• “I still don’t know how you became a Leaf Village Chuunin, Koneko,” Naruto said. “You still haven’t told us that.”
    “Good grief, Naruto, give it a rest,” Kare said. “It doesn’t matter how she attained the rank of Chuunin, all that matters is you now know about her childhood. Is that not enough?”
    “It’s alright,” Koneko said. “Perhaps I can tell you guys another time.”
    “By the way, Koneko,” Naruto said, “why were you blushing earlier, before the story started?”
    “Um, well, you see,” Koneko stammered, “I really don’t know how to say this, but….” She blushed again and began fiddling with her braid. “It’s just that, well….”
    “Oh, I get it,” Naruto said. “I think you like Fuzzy Brows, Koneko.”
    Koneko laughed nervously. “What, are you crazy?” she said. “Who told you that?”
    Okay, Naruto thought, now I’m curious.
    “I think you made it pretty obvious,” Kare said.
    Koneko’s face turned crimson. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
    “Someone’s in denial,” Naruto teased. “It’s just like when we went on that mission to propose a treaty to the Tsuchikage. Fuzzy Brows came along with us and you were blushing the whole time.”
    “Knock it off, knucklehead,” Kare said. “If she doesn’t want to tell, she doesn’t have to. Got it?”
    Naruto sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “I got it.”
    “Good.”
    Later, Koneko was walking home when she ran into Lee. “Oh, um, hi Lee-kun,” she said.
    “I was wondering,” Lee said, “if you’d like to go see a movie with me.”
    “Well, I don’t know…” Koneko said, fiddling with her braid again. “What time?”
    “Eight o’clock.”
    Koneko blushed slightly. “Um, sure, why not?” she said. “I’d love that.”