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Konohamaru swallowed hard as he looked at the empty chair on the other side of the table. He looked around; everyone present seemed to have a good time, though it looked like most of the people in this particular café were either families or couples. To his right, out through the big windows, he could see four teenage girls around a table, poking at a big parfait with their spoons.
In his head, he heard Naruto’s voice: “Don’t worry Konohamaru!” Naruto had flashed him a big smile. “I know someone who’ll be great for you!” Konohamaru hadn’t even had the chance to disagree before the shadow clone had disappeared.
Even now, as he was sitting here waiting for whomever it was that Naruto had thought of, Konohamaru still didn’t know why the 7th Hokage had decided to bother himself with something so trivial as Konohamaru’s love life.
“He should mind his own love life before meddling with others’…” the young man mumbled to himself, followed by a whimper as he reached out for the glass of water on the table. Had it been anyone else he would have declined right away, he turned down Kurenai’s suggestions all the time, but with it being Naruto, Konohamaru didn’t have it in him to do so.
“Ah!” a female voice said behind him then, and before he had the chance to turn around, she had walked around the table and seated herself in front of him. “Konohamaru~”
Blinking, Konohamaru needed a few moments to take in what just had happened. On the chair on the other side of the table sat Hanabi Hyuga; dressed in a light-blue yukata with purple flower patterns and a white ribbon holding together her long brown hair over her shoulder.
“Ha… Hana…bi…”
“Yep!” Hanabi chuckled as she stuck out her tongue in reply. “Are you surprised?”
Konohamaru nodded, unable to do anything else. Quickly glancing down at his own attire; normal dark pants, a white long-sleeved t-shirt and a moss green, sleeveless vest on top, he swallowed hard once more before looking at the beauty before him again. She was so beautiful.
“I am…” he answered honestly, feeling his mouth dry up and reached for the water to drink of it again. “I… I didn’t ask… him to do this, really, I… I just figured, you know, like, that I… since… like…”
Hanabi watched Konohamaru as he talked, the amusement she felt showing on her face. Leaning against the table, she rested her face in her both hands and once he finally came to an end and realized that she was looking at him, a laugh escaped her.
“Let’s enjoy it!” she poked his foot under the table as she leaned back. “Right? He told me who it was that would be waiting here and I still showed up, didn’t I?” Giving him a playful wink, Hanabi stood up. “What do you want? I’ll go and buy something. Tea and dessert?”
“Ah… okay,” he nodded and once she had walked off, he sank down in his seat. “Thank you…”
What was Naruto thinking? Here he was, Konohamaru Sarutobi; an average guy, out on a date with one of the Hyuga daughters? If you were Naruto – the strongest ninja ever – of course anyone would be fit for a date, but…
Suddenly sitting straight in his seat, Konohamaru looked to his left and could see Hanabi already paying for whatever she had put on the tray. He had even let her go ahead and pay… He sank down on his seat again; what a horrible date this would be…
“Konohamaru?” Hanabi asked as she came back, on her tray carrying two cups of steaming tea and two small plates; one with a banana cut up in two pieces; one covered in chocolate and the other plain, and two small slices of melon.
“Ah! Yes, sorry! Sorry,” he sat up straight as Hanabi sat down opposite of him again. He eyed the fruits and then looked up at her. “Thank you…”
“Don’t worry about it!”
That’s easy for her to say… Konohamaru thought to himself as he accepted the cup of tea she gave him.
“I hope you like banana or melon?” she continued. “I don’t really know what people outside of my family eat and you know how they’re a bit one-track when it comes to food and all that, so I just took something I know I enjoy,” Hanabi rambled and once she came to a stop, just looked at the man before her. “Hehe…”
Konohamaru looked back and his eyes met hers – at once his heart started beating a million times faster. Was she embarrassed? Was this what a beautiful woman looked like when they got embarrassed? He wanted to say that her cheeks were a little bit flushed and she looked a little bit bothered and…
“Konohamaru?”
He shook his head and looked at her again. “Ah…” He glanced at the plates. “Yes! Yes! I love bananas, especially if they have chocolate, that’s the best after ramen, so you know… Ah, but I also don’t mind melons! Melons are great! For the most part I…” he fell quiet as Hanabi chuckled.
“Eh?”
“I like bananas too,” she let him know. “But I like mine plain, so you can have this one.” She looked down at the plates as she divided the fruits evenly and then gave Konohamaru the plate with the chocolate covered piece of banana and a piece of melon.
“Ah… we both like fruit, huh…” Konohamaru mumbled as Hanabi put the tray aside and kept a plate for herself. “That’s… that’s good… that we’re… fruit… people…”
Hanabi frowned as Konohamaru stuttered and she poked his foot under the table again.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about you know,” she told him then, a soft smile on her lips as she grabbed her fork. “Let’s just have fun, okay?”
There was something about the way she kept poking his foot and how she smiled at him that made Konohamaru feel a little bit as though it was okay for him to relax. Maybe she was right; maybe it wouldn’t be so bad… And now if it was true what she had said that Naruto had told her who she was going to meet and she still came, then that was a good thing, wasn’t it?
“Why…” he went on then, immediately regretting that he was going to ask this but even so couldn’t help himself. “Did… I mean, did you come… even though it was me, like?”
Hanabi got surprised at the question and it showed on her face, making her raise her eyebrows at him. For a little while – too long for his preference – she was quiet as she thought it over. She kept her eyes on him and she tried really hard to hold back the smile that threatened to show on her lips. Was it warm today, or did the sweat on Konohamaru’s neck come from just being nervous?
“Because you’re interesting,” she answered with a shrug and then took a small bite of the banana. When all Konohamaru did was to blink in reply, she chuckled lowly and poked his foot again. “Eat up~”
Surely no one could blame him for blinking? Konohamaru reached for the fork and then brought the banana closer to his lips so he could take a small bite of it – his eyes on Hanabi the entire time. She found him interesting? Those words kicked awake all the butterflies in his stomach and he found it difficult not to smile at her.
“There we go,” Hanabi chuckled and took a small sip of her tea. “So tell me,” she went on then. “You teach at the academy, right?”