* * * * * * * *7

Screams. Laughs. And some muffling traditionnal music.

How great for a calm-seeker person like him.

"I just love this festival. There are so many beautiful things." she said.

"And many noisy one too." he added.

She frowned.

"Neji-kun, we've just arrived and you are already grumpy." Tenten scolded.

"It's too noisy for me." he retaliated.

"Your mom said you need some entertainment." she looked at him "...actually, I think she's right."

Neji glanced at her. Then sighed.

"Stop thinking like mom Tenten, it's boring."

Her face turned pink.

"Hum...look over there. A painting stall."

He frowned but followed her.

There was a rather old man sat down, executing weird patterns on a paper.

Regularly, the old man would change his paintbrush, plunging it here and there in different pots.

People's eyes were stuck on his hand, never leaving it as it moved graciously in the air. Several times did it go up, then swiftly down, swinging like a woman dancing on an old enka melody. And suddenly it flared up. The hand jerked on the right, madly plotting curves with frenzy, jumped higher on the paper, repeating the same astounded move, never slowing down as the brush spat black, brown and green lines on the previously immaculated surface. Then the hand started to shake incontrolably, as if wanting to rip the delicate canvas, going from on point to another with an amazing speed, so quick it seemed to deliver terrible punchs at the air, so fast it tore the wind in several invisible thin strips, until it stopped.

People's eyes had widened, curious to discover the disastrous consequences of this furious battle.

The old man raised the paper in the air, like a winning price, nodding twice as he examined it. Then he served it to the now hungry looks.

Neji's white eyes grew a little larger as a smile slashed his usually impassible face.

A bird perched on a branch.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked adjusting her long hairpin made in black ivory.

"Not that much."

"Well, I am. Let's have some Takoyakis." [A/N: Takoyakis ("octopus balls") are sort of fried balls stuffed with octopus's meat.]

He didn't need her to indicate which stall. There was that strong yet delicious smell in the air he couldn't miss.

And it took them almost ten minutes to reach the not-so-far-away stall, for the narrow alley was now crowded with adults, people taller and much bigger than them.

"You are...Choji, aren't you?!" Tenten blurted out.

Neji raised an eyebrow and turned to take a look at the girl's interlocutor.

A fat-cheeked boy with two blond spikes at the top of his head.

He had seen that boy before.

"Huh?" the latter answered. "...You are?" he asked.

Tenten's eyebrow twitched.

"Tenten. Back in the Chuunin exam time..."

"Hum...I see." was his reply before he resumed his eating.

Tenten sweatdropped and turned away from the sad sight.

"Hello young one!" the owner greeted.

"Hello! How much for one?"

"80 yens each. But I'll sell three for 200 yens!" the man answered with a bright smile. [A/N: 80 yens is approximatively $0.80 or 0.82 euros.]

"I'll take three then!" she said happily.

"There! Enjoy!"

"Thank you!" she bowed. "Here, for you."

Neji looked at her dumbfounded.

"My treat..." she said rolling her eyes.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." she started to walk away.

He took a bite in the fried meat.

It was more delicious than it smelled.

Tenten sighed.

There were too many people. A way too many people.

It was getting difficult to move by every minute.

She frowned.

"Why not take a break?"

Neji shrugged.

They stopped in front of a stall.

Neji soundlessly leaned on the wall.

It was like a public procession.

The passerbys, men, women and children were all dressed in colorful kimonos, getas on their feet. Most of the men were carrying their little boy or girl on their shoulders so they wouldn't trip or hurt themselves in the crowd. Women ventilated their pale white face with variously designed paperfan flipping at a constant rythm. Children perched up on their father's shoulders were gazing at their surroundings, amazed by such a bright-coloured human carpet. And they all walked in the same direction, some of them stopping from time to time at a particular stall. And they talked, they smiled, they laughed as some delicate mandolin kept on ringing its chords in a charming and appeasing melody.

"Waf!! waf!"

"Akamaru! Stop wriggling! You're ruining my kimono!" a voice scolded.

"Urwww...."

"There...jeez, there are so many people."

"Well, this is a festival. There has to be many people."

"Then there are too much of them. I can barely breath. Let's take a break. Over there."

"Waf! waf!"

Neji turned to the source of the barking.

"Finally some fresh air..."

A boy and a dog. Another boy wearing glasses.

He knew he knew them. Somehow.

The boy with the dog turned to face him. The boy raised an eyebrow.

Neji's gaze didn't leave him.

The boy with the dog shoot him a very dirty glare.

Neji's face remained as blank as ever.

"Neji-kun why not----- oh, hello!" she greeted. "You guys are from Hinata's team right?"

Shino's attention was instantly caught. He nodded to the girl.

"Yeah..." Kiba answered, still glaring at Neji.

"Funny we meet there with all the people around..." Tenten pointed out good-naturally.

"Yes, funny." Neji said. "Tenten, let's----"

"Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, I finally reach you." she breathed heavily "There are so many peo----"

Two white gazes met.

"Neji-niisan..." she smiled shyly.

"Hinata-sama." he nodded at her.

Kiba raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Tenten's face was showing surprise.

Shino adjusted his glasses on his nose.

Silence.

"What boring Go. I win everytime..." a grumpy voice complained.

Silence and surprised faces.

"Hello guys..." Shikamaru greeted tiredly. "...Anyone saw Choji?"

"We...saw him at that Takoyaki stall over there some times ago..." Tenten answered.

"Of course." he slapped his paperfan on his forehead "Where else would he be...Thank you."

He hung the paperfan on his obi and started to walk away.

"See you guys." he waved.

Neji frowned.

The guy was some rare specimen of a ninja. He didn't even look like a ninja, but more like an old man trapped in a young body. Yet he had recently become a chuunin.

There were some mysteries he would never understand.

Neji turned back to his companions.

The Kiba guy was shooting sharp looks at him again.

"Hinata, Shino, let's go." he said leaving.

Shino's brows knitted together.

He withdrew his arms further into his kimono's large sleeves until they disappeared and turned to Hinata.

"Yes...Bye Tenten, bye Neji-niisan." she quickly bowed to them before following her team-mate.

Tenten sighed.

"She is quite a weird girl..." she smiled at Neji "...That sister of yours."

The boy couldn't hide his surprise.

But he quickly covered it with a shrug.

Tenten smiled widened.

"Come on! There are a lot of other stalls we've got to see!"

He followed her again.

This time, a shy genuine smile on his face.