Warning for non-DanxRor romancey stuff.

t's mid-autumn, September, and the summer rains have stopped, the temperature dipping between brisk, windy chill and lingering warmth. Fall is a dry season in Konoha. Wildfire season. Heart's Bloom and Fire Blossom are in season as well – both popular with lovers and unique to Fire Country, rare autumnal flowers.

The trees are still thick with verdant leaves, beginning to dry in the sudden lack of rain. Unlike in the more temperate parts of the country currently ablaze with red, orange, gold and brown foliage – the very yearly display that is the cause of Fire Country's name - Hidden Leaf's forests do not drop their leaves until late November.

They stand at the very border between Sizzle District and Flicker District, at their designated meeting place every morning, right at the corner across from the sandwich shop.

"So." Says Michiyo.

"So." Walter echoes.

She says nothing more, just fiddles with her glossy black hair, uncharacteristically quiet. Not shy, per se – Michiyo is not capable of shyness – but hesitant. He grunts quietly, tilted his head in unspoken query, and this time she meets his blue eyes with her own hazel ones. Her gaze is uncertain but defiant.

"I asked," She starts slowly, "In the middle of that big mess of our last patrol, if you'd go out with me."

"You did." He's never needed to talk much with her; she's always divined his meaning from the meager words he can offer.

"You asked why. And I never answered. So I'll tell you." She stuffs her hands in the pockets of her capris. "You listen to me, and you actually pay attention and take me seriously. You see me, Michiyo, and not a Kagami Bride. You don't pull back when I touch you anymore, y'know, and I know that means something. You get that twitchy smile of yours when my jokes are good enough. The way you move - I could watch you fight all day, and you're smart and strong and creative. I know you're not good with people, but you're nice to everyone who respects you." She shrugs. "And I like that. That's why."

"Oh." He thinks about it. Everything she has said is true, appropriate, and decent. "Fine."

She smiles, closed-lipped, dimples forming on both cheeks. Smiles for him.

"But no whorish behavior." He warns, and she gives him a look.

"Walter." Michiyo says crisply, imitating Reika-sensei's wry tone. "You're fourteen. I'm thirteen. Sex is kinda gross, y'know."

That settles it for him.

"Right," He agrees, corner of his lip turning up. "Hrnh. Michiyo. Be my girlfriend?"

"I'd be delighted to, Walter Kovacs." She drawls, and he gives her a dry look that sends her into fits of laughter. He just sighs, and turns to head to Training Ground 16. She follows.

Reika-sensei has given them a week's vacation after the disastrous patrol-turned rescue. Light training only, she insists, and meet up at the usual spot in seven days.

Retroactively, the C-rank has been upgraded to A-rank, and they've been paid a nice bonus for not just the patrol but also the successful rescue, the sealed scroll, and the bounties on their kills' heads. Granted, salary is down during wartime, and resources are tight. They haven't been paid in cash, but in credit, and cheap favors. The payment comes in discounts at various stores, restaurants and entertainment venues in the village. It comes in increased clearance – High Genin-level access - to most C-Rank material. They're ecstatic. Now, if only Hiko can get access to the experiment lab the hospital owns, everything would be perfect.

Two days into official couplehood, Walter is beginning to have, not exactly doubts, but worries. He meets Michiyo at Yuzu's for lunch. Prohibited from training, they dress in civilian clothes.

"Michiyo."

"Hmn?"

"What do I do as a boyfriend?" She looks up from her fish and chips.

"Well, I guess it depends on the couple, y'know?"

"No. What. Do you expect?" Michiyo blinks, then closes her mouth.

"Well, to hold hands, or kiss a little. Being really close friends? Going to lunch or a movie, or extra training? Rare thoughtful gifts or gestures? I dunno, Walter, just us being closer and more open, that's all."

"Oh." He thinks about that, shoveling some Sloppy Joe and a bit of bun into his mouth.

"You didn't know what couples do, didja? Other than sex."

"Not surprising. Consider mother."

"Well, guess not." She concedes, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. That's part of a healthy relationship."

He can do that. No sex, nothing degrading to either of them, just… trusting vulnerability.

