Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tumblr prompt: Damn, you're strong for a little thing." for KonoHana (requested by ibloo)

Title: Facing the consequences of backhanded compliments

Scanning the room for his next victim, he spotted Hanabi in the corner, talking to Moegi about something.

Perfect.

He had arm-wrestled Moegi before, and that wasn't fun, but Hanabi was a new opponent. He had already defeated Shino and Udon and needed some new blood.

He was pretty drunk, and in a great mood, so when he shouted across the bar to get the girls' attention, he might have shouted a little bit too loud, but who cared. The arm-wrestling competition they had come up with earlier was more important.

"Ey, Hanabi, come fight me!" he shouted and made it clear what he meant by putting his elbow up on the table and wiggle his arm a little.

That got her attention. Ah, perhaps not the right kind though, she looked a bit grumpy when she threw him a glance before leaning over and saying something to Moegi he couldn't hear. Moegi snorted and rolled her eyes, and they both made their way to the guys' table.

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Hanabi asked sweetly as she sat down in front of him and put her elbow up on the table.

"Sure, show me what you got, ey?" he answered, perhaps a tiny bit cockily but hey, he was confident in his own strength and this was just for fun.

She grinned and somewhere in the back of his beer muddled mind warning-bells went off, though he quickly dismissed every thought of backing down.

"Okay, your call," she said and grabbed his outstretched hand.

They were remarkably evenly matched.

He was stronger but her technique made it impossible for him to get the upper hand. Things were finally getting interesting here. Putting a little bit more force into his arm, he felt his face starting to redden with the strain, though for nothing. Her arm didn't budge an inch, and he began to realise he actually had a pretty experienced arm-wrestler in front of him.

When had she learned that?

"Damn, you're really strong for someone so tiny," he said and realised as soon as the words left his mouth that they didn't come out quite right. He was maybe a bit drunker than he had thought. Honestly, it was meant as a compliment, but judging by how her lips pursed and the frown that formed between her eyebrows, she didn't take it like that.

The next thing he knew was that the table had cracked in two, his hand hurt like hell and she was standing over him, grinning evilly.

"Next time you want to arm-wrestle, perhaps you should be a little bit more wary of who you pick as your opponent."

Chapter Text

Walking up to the house, he smiled seeing the light on in the living room and sensing the other person in there.

He kicked off his sandals and dropped his scarf and flak vest on the chair in the hallway with a relieved sigh. It had been a longer mission, and keeping his team in line was always a pain.

He heard the late news on the tv in the background as he made his way towards the living room. There he found her curled up on the couch, a thin blanket pulled up all the way to her nose and a couple of long dark tresses covering the rest of her face. He also spotted a cold cup of tea and a book—one of those ridiculous romance novels she secretly loved—on the floor next to her, keeping her company while she waited for him.

Shaking his head, he padded over to her, grabbed the remote, and turned off the TV before giving her shoulder a couple of light nudges, but she just grunted and swatted his hand away.

Chuckling, he gently moved her fringe back behind her ear to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before nudging her again, a bit more forcefully this time. When she blearily opened her eyes, he grinned at her confused expression.

"Mhm? Oh, you're home. Welcome back," she murmured sleepily and yawned.

"Thanks. Yeah, finally. Told you the train wouldn't come in until after midnight. Come on, time to go to bed, Hanabi," he answered, not bothering to hide his amusement with her unfocused demeanour. When she groggily nodded, instead of giving her a chance to get up, he slid one hand in under her shoulder, and the other in under her knees to scoop her up in his arms. He wanted to laugh when her eyes flew up in surprise. She looked so cute when she squeaked and threw her arms around his neck to steady herself as he stood and crossed the hall to the bedroom.

Once there, he let her down on the bed, and as she crawled in under the blankets, he dropped his shirt and trousers on the floor and joined her. She nuzzled herself closer to him, sighing contently and closing her eyes again as he gave her a quick goodnight peck and wrapped his arms around her.

An hour earlier he had assumed he would come home to a dark and empty house. Now he couldn't be happier that he gave her a key to his place last month.

He could definitely get used to this.

Chapter Text

They had been going out for a couple of months when Konohamaru first realised that he loved her.

It wasn’t an earth-shaking, flooring epiphany. More like a warm sensation as he watched her, hands up in the air and twirling around herself in joy.

