To say Sakura was nervous would have been a blatant understatement.
As she made her way through the shops towards the Uchiha district, she had to consciously steady herself with each step so as to make sure her weak knees didn't buckle beneath her.
There were no delicate flapping of butterflies- within her stomach swarmed a hive of angry wasps.
The young girl took a deep breath and held it, forcefully silencing her mind and all its worries. She stopped just before the entrance into the district, studying the colors painted above her by the sunset as she waited for Naruto.
It didn't take long before she heard the familiar heavy slap of his feet against the pavement. She could only make out his silhouette against the brightness of the waning sun as he approached her, but she would recognize that gait anywhere.
Naruto walked like an angry duck- each step an obnoxious plap plap plap across whatever surface he plodded.
She hoped he grew out of that before they were ever sent on any mission that required stealth- his heavy flat feet would give them away immediately.
"Oh you waited for me! Thank you, Sakura-chan! I didn't really wanna stroll through here alone, ya know?"
As he nervously ruffled the back of his head, emerald eyes narrowed when his dark shirt lifted with the movement to reveal his navel. They next swept to the long sleeves that crept about midway to his forearms and looked to be cutting off circulation, then down his black trousers to where the pant legs fell short and revealed his ankles and mismatched socks.
"Naruto…" The word was laced with warning as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"What?" The blonde asked with pure innocence.
"What do you mean what?!" Sakura exploded, gesturing frantically to his entire body.
"What the hell are you wearing?!"
"What do you mean? Black is formal!" He defended, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. But the tension proved to be too much for the polyester shirt stretched to its limit, and an ominous tear sounded with his movement.
Blonde eyebrows shot to his hairline with surprise as he brought his arms back down to hang at his sides with agonizing slowness. His wide blue eyes stared past Sakura's shoulder blankly as he pretended to not have heard anything.
Her already frayed nerves combined with his ridiculous attire and blank expression proved to be too much, and she couldn't stop herself and she began to laugh- hearty and deep.
She reigned in her mirth however when she noticed Naruto's expression turn downcast.
"I hadn't worn it since…" He paused, chewing the inside of his cheek. "I honestly didn't think I had grown that much."
Realization dawned that these were his funeral clothes- and he hadn't worn them since the Third's death. Sakura knew the previous hokage was the closest Naruto had to a father figure. She also knew that the man had helped to support the boy financially, and after his passing, perhaps Fugaku had not been as generous.
She emitted a sigh as she felt the telltale stab of guilt in her chest. It was too late for her to try to find something for him now, so no point scolding him for not coming to her sooner and making him feel worse.
"I'm sorry Naruto. I wasn't laughing at you- not really. I'm just very nervous." She admitted instead, giving him a small apologetic smile.
He beamed one of his million watt grins at her in response. "That's ok! It was pretty funny. And I was trying so hard not to move that much on the way here, too!" He said as he let out a loud laugh at his own expense. "Like you have no idea!"
"If you need me to pass you the salt during dinner, I'm going to have to place it right in front of you, aren't I?" Sakura teased as they entered through large open double doors engraved with the symbol of the Uchiha clan.
"Haha, you might just have to spoon feed me for the whole thing, just to be sure!" He joked, earning him a light smack upside his head.
"Ouch! I thought you were a team player, Sakura-chan!" He whined half heartedly.
She rolled her eyes, a smile still on her face as they strolled down the lightly trafficked path before them.
A sinking feeling began to pool in the bottom of Sakura's stomach as she noticed several pairs of dark eyes trailing their movements. Without a doubt, the two of them stood out- their exuberant hair color a stark contrast to the black and dark brown of the residents within this district.
Outsiders rarely stepped foot here, and that was made apparent by the disapproving and suspicious looks they were given as they passed.
She began to feel a familiar wave of emotion wash over her- a toxic combination of both fear and anger. She forced herself to meet each suspicious pair of eyes head on with a defiant stare of her own. Unwanted thoughts that she often pushed into the deepest parts of herself began to resurface.
