Naruto staggered into the office after being dragged there by Sakura. Couldn't his debriefing wait? All he wanted to do was sleep.
"There you are," Tsunade said, barely glancing up from her paperwork, "Sakura finally drag you here?"
He rubbed his wrist absently, "I just got back," he moaned, "Can't this wait?"
"Don't sound so put out, there's a festival."
He saw the booths being set up, strings of lights across the streets in the lingering winter day outside, "So?"
Tsunade sighed, as she often did, "Did you find out anything?" she asked, changing the subject.
He plopped down in frustration, "No!" running his fingers through his hair in agitation he got back up and started pacing, "It was a waste of time. Shikamaru hasn't found out anything but cold trails. And I left the sages too, I should have just stayed. You don't have a mission for me do you?" he asked almost hesitantly.
"No."
Naruto could have hugged her, he could go home and sleep and maybe have some ramen tomorrow before heading back to the sages. His training had plateaued lately and he was eager to find out what was wrong.
He was about to leave when Tsunade continued, "No mission, in fact," she looked up at him, "You're taking a mandatory vacation."
He spun around, "What? Why?"
"You're overstretched and overstressed. We've hardly seen you in months."
"So what?" Naruto countered, not wanting to deal with this.
"Your welfare is my concern," she said sternly, "It reflects badly on me if you're like that. Besides, it's mandatory. That means you don't get a say," she wagged her finger at him.
"A whole week?"
"I was going to give you a month, but knew you would never stay that long. Count yourself lucky."
He crossed his arms, "What am I supposed to do then?" he asked surly. Why'd she have to stick her butt in now?
Tsunade shook her head, "Only you would complain about vacation time," she muttered before turning more fully to him, "I don't care. I just don't want you harassing Shikamaru for information. Or begging Yamato into training with you. Or passing out in the training grounds again. Or-"
"-Alright, alright!" he cut her off, "I get it."
"Good, because if I hear about a single toe out of line..."
First she forces me on vacation, then threatens me if I don't behave? "Don't worry about it," Naruto assured her hastily, putting on his most innocent grin.
Nothing got past the Fifth though, "I'll believe it when I see it," she replied, eyeing him steadily, "Now get out of here, go enjoy your time off."
"Yeah," he yawned, giving her a weak wave and heading out the door.
"Oh, before I forget," Tsunade reached under her desk and pulled out a box, "Here, happy belated birthday."
Naruto tugged at the waistband of his pants, the traditional cut strange. Since when did Tsunade get him clothes? Was she going senile? He frowned and glanced out his window at the darkening sky, since when did anyone get him birthday presents?
He sat down, absently brushing dust off his table in swirl designs. He might as well go out, he was out of instant ramen and all the milk in the fridge had gone bad weeks ago. Naruto scrunched up his nose at the yellowy and chunky liquid. Even he wouldn't drink that.
Pouring it out the window probably hadn't been a good idea though, the people down in the street had finally went away at least.
He pushed himself up, grabbed his wallet and keys and walked out the door.
Multicolored lights were strung between the lampposts, across rooftops, and up into the trees. Some blinked merrily while others merely outlined shapes half hidden in shadows. Neon signs competed with each other, each bigger and brighter than the last. Advertising everything from games to food to drinks.
And high up on the walls surrounding the village, bonfires blazed against the cloudy sky. The flames lighting the longest night of the year. Of course, even in the middle of winter Konoha was warm, unpleasantly warm. Naruto wiped his forehead, the food stalls lining the street didn't help though.
Heat sluiced off the grills, but so did the smell. He smiled, rummaging through his wallet, "Hey mister!" Naruto called over the heads of the other festival goers, "What's that there?"
The middle aged man looked up from his stall, "The latest in fine cuisine! A hotdog wrapped in bacon, deep fried and on a stick!"
"Um..."
"We can also dip it in chocolate."
"I'll take four," a familiar voice called from his side.
"Eh, Kiba?"
Inuzuka Kiba turned around, his incisors showing in his smile, "Naruto, I didn't know you were staying awhile in the village."
Neither did I, "No, no!" he waved his arms frantically, "Only one dipped in chocolate. They're Akamaru's favorite," he explained while taking the foodstuff from the vendor and taking a bite out of the chocolate one.
Naruto glanced at the smiling vendor, "No thanks," he muttered, his stomach feeling rather queasy, "Where is Akamaru?" he asked, walking along with Kiba.
"Eh? He's with Sis," he answered around a mouthful, "Got injured on the last mission. Decided I'd cheer him up," a glance up and down, "Fancy duds, got a hot date?"
