The sizzle and smell of baked goods reached Kakashi, prompting him to get up from bed. He silently greeted Naruto in the hall on the way to the bathroom, the two ninja nodding and trying not to make eye contact. But Kakashi did smile; Naruto was still wearing his night cap, a strange thing of orange with eyes, and two ears on the sides. Kakashi himself was only wearing pyjama pants and his sleeveless shirt, and of course his ever-present mask. His time in the restroom was quick, as he was hungry and a ninja needed to eat.
Finding his way into the house's kitchen, he saw Shizune and Sakura by the stove. Shizune was flipping strangely colored pancakes, while Sakura was pouring blue chocolate chip waffle batter onto the griddle. The masked jonin couldn't help but to wander over, peeking at the pancakes over Shizune's shoulder. The shoulder just so happened to be dressed in her usual kimono, though said kimono was not yet properly fixed and was slightly loose. He stepped around beside her, nodding his head down towards the pancakes. Shizune turned to him with her "What?" look and Kakashi motioned back to the pancakes, as if to question their red coloring. Shizune tilted her head to the side in response, and flipped a pancake forcefully without taking her gaze off Kakashi. Kakashi sighed and shrugged his shoulders and went to take a seat at the table.
Already seated there were Naruto(sans night cap), Anko, Kurenai, and Shikamaru. Shikamaru gave a small raise of his chin in greeting, and his eyes traveled around the table. Only Anko met his gaze, and even then she smiled and looked up to the ceiling. Naruto and Shikamaru looked up too; there was a certain bit of the stucco that captivated Shikamaru, reminding him of a runner throwing their head and arms back as they crossed a finish line. But then Naruto turned his head and a different interpretation opened up to him. He saw Shikamaru looking near the same area of the ceiling and caught his eye, and Shikamaru quickly glanced between the two, and nodded.
Just then Choji walked in, closely followed by Ino. Choji raised a hand in greeting, while Ino pretended to rub the sleep from her eye and yawn. The Akimichi sat down next to Kakashi, noticing Ino sitting down on the other side of the table. While everyone was still turned to the newcomers, Shikamaru discreetly eyed the fall of Kurenai's hair where the black locks met her night gown around her shoulders. Then Choji's eyes widened, and he checked the table: plates, forks, knives, and a jug of milk, but lacking a key element. Glancing to Ino, he got up and headed for the kitchen pantry. Opening the wooden door, he was heard rummaging around for a bit before the door squeaked shut and he came back with a bottle- but Sakura stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, and opened the refridgerator to look inside. Just moments later she reappeared, handing him a canister. Then Choji proudly lumbered back to the table, setting down the syrup and whipped cream. Shortly afterwards Sakura came by, bearing linen napkins with a simple blue border. She handed them to Naruto, then swallowed after glancing around at the table and turned to head back to the kitchen.
Naruto took a napkin for himself, and then passed them to Ino, who almost imperceptably flinched as her hand slightly brushed up against Naruto's. The cloths were passed around the table, and Kurenai and Ino reached around to help distribute the silverware. With a few rustles and tink!s the table was set, and silence descended again. Naruto yawned loudly and stretched, the yawn catching and soon Choji and Anko were yawning too.
They heard the range being switched off in the kitchen, and not too long following the sound Shizune walked in carrying a platter stacked high with light red pancakes, steam rising from them with a barely audible hiss. They were handed off to Choji, who set them down on his end of the table. Excited, he looked over to Shikamaru and Kurenai, and shook out his napkin before re-folding it. Shizune took a seat between him and Kakashi, sitting down calmly and precisely. They all looked back to the kitchen to see Sakura then, who held up a finger as she lifted the top of the griddle to check the waffles. She nodded and turned the temperature knob on the old-fashioned cookware to "Off", and cautiously used a spatula and a fork to remove the waffle onto the platter with the others, and walked over to the table with a smile.
A glance confirmed Naruto wanted a waffle, but as Sakura set it down on his plate Naruto looked at it as if it was some alien life form, not expecting the blue coloring. Sakura gave him a stern look before holding up the platter to offer them to any one else, and Shikamaru and Kurenai raised their hands. Sakura walked around to their end of the table serving them their waffles before taking a seat next to Kurenai.
There was a shared look around the table, of nervous anticipation, waiting to see who would say it. Then Kakashi held up his fork and dipped his head, a sort of silent "Itadakimasu!" which the rest of the table accepted with a shrug. The pancakes were the most popular item, being stacked in precariously high towers and thoroughly lubricated with butter. Anko twisted the top off the milk and took a swig straight from the jug before pouring herself a glass. She held it up for anyone else to take, but Shikamaru only sighed and held his head in his hand. Looking up from practically inhaling his waffle, Naruto raised his hand and Anko handed the jug to him. Naruto raised it to his lips but was stopped by deathly glares from Shikamaru and Sakura, gulping and then meekly pouring his glass.
Having outdone Naruto and already finished his first stack of pancakes, Choji served himself a short stack and generously applied some butter to the middle pancakes. He topped it off with a large dollop of whipped cream, the cream sputtering as he finished. Anko smiled and raised an eyebrow, glancing to the whipped cream in Choji's hand. He nodded and the can was passed down to her, and she licked her lips as she shook it. Except when she pressed on the nozzle, only a few puffs of cream came out tiny things like snowflakes. A shadow of a nervous look passed over her face as she felt Kakashi looking at her, but it passed as she abruptly smiled and looked around the table. She shook the can, pumping it at a diagonal angle, and made a show of nothing coming out. Not looking, Kurenai passed Anko the syrup and kept eating her waffle, focusing on her plate.
The waffle nearly gone, Shikamaru decided he needed to do some swallowing, for a change. He opened his mouth to speak, then blinked and closed it. He raised his glass and looked over to Shizune, who handed the jug to Choji, who passed it to Shikamaru. Nodding his thanks, Shikamaru poured his glass and set the jug down, hoping he wouldn't catch anything from Anko's backwash.
"Y'know," Naruto said, mouth half full as he gestured with his fork, "We should do this again sometime." Forks paused en route to mouths, cups stopped before their contents spilled over lips. Even the birds stopped chirping outside.
Kakashi cleared his throat. "Here's to more pancakes," He toasted. Kakashi drained the glass of milk, and set it down on the table with a thump.
THE END