This one took a long, long time.
Here's Chapter 9!
Chapter 9 – Day 3 (Part I): Cooking 101!
6 o'clock in the morning…
"Today," Naruto posed, legs spread out, his left hand open against his right fist.
"Is the day," Kushina made the same gestures, only mirrored.
"THAT MINATO," they connected their index fingers from both hands to the other's, "WILL BE RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL!"
Even Goten and Trunks will be proud.
"Well, are we going to pick Minato-chan first, or breakfast?" Naruto asked, the question addressed to both to himself and to his mom.
And the answer is…
"Breakfast," Naruto declared and headed for the kitchen.
"Minato," Kushina announced and headed for the cabinet (where Naruto temporarily put hers and Minato's clothes).
"EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" both stomped back to the other.
"BUT I'M HUNGRY! I NEED BREAKFAST-TTEBAYO!" Naruto wailed.
"HOW SELFISH, ANATA! WE PICK UP MINATO FIRST, THEN WE'LL EAT-TTEBANE!" Kushina blared, followed by a knuckle to his head.
"IIIITTEEEEE!"
Naruto's apartment had never been so lively.
Minato blinked and gaped, "Naruto-nii, what happened to you?"
Well, Naruto looked like he came from the battlefield. He had a black eye, and a huge swollen bump in the head. His stomach gurgled.
"Well…" Naruto tried to explain, but Minato got it when Kushina huffed.
Mattaku, Kushina.
"Kushina…" Minato sighed.
"Well, he was selfish and wanted to eat breakfast before we pick you up, and I reasoned that we could just eat together after we get you out here," Kushina said, arms crossed.
"Reasoned"?
"Reasoned," Naruto echoed Minato's thoughts. Another gurgle came from his tummy as he walked over to the window and opened it a bit.
Kushina ignored him, "Then, here's your clothes, Minato," giving him the navy blue hoodie with two yellow stripes down the right sleeve and pants he had picked out on their first day in Naruto's time.
"Thank you," he said as he jumped off the bed and headed for the small bathroom.
While he was changing, he heard someone knock on the door to his room.
Naruto said, "Come in!"
Minato counted the people that filed in, by their footsteps.
1… 2… 2 people.
Naruto, who didn't move from his postion, welcomed the guests, "Tsunade-baa-chan! Sakura-chan!"
They walked in, Tsunade in front and Sakura closing the door.
"I'm here to check on Minato before he leaves. To make sure he's really fine," Tsunade explained.
Minato came out of the bathroom, "Ohaio, Tsunade-sama."
"Ohaio, Minato. Sit on the bed please."
He did as he was told, then Tsunade ran her palms all over his torso and his legs, which had the most damage when he was brought into the Hospital, then took a look at his hands.
Sakura observed the process.
Training for her, I guess.
"Well, he's okay alright," Tsunade straightened up, "Ah, and I'd like to inform you that the jutsu preparation is in full swing now. The scroll's been found, and the specialists are reviewing how to execute it."
Oh no… Naruto sulked, but he tried his best not to show it.
"Yay!" Kushina exclaimed, and held Minato's hands, "We're close to coming back home!"
Minato smiled at her, "Yes!" then he turned to Tsunade, "Arigato gozaimasu, Tsunade-sama."
"No problem," Tsunade smiled.
The two chatted for a while, even dragging Sakura along in the conversation, engulfed in thoughts about getting back home.
"Ah, Naruto…" Tsunade saw his quietness, even at the good news.
Naruto put on a happy face as he faced her and said, "Yes?"
"You're…lonely?"
"No! What are you talking about, baa-chan? Of course, I'm—"
"Don't lie," Tsunade said, stunning Naruto, "I know you don't want them to go."
"Well," Naruto had to admit, then he turned to the window, "yes… but I know it's selfish. They don't belong here, they belong in their time. There are people there that care for them. People who worry about them."
"Perhaps even more than me," he ended in a whisper.
"Don't say that! There may be people who care for them back in their time," Tsunade glanced at the two, then returned her gaze at Naruto, "but you can never ever say that they care more than you do about them. I could see that."
His eyes widened at the faith Tsunade just expressed.
"So stop sulking there, you're wasting the time you're supposed to be spending with them. Understood?"
"Hai," he replied.
Thank you, Tsunade-baa-chan.
"Now we eat breakfast!" Kushina emphasized.
"All right, all right, ka—Kushina-chan, I get it-ttebayo!" Naruto whined, probably still shaken from the kunai stunt she pulled off on him.
The trio is now walking home, through the already busy streets. Kushina and Minato walked in front, while Naruto was a few steps behind.
"Kushina, please stop…" Minato pleaded.
"Yeah, yeah, listen to him!" Naruto went on.
Hmph.
