Chapter 9.

"Look at that panel. Wow! The contrast… Were you going for that or is it unintentional?"

Hanabi analyzed her teacher's manuscript for the upcoming chapter of Minato and couldn't help but marvel at the technical quality of it. Even though a lot of it was rough and unpolished, she could see clear as day the brilliance of the artist reflected in the compositions, framing and overall tone of each panel. There was one thing, though…

"Ehm, Mr. Hatake… I was wondering… Do you have the whole story planned out or do you come up with stuff on the go?"

Kakashi gave her a curious look. "I have the general direction," was all he said, and the girl didn't press any further.

Instead, she allowed herself a moment of distraction with the upcoming activities fair in Konoha Lyceum. It had been announced by every single teacher during every class today, and naturally, it was the talk of the school. As someone who'd never studied in KL before, Hanabi was very excited for the event. Judging from everyone else's enthusiasm, she wasn't alone.

"As you all know, this Saturday there will be a student club fair, and all the teachers are expected to remind you of that," Mr. Hatake had said during their art class this morning, "There will be three new clubs for you lot to participate in, including the Art club."

After this curt announcement, he dismissed the class and once again disappeared into his office. Boy, were people shocked back then. From the murmurs around though, she could tell that people were not going to sign up for the art club.

Regardless of what others thought, Hanabi was super excited for the art club. She was sure at least someone would join up. Somebody had to! It was fricking art club! So, she patiently awaited the day of the club fair. Afterall, she signed up for the position of the club's president.

Well, Mr. Hatake signed her up.

"You are the President," he said that day, before both of her feet could even step into the classroom.

"President of what?" she asked.

"Art club."

Imagine her surprise at that! Thankfully, she had plenty of time to come to terms with the unexpected responsibility. Hanabi never shirked responsibility, being the daughter of Hyuga, so she pretty much embraced her new position.


"With the way it's going I will be the only member and its president."

The day of the fair had finally come, and it looked like nobody was interested in joining the art club.

"Stop whining," Kakashi said from beside her, the frustration in his voice clear as the sunny day they were having the fair under.

"I'm sure somebody will come," Hinata tried to reassure. She wasn't necessarily part of the club, but the art teacher requested her presence at their table to 'attract potential members', whatever that meant.

It was a perfect day for such an event, not a single cloud in the sky. Hanabi heard from her sister that it was going to be the only sunny day for weeks and judging from the previous downpour there couldn't be a better timing for holding the club fair.

Clubs and societies of every type and taste were advertising today. Sports, science, literature, drama and many more gathered crowds of curious students, swelling their ranks. The only club that struggled to get attention seemed to be their art club.

"I'm telling you, I shouldn't be here," Kakashi grumbled, folding his hands over his chest.

"You are still responsible for the club, so it wouldn't make a difference if you are here to present or not – students are still going to be afraid regardless of your presence," Hinata explained for the umpteenth time.

"Then this whole idea was stupid."

Both Hinata and Hanabi sighed. Their art teacher surely could be a big grouch, almost childishly so.

With conversations like that, the three of them dutifully stood at their booth, waiting for any potential member. After an hour or so of absolutely no attention, the male in their group seemed to have enough.

"I'm going to get something to drink," he said, standing up.

"Can you get me some water too," Hinata asked as he walked away.

"Me too, please," Hanabi shouted after him, plopping back into her seat with a disappointed sigh. "Nobody is even coming near, they just go around us!" she threw her hands up, glaring at the carefree students minding their own business at clubs of their choice. "This is humiliating!"

"There is nothing to be ashamed of," Hinata spoke, a soft smile crossing her suddenly focused expression. "Besides, I think I found us a new member."

With those words, the older Hyuga stood from her seat and went towards a blue-haired girl standing at the corner of the booth nearest to theirs. As Hinata approached, the girl seemed to have noticed her but made no attempts to walk away, only increasing the older woman's assumption that she wanted to be approached.

"Hello, are you perhaps interested in joining the art club?" she asked with an inviting smile, watching the girl's reaction.

After a bit of hesitation, she finally nodded yes. Hinata's smile turned softer. She recognized the expression and behavior of the girl before her. Afterall, when she was her age she was just as shy, if not even more so.

"Would you like to take a seat at our table? We'll tell you all about the club and you can decide if you want in or not," she suggested, her encouraging smile widening as the girl nodded once more, a little bolder this time.

When Kakashi arrived back to their table, there already was another student sitting in his chair, listening rapturously to Hanabi's animated talking. He had to leave for a few minutes and there already was a potential member… What did it say about him?

"I see you've found one," he said, throwing a bottle of water each to Hinata and Hanabi, with the latter being unable to catch it in time and the bottle hitting her squarely in her forehead.

"Ouch," the girl said, rubbing the sore spot.

Hinata, who watched the whole accident, couldn't help but notice Konan, that was their new member's name, jerk backwards violently when the bottle flew towards Hanabi. The expression on the girl's face plainly revealed that she was frightened.

"Kakashi!" she chided, making him look at her. She then gestured towards the terrified girl with her eyes, giving the man a clear hint.

A hint that he seemed to have understood, as he cleared his throat and approached the table. Upon his arrival, Konan had immediately stood from her seat with an apology, hastily scrambling away from it as if offering him his chair back. With a raised brow, Kakashi turned around and walked off towards the nearest club's booth, which turned out to belong to Gai's baseball team. He then unceremoniously plucked one chair right under the unsuspecting Naruto, who was just about to sit down. Hinata, Hanabi and Konan all watched in slack-jawed bewilderment as the poor blond flopped right on his butt for the amusement of Sasuke and other members of baseball team who stood nearby.

"Here," Kakashi simply offered, placing the newly 'acquired' chair before the blue-haired girl.

Said girl looked around as if checking if anyone could see, before carefully sitting down on the offered chair. Hinata saw the whole thing and didn't know if she should laugh of cry. The art teacher himself didn't think his actions were anything to discuss about, and shamelessly went about his business with the girl.

"So, Konan," he began, eyeing the girl intently, "why do you want to join the Art club?"

Hanabi beside him looked like she desperately wanted to object; afterall, they had no members right now and weren't in the position to act all picky-choosy. However, Kakashi was unmoving in his principle. As if predicting her response, he silenced the club's president with a meaningful look and turned his full attention back to Konan.

"Well?"

"Uhm, I…" the girl fidgeted noticeably, twiddling her thumbs and looking down on her knees as she attempted to speak, "I always–"

"Konan! Here you are! We were looking everywhere for you," a loud and confident voice interrupted her, making everyone turn towards the source of the voice. It turned out to belong to the girl's seemingly constant companion, Yahiko.

The ginger teen was accompanied with the quiet redhead Nagato. It seemed the trio had finally reunited.

"Come on, let's explore the fair. Find some cool clubs…"

Kakashi ignored the poorly veiled jab, but Hanabi couldn't.

"Hey!" she said, never one to extend courtesy towards those she deemed undeserving. "We were in the middle of something here!"

Hanabi was two years their senior, but it seemed the teen couldn't care less.

"I don't know what kind of scheme you are trying to pull Konan into, but we are not leaving without her," he said, crossing his arms.

"Watch your mouth, Yahiko!" Kakashi growled, standing up to his full height and facing the brat. Even though he towered over the 8th grader much like he did over most students in the school, there was no hint of fear in the teen's eyes.

Same couldn't be said about his friends, though. Nagato looked apprehensive and Konan seemed downright terrified. Before any of them could speak Hinata diffused the situation.

"Why don't we all calm down first. Yahiko, this is no way to speak towards your teacher and your fellow students. There are people who hold this club dear and it's not for you to decide if it's bad or not," she chided, the only response from the boy being him turning away with a defiant huff. What nobody apart from Nagato saw was the expression of guilt washing over Yahiko's features at that moment. "Konan, why don't you go have fun with your friends and come back later to discuss the club?"

"What are you talking about?!" Kakashi exploded from beside her. "She is not in kindergarten!"

