Here it is! The third chapter of Happy Endings? Well, you knew that. Added a bit more light romance in this chapter. Sorry to just drop everything about Kiba and Hinata this chapter. I wanted to focus on Konohamaru and Hanabi. Mostly Hanabi, she's a lot of fun to write. I enjoyed writing this chapter, it's a lot of fun to do. This is the longest one so far, my first chapter for any story to get over 2000 words. Anyway, I'll shut now so you can get on to the actual story. Enjoy!

Hanabi needed to blow off steam. She really needed to blow off steam. The young Hyuuga had not enjoyed the wedding. There were crowds, dancing, a need to be social and her father (plus her sister?) trying to hook her up with boys that just weren't interested (or just not interesting). Hanabi just wasn't the type for romance. She would much rather be training to get stronger or be on a mission then sit around worrying about her love life. Like a proper ninja, Hanabi never let herself be controlled by her emotions. She did her best to push unwanted romantic feelings to the back of her mind. Though the wedding (with some help from Hinata) pushed those unwanted emotions to forefront of Hanabi's mind. And she hated it.

So Hanabi did one thing with that frustration, she went home and ordered someone from the branch clan to spar with her. Still in the plain, dark-grey dress she had worn to the event, Hanabi fought until they both collapsed.

"You've improved, Hanabi-sama."

"Thank you, and drop the -sama."

"Yes, Hanabi-san."

"Better."

"You've ruined your dress."

"I know."

Hanabi smirked a little while heavily panting. The dress was ripped, dirty and soaked with sweat with a touch of blood here and there. She was tired, but that was nothing new. She was used to being worked this hard, as the future of the clan. She was used to being worked this hard and then tossed straight back into battle with a fresh partner. That had been the reality of her childhood. Things were improving now; her father was being kinder to Hinata then ever before. The whole clan was slowly but surely beginning to change, thanks to the new Hokage. The infamous curse seal had finally been banned and no one called Hinata a failure anymore. But still, Hanabi was being groomed to become the perfect Hyuuga Clan head since the stuck-up elders would never allow Hinata to fill that roll. Which is why love was not an option for Hanabi. Though she didn't know who, her future husband was pre-determined and was someone from some prestigious clan. If Hanabi refused to acknowledge love, then maybe it didn't exist. However, that plan wasn't working.

"K-K-Konohamaru-kun?" Hinata asked the teenager who had approached her as she walked home. Unlike Hanabi, she was in no rush to make her way back to the compound. Hinata had never really felt at home there anyway, despite being born and raised within the compound.

"Uh… give this to your sister, okay?" He said and gave her an envelope. The word 'Hanabi' was messily written on the back. Hinata smiled, this would be easier then she thought. He looked anxious, probably because he couldn't get it to her himself.

"Oi! Konohamaru, hurry up!" A pigtailed redhead known as Moegi called out to him.

"Make sure she gets it." He added quickly before turning and running to his teammates. Hinata turned the envelope over in her hand, and found it wasn't sealed. The white-eyed girl couldn't help herself; she slid the folded paper out of the envelope and started to read.

Hanabi did her best to feel nothing as she held the envelope. 'Throw it out, don't read it.' She thought as she sat on her bed, now in a comfortable sleeveless v-neck shirt and black shorts. Her fingers toyed with the envelope, opening and closing it, turning it over in every way possible. 'Just open it. What am I afraid of?' the thought struck her, what was she afraid of? That it would be a threat of some sort, someone out to get her? Nah. Father would track them down, beat them to a pulp and have them locked in jail for the rest of their life. Plus she was pretty confident in her abilities. Anyway, someone in the clan must of have delivered (or wrote?) the letter, seeing as she found it sitting on her bed. Maybe she afraid of it being something she wanted to hear, a confession or invitation? If it were, she wouldn't be able to deny any long stifled emotions. 'C'mon Hanabi, read the stupid note'

The Hyuuga took a deep breath and opened the letter.

