After Namikaze Minato returned home, he saw Uzumaki Kushina busy making dinner, and a smile appeared on his face.
Namikaze Minato said softly, "I'm home."
Kushina turned around and smiled at Minato: "Welcome back. Dinner will be ready soon. You can eat in a little while. Did the Third Hokage call you for a mission?"
Minato shook his head: "It's not a mission. The Third wants me to be the Fourth Hokage."
Kushina stared at Minato blankly.
Minato waved his hand in front of Kushina: "Kushina, what's wrong?"
Kushina suddenly shouted, quickly took off her apron and ran toward the door.
Minato looked at Kushina in confusion: "Kushina, where are you going?"
"I'm going to buy some food to celebrate!" she called back.
Minato smiled helplessly and followed: "I'll go with you."
...
Sora's house.
Uzumaki Kushina looked at the table full of dishes with a very surprised expression.
"Sora, you made all this?"
Kakashi also looked at Sora in shock.
When they were on the battlefield, Sora had cooked, but the food he made was just edible. It had no presentation at all, let alone taste.
But...
Were these delicious-looking and appetizing dishes really made by his sensei?
Sora smiled and nodded: "Of course I made them. Kushina usually does all the cooking, so I don't get a chance to show off."
Then Sora lightly punched Kakashi on the head, the smile not leaving his face. He said with a grin: "Don't look at me like that. I couldn't exactly take my time cooking fancy dishes during the war, could I?"
Kakashi covered his head, pursed his lips and glared at Sora in displeasure.
Why did Kushina get gentle answers to her questions?
While he didn't even ask anything, just looked with surprised eyes, and got punched.
Kushina eagerly picked up her chopsticks, selected a dish and put it in her mouth.
Her eyes lit up: "Wow! It's delicious!"
Sora smiled and said, "Then Kushina, please eat plenty."
Kushina playfully punched Sora's arm: "Really, Sora, you're so secretive! I always thought you couldn't cook!"
Sora continued to smile, but his face turned a little pale.
Because of the Uzumaki clan's physical traits, Kushina was incredibly strong.
Sora felt certain that the part of his body that had just been hit by Kushina would be bruised!
Kushina and Kakashi ate heartily, while Sora maintained a gentle smile on his face, watching Kushina.
Kushina's cheeks were bulging with food when she noticed Sora wasn't eating. She tilted her head and asked with a cute expression: "Hey, Sora, why aren't you eating?"
Sora suddenly said: "Kushina, let's get married."
Kushina obviously didn't hear clearly what Sora was saying: "That's it... getting married..."
Kakashi covered his mouth, widened his eyes, and coughed violently.
Kushina suddenly realized what was said. Her face turned red, and she pounded her chest fiercely.
Sora initially thought Kushina was just shy, but then realized she was actually choking.
He quickly patted Kushina's back.
After Kushina swallowed her food with difficulty, she grabbed Sora's arm and looked at him with burning eyes: "Sora, what did you just say? Say it again, please?"
Sora held Kushina's shoulders and said seriously: "We have been together for more than ten years. My future wife can only be you, so... will you marry me?"
Kushina bit her lip, looked at Sora with tears in her eyes, and responded: "I will!"
Then Kushina hugged Sora tightly and suddenly burst into tears.
Sora gently patted Kushina's back and said with a smile: "This is supposed to be a happy moment, why are you crying?"
"These are tears of joy!"
Kushina rubbed her face against Sora's chest, wiping her tears on his clothes.
Sora smiled down at her tenderly.
Kakashi looked at Sora and Kushina with dead eyes.
So... why was he even here?
Kakashi looked at the table full of dishes and suddenly felt very full.
After Sora and Kushina had spent some time together, they began to discuss the wedding.
Sora explained to Kushina that he wanted to invite Orochimaru to be the witness at their wedding.
Kushina nodded and said: "Orochimaru-sama is your sensei, Sora, and our elder. I also hope that Orochimaru-sama can be our witness."
Then the two discussed who to invite to the wedding, but because both Sora and Kushina had very few friends, between them they couldn't even come up with ten people.
Kushina suddenly realized something: "Eh? Where's Kakashi?"
Sora was also surprised: "Wasn't he here just now?"
At that moment, Kakashi was walking alone through the streets of Konoha, looking unhappy.
Obviously, he had gone to eat dinner, but it turned out he was just there to be a third wheel.
If he had known earlier, he would have eaten as much as possible before the couple got all lovey-dovey, and at least he would have filled his stomach first.
...
Inside Orochimaru's base.
Danzo found Orochimaru and told him the result.
Danzo said angrily: "This is exactly what Hiruzen wants."
Orochimaru did not stop working on his experiment, and said casually: "The Third Hokage's original intention is to use Minato as a puppet, so master and student can control Konoha together."
Orochimaru, who already had Sora's analysis of the situation, wasn't surprised by the results Danzo shared.
Anyway, he had no interest in becoming Hokage, so he might as well use Danzo.
Danzo said angrily: "If this approach continues, Konoha has no future at all!"
Orochimaru turned around, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile, and said to Danzo: "It's too early to give up now.
As long as this research is successful, it will be easy to control the power of Konoha Village.
To control power, you can also prepare to use some... harsher measures."
Danzo said with a gloomy face: "When the time is right, we must do whatever it takes! But it's not time yet."
The research Orochimaru mentioned was the study of Senju Hashirama's cells.
Konoha Village had always harbored a hidden danger: the Nine-Tails sealed within the village.
After the death of the First Hokage, the Wood Style jutsu, a method of sealing the tailed beasts, was lost.
So Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo used the village's resources to conduct research on Hashirama cells, hoping that Konoha would have Wood Style again. But as a large number of volunteers died in the experiments, the Third Hokage had to call a halt, and all related records were sealed as black history.
Orochimaru wanted to restart this research, and expected Danzo to support him, but Danzo said that it wasn't the right time yet, which surprised Orochimaru.
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion