CHAPTER 4

"Hey guys! We should play this game." Kurenai called out behind her while pointing to a little water game.

When they came to the booth. Kina observed and asked confused, "what do we do?"

Asuma asked the man for four little nets after paying for them all. He handed one to the heiress, who just examined the item in her hand.

"It's an easy game with no point, really…You just catch as many baby fish as possible. Whoever catches the most gets to keep one of the fish they caught." Asuma explained before finding a spot near the pool. He squatted, letting out a big sigh.

The rest followed his lead. He smirked with an idea coming in mind. "We should twist up the game a little, huh?"

Everyone looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked.

"We should do a little challenge between us. Me and Kurenai will be a team. Kina and Kakashi will be a team. Whichever team catches the golden fish wins!"

Kina raised her eyebrow, "golden fish?"

"There's a silly extra treat in this game where if you find the golden fish and catch it, you get to keep it. You even get your money back, too."

She smiled, "ouuu. Sounds like fun! I am down."

Kurenai and Kakashi nodded in agreement. The four of them, alongside other villagers, began to gather as many fish as possible once the buzzer went off. Asuma and Kurenai were working well together with great communication while Kakashi and Kina worked individually, barely paying any attention to what the other was doing.

Kina glanced at Kakashi's bucket and noticed he had quite a lot, but overall, she wanted that golden fish more than anything. While monitoring the pool carefully, she noticed a small golden fish swimming between all the rest of the fish coming nearby. She gasped, tapping Kakashi's upper arm with excitement.

"Look! Look! It is right there!" She tugged on his black shirt before demanding,"get it! You are so much closer than I am, Kakashi!"

He caught it with ease. "Yosh, I got it!"

The two of them began to chant and cheer. The young ANBU placed the fish in his bucket of water. He wanted to examine it better, seeing the difference of a golden fish compared to the rest so he moved the bucket a little closer to his face. The fish was a feisty one and jumped up from the bucket, poking him in the eye. It caused Kakashi to drop the bucket into the pond as he reached his injured eye.

"Ow! That hurt!"

The heiress gasped watching his bucket drift away in the pond's current, but started to break in laughter. She covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her teeth. "Are you okay?"

He rubbed his eye, trying to wipe away the water on his face and repeated the word "ouch" over and over for sometime before he was able to open his eye.

Through her giggles she was able to make out the words, "here lemme take a look at it."

She softly placed her hands around Kakashi's face to hold him still– their faces only inches away from one another as she stood on her tippy toes. It was red and watery from the irritation.

"I think you will be fine."

He stared at her as she examined his eye. Taking in details of her face structure he had not noticed from before. Her skin was pale and almost poreless. It looked like she had some blush on– her cheeks looked rosy. Her lips were plumped and glossy with a tint of eyes slowly met.

"Uh, did you hear me? Kakashi-san?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry, I did." He pressed hard on his eye to stop the irritation.

She let out a chuckle. "Aw, man. We were close to getting it too."

The end buzzer went off and the man at the booth spoke into his microphone. "Okay, okay! Everyone that was it. You can come to me with your buckets and we shall see who won."

The villagers who played made their way to the conductor while discussing to one another convincing they were the winners or it.

"Hey," Kakashi started in a soft tone– it caught her attention to the point she looked up at him. "Where did Asuma and Kurenai go?"

She then looked around trying to spot the two for some time, unable to spot them before making eye contact with Kakashi. She just shrugged in response.

"Did you wanna try another game?" He suggested.

She smiled showing teeth and nodded. "Yeah! Let's go! I think we still have a little more time left over before the fireworks start."

The two of them walked off to find another game that interested them. In the end, Kina was walking with a medium sized brown bear in her arms that she had won while Kakashi walked beside her with his hands in his pockets. He was staring at the ground as they walked before glancing up at her, watching her hold onto the teddy bear so tight. At that moment, he started to picture Rin and Obito. What would it have been like if they were still here? Would he have been doing these activities with them instead? Would all of them actually be friends and hang out like this? He had wished there was a chance to actually witness it in person.

"Is something on your mind, Kakashi?" She softly butted in, noticing how distracted he had become.

"No, not really…"

She pouted slightly, "are you sure? It looks like something is on your mind."

He paused for a minute, not knowing if it was the right time to be opening up to her about this all. He barely knew her and it was their first time really hanging out. Was it really the right moment to be expressing his… feelings? He glanced at her again– she had such a soft, concerned look on her face. It reminded him of Rin. So kind and genuine. He kind of chuckled to himself, noticing Kina had a little spunk to her too– just like Obito did.

He deflected, "Hey, I think the fireworks are about to start soon. We should find a spot to watch it."

Not wanting to push into it without his consent. She nodded, "you're right. We should hurry! I actually don't want to miss it."

They picked up their pace and walked to a grassy hill area– other villagers also gathered around the area thinking the height would make a difference in seeing the fireworks better. A loud boom roared through the sky and in the corner of her eyes she could see the colors of green and pink forming around her. It took her by surprise and she squealed softly before grabbing hold of Kakashi's arm, pressing her body against his. He gasped slightly, a little taken back.

Kina, who was embarrassed, quickly moved away to give him his personal space. They both blushed, looking back up at the sky enjoying the fireworks together. As much as she tried to focus on it, she couldn't help but think of Kakashi's scent and the feeling of his warmth. Her heart beating loud and her stomach tingled with a sensation she had never felt before. She found herself craving for more, craving to be close to him again. She slowly scooted closer and closer to him, and with courage slid her arm under his to hold. She could feel him tense up which made her feel like she had made a wrong choice. Being embarrassed, yet again, she began to release her arm around his until he placed his other hand over her arm, signaling her to stay. They made eye-contact– not looking away for some time before paying attention to the fireworks.

Both their hearts beating loud along with the fireworks– not knowing if it was their hearts or the firework at the moment. He could feel her hand slowly making its way down his arm, gently making her way to his hand. Their palms touching, then their fingers. They exchanged looks again as their fingers slowly interlocked. He gently caressed his thumb over hers.