Chapter 11.
Kakashi was certain that he had gotten off easy when they made him do Danzou's job for one week. Afterall, what could one measly week of grading homework and watching over detentions do except boring him to death? Turns out he, as with many other things recently, was mistaken.
"What the hell is this shit!" a muffled curse could be heard from the other side of the door to the art classroom.
Hinata, who stood just outside the room, paused with her hand on the doorknob, before chuckling to herself and coming in. Inside, she was met with a sight that has become familiar over the weeks she spent at her new job.
Kakashi was grading a student's assignment, by the looks of it. The whole page was filled with indistinguishable scribbles, with what looked like a few answers being messily crossed over and another written in a small little corner beside them. All in all, that student's writing was a cluttery eyesore. Without ceremony, the chemistry teacher's temporary, and mind you, unwilling substitute discarded the work with barely a glance on it, making sure to write 'CANNOT READ' in red before doing so.
"That's some violent marking you got there," he heard a voice that he had recently begun to associate with reason in this insane school. He grunted a greeting, not allowing himself to get distracted from his work.
"Danzou's chemistry?" she asked, approaching his desk and picking up the godforsaken nightmare of an assignment from the pile he carelessly set aside. "That looks terrible," Hinata commented, briefly skimming over the work and turning to another one from the same pile, "and this one too. All of them are kinda hard to read."
"That's why I put them in the hopeless pile," Kakashi grunted.
"Hopeless pile?" another pleasant chuckle. "Can I help?"
Despite his stubborn pride, Kakashi smiled behind his mask, appreciating the offer. "Go have lunch."
"Then what about you?"
"Don't need."
Even without looking, Kakashi could imagine Hinata's lips pursing in annoyance. His mood was getting better and better.
"That's rubbish," she countered, "everybody needs to eat in time to stay healthy. Come on!" she beckoned, already moving to stand at the door. "I got your favorite – eggplant miso soup."
As much as he wanted to resist, there was no way Kakashi would skip on Hinata's cooking. Not when it was his favorite dish. And judging from the smug smirk on the woman's face, she knew it too.
"I thought you don't know how to make Asian food?" he said, standing up and throwing one last contemptuous glance towards the stack of unmarked assignments.
"I'm not good, but I tried this time," she replied, looking a little shy despite her self-satisfied smirk.
As they left to the cafeteria together, one still could hear Hinata's, "I'll help you after lunch."
From that point onwards, the day was going pretty good for Kakashi. Despite Hinata's insistence that she was bad at it, her miso soup was delicious, and Danzou wasn't complaining about his work too. Heck, even his hand felt okay. But if there was one thing he learned over the years being a teacher, it is that sooner or later the trouble will find you. And when that happens, the headache you'll get will be directly proportional to how good the day was going before.
Sure enough, it was later that day when the Art club began that trouble started to arise.
"How is it that Hinata just came from her work and she already got more assignments graded than Mr. Hatake?" Hanabi asked, much emboldened by her art teacher's lenient attitude. Truth be told, over the weeks Hanabi got to understand her teacher better, and she learned that he wasn't as scary as he tried to look. Not when Hinata was keeping him in check by preventing him from doing stuff that would land him in trouble with the administration. The suspension they put on the art teacher seemed to be working well.
"If you are so smart, go grade them yourself," the man grumbled in response. How was he supposed to know high school chemistry fifteen years after his last chemistry lesson? Danzou should be thankful he bothered to read up on it a little, otherwise he wouldn't be able to grade it at all.
And Hinata helped a little too. Well, actually a lot. With her fresh med school knowledge, she managed to finish her third of the pile easily enough, moving onto tackling Kakashi's two thirds together with him.
"The faster we finish the quicker we can join the club," she reasoned, which was enough to placate the older man's hurt pride at not being able to finish his share of work by himself.
"I wonder where is Konan?" Hanabi said absently, before heading upstairs to print out the document containing the rules of their Art club. She spent a better part of the afternoon making the code for their club, and was kinda proud of what she'd came up with. Even Konohamaru and others commented on how cool it was.