How many of them had the blood of their fellow villagers on their hands? Had they been ruthless, or merciful? Was her father's own murderer among them now, within this very crowd?
She forced herself to take a deep breath, expelling these thoughts and the emotions they evoked just as forcefully as she expelled the air in her lungs in the next moment.
She was about to have dinner with the most illustrious family within the Uchiha clan. Her own teammate and sensei were Uchiha. The hokage was Uchiha. None of these were things that she could change, but if she wanted to become powerful enough to evoke change in the future, then she needed to keep her head down long enough to make it there.
It was what her father would have wanted.
Even as the flame in her chest began to abate with her rationalization, Sakura's steps faltered as she realized one other thing- she had no idea where Sasuke's house was located.
"Um…" She began to turn to Naruto as anxiety made its home in her lungs.
"You can't even meet us at the gates, Teme?" Naruto belted, feigning anger. Sakura's gaze followed his to land on Sasuke walking unhurriedly in their direction, his features schooled in their usual unimpressed look.
"I didn't think you of all people would actually show up on time, and I wasn't about to be hanging around waiting for you like a loser." He tossed back with a small roll of his eyes before giving a slight nod of his head indicating they should follow as he turned back the way he had come.
As the two fell into step behind him Sakura noticed now that they had an Uchiha guide, the dark suspicious eyes that had been following their movements before seemed to drift back to their own business.
The trio did not speak to each other as Sasuke led them to his home. Sakura wanted desperately to break the silence if only to distract from her nervousness, but she could not think of a single thing to say to Sasuke. She hoped this was not a precursor to how the dinner would go.
Sasuke however was rather preoccupied anyways. It seemed everyone in the district went out of their way to try and greet him, one vender giving him a small gift wrapped in brown paper, instructing him to give it to his mother when he saw her. He gave his promise he would with a polite bow.
They walked a couple more steps before he rushed to help an elder Uchiha man who was struggling under the weight of his groceries. Sasuke quickly alleviated the man's burden from his right hand and moved to do the same from his left before realizing his own left hand was still occupied.
His eyes flicked from the wrapped item to Sakura briefly before looking down at his clothing, trying to determine if a pocket could shelter the rather large gift.
"I'll hold it Sasuke." Sakura volunteered, immediately seeing he didn't want to burden her with the question. He looked hesitant, as if contemplating accepting her help, but in the end passed her the wrapped gift. The weight of it surprised her and she surmised whatever was bundled in the thick brown paper must have been quite delicate and breakable.
Sasuke turned back to his senior clansman with the intent of relieving the man of his last heavy bag but stopped short when he saw Naruto had already taken it upon himself to do so.
"Where to, Ojisan?" The blonde boy asked with a brilliant smile.
Sasuke's brows pinched together briefly showing his surprise, but he quickly schooled his expression back to one of apathy.
"He lives a street over." Sasuke supplied as he began to move in the needed direction.
As they again followed Sasuke's lead, the old man chatted with the three of them, speaking of how his wife still loved to cook but could no longer expend the energy to walk to the market so he took it upon himself to do so.
"I'm sure Itachi-nii-san has mentioned before that either one of us are more than willing to help you with your grocery shopping so you can stay in with Akako, Daichi-san." Sasuke stated in a soft voice, as if he didn't want his team mates overhearing.
"Oh of course Itachi has said that- scolded me, really. But you two are very busy; I am well aware you have much more important things to tend to than to carry an old man's groceries every week." Daichi said sternly, leaving no room for argument.
Sasuke stayed silent accordingly.
When they reached Daichi's home, Sasuke let himself in, motioning for Naruto to follow. As the boys disappeared from view to assumedly put the groceries in the kitchen, Daichi turned to Sakura.
"I do apologize for the distraction if you three were on your way somewhere. If I had been aware Sasuke was in the vicinity I would have hid and waited for him to pass." He explained with a small laugh. "That boy has too good a heart to turn his back on someone he sees struggling."