She is perfectly able to make a decision right now, was what he meant by his outburst. Unfortunately for him, Konan couldn't do it. With an expression full of shame, the girl apologized once againg and trotted to stand at her friends' side. To say that Kakashi was shocked was to say nothing. Hanabi also seemed to be disappointed but hid it better than her teacher.

"Fine," he said, unable to hold the bitterness in his voice. He didn't know to whom it was directed, Konan or Hinata, but said it nonetheless. "Just remember that sometimes you have to stand your ground."

With those words, he turned and walked away, leaving smug Yahiko and guilt-ridden Konan behind, as well as his own club. The blue-haired girl raised her eyes and opened her mouth for a moment, as if about to say something, before shutting both closed, seemingly giving up.

"Such a drama queen…" Hanabi heard Hinata mutter under her breath as she went after her teacher, leaving Hanabi completely alone now.

"Yeah, don't mind me," she grumbled, sarcasm fully on. "I'll just sit here like a Forever Alone while you act like 4th graders." After a long pause of realizing that there was nobody else apart from her, she sighed. "Great."

And it was turning to be such a great day too, with Konan's unexpected interest, she lamented. That ginger-haired idiot just had to come and ruin everything. Well, at least they knew that someone was interested. Hopefully, Konan would come around and join the club.


Hinata followed him right into a small park couple blocks away from the school. He didn't say a single word the whole way there, and she started to suspect that in his anger he hadn't even noticed her walking a few steps behind him. Her suspicions were confirmed when he sat down at a cosy bench right beside some random woman. Said woman seemed to be surprised that somebody sat at the place already taken by her. Ignoring her, Kakashi turned towards Hinata.

"What are you doing here?" he yelled, which seemed to be the last straw that drove the previous occupant of the bench away. With an outraged huff, she stood from the bench and strode off, not without throwing a nasty look the brazen man's way.

Hinata looked apologetically at the woman, but nonetheless, took the vacant seat beside Kakashi on the bench.

"I should be asking you the same question," she replied.

Kakashi snorted, his eyes still following the poor lady he drove away from her seat. "Fair enough."

"Are you angry?" the question that he'd anticipated finally came.

He sighed. "Frustrated," he corrected. Expecting a follow up question, he spoke to clarify, "I just like coming here from time to time. To cool off."

"It's a good place," Hinata nodded, taking in the scenery that their position allowed before them. The bench itself was under a big oak tree, its thick mosaic foliage giving cover from both the scorching heat and the pelting rain so common to this part of the country at this time of year.

When the man said nothing, Hinata continued, friendly nudging his knee with her own. "Hey, it's understandable that you are angry," she said, Yahiko's earlier disrespectful behavior coming to her mind.

"I said I'm not angry," he denied, unable to hide surprise from her bold action.

"Frustrated," she rolled her eyes. Drama queen.

"That girl..." he suddenly lamented, his tone disappointed and somewhat caring, as if he knew the person he was talking about very well.

That was… unexpected. He obviously meant Konan with that remark, but any attempt from Hinata to make him elaborate ended in failure. Giving up, she sat there in silence with Kakashi, allowing him to rest and resting herself. He took a sip of his bottled tea every now and then, his expression strangely focused.

Curious, Hinata watched him, finding the action surprisingly relaxing to her. The more she observed the mysterious, at times childish man, the more she found him to be not who he seemed at first. Just now, she noticed, his hand was making strange movements on his knee. It looked like he was… drawing. Yes, she could easily imagine the pencil clutched firmly between his moving fingers while his eyes were taking in the surrounding world, his hand transferring the image onto the imaginary paper his knee acted as.

Hinata smiled ruefully. It looked like he himself was barely realizing what he was doing, the action clearly being performed on a subconscious level after hundreds… no, thousands of repetitions. That day she understood that drawing for Kakashi was not just a passion. It was the very thing that kept him together, his coping mechanism.

