Chapter 53: Lovesick

(flashback)

Konohamaru was training on his own in the woods. Something he did very often. Udon had left a couple of minutes ago.

"Come on, work this time," the boy whispered as he tried to create a ball of chakra with a shadow clone. When he thought it was finished the shadow clone disappeared and the boy dashed over to the nearby tree.

"Rasengan!" he shouted while slamming the ball into the tree. However a giant spiral appeared on it, instead of a hole in it. Sighing and exhausted the boy dropped down in the grass. "Naruto-nii-san said it would be difficult but I never expected it would be this difficult."

"Naruto taught you the Rasengan?" someone asked. Konohamaru looked to his side and found a girl appearing from behind a tree. "Oh, hey Hanabi. Yeah, impressive huh," he grinned. "Not really, since you cannot perform it right," the girl replied with a teasing smile, making Konohamaru drop his head and sigh. "Yeah well, that's why I'm practising it. What are you doing here by the way?" "Thinking of a way to pay you back. I got into trouble because of you." Konohamaru got a sheepish look on his face. "Because of your stupid trick I was home late and got scolded because of that." "Oh eh sorry about that." "Sorry isn't enough," Hanabi replied somewhat angry. Konohamaru stood up shooting her a glare. "Fine, like I care, just leave already. I'm training." "So what?"

Hanabi crossed her arms, standing firm as she looked at the boy. "You are so damn annoying, do you want me to make you leave?" "Try it," Hanabi grinned as she got in her fighting stance. Konohamaru gained a smile on his face as he did the same, however the girl already dashed over to him and before realising what was going on he was floored. "OI! That was mean!" "Are you a ninja or not?" Hanabi laughed, "I would say not. You're not worth that chu-nin title." She kneeled down and poked the boy in his cheek. "You lack too much for that yet." "I do not!" She then poked him in his side, but not just some poke, she blocked one of his chakra points. She then raised her hand again for another hit, making the boy close his eyes. But just when she wanted to poke him somewhere else she decided not to, but to go for that thing Mitsuki had told her. So she bent somewhat lower and kissed the boy on his cheek.

Konohamaru opened his eyes in shock but when he turned around to look at the girl, Hanabi was already gone. He blinked a couple of times, sat up and tried to figure out the reason she had kissed him on his cheek as he rubbed the kissed spot in mere confusion.

(End flashback)

Moeki looked not understanding at her team-mate while Sakura started to giggle. "What happened, Konohamaru? You sound desperate for advice about girls," she teased the boy. Konohamaru only turned redder as Moeki now started to giggle as well. Minoru merely looked at the boy that had appeared in the room.

"Okay enough teasing, Moeki go help your team-mate, we're done for today anyway." Moeki nodded and left together with Konohamaru. "It's about Hanabi, isn't it?" Moeki grinned a little as she looked sideways to her team-mate while walking through the hallways of the hospital.

Konohamaru gave a small nod, making Moeki smile. "The two of you are always fighting." "I know… it… it started like that today during training but then…" Konohamaru shut up getting red again. In the mean time they had gone outside. "What happened?" Moeki asked curious. "She… she… she," Konohamaru muttered. Moeki's curious look wasn't really helpful. He gulped and quickly said, "She kissed me." Moeki's eyes widened. "R-really?" Konohamaru nodded as he had now turned his gaze to his face. "I don't understand why. At first it seemed like she was going to hurt me but then…" "Where did she kiss you?" "M-my cheek." Moeki gained a thoughtful look as she crossed her arms.

Konohamaru looked up somewhat hopeful. "You know why she did that?" "Of course I don't, but Konohamaru-kun, what do you think about Hanabi?" "Eh? What do you mean?" The girl snorted a little. "I mean do you like like her?" Konohamaru gave her a confused look that slowly turned into a not knowing look. "I never thought about it that way." "You haven't? Konohamaru, the two of you always fight yet you always search for each other. The only conclusion I can get of that is that you actually like her a lot but don't know how to tell her."

Konohamaru stared at his team-mate.

It was evening and once again a big group of people were enjoying themselves at the Hyuga residence. Other than Hinata, Naruto, Mitsuki and Hanabi there was Kiba, Neji and Tenten. They were enjoying their dinner while laughing and talking. "It's not funny," Neji muttered. "Ow but it is, you were really funny when you were totally drunk," Tenten giggled. They were talking about Naruto's birthday a couple of years back.

