This was inspired by a prompt on tumblr that suggested Konohamaru had a crush on Hinata. I was given permission to use it and voila! This was born. Please note, this does follow the canon ending, so if you didn't like it, I ask that you please be respectful. I hope I managed to keep everyone in character and that you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Enjoy!

For Naruto and Hinata

One-shot

He shouldn't be doing this. Like, he really, really shouldn't be doing this. He knew it was wrong. He knew she was his boss' girl. He knew she had been in love with the boss since practically forever, but Konohamaru couldn't help it. She was just so pretty and nice and wonderful and perfect and everything any guy could ever want. He loved her smile and the way it made her eyes sparkle into that pretty lavender that was so unique to her. No other Hyuuga had that and Konohamaru had met quite a few of them over the years.

She was strong too. Granted, Konohamaru had never seen her fight outside of the training grounds, but he heard the stories. Her actions in the war and that whole mess with Toneri had quickly spread through the grape vine. Konohamaru acknowledged some of the rumors were probably exaggerated, but if any of them contained even an ounce of truth, then she was probably one of the best kunoichi in the village. He liked that. He liked a strong woman. Besides, he doubted Naruto would love someone that couldn't take care of herself.

And love her, Naruto did. It was almost gag worthy how infatuated he was. Even before Naruto himself realized it, Konohamaru knew. It was obvious in the way he looked at her. The way his boss' eyes would soften just that little bit around the edges or how he would subconsciously relax and lean towards her whenever they were insomuch as the same vicinity, told him all he needed to know. Which was why the genin knew that what he was doing was wrong. Following Naruto to the Hyuuga compound just to spy on the boss' girlfriend wasn't exactly what best friends and brothers did.

They especially didn't do it when said boss was about to ask the aforementioned girl's father for her official hand in marriage. That was just bad form.

But instead of doing the right thing and staying away, he may have, sort of, possibly followed Naruto in the guise of being his wingman. It wasn't the first time. He'd done it many times before and he knew it was wrong. He really, really did. He just couldn't help it, and it wasn't like it was hard. Naruto was always a nervous wreck before he met up with Hinata, and Konohamaru felt he might actually be doing him a favor. Without his help, Naruto probably wouldn't have even made it to the first date.

"We gonna stand here forever or are we gonna go inside, kore?" he asked, motioning towards the gates. Two Hyuuga branch members stood on either side watching in equal amusement as Naruto's face rapidly paled. "I mean if you don't want to we could always-"

"No!" Naruto yelped, swiveling around to stare wide-eyed at Konohamaru. At the sight of Konohamaru's smug little smile, he straightened and threaded his hands through his hair in an effort to reclaim some dignity. "I mean, no. I'm okay. Let's go inside."

Naruto's voice rose quite significantly on that last statement and Konohamaru was hard pressed not to laugh. His boss was nervous, but it was also apparent how excited he was. The blond marched through the gates with that simple Naruto-like determination, eyes staring straight ahead as the two made their way into the Hyuuga compound. Konohamaru could just make out how his hand clenched the box in his pocket as if his life depended on it.

Perhaps it did. Konohamaru didn't know. He wasn't the one about to propose to his girlfriend. Though, he couldn't deny that a small part of him was disappointed. Of course he wanted his friend to be happy – gods knew Naruto deserved to be happy – but, well, Konohamaru might have been a little jealous. Just a little bit, though.

I mean it wasn't like he had harbored a crush on the Hyuuga girl for the past two years or anything like that. No, absolutely not.

Konohamaru wanted to slap himself. These were not good thoughts. Hinata and Naruto belonged together. Everyone in Konoha (and Suna, and Kiri, and Kumo, and Iwa, and pretty much everywhere else including the moon) agreed they belonged together. So, Konohamaru really had no place pining after a girl he could not have.

