[Action Thread]

[shade_mod]

Who: Everyone and anyone
What: The midnight fireworks display
When: Midnight
Where: Konoha square
Warnings: TBA

Comments

[not_sympathetic]

The warm weather made the night even more pleasant than it already was; Ino loved to watch parents, grandparents, and children having such a good time watching the beautiful display. Everyone was giving off an aura of happiness, contentedness, and warmth. She had her camera slung around her neck, hanging against the front of her dark blue yukata. She felt like a kid again with her light robes decked out with large, cheerful sunflowers and a multitude of sparklers in her hand. Some of the children had brought them out for her to light and she happily did so. They were so cute and innocent, round eyed and giggling at the lights. Their parents either looked on with amusement or were sharing an embrace with their significant others and watching the sky.

"Careful," she laughed when a little red haired boy squeaked and jumped as a spark went dangerously close to his sleeve. "You have to hold it from the bottom, okay?"

Maybe someday she would be here with her own family, Ino thought as she pointed her camera towards the sky, if she could ever get her act together and meet normal guys.

HERE I ARE.

[silkcranes]

Neji understood fireworks.

It was difficult not to when he had been connected so oddly with an angel bearing the same name, but even so--it was his first time seeing them. He'd let Tenten go a few hours before (disappeared from her, really; he didn't think she would have let him leave, but he knew she probably wanted some time on her own, anyway) and had been wandering around the booths like a silent ghost until a perfect flower of light had burst in the dark sky.

He stopped and thought that perhaps something had changed in the universe. This wasn't, after all, the way stars died. They did not explode so colorfully.

It took him a few moments to realize that they weren't stars, and to fully examine exactly what was happening in the scene. His eyes could see enough of what the real mechanics behind the display were, and despite knowing, he still found it oddly entrancing.

A golden flower burst in the sky, highlighting the gold in the yukata Tenten had given him and lighting a path through a square. His feet seemed to be carrying him in a straight line, though, right to a young woman holding a boquet of fire. She was handing the fire-flowers to children gathered around her.

"May I have one." Neji said, peering at the lights curiously.

:D

[not_sympathetic]

"Oh!" Ino nearly jumped in surprise when a deep male voice reached her ears. When she turned around and was greeted with an equally attractive male face, she was more than willing to share her sparklers. "Of course! Here," she handed over one of the sparklers carefully, trying not to get it caught on either of their sleeves. Usually men weren't really interested in watching the sparklers-- he was definitely marching to the beat of a different drum.

Wow, what could be better than standing and watching fireworks with a good looking guy? Maybe if she had some shaved ice... oh yes, that would make it perfect.

"Isn't the sky nice? I love fireworks."

[exiled_light]

Naruto had attended his first Hanami festival at least two hundred years ago. Most times he thought the festival was very beautiful, but also a little bit boring. The good things about seeing the festival in this time of age was that humans loved to make things bigger and more lavish each year.

Nonetheless Naruto was having a sheer blast.

Already he had seen nearly half the carnival and was ready to get in some time to see the big fireworks display. Last year was huge and he was hoping to see a even bigger dance of light than last. He ran down towards the square like a child. He probably could have been mistaken for a teenager with the look of hyperactivity on his face despite looking normally in his twenties.

He skidded to a halt when he saw from the corner of his eye a woman with a sparkler. Even more distracting the next moment was seeing Neji standing there was well all dressed in a fancy outfit. Naruto himself was only wearing a simple white yukata with a bright red Obi. He missed seeing the older angel, honestly, so without restrain he ran for Neji and glomped him from behind, wrapping his arms around the angel’s neck and hung there. “Neji! Neji! You are here too! Did you see all the performances?! Did you play games yet? Will you play one with me?!”

When he finally took a breath to speak more, he saw the sparkler that the woman was offering. “Can I have one too?” The hyper blond said instantly, but then noticed it was the girl from the ice cream shop, “Ino-chan!”

