"Continue dawdling like this and we are going to be late."

"We will be there on time," Hanabi dismissively waved off Haku's concerns as she continued to stand in front of her wardrobe, carefully eyeing the dresses to decide which one she would wear to their sensei's wedding today. Haku was already dressed in the navy blue kimono she had bought for him just a week ago for this very occasion when he was still out on a mission. She knew he wouldn't have the time to go shopping for new clothes if she didn't do it for him. Like this, he now at least has some variety in his wardrobe.

She ended up picking an orange silk kimono with decorative red flame patterns. Obito-sensei's wedding is a huge affair given his status in the village and also because they are attending the wedding not just as his students, but also as representatives of the Hyuga clan. There will be many important people attending the wedding later and while they do not necessarily have to dress to impress, they have an image and reputation to uphold as one of Konoha's most powerful and noble shinobi clans. When representing the clan in attending such events their attire has to be strictly formal.

She took a quick shower and drying herself had never been faster ever since she learnt that nifty fire-natured chakra trick from the Uchiha matriarch. Her clan is known by many as a very traditional clan and to several others, an archaic one. It's something that can be observed in their actions and everyday lives, from their words, actions, clan traditions and down to their attire.

Wearing the sarashi- that long piece of cloth that women used to bind their chest- had always been a chore for her and is far from being her favourite type of undergarment. However, wearing an entirely traditional attire for such a formal event, even if nobody would ever know what she wore underneath her kimono, is still part of her clan tradition and she is the heiress of the Hyuga clan. There will be things that she has to do and uphold no matter if she likes it or not.

Unfortunately, the sarashi is her natural nemesis and she had never once successfully worn the sarashi nicely on her own. The number of times she had to wear one could be counted with the fingers on one hand and she usually had Hinata to help her with it. Now though, it would be far more convenient to have Haku help her with it.

"Haku I need your help- Excuse me Mr Yuki, can you start acting like my boyfriend for once and help me out here?"

She was a little annoyed at how he simply averted his eyes away like an alarmed squirrel when she stepped out of the shower wearing nothing but her underwear in order to get his help to properly bind that infuriating piece of cloth over her chest. Why that response? What is she, the plague?

"Yes, wrap it around my chest- Oh come on Haku, you are my boyfriend, touching my chest is no big deal… This is too loose, can you please use a little more force with the wrapping wait wait wait ack-! Too tight too tight!"

"You said that it was too loose-"

"That doesn't mean you have to suffocate the life out of me! Argh goodness! You suck at this far more than I do," she cannot help but grumble when his attempts always either end up binding her chest far too tight or far too loose because he just could not bring his eyes to look at her properly or have his hands stop being so awkward for the occasional brief contact with her chest when assisting her to do the binding. They finally got it right at the fourth attempt after she finally berated that stupid shyness out of him (nearly had to beat it out of her stupidly adorable dork back there) and having him to help her put on the elaborate kimono was a much swifter affair after they overcame the hurdle that is the sarashi.

She quickly sat in front of her dressing table, using the mirror to put on lipstick on her lips while he stood behind her and helped her with her hairdo and tied it up in an elaborate bun. She passed him the ivory hair stick with her free hand, the one he had bought for her before the chunin exams, and he gently inserted it into her hair to have it remain in place.

"Brought our gift?" She asked and he nodded in reply when they were finally done and was able to head out. Distance was no longer an issue when travelling from point to point within the village ever since Haku had mastered the usage of his ice mirrors. Like she told him many times today, they are not going to be late for their teacher's wedding.

"Never seen the Uchiha District so lively before," she cannot help but muse when they arrived at the entrance of the famed Uchiha District which her "rival" clan lived in. The entire district was decorated lavishly in a festive red in celebration of this joyous occasion of one of their most powerful shinobis to ever grace their clan.

"It's the first joyous occasion for them ever since Fugaku's passing. I guess in a way, it's their attempt to move on from the past and to look forward to the future," she heard Haku speak and found herself agreeing with his view. The recent war had taken the lives of many loved ones and the village had been in a rather depressing mood until the war had finally ended.

"So let's do the same too," she told him as she held his hand and gave it a light squeeze to remind him that she will always be here for him. "Come on, let's go."

