Chapter Twenty-Two
Sensei – Part Two
Hanabi – 26
Konohamaru – 27
For how excited Hanabi had first been about a joint mission with Konohamaru and their teams, she had no clue it would end in several fights. Not just between her and Konohamaru, but Boruto, Sarada, Wasabi, Namida. By the time it was over, one might wonder whether they'd ever speak again.
Sumire and Mitsuki weren't the best mediators, but at least they hadn't gotten into any fights themselves.
They had been tasked with clearing an abandoned building about 20 kilometers out of rats and other creepy crawlers in preparation for a set of chūnin to come and inspect it of valuable items and information.
There was a lot of complaining.
Hanabi, Namida, and Boruto flat out refused to go into the basement.
"Just use your fire style to burn it out, Konohamaru-sensei!"
"No, Boruto—that would ruin anything of value in there," Konohamaru chided.
"And that just seems cruel to burn them up." Sumire frowned.
"I can use wind style to sweep them out," Hanabi offered, "it wouldn't really damage anything, a little messy but eh, we can just say it was left like that."
"Yes! That's a good idea!" Namida agreed readily and Konohamaru gave a frustrated sigh.
"You know that's not the point, Hanabi," he whispered at her heatedly, grabbing her by the shoulder to turn her from the genin. "It's about building character!"
"Building character can be working smarter, not harder," she retorted, aggressively crossing her arms over her chest.
"And if they figure that out for themselves, then fine! This is a d-rank mission for a reason—"
"Well I'm not going in there."
"What?!" Konohamaru expression was morphing to anger quicker and quicker. She did her best to stand tall, looking over her shoulder at the genin who were watching them in confusion. What it must look like to see sensei's bickering back and forth, she wondered. She briefly thought of Tora and Ebisu. "Hanabi, Hanabi!" She perked an eyebrow at his repetition. "Hanabi, former Anbu, heiress to the Hyūga, jōnin sensei won't go into a basement with little rats?"
She turned her nose up at him. "What do you propose? We all go down there and trap them one by one? I'm sorry, I'm simply not touching rats."
"You carried cages of insects without any problems!"
"Chakra insects! These are just nasty rats who probably carry all kinds of disease—"
"Sensei?" They both stopped to look at Sarada, arms crossed behind her back, peering up at them innocently. They weren't exactly being quiet. "We'll get started, okay?"
"Ah, Sarada," Konohamaru acknowledged her with a nod, "that's the spirit. Thank you."
Hanabi clicked her tongue, biting back a snarky remark as Mitsuki, Sumire, and Wasabi followed her down. Namida and Boruto stood over the basement entry and looked down, waving.
"We'll uh—keep lookout up here for you guys!" Boruto tried, earning a glare from Konohamaru.
"Nope, get down there." Konohamaru pointed at the opening, looking between the two genin before landing his eyes on Hanabi. "We're all going."
"Mmph…" Namida whined, mooning her eyes up at Hanabi with her hands clasped together hopefully. Hanabi looked up to find Konohamaru staring at her with that leer that told her they'd be having words later. Oh, they would be. Acting as if he was team leader—how silly. They were equals now, he could try to push her around if he wanted, but they both knew she could go her own way if she wanted. The only reason she was conceding now was her wish to not keep a fight going in front of the impressionable genin.
"Sorry Namida." Hanabi patted her head gently, smoothing out her ponytails. "Guess we have to listen to boss man here."
"But you're my sensei!" Namida huffed, now glaring at Konohamaru.
Despite the tenseness of the interaction, she had to find some amusement with how fickle young emotions could be. One moment Namida was a blushing mess, the next, Konohamaru was the enemy.
Hanabi waved her into the basement behind a complaining Boruto, leaving her and Konohamaru outside in a glaring competition.
"After you." Hanabi gestured with a raised eyebrow.
"Ladies first."
"Right, so, after you."
"Real nice, Hanabi. You're just insulting yourself, you know that right?"
"When did you become a stick in the mud?" Hanabi tapped her foot. "Genin and even chūnin Konohamaru would have been stoked at the suggestion of using a jutsu to clear a basement. Boruto's idea wasn't even that bad, just needed a little refining."
Konohamaru paused, tilting his head at her. "You really expect me to be like I was when I was a chūnin? You don't think I've, y'know, grown up? I'm 27 now. What if we had tried to flat out refuse a mission when we were genin? Tora and Ebisu-sensei would have knocked us into next week."
"Whatever," Hanabi sighed, begrudgingly beginning the walk down, unwilling to admit he was, indeed, correct. Tora would have not just knocked them into next week, she would have mocked them, railed them in front of the Hokage, and put them on weeding duty for two or three weeks.
He trailed down behind her, leaning in to whisper, "you're undermining me. What's with the attitude? Did I piss you off earlier or something?"
"No, I just hate—"
Both fell to their knees at an awful screech. Hanabi recognized it as Namida's unintentionally loud scream—it wasn't full power, but it was enough to feel like one's eardrums might burst.
