Replacement
Sometimes it sucked to have married the Rokudaime.
Sakura violently minced the beef, scowling out the window at the darkened sky. A sharp look towards the clock told her that it was nearly eight o'clock. She returned to staring at the Hokage Tower in the distance, her frown deepening.
As if he had sensed the heat of her glare, there was a knock on the front door. Sakura threw down the knife and raced to answer it. Naruto was waiting with a cheerful grin, his hair a mess and his cloak creased. Sakura's trained eye narrowed in disappointment.
"He wants to know if building an interactive zoo at the Academy would put the village's budget into deficit," the clone said.
Sakura would have smiled if she were in the mood, but as it were, she simply sighed. "Yes, it would. Tell him dinner's almost ready, will you?"
She went back to the kitchen after the clone had dissipated. Naruto was making a bad habit of this, sending his clones to ask her random questions. The eccentricity of his inquiries made it hard to tell if he meant to keep her company, or if he was actually in need of her guidance.
Knock knock knock. Sakura rolled her eyes. Here we go again.
It was another clone. "What's for dinner?"
"Ramen."
"Really?!"
"You wish."
Another one was at the door in five minutes. "What's eight times nine?"
"Seventy-two. And what? He's still not coming home?"
"Erm, hang on, I'll ask him."
This time Sakura stood waiting by the door, arms crossed. Much to her annoyance Naruto sent a clone almost fifteen minutes later. She raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
"After he's done feeding the goldfish, he says."
"Alright then."
Sakura hurried to finish preparing the meal before Naruto was home. She hummed as she finished chopping the last of the meat. Her face lit up when there was another knock.
A moment later, she cut the chopping board in two.
"Are goldfish supposed to float upside-" The clone had the tact to shut its mouth when it noticed Sakura's dark expression. "Um… Sakura-chan?"
"Tell him," she said sweetly, curling her fist, "to come home right NOW!"
The clone caught a fist to the mouth and was sent flying. It ricocheted off a lamppost before evaporating dejectedly.
Sometimes it helped to have married someone who knew the Hiraishin.
Phew, it's been a while since the last update. Hope you've all been well. To clarify, the Hiraishin is a technique developed by the Fourth Hokage that allows the user to instantly 'teleport' to a location marked by their seal. As you can imagine, Naruto puts this technique to good use.