"Searching for a sweet surrender."

"HEY! Check me out." Hotaru exclaimed, smiling with her back turned to her teammates. As soon as she turned around, Hachiro spat out whatever water he had in his mouth and began to laugh. Kamiko's cheeks went pink and Ryota simply had his palm meet with his face.

Hotaru wasn't as mature as she thought she was; she still had the innocence of a child, but to contradict that innocence was her blessed, almost completely-perverted mind.

"I'm Kamiko," she teased, groping her enlarged chest and squeezing slightly. Before she could continue mocking her teammate, said redhead screeched at her.

"I don't talk like that, fathead!" she blushed, clenching her fists. "I don't even look like that! I'm not that...big!"

Wiping his lips and forcing his laughter away, Hachiro asked, "What the heck – how did you do that?"

Pulling out her index finger, Hotaru grinned. "Hiden. It does more than just protect me. I can expand whichever part of my body that I want to. It is, after all, a whole body technique," she pushed her breast together before continuing, practically fascinated by her manipulated assets. "I can modify anything that I want to and transform my body parts for whatever seems suitable!"

"And you choose to do that?!" Kamiko shrieked.

"What? Don't like it?" she joked before running to Hachiro's backpack, already feeling the heaviness of her chest.

The silver-eyed boy nudged his redheaded teammate. He knew how irritated she gets when Hotaru does something to embarrass her, or simply how irritated she gets by Hotaru in general.

Kamiko opened her mouth to rant but she was cut off by Hotaru from behind. "I've got to hand it to you, dipstick," she grumbled through a mouthful. "It must be hard to train with these things weighing you down."

"Where did you get that?" Hachiro questioned, eyeing a bag of chips in her hands and watching with narrowed eyes as she messily ate from it.

"I packed it in your backpack before we left," the brunette smiled widely, licking her fingers as she spoke. "Can't travel without snacks. Would you like one?"

Hachiro simply shook his head at her offer.

"What else did you bring?" her teacher's voice was heard, low in bashfulness but clear enough.

"I think I got three or four more bags of these, a bottle of juice and bottles of water; also, a bento for each of us."

"Ah..." Hachiro realized, closing his eyes. "That's why my bag's so heavy. Thanks a lot, Aru-chan." He said sarcastically.

"No problem!" she grinned with chip crumbs surrounding her lips, giving him a-thumbs up.

The night was getting darker as the lights of the moon and stars disappeared. Hotaru grew weary after her jaw workout and rested beside her best friend, falling asleep as her body reverted to the way it originally was.

His silver eyes simply filled with comfort at her calm state as he lifted her off the ground to place her into her assigned sleeping bag.

Their superior was also asleep, at the far end of the cave.

"So, you love her, don't you?" Kamiko questioned the boy on her left; green eyes glinting against the bright yellow flames. Her enquiry was rather aggressive, and Hachiro was no fool to her jealousy.

"Yes," he said, drawing circles in the sand with a twig. "What's your point?"

Kamiko shrugged. "No point; just wondering. Why don't you tell her? By the way she looks at you; your feelings must be mutual."

A snicker vibrated his shoulders. We're really having this conversation, eh? "It's not like that, Kamiko-chan," he yawned, his eyelids drooping slightly. "I love her like I love you, like I loved Nirako-chan, like I love my mom or Yuji. I love her like I love the village. It's really not more than that; she was the universe ever since I laid my eyes on her.

"She was in an alley all alone. Her pajamas had spots of blood on them, a few tears here and there. The moment she looked up at me, I instantly knew that I had to protect her." he smiled softly to himself. He had confessed because he didn't exactly care for how others saw it; after all, he wasn't ashamed of how he felt. It wasn't something he needed to be ashamed of to begin with. Like a sister, a mother, a child or a lover. An absolute, an ultimate.

"Unlike Nirako?" Kamiko asked.

"Look," he said firmly, slightly bothered. "Nirako-chan was the one I wanted to marry; the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We were young and...So, very naïve. I love her and I'll continue to love her, but the truth is that...she's gone; has been for a year now. So, I'd really appreciate it if you don't bring her name up – which you do, a lot."

"Sorry, can't help it sometimes." Kamiko grumbled honestly. "So it was like a...first sight-type-of-thing? You wouldn't marry Hotaru?"

"No...it's not like that, Kamiko-chan – I took one look at her and something inside me changed. It looked like she was in a really tough spot but her eyes showed nothing more but light; fierce and longing."

