Chap.92 Midnight meal

-Thank you, Tony, come back soon! -Teuichi said goodbye to Tony after he stopped by to eat at his place, the pile of empty ramen bowls were a good proof of the terrifying appetite he could have.

Sometimes he gets lazy to cook or prepare something, so for a change of scenery, he goes to places like Ichiraku Ramen to support his customers and treat himself to something different. Today wasn't the case though, as she should probably be cooking soon.

-It's almost time, let's see if he shows up or not in the end -he muttered as he walked through the streets of Konoha.

A few days have passed and the time for the meeting with Itachi is approaching, but even though they agreed to meet, there is still the doubt that if he will show up or everything can go as he expects.

The agreed place for the meeting was the Forest of Death, more specifically, the top of the tower that was used during the examination two years ago. Away from civilians and prying eyes. Although she usually opened a couple of ninjas controlling the place, after informing Tsunade, the Hokage withdrew the surveillance that night as an exception.

Tony arrived in advance and contemplated the surroundings under the moonlight, which was full tonight. He couldn't help but remember the Akatsuki rings he incautiously and had with him, how much would it affect the bijus' extraction speed if they didn't have the full set?

-Come on, you've been staring at me for like a whole minute, it's uncomfortable," he said as he turned his head and looked towards a particular tree.

-Your sensitivity is remarkable -Itachi stepped out from the leaves and with a few jumps, climbed up to the roof, leaving a distance of several meters between them.

Tony guessed it was the genuine Itachi and not a clone, because there was no need to be so cautious in the first few steps. But it was Itachi, he might try to make some kind of strange move that he wouldn't expect.

-Fenrir, check the surroundings -from Tony's shadow, came out the biggest wolf Itachi had ever seen in his life. What kind of jutsu allows to hide such a monster with such perfection? Even he didn't notice its presence!

Fenrir eyed Itachi warily and in the next second, his figure vanished, revealing a speed that momentarily left behind a residual image.

-I made sure Zetsu won't pay attention to me," Itachi said calmly.

-You did well, but it never hurts to be sure," Tony replied as his eyes scanned the surroundings, "Have you thought about my proposal yet?

-Assuming you can cure me, I'm willing to comply with your second condition.

-I ask no more of you," nodded Tony, "Just to be clear, aside from the loss of vision caused by the use of your eyes and the disease you have, is there anything else you want to fix in passing? Skin whitening, perhaps?

-No, just cure my condition and my eyes. Will you use your special food?

-That's the plan," Tony laced his fingers together, "It sounds like you've done some research on it, so what would you prefer to start with?

-How exactly will it work? -Itachi asked for more information, as he could be left in a temporarily weak state.

-I'll make two different dishes: Buddha jumping the wall for your condition and a carrot stew with rabbit meat for your eyes," he explained, "You can watch me cook if it will put your mind at ease. If you eat the stew, your eyes will be temporarily out of commission while they are being repaired. It won't amount to blindness, but you'll have a hard time seeing with all the tears and debris you'll get. The other dish, well, it will make you spit up blood while it reconfigures the affected organs. It will be an unpleasant process, but the result can't be disputed.

Itachi was silent for a few minutes as he weighed the options.

-I'll start with the Buddha jumping over the wall," he said announcing his decision.

His eyes were meant for Sasuke, if he had to test what Tony said, he would rather risk his body and not damage his eyes. He had already prepared countermeasures for the crows to take his sharingans in case of a trap, so he was willing to give it a try based on the information about Tony he gathered.

Tony nodded. While this dish in proper conditions usually took a day or two to prepare properly, with the power of the devil fruit, he could plate it in less than half an hour.

Plucking the tiles from the tower and turning them into ingredients, he began to prepare the meal. Quail eggs, bamboo shoot, spring onion, abalone, shark fin, chicken, ginseng, mushrooms and taro.

Itachi had his sharingan activated and tried to understand the technique behind the transformation, but he couldn't grasp anything despite seeing the change with his own eyes. Tony's movements were skillful and fast, but they were in slow motion for Itachi. All the way, he didn't add anything suspicious and soon a pleasant scent came before him.

-Will you eat standing up or shall we go inside? There are chairs and tables in the waiting room," Tony held the bowl with the food in his hand and asked Itachi.

-I prefer to eat standing up.

-Let's go down then, I don't know if you'll lose your balance and break your neck once you start healing -with the bowl still in his hand, he descended from the tower and waited for him on the floor.

Itachi separated into several crows, which gathered again in front of Tony.

-Tony rolled his eyes, "Here," he held out the plate and waited.

-Leave it in the grass and move away.

Tony looked at him with an expression of: Are we really going to do that?

Seeing that Itachi wouldn't move if I didn't, I couldn't help but feel strange, it was like he was doing something illegal.

He was healing a sick person in good faith, for Hashirama's underpants!

He did as Itachi asked and put the food on the ground, then stepped back and lay down against a tree trunk.

Itachi walked over and examined the plate. After making sure there were no traps present, he picked it up and sniffed it, using his training to try and locate any poisons or drugs that were present.

-You know, that's starting to get insulting. I have my own principles as a chef, you know? -a vein stood out on Tony's forehead.

It reminded him of that insufferable girl from Iwagakure, Onoki's granddaughter.

Perhaps because he made sure there was nothing strange really or because of Tony's comment, he took a tentative sip of the soup and his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Delicious!

Now if he could just add one of his famous perfect fried eggs to it.....

He began to eat, paying attention to Tony's location, not quite letting his guard down despite the delight of his taste buds.

Tony had to hold back his laughter, because maybe with the paranoia shown by Itachi, he would think he successfully poisoned him or something.

Reforming his organs to cure his condition might or might not, appear in the form of... explosive diarrhea.

But he didn't need to be so descriptive or he'd lose his appetite, right?