"For parents who come with their kids, there'll be a small Code Playground right next to the restaurant," I finished, wrapping up my business plan. Was I worried she'd steal my idea or leak it to someone? Not at all. That would be way too petty for the former wife of the Fourth Hokage, not to mention a woman raised in the Uzumaki clan, famous for their honor and all that other stuff.
"Oh, that would be wonderful. As a mom, I'd love to take my kid to a place like that. And if people like your food, only the laziest won't want to stop by at least once."
"You know what, Kushina-san, I'd like to invite you and your daughter over for dinner. I'll cook all these dishes, and you can be my taste-testers, let me know what's missing," I said, setting my mug down on the table.
"I'd be happy to accept your invitation, Akira-san."
"Great! Then I'll get ready. Come by around six or so," I said, getting up from the table and heading out. Kushina, ever the perfect hostess, walked me to the door.
I was honestly fired up. I mean, come on - one of my favorite women from Naruto was coming over, and Naruko would be there too. No matter what, it wouldn't hurt to make a good impression on the future hero of this world.
Until three in the afternoon, all I did was buy things for the apartment and groceries, hauling everything back home. By four, I was already cooking. First up: burgers. Nothing complicated there. For buns, I bought small round loaves of bread and sliced them in half. Pickles, tomatoes, lettuce - easy to find. But ketchup and mayo... those didn't exist in this world yet. The moment I realized that, I knew I'd found another goldmine. No one could ever find out how to make these sauces.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure how to make ketchup, but homemade mayo? My mom had made it a few times, so I knew the basics. Just whip up some eggs, mix in mustard and lemon juice. They had mustard here, in powder form, used in some dishes for extra flavor, but it wasn't very popular, so I had to hunt it down and make real mustard from scratch.
The ketchup turned out pretty good, though not exactly Heinz. I think the tomato sauce thickens differently here, maybe they use other spices besides black pepper, bay leaf, and basil - but whatever, it still tasted great.
Making the burger patty from ground meat was easy. All that was left was to put everything together and make the burger.
Fries were even simpler - just cut up the potatoes right, salt them, and fry them in a deep pan with sunflower oil. Yeah, I was surprised to find out they had filtered, deodorized oil here too.
The trickiest part was the nuggets. You had to dip pieces of chicken fillet in an egg mixture, then in a mix of flour and breadcrumbs. Of course, breadcrumbs weren't a thing here, so I had to dry out bread in a pan and crush it into tiny pieces. Then the chicken, coated in both mixtures, went straight into the oil.
I had no idea how to make cola, but I did know how to make mojito - thank God they sold sparkling mineral water here.
Just as I finished washing the last dish, someone knocked on the door.
I wiped my hands, took off my apron, ran to change, and thirty seconds later opened the door.
"I'm glad you could make it, come on in," I said with a polite smile, stepping aside to let my guests in.
"Hello. And you must be Naruko, the young lady Kushina-san's told me so much about," I said, taking the bag from Kushina with both hands.
"I'm not a young lady, dattebayo." Naruko, in a skirt and with two pigtails, looked pretty strange. I mean, I knew she was a girl now, but it was still hard to believe.
I closed the door, turned around, and led them inside, inviting them to follow. I heard the familiar sound of a smack on the head - a sound I remembered well from my school days.
"It's pretty spacious in here, Akira-san. Haven't had time to buy everything you need yet?"
"Really? I thought I'd gotten all the essentials."
"Well, it could use a woman's touch, if you ask me."
"Ah," I waved it off, "it's too early to think about that. I'm only eighteen. Take a seat, the table's already set."
I sat down last, poured mojito from the pitcher into glasses, and set them in front of everyone.
"Alright, itadakimasu." I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say it, but everyone repeated after me and dug in. The funniest part was watching Kushina, who had no idea how to start on a burger.
Naruko figured it out right away and, to my surprise, finished hers in just a few bites.
"Mmm, this is so good!" she said after swallowing. Kushina shot her a warning look, but when she saw me eating with my hands, she gave in and tried to eat as neatly as possible.
"Try the fries, you can dip them in mayo or ketchup," I said, pointing to the bowls.
"So these are the sauces in the burger?" Kushina asked, dabbing the corners of her mouth with a napkin. God, she looked good doing that.
