• THE AFTERMATH •

The ball was the talk of the whole school for about a week. Some girls were lamenting about the fact that they couldn't go for the ball while those that attended were boasting about it.

They all talked about the mysterious girl that Sasuke danced with at the ball and naturally, theories about her identity were formulated. Who is she? Where did she come from? Is she in their school?

Naruto stuffed another meat dumpling down his throat despite his mouth being full with one already. He's got chipmunk genes so he has that ability. Anyway at this rate all the blond sidekick is doing in the book is eating which... isn't necessarily a bad thing.

How can there be a book about food without a residential foodie, right?

"Did you come to Shashke's birfday yeshtarday?" He asked with his mouth full. That just meant that there was still space for more dumpling in his mouth though, so he wasted no time in filling that space up.

"Yeah... I couldn't stay long though." Hinata replied vaguely.

"Ah shucksh. I wishh I could've tashted whatever you brought. Shome other myshterioush girl won the show. I wash pretty shure you'd win it too, even boasted to Shashuke about it." 

Hinata turned red at the blond's barely decipherable words. He boasted about her cooking skills to Sasuke?!

Naruto gulped. "Of course I did! I appreciate good food!"

Hinata realised that she wasn't exactly talking to herself then but it was okay. She caught his hand, the one that was heading towards the plate of dumplings on the table, and pushed it away.

"Hinataaa!" The blond whined childishly. She giggled.

"Didn't you want to save some for Konohamaru?" She reminded him of his promise to share the dumplings with his younger brother of the sorts.

Naruto's pout tightened. "I did... but now I don't want to."

"You never go back on your word, remember? And besides it wouldn't hurt to learn how to cook you know?"

"Ack!" Naruto seized up like he had been stabbed in the heart at her words. He grabbed his chest and swooned for emphasis while Hinata just watched amusedly. "I'm allergic to cooking! Please, lady Hinata, do not punish me like this!" So dramatic, the blond one. The ravenette simply handed him an apron. "There's no way out of this huh?"

Hinata's unwavering smile was answer enough. He was going to learn by force. Naruto would've continued pouting had an amazingly awesome idea not popped in his head like a pop cracker. The resulting grin was so wide that Hinata feared his lips would tear sideways until his jaws ripped apart and all his insides spilled from the rupture.

Insane imagination, I know.

"I know, teach me how to make ramen dattebayo!" He practically squealed in delight. Hinata, however, was captured by what he said.

"You say that a lot." She commented.

"What?"

"Datte...bayo." It sounded awkward coming from her mouth but then again, nobody else could pull off Naruto's verbal tic.

"Oh that. Hehehe." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I do huh? Is it weird?" Was that insecurity hiding there in his voice? No way.

"No!" Hinata might've responded a little too fast but it still had the desired effect of getting Naruto to look at her instead of downwards.

However when his insanely blue eyes met her pale ones a blush formed on her cheeks and she averted her eyes. Just a little bit. Gosh his eyes were so pretty!

"W-what I meant was it's c-cute. Sorta." She added so that she wouldn't sound like a school girl in love with her senpai. "A-anyway it's unique! Something that's purely you so it isn't weird. You aren't weird!" Hinata huffed out in a breath.

Whew! Suddenly talking to him was difficult without passing out.

She stuttered a lot during her pathetic excuse of an encouragement speech but it had the desired effect; Naruto's smug and confident grin was back on his face. This is more preferable than his sheepish grin.

"You think so?! Bwah ha! Thanks dattebayo!" He laughed boisterously.

"You're welcome. Now let's learn to make something before we leave today." Hinata handed him the apron which he refused to accept again. Naruto scowled at it distastefully.

"You're such a vibe killer." He pouted.

"If you can successfully make an omelette today I'd teach you how to make ramen tomorrow."

It worked like magic.

"Really?!" Naruto tied the apron around his waist in record time. "I'm ready! What are your instructions, Sensei?!"

"Let's see how well you can break eggs." Hinata said, passing him a whisk, a bowl and some leftover eggs.

"Pah! This is so easy!" Naruto exclaimed boastfully. In the end three eggs were wasted in an effort to crack the eggs inside the bowl, not outside it. His arrogant tone quickly changed. "How do you guys crack the eggs on the sides of the bowl 'ttebayo? It's so difficult!" He whined.

(A/N: I also can't do it. I just use a spoon or knife to break my eggs over the bowl. It's much easier than cracking them on the bowl.)

"Didn't you just say it's easy?" Hinata chuckled at him and collected the bowl and egg from his hands.

"It's not, dattebayo." The blond admitted glumly.

"Watch what I do closely, okay?" Hinata instructed.

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto mock saluted while he reached for the meat dumplings behind him with his other hand. Unfortunately for him Hinata saw and took the whole plate away from him. "Aww Hinata just one would be enough! Pleaseee?" He begged with puppy eyes. Hinata's ultimate weakness.

"Maybe I'll reconsider if you do well enough today." She succumbed to his alluring azure eyes. Who wouldn't?! Whoever could resist puppy eyes is capable of swallowing a goldfish whole!

"Yes! I'd do my best dattebayo." Naruto's excitement was too contagious to resist so Hinata found herself smiling along with him. That's Naruto for you; bright, cheerful and boisterous. It is literally impossible not to smile at least once when you're with him. That's one of the qualities about him that Hinata likes.

"Good. So watch what I'm doing very closely." She instructed and cracked an egg into the bowl.

***

You be like: so is this NaruHina or SasuHina?! Hehe. Did you think I was joking when I said you wouldn't know until the story's very end? I didn't say that? Well now you know!

This book is literally called Once In A Plot Twist guys, you can't expect something that happened in one chapter to be how the rest of the story progresses. You should know me by now, come on!

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