Chapter 53: Wedding Party
A month had passed since their return from their extremely lengthy trip from the village of Blood. Hiroshi's Sand teammates had not received any word from their Kazekage that they could return, but they were making progress on their investigation, so with any luck they will be able to go back soon. Makoto, Hibiki, Suzumi and Mayuri had been stationed at his village for some time now, carrying out overseas missions for their village since they are located here.
However, today was Makoto and Mayuri's wedding dinner. It was more of a wedding party more than anything, and since they were in the Leaf village, not many of their Sand family members or friends could attend, so the party was mostly made up of any Leaf people they knew and an open invitation to any Sand shinobi within the vicinity. Hiroshi expected the crowd to be not overly large, but sizable at the very least.
Hiroshi was checking himself in the mirror. He rarely attended any parties, and this would be the first time he had to dress up this nicely to attend a wedding. He had a set of formal attire reserved for such a situation, but he figured he looked slightly awkward dressed in such a way. The tie he was wearing was annoying him, and he wondered what kind of idiot would actually want to wear this.
" I think you look handsome enough," a voice replied.
" I agree," another replied.
Hiroshi turned to the two girls who had spoken to him. Suzumi and Miyako were already dressed, and were standing outside his door. Suzumi wore a simple, light blue dress, and over the last month she let her hair grow, now hanging past her neck. She didn't bother with any make-up, and Hiroshi thought she looked pretty enough without it. Miyako had opted for a more daring outfit, a brilliant red spaghetti strap dress which he thought showed way too much skin for a girl her age, especially her shoulders and back. She had tied her hair in a stylish bun, held on by a very large golden pin stuck in the middle.
" Oh, both of you are done already?" Hiroshi asked.
" Hiroshi, we have been done for 10 minutes now, which is actually saying something," Suzumi replied, scowling sarcastically at him. Miyako merely broke into a wide grin as Hiroshi scratched his head sheepishly. " Hurry now, we don't want to be late."
" Alright," Hiroshi noted, fixing his tie not before exiting his room. He bought a place for himself last year, so he was no longer staying with his parents. His apartment block was small but fairly comfortable. It was mostly empty, as Hiroshi kept most of his shinobi equipment and weapons in a separate warehouse block his Hokage was graciously nice enough to provide him with, so his home had a very minimalistic look to it, just like they way he liked it. Although he lived alone, he had an extra bedroom to spare, so Miyako was using that one, and Suzumi shared his bedroom while she was here. " Are we going to wait for the rest?"
" They mentioned that they would head there on their own, so we will meet them there," Suzumi answered.
OOO
The wedding dinner party was held at a small yet fairly posh restaurant near the west side of the village. It had a nice, lush garden at the back for people to host parties or gatherings, which was in perfect position to view to Hokage monuments that were carved into the stone cliff.
A number of people were already around, mingling with one another. Since not many of their Sand relatives and friends could attend due to the large distance between their villages, most of the guest that were attending the wedding today are actually from Hiroshi's village, mostly made up of young shinobis whom Hiroshi and his team knew. Makoto and Mayuri know a number of them, but a good bulk of the people attending are people who they had not seen before. Hiroshi was quite surprised that Makoto was actually okay with this, preferring to have more people just to make it more lively.
" Oi, Hiroshi, you've arrived!" Hibiki called out to them.
Hiroshi spotted Hibiki standing in the middle of the garden, with a glass of beer in his hand. Surprisingly, he was surrounded by a bunch of female kunoichis, who looked like they were fawning over him. Hiroshi couldn't recall that Hibiki was actually popular with the ladies back in his village, but perhaps the girls here liked his devilish looks and roguish charms. It looked like he was entertaining them before he caught sight of them.
" …I see you have already worked your methods on the girls here," Suzumi replied.
" Oh well, can't help it. I can't seem to get them off me," Hibiki replied, grinning mischievously.
" Hey, Hiroshi, you never told us your Sand companion was this interesting," one of the girls called out to him, the whole group coming up to greet them, but to mostly follow Hibiki.
" Yeah, are all the Sand shinobis like him?" another asked.
" …I'm not sure…" Hiroshi mumbled. The girls were all around him, apparently very excited as if they had just met their idol. " …I've never seen him like this before. He sure is popular with the ladies."
" He should be, although he seems to be more popular out of the village. He doesn't usually get this much attention back in our village," Suzumi replied, not before whispering "Or at least, that's what Aya is telling me."
