The Festival (I)

"You will have more than enough time to run along with your friends later that evening, but your duties as my son come first."

"But Otou-san-"

"This is no discussion, Sasuke." His father's loud voice almost made him flinch. "You're old enough to participate in such events now. Your mother and I already gave you more leeway than what is considered normal, but you can't stay hidden forever. Your brother joined us when he was two years younger than you're now." He then continued in a somewhat softer voice. "You're not expected to stay all night. There will not be much for you to do anyway once everyone sits down to eat and talk, so I'm not averse to you sneaking out after an hour or two, but you will do your duty first."

Sasuke lowered his head with a muttered agreement and kept it that way until his father had left the kitchen.

It was almost funny how he had always wanted to join the grown-ups when they came together at his family's house for a private celebration on this day of the year only to be actually disappointed when he was finally allowed- no, expected to do so. What were the odds of that happening that one time he actually had plans of his own for that day?

Usually, he and the other children of his clan were sent away to "play with each other" and "have fun", which were just polite ways to make sure they didn't bother anyone. With that in mind, Sasuke hadn't expected that it would be a problem when he told his father that he planned to meet some of his friends from the academy to join the public celebrations of the village. He had been excited about that day for weeks now, looking forward to exploring the various stands and join the games, only to be stopped at the last minute.

To think that he had been jealous of Itachi all this time. Oh, how stupid he had been!

Thinking about his brother…

"Don't be so gloomy. The time will fly by in a wink of an eye and you will be free to go before you know it, you will see."

"But the others will already have done everything by the time I join them! I will miss all the fun!"

Itachi had actual the gall to chuckle at that, making him glare at his brother in response. "I think you underestimate how much there is to do. You would not be able to take part in as much as half of the available attractions even if you joined your friends from the very beginning. And that's already excluding the ones you can't join because you're too young."

He frowned, his annoyance momentarily forgotten. "But there wasn't that much when Kaa-san took me with her…?"

"It might seem this way because you were too young to participate in much," Itachi said before standing up. "Believe me, there will be more than enough left for you and your friends to do once you're allowed to leave."

His brother had no reason to lie to him about that, so it was probably the truth.

Sasuke was just about to stand up himself and thank Itachi for cheering him up when sudden pressure against his forehead made him fall back on his ass.

"You better behave until you're free to go, though," Itachi said with an amused smile, his right hand still raised from his previous move. "Otou-san might change his mind otherwise."

Realizing that Itachi had poked him again brought his scowl back to his face in full force, but he was gone before he could complain about it.

I will stop him from doing that one day, he thought as his scowl morphed into a pout. Or even better, I will be the one that pokes him!

Finally, Izumi thought with a relieved smile. Took me long enough, though.

The object of her attention was the simple necklace with three silver rings in her hand. It wasn't her first attempt, but it was the first one that Itachi might actually like. All her other pieces had been way too elaborate and embellished. He might have still worn them to be polite, but she knew for a fact that he wouldn't have liked them very much.

He was more the type for simplistic things.

At first, she had been absolutely clueless about what she could get him. You didn't become Jōnin every day, after all, so it should be something special, right? Now, a necklace would usually not be called 'special' either, but a self-made one? That would do.

Izumi allowed herself a second to think about what she would get when she finally got promoted as well but couldn't think of anything. Hana was too random of a person to predict what she would give her and the same could be said about Shisui. Itachi, on the other hand, always managed to surprise her, so she didn't even try to predict his present. They were her only close friends, so whatever she would get from her more casual acquaintances would be just normal stuff.

Well, not that it mattered much. She became a Chūnin just a few months ago, so the possibility of promotion was still far in the future.

"Oh, is that for Itachi?"

She was proud to say that her first reaction was to jump around and slash at the intruder with a kunai she had quickly summoned to her hand.

"Hey, hey, hey!" the intruder –Shisui- exclaimed while jumping back. "Watch where you point that thing! You could hurt someone with that!"

She huffed but reluctantly put the weapon away before placing her hand on her hips. "Of course it's sharp, that's the point!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "And what did I tell you about sneaking into other people's houses?"

He just rolled his eyes good-naturally. "Yes, yes, it's rude and I will not do it again."

"You say that every time, yet it happens time and time again!"

"But this time I'm serious!"

Maybe that would be more believable if you wouldn't grin like an idiot while saying that.

"Whatever," she muttered with a sigh. "Why are you here this time? You're not hiding from Mikoto-san again, are you?"

"Can't I just visit a friend I haven't seen in a long time?"

"We saw each other just two days ago," she said with a deadpan voice. "You know, when you came here to hide from Mikoto-san?"

"Two days are a long time!" he protested while dramatically grasping his chest. Then, before she could reply, he took a step towards her to give the necklace she had abandoned on her table a closer look. "Oh, nicely done! Simple but with a dash of elegance. Itachi will like it." He gave her a questioning look. "It is for him, right? Because it would suit you as well."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, it's for ItachiYou know that I'm not a fan of jewellery."

"Any yet you wore some when you met that boy last week," he said teasingly. "So, how was your date?"

For a moment, she was too surprised to answer. Then that surprise turned into indignation. "How do you even know about that? You were on a mission at that time!"

Shisui snorted. "There is little that goes on in the village that I don't know about." He apparently wanted to leave it at that, but her glare made him reconsider. "I overheard Mikoto-san talking about it with your mother. Seems both of them think you looked adorable, in case you wondered. Now tell me, how did it go? Do I need to hide a body?"

Of course they would gossip about that, she thought while suppressing a grimace. She had actually tried to keep her date a secret exactly because she knew she wouldn't hear the end of it for a long, long time.

"I'm more than capable of hiding a body myself, thank you very much."

That made him chuckle. "Just trying to be chivalrous, you know. Can I assume that it didn't go well, then?"

"He was an idiot, just like any other twelve years old boy," she said resigned before letting herself fall into her bed. "Honestly, I don't know why I expected anything else. You're all the same."

"I take offense on behalf of all twelve years old boys," he replied in mock seriousness. "And why are you including me in this all of the sudden? I'm fifteen, not twelve!"

She shrugged. "Whether you're twelve or fifteen makes hardly a difference, does it? Not like you matured in that time or anything."

"You're breaking my heart, you hear me? My heart! And if even I am affected by your words, what would Itachi say if he hears you saying something hurtful like that?"

"So you disagree?"

"No." The answer came without hesitation, making her snort in surprise. "Doesn't mean it's a nice thing to hear. Boys have emotions as well, you know."

"Could have fooled me." She sat up again. "Anyway, what did you get for Itachi?"

He grinned. "Can't tell, it's a secret." Then, seeing her annoyed frown, he started to laugh.

She tried very hard to keep her face annoyed but failed miserably, feeling her lips tucking upwards against her will. Staying in a bad mood was almost impossible with a person as cheerful as Shisui around.

It's good to have a friend like him.