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Description
You slowly walked down the crowded main street of the Leaf Village and marveled at what you saw. Every single building, bench and street lamp had been decorated with bright, fragrant flowers in some way or another. Just about everyone you knew was outside, either cooking or helping with one of the many events taking place today. Though you hadn't lived in the village all that long, you'd never seen it look so alive. “I've never seen the village all decorated like this before. It's really pretty, like something out of fairy-tale. Is it like this every year, or is something special happening this year?”

“We always decorate for the Spring Festival, but Ino's family really outdid themselves with the flowers this year. So I guess it's a little more done up than usual.” Tenten shrugged, not nearly as amazed as you were. “That being said, there really isn't anything more special about this year than last.” As she spoke, Lee came running up to the two of you, Half dragging Neji behind him“There you guys are, it's about time.”

Lee dropped his hands to his side as if standing at attention, smiled weakly and offered a slight bow as an apology. “I am sorry it took so long, but Neji, he was very hard to persuade.” He sighed. “I am afraid he is not at all in a good mood today. I believe this festival might be too youthful for him to handle. It is a shame.”

Crossing his arms, Neji snorted. “I see what you mean.” Tapping her chin with her finger, Tenten thought for a few seconds before grabbing onto Lee's hand. “Well, since it looks like Lee's in a much better mood than Neji, I think I'll let him be my escort for today.” Already walking away, she sent you a teasing smile and waved. “Try to have some fun with mister grumpy, if you can.”

“W-wait, we're splitting up? But what am I supposed to do?” Since you'd never participated in this sort of thing before, you hadn't the slightest idea where to go or what to do. But she seemed to have little interest in that idea at all. “I guess you're probably going to head back home now, right?”

With a sour expression still plastered to his face, Neji turned to you and spoke in a grumpy, agitated tone. “Yes, now that Lee's gone, I had planned on doing just that. Why, do you need me for something?”

“No, no. I don't want you to stay here with me if you don't want to be here. I'm sure I can figure everything out myself. It might just take me a little while to do it.” Flustered that he would even ask, you folded your hands in front of your chest and gave a quick bow. “Thank you though. It was really nice of you to ask.”

For a moment, Neji looked almost confused by what you'd said. After a moment of silent confusion, he remembered why you would need Tenten's help getting around. “This is your first festival with us, isn't it?” He loosely closed his eyes and slowly began to shake his head. “I'd better stay with you this time. If you go off on your own, without knowing anything about the events or foods, there's no telling what sort of trouble you might get into.”

You bowed again, this time for no other reason than to hide the fact that you were terribly flustered and blushing. “Thank you Neji, I really appreciate you doing this for me. It's really sweet.”

“It's fine, just stop bowing already.” He roughly, and somewhat awkwardly took your hand in his. “Where do you want to go?”

There were so many different things to do, and places to go, you didn't know where you should start. “I don't know. Where is there for me to go?”

Your question caused another sigh to erupt from his throat. “There's face painting, all sorts of foods, fortune telling, Karaoke, which I'm sure Guy Sensei is hogging, and dancing, which I won't do under any circumstances. There are games, shows and events as well. Most of the games are rigged of course, but you can win prizes at the events.” Walking aimlessly with you, he glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. “So, where am I taking you?”

“Hm, that's a lot of stuff to choose from.” Everything sounded pretty exciting to you, but you just couldn't make up your mind. Not wanting to keep him waiting, you offered a different solution. “Why don't we do your favorite part of the festival first? If you don't mind me knowing what your favorite part is of course.”

“Honestly, my favorite part is when it's all over and things are finally quiet again. But since that really isn't an option, I'll take you to an event I find at least somewhat tolerable. I will warn you though, it's a rather foolish event, so don't read too much into it.” Strangely embarrassed, Neji led you to the very center of the festival. Sitting there in a small booth decorated to look like a fortune telling booth, was Kurenai. “Here we are. I'll be over there waiting for you when you're finished.”

Before Neji took so much as a single step, Kurenai caught his wrist in her hand. “Don't tell me you aren't going to get your fortune told this year. You've always loved my readings.” Neji's face turned bright red. “Oh, was that supposed to be a secret? I'm sorry.” She chuckled, obviously joking with him. Without saying a word, Neji drew a card from a small wooden box. You didn't know what was on his card, but it seemed to upset him. “I knew you couldn't resist What about you?”

“I'd love to give it a shot.” Despite not completely understanding the game, you reached into the box and also drew a card. On your card, was a small purple heart with large white wings. Written on the other side, in large, bold letters were the words, “Find My Match”. “I don't really understand what this means. There's no fortune on this card.”

