"GET UP IDIOT!" Celeste's voice had rung out, searing into Sheer's ears and causing her face to crumple up in discomfort.

Her younger sister continued her pleading and she hopped on top of the tired lady, forcing her to groan out.

"Just lemme sleep a couple more hours..." SHe tried to turn but Celeste was persistent, yanking the blanket off her sister and exposing her to the sharp, cold air around. This caused her senses to be fully awaken.

She looked around. The room was quite dark, hinting that it was already past sunset and she was most likely late for the annual festival.

Celeste was straightening her hair and doing her makeup.

"You're too little for makeup, baka." Sheer told he quietly, standing and rushing to the room where their clothes were kept.

She pulled out a silk package.

She had waited years to wear this...

AFter about half an hour or so of decorating and doing oneself up, Sheer emerged from the bathroom dressed in the most stunning attire .

Her kimono's red body cascaded all the way to her ankles where it brushed them lightly, causing a little shiver to run through her. Her flawless makeup and bright red lips added to the look. She looked utterly gorgeous.

"Wow Sheer." Celeste stated, grabbing the purses of the two. Sheer blushed politely, taking the compliment," Now you actually don't look like man and maybe you could get a boyfriend for once."

Sheer pulled a face at the young kid, before the two linked one another and strolled out the front door.

Immediately, Sheer shivered, rubbing her palms together.

"BY GOD it's cold out here!" she stated, looking down at Celeste who simply smiled and skipped by her side.

They were approaching the gates to the event and you could tell by the buzz of noise how lively it was. The dark sky overhead and the area in which they had just come from was completely silent yet here, it was lt up like a lantern with the enticing sound of cheerful voices.

Sheer relaxed a little, allowing her guard to drop the slightest...

Once Sheer and Celeste entered the gates, Celeste was off, dragging her sister by the wrists to each and every stall and marvelling at the intricate trinkets and gifts that lined each.

All the stuff being sold glimmered in a twinkling sort of way and seemed to entice the pair even further.

"This is great!" Celeste said, splaying her arms outwards and almost knocking a baby out of a couples arms. Sheer followed silently, observing the beautiful array of stalls until they reached a turning point.

"The firework display is that way, and food is that way..." Sheer said under her breath. She wanted to go to the display but she knew Celeste would protest.

"Can I-"
"Be back at Iruka Sensei's place at midnight! And make some friends!" Sheer teased, handing over some cash and watching the young teen's face light up before turning and racing away towards the welcoming stench of hotdogs and matcha cake.

She sighed happily knowing that she wasn't going to have to tail her younger sister for the rest of the night and began to make her way down the alternative path that was much darker and quiet.

The further she stepped away from the hubbub of the main event, the more at peace she felt. Out in the cold night air she could hear nature as it was meant to be. The previous orange glow cast along the archway that was the sky simply faded into the past and now the sky was darker than night itself, sprayed with a shower of white, twinkling kisses. It was peaceful, sentimental and it was as that moment that she remembered the kiss from earlier.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Iruka kissed me.

But I asked.

But he said he wanted to.

The blush along her caramel cheeks deepened as she shut her eyes and tried to forget the whole thing ever happened (A/N NOT BECAUSE SHE DOESNT LIKE IRUKA BUT BECAUSE SHES EMBARASSED THAT SHE HAD TO ASK)

"S-sheer?" A nervous male voice played out to her. With her eyes still remaining closed and her telling herself that her mind is playing tricks on her, she began counting back in 3's from 300.

"Sheer." The voice said more firmly and she was shocked out of her trance. Her eyelids lifted only to see the one and only...Iruka.

He was stood about a metre in front of her looking right at her. Her blush immediately deepened and she cast her eyes downwards, smiling a little.

"Are you okay?" he asked kindly, stepping towards her and placing a cautious and gentle hand on her right shoulder.

Oh wow, that intoxicating smell. The warmth of his actions. The sincerity behind that voice...

Sheer nodded, glancing back up at him.

He was looking right into her eyes, a serious expression on his face.

"I'm glad you had enough energy to come. I do really think you need the rest though..."

"I'll survive. I do it all the time."

"Haha I know but you should also look after yourself sometimes, or I'll have to do that for you..."

She hesitated at his suggestive sentence (A/N not sexual, just as in hinting towards them being an 'us' heheheh), thinking of how o reply to let him know she's into him.

"Well...I wouldn't mind that..."

She fiddles with her fingers, blushing again as he looks right at her, taking in the intensity of the situation. They remain in silence for a few moments before you hear the jutsu sound and a 'poof'. Sheer looks up, curious, and notes that he is holding a red rose. This time it's him that blushes and he laughs quietly, scatching his hair and looking away from her.

He's like a child, it's adorable...

She almost wants to cry with happiness when he reaches it towards her and she takes it gingerly, stroking it as she steps towards him. This feeling was strange: the feeling of affection, of wanting someone this badly. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes from this foreign source of happiness and she looked up at him who was taken by surprise.

"Oh no! Don't cry...Look, i'll get you a larger one if that's-"

"No Iruka. It's perfect."

The shock remains on his embarrassed face, before he returns to his normal stance and smiles down at her.

The scene is perfection, as though it was stolen from the pages of a romance novel that Sheer had once read or a movie that Iruka had once seen.

"Shall I take you to see the fireworks?"

Sheer nodded happily, ready to burst into tears any moment. She honestly couldn't be any happier- until the moment in which the two were sat on a bench, their eyes facing upwards towards to fairy like sky and she felt his arm cautiously wrap around her and tug her the slightest bit closer.

Her breathing halted for a moment, before she smiled to herself and allowed herself to rest against him.

It was like they were intoxicated, absolutely lost in a world of their own where all there was was joy and pleasure. She almost forgot the painful memories of that past that night. She wanted to. She felt safe. She felt at home. She knew being with Iruka was where she was meant to be...