The day of the festival
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Cicadas chirped in the background, and the bustling streets of Konoha were lit up with lanterns as men and women alike filled the roads. Children ran around the stalls, buying hyottoko masks, tri-colour dango and candied hawthorns and fruits.
A certain group of four young children huddled together under a willow tree, each wearing a beautiful yukata of their own.
The only female in the group, Tsunade, looked absolutely stunning in her elegant dark green yukata, adorned with white patterns spiraling all across. Her long, platinum hair was up in a messy bun, with two strands hanging down in their usual manner.
Orochimaru, who was the closest to being female among the boys, was wearing a plain white yukata in contrast. He looked almost the same, with his hair having no change, and only had worn a yukata instead of his usual kimono.
Jiraiya was, well, Jiraiya. He wore a red one, with gold hems and a darker obi. Akira didn't have much change either, but instead of his usual casual wear, he wore a yukata the same shade as his sandals and precious haori, and removed the white wrappings that normally snaked around his arms and legs.
This group looked particularly handsome and pretty, and from a glance you could tell they would grow up to be fine men and women.
"Wait! Before we go, I have something to give you Tsuna!"
Akira took out a pretty hairpin with a jadestone at the end and two sculpted jade-petals hanging from thin gold chains. It blended perfectly with the rest of her outfit as he tucked it into her bun.
"Now we can go!"
Seeing that Akira only prepared a gift for his sister, Jiraiya asked teasingly, "Only for her? What about me and Orochimaru?"
"You're not important enough, and I didn't know what to get for Orochimaru," he replied bluntly.
Orochimaru laughed softly, and the insulted acted as if he was gravely offended.
Tsunade stuck out her tongue then proceeded to pull the two by their hands, while Akira trailed behind, laughing.
"Come on! Let's hurry up or we'll miss the show later!"
***
"Just a little higher..."
Tsunade struggled to put her paper slip on the branch of the wishing tree.
Smirking in satisfaction, Akira then helped lift her up just enough for her to tie the knot around the tree.
"W-wait! What are you doing?" she asked frantically in embarrassment.
"Are you seriously embarrassed?"
She only huffed before securing the knot again.
Then it was Akira's turn. He went on his tiptoes and tied his own wishing slip right next to his twin's own.
"Yosh! Let's get going now!"
"What did you write on your slip, Akira?" Orochimaru curiously questioned.
"Hehe, that's a secret!" he replied jollyly, winking and motioning him to be quiet.
He shrugged it off before running after his friends who had apparently left him behind.
On the tree, were four slips, hanging on the lowest branch of the century-old wishing tree.
When the wind blew, one slip was turned to reveal quite a few words:
"I wish my friends and family to be safe!"
I think we all know whose slip was that.
***
Akira ran through the bustling lantern-lit streets of Konoha, with a stick of dango in both hands, one of them not his own.
"Akirraaaaaaa! Give me my dango baaccckkkk!"
"Hehe, come and get it if you want it!"
He stuck out his tongue playfully will running from the owner of the stolen stick of dango.
Tearing off the green coloured one with his teeth, his eyes lit up with elation, "This is so good! Hey, Jiraiya, I'm going to eat yours if you don't mind!"
"Hey! That's mine!"
"Okay, thanks!"
"Wait up!"
Tsunade came running as well, still dragging a Orochimaru with a impassive face and a slight smile.
"Where did you bastards go? I ran everywhere I know!"
"That's a secret~"
Her face turned red for the quadrillionth time, "I'm gonna kill you!"
"Hahahahahahahaha, that is, if you can catch me!"
As always, Tsunade did catch him.
Meanwhile Tsunade was pulling at her brother's ear, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had already ran around the stalls and bought quite the haul.
"Here," Orochimaru calmly handed the twins two hyottoko masks they had bought.
He himself was wearing a oni mask, while the ones he handed Akira and Tsunade were kitsune masks that only covered their eyes, nose and forehead.
"Huh? A kitsune mask?" They asked in perfect unison.
Their designs were similar, with only small differences in detail and colour change. Akira's was one with a bright red tassel hanging off the right, and crimson teardrop patterns and strokes over the mask. Tsunade's tassel was hanging off the left and a darker pink, as were the patterns and strokes.
Putting the masks on, the two looked even more similar now. Orochimaru gave a close-eyed smile, one that they could see even through the mask, and urged them to hurry up.
He lead them across the street to a secluded place where Jiraiya was already waiting.
"There you guys are! I've been waiting for an eternity!"
Beside him were boxes of snacks and candy, like the dango Akira liked so very much.
"Snacks?" Tsunade asked, tilting her head.
"Yup. We're eating them while we watch the fireworks show!" Akira replied, joining Jiraiya in carrying them.
"Yeah, but where are we going?" His sister asked again.
"It's a secret! You'll know when we get there!"
"We're going to a place where Akira said we can get a good view of the show," Orochimaru explained bluntly, ignoring whatever surprise the boy was planning to give her.
"Oh come on, Orochimaru. Now you've ruined the surprise!"
"It was kind of obvious anyways," Jiraiya chimed in.
"*sigh* Alright then! Let's go!"
After trudging through fields and forests, wading through swamps and rivers, leaping from cliff to cliff, they finally reached the place where Akira was headed to.
Night had fallen, and the stars were shown to shine brightly in the night sky as the three sannin stepped onto the open meadow, taking in their surroundings. From this point of view, the entire fireworks show could be seen clearly, with no disturbances, despite their small stature.
Jiraiya looked mildly impressed at that he had been able to find such a secret, untouched place, though it was probably just let alone by the authorities.
"Let's go sit over there!" An eager Tsunade pointed at a random direction.
"...you just pointed at a random direction but whatever."
When they settled down and took at their treats to eat, the fireworks were almost ready to be set off.
It would begin in about two minutes.
Those two minutes passed in a second with the group of four, who were talking and laughing without a care in a world. Jiraiya made funny faces, while Akira added on to it with 'serious' notes and comments, resulting with Orochimaru politely laughing under a sleeve and Tsunade straight up rolling on the grass.
Most people looking at this would think they were adorable, innocent children, unaware of the fact that each one of them could probably kill any given civilian at all times.
"Hey, hey, the fireworks are starting!"
A sound not unlike a pistol shooting fired through the air, alerting any onlookers of the start of the show.
The first one blossomed into several other ones around the original, almost as if they were a real flower with layers of petals. The second one added to the effect of the first, as it looked like a green leaf this time.
More bursts of colour filled the deep blue sky, capturing the attention and awe of many including the future sannin and Akira.
It wasn't until almost midnight did the fireworks stop, and most had already went home.
"Oh, shoot! We were supposed to go back a hour ago!"
Tsunade and Akira looked at each other in panic, as both had been too absorbed in the show of colours to notice the time.
Cleaning his trash hastily, Akira scrambled to get up, "Uh, you guys can find your way back yourselves, right? Okay then bye!"
And with that they ran off back to their house, completely ignoring whatever complaints the two they left behind might have.
***
Words ~ 1388
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