Rolling her eyes, Kamiko scoffed. "Yeah, don't forget what that 'fierceness' could mean, you know."

"It's still Hotaru. It'll always be, just Hotaru."

"Whatever," she waved. "When her eyes burn and the fires inside her burst; you know how dangerous it is, 'just Hotaru' or not. I was scared, Hachiro. In spite of her amnesia, I know it's something within her." She shuddered slightly at a memory she had tried so hard to forget; a memory of pure, unadulterated fear.

"Well," he straightened his back as he stared at the flame. "I'm not planning on disappearing once her bloodlust reappears. What kind of friend would I be?"

Kamiko nodded, feigning a hum of approval and not entirely wanting to depend on that plan. It's so much stronger when you see it, fathead.

"She's not evil, Kamiko-chan. Her heart is pure and her intentions are gold. If she ever does something that isn't 'logical', it'll mostly be out of something she believes in."

"You mean like her love for the village? The way she wants to protect it and whatnot?"

"Yeah. You see how she looks at Kazekage-sama too, don't you? She would do anything to protect the ones she loves. Maybe even risk her own life. I believe she's fit to be in his position."

"But she doesn't know about Kazekage-sama; his cruelty sometimes. She doesn't know anything about that position; what must she risk, the decisions she'll have to make for the village. You think she'll change her mind when she finds out about those things?"

He shrugged, grunting softly as he cleared his throat. "I don't know. I can't imagine her ever rejecting the elders if they ask her to become Kazekage. She's crazy about that position."

Kamiko chuckled. "And you want to protect her the same way Kazekage-sama protects the village." She declared more than asked.

"You could say that."

"But you know, Hachiro, she's a kunoichi. A serious one, at that..."

He already knew what she was getting to. "And I'll protect her, no matter what."

Almost smiling, Kamiko blinked, not hesitant about her choice of words. "You know you can't always be there for her."

"But I will be," he pushed. "For the people I couldn't protect, I'll protect her. For the people I couldn't save, I'll save her." For every single person I've lost…she's one of the people I have left.

Swallowing a wad of nerves, Kamiko repeated, "She's a kunoichi."

"I know," said Hachiro, displeased with the thought. "There's nothing I can change about that and all I can do at this point is try. Why do you think I'm so against the idea of Yuji becoming a shinobi? And the worst thing about her is that she acts on her damn emotions." Throwing the stick from the tight grip of his hand, he sighed and rubbed his face from fatigue.

"Right," she agreed reluctantly. "They could get killed out there."

He groaned under his breath. "I won't allow that."

"Hachiro, get a hold of yourself," Kamiko ordered harshly. "It's almost as if the emotional training did nothing for you."

"Don't connect this to that, Kamiko-chan. It's like peaches and plums, for crying out loud."

"Still. Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Look Kamiko-chan, I don't need your input in this. This was a promise I made to myself. I don't need you to tell me how 'wrong' it is or how it's not the way a shinobi must act. I'm going to protect her at all costs."

"And if she one day betrays you? Or hurts you?"

A moment of silence passed before Hachiro breathed deeply. "If it ever comes to that, I'll take care of it myself."

The silence continued afterwards, dense and unwavering.

"Do you think that she's drawn to Gaara because he's the son of Kazekage-sama?" Kamiko asked, nauseating Hachiro further.

"I don't know." he shrugged, uninterested in talking about her further.

Kamiko hummed before continuing to ponder out loud. "Maybe it's their common ground that draws her to him – that 'fire'."

"Like I said; she isn't evil."

"Are you telling me that Gaara is?" she arched an eyebrow.

Sighing and standing up, Hachiro walked toward the entrance. "She wouldn't kill for no reason, unlike him."

"...I guess not." But we'll have to wait and see, won't we, Hachiro? Regarding him, Kamiko shortly shadowed his actions and stood up, pacing over to the sleeping bag positioned on the right side of Hotaru.

"I'll take the next shift." She expressed to him, waiting for a comeback.

He whirred and bobbed his head subtly, beholding the empty sky before situating himself on the ground again.

Biting the insides of her cheeks, Kamiko reclined and observed Hotaru. The brunette's eyes were shut and she shifted indistinctly, facing Hachiro's direction.

Releasing a sigh, Kamiko closed her jade eyes and hoped that she'd fall asleep soon.

Ryota stirred slowly as he sensed her presence behind him, thinking to himself about what she said – about Hotaru. Dangerous? Her?

At this point, the genin and superior that were thought to be asleep had actually heard the entire conversation.