If she had not seen this with her own eyes, Sakura would have had trouble believing him.
"Is that so…" She mulled quietly to herself.
"That aside," Daichi continued. "I have a hard time admitting I've gotten to the age where I even struggle with something as mundane as the groceries." He let out another hearty laugh despite his self-depreciation.
"Oh no!" Sakura flapped her hand assuredly. "That was a lot of groceries, anyone would have trouble on their own!"
As the boys reappeared at the front door, Sasuke looked between the two briefly to ensure he wasn't interrupting.
"I didn't see Akako anywhere, did she step out?" There was the slightest tinge of worry in his tone.
"Ah… no. She's not feeling too well actually. She's been in bed all day." Daichi admitted, his expression turning more somber.
Sasuke looked thoughtful. "I see. Well I wish her a speedy recovery. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you two need anything else in the future." With a polite bow, Sasuke walked passed Sakura and back out to the main road. Naruto and Sakura followed suit with a quick bow as Daichi expressed his gratitude to the trio before heading inside.
As soon as the front door was closed, Naruto leaned over to Sakura and whispered, "I think his wife is a lot more sick than he let on. Me and Sasuke could hear her coughing from down the hall. It sounded painful."
"Oh, how horrible." Sakura said with genuine pity just as they both caught up to Sasuke.
"Come on, let's get this over with already." The dark haired boy sighed as he extended his hand out to Sakura. She stared at it in confusion.
He raised his eyebrows impatiently, his eyes flicking to the parcel he had left in her care.
"Oh!" Sakura quickly passed it over to his waiting hand.
They followed a path that ran along a stone wall and what looked to be a large hall of some sort, but when Sasuke turned right to enter, Sakura realized the rather ornate building was actually his home.
Looking at it with new eyes, she couldn't help but be impressed. The beautiful architecture was complimented with lovely greenery. Terraces interwoven with ivy lined the outside wall, and a quaint but very well kept pond flowed from left of the doorway to the right with a deep mahogany pathway acting as the bridge to the front of the house.
Sakura could catch glimpses of movement made by bright colored koi between the lily pads as she crossed over behind Sasuke.
As soon as he slid the door open, strong tantalizing aromas wafted from the house and embraced Sakura like a warm hug. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually had a home cooked meal that required more prep time than 5 minutes.
Her mouth began to water despite herself.
Behind her, Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl of anticipation for the second time that day, ensuring he was having much the same reaction as her.
The three genin slipped off their shoes before stepping further into the household.
"Tadaima." Sasuke's soft announcement was met with a shuffle from down the hall, and an unfamiliar man began to walk over to greet them.
"Ah, finally! I was wondering when you three would arrive."
"Shisui? What are you doing here?" The confusion in Sasuke's voice was glanced over as the man set his sights on Naruto and Sakura with a dazzling smile.
"Hi there! My name is Uchiha Shisui. I apologize for my baby cousins' lack of manners."
Naruto snickered at the usage of 'baby'.
"Please, come on in! Make yourselves at home!" Shisui continued, gesturing that they follow as he led them down the hall.
"It's not even your home." Sasuke grumbled as he made room for Sakura and Naruto to go in front of him.
"We were so happy to hear you both could make it!" Shisui continued. "We've heard so much about the both of you from Sasuke. All good things, I assure you." He winked, a small dimple forming at the corner of his mouth.
"What? No you haven't-!" Sasuke's attempt to preserve his dignity was interrupted by a deep tenor behind them.
"Would any of you like some tea before dinner is ready?"
Sakura spun around, surprised she hadn't heard anyone come up behind them and half frightened that the Godaime had been able to join after all.
But it was Itachi who stood behind her, donning a black high neck shirt, his long ponytail swept to the side to rest over his left shoulder.
