Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.
Grandfather's Day
Harold Fisher, the oldest active jonin in the village of Konohagakure (one of Konoha's oldest active ninja overall), had accompanied his friends Inoichi Yamanaka and Tsume Inuzuka, plus Tsume's Ninkin Kuromaru, over to the bar that's favored by the three older ninja. "So yeah," Tsume said to her friends as they all walked into the bar, "Banyo's all aboard for the idea of meeting up with Bankai, so I think that this Wednesday will be perfect."
"I hear that Hiashi plans to bring Tenji along with Natsu and Hogato, even though Tenji is technically his grandniece," Harold remarked, "And Kizashi asked me to accompany him when he goes to the event with Haru this Wednesday." With a smile, the Fisher patriarch added, "But this Wednesday will be Kizashi's day, his chance to score some points with Haru."
"Yeah, and I've taken the liberty to familiarize myself with those three yo-kai Venoct, Shadow Venoct and Illuminoct, as they're my grandson's favorites," Inoichi said, "I think Natsu's favorites are Kyubi, Frostail and Darkyubi."
"How do you evolve them?" Tsume asked, an eyebrow arched in curiosity.
"They don't evolve," Inoichi explained, "They're all these top tier S-rank yo-kai."
"So, what, no thunderstones or anything?" Tsume replied.
"They're yo-kai, not Pokémon," Inoichi pointed out.
"Well I have no idea about any of that stuff," remarked the Inuzuka matriarch, "Hell, it's like my grandson and his friends are speaking a completely different language when they do their game thing! In fact, how come this stuff is like second-nature to you, Inoichi?"
"Because I figured that if my grandchildren like something, it's best I make myself familiar with it," Inoichi replied, "I want to be able to connect with my grandkids on some level, and it's not like they haven't heard any of my awesome manly feats of awesome manliness before. I tell them kickass grandpa stories, and in turn I learn about yo-kai and Pokémon and the adventures of Fluttershy and her friends."
"I thought that the purple one with the horn and the wings was the head pony of the flock," Harold said in a mildly confused tone.
"One, the correct term is 'herd', not 'flock'," Inoichi replied, "Two, although you are correct in believing that Twilight is pretty much the leader of the mane six, everyone knows that Fluttershy is best pony."
As Harold and friend proceeded to take their seats, they saw a number of people in their age group file into the bar in short order. First was Banyo Inuzuka, Tsume's ex-husband. It was thanks to Bankai, Tsume and Banyo's grandson, that Tsume and Banyo got on more amicable terms as of late, and that Banyo's participation on Wednesday would happen at all.
Banyo would be participating with Bankai on Wednesday.
The next person to follow in after Banyo was Hiashi Hyuga, who would take part in Wednesday's events with his two grandchildren and one grandniece. Kizashi Haruno followed in after the Hyuga lord, and upon seeing his brother-in-law Harold went right over to join him. As Kizashi slid into the booth occupied by Harold and company, Shibi Aburame came in, talking amicably with Choza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara.
"It looks like all the men of honor are here," Kuromaru muttered to Tsume.
"Damn straight," Tsume muttered back as she got up, walked over to approximately the center of the bar, and got everyone's attention by clanging two beer mugs together (she didn't have a utensil to tap against the side of one of the mugs). "Alright boys, I'm going to be needing all y'all's attention now!" Tsume called out.
"Why did you clang two beer mugs together instead of tapping one of them on the side with a utensil?" Shibi asked.
"Because bite me, that's why," the Inuzuka matriarch replied, "But that's beside the point. All of you guys here are going to be doing something very important this Wednesday with your grandkids, along with grandniece and grandnephew in the respective cases of Hiashi and Harold. Who here is looking forward to this Wednesday?"
"There will be food there, right?" Choza asked.
"Yes, there will be food there," Tsume replied, "But food isn't the important thing on Wednesday. The important thing on Wednesday is the bond between grandpas such as all of y'all and yer grandkids. …Or the bond between granduncles and grandnieces or grandnephews, depending on who you are. This Wednesday will be an important day, and not just for you guys. The young folks are looking forward to this Wednesday as well, as they all like spending time with you old dudes. The young folks fully intend to keep up their end of the obligation, so the least you old dudes can do is keep up your end of the obligation. And that reminds me."
Facing her ex-husband specifically, Tsume said, "Banyo, if you do anything to upset Bankai on Wednesday, I will sell your cats on the internet."
"Please don't," Banyo replied in a nervous tone.
"So, you old dudes all know the game plan for this Wednesday?" Tsume asked, and after all of the older men nodded in the affirmative, Tsume said, "Great! I bet that the young folk are going to enjoy this Wednesday just as much as you all will! Meeting adjourned!"
As everyone all got up to leave the bar, Hiashi walked up to Banyo. "If you thought Tsume's threat to you was terrifying," the Hyuga lord remarked to Banyo in a casual tone, "You would have soiled yourself in fright if you had heard Hinata's threat to me if I do something to upset Natsu."
