Chapter One

The sky held half a moon and countless stars that was visible for all to see. The wind's a light breeze, carrying the sounds of laughter and music coming from the numerous of people that gathered; playing games set up in booths, dancing, singing, coming from all directions. Smells of different types of food fill the air, taunting the promise of mouthwatering paradise, sending many stomachs growling in anticipation of what's to come. The sound of fireworks being set off, and the brilliant colors that light the sky, sometimes forming beautiful shapes for its audience.

A family of four, all bearing beautiful raven hair - the eldest male, slightly lighter than the others - walked amongst the crowd. The woman, Mikoto Uchiha, wearing a dark blue kimono, decorated with sakura flowers, a yellow obi around her waist. Her long hair tied up in a neat side bun, held together by a single hair stick, letting her bangs frame her cheeks on either side of her face. Her fair elegant complexion, complementing the dark blue cloth. Around her neck, proudly, a pendant with the Uchiha crest laid. She gives a loving smile to her husband with whom she currently has her arm linked with, as the couple walks a few paces behind their two sons.

Her husband, Fugaku Uchiha, a proud man. Eyes bore with a seriousness yet warm contentment as he watches his children, with his beautiful wife by his side. His eyes black just like his wife's and children, wearing a deep purple Kimono with a black obi. An aura of a man of importance that swept from his pores.

Their sons, eleven-year-old Itachi, and six-year-old Sasuke, wore everyday attire, refusing earlier to put on a Kimono or Yukata. The two sported identical stoic expressions, something they'd inherited from their father. Both wore simple white shirts, and dark blue jeans, holding hands as they walked through the crowd.

"Look at those two" Mikoto spoke fondly, eyes on their backs as they maneuvered through the crowd, passing a small band playing music, and people dancing around them "reluctant to come, yet stopped complaining as soon as we arrived"

"Hn" Fugaku grunted

"Itachi didn't want to come because He'll miss his friend's party" she continued "Sasuke just wants what his brother wants" she giggled looking at how tightly Sasuke held on to the eldest.

"Hn"

She rolled her eyes "and they're both such a miniature you" she looked at her husband accusingly "must I really be the talkative one in this family?"

"Hn"

She was used to this, and even though she'd jokingly complained, she was very fond of it. Long ago she'd learned to decipher what her husband's various 'hn's' and grunts meant, something that her children definitely inherited.

She herself wasn't known for being that of talkative nature, especially during her school days. When Fugaku began to court her, she quickly realized that even with her quiet nature, when compared to him, she was a chatterbox. Absently, she raised the arm not connected with her husband and touched the necklace around her neck. Precious memories resurfaced from when he'd given it to her. She let her eyes wander, seeing many faces as they passed, sighing she spoke again "this place brings back memories ne?" She glanced at her husband to see that he was looking at her with a small smile.

"Indeed" They'd both grew up here, and this was the place he'd started to court her, plus many good friends still reside in this not-quite-so-small town.

"Sometimes" she began with a soft smile, glancing back at her children "I wish we'd never left"

Sasuke subtly - as best as a six-year-old could - watched with amazement at his surroundings. Just a couple of minutes before, they'd passed a puppet show that took every fiber in his being to not admit he wanted to watch.

At first, he'd thought it'll be boring like the other wedding celebrations he'd been to, but this was like no other, it was a literal festival. Konoha's not his home, he lives in Suna and came to attend the friends of his parents _ Asuma and Kurenai's - wedding. The wedding had taken place during the day, and the celebration continued throughout the night. The two must be extremely popular for this festival to be so large.

He clung tightly to his brother's hand, afraid he'll somehow get lost in the crowd if he let go. Eyes observing his surrounding, balloon animals being made, faces being painted, all looked so fun, though he dared not voice his excitement. He's supposed to be mad at being here, cause Itachi's mad. He's not sure why his brother's mad, but they'll be mad together.

Well, that's what he thought until said brother voice reached his ears.

"Do you want to play one of the games little brother?" the older brother asked, his voice calm with a hint of excitement.

Onyx eyes widen, looking up to meet similar pairs as his own Seeing the softness of his brother's expression, no trace of anger whats-so-ever, just his normal self, ready to play with the youngest Uchiha. Sasuke smiled brightly, nodding slightly before looking around. He suddenly became nervous. Very nervous. He didn't know any of the kids here. Better yet, he knew no one other than his family he'd traveled here with.