"Y-yes, that would be nice." To her horror, she felt her face flush at the unexpected proximity. At a loss for the strange reaction, Sakura surmised that perhaps she was just feeling a little starstruck. Uchiha Itachi was considered a legend throughout the five great nations, after all- and had been listed in bingo books of several countries at the tender age of 11.
She could only hope to make such a name for herself someday.
He offered her a polite smile before turning to Naruto. The blonde boy gave an indifferent shrug.
"Very well. I shall return shortly."
"Nii-san, can you give this to mother? It's from Saburo." Sasuke interjected quickly, offering his brother the small gift he had procured on the way earlier.
"Of course."
Itachi gently took the gift before disappearing around a corner.
"Please, have a seat!" Shisui offered, indicating the pre-set chabudai table. As he and Sasuke kneeled at one side, Sakura and Naruto did the same on the other.
A few moments passed in silence.
Sasuke began to stare blankly out the open shoji door that led into the back garden.
Sakura was looking down at porcelain in front of her as if it was the most intriguing thing she had ever seen.
Naruto began making weird popping noises with his mouth as his eyes darted around the walls.
And Shisui watched them all with well concealed interest.
He could have easily broken the tension, but wanted to experience first hand how they interacted with each other in a setting that required a degree of formality.
Their guests were clearly in a state of emotional and mental discomfort.
He had to admit his own disappointment in Sasuke for not taking it upon himself to help ease his teammates into a more relaxed state. The boy had to realize how difficult it was for them to walk into the compound of the clan that had been responsible for the absence of someone they had loved.
Was he so self-centered that he truly was ignorant of their unease?
Or did he just not care?
Shisui had wanted to believe that Itachi's worries about his little brother may have been slightly exaggerated, but he was finding it hard to provide an excuse for Sasuke's complete lack of hospitality that didn't point to him just being an apathetic dick.
Well, if Shisui was going to have to carry all hosting duties for the moment, he was going to do it at Sasuke's expense.
"So Naruto, I hear you like ramen." Shisui started, trying to gain Naruto's attention.
"Understatement of the century." Sasuke mumbled from beside him.
Luckily Naruto didn't seem to hear him.
"I've been meaning to find a new ramen spot. Anywhere you would recommend?" With the blonde's electric blue eyes fixated on him, Shisui feigned a lazy stretch, his right arm reaching out and slightly over.
"Oh man, do I! The best place to get ramen is hands down-" Naruto's eyes unconsciously followed the movement of Shisui's arm, stopping at a point just beyond where his wrist hung in the air mid stretch.
His eyes lit up like a child seeing fireworks for the first time.
Shisui internally smirked as he brought his arms back down to his sides, triumphant.
"Oh man, no way." Naruto's voice bubbled over with mischievous excitement as he stood and walked to the spot he was looking at behind Shisui, snatching up a framed photo from a shelf.
"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, slightly aghast. "You can't just take things from other people's shelves!"
But Naruto was ignoring her, his eyes fixated on the photo in his hands as he brought it over to his pink haired teammate. He stared at it like a lost treasure for a moment more, as if trying to commit it to memory, before passing it to Sakura.
She snatched it from his grasp, standing at the same time, intent on putting it back immediately.
"I am so sorry. I guess Naruto hasn't been fully housetrained yet." She tried to joke, giving Shisui an apologetic bow before beginning to walk past Naruto. Her eyes glanced down briefly on her way however, and as she registered what she had just seen her feet stilled in their place.
Now it was her turn to stare at the photo.
Naruto lips curled into a devilish grin from just behind her, his eyes fixed on Sasuke.
The dark haired boy felt stones drop in his stomach at his teammates' expressions, completely at a loss for why they were reacting such a way.
"Is-" Sakura's voice cracked slightly, and she cleared her throat as she tried to squash the weirdly giddy feeling in her chest. "Is this you, Sasuke?"
Confused, Sasuke reached over to take the offered picture.
His heart jumped to his throat when he turned it over to face him.
It was an old photograph, taken when he was maybe 1 or 2 years old.
