Recipe of the Heart (Chapter 2)

Kisa: The long awaited chapter 2 has finally arrived! The exams are finally over! Even though my results were like crap... But that's not the point! I wrote a little bit longer as thanks to all readers and reviewers for your patience! I'm soo touched! n.n

Yumi: People! Continue 'touching' Kisa! (sniggers)

Kisa: (knocks Yumi out with a frying pan) Note that nothing belongs to me! Anyways, please enjoy this chapter which I had written about a week after the first chapter but was not publish soon just to raise suspense! n.n

Yumi: (raises and knocks Kisa out with a rolling pin) And please enjoy the fact that I'm consistently forcing Kisa to finish off her third chapter! n.n

Sasuke POV

I just could not control my thoughts from running wild as I heard him slurped noisily. God, does anyone even make those kind of sounds when they eat ramen? Well, apparently, Naruto does. Argh! I can't stop staring at him! He's too cute!

"Shashuke?" Naruto swallowed a mouthful of ramen. "You look... weird...,"

'Go for it! You won't know when you'll get a chance to be with him like this! Besides, the worst he'll probably do is run out of Ichiraku, screaming... Well, go for broke!' my mind screamed.

I looked into his wide, blue eyes and said, "Naruto, be my lover?" There, short and sweet.

Naruto stared, open mouthed. "Did you just said what I think you said?"

I ignored his words and cradled his face in my hands. It was as if I was protecting him from the harsh reality of life. Maybe I am... His face was flushed, but he did not protest. Was that good or bad? I leaned forwards and kissed him lightly on the lips.

And the judges raised their cards to show an unanimous score of ten! Ichiraku goes wild with applause!

'Nothing can bring me down now!' Sasuke thought triumphantly. "I'm on cloud nine! I'm in heaven! I'm... seeing Itachi?"

True enough, Itachi had just burst into Ichiraku, his hair loose and flowing wildly about, which did seemed weird considering there was no wind around.

"Wait, just wait a moment! 'I' am one of the judges! And I gave you a zero! That scene was so cliché and booooring! You can't sing. You can't dance. What can you do? Reject!"

"How dare you!" Sasuke roared furiously. "Face the wrath of my attack which cannot be blocked unless you have a 'x' button!"

"Uh... What exactly is a 'x' button?" Itachi, chibi, blinked.

"Just die already!" Sasuke executed a move that was so quick that the poor authoress could not observe probably and describe it. However, what she could see was Itachi flying away from the force of the attack.

"Itachi is blasting off again!"

Oh, and a sparkle could be seen in a distance.

Sasuke beamed. "I did it! I defeated my brother! No one else can defeat him except for me... Sasu-Keke!" He turned around and was greeted by the sight of a sniffling Naruto.

"Sasuke! How could you? I was the one who invited Itachi over! I hate you and I hope you... you... you step in cat shit!" Naruto ran away in tears.

Sasuke's expression went from blissfully pleased to plain horrified. "Noooooo!"

Thump!

Sasuke pulled an apron over his head and began harvesting supplies from the fridge. Bacon, eggs, some chopped onions - leftovers from a soup he made- and other stuff. It took him quite a while to find them. Sasuke experimented a lot, so the fridge was jammed with half-used ingredients - and Sasuke never wasted anything. Professional cooks never did.

As he laid a few strips of bacon into his favorite cast- iron pan and turned on the flame underneath, he fingered the giant bandage on his forehead. Sasuke swore that his life span was shorten by ten years thanks to the shock of waking up from the nightmare only to bump heads with his brother who had 'came up to check on why he was late in preparing breakfast'.

"Damn Itachi...," he mumbled to the bacon. He grabbed a fork and started flipping the bacon strips one by one. He studied their color carefully, leaving one strip for a few extra seconds.

Itachi glanced over to the kitchen from the living room couch. "Did you say something, little bro? Speak up!" he yelled agitatedly.

"Nothing," mumbled Sasuke to the bacon. He kept his attention fixed to the pan and listened to its squeak-and-splatter for a moment.

"Hey Sasuke?" Itachi piped up after a moment of silence.

"Does Naruto have a girlfriend?"

The question sliced through Sasuke like one of his kitchen knives and he wanted to go back to the non-conversation conversation they were having. He didn't answer, just poked at the bacon and listened to it sizzled. "Why did you ask?" he finally replied.

Itachi pondered on the question for a while before answering, "I don't know. He seems... well, sort of cool."

"Don't tell me YOU're interested in him... He's a guy!" Sasuke nudged.

"Yeah, well... What's wrong with that? You like him too right? Don't deny it," Itachi countered absentmindedly.

"I don't!" snapped Sasuke. "Well, your bacon's ready! Get it now!" He slammed the serving down hard on the table and splatters of oil fell off the plate.

"Chill out! You're acting like it's your time of the month!" Itachi raised an eyebrow. 'Sheesh! What's his problem?' Itachi thought to himself.

Sasuke laughed to defuse the moment. He swallowed, wishing his own serving of bacon would hurry up and finish cooking in the pan. He was really hungry and didn't like the taste in his mouth right then.

There were many types of feelings that were considered unpleasant. But Sasuke could take them all on. He had been the most guarded person in Konoha as long as he could remember. He knew how to intercept feelings before it took hold, how to stuff it away, to banish it from sight and to swallow it. He even knew what to eat to kill the aftertaste. And what he would really need now was his serving of bacon.

Without a word, Sasuke settled himself on the bar stool opposite where Itachi was sitting and plunged his fork into his eggs. It was lumpy and yellow, steaming with fragrance. For the next several minutes, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of forks and knives scraping against plates.

"Thanks for the meal," Itachi said over his shoulder as he dumped his plate in the dishwasher.

"Thanks for not trying to damage the dishwasher," Sasuke replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Itachi rolled his eyes. "If you're going to continue acting like you're a grumpy badass demon slayer, I'm off for a walk," he grumbled as he had for the back door.

"Ding-dong! Kling-klang! Pang-pong! Shing-shang!" the front doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of a visitor.

"Coming!" Itachi hollered. Turning to Sasuke, he said in a commanding tone, "Answer the door would you? And puh-lease change our doorbell. My absolutely melodious singing is ten times better."

"Answer it yourself! And your so-called 'melodious' singing is ten thousand times worse than Kakashi's when he sing the 'Come Come Paradise' theme song!" said Sasuke to thin air.

'Trust Itachi to be a lazy ass... I bet he could beat Shikamaru in a battle of laziness," Sasuke growled, his chakra pulsing around him with a buzz. He kicked open the front door and watched it fell off its hinge.

"No, I do not want to buy anything you sell. No, we already have insurance. And duh, I do want you to get lost!" Sasuke snapped. Or, at least tried to. Before he had gone halfway through the first sentence, he had been knocked over. By someone.

"Itachi-san! ...Eh? Sasuke!" Naruto cried out.

Yumi: (looks at K.O. Kisa on the couch with spirals as eyes) ... Uh... Well, looks like I'm the one who hafta finish off this chapter... (sighs) Well, I can't possibly do this alone! I need to call for reinforcements!

Itachi: (appears out of thin air) You called?

Yumi: Yup! Since you're Kisa's favourite character, I'm giving you the chance to end this fic. Any way you like! Any! (beams)

Itachi: ... This fic is over. Have a nice life.

Yumi: Hah? That's it! Wait! Wa-

Fic Ends