As soon as Naruto was considerably comfortable around Sasuke, the first thing he asked was if he could use Sasuke's cellar. It was perfect; well-maintained, dry, had plenty of empty space and there was only a small window permitting the sunlight filter through.

"And you want to use my cellar for what?" Sasuke asked as he helped Naruto to unload some clay pots.

"I want to make some takuan!" Naruto replied excitedly. "You know I live in an apartment, so I can't do it unless I have somewhere to store it."

"I suspect that it's a Japanese dish given the name, but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's like…pickle is the english word? I'm going to use Japanese radish, slice it and leave it with some other ingredients with some liquid and leave it till it'll acquire a better taste not to mention that it'll preserve for a very long time."

"Yeah, that's called pickling. We usually choose cucumber or mushrooms." Sasuke replied.

"Well, you remember in some Japanese dishes there's a bright yellow slice of vegetable that it's also crunchy?" When Sasuke nodded in recognition, Naruto added. "That's Takuan. It's been a while since I did that."

He brought a good number of white radishes, cutting off the leaves as he grabbed some other ingredients.

Sasuke observed in mild astonishment that the blond chef also brought a balance scale and measuring cups, putting the ingredients and staring in minutely detail. Afterwards, he blended all together in the pan.

"You never bothered to use those before, why are you using it now?" Sasuke wondered, pointing at the scales.

"Hm?" Naruto blinked as he continued mixing using a spoon. "That's because all I was cooking before, I already know by intuition how much I need to use. But Japanese pickling well…Japanese dishes over all, we like precision."

Not wanting to bother Naruto in his task, Sasuke walked around, idly glancing everywhere. Feeling a little curious, he poked one of the vegetables, noting. "Those radishes…look a little bit rubbery."

"That's 'cuz I left to dry on the sun about a week before. I wanted to try something new; I'm not sure if it's really going to work though. I'm taking advantage that it has a nice yellow color so it's looks vibrant with some western contemporary dishes but since they usually add rice vinegar, the flavor doesn't add up. So I'm testing adding sake, just putting a little less vinegar and sugar." Naruto explained, as he finished his concoction. He put the dried radishes in the pot, pouring the yellow liquid on it.

They both walked to Sasuke's cellar as Naruto chose a particular colder and darker spot, carefully mixing with an excited voice.

"Man, the last time I did Takuan was back when I was still living in Japan! I even had to carry those jars with me when I first arrived in America. If everything goes well here, I can try making other pickled vegetables."

"And why did you have to carry your own pot when you can buy one over here?" Sasuke asked bewildered.

Naruto patted on the rounded surface. "That's actually not the usual clay pot, it was made by a pottery master. I've been using it since I began my career as a chef, so it'll absorb some of the flavor inside and then enhance it afterwards. Every pot is for an specific dish, I even put some tags here see? It's not the one I usually use for Takuan since I used more sake than vinegar but I guess it'll do."

Sasuke approached, noting the nice smell. "So…it's inedible for now?"

"Well, you can eat but it still didn't soak up with the flavor so it doesn't taste great you know?" Naruto responded.

"But I can still eat it right." Sasuke nodded.

Naruto did a double-take when a pair of scissors magically appeared in Sasuke's hands. "Whoa, what?!" His boyfriend moved to cut a small slice, immediately popping to his mouth, ignorant to Naruto's protests. "Hey, hey!"

Sasuke hummed in appreciation. He really liked crunchy food. He shifted to slice another portion.

Naruto playfully slapped his hand. "That's enough you bastard."

Scrunching his nose, Sasuke harrumphed. "I just want to take one more bite."

"No!" Naruto laughed, lightly pinching his hand. "I told you it's not ready yet."

Sasuke tsked. "Alright, then when is this food going to be ready to be eaten?"

Naruto shrugged. "Oh, after one or two months."

"Months?!" Sasuke interjected, definitely surprised. Who knew that are type of dishes that would take this long to be done?

"Yeah, usually I would wait one month but since I used sake, I figured it'd be better if I leave some more to really soak in the flavor." Naruto noticed a stray pale hand slithering in the jar so he smacked it once again. "Hey, told you that you should wait."

"It tastes good enough, why should I wait?" Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto stared back with a raised eyebrow. Amused, he approached to rub their noses until his mouth delivered a small peck on Sasuke's pouty lip. "You know, I get the feeling that I've been spoiling you too much because whatever dish you'd want I'd cook it for you, and now you have no concept of self-control."

"I have a great sense of self-control, I don't know what you're talking about dumbass."

"Yeah, but you definitely have no restraint when food is involved. Well, you gotta be patient this time, because I have to set it aside for a whole month. Alcohol evaporates easier than water, and although the pottery master helped me out with this lid that has this rubbery surface to close it really tightly, I think it's still better if I reinforce it with plastic wrap. I'll just check after a month if it's going well afterwards."

"So you're not going to let me even have one bite before you close it for good?" Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows.

Naruto gazed back with mirth. "Oh fine, one last time then." He offered a radish in which Sasuke cut a sizeable portion and chomped, nodding and humming in approval.

Two days later, while Sasuke was checking his wine collection, he spotted the pickle jar lying innocently on the corner of his room. Curiosity peaking, he went to grab the plastic wrap, returning to swiftly open the lid, grabbing the radish and closing it at once. He went back to the kitchen just to try a thin slice, really, nothing criminal, he was just testing to see if there's really a difference in flavor after leaving for so long. He slowly munched to appreciate the crispy texture; the subtle sweet and sour tang combined with alcohol aroma.

Hm. It probably goes really well with that sake he received from his relatives. He better test it out.

Unfortunately days flew past by in rapid speed and before he knew it, Naruto declared once he arrived in his house.

"Hey Sasuke! I'm going to the cellar to check the Takuan ok?"

Uh oh, he wondered if there was still time to make a swift escape. Sasuke replied. "Ok, I think I forgot to buy some detergent so I'm going to the grocery store."

He grabbed the keys, patted Indra and Ashura's head (as Indra stared back with deadpan eyes), opened the door when─

"Sasuke!" The outrageous shout could be heard loud and clear from the cellar room.

The brunet stiffened his shoulders, closing the door. "…yeah?" Sighing, he went to check his boyfriend.

Naruto was still crouching, raising his head with a glower. "Did you eat the radishes?"

Seeing no point in lying anymore, Sasuke shrugged, avoiding staring his boyfriend back. "I ate one or two yeah."

Naruto turned on his smartphone's flashlight, showing the contents inside the pot. "You ate half of the jar Sasuke!"

Whoops. "I ate a little bit more I guess." When he met an incredulous stare coming from his blond boyfriend, Sasuke added. "I made sure I picked it up really quick and now that there aren't that many radishes, the flavor is probably stronger than usual right? So there won't be any reason for you to wait for one more month."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but he was still unable to get really angry over Sasuke. "Oh forget it, the sake flavor is probably too strong but I can try coming up with something else."

Inwardly sighing in relief, Sasuke quietly admitted. "It was really tasty."

"I bet, considering that you ate six whole radishes in the span of one month." Grinning, Naruto shook his head. "C'mon, help me out carrying this jar which probably shouldn't be too difficult since it's much lighter after you ate half of it."

"Hn."


AN: (wait am I making this fanfic turn into some weird cooking classes?)