Harumi stormed out of the school, a scowl on her usually smiling face. She was determined to find Maito Gai and make him realize that she had not appreciated his gift one bit. After classes were let out she had to spend an hour to remove all the flowers from her classroom. Now she was tired, grumpy, and smelled too flowery. The scent clung to her and pollen stuck to her clothes.

Waving away another bee that tried to land on her hairpiece, she stopped at the school gate and calmed, looking around thoughtfully. She didn't know where he lived, didn't know where he hung out, and didn't know who his friends were. With no leads and her tracking skills being not so great she began to wonder where to start with her search.

Her anger began to diminish and she sighed, thinking that she should just go home and relax instead of wasting her time being angry and searching for the crazy man who trashed her classroom.

She had already begun her trek back home when sudden loud laughter reached her ears.

"AHA HA!"

Harumi's face twitched, her step faltering, and she immediately changed direction, heading back towards the school. Her anger returned tenfold when she heard more his voice. He was either talking to himself or to someone else, either way she was going to get him. She ran around the side of the school and headed for the back lot.

When she saw him across the lot she didn't stop running. He was alone and his back was to her. Perfect, she thought. She wanted her attack to be a surprise, but as she got closer he turned to her. When he saw her heading straight for him with no signs of stopping he spread his arms out wide and smiled widely.

"Harumi-san! Come to thank me for my gift?!" He boomed.

Her steps quickened and just before she reached him she jumped up and landed a kick to his face then followed through with a roundhouse kick to his chest, sending him flying. He hit the ground roughly, sliding across the dirt until his back hit the fence. Harumi landed in front of him, her hands on her hips. Her cheeks were red and her chest heaved.

Se glared down at him with annoyance. "Do not greet me in such a friendly way after what you did!"

Gai rubbed his cheek, a smile on his face. "That was a wonderful kick Harumi-san. I had no idea you were so talented with Taijutsu!"

"Don't change the subject." She crossed her arms. "I want you to apologize for trashing my classroom."

He blinked. "Trashing…?" He stood, not looking fazed or bruised from the kicks she landed on him. "I thought the flowers would show you how large my affection is for you. I know they are dull in comparison to your beauty-"

"Don't start!" She cut off sharply, waving her hands. She pointed at him sharply and glared.

"The flowers may have seemed like a good idea from your perspective, but you weren't the one who had to receive them! Did you think I would be delighted to be hit with a million flowers when opening my classroom door first thing in the morning? How did you expect me to teach my class with flowers everywhere? Do you know how easily distracted nine-year-olds are?!" She asked hysterically, her hands becoming tight fists at her sides.

Gai frowned, his large eyebrows drawn together. "So… You did not like the flowers?"

Her eye twitched and she pointed at him again. "You…You…" She threw her hands in the air. "Gah! You're infuriating!" She turned on her heel stormed away.

Gai's eyes widened. "W-Wait! Harumi-san!" He easily caught up and fell in to step with her quick strides and she cursed his height advantage and long legs. "I'm sorry if you didn't like the flowers. I will gladly clean them up for you."

"I already did." She grunted.

"Then allow me to make it up to you!" He said with extravagance gestures. "Anything you want and I will do it for you."

She stopped and turned to him, an eyebrow raised. "Really, anything?"

He nodded determinedly. "Anything that will get you to consider me and realize that how I feel for you is based more than your amazing beauty."

Harumi sighed and shook her head, a hand coming up to rub her forehead. "Gai-san, I don't need anything from you. So please, no more gifts…please, just leave me alone."

This time Gai did not follow her as she walked away, but he was not discouraged by her plea. "I made a promise Harumi-san! I will prove my feelings to you!"

"Well you've already broken it!" She called back. "Because I am nowhere near accepting your offer."

Gai's eye widened. "What?" He crossed his arms and cupped his chin in one of his hands. "I have broken my promise?" His posture changed and he held a fist him front of him with determination, streams of tears running down his cheeks. "I know what I must do to make it up to you Harumi-san! And I will!"

She lifted a hand without turning back to look at him. "Go ahead!" She headed back around the school to the academy entrance. As she exited the gate she swung her head around to make sure she wasn't being followed. Once sure she looked forward and continued on, only to be tugged back by her hair. She let out a shriek of surprise and looked behind her. Her hair was stuck on the top of the gate.

She stared up at the tangled mass in disbelief. "How…?" A breeze suddenly drifted by and she sighed. "The wind probably helped it a bit." She muttered.

The mass of hair wasn't that large, but the blond strands had managed to tie themselves pretty tightly on the top of the metal gate. She tried to pull herself free, but it only resulted in inflicting more pain. She groaned and tried to reach up to manually untangle herself, but her arms couldn't turn the right way to grasp the ends. "And I thought this day wasn't doing to get any worse."

"Harumi-san?"

Harumi turned a little too quickly and ended up pulling her hair more. She winced and looked around slowly. Iruka was standing in front of her with an expression that looked to be a cross between amusement and confusion. She smiled sheepishly. "Iruka-sempai, hello. What are you doing here? I would think you'd be home by now."

He pointed to where the road continued to the right. "I stayed after to finish grading some tests. I didn't feel like bringing them home." He glanced up at her knot of hair and raised an eyebrow. "Do you need some help?"

"Would you? That would be so much help. I just can't quite reach; or rather my hands won't turn right." She demonstrated the futility of her attempts and he smiled, taking a few more steps towards her.

"Of course, hold still." He stood in front of her and leaned up to try and untangle the web of hair keeping her stuck. As he did he didn't notice the close proximity of the two, but Harumi did.

She blushed as he leaned closer, her face directly in front of his chin. She watched as he became intent in what he was doing and a small frown covered his lips. She glanced down at the space between them and realized if she leaned forward she could probably lean her head on his shoulder. His arms were already practically around her as he reached around her. Just one step forward and…

"There." Iruka said triumphantly, causing Harumi to jump and look up.

He was smiling down at her sweetly and she blushed a deeper shade of red in shame, berating herself on the direction of her thoughts. She suddenly realized that her head was free and she smiled up at Iruka as he brought his arms back down to his side.

"Thank you, Iruka-sempai." She said softly.

Iruka noticed their positions as well and a small blush formed. He scratched the back of head and grinned, but didn't back away. "It's fine, but how did it end up like that?"

Harumi coughed and looked away in embarrassment. "I turned my head a little too quickly and I think the wind caught some strands and they got caught on the gate." She fingered a piece of her hair. "Maybe I should cut it…"

"No!" Iruka said quickly, surprising Harumi. He cleared his throat and said softer. "I mean, no." He gently ran a hand through her hair. "I think long hair looks beautiful on you."

Harumi's eyes widened and she blushed again. "Iruka…" They stared into each other's eyes for a long time. Iruka smiled slightly, his hand resting on the back of her neck. She smiled and her heart began to beat faster. She bit her lip nervously and leaned forward. They had been in a situation like this before and she had broken away, but this time was going to be different. She wasn't going to hold back.

Iruka leaned forward as well and his heartbeat was growing erratic. The woman he had such deep feelings for was only a breath away. He had dreamed of something like this happening and she looked as if she was anticipating it as well. He smiled and began to lift his other hand to place it on her waist, but he froze as he caught whiff of her perfume. Flowers. He used to love it, but now it just made him remember him of the flowers she was give by someone else. Reminding him she wasn't his.

He let go of her and backed up as if burned. He rubbed his hands together and looked away from her. Harumi stared at him and she felt a little hurt, but covered it quickly.

"Is something wrong Iruka-sempai?"

"No, of course not Harumi-san. I just…" He made the mistake of looking up at her and he flinched. "Yes… there is something wrong."

