Little Sakura walked while eating her anpan. Her eyes looked around the mini village district and noticed that some people were staring at her curiously. Based on her experiences, she assumed it must be because of her appearance. Her pink hair and green eyes were so noticeable even from afar. It's as if she had a target on her back or something.

She didn't mind their staring and started searching the biggest house in the district. True to the old man's words, the house was on the right side of the street. She finished eating her anpan and knocked on the door.

After a moment someone opened the door for her. He looked young but the lines around his eyes made him look older than his age. His hair was tied behind in a low ponytail, and his face kind of resembled Sasuke. He gazed down at her, and there, the flat expression on his face made Sakura sure he was somehow closely related to Sasuke.

"Yes?" That older boy said.

Ooh… What a soothing voice.

"Hello. Sorry for disturbing. Is this Uchiha Sasuke's house?" Sakura asked politely.

The older boy quirked his eyebrow and asked her back, "It is. May I know why you're looking for my little brother?"

See! He's his brother! I knew they're closely related!

Sakura showed him the book she'd been keeping below her arms, "He left this on his table drawer. I saw it after I finished cleaning the classroom yesterday and thought it would be better if I bring it back to him. We have to submit homework from this, next Monday."

The big brother looked pleasantly surprised. He didn't know that his little brother had made friends in the academy. And his friend seemed to be a good one too, seeing that she chose to walk quite far to the Uchiha district for the sake of delivering his book.

"Oh! Who do we have here?"

A very beautiful woman with dark hair stood on their side carrying bags of groceries. She had a gentle smile on her face and Sakura liked the way the woman's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Okaa-san," Itachi walked to her side and took the groceries out of her hands.

"She's Sasuke's classmate. She is delivering Sasuke's book that he left behind in the classroom."

The beautiful woman gasped, glee presented itself on her expression. "Sasu-chan's friend? I didn't know our Sasu-chan succeeded in making friends at the academy!"

Sakura almost laughed at the nickname.

Sasu-chan, huh? Seems like the mother is the complete opposite of her sons.

"Well, why are we still standing here? Let's go inside together."

"Ah, no. I'm just…." Sakura tried to refuse the offer but the beautiful woman wouldn't have it.

"You should give the book to Sasu-chan yourself. I'm sure he'll be happy to see his friend is coming over!"

Sakura didn't have any chance to refuse anymore because the beautiful woman had walked inside along with the older boy. She slowly stepped her feet inside the house and stood near the arrays of sandals.

"Come on in, Sasu-chan's friend!" The beautiful woman called out to her.

She took out her sandals and went in the direction of the beautiful woman's voice. She looked around the inside of the house and it seemed as magnificent as the outside. Clearly, this family held some sort of important title to be able to afford such things.

She arrived at what she assumed to be the living room. Nobody was there and she didn't know what to do. She was contemplating whether it would be rude of her to just leave the book on that expensive-looking table and went on her way. Thankfully, a pair of footsteps was heard coming down the stairs.

Sasuke came down from his room when he heard his mother's voice. His mother went to the market this morning with a promise of bringing back a lot of tomatoes for him, along with dango for his older brother. He was excited to eat those juicy fruits, but couldn't fathom why she mentioned strange words from downstairs just now.

Sasu-chan's friend? What on earth was that?

He turned around the corner and the sight that greeted him made his eyes widened. Could it be that he was still asleep and dreaming? No, that couldn't be possible, he was sure he was wide awake. But if this was reality, why would this uninvited guest present herself in his home?

He watched her turn her head towards him and saw a small smile made its way on her face. He just stood there saying nothing. He tried to send her a non-verbal message with his eyes, asking why she was in his home. But the pink girl just stood there while tilting her head.

She does that a lot. Is her neck hurting or something?

"You left this book on your table drawer. We are supposed to submit homework from this book next Monday, you know? Here, take this." Sakura said while showing him the book.

Sasuke eyed the book on her hand. He actually wanted to ask his older brother to accompany him taking that book back from the academy. The fact that this girl just made it easier for him made him feel slightly thankful. Still, she didn't need to get inside his home to do so.

He made no move from his spot and Sakura raised her eyebrows. He wanted her to just put the book on the table and leave his home, but again, the pink girl didn't seem to catch on his non-verbal message.

"Oh! Sasu-chan! Look, your friend is here to see you!" His mother appeared from the way to the kitchen. "I'll make lunch for you too, so you can play with Sasu-chan while waiting." She said while looking at Sakura.

"But-..."

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, his mother already disappeared back to the kitchen. Sasuke was stunned at the mere mention of her being his friend and the fact that she would have lunch together with his family in his home. He didn't even know her that much aside from her name, her apparent friendships with Dobe and a screeching blonde girl, and her absence from academy for the first three weeks. A terrible incident befell her family - Iruka sensei had explained a day before she came into the academy. He didn't fully understand what had happened to her family, but he knew that she was an orphan now.

He suddenly realized that she could no longer eat her own mother's cooking, and decided to just let her stay for lunch today. It could also be a thank you gesture from him for the book's delivery. Even though the one who cooked was his mother, the fact that he allowed her to stay made him contribute to the gesture as well. Yeah, his logic was totally on point.

He looked at her still outstretched hand and turned around, deciding to just follow his mother to the kitchen. He dearly hoped the girl understood it as an invitation to follow him along and have lunch with his family.

Unfortunately, little Sakura didn't understand his non-verbal language at all. She stood there feeling annoyed by the rude gesture that Sasuke just made. She was literally there, stretching her hand towards him, after walking so far to give him his own book but he just left like that? The nerve!

She decided she had enough of his nonsense and went after him. She stopped at the entrance of the kitchen that appeared to be merged with the dining room and observed the way his family moved around each other. His mother was cutting some tomatoes at the countertop while Sasuke was trying to climb a chair to steal the tomatoes, and his older brother was sitting at the short-legged dining table while enjoying a pack of dango.

Her heart ached at the sight and the reminder that she wouldn't have the chance to experience such a moment with her own family anymore. She stood there wordlessly until another older boy came inside the house with a loud noise.

"Mikoto Oba-chan! Your favourite nephew is here!"