Team Yumi re-entered the Hidden Leaf Village as the sun began to set over the Hokage Monument. They had just finished a mission, and were on their way to report their success to the Hokage. Despite the time of day, various villagers were running, talking, playing, and laughing through the streets. A few ninja discussed their most recent mission, while vendors tried to sell goods to annoyed customers.

 

"Heh... I really missed being in the village!" Koukon grinned, happy to be back home.

 

"Yeah. We can finally rest." Hikari wasn't as enthusiastic as her friend, but still smiled. "I can't wait to go eat some ramen." She rubbed her stomach, having missed her favorite food.

 

"Of course, that's the first thing you think of. It's always ramen with you." Koukon teased Hikari. "I guess that going to Ichiraku wouldn't hurt, though..." He looked over at his teacher. "Yumi sensei, is it fine if we head off?"

 

"Yeah, I'll go check in with Lord Hokage. You three can go off and get something to eat." The woman smiled back at her students.

 

"Alright!" Koukon shouted, and looked over to his teammates. "Let's go, Hikari! Are you going to come with, Kiniku?" He asked his best friend, hoping that the three of them could go together.

 

"It's been a while since the three of us got to go to Ichiraku together, hasn't it?" Hikari asked. "You should come with us, Kiniku."

Kiniku

 

"You know what I mean... you're afraid that he's gonna stop liking you if he keeps hanging around all these other girls," Kiniku reasoned, obviously not hitting the mark at all... well, maybe a little.

"... H-huh?" Hikari asked, now looking more confused. "I don't get what you mean..." She muttered.

Kiniku

 

"Well, how do I put this..." Kiniku said, thinking for a moment. "Ooh! That's right!" Kiniku said, clapping his hands together.

 

"Basically, it's like this: String Bean is a perv, right? But you're like his only real friend who's also a girl who he doesn't really try to perv over. So when you see him perv over other girls, it makes you upset because you're afraid he's gonna find some other girl to talk to and leave you alone, even though he should be talking to you instead of trying to impress other girls... right?" Kiniku explained.

Hikari was surprised. Wow, Kiniku really is clueless. "Uh... I... Guess that's part of it?" She said, clearly still somewhat confused by her friend. "Er... Yeah. That's a part of it."

Kiniku

 

"Ah-ha! I knew it!" Kiniku said, "successfully" figuring out the ordeal. "Well then, you know what I think you gotta do then?"

Edited December 17, 201410 yr by Firaga Sensei

Good, he didn't ask about the other part... Hikari sighed in relief. "Uh... What do you think?" She asked, trying to go along with what Kiniku said.

Kiniku

 

"I think you gotta lay some sense into him. And the only way to do that is stop mopeing around here and tell him how you feel!" Kiniku said, grabbing Hikari's hand and leading her back to the others.

Edited February 26, 201510 yr by Firaga Sensei

"H-huh?!" Hikari asked, now nervous once again. Oh, this won't end well for me... She thought, trying to pull away from Kiniku's grasp.

Kiniku

 

"Yo! String Bean!" Kiniku cried aloud when the two reached the others. "Hikari has somethin' to say to ya!"

Edited December 17, 201410 yr by Firaga Sensei

By the time Kiniku and Hikari made it back to the others, Koukon seemed to be holding his head in pain, his sister looked angry, and Sabaku was laughing nervously. Hikari had a feeling that things hadn't really gone as Koukon had planned. Koukon looked at Kiniku curiously. "Huh? Hikari?" He looked at his other friend, who was starting to slightly shake. "What is it?"

 

"U-uh... W-well..." Hikari stuttered, unable to speak.

Kiniku

 

"Go on, Hyugamaki, tell him how it is!" Kiniku said excitedly, walking her over to Koukon and standing behind her.

"W-well... I... Um..." Hikari continued stuttering.

 

"Uh... You okay, Hikari?" Koukon asked her. "Why's she so nervous, Kiniku? You didn't do anything to her, did you?" He asked, looking a little angry.

Kiniku

 

"The only thing I did was talk to her, String Bean. Something you should probably do more of. Ain't that right, Hyugamaki?" Kiniku said, crossing his arms and somehow being totally serious yet making light of the situation at the same time.

