Worrying About Hokage Matters on a Chunin's Paycheck

Kushina opened the lunch box with a cheerful grin, then sat in a chair with one hand propping up her chin and said happily,

"I heard this morning that you taught that bastard from the Shimura Clan a lesson, so I asked the Anbu uncle following me. After confirming you'd returned to the village, I brought you lunch."

"..."

"Looks like you get along pretty well with the Anbu."

After washing up, Chiyue walked out, glanced at the lunch box, sat down, grabbed a grilled chicken wing, and started eating.

Hatake Sakumo had suddenly come over last night, so Chiyue had taken out the cooked food he'd made along the way.

Who would have thought that white-haired guy could eat even more than he could? Chiyue hadn't even gotten full.

He was just feeling a little hungry now.

Chiyue ate with obvious enjoyment, and Kushina was delighted.

"How did you know I opened the door? I was clearly very careful."

With such a huge Nine-Tails inside you, how could you possibly go unnoticed?

White was practically about to jump out.

Besides, I was already awake.

Chiyue casually tossed the chicken bone onto the table. "Before you came, the young clan head of the Uchiha Clan knocked on my door. I got woken up by the noise, and I'd only just lain back down when I heard the door open."

"So that's what happened."

Kushina stuck out her little tongue sheepishly.

Grilled chicken wings, grilled drumsticks, grilled beef!

Chiyue had to admit that Kushina's lunch box was incredibly lavish.

More importantly, it somehow tasted almost exactly like the Akimichi Clan's grilled meat.

"This flavor feels familiar."

As he ate the beef, Chiyue asked curiously, "It tastes like the Akimichi Clan's grilled meat. Where did you get the recipe?"

"I bought it from the Hokage Uncle."

Kushina wrinkled her little nose, looking utterly pleased with herself.

"Those big fatties from the Akimichi Clan were awful. They refused to sell it no matter how much I offered. In the end, I went to the Hokage Uncle. After promising it would only be for my own use, I bought it for 100,000 ryo."

Chiyue: "..."

The Akimichi Clan members had probably cried themselves unconscious in the bathroom.

They were probably begging every god they knew that she wouldn't leak the secret recipe.

Chiyue gave Kushina full marks for that move.

It was impressive that she'd even thought of asking the Third Hokage to step in.

If it had been anyone else, they could forget about getting the Akimichi Clan's secret grilled meat recipe.

With the Third Hokage personally intervening, the Akimichi Clan had no choice but to hand it over.

All they could do was make Kushina write a guarantee that she would never leak it.

At the thought of those big fatties from the Akimichi Clan and their aggrieved little eyes, Chiyue couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Kushina was too talented.

Hurry up and praise me. I'm amazing, right?

Kushina kept dropping hints, but Chiyue didn't notice. He raised his head and looked toward the window.

Crack!

The window opened, and a blond-haired boy climbed in, his body still hanging from the window frame.

When he saw the two people in the living room staring at him, the smug smile on his face froze.

"Ahem! Well, I was afraid of disturbing you, so it was more convenient to come in this way."

Minato explained awkwardly.

"Minato, how can you climb through windows? That's so rude!!"

Kushina accused him first.

Minato was immediately dumbfounded.

Chiyue was speechless. Sneaking a locksmith over to open his door and having a spare key made wasn't any better than Minato climbing through a window.

"It smells so good!"

Minato, who had been about to make excuses for himself, suddenly sniffed the air. His eyes landed on the lunch box and couldn't move away.

It was the smell of grilled meat.

"Chiyue, you really know how to enjoy yourself!"

Minato condemned Chiyue's outrageous behavior while reaching for a drumstick.

Smack!!

"Gah!"

Minato jumped up while clutching his hand. The back of it had turned red at once. Kushina stood with her hands on her hips. "This is the breakfast I made for Chiyue. If you want some, make your own."

"Ah! Sister Mikoto, you're here?"

The aggrieved Minato suddenly rolled his eyes and cried out toward the doorway.

"Huh? Sister Mikoto?"

