Hanabi stared into the distance beyond the lake. Her mind wandered to all the responsibility laid on her shoulders. As future head of the Hyuga clan, there was no end to pressure. The elders of her clan especially were no help to her current state, always insisting that she had to carry herself with more grace, that she should see to this, train harder, watch her actions in public. It was driving her crazy, always having to put on a mask, pretending to be someone righteous, professional and graceful when inside, she was still an innocent little eleven-year old.

Sometimes, she envied her sister. Sure, Hinata was often ridiculed for not being good enough, but at least she was allowed to live her life as who she is, and not be forced into maturity.

While she was lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice the water bomb flying straight to her head. When she noticed, however, she instinctively reached out to grab it, causing it to burst right in her face. The one who threw the water bomb instictively reeled backwards.

"Hanabi-san! I am so sorry! I wasn't aiming properly and -"

Konohamaru's apology was cut off when a wall of water splashed into his face. He quickly scrambled away from Hanabi, terrified of the scolding she was sure to subject him too. Instead, to his surprise, he found her laughing. As he started to relax, he saw her face harden as she whipped around to face him.

"How dare you! Could you show some respect?!"

Konohamaru was stumped. "But you hit me back with water too. And I just saw you laughing! What happened?"

Hanabi's face was devoid of emotion. "It was only as retaliation that I hit you. Now go away. You are annoying me with your presence."

Konohamaru was confused. Hanabi was a really tough character to figure out. It was as if she was all about respect and position and politics, but sometimes there was a peek of that young, cheerful girl that she is.

"Alright, I'm sorry, Hanabi-san."

As he started to walk away, Hanabi started to feel guilty for thrashing out at him when WHAM! another water balloon hit her at the back of her head.

"YEAH! I GOT YOU, I GOT YOU!"

Hanabi surged her chakra to infuse with the water in the lake, and willed it to rise. Konohamaru's voice faltered as the water's shadow fell over him.

"AARGH!" Konohamaru barely had time to scream before the water collapsed on top of him.

Hanabi started to laugh uncontrollably. Konohamaru growled playfully and ran at her, pushing her into the lake. She screamed as she was drenched through, then pulled Konohamaru along with her. The pair started to splash water at each other and squealed and laughed. Everytime Konohamaru managed to get a hit in at Hanabi, she would retaliate twice as hard.

As the sun set, the two sat side by side, watching the glowing orb paint the skies in hues of purple and orange.

"Thanks, Konohamaru."

"For what, Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi's ears perked up at the honorific used. This was the first time that anyone had mentioned her with that honorific, anyone had honoured a close friendship with her.

"For not giving up on me, for being my friend because of who I am, not what I am."

Konohamaru smiled.

"Even the most professional people need breaks. Just because you are the heiress of the Hyuga clan doesn't mean you can't have fun. So if you wanna have a water-fight soon, just let me know, okay? I'm here for you."

Hanabi's beaming face said it all.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story! Again, any prompts, just leave a review or PM me! Thanks for reading!