"Which game would you like to play first?" his brother asked, bringing him out of his musing "This is an unusual festival...more borderline a carnival, we should enjoy it"

Sasuke refrained from biting his lips, refusing to show his nervousness and insecurities. "I don't know" he confessed. I don't need to play with them, I have niisan with that thought he made up his mind. "Whatever you want to play nii"

Itachi remained quiet for a few seconds before responding " Hn, when you figure out what you want to play, we'll do it. Sounds good?"

Sasuke nodded, secretly sad that he would have to make a decision.

"When you know what you want" Itachi continued "go for it. That's the Uchiha way."

Just then, Mikoto noticed a familiar face and pulled her husband towards the silver-haired man with a mask covering his mouth. Moved past their children to sit with their old companion. Kakashi Hatake was seated at a round wooden table by himself, reading a book titled 'makeout paradise'.

"Kakashi" she greeted

"Ah Mikoto, Fugaku" he greeted, placing the book face down to keep his page. He stood up and hugged them both, it had been far too long since he'd seen his old-time friends. Said couple sat down across from him, ushering for their sons to follow suit. Even though Itachi was already eleven, he wasn't familiar with the surroundings of Konoha, so, therefore, they - actually Mikoto - preferred to keep them in eyesight "and...Itachi and Sasuke, I presume?"

Both boys nodded and Itachi spoke first "it's nice to meet you sir" with a slight boy before he sat down next to his mother.

Kakashi chuckled "ever the polite, right Fugaku?"

"Nice to meet you sir" Sasuke said following his brother's example, and sitting next to him.

The adults talked aimlessly, catching up for lost time, while the boys sat their quietly, neither wanting to interrupt and be found rude. Though neither were actually paying attention. It wasn't until the man named Kakashi addressed them did they zoned back in on the conversation.

"Ah, so I see you're wearing your necklace" Kakashi pointed out, noticing the faint sight of a chain around the eldest Uchiha son.

Said Uchiha had his necklace hidden under his shirt like most unbetrothed "yes sir, I carry it everywhere"

"hmm...I was unaware children your age carried them around so young"

Mikoto giggled "Both of my sons carry there's. So did my darling Fugaku when he was just a boy" she fondly ran her fingers over the necklace her husband gave her.

"Uchiha's tradition is to wear them from the time after birth" Fugaku spoke, he looked his friend in the eyes, a hint of amusement "but you know this, after all, you are a distant relative."

That shocked Itachi, this was news to him. Sure he didn't know all of their relatives, but he'd thought his parents would have pointed out this particular fact upon their greeting. Sasuke, on the other hand, wanted to show he too had his necklace. He pulled it from its hiding spot under his shirt "I have my special item too" he pointed out, causing the adults to look at him.

"That's amazing" Kakashi gasped playfully at the child "do you know what it's for?"

The small Uchiha nodded "It is a pride to carry the necklace of our clan until we find a bride" he spoke confidently. It was the same thing the adults always said about the necklace given to every member of born Uchiha's after birth. But after saying it, a question popped up into his young mind. Sasuke bit his lower lip, narrowed his eyes in concentration before asking "how do we find a bride?" he'd never understood that.

"You'll know when you see her" was his father's simple answer.

Sasuke nodded, choosing to pretend he understood like the grownups, but really it made no sense to him.

The adults continued on with their conversation, but Sasuke's mind was elsewhere. He wanted to play, but at the same time, he had no idea how to approach the other kids. In his town, kids approached him for the first time, but these people didn't really know him. What if the kids in Konoha didn't like him?

His thought process was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach "nii -san" he said quietly, his brother looked down at him in acknowledgment "I'm hungry"

A chuckle came from the adults, evidently, he wasn't as quiet as he had thought.

"Well," said Kakashi, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out some money, handing it to the youngest Uchiha "why don't you go by something to eat. On me'

Sasuke stared wide-eyed at the money before looking at his parents for silent permission. With a nod from his father, he accepted the money and thanked him.

Mikoto made a move to stand "wait mommy" Sasuke said hurriedly, halting her movements "I'm a big boy, I can do it by myself"

Mikoto was about to protest, but a hand on her shoulder caught her attention. She and her husband exchanged a look, and Mikoto sighed and resigned "ok Sasuke, but don't go too far, and stay within my sight"

Eager, and feeling more like a big boy, he nodded with determination and stood up to head to one of the many food booths up ahead. Keeping in mind what his mother said, he looked around the nearest stands to see what would catch his interest. That's when he froze in place. The sight before him, made his mind go blank.