"The hell?!" Konohamaru coughed as the scream subsided, pushing off his hands to stand.
Hanabi climbed up. "Namida—she's either scared or they're in trouble. I lean towards the former."
"How'd she do that?" Konohamaru asked disbelievingly as they resumed their trek.
"Y'know, she did say she didn't want to do it…" Hanabi grumbled, feeling irritated now that she was not only down here, but having her eardrums seared. As soon as one foot touched the ground floor, she felt something brush against it and immediately screamed, stumbling backwards. Konohamaru caught her before she could fall, but she still immediately bolted halfway up the stairs.
"I am in disbelief," Konohamaru said as he looked up at her, eyebrows raised expectantly with that incredulous look on his face. He shook his head, turning away. "Of all things, this is what you draw the line at."
"Go!"
Konohamaru left Hanabi on the stairs to check on the genin, feeling strangely irritated with her. He was only being honest: how could this woman he had missioned with, watched take blows and kunai, fearlessly close chakra points until her opponent was mush on the ground—how could she be acting like this? Respect for her was a given, it was hard reconciling with a loss in it from what should have been such a simple mission for their teams. And it was true, Tora and Ebisu would never let them get away with what Namida and Boruto were trying to pull.
As he made his way into the basement, he was unfortunately met with less of the genin actually getting their work done, and more of them squabbling. Sarada insulting Boruto, causing Boruto to lash out at her and threaten to take her out 'right here, right now.' Wasabi taking out her frustration on Namida for being so frightened, causing Namida to burst into tears.
Mitsuki and Sumire were the only ones getting any work done, swiftly clearing rats with various jutsu's and sealing techniques, sometimes just some old-fashioned hand catching. At least he didn't have to worry about them.
When he heard crashing come from his right, finding Boruto and Sarada locked in a fight, he'd had enough.
"Boruto! Pair with Wasabi and clear that room! Namida, with Sarada and clear that room!"
He had to separate them all out or he'd tear his hair out listening to the pettiness of the squabbling.
Plus his own squabbling with Hanabi.
A simple mission made so messy by just a few people. He had to feel irritated that Hanabi of all people was refusing a mission so blatantly in front of his team. To make it worse, backing up Boruto, her nephew, would only embolden the boy. He was tempted to threaten to report her unprofessionalism—though he'd never actually report it. But he wanted to make her think he would.
"Who would've thought son of the Hokage was such a wimp!"
"Take that back!"
"Namida, please stop crying…"
"I—I'm sorry Sarada—I'm just so—"
After an hour of this and seemingly so little progress, he'd really had enough.
"Hanabi!"
He beckoned the groups of genin outside, then turned to Hanabi, glaring at her innocent look. "Alright then, go on. With your wind style, right? Clear it out."
"Happily." The smug look on her face…
Despite it all she's still so damn gorgeous. Damn her.
No, you're mad at her.
He watched her kneel next to the basement opening, then pull several tags from her satchels and summon cages. He stepped back as she whispered a wind style jutsu directed inside, and within seconds, the squealing of rodents filled the air as they all came tumbling up, depositing into the cages. The cages slammed shut, and Konohamaru frowned as she clapped her hands together as if to dust them off. "And that's that!"
"Yeah! Score one for big sis!"
They both shot identical disapproving looks at the boy.
"I—I mean, Hanabi-sensei!"
"Alright, Boruto and Namida are carrying them out west to let them free away from here, about 10 kilometers."
"Whaaat?!" Namida gawked.
Konohamaru held up a hand forcefully to silence her. "Don't give me that—you two didn't help at all. They're in cages, you'll be fine."
He looked at Hanabi to make sure she wasn't throwing him any harsh, disapproving glares, content to find her looking indifferent.
Boruto grumbled. "There's like six of them, three each? That's—"
He pulled a page from Ebisu as he scolded the boy, "if I hear one more scrap of complaining, Boruto, I'm taking you off missions for a month."
He ignored Hanabi's astonished look. Namida gasped and seemingly took that to mean for her as well, quickly stacking the three cages into her hands. Boruto glared at him as he followed suit, then trekked after the girl.
"They should have a sensei with them," Hanabi commented, glancing at him. He lifted his eyebrows at her. "I'll go."
"Alright," Konohamaru sighed, turning from her. "You four, do another sweep down there for any that may remain."
The other four nodded and quickly made their way into the building while Hanabi had already begun following after Boruto and Namida. He dropped his eyes at her as she swung her arms, looking pouty.
They'd definitely be having words later.
But for now, he chose to watch her go.
Because he liked to.
Damn this brain.
Once they were back in the village and he was directing them to the Hokage tower, their moment of peaceful silence was ruined.
"Why are we going to the Hokage's tower?" Boruto questioned in panic, "why aren't we going to the assignment desk—"
"Hush, Boruto," Hanabi muttered, "quit arguing."
"But—"
"Listen to your aunt," Konohamaru tore uncharacteristically, seemingly at the end of his rope now. Hanabi peered out of the corner of her eye at him, eyebrows raised. He was clearly pissed.
