"Maero, may I ask you something?"

We were watching a movie and it had gotten boring, leaving me to mull over my thoughts. I probably would have kept them to myself if I hadn't remembered the conversation I had with Maero's cousin almost a month ago.

"Mmm?"

"What are we exactly? Like you and me?" I asked, curious.

"Umm…" Maero wrinkled his forehead in contemplation. "Ninjas?"

I threw a pillow at him which he easily deflected. "No stupid, I mean us. I mean are we an 'us'?"

Maero was quiet and I began to get anxious wondering if perhaps, just maybe I had misunderstood our relationship these past months. Couples usually kiss don't they? Maero and I had never actually shared a kiss. Wow, come to think of it, I must be pretty dense. Almost one year of thinking he was my boyfriend and we have never even kissed. Sure, he had often kissed the top of my head but my mom does that too. We have hugged, but so do Konohamaru and I and that doesn't mean anything. Although we held hands from time to time, we never held hands in public. What were we exactly?

Maero finally spoke. "What brings this up?"

"Well we never um… you know." I wanted to stop here for dramatic emphasis. However, I figured that I really should clarify because it did sound a little ambiguous. "You know… kiss."

"Is that something you want?"

"No!"

Well that was dumb. "Yes…"

Oh ya that cleared things right up. "I mean…"

What did I mean? I wasn't adverse to a kiss from the rather handsome man on my sofa, but what I really wanted to know was if we were in a position to kiss. I was starting to wonder if we were just friends who looked like a couple. Wow this was complex. I hung my head unsure of what to say next.

"Moegi," Maero tilted my chin. "Look at me."

I bit my bottom lip as he examined my eyes. His were piercing.

"Moegi, there is no other girl I want to be with." His words were deliberate and genuine.

So did this mean we were a couple? Cause damn the rest of the village thought we were and I wanted to agree with them. Well this was awkward.

Maero pulled me into a hug, the movie completely forgotten. He held me tightly.

"I'm sorry; I thought my feelings were clear." His breath tickled my skin. "Moegi, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course." I hugged him back. This all felt juvenile, like we were back at the academy handing out notes that read 'do you like me: yes/no', but I didn't care. It was official now. I felt him hold me tighter.

"So the last year, umm what was that?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, that was the trial period. Congratulations you passed." He replied with a cocky grin.

Maero released me from his death grip hug and took my hands in his. His smile monopolised his face, his eyes seemed to be taking in everything he saw before him. His one hand moved to cup my face.

"You have no idea how much I have wanted to kiss those lips of yours." Maero whispered.

"Why didn't you?"

"I was scared of hurting you."

Scared of hurting me? What was he planning to do? Bite me? I was more hurt that he didn't kiss me; I was starting to wonder if I wasn't attractive to him.

"Hurting me?"

"Ya," he laughed. "It's dumb I know."

Maero caressed my cheek with his thumb before nervously bending down, touching his lips to mine.

You know, there is something incredibly unromantic about talking about a kiss beforehand. It is about as lame as when a guy asks if he can kiss you, but it didn't matter to me. He was finally kissing me.

Maero's lips were incredibly gentle and soft, almost heavenly. Oh that was cheesy. I cradled his head in my hand pulling him a little closer, just like I saw in the movie. I felt his fingers running through my hair then down to my back. The kiss became more intense. I needed to breathe but I didn't want to break free. Thankfully Maero did it for me.

"I can't believe I went all that time without ever kissing you," he breathed.

"Ya what a waste. Why stop now."

I don't know where I got the courage to not only deliver that rather corny line, but also to pull him back down for another take.

-----

"What's up with you today?" Konohamaru asked with a wrinkled nose.

"Nothing why?" I replied.

"I don't know; you're acting weird. I mean weirder then usual." He scratched his head.

"I think he means you are smiling a lot today." Udon whispered to me

"Not smiling, grinning like a buffoon." Konohamaru protested.

"What? Can't I just be in a good mood without being questioned about it?"

"It's just creepy, that's all."

"You have a warped sense of creepy Konohamaru."

We continued to walk up the little path till we got to the familiar clearing. It had been a while since the last time we trained all together. First Udon was out on a mission then Konohamaru. It was nice to finally have all three of us together.

"Alright Moegi, you are up first." Konohamaru said sternly.

Ever since we were kids we would see who could last the longest fighting off two team mates at the same time. Konohamaru was the best out of all of us, but Udon and I still tried to beat him. The exercise really had no point other than to inflate Konohamaru's ego more.

"What? Why me?"