She had come back from a mission with her team around lunch, a boring maintenance D-rank that had taken the better part of the week. After she had refreshed herself—warmed herself under a hot shower and handed in the paperwork, he had suggested they would go out to dinner and catch a late movie. There wasn’t any specific occasion, he had no other motive than being glad she was back, but she happily agreed and beamed up at him when he asked.

Being the late showing, and it being in the middle of the week, they were practically alone in the cinema. If questioned about it later, he wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone what the movie had been about. Despite it being his idea to go out, he had something else far more interesting pulling at his attention.

They discovered when they left the movie, around midnight, that it had started to snow at some point while they’d been inside, transforming the familiar streets into something new, fresh, and sparkly. Now the streets were covered in a thick, soft blanket of white that crunched underneath their boots and dampened every sound.

Hanabi’s eyes lit up with joy and she pulled him out into the heavy white whirls, laughing and catching snowflakes on her nose. Despite the late hour, her energy was contagious and he thought her excitement adorable.

“I love the first snow!” she exclaimed giddily. Her breath made small puffy clouds in the cold air and her cheeks were already starting to redden, but unlike earlier in the day, when she had complained about freezing down to her bones and the whining from her Genin team during the mission, all thoughts of the temperature seemed forgotten. Hanabi held her hands up in the air and giggles filled the empty street around them.

I love you. He thought, and suddenly he couldn’t think of anything else. She was so beautiful, surrounded by falling snow glittering in the street lights. Her long hair and loose clothing danced behind her as she moved and her eyes reflected the neon lights of the cinema, illuminating them in bright red and orange.

Hanabi came to a stop. She pulled him close to give him a quick peck and he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes as he deepened the kiss.

Big mistake.

While she eagerly reciprocated, if he had kept them open he might have gotten a warning. As it was now, she unceremoniously dropped down on the pathway, pulling him with her. His eyes flew up and he threw his arms out to catch both of them.

“Hanabi?! What are you doing? We’re in the middle of the street!” he sputtered once he’d gotten his equilibrium back and straightened himself out properly. He tried not to shudder at the feeling of the cold snow on his hands and glared at her, but she just laughed and fell backwards until her back touched the ground.

“So?” she challenged, “It’s in the middle of the night, no one’s out anymore. The cinema has closed and everybody’s gone home. I love looking up when it snows. I know it might seem silly, but even though it’s impossible, I always try to see the stars above,” she said before blinking away the snow falling in her eyes, tilting her head to the side and smiling at him, and he gulped.

Yeah, he was a goner, all right.

Chapter Text

Konohamaru froze when he heard the unmistakable click of metal closing against metal. Looking up to see a grinning Boruto attach the other end of the handcuff to the branch growing through the treehouse, his eyes widened in horror.

The boy was going through a phase of being obsessed with cops. Apparently, his favourite cartoon on TV was about a cop and a thief, and he had wanted to ‘catch,’ Konohamaru, dragging his little sister into the game by letting her hold him secure when Boruto had caught him.

Having been occupied with Himawari sitting on his lap fully focused on tickling him as punishment for his…well, whatever it was he had done—the kids had been kind of vague with the details of the crime. He had only half paid attention to what her older brother was doing with his left hand. Konohamaru had seen the kid fumble with a pair of handcuffs in the corner of his eye but dismissed it as one of those cheap plastic, fake handcuffs you could get from the toy-store.

He had never been more wrong.

“Boruto, no—sto—don’t,” he sputtered. Shit. Too late. Before he had a chance to pull away, the metal successfully closed around the branch, effectively locking him in place. He took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice calm. The last thing he needed now would be to accidentally scare the kids and make them bolt on him. “Boruto, what’re you doing?”

“Putting you in jail! You’ve been naughty!” The little boy beamed. Konohamaru swallowed a couple of foul curses. This was the last time he ever agreed to babysit the kids.

“No, I mean—fu—Where did you even get that?”

“In the drawer next to mum and dad’s bed,” Boruto answered innocently, and Konohamaru almost choked on his spit. That was way more information than he ever wanted to know about his older brother-figure and his wife. Seriously.

“…I see. Well, game’s over. You caught me, well done!” He grinned and mustered as much fake enthusiasm as he could. “It’s time for an afternoon snack now so can you please give me the key?”

Both Boruto and Himawari looked up at him with bright smiles when they heard the word ‘snack’, but Boruto’s brows furrowed at the mentioning of the key.

“Key?”

Oh, fuck.

