It's that time again! Drumroll please!
Naruto: No, do it yourself.
Killjoy. Anyways, I've got another one-shot for my beloved fan.
Naruto: What fans?
... Now that hurt... Anyways, like Always Welcome, this is from a character's point-of-view that isn't Naruto--Hanabi! I tried to add in some humor as well. I'm aware that I'm not so great at humor, but feel free to give any tips! And like the rest of my fics, this is un-Beta'd. But I've done what I could to make it as error free as possible. Hanabi, the disclaimer?
Hanabi: He does not own Naruto, the characters or any thing but the story... and perhaps Hanabi no Jutsu.
Hanabi stared, deadpanned. At the outskirts of Konoha, just outside a forest, she stood, completely impassive to what she was witnessing. In front of her was a blond-haired idiot that had just set himself on fire. And a part of her was ashamed to say that this person was her friend.
"Ahhh! I'm on fiiiiiiire!! Heeeeeelp!!"
He was standing on a river.
Hanabi placed her palm to her face.
And thus, Hanabi was faced with what felt like the most important decision of the century: Whether she should warn her friend that his solution to his little fire problem was literally underneath him or not.
Clearly, this was a tough decision. All the while, her friend only continued to prove the stupid blond stereotype right, as he ran around in circles, flailing his arms around and screaming like a madman.
"I don't want to diiiiiiiiiiiiiie!! Noooooooooooooo!"
A tough decision indeed.
But alas, he was her friend, and it only came to pass that she tell him.
"Naruto!"
"What!? Can't you see I'm dying here?!" He wailed.
"Look down!"
"Huh?!" He screamed, but he obediently looked down.
He stopped in placed, and his mouth formed a small circle, flames still burning his shirt.
Suddenly, he fell through the river, creating a large splash. Hanabi took a step back from the river, so as to not become wet.
"Oh man, that was close, wasn't it Hanabi-chan?" Naruto grinned, a complete reversal to how he was just moments before.
It took all she had to stop herself from smacking the blue-eyed boy silly.
"Are you an idio--Wait, nevermind. I don't even have to say it." Hanabi sighed in exasperation, placing her hand over her face. "How in the hell did you manage to set yourself on fire doing a water jutsu?!"
Naruto frowned, placing a hand on his chin, and took a sitting position--after he had gotten out of the river, mind you--and thought about it.
"Well, I think I got some of the handseals wrong." Naruto said. Hanabi's eye twitched.
"But why would you be aiming at yourself?!" She pointed to his charred sleeve- About half of it had been burned away.
"I... sort of... maybe... meanttocleanmyhandswithwater..." Naruto mumbled the last part, his face becoming a light hue of red, turning away.
"... What?" She elegantly raised an eyebrow, a gesture that clearly meant that he should clarify.
"I... meant to clean my hands... with water..." His face was absolutely burning red now.
Awkward silence ensued. The constant sound of the river water flowing and the birds chirping were only white noise to the both of them, as Hanabi stared at her blond friend, once again deadpanned.
Hanabi sighed, crossing her arms. "You're what, 18 years old, now? I wish you would have developed enough common sense to know not to use jutsus, especially ones you've never used before," She emphasized, "On yourself."
Naruto pouted, and his eyes grew wide and shiny--Hanabi actually had to take some effort on restraining herself from letting out an "Aww..."--and formed what was known as the dreaded puppy-dog eyes. Known as the most dangerous non-harmful technique known to man. Hanabi recoiled, both disturbed and in awe. She never knew a man could perform that technique so well.
"But Hanabi-chaaaaan... I was only--Ow!" Naruto flinched, holding the arm of the burned sleeve with his other hand. Hanabi only noticed just now that it was burned.
'Of course it would be burned. I'm so stupid!' She mentally berated herself. She knelt down. "Let me see that." She pried away his hand and held it gently, so as to not irritate it further. The burns weren't too serious, she noticed, but they would be a bother for a few days if not treated.
"It's not too serious," She stated, just so Naruto would be aware of it as well, "But you should go get it treated just in case. I'm sure Sakura-san could fix this up just fine."
"But--" Naruto started.
"No buts. I know you heal fast, but as long as I'm around, you'll be getting that treated." Hanabi scolded, waving a finger in his direction, before she grabbed his uninjured hand to pull him up.
