Day 17: Sharing a meal

Hinata tilted her head, staring at her sensei after she announced what their new mission was going to be. Escorting an artisan holding an important scroll to some faraway village wasn't exactly overly dangerous or exciting, and ever since that first C-Rank, her team had been having missions outside the village more and more often, so that wasn't what piqued her curiosity about this.

It was, however, the first time they would have a joined mission.

And with team seven no less.

"Better not spend all your time flirting, Hinata" Kiba joked as he snickered, showing off fangs that glinted under the light of the sun.

Kurenai let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Kiba…"

"What? It's just a joke! Hinata doesn't mind, right?"

"Hinata's way too nice to tell you off as she should and you know that, Kiba" Shino answered in place of his teammate, sparking a brand new argument between the two boys of team eight.

Kurenai looked at her with a tired smile.

"I trust there will be no problems working with team seven?"

Her sensei's question hurt a little, because Hinata wasn't one to get distracted just because she was going to do a mission with her… boyfriend. Still, she nodded dutifully, placating Kurenai.

"Alright" the woman glanced towards her male students, who calmed down when her attention fell on them. "The mission will take place tomorrow, nine o'clock in front of the village gates. Understood?"

"Yes!"

Sasuke decided he would talk alone with Itachi, mostly because he didn't want her anywhere near Hinata where he could embarrass him again, but also because he felt there was no need for her to be there, this time.

As expected, his brother wasn't very happy that he had gone to talk to Izumi.

"I thought you knew you had done enough" Itachi had said, narrowed eyes the only thing that betrayed his annoyance.

Sasuke gulped in nervousness, but stood his ground, doing the one thing that always pushed him through whenever Itachi was being intimidating. Being a brat. "It's not my fault you suck so much at this! Really, maybe I should be giving you advice on how to date!"

The answer was a rough poke against his forehead.

"Agh! I told you to stop doing that!"

"The day I take dating advice from you it's the day I finally cave in to father's demands and seek to become Hokage" the older boy said in a monotone, uncaring of his little brother's pain.

"Now, that's a little too much!"

"So?" Itachi crossed his arms, looking at him expectantly as he continued to rub his forehead. "What did Izumi say to your attempts at getting us to make up?"

Sasuke stopped his motions, glancing up towards his older brother. Honestly, it was difficult to discern anything from his expression or even tone. Itachi was an expert at hiding his emotions, unflawed in his acting abilities. Even if Sasuke was apt in reading other people, which he was not, it would have been almost impossible to see what lay under his calm and indifferent exterior.

But his words were different. Itachi asking what Izumi said, when normally he wouldn't waste even a single breath on something that he considered inconsequential…

…he was interested.

"Before I tell you, I need to know: why are so adamant on saying that Izumi-san isn't your girlfriend?"

"It's because she isn't…"

"And that's the problem!" he cut him off before he could go on another tangent, knowing him too well. "You want to know what Izumi-san said? That it wasn't my fault she wasn't speaking to you anymore! That it's been a while already that you've been avoiding her or labeling your relationship, and she's tired of it!" Itachi's face was still a mask as he basically shouted all of this to him, but Sasuke could swear he saw one of his hands by his side shaking a little. "But then I told her that you must have a reason to deny her so much, because you always have a reason for everything you do, and she was willing to listen! So now tell me, why do you keep saying she isn't your girlfriend when it's obvious how much you actually like her?"

There was silence after he was done chewing out his brother. Honestly, Sasuke was surprised Itachi let him rant so much in the first place. And normally he wouldn't have done this, his brother's business being his own, but he was tired and he actually really liked Izumi, and seeing her so sad over Itachi just didn't feel right.

Then, after almost a minute of silence, his brother finally spoke. "You know that Izumi isn't actually an Uchiha, do you?"

"Huh?" Sasuke asked, tilting his head in confusion, being the first he ever heard of this.