Shifting the shoulder of his top awkwardly, Naruto replied, "No, nothing like that. I just came for some dinner."
"That's it?" Kiba said disappointed, "You aren't even going to stay for the fireworks?"
"I dunno."
"You should stay," he said cryptically, but before Naruto could ask why, Kiba smirked, "Heh, there's Shino," he pointed his chocolate-dipped deep-fried bacon-wrapped hotdog.
Naruto followed the line of sight down the street. If it weren't for the sunglasses he wouldn't recognize him, no high collar or hooded trenchcoat. But there was something...
"Heheh," Kiba continued, waggling his eyebrows, "See that girl? It was arranged."
There was a girl there, dark hair and eyes, he didn't recognize her. But what did Kiba mean by arranged? Arranged as in..., "Like an escort?" he asked confused.
Kiba nearly choked on his food, "No!" he shouted, drawing stares from passers-by, "More like they were matched," he continued in a more even tone.
"Shino?" disbelieving.
A laugh, "Yeah, that's what I thought too."
Naruto shook his head as he watched the pair disappear into the crowd, "Weird."
"You should have seen his face when he let it slip in front of me and Hinata," Kiba chuckled fondly at the memory. He tossed the wooden stick to the ground, "Didn't let him live it down for a month! Well, it was good to see ya. Let me know if you get any leads on those Akatsuki bastards, I've been itching for a good mission."
"Sure," Naruto smiled, "See ya."
"Later," at that Kiba walked off towards the Inuzuka compound, slinging his bag of foodstuffs over his shoulder.
The grumbling of his stomach reminded him of his original quest, and he looked around the various stalls inquisitively. He passed over the sushi and something called weinerschnitzel, how could he eat it if he couldn't pronounce it? He also went by the grilled squid, bittersweet memories not letting him pick one up. Sighing, what he wouldn't give for a ramen stand.
"Naruto!" a shout from behind him.
He turned, coming face to face with Sakura and Sasuke, the former happily pulling the latter behind her, "Hey."
Sakura smiled, her eyes kept on glancing towards Sasuke, "Festivals are so exciting!" she exclaimed, "Don't you think so?"
"Um, I guess..."
Sasuke sighed and looked away bored, "It's just an excuse not to work."
She pouted, smoothing out her bright red kimono, "Grouch," complaining good-naturedly. Sasuke smirked slightly at that.
Naruto grinned at them, the faint stirring of jealously dying before he really noticed it. He hadn't seen Sakura this happy in years, and even if he tried to hide it, Sasuke was enjoying himself too. He scratched the back of his head, "Got him out of the house, finally?"
Sakura blushed, "I'm very persuasive."
Too much information, "Um."
"What she means is," Sasuke clarified, "She threatened the future of my clan."
Naruto grimaced, "That's harsh."
"Oh, you two are impossible!"
"What's that forehead? Can't reign in your own teammates?"
Turning, Naruto came face to face with Ino. She was smirking, one hand on her hip and the other around Sai. She flicked her long blonde hair back regally.
"Good evening, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun," he said mildly, "I am quite enjoying myself with Ino-chan."
Naruto raised an eyebrow but Sakura looked ready to be sick, "What was that, Ino-pig?" she asked haughtily, "I couldn't hear you because my Sasuke-kun distracted me," tilting her head and blinking innocently at the Uchiha.
Her distraction didn't seem to notice as he glanced at Sai from the corner of his eye, "So you're the one they stuck on my team."
A nod, "That is true."
This doesn't look good, Naruto thought, backing up from the four way glaring contest. He sighed, why couldn't they get along?
The silence of stares lasted only a moment longer before Sakura and Ino broke out into giggles, "I saw an octopus ball stand a little ways back, we should go."
"That sounds great!"
"I heard Sakura punched you when you first met."
"I flew back nearly twenty feet."
The four turned and started walking, but Sakura shouted over her shoulder, "See you later! Oh! And Neji wanted to talk to you, I think he's over by the rides."
He watched them go, disbelieving. Sometimes he thought he would never understand, and other times he decided he didn't really want to, "Yeah, see ya!" he called, waving.
Neji? What did he want? He sighed, knowing he would be going hungry for a while longer. Naruto could see the bright lights and hear the faint screams of the amusement rides over the rooftops. The next street over was a large square, normally filled with grass and benches. But now thick power cables snaked through the lawn, and flimsy metal gates surrounded the spinning and whirling rides.
He looked away feeling queasy, but saw the centerpiece, a roller coaster. The white metal supporting what looked to him a dangerous track. The train rolled by, the happy and frightened faces a blur, their hands flung up recklessly or tightly clutching the lap bars.
