🌻 I sighed along the Konoha streets.

Where are you, Sakura? I sighed again for the nth time today.

I have been looking for her since morning and she was nowhere to be found. Her house was locked and my knocks were unanswered. I went to the training grounds and it doesn't seem like it was touched.

"Where can she possibly be?" I groaned.

"HINATA-CHAN!!" A very very familiar voice called my name from afar.

The loud mouth blonde ran towards me hysterically like a fool.

I facepalmed mentally. Oh God.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan! Would you like to have breakfast with me? My treat!" He grinned widely.

Well.. I felt bad turning him down; although he is annoying, something about him makes me a little happy. His cheerful aura I guess? Finally, I nodded to his offer.

"GREAT! I'll bring you to the BEST ramen stall on Earth, dattebayo!!" With that, I was pulled by the hand into the crowd and headed to his favourite ramen stall, Ichiraku's.

I know because I have seen him having his meal alone in that stall countless times. Iruka will accompany him occasionally but otherwise, he is always alone.

Having a family doesn't mean you won't be lonely, huh?

"Hey boss!" Naruto shouted as he entered the little stall.

"Hey Naruto! Who is that pretty girl?" The boss wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

"W-Well.. She's.. She's ah..."

"Your girlfriend? Hmm?"

"A-Ah.." Naruto blushed beetroot red.

"I'm not his girlfriend, sir. I'm his teammate." I politely answered, preventing false rumours.

"Y-Yeah.. That's it.." Naruto's voice turned out soft and his look was...sad and disappointed.

Seeing his expression like that made my heart ache, guilt perhaps. The boss, Ichiraku, has an obvious frown on his face, but sighed.

"So what do ya two kids want?"

"I would like a bowl of special ramen, please."

"Usual for you, Naruto?"

"Yeah! Dattebayo!" He exclaimed with a wide grin, but it was obvious that he was still upset about the incident from before.

After some time, Ichiraku appeared from the kitchen with two bowls of ramen. The aroma was wonderful, it made my mouth water. He set the bowls in front of us and I could feel the warm steam on my face.

It sure looks appetising.

I lifted my chopsticks and broke them apart while taking in the aroma of my first bowl of ramen. I slowly picked up some strands of noodles and politely slurped it.

"This is good!" I gasped in amazement.

"I'm glad you liked it!" Ichiraku laughed.

"His ramen is the best in the world!" Naruto exclaimed happily like he is the happiest kid on Earth.

He looks genuinely happy when he mentions ramen.

🌸 "I-I'm sorry for my father's behaviour. He isn't usually like this." Sasuke apologised.

"It's fine.. Your family is fun to be with in some ways.."

But I'll never forget how your brother slaughtered my entire clan.

"It has been awhile since our house was this..cheerful." When he said that, his eyes softened and a small heartwarming smile grazed his lips.

"To answer your question before I fainted, I bumped into your mother earlier. She requested for help on carrying the groceries, so I couldn't reject her." I said, recalling the eventful morning.

"I thought you hated the Uchiha clan. Why can't you reject her request?"

"I do hate the Uchiha clan!" I shouted unconsciously. Sasuke jumped back a little at my outburst, his eyes were clouded with sadness. "Ah, sorry! I just-"

"Your breakfast is ready!" Mikoto came in, interrupting my sentence.

Did she hear that?

She placed a tray of food on my lap before saying,"Enjoy your breakfast, Sakura-chan. I'll drag Sasuke out of the room so you can have your privacy."

She left while literally dragging Sasuke out, but he look depressed. He was frowning and his eyes became unreadable.

This hate towards the Uchiha clan.. Is it wrong?

I placed a hand above my heart and squeezed it lightly.

Why does my heart feel so heavy? Why is it so hard to breathe? Why do I feel a sharp stab on my heart?

Things I can never understand. Will I ever?

==

Dedicated to November_NekoNatalie for voting on this story!

Published: April 2015
Edited: 15 April 2017