Summary: When Hayate asked the guys for help, this wasn't exactly what he had in mind. If anything, the box would've been smaller. (Pure HayaYuu fluff, one-shot.)
Disclaimer: Toboe LoneWolf does not own Naruto. Or a rather large white box.

Toboe LoneWolf: Lo, miracles do happen, for after four months of writer's block this magically was written in one day. This was written for Madi, Sweetbriar here on ffnet. Pure HayaYuu fluff.

Apology in a Box

"No. I'm not."

"Oh come on, Hayate. It'll crack her up."

"...Why did I ask you guys again?"

"Because statistical studies have shown that collective masses of males have better chances of getting the right answer than a single one."

"Genma, please shut up."

"Hayate, you asked for our help. We gave an answer. So buck up and take it like a man."

"...Iruka? Help?…"

"...I don't think I can help. They're pretty sure of it, after all..."

"Yes, but...why are you agreeing with them?"

"Um. Well."

"Iruka..."

"...I think it'll be pretty funny..."

Sigh. "Even you think so." Pause. "I'm still not doing it."

"What, we got the box for nothing?"

"Some thanks we get. Do you know how hard it was to for us find a box this big in Tsunade's storage?"

Eye twitch. "Considering how much you two complain about her organization and how she just stacks papers everywhere, not that hard."

"Hey, it was pretty hard for Kotetsu and me to drag this thing all the way down the tower."

"Then why didn't you ask me about it before you all decided that I should do this?" Pause. "And whose idea was this anyway?"

"...Hm? I thought it was a good idea."

...Glare. "You would think so, Kakashi."

"Masao and Tomoe certainly thought so." A page flip, and Masao and Tomoe continued their illicit and steamy ventures on page ninety-four.

"...I refuse to do something that came out of that book."

"It's a perfectly fine book." The beginning, anyway.

"A corrupted one." Starting at the beginning.

"If you say so."

"Raidou, try explaining it to him."

"What'm I, your proxy, Genma?" Sigh. "Look, Hayate. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"...Just about everything? What if she doesn't like it, what if she just stares at me, what if she just gets even madder, what if—"

"—she breaks down laughing with the rest of us?"

"Raidou, that is why I am not doing this."

"That is exactly why you should."

"I am not going to— hey!"

"Well, if you're not going to do it—"

"Give that back—Genma— HEY!"

"She's coming in about fifteen minutes. You'd better hurry."

"Iruka, you traitor."

"Alright, everybody grab a piece and just—"

"Well, that's one way of getting him to do it. You alright, Hayate?"

"...I would like to say that I think you are all crazy."

"Hm? I suppose we are."

"Okay guys, she's coming—hide that stuff—right— get ready— Aoba, get the cameras ready—"

"WHAT??"

"Shut up Hayate, or you'll ruin it."

"You are all. All. Crazy."

x x x x x

Yuugao sighed as she brushed back the bangs of her hair. She'd been "summoned," or so Genma had told her, to his apartment at this time. She had a sneaking suspicion that it involved Hayate.

Hayate. She sighed again. They'd had a minor fight a few days ago when Hayate had pulled a trick on her and gotten her to accidentally eat eggplant. Which she absolutely hated. With a passion. Hayate's small mischievous pranks were admittedly amusing in hindsight, but this had gotten one step too far with Yuugao. Call it childhood residue, but she despised the vegetable and any comments on the similarity of her hair to the color of said vegetable. He'd said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the vegetable – and well, technically there wasn't – but Yuugao still was rather annoyed that Hayate would make fun of something that had given her a lot of pain in the past.

A few days later, and with Hayate still tip-toeing around Yuugao, Yuugao was beginning to think she'd been a little too harsh on him.

...She still hated eggplant though.

Yuugao pressed on the apartment door buzzer. "Genma, I'm here," she spoke into the speaker.

Genma's voice buzzed over, and Yuugao heard the little click that told the door's lock (and any potential traps at this point) had been disabled. "Right. Come on up."

As she walked up the few flights of stairs that led to Genma's apartment, Yuugao wondered just what Hayate was trying to come up with this time. She raised an eyebrow as she came up the last flight to see Genma with his door already open, waiting for her. With a rather wide grin on his face.