How the hell did they fit that thing in here? Even the light strands stretched from household gutters only to about midway up the coaster. It's so high...
"Naruto."
Huh? He spun around, the slight feeling of vertigo fading, "Neji! Don't sneak up on me!" Damn, did he have a neon sign on him or something? Naruto is Over Here! "I don't have eyes in the back of my head."
Neji's face slightly twitched, the closest thing he usually got to a smile, "Too bad, they're useful."
Bastard, "What do you want?" he crossed his arms, unwilling to let Neji get to him.
"Come with me," he walked off.
Naruto rubbed his hands over his face, took a deep breath and followed Neji. All he wanted was some ramen, or if he couldn't find that something else tasty. He wasn't expecting a freaking reunion.
They went around the rides to the ticket booths, excited looking civilians ready to waste their money and go on those deathtraps were waiting in line. Neji stopped near the middle of the queue, "Hinata-sama, you're still waiting?"
Hinata turned around, smiling wanly, "It seems there was a problem further up in the line, it took awhile to resolve."
"Hey, Hinata-chan!"
Her eyes widened and a blush crept up her cheeks as Naruto popped out from behind Neji, "Ah, good evening, Naruto-kun."
He grinned at her, Hinata was always polite to him. She was fidgeting with the tips of her fingers against the dark blue of her obi, but that wasn't what interested him. The dark purple kimono wasn't padded and she filled it out nicely, especially on top.
Embarrassed, Naruto hurriedly glanced away, hoping Neji didn't notice where his gaze was lingering, much less Hinata, "You going to ride that thing?" he asked incredulously, shifting his attention.
"Yes, when you go over the first hill your stomach drops and your heart races and," she paused, worriedly looking at him, "It's not that bad," she added.
"Hinata-sama rides the roller coaster every year," Neji said, "It's the only reason she comes."
"Neji-nii-san won't go on it, he gets dizzy," she teased gently, "What about you?"
"Never been on one," he admitted shrugging, not admitting the nervousness he felt just looking at it.
"You'd probably enjoy it more than I would," Neji crossed his arms, "You should try it out."
"I would be glad to have someone to ride with," Hinata's gaze was focused somewhere off to the side, her hands still.
Me? he thought, glancing between the two, I just want some dinner... Complaining, even internally, did no good. He was really just being irritable. Hinata was a friend. Besides, how bad could it be? "Sure, I guess," he scratched the back of his head.
Hinata looked pleased, and disturbingly so did Neji, "I'll leave you two to it, I told Hiashi-sama I'd look for your sister."
"She won't want to be found."
"She won't have a choice."
As Neji turned away, Naruto shouted after him, "Hey! Didn't you have-"
"-I'll let you know later," he called back, merging into the crowd.
"Ass..." Naruto muttered, before realizing who was next to him. He tried to cover it up with a cough.
Hinata laughed though, "That's just how he is," they had finally reached the end of the line, and she bought two tickets for the ride, "We have to go around," she gestured.
"Alright."
They walked in silence for a while, squeezing past loitering civilians and lounging shinobi. The roller coaster seemed to have gained quite a big crowd watching the people riding go by. He glanced around anxiously, he would have an audience now?
"Naruto-kun, this way," Hinata lightly grabbed his hand and stepped into another line to wait for the ride, "It won't take long."
He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, "I just came here for some dinner," he said, trying to distance himself from the sight of the track overhead and the end of the line ahead.
"I saw a ramen stand earlier," she offered.
Now that perked his interest, "Really?"
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei was there."
"You're the best, Hinata-chan," he smiled dreamily, thinking of what he would get. Barbeque pork sounded good.
Hinata was blushing right up until the attendant ushered them into the car. She climbed in rather carefully, the kimono she wore not letting her normal range of movement. Naruto hesitated for a moment, but climbed in behind her.
"Here," she reached over his lap for the seat belt and buckled them in together. She was comfortably snug against his side and smiling, "Ready?"
His heart was racing, "I dunno," he wiped his hands on his pants. The car started moving, a jerky motion as the chain pulled them up the first hill, "What should I do?" the people in front of them already laughing with their hands up.
They were rounding the top, "I yell," she said, her eyes widening and her hair lifting up as they went over.
Oh, crap...
His stomach dropped and then seemed to rise into his throat as he gripped the bar in front of him tightly. They crested the next hill and he rose out of his seat, slamming back into it when they spun around the turn. Lights blurred around his watering eyes, and they dropped again. They rose and then twirled down into a spin, faster and faster, and then they stopped.
He breathed rapidly as the car came into the station, his nerves tingling like after a battle. A nervous excitement that meant...