“Yes, the key, there should be a key for the handcuffs. If you don’t have it, it’s most likely in the drawer. Please go and get it so we can have a snack,” Konohamaru asked, and tried his best not to sound like he was begging.

“Ah, okay, Konohamaru-niichan!” Boruto beamed before climbing down the ladder and rushing inside.

Himawari happily peered up at him, and he gave her a weak grin.

Boruto soon came back though, with depressive results. “No. Sorry, Nii-chan. There was no key there. I even looked under the bed!”

Splendid. His day was heading more and more south by the minute.

“Hey, Boruto. Can you get me my phone? It’s in my jacket by the front door.”

“Sure, Nii-chan!” he said excitedly and scurried off down the ladder again. Little shit, he looked like he enjoyed every moment of this.

Boruto returned again, waving the phone in his chubby little hand and Konohamaru sighed before sucking in his lip and chewing on it miserably. Udon was out of town. Moegi was out of the question, she was never going to let him live it down. He’d rather die than call Naruto and Hinata and have to explain how he got stuck in a tree-house with their kids that he was supposed to babysit, but instead had handcuffed him to it with their parents’ sex-toy.

He already knew who he was going to call but that didn’t mean he had to look forward to it. Not one bit.

Groaning, he dialled the number. Time to bite the sour apple.

Nervously listening to the first couple of signals going through, he closed his eyes and prayed that she would answer. Sometimes she turned her phone off when she was studying, and if she didn’t pick up the phone, he would have no other choice than to call Naruto and Hinata...

When she answered, he let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Hey, Hanabi. Sorry to bother you, I know you’re busy, but I could really use your help.”

“Hm? Konohamaru? Okay? What is it?” she asked, and he could feel the tip of his ears burn as he gave a quickly muttered, censored version of what had happened. Even small pots have ears and he was not eager to have to explain why their parents had a ‘police-toy’ by their bed.

The phone went quiet for a moment before she burst into a hysterical laughing fit.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, but please, I beg you. Come here?” Dignity be damned, he needed to get down from here, one way or the other.

“Sure,” she said between laughs, “I’ll be there in ten.”

Nothing to do but wait then.

...

When Hanabi arrived, she climbed up into the tree-house and took in the scene. Konohamaru hadn’t exaggerated one bit. Her boyfriend really was handcuffed to a branch by the wall. Boruto had gotten tired of watching him, and abandoned him in favour of playing his handheld game, and Himawari—too young to get up and down by herself—was busying herself with drawing straight onto the uneven planks with her crayons.

“You weren’t kidding, huh? Got bested by a toddler and a preschooler,” she couldn’t resist teasing, thoroughly enjoying seeing his annoyed grimace and how his cheeks burned.

“Would have thought you would have gotten it out of your system on the way here, but fine. Mock me all you want, but please, get me down from here.”

“And how would I do that, do you propose? Hand you a file?” She asked, eyebrows raised and the corner of her mouth still twitching in amusement.

“Ok, firstly, this is your relatives, not mine. Can’t you feel some embarrassment on their behalf so I don’t have to? And secondly. I dunno. There's gotta be a key somewhere? Probably in the bedroom?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll have a look. But don’t blame me if I can’t find it. And absolutely not. I have nothing to feel embarrassed about,” she laughed and left him to his fate.

While a more innocent six-year-old might not have thought of looking in the actual bed and not just under it, his older, more jaded Aunt sure did. Lo and behold, a small silver key with a square top was hiding underneath one of the pillows.

She was going to have so much fun teasing her sister about this.

Taking mercy on Konohamaru she released him from his restraints, but not before taking some pictures—she couldn’t let future blackmail-material this good go to waste—and together they gave the kids their promised snack.

Despite Konohamaru muttering something under his breath about the little brat not deserving any, he heaped up a generous amount of ice cream into the bowl and handed it to an excited Boruto, and Hanabi had to bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

Clapping her phone in her pocket, she grinned. Excellent blackmailing-material indeed.

Chapter Text

Her team had only returned a few minutes ago but was met with an abundance of guards at the gate and the village on high-alert. The chuunin guards didn’t have the authorization to offer an explanation, or perhaps they simply didn’t know. All they could tell her was that there had been an attack on two guards that were now in a coma, and despite a public announcement that anyone leaving the village would be considered a deflector, the rookie genin Team Seven was nowhere to be found.

Unsatisfied with the vagueness of the conversation, she sent her team home and rushed to the Hokage headquarters to get some answers.

Her mind was racing.

Missing? What had Boruto gotten himself into in this time? And Konohamaru?

