bag of folded clothes were shoved to him and was being pushed to a room, "Hey! What's going on?! Hinata!"

As soon as Shikamaru dragged the two in the Hokage's mansion, everything was hectic inside and they were being pushed around by different Jònins in flak jackets.

Naruto found Hinata being followed in to her room by women with bags of make-up before he himself was shoved in to his own room.

"Just put that on! This is part of your Hokage training!" The blonde heard Shikamaru's voice yell from outside, "And hurry up! We've got less than an hour left!"

"Where is Kakashi?!" He heard Tsunade angrily ask outside, "Don't tell me he's late to his own inauguration!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head before shrugging, opening the bag, "Well... It's part of the Hokage training..."


Ino and Sakura smiled at each other and cheered as they both caught a yo-yo from the yo-yo tsuri game.

"You got a red one!" Sakura said as she gestured at her purple yo-yo, "Switch with me!"

"Sure!" Ino agreed as they switched yo-yos with her.

Suddenly, the music changed to the village's anthem, drums beating loud and proud.

Sakura noticed that all the bands were playing the anthem when she enhanced her hearing, then turned around and saw that booths one by one were closing and the villagers all headed one direction.

"What's going on?" She asked, Ino then stood up and latched their arms together, "Ooh, it's time! It's finally time to see Kakashi in his full Hokage attire! Maybe we'll see his face!"

"Eh?" "You haven't read the posters have you?" The blonde asked, "An hour before midnight, it's the official inauguration, and then the fireworks display at the stroke of midnight!"


Naruto uncomfortably moved around his orange and black kimono, "Why do I even have a katana? I don't know how to use one of these"

He was ushered up to the roof top of the mansion by two Jònins.

As he reached the roof top, he saw Jònins and ANBUs guarding the entire space, all steady and poised.

"Gaki! Finally!" Tsunade cheered, clad in a red and white kimono that matches her cloak and hat, "Now, all we need to wait for now is Kakashi himself"

Shizune, clad in a flak jacket, walked up to him and ushered him to a spot, "Here. All you have to do is stand there and not make a fool out of yourself in front of the whole village"

Naruto raised a brow, then a multiple of cheers were heard which made him look down.

"It's Naruto!"

"Naruto-senpai!"

"Uzumaki-sama!!"

He smiled widely and waved down at the villagers, all excited to see him.

He felt his heart flutter at the reaction of the villagers to him, screaming his name in a desirable manner. Much different than before...

"Well, look at you"

Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi smiling at him from behind his mask, wearing his entire Hokage attire, minus the hat.

"You look like a respectable man" Kakashi said, "Minato-sensei would be proud"

"Wow!! Kakashi-sensei, you have a cloak!" The blonde enthusiastically cheered as he walked around his former sensei to look at the cloak, "I'm so jeal-..."

Kakashi turned his head with a deadpanned look and laughed weakly, "The artisan didn't finish it on time... But it's not like the villagers would see my back from down there, right?"

"As long as you don't turn around, sensei!" Naruto tried to lift the Hokage's spirits up as he laughed.

"I'm certainly sleeping for days after this..."

The blonde turned and saw Shikamaru with his arms crossed behind his head, an exhausted look on his face, wearing his usual flak jacket, "I swear, Naruto, if your inauguration is also a festival, I quit. It's too troublesome"

"Oh, come on, Shikamaru!" The Uzumaki laughed.

"Alright! We're all here! We can start on time!" Shizune said as she opened the door for the last person.

If Naruto's jaws were dropped earlier, he's probably drooling by now.

Hinata was now in a red winter kimono with orange patterns at the bottom that looked like flames, her clan's yellow and red crest proudly on her back. The fur scarf she had now was larger and looked softer. Her make up was more pronounced as her lips were smoky red. Her hair was beautifully done with red flowers.

As Shizune was about to usher her towards Naruto, he himself walked up to her.

"H-Hi..!" Hinata shyly started, making Naruto laugh and say "Thank Kami you're here. I was starting to feel overdressed, but now we match!"

"I-I didn't I was wearing a kimono tonight" The Hyūga timidly joked as she tucked the hair framing her face behind her ear, "B-But I certainly do feel over dressed... A-And I had to remove the earrings..."

"Don't worry! You look amazing!" The Uzumaki proudly stated, "You look like a princess or something!"

