AN: Chapter title: Promotions and Celebrations Part 8
"It looks like you started the party without us." Kurenai found herself mirroring Asuma when she laughed at the faces of the three Genin seated at the table, Kiba and Shino dropping into their seats at the table. Kiba's nose scrunched up at the smell, Akamaru whining from on top of his head as he responded much the same. The puppy ninken settled for planting his paw on top of his nose, burying his snout into Kiba's hair when that didn't work well enough.
"That's some strong sake." He waved his hand in front of his nose. He turned to Kurenai with a little shock when she easily downed a shot, her and Asuma sharing a drink with her joining the table. "You drink that stuff?"
"How do you think the two of us deal with you kids all day?" Kurenai poured herself another drink as Asuma, who had perhaps drunk a little too much before she arrived, fell into a bout of uproarious laughter.
"Y-You didn't tell us this stuff was super strong sensei!" Ino looked to the bottle in Kurenai's hand with outright disgust. "That taste awful!"
"You never asked." Asuma's laughter had died down to chuckles as he leaned back in his seat, took his glass with him once Kurenai had done him a favor and refilled it.
"Asuma." Kurenai's voice held the reprimand for the bearded Jonin.
"I can't be blamed for this." Asuma threw back his latest shot. "By the way, did you see anyone else while you were on your way here?"
"Gai should be here soon, I could hear him right before I stepped inside." Kurenai spared a glance to the bottle, shared a smile with Asuma. "We're going to need another bottle if he drinks even half as much as you did."
"I'm not that bad." Asuma set his glass on the table upside down, decided to keep himself from drinking anymore for the moment. Already, his body was beginning to work through the alcohol in his system, somewhat instinct for the Jonin to already be using his Chakra to burn through the effects. He settled for drinking what his students were, something far too sugary and sweet but it wasn't alcoholic.
"So is the food getting here anytime soon?" Kiba still had a hand over his nose, tried to stifle the intense smell of the spilled sake.
"I wanted to wait for everyone else but…" Asuma rose from his seat and headed towards the door. "I'll go put an order in. And I'll see if Gai's here yet."
"Make him buy the next bottle if he's out there." Kurenai gave her suggestion as he headed out.
The door opened before he could reach it.
"CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LATEST INHERITORS OF THE WILL OF FIRE!" Asuma nearly ended up on the ground as the door all but threw itself open with the force of Gai's sudden entrance, a number of platters of prepared meals currently balanced either on his arms or those of his student Rock Lee.
"CONGRATULATIONS FROM MYSELF AS WELL!" Lee was truly Gai's student, proved himself to be just as loud as Gai if not louder. He was just as steady as Gai proved to be with his burden of food, able to dash over to the table and deliver them in front of each awaiting seat.
"Well…that was a surprise…" Asuma had managed to save himself from falling to the ground but could still only stare as Gai lead the rest of his team to their seats, Neji pushing Tenten's wheelchair in behind the two loud Shinobi.
"These two never change." Tenten couldn't help her laugh, even Neji couldn't deny the smile on his face at the interactions between the two.
The two had taken one look at the bulk of food one of the employees had been trying to puzzle out how to move and jumped at the challenge, had rapidly loaded up their arms with platter after platter before rushing off. It was lucky Neji had been able to explain what exactly was going on and get the number for the reserved room from the confused civilian, had followed after the two, waited for them to realize they had no idea where they were going.
"You get use to it." Kakashi entered behind the two, laid a hand on Neji's shoulder. Sakura entered behind him.
"Sakura!" Ino stood up with a smile, waved at her once again best friend. "Get over here already!" She stepped around Shikamaru, the Nara obliging her current wants and sliding into her seat, leaving a seat open for Sakura to take next to the Yamanaka. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show up. What took you two so long?"
Sakura looked to Kakashi, the masked Jonin merely raising his uncovered eyebrow.
He was seemingly going to let her explain things.
"We just lost track of time." Sakura joined Ino at the table with a smile. "What have you been doing all this time?"
"Asuma-sensei has been talking our ears up and gave us a cup of this." Ino picked up the bottle Asuma had poured her team a drink from with a smile, a mischievous glint in her blue eyes. "Come on and try it."
"Sure…" Sakura was a bit put off by how eager Ino was about her taking a drink but she got over it rather quickly, hesitated for just a moment before downing the drink.
Her face was a grimace but she managed to swallow it down, stopped herself from outright coughing and hacking like Ino had done.
"T-That was…a bit strong." Sakura's response only made Ino laugh.
It may had been wrong of her, but seeing her friend go through the same thing she had already was funny.
"You handled it better than me!" Ino set the bottle back down on the table with its job done. "So, what were you and Kakashi-sensei doing for so long?"
"Oh, nothing too important." By the smile on Sakura's face, it was definitely something important.
She had Ino's curiosity.
"Come on!" Ino nudged her with her shoulder. "You can tell me! I promise not to tell anyone."
"I don't think I should." Sakura smiled as she crossed her arms. "You just gave me that awful glass, remember?"
Kakashi took a seat next to Gai, the Jonin taking their own corner of the table. His one eyed gaze had done a quick headcount once he had entered the room, noticed the missing immediately.
"Hinata couldn't make it?" His words were for the other Jonin alone, his eye focused on Kurenai.
The red and black eyed Jonin only frowned.
"She said she couldn't make it last night when I told her." Kurenai reached for her glass. "I don't know what's wrong with her today but…I didn't want to force her to do something she didn't want to."
"Hmm." Kakashi spared a glance to her team next, Kiba and Shino doing their best not to show it but her absence had an effect on them just like it had on Kurenai. To him at least, the course of action he needed to take was obvious. "I can."
He was out of his seat before Kurenai could stop him, reached the door before she could try and talk him out of whatever he intended to do.
"Well, that just happened." Asuma had rejoined the table, wordlessly offered his own refilled glass to Kurenai after she had downed her own. She accepted it, was quick to reach for the bottle.
"I'm sure Kakashi has nothing but the best intentions! Besides, this is a time for celebration above all else so we should take this chance to celebrate!" Gai took up his own glass, poured a drink for himself and, after a moment of consideration, gathered up the necessary cups to provide a drink for each of the Genin and Chunin at the table with the three Jonin. "Now, let's all take a drink! A toast to all those who earned their promotion and those who will in the future!"
"So to the future?" Tenten rejected the cup when Gai offered it, pushed it off to Neji instead. He didn't question it and accepted it.
He didn't question her on her grimace as she moved either. As long as the situation didn't worsen, he'll let her deal with it. She knew her own limits better than anyone but Gai.
'Her medication is beginning to wear off.' Neji wasn't the only one to notice. The day either Rock Lee or Maito Gai missed such a thing was the day they officially retired as Shinobi. No matter their exuberance, how things appeared, the two were observant to a fault.
Even if Gai was currently being rather violently shaken by Kurenai, he hadn't failed to notice the state of his student.
"Where did he just go?" Kurenai demanded an answer from the Taijutsu master. "What is he going to do Gai?"
"That is a good question." Gai had elected to go with the current flow, let the red and black eyed Jonin shake him to her heart's content. He had no fear of serious injury at the moment, could recognize it all as a way to relieve stress she must've been feeling for a while now.
"That doesn't answer anything!" Kurenai looked to Asuma next. "Do you know where he went?"
"I thought it was obvious." Asuma poured out three cups as he spoke. "He went to go get your student. He'll probably be back in a few minutes. Nothing to be worried about."
Not only did Kurenai give the Jonin a look of just utter disbelief, Gai was the same.
"Are you sure about that?" Gai felt the need to ask the question.
Asuma paused in bringing his drink up to his lips. After a moment, he simply shrugged.
"Who knows what the future holds." He downed his drink. After a moment, Kurenai copied him and did the same, dropped into her seat next to him and leaned against him.
"You're lucky." She said nothing else, merely held up her cup for a refill that Asuma provided.
"Man, our sensei is weird. I'm starting to think there's something going on between those two." Kiba earned a look from Shino. Even Akamaru could only stare down from his spot on top of his head, both the Aburame and the ninken sharing a a look of something approaching disbelief.
Man and beast proved to be of the same mind in that moment, a synchronized unity brought on from the actions of the Inuzuka.
Is he serious? The question was answered, perhaps even before it was spoken. Of course he is. This is Kiba we're talking about.
'I suppose it would be stranger if he did know. I guess that nose of his isn't as sharp as he thinks.' Shino shook his head, contented himself with focusing on the charcoal brazier in front of the two, focus on the food currently grilling on top of it. The Aburame considered it better to let things go for now, Kiba either knowing or not knowing wouldn't cause too much trouble in the long run.
Besides, what Kurenai-sensei did in her free time was her own business.
For the most part, the dinner was subdued, quiet conversations carried across between groups across the table. Shino and Kiba talked between the two of them, Akamaru's barks either being translated by Kiba or already understood by the Aburame. Ino transitioned from talking with Sakura to talking to Shikamaru and Choji. The Akimichi and the Nara seemed to be content to either talk to her or sit in silence, Shikamaru keeping a lazy eye on the meat in front of him and Choji watching it intently. Tenten, Neji, and Lee shared a quiet conversation that rose and fell in volume, Lee primarily responsible. Tenten's pain was becoming more noticeable as time passed but, so far, only the other two Jonin at the table noticed. Of the Jonin, the three were focused mostly on drinking through their latest bottle instead of talking.
Things were, in one word: peaceful.
One could also say things were tranquil, calm.
Perhaps it could even be called a calm before the storm.
"Yo."
Kakashi had made his return, Hinata Hyuga with him.
"Here she is."
The normally gentle and mild mannered Hyuga had a completely out of character glare on her face directed at Kakashi. It was hard to see why she would be upset with the manner with which she had arrived to the restaurant, been brought into the reserved room.
She was being carried like a glorified sack of luggage beneath his arm. He rose her up on his hip as he raised his hand.
"I didn't mean for you to go and kidnap her Kakashi." Kurenai covered her face with one of her hands, wordlessly lifted her cup up and Asuma obediently filled it back up. Before she dealt with whatever Kakashi had done, she wanted another drink in her. She set the once more emptied cup down and gave Kakashi and Hinata her full attention.
