Early the next morning, a black cat stretched lazily on top of a wall.
Uchiha Clan's Ninjas dashed across rooftops in small groups, then stopped to pet the cat, drawn by its presence.
In the home of the Uchiha Clan's head, Sasuke, the second son of the head, woke up on his futon.
After tidying his bedding and changing clothes, he prepared to head to school.
After washing up, he arrived at the dining table. His mother in the kitchen seemed to be talking to someone.
"Ara, what a delicious smell. It seems the timing is just right."
"Sakura-chan, your cooking skills are excellent. I wonder who will be lucky enough to enjoy them in the future~"
Mikoto watched as Sakura stir-fried with practiced ease and couldn't help but praise her.
"What do you think of my two sons?"
She stepped forward to help set the tableware and, in a good mood, joked with Sakura.
"No thanks. They're too weak… they can't beat me."
"Besides, don't you think I'm a bit young to be discussing this?"
Sakura decisively refused, picked up the stew and walked out with an expressionless face.
"What a shame then~"
Mikoto pouted and began cleaning up the kitchen.
To be honest, she genuinely liked a girl like Sakura… cute, sensible, and with great cooking skills.
'What a pity both my sons were blocks of wood. Otherwise, having a daughter like Sakura would have been wonderful.'
"Here, eat up!"
A drowsy Uchiha Sasuke saw a bowl of stew placed in front of him. Raising his chopsticks, he instinctively asked,
"Mom, why are we eating something so greasy so early in the morning?"
"Because there's physical training this morning, so you need plenty of protein and electrolytes!"
In his daze, Sasuke thought he heard the voice of that pink-haired freakishly strong girl.
'No, no, it must be an illusion. There's no way she could have followed me home.'
Rubbing his eyes, Sasuke looked to the right.
Just in time to see the girl sitting beside him, happily eating her stew.
"!!!"
Sasuke was so startled he jerked violently, toppling over along with his chair.
He couldn't help raising his voice in panic, "What are you doing here?!"
"What kind of behavior is this, acting so flustered? Get up now!"
Under Fugaku's scolding, Sasuke hurriedly scrambled to his feet.
He stomped his foot angrily, ran behind Itachi, and tugged on his clothes.
His expression seemed to say, 'Nii-san, look at her!'
"Alright, Sakura will be staying with us for a while as the Anbu's member stationed with the Uchiha."
"Sasuke, you should get along well with your classmate."
Sasuke stiffly allowed Itachi to pat his head before being shoved back into his seat.
He remained rigid the entire morning.
During physical training, he didn't dare let his eyes meet the freakishly strong girl's even once.
'I had already apologized to her… why did she have to follow me home?'
'If I showed her disrespect at school, would she come to my house at night to beat me up?'
'-Please, not that!'
"Sakura, Sakura."
"What's up with Sasuke? Why has he been giving you weird looks all morning?"
On the running track, a breathless Ino leaned close to Sakura and whispered.
"No idea. Maybe he was throwing a tantrum with his brother this morning-"
Whoosh!
From an unnoticed corner, a small stone was flung out using Uchiha-style throwing techniques, cutting off Sakura's words.
Sakura felt uncomfortable under the intensely resentful gaze and simply shut her mouth.
'If that easily provoked tsundere got angry and attacked me directly, my use of a shadow clone for school would be exposed.'
"Throwing a tantrum with his brother about what?"
Ino tirelessly pressed for details.
"Who knows~"
Sakura playfully winked her left eye at Ino, quickened her pace, and ran ahead. Ino chased after her with a helpless expression.
The cheerful laughter of the girls drifted along the running track, and before they knew it, the school day had ended.
The setting sun cast its glow on the riverbank's slope. Sakura, who had been training in the forest all day, walked through the Uchiha Clan's compound bathed in sunlight.
"Ah, isn't that Sakura-chan?"
The auntie, Uchiha Uruchi, from a roadside pancake stall, greeted Sakura warmly.
Not long ago, this girl's combat skills had shocked many arrogant Uchiha.
This had made her quite popular within the clan, and Uruchi had heard her name mentioned by the youth more than once.
"Want a pancake? Uncle will give you one on the house."
The uncle, Uchiha Teyaki, flipping pancakes on the hot griddle, also greeted her.
"Ah, then I'll have one, please."
Sakura picked a pancake that looked good and, as she turned away, dropped 40 Ryo into Teyaki's money jar.
"Hey, you kid! I said it's on me!"
Teyaki, seeing Sakura's action, chased after her in annoyance.
"Hehe, next time, next time for sure!"
Sakura waved at them and ran off into the distance.
The girl, with pancake in mouth, arrived at the house's doorstep and ran into Sasuke, who had deliberately taken a different route home.
"Hmph, eating a pancake and still having dinner? Be careful not to get fat!"
A certain black-haired tsundere was clearly worried that Sakura wouldn't have room for the carefully prepared dishes his mother had made for her, but he just couldn't say it properly.
"Don't worry, I'll find a certain classmate during sparring sessions at the Ninja Academy to help me burn off those calories!"
The girl's sinister gaze swept over Sasuke.
To deal with tsunderes, she has several sets of mature and practical comebacks.
"!!!"
Hearing this, Sasuke's face paled, and he hurriedly ran into the house.
In the dining room, to welcome the temporary new member of the household, Mikoto went all out.
Rice balls, thick soup, stew, steak, tempura, saury...
This deeply talented First Lady of the Uchiha Clan displayed her exceptional culinary skills to Sakura.
-Though using the Sharingan for cooking is just cheating!
After the meal, Sakura helped Mikoto clean up the dishes.
Fugaku drank tea indoors, while the two brothers lay on the tatami, rubbing their full bellies.
The sky gradually grew overcast, and the pitter-patter of rain carried away the summer night's heat.
A cool breeze blew through the curtains. The house was so quiet that only the sound of rain could be heard, gradually lulling everyone to sleep.
Sasuke had fallen asleep with his head on Itachi's lap. Mikoto brought a blanket to cover her son.
Even the usually strict Fugaku rarely refrained from mentioning rules and decorum.
Sakura, having changed into her Anbu's uniform, came out and saw them. In the tranquility of this family scene, she softened her footsteps.
Silently leaping out of the Uchiha Clan's compound, Sakura hurried toward the Hokage Building.
In the office, Hiruzen gazed at the lightning streaking across the sky and lit his pipe.
"Hah-"
Smoke enveloped the old man. Without turning around, he spoke, "Flower, you're here!"
A petite, pink-haired Anbu instantly appeared in the office and bowed to him.
"You've spent a day with the Uchiha. How was it?"
Hearing the old man's words, Sakura raised her hand and touched the outline of her mask.
"Well... the food was pretty good?"
"Ah?"
"Hehe."