As Naruto and Sakura were enjoying food, the long forgotten Sasuke tiredly sat down in an area of the village he didn't recognise. This was after challenging Shino and Kiba in different ways.
Oddly enough, he could feel his left eye itching underneath the headband on his face.
Sakura had miscalculated the time it'd take for Sasuke's left eye to fully transform. After taking off his blindfold, there was a crimson Sharingan of three tomoes on his left eye, while his right eye's iris looked similar in colour to the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.
'This... is more amazing than I thought!' Sasuke was taken aback by the improvements he felt in his analytical ability and kinetic vision.
His hands flickered and multiple weapons were thrown out into the empty field in front of him, the thrown kunai and shuriken ricocheted off each other systematically. They accurately forming the sign of the Uchiha Clan after hitting onto the ground.
Even though he considered himself more of a close-quarter fighter, he had to admit that sharpening his throwing skills would do wonders. What he had just done was something no one else could replicate.
At least, none other than an Uchiha.
He was about to go pick up his weapons, but stopped after sensing a presence.
Sasuke turned to see a gasping young girl, who was shocked speechless by his demonstration.
Hinata Hyuga, the daughter of the Hyuga Clan's Leader, could only cover her mouth after seeing Sasuke's eyes.
She had been looking around for her teammates, but coincidentally came across this strange eyed youth.
Sasuke realised he had made a mistake.
He blindfolded himself with his headband once again. A dangerous look was in those hidden eyes as he approached Hinata, who was unable to make out what he was thinking due to not being able to read his face.
"You're Hinata, right?" He remembered this girl to be Sakura's friend and the girl who 'had feelings' for Naruto. Considering that she wasn't a stranger, he felt some relief that the person who saw him wasn't anyone else. After all, it would make too much of a fuss if he was to suddenly show off his new Dōjutsu.
"Yes..." She answered him nervously.
"I want you to forget what you saw here, please. I don't want my sensei's to know about them yet." He decided to get to the point.
Sasuke didn't need ocular Jutsus to realise the girl before him was a little timid.
His tone unconsciously became a little softer than normal. Not like when he was with his teammates.
Naruto and Sakura were the fiery confident type, so he was okay with using an informal tone to them.
However, things changed if the other person didn't use arrogance or pride towards him when speaking.
He was a good kid right now.
One that his parents had raised well.
Sasuke wasn't going to bully someone who clearly didn't seem the type to deserve his bad mood.
Although he was rude towards girls like Ino (who would stick to him and annoy him by talking too much), it wasn't like he was a heartless person who would scare the friend of his teammates.
Hinata also sensed that he was being thoughtful to her. She became less nervous thanks to his insight.
"...Yes, I won't tell anyone." She unconsciously bowed before turning to leave, not wanting to stay any longer.
Sasuke was surprised that Sakura's friend was a little bit similar to her, despite having completely different personalities.
The constant affection given to him by girls in the Academy made someone like Hinata, who didn't try worming their way next to him, pretty rare. He had a good opinion on her demeanour.
"You don't have to be scared of me. Since we're both Sakura's friends, let's try to get along." Sasuke spoke a little awkwardly. He had the basic social skills to know it was better to smooth things out between them… instead of ignoring her like those Academy girls.
Hinata was surprised by these words.
She remembered that Sasuke WAS a member of her best friend's team. To have a bad relationship with Sasuke would probably make her friend become a little awkward around her.
The shy girl didn't want this to happen if they were too meet up in future.
Hinata turned her head back to Sasuke and saw him reach his hand towards her as if to shake on it.
"Okay." She nodded and shook his hand politely. Then noticed that Sasuke was looking at her with curiosity.
"What's wrong?"
"Has Sakura ever told you about Bloodline Seals?"
"..." She shook her head at his words, but the black-haired youth didn't elaborate any further.
Instead, his blindfolded left eye that could vaguely sense Chakra seemed to look deeply at her.
What was this large amount of frigid Chakra that was focused into her head? And what was the green Chakra which he could feel an abundant amount of life from located directly where her heart was located?
"It's nothing. I hope we get along." Sasuke put up a polite smile while leaving thoughtfully. He couldn't understand what was the intentions of Sakura's Mentor if he was secretly giving out Bloodline Seals to people.
As they say, smart people think more, but it also sometimes leads to them overthinking to the point of coming up with countless conspiracy theories. The excuse Sakura gave him had always been on his mind.
What was her Mentor's plan? What was the point in giving these 'Bloodline Seals' to young Genins like them (instead of passing them to adults)?
Was he trying to secretly grow his own force within the village?
The last question was merely a speculation, but this small thought turned into a large conspiracy theory in his head the more he thought about it.
It was to the point he was now more curious towards finding out what the Hidden Leaf was hiding from him… about the Uchiha Tragedy than his hatred towards his brother. He kept it in mind to watch this Hyuga girl a little more closely.
If the Hyuga Clan had anything to do with his Clan's demise, he'd eradicate them completely even if they were Sakura's allies. However, if they weren't related but DID have some clues to that incident, then he needed to get closer to them in order to investigate.
Hinata would be a great help in his investigations.
However, how should he go about this?
That was what Sasuke was thinking as he strolled about without purpose. His mind deep in thoughts.
'Should I lie her?' He thought, but this detached mindset was immediately rejected by his feelings.
Although he wanted to know more about Itachi, he didn't want to become as manipulative as his brother.
'I should be honest with her!' Sasuke thought decisively. He planned his next course of action in his head.
The more allies he had, the better.
Though he thinking of investigating was one thing, it was completely different to actually doing it.
Even if the Hyuga had any clues, they wouldn't be put out for everyone to see. He needed a clear objective for what he wanted to search for in a heavily guarded Clan like the Hyuga; not just randomly searching around without an aim.
"Sasuke! That you? Come eat with us!" As he was walking about, he came across Naruto and Sakura.
"Aren't we going to apply for more Missions?"
"We'll take a break just for today." Sakura spoke while ordering a ordering another serving on his behalf.
"YOU are saying that?"
"Yes, me. Or are you saying you'd rather be chasing more lost animals rather than enjoying some ramen?" Sakura smiled.
These words made him instantly hop onto a seat without giving her any time to take back her words.
He wasn't interested in low-level Missions just like Naruto and was willing to eat anything if it meant not wasting his energy running about for lost animals again...
And just like that, Team 7 made a good memory together. Sakura was graceful as usual, but her two teammates sitting at opposite sides of her didn't seem to want to eat peacefully.
The they argued over what food was better. In fact, it looked more like Naruto was picking a fight than Sasuke deliberately doing it, which only caused her to sigh as she got back to eating.
Ichiraku's ramen really was the best!