But coping from what? What happened in his life for it to turn out like this? Those questions were undoubtedly plaguing Hinata at times, but every such occasion she simply shook her head. Kakashi was her friend (at least she considered him as one), and she will respect his privacy, even in her own thoughts.

When they came back mere forty minutes later, they found Hanabi still sitting in her place at their club's table, with a look so bored that it was hardly believable the girl had been so excited at the beginning of it all. Her face was planted into her folded arms on top of the table, apathetically looking up at them after they came up to her.

"No one?" Hinata asked.

"Nope," she said, removing her arms from the table only to repeatedly slam her forehead on it.

"We still have two more hours left," Kakashi showed optimism for once. "You can go, I will call you if somebody actually comes."

"You have her number?" Hinata asked, incredulous.

"Of course, she is my student," was the art teacher's simple reply.

Hanabi looked at both adults, a cheshire grin splitting her face at the sudden thought.

"You jealous, sis?" she questioned innocently, chuckling at her sister's scandalized reaction. Hinata quickly recovered, though, attempting to deflect the teasing, albeit ineffectively.

"That's not funny," she said, pouting, "I was just surprised is all."

"Wait. You don't have Mr. Hatake's number?" Hanabi was only joking when she said that, but...

Kakashi, who witnessed the whole scene kept quiet, which they supposed wasn't unlike him, so no questions to him. He did give a thoughtful look Hinata's way at the very least.

"Anyways, about your suggestion," Hanabi finally got back to business, "I am this club's president, I cannot slack off, no members or not."

"That's why you are this club's President," Kakashi said, matter-of-factly, without even looking at her.

The two sisters exchanged shocked looks. Did he just... make a joke?

"Nah," Hanabi refused to believe the man even capable of humor.

"You are right," Hinata agreed sagely.

"Whatever you two are blabbering about?" the older man asked, confused. Shrugging his shoulders, he returned to his previous activity, which was drawing something in a small sketchbook.

Finally noticing Kakashi's actions, the female pair leaned a little to see what he was drawing behind those broad shoulders of his. As if to spite them, he moved to cover his work even more. The Hyuga girls frowned. What was he so secretive for? Alas, despite their best efforts they couldn't spy even a single detail of his drawing. That playful mood and mock teasing (mostly on Hanabi's part) continued until the very end of the fair. As they feared, nobody came to their booth, so it was safe to say that the day had been wasted. Even so, Hinata couldn't allow the apparent failure of their 'recruitment day' to hang over their heads.

"Let's wait for Konan for a little more," she suggested as it began to get dark and people started to pack up, "if she doesn't come we could all go somewhere and have some fun."

Kakashi seemed to ignore her, while Hanabi responded with a noncommitted grunt. Hinata frowned, those two were more similar than she thought. Even their sulking was similar. Despite that, however, they did wait thirty more minutes just as she suggested. When it was clear that Konan isn't coming, Kakashi swore inaudibly under his nose and disappeared into the school building, leaving the two women to clean up the booth.

"Hey, we did our best," Hinata tried to cheer her sister up, unsuccessfully.

"Yeah but what does it matter if there is not a single person who we managed to attract?"

"That's not true, there is that Konan girl…"

"You think she'll come after today? She had every chance in the world to return but chose not to," Hanabi retorted, getting more frustrated by the second and soiling Hinata's own mood as well.

Where the hell did Kakashi go? Just as Hinata asked herself that question he reappeared with a coat and a bag that Hinata recognized to belong to her sister. He threw the coat in said sister's face as he came up to them.

To their quizzical looks he only responded with an even "Aren't we going 'somewhere' to have fun?"

"What about tidying up this place?" Hanabi asked, gesturing at the booth around them with all the unused fliers and props.

"Leave it here," he waved away. "It's not going anywhere, we can remove everything later."

And that was how they ended up in a run-down diner, waiting for their cheap ramen. At first the Hyuga girls had been wary of the place, used to the splendor and class of high-end gourmet restaurants, but Kakashi managed to coax them with his promises of 'good food'. It was that phrase that made them agree, as he rarely ever called anything good. Coming from his lips, it almost sounded like praise of the highest caliber, so they sat down on the shabby stools and ordered a bowl of ramen each.

