A Genius at Cooking

After school, Shin-chan walked beside Kakashi as usual.

The setting sun stretched their shadows long across the ground.

After walking for a while, Shin-chan realized they were going the wrong way and asked curiously, "Aren't we going to train today?"

"No."

"Why?"

Kakashi was silent for two seconds. "My dad went on a mission."

Shin-chan blinked. "A mission?"

"Yeah. An urgent one." Kakashi's voice was calm. "I'm not sure when he'll be back."

Shin-chan glanced at Kakashi's profile. His mask hid his expression, but for some reason, Shin-chan felt like Kakashi seemed a little different today.

They walked on for a while.

Suddenly, Kakashi stopped and turned to look at him.

"Why are you following me?"

Shin-chan froze for a moment and scratched his head.

"I don't know."

"..."

Kakashi was silent for two seconds, then turned and continued walking.

Shin-chan stood where he was, blinking. Then he started walking again and caught up.

Kakashi didn't ask again.

One in front of the other, they crossed several streets and entered a bustling place.

"The market?" Shin-chan said, a little dazed.

By then, Kakashi had already gone over to a vegetable stall. He crouched down and began picking out vegetables.

"Hey, mister, how much for these?"

"Five taels a bunch."

"What about this bunch?"

"These are wilted, so I'll give you a discount. Four taels."

Kakashi picked up the wilted vegetables and examined them, then put them down and chose another bunch.

"I'll take these." Kakashi handed the vegetables to the vendor, pulled some money from his pocket, counted it, and passed it over.

The whole process was smooth and practiced, nothing like something a five-year-old would do.

Shin-chan's mouth fell open. He couldn't close it for a long time.

"Kakashi... you... buying vegetables?"

Kakashi took his change and looked back at him.

"What else would we eat?"

"..." Shin-chan followed Kakashi to a fish stall.

Kakashi crouched down, looked at the fish in the basin, and pointed at one.

"That one."

The fishmonger scooped it up, wrapped it, and handed it to him.

Kakashi took the fish and paid.

Shin-chan's mouth dropped open even wider.

"You... you know how to pick fish, too?"

Kakashi glanced at him without replying, then walked on with the vegetables and fish.

Shin-chan followed in a daze, still trying to process what he'd just seen.

Buying vegetables.

Picking vegetables.

Choosing fish.

Paying.

Kakashi?

At last, they stopped in front of a house. Several bamboo plants grew by the entrance. It was the Hatake Household, where Shin-chan had visited a few days earlier.

Kakashi pushed open the door and went inside. Shin-chan hesitated at the entrance, unsure whether he should follow.

Then his stomach betrayed him and growled.

Kakashi looked back at him.

Shin-chan grinned and rubbed his stomach.

Kakashi was silent for two seconds, then stepped aside.

"Come in."

Shin-chan hurried inside.

Kakashi went into the kitchen, set the vegetables and fish on the cutting board, and began washing and chopping the vegetables.

Shin-chan leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching without blinking.

Kakashi chopped the vegetables with quick, deft movements. His knife skills were excellent. Then he gutted the fish, removed its innards, washed it clean, and put it in the pan.

He lit the stove.

Poured in oil.

Added the fish.

Fried it.

The whole sequence was smooth and practiced.

Shin-chan's eyes grew wider and wider.

"Kakashi, you know how to cook, too?"

Without turning around, Kakashi replied, "When you live alone, you'll starve if you don't know how to cook."

Shin-chan fell silent, thinking of how, back home, he just waited for Miya to call, "Dinner's ready!" Then he'd sit down at the table, where the food would already be laid out.

He'd never thought about how some people had to cook for themselves.

Before long, the food was on the table.

Pan-fried fish, stir-fried green vegetables, miso soup, and rice.

Just a few simple dishes, but they smelled incredibly good.

Shin-chan sat at the table and stared at the food before him, swallowing hard.

Kakashi sat opposite him and picked up his chopsticks.

"Go ahead."

Shin-chan had been waiting ages to hear those words. He immediately picked up his bowl, put a piece of fish in his mouth, and his eyes went wide.

"Delicious!"

Shin-chan took another bite of vegetables.

"These are delicious, too!"

Then he took a sip of miso soup.

"The soup's delicious, too!"

Kakashi looked at him, his expression a little complicated.

This guy... was it really that amazing?

Shin-chan buried his head in his bowl, stuffing his mouth full of rice. "This is way better than Miya's cooking," he mumbled indistinctly.

Kakashi paused. "Miya?"

"My mom."

Kakashi didn't say anything else and lowered his head to keep eating.

Outside the window, the last traces of sunlight slowly faded.

After dinner, Kakashi stood up and began clearing away the dishes.

Shin-chan sat in his chair, rubbing his round belly as he watched Kakashi stack the bowls one by one. Suddenly, he felt a little embarrassed.

"I'll help, too."

He hopped down from his chair and reached for a plate on the table.

Kakashi glanced at him and was about to say there was no need, but Shin-chan had already picked up two plates and started toward the kitchen.

Then—

"Crash!"

One of the plates slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor.

Shin-chan looked down at the shards and blinked. "Oh, I dropped it."

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched. "Don't touch it. I'll clean it up."

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll pick it up."

Shin-chan crouched and reached for the shards, but the other plate slipped from his hands, too.

"Crash!"

Another sharp crack rang out.

Shin-chan looked at the new mess of shards on the floor, then raised his head with an innocent expression.

"That plate seemed a little slippery."

Kakashi took a deep breath, picked Shin-chan up off the floor, set him by the kitchen doorway, then crouched down and began cleaning up the shards.

"Go sit in the living room."

"But I want to help."

"Is helping your way of breaking a few more plates?"

Shin-chan obediently went to the living room and sat on the tatami, listening to the rustling sounds of Kakashi cleaning up in the kitchen. He suddenly felt a little guilty.

After a while, Kakashi came out with a broom and dustpan. He emptied the shards into the trash, then went to wash his hands.

Then he went into the room next door. When he came back out, he had a wooden sword in his hand.

"Let's go."

Shin-chan blinked. "Where?"

Kakashi looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Training."

Shin-chan's face immediately fell. "Huh? We're still training today?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"But..." Shin-chan pointed outside. "It's almost dark."

"So what?"

"And we had so many matches today. I'm tired."

Kakashi looked at him silently.

Under Kakashi's gaze, Shin-chan began to feel guilty. His voice grew quieter and quieter. "Fine, I'm not that tired."

"Blade techniques take persistence." Kakashi had already started toward the door.

Shin-chan blinked. That sounded familiar. Then he picked up the wooden sword Kakashi had given him that afternoon and followed.

The two of them went into the yard and stood facing each other.

The lights bathed the yard in warm orange, and the bamboo cast long shadows across the ground.

Shin-chan gripped his wooden sword, raised his head, and looked at the boy opposite him.

Kakashi had already assumed his stance.

"Begin."