Bento Which Helped
The rumours spread fast, and now the whole village knew about Yukiko's criminal status. Of course, everyone also meant the Uchiha clan, including Sasuke, though he didn't know all the details.
"Hey, nii-san... There's that girl at the academy, Yui, and I overheard some kids talk about her mom... Do you know something about it?"
Sasuke asked as he looked up to meet his brother eyes at the dinner table. Itachi smiled, chewing a bite of his breakfast, one which their mother prepared.
“You know such details are confidential, Sasuke. The only thing that I can tell you is that you never know what is someone going through, and sometimes a simple smile can help them a lot.”
The little boy was taken back by such response, a little pout on his face could be seen. Mikoto chuckled at seeing this, giving the smaller one his lunch for school.
"If you want to make things a bit easier for Yui, share your bento with her. I made it extra big this time."
Mikoto knew the girl's mother, and never once thought of her as a criminal. Seeing her son care for Yui put warmth on her heart. Sasuke packed his bento and took his bag after nodding his head, leaving the house for school.
---
While listening to teacher's lecture, Sasuke couldn't help but steal a few glances at Yui. She seemed determined and... stoic. Like her mind was only on the studies, nothing else in it. Was that even possible, considering the fact she was now completely alone? It made him wonder what she felt inside her heart.
As the lunch time came, everyone left the classroom to eat outside or have fun with their friends. The only ones left in the room was Yui, who continued reading her book about ninja history, and Sasuke, who planned on interrupting that moment. He approached the girl, standing before her desk with his eyes fueled up, bento in his hand.
"Where's your bento?" The boy asked, causing Yui to look up at him with a confused look.
"I eat after school..." She responded while looking at him, her gaze quickly coming back to her book.
"Don't you know you need balanced meals for your body to be at it's best condition? You can't be skipping meals." Sasuke asked with a bit of an angry tone.
"I suppose so, but I don't have anything today. I will remember that in the future, though, thanks." Yui smiled softly.
"I will share mine with you today, then." Sasuke put his bento down on the desk and opened it. It was full of tomatoes and had onigiri with okaka in it, with other veggies in it.
"But then your meals won't be balanced, right? You will only get a half of it... Also, I'm not the best cook." Yui said, politely declining his idea, taking his words from before into consideration.
"If you want to become a shinobi, then I can't let my future comrades become weak!" Sasuke's remark made Yui giggle a bit, accepting the additional chopsticks he held out for her as she began to eat.
"And... I will ask my mom to make bento for you..." Sasuke added, a bit shyly. It made Yui feel nice, somebody, who had no real buisness with her, was so nice to her...
---
The two started to meet during lunch time, overtime becoming friends. Both were physically and mentally strong, so they often trained against eachother. One day, Sasuke asked his mom if he can invite the girl over to train after dinner too, who of course agreed.
After some time of training, Yui walked into the Uchiha's leader residence door.
"T-Thank you for having me..." She said a bit shyly, a bit intimidated by new surroundings.
"You must be Yui. Sasuke told us a lot about you. I'm Itachi, Sasuke's older brother." Itachi walked down the stairs, it was rare that he was home. His remark made a blush appear on Sasuke's cheeks, and a bit of anger on his face too. Before the boy though could protect his pride, his older brother already led his friend to the living room.
"Oh, you must be Yui! It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Mikoto!" The boys mother said, kneeling to match small Yui's height. The little girl nodded her head and turned around to politely greet Fugaku, boys father. Everyone sat at the table as Mikoto put everything down.
"Thank you for the meal." As everyone started to eat, Yui became the topic of the table. Especially Mikoto asked a lot about her, often adding some thing about even younger Sasuke, much to his displeasure. When Yui and Sasuke finished eating, and his father was about to add something to the story about him his mom was telling, he took her hand saying they have training to do and walked out. It made the rest laugh, it was such a cute thing to see the youngest one caring so much for his look in the little Yui's eyes...