"Her mother is an Uchiha, but her father wasn't… she originally didn't even have the last name, but changed it after he passed away…" Itachi sighed, his whole body seeming to deflate as he spoke. "Father, as well as a majority of the clan, doesn't approve of her, or her mother. Have you realize how her house is on the outskirts of the district? It is so they won't be bothered too much, but also so the clan doesn't have to see them more than they have to."

"Why is it a problem that she's only half-Uchiha?" Sasuke said, still not understanding.

"It shouldn't be a problem" Itachi's voice was harsh as he said this, but he softened his tone when he continued. "Pureness of blood and other such absurdities, that's their reason. We might not have the same archaic system as the Hyuuga, but we're still an old clan with our own traditions and rules. Father wouldn't approve of a relationship with Izumi, he barely even approves of us being friends as it is…"

"I thought you didn't care what father thought."

"I don't, but the rest of the clan does… it's going to be even more difficult for Izumi to live here if the two of us came out as a couple."

Itachi spoke with finality, but also weariness. Sasuke didn't understand it, not truly. Hinata wasn't an Uchiha, sure, and his father had raised objections against their relationship… but they were also only twelve and had no intention of getting married, being so young. Hinata wouldn't receive backslash from his clan if the relationship came out to the public, or at least wouldn't be in direct contact with it… but she had said she didn't want her clan to find out, surely there being a reason for her to want to keep it a secret…

Izumi lived here, and, if what Itachi said was true, she already received criticism for not being fully Uchiha… what would happen if the people that worshipped Itachi but reviled her found out they were together?

Still…

"Here."

Sasuke frowned, raising his eyes from the ground and seeing Itachi holding out a letter to him. Hinata's letter.

"Finally!" he grabbed the letter and shoved it into one of his pockets, giving Itachi a glare. "Why did you even take it in the first place?"

"To bother you, of course."

Sasuke hissed at him, but was interrupted by another poke on the forehead. While he was complaining, Itachi turned around and made his way to the exit.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't talk to Izumi anymore. In exchange, I promise not to be too annoying."

"You're lying!"

"Am I?" his older brother looked at him from over his shoulder with a mocking grin. "I would say I'm rather magnanimous, otherwise I would have told you…"

"What?" Sasuke asked when he didn't continue. "What would you have told me?" he insisted.

Itachi frowned, tilted his head as if pondering something, before finally shrugging and leaving the room, leaving just a few words behind.

"I think that's for Hinata to say, not me."

…and leaving Sasuke more confused than ever.

And so their conversation had gone. That was the day before yesterday. Two days later, Sasuke was still wondering just what his brother was on about. Izumi had not been around the house either, meaning he didn't talk with her at all, but that was something that didn't have anything to do with him anymore.

He had other things to think about anyway.

"So, I expect all of you to be on your best behavior, and not use the time alone on the mission to flirt with your girlfriends, alright? Focus."

"Fuck off Kakashi."

"Sasuke-kun, that is no way to speak to our sensei" Sakura admonished him in a firm voice. It was slightly weird, having his pink-haired teammate treating him this way instead of pretending to be something she was very obviously not just to please him, but he much preferred this Sakura to the other one.

"What? He's being annoying."

"He's being realistic man. You and Hinata flirt way too much" Naruto complained, arms crossed behind his head. He didn't even flinch when he turned to glare at him, which meant he was doing it too much and it was losing its effect. Shame.

"This is your first C-Rank mission" Kakashi kept on talking as if his students hadn't said anything at all, "I know it seems a little weird to you that we're doing it with another team, but the village the artisan is from is actually located in the Land of Rivers, and it has quite a complicated history. We'll need as many men as possible."

"Could this be Takumi Village then?" Sakura asked, eyes growing big and curious. Kakashi nodded.

"As expected of Sakura. I'm not surprised you know of the village."

"What, so it's a special village or something?" Naruto asked with a bored face. Sakura looked at him impatiently.

"For being the Hokage's son you sure know little. Takumi Village is a village that specializes in producing weapons. They've been around for hundreds of years, since before the establishment of the hidden villages, even, creating and selling weapons to the different clans and then to us" Sakura explained while crossing her arms, a smug expression showing on her face. Naruto gaped with amazement.