"Hyuga Hanabi and Yuki Haku, we are here to attend Obito-sensei's wedding," she introduced themselves to the Uchiha guards at the entrance of the district and presented them with the wedding invitation that Obito and Rin had given them as proof of their identities. She wrapped an arm around his as they walked into the inner area of the Uchiha district at a leisurely pace, an area of the village that not many have the chance to visit under usual circumstances if you are not part of the clan.

"It's like a mini village in here," she commented. Houses, shops, clearly demarcated residential areas and bustling business stalls; these are all not observable within the Hyuga clan. The Uchiha clan have their own little society within these walls and are clearly self-sufficient even if they were to somehow be cut off from the village.

"Probably due to the fact that they are a very huge clan. It wouldn't be possible otherwise," Haku noted. The power of the Uchiha clan lies not in just their famed dojutsu, fire-natured ninjutsus or their terrifying mastery of shurikenjutsu. Like Haku said, they are a very huge clan and the number of shinobis they boast is also of a considerable number that only a select few other clans across the Elemental Nations could possibly match. A clan that has the capability to produce a huge quantity of shinobis of considerable quality will always be either a powerful ally to have or a fearsome enemy to face.

Such is the might of one of Konoha's founding clans, the backbone of the village and the overseer of the village's police force. In comparison, the Hyuga clan's population might not even match up to half of the Uchiha clan's, and that is saying something because the Hyuga clan is already considered a huge clan within the village.

"Wonder how powerful the Senju clan had to be to be their equal back in the warring era," she whispered under her breath. "They are already like a minor shinobi village all on their own."

"So count our blessings, it's a miracle that they haven't started a mutiny," he muttered under his breath and she pinched his arm in alarm just in case he suddenly blurted out similar remarks. Hell would break loose if anyone had heard him.

But, he does have a point. The Uchiha clan is indeed too powerful for any village to properly control them if they really had the intention to exert their influence for their own gains. Any clan growing to be too powerful and overshadowing the rest by a large margin is never good news for any shinobi village. There has to be checks and balances in place for everyone to prosper harmoniously so that political peace can be maintained.

Previously, the village had the Senju Clan, but that clan had dwindled down to a select few and while they still enjoy their prestige as one of the founding clans of Konoha their current numbers are barely enough to qualify them as a minor clan. The only notable shinobis the Senju Clan had in recent history were Lady Tsunade, Kato Dan, and their son Yamato but Kato Dan had recently fallen in the line of duty. It's another huge loss to the Senju Clan and has only served to further widen the gap between the Senju and Uchiha clan.

People had always viewed the Hyuga and Uchiha clan as "rival" clans. This is not just because of the neverending debate of which clan possessed the "better" dojutsu, it's also because currently, the Hyuga clan is the only clan in Konoha who has the largest shinobi population that is only second to the Uchiha clan and also possessing the potential to keep them in check. The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance is another powerful faction within the village that could assist to maintain the current political balance of Konoha but they could only possibly rival the Uchiha clans through the union of three clans. Individually, none of them could keep the Uchiha in check as a standalone clan. The same applies for every other clan in Konoha.

Except for the Hyuga clan.

The widely accepted notion that the Uchiha clan and Hyuga clan being rival clans is not something that simply popped up without any basis. The Uchihas are masters of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and weaponry thanks to the nature of their famed dojutsu. The Hyugas are famed for their taijutsu and resistance- and sometimes, immunity- to most genjutsu because their eyes can see through everything. Barring the forbidden Uchiha genjutsu techniques that are inaccessible to most lest a select few Uchihas, the Hyuga clan's byakugan could easily render most of the Uchiha clan's genjutsus useless. The Hyuga clan is one that strives for perfection in the sole art of taijutsu and while it could put Hyuga shinobis at a disadvantage against ninjutsu specialists who are experts at fighting from a distance, Neji is also living proof that the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist has the capability to easily render any and all ninjutsu useless once a Hyuga had truly mastered the true ways of the Gentle Fist.

