Evening Falls ~FESTIVAL, Night One~

[Kiba]

Yaku sneezed for the fifth time, and this time with such a shaking of his head that even Hiromi had to quickly change her position to prevent herself from slipping from her usual perch upon his shoulder. Having just about enough incidents, she gave a little yip, and Yaku glanced at her from the corner of his eyes as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Alright," he muttered, "I'll stop." Yaku had been growing increasingly agitated, for since the group had arrived in the Sand Village, he'd been unable to locate his team members, and now once things had settled down a bit, he had been hoping to seek them out by their scents. Unfortunately, due to the strong mix of aromas that were stinging his nose from the festival, he wasn't getting much luck.

With an encouraging growl and a nudge with her short, soft muzzle, Yaku tried not to sneeze, looking a little doubtful. Though he wasn't simply alone with his own village anymore, they were still surrounded by people. He supposed he would feel more comfortable with people he didn't know, but at this point, he felt a little prickly with frustration.

But finding comfort in the warmth and the weight of Hiromi on his shoulder, he attempted to mingle into the crowds, wondering who he might find. It didn't take him long to notice that unlike many others, he was not dressed for the occasion, only increasing his already jittery temper, knowing he must have stuck out sorely. But trying not to let the strong scents affect him too badly, he continued further, telling himself that it was not completely hopeless. Perhaps in here he would find at least one of his teammates, if no one else who was willing to speak with him.

[Sergeant Tenny]

Masato walked slowly into the area where the festival was taking place. Looking dapper in a black kimono with the Hyuuga divine wheel emblazoned across the back in a luminescent green that glowed faintly, he looked around for someone he knew. Not seeing anyone he knew in the press of the crowd, he quietly activated his Byakugan in hopes of spotting someone by chakra patterns. Noticing a familiar one, he cut through the crowd and found... Yaku?! Approaching his friend, he tapped the Inuzuka on the shoulder not occupied by the pup, Hiromi. "Yaku-kun! It's been quite a while! How have you been?" he asked, grinning widely.

[Kiba]

Clawed hands in increasingly tighter fists by his side, Yaku was all but upon defense mode when he felt a light tap upon his shoulder. Instantly whipping around, feeling all but a little hostile, he was most certainly surprised when he saw a familiar face, and none other than Masato Hyuuga at that. Breaking into one of his rare grins his cloud of anger ebbed away as Hiromi gave a squeaky bark of greeting, her fluffy tail wagging so that it hit Yaku lightly against the ear as she once again squirmed slightly to reposition herself on the Inuzuka's shoulder. "Masato." Yaku greeted in an unfamiliar calm tone. "I've been...lost." he said after a moments pause. Normally the proud Inuzuka didn't like to admit such things to people, but at this point the confusion really was beginning to take over, and the fact that he was speaking with someone he could even go out on a limb to say he trusted was enough to make him admit such an embarassing thing.

[Sergeant Tenny]

"Lost? Well, let's see if we can't get you "found" then, eh? There's plenty of beautiful women here tonight, and they're all dressed up for us, right?" Winking at his teammate, he took him by the shoulder and guided him through the crowd towards an area where they could get some refreshments. "How about we go grab something cold to drink... it's a little warm for my tastes here."

[Kiba]

Still looking a little doubtful, it was difficult for Yaku to deny the instinctive pull of stepping away from Masato, really not quite used to allowing anyone to touch him. Hiromi, sensing this almost immediately, gave a comforting nudge of her cold, wet nose behind his ear, and Yaku stopped himself. It was often times this distance he liked to put between himself and others that was the sole purpose of his being labled as somewhat difficult, and Hiromi was catching onto that fact faster that Yaku himself. "Ok." he finally agreed plainly.

[Tensei Kaori]

They had by now reached the festival itself, and it was obvious that many shinobi - of Konoha and Sand alike - were beginning to gather.

"Ah," Izumi exclaimed softly, "over there. There's Hyuuga-san, Shinako. From the caravan, remember?"

Shinako nodded excitedly. "We met him as we arrived in the village," she explained to the others as she began to wave at her new acquaintance.

[strangevisitor]

Weaving her way through the throngs of festival-goers, Yasu tightly clutched the parcel in her spindly arms, not wanting any harm to befall it. She had little time to spare on things such as treats and admiring the jubilant garb of others. There was a show to be performed in less than an hour, and she still had to deliver the package.

But just how did one find the Hokage? Ricochetting off the walls of an alleyway, she perched atop a building, hoping it would allow her to see anything her short stature denied her the view of.

[Tensei Kaori]

Hinomoto Aiko was so excited! The visitors from Konoha had arrived in a colorful display of unique and altogether extremely interesting-looking people. And not only that, but there was now a festival! She couldn't wait to see Kazekage-sama in a yukata - and, of course, see what the Hokage looked like. Aiko had heard the newly chosen Hokage was a woman, but it was hard to see much beyond the hint of womanly curves underneath the traditional garb the woman had worn for the welcoming ceremony.

Aiko herself had donned a fiery red yukata for the occasion, lavishly decorated with stylized flames in bright golden hues. Fingerless fishnet gloves covered her hands, and a pendant shaped into the Hidden Sand symbol gleamed at her neck, supported by a black choker. It bounced up and down as she skipped along, hoping to get to the Festival soon. Something caught her attention before she could get very far, though, and she just had to stop, at least for a minute.

