"I brought a friend along. I hope that's okay," Minato said apologetically, pulling a slightly nervous Nara Shikaku into the room.
"Xin, it's been a while," Shikaku greeted.
"Come in, don't just stand there blocking the entrance. You're not strangers," Xin replied, glancing outside but not seeing the rest of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. It seemed Shikaku had come alone with Minato.
This generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had started at the academy at the same time as Xin and Minato, though they had been in different classes.
Eventually, Xin and Minato had skipped ahead.
"They didn't come. I ran into Minato at the market, and after chatting for a bit, I accepted his invitation to join you for dinner," Shikaku explained.
"Perfect timing. Go help Minato with the vegetables," Xin said, casually pulling Shikaku inside and pushing him toward the kitchen.
"Wash... wash vegetables?" Shikaku hadn't expected that as a guest, he would be put to work washing vegetables.
Minato wasn't surprised in the least. He just chuckled. "That's Xin's rule. We can have dinner together, but we all have to pitch in. I usually buy the ingredients, Xin cooks, and Kushina and Mikoto handle the cleanup."
Whew, for a moment there, I thought every guest would have to do chores.
Shikaku breathed a sigh of relief, but his relief was short-lived. Washing vegetables turned out to be more of a hassle than he'd expected, and Minato had bought a lot of food.
Even with the two of them working together, it was a daunting task-definitely not something Shikaku excelled at.
Sigh...
Looking at Minato already hard at work, Shikaku let out a long sigh and reluctantly joined him in the kitchen.
Crash!
Barely two minutes after entering the kitchen, there was a loud crash, followed by Minato's exasperated voice. "You better get out. Letting you help was a mistake-you ruined everything I just washed!"
"Sorry, it wasn't on purpose," Shikaku said sheepishly as he backed out of the kitchen, thoroughly embarrassed.
"Ha ha ha..." Xin doubled over in laughter. The idea of the esteemed heir of the Nara clan struggling to wash vegetables was too much.
Shikaku looked more tense in the kitchen than he did during combat drills, his nerves on edge the whole time.
"Have a seat. Don't be so stiff. The more, the merrier," Xin finally said after a good laugh. He invited Shikaku to sit down, handing him a bottle of water.
"You've graduated, right?"
"Yeah, we just graduated. But with the war breaking out, the village is short on Jonin, so they haven't assigned us a sensei yet," Shikaku answered.
....
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