Harumi felt a prick in her chest. "O-Oh. Well, what is it?"

"It's not right." He said seriously looking into her eyes.

Another prick. "What isn't?"

He rubbed his neck nervously. "You… and I. I know about…. It just wouldn't be…" He sighed. "I can't, Harumi-san, not with you." Not when you belong to someone else, he thought to himself.

Her heart crumbled, but she tried to smile. "I'm sorry. I should have realized…"

"Yeah." He said awkwardly. He saw the look on her face and he wanted so badly to reach out to her, but he knew he couldn't. Instead he put on a smile and shifted his feet. "Well I should probably get home; I have some work waiting for me."

She bit her lip and nodded. The air was still tense, but she was thankful for Iruka for trying to make things less awkward, even though he just rejected her. She wouldn't make it anymore uncomfortable by making her disappointment obvious. She took a deep breath and let all her negative feelings out before smiling.

"Alright. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, sempai."

He nodded slowly. "Yes." He turned away and stared in the direction of his apartments. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Remember to eat something properly. I don't want to have to make you another lunch." She said with false amusement, waving a hand.

Iruka smiled and waved to her. "Don't worry about me so much Harumi-san." He turned away and his smile slowly dropped and he sighed, making his long trek back home, alone.

Harumi stopped waving. Her hand remained in the air and she stared after him sadly. "But I want to." She said softly. Harumi sighed and crossed her arms. "I don't really feel like going home now."

She looked around and quickly made up her mind. She headed for the market complex instead of her apartment. Cooking a dinner for herself didn't seem very appealing at the moment, but having dinner at a restaurant with some nice villagers seemed much better.


Harumi laughed so hard she had to cover her mouth so she didn't spit out her food. She swallowed quickly and coughed, hitting her chest. Her eyes watered as an effect and she blinked rapidly, smiling all through. She was sitting at the bar of one of the restaurants of Konoha with her usual bar-mates: Akimichi Chouza, Nara Shikaku, and Yamanaka Inoichi.

The source of her amusement, Chouza, laughed and patted her back while the other two looked on with amusement at her peril. Harumi coughed and tried to smile, but Chouza was a strong man and that slipped his mind after a few drinks, so a small pat on the back from him made Harumi wince.

"Woah there Harumi-chan! Don't eat too fast." Chouza scolded. "You have to savor your food, like I do!" he rubbed his large stomach proudly.

Harumi caught her breath and giggled. "I'll try Chouza-san."

Shikaku snorted and leaned back into a straight sitting position, an easy grin marring his flushed face. He was already halfway drunk. "I don't think it was the food that caused her to choke Chouza. Maybe you should watch the things that come out of your mouth."

Chouza blinked. "What'da mean?"

Harumi laughed. "It's alright Shikaku-san. Chouza-san's…enthusiasm just caught me by surprise. Believe me I've heard worse come out of my brother's mouth growing up."

"Ah, so you have a brother." Chouza said, surprised. "I didn't know that."

Harumi shrugged. "Well you wouldn't, would you? He still lives in the Waterfall Village with my parents."

Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "If your family is still there then why did you move to the Leaf?" He asked.

"Well, I came here for the Chuunin Exams when I was a teenager and I guess you could say I fell in love with the village. So after I became a teacher I asked for a transfer. It was a little hard for my family to see me leave, but they knew I was determined. So here I am." She finished with a bright smile.

Chouza nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly laughed and patted her on the back. A little too hard as she was sent forward a bit. "And lucky for us, eh? My Chouji tells me nothing but good things about your lessons. Doesn't favor he says. I know I can trust you with my son's training. Isn't that right Shikaku? Inochi?"

Shikaku grunted in agreement and Inochi, who hadn't spoken much that night, looked up from his drink and blinked sluggishly. "I hardly know what to talk to my daughter about, much less ask about specific lessons. The girl comes home and locks herself in her room straight away, what am I supposed to do about that?"

