"Satchan!" The yell broke through the cloud that had made Satsuki completely unresponsive to the outside world. A flash of golden, spiky locks in motion had Satsuki suddenly aware that she was awake, and she blinked what sleep she could away. It wouldn't do to be vulnerable when she was in the same room as Naruko.
It never was a good idea to be vulnerable in the same room as Naruko. The girl had a sadistic streak and seemed to absolutely love teasing Satsuki when she couldn't defend herself.
"I was so worried! Seriously, what's with you disappearing during the night!? I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking that you could be out there, training and becoming stronger so you'd leave me and Sakura to bite your dust!" She ranted, pacing back and forth, throwing her arms around as she did.
Careful groping told Satsuki that she was in her bed. She'd only been in Naruko's bed once, and she wished never to repeat the experience. Regardless of that, she wondered how she'd gotten there, because the last thing she remembered was getting knocked unconscious by Hinata. The thought almost made her growl, and it definitely sent her to brood once again. Oh, how she wanted to find and strangle the Hyuuga…
…How she wanted to wipe that smug smirk off her face (had she been smirking? Satsuki couldn't tell, but she certainly hoped there was a smug smirk to wipe the floor with…), but… She couldn't deny that the Hyuuga had been correct. Because Satsuki was nothing if not an intelligent child, and she knew her own defects when they were pointed out.
She was not so arrogant as to deny the fact that she could possess flaws. Well, so long as someone she recognized as superior or equal was the one to point them out, of course. No need to listen to those who were beneath her, after all… Most of the time. Sometimes, truly insightful things came from her lesser peers, which she'd acknowledge when she realized their wisdom.
Which was usually never.
"…And then I made ramen but you just wouldn't come back and so I got worried and I kinda ate it all and then I had to make more but you didn't have any so I was forced to just go for the vegetable soup that was originally going to be the broth and so here's it!" Naruko said, with a bright and cheerful smile, as she handed Satsuki a medium sized bowl of steaming hot soup, recently heated.
Wow, the girl could really talk a mile a minute if she got going. Good thing Satsuki was used to tuning out the droning of people as intelligent as shoes back at the academy, otherwise she might have just gotten her brain rotted for her trouble. Regardless, the soup was, as usual of anything made by Naruko, absolutely excellent. She couldn't help but moan at the taste, as the blonde knew very well of Satsuki's love for tomatoes and had wasted little time in giving her a bigger share of them.
It was odd to see them in this kind of soup, but it didn't matter, as Satsuki found them delicious in any shape or form, though she hadn't been able to convince anyone to make Tomato Ice Cream for her…
At some point, Naruko had dragged her to the kitchen that also served as Satsuki's emergency study (because she never used the spice shelves and had thus stuck many of the books she'd used to further her training in the place of their intended occupants), sat her down and proceeded to eat with her as if it weren't very nearly the next day already (which would give them four hours of sleep, five if they hurried up with their preparations that morning and skipped some things, of sleep), trying to engage Satsuki in her inane chatter.
And, much to her own surprise, Satsuki found herself smiling when Naruko, being distracted as she was, accidentally splashed her face with hot soup, having missed her mouth entirely. Satsuki had grabbed a napkin (when had the blonde gotten the time needed to set a proper table?) and used it to clean the blonde's face, causing her to blush intensely in embarrassment at being treated by a child.
It felt sweet to have revenge on the one most likely to humiliate her, Satsuki thought. It did help that she was also the cause of Satsuki's current feud with Hinata. The teams hadn't had much in the way of inter-team bonding, but it was still early in their careers. There would most likely be some sort of joint training or exercise. Konoha prided itself on the teamwork that allowed it to remain the strongest of the five great villages despite its shinobi being overall less impressive than the likes of Kumo or Iwa.
Save the rare prodigious nutcase, of course. Konoha spawned a few of those every generation, after all, and did so at a faster rate than any other village. A frown marred the pretty features of the last loyal Uchiha when she realized that she couldn't truly call herself one of those prodigies. Not while she was so far behind the curve…
…Not while even the shy, gentle, kind and absolutely insane Hyuuga Heiress could still defeat her through such simple tricks. He would have seen past them. He would have subverted her tricks. He would never have been caught and defeated by anyone his age.
"Hey! You're spacing out!" Naruko called, looking slightly annoyed. She sighed, then. "You must be tired… I would've let you sleep, but then you would've had to go without. Sakura-chan said that's a big no-no, and she's gotta regulate her diet really carefully. I don't see the point, really, I eat whatever I want whenever I want and I'm just fine!"
Satsuki wanted to point out that Naruko was a freak of nature. Then again, Naruko also grew the most delicious vegetables in the world, according to Satsuki's humble opinion anyway, and ate plenty of them. While she had a deficiency in the meat department whenever she chose to eat alone, she did not do so very often (because Satsuki would rather train than waste time learning how to cook, and thus Naruko had just picked up the slack and shared her lunch with Satsuki, who had quickly grown tired of ramen and demanded a much larger variety).
All in all, Naruko had apparently unconsciously and unknowingly stumbled upon a decent enough diet to accommodate her lifestyle. Then again, it certainly didn't add up to the blonde's boundless stamina and peerless chakra quantities. Satsuki ate very nearly the same (with the occasional skipped meal) and didn't have anywhere near as good stamina, or anywhere near as big chakra reserves (although, admittedly, those were more of a hindrance than a boon at their age).
They finished their meal and threw the bowls in the sink, where the rest of the utensils Naruko had used still lay, and shortly afterwards they worked as a well oiled machine, brought from experience more than anything else, to deal with them as quickly as possible. It was funny that despite their horrible teamwork whenever anything ninja was involved, they synchronized pretty well when it came to food.
Of course, Satsuki never did seem to notice during those times that she had actually let Naruko take the lead and, following her cue, she was much more efficient in the boring task of washing the dishes. Plus, everything was always better when you had someone to share the misery with. Like they say, misery loves company.
It didn't take long for Satsuki to kick Naruko out of her house, almost physically pushing her all the way to the door that connected her apartment to the hallway that lead to Naruko's own, not too far away, but…
That stupid pout. Too stupidly adorable. It had made Satsuki sigh, declare how annoyed she was with the arrangement, and telling Naruko that yes, she could sleep in her bed again.
Not that she could blame the blonde for wanting to get as far away from that fiendishly evil mattress she owned…
Regret came instantly when Naruko proved that her boundless energy was still in effect, moving in bed so much that it annoyed the Uchiha, but when the blonde had settled (annoyingly close and in too much contact for Satsuki to be comfortable at all), she had begun to hum a soothing melody, doing so in such a soft way that Satsuki found herself without much in the way of objections.
And so, swayed by the gentle, soothing melody, Satsuki drifted off to sleep, returning to the land of dreams.
Once again, without her knowledge, she'd find her dreams free of nightmares, the smile on her face being the only display of such. Naruko then pulled the Uchiha girl closer to herself, watching the dark haired girl as she moved in such a way that it allowed her to increase the amount of physical contact, as well as turn around so they were face to face.
Satsuki's face scrunched up, as if she were feeling distressed.
"I'll make the bad dreams go away, Satchan…"
The blonde placed her lips softly against the raven haired girl's forehead, murmuring a few undecipherable words that sounded soothing. Any sign of distress cleared from Satsuki's face as she once again resumed her sweet dreams.
Naruko smiled one final time and drifted off to sleep herself.