How will dinner go? Will Sasuke regret being interested in these people? Read on to find out! (And then review if you like)
The first person to enter the room was a rather annoyed looking brunette with long, brown hair that appeared to be rather singed and was leaving a small trail of smoke behind him.
"Hey Neji, did you steal Deidara's conditioner again?" Ino teased, sticking her tongue out as he glared at her with strange lavender eyes. The smell of burning hair was strong in the air.
"He overreacted," Neji snapped back haughtily, sitting down beside her and adjusting the long sleeves of his white shirt, "Who are these people?" His expression was one of quiet disdain.
"Remember how dad told us that some jackass was coming from the city to try buying our house?" Sakura informed him. Neji's cool gaze slid across to the pair of Uchihas. Sasuke met his glare evenly and folded his arms just to show that he wasn't intimidated. The brunette stared at him, and Sasuke could've sworn that for a moment, his eyes flashed with some kind of strange light before fading again and leaving Neji with a small smirk plastered across his face.
Sasuke frowned and his attention was directed over to the door where two massive dogs had just appeared; one of them huge and white and the other shaggy and brown. One of them; the brown one, bounded up into one of the chairs and its tongue flopped out excitedly as its huge paws scrabbled at the tablecloth. Strangely, he had a red patch of fur either side of his muzzle.
"Kiba, paws off the table, you mutt!" Ino snapped, swatting the dog with a hand and glaring at him. The dog barked twice and bounded off the chair; directly bowling into a tanned, blonde figure as they made an appearance in the doorway. Itachi and Sasuke just sat there awkwardly as the two girls laughed as there was an almighty sneeze from the blonde who had just been knocked over.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Sasuke spied movement in the opposite corner and did a double-take as a blonde walked past him, rubbing his nose awkwardly.
"What –" he began to say with a small frown of confusion, doing a double take.
"What's the problem, Sasuke?" Itachi inquired.
"I…I could've sworn that…" Sasuke remarked, looking over his shoulder and seeing nothing but the rest of the room; and then back to the tanned blonde who had taken a seat opposite him. Definitely; he could've sworn that that was the guy that the dog had leapt on as he walked through the door…But there was no way he could've gotten there so quickly…
A little perplexed, the raven folded his arms and his scowl deepened as a tall, broad brunette took a seat after having apparently crawled in from a neighbouring room. He had scruffy brown hair and a red triangular tattoo on each of his cheeks.
"Hey mutt," the blonde greeted with a laugh, "Oi, what's in your pocket?" The brunette grinned mischievously and whispered something to him. The blonde burst out laughing.
" –Naruto…Kiba…we have guests," Neji remarked smoothly, nodding pointedly at the two raven-haired, suited men sitting opposite them. The pair exchanged glances and the blonde named Naruto giggled to himself.
"Oh hey," he remarked with a bright grin.
"Hn…" Sasuke responded with unimpressed eyes, "Your dog has the same name as you? How lame." Kiba looked incredibly confused for a long moment before spluttering and laughing and the rest of the table bursting out into sniggers. The white dog yapped playfully and darted out the door excitedly.
Kisame suddenly reappeared in the doorway and from the head of the table appeared to be doing a head count of who was present. There were various versions of 'hi dad' called out as another boy walked in, looking rather tired.
"Shikamaru, where are Suigetsu and Deidara?" Kisame inquired curiously.
"…Putting out the fire," Shikamaru replied with a yawn.
"Fire?" Itachi exclaimed.
" –Okay; well, would you please help me to bring out dinner?" Kisame asked sternly just before Shikamaru took a seat. The ponytailed man sighed before rising again and following his dad out to the kitchen again.
" –Did he just say fire?" Itachi inquired flatly; wondering whether there was really a fire, and if there was; why was Kisame acting so casual about it?
"Yeah, happens all the time," Kiba drawled.
"Ew, Kiba, you smell; you need a bath," Ino snorted, wrinkling her nose and glaring at him as he leaned a little too close. "I can't believe you wouldn't shower after playing with Akamaru…"
" –I forgot we were having guests, okay?" Kiba snapped back.
"…So do you all go to Konoha High School?" Itachi inquired, managing to maintain his composure.
"Yup," Naruto grinned, "All in our last year. Shikamaru and Neji already had scholarships last year but they decided to stick around for their last year."
"I think it's called 'cheating' when you can read minds," Kiba scoffed flatly.
"You're just jealous," Sakura snorted, "Anyway, they're geniuses anyway!"
" –Read minds?" Sasuke remarked flatly, "You're joking, right?" They all exchanged glances and chuckled to themselves.
"Something like that," Naruto smirked.
"Deidara's not at Konoha High with us," Sakura offered, "He's working to try getting into college. And Hidan…well…we're just trying to keep him out of jail…"
"Jail –" Itachi remarked flatly.