"Let's go again!"
They rode four more times, on him. The last time in the front seat. They had a good laugh at Hinata's hair, windswept and bangs sticking up on one side before she smoothed it down. His voice was somewhat hoarse when he asked, "Now, where's that ramen stand?"
She smiled at him, "This way."
The walked past food stalls and games for small prizes. Even a kareoke bar, a loud love ballad being sung out of key. Naruto grimaced.
Hinata looked over to him inquisitively.
"It's nothing," he assured her, "More importantly, I'm glad you saw a ramen stand, how lucky!"
"I... well..." she glanced away for the barest second, "Kurenai-sensei is a fan. She would often take Shino-kun, Kiba-kun and me."
"Have you three been on any missions lately?"
"No," she shook her head, "Now that Shino-kun is jounin, Kiba-kun wants to catch up with him and takes a lot of missions."
"I know what that's like," hard, he thought, being away all the time, he shrugged, "What about you?"
"Me?" she seemed surprised that he would even ask.
"Well, yeah," he started awkwardly, "What about you?"
It suddenly occurred to him that he never asked her about herself, and he felt like an idiot. Hinata was a friend, he should do better.
"I..." she frowned, "I haven't taken a mission in two months."
"Huh? Why not?"
She looked nervous and stared at the ground, "I've been thinking..." she trailed off, took a breath and started again, "I've been thinking."
"Thinking?" he repeated.
"My father won't like it," she blurted out, "Neji-nii-san won't understand and my sister will probably laugh. And it will take time..."
"Don't worry about it, you're the most patient person I know. They'll come around."
She smiled oddly at that, like she wasn't telling him something, "You're right."
"Of course I am," he puffed out his chest and she giggled delicately behind her hand, "Now let's go eat."
"Thank you, and please come again!" an overly cheery voice called from the ramen stand they just left.
Naruto waved over his shoulder, while it wasn't Ichiraku- it was still pretty good. All eight bowls of it, he sighed happily.
Hinata hiccuped from next to him and blushed.
"You ate too fast," he laughed, "Ramen is to be savored," he nodded wisely.
Too bad his sage advice was ruined by a hiccup of his own, "Oh?" she asked, the single syllable broken in two.
Shaking his head, they walked out into the crowd. It seemed they missed some kind of procession through the street earlier, quite a few people were picking up lawn chairs or getting up off of fences or benches.
Stepping around the remains of someone's nachos, Naruto led them back among the gaming stalls after passing a dango stand. A familiar voice could be heard from inside, followed by a loud thump that sounded suspiciously like someone hitting the wall.
Hinata looked back over her shoulder curiously, but he shook his head and pointed, "Let's go that way."
"Going to try the games?"
"Sure," he said with more confidence than he felt. With no luck at those types of things, he typically avoided them, but Hinata was looking at him expectantly. He looked around for something he could win at.
Forget the goldfish, he thought ruefully, and the stacked bottles. His aim was adequate, but he wasn't willing to try it out. Passing the booths, they were getting towards the end of the street and no luck.
"You young man! Come on up and win a prize for your lady friend," a large greasy man shouted at him.
Naruto turned skeptically. It was one of those games where you hit the spring button with a mallet. The tall tower had a brass bell at the top and lights running up and down it. Stuffed animals surrounded it.
"Just hit the bell and take your pick!" he clapped Naruto around the shoulder, "Guaranteed to make the ladies swoon," he whispered with a grin.
Naruto backed off, and crossed his arms. Girls liked this stuff? he thought wearily, glancing around himself.
"They are very cute," Hinata said, pointing, "This one looks like Kakashi-sensei's ninja dog."
"Well?" the man grinned, showing off crooked teeth.
How hard could it be? "Sure," he said, digging in his wallet, "I'll try it."
"We have a challenger!" the man whooped loudly, and dramatically gave him the mallet with a bow, "Are you ready?"
"Uh..."
"Good luck, Naruto-kun."
He straightened and gave her a grin, "Nothing to it!" he swaggered up, gripped the mallet and brought it down.
Pathetic
"Oh, too bad," the man shook his head, "I thought you could do it."
Naruto glared at him, "Let me try again."
So Close
His face twitched, and he could hear sniggers from the people passing by. Stupid game, he growled.
"Would anyone else like to try?"
"Wait!" Naruto called, "I'll try again."
Too Bad
Almost
Nearly There
He slammed the mallet to the ground, frowning. He never had any luck at these things.
The man grinned maliciously, "Tough luck there, young man."
