"You finally came back, I... I'm so worried about you."
Mei held Kakashi tightly, her face showed the joy after having a long-awaited reunion.
"Yeah, I'm back, sorry to make you worried." Kakashi said with a smile.
"It's okay, the most important thing is that you come back safely." Mei joyfully said.
"Thank you."
"Is things going well?" Mei asked.
"Well, it went well, that's why I came back early." Kakashi smiled.
"Are you hurt?"
"Of course not."
Although Kakashi almost died, he won't tell this thing to Mei.
After all, he is fine now, and it's better than let Mei worried.
Mei didn't have any doubt after hearing this, after all, standing in front of her is a complete fine Kakashi. So it's enough for her.
The two people who hadn't seen each other for a long time spent time together for a while.
So the Godaime Mizukage magically disappeared from Kirigakure for another night, making Ao worried for a while.
Fortunately, the next morning, Mei came back with a very joyful smile on her face.
Although Ao did not know what was going on, he didn't ask Mei about it, after all, it's not a bad thing after seeing Mei showed such a joyful expression.
He is just a subordinate. So it will annoy Mei if Ao cause excessive intervention in her life.
At this time, Kakashi finally returned to Konoha.
After telling Tsunade about his return, Kakashi left the Hokage Tower.
As for the mission arrangement, it will take a few days.
After all, after Kakashi left, things have been rescheduled. It would take a few more days to arrange the arrangement as Kakashi came back to take over at this time.
Naturally, Kakashi had no opinion on this. And he wished that this arrangement would take a few more days than expected.
When he walked around Konoha's street, although he only left for two years, Kakashi felt it has been a long time.
The familiar feeling in Konoha makes Kakashi feel very warm.
Because it feels like home here for him.
As he was walking, Kakashi felt a little hungry. After rubbing his stomach, Kakashi muttered: "It's been a long time since I had ramen."
With this idea, he naturally moved towards Ichiraku Ramen.
It's still the same small restaurant. As it's not lunch time at this time, there are no people in the restaurant.
Kakashi walked in and sat on the chair.
Seeing someone coming in, Teuchi who was sitting in the corner of the kitchen immediately reacted. He got up, bent over and said, "I am very sorry, I am not doing business today. Please come back another day."
Kakashi was taken aback when he heard this, 'Why did I am so unlucky? After finally come here, did you have to go home empty-handed?'
"Teuchi-san, it's been a long time since I came here, do you want to let me go back like this?"
Teuchi was slightly surprised when he heard this as he felt the voice was so familiar.
When he looked up, he saw a man with silver-white hair.
"Kakashi? When did you come back?" Teuchi said with a happy expression.
Teuchi still remember Kakashi even if Kakashi hasn't come to his restaurant for a long time.
After all, Kakashi is the Konoha's Hero. And Kakashi has been in his restaurant a lot since he was a child, and it is difficult to forget about him.
"I just came back. As I miss the taste of your ramen, I came here to get some." Kakashi said with a smile.
Teuchi smiled and said: "Haha, you haven't come here for almost two years. So it makes sense that you miss the taste."
"Yeah, your ramen is really delicious. But, Teuchi-san, why did you just say that you are not doing business today?" Kakashi asked doubtfully.
Hearing Kakashi's question, the joy on Teuchi's face began to fade, and his expression returned to the melancholy expression like before.
Upon seeing this, Kakashi knew that something was wrong.
"Teuchi-san? What happened? Tell me if you have any troubles, if I can help, I will definitely help you," Kakashi said sincerely.
Teuchi sighed and said: "Kakashi, you can't help with this."
"Teuchi-san, you haven't said anything yet, so how do you know that I can't help?" Kakashi said helplessnessly.
Teuchi glanced at Kakashi for a while. He then stood up, walked into the back kitchen, brought out a bowl of noodles, and handed it to Kakashi.
Kakashi said, "Teuchi-san, what..."
"Just eat and see it for yourself." Teuchi said and did not directly answer Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at the bowl of noodles. Although there was still some steam left, it was not newly cooked. There was only half a bowl left, which meant that it have been eaten before.
However, after hearing Teuchi's words, Kakashi did not think much as he took a chopstick and took a bite.
Upon taking a bite, Kakashi's eyes widened suddenly, and he couldn't help but said, "It's delicious!"
Then he held up the bowl and drank a big mouthful of soup.
After drinking the soup, Kakashi exclaimed: "This soup is also very good. It seems to be a bone soup that has been simmered for a long time, with some delicacies added! Teuchi-san, is this your newly developed ramen? It tastes great! It is more delicious than before."
Kakashi praised it again, but Teuchi didn't look happy at all, instead he became more gloomy.
Seeing that something was wrong, Kakashi asked: "What's wrong, Teuchi-san?"
Teuchi sighed and said: "Kakashi, I didn't make this ramen."
"Huh? Teuchi-san didn't make this?" Kakashi was surprised when he heard this.
"Yeah, I didn't."
"That... what's going on?" Kakashi asked.
Teuchi did not directly answer Kakashi's question, but said: "Kakashi, do you know about cooking-nin?"
"Cooking-nin?" Kakashi stunned for a moment, and then said, "I know about them. Shinobi usually eats in the wilderness when they are on mission. Although there are such things as soldier pills, it is not delicious. Therefore, Shinobi hope to eat delicious food in the wilderness. After that, the existence called cooking-nin was born. They can take the ingredients from anywhere and cook it deliciously. Many Shinobi teams like to bring cooking-nin on their mission."
Teuchi nodded and said: "Yes, it is that cooking-nin."
"So why did you talk about this, Teuchi-san? Are you also cooking-nin?" Kakashi asked in surprise.
Teuchi shook his head and said, "No, I'm not. It's like this. When I was young, I learned the craft of making ramen in a ramen restaurant. When I was studying at that place, there was also another person, his name is Hakkaku. He is my junior brother. After I finished my study, I came to Konoha and started a ramen restaurant. And Hakkaku went to another Shinobi village and became a cooking-nin."
"Did you mean that your junior brother came to find you, Teuchi-san? Isn't that a good thing?" Kakashi said.
Teuchi nodded and said: "Yes, my junior brother did come here to find me, but it was not a good thing."
"Could it be... he came to cause some troubles?" Kakashi speculated.
"It can be said like that. This bowl of ramen was made by him." Teuchi said, pointing to the bowl of ramen Kakashi had just eaten.
"So, does that mean that your junior brother come here to challenge you? And the topic of the challenge is ramen? Then... Teuchi-san, you lost?" Kakashi speculated.
Teuchi nodded with a gloomy expression and said: "Yeah, the moment I ate this ramen, I knew I had lost."