Childhood, Not Lonesome

Chapter 5: Friends...?

Sasuke had to think hard about this. He did need another person on his team. Traditionally a starting ninja team had four people. Three Genin and their Jonin teacher. Right now, Sasuke's team consists of two Genin and one Jonin. His team could use another person, but he wasn't a people person. It wasn't that he was shy or anything close to that. He just sucks at starting conversations. When he tried, the conversation never lasted long. Sasuke was yet another socially awkward person.

Kurama wasn't a fan of how slowly the friendship process was going. He felt that both would be adults before they became friends. Then again, there was no saying that Naruto was actually going to stay in the village long enough to become an adult. He had to find a way to speed up the process. For example,
"Nukami, I have to leave the village for a while. I'm afraid that you won't be able to take care of yourself, so I asked Sasuke to stay at the house to look after you."
Surprisingly, Sasuke wasn't against this idea. It was the first time he was hearing of it, but he wasn't against it. Honestly, he didn't care. Nukami on the other hand. He hated the idea. Having someone in his house besides the people who reside there. It's an intrusion of personal space.
"Kurama-nii, there's no need to bother Sasuke. I can take care of myself."
Kurama just patted the kid's head, completely ignoring him.
"Sasuke, you wouldn't mind looking after him for a few days?"
Sasuke responded with a shake of the head, and Kurama smiled. They hadn't talked about this before, but the other was totally on board.
"Make sure to be kind to Sasuke while he stays at the house, okay?"
Nukami turned his head away without giving an answer, but was screaming at Kurama through their mind connection. However, Kurama ignored him too.

"And so, I've come to visit."
A man sighed, "So you're, as you put it, encouraging a relationship between him and Sasuke?"
Kurama nodded his head satisfied, "Exactly."
The man sighed again, "I know that you want the best for him, but forcing isn't going to help anything. Plus, both are...different..."
...he wasn't wrong. Those children were different from others.

Currently, things weren't going as smoothly as Kurama hoped they would. Nukami had covered his head with a blanket he found stashed in his bedroom. He had pulled the blanket over his body and wasn't moving. Sasuke had tried talking to him a few times, but he only got ignored. Sasuke didn't want to know how to start a conversation, but he did know how to lure out an animal. Of course, Nukami wasn't an animal. Well, technically speaking...humans were considered human...That's not the point! The point was that Sasuke had a plan to lure Nukami out of the blanket.

Sasuke's plan required the use of a kitchen. That's right! He was planning to cook something and place it right next to the blanket. He was going to lure him out of the blanket with food. The good aroma of food. After all, one can't stay cooped under a blanket with no nutrients. One might think that a 12 year old kid wouldn't be able to make good dishes, but that was wrong. This kid had lived on his own for six years, and he ate more than instant foods. He went to the grocery store, and made his own food. Today was the day to show off his skills.

First, Sasuke had to go through the fridge. Surprisingly, there was a lot in there. There was enough to make any dish in his arsenal. There was also a note on the side of the fridge.
'A meat dish is the best choice.'
It seemed that Kurama had expected such a situation and stocked the fridge before leaving. He also saved time from choosing what dish to make. He wanted something that had a light aroma that made one's mouth water, and he had the perfect dish in mind. However, before he did anything else, Sasuke had to navigate his way through the kitchen. He had to find where everything in the kitchen was.

Under the blanket, Naruto could hear every sound. He knew every movement Sasuke was making. Steps to the kitchen, opening the fridge, looking around the kitchen, the movement of pots. Naruto didn't take long to figure out that the other kid was planning to cook food.