Her stubborn nature wouldn't let her admit out loud that he was right to be pissed. She knew she was acting like a brat. She had her reasons but knew his frustration was mainly with her for letting the genin get away with being brats along with her.
"She's my aunt now?" Boruto grumbled, folding his arms with a pout. "Seems sooo fair."
Silence fell again until they were in front of a tired Naruto.
"Well, sir, Boruto and Namida initially refused to go in."
"Oh, they did?" Naruto's eyes lowered to Boruto specifically and Hanabi looked at Konohamaru, tilting her head curiously.
He was really gonna tattle. To Boruto's father.
She wondered if he'd say anything about her.
"Yes, and honestly, it disrupted the mission quite a bit. These four—" He circled his gesturing hand around Boruto, Sarada, Wasabi, and Namida. "—couldn't stop arguing—eventually Hanabi took care of the rest. Boruto and Namida were sent to carry the cages to release elsewhere with her while the rest ensured it was completely clear."
"So you all can't get along, huh?" Naruto asked pointedly.
"This is SO unfair!" Boruto tightened his fists. "Big sis and bro were fighting, too!"
Hanabi clenched her jaw. Konohamaru evidently wasn't going to bring that up, but dear nephew couldn't seem to contain himself.
"Sensei…" Konohamaru corrected quietly as all eyes fell on Naruto for his reaction.
"Is that right?" Naruto asked, tilting his head up at Konohamaru and Hanabi. Hanabi twitched, training her eyes from Konohamaru to Naruto, schooling her expression. What could she say, anyway?
"Well—not exactly—" Konohamaru started their defense, "we had a mild disagreement on how to proceed with the mission, but it was hardly a fight."
"Yeah, right," Wasabi grunted under her breath and Hanabi resisted the urge to whack her upside the head.
"Trouble in paradise," Naruto sighed, tapping his finger on the desk, to which both Konohamaru and Hanabi's eyes widened. Boruto snickered. "Alright, for now, no more joint missions with Team 7 and Team 15, until everyone learns to behave."
"Fine with me," Boruto grumbled, folding his hands behind his head.
"Me too." Wasabi rolled her eyes, leaning on her hip.
Great. First mission with our teams together and I blow it. Nice one, Hanabi.
And with that, their fight would be prolonged. No sweeping this one under the rug.
"You know best." Konohamaru bowed before turning to his team. "Training tomorrow at six sharp."
"Six?!"
"Uhm, you all, too," Hanabi sighed, waving at her team, feeling like she had to keep up. Wasabi shot her an annoyed look that she chose to ignore.
As they all began shuffling out, Naruto called, "separate!"
"I have to go fill out our report," Hanabi told her genin, shooing them, "get out of here. I'll see you in the morning."
"Sorry, Hanabi-sensei." Namida hung back as the other two trekked off. Hanabi let out a tired breath as she bent down to meet the girl's eyes. It wasn't all their fault…she shared some blame, she had to admit. "I didn't mean to get us in trouble and separated from Konohamaru-sensei and Team 7…"
"It's alright. I'm sorry, too. We weren't very good senseis today." Namida shook her head in protest, but Hanabi held up her hand. "It's okay, Namida. You don't have to defend us. Go get some rest, 'kay?"
Namida finally broke into a small smile and nodded. "Goodnight, sensei."
"Night."
She turned, already knowing Konohamaru's eyes were boring a hole into her. She looked up to meet his glare, returning with her own. She set a hand on her hip and rested on one foot, lifting her brows at him. He clearly wanted to chew her out, and she was about to dare him to do so right outside of the Hokage's office in front of Shikamaru. Before she could speak, he turned, waving his hand behind him. "Gotta go do the report. See you later, Hanabi."
She squinted at his figure as it disappeared through the door. "Yeah…you, too."
Konohamaru leaned over his paperwork with a wrinkled forehead. It was an incredibly simple report to finish, but he found himself unable to focus.
Clearly, he and Hanabi had different styles as sensei. He hadn't even realized it until now. He was so excited to become a sensei, and knowing Hanabi would be right there alongside him with his team—well, it was hard to find anything to complain about. It was like a dream. But now, he wondered how he'd never known how different they could be.
Was he the harsh one?
He was just drawing on what Ebisu-sensei taught him and his team…
He thought of Tora-sensei. She was so relaxed. It dawned on him that what Hanabi did today was probably exactly how Tora would approach the mission today.
He rolled his eyes at nothing.
He stood by what he did today. Tora would probably have come up with the idea but still pushed them to figure it out themselves. Shinobi can't just refuse a mission because they don't like rats. And if they were to come up with a more efficient strategy, it should be the genin! Not them!
He had to talk to her. He'd get nothing done if they didn't hash this out. With a frustrated sigh, he slammed his pen down and got up. Quickly, he made his way to Hanabi's office and knocked three times in succession, opening the door before she could summon him.
He froze when he saw Sumire sitting across from Hanabi. Hanabi raised her eyebrows at him as Sumire turned to look at him in surprise.