Konohamaru sat at Ichiraku Ramen Bar, waiting for the arrival of Hanabi. It was anyone's guess if she would actually show up. He wanted to ask her in person but she wasn't in the best of moods and Moegi was distracting him. There was a chance Hanabi hadn't even read the note. Or that Hinata hadn't gotten it to her.

"Are you ready to order Konohamaru-kun?" asked Ayame, Teuchi's daughter and the waitress at Ichiraku.

"Nah, I'm waiting for my date"

"I-Imoto-chan, where are you g-going?"

"To the third dojo to train with father."

"B-but…"

Hanabi whipped around and faced her sister, so it was her that had left that note. "So you left the note? Humph." She snapped coldly and kept her composure. Hanabi didn't want to think about boys. She didn't want to think about the one she was actively standing up. Hinata nodded meekly. Somehow her little sister had the ability to make her feel inferior if she wanted to, which she usually didn't, but Hanabi was annoyed at the situation.

"You're not going?"

"Father asked me to train, I'll be late." She announced quite flatly.

"B-but you train every day, can't you skip it, just once?"

"No." And with that Hanabi walked off and turned the corner to the dojo.

"Focus, Hanabi!"

A panting Hanabi lay on the ground after taking a hard blow to her chest. The fights with her father never got any easier. Despite improving clan dynamics, the heir still had to be strong.

"Yes, Father." The girl grasped the kunai that lay beside her and stood once more. Her body fell back into battle stance as she faced her father once more.

"Now come at me again, try harder this time!"

"Yes, Father." Kunai in hand, Hanabi ran at her father once more, faking a head on attack while planning to quickly get behind him and attack. However, he saw it coming and knocked her to the floor as she moved beside him. The brief opening when her back was exposed was enough for him to take her out.

Truth was, Hanabi was off her game that day, and she knew it. She tried to focus on sparring and strategizing the best moves, but her mind was elsewhere. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself otherwise, Hanabi was guilty. Some part of her, deep within, told her that she ought to be at Ichiraku ramen with Konohamaru.

"What's gotten into you Hanabi?"

"Sorry, Father. I'm distracted today."

"So I've noticed. Go rest. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Yes, Father."

"Imoto-chan?" Hinata questioned as her little sister left the dojo much earlier then she usually would. "You and father are done already."

"Yes. I was too… distracted and it was affecting my abilities as ninja." Hanabi's voice sounded rather formal and rushed, probably avoiding conversation regarding a certain letter. "I am supposed to rest up so I'll be able to spar to the best of my abilities when we continue training tomorrow." She said matter-of-factly, avoiding eye contact. Maybe Hinata was just imagining it to see what she wanted to, but Hanabi seemed a little guilty.

"S-so you're not going to see Konohamaru-kun?" The younger Hyuuga stopped in her tracks, surprised by the boldness of her sister's statement. Well, it was bold for her anyway. Hinata was usually pretty quiet about anything involving romance. She was known to blush at the mere mention of Naruto's name.

"No. I'm going to sleep." She said coldly and continued walking.

Hanabi stared at the ceiling of her darkening bedroom. There was no way he'd still be waiting for her. There was no point in going. Yet her eyes kept wandering to the window. Sure, the compound had great security. But that was designed to keep people out. The guards were all pointed outward; protecting what was inside from potential threats. There probably wasn't a single guard making sure the Hyuuga's stayed within their compound. After all, one could normally just walk out the front gate. But Hanabi was supposed be asleep. However, she was a ninja. She could easily hop out the window and creep out of the compound in hopes of catching Konohamaru before it was too late.

But doing so would require breaking the rules. Hyuuga Hanabi never broke her father's rules. She was the perfect the little heir, a role she had been assigned since she was old enough to fight. Heck, she was probably only born because Hinata had been labeled as a failure from a young age. Outright disobedience to her father was something she just didn't do. The idea almost felt alien. 'There's a first time for everything' thought Hanabi as she stared out the window. The Hyuuga girl read the letter one last time, sighed, and jumped out the window.