Shikaku patted his shoulder. "Pain of having a daughter my friend, but that's better than a good for nothing son who just lazes around the house after school. At least Ino helps Hana with the flower shop."

Inochi sighed and bowed his head.

Harumi smiled sympathetically. "Ino-chan's doing very well in class and she has spectacular aim. But I'm afraid that she and the rest of the girls are beginning to notice boys a little more. She probably has a crush."

Inochi stared at her. "Crush?" He groaned and downed his drunk.

Shikaku sighed and Chouza laughed. Harumi bit her lip and tried to reassure him. "But it's not that bad, all girls got through that stage, even me, but they grow out of it… eventually."

"Why don't you try to tell him a way to help, using you as an example?" Shikaku suggested, point a finger at her.

"Me?" She asked, surprised.

Chouza smiled widely and nodded. "Yes, that a great idea. It'll help us get to know you better too Harumi-chan."

"Well there's nothing that special about it." She said sheepishly. "No mysteries or drama, just a normal childhood and a normal family, but uh, I guess I could think of something. Just to help you out Inoichi-san, since you seem to need the help. Any advice I could give would be to leave her alone."

"What?"

Harumi nodded. "Girls at this age hate it when their father butt into their lives, especially their love lives. Just let her go through it and she'll come to you if she ever needs something. Believe me, I went to my father for comfort after a heartbreak and she'll go to you. A girl needs her father, or else who'd buy her things?"

Chouza laughed and Inochi just looked more downhearted. Shikaku shook his head and smirked. "Don't think that helped much."

Harumi smiled and shrugged. "Well that's all the advice I have. She'll grow out of it, and remember, girls mature faster than boys."

Inochi ordered another drink. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Harumi laughed and pushed her empty plate and glass further up the bar for the cook to take. She wiped her mouth and her hands on her napkin and stood up. Grabbing money from her purse she pulled out the right amount, plus tip, and set it on the bar. "Well guys, it's been fun, but I really should get home. It's almost dark and I have some tests to grade."

Chouza made a noise of disappointment. "Aw, Harumi-chan, you mean you're going to leave me with these two as company?"

Shikaku narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at Chouza, swaying slightly as he did. "Hey… Are you insulting us?"

Chouza pouted. Harumi found the gesture hilarious on the large man's face. "No, I'm just saying Harumi-chan's company is much more fun than you drunks."

Inoichi looked up with a dazed expression while Shikaku furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "Who you callin' a drunk?" Shikaku asked.

Harumi giggled and patted them each on the head. "Thank you for making my night so entertaining. I'll see you all later." She gave one last wave before exiting the restaurant, the three mens' goodbyes following her.

Harumi headed towards her apartment, but paused to appreciate the sunset for a moment. She felt a bit refreshed after spending time with the three men she had gotten to know during her time in Konoha. After stumbling upon the restaurant and meeting the trio her first month in the village, she found herself visiting the bar at least once a week.

She smiled to herself; happy she had such nice friends who could unknowingly take her mind off the bad things from her day. Her heart was a little sore, but felt lighter after having dinner with the three.

Harumi gasped in surprise as she collided with someone in front of her. She was so preoccupied with her thought she hadn't seen that someone wasn't walking. She apologized quickly and stepped around them, only to see that there was a large group of people gathered. Curiosity peeked, Harumi moved forward to try and see what was going on, but her view was blocked. She didn't want to be rude and push through people so she tried to ease to the side, listening to bits and pieces of other peoples' conversations.

"I can't believe he's still at it."

"How long has it been?"

"A few hours."

"That's determination there."

"It's silly. What type of ridiculous promise or vow do you think he broke this time?"

"I don't know, but with Gai what can you expect?"

Harumi froze and she stopped all attempts to get through. "Gai-san?" She whispered.

Somewhat fearfully, she walked around the other people blocking her path to see for herself what was going on and what Gai was doing. She stood in disbelief when she saw him. He was walking on his hands down the street with a determined look on his face.