"Yep, my own secret recipes. Trade secret, I'm not telling, no matter what."
"I see. But can I buy some from you? I really liked this... ketchup, right? What does that word mean?"
"I didn't really put much thought into the name. It just sounded funny to me."
I heard a burp from the side and looked over in shock at Naruko's empty plate. Had it even been two minutes since we sat down?
"Hmm, Naruko, you've got a healthy appetite," I smiled, and she blushed, turning away - either embarrassed or something else. "Good thing I made extra, knowing I'd have a future ninja in the house."
When I came back to the table with more food, I saw Naruko's happy face - just a second ago, she'd been rubbing the top of her head in frustration.
"Akira-san, did you make all this yourself?" She finally spoke up.
"Yep. If you liked it, just know I'm planning to open a special restaurant soon. For you, I'll give a twenty percent discount."
"Wow! Thanks, Akira - I mean, Akira-san. Ow! I mean, you don't have to, really." Judging by the look on her face, Kushina was giving her a lesson under the table.
"It's no big deal. I won't go broke from a little discount, and you're my neighbors, so it's for both of you."
"Thank you," Kushina said, bowing her head slightly.
"Don't mention it, it's nothing," I said trying to look suave - or at least I hoped I did
Ten minutes later, we were done eating. Kushina gave glowing reviews of every dish, while Naruko argued with her mom, calling them not just good, but super awesome, and promised to come to my restaurant every day once it opened.
Normally, they'd be heading out by now, and judging by Kushina's look, she was already thinking of a polite way to leave. But I wasn't used to inviting people over just to eat, so I suggested we play a fun game.
Naruko's eyes lit up - she was all in. Kushina agreed too, probably just to be polite.
I couldn't remember the name of the game, but basically, you had to guess the word written on a slip of paper stuck to your forehead.
There was just one problem - I had no idea how to stick the paper to our heads, and I didn't have time to figure it out. Kushina saved the day by drawing some symbols on the back of the paper with her finger, and suddenly a little dot the size of a fingertip stuck to skin like a weak magnet. Since I was writing the words, to keep things fair, I let Naruko write one for me - obviously, I didn't see what she wrote.
"Alright, we'll go in turns, clockwise. You ask a yes-or-no question, like 'Am I alive?' If you guess right, you get to ask another question. If not, it's the next person's turn. Whoever guesses their word first wins, and the rest fight for second place."
"Got it, dattebayo! Let's start!" she shouted, slapping her palm on the table.
Another kick under the table. Message received.
"Okay, then... am I alive?"
"No."
"Definitely not," Naruko said.
Now it was Kushina's turn. Her word was "tomato," and Naruko's was "frog" - weird coincidence, since I'd made about thirty slips.
"Am I an object?"
"Hmm, no," she said after thinking, smiling a little. [ image ]

"No," I agreed.
"My turn! Am I edible?"
"No," Kushina said with a smile.
"Well... people do eat it," I said. Kushina gave me a surprised look.
"So... am I a cucumber?"
"No," Kushina shook her head.
"Miss," I said with a grin, noticing the girls were really getting into the game.
"Damn."
"Alright, can I be picked up?" My turn.
"Of course."
"Sure."
"Can I be loved?"
"YES!" Naruko answered.
Kushina gave her daughter a weird look and shook her head.
"Am I a kitten?"
"No."
The questions kept coming, and Naruko was getting closer to the answer.
"Okay, so I can be eaten, I taste good, you can buy me, you can find me... I move, I have feathers?"
"Definitely not," I said, shaking my head along with Kushina.
"Alright, I think I know. I can be picked up, loved, I'm edible and hard to make... am I ramen?"
"YES! How did you guess?" Naruko said.
"Well, it's one of my go-to meals," I almost told the truth - instant noodles are basically ramen, right?
Kushina guessed hers next, with a strange look on her face, but Naruko just couldn't get it, even though she could have peeked since she'd lost. But she wanted to figure it out herself.
"What? I'm a frog? People eat that?"
"Actually, yeah, in some places frog legs are a delicacy."
"Ew, let's play again! This time I'm going to win."
We played for another hour, until Kushina finally realized they'd overstayed their welcome. I don't know how much she enjoyed the evening, but Naruko was absolutely glowing.
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Thank you so much for the power stones! I really appreciate the support!