This update is long overdue. I guess you can say that college has been keeping me busy. However, this story will not be abandoned and I'll try to get updates out more quickly. So without further ado...

Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Anything directly related to the Naruto manga/anime (all characters, backstories, settings, etc.) belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

It Started With a Tomato

Chapter Seven

After Sasuke left, Konoko quickly scrambled from the bed, but not before getting tangled in the sheets and tumbling to the hardwood floor below.

Konoko lay sprawled out on the floor and marveled at how much the universe seemed to hate her this morning, but after giving herself a few seconds of much deserved self-pity, she pushed herself to her feet and dragged herself to the bathroom.

When she reached the door that Sasuke had indicated, Konoko turned the knob, revealing the bathroom.

A small tick appeared above her brow.

Sasuke's bathroom was very modern (and obviously expensive) and similar to the state of his bedroom, it was spotless.

As she inspected the shower, the tub, and the floor (while trying to ignore the neatly folded pile of clothes that were sitting not so innocently on the counter), she came to a bit of a conclusion.

Sasuke had to be some kind of neat freak.

He couldn't be afraid of germs though. Konoko couldn't imagine that his ninja career would have lasted this long if that was the case.

While peeking through the cabinets, Konoko imagined a mop-yielding Sasuke wearing yellow gloves and a white apron with his face set into a threatening glare to top it all off.

She smirked at the image.

Quickly shutting the cabinet as not to invade his privacy too much—it was weird to imagine Sasuke shaving in the morning—Konoko reluctantly turned her attention to the other object that she had been avoiding since she got into the bathroom.

The mirror.

She cracked her left eye open

And then her right. More Slowly.

Konoko gave a loud groan when she got a good look at herself.

She really did look horrible.

The sleek pony tail that she had worn the night before was practically indiscernible. Konoko figured that her hair tie must have come loose while she was sleeping because it had nearly made its way to the end of her strands, making it look like her hair had simply exploded from its constraints.

The eye make-up that Mitsuni had applied the night before had smeared, which made Konoko look like she hadn't gotten sleep in a long time.

Konoko pinched her lips in displeasure.

The only bright side was that her dress was fine, although slightly wrinkled.

Not that it mattered—Konoko wasn't going on any little excursions like the one she had the night before, any time soon.

There was nothing that Konoko could do about how Sasuke saw her last night. After all, things could not be unseen (no matter how many times Konoko wished that they could).

Disliking her reflection's serious look, she stuck her tongue out (and briefly reminded herself to check for a spare tooth brush).

Plus, Sasuke didn't seem like he would hold it over her head too much.

On that more positive note, Konoko grabbed two blue towels and a blue washcloth from the linen cabinet and hung them on the silver hooks that were placed adjacent to the shower. She tore off her dirty clothes and hopped into the spacious tub.

Konoko let herself relax as the warm water from the shower head dragged across her body and began looking at the different products that were lined up on the side of the shower curiously. When she picked up the light green bottle that was labeled 'body wash', Konoko was disappointed to find out that it was scentless.

Although this made sense considering the fact that ninja who wore scents could easily be tracked down (so it was highly discouraged and basically dubbed 'just asking for a painful death'), Konoko rather liked it when her hair smelled like vanilla.

'But Kami forbid that Sasuke allowed himself be caught smelling like that,' Konoko thought with a roll of her eyes.

Konoko got to work with lathering up her body with the body wash and paid special attention to her face in order to make sure that her make-up was wiped off well. When that was rinsed off, she got to work on her hair. She vigorously scrubbed her hair and scalp with the shampoo and watched with a somewhat odd satisfaction as the suds made their way down the shower drain.

Now that her hair was squeaky clean (almost to the point of being as stiff as a board), Konoko grabbed the bottle of conditioner and applied an ample amount to her hair. Now that her hair was thoroughly saturated, she let her fingers act as a comb—quickly running them through her strands, although having to slow down when she was faced with a section that was particularly tangled.

With her hair and body both clean and any traces of the night before gone from her face, Konoko wrung her hair with her hands. Then, she reached out her arm and snatched one of the blue towels off of its hook. She began drying herself off with it so that she wouldn't drip water all over Sasuke's bathroom floor (the preventative measure should avoid the inevitable argument that would ensue). Once she was completely dried off, she wrapped the towel around herself snugly and tucked one of the ends in to secure it in place. She took the other towel and wrapped it around her head, allowing the soft material to soak up the excess moisture from her hair.

As she stepped out of the shower, Konoko's eyes zoned in on the clothes that were sitting on the bathroom counter. Walking over to the neat pile, Konoko scrutinized each article of clothing with a slight frown. It was fairly simple: a pair of black, drawstring shorts that were too big for her, and a dark, grey shirt that was also too big for her.

However, it wasn't the size of the clothes that made Konoko look at them skeptically. Rather, it was the insignia on the back of the shirt that made her think twice about parading around outside in such attire.

What would people think if they saw her wearing the Uchiha crest?

Sasuke certainly did not seem like a person who would so willingly share his clothing with even the closest of 'friends,' so Konoko knew that, without a doubt, she would get some rather implicating looks.