"It's not like her to be late," Kakashi agreed, but didn't give it much thought. Before he could complain about the lack of printers in the basement due to the one in the library being broken, the door burst open and in rushed Hanabi.
"Mr. Hatake, there is about to be a fight in the gym!"
"Naruto and Sasuke again?" the teacher drawled, seemingly uninterested at all. Despite his words he still stood up.
"Yes…" his club's President nodded, "but I think they are fighting another student this time!"
This time Kakashi's response was much quicker. He strode off towards the gym, all the while grumbling under his breath. Where the hell was Gai? His self-proclaimed 'Rival' usually supervised all the sports clubs' activities personally. The man was a sports freak, Kakashi doubted he even slept, that was how much he was surprised to find the green tracksuit clad man nowhere near the incident that was taking place in the gym's locker room.
It seemed he was just in time because no punches were being thrown yet. Naruto and that boy who was even more annoying than him, Yahiko, seemed to be having an argument. Quite heated, judging from the two knuckleheads' friends trying to pacify them from both sides. Indeed, Nagato and Sasuke seemed to be holding the two off and away from going at each other. It would've been amusing if it were kindergarten children instead of fully grown high schoolers, but oh well, Kakashi guessed it was just his shitty luck. The art teacher would've lied if he said that he didn't want to see Yahiko's ass get kicked by an older and more experienced fighter, but that's the thing – he is a teacher. So, with a sigh, Kakashi bravely went in to break up the fight that no doubt started over a stupid reason anyway.
"Hey, Naruto, Yahiko!" he called, putting a hand on each of the brawlers' shoulder and stopping them in their tracks. "What's this all about?" Just when he said that Hinata and Hanabi arrived. To help, no doubt, but he was fine enforcing discipline by himself. Beside him Sasuke muttered in relief, and Nagato seemed to stop panicking.
"Thank God someone came," the raven-haired boy said. "Mr. Might went to drive Lee home since our practice was finished, and others left too." Absently Kakashi noted that Sasuke referred to Lee's foster care institution as home even though he knew the circumstances of the boy's situation. His consideration was pointless, however, since Kakashi himself came from an orphanage.
Still, satisfied by Sasuke's explanation, Kakashi went to the root of the matter.
"Naruto!" he barked, familiar with the boy's antics since he was the teacher responsible for his class. "What happened?"
"Nothing…"
"Don't give me that crap." He came closer to the blond, and even though he knew by know his every excuse and trick, Kakashi was surprised to see an unfamiliar expression on the teen's face. There was no glint of challenge in his eyes, no sense of rebellion. He seemed like he was in the right this time, and he knew it. It was weird how people like Naruto lost all their bravado when for once they didn't do anything.
"I told you, it's nothing. A personal matter…" he said, almost humbly.
"Since when did we solve personal matters by beating up other people?" Kakashi wondered dryly.
"No way he'd beat me up!" Yahiko clearly felt like he needed to defend his pride.
"I didn't–"
"But you would have!" he said loudly, effectively cutting Naruto and everyone else off. Even Yahiko flinched, immediately trying to compensate for it by looking even more nonchalant. Noticing the atmosphere getting visibly more heated, Kakashi remembered Hinata's advice, cleared his throat and apologized. "Sorry, let's start again. What happened. And I don't care if it's a personal matter. There was a fight here, and I am investigating."
"He made a girl cry."
Naruto's words were so matter-of-fact and serious that Kakashi had almost did a double take if it really was Naruto talking to him. Raising a brow, he gave the boy an unimpressed look. "And that means you need to be a knight in shining armor and fight her offender."
"N-no! Of course not!" the boy protested, flustered, arms flailing before the older man's face. Behind him a snicker could be heard.
"I would advise you to shut up, Yahiko," Kakashi snapped, the ginger-haired boy's behavior starting to get on his nerves. "Naruto's crime was being stupid, but what about you? Making a girl cry, really?"