Thus, her clan is being placed at a precarious position, because the Hyuga clan is the only existence within the village that could possibly stop the Uchiha clan if they ever become too ambitious. In fact, some of the relationships the Hyuga clan has with other clans naturally came into being simply because these clans were wary of the Uchiha's swift rise in power and had chosen to ally with the Hyuga clan instead in order to preserve the delicate political peace within the village. The Uchiha clan had grown too fast, too strong, and too prosperous in too short a period of time ever since the end of the third war and people are going to be wary of them just by the virtue of that alone. Other clans are bound to react accordingly and it's inevitable that they will form their own factions in answer to that. Shinobis are an extremely paranoid lot and a super powerful clan simply declaring that they do not mean any harm is not going to assure anyone one single bit.

Haku may have been out of line with his comment but he is right, it's a miracle that the Uchiha clan had not yet started a mutiny. They have the Fourth Hokage to thank for because inter-clan relations were relatively harmonious and stable under his reign until his recent demise. In truth, she suspected that the fact that Uchiha Obito, one of his clan's strongest shinobis and student of the Yellow Flash being arranged to teach her, the Hyuga clan heiress, was a deliberate arrangement by Haruno Kizashi to foster trust and inter clan relations when he was still the Hokage.

The recent war might in fact be a blessing in disguise because it had united every single clan in the village against a common enemy, which had lessened everyone's paranoia of each other within the village regardless of their political standing.

"Can you please don't give me a heart attack? Save your snarky quips for after we returned home," she hissed to him at a volume that only he could hear while perfectly maintaining the figurative mask she wore as the heiress of the Hyuga clan.

"Fine," he acquiesced. It wasn't long before they reached the wedding venue and would you look at it, their team's social idiot was already there.

"Happy blessed marriage, sensei," she congratulated the couple on behalf of Team Thirteen when they finally found the groom and bride, dressed in traditional wedding attire with the Uchiha Clan insignia sewn on it per their clan's customs.

"Aww, my cute little minions got me a present!" Obito mock weeped like the childish man they knew him as since day one when he accepted the storage scroll Haku handed over that contained the vase that they made for the couple.

"We didn't get it for you."

"It's for Rin," Sai helpfully completed Haku's unfinished sentence with that usual fake smile on his face. Obito squawked and stumbled exaggeratedly for comedic effect while Rin simply laughed.

"I'm hurt, my little minions."

"Do we look like we care?"

"Seriously though, thanks for coming today. I know it's not easy for the both of you to take time off to attend our wedding," Obito beamed at them with a bright smile and made not-so-subtle insinuations that he's aware that Haku and Sai are now currently a part of ANBU. While the war has ended and tensions are no longer running as high as they were before, there are still many departments in the village that have to continuously work overtime due to manpower shortages in many key areas from the reduction of shinobi workforce that were incurred as part of the casualty count. In fact, her father, uncle, sister and cousin were all unable to make it today because they have to be deployed to other missions. There are simply not enough Hyuga shinobis to go around meeting the demands of the village's shinobi workforce for missions that really require a set of byakugan to ensure its safe completion.

This was why she's here as the representative of her clan instead of her father or uncle. Even shinobis of their stations were not spared from being roped into assisting with filling up the missing ranks. She escaped that fate solely because of her sensitive status as a jinchuriki and also partly because she's Obito's student. No doubt the Fifth Hokage had pulled some strings to enable the entirety of Team Thirteen to attend his student's wedding today.

The bride and groom were unable to talk to them for long because they have to entertain the other guests too, especially when most of their invited guests are people of high standing as well. Seeing Obito and Rin so busy and barely having any time to rest really made Hanabi wonder if it would actually be better to not hold a formal wedding instead when it's finally her turn, but that's probably not possible since she's the heiress of her clan.

She secretly glanced at the man beside her when her thoughts wandered to what their future together might entail. There had never been any doubt that he's the only person she would ever consider marrying but she still cannot help but wonder what their future wedding might be like.

They are definitely going to be very busy on their big day, maybe even more so than Obito and Rin since she's the clan heiress. She felt exhausted just by the very thought of that.

"Something on my face?"

"Nope," she replied, hoping that he had not seen through her thoughts. She had stared at him for too long without her realising it and he had caught her in the act.