He was laughing.
In a bath.
Playing with bubbles.
With a rubber duck half in his mouth.
Naked.
Sasuke always had flawless ivory skin, no doubt one of the palest in the clan. But to Shisui's surprise, he watched as what little color he had drained from his face, making him positively ghostly.
"What- how…. Where did this-?!"
As Sasuke sputtered in panic, Shisui peeked over as if curious about what all the clamor was about.
"Ah, I remember that picture! He sure was a cute kid, right guys?" He tilted his head back in controlled mirth, flashing the two across the table a smile. "What happened to you, Sasuke?"
That was all the permission the rest of Team 7 needed. Sakura covered her mouth as a string of giggles escaped her. Naruto doubled over, clutching his ribs.
"What is this even doing out here?!" Sasuke demanded, in an obvious state of disbelief.
No one deigned to give him an answer.
"It appears I've missed out on quite the joke." A soft voice said from the entrance as Itachi strode into the room with an ornately decorated tea tray.
Sakura's laughter began to sober up as she was struck with how rude it was to laugh. Naruto didn't seem to have the same concerns.
"Did you put this out here, nii-san?!" Sasuke's voice was murderous as he shoved the photo into his brother's line of sight.
Itachi was unfazed, glancing at the picture before shooting Sasuke a cold look of warning. The younger of the two read the message and took a deep breath to try and subside his rage.
"I did not." Itachi answered cooly, setting the tray upon the table as he began to pour tea into every yunomi before placing them at each table setting.
Only when he heard Sasuke turn to leave the room to get rid of the picture did he allow himself to shoot his cousin an unimpressed look.
Shisui shrugged innocently in response.
"My mother is almost done preparing dinner. We do apologize for the wait." Itachi informed them as he took his place at the head of the table in his father's absence. Naruto and Sakura went back to their respective places as well, with Sakura being at Itachi's left.
"Oh it's no trouble at all. It smells delicious- I'm sure it will be more than well worth the wait." Sakura assured, assuming her polite formal voice that she automatically used with anyone who had authority over her.
"Oh, it definitely is. This is one of my favorite dishes- I beg Auntie to make it every year for my birthday." Shisui's genuine smile was contagious, and both Naruto and Sakura gave him one of their own.
"Is it ramen?" Naruto asked with a bit too much excitement.
With a slight roll of her eyes, Sakura discreetly jabbed him with her elbow.
"You don't have to hype it up anymore, we're excited enough as it is." She laughed.
Itachi noted the cautious formality of her tone was not present when speaking with Shisui. He had seemed to effectively break through their walls in the short amount of time Itachi had been preparing the tea.
Leave it to Shisui to be able to completely charm someone in the span of five minutes.
At that moment Sasuke made his way back into the room. Itachi caught his eyes before he had a chance to sit down.
"Mother could use an extra pair of hands to bring the food out."
With a slight nod, Sasuke altered his path to walk into the kitchen instead.
"So," Itachi started, turning back to his guests. "How have you all been faring out on the field? Any interesting missions yet?"
Naruto made a sound that seemed to be half scoff, half exasperated sigh.
"I wish. We've just been getting a bunch of glorified chores."
Sakura shot her teammate a flat look.
"What Naruto means to say is we've been starting off small. Which is still important in terms of creating cohesion and trust amongst team members."
Itachi and Shisui both simultaneously raised an eyebrow.
"You're very wise to realize this at such a young age." Itachi noted.
Sakura's face flushed at the compliment.
"Well, Sakura is hands down the smartest one on our team." Naruto supplied, nodding his head matter-of-factly.
"You guys have a couple missions under your belt already don't you? Do you think your team is ready for a mission with more action?" Shisui asked.
"You bet we are!" Naruto shouted, pounding his fist against his chest.
Sakura stayed silent.
"Sakura?"
"Well…" She hesitated, eyes flicking from Shisui to Itachi to the placemat before her.