That Wednesday, everyone was in a local park in Konoha; the entrance of the park had a banner hanging over it labeled 'Grandfather's Day party'. The grandfathers were all hanging around the park with their respective grandkids. One such example was Inoichi, who was talking to his twelve-year-old grandson and four-year-old granddaughter, Shikaru and Inohime Nara.
"Natsu has it all wrong, Grandpa Inoichi," Shikaru said, "Everyone knows that Venoct and his fellows are WAY cooler than Kyubi and his fellows."
"Pinkie Pie is better than all of them!" Inohime stated.
"Inohime, Pinkie Pie is a pony, not a yo-kai," Shikaru pointed out to his younger sister.
"Pinkie Pie still better," the four-year-old Nara girl replied.
"You know, Shikaru," Inoichi began, "I know that you have a lot of stock invested in the Venoct brothers, but you should still respect Natsu's preference for the Kyubi brothers."
Shrugging, Shikaru replied, "You got a point there, Grandpa Inoichi."
"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Shikaku Nara said as he walked over, managing to hold four things of cotton candy. Handing one each to Inoichi, Shikaru and Inohime, Shikaku said, "I don't wanna be left in the dark here, you know."
"Big brother say that snake ninja better than Pinkie Pie," Inohime remarked before taking a bite out of her cotton candy.
"No, I said that Venoct is cooler than Kyubi," Shikaru clarified.
To Inoichi, Shikaku whispered, "Is he talking about something related to the video games he plays, or is he talking about Orochimaru and the nine-tails that's sealed inside of Naruto?"
"Video game stuff," Inoichi whispered back, "It'll take time for you to learn."
"Well I got all day today," Shikaku replied to the Yamanaka patriarch with an amused grin.
"Judy Hopps can beat up all the snake ninja!" Inohime said to her older brother.
Having overheard that, Shikaku said to Inoichi, "I would legit seriously pay good money to watch Orochimaru get his ass handed to him by a bunny."
Over at another area in the park, Hiashi was standing around with his grandson Hogato, granddaughter Natsu, and grandniece Tenji. "So, with all due respect to Shikaru," Natsu said, "I firmly believe that Kyubi and his recolors are better than Venoct and his recolors."
"They sound like they'd be good magic-users, if I were to judge," Hogato remarked, "But that's another point for another time. Anywho, Lady Natsu, Fumika has asked me to ask you about how to go about getting the full Genji Armor set in Final Fantasy Explorers. She says that after seeing you going about with the full Genji Armor set, she wants to get a full set for herself."
"She's going to have to do a lot of grinding against Gilgamesh," Natsu replied, "And it would help if she does things to raise her luck."
"Hey Natsu," Tenji said, "I kinda need your help in evolving a Rockruff into midday form Lycanroc, given that I have Moon version and you have Sun version."
"Sure, no problem," Natsu replied, "But that's going to have to wait until later."
"Naturally," Tenji remarked before taking a bite out of the melon bread she was holding.
Seeing his two grandchildren and one grandniece getting along this well made Hiashi feel good. Granted, he had absolutely no idea whatsoever what the hell they were talking about, but they were still getting along very well with each other, and that's all that mattered to the Hyuga lord.
Over in another area of the park, Banyo was standing around with Bankai and Rojomaru; as he is an Inuzuka clan ninja, Bankai always had his loyal Ninkin with him. "So Bankai," Banyo began in a mildly unsure tone, "You're a genin, right? Have you gone on any good missions as of late, or are you and your teammates stuck basically doing chores?"
"Just chores, basically," Bankai replied, "Although I did get into a nice discussion with my team's last client since he was a professional dog handler. He was quite impressed with how well I have Rojomaru trained." Having heard his name spoken, Rojomaru turned his head upwards to look at Bankai before giving a curious woof.
"So, your team's last client was a dog person, huh?" Banyo replied, "He wasn't the same kind of dog person as your grandma, was he?"
Shaking his head gently in the negative, Bankai said, "Oh no, Grandpa Banyo, my team's last client had a healthy respect for cats as well. He just preferred dogs is all. In fact, when I brought up the fact that mom is a Nekozuka clan kunoichi, he thought it was interesting that someone from mom's clan and someone from dad's clan got married and had a kid."
"Well there's all sorts of people in the world, my boy," Banyo replied with a chuckle. After taking a sip from the can of Pape Konoha's Brand Lager he was holding, Banyo asked, "So Bankai, are you enjoying yourself today?"
"Grandma Tsume threatened to sell your cats on the internet if I didn't have fun today, didn't she?" Bankai guessed.
"…Can I take that as a yes?" Banyo asked in a hopeful tone.
Chuckling a bit, Bankai replied, "Relax, Grandpa Banyo, I'm doing fine here. No need to worry about your cats." Seeing his grandfather give a sigh of relief made the Inuzuka genin laugh even more. Wondering what his owner was laughing about, Rojomaru started barking in a curious manner, confused.
