Preparing for the festival.

[youngesthokage]

He had a neat pile next to him on the counter, black and silver leather rabbit god mask at the very top. It was a bit morbid, the story of that, but it seemed like everything about this festival was morbid, so that was actually appropriate, in a way. He had the pale off white and frost blue kimono pulled most of the way up his shoulders, and he turned carefully one way, then the other as he examined himself in the mirror.

The reason? He was playing around with Oiroke, but he was doing it behind a closed door in the bathroom, and he sincerely hoped no one came to see what was taking him so long. He was just... curious. After all, he'd never spent much time in the shape and he had a memory of doing so.

Still, did it really change so little about his appearance?

Comments

[bunsofsteel]

She hummed thoughtfully, keeping her fingers tightly clasped in his as they walk. "Do you have a favorite animal? Like I went with the dragon." She pointed to her mask, grinning again. "Itachi got himself some kind of... rabbit god? But there's plain ones, too."

Hugging his arm a little closer, she glanced up with a bit of a softer smile. "Thank you for coming with me, I know you didn't want to~"

[thepuppetuchiha]

He didn't respond verbally to her gratitude, only squeezing her fingers before he closed his eyes and tried to relax a little more, "... Hawk."

[bunsofsteel]

Sometimes it felt like getting words out of Sasuke was like pulling teeth, but it was a start. She hummed again and nodded, squeezing his fingers in return so he would know the gesture hadn't gone unnoticed. "Then let's find something like that, huh? Maybe we can get one with a sharp beak so you can stab people with it."

[thepuppetuchiha]

"Maybe," He nodded, looking around for any stalls that might have been selling appropriate masks for the festivals. Which likely wouldn't be hard to find, but finding something so specific might have been another story.

[bunsofsteel]

As awesome as a mask to stab people with would be, she kind of doubted any of them would be sturdy enough for that. "This way~" She tugs again, pulling him through an alleyway to another street, this one near a stall of masks. "Make sure you try it on so you know you can see~"

[thepuppetuchiha]

It took a while, but Sasuke finally seemed to spot one he liked. He picked it up without hesitation, trying it on before simply looking at Tenten and waiting for her nod of approval. Even if the colours clashed with his Yukata a little, it was the closest one to one he wanted that he had seen so far.

[bunsofsteel]

She'd seen several more she'd like for herself while Sasuke was browsing, though she stayed close behind him. She gave the mask a thoughtful look, smile tugging at the corners of her lips, then reached out and brushed her fingers over the feathers. "I like it! Now give it here so I can buy it for you~" She extended a hand and rested her other comfortably on her hip.

[thepuppetuchiha]

"I can pay," He said almost immediately, simply staring at her but not exactly keeping the mask away from her either. In fact, he was already mostly holding it out to her because of her request.

[bunsofsteel]

"Sure you can." She took the mask and gave him a smile. "But I want to get it for you." With that, she moved to pay the vendor for it, ignoring any further protest Sasuke could make, before returning the mask to him sans price tag.

[thepuppetuchiha]

He only nodded when the mask was brought back to him, slipping it onto his face with ease and securing it with the strap before he looked to her again.

[bunsofsteel]

"Perfect." She smiled again and leaned up to press a kiss to the pointed beak, then took his hand again. "Alright, what now? Let's go see what else we can find, hm?"

[thepuppetuchiha]

"... All right. Let's go," He nodded, squeezing her hand and lacing his fingers with hers while she made to let her lead the way.

[bunsofsteel]

"Let's see if they've got games. Like, the kind where you throw balls at stacks of cans." Her lips curved into another smile as she stayed next to him, still tugging, but wanting to stay close to him, too. "You know, even if you don't want to be here, I'm sure we can find something fun for you, too~"

[thepuppetuchiha]

He looked down to her, his expression softening a bit before he shook his head and walked up to be closer to her, "Games like that are good for practice. It might not be a kunai, but it helps with aim."

[bunsofsteel]

"No, but it's a throw like what you'd use for a smoke-bomb." She nodded, catching that softened expression and missing it almost as soon as it's gone. "I was always the best at those, Neji would get annoyed when I'd make him play and then beat him."

[thepuppetuchiha]

"And you can beat me too?" There was a little bit of playfulness lining his tone, and he just looked at her while waiting expectantly.

[bunsofsteel]

Her smile was tinged with more than a hint of a smirk. "Absolutely~"

[thepuppetuchiha]

"You're on."

[bunsofsteel]

Her smile blossomed into a full-fledged grin, and she increased her pace, listening for the sound of children. Kids were usually the ones playing the games, after all! "We have to find one that'll actually be a challenge..."

[thepuppetuchiha]

"This one."

He indicated a booth that had lots of bottles and rings to try and throw around the bottle neck from a distance. True, from the standard distance it would be too easy... But who said they'd use the standard distance?

[bunsofsteel]

"Perfect." She glanced over the bottles, then approached the man with the booth, talking to him and handing over the right amount of money for both of them to get three rings. There was clear interest when she told him just what they'd be doing, and she returned to Sasuke, twirling a ring around her finger. "Set your distance, Sasuke-kun. I can handle whatever you decide~"

[thepuppetuchiha]

"We'll see," A ghost of a smirk graced his lips before, with the crowd parting around them to give them clear shots, he stepped back almost twenty feet from the stand. Good enough for practice.

[bunsofsteel]

She tossed him his own rings and followed along, eyeing the stand from this distance and weighing the ring in her hand. A beat as she threw it into the air and caught it in her palm, then drew her shoe along the ground to mark a line. "Third from the left, front row," she called it, then exhaled her remaining breath to throw, then smirk at the accompanying sound of metal ringing against glass as it bounced once, then slid down to fall neatly onto the called bottle.

[thepuppetuchiha]

"Third from the right, back row."

He took a breath of his own, closing his eyes before scanning the bottles. His eyes were still black, but with the way he was focusing one could have almost sworn his Sharingan was on. At last, quick as lightning, the right was thrown and nearly knocked the bottle down from how suddenly the ring impacted against it, whirling around rapidly until it finally settled into a still standing position.

[bunsofsteel]

Alright, she was impressed, and shot him a quick grin before tossing her next one into the air before her and catching it again. "Second from the right, back row," she announced, then twirled her third ring between her fingers. "Fourth from the right, back row."

She twirled her fingers through the rings, then crossed her arms, lowered her weight, and let them both fly. It's not with the same kind of speed as Sasuke, but they still land flawlessly around the two bottles, spinning around the glass.