Dinner

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Special Thanks to FlickHero (Writer of Naruto Hikikaeru), Frodo-san, Morijin321 and AkiHuiWriting for editing today's chapter

Author's Note -

Orange Spark has been changed to Orange bolt after a lot of deliberation and argument with my editors. The change has been reflected in the previous chapters as well.

The reason we have chosen Orange Bolt is that it is almost the same as flash with a cooler name and a sign of respect to Naruto's son in future. Bolt = Boruto in Japanese English (bolto)

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Hidden Sand Village.

Rasa was looking at the papers on his desk.

("These developments should keep everyone occupied for a while…") Rasa thought as he stared at the village development plans he had written down on the papers.

He walked towards the window and looked at the village, his eyes then shifting over to the light pillar that shined at a distance.

"That's it!" Rasa shouted happily after he got an idea.

He walked towards the door and opened it, "Get me Gaara!"

"Yes, sir!" A man who stood by the door responded as he set off at once.

A few moments later…

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in," Rasa said.

Gaara opened the door and let himself in.

"Gaara, I am glad you are here," Rasa said, "I have a job for you."

"A job?" Gaara looked at his dad.

"Yup. If you do this, it will be a great opportunity for our village."

"An opportunity?"

"Yes. Now is the time for the village to grow, and what better opportunity than the sports festival itself?" Rasa smiled as he asked.

"…" Gaara remained silent, waiting for his father to continue.

Rasa then said, "I want you to build a huge coliseum out of sand. It should be able to accommodate about tens of thousands of people."

Gaara's eyes widened, "That huge?"

"Yeah. The Feudal Lord this time is quite the character. As long as we can please him, he promises to turn a blind eye to a few things in the village," Rasa said.

"I see…" Gaara said slowly as he tried to perceive the emotions and meaning behind the now spoken words.

Rasa continued, "It's been about three days since the Chuunin Exam is over, and there are quite a few matters to handle here. As long as we can keep the event here, it might also be in a way beneficial to the Sand village. It is an opportunity for people to explore the new monument and to increase the interaction between the people of the two villages as well. Not to mention, this might please the Feudal Lord and give him a home ground advantage of his position as he sits down for the event. So far as I see, it is a win-win situation here."

"Mm," Gaara nodded.

Even though Gaara was a bit slow on the emotional uptake, he was quite well-versed with how the world operated politically.

"Gaara, how long do you think it will take?" Rasa asked.

"If I were to take care of everything personally and also strengthen it, it should take me about five days," Gaara said after a moment of thought.

"Five days…" Rasa murmured as he thought back to Chiyo's words.

——FlashBack——

"I don't care what you intend to do in order to destroy the Leaf.

"I will not even interfere with your plans because I am also counting on you to avenge both my son and daughter-in-law who were killed by the White Fang."

"However…." Chiyo paused.

"However…?" Rasa asked.

"You must take care of Gaara."

"You must make him understand the meaning of love once again." Chiyo insisted.

—-End of FlashBack-—

Rasa stared at Gaara who stood in front of him.

("This might be my chance to spend some Father and Son time…") Rasa thought.

"Gaara," Rasa called out.

"Mm?" Gaara looked calmly.

"I'll help you out in the building process. Hopefully, we should be able to shorten it down to three days at most…" Rasa said warmly.

("Father working with me….") Gaara stared thoughtfully at Rasa.

"What do you say…?" Rasa asked.

"Mm!" Gaara nodded.

"It's settled then. I'll send a messenger hawk to the Leaf immediately and let them know. The location has been changed to the newly established colosseum which will be located next to the Time Dome," Rasa said, following which he sat down on his chair to write his message onto a scroll.

Meanwhile, Gaara looked fixedly at his dad. Looking forward to working with him and rediscover the familial love that he had once lost…

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Hidden Leaf Village, Hokage Office.

Kakashi was facing towards Hiruzen who held a report sent by Naruto.

