• THE SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM ISN'T ALWAYS PLEASANT •

Naruto was astounded by what Sasuke was telling him. The blond had invited himself over for an unwanted sleepover party but Sasuke didn't have the energy to send him away. Not like he was going to leave anyway. So the brunet just gave up and told Naruto about what happened earlier that day. "Whoa so Hina is actually the girl you're looking for?!" He yelled in surprise. "I knew those cinnamon buns tasted familiar!"

"Hina?" Sasuke questioned Naruto's nickname for the dark haired girl but that wasn't important at the moment. "Wait you knew about this and you didn't tell me?!" He asked, betrayed while Naruto held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey I was also hella confused! Hinata didn't mention going to the party so I just thought it couldn't be hers!" The blond yelled in his defense. Sasuke glared at him for a second longer before relaxing his gaze with a sigh.

"It doesn't matter anyway. Point is we've found her."

"It's crazy how she ended up being the exact person you were looking for though." Naruto hummed as he fiddled with his baggy pockets looking for a snack he didn't keep there. "You were just looking for a good enough replacement and boom, things fall in place!" His search came up negative and he pouted. He was so sure he forgot a Choco bar there or something.

"Yeah it's a lucky coincidence. She's going to teach me how to make special dangos tomorrow during lunch break– ah dobe!" Sasuke trailed off with a yelp when Naruto suddenly pounced on him and pinned him to his bed. The blond's face was pale with, was that panic? "What is wrong with you? Get off me!" Naruto didn't listen.

"You're going to be in the home economics room with her?!" The blond questioned hotly.

"Yeah?" Sasuke replied, confused.

"Alone?!" Naruto almost yelled.

"I sure am not allowing you inside." Sasuke deadpanned much to Naruto's horror.

"Don't tell me you're in love with her or something like that. Did you secretly fall in love with her on the night you danced together? Did you? Did you?!" Now the blond was in full panic mode. And Sasuke didn't help matters by suddenly going quiet and morose. He looked so deep in thought as if he was really considering whether or not he fell in love with Hinata at first sight. It scared Naruto what Sasuke's answer would be about that. They both can't be in love with the same girl, it doesn't work that way! "Oi answer me!" Naruto demanded.

"Get off me dobe." Sasuke pushed the blond away instead. The question went unanswered. For the first time since Naruto started inviting himself over their sleepover was eerily quiet. Mikoto, Sasuke's mum, had to go check if everything was alright between them because the silence was so strange coming from the best friends.

Even though Naruto really wanted to push his way into the home economics lab with Sasuke and Hinata during lunch break the next day, he knew that Sasuke needed his respite. He knew that his best friend needed to learn this recipe not just for Itachi but for his own peace of mind. Sasuke was a goal driven person and if he didn't achieve a goal he set for himself he could break down from the feeling of defeat. So he let the both of them be while he went to the cafeteria to eat for the first time in a while since he started having lunch with Hinata.

While he was waiting for the server to get him the lunch he ordered he saw Sakura sitting on a lone table in the cafeteria. Ino was nowhere to be found, probably off bothering Sai as she'd been doing these past days. It was good, the girl's disturbance, as it kept Sai off his and Sasuke's backs for a welcome period of time.

Naruto decided to sit with her. He didn't like to eat alone and he could use her company right now seeing as both their love interests had somehow left them and migrated towards each other. Yeah Naruto wasn't as oblivious to what was going on between Sasuke and Sakura as anybody else must've thought.

"Yo." He said as he plopped down beside the pink haired girl.

Sakura looked up at him and then returned her gaze to her food. "Weird seeing you here. You're always off somewhere with Hinata for lunch." She muttered.

"Heh. It's weird seeing you alone on a table too. You're always with Sasuke for lunch." Naruto watched Sakura's eyes dim over with sadness as he mentioned Sasuke's name. Perhaps he shouldn't have said that. It was too late now.

"Not anymore I guess." Sakura said morosely. "Sasuke-kun is pretty mad at me for something I did so... yeah." She seemed defeated. But why was she so convinced that Sasuke hated her?