Harumi covered her mouth in shock. "He's actually doing it… and for a few hours already? What is wrong with this man?"

Harumi moved forward through the crowd, throwing looks at those making fun of Gai, and ran after him. She caught up easily; he was moving at a slow pace to keep the balance on his hands. She slowed to a walk behind him and glanced back at the curious crowd, then down at Gai. He hadn't noticed her yet. She waited until they were far enough away before saying something.

He was going into the forest path when she decided to speak up.

"Gai-san…"

"Ah, Harumi-san, I wondered when you were going to say something!" He said brightly.

"You knew I was there?" She asked in surprise.

Gai laughed. "A ninja must always be aware of his surroundings. I saw you in the reflection of one of the store windows earlier." He said.

"O-oh." She stuttered in embarrassment. She realized he must have noticed her following him as well after spotting her, and then it struck her that he might of gotten the wrong idea. She moved to his side and hastily responded. "Well I didn't want to…interrupt so I waited until there was no crowd…"

"Don't worry Harumi-san, many the others have been awed into silence because of my strength." He boasted with a loud laugh following.

Harumi shook her head. "More in awe of your cockiness." She muttered under her breath. She looked at his face thoughtfully and noted the sweat that coated his forehead. "Gai-san why are you doing this?" She asked curiously.

"Because I failed to prove to you that I am sincere and genuine in my offer." He said.

Harumi sighed and looked around. It was beginning to get dark and she wondered how long he was going to be out. It was supposed to be cold that night and she didn't want him to be out and then get sick because of her. She bit her lip and clasped her hands together in front of herself.

"Gai-san, if you knew me you'd know that things like this aren't going to impress me." She looked back down at him and sighed. His determination and passion really surprised Harumi, and she decided that Gai really wasn't a bad guy. So if he wanted to prove that he liked her for more than just her looks, then she should let him prove it. What would she gain of just shooting him down and being unfair? She realized he'd probably just get more persistent if she did that.

Besides, she thought to herself sadly, who else is showing any interest?

Gai stared at the path ahead and wouldn't look at Harumi. "I'm not trying to impress you Harumi, I wish only to prove myself and have you accept me."

She crossed her arms. "Well me accepting you is not the problem here Gai-san, I'm more worried about you accepting me on more than a physical level. How can you know that you like me when you only just met me?"

Gai nodded in agreement.

She sighed. "So I guess I'll just have to go out with you so you can get to know me."

Gai stopped moving so suddenly that his body teetered forward and he lost his balance. His back hit the ground and he stared at the sky with a stunned expression on his face. Harumi stopped and stood over him, looking down at him with concern.

"Are you alright Gai-san?"

Gai was up in a flash and picked her up, spinning her around in joy. She gasped at the sudden movement and grabbing his shoulders in surprise "This am wonderful Harumi-san, more than wonderful! I knew I would prove myself to you!"

Harumi giggled nervously, surprised he could lift her so easily. "Okay, please stop now! I'm getting dizzy."

He stopped, but kept her in his arms and his smile just widened. Harumi looked down at the ground and realized how much taller Gai was than her, so much so that her feet didn't even touch the ground when she was lifted face to face with him. She held on firmly to his shoulders, although she began to figure that he was more than strong enough to lift her.

He laughed happily. "You won't regret this Harumi-san, I will show you how I feel." He beamed enthusiastically.

Harumi smiled nervously and nodded. "I can only hope, Gai-san. Now can you put me down?"

He set her down gently and stepped away, the silly grin not leaving his face. He started back towards the village in a hurry, waving a goodbye to Harumi. "I look forward to our date Harumi-san. Now I must go prepare! Try not to miss me too dearly!"

Harumi stared after him with wide eyes. He ran so fast that he was gone in an instant.

"Prepare…" Her lip twitched and she blinked. "I wonder if I just made a huge mistake?"