A Mistake Not Meant to Bear Fruit [Naruto x Hanabi]

Chapter 8: The New Normal

A/N: I wrote this chapter while listening to Markiplier's  "This Intro Is Bumping" on a 1-hour loop.

Sorry for the late chapter.

Naruto found it ironic that during his first night at his new house, he didn't sleep in his bed. Instead, he slept on the couch, while someone else slept in his bed. This 'someone' being Hanabi Hyuuga, who was now staying in his home for an undefined amount of time. He figured that this would end up becoming normal for him, waking up in a house with a girl he had been helping. Right now, he was currently sitting at his dining table, preparing to eat breakfast cooked by Hanabi. 

Naruto knew that Hanabi didn't know much about cooking, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt because breakfast was the easiest meal to cook, how bad could it really be? Plus, she'd insisted that he let her cook for him. He probably should've learned his lesson when he ate Hanabi's cooking the first time, but he couldn't help but be his usual self.

So there Hanabi was, cooking what looked to be steamed rice and miso soup. She had on a white apron, which made her petite back look even smaller. It really was a pleasant sight, and he didn't know why. Just watching a woman's back while they were cooking was satisfying. Naruto had a pretty goofy grin on his face. He quickly realized what he was doing and blushed in embarrassment.

The silence they were in was pretty awkward, both of them wanted or tried to make some kind of conversation but it was usually met with a pretty vague answer, which only resulted in another awkward silence. So, Naruto just continued to stare at Hanabi's figure, catch himself in the act, and become embarrassed in a loop. Though when he took the time to actually look at her, he realized that he liked how she looked. She didn't have big boobs, nor did she have a perfectly round butt, but Naruto didn't care about those things. Naruto thought she was really beautiful even without all of that. 

Not long afterward, the breakfast was finally done. Hanabi set the food on the table with a smile on her face, she must've been really been proud of that breakfast. Naruto gulped and reluctantly looked down at the food, afraid of what his gaze would find. The miso soup looked fine, but the rice, on the other hand, looked dark brown, which was not the color it should be.

"How is it?" Hanabi asked. Naruto nervously picked up his chopsticks and decided to finally taste it. When he put the rice in his mouth, he instantly regretted it. 

He shouldn't have given her another chance, it wasn't worth it. How could someone mess up rice?! It's probably one of the easiest things to cook. It was very hard to restrain himself from making a face of disgust. He thought that maybe the soup would taste better than the rice, he sure hoped so. Naruto grabbed the small bowl and drank the soup. Luckily for him, it did taste better than the rice. Though Naruto decided he'd skip breakfast for today.

"It's great! You must have a talent for cooking!" Naruto fake-praised, causing Hanabi to blush in response. Naruto wasn't harsh enough to tell her that her food sucked, but maybe if he got her to taste her own food, she would realize how bad it was.

"You cooked the food, you should have some too!" Naruto insisted, pushing his bowl of rice and his chopsticks toward her. 

Naruto was a bit confused about what happened next. Hanabi looked at Naruto, then at the chopsticks, then back at Naruto, and suddenly turned red as if she had a fever. 

"N-No! That's fine! I have somewhere to be! S-See you later!" Hanabi said, and ran out of the door, further confusing Naruto.

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Hanabi didn't know how to define her day so far. It hadn't even been 48 hours since she left her clan and began to stay with Naruto Uzumaki. Just thinking about the events that led up to her leaving would make her sad, which was why she often tried to focus on anything else. Come to think of it, was it okay to just walk in and out of Naruto's house without caution? Wouldn't there be people that would see it and gossip about it? Hanabi would have to ask Naruto about that. Nonetheless, Hanabi didn't really have somewhere to be, she only made up that excuse because she was flustered.