"Shino, you've indeed mastered one-handed seals. Just keep practicing from now on. Oh, and make sure both your left and right hands are equally skilled. Also, try switching other jutsus to one-handed seals to get familiar with them. In battle, it'll definitely come in handy."
Natsuki gave a few reminders while tossing the prepped pig's feet into a pot to stew, not forgetting to add tangerine peel, and having soybeans ready too.
Actually, lotus root would've been even better, but that stuff's ridiculously expensive. Even if he bought some, it wouldn't be enough—especially with Chōji coming. Better to go with soybeans instead.
Seeing this, Shino promptly helped with washing vegetables.
Not long after, Shikamaru showed up carrying a huge chunk of venison, along with a grill and spices. A real lifesaver.
Chōji didn't bring much in the way of snacks, but he did bring a big slab of beef. Salivating, he said, "I told my parents I was eating at a friend's house, and they insisted I bring some beef. Hehe, since Shikamaru brought the grill, let's roast it all together!"
"What a pain... I'll do the grilling then."
That was just Shikamaru being Shikamaru—always grumbling, but when it came to friends, never cutting corners.
Natsuki quickly offered, "Leave me some of the beef. I'll make a few dishes with a different flavor."
Naturally, neither Shikamaru nor Chōji refused. It was Natsuki's treat, after all. Whatever he wanted to do, they were just the support crew, waiting to eat.
At that moment, Natsuki was busying away alone in the kitchen, while Shino, Shikamaru, and Chōji set up for grilling outside.
Shikamaru casually asked, "Shino, this isn't your first time visiting Natsuki's place, right?"
Shino nodded, with a hint of pride in his voice. "Natsuki invited me over once before. His cooking is amazing. I was the first friend to taste it."
"It's really that good? Then I'm gonna eat my fill today!"
Chōji's stomach was already growling, especially as waves of delicious smells wafted through the air, making him drool uncontrollably.
Fortunately, Natsuki was efficient. In no time, he brought out dish after dish and even set out a few bottles of fruit juice.
Looking at the table loaded with food: Soybean stewed pig's feet, garlic shoots with cured pork, tomato scrambled eggs, spicy stir-fried chicken, spicy beef, white-cut chicken, stir-fried greens, pork veggie soup, grilled venison, grilled beef, and a massive pot of rice on the side.
Shikamaru twitched at the corner of his mouth. "T-this much... can we finish it all?"
Chōji swore solemnly, "Of course we can! And it all looks so good—I won't leave a single bite!"
Shino was also clearly tempted. The last time he'd eaten Natsuki's cooking, he couldn't forget the taste. Now the dishes were more plentiful and even more enticing in smell and appearance—surely the taste wouldn't disappoint.
Natsuki scooped a bowl of rice for each of them, a big one for Chōji, and even placed a whole bowl of rice beside him just in case.
He also gave everyone an empty bowl and prepared communal chopsticks and spoons—after all, the custom in this world was to eat separately, and Natsuki followed suit.
"Alright, don't be shy. Let's eat!"
As the host, Natsuki took the first bite, and the others followed eagerly.
In no time, the table was silent—everyone too focused on eating, afraid to fall behind. What they thought was too much food vanished quickly, with even the pig's foot soup cleaned out by Chōji.
By the time the sky darkened, all four of them were slumped in their chairs, the table a complete mess.
Buuurp "I'm stuffed! That was too good. I want more!" Chōji was clearly not done.
"Natsuki, your cooking's really something," Shikamaru praised sincerely.
Shino didn't say a word, just nodded repeatedly like he wanted to give ten thumbs up. Clearly satisfied.
Natsuki was also pleased. Not just because he wanted to befriend these three, but because eating with friends was a lot better than sitting alone every day.
Truly, humans aren't meant to be alone—friends are a must.
"Alright, don't just sit there all full. Let's get up and walk around, or your stomachs will hurt when you sleep."
Natsuki urged them to get moving. They all took a stroll around the neighborhood and soon wandered onto the main street, where the smell of food from various stalls drifted toward them.
Chōji looked tempted again but was quickly held back by the others.
As they passed Ichiraku Ramen, they saw Iruka-sensei eating with Naruto. Naruto was all smiles, clearly delighted to have Iruka eating with him.
That pair—clearly not related by blood—would one day grow even closer than father and son. This was probably the beginning of that bond.
Shikamaru looked at Naruto's back and casually asked, "Natsuki, what do you think of Naruto?"
I use my eyes to look at him!
Natsuki rolled his eyes. But he could more or less guess what Shikamaru was thinking. After all, Shikamaru came from a prestigious ninja clan and was smart enough to know a lot of things. He was probably feeling conflicted about Naruto. As of now, Shikamaru and Chōji weren't friends with Naruto yet. They hadn't skipped class together or bonded. Maybe Shikamaru wasn't sure how to treat Naruto.
As the heir of the Nara Clan, closely tied to the Sarutobi family, the idea of befriending a jinchūriki might be seen as controversial.
"He's just a hot-blooded idiot."
That was Natsuki's verdict.
To a kid, if you disregard the village's talk of the Nine-Tails, Naruto was just that—an overly passionate, slightly dumb kid.
Shikamaru didn't actually need to worry. As a child of a major clan under the Hokage's faction, if it were truly forbidden to befriend Naruto, his elders would've warned him already. Overthinking it was just falling into a trap of his own intellect.
"Hot-blooded idiot, huh?"
Shikamaru repeated the phrase, then chuckled. "Yeah... that fits. Everyone says I'm smart, but Natsuki, you're not dumb either. Maybe even smarter than me."
Natsuki waved it off. "I don't believe in IQ scores. They say even the wisest make mistakes, and even fools can get it right once in a while. I just know I need to think things through. But you really are smart, Shikamaru. Sometimes, though, you don't need to overthink. What you need is to find the essence of things."
Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise, like he was seeing Natsuki for the first time. "The essence of things? What's that?"
Natsuki grinned and pointed at Shikamaru. "Hard to explain, but let me give you an example. You, Nara Shikamaru—on the surface, you're the heir to the Nara clan and known as a genius. But your essence is just a lazy fish with a bit of a brain. One that hates trouble, refuses to flip over, but ends up being forced to lie under the sun until it's dried out."
Shikamaru slapped his forehead and laughed. "That's a pretty accurate description. Maybe I really am just a dried-out lazy fish. But I get it now—what you mean by the essence of things."
Essence wasn't about surface-level labels. It was the real, raw truth.
Just like Naruto—Son of the Fourth Hokage, jinchūriki, Sakura's hopeless admirer... all just labels. His essence? Just a hot-blooded idiot.
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