ᗰOᑎᔕTEᖇ [🧡 ᑎᗩᖇᑌᕼIᑎᗩ 💜] [Ɱҽէąʍօɾքհօʂìʂ] Bσσƙ Oɳҽ

Blooming Flower

Chapter Thirteen

Blooming Flower

January 1, 2009

It was a dark and chilly night in the festive village of Konoha. Laughter and excitement swept through the busy streets. The people of the Leaf celebrating the coming New Year with more vigor than previous years. Having been through the destruction and reconstruction of their home and the agonizing tragedy and devastation of a bloody war, the citizen were hoping, wishing and determined to see happier days to come their way.

Outside a spacious, high rise apartment, the distant explosion of fireworks and the jovial, and in some cases, drunken, cheer of revelers was muted not only by the separating walls of the lodging, but also the loud, and heated argument currently taking place within.

Breaking in the New Year with drinks, merriment and a competitive game of cards, the evening had began with celebratory shots of sake, some hilarious discussions of New Year's resolutions and the excited count down to midnight.

After, the party guests had broken into two groups of guys and girls.

While the females of the gathering had taken to chatting quietly and sipping sake, tea and coffee at the dinning table, the males had decided to take part in a card game of luck, skill, and apparently shameless cheating.

Four ninja sat around the coffee table in the middle of Naruto's living room, two of which were yelling animatedly at each other, disputing the outcome of the game. The blonde host of their New Year's party looked seconds away from flipping the low sitting piece of furniture and sending the pile of playing cards scattered on its surface flying around the common room.

"That is bullshit Kiba!" the frustrated genin shouted, "I saw you slip that card out of your sleeve!"

The guilty Inuzuka glowered at the barking teen.

"Don't get mad at me because you don't know how to play!" he blustered, "You played the wrong card and got annihilated! Learn how to play the game, douche!"

"Wrong card my ass!" Naruto negated, pointing at the offending card on the table, "I watched you slip that card out of your sleeve! You're a cheater! I won fair and square, 'ttebayo!"

"What a sore loser," Kiba dismissed, "I won, you lost. Tell him Shino."

"Naruto is correct, Kiba," Shino interjected, "Why? Because I also observed you slipping it from you sleeve."

Kiba glared for all he was worth at his impassive, often ignored teammate, tossing his cards on the table with a growl, arms crossed as Naruto reached forward to collect them in triumph.

"Cheating bastard." the mollified Uzumaki needled, shooting the sore loser a smug look.

"Whatever. Shuffle, deal and shut the hell up," the Inuzuka grunted, leaning forward with a determined glint to his eyes, "I don't need to cheat to mop the floor with you."

Naruto pursed his lips in doubt as he shuffled the deck and began to distribute the cards around the table again. Once finished, he picked up his cards and looked over his arsenal, moving around assets and disposables. Kiba grumble under his breath at the pieces of laminated paper in his hands. Shino displayed no outward reaction as he studied his, while Lee looked ready to declare himself the winner before it started.

The guys settled into the game, peacefully tossing cards on the table. It'd be a while before things got fired up again, so the curious genin took advantage of the calm before the screaming matches began anew and glanced over at the kitchen table.