" Really? I'll admit that he has good looks, and the scars are something, but he's not that impressive," one of the girls in the group boldly spoke up.
" Oh, wow, that was surprising. That's a first I've heard all night," Hibiki replied, turning to the girl who had spoken up. She was quite a beauty, wearing a long, red, silky dress that reach down to her ankles. Her short silver hair was tied stylishly into a bun on her head, and her firm figure only accentuated her sharp features. She was shorter than he was, almost by 6 inches, but the way she carried herself made her look impressive enough to take on Hibiki. " I don't think we have met. What's your name?"
There was an awkward silence, and Hibiki looked around at the girls around him who were giving him puzzled looks. Even Suzumi and Hiroshi were giving him weird looks. " …Was it something I said?" he asked after a long pause, with the silver haired girl still scowling slightly at him, her arms folded.
" …Hibiki, you only know one silver haired Konoha kunoichi who insults you on regular basis," Hiroshi presented him with a hint.
" WHAT!?" Hibiki exclaimed so loud that everyone in the vicinity paused what they were doing to look at him. " …A-Are you telling me…this is Sora!?"
Hiroshi could almost see a vein pop on Sora's forehead. " You insult me…" Sora replied, scowling.
" When did you get here?" Hibiki asked.
" I arrived the same time as you did, asshole. I was next to you for the last 20 minutes or so while you were being surrounded by your fangirls," Sora answered.
" You sure look different when you try, don't you? Man, I didn't even recognize you at all. It's like you are a completely different person when you dress up nicely," Hibiki replied, grinning slightly, not before prodding her breasts with his fingers. " I also certainly don't recall your tits being this big."
" I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" Sora shouted at him as she started to chase after him.
"…Man, never a dull moment," Hiroshi replied, sighing loudly.
" Aren't you going to stop them?" Miyako queried.
" I don't want to bother. This has happened to many times now that it's becoming something of a running gag. The best way to stop them is to not stop them. They will eventually run out of juice eventually," Hiroshi replied.
" Looks like you guys made it," Shikamaru replied, appearing behind Hiroshi along with Temari, who waved cheerfully at them. " And I see that Sora is up to her usual tricks again."
" Well, it's not like we can really help it," Hiroshi replied.
Shikamaru merely shrugged his shoulders, not before glancing at Miyako. There was an indefinite pause as he quietly stood there, observing her. Miyako curiously looked at him, and for some reason both of them stood and looked at each other, as if sizing each other out. After what felt like a minute, he patted Miyako on her head and walked off with Temari, waving at them as he walked away.
" What was that all about?" Suzumi asked. Hiroshi had a nagging suspicion he knew what his sensei was doing, but decided not to comment on the matter.
" Hiroshi, Suzumi," Ryouta called out to them. He was dressed in a tuxedo, which made him look very dashing. " Looks like the party is warming up already."
" Hey!" Miyako responded, slightly miffed that Ryouta didn't address her.
" Oops, sorry Miyako, almost didn't see you there," Ryouta replied, squatting down and patting her on her head. Since Miyako was literally still a kid, and slightly cute for that matter, a lot of people had a penchant to pat her on her head, which was very strange when she was a person capable of being a one-man army. Still, she looked very happy to be treated as such, and responded by smiling sweetly at Ryouta. " So, when it is going to be your turn?"
" Who's turn?" Hiroshi asked.
" Your turn," Ryouta answered.
" My turn for what?" Hiroshi asked.
" Getting married, of course," Ryouta replied, chuckling.
" Not anytime soon," Hiroshi replied.
" That's so sad, isn't it Suzumi?" Ryouta turned to Suzumi, who merely giggled.
" You know, if both of you get married, this means Suzumi will be my adoptive mother, legally, correct?" Miyako asked. " Does this mean I should call her mom from now on, or will that be somewhat awkward?"
" I don't mind," Suzumi answered.
" We are not married yet," Hiroshi objected.
" You make it sound like we won't," Suzumi teased him.
" Makes me feel kinda left out," Ryouta replied.
" Left out of what?" Hiroshi asked.
" Well, everyone in our group is already in a relationship or going to get married. I'm the only single guy left," Ryouta replied.
" …Did you completely forget about Sora and Hibiki?" Hiroshi asked.
" Of course not. With the way they are going, they are practically like an old married couple," Ryouta replied.
" …That is disturbing on so many levels," Hiroshi groaned.
