Disclaimer: Not Mine. Um...been a while since I've done this so Is there anything else I'm meant to say? Ah well this'll have to do
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It was almost time. Only Five Weeks to go. Every year during the coldest months on the Shortest Day of the Year the Residents of Konoha would celebrate the winter festival. For the Shinobi of the Leaf for most of them it would be a day of rest. No missions would be taken in the weeks leading up to it which meant that not one ninja would be out of the village on this day short of an extended contract. A few of the higher level Jounin and Anbu would be selected for guard duty but other than them it was a day off for all.
It was this selection that caused the blonde vessel of the Kyubi to stride through the streets with a face like thunder. The annual meeting for deciding which Jounin would, this year, be keeping watch and patrolling the city walls had taken place. Naruto Was not happy. It wasn't that he minded being paired up with Lee, Chouji and Kiba. Hell, if it wasn't for the fifth member of their team the four of them could probably have had their own party on the walls with his shadow clones keeping an eye out for trouble. Not that anyone had been stupid enough to try and attack on the day of the festival in years. Not since a Sound Jounin had tried to show some initiative and learned that the Fire Shinobi really did not like having their day off disturbed. Yeah, if it wasn't for Tsunade assigning the official Sand ambassador to be in charge it could have been fun, something told Naruto that if he made some suggestions on how they could enjoy the day to Temari He'd regret it. Add to that the fact that as he left he had overheard Ten-Ten, Sakura and Ino discussing the arrangements for the Party they were going to be throwing on the day.
Pushing open the door to the grocery store he picked up a basket and began to make his way up the aisles occasionally picking up an Item here and there. A set of bandages, a loaf of bread and some milk and of those protein shake mix things that Lee demanded he pick up. Walking past the section showing various papers, magazines and books he nodded in greeting to Kakashi, his head buried in a book who in turn raised a hand in greeting without looking up. As the blonde began passing his shopping through the checkout a hundred excuses to get out of guard duty ran through his mind and just as quickly a hundred reasons from the Fifth canceled each of them out. Short of a Goddamn miracle he would be on those walls.
Walking up the Stairs to his home Naruto rummaged around in his Jounin Jacket for his keys. At 24 he stood a couple of inches short of his Squad Leader and a good half foot taller than his team mate and had filled out considerably. His spiky blonde hair was still present but he had let it grow in length a bit so that it ended in a short pony tale finishing at the end of his neck. The only modification he had made to the normal uniform of the Jounin was a pen suspended on two pieces of string on his left shoulder and the oddly wide bladed sword strapped to his back. Though sheathed its shape was clearly visible. It was about a foot and a half in length and about 3 inches wide with its two edges running parallel until the very end where one edge slanted diagonally across to the other.
Sliding the Key into the lock, the tiny Frog Keyring dangling, he turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door. Walking in he dumped his shopping on the kitchen work surface through the serving hatch and walked over to the living area, collapsing on the sofa between his roommates whose attention seemed glued to the TV.
"Anything Good on?" The Blonde asked
"Nothing." Shikamaru said letting his neck relax and his head to fall back to the sofa so he could stare at the ceiling. "Lee's waiting for some documentary about some martial artists life a few centuries back."
"Indeed!" Lee said pumping his fist into the sky a light burning from his eyes as he stared intently at the screen. "By studying his techniques and training methods I shall become even stronger."
The Shadow controller tilted his head slightly to look at his friend out of the corner of his eye. "Lee, he was an actor. I'm not saying he didn't have skill but most of his technique as he grew older was dedicated to looking good or appearing as a klutz." He paused as both of his room-mates turned to look at him a mixture of skepticism and curiosity in their eyes. "What?" He asked Defensively. "Its not my fault if Temari Likes all those old films." He said folding his arms and looking down at the floor. Looking at each other and grinning the blonde and the bowl cut settled down to watch the show.
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Kakashi raised his hand as his subordinate wandered past glaring at the world. He'd been at the meeting and had approached the decision with mixed views. On the one hand having the Day off was a good thing. He wouldn't have to worry about any missions or sorting out training for his team. On the other hand having the day off meant that he would either get invited to one of the celebrations or one of his students would find a way of getting him involved in one of the schemes.
He snapped the book shut, picked up his basket and started heading towards the door. Paying for the latest volume of Icha Icha and a few other items he walked out into the street as the flakes of snow began to fall about him. Pulling his new 'Novel' out of his breast pocket he flipped it open and buried his face within its pages. So engrossed in his book was he that he payed no attention to the sound of jogging footprints heading towards him. He was pulled from the Frog Sennin's latest masterpiece from the cry of "shitshitshitshitshit Gah!" Looking down he saw the Special Jounin Mitarashi Anko lying face down in the snow, several scrolls lying about her.
"Hmm?" Kakashi said looking down at the fallen Ninja his visible eyebrow raised. With a growl she pushed herself up from the ground staring daggers at the copy-nin
"Why Don't you watch where you goin' Hatake" She part snarled at him looking around for the scrolls she had dropped. Gathering all the scrolls she could see she looked around for the one remaining scroll. Bending down she looked underneath a nearby bench in the hope that it had rolled under. "Dammit where is that thing? Tsunade's gonna have my arse if I've lost that one. Looking up she saw Kakashi no longer reading his book but instead he was now reading the missing scroll. "Gimme that" she yelled snatching for it as the Silver haired Jounin tilted to the side and carried on reading.
"Why does the fifth want Naruto's medical record?" He asked looking down. Snatching the scroll from Kakashi's hand she rolled it up and added it the pile in her other hand she glared up at him.
"She said that she wanted the records of all the people who were gonna be on duty at the festival. And as I was heading that way she gave the oh-so demanding task of fetching them to yours truly."