Naruto pouted a bit, before sighing. "Alright, alright. Let's go..." He sulked.
:ooooo:
Hanabi waited patiently in the hospital lobby. Apparently, Naruto had been skipping out on his physical examination, so Sakura had decided to take care of that while she took care of the burns.
'Had I know that, I would have brought him here sooner.' She mentally sighed to herself. Naruto was quite a handful.
"Hyuuga Hanabi, isn't it?" Spoke a voice from behind her; it took all her ninja training to not jump in surprise. Hanabi turned around.
"Oh, hello Hokage-sama!" She greeted, slightly unnerved. Why would the Hokage be talking to her?
"Nice to finally meet you in person. I hear a lot about you from Naruto, you know." Tsunade smiled.
"Ah, really? What does he say about me?" Hanabi asked, truly curious.
"Mmm, well, he--"
"Hanabi-chan! I'm finished!!" A loud shout rang throughout the hospital. Naruto ran towards them. Tsunade smacked her forehead in irritation.
"That blond idiot... You're supposed to be quiet in a hospital." Tsunade mumbled to herself, though Hanabi caught it.
Naruto skidded to a stop in front of the two. "Hey Tsunade-baa-chan, I didn't know you were here too! I mean, don't you have paperwork to be doing?"
Tsunade twitched violently; Hanabi could tell she was this--as in a miniscule amount--close to clobbering the blond. Hanabi took a quick glance at his now healed arm, which was burn-free.
"I also have business here as well, Naruto. In case you've forgotten, I'm also a medic-ninja."
"Ahaha, no worries Tsunade-baa-chan. I was just jokin'!" Naruto grinned at his fellow blond, before turning to Hanabi.
"Come on, Hanabi-chan! Let's go!" Hanabi looked at him, confused.
"Go? Go where, exactly?"
Naruto had a strange look in his eye, just for a brief moment, before he returned to grinning. "Back to training, duh!" He stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"So, let's go!" He quickly grabbed her hand, running off and pulling her along with him. Tsunade watched as they left, despite Hanabi's protests, until they were no longer in sight. 18, and Naruto was still like a child. And yet, Hanabi, 5 years his junior, was far more mature. She laughed inwardly at that.
She smirked. "I guess I'll have to tell Hanabi some other time."
:ooooo:
"What's with the sudden interest in water jutsu, anyways?" She asked suddenly, catching the blond off-guard. He stopped midseal, and stared at Hanabi.
"Hmm, well..." He crossed his arms, "That's a secret for some other time, Hanabi-chan!"
Hanabi gaped at the blond, partly in exasperation, partly flabbergasted. Well, whatever. She'd let it go for now.
Hanabi mentally sighed, sitting down under a tree, as Naruto practiced on top of the river once again. Though her eyes were trained on the blond, her mind began to drift to something that had happened to her only days before. Though she didn't show it, it had gotten her thinking...
Convenient Flashback
Hanabi was weeding. And as odd as that sounded, it looked just as odd.
She was currently on a D-ranked mission with her team, and they had been hired to weed a garden. Pretty routine stuff for a genin team. But being their 7th D-ranked mission that day, it need not be said that Hanabi was bored. She began zoning out around the 3rd mission. Though, she did manage to notice that their sensei had to leave for this mission.
However, Hanabi was currently zoned out enough not to notice that the rest of her team had stopped weeding, as well as the figure that had creeped up behind her.
"Boo!"
"Wah!" Hanabi jumped up in shock, weeds still in hand. Hanabi turned to the voice, only to find Uzumaki Naruto's trademark grin.
Hanabi's face turned slightly red as she realized what she had just done. She also noticed her two teammates staring.
Regaining her composure, she greeted Naruto. "Hello, Naruto. What're you doing here?"
"I was just passing by, and I wanted to say hello!"
Hanabi twitched. 'But must you greet people so loudly?' She thought to herself.
"Well, I have to go now. See you later, Hanabi-chan!" He ran off, waving good-bye.
Awkward silence ensued, as Hanabi was nervously aware of the stares her teammates were giving her. That is, until one of her teammates spoke up.
"How do you put up with that?"
Huh? Now that caught her off guard. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, wasn't that annoying? I know that you always hang out together, but, like, why do you put up with him? Doesn't he annoy you at all?"
