Sunny Side Up
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

05. Tomato Soup

"Uncle Itachi!" Sarada yelled out as she ran into the living room.

Itachi glanced up from the cookbook he was reading. "What's the matter Sara-chan?"

"Papa is coming home today from his mission! Let's make him something!"

Itachi smiled. "What should we make him then?"

"Umm, I don't know. Papa really likes tomatoes. Mama helps Papa grow them in the vegetable garden."

"Should we make something using tomatoes then?"

Sarada nods. "I'll go get some more!"

Itachi got up. "Wait, Sara-chan." But it was too late as Sarada had already disappeared from the living room and scampered off out to the backyard. She came back five minutes later into the house, pulling a toy wheelbarrow full of ripe tomatoes.

Itachi gaped at the wheelbarrow. "Sara-chan… did you happen to pick the whole garden?"

"I didn't know how much you needed. Plus, Papa really likes tomatoes so better safe than sorry."

"I don't know how your papa will feel when he sees the garden," Itachi murmurs quietly to himself.

Sarada began to pull out tomatoes one by one as she stacked them on the kitchen table. "I was thinking to myself about what to make while I was in the garden. Maybe pasta! With lots of tomato sauce. Or pizza! With lots of tomato sauce! Or something else with…"

"Lots of tomato sauce," Itachi finished for her. "I think we can do something simple since he will return home soon. How about tomato soup?"

"Okay!"

"I'll chop and you'll mash," Itachi directed as he began to slice up the tomatoes at an impressive speed. Sarada was not one to be upstaged and she quickly got onto her stool in order to see the counter and begin stirring the pot.

"More!" Sarada demanded as Itachi threw in more chopped tomatoes into the pot. The kitchen was beginning to smell wonderful as the scent of onions and butter melted with the new aroma of tomatoes being added in.

Itachi poured in sugar and chicken stock into the pot as Sarada continued to stir. He handed the black pepper grinder to Sarada as she sprinkled freshly grounded black pepper into the soup.

"Cream, basil, parsley," Itachi muttered to himself as he diligently measured the exact amounts for the soup.

"Stir, stir, stir!" Sarada chanted to herself as she continued to spin the wooden spatula inside the pot.

"Perfect! You can stop stirring now," Itachi said with a nod as he observed his niece. "It'll be ready soon," he said as he picked up Sarada from the stool.

Sasuke entered the house to a heavenly aroma of tomatoes. He sniffed the air as he walked into the kitchen.

"Papa!" Sarada yelled out as she saw her papa enter the kitchen. She jumped out of her seat as she ran to hug him. "Come, come. We made you tomato soup!"

Itachi smiled as Sasuke sat down across from him. "Welcome home, little brother. How was the mission?"

"It went well," Sasuke replied as he picked up a spoon and glanced down at the soup. "Did you go shopping earlier with Sarada to buy ingredients for this?"

"No, we had everything we needed in the house."

"Everything?" Sasuke echoed.

"I picked it myself!" Sarada said proudly as she took a spoonful of soup.

Sasuke got up from his seat as he ran out to the garden. He was aghast at the sight. His beautiful tomato patch looked like a small tornado had pass through with the roots pulled up and patches of holes in the soil. The green leaves were strewn about the small tomato patch and Sasuke could hear his own heart break into tiny pieces.

Itachi came up behind him. "Sorry, Sarada got a little carried away," Itachi said softly.

Sasuke sighed. "Well, where are the rest of the tomatoes? Surely, you couldn't have used it all for the soup."

Itachi said nothing as he turned his head to the side.

"You didn't…" Sasuke choked out.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away while we were cooking. I may have used them all," Itachi replied.

Sasuke ran back into the house as he glanced at the kitchen counters. The cooking board was soaked in tomato juice and chunks of tomatoes laid side by side with the tomato stems. It looked like a war zone soaked in the blood of the tomatoes.

He closed his eyes as he tried to think of his happy place. He brought one hand to his chest as he clutched at his heart.

"Papa, your soup is getting cold!" Sarada exclaimed as she came up to him to tug at his cloak.

"A-ah," Sasuke replied weakly as he opened his eyes and went back to his seat at the kitchen table. He slowly picked up his spoon as he force-fed himself. The soup was delicious but he couldn't help but feel bitter when remembering that the soup was at the cost of his homegrown tomatoes.

"Is it good, Papa?" Sarada asked as she looked up at him with her big innocent doe-eyes.

"Ah," he replied. He couldn't be upset. After all, his little girl had put him in her thoughts.

Later that night, Sasuke was found hunched over his tomato garden as he tried to clean up the mess that Sarada had created in the morning.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sakura walked out of the house in her light pink bathrobe as she huddled near her husband. "You've been out here for thirty minutes. Shouldn't you just leave it until tomorrow morning?"

Sasuke sighed. "I don't think I will sleep well tonight unless I clean this up now."

"Are you still upset about what Sara-chan did?"

"No."

"Then are you upset with Itachi-san?"

"No."

"Then what is it, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke sighed. "I don't know. I just can't believe all the tomatoes are gone."

"I can go to the store tomorrow morning to buy some fresh tomatoes for you," Sakura said with a smile.

"It's not the same."

Sakura glanced around the garden as she got up. She walked over to a spot in the backyard as she stooped over to pick up something from the ground. "Oh, it looks like one of the tomatoes must have fallen off from Sarada's wheelbarrow when she picked everything."

Sasuke's ears perked up as he ran over to see. Sakura opened up her hand to reveal a ripe tomato sitting against the palm of her hand.

Sasuke smiled as he took the tomato.

"I have been growing the same kind of tomato ever since you got pregnant with Sarada," he said.

Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"I always saved the seeds so that it would be the same each time. This tomato here is exactly like the ones you ate while pregnant."

Sakura smiled. "No wonder. Sarada does seem to prefer the ones from home rather than the store-bought ones."

"We better keep this one safe from Itachi's hands," Sasuke murmured as he pulled his wife closer for a hug. Sakura smiled as the two of them walked back inside the house with the tomato in hand.