For once, Neji was happy to be at a local festival. Even more surprisingly, he'd purposely left his schedule wide open so that he might spend the entire week in Suna rather than an obligatory day or two. All of it could be blamed on one particular woman native to the village, because he simply couldn't ask for a better opportunity to spend a stretch of time with her. Given the newness of their cross-village relationship and conflicting missions, they needed as much of that as they could get.

But as a festival dedicated to the memory of the dead, it wasn't the most joyous occasion. The night brought solemn silence as the lanterns rose, and Neji stood next to Hinata or Hizashi on the nights they were present, lamenting the short life of his mother- a woman he couldn't remember. There was regret in the simple fact he held no strong feelings toward her, but Hizashi loved her, and she had loved them both- still did, he was sure. And that was enough to send up a lantern of his own alongside his father's, assuring her that he'd grown up well and that while he held no clear memories of her, he still appreciated the life and love she'd born him with.


[[ooc: so this is open anytime during the week and Neji can be found doing just about anything typical of the festival- walking between food stands, looking over merchandise, sending up lanterns, training, or even back at the foreign guest quarters for any potential neighborly run-ins]]