Sorry for the wait.
An Introduction to Magic
The noise lifted for a moment as the room seemed to breath, and Chouji placed a plate of eggs and what looked like browned, stale bread in front of Ino. She inspected the foriegn object Chouji had called toast, picking it up in her hands and holding it up to her nose; it smelled just the right side of burnt.
She frowned when Chouji laughed, and suddenly the noise in the kitchens picked up again as all the workers started on the next round of dishes.
"What is it?"
"You don't know what toast is?" Chouji said in amusement, abandoning the bowl he had been mixing to sit across from her; almost immediately a worker (who couldn't've been older than 10) whisked it away and took it to someone working by a fire with large sauce pans. Ino just shook her head and tried not to get distracted by everything. "It's... well, it's bread, but we brown it over a fire and... god, I've forgotten how hard it is to explain toast."
Yes well... you don't seem like the bright sort now, do you? She thought. "So it's basically extra cooked bread?" Ino muttered, putting the toast back down; She reached across the table to grab a fork from a pile in front of Chouji, and settled on eating the eggs.
"That's one way to put it," Chouji agreed, before grabbing a small pot and a knife and pushing it across the table towards her. "It tastes really good with strawberry jam and- Hinata! What are you doing here?" Ino turned to look at whomever had captivated Chouji's attention.
Standing at the kitchen doors was what Ino could only describe as a living doll.
"Ohayoo, Chouji-san," the girl's voice was musical, and again Ino was washed with the feeling of being spoken to by the gods themselves... but unlike when Neji had spoke earlier, the girl calmed her and she couldn't help but smile. Her pearly gaze settled on Ino, and the blond felt strangely elated. "And you must be Ino... Ogenki desu?"
"Um..." Ino blushed prettily. What did she say?
"Hinata is another foriegner," Chouji explained, and Ino turned her attention back to him. "But she moved here quite a few years ago when Shikamaru discovered she was the High Priestess... Shino just moved here earlier this year."
Ino looked back to see a dark figure looming just behind Hinata, his hooded cloak pulled up to hide his face. He must be here to protect her. "It's nice to meet you both, High Priestess, Shino," Ino bowed her head politely. Hinata giggled as she sat down.
"Yes, Shino is here to protect me," Hinata lamented; a worker walked up next to her, bowing low as he offered her a plate of eggs and toast identical to Ino's. Hinata thanked the boy, who blushed as he hurried away. "You met Neji outside with the Lady Sakura... Neji chose Shino to protect me when it became obvious that he couldn't juggle the duties of a General of War as well as looking after me; it seems that many people think that I'm an asset to have around. Something about predicting the future and such."
Ino just stared, and Chouji laughed again.
"Hinata has a knack for knowing what people are thinking," he explained. "It comes as a shock at first, but you'll get used to it." Ino nodded, pursing her lips for a second as she remembered something that Neji had said...
"No, I didn't say that Shikamaru was going to fall in love with Sakura," Hinata mused aloud. Ino blushed and turned to look at her toast. That's creepy... how did she know I was thinking that? She watched Hinata carefully out of the corner of her eye, tensing as she watched the girl about to speak again... "Would you like some jam for your toast, Ino?"
"Oh!" I shouldn't think rude thoughts with her around! "Yes, please..."
"And no, I can't actually read your mind," Hinata giggled. "So you can think of anything you would like, no matter how vulgar."
"B-but..." Ino turned fully to look at the girl; she could feel Chouji and Shino's eyes on her (even though Shino's eyes were hidden). Hinata faced her with a smile, her white eyes the exact shape of Neji's (It's obvious they're related, even without her saying they're cousins.), her midnight hair falling just in her eyes and pulled into a braid over her shoulder. Her porcelain white skin was covered by a thin, silken blue dress and translucent robes, and a talisman hung around her neck. "If you can't read people's thoughts, how do you know what people are thinking?"
"I can see your aura," Hinata explained gently, lifting a hand to stroke some invisible substance in the air. "And the gods enlighten me with small bits of knowledge... other than that, it's just a matter of observation and some logical thinking." She tilted her head to the side cutely. "And I know that you are important to this castle for the next few months, maybe even longer, so I'm paying you some extra attention."
Thanks for the warning...
"Don't feel put out, Ino," Chouji said cheerfully, and Ino smiled at him. "Just try to accept her for who she is... I know it's hard to try to understand something... magical, should I say? ... after living all of your life oblivious to it. But everyone knows that the gods decide everything. Hinata is just a mortal person who is gifted to help make some of those decisions happen."
"Oh, I shan't be doing this for much longer," Hinata said with a sigh, closing her eyes with a dreamy expression on her face. "Within the year I shall be useless to the gods, and Lord Sasuke will probably send me back to my country..."
"Not if Shikamaru comes back," Chouji snorted. "He didn't spend all that time convincing you to come here just for you to leave as soon as Sasuke finds you useless..."
"Don't sound so disproving of Lord Sasuke," Hinata said with a sad smile. "He sees things that no one else can see, and pines like no one else can pine... he is just doing as he sees fit as a temporary measure. And he needs to make sure that Shikamaru is back at his side, because Shikamaru is the most useful to-"
"Why is Shikamaru so important?" Ino blurted out.
All eyes were back on her, and she squirmed in her seat. Hinata was smiling again.
"Because of the legend," she said mysteriously. "And because of the prophecy." Legend? Prophecy? But before Ino could ask, Sakura had run into the kitchen again, stopping for a moment to catch her breath.
"Chouji," the pinkette snapped. All four eyes turned to look at Sakura, and Ino couldn't help wonder if castle life was always happening at such a sudden, fast pace. Doesn't anyone like to slow down and relax? "Breakfast is a mess; Temari and Sasuke are arguing again and the servants are refusing to serve anyone at her table in fear of being stabbed with a fork-"
"What happened?" Chouji asked with a groan as he pulled himself up to a stand.
"She overheard me talking about Shikamaru and over-reacted, of course!" Sakura snapped. "Just go and fix it!" Chouji nodded, and left without another word. Sakura rounded on Hinata next. "Neji is looking all over for you; you should know better than to skip breakfast without sending word down with someone! And you know how he is; if we start eating without him he gets upset, and then he gets defensive because we say he's upset, and then he starts yelling-"
"He's just headed up to my tower now," Hinata said smoothly. "I'll just have someone take some breakfast up there for us and calm him down a bit before he sees you all again."
She rose from her seat and floated past them, not even stopping when Sakura held a hand out to prevent Shino from following. "And you..." Sakura glared at the cloaked boy. "You've patrolled the village every night, and haven't spoken a word to me about seeing Shikamaru... now, that just doesn't seem right." Shino just shrugged, and idly pushed Sakura's hand away as he followed Hinata out of the kitchens.
That left Ino.
Sakura slowly turned to look at the blond girl, who stood from her chair to look Sakura on even ground. "Yes, Milad- I mean, Sakura?"
A smile broke out over the pinkette's face, and she reached forwards to grab Ino's wrist and tug her towards the kitchen doors. "You and I, Ino, are going to go take a bath, and then we're going to get ready for lunch... Sasuke wants to meet you to discuss how you met Shikamaru."
Ino blushed. The wedding bells were sounding in her ears once again.
