Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mirror Image ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 15 )

 

Ch. 15

 

Troubles at the Festival

 

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“So what do you think we should do first?”, Sakura asks.

 

“Let's get some sweets!”, Natsuki suggests, “My sweet-tooth has been screaming all day!”

 

“Come to think of it… I could go for some sweets myself…”, Sara says.

 

“Wait a minute! You like sweets?”, Kouichi questions.

 

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

 

“You and Sasuke are twins, and he doesn't like sweets at all”

 

“That's because he is such a sour-puss…”, she scoffs.

 

“Uncomfortable situation…?”, Naruto whispers.

 

“Yeah…”, his sister replies, “Go get the snacks…?”

 

“Sure…”

 

“Hey, guys… Um, me and Naruto are going to get the snacks, do you want anything?”

 

“Just get me dango and get my brother some rice-balls with bonito-flakes”, Sara answers.

 

“Could you get me some dango too?”, Kouichi asks.

 

“Get me a chocolate-covered banana, please”, Sakura says.

 

“Anything else?”

 

“Some apricot-candy, please”, Sara and Sakura reply.

 

“Anything else for you, Kouichi-kun and Sasuke?”

 

“How about some potatoes with butter?”, Kouichi states.

 

“Sasuke-onii-san would have tomatoes, if they have them”, Sara pipes-up.

 

“Would you knock it off, Sara!”, Sasuke growls.

 

“I told you he was a sour-puss”, she smiles.

 

“If they don't have that, get me some okonomiyaki”, he adds.

 

“Okay, now I know what everybody wants to tide them over for an hour or so…”, Natsuki comments, “Be back in a little bit”, she waves, before following her twin towards the food-stands.

 

 

 

 

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A Few Minutes Later…

 

 

 

 

“So did we get everything we were asked to get?”, Naruto asks, holding 2 chocolate-covered bananas, 1 okonomiyaki, 1 potatoes w/butter, and 2 of the 4 apricots-candies they bought.

 

“I think so…”, his sister replies, holding the other 2 apricot-candies, 4 rice-balls w/ bonito-flakes, and 3 dangos, “Hey Naruto?”

 

“Yeah…?”

 

“What's with the stage-show?”, she questions, motioning towards a large stage surrounded by a crowd of people.

 

“It's a Noh-mask performance of the 4th Hokage defeating the Kyuubi…”, Naruto answers, with sadness in his voice.

 

“Oh look… It's `HIM'…”, they heard a villager whisper to another villager.

 

“Why did the 3rd Hokage have to show that fox mercy…?”, the other villager mutters.

 

“Don't listen to them, big-brother…”, Natsuki reassures, “By being Kyuubi's vessel, you're a hero by protecting the village…”

 

“You mean that…?”

 

“Yes, even the 4th wanted you to be seen that way… But you know people…”

 

“They can be pig-headed and blind to the truth…”

 

“Only believing what they want to believe!”, the blonde twins laugh at the same-time.

 

“Thanks Natsuki, I needed to hear that”, he chuckles, wiping away a tear of mirth, “It feels go to finally have a biological family-member after all the years I was alone without parents…”

 

“It's nice to have a blood-relation too…”, she smiles, “We should head back, Sasuke-kun seems to be the type that gets cranky if he doesn't have his rice-balls soon…”

 

“He most likely is…”

 

“Well, Sara definitely does if she doesn't get her sweets”, she giggles.

 

“We should hurry then”

 

“Right!”, she exclaims, running ahead of her brother.

 

 

 

 

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“We're back!”, Natsuki exclaims, waving one hand to signal where they were to the group.

 

“It took you long enough, Natsuki!”, Sara shouts, running towards the female-sibling.

 

Natsuki silently sighs, before grabbing a dango and holds the treat sideways just in time for it to be lined up with Sara's mouth, landing between her lips.

 

“Here's your dango, chew on that while I give everyone else their treats and I'll give you your apricot-candy when I'm done, okay?”

 

Sara nods while she happily eats the tri-colored balls on a stick.

 

“Good…”, she smirks, as she hands her cache to their respective-requesters.

 

“Sasuke-Onii-san, what's wrong?”, Sara asks, when she notices that he was just staring at the rice-ball in his hand.

 

“Nothing…”, he mutters, `This isn't the time to be having fun, while Itachi has been recently here!', he thinks, looking around at the group of laughing teens surrounding him.

