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."

"That explains why he's not here..." Kiyoshi noted. "I hope she'll be okay."

 

Miss Ayame eventually gave the new arrivals their food, although Koukon wasn't really eating. There was something else on his mind. "Hey, Hikari..." He eventually muttered while everyone else spoke. "When you, or the jutsu caster who used you as a puppet, attacked me... your kunai quickly pointed away from my chest when it was about to hit. What was up with that?" He asked his friend, overcome by curiosity.

 

Hikari's face turned red. "W-well... um..." She stuttered, trying to think up a quick excuse...

Shinachiku

 

As the young son of the Hokage ate his ramen, he listened into the conversation between Hikari and Koukon. He too wondered why his sister did what she did, but it would seem he was too oblivious as well as too focused on eating to really figure it out.

Hikari quickly managed to come up with an explanation. "W-well... when she was going to attack you, the jutsu's effects lessened... I was able to quickly take control back for a short time to save you!" Hikari said, trying to hide her face.

 

"Right..." Koukon muttered.

Shinachiku

 

Shinachiku lifted up his bowl and slurped down the rest of the noodles and broth. Now that he was finished, he figured that he could at least try to clue into what his sister and comrade were talking about. Still, his obviousness might cause things to get out of hand...

 

"Come to think of it, you did break free pretty fast there for a second. What's up with that anyway? You got a crush on him?" Shinachku asked.

Hikari froze up for a moment in response to Shinachiku's question. Crap, crap, crap... "N-no, that's not it! It was the jutsu, not me..." She said, hoping the others wouldn't catch on to her lies.

 

Koukon was a bit embarrassed by Shinachiku's question as well. He didn't expect it out of Shinachiku, of all people.

Shinachiku

 

"Really? Hmm. Whatever," Shinachiku said. "Hey Miss Ayame, bring over another bowl!"

"Sure!" Ayame began preparing another bowl for Shinachiku. Meanwhile, Koukon and Hikari awkwardly sat still. Not even Hikari was touching her ramen at this point. Kiyoshi noticed the two, but tried not to make things worse for them. She wasn't exactly sure how to change the topic, though. Akarui wasn't much help for that, either. The two pretty much had to hope that Shinachiku would start on some new topic.

Shinachiku

 

As the young blonde ninja waited for his bowl, he suddenly reflected on something due to the past day's events.

 

"Now that I think about it, the old man's gonna want to hear about what happened with the puppet guy. I hope he can put me, Daiki, and Misaki on the job too. I wanna find the real guy and make sure he gets what's comin' to him!"

Koukon was snapped out of his daze after Shinachiku made his new exclamation. "Hey, don't forget me, Kiniku, and Hikari. I'm not going to let that jerk get away with what they did." He spoke with a slightly angered tone.

 

Hikari looked down. She was clearly still a bit nervous about Shinachiku's comment, but she was able to contribute to the conversation. "We'll need to be careful trying to find the jutsu caster... They're not someone we should take so lightly."

Shinachiku

 

"Hey, he managed to get us off guard before, but now that we know what his game is, he shouldn't be a problem for the man who'll become the Eighth Hokage!"

Hikari sighed. She wanted to argue with her brother, but knew it was pointless. He'd never listen to her, anyway. He'd just insist that he'd always win anyway. "If you're so confident, you'd better make sure nothing happens to anyone to finds them. If anything bad happens to you..." She seemed to be trying to think of a threat, but couldn't muster one up. She remained silent, and continued staring down at her feet.

Shinachiku

 

"Aw come on! I'm not the kind of ninja that needs his big sister worryin' about him! Heck, I can probably take that guy all on my own!" Shinachiku continued to brag, rubbing the underside of his nose with his finger.

Hikari glared at her brother. "You don't know what you're going up against, you idiot! You don't know what they'll do to you if they get you alone..." She looked away. "It's something I don't want you, or anyone else here to deal with..."

Shinachiku

 

Hikari's lashing out made Shinachiku stop in his tracks.

 

"Well dang... I... I didn't think you felt this bad about it," Shinachiku said, deflated in his tone. However, becoming more serious, he looked Hikari in the eye.

 

"But, hey, I stand by what I said. I don't need you be worried about me, alright? Believe it or nott, I still think that puppet guy is a big deal. But you, me, and the others are still gonna give him what for regardless. That's a promise. And just like Dad, I don't go back on my word."

Despite being so upset just a moment ago, Hikari couldn't help but slightly smile after hearing how determined her brother was. Koukon also joined in the conversation. "Yeah, Shinachiku's right. We know to be careful, but we'll take this guy down, no problem. I'm not going to just sit by after what they did to you. I'll make sure they pay for messing with my friends." He grinned, and gave his friend a thumbs up. "We're not going to lose, got it?"

 

Hikari began blushing after Koukon joined in. She tried to thank the two, but was cut off by another voice.