[silkcranes]

Neji felt a strange swell of emotion as she smiled at him, and he took the sparkler while attempting to maintain his earlier scholarly mindset. He was suddenly feeling very...pleased. Not with himself, but with--well, nothing in specific that he could name. The light danced on the end of the sparkler and he watched it for a moment, each flicker giving him an oddly warm sensation that he couldn't honestly say he'd ever felt.

"Yes." Neji responded shortly to the question, directing his eyes to the sky as well. Saying more would take away from the answer. The sky was the most beautiful place.

Something jumped on his back and screamed in his ear and if Neji had not been used to such a thing, he would have dropped the sparkler and probably slipped his sword through Naruto's stomach before the other angel could move an inch. As it was, Neji simply turned his head slightly to see Naruto's face and smirked instead of frowning at the intrusion of personal space.

"Hello, Naruto." He said, not bothering to answer any of the questions. "You two know each other." A statement as he shifted under Naruto's weight, wondering if the other was going to get off him or if he were setting up camp there on his back.

[exiled_light]

Naruto was quite content with sticking to Neji for a little bit. He fully knew Neji would probably not really appreciate it if he hung there for much too long but just to be affectionate enough he stayed for a few more moments.

He smiled brightly at Ino and shifted to rub his cheek against Neji’s. “Yeah! I met Ino-chan when I went to get ice-cream a few days ago. She knows Shikamaru as well! She’s pretty, huh?”

The blond angel was hyper but even so he felt happy to see that everything was going well. Neji didn’t seem that tense and Ino didn’t look as upset as she had in the ice cream place. It was nice to see that. Finally letting go of Neji he landed back on his feet and casually flopped an affectionate arm around Ino, “The sparklers look like so much fun!”

[not_sympathetic]

Wait, what? Did everyone she recently met know each other? So the dark haired man's name was Neji. Naruto knew Neji and knew Shikamaru. So they all knew each other. It was either a coincident or some sort of conspiracy involving very good looking men. Now wasn't the time to be suspicious-- not when everyone was happy and having such a good time.

"So the three of you are acquainted?" Ino raised an eyebrow before handing her last sparkler to Naruto. "What a small world." And getting smaller by the minute, she thought. But hey, Naruto had given her a compliment and was just too adorable to be suspicious. He was okay in her book.

Besides, the look on Neji's face when Naruto hugged him was priceless.

[silkcranes]

Naruto was acting oddly. Well--not oddly, but more than was usual for him. Perhaps it was the atmosphere or the same feeling Neji was getting from the blonde girl they'd happened upon. Or maybe it was something Naruto ate. Did foods do that to you? Neji wasn't sure.

Anyway, the whole thing reminded Neji very much of an encounter he'd had with a cat not long ago. He was certain that even if it wasn't happening, he could hear Naruto purring contentedly deep within his throat.

"Hm. We've all known each other for a very long time." Neji agreed, nodding. He'd known Shikamaru was here as well, but whatever part of the world, Neji hadn't bothered to notice. It was odd that so many of them were in the same place at the same time, but Neji said nothing on the matter. If they'd only just met, Neji highly doubted that Naruto had revealed to her anything more about himself other than the fact that he had a strange affinity for ramen.

But it was a small world.

"Here," Neji said, handing Naruto his half-used sparkler that was still shining brightly. "Be careful." He found himself warning, much as he always did with Naruto. Especially in this state, he could see the other lighting something on fire.

[exiled_light]

Naruto was careful to let go of Ino before he took both sparklers in each hand. They shined so brightly and it made him laugh out childishly. It was like holding a pile of stars in his hands that were trying to dance about. He vaguely heard that comment made by Neji, since he knew that Neji would going to tell him to be careful anyway but couldn’t help but to lift up the sparklers to the sky and jump a bit widely.

Four thousand years old and still a child at heart.

He grinned brightly at Ino and Neji before he stopped jumping and watched them die out slowly. Once they were finished he laughed again. He was adoring this night because he could be so free of responsibly and worry even in the human realm.

"The three of us are like childhood friends, I guess you can say," He commented casually to Ino. It was true, he had known Shikamaru from since forever and a day and Neji since the past war and they were both very special to him.