This is a Naruto and Food Wars Fan Fiction Only.
Other Franchises will be included.
After a month of them teaching her to be more confident and learning to improve her cooking skills, she became much more confident and she was making great progress in developing her own recipes. She was very happy to have Soma as her friend and he was a constant source of encouragement, without realizing that she had started to develop a crush on the young man.
As the month came to an end they finally were able to return home where they would start to open their restaurant and cook food for their many regular customers and maybe even some that these regulars wanted to have their friends taste the food they like so much. After they finally made it home it took another month before Soma's mother and sister returned back home, in which Soma had developed a few new recipes, several that he wrote on his palate cleanser menu, these were things that would be considered disgusting, but much like Joichiro, they used these recipes to cleanse their tastebuds and allow them not to be influenced by the taste of food they ate allowing a much more clear taste of the dish they were preparing.
Rindo couldn't stop telling her father and brother about the many amazing things she found in her travels with her mother, some were amazing but some were quite terrifying. They quickly began to work together to cook and serve food for all those that came to their little restaurant, which in the small shopping street had become quite the loved and preferred place to get meals, but all sort of people, students coming home, people getting off work, dating couples and even a few elderly couples who now time to spend with each other.
The place was not one of these fancy five-star restaurants it was quaint and had a feel of being homey, the one thing that people who ate there could agree on is that the food was made by people who actually cared about their customers and wanted to enjoy a tasty and healthy meal. It also had one form of entertainment, the children and the parents would sometimes challenge each other to food wars, which were competitions of who could outdo each other when it comes to cooking.
The format was simple, two people, either one of the parents or even the brother and sister, they were times when they even made food wars against each other, and the battle would be for the two participating to make a dish using a randomly selected ingredient, no matter what the ingredient had to be present in their dishes. So they often had some of their regular customers act as judges and vote on who made the best dish.
After a year they decided that it was time for them to go on another trip. Tamako once again took her daughter with her on her chefs without borders work to educate and cultivate healthy eating practices in needy countries. So many nations and so many people needed help, so they would go on another trip, to Rindo this means she got to learn more cooking techniques and traditions from other countries, to experience and taste ingredients that were unknown to her, a true culinary adventure."
Soma had to go with his father to help him with yet another favor he was doing for people that he met during his old academy days, this time it was the headmaster of the school, it seems one of his granddaughters was born with an extremely rare sense of taste, and very few foods could satisfy her, so much so that she started to try and learn to cook for herself.
This party was going to be held in the home of the headmaster, and Joichiro told him that her family as a whole was involved in and had a say in everything that is part of the culinary world, so he asked his son to try and be nice to them. He was always nice but Joichiro had a reason why he said that, he still remembered his fellow council member, and he was the father of the girl whose birthday they would be cooking for, but the man was not the easiest person to get along with, and the way he treats his daughter is liable to piss of Soma so bad that he might want to get physical with him and beat him up.
As they both left for the place where the party was going to take place Joichiro told Soma about Erina and that she was born with an amazing skill, one that could be called a superhuman sense of taste, that could detect any imperfections in any food with a single taste, this made Soma realize that this could be considered both a curse and a blessing, it was a double edge sword if anything else.
The skill was called by some God tongue or God's palate by some other people, if a person focused too much on the imperfections of everything they taste this would eventually cause them to feel that everything they eat is disgusting and would kill any enjoyment that could be felt from both eating and cooking making the act that should bring joy nothing more than a chore. He also knew that calling the skill something kin to having divine levels of skill would and could inflate the ego of the person, making them blind to the fact that they do not understand the proper use of that skill.
As they arrived at the main home of the Nakiri family, Soma and Joichiro were welcomed by the headmaster of the very same academy where Joichiro and Tamako both graduated, he was happy to see Joichiro and the only thing Joichiro could ask is where is the kitchen since he and Soma needed to get started cooking the food for the party, the elder guided them towards the kitchen while giving them a grand tour of the extravagant home.
Both Soma and Joichiro once in the kitchen began to work together to make all the food for the party, Joichiro would prepare and cook the main dishes, while Soma would focus on the desserts. The people that worked in the kitchen were amazed at seeing how both cooks were working in perfect harmony with each other, when one was tasting and improving the dish of one, the other continued to work on the dish that person was working on. It didn't take long for the main dishes for the party to be finished and Soma was the one who finished baking the birthday cake.