Kushina fell for it instantly and turned around instinctively.

But there was no Sister Mikoto. Minato snatched up the drumstick like lightning, ran aside, and began wolfing it down.

"You..."

Kushina, having been tricked, was so angry she wanted to hit someone.

Watching the two troublemakers fool around, Chiyue was more than happy to sit back and enjoy the show.

As for Minato's pleading looks?

Sorry, I didn't see a thing.

Just take your beating.

After Kushina left, Minato bared his teeth and held his face.

Kushina had punched him in the face. It hurt like hell, and tears were welling up in his eyes.

That girl really hit hard.

Mainly because Minato had tricked her, Kushina had hit him that hard.

As time passed, Kushina was beginning to show signs of developing in Tsunade's direction.

When words failed, settle it with a punch.

If one punch wasn't enough, throw another.

Chiyue was grateful that Tsunade hadn't taught Kushina the Supernatural Strength Technique yet. Otherwise, Kushina with superhuman strength...

Emmmmm.

Who knew how many people would suffer.

"You deserved it! Who told you to lie to her? Did you forget that Kushina hates being deceived more than anything?"

Chiyue laughed gleefully.

He laughed without a shred of sympathy.

"Who told you to keep all the food to yourself?" Minato bared his teeth.

"Oh, right. You're famous now, you know? And that jonin from that whatever Shimura Clan too."

"Where did you learn to talk like that?"

"From you, of course. You can say it, but I can't learn it?"

"..."

Famous?

Chiyue didn't care. Hardly anyone in Konoha actually knew him.

As for his distinctive white hair, that hair color wasn't uncommon in Konoha. Chiyue wasn't worried about being recognized while walking down the street.

"Chiyue."

"What?"

Little Sun was acting a little strange today, all mysterious and jumpy.

Chiyue looked at him suspiciously. What kind of shock had Minato suffered to make him start acting weird first thing in the morning?

"A new war is coming. Do you think we'll be sent to the battlefield?"

Under Chiyue's gaze, Minato held it in for a long while before finally saying that.

"..."

I thought you were going to say something profound, but after holding it in for so long, that's all you came up with?

"Get out!"

Chiyue kicked Minato out.

"Whether we go to the battlefield is something the higher-ups should decide, not us. So what if a new war is coming? It's not something you or I can control."

What a pointless thing to worry about. Instead of wasting time on that, Chiyue might as well think about what to eat for lunch.

The Third Hokage wasn't even worried, so why the hell should he be?

No matter how fiercely the war was fought, could it reach Konoha?

That was impossible no matter how he thought about it.

As for everything else, why bother worrying so much?

"Are we having a get-together today?"

Seeing Chiyue open the refrigerator and inspect what was left inside, Minato's eyes lit up.

To make sure he wouldn't run out when he had no time to shop, Chiyue often bought extra meat and kept it in the refrigerator. Whenever he wanted some, he could simply take it out and cook it.

"You'll cook?"

Chiyue turned to look at Minato.

Minato's smile stiffened, and he scratched his head. "Well, ahaha... I do want to cook. You know I like cooking, but I'm not as good as you. I'm afraid Sister Mikoto and Kushina will be disappointed."

"Same old arrangement? I buy the groceries, and you handle everything else?"

"Fine."

It wasn't bad to get together once in a while. Besides, Minato and Uchiha Mikoto had both been badly frightened by this mission. They should have something good to eat to soothe their wounded hearts.

After thinking it over for a moment, Chiyue agreed.

"Then leave the grocery shopping to me."

The moment Minato heard that, he perked up. Ignoring the fist mark on his face, he ran outside.

"Kushina really hits hard. Hopefully Minato's face won't swell up."

Shaking his head, Chiyue began preparing some seasonings. He could guess with his toes what vegetables Minato would buy.

It was always the same few things. People in the world of Naruto didn't care about food as much as people in his previous life did, and there wasn't much variety in vegetables either.

Even if you wanted to try something new, you couldn't find enough ingredients.

"It's intelligence from the village."