The building was buzzing, shinobi restlessly pacing the corridors and muttering rumours everywhere.

When she questioned Naruto, he was first unwilling to describe the situation more in detail, but when she threatened to go to her sister to find out what had happened to her nephew, his son, he scratched the back of his head and sighed. “We don’t know exactly what happened yet, but two guards were attacked, Mitsuki has left the village, and my idiot son and Sarada-chan have gone after him. I’ve sent out Team Ten to retrieve them,” he explained, and Hanabi’s stomach tightened. She saw how his brows knitted together and, despite keeping his voice calm, how tight his jaw was when he spoke.

Hanabi’s mind was in turmoil.

It undeniably sounded like Mitsuki-kun had put two chuunin in a coma and left the village, and Boruto and Sarada-chan had left the village without permission. If Team Ten couldn’t bring them back, they would be classified as deflectors. Missing-nin, enemies of the village.

How could they be so stupid?

Then a thought hit her. Naruto had said that he sent Team Ten out to find them, and not mentioned Konohamaru at all. It didn’t make sense, he was responsible for them, why wasn’t he included in the retrieval mission?

When she questioned him about it he refused to give her a decent explanation, only saying that Konohamaru was compromised by his feelings, and not fit to be put on the mission. Hanabi frowned and asked if he would let her go after them instead, but he denied that too, only saying that he had faith that Team Ten would be able to bring them back safely.

Unsatisfied with her stubborn brother-in-law, her mind filled with worry for her nephew, and determined to get some more answers, she went searching for her boyfriend. Something didn’t add up, and she was going to find out what really had happened.

…

She found him, predictably enough, in the gym.

Dripping with sweat and focused on beating the crap out of a training dummy by sending kick after kick towards the wooden bar, which shook with the heavy impact of each hit, he seemed immersed in training.

When she got closer he threw her a quick side-glance, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge her existence and Hanabi’s eyes narrowed, that was not the reaction she expected. He had never been rude to or ignored her before. She remained still for a moment, quietly observing him repeatedly attacking the dummy, hesitant to interrupt and had just about decided to leave when he stopped.

Straightening, his body tense and fists clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white, he looked away. Then he let out a weary sigh, trembling with unshed emotions she could only begin to guess the origin of. “Hey. Welcome back,” he mumbled and gave her a small, lopsided smile.

“Hi, there,” she returned, smiling. “So… want to tell me what the poor dummy ever did to you?”

He laughed bitterly. “Nothing really, except it happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She crossed the last distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. “Naruto told me about your team. Want to talk about it?”

He stiffened again, and Hanabi’s brows furrowed. She was immensely worried about Boruto and she knew he was too, but his reactions didn’t add up. When he spoke she almost jumped. “Naruto told you?” he asked and tilted his head to the side in confusion for a moment. “I didn’t think he would…” he muttered quietly before dropping off, lost in thought.

“Why, yes. It’s all over town. Mitsuki-kun left and my idiot nephew and Sarada-chan have gone after him?” She worded it as a question, and the clarification made Konohamaru frown.

“Ah, I see.” Was all he gave as an explanation.

None of it made sense, there was clearly more to it than the obvious, and clearly, he wasn’t going to give any answers. Hanabi’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him. “Okay, this is ridiculous. There’s something you and Naruto aren’t telling me. It’s my family, I have the right to know! If you won’t tell me then I’ll ask Hinata-nee-chan.”

“Hanabi—”

“No, don’t ‘Hanabi’ me. I get that you’re worried, but so am I, and why didn’t you go with Team Ten? It’s your team, your responsibility!” She knew it was a low shot, and that is a wasn’t a fair accusation. Naruto had outright told her that he was forbidden to go, but her patience was running out. Hanabi didn’t give two rotten apples about classified information, She was jounin shinobi too, and it was her nephew.

Konohamaru’s eyes narrowed and he pulled back from the hug. “Don’t you think I know that? Ask your brother-in-law why I’m not out there,” he spat out and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hanabi’s eyes widened. She had never heard him talk about Naruto that way, never questioning, even being almost disrespectful. Did they have an argument?

“Konohamaru, I—” she started, but he stopped her.

“Ah, sorry. It isn’t your fault,” he muttered and rubbed at the back of his neck, visibly deflating as he sighed and dropped down on the ground leaning against the dummy. “I know you’re worried, but you know you have to ask the Lord Hokage for more details,” he finished and gave her another weak, lopsided smile. She joined him on the floor, sitting next to him and leaning her head against his shoulder, putting a hand on his knee and squeezing comfortingly.

