Winter Festival
The second time Yamanaka Izumi saw Hatake Kakashi was during the winter festival. The joyous occasion lured many families out of the comfort of their warm homes into the chilly and frosted winter air. Individuals wrapped in scarves, hats and gloves in all colours imaginable busied the tight streets to make their way there, creating a contrast to the usually white and empty streets of Konoha. Among these families was part of the Yamanaka family: Fuji and Izumi (Miho had come down with a cold for the occasion).
Because of the season, traction in the clan's flower shop had come to a slow, bringing in fewer and fewer customers during the frosty season. Those who bought bouquets, such as the Hatakes did, purchasing the same bouquet Izumi had made over and over again, continued making their regular appearances to pick up their order, meanwhile others who purchased seeds and garden-flowers to plant, nurture and help prosper came in less-regularly. Even with the potential help of heat-inducing jutsus, not many dared to attempt to aid new life come to be under the thick blankets of snow covering the village.
Strings of fairy lights were carefully woven from building to building, not only creating a scenery straight out of the novels Izumi read in her pastime, but they also brought a new glow to the rather grim Konoha. Yet another war has just started: the Third Great Shinobi War and just like during the second war, tensions were running high while an air of despair and worry flooded the streets. Nevertheless, the Jounin lurking around every corner were obvious to even those who weren't sensory types. Izumi chose to ignore them.
Her small hand was situated in her father's own, allowing her to keep a rhythmic step with Yamanaka Fuji. Even before the war had been announced, the man barely ventured outside and kept to the inside of the family's home instead, drowning himself in an endless amount of books. It wasn't as though he could do many other things, at least not on his own. That fact never stopped him, though. Regardless of the circumstance, Izumi admired the man, for his vast knowledge of various subjects, for his relentless spirit. He would use his knowledge frequently in order to entertain Izumi and her mother at the breakfast and dinner tables, starting a discussion about something he had just read about. It always made her smile.
"What are you smiling about, 'Zumi?" Fuji tilted his head downwards to look at his daughter, and his dark brown curls bounced at the motion.
"Nothing special, tou-san. Just a memory."
"A memory, huh?"
Izumi hummed.
"Was it a good one? The memory, I mean."
"Yeah, the best," For a moment, Izumi paused, before adding, "it was of you, after all."
"Of me, you say?" A warm glint wormed its way into his green eyes.
His daughter nodded excitedly, showing him a wide slime. "Uh-huh! I thought about your conversation starters when we eat. I like them very much."
Fuji ruffled his daughter's hair affectionately, sporting a bigger grin than he already did before. "I'm glad you do, I'm glad," His eyes turned downwards for a moment as did his lips, but he recovered quickly. "After all, they are only for you, my little munchkin."
"And mom." Izumi added pointedly.
He chuckled, "And your mom, yes."
Up ahead, the lights only got brighter, with the number of fairy lights carefully lighting up the streets only increasing by the step. All the lights emitted a shade of beige, painting the streets and people of Konoha in a warm hue. The crowd ahead was packed with people pushing past each other in order to make their way further into town, to get to the festival. Izumi was just as determined. She couldn't help but rush ahead, excitement coursing through her system at the wondrous sight.
"Come on, otou-san!" she grinned at him, and the man grinned back.
Izumi hurried forward, beginning to make her way into the tight crowd. To say it was a tight fit would be an underestimation. She felt as though her organs were being rearranged while she made her way to the crowd. Slowly, as Izumi pushed past people, her gloved fingers slipped from her father's loose grip until all contact between the two was lost. The brunette did not notice, too drowned in the euphoria she was experiencing and continued squeezing past people to reach her destination.
The bright lights ahead glittered, even more, the closer Izumi got. Fairy lights in shades of pink, red, green and blue twinkled from the different buildings to the streets. The cords of the fairy lights were delicately decorated with snowdrops, the first flower to bloom at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Without a doubt, the flower was stunning with its white petals which drooped down and its bend down shape. Izumi focused more on the meaning of the flowers since she was aware of how deep it was: they were often associated with rebirth and the ability to overcome challenges. Mostly though, the flower symbolizes hope. She briefly remembered her mother acting stressed last week, mumbling incoherently about the flowers Izumi now saw. A smile tugged at her lips. This was her mother's work, probably a project she had done with Izumi's aunt. Handy work like no other, it was how her father had once described their works. It was also an example for Izumi, how she strived to be one day. Just as good as them, or even better. She found the sight simply mesmerizing, and promptly decided to attempt to make her way closer to further inspect the work. Instead, she suddenly found the snowdrops vanishing from her line of vision as her world began to tilt. She was being pushed to the side, knocking someone over accidentally.
"Hey! Watch it." yelled an unknown voice close to Izumi's ear. She cringed at the proximity of the sound.
It was then that she felt a pair of hands fall onto her sides and push her away roughly. The force of the push made Izumi stumble backwards with one leg blocking the other, making her lose her balance and fall into an alleyway. Ungracefully, the brunette managed to land on her backside and hands, a feeble attempt to catch herself, tearing holes into the soft material of her red gloves. Underneath the material, her skin began to feel hot, uncomfortably so, and a stinging sensation spread all over as it burned. At the same time, an even worse stinging sensation began in her knees. Not now. She shook her head as if that would make the pain go away. Tears stung in her cerulean eyes at the feeling.
