I'm out of town tomorrow, so here is day 10 a little early.

oOo

Day 10 Prompt: Jijivisha (Hindu)

"The strong, eternal desire to live and continue living."

That night was Team 7's weekly dinner get-together. Unfortunately, Naruto got to pick the restaurant, so they ended up at Ichiraku Ramen. Sasuke refused to participate in the game of janken. He tried convincing Sakura to give it up because Naruto cheated. But she refused. She operated under the delusion that she could both figure out how he cheated and cheat better than him.

Which meant they would be eating weekly ramen for a while. He wanted them to rotate who got to choose. But both Naruto and Sakura refused to give up their little competition.

Sasuke put down his chopsticks, only half listening to his friends bickering.

Sakura stopped. "Sasuke, are you okay? You've only eaten half."

He grimaced. "I've had enough. This is enough sodium for an entire week."

Naruto rolled his eyes while simultaneously slurping his noodles. Disgusted, Sasuke grabbed a napkin and dabbed at the soup splatters on the table.

"You say that every time we come," Naruto complained.

"Because it's true every time."

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed, turning around in her seat to wave. "Hi, Hinata."

Sasuke froze only to immediately make himself relax. Picking up his chopsticks, he forced himself to return to eating. He could feel Naruto's confused gaze on his face.

"Hi, Sakura-chan. How are you?" Hinata asked. She addressed Naruto next, who practically vibrated with excitement. "Hello, Naruto-kun. Sasuke-san."

Sasuke nodded. Once. Quickly.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto practically sang. "Are you going to eat with us? Here, you can sit next to Sasuke!"

She smiled and shook her head. Ayame appeared from the back, a takeout bag in her hands. She lifted it over the counter and handed it to a waiting Hinata.

Hinata accepted it and handed over her payment. She held her bounty up as explanation to Naruto. He pouted but nodded.

"Okay, fine," he said. "But next time you have to come with us!"

Hinata giggled and said her goodbyes. Sasuke held up his fingers in a lazy wave. He surreptitiously watched her leave.

"Her soup is going to be cold when she gets home," Naruto said, sticking out his tongue in disgust.

"She can heat it up, stupid," Sakura admonished.

"But it doesn't taste as good that way!"

Sasuke prayed for patience. "Not everyone cares about ramen as much as you do."

Naruto reared back by pushing the front legs of his stool off the ground and held a hand to his heart. Sakura snickered and tried to tip him backwards. He batted her hand away and they engaged in a little slap fight. Ayame snickered as she restocked napkins.

Naruto paused, holding Sakura's wrist in midair. "Oh!" he said. "Did I tell you that Hinata brought me that letter from Gaara?"

"Eh?" Sakura asked. "Hinata went to Suna and brought you a letter?"

She yanked back her hand so hard that it did almost topple Naruto over. Sasuke caught Naruto by his sleeve and pulled him upright. Naruto chuckled and slapped Sasuke so hard on the back, that he dropped his chopsticks into his soup. Sasuke pushed the bowl away in frustration. Ayame swept over and took it from him with a smile.

"Yeah!" Naruto chattered on. "Well, no. Neji went to Suna, but Hinata brought me the letter."

"Why was Neji in Suna?" Sakura said. "What mission did he go on?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't think it was a mission. Neji filed personal leave so he could visit Kankuro and Baki."

Even Sasuke jolted in surprise. "I didn't know they were friends."

Naruto laughed. "I didn't either! Or maybe he didn't go to meet them and just met with Gaara? I can't remember. Paperwork is boring."

"Which is why Tsunade-sensei has you doing it," Sakura sniffed. "She's being lazy."

The conversation strayed away from Neji, but Sasuke could not let it go. It could not have been a social call. Neji was not exactly a social person. If it was for professional reasons, what did Neji want to talk to them for? Kankuro's fighting specialty was those puppets. And Baki was on the Suna council, right? What was his specialty?

