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“Naruto, just sit down already, I really don’t want to have to explain it again,” Sakura yelled even though he was only 10 feet away.
“Hang on, I’m getting the cheese plate together,” he called back from the kitchen island.
“I asked you to do that 10 minutes ago, what’s taking you so long?”
“Oh sorry, that’s my fault, I asked him to make me a drink,” Sasuke came from around the corner.
A board game was open on the kitchen table, half set up. Sakura was shuffling the cards. Temari and Shikamaru sat at the table sharing a beer. Ino was crouched on the floor petting a sleek orange and white cat.
“How were the kids?” Sakura asked Sasuke.
“They're asleep now. Sarada has a little bit of a fever, but was in a good mood.” He sat next to Sakura and grabbed her hand.
“Ok, I’ll check on her later. Thank you,” Sakura sighed and leaned over to give him a kiss.
Naruto presented the platter of cheeses to the group.
“We have gouda, emmental, a sharp cheddar and brie,” he declared. “I made you a Whiskey Sour, Sasuke. Would anyone like anything else to drink?”
With a peck on Sasuke’s cheek, he passed him his drink. Sasuke took a sip and Naruto watched him with expectant eyes.
“It’s perfect, thanks,'“ Sasuke replied with a smirk. Naruto beamed back, cheeks turning pink.
“Looks good,” Temari reached over to grab a piece of gouda. Shikamaru plucked it from her fingers and popped the whole chunk in his mouth.
“Ew, why did you get me a piece of that one?” He made a face as he chewed the cheese.
“Hey! I didn’t get that one for you, I wanted it,” Temari shot back.
“Troublesome,” he sighed under his breath.
“What was that?” she gave him a playful punch in the arm.
“I think he was sassing you,” Ino giggled from her spot on the ground, between the chairs. “Can you pass me a piece of brie?”
Shikamaru reached out to grab her a piece, a twinkle in his eye.
“You CAN’T feed the cat brie,” Temari warned, “not again.”
“It’s fine Temari. It won’t hurt Sprinkles,” Naruto chimed in. He took a seat between Sakura and Temari.
“No, it’s not fine. I heard you guys were cleaning up cheese barf all day after this one fed Sprinkles a whole plate of camembert,” Temari grabbed her thumb in Ino’s direction.
“Heyyyy- ok fine, fine. What game are we playing?” Ino got up and dusted off her skirt.
“Munchkins,” Sakura said, a wicked grin on her face.
“Oh no,” Sasuke groaned.
“Oh yes!” Naruto exclaimed.
“Why ‘oh no’?” Ino asked, sitting on Shikamaru’s lap. Shikamaru made a face when she stole the beer from his hand.
“Could we get a couple more beers please, Naruto? My wonderful, generous, girlfriends seem to like it.” Shikamaru asked. Temari eyed him on the word generous. He pulled her hand to his face and gave it a kiss with a wink. She smirked back.
“Yeah, sure,” Naruto popped up out of the chair.
“These two are like chaos incarnate when they play this game together,” Sasuke gave a sigh of resignation. He wouldn’t be able to stop either of them once they got the bit between their teeth.
“When are they not? I’m curious now, explain the rules,” Temari leaned back with her beer.
“Ino, as much as love to feel your butt, you can’t sit on me like this if we’re going to play,” he said into the crock of her neck.
Ino pouted and slid off his lap into the next chair. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. It made her giggle.
“The game is simple,” Sakura explained while she dealt everyone their cards. “Everyone starts with 5 cards. By the end of your turn, you need to have 5 cards or less in your hand.”
“What happens if you have more than 5?” Ino asked.
“I’m getting to that…”
They did eventually start playing the game. Sakura was interrupted multiple times while attempting to explain the rules.
“The first player to reach level 10 wins.”
Many rounds in and it was obvious that Sakura and Naruto were at the centre of the chaos hurricane. When one was close to reaching level 10, the other would pull out a modifier card to stop them from defeating the monster. The other would rally the rest of the table to help them defeat the monster in exchange for loot and favours. One would gain a level, the other would knock them back down a level. And around and around it would go for some time.
“I give up, there’s no way we're ever going to beat this game the way you two are playing.” Temari tossed down her hand in resignation.
Sasuke chuckled to himself, “I tried to warn you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Shikamaru sighed.
“Ah man, I think I could have beat them,” Ino put down her hand.
“Humm, maybe. That’s actually a pretty good card, you should have played it, you might have actually beaten that last monster” Naruto was looking at her hand.
“Wait really!? I want a rematch then!” Ino exclaimed.
“NO!” the other half of the table yelled in protest.
“Don’t worry, we’ll move on. What’s next? Are people feeling up for Codewords?” Sakura looked around the table.
“Maybe with another round of beers. And I think we need a top-up on crackers for the cheese,” Naruto offered.
“Alright, Codewords sounds good to me,” Sasuke smiled.