Disclaimer - any names you don't recognize belong to me, the rest don't.
Chapter One - Lunch Date
It was a warm, sunny day in Konoha, but Kushina Uzumaki did not care for it as she stalked through the streets towing two unfortunate beings in her wake. One was her blond haired, most treasured son, Naruto Uzumaki. The other was almost her second son, her husband's last and most treasured student, Kakashi Hatake. Naruto whined and struggled as his mother towed him along by his arm. Kakashi remained silent, until the blond boy blamed him for their trouble, then the two began arguing with each other. Kushina ignored them.
"Good morning Kushina!" called Ayame Yamanaka as the trio passed the flower shop. Kushina glanced behind her at the now silent duo.
"Morning Ayame, how are the girls?" she asked. She decided a break would be ok, but her grip on the boys did not lessen.
"As good as they can be, Ino enjoys bossing little Sayuri around now that Sayuri is up and walking!" Ayame said with a fond smile. Kushina could see the two girls behind the counter. Ino was showing her younger sister how to arrange the flowers, while Sayuri was happily eating them. The two girls were very similar in looks; Sayuri's hair had a slight curl to it like her mother's.
"Hmm, they do grow up fast don't they," smiled Kushina as she turned to glance at Kakashi. The silver haired boy cringed at the look while Naruto poked his tongue out at him. Kakashi poked his tongue out back and Kushina rolled her eyes at their antics.
"Ah yes!" laughed Ayame, "well I better let you get on with business, don't be too harsh on them Kushina, we are only young once!" Kushina gave a warm smile in return.
"Bye Ayame, see you next Tuesday at the picnic!" said Kushina and she towed her charges back out the shop and towards the Hokage tower. She smiled her trade mark grin as she heard Ayame scolding Sayuri for eating flowers. Behind her, Kakashi and Naruto were pulling faces at each other.
When they reached the Hokage tower, no one stopped them as they made their way up to the office. They all knew not to cross Kushina when she looked like that. Kushina kicked open the door to the office and stormed inside. Minato Namikaze looked up from his paper work to see his wife, son and student. He winced when he noticed the angry look plastered across Kushina's face and looked behind her to see the twin smirks on the boy's faces.
"Ah Kushina love, what brings you here today?" he asked with a smile, deciding to feign innocence.
"You can deal with them today while I clean up the house again and make sure you punish them this time! Send them home later this afternoon!" Kushina hissed as she pushed the duo towards Minato and turned and left the office. She was like a hurricane. A red hurricane. Silence fell over the office. Minato looked from one boy to the other. Then Naruto grinned and let out a loud whoop.
"Yes! It worked Kashi! We got out of cleaning and we got out of the house! We get to spend the day with daddy!" the blond seven year old shouted as he bounced around the office. Minato blinked at his son. Kakashi shrugged and settled into his favourite chair in the corner and pulled out a book, starting to read. Minato shrugged and let his son sit on his lap while he continued with his paper work, letting Naruto help.
Kushina smiled as she exited the tower. Now she was free to have lunch with Mikoto Uchiha with no children to worry about. She already had several clones cleaning the mess Naruto and Kakashi had made. It was wrong to say she was angry. She actually loved seeing Kakashi act like a child, being young and carefree, and she knew Naruto would love spending the day with his father. As she walked, she spied Hotaru Hyuga wondering through the shops with her two daughters, Hinata and Hanabi. Kushina smiled and waved as she passed. Hinata was in the same class in the Academy as Naruto. According to her son, Hinata was very quiet and very shy, she also had few friends. In fact, it seemed she spent most of her time either alone or sitting with Naruto and Sasuke. Kushina looked around for the always present Branch Member Hyuga and spied her. There was Hiromi Hyuga with her son Neji not far behind. Neji was Hinata's cousin, older by a year, their fathers were brothers. Kushina did not approve of the seal on the Branch Members, and wondered how Hiashi was going to deal with it when it came to his own two daughters. Not wanting such grumpy thoughts plaguing her mind during lunch, Kushina pushed them away as she neared the restaurant she was meeting Mikoto at. There was Mikoto sitting waiting for her.
