Sasuke Learns to Cook

"Sasuke, you're amazing!"

A Luo sat beneath a tree at the edge of the training ground, watching Sasuke practice shuriken throws at the targets. Whenever he got the chance, he called out weakly in praise.

It couldn't be helped. His body was too frail; even if he wanted to sound more spirited, he couldn't manage it yet.

"Are you tired, A Luo? Big brother has to go back to class. I'll carry you back to the teachers' office, and you can wait there until I get out this afternoon..."

Sasuke gathered up all the shuriken, then came over and pulled his younger brother to his feet. Still not entirely at ease, he planned to carry him back.

It was not far, but A Luo's health was too poor. Sasuke was not sure whether even this short distance would tire him out.

"I'm not tired..."

Though A Luo said he was not tired, he still held out his arms and let Sasuke carry him toward the teachers' office.

If he walked there himself, Sasuke would not make it back to class in time.

"Rest properly and wait for big brother to get out of school."

After setting his younger brother down, Sasuke glanced at the classroom across from the window. He directly opened the window, jumped out, then quickly jumped in through the classroom window.

He made it back just in time for class!

But because Sasuke had suddenly gone through the window, several students in the classroom looked over.

They saw nothing, though. Before Sasuke jumped out, A Luo had already lain back down to rest.

Nothing much happened that afternoon. A Luo carefully cleared one blocked meridian, then waited for Sasuke to get out of school.

After class in the afternoon, Sasuke slung on his schoolbag. Ignoring whether the girls cried out in surprise again, he went through the window once more and arrived at A Luo's side.

"Come on, we're going home!"

Sasuke reached out, helped up his younger brother, who was smiling at him, then carried him out on his back.

Just as they walked out the door, Iruka returned to the office with textbooks in his arms.

"You're going home?"

Iruka looked at the brothers before him. Sasuke Uchiha's habit of going through windows could not continue.

But when he looked at Luo Uchiha, who understood nothing, he decided to speak to Sasuke about it alone tomorrow.

"We're going home, goodbye, Iruka-sensei!"

A Luo raised one little hand and waved at Iruka.

"Mm."

Sasuke responded, then, after Iruka stepped aside, carried his younger brother toward the school gates.

Right now, he did not want to talk to anyone other than his younger brother—not the noisy girls, nor any of the teachers at the school.

They understood nothing, yet they always wore expressions that said, I understand. I know how you feel. I can comfort you...

At a time like this, what the brothers needed was not comfort or concern, but the practical means to survive.

So-called concern and comfort were merely spectators enjoying the show, a kind of superiority they imposed upon themselves...

As Sasuke walked down the road, his mood worsened. The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became, and a trace of fury and coldness seeped into his aura.

"Sasuke, what are we having for dinner?"

A Luo was highly sensitive to emotions. As Sasuke grew more and more upset, he patted Sasuke's shoulder, dispersing the fluctuations in his mood.

"We'll go buy some food. Big brother wants to learn how to cook."

Sasuke froze for a moment, then adjusted his mood. Carrying A Luo, he changed direction and headed toward the vegetable market.

He had no experience, but at a time like this, there was no choice but to try.

"Mm."

A Luo nodded, then quietly stayed where he was.

When they arrived at the vegetable market and were about to ask about prices and buy some vegetables, they happened to run into Umino Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei?"

A Luo tilted his head and looked at Iruka, whose expression was slightly awkward.

Was this really a coincidence now?

[It is a coincidence. Teachers at the ninja academy need to buy groceries and eat too.]

The system quickly gave him an answer just as A Luo's imagination was about to come up with some strange turn of events.

Even ninjas on missions could not afford to eat at restaurants for every meal, so it was perfectly normal for ninja academy teachers to buy groceries after class and go home to cook!

"You're buying groceries too? Come on, I'll take you to buy some."

Iruka scratched his hair and smiled a little awkwardly. But since they had run into each other, he could not simply ignore them.

These two had clearly never bought groceries before. Now that they had wandered in like this, as their teacher, he could not just watch them get ripped off.

After hesitating for a moment, he decided to give them an after-school lesson today—first, he would teach Sasuke Uchiha how to buy groceries.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei!"

A Luo looked up and put on an adorable expression. When Sasuke did not want to speak, he could do the talking instead.

Thus, with Iruka's enthusiastic introductions, the Uchiha brothers returned home carrying a large bag of vegetables.

And since he knew neither of them had ever cooked before, Iruka specifically took them to buy a cookbook of home-style dishes.

As for whether they would actually learn how to cook, that was truly beyond Iruka's control.

After the brothers returned home and set down the large bag of ingredients, A Luo stood to one side and watched Sasuke put things away.

The technological development of this world was seriously skewed. Watching Sasuke fill up the refrigerator, A Luo kept complaining to the system in his heart.

Refrigerators, televisions, all kinds of household appliances...

But no cars...

Oh, right. There seemed to be trains in some places.

Kumogakure even had an immensely powerful weapon capable of shattering meteors...

And yet in such a world, people basically had to rely on ninja running on their own two legs, using kunai, shuriken, and all kinds of ninjutsu to fight.

[Host, wake up. Whether this world's technology tree is skewed or not has little to do with you. In your current state, you are a sickly burden so weak that no one besides your brother would care about you.]

As A Luo's thoughts ran wild, the system emerged once again to give him a knock.

Its host had really become more and more troublesome after getting a body.

Though he only made trouble for it, it was a salted-fish system—a title A Luo himself had given it—so could he please respect the concept of a salted fish?

Can't be helped. You're willing to pay attention to me now...

Standing for so long had made A Luo a little tired. He walked over to the dining table and sat down, propping his cheeks up with both hands as he tilted his head and stared at Sasuke.

As he watched Sasuke put all the vegetables into the refrigerator and then begin flipping through the cookbook, A Luo continued bickering with the system in his heart.

[Host, the latest news: Itachi Uchiha already knows that the host is not dead.]

That message instantly made A Luo fall silent.

He would find out sooner or later, but this quickly... Konoha deliberately sent the news to him, didn't they?

A Luo stopped fooling around and honestly asked the system about serious matters.

Itachi Uchiha had already gone to Amegakure. If Konoha had not deliberately sent word, he would not have learned of it so quickly.

So what was Konoha trying to do now? Were they trying to see whether Itachi Uchiha would return and kill this burden?

What a headache, day after day!