"You can be honest. There is no judgement here." The Uchiha heir offered with a soothing tone.
She worried her bottom lip for a moment before deciding to just speak her mind. She couldn't help but feel like this was some kind of interview or test. If they thought she didn't notice the dismissal of Sasuke before starting this line of questioning, then they underestimated her perceptiveness. But maybe it would work in her and Naruto's favor.
She, like most in the village, had an underlaying distrust for the Uchiha. However, she also had very strong intuition, and she couldn't help but feel neither Itachi nor Shisui had malicious intent towards them.
"Well… I worry that we may not be an effective team on the field."
"Why is that?" Itachi asked, briefly exchanging glances with his cousin.
Sakura continued to worry her bottom lip and she tried to choose her words in a polite way to present the matter.
Naruto had no such concern.
"Because Sasuke is an asshole." He stated, picking at his nails.
Sakura facepalmed.
Shisui barked a laugh. "That doesn't surprise me."
"Yeah!" Naruto continued, feeling emboldened. "He just does whatever he wants and constantly puts us down. He thinks he's better than us and I'm getting really sick of it."
"What he means is it's hard to be a good team when it doesn't feel like Sasuke wants to be a part of our team at all." Sakura said hastily, trying to reinterpret her teammates words in a way that was more acceptable. Under the table, she punched his knee, hoping it would remind him not to bad mouth someone in their own home.
He let out a yelp, earning concerned looks from their two Uchiha hosts. Sakura offered an innocent smile.
"Allow me to apologize on behalf of my little brother. Our father does put an enormous amount of pressure on him, and I'm afraid outside the clansmen within the compound, he hasn't had much practice in socialization." Itachi noticed their two guests shared a brief look. It appeared they had both already surmised as much.
"However, that is no excuse for his behavior." Itachi continued. "I will have a talk with him later tonight."
Brief panic flitted across Sakura's vibrant eyes; she had obviously not wanted any of this to get back to Sasuke.
"No, no, that's okay!" She interjected. "It's really not that big a deal. Honest. Some people just have a harder time trusting others, and we really haven't even been together that long. We just need a little more time, I'm sure." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself, but as she stumbled on, her tone became more sure of her words and her eyes shone with sincerity.
Itachi decided to see what would happen if he gave them one more potential out.
"Well, if it doesn't get better, I could always speak with my father about the possibility of reassigning Sasuke to another team."
Sakura stayed quiet this time around, though if the uncomfortable look on her face was anything to go by, she didn't exactly like that idea.
Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before crossing his arms in a subconsciously defiant gesture.
"Nah. Sasuke might be an asshole, but he's our asshole. He'll come around. We'll make him. Believe it."
Sakura eyed him, a touch of pride swelling in her chest. Sometimes she forgot just how big hearted and loyal Naruto could be.
"Right!" She added. "We just wouldn't be Team 7 without Sasuke."
Itachi shared another brief look with his cousin before slightly bowing his head in acquiescence and picking up his tea.
"Very well."
Despite their grievances against their Uchiha teammate, the two genin still felt a sense of loyalty to him. It just took defending his place among them out loud for them to realize it.
"I hope everyone is hungry!" A melodic female voice sang out as Sasuke and a beautiful dark haired woman came into the room holding dishes full of food.
"All right!" Naruto exclaimed as he clapped his hands together in anticipation.
After setting the food in the middle of the table, Sasuke took his place beside Shisui and across from Sakura while the woman sat opposite Itachi.
"Mother, these are my teammates, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke stated, his tone polite.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-sa-" Sakura was cut off by a delicate flapping hand.
"Please, none of that! Any friends of my sons' are considered family here. You may call me Mikoto." Her smile was serene across her cherub face.
"Thank you so much for inviting us, Mikoto." Sakura responded in kind, offering the Uchiha matriarch a genuine smile.
"Of course! I've been telling Sasuke to invite you two for some time now. Haven't I, Sasuke?" She raised a delicate eyebrow at her youngest son, communicating she knew he had never extended the invitation.