"Hello Mikoto, sorry I'm late, trouble getting rid of the boys! They decided to mess the house!" Kushina greeted.
"That's ok Kushina, I had to bribe Itachi to take Sasuke to the park again, I think he plans to dump Sasuke on that new teacher, young Iruka Umino again so he can go train!" Mikoto said with a laugh. Kushina laughed along with her. Their sons were sometimes a lot of trouble.
"So how has your week been?" asked Kushina as they started eating.
"Ah, same as always, Fugako is away on a mission at the moment, Itachi spends his time training, but I believe half the time he is meeting up with a girl. Sasuke told me!" Mikoto said.
"Oh, a girl? Who?" Kushina gushed, hands clasped together like an eager school girl.
"I think it is young Hana Inuzuka, of course, I'm just relying on Sasuke's spying skills," Mikoto smiled.
"Does Tsume know about this?" asked Kushina.
"Not yet, I'm sure it's harmless, Sasuke will tell me if they do anything, but enough about me, how are you? How are the boys?" Mikoto asked. Kushina smiled and recounted the episode from this morning, how Naruto and Kakashi had worked together to mess up the house in a game she titled Roof Walking with Paint. She and Mikoto laughed and talked their way through their lunch and into the afternoon. They hadn't seen each other for a while due to missions and illness and they had much to catch up on, plus play dates to be arranged for their sons.
Hotaru Hyuga smiled and waved when she saw the Hokage's wife making her way along the street, but her mind was otherwise occupied. She was thinking about her children, Hinata in particular. Little Hinata was a constant worry for her. She was such a quiet and reserved child, appearing very timid around others, something a Main Branch heir was not supposed to be. Not even Neji could get Hinata to play. Hanabi, on the other hand, was as loud and outgoing as Neji had been, maybe even more demanding. If Hinata did not learn to be at least a little braver, Hiashi was going to turn his attention to Neji or Hanabi, and Hanabi was only two years old, just a baby still. Behind Hotaru, Hiromi hovered near by with her son Neji. Dear Hiromi had always been a good friend to her, she was glad Hiromi was the Branch Member assigned to her.
"Hotaru dear, something on your mind?" asked Hiromi as she handed Hinata an iced lolly. Hinata accepted it with a small smile and a whispered 'thank you'.
"It's nothing Hiromi, just thinking of the future, I tend to worry too much," Hotaru said as she helped Hanabi with her own iced lolly.
"You worry too much, just relax for the day, I know, lets take the children to the park, I think I saw Suki Haruno heading there with her children. It will be good for Hinata to make some more friends, and I know Suki's daughter is a friendly child. I believe she also has a son about Hanabi's age, it will be good for Hanabi to interact with children other than Neji dear," Hiromi said as she herded Hotaru and the children towards the park. Hotaru smiled, Hiromi always seemed to notice things, and almost always had a solution.
Later that night, Kushina tucked Naruto into his bed as she listened to him chatter about his day with his dad. Kakashi was currently downstairs reading, most likely falling asleep on the couch. Minato walked into the room and came over to help tuck his son into bed. The two of them sat and listened as Naruto told them about his day. It was a rare treat for Naruto to have both his parents tuck him into bed. Usually it was just one, or just Kakashi, so Naruto made the most of it and talked until he eventually fell asleep. Minato and Kushina made their way downstairs to discover Kakashi fast asleep on the couch.
"It seems you boys had a rather busy day!" smiled Kushina as she took the book from Kakashi's limp fingers.
"How was your lunch with Mikoto?" Minato asked with a smirk.
"How did you know?" cried Kushina. Minato's smirk grew.
"Iruka stopped by with Sasuke, it seems that boy is quite the gossip once you get him talking!" Minato laughed as he gathered Kakashi into his arms. "Oh my, he's getting heavy!" Kushina smirked as she placed a kiss on the sleeping boy's forehead.
"Just take him to bed!" she laughed as Minato carried the boy away. The smile didn't leave her face as she made her way to the kitchen to start tidying. She felt lucky to have such a loving and weird family, truly blessed.
Hi all, this is my first Naruto Story! hope you all like it and please review and let me know your thoughts!