Beside him Naruto's muttering could be heard, "Look who's talking…"
Deciding to ignore that, the art teacher focused on the younger teen's explanation.
"I was trying to talk her out of…" Yahiko seemed to have remembered who he was talking to, for he stopped abruptly, and started looking like he was considering every word that came next, "… out of doing something that would hurt her. But I didn't mean to make her cry, I swear!"
"Ya sure?" Naruto objected. "Cos I think what you said was pretty hurtful."
"Nobody asked your opinion!"
"Hey, hey," Kakashi shook the two by the shoulder, "forgot where you are? Yahiko, am I right to assume that the girl you were talking about was Konan?"
The two glared at him but remained relatively quiet. Hinata and Hanabi shared a similar expression of worry for their newest member and friend. Needless to say, it took time to sort everything out, but in the end, the teacher knew what needed to be done.
"Alright," Kakashi began, pinching the bridge of his nose with his left hand – his right hurt too much due to all the forceful actions he performed with it over the past half an hour, "so Yahiko said something dumb and Konan ran away. Then came Naruto, who saw the girl leaving in tears, made some conclusions and went to right the wrong." All the while he said it his words were accompanied by leveled nods from the pair of instigators. "Then one thing led to another and a fight broke out," he concluded, trying to hold onto the last vestiges of his patience, lest he'll give one more reason to Danzou to kick him out of his job right there and then.
"What are we going to do?" he heard Hinata ask, who until then had remained mostly quiet. The urgency in her tone indicated that her priority was to find Konan and make sure she was okay.
Kakashi sighed, rubbing his hurting arm absentmindedly. "Let's see… Naruto, you are on detention. Gai will choose a suitable chore for you."
"What for?!" the boy was about to protest, but Kakashi cut him off.
"For playing a white knight when you could've just left their interpersonal matter to them. It's not your business when people argue."
"It's my business when people hurt their friends. And I don't care if it's a girl or a guy, talking like that to a friend is unacceptable!" the blond heatedly responded. Sasuke beside him put a supporting hand on his shoulder.
Kakashi shook his head. Naruto's words reminded him of a similar boy from a lifetime ago. Truly, where do they breed people like that, he wondered? Perhaps this school just attracted crazy students?
"As admirable as it is, we have rules in this school," he said, sarcasm evident, putting an end to the argument and turning to the second transgressor. "Yahiko, you are suspended from the baseball team indefinitely. Next time I see you causing trouble, you are out for good."
"You can't do that!" said boy protested. "You have no right! You are not even part of the baseball club!"
"Who said I am suspending you? I'm merely informing you of Gai's decision." He ignored the angry 8th grader's objections and turned to Hinata and Hanabi. "Come on, we need to find our member."
Nodding in understanding, the Hyuga siblings went straight to the art classroom to pick up their things and be ready to leave. Afterall, a teenage girl running off in an unfamiliar area in the evening wasn't a joking matter. They just hoped Konan had simply went home.
Before he left after them, however, Kakashi stopped one last time. Barely sparing a glance at Yahiko, he spoke.
"Naruto is right, you know," he said, his tone serious and somewhat melancholic, the statement surprising the blond, "those who abandon their friends are trash."
With those words, the art teacher left the gym and soon the basement and the whole school behind. What he didn't see was Gai coming in fifteen minutes later, and after a brief explanation from Sasuke and Nagato, suspending Yahiko until further notice. With a warning that he'd be kicked out of the team if something like this repeated again.
When Kakashi came out, Hinata and Hanabi were already waiting for him. They searched the whole premises but couldn't find the girl. At first, everyone was calm, afterall, what good would it do to worry needlessly. Konan was a big girl, she won't do anything stupid, right? However, the more they searched in vain the more the feeling of dread crept on them, what if something happened? Just to add to their predicament, it began to rain not long ago, and it looked like it won't stop nowhere soon.
"She's not picking up her phone!" Hanabi said, desperately dialing Konan's number even though the same sound of the recipient being unavailable was making her sick.