"Trust me, I know the man who runs this place, he is a decent guy," Kakashi had said, not clearing their doubts one iota. Coming from a man who stole chairs right under unsuspecting people's bums and made 7th graders cry, it wasn't much of a reassurance to be honest.

Their doubts began to evaporate as soon as they saw said owner of the establishment. He was a middle aged man with an unusually kind demeanor, greeting them warmly and offering them extra toppings on the house after he learned it was their first time eating in his place. He seemed especially friendly with Kakashi. One would think they were long time friends, judging from the comfortable way the two spoke between themselves.

"Glad that you don't forget this old man, Kakashi-kun," he said with a notable accent, clapping the man on the shoulder. "You even brought me more customers!"

"You are not in Japan, stop using unnecessary words," Kakashi grumbled, but otherwise seemed content with the older man's behavior. "This is Teuchi," he introduced him to his female companions. "He makes decent ramen."

"You mean the best ramen in the whole country?" he asked extending his hand for the women to shake. "Kakashi here has been eating my food for as long as he remembers."

"That's what I said, good ramen."

Teuchi erupted with laughter, patting his friend's back one more time. Despite the frown on Kakashi's face, the twinkle of amusement behind his eyes was a dead give away that he was actually having fun. The whole scene was so surreal that Hinata and Hanabi only watched with closed mouths, as if scared that they'll break whatever dream they were under.

"Well, it was good to see you all, but I think your food is ready," the cook said, going back into the kitchen to get their orders.

Kakashi wasn't lying when he said that Teuchi's ramen was good. In fact, it was by far the best ramen Hinata ever tasted. Judging from Hanabi's blissful moans, her sister agreed with her.

"Zhish ish sho good!" she exclaimed in between stuffing her already full mouth with more noodles.

"Are you sure you are a Hyuga?" Kakashi asked flatly, not much appalled by the girl's table manners but still disapproving.

Hinata giggled. "Trust me, she is one of us." There were too many similarities between Hanabi and their father for anybody to believe she wasn't his daughter. The same couldn't be said about herself, however, but Hinata decided not to dwell on that matter. They were having a fun night after their flop at the club fair, afterall. "But she is right, the food is absolutely delightful," she said instead.

"I like your friends, Kakashi-kun." Teuchi seemed to have lit up after their compliment. "They seem to appreciate my cooking more than you," he teased.

"They are just being polite and taking pity on the old man," the art teacher callously responded, making said man chuckle once more.

"I hope you aren't this way with your colleagues at school," he said, shaking his head with a smile still lingering on his lips. "Goodness knows you and Iruka and that blond kid are my only regulars, wouldn't hurt to have a more respectable clientele. Iruka is fine though," he then added, "but you and that brat are just repellents for other customers. As soon as any decent person sees your grouchy ass in here they immediately turn around and leave."

Their banter lasted for the remainder of the night, but it didn't prevent Hinata and Hanabi having their own conversation with the two men. Overall, everybody had a great time, by the end of which even Teuchi's tiny place seemed cosy and warm as opposed to their initial impression of dingy and cheap. They were so comfortable, in fact, that Hinata saw Kakashi smile without his mask. Despite the corners of his mouth having barely tilted upwards, it was a genuine smile, relaxed and serene. For a few moments, he seemed younger to Hinata, and she found that smiling suited him. She quickly caught herself, however, shaking her head and returning to her delicious food, of which she of course ordered seconds.


"Whew, that was awesome!" Hanabi sighed after they left the diner with full bellies and uplifted spirits. She then looked upwards, squinting her eyes and trying to decipher what was written above the entrance. She figured it was the name of the diner, but the letters were in Japanese and poorly illuminated, with some of them not being lit up at all.

"It says 'Ramen Ichiraku'," they heard Kakashi say as the door closed behind him. He put his hands into the pockets of his overcoat, striding towards the sisters.