Be it major clans or minor clans, most, if not all of the leaders of the shinobi clans in Konoha had attended this wedding. Even if they are unable to personally make it to the wedding there will be a representative sent in their place just like how she had done so on behalf of her father. Such a lineup is usually only reserved for very influential shinobis and it goes to show just the kind of connections Obito has and also his standing within the village. It's no secret that many people view him as a potential candidate to succeed Minato as the next Hokage in the future thanks to their mentor-student relationship and it helps that Obito has the achievements and skills to back it up if he's truly intending to run for that position in the future.

The political scene in Konoha is about to change once again.

She is also not spared from the mandatory networking, like conversing with the newly minted Uchiha Clan Head Uchiha Itachi and offering him her best regards and congratulations on behalf of her clan. She had to get acquainted with Uchiha Izumi too, the woman who would most likely be the next Lady of the Uchiha Clan and funnily enough, she seemed to know Haku on a personal level, most likely through ANBU if she had to make a guess since Haku's social circle is so pathetically small.

Then there's the usual networking with the Ino-Shika-Cho, the fathers of their generation's Team Ten, the Aburame, Inuzuka… so on and so forth. What she found annoying was how the representatives from the minor clans who took the initiative to engage her in small talk in an effort to forge relationships with the Hyuga clan but she had to put on a polite smile and respond in kind despite not wanting to. As clan heiress she had to be very careful with her words because an unknowing remark or act could very well spoil the delicate relationship or maybe even outright shift the direction of clan politics within Konoha if she's not careful.

She had already expected this to happen but it still was an extremely tiring process.

"Thanks," she thanked Haku when he offered her a glass of water when she was finally done with all the networking for the moment and her throat was getting a little dry. She actually was the youngest among the clan representatives who were attending the wedding… Couldn't believe it. She didn't even have time to mingle with their friends who were having a blast at the wedding doing silly things that she'd rather be doing than to network.

At least she had Haku to accompany her throughout the entire ordeal, even if all he did was to simply stand beside her silently most of the time.

Uchiha weddings are full of fire, figuratively and literally. Uchiha shinobis lined the sides of the aisle that the bride and groom were to walk down when the wedding ceremony officially started and blasted elaborate and magnificent fire style ninjutsus into the air that are no less impressive than colourful fireworks. Obito and Rin exchanged wedding oaths at the Naka Shrine under the witness of everyone present, a part of the ceremony that non-Uchihas would not get to witness under usual circumstances. Per the customs of the Uchiha clan the bride and groom exchanged ceremonial fans that are similar to the clan crest sewn on the back of their attires and their wedding oath was formally sworn, and Rin's name was officially added to the Uchiha Clan's family tree by the hands of the clan leader at the very end of it.

She had thought that she would finally be able to talk to her friends once this is over and they get down to the banquet. Oh how wrong she was. She had to mentally applaud herself for not outwardly groaning when she found that she was being arranged to sit at the table where all the clan heads of Konoha's major clans and their spouses are sitting together with the Hokage. She could only cast a longing look at the direction of the table where her friends are at, having the time of their lives at the banquet. Ino and Naruto are currently playing a drinking game with everyone else egging them on, it seems.

The things she would do to be there having fun with them.

The things that played out at her table were unsurprisingly predictable. As the host, Uchiha Itachi thanked everyone for coming to the wedding today and toasted everyone with a drink, starting from the Hokage. The Hokage spoke a few words, some discussions were spoken over the dinner regarding the current state of the village and the work that is to be done. She's not unfamiliar with those since her father had groomed her, Hinata, and Neji on such things ever since they are capable of learning them. She counted it as a win when she was able to offer her own valuable input regarding certain topics that came up during the discussion when she's barely half their average age.

By the time she and Haku finally managed to extract themselves from that table it was nearing the end of the banquet. Some of their friends were also obviously drunk.

"Hanabi! Where were you? We were having so much fun!" Naruto greeted her in that usual loud voice, her face now red and with heavy sways in her steps.

"Just how much did you drink?" Haku cannot help but ask with his face slightly scrunched. Ino was already slumped over at her seat on the table, lightly snoring away while Shikamaru muttered his trademarked "troublesome" while removing his haori to drape it over Ino so that she does not catch a cold.

"Drink? This idiot guzzled three entire bottles," Sasuke casted the jinchuriki an annoyed glare but still offered her a hand such that the drunk blonde was able to stand upright by leaning on him, occasionally hiccuping every now and then.