"Her parents are not picking up either," Hinata informed them, her voice straining under the heavy downpour. They gathered once again under the roof of the school, to discuss their next actions. Do they leave things as is and hope for Konan's level-headedness? But they wanted to commence their club's first official day, and for that they absolutely needed all its members...
Kakashi swore, his words drowning in the rain, but anger still apparently clear. At least they had umbrellas to cover themselves with, what if Konan was outside and didn't have one? He knew the girl's mother, she'd be a nuisance if something happened to her daughter while she was supposed to be under his care. Just as he was about to suggest calling Konan's mother one more time, they got an unexpected addition to their search party.
"Don't bother calling, they won't pick up," Yahiko said, voice bitter. Kakashi figured he too was familiar with his friend's situation with her mother.
"We might know where Konan is," Nagato added from behind his friend.
"Yeah, there is a park nearby," Yahiko said and without waiting went towards it.
Not wasting a second longer than it took to exchange identical determined glances, the Art club went after the girl's friends. True enough, there she was, under the same tree Kakashi liked to sit when he himself felt like shit. Konan had no umbrella, but thankfully the thick canopy was providing enough cover for her not to get drenched.
"Why didn't I think of this place?" Kakashi muttered under his breath, the incident a year ago resurfacing in his memory. Afterall, he himself told Konan that there was a good spot for getting your head in order.
Hinata took notice of the man's statement but didn't ask – there were more pressing matters to take care of.
It wasn't clear if Konan noticed when they approached, because her expression hadn't changed a single bit. She was no longer crying, just sitting there on a lone bench with her head hung and shoulders sagged. She was staring at the ground aimlessly, her head clearly somewhere else.
"Hey, Konan?" Hinata asked gently, and the girl's head shot up. It was clear now that she didn't notice them before, because her face morphed into an apologetic expression.
"Sorry," she said, half-heartedly trying to bring a semblance of order to her appearance. "I was supposed to come today for the meeting…"
"Hey, it's okay," Hinata reassured, sitting down on a bench beside her and wrapping a hand around the girl's shoulder, bringing her into a comforting hug.
"It's not 'okay'," they heard Kakashi say, making the girl look even more miserable. Before Hinata could reproach him he continued. "Am I the only one who thinks that running away in the middle of the evening who knows where is not 'okay'? Especially under this weather?" he asked, throwing his hands up and striding up towards the two on the bench, the droplets from his umbrella flying away in differend directions as if to emphasize his point. "What was all this about? And I'm not buying it if you say that it's nothing."
Under the man's scrutiny, Konan seemed to have been forced to gain her ability to speak. "It's nothing, really," she said, unable to help it despite the man's warnings. "I-I mean, Yahiko was just being overprotective…"
"Was it about you joining the art club?" Hinata prodded gently, getting a sluggish nod in response.
"Yahiko and Nagato don't like it that I joined. They think it's…" she then stopped, looking up at the art teacher apologetically.
"Useless? Waste of time? Won't help you in future?" Kakashi supplied, unimpressed. "I believe I told you and your mother that saying these things makes a person sound narrow-minded."
Konan nodded again, a tiny ghost of a smile peeking through the tear-stained face. She remembered that day, when the most unlikely person stood up for her. Now looking at that person, it was hardly surprising that he did what he did back then. It was obvious that the art teacher worried about his students, and deep down in some weirdly roundabout way he wished the best for them. He just seemed to have trouble when it came to expressing that.
"I know, but they also said that Mr. Hatake is… you know…" she trailed off, making said man snort in half-amusement, half-irritation.
"They were afraid I'll do something bad to you, weren't they?" he asked, more like stated, not surprised at all. "Those idiots…" he stopped his bubbling rant, suddenly remembering that Konan's friends were supposed to be with them. "Where are they, by the way?"
The whole group plus a shocked Konan looked around; there was no sign of her best friends in the visible vicinity. It was as if they haven't been leading them to this place minutes prior at all.
