Arato was awakened by something bouncing on top of him. "Arato!" It screamed in sheer delight. "Mom says you have to get up!" Arato moaned. Why couldn't he just stay in bed? It was warm in here and free of annoying little sisters. "Get off me Akimitsu!"

"Then get out of bed!" Akimitsu yelled. He felt the bouncing stop and the weight shift off his bed then the scrambling of little feet and the slamming of a door. He contemplated going back to sleep, but figured it wasn't worth the risk of having Akimistu bounce on him again. He kicked off what little of his covers covered his body after Akimitsu's wake up call and swung his feet over so they were mere inches off the ground.

Have ever gotten up for school and just sat there on the edge of your bed in a sort of morning haze? That was Arato alright. He surveyed his small room.

The walls were blue, not a dark blue or a powdery baby blue, but a sky blue. Arato had always liked the color of the sky. Most of his furniture was made of smooth white painted wood. A dresser that contained his clothes sat by his window. A small single book shelf sat close by and his desk next to it. Past the practical part of his room was an art easel with the floor around it covered in old news papers. Arato had enjoyed painting ever since he was a little kid. There was a large shelf with a glass case that held his paints and brushes. As a kid he had mainly experimented with watercolors and had a tough time mixing just the right amount of pigment and water. Too dry and it would be a thick goop, too wet and basically you'd get water. He continually had to remix the paints and grab new water from the bathroom. They had to redo the white carpet in the hallway 5 times before finally a sink had been installed in his room just so he'd would stop going into the bathroom and spill watered down paint everywhere.

"Arato!" His mother yelled. "You better come down here soon or risk missing breakfast!" She must have been holding a skillet full of bacon and eggs at the bottom of their stairs because the mouth watering aroma wafted up the stairs and into Arato's room. It was almost enough to make him leave his bed, almost.

"Arato!" His mother yelled again. "Don't make me send up Akimitsu again!" That was more than enough motivation. He put his feet on the cold hardwood and shivered. Why did hardwood floors have to be so cold in the morning?

Arato shuffled to his dresser and grabbed out his clothes then shuffled out the door and into the bathroom, which wasn't really any better. If anything the tile floor was colder than the hardwood floor.

It didn't take him long to change into his clothes: light tan shorts and a gray shirt with a single red stripe running horizontal across the front, and his black vest, and pull on his new ninja head band. Yesterday he remembered being so pumped about graduating and becoming a ninja but today he felt like crawling back in bed for at least another hour. To avoid the cold floors, he grabbed a pair of socks and pulled them on. At least two sizes two big, and probably belonging to his older brother, they looked out of place on his feet but at least now his feet couldn't get frostbite.

"Good morning," His mother told him cheerily as he shuffled into the kitchen. His mother, Sonoko, was working busily at the stove, an apron covering her large belly. The Sato family was already pretty large. With four kids the house was bursting at the seams but there was a fifth on the way, due in a few months.

"Mmmfff…" He managed as he pulled out his chair and sat down. He rest his head on the table. With a little luck he'd could fall asleep on the table for a few minutes. No such luck.

"Hey Arato," A hand rumpled up is his hair. He lazily batted it away and lifted his head to see the offending appendage's owner. It was his big sister, Hotaru. He stared down his older sister hoping she'd leave him in peace, but alas, again he had no luck.

His sister grinned at him. She was definitely a morning person along with his mother and sister. Sunlight glinted off of her straw colored hair and refracted off of her ANBU armor right into his eyes. He had to cover his eye just to look at her. Why did the ANBU uniform have to be so, shiny?

Hotaru pulled up a seat next to Arato. "First day on the job, huh?" She asked, knowing the answer. Hotaru was almost 17 and in the ANBU, she knew everything. Arato grunted his displeasure.

A plate clanked noisily in front of him. He opened his eyes to see the blue plate with hot bacon and toast. If it hadn't been so early in the morning this would have been his ideal breakfast. His mother plopped a glass of orange juice in front of him.

"Come on Raiden!" He glance over to see his little sister drag his older brother by the sleeve of the shirt. Raiden groaned.

Akimitsu was strong for a five year-old. A full head of copper curls and bullheaded enough to give a donkey a run for its money Akimitsu had been, from day one, an energetic child. She pulled her hair back into bright blue ribbons. She wore a white blouse and bright pink shorts. Also she had on a robe like thing that was blue with pink trim and dragons embroidered across it. It was tied at her waist with a red ribbon. The robe had been given to Akimitsu on her first day at the ninja academy by their grandmother and she hadn't taken it off since. She strained with the effort to pull Raiden in the kitchen.

"You are being assigned your group today!" Akimitsu grunted. "You can't be late."

"Yes I can!" His brother protested and yanked his sleeve free of Akimitsu. He plopped down in the seat next to Arato. He had brownish reddish hair, like Arato, and his chunin jacket on over top his ninja uniform. He wore his ninja headband around his arm. He grabbed a piece of bacon off of Arato's plate.

"Hey!" Arato protested, trying to grab it back, but Raiden just shoved it in his mouth.

"It wasn't like you were eating it!" He said through a mouthful of crispy bacon.

"But I was going to!" Arato said. "Moooom!"

"What are you going to do?" Raiden jeered. "Pull it from my mouth?" He opened his mouth revealing the disgusting mess inside.

Now it was Akimitsu's turn to scream. "Moooom!"

"Raiden!" Their mom scolded. She plopped a plate in front of Raiden. "That is not how a jonin acts!" She plopped down a plate in front of Hotaru and Akimitsu who climbed on top of a chair.

"Well that's how this ninja acts." He said taking a sip from Arato's glass. Arato's mom gave him a furious look and opened her mouth to say something when a knock came at their door.

Arato's mom sighed and turned to address who ever was at the door. Arato, not wanting to give his brother the chance to steal more food, began eating his breakfast. He heard the door open and his mother's voice.

"Hello?"

"Sonoko Sato," Came an answering voice.

"Youga?" Her mother said. "What can I do for you?" Hotaru stopped chewing at the sound of her teammates name

"I hate to bother you on a fine morning," Youga said. Youga was a frequent visitor. He was part of the ANBU with Hotaru and often came for a visit.

"You aren't bothering us," Sonoko said. "Don't be silly,"

"Well, I was sent because we just had a team come in from a mission badly poisoned." Youga said. A hospital call, that was also pretty normal. Sonoko was a medical ninja who specialized in poisons and antidotes. When all else failed they typically turned to her.

"When I left they couldn't walk. We request your presence to see what you can do, but uh," Youga scratched his head nervously, eyeing Sonoko's large stomach. "If you don't want to-"

"Of course I'll go," Sonoko untied her apron and hung it on the hook. She turned to her kids. "Lunches on the counter, have a great day! Try not to get today on your missions! I'll be seriously annoyed if one of you turn out to be my patient later!" And with that she turned and left with Raiden calling after her:

"No promises mom!"

Hotaru elbowed her brother suppressing a smile. "Okay," She sighed. "Finish up guys, we have lots of work to do today, big day for everyone." Hotaru got up and picked up her already clean plate. As she passed everyone she tapped their head. "First day on babysitting duty," She said tapping Raiden's head. Raiden stuck his tongue out. "First day with Iruka sensei," She said tapping Akimitsu, and then she tapped Arato. "First day as a ninja." Arato brushed her hand away but he couldn't help the smile from spreading across his face.