On a warm summer’s evening somewhere on the river of Konoha village…
“Kaa-chan! Mikota-san!” A certain blond-haired four-year-old rushed up the river bank toward a duo of chatting kunoichi, “Lookit what Sasuke found! Wha- woah!!”
In his haste, Naruto had forgotten to jump over the small curb that marked the end of the riverbank and the beginning of the picnic area. His clasped hands burst open, and a tiny ball of slime and river mud flew out straight towards Mikota’s face!
In a movement too quick for the regular eye to follow, Mikota easily caught the speeding ball- only to immediately drop it with a cry of surprise when it uncurled into a baby river salamander.
The little salamander wiggled its stubby brown arms in an attempt to right itself on the sodden grass before Naruto scooped it back up. The second kunoichi was quickly turning a shade of habanero red, her hands balled into tight fists as her brilliant red hair curled upwards into a position similar to a nest of striking adders.
“He-heh, Kaa-chan?” Naruto tried to smile crookedly, hoping to defuse the situation, but it was too late.
“NARUTO NAMIKAZE! WHY IN KAMI’S NAME WOULD WE WANT TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT? GO PUT IT BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM!” Naruto, small as he was, seemed to shrink even more when faced with the weight of his mother’s wrath. Kushina Uzumaki was not one to mess with, especially when she got angry.
Naruto gulped, holding the baby salamander closer to his chest in an attempt to shield it, then squeaked out, “But-But Kaa-chan, Sasuke said- Sasuke said Mikota-san loved salamanders....”
A seemingly innocent bush close to the side of the riverbank began to quake with laughter.
“WHA- Oh,” In seconds, the monster of wrath transformed back into sweet, motherly, Kushina, “Naruto-kun, you really shouldn’t trust everything Sasuke-kun says…here, why don’t I come with you to put the salamander back in the river. We better hurry up Tou-chan is almost done with dinner,”
Kushina nodded once to Mikota, before turning back to Naruto and leading him back down the riverbank. Mikota smiled serenely as she stood up and strode to the still-shaking bush. One roundhouse kick later, Sasuke Uchiha sat a little ways away from the campsite, nursing a quickly forming bruise on his bottom as he is thoroughly chewed out by a very angry matriarch.
“Ha, I remember when you were just like them Minato, small, hyperactive, innocent...” Fugaku Uchiha lounged at the picnic table closest to the grill, as a yellow-haired man in a “Kiss the Cook” apron flipped the well-seasoned steaks over the coals.
“Was I really? That must have been back in my orphanage days…”
“It was, My genin team and I were on a D-Rank- I didn’t realize that the little blue-eyed monkey that stole my dango would be my Hokage one day,”
Minato laughed at that, before checking the temperature of the largest steak, “Well, for today, I am not a Hokage, I’m just Minato, Ultimate Grillmaster! ”
He bowed heartily to the flustered Uchiha patriarch, before going back to the grill and flipping the steaks onto a large platter to join the salad and rice already on the picnic table.
“Dinner’s ready! Come and get it!”
Two blurs of black and blond leaped to the table in seconds, the two hyperactive four-year-olds immediately fighting over who gets the best piece of meat.
“I gots here first! It’s mine!” Sasuke reached for the juiciest piece only to be tackled to the side by Naruto.
“No, it’s mine! I beat you here!” Naruto jumped towards the piece, his still-grubby little hands outstretched- to be batted to the side by Sasuke’s retaliation punch. They tumbled off the bench, now a tiny whirlwind of pudgy fists and feet.
Around that time, the kunoichi pair had reached the campsite, tic marks already forming at the display of bad manners. In unison, both Kushina and Mikoto drew their respective sons from the dogpile and hoisted them by the scruff of their necks.
“NARUTO!” The child in question whimpered and squirmed in Kushina’s grip as she yelled. The very image of this goddess of rage had both Minato and Fugaku (hardened shinobi each) slowly inching away from the table, “WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT YOUR MANNERS WITH OTHER KIDS?!”
“Sasuke!” The normally calm voice of Mikoto Uchiha now held a very sharp undertone of promised pain, something both of her boys knew to never provoke further, “What did I tell you about manners?”
