These Tsunderes Were Really Something

As he passed the third intersection, Cangyue stopped.

The footsteps behind him stopped as well.

Cangyue did not turn around. He merely glanced at the glass of a shop beside the street.

Sasuke stood in the shadow of a distant awning, his hands in his pockets and his gaze turned elsewhere, as though they had simply happened to take the same road.

Cangyue continued forward.

When he passed the market, he suddenly turned into it.

Sasuke hesitated at the entrance for a moment, then followed him in.

Cangyue picked out a fish, bought some greens, tofu, and a few tomatoes, then lingered at the meat stall.

The vendor cut off a piece of meat and placed it on the scale.

"Enough?"

Cangyue glanced behind him.

Sasuke had already hidden behind the radish stall, leaving only a sliver of dark blue clothing exposed.

"No."

"Add enough for two more people," Cangyue said calmly.

The vendor paused in surprise, but cut off another piece.

After leaving the market with bags full of ingredients, Cangyue did not go straight home. Instead, he deliberately detoured down another street.

Sasuke kept following.

The corner of Cangyue's mouth gave an almost imperceptible twitch.

The Uchiha Clan's prodigy certainly had patience when it came to tailing someone.

His technique just needed some work.

That was no great problem.

After all, there was someone even worse.

Cangyue glanced at the nearby rooftop out of the corner of his eye.

A tuft of blond ponytail had just ducked behind a chimney.

Ino had originally only wanted to ask Cangyue what Naruto's supposed Dream Training was all about.

But just after leaving school, she had spotted Sasuke following Cangyue.

With their spar at the Riverbank still fresh in her mind, she instinctively assumed they were going to fight again and quietly followed them.

Yet the longer she followed, the more something felt off.

If Sasuke really wanted to spar, he should have stopped Cangyue outright by now.

Why sneak around?

As for Cangyue...

Ino looked down.

With a fish in his left hand and vegetables in his right, Cangyue walked at an unhurried pace. Nothing about him suggested he was heading off to fight.

Did Sasuke have some other purpose?

Cangyue did not expose Ino.

If someone wanted to volunteer as an audience, he certainly did not mind.

With one in front and two behind, the three finally arrived at Cangyue's door.

Cangyue shifted the ingredients to his left hand and took out his key, but did not open the gate right away.

"You've followed me all this way. Still not going to show yourself?"

The street corner fell silent for a moment.

Sasuke stepped out from behind the wall, his face showing no embarrassment at being caught.

"I wasn't following you."

"Just going the same way?"

Cangyue glanced at Sasuke's empty hands.

"I don't think the Uchiha residential district is in this direction."

After a brief silence, Sasuke skipped straight past the subject.

"I came to confirm something."

Cangyue pushed open the courtyard gate.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke's gaze sharpened.

He had not said anything yet, and Cangyue already knew?

But recalling Naruto's performance that day, he soon decided it was not difficult to guess.

"What exactly did he do yesterday?"

"Didn't he already tell you?"

"Training in his dreams?"

There was clear skepticism in Sasuke's voice.

"Only Naruto would completely believe a story like that."

Behind the rooftop, Ino nodded slightly.

She did not believe someone could learn Tree Climbing just by getting some sleep, either.

Cangyue carried the groceries into the courtyard.

"If you don't believe it, why bother asking?"

Sasuke followed him to the doorway, his voice lowering.

"The change in Naruto is real."

"His chakra control, his movements, and his performance in class today were all different from before."

"But that doesn't mean the reason he gave is true."

Sasuke looked at Cangyue.

"This so-called Dream Training is just an excuse to hide your real training method, isn't it?"

Cangyue's steps paused briefly.

Should I expect any less from Sasuke?

He was only one step away from the truth.

Until yesterday, Dream Training really had been nothing more than an excuse.

Unfortunately, as of today, it had become real.

"Why don't you ask Naruto directly?"

"He's already bought your story."

"I won't get the real answer out of him," Sasuke said coldly.

With that, he stared at Cangyue, waiting for a response.

Cangyue offered no explanation.

He carried the ingredients inside and shut the door behind him.

Bang.

Sasuke was left outside the house.

Up on the rooftop, Ino nearly laughed aloud and hurriedly covered her mouth.

Sasuke's expression darkened little by little.

He had expected Cangyue to at least argue back.

Instead, Cangyue had simply left him standing outside the door.

Sasuke turned and took two steps away, then stopped again.

Naruto's performance on the tree that day surfaced in his mind.

That dead last who could not even use the Clone Technique properly had learned to run up a tree trunk and regain his grip on a branch after losing his balance, all in a single night.

If I could use that method, I could catch up to that man faster!

Unless he figured out the reason, Sasuke would not be able to settle down that night.

He turned back and stood in the courtyard.

Soon, the sounds of washing and chopping vegetables came from inside.

Cangyue rolled up his sleeves, cleaned the fish, and sliced the meat thinly.

Only when the oil in the pan had heated up did he glance out the window.

Sasuke was still there.

He leaned against the courtyard wall with his arms crossed, his expression even colder than before.

Anyone who did not know better might have thought Cangyue had locked him out.

Cangyue glanced toward the other side of the courtyard wall.

A hand clung to its top edge.

A few strands of blond hair swayed gently in the breeze.

Great.

One standing in the courtyard pretending he didn't care.

One clinging to the outside of the wall pretending nobody had noticed her.

Between the two of them, they couldn't scrape together a single honest sentence.

Cangyue looked away and continued cooking.

The aroma of fish soup was the first to drift out the window.

Sasuke's nostrils twitched slightly before he immediately composed himself.

Ino, however, swallowed.

She had followed them straight after school and had not had time to go home for a meal.

She had expected to watch a spar, but now all she got was the smell of food.