"Ever heard of a thing called privacy, Konohamaru-sensei?" she asked sarcastically.
"Uh—sorry—" he stumbled over his words, waving his hand in front of his face, feeling like a jerk. "I'll come back."
"It's fine. We were just done." Hanabi nodded at Sumire. "We'll talk more after I've spoken with them."
"Thank you, sensei." Sumire made her leave, glancing at Konohamaru questioningly before disappearing. Konohamaru quickly shut the door and sealed it with his chakra.
"Who's them?"
"None of your business. What are you doing?" Hanabi snapped in sequence, causing him to lean away from her. "Must be important if you're sealing the door?"
"What is going on with you?" Konohamaru asked, stepping forward to her, still seated at her desk.
"If you wanna talk, then talk, Konohamaru. Don't beat around the bush."
"You pissed me off today."
Hanabi let out a mocking laugh, shaking her head. "Yeah? You pissed me off today, too!"
He felt his blood boil at the mocking laugh and comment. "So what then?!" He had been slowly stepping forward until he was right in front of her desk, setting his hands on it to lean over her. "We can't mission together because we—" he air quoted "'can't get along'?"
"Guess so." Hanabi shrugged, obviously straining to seem casual about it. "Because someone can't think logically."
"I can't think logically? Me? My logic makes perfect sense—if we just figure out the problems for them before they have a chance, how are we ever supposed to encourage them to learn for themselves?!"
Now she stood up, hands on the desk to meet his stance, forcing his glare upwards. "Boruto did figure it out! He just needed a little help making it work!"
"That's bullshit and you know it," he retorted, "you just didn't want to deal with being in there, so you 'helped' him by figuring it out for them so you could get it over with!"
"That's a lot of assumptions about me." She lowered her eyes. "Think you know me that well, huh?"
"Yeah, actually, I do. I think I know you really well." He poked his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he scanned her features, the veins around her eyes beginning to pop as she became angrier. He pushed in a direction he knew would land them in hot water, but couldn't seem to control it. "Which is why I'm so confused about why you were such a coward today."
"Coward!" she yelled full-force, standing up straight as she glared down at him. She stomped around the desk to meet him face to face, forcing him to stand up to his full height as she shoved her fingertip painfully into his chest. He knew that particular insult would get a rise out of her, and even though a voice in the back of his mind told him to apologize, he wanted that rise. She'd undermined him today, she deserved it, he reasoned. "You think you can talk to me like that?"
He leaned his face down close to hers, eyes lowering. "Yeah, when you deserve it."
"You know what you deserve?"
"What?"
They stood in silence for a moment as the veins in her eyes relaxed, which surprised him. He was fully expecting a gentle fist to the stomach.
If he had thought the tension was sexual in nature, she confirmed it with her actions. Immediately, he was holding her up as she wrapped her body around him, bringing him in for a fervent kiss.
Damn her.
"Hanabi!" Not without effort, he tore his lips from her, though he still held her. He pushed her up against the desk until she was sitting on it, that angry glare still on her features. She couldn't get out of this so easily! "You can't just avoid this by doing—doing that!"
"What then, Konohamaru?" she asked with a huff, pulling her hair from her face, "you want to keep fighting?"
"I want to resolve the fight!"
"Then resolve it!"
"How?!"
"I tried something, now it's your turn!"
"You tried distracting me," he pointed out, though he couldn't deny the racing of his heart and the tightness in his stomach, "that's cheating."
Hanabi crossed her arms, lowering her eyes at him. "Don't tell me you don't want to."
Konohamaru gritted his teeth. This woman. He could barely deny it. He was just a man, after all. "You want to? Fine—" He forced himself between her legs and leaned over her side to sweep at her desk, papers and pens and knick-knacks flying. "Let's do it then."
"You wouldn't," Hanabi dared further, unphased by his actions, eyes still trained on him. "You're too goody for it."
"You think so?" he asked darkly, grabbing her shoulders to force her back. "I think you're all talk."
"Likewise." She propped herself on her elbows, eyebrows raised.
And he froze. He was all talk.
Damn her!
She sighed and swung her leg around him to meet before hopping off the desk, rolling her eyes. "Clean that up."
Or maybe he wasn't.
Before she could definitively walk away, he grabbed her by the hips and pushed her front into the desk, stilling her there. "You sure you wanna tempt me?" He did his best to sound low and serious, his every instinct to shove her down and show her he meant it. But his heart was racing, veins pumping with adrenaline. Fighting wasn't entirely new to them, but it felt different this time.
"Go on," she whispered. She gasped when he forcefully untied her obi and pulled her robes apart, snaking his hand down to the band of her panties, already knowing her chest would be bandaged because nothing could ever be easy. "Ah!"
"You always say I'm dirty…"
"Oh, shut up!" she hissed, grabbing at his hand. He couldn't deny the desire he had for her, and something about fighting riled him up in a way he hadn't realized was inside of him.
"Shhh," he quieted as he used his other hand to pull back her hair, latching his lips to the exposed skin, "there's no silence seal, so be quiet."