But that didn't mean he couldn't watch and admire her while Naruto was otherwise occupied. As the blond's designated younger brother it was practically Konohamaru's job to build up a strong rapport with his future almost sister-in-law. If it made her notice him, well that was just a convenient bonus.

The duo found themselves outside Hyuuga Hiashi's office all to soon. Naruto looked ready to hyperventilate. His skin was pale, his jaw was twitching, and sweat patches were forming at his armpits. Konohamaru was hard pressed to ask him if he needed a sponge to help soak it all up, but refrained out of sympathy for his friend. Naruto didn't need to be made aware of the fact that two lakes were forming on his jacket.

Instead, he elbowed his boss in the side and motioned to the door.

"Are you gonna knock or should I do it?" he inquired, trying to force the voice back into his friend. It would do no good for him to try and ask for Hinata's hand if he couldn't even speak. When Naruto didn't immediately respond, Konohamaru stepped forward, only halting when his older brother's hand clenched around his wrist.

Konohamaru looked back and raised an eyebrow, daring Naruto to make a move. The older man's throat convulsed and his fingers spasmed against Konohamaru's wrist. Just when the young Sarutobi thought he would have to try again, Naruto took a deep breath and said, "I-I got it, Kono."

"You sure?" the genin asked, eyes raking over his brother's stiff form. "You kinda look like you're gonna vomit, kore."

Naruto's jaw clenched. "I'm sure."

Konohamaru shrugged. "Fine. Go on then."

He stepped aside and Naruto moved forward to rasp on the door. He stopped, hesitated, and then knocked three times firmly on the wood paneling.

There was a pause and then, "Enter."

Naruto took a deep breath, grasped the handle and pushed the door open. He stepped into the spacious office with only half the confidence he was known for, Konohamaru right behind him. You know, just in case Naruto fainted. It had nothing to do with the poised blunette sitting just a few feet away. Absolutely not.

But seeing Hinata there was a surprise. Konohamaru thought it was just supposed to be Naruto and Hiashi. Judging by Naruto's half-horrified, half-loving expression, Konohamaru wasn't the only one. She sat there in an informal yukata, looking at the two boys in that soft and calming manner Konohamaru loved. Her eyes sparkled; she was clearly happy to see them. Konohamaru wanted nothing more than to sit next to her and just bask in her presence.

…Okay, so maybe not bask in her presence, but just sitting next to her would be nice. Hinata was really warm.

"Naruto, Konohamaru-kun," she smiled at them both and Konohamaru fought to keep the blush off his face.

He didn't succeed.

"Hinata," Naruto grinned. Somehow with just her presence, the man's confidence returned. It was amazing how she could do that. Konohamaru just felt like melting into a pile of goo.

He felt like the worse pile of shit a moment later when he noticed just how lovingly the two were gazing at each other. Damn this crush. Damn her wonderfulness. Damn his inability to get over her. Damn it all. This was supposed to be a really exciting moment and his stupid hormones were ruining it for him. Thankfully, the happy couple was completely oblivious to everyone else in the room so he didn't ruin it for them too.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway as the two greeted each other, trying not to look while at the same time finding it hard to look away. Damn it, this was so completely unfair.

A cough from the front of the room happily relieved him of his thoughts, and Konohamaru had never been so thankful to Hiashi. Naruto and Hinata just looked sheepish.

"While I am pleased you are so happy to be here, Uzumaki-san, I must ask that you refrain from trying to steal my daughter away before you are even wed."

"Father!" Hinata exclaimed, her face seemingly inventing a new shade of red.

"Yes?" Hiashi raised an eyebrow, nonplused. "I was under the impression that's what this meeting is for. Am I incorrect?"

Naruto, his own face tomato red, hastily shook his head and stammered, "E-eh, no, Hiashi-sa- err, Hyuuga-sama. You're not wrong."

Hiashi nodded. "Good. Then we are all on the same page." He looked at Konohamaru. "Sarutobi-san, is there a reason you are still here?"

