My One and Only

Chapter 28

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom. It was the perfect day to welcome spring. And that's exactly what they were about to do. Sakura twirled around in her pretty spring-colored Kimono. It was a light-green color and covered in cherry blossom petals that grew in quantity as they neared the bottom of the dress. Almost like the scenery outside, the floor was covered in hundreds of petals as the Sakura trees rained down even more petals.

The festival to celebrate the coming of spring had been in full swing for a few days now, but today was the day Sakura and Itachi had decided to go. Mostly because they had been too busy to go the other days, but today was proclaimed to be a day where the cherry blossom trees would be the most beautiful, anyways, so it was convenient.

There was a knock at the door and Sakura looked over to see Itachi standing at the door, a small smile on his face. "Ready?" He asked.

Sakura brightened and waved off the maids still attempting to fuss around her and ran to Itachi, he held his arm out for her and she looped her arm around his. "Yes, ready!" She responded cheerfully.

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Sakura had been to this festival many times before. She was named after the cherry blossom trees, so of course, it was an important occasion for her. It was a different feeling to be here with Itachi, however. Everything felt much more... what was the word, romantic? Intimate? She wasn't quite sure but something definitely felt different.

They really had come at the perfect time. The cherry blossoms, true to prediction, looked prettier than any of the nights before, of that Sakura was certain. Besides the view of the blooming trees, there were dozens of stalls, all selling something in the festival theme. Being the glutton she was, of course, Sakura dragged Itachi to the nearby delights filling the air with their sugary smell.

Turned out, she'd dragged him to a stall of Sakura mochi. The color of the mochi was basically identical to her own hair. She bit into it, smiling in pure bliss. The food would always be her favorite part of the festival. Itachi chuckled beside her and she realized she'd been making a weird face in the middle of appreciating (worshipping) the Sakura mochi.

They also stopped at a venue selling cherry blossom milk pudding, a venue selling cherry blossom cookies, and most venues after that. Sakura had been slightly surprised when Itachi, not her, had been the one to make them stop at another stall until she realized that said stall was selling Hanami Dango. 

It was Itachi's favorite food, and although she had been bewildered when first finding that out as Itachi hadn't struck her as someone who'd have a sweet tooth, she now just shook her head slightly in amusement at the urgency he had tugged her arm to the Dango stand.

A while later they found themselves sitting under the blanket of Sakura trees as they ate some cherry blossom rice balls they'd gotten earlier from another stand. The gentle breeze felt nice on her skin and softly swayed her hair. The lights from all the stands were bright and illuminated the now darkening sky. The cherry blossoms made a sea of pink all around her. 

Maybe it was the subtle romantic atmosphere, but she suddenly wanted to be closer to Itachi. She shuffled over, close enough to where their arms were touching, and laid her head on his shoulder. Itachi paused, rice ball halfway up to his mouth, and asked "Are you tired?"

Sakura shook her head, "Nope." She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, before looking straight ahead at the pretty Sakura trees. She could feel Itachi's stare on her, probably wondering whether she really felt alright or if she was only pretending to be. If he suspected her of faking it, he said nothing and soon turned his gaze to the cherry blossoms too. Sakura shuffled into the bags of treats they'd bought, wanting something to chew on. She'd already gobbled up all of her rice balls.

She took out two Sakura mochi, one for each hand, and quietly enjoyed them. She felt so relaxed at that moment, she really was starting to feel tired. She blinked drowsily and stuffed the last piece of Sakura mochi in her mouth. The sticky sensation on her hands made her realize she'd been a bit messy with her eating and gotten some of the sweet treats on her fingers. 

She was about to lick the remnants of the mochi off her hands when Itachi grabbed her wrist. She looked up at him curiously. He gently brought her hand up to his mouth and licked the sticky rice off her fingers.

Sakura's face exploded. Never mind that about being drowsy, she was wide awake now.