"Ramen Ichiraku," Hanabi repeated, unfamiliar words carefully rolling off of her tongue. "What does it mean?"

"Not sure. Something like 'best ramen'," Kakashi shrugged. "Old man mentioned it a couple of times, but I keep forgetting."

"Ramen is the best pleasure," Hinata corrected, waving her smartphone. "I just googled it."

"That thing sure is handy," Kakashi commented, not unimpressed. "Can it work like a GPS too?"

"You mean can it tell you how to get somewhere?" Hanabi asked. "Sure."

"You are joking, right?" Hinata questioned, bewildered.

Turns out he didn't. He fished his own flip phone from his pocket, showing it to them. Such a phone was definitely not capable of much, they all agreed.

"Works well enough for me," Kakashi shrugged, but did not deny that having a smartphone would have been great. Imagine all the references he could make with the smartphone camera!

The trio decided to walk back to KL to finish their clean-up of the booth they'd left. It was getting chilly, so Kakashi gave up his coat for Hanabi to wear. She looked cute in his oversized trenchcoat, its sleeves flapping from side to side as she walked happily. It was the second time she saw Hatake act gentlemanly, Hinata thought, the first time being when he helped Rock Lee and got completely drenched in the process.

"Thanks for today," she said as they finally finished up with their work half an hour later.

"It's nothing," Kakashi waved Hinata away, "I owed you for the homemade food anyway. I didn't want to be in debt…"

"You were never in my debt," the younger woman shook her head. "I wanted to share my lunch with you because you are my friend. And I wasn't just talking about the food."

The man averted his eyes and shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to respond to her gratitude. Meanwhile Hinata, realizing the mood had changed, also started getting shy. She smiled awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, scrambling for words.

"You done flirting?" they suddenly heard Hanabi's voice.

"Hanabi!" the older sister squealed, while her teacher grumbled out an unconvincing threat.

"Alright, alright, I was just joking, sheesh!" the girl said, barely containing her laughter.

Later when the two were getting ready to bed in Hinata's apartment, Hanabi came up to her sister with a smug, shit eating grin. The girl just stood there and did nothing, as if waiting for something. Hinata was about to ask what was going on when her phone rang, notifying her that a message was received. Unlocking it, she saw an SMS from an unfamiliar number.

"This is my number," was all it read, with the name of the sender below.

Hinata let a smile, muttering under her nose with an amused shake of her head. She then realized that she was being watched and looked up to her sister, her brow raised. "Really? Stop acting so smug, will you!"

"But it's so funny!" Hanabi said through snickers. "You should've seen your expression!" She then proceeded to make a parody of her sister, swooning in a typical exaggerated image of a lovesick woman, clutching her phone to her chest.

She received a pillow to the face for her efforts.

Little did they know that Kakashi spent an entire hour with his finger hovered over the 'send' button on his flip phone, pondering over all the reasons he should and shouldn't send the message, before finally deciding to call Hanabi to ask if she were sure it was Hinata's number he was about to send it to.


Thanks for reading and following this story of mine so far. Hope you guys like it.

Just wanted to say that so far I have managed to update it every week, but I won't lie, it's getting hard to do so consistently. This story had been challenging for me because it is not set in the Naruto world and there is no adventure and fighting involved, but I always wanted to do an AU, so I will continue to write it. I have a general direction but am struggling to connect everything without it turning into a rushed mess. I also don't want to make it into a melodrama with intrigue and love triangles and stuff like that; I just wanted to write something light and fluffy. However, it is exactly because of the above reasons that I don't think I will be able to update as consistently as before, so please don't get surprised if there is no new chapter at the end of the week.

It is my bad, that's all I wanted to say. I do enjoy writing it, as it is both an interesting experiment and a challenge, but I'd also like to do it as best as I could, and sometimes one week is not enough for this amateur.

Thanks for your attention. Hope I didn't disappoint those of you who are invested in this story too much.

P.S. I know that the characters have Japanese names but still wanted to make the setting in a non-Japanese country. Things are starting to get into motion as the introductory chapters are pretty much over.