"Right… We saw you guys cheering them on," Hanabi slowly nodded her head in scepticism and those willing accomplices weren't the least bit fazed by her accusation.

"So how's it like sitting at that table?" Sakura asked with a knowing grin on her face and subtly gestured to their original table.

"You guys will know when you inevitably succeed your parents' positions," Haku blandly stated and everyone present- at least for those who were sober- immediately grimaced at the thought.

"Urgh, troublesome," Shikamaru immediately groaned.

"Not applicable for me," Sasuke immediately dismissed any notion of that idea becoming a reality for him, which is true because his older brother is already the leader of his clan.

"Famous last words. Did you forget that the position of leader of the military police is still up for grabs?"

The sight of colour rapidly draining from Sasuke's face was fun to watch, but Sasuke still adamantly tried to argue his way out by finding someone who would most likely be worse off than he is.

"I-It's still better than the lazy Nara, going by your logic he gets to be the Jonin Commander."

"Don't bring me into this, duck butt."

"Stop calling me that."

"Naruto calls you that all the time and I don't see you doing anything about it," Shikamaru rolled his eyes before his lazy gaze went back to Hanabi and Haku. "Seriously speaking though, it's no secret that Ino Choji and I are going to follow in our parents' footsteps. I guess Haku could succeed Lady Kushina's position of Head of the Barrier Corps since he's the only one among our generation I know of with any decent grasp with seals. Either Hanabi or Hinata would be the one leading the Hyuga clan… Huh, we are all future clan leaders, I see. How troublesome."

"I'm not."

"You don't need to keep rubbing it in our faces, duck butt."

"Shut it, pineapple head."

Hanabi watched on interestfully as Sasuke and Shikamaru engaged in childish name calling but she supposed there's not much time left for them to be able to act like children any longer.

Their fun was ultimately cut short when their parents came one after the other to pick them up at the end of the wedding banquet. Minato looked a little exasperated when he came over and spotted his incorrigibly drunk daughter making a scene, yelling at the top of her lungs how she would be the greatest Hokage ever and was on the verge of summoning an army of orange clones if it wasn't for the collective effort of Haku, Sasuke, and Shikamaru restraining her. It would not be nice to make a scene even if Obito wouldn't mind. In fact, he would probably just goof off together with Naruto.

Minato's method of dealing with a drunk Naruto was much simpler. He simply knocked his wayward daughter out like a light with a chop to the back of her neck and slung her across his shoulder.

Minato offered to drop them off at the Hyuga Compound but Hanabi had politely refused. The night is still young and it would be a waste to head back home immediately. It would be nice to take a slow stroll before heading home.

She took his hand in hers as they walked aimlessly across the streets dimly lit by the streetlamps. Their walk was mostly silent but it was comfortable. They hadn't had much opportunity to spend quality time alone like this recently so she cherished every moment of it.

"Will you be going back to ANBU work soon?"

"We are off duty for a week," he replied as they strolled through the more deserted streets of the village where hardly anyone walks about at this hour.

"Is it tough in there?"

"It's alright, actually. The tough part is actually trying to invent a new set of skills to dissociate my ANBU identity from Yuki Haku."

"You mean inventing an entirely different combat style?"

"It won't be entirely different, but different enough to not let anyone immediately associate ANBU Rabbit with Yuki Haku. I was thinking of tailoring my fighting style as an ANBU by emulating Tobirama's because as much as we dislike each other, I have to admit that our combat style and our way of thinking is very similar in certain aspects, especially so after I watched him in action when we were at Kumo. At least this way, I will have a direction to work towards instead of heading in blind."

She quirked an eyebrow upwards at his words. Only he would be brazen enough to directly refer to their esteemed Second Hokage by his name but hey, it's not like he would be popping up from his grave anytime soon to give Haku a piece of his mind unless her idiot decides to rouse him from his eternal slumber once more.

"You told me you were planning to master kenjutsu. I still cannot imagine you swinging a sword," she remarked. She had never seen him practicing kenjutsu because all of his kenjutsu practices were done in the ANBU hideouts which she is not allowed access to. She honestly had no idea how good or bad he is with a blade but if it's him, he would probably master it in no time at all due to his stupidly effective reality bending mindscape seal.