He gave an impassive shrug. "Must have slipped my mind." He muttered.
"Don't mumble, enunciate your words, Sasuke." She lightly scolded. He had the decency to look slightly abashed.
Naruto stared at Mikoto through the interaction, taking the silence that followed as his opportunity to state matter-of-factly, "You're like… really pretty."
Mikoto let out a gentle laugh. "Thank you! You…" Her eyes became wistful for a moment as if she was seeing something else, before she gave her head a slight shake and refocused on the blonde boy adjacent to her. "You're very handsome, yourself, Naruto-kun."
"Geez, you done flirting with my mom yet, Dobe?" Sasuke asked rhetorically with a hint of bitterness and discomfort.
Mikoto faced her youngest with an expression devoid of all emotion, danger swimming in her dark eyes.
"What did you just call him?"
The youngest Uchiha looked like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure of how to recover.
"Oh wow Auntie, you really outdid yourself this time! Hitsumabushi and tekkamaki? Don't mind if I do!" Shisui butted in, ever the hero.
"Be sure to serve our guests first, Shisui." Mikoto reminded sternly.
"Of course, I'm dying to see their expressions when they realize it's the best thing they've ever tasted." The young man grinned at the two genin across from him as he prepared their plates.
As everyone began to eat in relative silence, Sakura had to admit this was indeed one of the most delicious dinners she could remember ever having. She made sure to let Mikoto know, and Naruto did as well by inhaling the food before him and immediately asking for seconds.
"All I ever eat is instant ramen at home, and I honestly never thought I would ever like something as much as I love ramen." Naruto admitted mid bite. "But this! This is on a whole other level!"
Mikoto was practically radiating with pride at the compliment before his words struck a chord in her.
"What do you mean you only eat instant ramen?" She asked, concern pinched in her brows.
"Uhhh… well, it is my favorite!" Naruto stated dismissively. Sakura knew there was more to it than that, and she saw the hesitation in Naruto's answer. But he was a boy who was tired of the pitying looks, and he would sooner have a heart attack from high sodium intake than admit it was one of the only things he could afford.
Mikoto was a sharp woman however, and read between the lines immediately. "I see." She stated. "And what happened here, Naruto-kun?" A delicate finger traced the ripped seam along the shoulder of his black shirt.
"Oh I uhhh…" Blue eyes darted to Sakura as he scrambled for a viable excuse. "Caught my shirt on a tree branch!" He finished lamely.
Sasuke's look was dubious as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Mikoto wore a more somber expression.
"Is that so…" Her voice was soft, thoughts far away, even as her cunning eyes took in tight sleeves and his barren ankles.
Silence prevailed for a few moments more as everyone continued eating.
"Mother. I visited Daichi before dinner today." Sasuke's soft voice garnered the matriarch's full attention. "I didn't see Akako at all- she was in her room. He said she wasn't feeling well." His dark eyes made contact with his mother's, communicating something more than just words. "She sounded worse."
Both pairs of dark eyes flicked to the Uchiha heir at the other end of the table briefly before returning to their respective plates.
"I see. The poor dear. I'll be sure to stop by tomorrow with some hot soup. Thank you for letting me know, Sasuke."
He nodded once, eyes again darting to his older brother who was resolutely focused on his meal before him.
Sakura watched the exchange with interest and a tinge of confusion, throwing a glance at Shisui for any kind of context clue. He was spinning one chopstick in his hand as he thoughtfully stared down at his cleaned plate.
What was that about?
The rest of the dinner progressed with pleasant chit chat ranging from how to properly prepare poached eggs to the mission all genin seemed to get involving the search and capture of Taguya-san's half feral cat. This led to Mikoto reminiscing about her glory days when she was still on the active duty roster and some of her more interesting missions. She was a fantastic story teller, and had everyone at the table enraptured in her tales. But it was most interesting watching her two sons listen to their mother's recollection of past missions.
