Day 9: Cooking together
Hinata was getting along rather well with her teammates, something that made her quite happy.
Because, all this time she had been afraid about who she would end up with, and if she would be a burden for her new teammates or if they would find her annoying. So, it was a relief, seeing how well things worked between her, Kiba, and Shino.
Well, with her at least. Kiba and Shino themselves seemed to have a few more problems working together than she did with them. In a sense, they reminded her of Naruto and Sasuke, except, of course, Naruto was never as aggressive and Sasuke never as biting.
"I told you to stop being so smug just because your bugs found the stupid cat first!"
"And I told you that it's not my fault your dog didn't want to memorize the cat's smell because of some stupid prejudice."
The test that their sensei, Yuhi Kurenai, had given them, was hard, but they worked together and managed to pass, becoming one of only three teams that weren't sent back to the academy, along with teams seven and ten. Sakura's and Ino's, respectively.
She was thrilled that all three of them would remain genin; though, of course, with their new duties, more responsibilities came, and therefore they didn't have as much time to spend together as they used to.
This also meant Sasuke didn't come to bother her as often.
Quickly she shook her head, chiding herself for that thought. Sasuke might be annoying at times, but she couldn't deny that he was trying to be a good boyfriend. Despite that, what happened just a week ago, on the day their teams were announced, still sat heavy in her heart.
She didn't understand why she was so sad. After all, hadn't her original plan been waiting until he got tired of her and dumped her? If he was already annoyed by her, that was a good sign, no? It was only a question of time until he finally decided she was not worth it and left her, and she should be happy about it.
Except she couldn't find it in her to be happy, for some reason or another. Maybe, because, for the first time ever, someone was doing an effort to accommodate her and please her, even if it was in that brusque way he had. Sasuke wasn't someone who played along with anybody, and yet, he always seemed to make an extra effort for her, for reasons she couldn't begin to fathom.
"That's enough" the firm voice of their sensei cut through the fight between her two teammates, that, without her realizing, had been escalating to the point Kiba was grabbing Shino's jacket, his face a little too close with fangs bared though the other boy appeared almost unbothered by this, the only indication he was upset over the situation a small frown between his brows. "Kiba, stop provoking Shino."
"Whaaa, he's the one being all arrogant and…!"
"Kiba" Kurenai leveled him with a stern gaze, and the boy obeyed, though he grumbled all throughout. "Now, as I've been meaning to tell you before you started this petty fight" Kiba crossed his arms, pouting, "we have a new mission today, and this one is in conjunction with another team."
"I suppose you mean one of the other two teams that graduated with us, right, Kurenai-sensei?" Shino asked. The woman nodded.
"Team seven will join us with taking care of the children at the civilian orphanage."
"Tsk, another D-Rank? When are we gonna get good missions, Kurenai-sensei?" Kiba complained. Akamaru barked in agreement from atop his head.
The older woman sighed. "You're barely out of the academy, Kiba. Progress is not done in only a few days. Like all genin, you first need to train and complete D-Ranks before you can even think about getting anything harder" she explained patiently.
"I know that, but…" he grumbled, but said nothing else. Regardless of how eager he was, Kiba wasn't unreasonable. Hinata patted him on the back comfortingly.
A mission with team seven… was it horrible of her wishing they had gotten together with team ten instead? Of course, team seven had Sakura, who was her friend, and Naruto, her crush, but it also had Sasuke… her boyfriend… and she was still feeling a bit divided about him and their relationship in general.
"Alright, we shall leave then. Kakashi is not exactly known for arriving early, but I'm sure his team must already be there. It would be rude to make them wait" Kurenai clapped her hands, and with that, the four ninja plus Akamaru made their way to the orphanage.
When Sasuke heard their new mission was to be with team eight, he was thrilled.
So far, life as a ninja wasn't what he thought it would be. Sure, he knew there was no way they were going to be given dangerous and exciting missions so soon after graduation, but, after over a week of nothing but D-Ranks, on top of their lazy-ass sensei that didn't know the meaning of the words on time, his patience was quickly draining.
Being given a mission to take care of some brats wasn't the most appealing prospect either, but the thought of seeing Hinata again, after not being able to meet since the day of the teams' announcement, was something to look forward to. Mostly because he was still bothered by the way they left things that day. He still wondered about it, and about that empty feeling in his chest every time he remembered it.