"That's the entire point."

"How long would it take to make creating a brand new combat style possible?"

"Years at the very least, but I have seals to shorten that amount of time to months or even weeks if progress is smooth. I've been trying to work on modifying the technique that Tobirama taught me during our trip to Kumo back then, it should be able to produce some results soon."

"What technique?"

"He called it the Water Palm Blade, apparently he invented it himself," Haku briefly explained as their feet brought them closer to the foot of the Hokage Mountain without them realising it. He held up his free palm as water began to coalesce around it before taking on the shape of a short blade.

"A technique to supplement taijutsu," Hanabi was able to instantly identify the purpose of this technique at a glance since she's a taijutsu expert herself but Haku was never that great with taijutsu. Will this work out?

"What I'm trying to do is to get it to change into…" The water blade began to morph and change shape under Haku's control, visibly lengthening to many times its original size until it took on the shape of a katana. The water construct is still unstable and quickly collapses into a puddle of water seconds later as Haku was unable to maintain its form for long but there's no mistake that this was a katana made out of water.

"... this."

"Shape transformation, without hand seals," Hanabi let her surprise show. It was something that she had been practising very hard as well lately but what Haku showed her was on a much higher order than the one she is currently trying to achieve since nature transformation was added into the mix as well. The difficulty was further amplified since he was basically creating an object from almost virtually nothing without the use of hand seals. If she were to ignore the colour of the water construct the details of the katana were very lifelike, to create such a life-like construct through the combined application of nature and shape transformation is an exceedingly difficult challenge that she believed nobody had achieved, much less without hand seals.

It goes without saying that for Haku to forgo incorporating hand seals into the technique he had meant it to be a sealless technique from the very start. Theoretically, she knew that for a shinobi to shorten the hand seals for any jutsu would mean that said shinobi had attained a certain level of mastery of that jutsu to do just that. To entirely omit the hand seals from the equation is a level of difficulty that is of a much higher order, one that cannot be properly put into words unless you had experienced it yourself. It really is not as easy as it seems.

She knows the theory like the back of her hand, but she only started to truly comprehend the level of difficulty when she finally got to see it in practice. Just the sheer challenge posed by the Shape Transformation part of this new jutsu would make this minimally an A Rank jutsu in terms of difficulty alone. Her eyes could easily quantify the sheer amount of raw chakra and power packed into the innocuous looking water blade before its unstable shape caused it to collapse, and also the required mastery over the Water Release to even allow it to take form. For such a simple looking jutsu the prerequisites are not at all simple.

How hard must this be if even Haku is still struggling to get this right even with his already unnatural affinity with the water element?

"Trust me, getting it to take this form is harder than it looks. I wasn't expecting myself to take this long to master it too since I already had experience with shape transformation from learning the Rasengan," Haku admitted. "My original idea was to be able to create countless blades through my mastery over the Water Release and if it's possible, make it such that the blade of water is invisible to the naked eye. A blade of water that can change shape and colour according to my will, lengthening and shortening as I deem fit, that endless possibilities and sheer unpredictability of such a technique will be useful in any ANBU ops that I will take part in in the future. As Yuki Haku, my expertise is long range anti-unit area of effect ninjutsu and I'm not known for anti-personnel close combat. If I master this technique this should be able to make ANBU Rabbit distinct enough to be considered as a separate identity from Yuki Haku."

"It's really cool," Hanabi praised, already looking forward to the day where she can witness him in action. "But if you succeeded in modifying the Niidame's original technique what are you going to name it as? I don't think the name of Water Palm Blade is going to be an accurate description of it."

"Haven't thought that far. Why don't you help me think of one?"

"Hmm…" She hummed softly while trying to think up of a cool name as they continued their leisure stroll while lightly swinging the hand she was using to hold his. Unfortunately she's not really gifted when it comes to naming things so she had to seek external help.

'Matatabi, any bright ideas?'

'Even on a date you just had to interrupt my nap don't you, nya?'

'Why do you even sleep so much anyway?'