"Hai, hai."
Kushina then flipped the pages of her mental cookbooks, looking for a good dish to cook once they reach the apartment.
Looks like I'm going to have difficulty making him eat vegetables. she thought as she shot a glance at Naruto.
They finally reached home after a good 30 minutes of swerving through the crowds.
It's really crowded now… it's only 5 days to Christmas in this time after all…
Upon entering, Kushina washed her hands at the sink, and took out the ingredients for their breakfast from the fridge.
"Oh, oh, I want to help you!" Naruto presented himself, immediately washing his hands as well.
"Okay, then. You're going to learn how to cook, mister. So you could cook for yourself when we're gone."
"…when we're gone," huh?
Naruto kept silent and buried his head in the fridge, out of sight of the two, pretending to rummage around for more ingredients to add to the breakfast.
"What are you even doing there? The ingredients are all here Naruto-nii," Kushina said.
"Hai, hai," he said as he closed the refrigerator door.
When he did, he saw that Minato was also preparing himself to help in cooking.
"Eh, to-Minato-chan, your hands aren't completely okay yet, right?"
"Well… yeah… but it's not like my hands have gone completely useless, Naruto-nii," Minato laughed.
"Besides, it will be good… uh… therapy, was it… for his hands if he uses them anyway," Kushina added, "And come on here now, or lunch and dinner will be delayed as well."
"EEEEHHHH?!"
Fortunately, the time was spent productively. Kushina taught Naruto majority of the cooking-know-how and a few dishes (they we're preparing breakfast after all, such dishes are few and require even less ingredients) while Minato imparted kitchen ideas and tricks of his own.
By the time breakfast is ready, Naruto knows how to cook basic dishes, like sunny-side ups and rice (Kushina had exclaimed, "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DO THOSE?!" while Minato slapped a hand on his forehead and sighed.) and a few relatively complicated ones, like simple bentos and soups, and it became so that the food prepared was enough for the rest of the day.
"We'll just heat these later, I guess," Kushina said, putting the non-breakfast food in the fridge, "Come on, let's eat!"
Left on the table are the buttered toasts and the corn soup with egg, both still steaming.
The three sat around the table.
"Itadakimasu!"
I wonder what more I could learn from kaa-chan and tou-chan? Hm… Naruto thought while munching on his toast dipped in corn soup.
"It suddenly rained this hard," Minato said.
It's as if the sky just allowed us to get home before it poured out its contents.
After eating breakfast, the three are now hanging out in Naruto's bedroom, since they can't go out in the heavy rain and strong gusts of wind that suddenly fell on the village. Minato is tucked in bed since Kushina insisted that he rest some more. He protested and said, "Tsunade-sama said I'm okay already!" but that was met with a glare from her and then the discussion is over.
Haha. When can I ever win in an argument with her?
"Must be a storm," Naruto said, getting up from the bed and turning on the television sitting on the corner of his room, "Let's see…"
Sure enough the reporters mentioned a storm, not really a huge one, but it's going to be awhile before it weakens and disappears as it goes inland on the Land of Fire.
"There you go, looks like we're stuck here all day," Naruto said.
He was about to flip the channels when electricity went out.
"AAWWW! And the funny TV show was just coming up too!" Naruto whined.
He unplugged the TV and turned to the two. Kushina seems to have found the jutsu scrolls he had shove in the many boxes under his bed.
"Oh wow, these are amazing!" Kushina said.
"Let me see," Minato said, so Kushina handed the scroll he was holding, "These are… Fuuton technique exercises."
"Ah, well, those are from Asuma-sensei. He was a Fuuton user, so I asked him for advice when I was training for new Fuuton techniques."
"These are sooooo cool! Can you teach me these things tomorrow, when the rain stops? Pleeeeeeeaaasssseeeeeeeeee?!" Kushina placed her hands together, and attempted to imitate Minato's puppy-eyes.
Oh Kushina. Minato sighed.
"Kushina, Fuuton techniques are not for everyone you know. I've read about it in scrolls in the Library. I didn't find much about Nature Transformation in the scrolls allowed to me, given my rank, but one of it says you need to have an 'affinity' for it," he said.
"Eh? An 'affinity'? What's that?" Kushina asked, tilting her head to the side.
Naruto returned to the bed and sat by Minato's feet.
He tried to explain, "Ah how do I put this… Kakashi-sensei said that our chakra 'naturally leans toward a certain element' with the five elements being Hi, Kaze, Kaminari, Tsuchi and Mizu. For example, I found out I have an affinity for Kaze, so I can easily use Fuuton techniques."
"So, it's about compatibility, right?" Kushina said.
"Yeah, you could say that I guess."
"Ah, Naruto-nii, how would I know what element I have an affinity for?" Minato asked.
