Chapter 11: Paper Door

There was silence at the table. Then—

"I would like to introduce you to my youngest daughter," he said gesturing towards the blank looking little girl, "This is Hanabi."

Hanabi looked up at the sound of her name. She looked at Shino, probably expecting him to introduce himself or at least wave, but Shino did nothing of the sort. Shino merely looked at her—he hated talking and waving was below him.

Mr. Hyuuga narrowed his eyes and looked annoyed but continued nonetheless, "Also, I would like to introduce you to my nephew, Neji." He gestured toward the angry looking boy, who looked like he would rather be anywhere but where he was right now—Shino sympathized with him.

Neji looked over where Shino was and glared. Okay, now Shino's sympathy was gone.

Shino gave Neji the mother glare of ALL glares.

Mr. Hyuuga cleared his throat for attention, and thus the room's attention was returned to him. He looked even more annoyed than before.

"I know you know you know my eldest daughter, seeing as you were kind enough to drool all over her sleeve," continued Mr. Hyuuga rudely, as though tempting Shino to get up and shout at him. "But let us not get into that before dinner, shall we?" said Mr. Hyuuga as though he was NOT the one who brought it up in the first place.

Neji scoffed, like he was SO much better than Shino—and his uncle for that matter. He was also probably thinking about how pointless this dinner was and how there was NO reason for him to be there at all. Which there wasn't.

Hanabi was still sitting there looking blank. No one was talking to her, so there was no reason for her to talk to anyone else. She was probably thinking about Barney movies, or whatever small children think about. How old is she anyway? Like three?

Hinata couldn't believe the mess this whole affair was turning out to be. She wished she had explained the truth to her father before this had gotten so out of hand.

Shino was thinking about his growing hate for Hinata's family and noticing the similarities between Neji and his uncle. They both had the same I-am-SO-better-than-you attitude.

And then…EVERYONE EXPLODED!!!

Or not.

What really happened, though, was almost as remarkable.

"U-um," said Hinata quietly. Yes that was the remarkable thing.

"Yes?" inquired her father.

"U-um, actually…you see—"

"Dinner is served!!!" announced some young, boisterous Hyuuga loudly, cutting Hinata off completely.

"Ah, good," said Mr. Hyuuga, completely forgetting about Hinata. As though dinner was more important than her. Poor Hinata.

"Let us eat," said Mr. Hyuuga, as the Hyuuga kitchen staff swarmed in and covered the table in a huge feast, then leaving as abruptly as they came.

Mr. Hyuuga began to eat in silence, and the rest followed suit.

Hinata ate with the utmost of care, applying etiquette in every single way, whether it came to using her utensils or placing her napkin on her lap. She took only the smallest bites as though expecting someone to shout at her for doing something horribly wrong.

Mr. Hyuuga ate just as politely as Hinata; his napkin on his lap and everything. The only difference was that he ate a lot more than Hinata, OBVIOUSLY.

Neji ate with care and politely but not overly so. It was as though putting a napkin on his lap was below him.

Hanabi just kind of sat there stabbing at her food, like the little kid that she is.

As for Shino, he ate like a regular Joe. Not overly polite but not a slob, like Kiba. Speaking of whom would probably eat like a ravenous animal causing all of the Hyuugas to be thoroughly outraged. Shino was sure that in his position, Kiba would be DOOMED, being one of the most unmannered people in the world.

The dinner dragged out longer than truly necessary. Who needed a second course ANYWAY? Why not serve it all together? Dessert? Have you EVER seen Shino eat anything sweet? Have you ever seen Shino eat ANYTHING? No, I don't suppose you have, but it is obvious he does or he wouldn't have the energy to be a real ninja!

Anyway, after dessert there was coffee. Six-year-olds don't drink coffee. Well, Shino suspects that KIBA does, but let's not get into that.

So, we could agree it is best to talk over coffee, because your mouth isn't generally filled with food anymore. Talking with your mouth full is just rude! So that's what they did.