"God, where is he?" Naruto moaned, stomping his foot with impatience. "I swear if he got lost helping some old lady cross the street again, I'm gonna…!"
"What?" Sakura rolled her eyes, leaning against the bridge's railing with her arms crossed. "Are you going to beat him up? I would like to see you try, with the way you couldn't even touch him during the bell test."
"Ugh" Naruto whined, before whirling in her direction. "You can't tell me you're not tired of this too, Sakura-chan. We don't have the time to always be waiting for him when we need to train to become stronger!"
"Of course I'm tired, but there's not much we can do" she sighed, letting her head hang in defeat. "I wonder if team eight is already waiting for us at the orphanage…"
"I'm sure they are. We should stop waiting for that guy and just get going" Sasuke said, straightening his spine as the thought of Hinata standing under this sun, with nowhere to go until Kakashi deigned himself to appear, crossed his mind.
Sakura immediately followed him, though there was apprehension on her face. "Maybe we shouldn't go on our own…" she trailed off.
Naruto had no such qualms. "Finally! Let's get going, alright? The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can get some ramen!"
"Don't you eat ramen every day?" Sakura exclaimed with indignation, forgetting all about her previous doubts.
"Are you kidding me? Mom would kill me!"
Sasuke tuned their conversation out, instead focusing on the road. Kakashi could surely not blame them for taking the initiative to begin their mission, right? Especially when said mission was supposed to start a half hour ago.
As he suspected, team eight was already there. His eyes focused immediately on Hinata, who was listening attentively to what the caretaker of the orphanage was saying. Their sensei, a dark-haired woman with red eyes that took him a bit aback, was the first to notice them, and she smiled as she waved them over.
"I'm not really surprised Kakashi is not with you" she commented when she saw the three were alone.
Sakura smiled bashfully. "Yeah, he… has a small habit of arriving late…"
"Don't worry, I already know him" the woman soothed, before glancing at the rest of her teammates. "My name is Yuhi Kurenai, and as you can see, I'm team eight's sensei. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine. My name is Haruno Sakura" the girl bowed politely. Sasuke did the same.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"And I'm Namikaze Naruto!"
Kurenai nodded. "I suppose you don't need to present yourselves" she said to her team. Hinata and Shino shook their heads, but Kiba walked right over to them, stopping in front of Naruto.
"Hey, loser! Guess who learned a brand new jutsu?"
"Who you calling loser, mut?" Naruto retorted, but there was a cheeky smile on his face. "Whatever it is, it can't be better than this jutsu my dad is teaching me!"
"There will be time for that later" Kurenai clapped her hands, stopping the two from going into an argument. She looked at the caretaker. "Takeo-san, what would you have us do?"
The elderly man started explaining what he wanted them to help him with. Sasuke listened half-heartedly while approaching Hinata inconspicuously.
"Hey" he said when he was next to her. She glanced at him for a second, before returning her eyes to the front.
"Hi, Sasuke-kun."
"It's been a while since we talked" he added, deciding to also look ahead if she wasn't going to face him. She shrugged, and he frowned. "How have you been?"
"Eh, good, thank you for asking… and you?"
"Fine, I guess. These D-Ranks are really boring though. Wish we could get something more exciting."
"You don't like rescuing cats and painting fences?" she asked, a teasing smile pulling at her lips. Sasuke was a little surprised at this, but he took it gladly, because it was better than the usual distance she treated him with.
"If you like that then…"
"So, we'll divide in three groups" Kurenai talked then, interrupting him. Sasuke was aggrieved. Just when he was talking to Hinata! "One will be in charge of playing with the children, another will help me decorate the hall, and the last one will help Takeo-san cook the food for the party. Understood?"
They all said yes, though Sasuke couldn't help but mutter, "what party?"
"It's one of the kids' birthday today" Hinata explained, looking at him with a frown. "Weren't you listening?"
"…" he refused to answer. When Kurenai announced the groups, he immediately took a hold of Hinata's hand and stepped forward. "Hinata and I will be together" he declared, much to the amusement of the group and the girl's embarrassment.
"Oi, Sasuke, don't hog Hinata all to yourself just because the two of you are dating" Kiba complained with a roll of his eyes. Sasuke glared at him.
"Mind your own business."