Itachi looked on with admiration and pride, completely aware his mother had been the strongest Uchiha kunoichi of her generation, though he did not often hear her own take on her past accomplishments.
Sasuke, however, was listening intently to his mother with barely concealed adoration. Sakura had never seen such a soft emotion on Sasuke's face before and she had to admit it was quite endearing.
She could tell he was a total mama's boy, in the most adorable way. Tough guy on the outside, total softie on the inside. Sakura decided then and there she and Naruto would do whatever it took to crack him to ensure he no longer felt like he had to put up such a front around them.
As the dinner concluded, Sakura offered to help clear the table, but Mikoto was having none of it.
Instead, Itachi, Sasuke and Shisui set to work, collecting the dirty dishes and sweeping off to the kitchen to clean them. Before he left the room, Itachi- while balancing several stacks plates on his arm- bent beside Mikoto and placed a chaste kiss upon her cheek.
"Dinner was wonderful as always, Kaa-san."
The matriarch looked back up at him with such reverence swimming in the depths of her dark eyes, Sakura couldn't help but feel emotion stir within her own chest. She made her second resolution of the night- to try to reconnect with her distant mother when she returned to the village.
Mikoto led her and Naruto to the front door, and as the two genin expressed their gratitude for the meal and Mikoto thanked them for their presence for the night, Sakura couldn't help but feel like she was floating on clouds.
The dinner had gone so differently from what she had expected.
Tonight she had witnessed a whole new side of the Uchiha clan, one that went against everything she had been told growing up- warnings of their ruthlessness; that they were nothing more than heartless monsters, hungry only for power. And although she couldn't equate the individuals that she had dined with against the red eyed demons that had taken the village by force and cut down her father, she knew for certain at least half the Uchiha that shared the table with her only moments ago had played a direct role in the coup.
But there were two sides to every story.
She hoped that one day she would learn of the Uchiha's side, and that it would be enough.
She hoped desperately that their intentions would make sense.
The young kunoichi let out a deep exhale as her and Naruto walked along the lamplit path, bellies full and appetites well satiated.
That was for another day.
For now, she would settle for hoping there was another invitation for dinner at the Uchiha household soon.
xXx
I am soooo sorry this took so long. I actually had difficulty navigating this chapter the way I wanted to, and on top of that I got bombarded with other life things in the real world. T_T It's definitely much longer than previous chapters, so hopefully that is enough to make up for its lateness.
BiaAnko- I wouldn't say Naruto's attire was something preposterous, but it definitely wasn't something Sakura was expecting. XD And Itachi is a great guy. T_T It's killing me that he has such a small part right now as I try to develop a couple other things. But his time is coming, sweeeear.
Orangiethefox- Yeah unfortunately Naruto isn't in a much better financial situation than canon. T_T Poor kid.
- I'm so glad to hear that! I'm always worried that I've read so much fanfiction, it will unconsciously sway what I write as well haha
Jesskmemmy- Thank you for letting me know, I really appreciate it! Multi-chaptered fics don't come as easy to me as one-shots so I'm struggling to maintain a believable timeline of development. And I can't let Sakura catch on just yet. That will come later. ^_^
Bah- Well thank you for following it and letting me know how you feel about it so far! And I hope you and yours are staying safe as well!
Thebittersweetc- Wow, thank you for reviewing each chapter as you read them! I know I myself don't have that kind of self discipline, for sure. T_T I'm hoping my writing style hasn't changed too much since the intro. Multi-chaptered fics really throw off my groove sometimes. -_- And I agree- Sakura's automatic dislike for Naruto didn't make much sense to me either lol. But in this fic, with everyone feeling a sense of unification against the Uchiha, it made it easier to mend that rift real quick. ^_^
Thank you again to everyone who is reading and especially to those who reviewed! Everytime I get that notification it reminds me to keep writing despite any blocks or life hiccups. ^_^