The Love We Never Knew We Had [Discontinued]

Part 18

~SASUKE~

That person was extremely suspicious. Not only did he avoid all my questions, but Hinata seemed to have some connection to him.

'Maybe it was one of her relatives, after all, the Hyuga family is quite large. However, that doesn't explain why she was glaring at him.'

I noticed Hinata walking toward her 'friends' and I intercepted her. Surprised, she stopped.

"Y-yes Sasuke?"

As I was about to ask about that person, I stopped short. I didn't know what it was, but something inside me made me hold back. Maybe, I didn't want to bring up what I assumed to be a sore subject, during such a joyous occasion.

"Congratulations," I improvised quickly. Her face broke into a smile.

"T-thank you so much, Sasuke!"

"Hn, of course."

"I-I better go," she spoke, glancing over at Naruto, of course, "see you."

I watched her take her leave, pondering many things. My mind wandered in all sorts of crazy directions; I began to give myself a headache.

"Urk, it's driving me crazy," I mumbled to myself, "I need to find out who that person is."

~-~-~-~-~-~

After roaming the streets asking everyone about him, I came up empty-handed. No one knew any useful information. My stomach growled, signifying I was hungry.

Seating myself at the Ichiraku Ramen stand, I ordered a normal bowl of ramen. I began slurping greedily—guess I was hungry.

I heard a noise and assumed it was someone entering the shop. Sure enough, Iruka seated himself beside me. He ordered himself a bowl and became settled.

I gave him a sideways glance, "Why are you here?"

"This place holds special meaning to me," he explained, "Naruto and I come here all the time."

"That has to do with me, why?"

"Naruto is like a son to me; he's precious." I rolled my eyes and Iruka gave me a hard stare.

"What do you hold precious in your life, Sasuke?" he asked. The question caught me off guard.

'What I hold dear is my family, however, they're all dead.'

"I hold nothing dear to me," I responded.

Iruka shook his head, "Everyone holds something precious to them."

"Well I don't, is there a problem with that?"

"Of course." Iruka gazed steadily at me, "You have been in quite a mood lately."

"What does that mean?" I asked, slightly confused. Iruka sighed.

"You may not get it now," he answered, "but I assure you, one day you will understand."

To the store owner—who was listening to the entire conversation rather intently—Iruka said, "Thank you for the meal."

He stood and left. It took me a few moments before realizing he hadn't even touched his food.