Why did this drive him so crazy?

oOo

"I have a question," Sasuke announced at dinner a few nights later.

Shisui eyed him. "Good for you?"

Itachi smirked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Do you know what Kankuro and Baki specialize in as nin? From Suna."

Shisui shrugged. Itachi shook his head.

Izumi stood next to Itachi's chair. She passed grilled fish from the tray in her hand to Itachi's plate. At Sasuke's question, she paused and studied him.

"Baki is Kankuro's mentor," she said.

While she looked away, Itachi quickly transferred his extra fish to Shisui's plate. Shisui accepted this offering gratefully and stuffed it into his mouth.

Izumi gasped when she caught them. "Stop that! Itachi, you need more protein. You can't live on dango."

He smiled innocently at her. Shisui pretended not to hear.

Sasuke puzzled over Izumi's answer. "But Baki doesn't do puppets. Right?"

Izumi huffed and set the tray down in the middle of the table. She set her hands on her hips. "Yeah. But Baki is a seal master."

Now all three men stared at her blankly. She blinked.

Her next words came out slow like she was speaking to someone particularly dense. "How do you control puppets? With seals."

"Oh!" Shisui exclaimed then giggled. "Right."

Izumi sighed and placed a hand on the back of Itachi's chair. "Hopeless. Itachi, stop giving Shisui your food."

Caught, Itachi froze. He glumly put the last of his fish back on his plate.

Izumi addressed Sasuke. "Why do you ask?"

Sasuke, too preoccupied with this new revelation, did not think to sensor his words. "I'm trying to figure out why the Hyuga want to meet with them."

"The Hyuga?" Izumi repeated.

Shisui laughed. "He's obsessed."

That caught Sasuke's attention. "Am not."

"Obsessed? With the Hyuga?"

Itachi dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. "I think maybe just one in particular."

"Hinata," Shisui sing-songed.

Izumi frowned thoughtfully at the group. Realization slowly bloomed on her face. Her mouth fell open.

"Hinata-chan?" she exclaimed in delight. "Sasuke likes Hinata-chan?"

Sasuke growled and balled up his napkin in his hand, so he did not throw it. "No! The Hyuga are being weird!"

Izumi reached over the table and slapped Sasuke on the shoulder repeatedly in excitement. "You have a crush on Hinata! This is great!"

Sasuke groaned and slouched out of reach.

She paused, her face falling. "Oh, this is terrible."

Itachi's brows furrowed. Sasuke stopped trying to dissolve into his chair. Shisui lunged forward and snagged another piece of fish from the tray.

"Why?" he asked, mouth full.

She held out a hand towards the window, in the direction of the Hyuga compound. "Since when is the Hyuga patriarch going to let Sasuke marry his precious daughter? They'd never want Fugaku as an in-law. For that matter, Fugaku would never let Sasuke marry a Hyuga in a million-billion years."

"Marriage?" Sasuke squawked, his voice cracking.

Itachi looked like he just bit into a lemon. "I'm sure if they were in love my father would understand."

Everyone glared at him.

He sighed. "No, you're right."

An ANBU materialized next to Izumi. The conversation ceased as fast as flicking a light switch. He handed her a sealed letter before disappearing. She passed it to Itachi. Itachi undid the seal with chakra, unfolded the paper, and read it before it disintegrated in his hands.

Itachi sighed and stood. He kissed Izumi on the cheek.

"What happened?" she asked.

"There's been another ambush. The nin involved were extracted and are on their way back."

Sasuke stood. "Any injuries?"

Itachi nodded before Body Flickering away.

"Thank you for dinner, Izumi. It was very good, as always," Sasuke said before following his brother's lead.

Izumi sighed. After a pause, she pushed the tray of fish closer to Shisui. He grinned.

"Don't mind if I do."

oOo

Coming up: Hinata tries to give Sasuke a gift but Sasuke ends up being the most generous.