 

"Don't forget us." Kiyoshi joined in from the other side of Hikari. "Nobody hurts one of our comrades and gets away with it. Right, Akarui?" She looked over to her shy friend, who nodded in response.

 

"Yes, we'll do what we can to help, too." Akarui confirmed.

 

Hikari was happy to see how much support the others were giving her. "Th-thanks, you four..." Her face was bright red now. Being the center of attention still wasn't something she was very good with, but she was happy regardless.

Kiniku

 

"Hey guys!" Kiniku said, suddenly appearing behind the group after rushing through the curtains of the ramen shop.

Hikari quickly spun around, and punched Kiniku in the face while screaming. However, she quickly realized who it was that had just entered, and her face turned bright red. "O-oh, uh... I'm so sorry, Kiniku..." She quickly helped him up.

Kiniku

 

"Owww..." Kiniku whined, though being Kiniku, he quickly got over it.

 

"Well, anyways, I was just gonna tell you guys that I got Saba registered at the hospital. The doctors said that her injuries aren't that serious and that she shouldn't have to stay there that long," Kiniku said.

"Yep, this is the real Hikari alright..." Koukon smirked. "That's good to hear, Kiniku. Hopefully she'll be all better soon!"

 

"Y-yeah..." Hikari nodded shyly.

Kiniku

 

"We should probably head over to Yumi Sensei so she can give us an update on the mission, too," Kiniku said.

Hikari looked around nervously. After what happened earlier, and what she knew was about to happen, there was something she felt she needed to tell someone... "Oh, uh, I just remembered!" She quickly stood up. "My dad wanted to see Koukon and I for something. You guys can go check in with Yumi Sensei, we can't ignore the Hokage's orders!" She quickly said.

 

"Well, uh, if he needs to see me, I guess I can go..." Koukon stood.

Kiniku / Shinachiku

 

"Uh, alright sure. I better get to Yumi Sensei then," Kiniku said.

 

"Hold on! I wanna go too!" Shinachiku interrupted, stopping Kiniku in his tracks.

 

"Huh, why?"

 

"It's just that I made a whole speech to Hikari about how I wanted me and my team to join the hunt for the puppet jerk and how she didn't have to worry about me and well, I wanna make due on it!"

 

"Sounds good to me. I'm sure Yumi Sensei won't mind if you tag along. But let's report in first."

 

"Right!" 

 

Kiniku and Shinachiku then made their way to Yumi.

"Alright... let's go, Koukon!" Hikari led Koukon away, trying to hide her face as she did so.

 

Kiyoshi and Akarui both stayed in Ichiraku. Kiyoshi sighed. "I wish we could go along, too. They probably don't need too many people all going together, though..." Akarui nodded in response.

 

 

 

It didn't take long for Koukon to realize that Hikari was leading him somewhere other than the Hokage's mansion. He didn't exactly understand why, but he knew that he could trust her anyway. "So, uh... where are we going?"

 

"You'll see soon." Hikari assured Koukon. After a while, the group reached a small park, with a garden nearby...

Kiniku

 

"Hey, Yumi Sensei! Kiniku called as he and Shinachiku approached her. "What's the update on the puppet guy?"

Yumi

"Oh, hey there." Yumi greeted the two chunin. "We'll need to wait for Sabaku to wake up so we can ask her some details. We could ask Hikari, but we should do that tomorrow if we do. She needs time to recover, too... Until then, rest or train to get ready. Hopefully, we'll get our information tomorrow!" She explained excitedly.

 

Koukon/Hikari

By the time the two had arrived in the park, Koukon figured out where they were going. "I get it." He said, a slight smile spreading across his face. "It's been a while since we last came here."

 

Hikari nodded. "I told you I'd save it for something important, didn't I?" She responded. Eventually, the two found a small clearing in the garden, slightly obscured by a few bushes and trees. The two both sat down on the ground, and stayed silent for a moment. Eventually, Hikari spoke. "You still remember that day, right?"

 

"Of course I do." Koukon told her. "You were scared because the whole class was watching you, and ran off. This is where I found you." he gave a quick explanation. "We talked a little bit about what it would be like, becoming ninja... you're not thinking about quitting again, are you?"

 

"No..." Hikari sighed. "I just wanted to talk again. I thought this would be a good place to do it." She ended up lying down on her back, and staring up. "... I do still get kind of nervous, but I'm not the same way I was back when we were students in the ninja academy. I'll keep going."

 

"That's good." Koukon grinned. "You know... you've gotten a lot stronger since we were kids."

 

Hikari's face turned red. "Really...?" She asked.

 

"Yeah! You've been training a lot harder since then, especially recently. It's been a lot of fun seeing how much more powerful you've gotten since the academy days."

 

"O-oh..." Hikari turned her head to the side. "... Y-you've gotten stronger, too." She complimented her friend.

 

"Heh... I've definitely improved since I was a kid." Koukon responded.