The genin's eyes widened. He looked nervously over to his brother-figure, but the blond was useless. All Naruto did was shrug apologetically. Konohamaru looked back at the stern Hyuuga leader. "Err, no, Hyuuga-sama. I was just, uhh…"

"I see. If you have no business here, you may leave."

"Ehh, right," Konohamaru said, a bit put off by the brusque dismissal. "Well, I guess I'll just, umm, go then. Good luck, nii-chan." He edged back towards the door. Briefly, he tried to catch one more glimpse of Hinata, but she was positioned closer to the window, behind Naruto. Why, oh, why did his boss have to be so tall?

Rather than bring more attention to himself by trying, Konohamaru dragged himself from the room and closed the door behind him. For a moment, he contemplated hanging out by the door and eavesdropping, but shook the notion away quickly. Considering the power levels of those within, not to mention the Byakugan, it was unlikely he could get away with it.

Scuffing his feet along the wood floors, Konohamaru meandered down the hall trying to look as if he wasn't bummed about his missed chance to talk to Hinata. It was probably for the best anyway. She was the boss' girl. Trying to nab her affections from him was just uncool. Still, Konohamaru wasn't quite ready to leave. After all, he needed to be here to congratulate the two once Hiashi stopped trying to be a hard ass and just agreed to the marriage like they all knew he was going to. Yes, that was why he was sticking around – to congratulate them.

Oh, who was he trying to kid?

Konohamaru groaned and slapped his forehead in frustration. He needed to get over her quickly or he might not make it through the wedding. And he had to make it through because Naruto was the big brother he always wanted, and damn it if the blond didn't deserve all the happiness in the world.

Maybe he should leave. It might be better for his mentality if he was away for a bit. He could always congratulate them tomorrow. Konohamaru looked around. Crap, he didn't know where he was. He couldn't leave if he didn't know how to get out and jumping onto the rooftop of the Hyuuga compound was considered a big no-no. He looked around again. Somehow, he seemed to have ended up in a garden of some sort, with a few cherry blossom trees scattered about the carefully constructed lawn.

A stone path led from where he stood at the porch down into the hedges, winding around until it ended at a large pond.

A large pond that he didn't think was occupied a second ago.

Konohamaru blinked. He was almost positive no one had been by the water the first time he looked, but now there was a girl very stiffly feeding the fish. Her long dark hair sat a bit wind-swept against her back and a tiny blush littered her cheeks. The girl's pale Hyuuga eyes seemed determined not to look away from the koi fish she was feeding. In fact, her entire body seemed rooted on the spot. He would have thought she was a statue if not for the fact he was about 99 percent sure no one had been there a second ago.

He squinted. Something told him he should know who she was, but he just couldn't think of her name. Aside from the Byakugan, nothing really stood out about her. She was as familiar looking as any other Konoha citizen, which, at the rate the village's population had been growing, wasn't a whole lot. But he still thought he should know her from somewhere.

He walked a bit closer. Maybe it was the distance that was making it hard for him to recall her. He continued moving until he was about halfway down the path when something caught his eye. A flash of yellow appeared out of his peripheral vision. The genin swiveled his head around to see what it was only to find himself looking at Naruto. Sure, the window was closed and the blond wasn't facing him, but it still made Konohamaru pause. Slowly, the pieces clicked together.

"You were spying on them!" He cried out, leveling an accusatory finger at the girl.

Said Hyuuga girl stiffened even further and turned to glare at him. "I was not!"

"Yes you were, kore! You had to be. You weren't feeding any fish before," he said, moving closer to her until they were only an arms-length away.

The girl huffed. "That doesn't prove anything. Did you see me spying on them?"

"Well…no," he muttered.

"Then what would you know?" She tossed the rest of the bread to the fish. "I was just feeding the koi."

Konohamaru still didn't believe her. "The only door is the one I came from and you weren't here when I looked before. So you had to be up to something and the only interesting thing is that meeting, kore."

