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Canon Side-Story: Todolist, Sakura Learns to Cook
🕑 Added 2024-09-26 07:47:22 +0000 UTCNotes: On Friday we’re doing
Canon Side-Story: Forest of Death, That Time Naruto Got Eaten. Next Monday we'll be voting on two side-stories again, for Wednesday and Friday.
Though on next Friday we'll be getting a chapter so like, that'll be a double feature. I didn't think this through very well. That's fine though, I'm not worried about it.
Today, we’re gonna watch Sakura learn to cook. Enjoy!
To be clear this does take place pre-chapter 89, not that that's an issue for most people.
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Crafting tutorial done, Tenten annoyed, it’s time for Sakura to do something she promised herself she’d do to show Kakashi a long time ago. At least, it feels like a long time ago.
She’s going to learn how to cook. “Haku, I need help!” She barges into the house, finding him already in the kitchen and in the middle of cutting a pepper.
“Sakura?” He looks at her with a slightly tilted gaze, and no small amount of clear confusion on his soft features. She’s her softboy streamer alright, he’s useful for more than just that though; he’s useful for cooking tutorials!
“I got a skill to help me learn crafting skills so now I want to learn cooking so I can tell Kakashi to screw off the next time he does something insulting.” She’s pretty sure he did something insulting, she doesn’t really remember.
“Skill?” Haku asks her. Which is a weird question, as she’s definitely told him about - wait… Did she not tell him? She definitely told him, she had to have told him, but what if she didn’t?
Not the time, she decides she’ll deal with that later, maybe she has, maybe she hasn’t. “I need to learn how to cook.” Sakura explains, reaching down and taking the knife from Haku’s gentle hand. She uses it to slice through the pepper, completing Haku’s task. “There, I did you a favor, help me!”
“Sakura, I don’t think cutting one pepper I was already in the middle of cutting counts as- sure.” Haku’s always so agreeable, it’s nice. The toneless expression is one of care and comfort, she’s sure. “Stand here, no, here.” He moves her around the kitchen, taking her hands from behind her, and getting into a position that most would find intimate. For Sakura, it’s a little embarrassing to feel his heat so close to her, his hard chest against her back, but it’s more like a sibling helping her with something than anything intimidating or awkward. It helps Haku doesn’t feel so much like a guy to her. As far as she’s concerned, Haku’s just a person, and he’s very comfortable to be around so there’s not much point in thinking about it further.
“So rice needs this much water per ounce-”
She’s not sure why but after about twenty minutes, she finds several Narutos watching them. He could just come over and learn how to cook too! But running through the meal is nice, and it really makes her appreciate just how much effort Haku is putting into-
“No, too much, that’s too much!” She’s never heard Haku get so passionate before, but apparently too much onion is one of those things.
“But onions are good.” She points out. He’s so much taller than her that she has to look up and back to give him her totally earned and valid pout.
“No.” He slides the knife - using her hand - across the cutting board and pushes the rest aside. “Just like with the salt, there’s a point where you’re using too much and no longer are you just making the dish better in its natural state.”
“So I have to worry about changing the dish even while I make it?” Sakura asks. “Isn’t that what cooking is? Making new things?”
“Only if you want the entire house to secretly throw your food away when you’re not looking.” Haku warns her with a grumble, “you should save experimentation for when you have a few extra ryo and you want to make something for just you. After you’re sure you have a winning dish, you can test it out with everyone else. But cooking for your family is rote memorization, so memorize with me. You should also get into the habit of judging your own cooking, that way you won’t get offended if someone has feedback, and you can constantly improve. Remember, someone wouldn’t make a suggestion on matters of taste if they didn’t care, they want it to be better because they want to enjoy eating it.”
“Oh, okay.” By the time she gets the prompt to say she’s learned [Cooking LVL 1] she finds she’s lost almost all her interest in the idea. It’s still cool though! If nothing else, she appreciates Haku more for all the things he does, and also, it’s good to know she can get some nice huggy warmth from the boy without it being weird. Naruto always makes it kind of weird.
“So about skills…” Haku begins.
“I have to go bother Ino, bye!” Yeah she’ll uh, have that conversation later. Did she really not tell him? He has to be forgetting.
Comments
Christopher Cummins
Yeah, Haku's learning with her parents, Hanabi, and Konohamaru during chapter 89. Haku is just like "This food is more important."
Dopplerdee
Of course she would just ass to mmuch. Also Haku not knowing was kinda funny.