" –Well, we're pretty sure one day he's going to kill one of us," she replied simply, "Our bets are all on Deidara…"
"…Maybe agreeing to stay here was a bad idea…" Sasuke remarked flatly to his brother who nodded once in agreement. A few minutes later, two more boys, who the Uchihas assumed were the missing Suigetsu and Deidara, trooped in; one with long blonde hair swept up in a ponytail and also looking a little singed, while the other with white hair looked like he was sweating quite considerably.
"Suigetsu; we have company," Ino remarked flatly. He looked over at the two raven-haired strangers and gave them a short salute as he wiped his brow. Sasuke immediately noticed that his sweaty appearance diminished slightly. Maybe it had just been the light.
"Asshole," Deidara muttered at Neji, "Use your own damn conditioner, yeah."
"We use the same brand; it was an honest mistake," Neji remarked flatly.
"Like hell it was, yeah," Deidara snorted crossly.
"Oh don't make me –" Neji glared, holding up too fingers as the blonde sat down. Immediately he leaned away angrily.
"No! The last time you touched me like that, I was unconscious for a week!" he snapped, and then appeared to regret the phrasing of his words as he stubbornly clamped his mouth shut and folded his arms. Before the situation could get any tenser, Kisame and Shikamaru arrived with arms laden with trays of food which they placed in the centre of the room.
"Ahh, so I see you've met everyone," Kisame commented approvingly, "Except bloody Hidan…"
"…Dad…did you cook all this?" Naruto asked tentatively. All eight of the teenagers stared at him incredulously as they stared at the spread laid out before him. "Can we afford this?"
"I knew we were having company so I made an exception," he reminded them flatly, "And Shikamaru; it's not nice to pry," he added, giving the sleepy boy a sharp look. Shikamaru simply chuckled and took a seat. "And has anyone seen Hidan?"
"…Sort of…" Kiba remarked awkwardly as Kisame gestured for them all to begin helping themselves.
"Define 'sort of'," Kisame sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
"Well…me and Akamaru kind of took him down to the park…" Kiba replied, avoiding eye contact.
"I hope you left him there, yeah," Deidara muttered under his breath, "Pass the salad, Ino." There was a bark from somewhere in the foyer, followed by a harsh shout.
"Get the fuck off me dog-breath! Kiba, I'm going to fucking kill you!"
"Hear that, Kiba?" Suigetsu smirked, "He's going to kill you." There was a yelp of a dog and the skittering of claws on tiles.
"Oh here we go…" Kisame muttered, "Itachi, Sasuke? I'm very sorry about this…"
"Sorry about what? The food looks good," Itachi remarked conversationally.
" –You're lucky. Dad doesn't usually cook too well," Sakura chuckled.
" –Had dad seen who you were before you came here?" Shikamaru asked curiously, with a raised eyebrow at his father. Kisame shot him a warning look.
"I suppose; we're the sons of Fugaku Uchiha; the president of the Uchiha Corporation," Itachi replied, "But I don't understand what –"
"You little fucker; goddamn you! My body's been fucking looking for me all fucking day and you know it can't leave the house!" There was a hoarse, angry yell, and the dining hall door burst open suddenly; the white dog from earlier scurrying around with something held in its mouth. It skidded over into the far corner, where it sat on its haunches; looking thoroughly pleased with itself.
Itachi nearly spat out his food.
It was a head. A human head. The dog was holding a human head in its mouth!
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed.
" –Oi, Kisame; who the fuck is this?" the head remarked, raising an eyebrow.
"Fucking hell!" Sasuke exclaimed, "Did that head; just fucking...WHAT?" He and his brother leapt from their seats in horror as something else barged into the room. Itachi couldn't help but let out a small, unmanly kind of wail as he realised that it was a human body –without a head! It was running…by itself…without a goddamn head! It headed straight for the dog and grabbed the head as the teenagers at the table sniggered to themselves. Before Itachi and Sasuke's horrified eyes, the headless body tore the head from the dog and placed it firmly back on its stump of a neck that was strangely without blood. The skin appeared to grow back, and in an instant, head was firmly back in place.
"Okay, which one of you little fuckers took my hand?" the man; his platinum hair coated with mud and leaves. He held up the stump of his right arm and gestured to where there was an empty spot where his hand was meant to be.
Suddenly, Kiba looked incredibly uncomfortable, and gave a wild yelp as something leapt out from his pocket and made a break for the table. Sasuke took several horrified steps backwards as he discovered that there was a severed hand running along the table.
"Ew! Hidan; keep your fingers out of my food!" Ino yelled, swatting at the hand. Suddenly, the platter nearest to the scuttling hand caught fire spontaneously and Hidan, who was obviously the once-severed head, stormed forward angrily as wild vines suddenly sprang out from the asparagus in an attempt to apprehend the hand. Plates and food went flying everywhere.
