It's so pretty...

[stillpure]

He was dressed up. Where his mother had managed to locate anything to dress him up with on such short notice with he had no idea, but it meant when he took off roaming he was a streak of dark blue and red amid those at the festival as he went here and there, utterly fascinated by the new sights.

He'd been to festivals in Konoha, yes, but those were different. This was -new-.

It also meant he wasn't exactly being the most attentive person ever, and had escaped the people he'd been with. Unintentionally, of course.

Comments

[stillpure]

He stared at her in bewilderment. "Um."

[bunsofsteel]

"No? Hmm..." Oh well, that was alright, he was still just a child, anyway. Speaking of... "Do you have any friends your age you've met here? Being stuck with Neji's got to get boring sometimes~"

[stillpure]

"But I like Neji." He bit his lower lip. "And Otouto's nice even though he's bigger." He shifted his weight. "I'm used to not being around people my age."

[bunsofsteel]

She just hums again and shrugs, stretching both arms in front of her as she sits back more comfortably against the bench. "Well, lots of kids can be brats, too, so maybe that's not so bad~ It must be weird, having your little brother be older than you though, huh?"

[stillpure]

He nodded immediately. "We switched ages. He's thirteen and I'm eight. He was three before I got here."

[bunsofsteel]

"Oh? I remember Sasuke at thirteen... he was pretty cute, if kind of a brat. I'm surprised he and Neji get along, considering everything... Oh! Did you know, I'm living with a Sasuke who's even older than the one you're with? He's around my own age."

...Wait. Should that have been something she shouldn't have mentioned?

[stillpure]

He blinked a couple times and slowly tilted his head. "Is he nice?"

[bunsofsteel]

"He's..." A long pause as she rests her elbow on her knee again, chin in her palm with a small smile. "He likes to pretend he's really tough and heartless, but... he can be really nice, too, in his own way." Tilting her head toward the younger, she smiles again. "You'd be proud of him."

[stillpure]

He regarded her for a long moment before smiling and leaning up on his toes. "S'cause he's my otouto yeah?"

[bunsofsteel]

She laughs again, a little more softly as she looks back to the crowd. "Yeah. You're both pretty great."

But reminded of how she'd managed to break off, she pushes herself to her feet and extends a hand, in case Itachi wants to take it. "Want to help me pick out something nice for your older-otouto and older-you?"

[stillpure]

He pondered this and took her hand with his free one. "Okay. That'll be easy."

[bunsofsteel]

"Yeah? Alright then, lead the way!" She just curls her fingers loosely around his with a smile. Kids were alright, as long as they were shinobi kids and went home somewhere else at the end of the day~

[stillpure]

He looked up at her and pulled her along. "Okay. Foods or gifts or what?"

[bunsofsteel]

"Both!" She follows without resistance, unable to keep from smiling. "I already know Sasuke likes things with tomatoes in them."

[stillpure]

He made a noise to the affirmative, pondering. "He really like's mom's Onigiri~. I'm not sure if he still would though."

[bunsofsteel]

"I heard from someone I met that putting grape tomatoes in onigiri might be a good idea. Do you think you could get some recipes from your mom for me?"

[stillpure]

He shifted on his feet, then shook her head. "She wouldn't trust me with recipes, but I can take you to her!" He brightened then, changing direction.

[bunsofsteel]

"Whoa--!!" Immediately she tugs back on his hand, trying to keep going the same direction as previously, letting out an awkward laugh. "T-that's okay, really! Let's just keep looking for more gifts, okay?"

[stillpure]

"You should meet mom anyway right? You're with the older me aren't you?"

[bunsofsteel]

Another awkward laugh, and she just continues to move opposite the way he'd started to tug. "D-don't you think Itachi and Sasuke should meet your mom first? I mean, I don't think they even know she's here..."

[stillpure]

He planted his feet and stuck himself with chakra, getting a rather stubborn look on his face. "Why're you scared?"

[bunsofsteel]

"I'm not scared, I just don't think it's a good ide-- oh come on!" She releases his hand and puts both hands on her hips once she realizes he's used Chakra to plant himself. "Really?"

[stillpure]

He crossed his arms and stared up at her, stubbornness in every line of his body. "We don't know how long we're here for, right? Otouto'd find mom a better present than anything else in the whole festival."

He held her gaze. "And if you end up home in the morning, then you at least'll know what she would've thought of you."

[bunsofsteel]

"Right, which is why they should get to meet her before I do!" A little helplessly, she gestures in the air to indicate the festival, about to remark on how they should work on finding the other two before Itachi mentions that, her lips curving into a scowl as her whole body goes tense. "Don't... talk about stuff like that, okay? Bad luck."

[stillpure]

"I know she's probably dead in your time too, okay?" He looked away from her finally, hunching his shoulders just a little. "It wasn't hard to find out what happened when everyone was doing their best to make sure that I wouldn't know anything. I haven't met anyone but Kushina-nee who wasn't shocked to hear about her being alive, and even less people who failed to twitch when I told them my name."

He looked back to her, eyes wide as he dropped his hands to his sides. "An older me even -ran away- when he saw me. I -scared- him."