Chapter 8: Confessions Of A Cold Heart
(This chapter tells the story of how Konohamaru & Hanabi got together)
Sarutobi Konohamaru knew he was in deep, deep trouble.
Rapidly jumping from branch to branch, the chunin cursed himself for what seemed to be the nth time for his foolishness & stupidity. One does NOT humiliate a Hyuga & expect to get away with it unscathed.
And not just any Hyuga. What was even worst was he had to pick on the next head of the Hyuga clan. A real certified Ice Queen, Hyuga Hanabi who also happened to be his teammate.
It had started out as an innocent practical joke by Konoha's current crown prince of pranks. Ever since he & Moegi were partnered with Hanabi, he had yet to see anything ruffle her feathers. He had tried everything but to no avail. He wanted so badly to get a reaction, ANY reaction out of the normally stoic Hanabi.
So with the help of Moegi as well as Udon (Udon had since become a junior instructor at the academy but still helped out Konohamaru occasionally), Konohamaru devised a plan to elicit some sort expression from the Hyuga prodigy.
It had been a classic gag which the current Hokage & his former sensei Naruto had frequently pulled during his genin days. It was so simple that nobody would have ever thought of it. It involved placing a well hidden rope trap on the ground a placing a lure above it. In this case, it was Hanabi's weapon pouch which Moegi had 'borrowed' a few days earlier. Once she steps on the trap, it will ensare her ankles & hang her upside down.
It was the perfect plan except for one thing.
He did not expect Hanabi to saunter into their team's training ground dressed in a simple, yet elegant yukata instead of her usual black body-hugging shinobi suit.
"Oh crap." He had whispered as Hanabi walks over & stoops down to pick up the weapons pouch & right on cue...
SNAP
"EEEEKKKK!"
Before Konohamaru could stop her, the trap had sprung & she was caught hanging upside down & exposing her underwear for him to see. He quickly sprang out of his hiding place & cuts the rope, catching Hanabi in mid-air & places her on the ground while at the same time, apologizing profusely.
"Damn, I'm sorry Hanabi-chan. I thought you were gonna come here for training & was gonna wear your training gear and..." He started but suddenly stops as he realized that he was saying too much. But Hanabi was not listening to him. Her head hanged down & though Konohamaru couldn't see the expression of her face, he knew that she had to be furious. "Damn. Now I've done it" He thought.
"Uhh... Hanabi-chan?" Konohamaru said, not exactly sure what to do in this situation.
Hanabi's head suddenly snaps up. The full force of her Byakugan glaring at Konohamaru.
"KONOHAMARU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She screamed & started swinging madly at her teammate.
Konohamaru started dodging her attacks & thought to himself. "I can't take Hanabi-chan on in hand-to-hand combat. She's way better then me with that Jyuken style of hers. I've got to get away & think of something fast!"
Konohamaru then jumps up to a nearby tree & jumps off to get away from his enraged partner.
"You won't get away from me!" Hanabi said furiously & started chasing Konohamaru.
And that was how Konohamaru found himself in this situation. Normally, he was usually the one chasing after pretty girls & not the other way around. But Hanabi was not just another pretty girl. She was a pretty girl from the Hyuga clan hellbent on getting revenge for the humiliation she had suffered at his hands. And if the rest of her family were to find out about this, it would mean the end of his career as a shinobi.
And that was if he was lucky.
A kunai whizzes past his ear telling him that Hanabi was closing in fast. "That's Hanabi-chan for you. At least she had the sense to pick up her weapon pouch before she went after me." Konohamaru thought with a grumble as he started moving erratically from side to side to present a more difficult target.
Thinking quickly, he palms a couple of smoke bombs & starts to formulate a plan. Hanabi may be the better fighter & was probably a lot smarter then him in a lot of things, but he prided himself to be a student of the number one surprise ninja in Konoha so he knew a thing or two about surprise tactics himself.
As he passed between 2 large trees, he threw both bombs to either side which exploded on contact, enveloping the area in a thick cloud of smoke. Inside the smoke, Konohamaru creates a bunshin of himself which continues to run & then quickly hides behind one of the trees, hoping that Hanabi was too distracted to tell the difference.
But Hanabi WAS able to tell the difference since her Byakugan was fully activated. It was able to see through the smoke AND the bunshin so she had also followed the real Konohamaru towards the tree where she proceeded to viciously attack Konohamaru.
For his part, Konohamaru was trying his damndest to dodge Hanabi's lightning fast blows. He was no slouch in hand-to-hand combat himself, but Hanabi's skills were superior. He was more suited for sneak attacks rather then face-up fighting. But the strange thing was, he was managing to avoid getting hit by Hanabi's attacks. Maybe her emotions were distracting her.
Deciding to end it quickly, he catches both Hanabi's fists & hugs her close to avoid getting hit. And as they were falling to the ground, Konohamaru twists his body around so that he'll be the one to take the brunt of the fall.
Fortunately, the branches were able to break their fall & they landed relatively unharmed. Rolling Hanabi to her back, he pins her to the ground by holding her wrists & lying on top of her.
"Dammit Hanabi-chan, I said I'm sorry didn't I? So would you quit..." He growled then stops while looking at her. What he saw surprised the hell out of him.
Hanabi was crying.
And not just any tears. Though the humiliation was also present, there was also a look of hurt & betrayal in her pale white eyes while she was glaring at him. It was as if she was accusing him of some unforgivable crime.
And then, it hits him.
Despite all those arguments they had. Despite all the fights & disagreements, Hanabi was one of the very few people who truly understood his feelings. Despite her cold demeanor, she never disrespected him & always looked out for him. All those little lectures she gave actually helped him become a better shinobi. And despite her bossy personality, Konohamaru really liked Hanabi. He wondered why he hadn't realized it earlier
He wipes a tear away from her eyes. "They're really pretty up-close like this." He thought to himself. Hanabi had since stopped crying & was looking at Konohamaru curiously. Even expectantly.
Without thinking, Konohamaru kisses Hanabi.
Hanabi's eyes widens in surprise at the bold move by Konohamaru & resists a little at first. But after a while, she actually responds & kisses him back.
Suddenly driven by an urgent new need, the 2 new young lovers tore into each other like hungry beasts, each seeking the quell the fire which had suddenly ignited their souls.
Much later, they layed side by side in the forest grounds & their naked bodies covered only by the falling leaves. Hanabi looks around, searching for their clothes & finds that it was scattered all over the place. Feeling Konohamaru stir, she giggles & snuggles closer in his arms.
On Konohamaru's part, he smiled as he felt Hanabi move closer to him. He had to admit that the feeling of the Hyuga prodigy in his arms was the best thing in the world.
"Konohamaru?" Hanabi whispered
"Yeah. What is it?" Konohamaru asked.
"I'm afraid. What will happen if my family finds out?" She asks.
For a moment, Konohamaru didn't answer. Finally, he answered. "Then we'll just have to convince them to acknowledge us. I won't let them break us apart" He said with a steely resolve.
There would be problems with this relationship, of course. But he was confident that they WILL overcome it.
"I love you Konohamaru."
"I love you too, Hanabi-chan."
For now, it was enough that they were simply in each other's arms.
Author's Note: There's a little mature theme here bnut nothing that the ratings won't fix :) Pls. R&R