"My, so young and already in love" Takeo smiled, hands on his hips. "Well, it would be a shame to separate the two little love birds. Why don't you come with me, then? I would love to have you help me in the kitchen."
"That sounds like a good idea. Hinata, Sasuke, go with him" Kurenai said. Sasuke nodded, dragging Hinata with him when Takeo gestured for them to follow him. The boy smiled, seeing that, despite her embarrassment, for once Hinata looked willing to go with him, her hand even squeezing his in a, very likely, unconscious gesture.
That was good.
Hinata scooped some of the hot rice and quickly and efficiently made an onigiri. Takeo smiled, nodding in approval. "You're very good at this, miss" he praised, making her blush. Then, he glanced at Sasuke, who was struggling to make a triangle and had rice falling from between his fingers. "Don't you want to come help me with the glazing of the cake, boy?"
"No, thank you" Sasuke answered, brows furrowed in concentration at his crumbling onigiri. "I got this."
Takeo sighed at his stubbornness, but nodded and left the two of them, though not without giving Hinata a small side glance before doing so. The girl understood what he meant by it: don't let him make too much of a mess.
"Hmm, Sasuke-kun… do you need help?" she asked, trying to be as tactful as possible. He clicked his tongue, forcefully putting down the onigiri he had barely managed to complete.
"No, thank you" he repeated, grabbing another handful of rice. She sighed. His eyes snapped towards her. "What?" he asked between gritted teeth.
She bit her lip. "This… it doesn't look good at all" she said in the end, deciding to be honest, while pointing at the attempt at an onigiri he had made. He looked offended.
"What would you know?" he started, but shut up when his eyes fell on the batch of perfectly made onigiri she had at her side. He scoffed. "How do you even know how to make them so well? Do you help in the kitchen back at home or what?"
"I actually do" she confessed, stepping closer and taking a hold of his hands. He stiffened, and she tried not to think too deeply about it, otherwise she might faint. As it was, she could already feel heat accumulating in her face. "I like cooking. It reminds me of my mother."
She started guiding his hands, showing him the correct form to mold onigiri, the way she remembered her mother doing with her when she was little. Sasuke let her, his body very still.
"Your mother, she…" he started. Hinata looked at him, but quickly lowered her gaze when she realized their faces were too close. "She passed away… right?"
"…yes" she answered, her eyes fixed on their hands. "Do you get what to do now?"
"Eh? Ah, yeah, I think…" Sasuke looked down, seeing the nice-looking onigiri in his hands. Hinata nodded and stepped back, allowing herself room to breathe.
"Please be careful and patient. It's alright to take a little more of time to get the onigiri just right" she adviced, continuing with her own work. Sasuke nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't, and Hinata wasn't feeling like asking.
In general, it seemed like he still wasn't tired of her. She knew that, otherwise he wouldn't have found her back then to try and apologize (though she couldn't help but notice he never did say the words). Even today, he went to her side first and wanted to be on the same group as her. Sasuke might not like her, and she might not know why he was making an effort, but it was nice nonetheless.
Surely it wouldn't be too bad if she enjoyed this a little more, no?
"Damn it" Sasuke cursed, the onigiri crumbling in his hands, rice falling and sticking everywhere but where it was supposed to. "Hinata, this is not working!"
"Stop putting so much pressure. It will break otherwise."
"Can you help me again?" she looked at him with wide eyes, and he glanced away, but she could still see the way his face got a little red. "I… I think I'll get it better if you show me once more."
"I…" she cleared her throat, putting down the onigiri she had just finished and scooping up more rice. "Sure, just look at my hands and…"
"Not that way… I was thinking about you… helping me like before" the boy interrupted, still not looking at her. Hinata felt her whole face exploding in color, and her mouth fell open in astonishment.
He… he couldn't be serious?
"So? Are you going to or not?" he demanded when she didn't move or say anything. She squeaked, throwing the rice in her hands on his without thinking, and causing him to yelp in surprise, dumping the food on the floor.
The two stared at the scattered rice with blank expressions.
That's when Takeo came back. He took a look at the mess, and sighed.
"Alright, why don't you come help me with the chirashi sushi?" he told Sasuke, placing a gentle, but firm, hand on his shoulder. "You can cut the nori and sprinkle it on top."
"What? No…"
"Come on, it'll be fun."
Hinata turned around and continued making more onigiri, all the while ignoring the very conspicuous glare that was burning its way along her back.