"Konohamaru!" she hissed, wiggling under him, "gods!"
"Isn't this what you wanted?" he asked calmly, trailing up to her ear.
Then, she turned in his grip and shoved her hands into his chest. "Knock it off!"
"Wait—really?" He immediately stepped away, pulling his hands in front of him as a sign of surrender. "I thought—"
His confusion turned to irritation when he saw a smirk cross her lips.
"Real funny," he growled as she broke into laughter, doubled over the visitor chair.
"I thought so," she wheezed between laughter, eyes dipping downward as her already pink cheeks reddened. She gasped when he swiftly yanked her off the chair and sat in it, pulling her back on top of him. "Ah—Kono, you're gonna get my robes all—"
"Quiet." Her eyes blew wide at his dark ones.
The way her whole body stiffened at the sentence told him he had done something—and when she readily let him yank her down, he knew it was something good.
Hanabi was relieved to be able to sneak into the bathrooms of their office undetected. She held back a curse when she heard the door open before she was done and hurried her business along. Gently, she opened the stall door and quickly washed her hands, stomach dropping when she heard the toilet flush. She rushed to grab paper towels but was unsuccessful in her attempt to sneak out when Moegi revealed herself before she could sneak away.
"Oh, hey Hanabi."
Hanabi stopped, turning slowly to Moegi who was now washing her hands as well. Unintentionally breathless, "hello Moegi."
"You alright?" she laughed, double-taking at her. Hanabi glanced towards the mirror to see her beet-red face and took a controlled inhale.
"Yep! Gotta get back to some paperwork."
She nodded, continuing the conversation before Hanabi could dart away, "ah, yeah, Shikadai said there was some trouble with your teams."
"Our teams?"
"Yeah, you and Konohamaru. You know, you have to whip those girls into shape," she commented loftily, reaching for paper towels, "can't let them walk all over you!"
"They—they don't—" Hanabi's eye twitched because she really didn't want to have this conversation but did feel the need to defend her team. "It just wasn't a great situation."
"Yeah, I heard. You and Konohamaru fighting? I couldn't believe it, then I heard you guys having some sort of yelling match in your office. Was about to come charging in to put him in his place, but it went quiet and seemed like you guys resolved it."
Hanabi was burning from the inside out. Those words could not be coming out of Moegi's mouth right now. "Uhm, yep. But I really should try to go finish up—"
"I'll walk with you."
AAAAAHHHHHH.
When they got to Hanabi's office door, she stopped and tried to say goodbye, loudly, hoping Konohamaru would hear her through the door. "Well! I'll see you around!"
Moegi perked an eyebrow, tilting her head in clear confusion at her raised tone. "Actually, I was hoping I could pick your brain on something," she furthered the interaction, reaching for the door handle. Hanabi resisted the urge to smack it away and braced herself as the door opened. "What happened in here?"
Hanabi peered inside. Konohamaru wasn't there, but her desk was still cleared. She let out the breath but didn't relax completely. Wracking her brain for an explanation, she responded, "uhm—yeah, I was just so…frustrated about today…I kinda lost it, I guess."
"Wow," Moegi tsked, walking up to the mess to start picking things up for her. Hanabi could have died as she watched her start putting things back on top of the very desk she had just committed unspeakable acts on. "You gotta learn to control that fire of yours."
"Yeah," she breathed, hurriedly aiding her in picking things up, "you're right. Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Right," Moegi sighed, falling backward into…the same chair…
I cannot believe this is happening.
That's when she realized her panties had been in the mess of things scattered around. She peered over her desk to search for them, but they weren't there.
Pervert!
She'd be letting Konohamaru have it later.
"I have a phobia of rats, okay?!"
That was how she came storming into his apartment uninvited.
Konohamaru gave her an amused smirk as she froze in the doorway, slow realization overcoming her features as her eyes set on his mother, sitting across his dining table from him.
"Oh, my." Moriko tilted her head. "That's terrible!"
Konohamaru gritted his teeth as laughter bubbled inside of him, having to press his lips together tightly to suppress its emergence. Hanabi looked between the two of them with wide eyes.
"Did something happen with rats when you were a child?" Moriko continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
This is why he loved his mother.
"I…I'm so sorry," Hanabi started, backing away, "I didn't mean to intrude—that was—oh wow that was so rude of me! Please accept my apology—"
"Oh, quit it!" Moriko laughed, getting out of her chair to approach Hanabi for a hug. "I'm sure you're always welcome in Konohamaru's home, isn't that right, Kono?"
He winked at Hanabi as she reluctantly accepted the embrace. "Sure are."
He did feel a little bad for her. She was clearly coming to try to resolve the fight and give him some context with that opening line. But it was kind of her own fault for barging in. Just like he'd done in her office. At least he didn't come in yelling.
"Would you like to talk about it? Come, Kono, get her some tea." She was already dragging in her inside, pulling the door closed behind her.
"I shouldn't…" she started, looking so very uneasy.
"Yeah, come sit." His smirk widened as he got up to pour hot water. "Let's talk it out, work through these problems."