"They also came here?" the blue-haired girl asked, surprise and hope apparent in her expression.
"Yeah," Hanabi replied, "looked like they were regretting what they said."
The senior's words seemed to have cheered Konan up somewhat, and they sat in relative peace, interrupted only by the art teacher's grumbles.
"Great, now I have to search for those two," Kakashi complained, plopping into the seat next to the blue-haired girl, following Hinata and Hanabi's example. He rubbed his tired face, taking the mask off in the process, it was wet anyway, and took a short glance around the park, appreciating the serenity of it before he has to go look for two more troublemakers.
Fortunately, he was spared from going on a wild goose chase, because Konan switched on her phone and it immediately rang with a message. Pulling it out of her bag pocket, the girl looked at the screen and smiled ruefully.
"It looks like Mr. Hatake won't have to look for them," she said mysteriously, apologizing once more for good measure.
"Cowards," Kakashi's comment made both Hinata and Hanabi look at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" the younger of the two asked.
Konan just gaped at the man. Was he snooping in on her phone when she opened Yahiko's message? Her friends apologized and said that they'll be happy to talk things over tomorrow.
Instead of answering, the sole male of the group stood up. "Come on," he beckoned, moving towards the edge of the cover of the tree. "We need to hurry if we want to get there before Iruka."
"Where? What is going on?" Hanabi was totally confused.
"Today is the first official day of this Club," Kakashi replied, looking away, as if that was enough of an explanation.
Weirdly enough, all three of his companions caught up on his thoughts. Hinata was the first to cheer up.
"That's right, and we have all the members now, so let's celebrate!" she sprung up too, folding her palms and rubbing them in anticipation. "Where should we go? Maybe that place near my apartment? What do you think, Hanabi?"
"Hold on," Kakashi put a stop to the Hyuga sister's gastronomic enthusiasm, "our club doesn't have the kind of money to afford your fancy restaurants. We are going to the Ichiraku."
Not really caring where to go, there were no protests from the sisters, and the four of them soon were sitting comfortably at the bar-like rack of the quaint noodle shop. With Hanabi and Hinata's combined efforts, they managed to pull Konan out of her bad mood, and the three of them happily engaged in amiable chatter while Kakashi and Teuchi were catching up.
There was one thing Hinata noticed about the timid girl happily slurping her noodles, and it was the constant glances she kept sending her teacher's way. There was the natural curiosity, yes, but also something more. Something like awe and respect. It was clear to the health assistant/unofficial member of the Art club that there was more to the story.
"Konan, how did you get to know Kakashi?" she asked, unable to contain her own interest.
The question was completely unexpected, it looked like, as Konan stammered profusely in her response.
"It was at the beginning of the year, when I just enrolled in Konoha," she carefully began in a hushed tone, clearly wanting to avoid Kakashi overhearing, which only served to increase the Hyugas' interest. As they leaned in a little closer and shared a conspiratorial giggle, Konan proceeded to recall the memory that to this day brought warmth to her heart and encouraged her in her times of need, "I always loved origami…"
1 year ago…
A bitter Konan, same blue hair, same short haircut, only one year younger, was obediently sitting at the front row desk of the art class while her mother talked to the teacher.
"My daughter chose this school, you see, because it had compulsory art classes," her mother said in a tone with which a parent talks about their child's misbehavior, "and I can't just make her understand…" and here begins the same tune that her mom always made sure to play, criticizing her choices and belittling her passion.
In her bitter frustration, Konan absently began folding the piece of paper she found randomly lying on her desk. The colorful material was surprisingly pliable, perfectly following her hands' manipulations. The mechanical action of repetitive folding and pressing the paper always calmed her mind and provided a distraction from the outside world.
Despite her wishes, the distraction wasn't working completely, and Konan still could hear what the adults were talking about.
"Mam, if you wanted someone to discourage your daughter from pursuing art, you came to the wrong person," she heard a smooth, uninterested male voice. It was as dry and approachable as sandpaper. Must be the art teacher, Konan mused, almost snorting in agreement with the man despite. Why would a person who made a career out of art discourage someone else from pursuing said career? Evidently, her mother didn't care much, since she seemed to just want to vent to someone.