"Ya, you. You seem to be in a good mood, you might actually land a punch this time." He shrugged off his training bag and let it fall to the ground as I took my usual spot in the middle of the field.

Konohamaru came at me first aiming for my middle, I side stepped feeling him rush past me while Udon attacked from the left. I successfully blocked him, sending him tumbling backwards. I swung around to see Konohamaru coming at me again from a different direction. I sprang up and over him, using his shoulder as a push off. I wasn't really attacking just defending.

I made a soft landing and noticed that Udon had managed to lay out some traps around me. I didn't even see him do that. He was getting fast.

I figured that I should pick up the slack and start attacking back. I saw Konohamaru coming from the left. I did a quick series of hand seals which emitted an energy field that knocked both Konohamaru and Udon flat on their backs. I smiled at my triumph. I went for Udon first. He wasn't as strong as Konohamaru, but if he kept laying out traps things would get tricky. A couple of combos and Udon was down. In all fairness to Udon though, we have trained together for over ten years, I could read his moves like a book and I knew all his weaknesses. Konohamaru was a little more of a challenge. I dodged his punches and snuck in a chakra enforced kick to his torso. I wasn't expecting to make contact because Konohamaru was usually pretty quick, but I managed to knock him the ground. He grabbed his midriff and rolled in pain. I stood my ground; I was sure it was a trick.

"Moegi, man what the hell was that?"

"Umm a kick?" I relaxed and walked over to him. "Don't tell me you can't take a kick from a girl?"

"I think you just aren't concentrating Konohamaru." Udon piped up from the edge of the field.

"Oh shut it snot nose!"

Konohamaru was pretty touchy today. Something was up and I wanted to know what.

"You criticize me for acting weird, but look at yourself; you didn't even last five minutes in our fight? Udon is right. Something is on your mind. What is it?" I asked him as I offered my hand to help him up.

"Nothing," he snapped.

Udon got up and walked towards us, no doubt to give me valuable information.

"He was assigned his next mission this morning. It's a two man with Hanabi."

Thank you Udon, you never disappoint.

"Damnit Udon, I don't give a shit about my mission partner."

"Oh and it is a long one," Udon continued as if Konohamaru hadn't spoken at all. "Two months was it?"

"Wow, shit." If there was one thing I knew it was that Konohamaru never really got over Hanabi. He claimed he was fine, he dated other girls after her, but she, she was his first. First everything. And then one day she just ended it, no warning, like her love could be turned on and off like a light switch.

"Udon shut your trap, I don't want to hear it."

"What? Moegi wanted to hear it," Udon sniffed. "Plus 'there are no secrets between us' right?"

One could always trust Udon to be painfully honest and blunt. What made it even funnier is that he wasn't aware of this, to him; he was just following the rules. If I were to tell him to jump ten times every day at three o'clock he would do it without question.

Konohamaru angrily grabbed his bag. This was by far the shortest training session we had ever had. It reminded me of the last time our training was cut short. It was the day after Maero had first sat by me at one of the lectures.

"OW! THAT HURT!" I rubbed my backside where I landed. Konohamaru was being unusually forceful in our sparring match.

"Well if you were paying attention you would have been able to block that! Moegi, what is wrong with you today?" he retorted, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

I just bit my bottom lip and looked at him. He was right, my mind was elsewhere and it cost me the match. What would have happened if we were in the field? Would I have been as careless? I would hope not.

Konohamaru let out a sigh. "We'll continue tomorrow." Disappointment was etched in his face.

I winced. I may be clumsy and a little absentminded, but when it came to fighting I was usually on top of things. Konohamaru often told me that he enjoyed sparring with me because it was a challenge for him. Not today.

"Let's go get ice cream." He shot me a smile.

"Yeah, ice cream." Ice cream solves all problems; well that's at least what I tried to believe. I didn't think it would solve this one. It wasn't really a problem, but more of a mystery; one that wouldn't let me sleep at night or function properly during the day.

I hopped to my feet and follow my team mate out of the training grounds.

We made it to the shop; it was busy today, but I didn't mind the wait. Konohamaru was kind enough to wait in line while I kept a table for us off to the side. There were many familiar faces in the shop today; one in particular caught my eye. He was with Kakashi Sensei. From a distance it looked liked neither were really aware of the other. Kakashi was reading his book which never seemed to leave his side and Naruto had a milkshake that he never really touched. I closed my eyes. It was as if my senses heightened and I realised that Kakashi sensei wasn't in fact reading, and Naruto, well the only reason his milkshake was still full was that he was in an intense conversation.

"It's not fair Kakashi sensei. We… we…" Naruto's voice sounded strained.