For a moment Konoko wondered if this was Sasuke's plan all along, but she was quick to squash that ridiculous notion.

Although she had been rather disorientated when she first woke up that morning, the events of last night had slowly come back to her.

Konoko remembered Sasuke's sincere apology towards her and how she had forgiven him.

She knew that he was regretful of his thoughtless actions towards her and that they both had a mutual understanding that they were to start anew.

Konoko did not disagree with this plan at all. The whole ordeal had become rather stressful and annoying.

She was grateful that Sasuke had felt the same.

With a small sigh, Konoko held up the shirt in front of her and examined it lazily.

Therefore, Konoko had to deduce that Sasuke only had shirts that carried his family's crest on them.

In other words: this was as good as it was going to get.

She would just have to face the ramifications later.

She was not looking forward to this.

As Konoko prepared to creep out of the bedroom with her dirty clothes and towel in hand, she paused at the sight of two picture frames that were sitting innocently on the far end of Sasuke's night stand. Curious, despite the interesting aroma that was wafting in from the kitchen, Konoko patted her growling stomach once in apology and went on to investigate.

She knew that she was being rather nosy this morning, but it couldn't be helped.

Sasuke was a very private person and although he had shared a bit of his personal life with her (which was still surprising to this day), there was a lot that she didn't know about him.

Besides, who knew when this opportunity would present itself again?

Now standing before the brown piece of furniture, Konoko bent down and put her hands on her knees so that her eyes were level with the two scenes that captured the most important people who had been, or were currently, in Sasuke's life.

The first picture was of team seven, in their genin days.

They looked so young.

On the left was Sasuke, who looked somewhere off camera to the right with an expression that basically oozed with 'I don't want to be here.'

In the middle was Sakura-san, who was smiling with utter joy.

On the right was Naruto-san. He was looking over at Sasuke and was clearly annoyed with boy's attitude.

And hovering over all three of them was Kakashi-san. His hands were placed on Naruto and Sasuke's heads in an effort to placate them. His smile appeared strained.

Konoko had to grin at how cute they all looked.

As she finished analyzing the first picture, she switched her gaze over to the picture on the right that was in a black frame as well.

As she looked it over, she furrowed her brows and felt a frown make its way to her face.

This picture…

Konoko found herself kneeling unconsciously.

On the left stood a rather stern looking man with short, black hair with bangs that fell at the corners of his eyes. He wore a dark-blue kimono that had a white trim with blue dots. His obi was grey.

Konoko glanced at the women who was standing to the right of the stern man and quickly noticed the gentle expression that donned her face. Her long, black hair was out and spilled down her back as a few shorter stands framed her face. Her skin was quite fair (the man had a slightly darker skin tone) and she wore a dark purple, long-sleeved blouse underneath an apron that was faintly yellow.

There were no doubts in Konoko's mind of the identity of the little boy that stood in between them.

Sasuke wore a small smile as the woman's arms were placed lovingly on his shoulders.

He wore a dark gray, high collared shirt not unlike the ones that he wore now. Deceptively neat bangs did nothing to hide the spikiness of his black hair.

And the older boy on the far right…

He was not as pale as the other two, but where his coloring was from his father, his looks were definitely from that of his mother.

The prominent creases under his eyes spoke volumes about the tremendous stress and pressure that he was under—a burden that someone is age should never have to carry.

'…Itachi…'

As Konoko took in the whole picture—the stern man, the kind woman, the innocent boy (and the burdened one)—she felt a twinge of sadness for what had been lost.

Feeling compelled to do something, she said a small prayer for the deceased and hoped that they had been able to find peace.

Konoko quickly wiped a few tears that had escaped from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.

She rose from her knelt position and hesitated before giving a small bow in respect.

She could not stop the shiver that went through her body when she could have sworn that a hand had brushed across her shoulder.

She tore her eyes away from the photo and walked stiffly to the door.

Her stomach growled, and she welcomed it as it diverted her attention from the strange, yet comforting sensation that she had experienced.

Once Konoko exited the bedroom, she was met with a rather unpleasant smell.

She wrinkled her nose.

Something was burning.

Curious as to what in Kami's name Sasuke was doing, she quickened her pace down the small hallway and entered an open area that contained the living room and kitchen.

Konoko didn't even get a chance to give the room a proper look over when a sharp, but quiet, curse stole her attention.

"Damn it!"

Konoko blinked at the sight before her.

Konoko took note of Sasuke's put out expression and padded over to the steel pot (whose bottom had turned an alarming shade of black) that he was hovering over. She slid next to him and peered inside.

"What's that?"

Sasuke sighed.

"…the name escapes me."

Konoko's mouth twitched. "I'm not sure if we should eat this."

"…it's fine," Sasuke argued stubbornly.

Konoko gave him a pointed look and took the ladle from his hand. She attempted to stir the thick mass and noted that most of it was stuck to the bottom in a hardened glob.

Now Konoko didn't know what recipe he had been trying to make, but she was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to look or behave like that.

"You're right," Konoko deadpanned, "it's completely edible." She lifted the ladle towards Sasuke's face and took pleasure in how he eyed it distrustfully. "You try it first."

