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Naruto started it.
At least, that's what they decided after the fact when they needed someone to blame for the state of their clothes.
"I thought we came for a picnic, not a food fight," Sai observantly pointed out while rolling his sticky rice into a tighter ball. "Food fights are different from picnics, right? Or was I wrong?"
"No, you're not wrong," Sakura gritted as she hurled a ripe tomato with all her might at Naruto's horrified face. "This wasn't the plan at all." Despite the stern tone of her words, she was obviously fighting to hold back a smile. There was a part of her that loved stuff like this, flagrant breaking of the rules that had been instilled in her bones since childhood. It was a deeply buried part — or maybe not so much — but it was there, and it was happy right now.
Naruto whooped and grabbed a row of dango in one hand, obviously intending to fire them off the stick one at a time at whoever was within close range.
Sakura armed herself with a pair of watermelon slices, and Sai had his rice balls at the ready.
For a moment, there was a tense stalemate.
Then the air seemed to erupt with fountains of projectile foodstuffs, coating everything within a ten-meter radius with rice and fruit and vegetable soup.
The battle continued until they ran out of food, at which point they collapsed into the grass giggling madly (at least, Naruto and Sakura did — Sai hadn't quite figured out laughing yet and was merely smiling a little more genuinely than usual).
"You idiots," Sakura gasped. "I'm hungry, and now there's nothing left to eat!"
"Sakura's picnics are the best," Naruto said blissfully, ignoring Sakura's indignant squawk. "Right, Sai?"
"I suppose," Sai said, shrugging. "I've never been on anyone else's, so how would I know?"
"You got a point there," Naruto said with a frown, then brightened again immediately. "I guess you'll just have to trust me on this one!"
Sai's face went blank for moment.
Then he smiled, a real one, and nodded.
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