'Had you ever tried living a day as an immortal? Life's so boring at times that all you can do to make time pass faster as a prisoner is to nap it away, nya. But that technique your little boyfriend is trying to create does remind me of a technique Hamura oji-san liked to use in his youth. You can try it using the Gentle Fist, nya. Stand atop a body of water and concentrate your chakra until the water spirals and shoots countless needles outwards. With the byakugan it is possible to use it with great precision to even shoot down something as small as pesky bugs, or turn it into a towering sword of water that could cleave mountains.'

'Huh, might try it with fire instead in my free time. What's the name of that technique anyway?'

'Hamura oji-san called it the Raincutter because he once cut through a storm of falling rain with that technique.'

"Raincutter," Hanabi unashamedly borrowed the name of the technique that her very first ancestor once used- if the cat's words are to be believed- to answer Haku's question. From the look on his face he seemed to like the name too. If Kakashi could name his self-invented technique as lightning cutter simply because he cut through lightning with it, Haku could do the same too when he cuts through rain.

'You despicable name stealer. Do you have no sense of shame?'

Hanabi decidedly ignored Matatabi's accusation. Haku does not need to know about the truth of the origin of his technique which she named upon his request.

"Then Raincutter it is. Actually, I also had this idea of-"

"Yuki Haku," she cut him off before he could ramble on and on about his endless ideas for creating or modifying new jutsus by the dozens because she knew for a fact that it would happen if she did not put him to a stop. He wisely shut his mouth after she called out his name in full.

"In case you haven't read the atmosphere, we are on a date, and if you continue to be the dense unromantic piece of ice that you usually are and go on and on about jutsus and what not I will burn you into a crisp."

She even held up his hand which she was holding with hers, fingers interlocked, to further emphasise her point.

"... So what can I safely talk about?"

"Oh I don't know, we only just managed to find some time to spend with each other after a few weeks of you disappearing on me and all you could talk to me about are jutsus? Seriously? You just set the bar of my expectations for you to a whole new level of low. Instead of jutsus couldn't you maybe compliment how good I look tonight since it's not everyday I get to dress up to the nines, or maybe where we should go on our next date, or maybe how much you miss me during the days where we are separated thanks to your stupid ANBU work? Heck, at this point I wouldn't even mind if you speak naughty things to me-"

"What?"

"Right, I shouldn't expect too much from you," she released a dramatic sigh. "Like, come on, we are already sleeping together and you had already seen and touched my naked body-"

"Because you walked out naked from the bathroom and forced me to help you with that piece of bandage."

"It's called the sarashi but hey, since we are on this topic how was it to cop a feel of my boobs? Was it to your liking?"

"Can we not-"

She leaned her face closer to him such that their faces are now only inches apart, her eyes boring into his expectantly. It's always so much fun to tease him and see him squirm uncomfortably with that awkward shyness whenever she brings up such topics with him for the sole sake of teasing him until his face turns red.

"So, like it?" She wagged her eyebrows suggestively as she cornered him with his back against the trunk of a huge tree to press for an answer. She felt like she's one of those uncouth thugs cornering a helpless damsel on the street when she realised that she unknowingly did one of those cringe kabedon that is all the rage these days, thanks to the recent prevalence of those trashy romance novels which Sakura and Ino likes to read in secret so much.

Their position is a little compromising and their positions are reversed, but it's entirely worth it to see him get flustered over something so small when she is the reason for eliciting such a reaction from him. He couldn't even maintain eye contact with her now.

"Uhm, people might see us-"

"Nice try, but I have the byakugan and you are a better sensor than I am. I know for a fact that there's nobody around in at least a two hundred metres radius. Why else I decided to have my way with you here of all places?"

Okay, that sounded a little wrong but she's not going to sweat the details.

"Yuki Haku."

"Yes?"

"Close your eyes, cos I'm going to kiss you."

Her kiss was demanding, passionate, ferocious, possessive and outright territorial when she mashed her lips to his. She had sorely missed him in the days he wasn't around by her side and she conveyed all of that longing to him in the kiss she initiated.

Their breathing was a little heavier when their lips finally separated. She intimately touched noses with him with her hands placed on the sides of his head with a silly smile on her face and easily eased him into the mood. It would take forever to coax him to do romantic things with her otherwise.

"See? This is what a date is supposed to be like. Exciting, romantic, heart stopping, full of surprises-"

"If a girl does that to a guy it's romantic, but if a guy does that to a girl somebody would be calling the police. In your case, you might just Gentle Fist me and send me flying over the village walls if I suddenly do that to you."

