Under the shine of the setting sun, the two gates still occupied three-quarters of the height of the gate wall. The Konoha logo in the middle of the two Ninja characters on the door stood out clearly.
Dosuke couldn't help but feel that it was different from the embarrassment when he returned to the village from the last mission. This time, he was very clean and tidy.
Minato was at the front, Dosuke and Kakashi were at the back, Obito and Rin were at the end. The five of them walked toward the door together.
"Minato-sama, have you returned from a mission?"
"Minato..."
Seeing Minato, the two ninjas at the door stopped their inspection work and greeted him.
Minato nodded with a smile and replied one by one.
Minato stopped, turned around, and looked at Dosuke and the others.
"This mission has come to a successful conclusion. I will notify you of the mission commission in a few days. Also, I hope you can keep this mission a secret."
"Yes, Teacher."
"Yes, Brother Minato."
"Then let's disband first. Dosuke, Jiraiya-sensei said that you are now an independent ninja, and if you have a mission, Tsunade-sama will tell you."
"I understand, Brother Minato."
After saying their goodbyes, the five of them left in different directions.
Dosuke walked quickly toward his home.
Looking at the low one-story house not far away, Dosuke couldn't help but quicken his pace.
He took out the key from the ninja bag, creaked, and opened the door.
The lighting in the dimly lit room was not good.
In the afterglow of the evening, Dosuke touched the switch by the wall.
He pulled the switch and changed the dim light of the past.
The bright white light illuminated the clean items in the house.
"Wow, when did I change the lights in my room? And this furniture?" He walked slowly to the brand-new table in the living room and took out the clothes from his backpack one by one.
While tidying up his clothes, he looked at his room with a fresh eye.
It was completely different from the last time he came back from a mission. This time, the furniture in the house looked immaculate, and it seemed that someone often cleaned it up for him.
He took the packed clothes, put them into the wash basin, and began washing them by hand.
Walking into the bedroom, Dosuke found a letter beside his quilt.
He walked over and bent down to pick up the envelope. It said, "Dosuke, with love."
"Sister Tachie, is this a mission?"
After reading the letter, Dosuke realized that Tachie had gone out on a mission the day before yesterday.
Sister Tachie cleaned the house; no wonder it is so clean.
Tachie also mentioned in the letter that during his absence, she replaced the lights with new lamps for him, and those new pieces of furniture were also replaced by Tachie, and she put the old furniture in the basement of the house.
Dosuke put down the envelope and walked to the refrigerator in the kitchen.
He opened the door of the refrigerator, and what he saw was a layer of pickles packed in exquisite glass jars.
There was a label on each jar: "Dosuke, this is very spicy!" "The longer the jar keeps, the better it tastes."
Stretching out his hand to touch these pickles, the corners of Dosuke's eyes were slightly moist.
It turns out that this is the feeling of being cared for and remembered by others.
After closing the refrigerator door, he calmed down a little, and Dosuke lay on the bed.
Lying on the bedding had a warm sunshine smell. There was also a faint fragrance, which made people feel extra energetic.
*Gurgle, gurgle...*
Dosuke wanted to just lie quietly on the bed and enjoy that moment of tranquility. Too bad his stomach disagreed.
"Hey, let's deal with dinner first."
There was no other food in the refrigerator except the pickles made by Tachie. The instant noodles and other instant food products he had stored before disappeared without a trace, presumably they were dealt with by Tachie.
Taking the money, Dosuke walked out of the room.
"Hey, isn't this Dosuke?"
Hearing someone greet him, Dosuke looked up and found that he had inadvertently walked to the door of Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
"Well, I've been out on a mission recently, and I just came back today."
"I said, why haven't I seen you for a while. Then, do you want a bowl? I recently researched a new type of ramen with sauce, and it hasn't been released yet. You are the first one. Do you want to try it?"
Ichiraku Ramen Shop used to be Dosuke's only route between home and the hospital, so he often went back to Ichiraku Ramen Shop to have a bowl of ramen for dinner.
"It's so delicious? Give me a big portion."
"Okay." After speaking, Teuchi skillfully began to stretch the noodles, next, the soup. All in one go.
After a while, a large portion of steaming ramen was placed in front of Dosuke.
He began to eat with big mouthfuls.
He checked out. Dosuke walked out of Ichiraku Ramen Shop. He turned around and went home.
Back home, he washed up.
Dosuke was lying on the bed, playing with a gourd-shaped bottle in his hand.
After a while, he slowly fell asleep.
After waking up in the morning, Dosuke put the Hero Water by the bed into his backpack.
After tidying up briefly, Dosuke walked toward Konoha Hospital. He didn't go to see Tsunade for the first time yesterday; he didn't know if Tsunade would blame him when she found out.
When he arrived at Konoha Hospital, he walked into the lobby, and the nurse on duty, Dosuke, didn't know her; maybe she was a newcomer while he was away.
He walked around the hall with ease, went up to the third floor, and walked to the door of Tsunade's office.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
"Teacher, I'm back," Dosuke said as he knocked on the door.
The sound of footsteps could be heard in the room, but Tsunade's usual energetic voice did not come.