After sipping his coffee, Mr. Hyuuga cleared his throat and looked expectantly at Shino, who didn't say anything. Although he did glare. And so commenced a glaring contest between Mr. Hyuuga and Shino. That's right not a staring contest but a glaring contest! Neji decided to join in because he felt left out and had more than one reason to glare.

It was a tense moment.

It was a tense couple of moments.

It was a tense—you get the idea—and it was broken but someone saying: "U-um."

And everyone turned to GLARE at the culprit who ruined the glaring contest—who just so happened to be Hinata.

"E-excuse me but"—

"NOOOOOOOO!!! Shino, I'll save you!!!" cried Kiba as he burst through a paper sliding door, bandages askew, breaking it irreparably.

Hinata gasped. Hanabi looked anything BUT blank. Neji looked at Kiba like he was a freak. Mr. Hyuuga looked surprised and outraged. Now who could have guessed THOSE reactions?!

Now, how they all seemed so surprised is beyond me because they all have the Byakugan! Which enables them to see 360 degrees and right through stuff, like walls!

Shino was surprised, but now that Kiba was here he could give his explanation and leave.

Kiba ran over to where Shino was sitting.

"Shino!" he gasped—it sounded as though he had been running, "I came to save you because I heard that you were DOOMED!!! And when Wendy was doomed Peter Pan came to save her, and even though you are not Wendy you are still—oh! Hi Hinata!!! Fancy meeting YOU here! What are you doing here anyway?!" he exclaimed this for he had just spotted Hinata and proceeded talking to her as though she didn't live here.

Then Mr. Hyuuga found his assertive voice. "Who are you, what are you doing destroying my home and HOW do you know my daughter!?" he demanded.

"I came here to save Shino!" Kiba repeated, "Wait, WHAT?"

"Kiba, this is Hinata's house and family. Mr. Hyuuga this is the culprit of the snot incident, of which I was a victim," introduced Shino, "I am leaving."

With that Shino got up. He was fed up of this seriously messed up dinner party.

"O-oh my!" gasped Hinata in a quiet voice.

"Wait. What are we talking about?" asked Kiba, thoroughly confused, the poor fellow that he is.

"WHAT!?" Mr. Hyuuga shouted angrily at Shino and Kiba, "I knew the Aburames and Inuzukas were terribly bad news!"

"Don't assume," said Shino in an angry voice followed by the GRANDMOTHER of all glares. Meaning it was HUGE.

Kiba looked at Shino with an unreadable expression.

"Let's go," said Shino, who then walked through the empty frame where the sliding door used to be.

Kiba shrugged. "I'm game," he agreed, then turning and waving at Hinata said, "See you at school tomorrow!"

Then he jumped through the empty doorframe and out of sight.

He saw that Shino was already halfway down the corridor. "Hey, wait up!" he called as he ran after him in an attempt to catch up. Which wasn't hard since it wasn't like Shino was trying to run away or anything.

"Sooo… Thanks for sticking up for me back there! We make a great team, huh?!"

"No," replied Shino, "It's your fault we were in that mess."

"Really?" asked Kiba incredulously, "I never knew! What could I possibly have done to make that man SO angry," he wondered aloud.

"…" said Shino.

They walked in silence for a while, which was unusual for someone accompanied by Kiba. They went through the many hallways and courtyards; gardens and pathways, until they made it to the final paper door, which they exited in a swift manner.

From inside the complex they could hear some enraged yelling and thuds.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to go," stated Kiba, grinning.

Since they were both going separate ways this was where they would have to part.

"See you tomorrow then!" said Kiba happily as he waved and walked his separate way.

"Bye," said Shino even though he was already gone.

Shino turned and walked home. He was not thinking of the talk or angry phone call he was soon to receive. He was not thinking of the mess he left behind him. He did not think of these things because the words still echoed in his head.

"We make a great team, huh?!"