Neji looked away blushing and then got a kiss on his cheek from his girlfriend. "Hanabi, you haven't touched your food at all," Mitsuki mention, looking at the young Hyuga on her left. "Not hungry," the girl replied. Confused the rest looked at Hanabi who pushed her plate away and laid her head on the table. "Hanabi-chan, is everything alright?" Hinata asked worried. The girl mentioned shrugged her shoulders. Mitsuki let out a snort, getting a not understanding look from her boyfriend. She whispered a couple of words in his ears making him laugh a bit. "Hanabi I think you're ill," Mitsuki said, sounding serious, "You show some aspects of a serious illness." The girl looked up confused. "Huh? Really?" "Yes, I was already thinking you had this illness when I came back and saw you." Hanabi was getting scared as Naruto was now understanding it a little. "Wait a sec… Mitsuki don't I have that illness too?" "Hm, oh yes you do indeed," Mitsuki nodded. "Wh-what…? What's this illness….?" Hanabi mumbled afraid.

"You're lovesick, Hanabi," Mitsuki stated gaining a confused look from the girl. Hanabi then slammed both her hands on the table. "Don't scare me like that! And stop with the stupid jokes! Just because I kissed him on his cheek like you told me to do doesn't mean I like him!" the girl shouted and then realised she had said too much.

Quickly she jumped up and ran away. "Hanabi-chan kissed Konohamaru?" Hinata questioned surprised. "Apparently," Naruto said, looking at the door Hanabi had disappeared through. "You told her to kiss him?" Hinata asked Mitsuki. "She and Konohamaru have the kind of relationship in which both don't want to admit their true feelings, that's why they are fighting all the time. Actually they don't want to hurt the other but don't know how else to go with their feelings."

Hinata stood up. "I better check up if she is alright."

Hanabi stared at the ceiling. "Why did I say that out loud?" There was knocking on the door which was opened after that. "I-mo-to, are you alright?" came from Hinata. "Nee-san…" Hanabi said as she sat up, "In a way… I shouldn't have said that. No, I shouldn't have kissed Konohamaru at all." "Hanabi, no-one said you had to." The girl sighed and shove to the side of her bed. "It's just… I don't know. I was all shaky afterwards a-and… I…I ran away…" Hinata smiled and sat down next to her sister. "Hanabi-chan, you really are lovesick." "NO! That's not possible, we fight all the time and… and… I don't love him nee-san. He's an annoying idiot!" Hinata just looked at her sister and shook her head with a giggle. "Hanabi-chan, you're too focussed on battle and shove your real feelings aside." After saying that Hinata left her sister alone. Hanabi looked confused at the door being closed.

Back with the others Hinata sat down beside Naruto who placed an arm around her shoulder. "Is she alright?" "Confused and denying," Hinata sighed. "Don't worry about her, Hinata. She will get her feeling straight in the end," Mitsuki said.

"Ne Mitsuki, where are Nodoka and Ryudo?" Naruto asked. "Oh they are probably at home," Mitsuki answered. "The two of them and Mitsuki are renting an apartment together," Kiba explained. Mistuki snorted a little, "Ryudo didn't like it I was leaving and not saying where I was going." Kiba gave her a questioning look. "He's now alone with Nodoka." Hinata giggled. Tenten however didn't understand and neither did Neji. "Ryudo likes Nodoka," Naruto explained to them. "Oh!" Tenten let out and laughed. "I really wonder what the two are doing now," Mitsuki said. "Hm let's see," Kiba began, "Nodoka hugging Ryudo and Ryudo freaking out because of it most likely." This made them all laugh. "Did you already know Shikamaru and Temari are together," Naruto then mentioned and gained several surprised faces. "What? Since when?" Tenten asked. "Chu-nin exam, you didn't know?" Tenten shook her head. "I didn't know either," Hinata said. Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I never thought Shikamaru would ever end up with a girl," Kiba snorted, "He was always talking about how much of a drag girls are." "Yeah, it's surprising," Neji said. "Like you being with Tenten wasn't surprising," Naruto grinned devious and gained a glare from the Hyuga genius.

