Chapter Sixteen: Festivities.
"Hey! Has anyone seen my hair tie?" Deidara yelled through the maze of halls. "Come on guys, who hid it?"
"Deidara. It's in your hand."
"Shut-up weasel-face!"
"You should be thanking me, I just saved you a lot of time and effort and even more of your dignity-" Natsuki rolled her eyes from within the safety of her room, carefully tying her hair back into a high ponytail. She swished her tail about beneath her thick winter kimono. It felt weird not having hakama on. Looking back into the mirror, she saw determination glint in her eyes and laughed. What was she doing? She was pulling faces in the mirror again as if she were still a little kid. Sadness washed over her and she held back a sigh, looking back at Chikakon instead. He sat patiently for her by the closed door. "Alright, sorry I took so long, let's go!"
They ran into Kisame and Itachi on the way to entrance of the base and she grinned at them. "Hey!" They looked up at her, both in their own thick winter kimonos. Itachi's was a stoic navy colour, which didn't surprise her, whilst Kisame's was a rich blue decorated with silhouetted waterlilies. "That kimono doesn't detract from your manliness at all." Natsuki stated cheekily.
"Shut up, it's the only one I had." That brought a smirk to her face. He gave her an unimpressed look. "Come on, let's just go." He placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her gently in front of him. She had the scarf on that he had given her and was dressed in a lilac winter kimono with a deep violet michiyuki over the top. Chikakon was ever-present by her side. They wound their way through the halls to the entrance where Sasori, Kakuzu and Hidan already stood. "We're just waiting for Deidara now." Sasori huffed, rapping his fingers against his arm. He was clad in a purple winter kimono with no patterning on the fabric. Kakuzu was in a deep fir green kimono with barely visible rectangles and squares dyed into the weave of the fabric and Hidan was in a burgundy one, standing there begrudgingly. "Hey, un!" Deidara suddenly ran up to them, waving with a plain brown winter kimono on. His hair was tied in a messy low ponytail and he was grinning.
"Let's go already!" Sasori huffed, rolling his eyes at his partner.
They made their way into a small town nearby where a festival was being held to celebrate the new year. Deidara immediately ran off into the bustling crowd, dragging Sasori along behind him. Hidan wanted to go to the spare ribs stand, so he left the miser behind so he could actually eat something. That left Itachi, Kisame, Natsuki and Kakuzu behind. "Let's go to the Goldfish Scooping!" She said, eagerly dragging Kisame along. Itachi smiled at the two of them and Kakuzu rolled his eyes. People milled around the stall, watching their children and friends try to scoop out goldfish. A small child in a dirty yukata crouched at the side of the tub, watching with wide glistening eyes. "You want a go, young missy?" The stall owner cried jovially, catching Natsuki's attention. She nodded, giddiness rising inside her as he handed her a poi and a bowl in exchange for the few ryo she had brought along with her. "What about you, sirs? Would you like a try at this? It's harder than it looks!" Kakuzu turned his head away, huffing as the man laughed at his response. Itachi and Kisame crouched next to Natsuki though, handing over some of their money. "Come on, I'm beating you here!" Natsuki laughed as Kisame fumbled to catch a goldfish. Suddenly, Itachi struck like lightning from out of nowhere. Three fish swam around his bowl in a daze. The stall owner barked out a laugh, clapping Itachi on the back, which certainly surprised him. "You did good son, but..." His eyes fell to the poi in Itachi's hand, "If you want to play more, then you're going to have to pay for a new poi!" Itachi looked sullenly at the torn paper. He handed the poi and the bowl back to the stall owner. "Thank-you for allowing me to play." The man blinked, then laughed.
"Don't you like fish or sommat?"
"I do, but we are not permitted to keep pets where we live." The man nodded knowingly. Then his sights set on Natsuki and Kisame, still in hot competition.
"Ahah!" She yelled, a goldfish landing in her bowl. Kisame looked over.
"You're too good at this." He stated, pretending to be miffed with her. She bumped his shoulder.
"No~ You're just really bad at it!" The paper suddenly ripped. "What? Aw..." Kisame and Kakuzu laughed at her. "S- shut-up! At least I got a fish!" Something tugged on her sleeve and she looked down. The child in the dirty yukata stared up at her. "Hey, you like fish?" They nodded slightly, their navy eyes big and bright compared to their dirty face. "Then here, have this one. I can't keep it anyway, Chikakon here would eat it." Chikakon turned from eyeing the fish hungrily. The child patted his head warily as the stall owner took Natsuki's poi and bowl, transferred the fish to a plastic bag and handed it to the kid. "Thank-you lady!" They laughed, scuttling off. Natsuki waved happily after them.