"You sure know a lot, Sakura-chan!"

"Of course I do! Unlike you, I actually paid attention in class!"

"Hey, I also paid attention in class!"

"When could you when you spent the whole time either sleeping or trying to eat your lunch earlier without Iruka-sensei noticing?"

"Were you paying that much attention to me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said while raising his eyebrows, an attempt at a flirtatious smile forming on his lips. He was quickly rewarded with a fist on the head. "Agh! Sakura-chan!"

"As I was saying" Kakashi clapped his hands, calling for attention once more. "This artisan, as well as his daughter, came here to take an order from the Hokage. Our mission is to take them back to their village, stay there, and then bring back the ordered weapon once it's done. It's an important mission that requires our full attention, so, as I said before, I hope all of you can be on your best behavior. Am I understood?"

"You got it, Kakashi-sensei!"

"We'll do our best!"

"…whatever" Sasuke clicked his tongue, burying his hands in his pockets.

Even if Kakashi's attitude was beyond offensive, they finally had their first C-Rank mission… and maybe doing it alongside Hinata was worth a bit of the annoyance their teacher brought.

The artisan was a man in his forties. He was nice, with a crooked smile and worn out hands from work. His daughter was infinitely prettier than he was, with long dark hair and a coy smile. She had given them all scarfs she had made herself, as a thank you for accompanying them back to their village, despite both Kurenai and Kakashi assuring her they were just doing their job.

Hinata liked her scarf a lot. It was violet, a few tones darker than her own eyes.

"Look, Hinata!" Sakura called, twirling around in her pink scarf. "Don't you think it looks pretty how it flutters around?"

"It looks very pretty, Sakura-chan! Just like you!" Naruto interjected before she could speak, earning a scoff from her.

"I didn't ask you."

"Now, now, concentrate" Kakashi said, walking ahead and adjusting his dark grey scarf. "What kind of impression are you giving our employers?"

"I am happy you all like the scarfs" the girl, Ume, said, bowing her head slightly. "I wasn't sure about the colors, but I wanted the ones from the girls to at least be feminine and pretty."

"They are, thank you" Kurenai nodded, a deep burgundy scarf knotted around her neck.

Hinata glanced towards the other members of their team. Kiba had a dark brown scarf, Shino a forest green one; and Naruto had managed to get a bright yellow one that went well with his hair. The only one who had a scarf that didn't match him at all was Sasuke, his being salmon and looking very out of place on him, especially in combination with his dark blue clothing. It was a question of luck, really, as most colors were pretty much decided for the rest of them, like the yellow scarf for Naruto or the pink scarf for Sakura, however, when it came to the others, they had been faster, Kiba and Shino quickly snatching their own while Kakashi ripped off the grey scarf from Sasuke's hands before shoving the salmon one at him.

Needless to say, he wasn't in a very good mood.

He still wore the scarf, despite trying not to in the beginning, mostly because Kakashi had glared at him when he was going to throw it away but also because Ume had, for a second there, looked about ready to cry when seeing what he was going to do.

It warmed Hinata's heart, this type of small and almost casual consideration. It made her want to go up to him and tell him how much of a good boy he was…

She stopped on her tracks.

That… that wasn't an alright thought to have, was it…?

"Come on Hinata, we're lagging behind" Sakura grabbed her arm gently and lead her towards the others, as, unaware, she had just stood there staring at air for who knew how long, and the rest of their team was already way up ahead of them. "Is there something wrong?" her friend asked with concern.

Hinata blushed, before shaking her head and smiling at Sakura. "Just… some strange thoughts that's all."

The other girl frowned, but left it at that as they heard how Kiba, for the thousandth time tried to flirt with Ume, with devastating results, considering she was close to twenty and he was only twelve.

They stopped a few hours past midday, in a small clearing just a little off the path.

