Cookies

Pink apron on? Sakura tied the strings behind her back in a neat bow. Check. Hair up? She gathered her hair into a ponytail. Check.

"I'm glad I'm not wearing that apron," Naruto murmured, wearing his mother's Uzumaki blue apron.

"Did you say something?"

"Huh No."

Sakura narrowed her eyes briefly then ignored it. She began reading from one of Kushina's baking books, placing it on the counter beside a neat stack of baking utensils. "Okay, so it says here that we need 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoon cornstarch and ½ teaspoon salt together in a large bowl, got that?"

"Uhhhh…"

In the living room, Minato turned the next page of his newspaper, an amused smile curving his lips. This should be good.

"Get this bowl," she pointed at the largest one, "and set it over there."

Naruto did as he was told and sat it on the opposite side of the counter. Deciding it was best for her to work with the ingredients; she began measuring them out one by one. The last thing she wanted was to make horrible-tasting cookies for his family.

"Alright. Now melt ¾ cups of butter in a pan while I get both sugars."

"Oka "

"And don't burn it."

He swallowed. "Got it."

Minato chuckled. Oh, how much this girl reminds him of his beloved.

Naruto turned towards the cupboards first, muttering "Butter…butter…butter."

Sakura stopped measuring the brown sugar, rose a pink eyebrow and looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for butter."

She face palmed herself. This guy was unbelievable. "It's in the fridge, baka."

….Years back….

"Wait!" Kushina grabbed his arm, stopping him halfway from scooping out the flour from the half-filled bag. "You can't just scoop the flour with the measuring cup Minato! You'll ruin the cookies like that!"

He looked at her, unsure of whether to drop the cup back in the bag or give it to her to fix. "Then—"

"You use a large spoon to scoop it in the cup and don't pack the flour or tap the cup because it'll make it denser." Letting go of his hand, she continued. "Once it's spooned in, use a butter knife to level it off. Got that?"

"Um sure…?"

"That's not very assuring you know."

"I know," he teased, dumping the full cup of flour back in the bag. "Don't worry; I took in every word you said."

"Better have. If these cookies taste bad, we both know whose fault it is."

She turned back around and sprayed the sheet pan a bit too generously, earning a skeptical expression from Minato.

"Don't you think that's a lot of spray?"

She placed the container back in the cupboard above her. "No questions Minato. That's how it's done."

He looked at her, dubious if that was considered "healthy" before shrugging it off and turning his attention back to the flour.

...Present…

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he took in every cookie's appearance in the oven. Many of them looked pretty darn wonky and inedible to boot. "They don't look good."

"Duh they don't look good. They're not finished baking yet. Says here," she grabbed the cooking book again, "they need about eleven to twelve minutes. They've only had six."

"Yeah but, look at that one, in the far end. Looks like someone ate it and placed it back."

Minato held down his laughter. Cookies that looked horrendous usually taste the best, right?

"Shut up! They still need to bake alright?!" Sakura slammed the book against the counter, not caring one bit that Naruto's father was sitting around the corner

…Later that day…

"Tadaima!" Kushina greeted, kicking the door shut. "What's that smell?" It was freshly baked something with a bit much of vanilla in them. That much she knew.

Minato folded the top portion of his newspaper, nodding towards the kitchen. "Naruto. Sakura. Kitchen."

She raised an eyebrow and continued on her way into the kitchen, her gaze searching for the baked goodies.

"Hurry up Naruto," urged Sakura. They were removing the flat cookies from their respective places onto a silver platter.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" replied Naruto.

"Kushina-san's here and I wanted to surprise her," Sakura whispered, wishing they finished on time.

"Oh, they'll be a surprise alright." He murmured.

"Shut up!"

Kushina cleared her throat, setting her bagged-groceries on the table. "Good afternoon."

Naruto finished up the cookies while Sakura turned around, beaming a warm smile. "Good afternoon Kushina-san. Naruto and I—

"Mostly her."

" decided to surprise you with some cookies and we hope you'll like how they taste."

She didn't say look, Naruto mused to himself.

"Really?" Kushina stepped forward. "Well let's see them!"

As Naruto brought the plate to his mother, Sakura's smile faded a little, embarrassment causing her to look down and away from Kushina's gaze.

"Surprise Kaa-chan!" He placed the plate in front of her.

Minato paused his reading, keen on listening to what his wife was about to say.

"Oh!...They look…lovely." She lied. "Except for that one in the far end," she pointed to the one that they probably tried to hide. It's appearance was the worst out of all of them. "Looks like someone ate it and placed it back."

Naruto looked at Sakura. Sakura closed her eyes. Minato laughed.

"Don't feel bad. At least they look better than the ones Minato made."

Her husband stopped laughing.

Kushina glanced over her shoulder and smirked. That ought to teach him. She brought her focus back to Naruto and Sakura. "Heh, not bad though. I'm going to try one if you don't mind."

…Years back…

They were both staring at the tray of cookies, disappointment written all over their faces.

"..."

"Minato…I'm going to be frank with you," she said, turning to look up at him.

"When aren't you?"

She ignored him. "They're ugly. Like, really ugly."

"I'm—"

"But," she interrupted, grabbing one and sniffing it. "They smell good. As for taste…" she snapped it in half and plopped a piece in her mouth.

He watched her carefully. Kushina was a pretty expressive girl so when her eyes widened the exact same time her deep red eyebrows rose a notch, he was alarmed. Did it taste bad? Or good? Too crunchy? Perhaps salty?

"These…are amazing! You have to try one Minato. Here, have this piece." She handed him what was left of her cookie and watched as he brought it to his lips carefully.

"Forget looks. It's all about taste, ya know!"

While she went on and on about how looks can be deceiving, he took a bite, slowly but surely.

Crunchy yet soft. Sweet yet salty. Not big nor small.

She was right.

They were by far one of the best cookies he's ever tasted. The only wrong thing with them was appearance.

…Present once more…

While Kushina critiqued the cookies and gave them tips for next time, Minato turned the next page of his newspaper. Naruto and Sakura brought back a memory he thought he'd forgotten and for that, he was grateful. It reminded him of his younger days with Kushina and those days were always an adventure.

"Minato, come try a cookie," Kushina called him.

He neatly folded his Konoha Chronicle Newspaper and stood up. Well, he turned the corner to see all three munching and talking, cookies do sound good right about now.