"Where did you learn this? Obviously no previous experience in relationships."

"Oh, that. Well, you know how the Hyuuga clan teaches all their kids how to use their eyes, and the Gentle Fist style?" He nods. "The Kagami clan teaches all the girls how to have a happy, faithful marriage, even if you don't love your husband, and how to raise healthy children. The whole point of the Kagami clan is to have babies, and supply Hidden Leaf with decent ninja. Not that I agree, y'know. I don't want to marry someone because of their blood, or to extend the clan's influence."

"A good ambition." He approves, and she grins at the praise.

"Good. Now, about that variation of the Ice Needle technique…" He takes a long slurp of his coke and dives back into the conversation.

Over the week off, they train together lightly. Not really training so much as comparing notes, working on fine-tuning Walter's genjutsu and speeding up Michiyo's seal speed. They jog together in the morning, have lunch together. Hiko is suspiciously absent. He's been spending all his time at the Hyuuga clan compound, doing what exactly they do not know, but he's been missing since the beginning of the week.

Spending so much time together, Walter quickly establishes his boundaries.

No holding hands in public, but he'll let her rest her hand in the crook of his bent elbow as they walk through the village.

No kissing in public beyond a dry peck, and only in greeting and goodbye, if at all. The exception is an experiment during a very frank discussion of French kissing. Michiyo declares that sex and tonsil-hockey (as she calls it) are both disgusting, and Walter heartily agrees.

"What does that taste like anyway?" She wonders, and Walter grunts, going pink under his freckles. "C'mon let's touch tongues."

"Said disgusting, Michiyo." The dark-haired girl shrugs.

"For science, Walter." He relents.

"Fine. For science." Walter says drily. They stick their tongues out as far as they can go, feeling stupid, and bob heads together for a second, tongue-tip just barely touching tongue-tip, then pull away. Tongues go back in mouths, and they look away, thinking, faces beet red.

"Tongues taste like tongues." Michiyo concludes, and he snorts through his embarrassment. Disgusting.

"Expecting something different?"

"Well, yeah. At least from what I've read of my sister's books. It's always all swoopy and sweet or spicy tasting."

"Thought you didn't like romance books."

"I don't. But Mikoto said don't diss it if you haven't tried it, so I read like, four or five. I tried it, and now I can still diss it, only with real life examples, y'know? Mikoto totally buys the Kagami Bride thing. She's got her eyes on the Uchiha heir."

"Ambitious."

"Yeee-up. You got it. My dad wants me to go after one of the Ino-Shika-Cho guys. They're what, like, a year older than you, two years more than me?"

"Except for Shikaku Nara. Three years older than teammates. To lazy to do well in school, barely passed."

"Inoichi Yamanaka is vain, hollow-brained, and a pansy." Michiyo decrees. Walter nods.

"Chouza Akimichi is fat. Unmotivated. And a glutton."

"Right." She agrees, "So that leaves them out. Then there's our class, five teams. Both Team Six, and Seventeen died on the front. That's Team Four, One, and Two left." She's getting into it now, ticking names off on her fingers. "Team Two. Yutaro Shizo is dating Hisoka Takada, and they look really serious. Genji Kobe is from an old clan, but my second-cousin Anitara Kagami is already chasing him. Ken Riki is a narcissistic sleazeball. Hiko is gay."

"Leaves me." Her animated face shuts down at that.

"No. Your dad was a big hero. But I'm not dating you because of that."

"Just pointing out that -"

"I said. No." She snaps.

"But-"

"Just don't." She interrupts, and he growls at her rudeness.

"Can't talk like normal people?" She sniffs at that, and they glare at each other, and then look away, picking angrily at their meal. The food at Yuzu's is delicious, for all that it is unassuming, and soothes his temper considerably. When the waitress comes over, he orders a slice of apple pie for himself, and a molten chocolate cake slice for Michiyo. It's a little pricey, especially when he's paying for it, but it's her favorite, and maybe she'll understand his intent.

Really, she says she likes him for his qualities. She wouldn't… No. She wouldn't.

But she stays silent for the rest of the day, barely speaking even as they train together.

And just like that, they've had their first fight.

This dating business is harder than he thought.

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