Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.
05. Vegetables
Sasuke has long ago given up all hope on Kakashi ever arriving on time. This is why he never bothers to feel annoyed with the jounin anymore whenever he shows up three hours after the appointed time.
This is also the reason why he doesn't join Naruto and Sakura when they huff and puff that their instructor is late. But it doesn't mean that he sympathizes with Kakashi whenever the two yell his ears off.
This particular day isn't any different. Team 7 is assigned to escort some old guy to the Land of Waves and as per usual, Kakashi is running late. Tazuna (the old guy) had long ago left them to get something to eat. Naruto and Sakura are both boiling with irritation at this point and he has no desire to watch them go at it for the next hour.
He jumps down from his perch on the bridge and rummages around his pack for his lunch. The action catches the attention of the other two.
"Oh, I didn't realize it's already time for lunch." Sakura shuffles closer to him. "What do you have Sasuke-kun?" She asks in her overly familiar tone, starting to take out a packed lunch too.
Sasuke doesn't answer but shows her the contents of his bento.
The simple fare makes Sakura blink. "Oh…rice and tomato…" she says weakly.
She makes it sound like something horrible. "Hn," he studies his lunch for a second and shrugs, finding nothing wrong with it. It's perfectly nutritious food (and is easy to make).
"Haha! Is that your lunch Sasuke-teme? Rice and tomato?" Naruto being who he is couldn't help adding his two ryo in.
Sakura's hackles rise. "Shut up Naruto! I bet Sasuke-kun eats it because it tastes good!" She turns her attention to Sasuke. "Ne, do you like other vegetables Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke eyes the two of them blankly for a while, and then says to Sakura, "Tomato isn't a vegetable." Strictly speaking, but he doesn't want to go into details with her, she might get the wrong idea otherwise.
"And I eat it because it's healthy." Not because it tastes particularly appetizing. Plus, it's easy to make. But again, these are details he isn't willing to share, else she gets it into her head to cook him tasty tomato meals that could only be loaded with salt.
"Oh." Sakura looks embarrassed for being corrected.
"Whatever Teme, you probably only eat that junk because it's the only thing you can cook." Naruto taunts.
Junk? Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "At least I don't live out of instant ramen," he snidely points out.
"Ha! That's where you're wrong! I'll have you know, I eat meals other than ramen." As if to prove his point, Naruto takes out his own bento and lifts the lid open. "See for yourself!"
Sakura and Sasuke peer inside the lunch box Naruto is proudly holding up.
Sasuke smirks and Sakura snickers at what they find in it.
"What?" Naruto frowns in confusion at their reactions and takes a look at his lunch. "What?" he explodes.
"Enjoy eating junk Dobe." Sasuke taunts back spitefully.
"Wha—how…?" Naruto blusters. "Where did the zenzai go?" he moans at them.
Sasuke sniggers quietly as Sakura berates Naruto to stop eating too much zenzai. He leaves them to it as he finishes the rest of his lunch.
Of course, he'd never tell Naruto that he's the reason why the junk replaced the zenzai. He had only meant to put a stop to Naruto gobbling up red bean soup every day, so he had approached Hinata and told her that instead of feeding Naruto sweets, she should feed him healthier food.
Like rice and tomato.
Apparently, Hinata had taken his advice to heart.
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A/N: I got quite a lot of questions when I added Chapter 00. I'm sorry for all the confusion folks. Thanks a bunch to Stride Gum, lala's world, girl-of-anime, XpurplegurlX, MissLuppi, Mitternacht, michioka, mangaanime, hello131, FallenRaindrops, and LishaVilla!
Thank you all for you continuing support of this fledgling story. I hope you like this chapter :)