"I am your girlfriend. Why would I ever do that?"

"Better be safe than sor- mmph!"

"I will give you one more chance to reorganise your words," she threatened him once their kiss ended once more. She saw how he narrowed his eyes in challenge and she raised her eyebrows at him in an obvious dare. Hmph, he's too much of a wuss to do anything anyway-

The world suddenly spun. She felt the familiar soft sensation of their lips coming together once more as she dazedly accepted it on instinct. It took a few more seconds before she finally came to the realisation that Haku had switched their positions such that she is now the one with her back to the tree and him cornering her.

He… He kabedon-ed her?! Is this really the same Yuki Haku she knows?!

She's sure her face was starting to flush red from both the excitement and the lack of air entering her lungs when their lips finally separated. Even the tip of her ears are starting to feel far too warm for her liking. She was only able to spare a second to look up at him before he came down on her again.

"W-Wait… mmph! Give me a sec- mmph!"

Everytime their kiss ended he would only give her a second or two to catch her breath before capturing her lips with his again, giving her the bare minimum of time to recover and resist. The only thing she could do to valiantly resist was to struggle even if she doesn't have any true intention to break their kiss but he's definitely doing this in petty revenge, she's sure of it!

It was when their kisses dragged on until her knees were weak and her legs softer than jelly did he finally end his assault. She glared at him although judging from the infuriating smug grin on his face, it's of no use. He probably found her reaction too cute to think of it as being intimidating, especially when she's sure that the flush on her face had spread downwards to her neck and down even to her collarbone.

Drats, he won this round.

"Exciting enough? Heartstopping, romantic enough? Was it a pleasant surprise? No? I guess I'll have to work harder-"

"Enough enough enough!" She quickly pushed him away with her hands on his chest and she could feel another onset of warmth blossoming through her face. Who is this person and what had he done to her pure and naive Haku? Or was his previous reactions all an act?

But she could never stay mad at him for long, she's not even mad at him to begin with. It was when she wrapped her arms around him in a hug with her ear pressed against his chest, hearing the sound of his heartbeat that she was reminded that he's here right now with her.

"I missed you," she whispered. "Like, really really missed you."

"Me too."

"What do you think our wedding will be like?"

"Isn't it a little too early to even start thinking about that?"

"Point is, don't you have any thoughts about it at all after attending sensei's wedding?"

"I think we already kind of skipped past the dating and marrying stage and dived straight into cohabitation."

"Skipped? No, I don't think so, we merely tweaked the order around a little. It's cohabitation, then dating and marriage. You still owe me many more romantic dates before I would say yes."

"Romantic? Then I propose that we carry on where we left off-"

"No!"

"Weren't you the one who said that it was exciting heartstopping romantic-"

"Yuki Haku! I'm warning you- mmph!" There was resistance and the determination to repel the sudden invasion. There shall be no surrender, no mercy given. "YUKI HAKU! That's it, I'm going to be the one taking control this time- mmph!" The invader was much more powerful and persistent than she imagined it to be. "No fair! At least give me a chance to retaliate- mmph!" Hopes of victory seemed further and further away the longer the war dragged on but she still stubbornly held onto the last line of defence, peace wasn't an option. "Okay I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-!"

Peace was ultimately an option when the war ended with her surrender.

That little interlude aside, the rest of their date night was peacefully romantic as they continued their stroll around the village once they were done trying to mess with each other. At least Haku's a little more forthcoming with his displays of affection now behind closed doors whenever she demands it, something which she preferred he does rather than his usual tendency of bottling up his emotions, so she guessed that she had lost the battle but won the war.

The only thing that spoiled the mood was the very first thing her twin told her when she returned back from her mission the next day.

"Hanabi, your lips look a little swollen. Are you feeling heaty? Remember to drink more water, the weather's been getting a little hot these days."

"Huh? Uh, y-yeah."

It was a miracle that her twin didn't associate her slightly swollen lips with whatever Haku did to her the night before. She did try taking her revenge on him that very night, to retake her rightful dominant position in their relationship but it always ended in her unconditional surrender once more.

Goddammit Haku.