Chapter 51:- Special Chapter [XIX] - Rinne Festival

"Man, it certainly has gotten a lot colder recently." Naruto was wearing a black trench coat and black jeans. 

After they returned from the Crimson Leaf village, it started to snow. Currently, the whole of Konoha, the land of fire, and parts of the world are covered in snow. The month of December was about to end, and the Rinne Festival was here. 

The Rinne Festival was the biggest festival in the land of fire and in other parts of the world. The festival was celebrated by almost every village maybe except for the Hidden Sand village. Due to the cultural differences in each land, while the festival was known as Rinne Festival in the Land of Fire, in the Land of Snow, the festival had a different name. 

In short, this was a holiday season. During this period of time, even if there were wars between villages, the war would be temporarily stopped. The festival was a massive event. Everyone in the village and in the land of fire took part in it. 

For this festival, everyone would buy new clothes and would have feasts. The festival theme of the festival was sharing joy with everyone. So every household would make a lot of delicious meals and would share the food with the neighbors and with friends and families. Everyone, regardless of their age would take part in helping out in the household during this special occasion. 

No one in Konoha slept on an empty stomach during this time. 

The whole of Konoha was beautifully decorated. Everyone would spend time with their family and friends. 

Knock!!! Knock!!!

Ignoring the sign that said that the shop was closed on this festival, Naruto knocked on the door of the shop as he knew that Ino was inside.

While working on her shop, she has been thinking of how to meet Naruto. She wanted to give the gift that she prepared for Naruto. Since she was going to be celebrating the Rinne Festival with her family it wasn't possible for her to join Naruto. And she did not have enough courage to ask Naruto out on a date. 

"Who is it?" Ino who was cleaning her shop stopped for a second and asked. 

"Ino-chan, it's me. Would you mind opening the door for me?" Hearing Naruto's voice, Ino immediately became happy. A smile appeared on her face. 

Ino quickly took out a small mirror to check her appearance. Seeing that everything was right, Ino opened the door for Naruto to come in. 

"Hey!!!" Naruto could not help but stare at Ino. Unlike her usual hairstyle, today she had tied her hair into a braided bun. She looked really beautiful. 

"You look really beautiful today, Ino-chan," Naruto said with a small smile. He really wished he had a camera with him. Then he could have taken a few pictures of Ino and would have kept those pictures as his treasures. 

"Thank you...!!!" Ino blushed slightly. She could feel that he was being really sincere. 

"You also look really handsome....!!!!" Ino felt that handsome might be an understatement. He looked godly. It was as if he was a divine Deity who had descended to her little flower shop. She felt her heart beating loudly. She couldn't stop blushing while staring at him. 

"Ino, there is for you.....!!!!" Naruto took out a large square-shaped box. Naruto had brought everyone's gifts when he visited the Crimson Leaf Village. While he played with the boys, his clones went out of the whole village to buy suitable gifts for everyone. 

"Thank you Naruto-kun. Can I open it?" Ino excitedly asked. 

"Of course!!!!" Inside the box, there was a really Beautiful dress. With a glance, she could tell that it was a really expensive dress. Unfortunately, the dress cannot be worn in winter. 

"I can't wait to wear this when the weather gets warmer. Thank you so much, Naruto-kun!" Ino's voice was filled with genuine gratitude, and she clutched the dress to her chest, beaming with joy.

"Oh...!!! By the way, this is for you." Ino took out a red scarf. 

"What do you think?" Ino specifically chose the red color because of Naruto's red hair. She felt he would really look good wearing it. 

"I love it. Would you do me the honor of putting it on for me?" Naruto asked with a smile. 

Ino nodded her head. Her hands gently unfolded the scarf as she stepped closer to Naruto. With careful movements, she draped the soft fabric around his neck and adjusted it until it sat just right. She took a step back to look at him and smiled.

"It suits you!!!" She said warmly. Hearing this Naruto's smile grew wider. He felt the comforting warmth of the scarf around his neck. 

Naruto quickly said goodbye to Ino. He then quickly arrived in front of Sakura's house. 

Knock!!! Knock!!!

"Sakura go and open the door!!!" Sakura's mother told her to open the door on her behalf as she was busy in the kitchen. 