"Ah, thank you" She said with a deep blush, "Y-You look very a-amazing"

"Like a prince?!" He asked excitedly, she tapped her chin and said "More like... A leader of a village"

"Uwoooh! Like a Hokage, then!" Naruto cheered loudly.

As the Konoha's anthem finished, Tsunade then said "Alright, everyone! Places!"

All they could now hear were chatters of the villagers and flashing of cameras from bellow as they took their places.

Tsunade stood in the middle, standing on a slightly higher platform. A little behind her to her left was Shizune, and to her left was Shikamaru, both in flak jackets. To her right side was Naruto, and to his right was Hinata, both clad in their kimonos.

Tsunade patted her Hokage cloak one last time before she started, "We will now begin the inauguration of the Sixth Hokage!"

Tsunade's voice boomed loud and proud one last time as Hokage.

Naruto felt his heart beat become stronger and stronger by the second, his eyes dead set on the villagers all looking up at the Hokage in front of him.

They all looked up at her with awe and belief. As someone most respected above all.

"I, Senju Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage," Tsunade announced as she turned her head to look at her villagers, "Will be the one presiding over the ceremony!"

The lights of the lanterns and spotlights made everything bright and feel so surreal.

He was up there.

"It is time to introduce to you all, the man who brought all of us together here" Tsunade proudly claimed with a bright smile on her face, "The man with historical strides. The man who made technological advancements possible"

He was excited. He could feel the anticipation of the villagers, all waiting for their next leader.

Naruto loved that feeling.

"The prodigy. The Sixth Hokage..." Tsunade stepped to the left and let the man behind her take her place, "Hatake Kakashi!"

Naruto watched as his former sensei take the attention, the cheers of the villagers, the admiration.

Kakashi was the Hokage.

The Hokage turned his head slightly to look at Naruto, meeting eyes with him.

The blonde stiffened.

The Hokage nodded at him. An encouraging nod.

Naruto felt his heart flutter. He was inspired all over again.

"Kakashi-sama" Tsunade said as she removed her hat, "Please watch over Konohagakure with all your might"

Kakashi wore the hat. And there he was. Officially the Hokage.

Tsunade bowed down to Kakashi, followed by Shizune and Shikamaru.

Naruto followed suit. He bowed to his former sensei. He bowed to his new Hokage.

As the villagers stood from their bows, they started cheering loudly.

Naruto looked firmly at Kakashi's back.

He wanted to become Hokage, too.

He felt a hand rest on his forearm, one that brought him back to reality.

Naruto looked down beside him and saw Hinata smiling up at him.

His eyes widen when he saw the look in her eyes.

She pulled him into that little world where only the two of them existed as quickly as she pulled him back to reality with her soft touch.

Suddenly, the cheers of the villagers drowned out. All he could hear was her as she spoke.

"Do your best!"

She tilted her head to the side a bit as she gave him the brightest and largest smile he has ever seen from her, the exact same time as colors poured down on them.

The fireworks exploded above and behind them, matching the beat of his heart.

She was routing for him.

As her hand slowly slipped away from his forearm, the sounds of the world slowly faded in as well.

Naruto had a renewed feeling of determination, stronger than ever before.

Hinata believed in him. He won't let her down.

He gave her a meaningful nod, which made her clasp her hands in joy.

Naruto turned to Kakashi, who had his back on them.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned and looked at the blonde, almost taken aback at how confident the younger man looked.

"One day," Naruto proudly claimed, "I'll be the one at your place, dattebayo!"

The same brat that he didn't believe could do it was the same man he completely believed in.

Kakashi reached out and patted Naruto's head, he smiled at him from behind his mask, "I know you will"

"This year... You won't be alone" He thought as he rested his hand on the blonde.

He truly does look like Minato and Kushina.

"And Naruto?"

He can do it.

"Happy birthday"


"E-Eh?!"

Naruto looked down at Hinata in worry, stopping in their tracks, "What's wrong?!"

The two were back in their previous attires, both deciding to try and find their friends before heading home.

Hinata looked up from her kinchaku with teary eyes, "I-It's missing!"

"What's missing?" Naruto asked as he felt obliged to find whatever was lost.

