Sukiyaki

Life was like a play.

If this had happened before, Kushina Uzumaki would have merely thought that things had become a little more unpredictable, a little more dramatic.

But now, she felt that she truly understood the meaning of those words.

Life was more than just a play!

No play could ever be as thrilling as life itself!

After all, who would have known that her future son would travel through time to find her?

Fine, he found her—but then he told her that she and Minato Namikaze would say goodbye to this world in the future.

Fine, goodbye it was. Birth, aging, illness, and death were only natural. As ninjas, dying in some unexpected accident was perfectly understandable.

But who could tell her why her future son would be driven by Konoha into becoming a rogue ninja?

What had she and Minato worked so hard for all these years?

"Um, it really wasn't that exaggerated. I'd been doing pretty well these past few years."

Seeing his mother enter a furious state, Naruto found himself unable to sit or stand comfortably. He wanted to comfort her, but had no idea what to say. All in all, he was helpless.

"Doing pretty well?" Kushina grabbed his arm at those words, feeling here and pinching there. Finally, she circled around him once and let out a slight sigh of relief.

"As long as you haven't mistreated yourself."

She patted his head.

"I happened to buy ingredients for sukiyaki. Sit and wait a moment. Dinner will be ready soon."

Kushina set down her vegetable basket. Looking at the ingredients, enough for three people, she silently rejoiced that she had impulsively bought so much today.

Though she had not given birth to him yet, he was still her son.

If she did not spoil him, then who would?

Naruto obediently sat in his chair.

"Um, you..."

"Hm?" Kushina seemed rather dissatisfied with his form of address.

"Mother, aren't you concerned about the people watching outside?" Naruto hurriedly corrected himself.

"Huh? You know where they are?" Kushina gave him a surprised look.

"I awakened the Mind's Eye of the Kagura."

Kushina put down the ingredients in her hands and stared at him in astonishment. This time, she was genuinely shocked.

Even when the Uzumaki Clan had been at its peak, not many people had awakened the Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

Though it was merely a sensory ability, its immense range and precise perception made it extremely useful, whether on the battlefield or during everyday missions.

"But why wasn't it the Adamantine Chains?" She smacked her lips a moment later.

Naruto: "???"

"Are the Adamantine Chains even stronger?"

"Not really. They focus on different things." Kushina shook her head slightly. "I only said that because I awakened the Adamantine Chains."

"As my son, Naruto, you awakened something other than the Adamantine Chains. Mother is very disappointed!"

Holding up a cabbage leaf, Kushina spoke with complete seriousness.

"Can't someone awaken both?" Naruto asked.

"They can, but it's far too difficult." Kushina thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I've only seen it in Grandma Mito."

"Little Naruto can work hard at it. You're still young, after all." She smiled.

And so, the two chatted on and off. Most of the time, Kushina asked questions while Naruto answered.

They were only mundane family matters, but through them, the originally vague images of Minato Namikaze and Kushina in his mind gradually came to life. They were no longer two names with more symbolic meaning than substance.

Naruto stared blankly at the sukiyaki brought to the table. He did not know how long it had been since he had eaten a meal like this.

Kushina placed a slice of moderately thin beef into his bowl and asked with a hint of nervousness, "Try it. Does it taste all right?"

Naruto tasted the juicy, fragrant beef in his mouth and nodded slightly. "It's delicious."

"If it's good, then eat more. I prepared lots of ingredients."

Seeing this, Kushina relaxed slightly.

She knew exactly how good her cooking was. When Minato was home, he was usually the one cooking, while she mostly assisted.

If her future son looked down on her cooking, that would be utterly humiliating.

Unaware of what she was truly thinking, Naruto merely continued quietly clearing out the ingredients in the pot.

To be fair, Kushina's cooking was not particularly good, but it was not bad either. Still, it gave him a long-lost feeling of home.

His foster father, Owl, had raised him with more pragmatism than affection.

"Oh, right, little Naruto. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Kushina suddenly asked him out of nowhere.

"...Not yet." Naruto's chopsticks paused mid-reach. This question felt strangely familiar. "I'm only twelve."

"Twelve? You've already graduated from the Ninja Academy, haven't you?" Kushina raised a brow, looking at him as though she were angry at his lack of ambition.

"Your father, when he was at the Ninja Academy, had already..."

Her words suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Naruto looked at her in confusion.

"..." Feeling his gaze, Kushina's face flushed red. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

What could she say?

That his father had already swept her off her feet when he was Naruto's age?

That old bastard might have no shame, but she did!

This showed that only fathers could shamelessly brag about their romantic history in front of their children and take pride in it. Mothers, at moments like this, would usually say irritably:

"Shameless!"

What should one do when faced with an unavoidable awkward situation?

The best solution was to change the subject and bring up something else. Clearly, Kushina was well versed in this. She abruptly put down her bowl and chopsticks.

"I'll go help you tidy up your room."

Naruto could not help looking at the pot, which still held more than half its ingredients. His head was full of question marks.

Shouldn't they finish eating first?

"No need. I already rented a room at an inn outside." Though puzzled, Naruto still stopped her.

"You're already home, so why are you staying at some inn?!" Kushina turned back and glared at him irritably.

"But..." Naruto nearly reached out.

But he had already paid for three days!

Thinking of it made him want to cry. Ever since leaving Konoha, his only source of income had been occasional windfalls from people looking to make quick money, which was extremely unstable.

The inn he had booked was just an ordinary inn, but during this special period, not a single inn in Konoha was cheap.

A refund?

Sorry, small business. No refunds!

Of course, given the choice, he would still rather stay here than in that cold, empty inn.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...

The endlessly rolling bubbles blended the natural aromas of the ingredients together perfectly.

Ingredients were picked from the pot from time to time, making room for fresh ones.

One person, one pair of chopsticks.

He had not eaten so much in one sitting for a very long time.

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