"And how would you know that?" She challenged. Her eyes stared him down and Konohamaru decided they weren't nearly as nice as Hinata's.

"What could possibly be more interesting that the hero of the village getting married?" He retorted, crossing his arms and glaring right back.

The girl paused. She appeared to be struggling between finding a contradictory answer and agreeing. Eventually, she said, "Fine. You may have a point, but that doesn't mean I was spying."

"Su~re."

"It doesn't!" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked awkwardly away. "Besides, even if I was spying, what would you care? Are you even supposed to be here?"

Konohamaru puffed up in indignation. "As a matter of fact, I came with Naruto-nii-chan and I was just leaving."

She raised an eyebrow. "You came with Naruto-kun? I don't believe it."

"What was that?"

"Like someone as good as Naruto-kun would bring a jerk like you along for something so important," she jeered.

"Oi!" Konohamaru clenched his fists. How dare this girl say stuff like that when she had no idea how close he and Naruto were. "I'll have you know Naruto-nii-chan is one of my best friends. Of course he'd bring me along for something so important."

"So he has no idea you're crushing on my sister?" the girl smirked.

Konohamaru could only stand there gaping, eyes wide as he tried to process what she just said. How in the world-? "W-what? How do-? What the-? Your sister?" He exclaimed. She was-

The girl's smirk widened into something horribly saccharine. "Hyuuga Hanabi; younger sister of Hyuuga Hinata. And don't think I haven't seen you following her around like a lost puppy whenever you tag along after Naruto-kun."

Konohamaru blinked; then he flushed with anger. "Wait! You knew I was here with-"

"Naruto-kun?" He wanted to punch those shiny teeth of her's out. "Yep. I just wanted to see how easy you were to rile. Pretty easy, I have to say."

The boy blinked again. "How are you related to Hinata?"

Her smirk fell a bit and her nose wrinkled. "Why you-" she stopped herself and took a deep breath. When she looked less likely to explode, she said, "I am so glad Naruto-kun is going to be my brother-in-law and not you. He's actually nice."

"Can't figure out why he'd want to be nice to you," Konohamaru sneered. Then, as if just realizing something, he said, "Wait, Naruto-kun?"

And just like that, Hanabi's sneer completely fell away into an expression that bordered on horrified, with a slight blush beginning to rosy at her cheeks. She stiffened, and all her bravado crumbled away. If those weren't the hallmarks of a secret crush then Konohamaru hated Hinata.

Well, well, what do you know? "You have a crush on Naruto-nii-chan?" He asked, at first stunned and then horribly amused. Pot, I am kettle.

"W-what?" She stammered, completely opposite of herself mere moments ago. Konohamaru would have considered it endearing if he didn't think she was a complete bitch. "I do not have a crush on Naruto-kun. He's going to be my brother-in-law!"

"And Hinata will practically be my sister-in-law, kore. Doesn't help me."

"Well I'm better than you," she scoffed, though her eyes wouldn't meet his and her ears were turning a rather adorable shade of red. Not that Konohamaru thought she was adorable; he just liked how easy it was to tell she was lying.

"Oh, of course," he mocked, smirking. "That's why I was the one leaving and you were the one eavesdropping."

"I was not eavesdropping!"

"Oh right," he rolled his eyes. "You were 'feeding the fish.'"

"I was!"

"Right, I believe you."

"You're a real jerk, err, umm…"

"Sarutobi Konohamaru," he supplied, helpfully.

"I knew that," she stated, even though her ears were turning pink again.

Konohamaru nodded in mock acceptance. "Of course you did. I mean you knew I liked your sister, why wouldn't you bother to find out my name?" He rolled his eyes again.

"Jerk."

"Princess."

There was an awkward pause as the two stood at an impasse. Both glared at each other over the koi pond, neither wanting to be the one to break the silence. Luckily, they didn't have to.