 

“…”, she sighs, woefully looking at her brother with the sense that something was wrong, as he walks away from the group.

 

“Sasuke-kun, where are you going?”, Sakura questions, seeing him leave, only to receive no answer as he vanishes among the crowd, “What's the matter with him…?”

 

“Who knows?”, Naruto shrugs.

 

“All that really matters is that we have fun tonight!”, Natsuki adds, “Right?”

 

“I agree…”, Sara quickly says, “My brother is just being a sour-puss…”

 

“Hey look! There's a group-dance going on!”, Kouichi exclaims, pointing further up the street.

 

“Really? Let's go dance, what do you say, guys?”, Natsuki states, grabbing Kouichi's hand and excitingly pulls him towards the dancing.

 

“What do think we should do?”, Sakura asks, while Naruto shrugs in confusion.

 

“This could be fun, come on!”, Sara smiles, grabbing their hands and starts dragging them in the same direction her friend went, “Now play nice…”, she adds, pushing them together when they reach the middle of the crowd, “Don't pay my brother any mind, he just needs some time alone…”, she whispers to Sakura, before vanishing among the dancers.

 

“Uh… Did she just…?”, Naruto stammers.

 

“I think she did…”, Sakura blinks, “So… Today's your birthday?”

 

“Y-yeah, it is…”

 

“Then dancing with you will be my gift to you, okay?”

 

“Sure…”, he smiles, `Oh my god! I'm actually dancing with Sakura-chan!', he thinks, blushing.

 

 

 

 

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Meanwhile…

 

 

 

 

Natsuki and Kouichi gently sway to the music; chest to chest, with her head resting against his shoulder, stopping to look into each-other's eyes when the music ends.

 

“I'm getting thirsty, does the birthday-girl want anything?”, he asks.

 

“Some green-tea, please…”, she replies.

 

“I'll be right back!”, he answers, walking into the crowd just as another song began.

 

“I might as well wait for him…”, she mutters, sitting down on a bench.

 

“Where is he…?”, she asks herself after several minutes pass, “It shouldn't take this long to get something from a vending-machine…”, she continues, as the song that began when he left ended and a new one started, `Where in the world is he? And I like this song too…'

 

“Waiting for someone?”, she heard a male voice ask.

 

“Huh?”, she gasps, looking up to find a male a few years older than her wearing a black-kimono with a red-belt standing there, “Y-yeah, I'm waiting for my boy-friend…”, she responds.

 

“Boyfriend, huh…? Well, you look bored sitting here waiting, so would you at least like to dance to pass the time until he returns?”, he courteously requests, offering his hand to her.

 

“Uh… S-sure…”, she blushes, as she accepts his hand and allows him to lead her to the dancing-crowd.

 

As she and the mysterious-man danced, Natsuki took the opportunity to examine her dancing-partner, he had raven-black hair that appeared to be made of silk, the top-half of his face was covered by a golden-colored fox-mask with a kind-smile on his exposed-lips, leaving her to imagine what the rest of his face under the mask looked like, and the images were making her blush.

 

“You are so cute when you blush…”, he whispers into her ear, making her blush darken, “Beautifully cute…”, he adds, before leaning forward and lightly kisses her on the lips, causing her eyes to widen in shock as the song fades-away and when she blinks, the anonymous-male had vanished.

 

“Wha…?”, she gasps, glancing around searching for any sign of the man she had just danced with, but he had vanished without a trace, the only thing she realized was that she was standing on almost the same spot she was standing when Kouichi left, `Was I day-dreaming…?', she asks herself mentally.

 

“Natsuki!”, she heard a familiar voice call out, causing her to turn her head towards Kouichi as he navigates through the crowd.

 

“What took you so long? I was waiting for at least six-minutes”, she says.

 

“I got hungry, so I stop for something to snack on”, he explains.

 

“Oh really…?”, she frowns, “I can see you didn't even get the drink I had asked for…”

 

“No, I got your… Crap, I forgot…”, he scorns himself, “I'm so sorry, Nat…”

 

“I don't even want to hear, Kouichi-kun!”, she growls, walking away from him and as she walks through the crowd her feet bumps into something, and upon looking down to see what it was, she silently gasps and lightly touches her tingling-lips as her eyes fall onto the same golden-fox mask the male was wearing, `It wasn't a dream…', she thinks, as she bends down to pick it up off the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

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