“Then you must have gotten something very special.” Kurenai smiled knowingly. “You only get to draw one fortune per festival, so you're stuck with that one. In any case, I suggest you do as it says.” She winked. “Now, you two have wasted enough time here. There's a lot to see, and not much time to see it. Go have fun.”

“Of course.” Neji took your hand in his once more and for hours and hours led you around the festival, taking you where ever you wanted to go and doing whatever you wanted to do. After the first hour or so, he loosened up just enough to actually enjoy himself. By the time night had fallen, he was actually smiling. While him having fun was a great surprise, the most shocking thing that happened was when he refused to let Lee and Tenten rejoin your group. Maybe it was wrong of you to feel this way, but the fact that he'd rather spend the day with you, than his teammates made you feel unbelievably special. After drinking a mug or two of spiced cider, sampling at least one of ever dessert present at the festival, and watching the fireworks explode in the sky like hundreds of budding spring blooms, your long, fun filled day, came to an end. Looking tired, but happy Neji walked you home. “I take it you had a good time today?”

“I did.” You nodded gleefully. “You looked like you were having a lot of fun too. Not at first obviously, but after a while I think you let your guard down and enjoyed yourself.”

Neji flushed, but agreed with you. “I suppose I was having a little fun. Strange, I can't remember ever enjoying anything like this before.” He shrugged nonchalantly, refusing to read anything into it. “Oh well, it's really not important.”

“I'm glad it wasn't just me having fun. But there is one thing I can't get out of my head, maybe you can explain it to me.” You retrieved the card you'd gotten from Kurenai earlier and showed it to him. “Since you've done this before, what am I supposed to do with this? It says find my match, so I'm wondering if this is from a card game or something.” Looking up from the card, you noticed how incredibly red Neji's face was. “A-are you okay?”

“Yes.” Nodding very slowly, he pulled his fortune card from his pocket and somewhat reluctantly showed it to you. His card matched yours perfectly. “These cards represent a person's love life, and our cards match. This can only mean one thing.”

"Oh?" Swallowing hard, you looked up at him and tried not to seem overly embarrassed or eager. You already knew, however, that your hot, pink cheeks and weak voice had betrayed you. “What's that?”

He clutched the card in his hand, causing the sides to curl up and the center to collapse. “It means, that Kurenai played us both.”

Description
You slowly walked down the crowded main street of the Leaf Village and marveled at what you saw. Every single building, bench and street lamp had been decorated with bright, fragrant flowers in some way or another. Just about everyone you knew was outside, either cooking or helping with one of the many events taking place today. Though you hadn't lived in the village all that long, you'd never seen it look so alive. “I've never seen the village all decorated like this before. It's really pretty, like something out of fairy-tale. Is it like this every year, or is something special happening this year?”

“We always decorate for the Spring Festival, but Ino's family really outdid themselves with the flowers this year. So I guess it's a little more done up than usual.” Tenten shrugged, not nearly as amazed as you were. “That being said, there really isn't anything more special about this year than last.” As she spoke, Lee came running up to the two of you, Half dragging Neji behind him“There you guys are, it's about time.”

Lee dropped his hands to his side as if standing at attention, smiled weakly and offered a slight bow as an apology. “I am sorry it took so long, but Neji, he was very hard to persuade.” He sighed. “I am afraid he is not at all in a good mood today. I believe this festival might be too youthful for him to handle. It is a shame.”

Crossing his arms, Neji snorted. “I see what you mean.” Tapping her chin with her finger, Tenten thought for a few seconds before grabbing onto Lee's hand. “Well, since it looks like Lee's in a much better mood than Neji, I think I'll let him be my escort for today.” Already walking away, she sent you a teasing smile and waved. “Try to have some fun with mister grumpy, if you can.”

“W-wait, we're splitting up? But what am I supposed to do?” Since you'd never participated in this sort of thing before, you hadn't the slightest idea where to go or what to do. But she seemed to have little interest in that idea at all. “I guess you're probably going to head back home now, right?”

With a sour expression still plastered to his face, Neji turned to you and spoke in a grumpy, agitated tone. “Yes, now that Lee's gone, I had planned on doing just that. Why, do you need me for something?”

“No, no. I don't want you to stay here with me if you don't want to be here. I'm sure I can figure everything out myself. It might just take me a little while to do it.” Flustered that he would even ask, you folded your hands in front of your chest and gave a quick bow. “Thank you though. It was really nice of you to ask.”