"Oi! Konohamaru, Hanabi-chan!" A loud, familiar voice startled the two out of their staring contest and both turned simultaneously to look back at the porch.

Naruto and Hinata stood there beaming, clasping each other's hand as they usually did when together. Hiashi was behind them, looking at the four with a rare smile and a sparkle in his eyes that made Konohamaru and Hanabi feel slightly on edge. There was something not right about the way he was looking at them.

But Naruto's waving demanded their attention far more than Hiashi's strange look, and the two decided almost simultaneously to ignore the older man in favor of the blond. Naruto's smile was wider than either had ever seen before and Hinata looked positively radiant. The glittering diamond on her finger just added to the effect. It made both of them want to blush while also burying themselves alive.

"Guess what you two?" Naruto exclaimed. "Hiashi-tou-sama said yes!"

"I don't remember allowing you to call me that," the Hyuuga head quipped, staring down at his future son-in-law.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh hehe, err…"

Hiashi sighed. "Oh, go ahead. I have a feeling I couldn't stop you if I tried."

"Wait, really?" The blond stared at the man, but Hiashi was already walking back towards his study. As much as he liked the boy, Naruto took some getting used to.

Hinata giggled and placed her other hand on her fiancé's shoulder. "Naruto, let's give father some time. We should probably go tell our friends the news."

"Oh, right! Bet you Iruka-sensei cries," he laughed.

"Naruto!" But Hinata was laughing too, so he could tell she was pleased. She turned to the two still teens in front of them. "Hanabi, Konohamaru-kun, do you two want to join us?"

"Ahh, umm," Konohamaru stuttered, the words 'Konohamaru-kun' buzzing in his ears.

He was broken out of it when Hanabi stepped on his foot. While he jerked in pain, she smiled at her sister and said, "Congratulations! We'd love to join you, wouldn't we, Konohamaru-kun?"

"Y-yes," the boy croaked out, still reeling from the pain in his foot. Good gods, were her feet made of steel?

"Oh good!" Hinata smiled. Konohamaru felt like the worst jerk in the world for loving it when he knew Naruto loved it so much, too. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hanabi falter at Naruto's own beaming smile and he knew she felt the same way.

Damn it if they weren't in the same fucking boat.

"Meet you both outside?" Naruto asked, already turning around and hand still gripping his fiancée's.

Both teens nodded, not quite trusting their voices as the two older shinobi beamed once more in their direction. The two younger siblings stood there for a second as Naruto and Hinata moved out of the entrance way and back into the Hyuuga estate, completely out of view.

They felt like scum – horrible, selfish, heartbroken scum.

Konohamaru raised his head to look at Hanabi. She looked right back. Then they looked away, back to where they last saw their siblings.

"I'm really happy for them," he said.

"Me too."

"Naruto's the best big brother I could ever ask for."

"Hinata's the best big sister I could ever imagine."

"I love him a lot."

"I love her a lot."

They looked at each other again. For the first time, Konohamaru realized Hanabi had her sister's face. He shook the thought away and sighed.

"I'm jealous."

"So am I."

"Think we can get over it in time for the wedding?" He asked her, honestly wanting an answer.

Hanabi shrugged. "We have to. They deserve to be happy."

"Yeah. Yeah, they do." He ran a hand through his hair. "But damn it this is gonna be hard, kore."

"Oh, don't I know it," she agreed. It was funny, but the boy could have sworn her index fingers started moving towards each other in a habit reminiscent of her sister.

It made Konohamaru smile. His world still felt like it was tilting, but it wasn't so bad anymore. He struck out his hand. "I think we can do it, though. Don't you? For Naruto and Hinata?"

"Yeah," Hanabi took his hand in her's. "For Naruto and Hinata."

They shook on it.

I hope you enjoyed! Please review, but be respectful about it. I appreciate constructive criticism, but flames are not tolerated; they do nothing to help a writer improve.

Thank you for reading!

~Alabaster Ink