Hinata came up beside him, "Let's go, I saw a dango stall on the way-"
"-That's it!" he shouted, "Hinata-chan, stay right here," he held her shoulders tightly and looked her in the eye, "I'll be right back. Four minutes, okay?"
"S-sure," she blushed.
He took off, squeezing between people in the crowd and hurrying down the street. He burst into the dango shop, and scanned for the person he wanted, "Sakura!"
She turned around, "Naruto?" she asked surprised, then annoyed, "What do you want?"
Of course the other three at the table looked up at him as well, "What are you doing here?"
"Look how flushed he looks. Has he been running?"
"Perhaps he just wants some dango."
"Sakura," he went up to her, "I need a favor."
She turned away and deliberately took a bite of her dessert, "So?"
"Oh come on," he went around the booth, "It'll take a minute, seriously," he added at her look.
"Just go," Sasuke said, "He'll bug us all night otherwise."
"Yeah," Naruto replied before realizing exactly what he said, "Hey!"
"All right," Sakura relented and got up.
"C'mon!" he urged her out the door and down the street.
"You better have a good reason why you dragged me out of there."
"You just have to do one little thing," he assured her, parting the way through the crowd.
They came back to the game, the greasy man unsuccessfully trying to chat with Hinata, "Hey!" he shouted, giving the man a glare, "One more time," he said stepping up between the two.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," he motioned towards Sakura, "She's going to do it," he grinned.
Sakura raised an eyebrow but agreed nonetheless, "Let's just get this over with."
Naruto shelled out the money and turned to grin at Hinata. She laughed lightly, knowing what was coming next.
Sakura didn't disappoint. She grabbed the mallet and swung down.
DING! The bell rang for a moment before flying off the end of the tower and crashing into the goldfish booth.
Leaning against the mallet, Sakura sighed bored. But, Naruto wasn't paying any attention to her. He was grinning at the slack jawed look on the greasy man's face. Take that, he thought but merely pointed to the prizes.
Dazed, the man handed him the stuffed animal. Naruto took it with relish and then handed it to Hinata. She blushed and whispered, "Thanks," holding it close.
"Is that it?" Sakura asked, eyeing him.
"Huh?" he focused on her, "Oh, yeah. You can go back now."
Sakura huffed and walked off, but he didn't see her look over her shoulder with a smile.
"Hey! What did you do to my stand!"
They turned away from the angry voice coming out of the goldfish booth and started to walk away, "Come back here!" swiftly.
Hurrying through the crowd they soon lost the offended vendor. Naruto glanced back one more time just to make sure.
"We lost him," Hinata confirmed, her bloodline limit deactivating as she looked at him.
"Good riddance," he muttered.
They walked along for a few blocks, the crowds thinning in the streets but congregating into the square. There were benches set up and filled, and so was the grassy area around them. People were just waiting around as some of the food stand's lights were dimming.
"The fireworks must be starting soon," Hinata supplied at his confused look, "Do you want to watch them?"
"Sure," he said, looking around, "But there's nowhere to sit..." turning his head, trying to find an open spot. He glanced up, some had taken to the rooftops. Naruto pointed.
"Up there?" she frowned as he was gauging his jump.
"What's wrong?"
She blushed gesturing down, "I can't really... not in this..."
Huh? he thought, looking her up and down. Her kimono, he realized, "I'll help you up," he offered.
"Alright," she stood there.
Um, how was he supposed to do this now? He walked around her and looked up at the rooftop. Glanced back down and awkwardly stepped forward, "I'll just..."
Should he put his arms around her waist? Or maybe just hold her shoulder? Could he pull her up? Why was he thinking about this so much?
Naruto grabbed her around the middle and jumped, Hinata reflexively holding onto him. They swayed a bit on the rooftop before finding their balance. He reddened at her close proximity, and pulled his arms away from her.
Hinata smoothed her kimono and sat down, putting the stuffed animal next to her. He followed, sitting next to her and leaning back on his hands.
A distant whistle in the dark. The low boom and then the bright colors of the burst signaled the start of the show.
Disclaimer: Nein.
A/N: It's done, it's long, but the chapter is finally done. It's late, but it's done. Did I mention it's done? This chapter really ran away from me. I was looking forward to this chapter, but I'm so glad it's done.
This chapter was inspired by a piece of fanart, quite possibly the best I've seen for Naruto. A few notes:
I really went wild with the festival. Since Naruto takes place in a pseudo-Japan fantasy I didn't want something directly from real life, but I didn't want something out of place either.
As for additional pairings, it will be mild. I think it's unrealistic for everyone to be paired up, but also for no one to be.
I am a roller coaster afficionado, and I couldn't help but putting it in there.
As always, thanks for reading!