"How about Choji?" Hinata asked. "I've seen him hanging around with Ino quite a lot lately, but I don't think the two are together," Naruto told with a thoughtful face. "Well it's obvious Choji likes her, but Ino is just pushing him away," Tenten said. "Ino has that 'I don't like fat people' thing, poor Choji," Kiba sighed.

"GAH!" screamed the voice of a twenty-one year old guy. "Yay, everything is finished now." "G-get off my b-back, Nodoka!" Ryudo freaked. "Nya? Why?" "J-just d-do." Nodoka let the boy go and looked confused as he left in a rush to the bathroom. There he locked the door and hit his head against the wall. 'Why did I agree with this? Why did Mitsuki leave me alone with her… wait she knows about my feelings, she did it on purpose, didn't she.'

It took him ten minutes to calm down enough and when so he went back to the living room. "Are you alright?" Nodoka asked somewhat worried. "Y-yeah," Ryudo replied softly and avoiding her stare, yet she wasn't convinced. "Just don't glomp or hug me like that anymore, okay." "But… I like to hug Ryudo…" He turned his face to her, "You like hugging everyone!" She shook her head with a smiled, "there's a difference in the liking." This comment made Ryudo blush a little, "What do you mean?" "Just that hugging Ryudo is different than hugging Mitsuki," the girl said still smiling. "Well don't hug me anymore, it's… annoying." "I'm annoying you," Nodoka asked shocked. "Eh..? No... I mean… just… j-just don't hug me anymore. I don't like being h-hugged…" Nodoka turned her face down. "You're mean Ryudo," she sobbed, making the boy panic.

"Nodoka, stop crying. I didn't mean to…" "I'm going home." "EH? But you are home, remember. You're taking this too dramaticly!" "No, I'm going back to my father and brother, since you people don't need me anymore. I'm not a great fighter and I'm not a great medic either. It was fun for the time being but GAH! Ryudo let me go!"

Ryudo pushed her down on the couch. "I don't want you to leave just because I said something stupid." "It's not because of that! I've been thinking about it for a while. Mitsuki-chan is always with Kiba and you are always trying to ignore me." She was struggling to free herself but was just pushed down so that she now was laying on the couch. Looking up she found the confused face of Ryudo. "Please, Nodoka-chan. Don't leave." The girl blinked a few times. "Why do you want me to stay?" she muttered out of confusion. Her eyes widened from the next thing he did.

Kiba kissed Mitsuki. "Sleep well, Mi-chan," he then whispered in her ear, making her smile and blush. "You too, Kiba-kun. Thank you for bringing me home."

"KYAAAAAA!"

The scream was followed by someone falling. Mitsuki opened the front door and rushed into the living room followed by Kiba. They found Ryudo laying on the floor and a heavily blushing Nodoka sitting on the couch. "Uhm… what happened here….?" Mitsuki asked as she raised an eyebrow. Nodoka jumped of the couch and rushed over to her room where she locked the door.

"Ryudo?" Mitsuki said as she turned to look at her friend on the floor. He turned red and avoided her stern look. "I just scared her, that's all." "You kissed her didn't you?" "How do you…?" Ryudo shouted freaked and looking at her. Mitsuki laughed, "The way your acting says enough. Kiba-kun could you take care of him, I'm going to see if Nodoka is alright." "Hm, okay," the Inuzuka smirked.

Mitsuki walked over to Nodoka's room and knocked on the door. "Nodoka, it's me. Open the door." "No, go away!" Mitsuki rolled her eyes and unlocked the door herself, she was a ninja after all. She found Nodoka hiding under the sheets. Mitsuki entered the room and closed the door behind her. "Hey what happened?" "N-nothing." "Then why was Ryudo laying on the floor?" "I… he… uhm…" Mitsuki pulled the sheets away. "Nodoka-chan, you know why Ryudo freaks when you hug him?" "I do now," Nodoka replied and sat up, "But we're just friends… I never saw him as anything more." "Then why are you blushing so badly," Mitsuki smiled. "Eh… I am?" The girl placed her hands on her cheeks. "You know you cannot lie to me Nodoka. You've been playing long enough and so have I. In truth I knew all the time. I never told anyone about it, said you just didn't see it, but why don't you tell him you love him." Shocked Nodoka looked to the side. "You… you knew all along?" "Pretty much, you were just playing an airhead and at first even I fell for it, but I'm hard to fool, girl." Nodoka turned her gaze to the sheets. "I just don't want to loose him as a friend. You and Ryudo have been my friends when we were kids and when I finally saw you two again I was overjoyed. I don't want to loose either of you."