It seemed that time stopped the very moment he gazed upon the beauty before him. His stomach felt like something was flapping around inside of him, and he found himself forgetting to breathe for a second. There before him, playing a ring toss game - and failing miserably - was a blonde haired girl, with twin pigtails on the top of her head. The length stopped just above her ears, and her Kimono was bright orange with a lighter orange obi.

Subconsciously his feet began to move forward, bringing him closer to the frustrated girl in front of him. She was truly animated, every time she'd missed, she would stomp her feet on the ground in a huff, then with a determined expression, try again. She didn't seem to notice him, and for the life of him, he didn't know how to initiate for her attention.

"Stupid" she muttered when she missed again. Glancing down, she seemed to notice she was out of rings, and she looked back at the man operating the booth, eyes wide and pleading.

The man chuckled and shook his head sadly "Sorry Naru-chan, I already let you play three times for free"

"Naru's bottom lip poked out in a pout, and she folded her arms over her chest "no fair" she whined "I wanted that fox"

Sasuke eyes followed to the prizes and saw amongst them a huge red fox that this angel was talking about. With a newfound determination, he reached in this pocket and took out the money he was going to use to buy something to eat, and placed it on the counter.

The booth man, and Naru-chan both looked at him "I want to play for that fox there"

Two pairs of eyes landed on him, the blue ocean orbs narrowed slightly, but Sasuke chose to ignore them.

The man smiled and took the money, giving Sasuke four green rings.

With determination, and ignoring the glare the blonde was sending behind his back, he remembered all the times he'd play the ring toss at the festivals in Suna. He'd been pretty good because Itachi taught him, and Uchiha's always succeeded.

That being said, he couldn't shake the nervousness of having the blonde's eyes on him, but if he was right about his feelings, then he knew he had to make a grand first impression. Lifting the first ring, he tossed it with effortless force. The ring landed on the bottle handle and it twirled to a stop.

He repeated the process until all rings were successfully around their targets. "Wow" said the booth owner "you've got talent kid"

Sasuke allowed himself a smirk at his accomplishment, then he turned to the man and pointed to the fox "I will take the fox sir"

The man nodded and gave Naru-chan an apologetic look, before turning and unhooking the fox from the hook. He hand's it to Sasuke "there you go, kid"

Sasuke turns to Naru, breathtaking Ocean blues narrowed at his onyx orbs. It was almost too much for his young body to handle. Feeling the flapping in his stomach again, he bit back his nervousness and put the fox out in front of him towards Naru.

Naru-chan eyes widen in confusion and looked between Sasuke and the fox, but then the confusion was replaced with suspicion "what's the meaning of this?" her voice sounded like music to his ears.

"I won it for you" he said simply "here"

Naru blinked and cocked her head to the side "really?" Sasuke nodded "so you want to be my friend or somethin?" he nodded again. That brought a huge smile on her face, it looked like it could outshine the sun itself "ok" she took the fox, and tucked it under her arm, extending her other one towards him "Nice to meet you"

He took it, her hands warm against his "nice to meet you too. I'm Sasuke"

"I'm N-"

"Naru-chan right" he cut off. With the confused look he received he explained "I heard him say it"

"So Sasuke, never seen ya round here before. Ya new or somethin?"

"I'm from Suna. Visiting with my family" It was surprisingly hard to form words with the beauty before him speaking to him. He could feel his cheeks burn with both embarrassment and something else.

"Cool. Ya pretty good with games huh?

Sasuke shrugged, not really knowing what to say. He'd never felt this way before, he didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"Wanna play some with me?"

"ok" He agreed immediately. I should tell Mother first

Naru held out her hand and all rational thoughts evaporated from the young Uchiha. He didn't have to think about it when he grabbed the angel's hand, and a tingle shot through their joined hands all the way down his spine.

"Come on" she giggled and pulled him along with her. Her laugh so contagious he can't stop the smile that made its way to his face as he follows closely behind her.

"You two have fun" he distantly heard the stand guy say, but all his focus was at the beauty who pulled him along.

He didn't have to think about it, he knew he'll follow her anywhere.