Festival hangout: the games of Mubu

Tatsuya was quite pleased with the turnout that the Harmonic Showdown had brought, but now that it was all over and done with, it was time to go and find his teammate, Mubu Otsunatō. The older genin had seated himself next to Tatsuya before his turn in the showdown and had made a point of introducing himself to his father, which the young boy rolled his eyes at instinctively, but he ignored it really.

"Seems everyone wants to get close to me just to get close to him sometimes..." Tatsuya said to nobody in particular as he strolled along. He didn't really mean it, and he had the feeling that this was not what Mubu meant by his actions, but the young Uchiha was tired of living in a shadow. Now he even lived with another Uchiha, a boy named Hanzo. His father had brought the boy, who didn't have much of a family, into live with them all. Despite their first meeting on the night they removed the bombs from the bathhouse, Tatsuya felt that their relationship was growing ever so slightly with each and passing day.

'I wonder if he stuck around or just went home after his performance.'

After a little while of walking, Tatsuya managed to find both Mubu and Hanzo. The two older boys were standing around with another small group, all seemingly having a good time playing one of the many games the festival had to offer. They all looked so tough standing together; their tattoos and piercing drawing in Tatsuya's admiration. As he looked down at himself, however, he grimaced at how normal and uptight he looked. Of course his mother had forced him to wear his formal kimono. Thankfully for the Uchiha, though, he had worn a cut-off fishnet shirt and black short underneath the getup. Slipping behind one of the stands, Tatsuya removed the kimono and put it up in one of the trees for safekeeping. He was sure that nobody would find it there and that he could easily come back later and grab it before he ran into his mother again. With that, the Uchiha would waltz up to Mubu, Hanzo, and the others with an air of confidence and swagger.

"What's up, guys?" He greeted, nodding upwards as a means of saying hello. He turned his attention over to Mubu. "Hell of a performance, Mubu. Almost as fire as that bathhouse we set ablaze." Next he turned his attention to Hanzo. "You too, Hanzo. The way you worked your Lightning-Release into your performance was awesome!" To show himself worthy of hanging out with the older crowd, Tatsuya activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, grabbed one of the balls from the ball toss from the hand of a little kid, and threw it at the small tower of glass bottles. Normally Tatusya would've had much trouble with this considering his strength and coordination was lacking, but thanks to his Sharingan, he was able to see the best possible throw he could do that would surely knock them down. With more than enough luck, he did just that. "Booyah!" He exclaimed with a chuckle.

Sure enough, the child that Tatusya had stolen the ball from began crying hysterically.

'Really, kid? You gotta let out the waterworks?' He thought. Normally the Uchiha would not have done such a thing, but as he wanted to make an impression on Mubu, Hanzo, and their friends, he felt that he had to do something to show that he just didn't care. Looking at the child though, who had buried their head into their father's chest to muffle their cries, a somber look formed upon Tatsuya's face. Taking a quick glance around to make sure Mubu and the others were not paying attention, he requested the grand prize for having knocked down the tower of bottles. In turn he walked up to the child and father, bowing and presenting the grand prize to them.

"I apologize for my actions. Please take this. You deserve it."

The father narrowed his eyes at Tatsuya, but the child's eyes lit up like Christmas trees. She grabbed the prize, a giant stuffed animal, and gripped it tightly against her. Tatsuya smiled, feeling better for having rectified his actions, but he quickly turned back around and joined the others again. When Hanzo suggested doing the Whack-A-Mole game next, Tatsuya's eyes lit up.

"Yeah! Lets g-" Noticing just how childish Tatsuya sounded, he cleared his throat affirmingly. "I mean, whatever you wanna do, big bro. Anything's better than that stupid ball toss anyway."