"…I would understand if it was some other form of art. But origami? Isn't it what kids do when they are playing with paper, making paper planes?"
At those words the paper in Konan's hands began to crease a little in the wrong way, her precise and almost tender motions rapidly becoming violent with each dismissive statement from her mother. She still kept doing what she did, though, refusing to let her parent's lack of support achieve its ultimate goal of making her turn her back on her passion. Meanwhile the unfriendly teacher was doing his best to get rid of her overbearing mother.
"I understand, mam…" and "yes, but…" were pretty much the only things he said as the woman in front of him was refuting his every argument. Getting curious, Konan slowed down on her origami and began focusing more on the conversation going on between her mother and her teacher.
"Creative people need to release their creativity," the man reasoned. "It is just their nature, even if they don't want to pursue art. Even if it's just a hobby."
"Yes, but I am sure you'd agree that not everyone is able to monetize their creativity," her mom shot back. "Some people just lack talent…"
"That's why I'm here," the man drawled, clearly getting tired of the conversation that didn't lead anywhere. "My job is to make sure those who want to pursue the subject will be prepared as much as possible. Anyway, I'm sure your daughter has something to say in this…"
With those words, Konan understood that it was her time to get dissected and pulled apart by yet another adult. She hoped the art teacher wouldn't be as harsh as other adults as he surely would understand and relate to her situation, right? Well, judging by her previous teachers she wouldn't bet on it. Meanwhile, the two adults had quieted, and when she lifted her head she saw that their eyes were on her, expecting.
Her mother had a commanding presence, but right then she felt like there was someone almost as scary as her, and both of them were looking at her, judging. A lump formed in her throat, and no matter how badly she wished to speak, not a single coherent sentence came out. Seemingly getting tired of her feeble mumbling, her mother turned back to the teacher, as if saying 'you see what I'm talking about?'. Surely enough, the man spoke, his dead serious tone providing such a stark contrast to his earlier apathetic attitude that even her mother was forced to shut up.
"I can see now,"–he said, every syllable coming out harsher and harsher to her ears, and Konan readied herself for yet another rejection–"that you don't know your daughter as well as you think you do."
Wait, what?
Her head shot up to look at the adults once more, and together with the teacher's accusing one she saw her mother's confused expression. Konan was certain that the same expression was mirrored in her own face at that moment.
"Excuse me?" her mother spoke, clearly still in shock. Otherwise she would've already started a scene.
"If you fear your daughter has no talent, then allow me to put those thoughts to rest. She clearly is good at what she intends to pursue, very much so, considering her age."
The unexpected praise caught both of the females off guard. "What?" her mother mumbled, looking between the man and her daughter, as if trying to find what was it that he saw and she didn't to be able to determine his earlier statement.
"Moreover," the art teacher continued, "instead of doubting your daughter you could've tried to understand her reason for wanting to do art. Maybe it is so important that 'financial' sacrifices wouldn't be such a big problem?" he said, the word financial coming out as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Are you trying to teach me how to raise my child?" her mother seemed to have gained the grasp of the situation and finally understood that there was an adult who for once disagreed with her.
"I'm not trying to teach you anything, mam. That's for her," he calmly replied, eyes briefly switching right to Konan, and she felt strangely exposed. "May I?" Konan was so overwhelmed that it took her longer than necessary to process that he was asking her something. When she saw his outstretched hand pointing in the direction of her own folded ones, it dawned on her that he wanted to take a look at the origami she made. Hesitantly, she handed him the paper cicada she'd created, noticing with no little insecurity that she'd clutched it too hard, leaving some wrinkles and bumps on it.
He didn't seem to mind her cicada's poor state as he looked it over a couple of times, careful not to damage anything, before giving it to her mother to take a look.