As the food was done they decided to go up and mingle with the people attending the birthday party, they gave the person who was receiving the gifts the present that they brought, and Soma noticed that the birthday girl was talking with two other girls, who seem to be childhood friends of hers. He quickly went over to introduce himself to her and her friends. He only could tell it was her thanks to a picture his father took with her a couple of years before this day.
"Hello, my name is Soma Uzumaki, mind if I ask you three lovely ladies your names?" One said that she was Erina Nakiri, the girl next to her was Hisako Arato, and the girl next to Erina was Ikumi Mito, they had all known each other since elementary school. Ikumi asked him how did he get to be invited to the party, to which he told her that he is the apprentice of Yoichiro Saiba, and as such, he came to help him prepare the food for the party.
They were shocked and amazed that Joichiro who was so famous had actually taken an apprentice, Erina most of all, if there was one book that she loved more than any other it was a cooking instruction and recipe book that was written by the same Joichiro this boy had said was basically his master. Erina immediately asked Soma how did he become his apprentice to which he simply said that Joichiro was close with his father, Minato Namikaze, and his mother Kushina Uzumaki.
As people ate the food they were amazed at how wonderful it tasted, in fact, Erina actually complimented him for the way his food tasted, especially the birthday cake, Upon hearing her say that Joichiro couldn't help but laugh as he told her that he wasn't the one that baked the cake at all, it was Soma the one that made that cake. Erina was both angry and frustrated that the man whom she idolized would try and give the credit for the cake to his so-called apprentice.
She immediately asked Soma if he in fact baked the cake, to which he told her that in fact, he did, but Joichiro had actually helped taste test the batter and frosting, so technically it was a team effort. She was now looking at him with a glare and immediately challenged him to a food war, cause she was not going to stand there and let him claim he had the same talents as Joichiro to be able to match and compliment his cooking skills.
Three employees were chosen to be the judges, and they were promised that they would not suffer any negative consequences if they make a fair judgment on the food war, the reason they picked three employees is simple, they couldn't pick anyone else because they might be biased or be afraid that they might suffer if they don't immediately say that Erina won.
The good war was that both of them had to prepare a dish with the main ingredient, and whoever received the most votes from the judges won, however it was also a tradition of the food wars that the two people in a food war would bet something of equal value if Soma wins she had to accept the fact that her god tongue is just a tool, no different than a chef's knife and if he lost he would admit that he was wrong. For sake of time and ease, her grandfather told them to make an omelet, and for Erina, in order for the food war to be fair she couldn't use her skill.
She was not happy to hear this, but the dish her grandfather chose was not that difficult at all, it was honestly something common people would eat, without realizing that an omelet could be both common and amazing depending on the person who cooked it. As soon as they finished preparing the food, each took turns presenting the food to the judges, Erina was not happy when the judges said that it was good and only had a small bite of it. They literally just took a small taste test and they said it was just good.
The next person to present his dish was Soma, and he placed the dish in front of the judges, whose mouths began to water, and as soon as they had a small taste of it, they began to eat the omelet with sheer joy and enjoyment clearly seen on their faces, while they only had a small taste of Erina's, they ate the one that Soma made with gusto, and two of them asked if they could have another. Erina couldn't believe as Soma was declared the winner of the food war, much to the shock of the people watching the food war.
"Erina you are focused too much on your unique skill, you should focus more on improving your cooking skills and have someone else taste test your food. Once you improve your cooking skills, you can then use your god tongue to improve your recipes, and thus this will help you become a better cook." Joichiro could only nod in agreement as Soma told her this, and Joichiro told her that this was a gift for her, but not to worry, they actually brought a gift Soma bought for her and it was with the rest of her birthday gifts.
She realized that focusing solely on her God tongue skill was a major mistake as it was missing something so critical, it made her realize that if she only had her god tongue skill what would she be if she ever was in a situation where she couldn't use it. Made her think of the question of how good would her cooking skills be without relying so much on that skill. Seeing this was a major wake-up call, and she also realized this was the reason why her grandfather and father had argued so much about her training.
Her father's training of her had been brutal, almost trying to either perfect or master her skill after this experience she realized how wrong her father was and how she should improve, to master her cooking skills and the recipe, and only when that is done she would use her god tongue to perfect the recipe.
As the party finally got to the presents she opened hers and realized that it was a new edition of the cooking book she loved so much that Jochiro and his wife both worked on, but also a teddy bear with her name that could be seen on the bottom of one of the lower paws, to which both her friends said that they wished that they could have a gift like that, to which Joichiro told them that they did, they sent a teddy bear much like Erina's but in they had the name of the person who owns it on the same paw as the one that Erina got.