For a moment, Neji looked almost confused by what you'd said. After a moment of silent confusion, he remembered why you would need Tenten's help getting around. “This is your first festival with us, isn't it?” He loosely closed his eyes and slowly began to shake his head. “I'd better stay with you this time. If you go off on your own, without knowing anything about the events or foods, there's no telling what sort of trouble you might get into.”

You bowed again, this time for no other reason than to hide the fact that you were terribly flustered and blushing. “Thank you Neji, I really appreciate you doing this for me. It's really sweet.”

“It's fine, just stop bowing already.” He roughly, and somewhat awkwardly took your hand in his. “Where do you want to go?”

There were so many different things to do, and places to go, you didn't know where you should start. “I don't know. Where is there for me to go?”

Your question caused another sigh to erupt from his throat. “There's face painting, all sorts of foods, fortune telling, Karaoke, which I'm sure Guy Sensei is hogging, and dancing, which I won't do under any circumstances. There are games, shows and events as well. Most of the games are rigged of course, but you can win prizes at the events.” Walking aimlessly with you, he glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. “So, where am I taking you?”

“Hm, that's a lot of stuff to choose from.” Everything sounded pretty exciting to you, but you just couldn't make up your mind. Not wanting to keep him waiting, you offered a different solution. “Why don't we do your favorite part of the festival first? If you don't mind me knowing what your favorite part is of course.”

“Honestly, my favorite part is when it's all over and things are finally quiet again. But since that really isn't an option, I'll take you to an event I find at least somewhat tolerable. I will warn you though, it's a rather foolish event, so don't read too much into it.” Strangely embarrassed, Neji led you to the very center of the festival. Sitting there in a small booth decorated to look like a fortune telling booth, was Kurenai. “Here we are. I'll be over there waiting for you when you're finished.”

Before Neji took so much as a single step, Kurenai caught his wrist in her hand. “Don't tell me you aren't going to get your fortune told this year. You've always loved my readings.” Neji's face turned bright red. “Oh, was that supposed to be a secret? I'm sorry.” She chuckled, obviously joking with him. Without saying a word, Neji drew a card from a small wooden box. You didn't know what was on his card, but it seemed to upset him. “I knew you couldn't resist What about you?”

“I'd love to give it a shot.” Despite not completely understanding the game, you reached into the box and also drew a card. On your card, was a small purple heart with large white wings. Written on the other side, in large, bold letters were the words, “Find My Match”. “I don't really understand what this means. There's no fortune on this card.”

“Then you must have gotten something very special.” Kurenai smiled knowingly. “You only get to draw one fortune per festival, so you're stuck with that one. In any case, I suggest you do as it says.” She winked. “Now, you two have wasted enough time here. There's a lot to see, and not much time to see it. Go have fun.”

“Of course.” Neji took your hand in his once more and for hours and hours led you around the festival, taking you where ever you wanted to go and doing whatever you wanted to do. After the first hour or so, he loosened up just enough to actually enjoy himself. By the time night had fallen, he was actually smiling. While him having fun was a great surprise, the most shocking thing that happened was when he refused to let Lee and Tenten rejoin your group. Maybe it was wrong of you to feel this way, but the fact that he'd rather spend the day with you, than his teammates made you feel unbelievably special. After drinking a mug or two of spiced cider, sampling at least one of ever dessert present at the festival, and watching the fireworks explode in the sky like hundreds of budding spring blooms, your long, fun filled day, came to an end. Looking tired, but happy Neji walked you home. “I take it you had a good time today?”

“I did.” You nodded gleefully. “You looked like you were having a lot of fun too. Not at first obviously, but after a while I think you let your guard down and enjoyed yourself.”

Neji flushed, but agreed with you. “I suppose I was having a little fun. Strange, I can't remember ever enjoying anything like this before.” He shrugged nonchalantly, refusing to read anything into it. “Oh well, it's really not important.”

“I'm glad it wasn't just me having fun. But there is one thing I can't get out of my head, maybe you can explain it to me.” You retrieved the card you'd gotten from Kurenai earlier and showed it to him. “Since you've done this before, what am I supposed to do with this? It says find my match, so I'm wondering if this is from a card game or something.” Looking up from the card, you noticed how incredibly red Neji's face was. “A-are you okay?”

“Yes.” Nodding very slowly, he pulled his fortune card from his pocket and somewhat reluctantly showed it to you. His card matched yours perfectly. “These cards represent a person's love life, and our cards match. This can only mean one thing.”

"Oh?" Swallowing hard, you looked up at him and tried not to seem overly embarrassed or eager. You already knew, however, that your hot, pink cheeks and weak voice had betrayed you. “What's that?”

He clutched the card in his hand, causing the sides to curl up and the center to collapse. “It means, that Kurenai played us both.”