“That-that I shouldn’t hit people unless-unless they deserve it?” Naruto grinned tentatively, before pouting, “But Sasuke did deserve it! He-he uhhh… He stole my piece of steak!”
“That meat wasn’t yours in the first place! I got it first so it was mine! Nyah,” Sasuke stuck his tongue out, which earned him a warning shake from his mom.
“Nuh-uh!”
“Yea-huh!” Both boys strained to get at each other, only to be forcibly sat at the picnic table by both Kushina and Mikoto.
“Now say you both are sorry for trying to eat before everyone else was at the table,”
Mikoto dug her fingers into the boys’ shoulders until they obliged.
“Sorry, Naruto…”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too, Sasuke,”
“That’s better,” The red hot habanero once again put away, Kushina sat across from Minato.
Long used to the sudden change, Minato calmly started the conversation as Kushina and Mikoto carefully portioned out the food, “So Mikoto, it’s unfortunate that Itachi couldn’t join us tonight,”
“Yes, as all of you know, Itachi is out on a mission right now, so he had to miss the family cook-out, Sasuke’s been waiting for him at the door ever since he left, isn’t that right?”
“Kaaa-chaaan!” Sasuke blushed at the mention both cheeks full of food, before swallowing and getting back to eating.
“Wow, nine years old and already hitting the grindstone! That reminds me of your little prodigy Minato, what was his name again? Katashi, Kakasi…”
“His name’s Kakashi, Itachi does kinda remind me of him, same hardworking energy, actually, Itachi most reminds me of you Fugaku, or should I say, Wicked Eye,”
“That’s quite right Yellow Flash,” Fugaku sent one of his rare smiles at the food-engrossed Naruto and Sasuke, “You know, one day all of our kids are going to have nicknames like us,”
“I never thought about that,” Minato ruffled Naruto’s hair, “What’ll your Ninja Nickname be Naruto?”
Naruto gulped down the remnant of his steak, before bursting out, “I wanna be the Yellow Flash like you!”
“Don’t be silly Naruto, you can’t copy your Tou-chan’s name,” Kushina wiped a smudge of remaining dirt from Naruto’s forehead with her thumb, “Plus, you can’t choose your Ninja name, it’s given to you. Tou-chan is the Yellow Flash because of the Flying Lightning God Seal- a flash of yellow light is all that it leaves,”
“Did you know that I once used the seal to slay a whole platoon of Rock-nin?”
“Toooou-chaan, you already told me about that,” Naruto and Sasuke finished their meals and leaped to their feet, “Can Sasuke and I go back to playing by the riverbank?”
“Sure, just make sure to be back before the sun sets,” Mikoto waved them away, then called after them, “Oh, and don’t fall in, the current is strong!”
“We won’t!” was the instant answer.
All four parents unconsciously relaxed slightly without the two hyperactive children.
“They’re both growing up so fast,” Kushina sighed, “It’s only going to be a couple more years before they’re in the Academy,”
“At least it is not too fast, peacetime makes for peaceful childhoods,” Fugaku replied, opening his arms as he rolled his shoulders out, then he chose a piece of steak and bit in.
“Yeah, you’re right, we have plenty of time,”
“Naruto is definitely going to grow into quite the shinobi,” Mikoto complimented, “He may be mostly baby fat now but with two wonderful shinobi like you as parents, well you can only imagine,”
“Sasuke on the other hand, I fear that he might fall in the shadow of Itachi, he’s still having trouble with the Fireball Jutsu,” Fugaku added, only to be lightly slapped by Mikoto
“Don’t sell yourselves short, either of you, Sasuke is definitely on Naruto’s level, and both of them are only four, I doubt any of us could truly perform Jutsu at that age prodigy or not,” Kushina looked pointedly at Fugaku.
“I’m just glad that all of us are here to see them grow, there were so many close calls…” Minato smiled and broke out a bottle of sake, handing everyone at the table a cup, “Why don’t we forget about the past and future, for now, live in the moment, that type of thing”
Everyone held up their cup for a toast, as Kushina started, “To living in the moment?”
“TO LIVING IN THE MOMENT!”