"Looks like things have been handled without a hitch." Hiruzen said.

"As expected…" Kakashi responded.

"Well, they will probably take their time in coming. After all, the Grass Village is pretty far away. The only reason they were able to make it within half a day was because of the seriousness of the situation itself." Hiruzen said.

"Hokage-sama…" Kakashi murmured.

"What is it, Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked.

"I'm having a bad feeling about this," Kakashi said in a foreboding manner.

"What?" Hiruzen was completely surprised.

"This is just a hunch on my part," Kakashi said.

("This is bad. Whenever Kakashi has that feeling, it is always spot on.") Hiruzen stared at Kakashi for a moment silently.

"Well, Naruto is powerful enough to handle everything on his own, but we must keep a watch on the situation regardless," Hiruzen said.

"Mm," Kakashi nodded.

"I'll have a chat with Minato later and let him know about the situation," Hiruzen said.

"Got it," Kakashi nodded, following which he left the office.

Soon, Minato also got news of what happened and was happy that Naruto had managed to solve things without any problems.

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Crk... Crk... Crk...

Crickets chirped about as they produced a shrill noise by rubbing their legs together which matched perfectly with the bright moon that shined in the sky.

Whoosh!

Sasuke arrived in the courtyard of his home.

"Welcome back, Elder Brother," Jūgo showed up to welcome Sasuke.

"Jūgo, it's good that you are here. Tonight, we don't have to cook for dinner," Sasuke said.

"We don't have to cook?" Jūgo asked.

"Yeah. We've been invited to a place to have dinner," Sasuke said.

"…" Jūgo's eyes shined.

"Let's go," Sasuke said.

"Okay," Jūgo nodded, following which the two left.

Before leaving the training field earlier that evening, Minato gave the new address for his house which Naruto did not have enough time to explain to Sasuke previously.

…

Sounds of footsteps echoed in the surroundings as Sasuke and Jūgo walked along a street that led towards Naruto's house.

Sasuke looked at the unfamiliar building that was in front of him.

("So this is the place, huh…?") Sasuke thought upon seeing the building.

*Ding-dong*

Sasuke rang the doorbell.

Sounds of muffled footsteps echoed, and soon, the door opened to reveal Minato in his neat and pink apron.

"Sasuke-kun, Jūgo-kun," Minato greeted.

Sasuke's eyes twitched upon seeing Minato in a pink apron.

("What's going on…") Sasuke thought.

"Mm?" Minato looked at Sasuke.

"Lord Fourth," Sasuke greeted up waking up from his daze while Jūgo remained in a daze.

"Sasuke-kun, from now on, you can call me Minato-sensei," Minato smiled.

"Mm…" Sasuke nodded.

"Come in, you two," Minato led them inside the house.

"Excuse me…" Sasuke murmured as he stepped into the house.

He swept his gaze across the house observing how things had changed since Naruto's time alone in his apartment.

Naruto and Minato lived in a studio apartment with two bedrooms. Naturally, just like a studio apartment, the kitchen and the living room was combined.

Sasuke's eyes went wide upon seeing the different covered pots that were on the table.

"Sit down, you two. There's a lot to eat today," Minato said as he opened all the pots.

*Gulp*

Sasuke and Jūgo simultaneously gulped upon seeing and smelling the food.

Soon, the trio sat at the table.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto will come tomorrow." Minato said, "Today was his first mission as a jōnin and a critical one."

"What was the mission about?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"The mission… it was to rescue Hinata and Kurenai-sensei, who were taken hostage by the Hidden Grass to exchange for the girl named Karin," Minato said.

"Huh?" Sasuke stared at Minato only to see that his gaze was serious.

"When did this happen?" Sasuke asked.

"It happened yesterday, and we only came to know about it this morning. Naruto was immediately dispatched along with Asuma, Kiba-kun, and Shino-kun," Minato said.

"I see…" Sasuke said slowly.