"Right, so I bet you can already guess. Hayate left something for you here." He motioned for her to walk in.

Yuugao's eyebrow rose even higher as she followed. "Here?"

"Yeah, you'll see."

Two steps into Genma's apartment and Yuugao did see.

An enormous white box.

Yuugao put a hand on her hip, stopping right in the doorway before going any further. "Genma, what is this?" A huge box right in the middle of Genma's apartment about the size of a table? Something was obviously fishy.

"What, the rather obvious name tag isn't enough?"

Sure enough, there was, in big red strokes: TO UZUKI YUUGAO.

Yuugao sighed for a third time. "Hayate, if this is a joke, I'm not in the mood." She knew he had to be around here somewhere; something this crazy could only involve him.

Genma chewed on that ever-present senbon in his mouth, grinning. "Look, just open it, all right?"

She rolled her eyes, walking over to the box. Might as well get this over with, whatever it was. For a moment she just stared at it, at this strange enormity. What on earth had Hayate put in here? It had better not be some exploding confetti or anything alive. With a sharp tug she pulled off the lid and let it slide to the floor, steadying herself for whatever was inside.

...A Hayate naked right down to his boxers, that's what.

He looked up at her, cross-legged and hands folded in his lap, with a sheepish grin on his face and a deepening flush. "I'm sorry?"

...Yuugao stared.

Genma wrapped an arm around Yuugao's shoulders, leaning casually next to her as Yuugao began turning deepening shades of red herself. "Yep, he's all yours, Yuugao."

"You— you— Hayate..." Yuugao sputtered.

"We tried convincing him to get rid of the boxers too, but he wouldn't do that," Izumo said as his head popped in from around the corner.

"Yeah, he still needs a bit of help with that— Ow!" Kotetsu added before Izumo bopped him over the head.

Yuugao rubbed her temple as Izumo, Kotetsu, Aoba (with a camera, of all things), Kakashi, Iruka and Raidou walked out from behind the hallway, all with rather idiotic grins on their faces (minus Kakashi.) "I can't believe you convinced him to do this at all."

"He asked for it," Genma said with a grin.

"You..." Yuugao covered the side of her face with her right hand.

Hayate got up on his knees and leaned over the edge of the box. "Yuugao, I'm sorry, and I really shouldn't have done that, and I promise I won't ever make you eat eggplant ever again, and, um, well, they said you'd think this was funny—"

His apology was just completely underscored by the fact that he was saying it practically naked and in a box. For her. Yuugao's shoulders began to shake with hidden laughter. "Hayate...you..."

"I think this is the part where you two kiss and make up?" Iruka said, chuckling slightly.

The two of them flushed even darker at that, Hayate tilting his face slightly away and Yuugao keeping one hand over her face. As the collection of guys pointed and laughed at the young couple who was currently testing how many different hues of red the human body can turn (with Aoba taking flash photography to boot), Hayate turned his head in a hopeful look at Yuugao.

"You..." Yuugao said yet again, before giving up and finally turning to look at him, placing her hands on the boxes edge. "Hayate. I swear. This has to be the most outlandish apology you have ever done." Hayate opened his mouth, probably to apologize again, Yuugao wryly thought, and she put a finger over his mouth before he could do so. "That said, it's also rather sweet of you to go this far." She took her finger off of him, and smirked. "So get out of there, Hayate."

Hayate did so, a sheepish grin as he stood up and got out of the box. "Um, so—"

"Let's go." Yuugao grabbed his arm and started dragging him out the room.

Hayate blinked. "Wait, what about my clothes?"

Yuugao paused, before giving him a devious smirk. "I don't think you need them."

"Wait, what— hey, Yuugao— oh you're not— Yuugao, I'm not going outside—"

The sound of the apartment door closing and Hayate's futile protests could be heard faintly as Yuugao dragged him back. Somewhere along the way Hayate gave up and started following willingly, trying to ignore the stares and looks down Konoha's streets at him being in boxers and nothing else; and somewhere else along the way Hayate gave up caring and started turning the tables, namely by him chasing her instead of her dragging him, and other amusing things happened, but that is no longer the point.

No, the point was that this was how Hayate apologized to Yuugao in his boxers and nothing else.