Izumi blinked several times to force the tears back, but her eyesight remained blurred. She raised herself up shakily, head still spinning a little from the sudden action. Before she even stood to her full height, the same pair of hands were placed upon her shoulders and pushed her away another time, this time rougher than before. The brunette quickly resumed her previous position.
"I said, watch it!" The same voice as before rang in her. He may have not been as close to her as before, but Izumi still felt herself tremble.
Her eyes widened to resemble the ones of a doe once the boy's face came into view. Izumi did now know him and had never seen him before, until now, that was. He towered above her easily and was bigger than she was in both height and weight. From his looks, Izumi assumed that he was also much older than she was.
She didn't reply to him.
"Aren't you going to apologize?"
Izumi had done nothing wrong, and she knew. Regardless, she felt scared. While she had always been taught to stand her ground against those who opposed her, she still felt the shiver crawling up her neck and the way her hands became a little sweaty. From the day she could comprehend, the Yamanaka clan members' role had been preached to her: Us Yamanakas, we aren't known for our close combat or physical strength, we are long-distance fighters. It was all she has been taught and all she has known during her short years of life, she hadn't even enrolled in the academy yet. Izumi couldn't possibly defend herself, at least not effectively. She didn't know how, until now it hadn't been necessary. The thought scared her even more.
A quiet sorry rushed past her lips.
The boy let out a chuckle, which was quickly joined by more chuckles. He wasn't alone.
Another shiver crawled up her spine.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you, pipsqueak." The boy grinned at her and his goons laughed.
This time when Izumi rose up to her feet, pushing herself upwards from her position on the gravel, she did so with a sense of determination. The fear she felt was overwhelming, she felt like at any moment she could drown in it. Regardless, she had to stand her ground, even if she didn't know how. She chose to ignore the stinging pain of her knees, how at any other time the sensation would have her cower away. Now was not the time for that, she told herself. She could cry later about this. Still, the tears came again to her eyes. Izumi was deeply aware of the way her body trembled, the way she kept her arms close to the body similar to a shield or a hug, to bring herself some sense of comfort. Never before had she felt so intimidated.
The older boy appeared angered. A sour expression spread across his features, his brows were furrowed together, and he squinted at her, all while scowling. There was a brief silence before he let out an irritated yell and swung at Izumi.
She ducked.
The adrenaline pulsed through her and blood rushed in her ears. All sounds were blurred. She swore that she had felt the wind rush past as the boy's fist did and that she heard him curse when he missed. Izumi's still-blurred vision focused on the older boy who now stood behind her, angrier than he was before.
"I'm-" he proclaimed while raising his fist. It shook with the sheer amount of his anger, so unrestrained, as he singled out Izumi. His goons meanwhile stood at the entrance of the alleyway, eyes following every movement of the pair, though they did nothing to interfere with the conflict. Yet again, the boy yelled out.
Izumi resisted the urge to close her eyes and curl into herself. Instinctively, she bent her knees slightly in order to be able to duck or move away once the punch came. It never did.
Instead, a small hand flew out from behind the boy and hit him in the side of the neck, hard. The noise of skin hitting skin echoed through the alleyway as the boy suddenly fell forward and hit the ground face-first with a thud. Izumi winced at that.
Where the older boy had once stood now stood another. Gravity-defying silver hair was the first thing Izumi noticed about him, the second was twin charcoal eyes, focusing on her. Behind her, she heard the noise of feet hurriedly hitting the ground, most likely the goons scrambling to get away.
She blinked at Kakashi, surprised by his sudden entrance, and then gaped like a fish.
Kakashi said nothing, gaze as indifferent as possible and instead strode past the boy, who still laid on the ground unmoving, and made his way to Izumi. She continued to gape at him. At her reaction, he merely rolled his eyes before reaching out for the sleeve of her brown jacket to pull her with him. "Come on." he mumbled, barely loud enough for Izumi to hear as he pulled her out into the busy streets. She stumbled along with him, a sharp pain going through her left knee at the motion. A quiet hiss escaped her lips and Kakashi showed no signs of having heard.
The two children made their way through the busy streets, now squeezing their way past people together. Kakashi moved confidently with his back straightened and legs taking strides too big for his small frame. Nevertheless, he kept his hand at the sleeve of her jacket. Izumi on the other hand stumbled to keep up with him. She didn't push past people as confidently as he did, and instead allowed herself to be pushed. Still, she kept up with him at least until he came to a sudden stop near the outskirts of the event and let go of the sleeve of her jacket. Izumi appeared to have different plans and bumped straight into his back.