"Oi, Dei, I know you fucking did that on purpose!" he snarled aggressively. Suigetsu sighed heavily, slapping a palm down on the fire and extinguishing it as his entire hand turned to water and then reformed as flesh.
"What the fuck is going on?" Sasuke exploded in horror as the hand seemed to have its own ideas and scrambled back to Kiba; lunging for his throat. He went toppling backwards off his chair dramatically; clutching at the hand gripping his throat.
"Hidan, let him go!" Sakura shouted, grabbing the hand and pulling it, and Kiba off the ground with amazing strength. Itachi's brow was furrowed in absolute horror as he and Sasuke backed away from the riot of the table as Naruto and Sakura battled to free Kiba from the wrath of the dismembered hand. Neji, looking rather bored; pushed past the two of them and tapped the hand once with two fingers. Immediately, the hand went completely limp as if it had fallen asleep. Kiba coughed several times as Sakura gripped it tightly in one hand.
"Fucking hell, Neji; you didn't have to paralyze my fucking hand like that!" Hidan snapped, "I've fucking got work tomorrow!"
"Well, maybe you shouldn't try to kill Kiba," Neji sniffed flatly, taking his seat at the table once more. Sakura threw Hidan back his hand and he let it reattach to the stump of his wrist.
"Shikamaru…" Ino sighed, rolling her eyes. Shikamaru sighed, and gave a quick flick of his fingers; the plates and cutlery rising from where they had been flung from the floor and replacing themselves on the table. Suddenly, Naruto sneezed and promptly disappeared in a brief flash of light. He reappeared again almost instantly in that same flash of light, in mid-air directly above Sasuke.
There was a comedic moment there where he dangled above him, before plummeting down; directly on top of the raven and instantly knocking him unconscious as his head hit the floor.
"What the hell is going on?" Itachi exploded; completely aghast and at a complete loss as to what had just happened. Kisame just folded his arms.
"Kids; since we can't have a civil dinner together; take it to your rooms and do your homework," he growled flatly, "Naruto; get a room ready for Sasuke on the second floor and take him some food for when he regains consciousness."
"This is all Kiba's fault," Ino snapped crossly, getting out of her seat rather huffily.
" –What are you fucking talking about?" Kiba snorted.
"…Shouldn't have stolen his hand," Neji remarked flatly.
" –Or his head…" Sakura muttered.
"Hurry up," Kisame growled warningly, scowling disapprovingly at his children.
" –But dad…" Suigetsu complained.
"Now, Suigetsu," Kisame snapped, and his tone was final.
"No –you are not taking my brother anywhere until you tell me what the fuck that was!" Itachi growled; his voice cold and dangerous.
"I'll explain everything," Kisame assured him, "Come to the kitchen and we'll talk; your little brother is perfectly safe."
"Perfectly safe?" Itachi mocked, "What the hell –" Suddenly, there was that same flash of light and he spun around to discover that Sasuke was no longer lying on the ground. "Where is he?"
"In a room on the second floor," Kisame replied simply, gesturing for him to follow him as his children gathered up what could be salvaged from their dinner and sullenly stalked off to their respective rooms. Itachi could've sworn that he saw Shikamaru melt into a shadow on the floor and drift up the wall and through the roof –he really didn't know what to expect now.
A little weak from shock, but not wanting to show it, he followed Kisame into the kitchen; anxious to know if his brother was all right. Sure, Sasuke could be a pain in the ass, but he was still his little brother and after what he had just witnessed, he definitely did not want him to be alone with any of these people. If the man he was alone with hadn't been a six-foot-five, giant blue man made of muscle, Itachi might've thought about running and looking for Sasuke.
As it was; that was probably not a good idea…and there were still those other people…things…in the house.
He sat; and he probably looked a little queasy because a few moments later, a large glass of water and a plate of toast and chicken were placed on the bench beside him. Kisame sighed heavily. Earlier that day he had told his kids that they would be having a guest from the city coming to visit them; looking to buy Samehada Manor. Of course, this news hadn't been well received. Still, he'd asked them to be on their best behaviour; no funny business; no terrifying their guest, and there had been a few half-hearted promises, (most of which he knew to be outright lies). In all honesty, he wasn't too surprised that dinner had turned out like this.
Knowing that there was probably not a huge likelihood that Itachi was going to take this well, Kisame sighed again and turned to face the Uchiha, who had apparently sculled the water and taken several bites of his food while he had been lost in thought.
"I can explain," he assured him.
"…This better be fucking good…" Itachi remarked flatly; wondering if Kisame was going to try and convince him that what he'd seen hadn't been real.
But most of all, he was hoping that his brother was all right.
What is the story behind these strange inhabitants? Is this real, and are they dangerous? What's happened to Sasuke?
Find out in the next episode! . . . . I mean *chapter*
xx K