" So, where is our main guest of honour? We cannot really start the party if the main couple isn't here," Ryouta commented.
" Makoto is over there," Miyako noted.
All of us turned to where Miyako was pointing, which was a group of young men standing together, all of them holding a glass of wine or beer in their hand, laughing and joking with one another. Initially, Hiroshi was unable to spot Makoto in the group, but he then realized why. Makoto, besides being dressed formally, also decided not to wear his forehead protector to cover his eyes, and instead wore dark sunglasses instead. Hiroshi was a little too used to seeing Makoto wearing his forehead protector is such a fashion that he didn't notice him initially, which should have been glaringly obvious since he was literally the only one wearing dark sunglasses during the party.
" Let's go greet the lucky bastard," Ryouta urged them.
They started heading off towards Makoto, who noticed them approaching him. Ryouta was the first to greet him with a hug, the force of the hug almost knocking Makoto off his feet and spilling his drink. Hiroshi shook hands with some of Makoto's friends, a few whom he recognized from some of his visits to his village.
" Glad all of you could make it," Makoto replied, not before noticing Sora was still chasing Hibiki around the compound. " Physically here at any rate."
" Sorry to barge in, but I'd like to have my husband for a minute," Mayuri's voice came out from nowhere.
She appeared behind them, dressed in a fairly provocative red dress. She had decided to keep her hair long, and once again it was almost barely reaching the ground. Despite looking like a seductress, she still had that childish grin on her face, her sharp white teeth matching her pearl earrings she was wearing.
" …Wow, very provocative attire," Hiroshi commented.
" Hiroshi, where are you looking?" Mayuri asked.
" What are you, my moral guardian?" Hiroshi huffed.
" Mayuri, you look very pretty today," one of Makoto's friends called out, while a couple more whistled at her.
" Oi, that's my wife, you assholes," Makoto replied, scowling.
OOO
The party went on until late at night, until there was barely anyone left. Only a few people were left, drinking merrily into the night. There was a full moon tonight, so even without much illumination, there was more than enough light even at that time. All of them were done eating the fantastic food spread prepared, and Hiroshi was quietly sipping his wine glass as he watched the proceedings.
" You have been quiet for a while now," Aya replied.
" Whoa! What the hell?!" Hiroshi exclaimed loudly. Thankfully, there were not many people around, or they were too drunk to have heard his shout that loud. " Don't scare me like that!"
" You say it like it's a bad thing," Aya replied, smirking.
" No shit. My first experience with you is of you stabbing me. It's not something you'd forget, even if it was an illusionary dream," Hiroshi answered, not before noticing that Suzumi's eyes were not glowing. " Huh, why aren't your eyes glowing? I thought when you have the Aya personality emerge, your eyes will glow at least."
" I'm wearing specialized contact lenses. I got them made recently, and it hides the glow in my eyes so people won't notice it. It's not suitable for combat situations though, as they can easily fall off, so I was thinking of getting goggles or something to prevent them from being seen," Aya replied.
" …I realize that being seen with glowing eyes for Suzumi would no doubt be a bad thing, but is there actually another reason why you don't want to be seen with them?" Hiroshi asked.
" She's trying to avoid being detected. Suzumi's bloodline ability is a very powerful one, and it has caused power struggles over the years. She doesn't want her ability to be known, so she's sort of trying to keep a low profile on it," Miyako answered, and Aya patted her on her head like some form of reward for answering.
" I see…then how about you?" Hiroshi asked.
" Me?"
" Perhaps you would want to hide your bloodline ability as well? I mean, having glowing blue spiral irises is not exactly very common," Hiroshi replied.
" I cannot do that. My bloodline ability relies mainly on sight, much like the bloodline abilities of the Uchiha and the Hyuuga of your village. Putting some form of covering like goggles or lenses might impair our capabilities. It is okay for Suzumi and Aya since their bloodline ability does not rely on sight," Miyako replied. " Although, I am curious about one thing?"
" What is it?" Aya asked.
" Why is it when Aya's personality surfaces, your eyes glow red?" Miyako asked.
" Well, this is merely a theory, but after Sakura and Suzumi checked our chakra nodes, we noticed when my personality surfaces, I seem to fire more chakra nodes in certain areas, and Suzumi fires chakra nodes in other areas I do not affect. For me, one of the areas is actually my eyes, so it's just merely a collection of a lot of chakra in my eyes when my personality emerges. Just like anyone with an eye based bloodline ability charges their eyes with chakra, it changes shape or colour. Similar effect here, although mine is purely decorative. My glowing eyes serve no purpose other than to glow red…and signify that I am in control right now," Aya answered.