"Sorry, Kakashi-kun!" Immediately, she jumped back from him, putting space between the two of them. A red flush painted her cheeks. The situation was absurd, not in her wildest dreams could she have imagined something like this happening to her. On one hand, she had finally come down from her high of emotions, from the fear she had felt when faced with the older boy. On the other hand, she felt embarrassed for not being able to get herself out of the situation, for needing to be helped by someone else. Izumi was already aware of what people said about Hatake Kakashi, a prodigy, they called him. Now, Izumi would agree. For that, she admired him, for his strength and talent. To her, he was cool. She couldn't help but giggle. The happenings reminded her of scenes from the books she had read where the girl was in danger and the boy came to her aid, chasing away the danger.
Kakashi looked at Izumi incredulously, surprised by her sudden action. Though he would never admit it, especially not to the brunette, though in that moment he found her pretty. The way she grinned at him despite having just been backed into a corner, despite the humiliation she must have felt. Maybe he admired how Izumi carried herself, reminiscent of everlasting sunshine, not brought down all too easily. He shook his head to evict the thought as a blush began crawling up his neck.
The sound of her giggling quieted down.
"Thank you," said Izumi, fingers picking nervously at the hem of her scarf, pulling at the little threads standing out, "for helping me, I mean."
From the peripheral of his vision, he noticed the way she fidgeted as they stood there, as if unsure of herself. The change had happened so suddenly, he barely had any time to notice. Seems like the sun has stopped shining. Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed at her actions, at the change, was she nervous? To him, she appeared to be. So, he simply asked her whether she was okay or not.
Izumi snapped out of the daze she had found herself in, head turning swiftly to capture the charcoal gaze of the boy walking beside her nonchalantly. "I'm fine," she told him, "thank you, again," she shifted the focus of her eyes to her fingers, still working on the scarf as she took a deep breath, "I guess ... I don't really know how to defend myself like you do. I tried, I really did, but don't worry, I'll learn so you don't have to come to my rescue every time." Izumi spoke the last sentence with determination, appearing more confident than moments before. She would be no damsel in distress.
"I could teach you a bit." The words left Kakashi's mouth faster than he could comprehend what he had just offered to the Yamanaka. Teach her? His mind was doing somersaults to keep up with what he was doing.
"Really?" Izumi questioned as she halted in her steps, soft cerulean eyes focusing intently on Kakashi, so much so that to him, they almost doubled in size. A grin quickly followed the wide-eyed expression, an infectious one that spread across her pink cheeks so much that dimples began to show. But then her eyebrows furrowed, and she began studying him, toning down the pure excitement that had overtaken her. "You wouldn't mind?"
Kakashi wanted to take back his words, to tell her no, simply say that he was joking and had other things, better things to do. Like training, his mind supplied. But Kakashi couldn't. His mouth opened to release the words he so carefully formed in his mind and yet at the sight of Izumi's reaction, his mind was overtaken by his heart again. He hummed in agreement. The next moment, he felt stupid. What did he just do?
Before the silver-haired prodigy could even begin to ponder about the agreement he just made, he was tackled. Had his feet not been planted firmly on the snow-covered, firm ground, he would have been thrown off of his feet by the mere force of the hug Izumi caught him in. Her arms were wrapped around his middle, interlocked tightly on his back, meanwhile the blissful face of the brunette was placed near his shoulder, her chin situated on it. Kakashi could feel the blood rushing to his face, which had probably already taken on the shade of Izumi's scarf, her long dark brown hair meanwhile was so close to him that it tickled on the uncovered parts of his skin. He felt warm, warmer than he had all evening with a body pressed against his. His mind ran haywire. After all, it was not every day that a girl would jump to hug, no, embrace him. Though he did not hug her back, still processing the action. It was then that Izumi removed himself from the boy, rubbing her back sheepishly.
"I'm sorry!" Now the shade of her face probably matched his as well as her hair. "I should have asked before I jumped you like, like that. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Kakashi!"
"You just surprised me."
Izumi couldn't help but giggle at that. "I managed to surprise the Hatake Kakashi? What an honour!"
He rolled his eyes at her playfully. "A one-time occurrence."
"We'll see." A smirk plastered itself onto Izumi's features. A challenge.
Before he could retort, Izumi's blue eyes lit up in excitement and a squeal rushed past her lips. Kakashi followed her line of vision to find a man with dark brown hair at the end of his. His arms were raised as he waved to Izumi, a grin etched into his tan features. Izumi's father, he assumed.
"That's my dad," she explained, moving her gaze to look him in the eyes, "I better get going, I don't want him to worry." Her words grew quieter with each word, but she still smiled at the silver-haired boy.
His eyes crinkled slightly as his lips tugged a little upwards.
"I'll see you soon, Kakashi-kun, right?"
He nodded.
Izumi beamed at him before turning on her heels to rush to her father. Kakashi followed her motion and watched her skip towards the man, but not without sending Kakashi one last wave and a bright smile before almost tripping over her own feet. She made him think about what his father had told him earlier. It wouldn't kill you to be nice to someone today, Kakashi, he had said. Or make new friends. The festival is the perfect opportunity. Kakashi had looked at his father incredulously, though promised to try, and he did, he did more so than try. Kakashi maybe made a friend, more so unwillingly than willingly. Izumi was a fresh breeze in his life, and he wasn't sure if that was as bad as expected.