Soon, the aroma of pan-fried meat drifted out as well.

At last, a hint of awkwardness appeared on Sasuke's face.

Cangyue set the final dish on the table. Rather than start eating, he laid out two extra sets of bowls and chopsticks.

Then he opened the window.

"Come in."

Sasuke looked up at him.

"You're willing to talk now?"

Cangyue did not answer. Instead, he looked toward the courtyard wall.

"You too."

For a moment, it was quiet outside the wall.

Ino slowly poked her head up, her face showing the embarrassment of being caught red-handed.

"You knew I was here all along?"

Cangyue looked at her.

"Those tracking classes at the Ninja Academy were wasted on you."

Ino vaulted over the courtyard wall and landed steadily.

"Who was following you?"

She brushed nonexistent dust off her clothes.

"I just happened to be passing by, and happened to see Sasuke sneaking around, so I came to have a look."

Sasuke shot her a cold look.

"I wasn't sneaking around."

"You followed him around several streets and hid behind a radish stall. How is that not sneaking around?"

"You followed him the whole way too, didn't you?"

"I was curious."

The two exchanged a look, then looked away at the same time.

Cangyue suddenly understood how Shikamaru felt every day.

What a drag.

He opened the courtyard gate, then turned and went inside.

"I made too much food."

"Help me finish it."

Sasuke stood where he was.

"I didn't come here to eat."

Ino folded her arms as well.

"There's food at my house. I can eat whenever I go back."

A moment later, both of them were sitting at the dining table.

These two damn tsunderes.

Cangyue served each of them a bowl of rice without calling them out.

After all, Naruto had been the same last time.

He could hardly say he had deliberately made enough for two extra people. All he could say was that he had made too much.

At first, Sasuke maintained his restraint and took only one slice of pan-fried meat.

When the meat entered his mouth, his chopsticks paused for a moment.

The outside was lightly browned, yet the inside was tender, and the sauce's salty sweetness cut through the richness perfectly.

When Uchiha Mikoto was still alive, he had often eaten dishes like this.

But ever since the night of the massacre, this kind of home cooking had become a thing of the past for him.

Sasuke said nothing, silently picking up another piece.

Ino took a sip of fish soup, and her eyes immediately lit up.

"You really made this?"

Cangyue kept his head down and ate.

"What, did the fish jump into the pot by itself?"

Ino was left speechless for a moment.

"I just didn't expect you to know how to cook."

As far as she knew, Cangyue usually either slept or did strange things with two swords on his back.

Nothing about him suggested he would stand at a stove and take cooking seriously.

Cangyue picked up a piece of tofu.

"A swordsman will starve too if he doesn't eat."

Ino thought about it and realized he had a point.

The table soon fell quiet.

The two who had insisted beforehand that they weren't here for a meal ended up eating plenty.

Especially Sasuke.

By the time he set down his bowl, only one piece of pan-fried meat remained on the table.

Ino and Sasuke reached out with their chopsticks at the same time.

Their chopsticks collided in midair.

Sasuke remained expressionless.

Ino refused to back down.

Cangyue reached between them with his chopsticks, took the last piece of meat, and put it in his own bowl.

"If you want some, say so earlier next time."

The tips of Ino's ears reddened slightly.

"Who said there would be a next time?"

Sasuke silently looked away.

Cangyue didn't reply. He lifted his bowl and ate the last piece of meat.

There was no point saying much to people who refused to admit what they wanted.

After the meal, Sasuke took the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen without being asked.

Seeing this, Ino felt too embarrassed to remain seated and followed him in to help wash up.

Cangyue leaned against the doorway, watching them divide up the chores, and suddenly felt that cooking this meal had been well worth it.

Not only had he gained two spectators, he didn't even have to wash the dishes himself.

Once the kitchen was clean, Cangyue turned and headed for the backyard.

Sasuke immediately followed him out.

He hadn't forgotten his real reason for coming here.

Ino hesitated for a moment, then followed as well.

Cangyue stopped beneath the veranda, took a strip of black cloth from a cabinet, and tossed it to Sasuke.

Sasuke caught it instinctively.

"Since you're here, I'll give you a few pointers."

Sasuke's expression changed.

"I didn't come here to become your student."

Cangyue had already walked down the steps.

"I never said I'd take you on."

Sasuke had no comeback.

He glanced at the black cloth in his hand, then followed him into the backyard anyway.

Cangyue stopped beside the newly purchased weapon rack and flicked his toe upward.

A Training Wooden Sword sprang up from the ground and flew toward Sasuke.

Sasuke reached out and caught it.

"Cover them."

He frowned.

"My eyes?"

Cangyue offered no explanation. He simply snapped a branch off a tree beside the path and casually trimmed away the extra twigs and leaves.

Sasuke looked at the black cloth in his hand.

The Uchiha's greatest power came from their eyes.

To him, practicing with a sword while blindfolded was practically putting the cart before the horse.

But he had seen Naruto's transformation with his own eyes today.

And he was even less willing to leave without figuring anything out.

Sasuke snorted and tied the black cloth over his eyes.

His vision went completely dark.

Standing beneath the veranda, Ino gradually lost her relaxed expression.

She had thought Cangyue would teach Sasuke some form of swordsmanship, or show him a special way to train his chakra, as he had with Naruto.

Instead, Cangyue hadn't taught him anything.

He had first taken away the thing Sasuke relied on most.

His sight.

Sasuke took a step back, gripped the sword with both hands, and assumed an attacking stance.

"Today's training is about getting used to fighting without your eyes."

"There's also a grand prize. Touch me once, and I'll lend you the Flame Sword to play with for a month."

[Valor Points +30]

That cocky?

But the Flame Sword...

I really want it.

"Take this!"