The festival was always a place of unrestrained joy. The costumes lit up the night, a riot of colour to rival any gardener's paradise.
Music filled the air, festive beats lifted the spirits and made the people want to move, jump and sing. It was a time to celebrate being alive, celebrate the wonders of creation.
Wherever you looked there were painted faces and masks. The stilt walkers marched down the middle of the crowd blowing bubbles or waving as they went, the music was the heartbeat of the crowd and they swayed in time to the beat.
Food sellers weaved through the mass of onlookers and the aroma of their wares perfumed the air. The parade danced it's way down the street and to the villages' centre where the people will be gathering for the festival.
It was a beautiful night, everything seemed other wordly; heavenly. But the only thing that Sasuke found beautiful was the young woman in front of her. He couldn't stop staring at her, he was completely petrified by the beauty of the young Hyuga.
He didn't know why but he felt some warmth whenever he was with her. Her warm smiles always made him happy, made his heart warm. She understood him even though she didn't know him well and she didn't judge him at all. She considered him a fellow leaf shinobi, her friend and moreover, she considered him as someone who could be forgiven-- redeemed. Those things made him want to stay close to her and protect her.
He never felt anything like that. Not even when he's with his team which he considered a family. He couldn't figure out this emotion that was taking place in his heart and was getting stronger by every heartbeat. But he never let anyone know about it. He was damn good at hiding his feelings and emotions. He was still in his thoughts when someone tugged on his sleeve. He snapped back to reality and looked down at his sleeve and found a pale hand holding it.
He then met the pale lavender eyes which brought him peace whenever he looked into them. Hinata was looking up at him with a smile as always and called out to him, "Sasuke-kun?"
He blinked at her once and aberted his eyes to her hand. Hinata withdrew it and intertwined her hands behind her back, waiting for Sasuke for a response.
"Where are others?" he asked as he looked at his surroundings, there was no one other than Hinata. He didn't even notice them going.
Hinata responded with a smile, "They have gone ahead to see the play."
Sasuke nodded and eyed her for a moment before asking, "What about you? Why are you here?"
Hinata averted her eyes for a moment before saying, "Um... Waiting for you."
She said but it came out more like a question. Sasuke rose an eyebrow at her uncertainty and stared at her as if asking why.
Hinata grew nervous at his gaze, he could see that clearly as she kept fidgeting with her fingers. Sasuke, for some reason, liked her nervousness.
"Um... I-I thought we could go together," she blurted out in nervousness and then her eyes grew wider and she flushed deep red.
"Oh?" Sasuke smirked.
"I-I didn't mean it l-like that," she said, flustered. "I m-meant to say that I-I don't know them very well so... So it makes me uncomfortable around them."
"So you feel comfortable around me?" Sasuke asked, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
She looked at him, confused. Then she again flushed red. Sasuke chuckled at her reactions. He saw her pout as she looked away from him.
"You are teasing me, aren't you?"
Sasuke smiled but when he met Hinata's eyes, it turned into a smirk. He walked passed her but then turned and said, "Let's take a walk. I will show you around."
Hinata's eyes lit up at that and her pout turned into a smile as she and Sasuke started walking side by side. Neither talked for a while, just enjoying the silence for the first time. It wasn't awkward at all.
They were now at the outskirts where only a few stalls were lit but no vendors could be seen. They kept walking as he led the way and stopped at the bank of a small river that flowed from behind the village.
Sasuke took a glance at Hinata who had come to stand beside him, her hair flowed behind her back as the cool night breeze brushed their faces. Hinata had her eyes closed as she took a deep breathe and a smile made its way to her lips. She looked beautiful-- divine, in that moment. His heart skiped a beat and again, he couldn't figure out why. He willed himself to avert his eyes from her and focused his attention in front of him.
Hinata exhaled and then sighed. "I love the smell of wet earth, it feels so refreshing. Like the earth, itself is reminding us that we are alive."
"I don't smell anything," he said in monotone. Hinata looked at him in disbelief but recovered quickly and he saw her roll her eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her reactions but still tried to look like his usual cold self. It was getting harder to mask his emotions, and he didn't like that all but at the same time, he wanted to smile at her.
He closed his eyes as he tried to clear his mind. He must be going crazy, thinking about these stupid stuff. He must have hit his head somewhere. He should let Sakura check up on him once they returned back to the village.
"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Hinata's gentle voice reached his ears and he opened his eyes and looked at her. "You seem troubled."
"I am okay," he said and turned back. "Let's go." He started walking but soon stopped when he felt something soft around his feet. He looked down and found two kittens hanging onto his feet. He crouched down and picked them up as he smiled. He always had a soft spot for cats, especially when they were these small kittnes. He somehow attracted a lot of cats too.
He then heard a couple of 'meows' and looked at the source of it and found six other cats looking up at him in anticipation. Sasuke looked at them in confusion but then suddenly they all jumped up at him and he lost his footing as he fell to the ground on his butt at the edge of the river, making his cloths all wet. A laugh was heard beside him. That laugh belonging to none other than the Hyuga as she came forward, laughing.
He felt his face burn slightly with embarassment but he didn't let it show on his face, and looked at the laughing Hyuga. He couldn't say anything. Ofcourse, anyone would laugh if they saw the infamous Sasuke Uchiha being tackled by some cats. His brow slightly twitched but then he heard Hinata laughing again. Her laugh was light but full of energy, warm and hearty. Not at all like those girls who threw themselves on him. It was a laughter of someone who hadn't laughed in a long while and just couldn't seem to stop now.
"I-I... I am s-so...sorry," she said between her laughter as she tried to stop herself. She had small tears at the edge of her eyes. She wiped them and extended her hand to Sasuke to help him get up. She smiled at him but Sasuke returned that with a smirk as he took her hand. But instead of getting up, he pulled Hinata down and she fell into the water just beside him.
She let out a yelp when she fell and her cloths got all wet and the tips of hair were driping. She had a bewildered look on her face as she found herself in the same situation as Sasuke. She groaned.
Sasuke laughed at her expression and he just couldn't stop himself. It was like someone had just unlocked his chains and now he was free.
"Why did you do that?" Hinata whined as she tried to stand up but because of her kimono, she slipped and again fell into the water, splashing it here and there. Sasuke again let out a laugh and Hinata also joined him and they just laughed their hearts out. They teased each other a bit and played around like little childern before getting out of the water. They both shivered as the wind blew past them. Seeing each other shiver, they again brusted into laughter. People gave them odd looks as they made their way to the mansion, still laughing and snickering.
The festival was over and all the men, women and childern were now retiring to their homes, childern sleeping on their parents' shoulders, tired from all the fun they'd. They reached the mansion and went to their rooms after saying goodnight to each other.
Sasuke changed into his night cloths and layed in his futon, his thoughts drifting to his beautiful companion as a small smile played on his lips.
He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. He didn't care how much he seemed out of character tonight. He was having a great time and finally he was happy and his heart, finally was started to be at peace.