While her father talked to Tsume and Neko-baa, she and Sasuke played with Kiba.
He had brought akamaru, who was an incredibly small puppy. He was cute, but she still thought kibbles was cuter when he was a kitten. Now he was a full grown young tom-cat. They were playing fetch and giggling over Iruka-sensei when Neko-baa burst in-with her granddaughter. Tamaki?
She had shoulder length brown hair and pretty hazel eyes. She stood nervously behind her grandmother.
"Play nice, kids." Neko-baa turned and left.
"Hello!" She and Sasuke greeted.
"Hi." She said back.
Kiba said nothing, as he was stunned into silence. The normally loud boy was speechless. The girl blushed harder, opting to sit behind Miko. Miko liked her, as she was a cat person at heart and all around caring and gentle.
"Neko-baa said to play nice." She said shyly. She grabbed some of the blocks and looked at Kiba.
"Wanna make a house with me?" She smiled.
He nodded dumbly.
She and Sasuke kinda sat on the side and just watched the two build a mini house. She never really had the patience to play with kids unless they were Sasuke, and was dying to be at the meeting, so while this was nice, she still had a pout on.
"This is the living room, where we could put all the pets." She said. Kiba nodded again, finally speaking his agreement.
Progress? She guessed so.
Everyone knew the Uchiha and the Inuzuka were running the show. A friendly rivalry was making either of them go all out, Miko throwing in suggestions whenever she could. And despite just having a fair not even a week ago, everyone involved was hyped.
This wasn't like the other festival though. There were stations instead of stands, and everything was a little less formal. Her uncle had broken out his cat summons and Neko-baa brought out her ninneko or whatever. This being made possible by the original two fairs.
People started trickling in a little after the sunrise. You could tell right away who was a fan of what due to what thye were wearing. The Institute had worked double time to churn out enough cat memorabilia and even make some dog merchandise.
She giggled with Sasuke as they hid behind a 5 foot statue of a cat. Dirt covered her knees as she peaked around the statue.
And then Kakashi fucking Hatake walked in, wearing his I love my dogs shirt. She had only seen him two other times, at the wedding and once in the streets so this was reeling. He was looking around interestingly at the displays, Pakkun in his arms.
He paused, then looked around.
She whipped back behind the cat, shushing Sasuke. They crouched, tufts of grass tickling their ankles. A beat of silence where they could hear their heartbeats.
"Hm, what do we have here?" Said a voice from above.
They squealed, heads cracking together. They rolled back n'sync, clutching their foreheads. She blinked through the pained tears, opening her eyes to a figure perched on top of the cat statue. Kakashi.
He was looking slightly startled at their puppy eyed expressions. He was younger than he was in canon, and probably just out of ANBU judging by his faintly lost expression. She reflexively almost opened her senses before catching herself.
"Um, I'm Miko! But everyone calls me Mo." She had insisted a week before school had ended. Kakashi just stared, not as put together as he would be. Sasuke sat up and poked his fingers together, blinking up at him. Kakashi shifted, uncomfortable around children. Very, very, uncomfortable.
"You like doggies?" Mo asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Kakashi looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump ship but was stalled by her question. He hesitantly turned back, looking down at them. Pakkun shifted in his arms.
"Yeah..."
Miko decided to save him so she pulled Sasuke's hand and said bye, walking towards one of the cat summons. After Kakashi, people trickled in, also wearing appropriately themed clothes.
And then it started.
People roared in laughter as a group of dogs quite literally made a dog pile.
Not to be outdone, the cats did dramatic flips through the air and landed in a pyramid.
They went back and forth with each maneuver, running through obstacle courses, tree hopping, balancing acts on top of poles, and dog jockeys- the idea inspired by the incident that floated around after one went in between Fugaku and Tsume. That was probably one of the most popular acts.
And then Kibbles arrived.
Roars shook the flags and posters as her aunt carried him out on an orange pillow-dressed in a Kibbles shirt. People ran to the front who were wearing the shirts-including her and Sasuke. She walked in a circle, letting people reach out and pet the cat, and stopped to let others take pictures. Kibbles stood up and stretched, purring loudly before sitting up. Kibbles had achieved cult status.
In many ways, Kibbles stole the show.
But for her, it was Tamaki and Kiba, kneeling under a picnic bench and holding hands that made her day.