Sasuke took out his bento, feeling ravenous despite just being a few hours since breakfast. His mom had packed all his favorites: rice with a side of tuna, tamagoyaki and cherry tomatoes. That, along with the still warm green tea from his thermos was a relief after having to endure Kiba's ineffectual flirting all day, that lead to Naruto's taunts and Shino's passive-aggressive comments, which then lead to Kiba lashing out at the two and a fight breaking out between the three until Kurenai and Kakashi had to step in, only for the cycle to start anew once things seemed to calm down.

He was sure that among the many tribulations that a C-Rank mission entailed, this wasn't one of them.

He drank from his thermos, staring up towards a tree where a bird hopped from branch to branch, when someone sat down next to him. He turned around to tell whoever it was to fuck off, but stopped short when he saw it was only Hinata.

That was… strange. Hinata usually didn't start any type of contact with him. When given the choice, he would have thought she would rather sit with Sakura or her teammates.

Not that he was complaining.

"That looks really nice, Sasuke-kun" she complimented, eyeing his lunch as she took off the lid from her own bento box. "Is that nori in the tamagoyaki?"

"Yes… my mother rolls the egg around the nori when she cooks it… do you want to try it?" he asked, holding out his chopsticks towards her, not really knowing why. Hinata looked at the offered food with surprise, then at him, and then back at the food before suddenly and without warning getting red all over. Sasuke opened his mouth to ask if everything was alright, but before he could, the girl leaned forward and ate the egg, immediately backing off afterwards.

She chewed slowly as he continued to stare at her, bemused.

"It's… it's tasty" she nodded after she was done swallowing. Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Well, of course it is, my mother made it…" he glanced down towards her bento, noticing something. "Are those croquettes?"

"Ah, yes…"

"You made them, right?" he asked, remembering that mission long ago at the orphanage, when she told him about how she learned how to cook because of how young she was when her mother passed away. At Hinata's shy nod, Sasuke couldn't help but grab one with his chopsticks. "I gave you some of my food so it's only fair you give me some of yours" he said before shoving the entire croquette into his mouth. Despite Hinata's protests and warnings that he would choke if he did that, Sasuke didn't have any problem chewing and swallowing the croquette, being a pro at eating things whole by this point, much to his mother's frustration.

Hinata's croquette was delicious.

"This is so good! I can't believe you cooked it! Give me another one" he reached towards her bento again, only for Hinata to pull away with a frown. "Come on, I'll give you some more of my food" he insisted as she just shook her head, leaning away from him.

"O-One is enough, I only have four croquettes, and I like them very much…!"

"You can cook more when we get back home! Look, here, have some tuna, that ought to be equivalent to another croquette, right?"

"It is not!"

"Ahem."

The two children froze upon hearing someone clearing their throat, caught in a position where Sasuke was leaning over Hinata, chopsticks in the air while the girl was almost lying on the ground, bento box extended away from her body and one of her hands on the boy's chest, trying to push him away.

The one to interrupt them was, of course, Kakashi.

"Now, what did I say about flirting on the mission…?"

"Say that to the mutt there!" Sasuke snapped, straightening and feeling his face burning. Everyone was looking at them, Naruto and the aforementioned mutt barely holding back shit-eating grins.

Kiba wasn't very enthused at Sasuke's words though. "Hey! You wanna fight, jackass?"

"Not denying the flirting part, I see" Sakura murmured with a mischievous smile. Shino, by her side, adjusted his sunglasses.

"There's no point in denying something that is true… on both accounts."

"Shut up Shino! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Why? Because I'm your teammate? That means nothing in this situation."

"You little…!"

And thus, the attention was aptly redirected to Kiba and Shino, much to Hinata's surprise, who sat up slowly with a look of befuddlement on her face, and Sasuke's relief, who managed to steal another croquette while she was distracted.

When she noticed, Hinata hit him.

Takumi Village was featured in a filler arc at the very end of the original Naruto anime. I always liked the concept of the village, but not how it was showed or the plot surrounding it, so here I decided to feature it but with some changes. Think of it as some sort of Swordsmith Village, from the Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, if you will.