" …Speaking of control…why are you in control now?" Hiroshi asked.
" Suzumi is taking a break, so to speak, so I am in control now," Aya answered.
" …You mean she is resting?" Hiroshi asked.
" Yeah, for the most part, when one of our personalities surfaces, the other, while sort of aware of what is going on, is lying dormant, something akin to sleeping. So, we can sort of mentally take turns sleeping. Also, regardless of what you think, we are actually still two personalities residing in one body. We have agreed to take turns being in control. Suzumi is usually in control much more than I am because it is easier to interact using her personality compared to mine," Aya replied.
" No doubt…hmm, does this actually mean I'm actually in a relationship with two girls?" Hiroshi mused.
" Well, at least you are in a relationship. That has to count for something," Hibiki replied, coming over while carrying a sloshed Sora, who looked like she had one drink too many. She was already out, her breath reeking with alcohol. " Look at her, completely out of it. I still find it surprising she can look good in a dress."
" …You are lucky she is sloshed, if not you'd get a sound trashing, regardless if that was some form of praise," Hiroshi commented.
" Whatever man, like I care," Hibiki replied, shrugging his shoulders. " Anyway, she's useless and in a drunken heap now. I'm going to take her back to her room. Maybe you guys should head back too. It's getting kinda late."
" I was hoping to wait for Ryouta," Hiroshi replied.
" …Actually, I saw him exit the party like almost an hour ago with some hot chick. I think her name was Aiko, or something like that," Hibiki responded.
" …Huh?" Hiroshi mused.
" What? Your best friend can't go out with a girl without you harping about it?" Aya chided him.
" No, it's not it. Truth be told, I already knew he had this thing for this girl, and her name is Airi, not Aiko. You do realize what time it is?" Hiroshi asked.
" It's…well, close to midnight…oh," Hibiki mused, before he realized it too. Aya seemed to catch on as well.
" I don't get what's going on," Miyako replied.
" …Long story short, our good friend Ryouta has this penchant for waiting for the midnight to come and stare at the sky when the time comes. He has been doing this for his entire life, and it is almost unthinkable that he would actually miss a session. We usually hang out together at midnight just to keep him company," Hiroshi answered. " Although lately, I think ever since he came back he has not waited for the midnight sky since. I thought he was recouperating, but it should be fine now."
" Sounds like a chakra seal," Miyako remarked.
" …A what now?"
" A specialized mental chakra seal. Quite possibly one has been placed on him. It gives him a strong 'feeling' when he sees whatever picture that has been captured by his eyes when the seal is place. It was used as a very old technique where they would brainwash spies to keep their identities hidden from their enemies as they cannot fully remember who they are, but the chakra seal was put in place to remind them of who they really were when they see a familiar sight, either their superior or a person, which would elicit a strong 'response'. I believe that was what happened to your friend Ryouta," Miyako replied, not before turning to Hiroshi " As a medic-nin, I'm surprised you didn't actually think of it."
" Well…" Hiroshi replied, scratching his head sheepishly. While it seemed very logical now that Miyako had pointed it out, Hiroshi had probably gotten too used to Ryouta's quirk to have realized it sooner.
" If he has not been bothered about the midnight sky now, either the seal has been broken, or he has found the significance behind the seal or who placed it there, thus diminishing the 'need' to see it," Miyako answered.
" That's all fine and well, but I have been drinking a lot, and I didn't understand half of what you just said. I'm going to cart this cow off now, cos she is heavy and heavily drunk," Hibiki replied, not before trotting off, carrying a still-unconscious Sora away.
" You think they will be okay?" Mayuri chipped in, as both Makoto and Mayuri joined Suzumi.
" Are 'you' going to be okay?" Makoto asked.
" I'm fine. I didn't drink any alcohol. I'd be bad for the babies," Mayuri replied.
" Yeah, that's why I am asking. You'd usually be sloshed and extremely chipper…well, more than normal at any rate, by now," Makoto replied.
" Have you thought of names for your kids yet?" Suzumi asked.
" Daigo for the boy, Hinako for the girl," Mayuri answered quickly.
" I did not say yes to that yet," Makoto replied.
" You might not have any say in that matter actually," Hiroshi replied, and all of them laughed at his comment as the night dawned until the next day.