"He's not as mad at you as you think." Naruto told her honestly. Sasuke really isn't angry, he's just the sulking type that needs a bit of time alone when someone happens. "Now he has more important issues to face but he'd definitely talk to you later. To scold you maybe or to settle your differences... just know he won't stay quiet forever."

Sakura wasn't exactly comforted by Naruto's words but she was glad to know that Sasuke wasn't going to ignore her forever. He scolding her was better than he pretending she didn't exist at all. She and Naruto had a surprisingly pleasant time sharing lunch and talking about random things. It got better when Sai and Ino joined their table and the talk. The pale boy's exasperation with Ino was clear on his face but the girl stuck around like glue. At this point he had accepted defeat. Ino was never going to leave him alone. Weirdly enough he didn't hate it. Maybe he was a masochist, who knows?

Meanwhile at the home economics lab Sasuke just finished making a fresh batch dangos upon Hinata's request. He wondered how the girl got the lab to herself every lunch break but he chalked it down to her connection with upperclassman Neji from the student council. But that wasn't important. Hinata had asked him to make dangos as Sakura had taught him to make them and he did with the ingredients he had prepared the day before. He wondered why though.

Hinata took a bite from one stick and hummed around it. "This is pretty good!" She exclaimed honestly. Sasuke was already good at making dangos, what else was he looking for?

"It's not good enough." Sasuke answered her unspoken thoughts. "Don't you think it's too plain? It lacks something special. Even the recipe said it does!"

Hinata blinked at Sasuke and a small smile made its way to her face. 'Something special' was her mother's way of telling whoever read the recipe that they were free to experiment with the recipe as they'd like. That they were free to add other ingredients to give the otherwise plain dangos more 'oomph'. Sasuke had somehow read more meaning behind the recipe than it actually meant. The poor boy.

"Sasuke... what does your brother mean to you?"

Sasuke, who was beginning to feel threatened by Hinata's smile, was thrown off by her sudden question. "Hah?" He voiced his confusion. While Hinata would have loved to speak to him in riddles like those wise adults in movies she realized that Sasuke didn't have much time with Itachi to be trying to unravel mysteries, so she went straight to the point with him.

"There is no special ingredient here per say. I mean, there is no specific special ingredient here. It's different with everybody. We all have different tastes. What I like might not be what you like, and what you like might not be what your brother likes." Hinata explained as well as she could. Fortunately for her Sasuke got it immediately.

"You mean tell me that I was the one missing the big picture the whole time?" Sasuke deadpanned in disbelief.

"Hmm hmm." Hinata hummed in agreement.

"Okay but how am I supposed to know which ingredient works well with dango? I don't think chocolate will taste nice in dango...or will it?" Well Sasuke's discovery did nothing to help the situation. He was just as lost as he was at the beginning, if not more because he now has to ponder on what he could use as his own special ingredient.

Hinata shrugged. "Your dango making skills are already pretty good. I'm pretty sure Itachi-san wouldn't mind it if you gave him this batch."

"No!" Hinata was startled by Sasuke's sudden outburst. "Itachi doesn't deserve a half-assed meal. I want to give him something special!" Though Sasuke was cranky and borderline yelling at Hinata for even suggesting to give Itachi a mediocre meal, the dark haired girl remained calm as she spoke.

"Which brings me back to my first question Sasuke. What does your brother mean to you? When you realize that you'd find your special ingredient. I think?" Well what do you know? She ended up speaking in riddles after all.

Hinata left Sasuke to think while she cleaned up the home economics lab. She hoped Sasuke would find his answer soon and she hoped Itachi would enjoy what Sasuke comes up with in the end.

***

Thank you so much for sticking with my story this far! We have only a few more chapters to go, maybe two or three more. I appreciate all my readers and reviewers. I wish I could tag you all right now but I think that trend is out of date hehe ☺️.

Hope you liked the chapter. If you do please vote and review. Till next time!

-Star.