As soon as the party was over Erina's friends apparently wanted to introduce her to Joichiro and Soma their parents, it was a little weird considering they never even went on a date with Soma to suddenly want them to meet their parents, alright, kidding aside they probably wanted to talk to them about the amazing dishes they made for the party. Ikumi apparently got her teddy bear right where the gifts were and she was hugging that teddy bear close to her body.
Hisako actually didn't have hers her mother seemed to like it so much that she was the one that was hugging the teddy bear, and Hisako was complaining that it was her teddy bear and her mother can go and get one of her own, to which her mother pouted and said she could have it later but the teddy bear was so cute,
As Soma heard this he saw that Ikumi's father was about to take the teddy bear from his daughter and quicker than anyone could anticipate or expect he managed to get the teddy bear away from him as he clearly had intended to rip the teddy bear in half as Ikumi was seen crying. Soma was more than a little upset at this, seeing her father treat her this way. "Sir, mind telling me why did you try to rip this teddy bear which I gave to your daughter in half?" He screamed that only the strong may inherit the Mito Family Meat Empire and that by having this teddy bear she would become weak.
Soma explained to him that she can still be strong and skilled while still being able to enjoy her childhood and even learn to use that to appeal to others and thus help her in her future food wars and negotiations. So let her be cute and adore her teddy bear allowing her to be in touch with her emotions, and even when that happens she could be trained to be a great chef.
When he heard this he immediately flipped off and tried to hit Soma, but as soon as he was ready to strike, Joichiro appeared in a flash and held the man's hand, "I wouldn't suggest hitting him, he is my apprentice but even if you don't care about that, look around, every single person here would do everything they can to ruin your company, and that is not even mentioning that you are doing this during the birthday party that the most powerful man in the culinary world organized for his granddaughter, and the one that you want to hit is the person who was simply trying to stop you from abusing your own child, who happens to be the friend of the birthday girl."
That made the man realize that by trying to hit him for trying to tell him how he should raise his own daughter, he was practically begging for someone to ruin his entire business, with the sheer number of people attending the party and telling people of how he hit a kid for standing up for a girl if these people simply shared this with every person they know, and how quickly this would spread through word of mouth, this was almost like he was trying to commit business suicide.
"Sorry, it's just that what he told me made me feel question how I raise my own kid like he was completely minimized or disregarding my years of personal experience and authority. It made me so angry that I reacted with the first thing that came to my head, I really should have calmed down and thought things through before I did anything. I am sorry, please forgive me for almost trying to hit your apprentice."
Soma told him that it was alright, but he was only trying to get him to see that many women in the world actually love and adore cute things, but when they really need to they are some of the toughest women in the world. "You can say many things, but my mom is one of the sweetest women I know, she is a truly caring and compassionate person, but if I or my sister are threatened, and she was here, she could break a bone in a person's arm like it was nothing, we are talking about a lady who saw that her favorite spatula rolled behind a kitchen counter and she picked it up with one hand and recovered her spatula."
The man asked him if what he said is true, to which Joichiro laughed and said that this lady could knock out an entire ring of professional wrestlers if she wanted to, so yes Kushina Uzumaki is a very nice lady, but she is certainly not a lady you want to mess with. Ikumi was happy that she got her bear back and she was smiling as she saw Soma stand up for her. As the loving grandfather of Erina finally came to see what the entire situation was he was quickly told what happened by one of the security people that were pretending to be people attending the party.
"So Soma here stopped you from damaging the plush toy that he gave your daughter and try to explain to you that your actions were both misguided and unnecessary since you could still accomplish what you want without the need for violence and abuse, is that right? Well how about this for a reason why you will never hurt Ikumi like this again, if I ever hear that you pulled this kind of crap again, mark my words, I will use my power and influence to make sure nobody buys your meat, and every single restaurant and grocery store will boycott your company. How is that for an incentive?"
The man knew that he wasn't kidding, he had enough power and influence that he could ruin any business in the food industry with a snap of his fingers, this was not something anyone would want to mess with, and those that do, end up worse than beggars on the street asking for spare change.
Now that was taken care of Soma had to deal with the other problem which was apparently meeting Hisako's mom who was for some strange reason still hugging her daughter's teddy bear. If Soma didn't know any better she was an Inuzuka who was somehow attracted to the scent and was trying to figure out who it was from. Soma seeing that the mother would not give back the teddy bear used his creation of all things skill to make a new teddy bear with the mother's name written on the same paw, as he walked over to her he asked if she would give back the teddy bear to her daughter if she had one for her own, and sure enough, she said yes.