Although Sakura was feeling lazy she still went to open the door. 

Click!!!

"Hey.....!!!" Naruto waved his hand at Sakura with a smile. 

"Naruto-kun.....!!!!" Sakura blushed looking at Naruto. She certainly wasn't expecting him to come to her house. She was thinking of going to his house to give him the gift that she prepared for him. But unexpectedly he was the one who first showed up at her house. 

She had to admit that today Naruto looked really handsome. The black trench coat really suited him. 

"Come inside.....!!!" Sakura quickly invited Naruto inside. She wanted to Naruto to meet her mother. 

"Sorry, Sakura-chan, but maybe next time. Right now I don't have much time." Hearing this she was a little bit disappointed but she did not show it on her face. 

"This is for you, Sakura-chan. I hope you like it." 

"Can I open it?" Naruto nodded his head. 

When she opened the box, she was surprised to find the second Kimono that Sakura had tried that day. She couldn't buy this Kimono because she did not have enough cash with her. Who would have thought that Naruto would secretly buy that very same Kimono and give it to her as a gift? She was really touched by this. 

"Do you like it?" Naruto asked with a grin. 

"I love it. Thank you Naruto-kun." 

"By the way, I also have something for you. Please close your eyes for me." Naruto obeyed and closed his eyes. 

Sakura took Naruto's cold hands. She held them between her warm palms. She wanted to continue holding his hands like this forever. 'His palms are so cold. I am glad I bought them.' Sakura smiled as she put on a pair of black gloves. 

"Please keep your eyes closed. I am not done yet." Sakura blushed while staring at his face. 

The next second, Naruto felt a Sakura kissing his right cheek. When he opened his eyes, he found that Sakura had closed the door. 

Naruto touched the spot where she kissed him. He couldn't help but grin. His heart was beating very fast as well. 

After that Naruto went to give gifts to Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Shino. He brought all of their gifts using his own money. He did not use the money that his mother gave him. Naruto made a lot of money. It turned out that the bandits that he killed that day had their names on the bingo book. Naruto was able to earn a few million Ryo easily. 

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Scene change____

"Hina-chan, this is for you." Naruto gifted Hinata a pendant. The pendant was crimson heart-shaped. Seeing this Hinata couldn't blush. She kept staring at the pendant that her crush gave her. At that moment, this pendant became the most important item to Hinata. 

Holding the pendant in her hand, she felt her heart beat loudly. Hinata wasn't stupid but she was shy. Seeing that heart-shaped pendant, she wanted to ask if Naruto meant something by giving her this pendant but she felt too shy to ask such questions. 

However, Hanabi who was standing beside Hinata wasn't going to let go of this opportunity to tease. 

"Ara...!!!! Giving my sister a Heart-shaped pendant... Naruto-kun, do you have some ulterior motive behind this?" Hanabi asked with a teasing smile. Yet deep in her heart, she felt a trace of discomfort. Hanabi decided to ignore this discomfort. She did not know why she was feeling this way. 

"I don't know what ulterior motive you're talking about but I chose this pendant as a gift because I felt that this heart-shaped pendant is going to look good on Hina-chan." Naruto pretended to not understand what Hanabi was implying. 

"By the way, I also have a gift for you." 

"Really...!!!" In her heart, Hanabi felt happy hearing this for some reason. That very small trace of discomfort in her heart instantly disappeared the moment she heard his words. She thought that he did not have any gift for her. 

"This is for you.....!!!" It was a Jade stone bracelet. It wasn't a cheap one. But rather, this was one of the most expensive gifts that Naruto brought for others. 

"Give me your hand." Naruto put the jade bracelet in her palm. 

"Thank you...!!!!" Suddenly Hanabi blushed like Hinata. She lowered her head and said thank you to him in a very really low voice. 

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One or two more chapters before we are done with the Special Chapters. I certainly did not expect that this arc was going to be that long. As I was writing these special chapters, I felt that I had to include certain characters; otherwise, this would feel incomplete.

Once again thank you for reading this chapter. I really appreciate all the power stones that you all have given to this novel. Your comments and your power stones do make a big difference.

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