Facet of Future

9

 

Chapter 8

"One…two…three…smile!"

The flash went off as the camera snapped a picture of the Uzumaki family, Naruto and Sakura sitting next to each other. Hanami sat in her father's lap, while Shinachiku sat next to his mother, one of her hands on his shoulder.

The camera hummed as it printed out a copy of the picture, which the photographer took and fanned a few times to dry, before placing it and sealing it in a ready-made frame which was then handed to the Hokage. "Thank you very much." Naruto gratefully said, as he took the framed picture of himself and his family, and handed the photographer a generous tip.

The man bowed as the Hokage stepped past, catching up to his family as they returned to the pavilion. Everyone else had already had their pictures taken, with the Uzumaki having decided to wait until the end to get theirs. This meant that by the time they returned, dinner was in full swing, the pavilion table all but groaning under the weight of the dishes the Akimichi had agreed to provide for the night.

There were pork and shrimp dumplings both fried and steamed, beef wanton also fried or steamed, as well as pork buns and shark's fin dumplings. There was also noodle soup of various kinds, starting with prawn or beef wanton or mushroom, and then into various combinations thereof.

There was rice both steamed and fried, still steaming fresh from the kitchen, as well as freshly-roasted chicken and beef cooked in oyster sauce with mushrooms and greens. There was fish fillet cooked in sweet and sour sauce, or fried in a wok with special sauce. There was stir-fried pork and breaded calamari, and fried chicken chops, and many other dishes besides.

Ino patted Chouji on a shoulder as the Akimichi groaned at the sight of so many delicious dishes but not being able to even so much as catch a whiff of them, much less even a taste. "Don't worry, Chouji." She reassured him. "Once we're done here, we'll go and get something to eat. Whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" Chouji echoed.

"Yup." Ino promised him, and Shikamaru winced as he found himself wondering just how much it was going to cost them to make up for Chouji getting frustrated at all the food he'd seen but couldn't get on the screen.

For drinks there was water and alcohol for the adults, as well as various fruit juices for the children. Of course, the adults could drink whatever they wanted…

…which ran into the fact that fully-graduated genin were technically adults.

Well, Shinachiku knew better than to try. Sakura could be indulgent, but when she put her foot down, she put her foot down.

Others though…Naruto snickered slightly as Sasuke and Karin had a slight argument that ended with Sasuke rolling his eyes in exasperation as Karin firmly put a bottle of sake and a sake saucer out of Mikoto's reach. The Hokage snickered again as Karin swatted her daughter's shoulder after Mikoto had the temerity to make a face at her mother.

Naruto's amused observations came to an end at a shout from Kiba. "Speech, Naruto, speech!" he shouted.

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked in surprise, but by the now the call was being taken up by everyone in the pavilion.

"Speech, Naruto, speech!" they shouted, whether the actual members of the Konoha Eleven, or their surviving teachers, or their families. "Speech, speech, speech!"