Soma walked up to her and he handed her the teddy bear which he just made, it was different than her daughter's it was a lion-themed teddy bear and it had a sunflower motif it was the first thing he could think of when trying to think what her teddy bear should look like, and this image of an old anime came to mind. He handed her the teddy bear and she simply gave back the teddy bear that she was holding before to her daughter and grabbed the new one while simply saying thank you, to Soma over and over again.
With that situation diffused the party finally came to an end and all the people attending finally left, for two months however Erina and her friends asked if they could get some cooking lessons from Joichiro, and of course, Soma had to help him. Now the thing is he didn't mind as long as he got to see people smiling as they enjoyed their food.
Nine years have gone by and Soma's cooking skills have improved greatly, to the point that he is now a regular third cook at the restaurant, but as he was picking up the dishes a lady asked to see the owner of the establishment, so Soma asked her why she wanted to meet with his father? She then made a big mistake and told him that this run-down restaurant was a waste of space and that she wanted to speak to the owner of the place to buy it, they planned to make a new much better restaurant that would make her a ton of money.
"So you dare called this place run-down, well I have to tell you that you are wrong, we can make anything a customer wants, no matter how difficult the dish is, and I am willing to stake the reputation of this place on it." She smiled that she would accept this challenge and if the next time he couldn't make exactly what she wanted he would make sure that his father sold her the restaurant but at cheaper than market price. Soma asked her what would happen if she lost, it would only be fair if she had something to lose. She flat out told Soma that if she lost she would accept any request his father made of her.
As the restaurant closed for the day she promised they would have their little contest the next day and she left with the last customer, little did Soma know that during the night she sent some of her friends whom she used as bodyguards sometimes to go into the restaurant and ruin all the food in the restaurant freezer and fridge, making sure that he would have none of the ingredients that Soma would need to make the dish that she wanted, ridding this bet in her favor.
These men went even further by smearing and defacing the sign of the shop and even rubbing dirt and grim on the exterior. Soma woke up early and went to buy some ingredients for his meals for the day, nothing major, some potatoes, some bacon, some vegetables, and a little bit of butter and cheese, he was planning to make stuffed baked potatoes for his lunch after all.
When he saw what they did to the restaurant he was beyond angry, he knew that this was done by her to discredit and ruin the reputation of the restaurant trying to force the market value of the place even lower, "So you ready to make good on your bet, I want a nice meaty dish, something that makes my mouth water, well can you make good on that or are you going to give up and just give me this dump?"
Soma simply walked in and told her and her friends to follow that he would have her order ready soon, she made the mistake of asking one of the guys how is he able to cook anything if they had ruined all the ingredients he could use, the guy said the kid must be bluffing, there is no way that he could cook anything without ingredients. He used the potatoes to cut them into cubes and cooked them with spices, and once that was done he wrapped the potatoes in bacon, tied them up into nice bundles, and placed spices on them, to place them inside the oven to till the bacon was cooked nice and juicy.
"Look kid there is no way that you can cook anything decent in this dump, I have eaten in five-star restaurants there is no way your crappy dump of a place can cook anything that satisfies me." He ignored her words and concentrated on his cooking, finally the dish was done and he finally took off his bandana and much like his mother wrapped it around his arm.
He walked over with the plate and told her that her order was ready, to which she couldn't help herself the smell coming from the dish was making her mouth water, but she couldn't let this kid win, so she tried to tell him that she asked for a meaty dish, there is no way that this dish was going to satisfy her since she actually had food cooked with top grade meat ingredients. Soma told her to taste and see if it for herself, to which she cut a small piece of it and the minute she ate it, she found it delicious beyond words but she had to pretend that this dish was crap or her chance to buy the restaurant would go up in smoke.
She quickly told Soma that the dish much like the restaurant was disgusting, to which he sighed and quickly picked up the dish as she was going to take another bite, "Well since this is not to your liking, I guess I need to throw it away." When she heard that was when she began to cry and told him to let her eat more of it, she had to eat more of that dish, and as he placed the dish on the counter and she looked at him, she asked him how could he could something like this?
"Your goons did a really good job in wrecking our ingredients, but I had gone out early to buy things I would need for my meals for the day, so I had these ingredients with me when we met outside my family restaurant, one day I was cooking some mash potatoes and I let a piece of cooked bacon near the mash potatoes for too long, and wouldn't you know it, the mash potatoes picked up the flavor of the bacon, this entire recipe came out from one time I failed to cook a dish, so don't worry I have more than enough for you and these men. Sit down and I hope you enjoy your meal."