Hanabi stared her teammate, slightly shocked. She opened her mouth to answer, but their sensei returned, interrupting her. "Hmm? Why aren't you guys working? Come on, get back to work!"
Though Hanabi did the work, her mind would be preoccupied for the rest of the missions.
End Convenient Flashback
After that, Hanabi's thoughts had been preoccupied with that question. Naruto was certainly a lot to put up with, and he certainly annoyed her a lot. So, why? Why did she put up with him?
As Hanabi returned from her little flashback, she noticed that it had gotten considerably darker. She also noticed that Naruto was still training. Hanabi sighed to herself, something, she noticed, she was doing a lot of today. If it weren't for her, Naruto would overwork himself everytime he went training.
"Naruto!" She took small pleasure at his surprised jump. "I think it's time we go home, Naruto, so you should stop training now!"
"Aww, but, Hanabi-chan, I can still go for a few more hours..."
"Not while I'm around, you won't. Now go home and get some rest." Hanabi said sternly.
Naruto pouted, "Alright, fine..."
:ooooo:
2 weeks passed by. Hanabi noticed that it went by pretty quickly as well. Naruto's training went well, especially under her watch.
Oddly enough, Naruto had told her to meet her later that night, at a lake within Konoha's forests. This was an odd request, considering it was Naruto.
It was already sundown, Hanabi noted. She decided to leave her home now, and enjoy a casual walk there instead of ninja-jumping her way there.
By the time she arrived, the stars twinkled in the sky softly. Naruto stood on the edge of the lake, arms crossed as he faced the water. Was he waiting for her?
"So, Naruto, what did you call me here for?" Naruto, much to her chagrin, didn't act surprised. Perhaps he already knew she was here?
"Ah, well, Hanabi-chan... I, er..." He turned to Hanabi, face slightly red. Hanabi elegantly raised an eyebrow. Uzumaki Naruto, nervous? Impossible.
'Just what is going on?' She thought to herself. She wanted to ask him directly, but something kept her from speaking. She let him continue.
Naruto coughed. "I, uh, have something to show you! Hold on for a sec'..." He quickly walked out onto the water, and began forming handseals that she recognized were for the water jutsu she helped him train for.
Multiple balls of water began to rise up. It didn't stop any time soon, either. They continued rising up until she could no longer see them. "Naruto...?"
Suddenly, there was an explosion in the sky. As she was still looking up for the balls of water, she saw it.
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
Fireworks. Fireworks made of water, she realized. They flashed different colors; pink, blue, green, yellow, red... so many colors. The fireworks spread out, like a flower blooming, until they slowly disappeared. They came in all sorts of different shapes. Large, small, some in the shape of actual flowers. There were even some in the shape of leaves. There was even one that looked like her!
The fireworks continued, but she never stopped watching. Her velvet white eyes caught all of the fireworks, her lips forming a small open smile. She never looked away.
When they ended, Hanabi felt her heart drop. She didn't want it to end.
"I call it Hanabi no Jutsu! (Fireworks Technique!)" This broke Hanabi out of her reverie. Her eyes widened. He named the jutsu after her?
"Naruto..." She whispered his name, slightly dazed. This was almost like a dream.
"Hanabi... I, well, I realize I can be a handful at times," Hanabi opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself, and let Naruto continue, "And I know that I'm not the brightest guy around..."
"But I'm happy!" He suddenly smiled at her. It wasn't his usual grin. This was a true, genuine smile.
"Because you're there, Hanabi-chan." Her eyes widened once more, before she blushed a bright red, her heart racing. "I'm thankful that you've been there for me. That you're there to keep me in line."
He walked up to her. "So... Thanks, Hanabi-chan." Naruto hugged her. Her blush returned full force, she slowly accepted and returned the hug.
"You're welcome..." She whispered, before smiling to herself. This was just what she needed to clear her mind.
She had just the answer to the question she had been asking herself.
Why did she put up with Uzumaki Naruto?
Because he was her little bit of sunshine.
This was actually an enjoyable write, though I got stuck on more than one occasion.
Naruto: And distracted.
Shhh, they don't need to know.
Naruto: And fix your work habits, geez. They're worse than Tsunade is with paperwork.
Must you always insult me...?
Hanabi: Ignoring them... Whether you loved it, hated it, or could care less about this story, review. Constructive criticism is most welcome.