Mitsuki placed an arm around Nodoka's shoulder. "You won't lose him, he's totally head over heals about you. That's why he kissed you." "He said?" "No, but I guessed." "Oh… ano what do I do? I more or less kicked him pretty hard to get him away from me. I was shocked." Mitsuki laughed, "He'll forgive you about that. Just kiss the guy." "R-right n-now?" Mitsuki didn't answer but stood up and gave her a look. "I'm going back to the living room, you coming too?"

Nodoka nodded once and followed the blonde. Back in the living room Nodoka was hiding behind Mitsuki's back. Kiba snorted and walked over to Mitsuki. "I gotta go now." "Okay. See you tomorrow. Sleep well," Mitsuki said and walked with him to the front door.

Nodoka panicked a little when Mitsuki walked away. She followed the couple with her head and saw them kissing each other.

"Uhm sorry about earlier," Ryudo mumbled. Nodoka turned to look at him. She gathered all her courage and walked over to him. There she shook her head with a smile and then kissed him. Ryudo was shocked, but soon wrapped his arms around the girl as he felt hers being wrapped around his neck.

When Mitsuki came back in the living room she smiled when seeing her two friends being…busy. She decided to go to her room and go to sleep.

Nodoka pulled back and placed her head on his chest. "You really don't like being hugged?" "Yes, except when it's you," Ryudo whispered as he hugged her. "Then why did you say…?" "Because every time you hugged me I couldn't help to get the feeling of kissing you and didn't know how you would react if I did that. I'm sorry." Nodoka laughed, "It's okay."

Hanabi sighed, as she pondered over her thoughts. 'Is nee-san right? I don't get. I don't love him… do I?'

Her arm was suddenly grasped and she kicked the person away. "Urgh," came from a floored Konohamaru. "Ko-Konohamaru? Why did you do that?" Hanabi said perplexed. "I said your name three times but you weren't replying." "Oh… uhm what is it?" the girl said turning her gaze away. "I just… uhm are you in the mood of doing something fun together?" "Your way of fun always brings me into trouble." Konohamaru sighed, "Sorry about that. I'll try to keep you out of trouble this time, I promise." Hanabi gave him a suspicious look. "Why do you suddenly want to do something fun with me?" "I-er… I just don't want to fight with you anymore," the brown haired mumbled, making Hanabi laugh because she found the way he looked funny. "So where are we going?" she asked. "I was thinking of the movies… I pay." "That sounds more like a date," Hanabi said as she started to blush by just the thought of that. "D-does it?" Hanabi nodded as reply. "Uh do you want it to be a date," Konohamaru asked somewhat uncertain. Hanabi blushed, "Uhm… don't know."

'She doesn't know…? Maybe Moeki is right. Gah calm down Konohamaru, wait why am I freaked out in the first place?'

"Shall we go?" Hanabi asked. "Hai," the boy smiled and the two made their way to the cinema.

"Yuuta-dono, welcome," a figure in the dark said. Then man called Yuuta gave polite small nod and sat down in his usual chair.

"Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting," someone in the darkness said, "we have been trying to get rid of the fox for weeks now but still haven't succeeded. We know when he is alone and we always know where he is however I think it is time to attack him at clear day."

There was some protest but with one slam on the table that subdued. "Silence, people silence. It is a perfect time, especially when he has his students with him, he has an extra weakness for we all know he would make sure to protect them." "Objection! My son is one of his students, I don't want my son involved!" Yuuta shouted as he jumped of his tree. "Sir, nothing will happen to your son if we plan this right. Believe me, it's the best option we have at our hands." There was a silence which was followed by several nodding and then agreeing with the plan. Yuuta ended up agreeing too, "Everything to get rid of the demon, but if my son gets harmed you will all pay for this." "Of course, Yuuta-dono. Now tell us, where will the group be for training tomorrow?"