Over in another area of the park, Shibi was telling his grandson Shibei about events that took place in Konoha roughly twenty years previous. The Aburame man and his grandson were completely forgotten by pretty much everyone else at the park, but this did not bother them at all.
Over near a refreshment booth, Choza was talking to his grandson Choba. "And that's how I fell in love with your grandmother," Choza said as he finished off a story he was telling Choba.
"Wow, I never would have thought that you would ever lose an eating contest to someone, Grandpa Choza," Choba remarked with mild amusement.
"The womenfolk of the Akimichi clan can certainly give us Akimichi men a run for our money when it comes to eating our fill," Choza stated, "In fact, the day that your pa met the girl who would eventually become his wife and your ma, he and her had an eating contest that your pa barely won. And even then, both of them had to go to the hospital for indigestion."
Straightening his stance somewhat, Choza said to Choba, "Women can be just as hungry as men, if not more so. That's something that every Akimichi man must learn and remember well." Choba nodded obediently, fully intending on memorizing his grandpa's words of wisdom.
Over in one other area of the park, Kizashi and Harold were standing around with Haru Uchiha, Kizashi's grandson and Harold's grandnephew. "…And so Inoichi, Tsume, Kuromaru and I made our way out of the manor of that Land of Lightning noble," Harold said as he finished up a story he was telling, "The bros and I were able to claim everything we stole as spoils of war, given that this happened shortly after Konoha and Suna went to war against Kumo."
"That's…quite a story, Harold," Kizashi remarked in a mildly unsure tone.
"You killed how many bad guys, Uncle Harold?" Haru asked, his attention firmly on the awesomeness that was his granduncle.
"Oh, about a dozen or so," Harold replied casually, "Inoichi and Tsume each killed ten, and Kuromaru got eight kills. So yeah, the bros and I gave the Land of Lightning and Kumo a big middle finger than night." Taking a sip from his can of Pape Konoha's, Harold remarked, "Yup. And some of the spoils of war that we claimed, we ended up giving to your parents as wedding gifts." To Haru, Harold said, "You know that one really nice necklace your mom wears whenever she and your dad go out for nice dinners? Tsume salvaged that necklace from the Land of Lightning noble's wife."
"Didn't Inoichi use a scroll to seal up the plush leather armchair he gave to Sasuke?" Kizashi asked the Fisher patriarch.
Nodding in the affirmative, Harold said, "And that really nice bamboo wall scroll was the gift from me to Sakura and Sasuke as a whole."
"You've gone on all sorts of awesome adventures, haven't you, Uncle Harold?" Haru asked.
"Indeed," Harold replied in the affirmative, "But some of my best were ones where I teamed up with your Grandpa Kizashi here." Turning to face his brother-in-law, Harold said, "Remember the time a few years back where the two of us went to do some Black Friday shopping together? That was a hoot and a holler, wasn't it?"
"I think I was almost killed at one point," Kizashi remarked as he nodded in the affirmative to Harold's questioning.
"Well luckily for you, you had Konoha's greatest jonin backing you up, my good man," Harold said, "So there was no way in hell you were going to get killed trying to find the perfect gift for Mebuki."
"Oh, that reminds me," Haru interrupted. Turning to face Kizashi, the Uchiha boy said, "Grandpa Kizashi, Grandma Mebuki says that she wants you to put your golf set somewhere other than the hallway closet."
"Well she won't let me put it in the garage or the attic, so where else can I put it?" Kizashi replied with a defensive shrug.
"You can leave it with me," Harold suggested with a mildly sly expression.
"No way in hell will I trust you with my golf set," Kizashi said to his brother-in-law.
Snapping his fingers in a disappointed manner, Harold said, "Damn."
The following day, Harold and his friends were all hanging out at the bar. "So yeah, Banyo and Bankai's time together yesterday was flawless," Harold said to Tsume, "You ought to have more faith in your ex-husband, Tsume. He's a surprisingly chill dude."
"Well you can't blame me for looking out for my grandson, can you?" Tsume replied before taking a swig from her mug of Pape Konoha's.
"Well fret not, Tsume," Inoichi remarked, "Next week will be Grandmother's day, so it'll be you spending the day with Bankai rather than Banyo."
"And Mebuki has already asked Sophia if she's interested in joining her and Haru," Harold remarked.
"Heh," Kuromaru chuckled, "You guys like spending time with your grandkids, or grandnephew in Harold's case, don't you?"
"A grandparent's prerogative, Kuromaru," Harold explained as he, Inoichi and Tsume all raised their mugs of Pape Konoha's in a toast.
END
Author's Notes:
When I got back home after classes on 4-5-2017, I was informed that my step-grandfather, who I had never met, had died peacefully in his sleep. I wrote this within a few hours after hearing the news as a tribute to him, while listening to the Route 15 theme from X and Y version and the Route 10 theme from Black and White version.
Rock on, gramps. Rock on.