"This is a very good cicada," he commented, still looking at her, as if evaluating her as well as her handiwork. "and it's not a simple one either. Look at those legs, I assure you it's not easy to make one like that, and your daughter did it without even using any blueprint or base."
Her mother was looking over her cicada with a quizzical expression. "But I don't understand…"
"Then you should ask," the man said as if it was the most logical thing to do, because it was. "You are right about art not being the most secure profession, and I'm sure your daughter appreciates the concern. However, provided that a person works hard enough, I believe it is possible to monetize one's creativity." With those words, he handed Konan an opened pack of origami papers. To her questioning stare, he just shrugged. "Nobody uses them anyway."
It was professional quality paper, two hundred pieces in total. Well, later Konan will learn that the pack contained 199 papers, because the one she used to make her cicada had come from the very pack Mr. Hatake gave her.
The whole way back her mother was uncharacteristically silent. As if just now understanding something that till this moment eluded her. The paper cicada she'd made was innocently resting on the front seat in her mother's car.
In the end, she didn't protest any more about her choice of school. That wasn't to say that their relationship improved much, but at least she stopped belittling her passion for art and origami. Konan didn't know what else her teacher told her mother, but it seemed to placate her worries for the time being.
"So that's how you got to know Mr. Hatake…" Hanabi's words pulled Konan out of her reverie. By the time she finished, Konan was blushing, embarrassed to divulge such personal information. But the people beside her were her friends, and they truly cared about her. She had to get this off her chest anyhow. Of course, she didn't tell them every detail, but her summary was enough for them to understand.
"I think it was really sweet of him to deliberately leave a piece of paper on your desk to let you make something," Hinata commented, and Konan couldn't agree more. She figured Kakashi read her personal statement when she applied to Konoha and saw that she liked origami. That was how he did it, but the question was: why?
"Why what?" they suddenly heard Kakashi say from behind. For someone so private he sure was nosy.
"Ehm, why don't you allow us to pay for the club?" Hinata came up with the first thing that came to her mind.
"Because you'll have too much influence that way," he replied as if it was obvious, causing Hanabi to make a 'loose screw' motion around the side of her head. "A single member cannot give more than twenty ryo a month and that's a rule."
"If you say so…" Hinata agreed, giving Konan a wink. The blue-haired girl smiled in response, grateful for the older woman keeping her secret.
The celebration of Art club's first official day as a club went on despite Naruto and Iruka's arrival. In fact, somehow the two joined them. The art teacher grumbled in the beginning, but when Iruka offered to split the check he had quickly become more agreeable. Eventually, they all left together when it was beginning to get late.
Konan had so much fun that even her mother's lack of worry over her late absence couldn't dampen her mood. Thanking everyone once again, she was about to leave home when Hanabi called her over.
"Where are you going? I thought you needed a ride?"
"Oh, no, it's okay," she was about to dismiss when Kakashi came up.
"Just let them drive you home, they are rich anyway," he grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.
Hinata giggled. "Come on, even Kakashi agreed to take a ride."
Eventually they managed to persuade the girl, and all four of them caught a cab to go to the school first and then Konan's house.
"Don't you rich folk have a personal chauffeur?" even then Kakashi seemed to find something to whinge about.
"There is no need to disturb Iroha so late in the evening," Hinata easily replied.
"Isn't it his job to drive you guys whenever and wherever you need?"
Hinata and Hanabi let out a heavy sigh. "Here goes our quiet trip…" Hanabi said dryly.
"It's okay," Hinata snickered, "his stop is the first."
They all shared a laugh at the older man's expense. Even Kakashi chuckled a little, making all three of the girls look at him in bewilderment.
"It can laugh!" Hinata exclaimed, mock shock on her face. She'd never imagine herself joking around with a man like Kakashi, but here she was, teasing him without a care.
"You are right," Kakashi huffed, turning away, "it's good that my stop is first…"
And despite his words Hinata saw the smile still playing upon his maskless face reflected in the car window.
The whole trip to her house, Konan couldn't help but feel like that day marked the beginning of something great in her life.