Konoko didn't miss how Sasuke recoiled from the threatening object. Konoko responded to his retreat by pushing it closer towards him.

"I made it for you, so you should try it first," Sasuke averted.

"Not a chance," she outright refused.

He scoffed. "Whatever."

Konoko paused for a second in thought.

"Sasuke, you didn't have to make me breakfast."

Well, at least he had tried to make her breakfast.

"I figured that your stomach would be empty by now," Sasuke said as the beginnings of a smirk began to grace his lips, "considering how you vomited all over the streets last night."

Konoko felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment.

"I did not vomit all over the streets," she said, annoyed. "You're exaggerating."

She only threw up once!

The substance in the pot made a suspicious popping noise.

It was Konoko who smirked this time.

"…I'm not the best cook." Sasuke offered, albeit reluctantly.

"I can see that."

"…"

Konoko turned towards Sasuke with a quizzical expression on her face.

"What do you normally eat then?" she inquired as she leaned against one of the counters. "Because I sure hope that it's not that," Konoko said in reference to Sasuke's little concoction.

"Take out," he answered with a small shrug.

Konoko gave him a look of disapproval.

Sasuke gave her a measured look of his own.

When Sasuke didn't let up, Konoko sighed. "You can't live off of takeout."

Sasuke snorted. "Well I can't live off of my own cooking."

"You could if you—I don't know—learned.

"Hm."

It was honestly pathetic for a grown man of his caliber (she could not help but wonder if this was common for ninja and if it was, Konoko was seriously going to start worrying about the safety of the village), but if Konoko were to tell Sasuke this, the insult would either motivate him to cook or create a complex, and with Sasuke's personality, who knew how long that would take to fix.

Konoko threw caution out of the window and blurted it out anyway.

"What?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

Konoko glanced at him in exasperation. "Can you make anything? Like at all?"

Sasuke stared at her in the way that let her know that he still wasn't happy about her little jab before responding shortly. "Onigiri."

Onigiri.

Rice balls.

Konoko smiled in an exaggerated fashion and clapped her together once. "Great. Looks like I'll be giving cooking lessons today." She made her way to Sasuke's refrigerator, pulled the doors opened, and felt the cool air trail over her skin.

Her eyes widened in disbelief at the lack of food.

She peered over her shoulder at him doubtfully. "Do you have any meat?"

"…Hm."

So that was a no then.

"What about vegetables?"

"…."

She peered into one of the bins and saw a crate of eggs that were still fresh.

"What about rice?"

"…"

Konoko felt her eye twitch. "Noodles?"

Sasuke, who had been watching her antics in a somewhat detached manner, responded easily. "Ramen."

"Really?" She was surprised.

"…it was a gift from Naruto."

"Well, tell him 'thank you' when you get a chance because we now have ingredients to make a half decent meal," Konoko declared. "Sort of," she added as an afterthought.

After Konoko asked Sasuke to get a few packets of ramen (which he pulled from the dark place that they were hidden), she set the carton of eggs on the counter and rummaged the cabinets for the rest of the ingredients that she would need.

She started humming a cheerful tune and began slipping into her own little world, so she was slightly started when Sasuke broke his silence.

"Is this your way of trying to get me to cook?"

"You don't sound too surprised," she remarked.

Sasuke gave a slight shrug. "It was obvious."

"Well it worked, didn't it?" She asked casually. "Can you crack four of those eggs and mix them please?"

Sasuke complied.

It continued like this for a while with Konoko giving out instructions and Sasuke following them silently.

"Can you add a few drops of water to that pan? If it starts to sizzle, then you can pour the eggs in."

"Make sure that it doesn't burn."

"Don't add too much water, they'll get soggy!"

Sasuke added a few glares in for good measure.

She was enjoying this a bit too much.

Sasuke couldn't mask his curiosity when he saw Konoko pouring out all of the broth from the ramen.

"What?" Konoko asked defensively. "I like eating it like this sometimes."

The end result was two plates of noodles topped with eggs.

Konoko was about to carry the two plates to the table, but Sasuke stopped her.

"I got it."

Konoko didn't raise any protests. Instead, she walked over to the kitchen table and sat down with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She watched as Sasuke placed her food in front of her somewhat awkwardly. He then went to the other side of the small table, placed his plate down, and took his seat across from her.

In an effort to lighten the mood, Konoko cheerfully said 'itadakimasu,' before helping herself to her food.

Sasuke followed not too long after.

While eating, Konoko let her eyes wander around the room and noticed that it was actually nicely decorated. The way that Sasuke put it earlier had made it sound like his two teammates had made it look like a disaster.

She just assumed that he could be a bit touchy about his personal space.

Sasuke decided to fill her in.

"Naruto screwed it up," he said with a frown. "Sakura helped me fix it."

Ah.

So that's how it was.

It made Konoko wonder about how it must have looked before.

"The walls were orange," Sasuke said.

The rest of their meal was spent with Sasuke retelling the story in an exasperated, yet fond, tone, as Konoko listened to him, amused.

It was nice.