"But it's okay now. The mission went well and Naruto and the others will be back here tomorrow morning," Minato smiled.

"Mm," Sasuke nodded.

"What are you guys waiting for? The food is going to get cold," Minato upon seeing the two not yet eating.

Sasuke and Jūgo nodded and started to dig in.

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes widened.

("His cooking is too good. It's on par with how my mom used to do…") Sasuke thought back to his mom's cooking, only to get depressed over Itachi again.

"How's the food?" Minato asked.

"It's delicious," Sasuke said after a moment.

Minato also noticed Sasuke sighing over the food and realized that he might have accidentally triggered Sasuke's memories.

Minato then looked towards Jūgo.

"Jūgo-kun. You've been silent," Minato smiled at Jūgo.

"I don't talk much," Jūgo answered.

"Do you like this village?" Minato asked.

"I'll go wherever Elder Brother goes…" Jūgo murmured.

"I see…" Minato said slowly.

…

Soon, they were finished with their food.

Shhh!

Sounds of running water could be heard as Minato was washing the pots and plates while Sasuke stood beside him cleaning the washed utensils with a dry cloth.

"Minato-sensei," Sasuke called out.

"Hmm…?" Minato looked at Sasuke.

"You're a reanimation, aren't you…" Sasuke asked slowly.

"Hehe, I am…" Minato laughed in a manner of self-mockery.

"Is your time here limited?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah… I'll probably be here only until the Fourth Ninja War," Minato said as he handed over a plate to Sasuke.

"That's almost four years from now," Sasuke said.

"Yeah…" Minato nodded.

"Will your body last till then?" Sasuke asked as he placed the plate on a plate stand after cleaning it.

"Who knows? This body of mine can regenerate an almost unlimited number of times from any injury and has unlimited chakra. Even though ninjas would kill for this type of body, I don't feel like myself…" Minato sighed.

"I see…" Sasuke said slowly.

It didn't take long before the two finished up, following which Sasuke and Jūgo decided to say their goodbyes and headed towards the door.

Minato followed the two towards the entrance.

"Sasuke, I will come to the same training field in the evening to see your progress." Minato said, "We can also spar if you want."

"Mm!" Sasuke nodded, following which he walked beside Jūgo.

The two then bowed together.

"Thank you for taking care of us," Sasuke and Jūgo said at the same time.

"Hehe, both of you should show up every day for dinner, kay? Also, here are some leftovers which you can use for breakfast tomorrow," Minato said as he handed over two boxes.

("When did he…?") Sasuke was stunned beyond words.

("He's too good.") Jūgo thought.

Moments later, the two left while Minato waved at them from the door.

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Hidden Rain.

Atop the balcony of the tallest tower, Pain was staring at the falling rain.

Whoosh!

A massive bird flapped its way over and landed.

"Damn this rain," Deidara ran towards Pain as he took cover under the roof of the balcony.

"Deidara," Pain called out.

"Hey, I am not heading out immediately until the rain stops," Deidara complained.

"In that case, you might have to stay here forever," Pain said emotionlessly.

"What? You picking a fight or something?" Deidara looked at Pain as though he was an idiot.

"He's right," Konan said as she approached from the back.

"Huh?" Deidara had a question mark.

"The rain never stops in the Hidden Rain; thus the name," Konan said.

"What are you doing here?" Deidara glared at her.

"Here," Konan handed over a Crystal Ball.

"Huh?" Deidara stared at it.

"I need you to test that on your new friend," Pain said.

"What is this?" Deidara was confused.

"It is something that happens to play a major part in Akatsuki's plans in the future. Pain said, "Let's just say this is a harmless prototype."

"Okay…" Deidara looked at Pain.

"Why should I test it on my friend?" Deidara asked.

"Don't worry, it will not harm your friend. All you have to do is to report on what your friend sees," Pain said without emotion.

Deidara then stared thoughtfully at the Crystal Ball in his hand.