“Oh, I will. I’ll have a chat with him, all right, but before that, want to talk about it at all? Is there anything you can tell me?”

Sighing, he shook his head and let his head drop against hers. “Not really,” he muttered and took her hand in his. “But thanks for offering,” he mumbled and gave it a quick squeeze. She reciprocated the gesture and they both stilled for a moment, sitting quietly next to each other on the floor of the empty gym.

Deciding that they had been brooding long enough, Hanabi gave him a playful nudge in the side with her elbow, “Okay, time to get going. I have another visit to make to my dear brother-in-law, and perhaps my sister, and you need a shower. You’re gross,” she teased and grinned when he gave her a look of pure exasperation and annoyance.

He didn’t argue though, and she counted that one a win for her.

They both got up, giving their clothes a quick dust off and Hanabi made to leave the room when he took her arm and pulled her close. Hugging her tight for a moment he murmured that he was glad she was home and pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

A small gesture, a welcome back, an expression of gratitude, and an unspoken bond. 

Chapter Text

They spotted each other almost simultaneously, just as he and Moegi rounded a corner, and Hanabi waved happily at them.

“Oh, Hi! Hah, did Mitsuki-kun give you two a lollipop, too?” she asked as they approached and she noticed one mirroring her own in Moegi’s mouth.

“Hi! Yes, he’s walking around with that giant bucket, trying to find out everyone’s favourite!” Moegi grinned as Konohamaru gave a smile and a lifted hand in greeting, and Hanabi looked at him curiously.

“Why don’t you have one then, Konohamaru-senpai?”

Before he could answer, Moegi tossed her arm around his shoulder as her grin widened, “Eh don’t mind him, he’s just sulking because his favourite doesn’t sell anymore.”

“Funny, very funny. I was not sulking, and I remember someone whining for weeks when her favourite brand of chocolate got pulled off the market,” he bit back, trying not to show his irritation with her teasing, but Moegi just laughed, not taking his jab to heart.

“Oh, what’s your favourite then?” Hanabi interrupted, asking around her lollipop, and he couldn’t help feeling a little bit distracted watching the stick bop up and down as she spoke.

Moegi answered in his stead, again, and this time he didn’t mind. His mouth had gone dry and he felt pretty sure the day had gone hotter in the last five minutes, at least he was beginning to feel sweaty and a bit uncomfortable.

He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from her lips. It was so innocent, just a piece of candy, and yet he…oh, man, was he going to hell.

She twirled the lollipop around in her mouth with nothing but her tongue–he could see it spinning slowly–and smiled innocently. “Oh, Orange! Yes, I like that one too, and Tutti Frutti, eh?” she addressed Konohamaru, though she didn’t wait for his reply before continuing. “Vanilla is my favourite!” she explained and pulled it out to show them before sucking it back in again.

Konohamaru gulped.

Moegi, to his left, shoved her elbow in his side and snickered, completely unperturbed by the withering glare he sent her way. “Yes, Konohamaru-chan, didn’t you tell me you like vanilla too?”

“Oh, do you? Would you like to try it?” Hanabi asked in glee before pulling the pale piece of candy out of her mouth with a small ‘pop,’ and Konohamaru swallowed nervously. Leaning in closer she pushed the lollipop towards him to offer him to try it, seemingly without a care in the world.

“Ah, uh. Na, I’m good, kore,” he answered and tried very hard not to think about how she was so close that he could feel her breath fanning him, with the faint scent of vanilla on her lips. Intoxicating. She was just so…Wow, he needed to get his mind out of the gutter, ASAP.

She pulled back with a slight frown, “Is there something wrong, Konohamaru-senpai? You look a little bit warm?”

“You really do look a little bit hot. Maybe you should remove your scarf, Konohamaru-chan?” Moegi sniggered next to him, and sometimes he wished he could disown his friends. Or at least somehow get them to just shut up.

He stammered something unintelligible, he honestly couldn’t tell what–and made a strategic retreat, pretending not to hear the women laughing behind him.

Later that day when picking up some groceries for dinner, he spotted a tray with lollipops next to the cashier. He stared at it for a moment before snatching a vanilla flavoured Chupa Chups and adding it to the small pile, telling himself he was just curious of how it would taste.

After all, since his favourite was just a limited edition, he needed a new one.