"I don't think she's coming." Ayame finally admitted out loud. Konohamaru had been waiting for Hanabi for an hour now; trying to convince himself that she was coming and would be there soon the whole time. Konohamaru shrugged and smiled a little.

"You're probably right. Should have seen it coming."

"Would you like to order now?"

"Yeah, sure! I'll get a miso ramen."

"Coming right up!" Konohamaru smiled at Ayame as she told her father the order for him to begin preparation. A love for ramen was a trait he shared with his mentor and friend, Naruto. As Ayame gave him his meal, a shadow fell over him from behind. Curiously, Konohamaru looked over his shoulder, mouth full of noodles.

"You ordered without me." Konohamaru smiled. Hyuuga Hanabi, though an hour late, had arrived.

"Hanabi?" Hiashi Hyuuga knocked on the door to his daughter's bedroom. Something was bugging the girl, and he wanted to find out what. "Hanabi? Hanabi, it's your father, open the door." No answer. "Hanabi? Are you awake? I'm coming in." He warned, expecting the girl to open the door. After a few seconds of waiting in silence, he turned the knob and opened the door.

Only to find Hanabi's empty bedroom with an open window, Hanabi was nowhere to be found.

"You showed up!"

"Don't sound so surprised," the girl scoffed "I'll have whatever he's having." She added to Ayame, who nodded politely. Hanabi's tone didn't convey much emotion, and she was refusing eye contact again.

"Well, you're an hour late!"

"You think father just let me go. I had to sneak out, you dummy."

"Never broken the rules before, have you, Hana-chan?" Konohamaru teased as Hanabi's ramen arrived.

"Humph. I can be defiant… I just choose not to. And who are you calling Hana-chan?" the flustered Hyuuga responded while her cheeks turned a particularly pretty shade of pink. People didn't call her 'Hana-chan', or even 'Hanabi-chan'. She was 'Hanabi-san' to most, just 'Hanabi' to a few, and 'Imoto-chan' to her sister (even though Hanabi had never called Hinata 'Onee-chan').

"You're cute when you blush, Hana-chan!" Konohamaru giggled as Hanabi's pink cheeks turned a little red as she crossed her arm, feigning anger to hide her obvious embarrassment.

"I'm not blushing! And don't call me that!"

"But it's cute…"

"Since when am I cute?" Hanabi demanded. Cute was not an adjective used to describe Hanabi. Pretty, maybe. With long dark brown hair, her unblemished pale skin (save a few hidden scars) and her white orbs for eyes had sometimes been described as pretty, To those who didn't know her. But not cute; Hyuuga Hanabi was anything but cute.

"I think you're cute…" the pair both blushed and looked away. Konohamaru had said it on impulse, embarrassing them both.

"Thanks." Hanabi said shyly, accepting a compliment never before given to her.

"You know, Sarutobi, you're not all that bad." For the first time that night, Hanabi graced Konohamaru with a smile. He had never seen anything so beautiful.

Getting back into the compound unnoticed wasn't a difficult feat for Hanabi. The place was well guarded but Hanabi new it like the back of her hand. She knew where the guards would be and when they'd be there, so making it over the fence was easy. From there, getting to her room was no problem. Being a ninja with great chakra control, it was easy to make it up the wall. She clambered into the window with a hint of a smile still on her face.

All that vanished as she entered the room. Because Hyuuga Hanabi, the perfect little heiress, found herself staring face to face with he father. And he did not look happy.

Hope you enjoyed my most recent chapter! Hanabi and Konohamaru are fun to write together. I'm feeling pretty good about this one, finally a little bit of real romance. I'll try to update soon.

I'm considering trying to get a bit of action in next chapter, this is Naruto I'm writing after all. It can't all be romance. Anyway, please tell me what you think! I love reviews and would greatly appreciate advice on how to become a better writer!