"Yes, yes, I want to know too!" Kushina excitedly pushed on.
"Well, I found out with the use of a special paper, which Kakashi-sensei told me to hold and pass my chakra through—Maa, why don't we leave that for tomorrow?" Naruto scratched his head with both hands.
"I'm sure to—Minato-chan here is itching for training," he continued with a sly grin as he watched him from the corner of his eye.
Right… I almost forgot…
"Omae, don't forget you promised we'll fight some other time. How does the day when the rain stops sound?" Minato put on the same face.
It became such that their glares electrified the air between them (I'm referring to the 'rival' kind of electricity here, not the 'crush' or 'love' kind), you could almost see sparks fly (again…).
Naruto was the first to turn away.
He directed his sight toward the rain-stricken window, "But, since there's no electricity today, and it doesn't like the rain will stop anytime soon, it's a good time… TO SLEEP—"
"YOU JUST WOKE UP, YOU LAZY MAN-TTEBANE!"
With her red hair flying about her, Kushina put her hands on her hips after yet another brutal strike on Naruto's head.
This again…sigh. I can't believe how these two could not get along for long, yet they're so alike! They like ramen, they're short-tempered, they don't back from a challenge… Minato thought.
"ITTE! But ka—Kushina-chan, we have nothing to do, it's raining outside, it's good time to… zzzzzzzz," Naruto drifted off to sleep, tucked in the futon.
"WHEN DID YOU EVEN SPREAD OUT THAT FUTON-TTEBANE?!"
Ooooh! That was some good sleep—eh?
Naruto found he couldn't get up. The reason became clear the moment he opened his eyes.
To his left was Kushina, who had her right arm hugged around his torso. Even Minato, who he had allowed to sleep on the bed so he'll become more comfortable, who lay by his right, had his left arm slung over his body as well. Both were sleeping soundly, even as the rain continued to lash outside. They looked exactly like…
Kazoku. Family.
Ryoushin. Parents
This is what 'family' and 'parents' feel like, right?
If only this moment would last forever…
Naruto let his tears roll down his cheeks and cried silently, because he didn't want to wake his dad and his mom. He was like that for a while, with "If only"s running through his head, and carving this feeling in his memory.
Thank you. Thank you!
"Oh," Naruto whispered.
He got up from the futon carefully, removing their arms from his body and tucking them in the blanket. He took a look at his alarm clock.
It's almost lunch, huh. It's still raining…
After all his years living in his apartment, you'd think he'd know everything about it, every panel, every hinge (well, he knows almost every nook and cranny of Konoha from his prankster days, shame on him if he doesn't know the nooks and crannies of his own house). But when he opened the door, he was wishing, Please don't creak, PLEASE DON'T CREAK! and again when he closed it.
Phew.
He tiptoed to the kitchen.
Wiping away the tears that remained in his eyes, with a smile he said to himself, "Yosh, let's get started."
"Kushina-chan, Minato-chan, come on, wake up! Lunch is ready!"
"Hmm…" Kushina rubbed her eyes as she rose from the futon.
Alongside her, Minato is doing the same.
"Come on, come on!" Naruto took the both of them by their wrists and dragged them out of the room.
"W-wait Naruto-nii, we just woke up, geez," Kushina said.
"What's with the hurry, Naruto-nii?" Minato added.
"I told you right? It's lunch already, the food's gonna get cold—there!"
"Oh!" was all Kushina could say.
Naruto had cooked up their lunch on his own. Well, not completely. He used the food they cooked earlier and turned them into something else. For example, there was one dish that was made from the fried fish, flaked and beaten with eggs, then used as a coating for the vegetable stems.
I hope they like it.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's eat!" he pushed the two to the table.
While they were sitting down, Naruto said, "Sorry if I messed with the normal looking food earlier, and I just experimented, so if you find burned parts in the food, well…sorry. Haha."
"You tried, Naruto-nii, that's what matters," Minato smiled.
"This food's not gonna taste itself, right? Itadakimasu-ttebane!"
It becomes really clear where Naruto comes from.
In unison, the boys followed with, "Itadakimasu!"
After munching on the food, the judges' verdict is…
"Oh, this isn't so bad," Minato agreed.
"Hm, hm! It's actually good—oh, there's a burnt part here," Kushina said.
"You didn't have to point that out, ka—Kushina-chan-ttebayo!"
"But you need to know where you got it wrong, so you can improve it in the future—this one's too salty," she continued, obviously ignoring Naruto's remark.
"MOU!" Naruto scratched his head with both hands.
His parents laughed heartily at his impatience.
He wanted to say "It's not funny," but stopped himself and just joined in laughter and savored every moment of it.
Kazoku. Ryoushin.
There you go!
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Reviews appreciated!