"Yasu-saaaaaaaaan!" she called out to the Genin perched on top of the building above her. "Hi! It's me, Aiko! Are you gonna be performing tonight?"

((OoC: Since she's not well known, here's a link to Aiko's bio.))

[strangevisitor]

Looking down, it was not hard to spot the caller in her blazing yukata, it took a moment to place the name, however. "Ahh, Aiko-chan!" Smiling warmly, Yasu nodded in place of a wave of acknowledgement. "Yes, actually, there's a show in about 45 minutes, unless I'm late!" Giggling, the tiny genin crouched to avoid having to yell quite so much.

"Silly question time, Aiko-chan! You wouldn't happen to know where I could find the Hokage, would you?"

[Tensei Kaori]

"Well," Aiko began, but was interrupted when someone called her name. Startled, she turned, and came face-to-face with her two best friends. Enkai Yoko, whose cascading waves of dark blue hair were nothing short of exotic here in the desert, was wearing a yukata of seafoam green accented with painted blue waves and a blue obi. Kyoukou Arisa was, as usual, dressed like a boy. Her tan yukata featured a pattern of black dragons and was tied with a simple black obi. While Yoko positively beamed, Arisa was less enthusiastic. But then again, Arisa was rarely enthusiastic about much of anything that didn't involve Taijutsu or P.E.

"Hi, guys!" Aiko called. "I was just talking to Yasu-san. Yasu san, you remember my friends Yoko-chan and Arisa-chan, right?"

((OoC: Don't worry, there is an answer coming to your question. XD And in case you wanted the reference, here are the links to Yoko and Arisa.))

[strangevisitor]

Yasu smiled a little more as the other two girls joined Aiko. It was rare to see one without the company of the others, so well knit was this little group of friends. She was slightly envious, having only formed such a bond with her brother, but still, Yasu remained happy for the friends, often joking that were a member of the group missing, she could follow the strings of fate that bound them together. It would be quite horrid to separate them, so she was fairly certain they would be an official team after graduation.

[Tensei Kaori]

"Anyways," Aiko continued, "while I can't know exactly where she'll be, I know for a fact that it'd be rude to miss the festival. My guess is, if you find Kazekage-sama before it starts, you'll find the Hokage too."

[strangevisitor]

"Good point! Thanks Aiko-chan! Hope to see you girls at the show!!" Smiling cheerfully, Yasu bounded off across the rooftops, redoubling her search efforts, now attempting to find the Kazekage.

[Kiba]

As he walked slowly along, slightly muttering to himself without quite realizing it until Hiromi gave him a gentle nip on the ear to wake him up, Yaku's dark eyes flicked up quickly as he noticed his quirky habit was getting the better of him and he quickly stopped himself. Unfortunately, as he did this rather quickly, his sligjtly oversized, sharp front canines dug into his tongue and he gave a harsh wince, suddenly looking like a puppy who had just been spanked. Completely embarassed, he averted his gaze, hoping no one had noticed, and his eyes fell onto the mingling others around him. A sigh welled up in his chest, but he wouldn't allow himself to let it out. These people...they interacted so well together. Why was that so difficult for him?

[Pague]

Itome had lost her brother in the crowds. If she were a little taller she would be able to scan the masses of people for him but she couldn't see very far. Leaping onto a roof would be her usual solution but she wasn't sure if she could do it without tripping over the hem of her plain white yukata, which was a little too big. Evenings in Suna were nice and cool as there were no clouds to keep the day's heat in, but even wearing geta, which were more shoes than she usually wore, she could feel that the sand under her feet had kept the heat in. Despite this, the crowds meant that the air was quite warm anyway.

She hadn't thought much of the person just ahead of her talking to himself, one of her cousins had a similar habit and it was more amusing than odd. A little nosy, she tried to listen but couldn't make anything out. He had a dog on his head, which amused her a lot. Itome liked dogs. She ended up following him, watching the dog cheerily.

It alarmed her when he suddenly visibly winced. Ah! What if the dog falls off? She dashed forward suddenly with intent to catch it if it did - she didn't want the creature getting hurt - but the too-long yakata and the fact that she wasn't used to wearing anything on her feet resulted in her toppling to the ground.

She was very glad that she had fallen on the soft sand rather than the paved road, knowing that there was a chance the road could have broken her wrists and knees when she thrust them forward to catch herself. No harm done.

Picking herself up, she lifted the front of her kukata slightly as she ran this time to make sure the dog was okay. It was, that was a relief.

"...hey." She began, tugging on the back of the boy's yukata and manuvering herself in front of him so he wouldn't have to turn around. His face alarmed her. Surprisingly enough it was not the red marks she noticed first but the fact that he was a lot older than she thought. From behind she hadn't been about the guess his age and she was so used to being short that she assumed anyone who wasn't an absolute giant was around her age, just taller. "Uh... hey sir" She corrected herself, trying to speak more politely because he was her elder. "Are- are you okay?"

OOC: I hope you don't mind me trying to talk to your character, Kiba. I'll delete this if you do.