"Th-The box" She said as she wiped her tears with the sleeves of her yukata, "Th-The box of these earrings... I-I lost it"

He nodded and marched back from where they came from, "I'll look at the mansion"

"N-Naruto-kun, no" Hinata said as she stopped him by his sleeve, "I-If it's back there, they would've cleaned everything already... I-It's probably in the lost and found there, m-maybe they'll return things there"

"Then I'll go th-" "N-No no! I-I'll do it myself tomorrow" She assured him.

Naruto's shoulders dropped as he saw her bite her lip to keep her tears in.

He quickly looked around, passed the villagers in colorful clothings, and at different booths.

Opening his froggy wallet, he sighed at the little amount of coins he had left for the day.

Emptying the wallet and clutching the coins tightly in his hands, Naruto made his way through the crowd to an origami booth.

Hinata was frozen in her place in confusion.

"Neh, Jī-san!" The blonde called out as he placed the coins on the table, "Which paper can I buy with this?"

The old man lifted his eyebrows at the coins, "Do you actually think you can buy anything wi-"

He cut himself off when he realized who his customer was, the old man quickly perked up and said "O-Oh! Naruto-san!"

"Nothing, huh?" Naruto muttered as he stepped back to look at other shops, "I'll look for-"

"Naruto-san! Maybe not origami paper, but-" The old man said as he opened a drawer and pointed at the contents inside, "M-Maybe you'd want wrapping paper instead... You can't buy it too big though, I still have to make a living, you know?"

"How big can I buy with this?" The Uzumaki asked, making the old man take a look, he doubled the size and said "This big for that much"

It was still small, the size of half of his hand, "But it would be hard to fold it to-"

"No, you don't have to fold it" Naruto said with a reassuring smile, exchanging the money with the wrapping paper.

Jogging his way back and presented to Hinata the small wrapping paper. It was yellow with dandelion patterns.

"Here" Naruto said as he looked at her, "It's not much, but maybe you could keep it in here until we find the box"

"W-We?" Hinata asked, making him nod.

She quickly shook her head and pushed his hand away, "N-No! You don't have to do that. Y-You used up all your money for it, we could refund it! I-I don't-"

Stubborn like he is, he kept his hand there, fighting back her gentle pushing.

Blushing, she realized that he won't take 'no' for an answer.

"O-Okay..." She said as she accepted the wrapping paper, "Thank you, Naruto-kun"

Naruto suddenly grinned and said "Great! I'll come find you tomorrow and we can head to the Hokage's mansion! But if it's not there, then I guess I'll have to stick with you to look for it! Who knows where you've dropped it, so I guess we'll have to join in the festival to look around for it, dattebayo!"

Hinata held back a laugh. He sounded a little too excited.


Alrighty! Long chappy!

Okay, so I've put lots in this, haha.

They're celebrating in traditional Japanese festival manner.

Also, as you might have noticed where I got most of the ideas from- it's from Naruto's inauguration day.

We found out why the artisan didn't finish the cloak in time, and why the stitching was lousy. Turns out! It was rushed because she had too little time to make it and that Shikamaru was the one who stitched the ugly patch to rush it!

Naruto's inauguration wasn't a festival, but Tsunade had one. Maybe Naruto found a festival and an inauguration to be too hectic, haha.

So, for those who don't know-

In the Naruto Retsuden novel, Hinata has a box filled with special stuff.

One of those in it were a gift wrap with dandelion patterns that held a pair of earrings that Naruto gave to Hinata.

So- Here, those earrings were the ones Naruto gave Hinata for her birthday, and, we could say that they never found the missing box haha

And, for the more subtle detail- or maybe not haha

From the very start of Naruto's Hokage training, Shizune kept telling Kakashi that they shouldn't be doing those trainings since Naruto is just a candidate and not certainly the next Hokage.

But here, Naruto actually stood at Kakashi's right during the inauguration, meaning that Kakashi is already confirming that Naruto is his successor.

Why the sudden festival when he's been the Hokage for around a year by now? Because Kakashi wanted to present Naruto as his successor on his birthday. That's why the inauguration was around midnight, so that when it ends, it would already be Naruto's birthday.

Anyway!

Christmas is almost here! Although Christmas technically started September 1 here in my country, I'd like to say "Early Merry Christmas to you all!" for those who still aren't celebrating Christmas!

-OrenjiRabenda