"Six years is a long time Naruto, but traditions are traditions. You can't go up against one of the oldest and strongest clans in the village."

I immediately realised what they were talking about. Miss Hinata. She got married a few years back to a fellow clan member. The marriage meant the end of Naruto's and Hinata's long relationship. Konohamaru told me that Naruto and Miss Hinata still saw each other for a while after the wedding, having secret trysts. But when she became pregnant with her first child she completely shut him out. It looks like even now he still feels for her.

"It's stupid," Naruto continued. "You'd think our relationship would count for something… When I'm Hokage…."

I couldn't hear the rest of Naruto's sentence because Konohamaru arrived with our cones.

"Hey Moegi, they ran out of vanilla, but they had this one flavour that you may like. Birthday Cake."

"Birthday Cake?" I asked with some scepticism.

"Sorry, though the clerk said that if you liked Vanilla, you will definitely like this one." Konohamaru tried to sound reassuring.

"Thanks." I took a lick. "It's not bad." And it really wasn't. A part of me thought that I would consider getting this flavour again.

Konohamaru smiled and took a bite of his own ice cream, "I'm glad you like it."

That memory sparked an idea.

"Hey why don't we go for Korean BBQ tonight?"

Udon sniffed at the loose mucus and nodded in agreement.

"Konohamaru," I prodded. "What do you say? It's been a while since we last went for BBQ and seeing as you leave tomorrow on that mission we might as well go tonight. It might be a while before we can go again."

"Ya fine, but don't expect me to enjoy myself." Konohamaru groaned. I knew that he was just being melodramatic. At times he was moodier than girls during their monthly.

At the restaurant we were quick to make our first order of meat and vegetables. I took the initiative to start grilling the meat when it came. Udon helped by placing some random vegetables on the grill losing some to the flames below.

I was itching to ask Konohamaru about the mission he was going on. I must admit that I was surprised the Hokage would place him on a two man with Hanabi. I know that as a ninja he should be able to set aside personal feelings for the sake of the village, but seriously how hard would it have been to replace either one of them? There is no way Konohamaru would be able to keep focus with Hanabi so close to him. His love-hate for her was pretty strong. There had to be more to it than what we saw a face value. The Hokage obviously saw something we didn't.

"Your mission tomorrow must be a dangerous one huh?" Udon said casually as he flipped a strip of meat.

"Ya, dangerous for that Hyuuga brat, I may just kill her in her sleep," Konohamaru growled.

Dangerous? Why would Udon assume that the mission would be… oh my god. He was a genius. Love-hate, it was a very strong emotion. Of course the Hokage would pair them up if it was a very dangerous mission; Konohamaru would protect Hanabi at all costs, even if he did 'hate' her. And of course because of the tension between them they would be anxious to finish the mission quickly and efficiently. Genius really. I couldn't help but smile at the brilliance of it.

"Moegi you are doing it again," Konohamaru complained.

"Eh?"

"The grinning like a fool, it's getting on my nerves."

"Oh sorry, I didn't realise I was doing it." I couldn't help but grin even more. "So what is this mission about?"

"We have to deliver a message to a village deep in Lighting Country." Konohamaru stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth.

"Well that seems pretty lame, not exciting at all," Udon commented.

"Why would that take two months?" I was curious.

"Hanabi knows the rest of the mission, it is part clan business. I am just there to help protect the messenger." Konohamaru said through his teeth, obviously bitter that he wasn't a hundred percent in the know amongst other reasons.

I let the subject drop and instead steered the conversation towards mindless chatter about new jitsu's the latest live bands, and flowers. Why flowers? I don't know, blame Udon for that one. The goal was to help our friend get out of his funk even if it was just for an hour or two before he had to head out on his mission.

"So Moegi," Konohamaru said in between chews. "Why so happy today."

Ok so talking about me was not in my plans. I wasn't quite ready to blurt out that I was snogged by that hot Hyuuga I have been seen hanging around with.

"No reason." I stuffed an overcooked mushroom into my mouth.

"Don't give me that BS, I know something is up."

I chewed on the rubbery mushroom. "Make you a deal, you tell me why this mission is eating you and I will spill everything." So much for getting our friend out of a funk.

"It's just a lame mission that's all," Konohamaru said under his breath.

It almost felt like he lost all the spark in his voice. The anger, the edge, it was gone.

"Konohamaru?"

"Moegi, just fuckin' drop it ok?"

Nope, there it was again, and so much stronger than before that I decided to heed his words. At least he forgot about prying into my life. We finished our dinner with small talk which I don't remember much about, before splitting up and going our separate ways. It would be two months before we would see our friend again.