Hinata walked slowly among the booths at the festival, her precious package clutched to her chest. Glorious dragons, slithering snakes, and long-tailed diamonds danced in the sky above. It was a beautiful day for Konoha’s Kite Festival. Even better, she’d heard he was back in the village.

It had been two and a half years since she’d last seen him and although many things had changed, her feelings had not. So, feeling quite bold, she had come up with a plan: she would go to the festival alone and would somehow contrive to run into him. Then she’d ask him to help her fly her new dragon kite, and the rest . . .

She held her package more tightly and scanned the street. Now, where might he be? Oh. Yes. Food. He’d most likely be in the food vendor area. Besides, she was hungry herself.

She stopped at Dagashi-san’s lemon ice stand and bought herself a small dish. She was reaching for a spork with which to eat it when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Hey! Hinata! What are you doing by yourself? Come join us. We’re going over to the hillside. Is that a kite? I’ll help you fly it.”

She turned. Kiba, with Lee and Sakura, stood there.

“Come on,” Kiba urged. “I’ll carry your kite. You can eat your ice while we walk.”

Hinata moaned inwardly, but found herself pulled along, all her plans in tatters. Even if she saw him, he’d assume she was with Kiba. Desperately she looked for an out. She chomped down hard on the spork in frustration.

Crack! It broke.

“Ahhhh, ah, Kiba. I-I-I’m sorry. My spork broke. I need to go back and get another.

“Alright. I'll go with you,” Kiba offered.

“Uh, that’s OK,” she replied. “You go on. I’ll catch up with you at the hillside.”

She waved and turned to walk back to Dagashi-san’s stand. A flash of orange caught her eye. She smiled and breathed a silent prayer of thanks as she watched Naruto head directly to the lemon ice stand.

Hinata’s feet began taking steps, moving her down the street back toward the lemon ice stand before her brain caught up with them. She stopped abruptly as panic began to set in -- “How could she possibly do this?” A second later she was teetering on one foot trying to keep her balance after being bumped from behind.

“Sorry, miss,” said a voice as young hands helped to steady her.

“Oh, Hinata-san, it’s you. You stopped so suddenly and we were in a hurry,” apologized Moegi.

“Yes,” said Konohamaru. “We think we just spotted Naruto at the lemon ice stand and we don’t want to miss him.”

“I am headed there myself,” murmured Hinata.

“To see Naruto?” exclaimed Moegi with a surprised but calculating look.

“Oh, no, no,” stammered Hinata. “I cracked my spork and need another to eat my lemon ice.”

“Well, let’s go then!” urged Konohamaru.

“Shall I carry your package for you?” asked Udon.

Hinata glanced at Udon’s runny nose. “Oh, that’s alright. I’ve got it.”

She found herself swept along with the young genin.

“What’s in the package?” asked Moegi.

“It’s a kite,” replied Hinata.

“Ooh! What kind? A dragon?”

“Good guess,” smiled Hinata.

“That’s a large package,” observed Udon. “It must be a large kite. Can you fly it with just one person?”

“Well, I thought I might find someone to help.” Hinata felt her cheeks getting red, took a deep steadying breath, and smiled at him and Moegi. “Perhaps you’d like to help?”

Hinata kicked herself inwardly. Now why had she said that?

“Sure!” said Udon. “That’d be great!”

“Hey! Naruto-nisan! Wait up!” shouted Konohamaru.

They had arrived at Dagashi-san’s stand where Naruto stood holding a large lemon ice.

“What’s up with you three?” asked Naruto. “Oh, and you, Hinata-san?”

“We’re looking for you,” stated Konohamaru. “We want to hear all about your training with Jiraiya-sama.”

“And we’re going to fly Hinata’s kite,” added Moegi.

“We are?” Konohamaru looked confused.

“Yes, we are,” Moegi said firmly, giving Konohamaru a look. “And we need your help, Naruto. It’s a large kite.”

“Well, I was going to train today…” Naruto started uncertainly and stopped. “I’ve actually never flown one of those big kites before.”

“Then it will be training,” Udon stated.

“Yes,” Moegi added. “Every ninja needs to know how to fly a kite.

“They do?” asked Naruto. “Why?”

“Sometimes they’re used for surveillance,” Hinata said shyly.

“Yes,” smiled Moegi. “Particularly by ninja teams that don’t have someone special like Hinata.”

Konohamaru glanced at Moegi, then at Hinata who seemed to be turning pink, then at Naruto. Something was going on here and he didn’t quite know what.

“OK,” said Naruto. “Where are we flying this kite?”

Everyone turned to Hinata expectantly.

“Uh. Uhmm…” She was trying to think quickly. She really wanted to find a spot far away from Kiba, Sakura and the others, but her mind was a blank. She gave up. “The hillside, I guess. That’s where most people are.”

“How about the meadow at the far side?” suggested Udon. “It won’t be quite as crowded.”

“That sounds good,” smiled Hinata gratefully, wondering whether perhaps Fate had sent these genin to help her out.

“Don’t forget your spork,” Konohamaru reminded her.

“Oh. Yes. I almost did.” She laughed a litte. “Dagashi-san, I cracked my spork. May I have another?”

“Certainly, Hinata-san.” He smiled at them. “Do the rest of you want something?”

“Well, we’re all pretty broke. We haven’t gotten paid yet from our last mission,” Konohamaru said grumpily.

“That’s alright. It’ll be my treat,” offered Hinata.

“Hinata-san, you are sooo nice,” said Moegi. “Thank you.”

“Everyone knows that about Hinata,” said Naruto. “She’s the kindest person in Konoha.”

Hinata looked up to see Naruto smiling at her with a big grin.

“Here. Let me carry that for you,” he said taking her package. “You finish your lemon ice before it all melts. You can tell me about surveillance with kites while we walk.”

“Ah, ah, alright,” said Hinata.

“Have fun with your kite flying!” Dagashi-san called after them as all five headed off down the street toward the meadow.