"Don't tease her!" his mother chided him as she forced Hanabi into a seat.
"I was…just trying to explain why what happened earlier, happened," Hanabi started, seeming unsure of her words.
"What happened earlier?" Moriko asked, glancing at Konohamaru.
"Your favorite adopted daughter," he said as he gestured towards Hanabi, who shot him a glare for the added comment, "mucked up our mission yesterday."
"Yes, I did," she replied readily, and he raised his eyebrows, feeling impressed with her admittance. "And I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have…" she trailed off, looking warily at Moriko.
"Oh!" Moriko clearly picked up Hanabi's unease about continuing. "I'm sorry, I can see this is between you two. I can go—"
"No, no—" Hanabi started to get up, and Konohamaru patted her shoulder to encourage her to sit back down.
"You can both stay, we can talk later." Konohamaru set the tea in front of her. "It's been a while since I've been here while both of you are around."
"It has, hasn't it?" Moriko instantly accepted this, which he knew she would. Hanabi twisted her lips uncomfortably.
"Hey, tell my mom about how you taught Mirai that four-point throw."
That did the trick as Moriko looked at her with interest. He smiled as Hanabi fell into natural conversation again, his mother delighted in her story.
He sat back and swallowed his tea as he watched them. It wasn't something he got to see often, especially recently, but brought him comfort. His mother was all he really had left in his immediate family, besides Mirai, so he really enjoyed seeing Hanabi accepted by her. It wasn't hard to be accepted by his mother, she was always kind and open, but she really did take an honest liking to her. And Hanabi did to her as well, he saw it in the way she easily relaxed around her and indulged in her stories.
He watched her pull her hair behind her shoulder as she leaned in to listen more carefully to the older woman. Nodded attentively, sipped her tea periodically. Rubbed her upper right brow once. Dropped her hands into her lap to clasp. Smiled that pearly, genuine smile. Laughed that beautiful sound. Spared the infrequent glance his way with those lavender eyes that he swore glimmered when they looked at him. Promptly rolled them when he winked at her. It amazed him how stunning he could find one woman. Perfection, and he wouldn't stand for anyone saying otherwise.
"He's admiring you."
"Wha—" the sentence broke him from his trance.
He hadn't been hearing a single word, captivated by her. So, admittedly, she wasn't wrong.
"Or he's just falling asleep," Hanabi snarked, which Moriko laughed at.
"Could be," she responded teasingly as he glanced at her to find her giving him that knowing smile.
He coughed into his fist, hastily getting up and turning so she wouldn't be able to loudly announce his blushing face, because he knew she would. "More tea?"
"Thank you, but I should go," Moriko responded, getting up from her seat as well. "Have to meet with Haruki."
"Ah, yes, your weekly gossip session," he teased as she pulled him down for a hug.
"Staring is a dead giveaway, darling," she whispered.
"Shhh," he hushed her, but it was good-natured.
"But you can't help it, can you?"
With that, she went to Hanabi to give her the same treatment and he bit his lip with amusement as she whispered something in her ear as well, causing her to turn crimson. His mother let her go and pat her hot cheek affectionately before leaving out of the front door, leaving them looking at each other.
"So, rat phobia?"
"Your mother…" Hanabi sighed, clapping her hands over her cheeks as she shook her head.
"The worst, right?" he teased, sitting back down at the dining table.
"No, the best," she said, honestly, joining him. The genuine compliment warmed his heart a bit, and he chose not to comment on it. She looked up at him, rubbing her cheek. "When I was little…my sister took me camping with her team."
"Oh yeah? That must've been fun," he snorted, "roughin' it with her and those guys."
"It was fun, actually." She shrugged, dipping her eyes. "Until…"
"The rats attacked?"
"Uhm, yes," she scoffed, looking at him with irritated eyes. He held back a snicker. "I woke up and I thought it was Akamaru, like, cuddling with me or something. So I went to hug what I thought was a giant dog, but instead, it was a ton of rats."
"Oh no," his voice broke as he held back laughter, cupping his mouth to suppress it.
"Yeah, laugh! Laugh it up!" she snapped, "Kiba laughed at me, too! He carried a toy rat on him so he could shove it in my face anytime he saw me!"
"Want me to kick his ass?"
"I already did!" Now he laughed. "He did it for the first time in years when I was getting off an Anbu mission."
"Oooh, worst time."
"Damn right! I landed a gentle fist on him that sent him across the block, and it felt good," she huffed, clearly unashamed, "but regardless. Yes, I have a phobia of rats. They were eating my hair, Konohamaru. I was 8! I'd never seen more than a dog or a cat or bird in my entire life before that!"
"Okay, okay," he conceded. It did explain things. "You could have just told me that."
"How could I?" she asked, weakly. "Those kids are shinobi. One of them would have overheard and the next thing I know, my office is full of toy rats. Or if I know Boruto, he'd convince someone at the compound to put real rats in my bedroom!"
He paused, cupping his chin. "You have a point, actually."