"I'm hungry." Natsuki stated, dragging the three men through the crowds of bustling people.
"Really? So that obnoxious grumbling wasn't your stomach?"
"Kakuzu, if you want to buy your own food that badly then just say so." He growled at her, but refrained from snapping back. Free food was good food. They wandered around the food stalls for a while, bickering playfully over what to eat. Kakuzu kept suggesting shark-fin soup. Natsuki didn't know he had such a wry sense of humour, though Kisame didn't appreciate it at the time. They settled on yakitori eventually and even bought some bebi kasutera between them for afterwards. They milled around after that, flitting from stall to stall, investigating anything that took their fancy until they bumped into Deidara and Hidan trying their hand at goldfish scooping. Sasori sidled over to them, bored as usual. "Kakuzu, come and collect your idiot before he sacrifices everybody here." The taller man sighed at the thought of exerting energy on behalf of his baka of a partner, but hauled the zealot away despite his uncensored rantings. Sasori grabbed Deidara by the ear and led him away too. "Let's go, this festival is getting tiresome." Natsuki pouted and she saw Chikakon's ears droop, but they followed anyway.
"Hey! Who broke out the beer whilst we were gone, un?" Deidara yelled, head whipping around the trashed lounge.
"Well, there's nothin' for it, we gotta drink the rest of this fucking stuff before any of those other bitches do!" Natsuki cringed at the thought of alcohol. She didn't think she could survive another hangover like the last one. "You guys go ahead, I'll clean up a little..." Yeah, that was a good excuse. Cleaning up would give her enough time for the other to get drunk and then she could leave without them teasing her in the morning about being a coward for not drinking with them. So as they opened up their drinks and sat down to poke fun at each other, Natsuki made her way around the kitchen and lounge, picking up past-discarded bottles and glasses, wiping down surfaces and doing a little washing-up before making her hasty escape.
Natsuki heard the door click open a few hours later and someone stumble in. I swear to God Hidan, if that's you so drunk off your head that you can't even find your own room... She sat up, dragging herself out from under the quilts and wrapping her yukata even tighter around her as she approached the intruder. A calloused hand brushed against her cheek and she jolted, fists clenching. "Na'shuki?" Her hands relaxed. It was only Kisame. "Kisame, you're in the wrong room, come on-" He suddenly spun her around and her back bumped against the wall. "Na'shuki I'va got ssommat t' say-" His hands brushed against her waist and he leaned closer, the stench of alcohol pervading the air. Natsuki pushed at his chest, turning away desperately. "S- stop it Kisame. You're drunk, please..." She took a sharp intake of breath, hoping it would give her more strength. "K- Kisame! Why are you being so rash?" His eyes slowly slid shut and she pressed her lips in a tight line, trying not to panic. His head abruptly thudded against the wall beside her. She let out a heavy sigh, heart pounding in her chest. Her hand came up to rest on his head. "What am I to do with you?" She whispered into the dark.
Kisame rolled over. His back rubbing against someone else woke him up immediately and he let out a low groan, rubbing his temples. Looking to his side, he found a peaceful Natsuki fast asleep next to him. She turned, curling up against his side for warmth. His face burned a vivid purple, but he gently lay back down, closing his eyes against his pounding headache. Natsuki stirred and grumbled under her breath. She reached up and tugged at his hair. "If you're awake then go back to your own bed you big lump." He sighed and sat up, a cold metal chain dangling from his neck. Natsuki turned onto her back and swatted at the pendant, a shark after a koi embedded in a small metal plate. "I can't believe you're actually wearing that." She mumbled, still half asleep. He shrugged and slid out from under the quilt, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, um..." He didn't turn to look at her.
"What?"
"What... happened last night?" Natsuki snorted and he turned to glare at her. "Just tell me."
"Ch. Let's just say that next time your get so drunk off your head that you collapse against my wall, don't expect me to lend my bed out to you. You weigh a flipping ton." She flopped back onto her side, back facing him. Kisame shook his head. Good, nothing weird happened then. He didn't see the scarlet blush colouring Natsuki's cheeks.
Very short, but on time, but short.
The question is though... Whobroke out the beer whilst everyone else what at the festival? I really have no idea, but it'll be fun to think about anyway... Let the competition... begin!
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Next time in Weapons Dealer... Chapter Seventeen: Three Months.
She did not want to be stuck by herself in the middle of nowhere with one: a religious zealot who not only hated her, but sacrificed people for fun; and two: a miser who would get so pissed off with her and Hidan arguing that he'd probably kill her and lop Hidan into thousands of little pieces for the rest of the mission.