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“Are you sure this is the right place?” Naruto asked for the third time, staring up at the gates separating them from the dilapidated house beyond.
“Yes, according to the address Kakashi-sensei gave us,” Sakura said, though she looked skeptical. “Maybe we’re meant to clean it up?”
“Ugh, I hate clean up missions,” Naruto groaned. “This place looks haunted. Do you think it’s haunted?”
“It’s the old Hatake residence,” Sasuke said as he strolled up to join them with his hands in his pockets. “Aren’t you going in? Or are you too scared?”
“Of course I’m not scared! We were waiting for you!” Naruto shouted.
“Shut up, Naruto!” Sakura interrupted before turning to Sasuke and batting her eyes. “We’re actually still waiting for Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura interrupted. “If we’re going to help him clean up his house, maybe you and I can work on the same room together.”
“No way, Sakura-chan, you can work with me!” Naruto said.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to squint up at the gates. He reached for the handle but immediately jerked his hand back when a spark of electricity zapped between the metal and his fingers. “Wards are still up.”
“Do you think we’re meant to get through the wards? Could that be what we’re working on today?” Sakura asked.
“Nope.”
The three genin jumped and swiveled around to find that their jounin-sensei had snuck up on them. He was carrying a cloth grocery bag and held something wrapped in butcher paper under his arm. When he reached for the gate handle, nothing happened, and he was able to push it open with only the loud creak of hinges that were in dire need of oiling.
Team 7 followed him up the path and into the house beyond. The inside of the house looked much cleaner than the outside belied. In the kitchen, a rice cooker and gas range-grill combo sat on the counter, looking out of place in the otherwise traditional house. Kakashi set everything he was carrying on the counter and turned to his students.
“Today you’re going to learn to cook,” he said.
Naruto wrinkled his nose. “Why would a ninja need to know how to cook when instant ramen cups exist?”
“To be an effective ninja, you need to give your body the proper fuel,” Kakashi told them. “This means balanced meals that provide you with plenty of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and a variety of vitamins and minerals. In the field, we rely on ration bars, so you need to take advantage of your down time and eat as healthy as you can.” He started pulling produce out of the bag: eggplant, lotus root, bundles of shiso and green onions, a garlic bulb, a sudachi, and a block of tofu. The butcher paper pulled back to reveal four mackerels.
“We’re going to be making grilled mackerel with miso glazed eggplant and lotus root, with miso soup and rice. Do any of you have allergies not listed in your medical records?”
When the kids shook their heads, Kakashi directed them to open the pantry and the fridge and get out the rest of the ingredients they would need for the meal: bonito flakes, dehydrated kombu and wakame, sesame seeds, salt, bottles of mirin, soy sauce, sake, and sesame oil, a bag of rice and miso paste. Meanwhile, he preheated the grill and pulled out a wok, a mesh strainer, a few bowls, and a medium size pot.
“First of all, before preparing or eating any kind of food, wash your hands.” He waited while the team had finished that first step and turned back to him for further instructions.
“Let’s get the rice started. First, wash the rice in the strainer. Gently swirl it around using your hand under the stream of water,” Kakashi explained. “Then add it to the rice cooker, and pour in enough water to cover your finger up to the last knuckle if you rest your fingertip on top of the rice. Close the lid and turn it on.”
“We already know how to make rice,” Sasuke said in exasperation while Sakura nodded beside him, but Naruto seemed to be counting Kakashi-sensei’s instructions off on his fingers.
Kakashi ignored the interruption. “Sprinkling salt on the mackerel will improve the flavor and smell, but make sure to brush it off after 20 minutes and pat it dry, or the texture of the flesh will be too firm. Then we need to make the dashi stock for the miso soup. Have any of you made dashi from scratch?”
All three shook their heads. Naruto seemed to be watching for the others’ answers before giving his own.
Kakashi explained the process of preparing the dashi stock, making sure to emphasize that the miso paste should be added last, once the water is taken off the heat. Once the team had gotten the rice and stock started, he showed them how to wash and prepare the vegetables, cutting the eggplant lengthwise and then making diagonal slashes across the cut side to create more surface area before putting it in a bowl of water to soak.
He guided them through making the miso glaze and then popped the mackerel and dried eggplant on the grill, before heating the wok and dumping in the sliced lotus root.
While the glaze was cooking on the eggplant and the miso had been added to the dashi stock, the kitchen was full of rich umami scents. Team 7 was dancing around the kitchen, only occasionally bumping into each other as they each worked on a part of the meal. While Sakura and Sasuke had seemed confident about making the rice, they had watched Kakashi just as carefully as Naruto had while he explained how to cook everything else.
By the time everything was ready and served on the table, their foreheads were all damp with sweat. The meal was not perfect; the eggplant was a bit scorched and the lotus root was a little too salty, but all three genin looked at the meal with awe, as if they couldn’t believe that they had made everything themselves.
Then it was time to dig in. Naruto took a bite of everything and declared, “It’s not as good as cup ramen, but it’s not bad.” Sasuke snorted, but refrained from quipping back with his mouth full.
“Cup ramen is fine occasionally, but eating this kind of meal will make you a stronger ninja in the long run,” Kakashi-sensei reminded them.
Naruto squinted at the spread. “How expensive was all this?”
“If it’s money that’s stopping you from eating like this, I’m happy to buy groceries for you,” Kakashi-sensei said.
“Wha—really?”
Kakashi-sensei shrugged. “What kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t make sure my students were in top condition?”
“Huh.” Naruto chewed thoughtfully on a slice of lotus root for a moment. After he swallowed, he pumped his fist. “Okay, I’m gonna cook like this every day for the next week!”
“I bet you don’t even cook like this one day,” Sasuke muttered.
“I’ll do it, believe it!” Naruto declared.
“I’ll cook like this for you, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura offered, staring longingly at him over her steaming rice.
Kakashi twitched his mask down and back up unnoticed, chewing on a bite of mackerel. Naruto seemed to have taken in the primary purpose of the lesson, namely that a healthy diet was both delicious and achievable. Kakashi hoped that Naruto would take him up on his offer to buy groceries for him when he needed it. He had seen what the kid thought a “balanced meal” was (a cup noodle in each hand). He suspected that Naruto’s not knowing how to cook had contributed to his disdain for vegetables; even Kakashi would hate them if they were burnt or boiled to mush.
“Hey, what if we cook together?” Naruto suggested. “Or we could each make one dish and share!”
And there was the underneath the underneath, the secondary purpose of the lesson: teamwork was important in all areas of life.
It seemed like Team 7 was going to be all right.