"So, yes. I pretended it was because I just thought it was a mission beneath us. Was it the right way to go about it? No! And I'm sorry…I undermined you."
"Forgiven," he replied immediately, reaching out to grab a trembling hand, emotions clearly heightened. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have gotten so irritated so quickly."
She turned her hand so it would hold his, setting her other hand on top. She looked him straight in the eye as she said, "with your team, I don't see how you're not more on edge."
"Hey!" he laughed, squeezing her hand.
"Wasabi is always working up my other two but Boruto and Sarada together…yeesh."
"Eh." He shrugged. "They have their moments. But they're good kids, strong together when they want to be. I can cut them some slack."
She smiled up at him and he had to return it. "You were always so good with kids."
"Hmm," he hummed, feeling a little out of place with her praise. She didn't usually offer it so readily, so he responded the only way he knew how: tugging her from her seat into his chest and wrapping his arms around her. "Thanks for coming to talk it out." She offered a little hum in response, nuzzling her cheek into his chest. "And entertaining my mom."
"It's her who entertains me," she responded with a little giggle, "how would I ever know about you pretending to be your grandfather in your underwear?"
"E-Excuse me?" He pulled back.
"You were ogling me when she told me that story about coming out in your underwear with a rolled-up piece of paper in your mouth like a pipe and his Hokage hat."
"Oh my gods—mom," he groaned, letting his head fall backward.
How embarrassing.
"I think it's cute." she reached out to cup his cheeks to pull him back to face her. He sighed, looking at her tiredly. "Lord Eighth."
"Somehow my mother has successfully figured out how to get me to cringe at that nickname."
He looked at her curiously as her grip on his cheeks tightened, her smile turning a little sinister. "Speaking of underwear…where exactly are my panties?"
He laughed as he tore from her, running to hide from the woman he loved so much.
A rare moment when she had nothing to do.
Eiji took team 15 off her hands to do some training with the Inuzuka. The council was busy with other affairs. No assignments. Father was with the council. Hinata was taking team 7 and Himawari to a spa day. Konohamaru was on a solo mission.
So she sat in the courtyard of the Hyūga compound, people-watching. It had been quite a while since she did this. But it was nostalgic. Good and bad.
Good, because she got to see her clan seeming normal. Normal for them, at least. Children playing tag with paper kunai and shuriken. Teenagers sparring without malice or violence. Adults intermingling easily, despite status. Getting along.
Bad, because it brought up memories of twiddling away. Training, training, training. Witnessing children receive their curse mark. Seals being activated if a branch member acted out. Scoldings from her father.
Not exactly happy memories.
But for now, she'd take this peace. It was all she could get for now as she continued working on the clan. She felt so close to making a breakthrough.
She looked up when she felt someone sit next to her, finding Tadashi sitting casually with her, face enduring as always. She smiled up at him despite it. "Hi, Tadashi."
"Lady Hanabi."
They sat together in silence, similarly observing. After a few moments, she let out a sigh and rested the side of her head on his shoulder, getting comfortable. It wasn't something she would have done when she was young, but after everything they'd been through, she finally felt comfortable doing so. It was good for the other Hyūga to see a main family member being friendly with a branch member, anyway. She asked, "how are you?"
He paused before answering, "well. And you?"
"Alright," she answered honestly, heaving a sigh, "just conflicted."
"Conflicted about?"
"This," she mumbled, frowning, "our clan. Our houses. I love my people. Our people."
He didn't respond, but she didn't expect him to.
"I want change, Tadashi."
"I know." She resisted the urge to look up at him. She gently pulled her arm around his so they'd interlace, a bold move for a main house member with a branch member, but she didn't care. At this point, she'd take out anyone who dared question it. Tadashi was too important to her. He didn't resist.
"I want…our families to merge."
More silence. She sighed, tugging at his arm to get him to respond. "I know."
"But how…" she mumbled, closing her eyes, "when father won't even let me in on the inner workings?"
"Demand it."
Her breath hitched in her throat. "Demand it?"
"You're the heiress, Lady Hanabi."
…
"Your will is strong. Demand it." She felt her stomach starting to twist. "You are remarkable, Hanabi. You and your sister have pushed all boundaries the main family has tried to uphold."
…
"This will be easy for you."
She sucked in her lips, willing herself not to pull away to look at him. Instead, she held him tighter. "Tadashi…I…I don't know if I can."
"We can."
"W…" She paused, flexing her jaw. "We can?"
She felt his other hand rest on hers. "Yes, we can."
She felt her eyes burning hot as tears formed. He was being so candid with her. She knew he was aware of some extent of her efforts, but not how much. But he really believed in her. And them. "We can."
"We will."
…
"We will."
Today, Hanabi finally decided to bring her team to the compound. She had consulted with her father, who was wary about bringing a group of non-Hyūga to train. But she pushed, and he eventually conceded, and she had a few of her clansmen volunteer to spar with them.