"U-uh... Y-yeah..." Hikari nodded nervously. He's pretty much doing the talking for me... And he doesn't seem to realize the main issue, anyway. I... Think I'll be safe.

 

"Huh? I talk to her a lot. You're the one who I never see talk to her, Kiniku." Koukon said, still looking confused.

Kiniku

 

"Quiet, let the woman speak," Kiniku said with an odd glare.

Now Hikari was the one confused. That... Wasn't very Kiniku-like. "U-uh... Well..." She looked around at everyone else. "Uh... C-could we do this... Somewhere else, Kiniku?" She asked, the presence of Sabaku and the others only making her more nervous.

Kiniku

 

"Sure. Go where you feel like you can get it all out of your system," Kiniku said, smiling and giving his friend a thumbs up.

"Uh... O-okay..." Hikari looked around. "Um... F-follow me." She said, and began to walk back to where she'd talked to Kiniku earlier. She went a little further away, hoping the others wouldn't see her. Koukon tagged along with her, becoming more curious about what it was that Hikari wanted to tell him.

Kiniku

 

Seeing Koukon and Hikari go off, Kiniku couldn't help but observe. Looking over to Kiyoshi and Sabaku and putting his finger to his lips as to shush them, he silently followed the two without them knowing.

When they'd gone far away enough Hikari started to talk to Koukon. "Uh... Koukon..." She looked conflicted, as if trying to decide if she should tell Koukon something or not. She eventually started speaking. "Um... W-well... I'm... Your friend, right?" She asked, unsure of what exactly she needed to tell Koukon. For once, she had no clue what to say.

 

"Of course you are, Hikari." Koukon continued to look confused. "Why'd you need to ask?"

 

"Well... You always get overly attached to every other girl we meet... And ignore me." She said. "I... I'm starting to get worried that you might just leave me alone at some point. We haven't talked as much as we used to... I just want to spend more time with you, is all." She struggled to speak. I couldn't tell him what I really want... That's probably for the best, though. She sighed.

 

"Oh... That's it?" Koukon asked, looking slightly guilty. "Well, uh... I wouldn't leave you, Hikari. I... Guess I can see what you mean about the thing with other girls, though... I'll try to tone that down." He smiled nervously. "And, uh... If you want, we can go to Ichiraku when we get back to the village. I'll pay." He said, knowing that that would probably make Hikari a lot happier.

 

"Really?" Hikari got excited for a moment before calming herself down. "Er, uh... Okay. Thanks, Koukon." She smiled back at her friend. "Uh... You should probably head back and apologize for whatever made Sabaku hit you earlier."

 

"Oh, that wasn't Sabaku... Kiyoshi got mad at me." Koukon admitted. "I'll go do that though, I guess... See you soon!" He said, then ran back to meet with the others.

 

Hikari sighed, and sat back down against another tree nearby. That was tough enough to say... She smiled, although still looked slightly upset.

Kiniku

 

Meanwhile, Kiniku sat in a nearby tree and overheard the entire conversation. He smiled to himself, glad for his friends and glad he could help them through their problem.

 

After they finished, Hikari come by and sat under the very tree that Kiniku was in. Not thinking clearly, he used his chakra to attach his feet to a low enough branch under Hikari.

 

"Looks like you did good, Hyugamaki!" Kiniku said to Hikari, appearing right by her face as he hung by the branch.

Hikari was surprised to see Kiniku suddenly dropping right in front of her face, but quickly managed to calm down. "Uh... Th-thanks..." She thanked her friend. "But... I missed out on a few details..." She said quietly.

Kiniku

 

"You did? Like what?" Kiniku said, dropping down to Hikari's level, crouching in front of her.

I-I probably shouldn't have said that... Hikari sighed. "Uh... L-like how good of a friend he is to me..." She forced herself to say. "There's a lot more I could have told him about that..."

Edited December 19, 201410 yr by Shulk

Kiniku

 

"Oh... well, I'm sure String Bean gets the idea. He's a little slow, but I'm sure he got it," Kiniku said with a smile.