"Ah, Okay then." Kakashi said as he walked past her to his original destination.
"Hey arent you going to apologize for knocking me over?"
"Sorry Anko-Chan" He said walking away as he raised one hand in farewell.
"Don't Call me Anko Chan!" She Shouted after him. A scowl branded on her face she stalked up the road to the Hokage's Office, passing two Jounin standing outside a shop, one wearing a fir-trimmed hood beneath his Jounin Jacket and the other wearing Perfectly circular sunglasses. Barely paying them any notice she continued her march to the office finally entering the building dumping the five scrolls down on the reception desk and shouting at the Chunin on Duty "Next time tell her to get a damned Genin to do it!"
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"Do you think She'll Like it?" Kiba asked looking through the window, his hands pressed up against the glass like he was seven years old and outside a toy shop. His companion stared out at the street watching the snow fall. He hated the cold. It always felt like he should be somewhere warm. "I mean she's been saying she wanted one almost since we were put together as a team and this would make a good gift this year. What do you think." Shino merely shrugged his response as he looked out at the layer of snow gradually building. "You know you could be more helpfull" Kiba pointed out, Akamaru barking in agreement.
"You've been Going out with her for 4 years Kiba. You know what would be the best present for her. Any input I give will just draw away from you being able to say that you came up with this idea yourself. Besides which what every you get her I'm sure she'll be happy with."
Kiba looked at him for a few seconds before turning back to the window. He looked down at his partner. Akamaru was standing on his rear legs his front paws pressed against the window he came up to Kiba's Neck. "What do you think?" The dog gave a deep bark. "See he agrees with me."
Pushing himself up from the window he stood straight and raised the collar of his jacket to cover his face against the cold. "C'mon Lets get out of this snow." He said heading up the road which would take them to their respective homes.
Sighing the dog trainer walked away from the window, he and his partner looking over their shoulders at the contents of the shop window a sad expression on both of their faces as they were being dragged away.
"What are your plans For the festival?" Kiba asked his team mate as they walked past a crossroads where three girls had just passed them.
"Same thing we do everywhere. Clan gathering in the main building."
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"So we're going to be Holding the party at your place" Ten-ten asked the blonde and pink haired girls walking next to her.
"Well its only fair." Sakura said tilting his head up to look up at the clouds glowing orange from the reflecting streetlights "The Guys hosted it last year and despite all of our expectations they didn't do a bad job." She turned back to look at the weapon-master. "Besides it should be fun."
"Yeah" Ino jumped in. "Plus if the trio of Naruto, Lee and Shikamaru are able to set this thing up, then I don't see how we should have any problem organising one."
Innocently looking up at the sky while watching the other two out of the corner of her eyes Sakura said "It will be a shame that Lee an' Chouji wont be able to be there." Taking a guilty pleasure in the jerk in her companions steps as she mentioned the two boys names.
Recovering Ino looked over at her roommate a sly grin on her face. "Yeah it is a shame. They'll be stuck up there unable to go to the party with Kiba and Temari." Her voice dropped an octave as she looked pointedly at Sakura, "And Naruto." She glanced up at the oldest of the three who shot her an answering grin as the pink haired girl's cheeks began to darken.
"Wh-Whats that Supposed to mean!"
"Absolutely nothing." Ten-ten answered. "All Ino meant is that it's a pity wont be there to join you, I mean us in the festivities." A mixture of anger and embarrassment over took Sakura's face as she quickened her casual walk into a quick march, her nose stuck in the air, striding past an all night cafe where a blonde girl with a huge fan could be seen writing and occasionally taking a draft of the coffee next to her. Jogging to catch up with her, her two friends grabbed an arm each and walked alongside her at a slower face causing Sakura to fall into step with them.
"You know we're only messin' with you." Ten-ten said looking across at her friend. "Yeah besides," Ino Added, "it was you that started this." Sighing Sakura turned to look at her friends. "Lets get back to what we were talking about okay? Either of you guys got any ideas on how to make this years party different from last years?"
"Well, I was thinking." Ten-ten piped up. "What do you guys think about a full formal affair?"
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'Dear Brothers
Since the last confrontation with the Sound life in the village has been unsurprisingly quiet. The renegade Uchiha Ninja is still in control since Orochimaru's death. But it appears that the sound village has too few remaining Ninja to pose a serious threat to either our own village or Konoha and aside from a few border conflicts we have heard little from them. My relationship with the villagers is '
Her relationship with the villagers was what? Sure they treated her respect but there was a certain formality between her and most of the other Ninjas was starting to get on her nerves. Sure most of the former 'Rookie Ninjas' was pretty good but even there they viewed her as someone with little sense of humor or fun. Add to that the fact that she still hadn't told her family about the relationship she had with the Shadow-master Shikamaru that they had been involved in for the past 5 years made describing her relationship with the villagers difficult.
'satisfactory. In five weeks time the village will once again be celebrating its Mid-winter festival. I trust that I shall see you both then.
Yours Temari'
Plus there was the fact that with her Brothers once again coming to stay for a few days it meant that she and Shikamaru would have to go back to being 'just good friends' for a few days which always drove her mad. She raised her hands above her head and tilted her head to the side causing her spine to crack. She was mildly curious and felt more than a little honored that she had been chosen to be part of the guarding force for the village on the day, but from the looks of the other Jounin who had been chosen she wasn't too sure whether this was an honor or not.
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Well, its been a while Since I've wrote any Fanfic an I hope I haven't lost any skill i might have picked up last time I wrote. If you like it tell me. If you hate it tell me. If you think that I should Set fire to my computer in Penance for this bit of literature...well that bit you can keep to yourself.