It was important for them to have a diverse skillset. Practicing against the byakugan and the varying fighting styles her family employed would be good for their overall training. Gone were the days of being completely secretive. She knew she couldn't push it too far, but it was a new era, one in which clans intermingled far more and could safely train with one another, so she wanted to take advantage of it. Konohamaru had an Uzumaki-Hyūga and Uchiha, Moegi had the InoShikaCho kids. She and Udon had to work a little harder to round out their teams, she figured, so she'd use what she had.
She called for them to break after a few hours, one of her clansmen complimenting Wasabi on her speed and evading ability.
"I like training here!" Namida commented breathlessly as they jogged over to Hanabi.
"Yeah, it's nice to focus on one style," Sumire agreed.
"Let's go get lunch." Hanabi waved them deeper into a compound. The three girls stopped in their tracks at a long table covered in a full spread of food.
"This…is lunch?" Wasabi gaped, bolting forward to begin picking through it.
Hanabi snickered as she watched the girls dive in, glancing up to find Tadashi approaching. "Making a good first impression?"
"Only the best for Lady Hanabi's team," Tadashi responded loftily, arms behind his back as he watched them.
"I can't believe they all call you Lady, Hanabi-sensei!" Namida commented with full cheeks.
"It is…truly a strange thing to hear you referred to as sensei." Tadashi let a rare chuckle go, looking down at her. She beamed up at him.
"Never taken a title so seriously in my life!" she joked, standing back with him as her little team settled in with the food. "It's actually…really fulfilling if I'm honest."
"Yes, training young minds certainly is." Tadashi nodded, eyes drifting back toward the girls. "It was one of the more enjoyable careers I had when I was younger."
"Wait." Hanabi stopped, tilting her head at him. "You were a sensei, Tadashi?" He smiled and nodded gently. "Tadashi-sensei?"
"Indeed."
"I never knew that!" she responded in disbelief, "why didn't you tell me?! Do I know any of your students?"
"Just one. You know her quite well, actually."
"Who is it?"
"Tora Nara."
"What?!"
Hanabi was blown away, a wide grin overtaking her features as she looked up at her old guard with starry eyes.
Suddenly, things were falling into place.
"Why do you guys keep all this from me?!" Hanabi asked, waving her hands in front of her. "First I find out Tora-sensei was only a sensei as a favor to Lady Tsunade, now this? What else is there?"
"Why do you think she was asked specifically?"
"Because her dad was friends with Lady Tsunade?"
"And because she had training with a Hyūga."
"Father requested her?"
Tadashi simply nodded, glancing down at her and she couldn't believe something like a mischievous smirk was on his lips. "Apparently a good choice as well. Look at you now."
Hanabi paused, contemplating what all this meant. "Legacy training?"
"Something like that."
She turned her eyes back to her students. Tadashi trained her sensei. Now she was training her own group of students. Wouldn't it be funny if one of them took on a Hyūga when they were older? They were a rough bunch to be sure, but she had all the confidence in the world in them. She had to, as Tora did in her group of misfits, even if she didn't show it outwardly. No, Tora was always more aloof with them, but now it made sense. What she'd give to see Tadashi training her old sensei. All snarky remarks and tired eyes.
"Come eat, Hanabi-sensei!" Sumire waved, nodding towards her seat.
"Yeah," she breathed happily, looking up at Tadashi, "you, too, Tadashi-sensei."
"No, no, no." He shook his head with a smile. "Don't start with that."
"Come on." She tugged at his sleeve, pulling him to sit with her between the girls. "Ladies, this is Tadashi."
"Hi Tadashi!" they rang in unison and Hanabi bit back a laugh as he leaned away slightly.
"Pleasure, Team 15."
"You used to escort Hanabi-sensei, right?" Sumire inquired and Hanabi tilted her head. Observant girl she was indeed.
"Any good stories?" Wasabi asked mischievously and Hanabi perked an eyebrow up at her former guard.
"Hmmm…" he hummed, looking up as if in thought, "your sensei is quite a skilled kunoichi, as I'm sure you're aware." Namida nodded easily. "If I recall…her very first day in the Academy, she had a bit of a tussle with some other girls."
"Fighting?!" Wasabi asked, eyes going wide as she looked at Hanabi. Her cheeks reddened.
"Okay, wait—"
"Yes, that's right. Two girls pushed her buttons a bit too much," he continued, uncharacteristically ignoring Hanabi, "and she sent them to the medic."
"Whoa!" Namida gasped, eyes bouncing between the two.
Well, this might have been a mistake.
"Listen," Hanabi tried, but the girls were already chatting happily about it.
"Our sensei doesn't put up with shit!" Wasabi cheered and Sumire tsked.
"We're at the Hyūga compound, Wasabi! But…really, Hanabi-sensei?" Sumire asked with a smile.
"Did you use the gentle fist?"
"Broke their arms?"
"Oh, I bet you closed their chakra points!"
"Alright—" Hanabi snapped her fingers, glowering at Tadashi. "Thank you for riling up my girls, Tadashi. You three focus on eating, we're back to training in ten."
Tadashi's smile never left him as he watched them, almost a look of pride.