"Hello Hinata." She smiled at her student, managed to earn at least a nod of acknowledgement from the currently, rather rightfully so, upset Hyuga. She turned a look of disapproval towards the masked Jonin as he walked over, deposited one Hinata Hyuga in a seat next to her teammates.
The masked Jonin seemed content to ignore the rather heated glare directed towards him by the pale eyed Clan Heiress.
"Don't keep that look on your face Hyuga-chan." Kakashi patted her on the shoulder. "It may just end up stuck like that."
He returned to his seat while Hinata seemed to take his words to heart, or at least considered dealing with her new issues with the masked Jonin later, and turned to her teammates next to her.
"Hello Kiba, Shino." Her face was covered by a smile, her glare gone for now. "Congratulations on your promotion Shino. You certainly deserve it."
"Thank you Hinata." Shino nodded his gratitude. "I appreciate you being here for this."
"I only want to apologize for being late." Hinata let out a small laugh, something that sounded artificial to everyone who heard it. It was the laugh Ino herself could perfectly replicate if she needed to, one designed to feign interest in whatever was happening. "Unfortunately, I was busy with something and time simply slipped through my fingers."
"What were you doing?" Kurenai asked an honest question, was curious. She had kept an eye on Hinata, all of her students really, since the attack but had respected her privacy, had been too busy herself to fully commit to making sure the three Clan Heirs were alright.
In her mind, they were supposed to have whole Clans to look after them and their wellbeing while she was busy taking on missions, dealing with the aftermath of the attack like the rest of the Jonin.
"Nothing to concern yourself with Kurenai-sensei." Hinata smiled, one equally as hollow as her laugh. "I'm sure it would be nothing but boring to talk about." Her pale eyes were closed. "We should talk about something else."
Kurenai frowned but relented.
"Don't be coy Hyuga-chan. Tell them about what you were doing." Kakashi had no reason not to push her for answers.
"I don't think that really matters Hatake." Hinata turned her empty smile towards the masked Jonin. Her tone was forcefully light. "You shouldn't concern yourself in Hyuga matters."
Kakashi only smiled beneath his mask, the corner of his visible eye crinkling.
"You don't have to be nervous Hyuga-chan. No one here will tell anyone anything you say." Kakashi ignored the clear look sent his way by Kurenai, the silent message to stop whatever game he was playing.
To her, there were moments to push and moments to give her students space. Kakashi seemed to disagree with such a mindset, continued his series of questioning.
"There's no reason to push this today Kakashi." Asuma seemed to agree with Kurenai, offered Kakashi the chance to stop. "If there's a problem, we can deal with it tomorrow." He forced a smile on his face, the other Jonin the only ones able to see how fake it was. "How about we just celebrate today?"
"Not if Hinata-chan is going to be distracted with something so easily remedied." Kakashi leaned back in his seat, took up his refilled drink. When he did so, none of the Genin or Chunin could say since the bottle was still held by Gai. "Besides, it's nothing that embarrassing. It's hardly qualified enough to even be called a secret in the first place."
Hinata smile was gone.
The pronounced veins marking her use of the Byakugan took hold of her face, didn't do much to hide the fact that she was glaring at the masked Shinobi.
Kakashi didn't seem that concerned with the fact she had activated her Dojutsu, that she could possibly attack him from the other side of the table, throw herself at him in her growing irritation at him and his questioning. He even had the nerve to smile at her, something she was able to see clearly courtesy of her Byakugan.
"M-Maybe we should just let this all go?" Sakura spoke up from the end of the table, Kakashi snapping his gaze off of Hinata and to the pink haired Genin. "It's not a celebration if we're all glaring at each other?" She ended her statement as more of a question when all eyes turned to her, even the Jonin.
The three were mainly impressed she had managed to get Kakashi to turn away from Hinata. For whatever reason, he seemed committed to having her say what she was doing.
"Sure." Kakashi's smile was back as he turned back to Hinata, her Byakugan fading away. "As soon as she tells everyone what she was doing."
The Dojutsu snapped back to life, Chakra leaked from her fingers on instinct it seemed as she tightly gripped the edge of the table. She didn't say anything but a near murderous intent was beginning to leak from the normally gentle Hyuga. Whatever had sparked this series of question by Kakashi, it could also spark a previously unknown fury from the girl the more and more she found herself pressed to answer.
'Is he doing this on purpose?' The thought was shared by a number of occupants at the table.
"Kakashi, enough is enough." Kurenai put her foot down as she spoke, her eyes meeting Kakashi's single visible one. "Hinata and I will speak later. If you want to be present then, continue whatever this string of questions is to lead to, I will let you but this ends now."
Kakashi merely looked to her for a moment.
Kurenai matched his look with a simple glare.
He waved his hand, leaned back in his seat.
"Mah, there's no need for something like that." Kakashi turned to Hinata. "I guess your sensei will take care of you Hinata-chan."
The Dojutsu vanished from her eyes much more slowly than it did before, the Hyuga outright glaring at the Jonin across from her.
Before the situation could worsen any further, a knock came from the door.
A moment passed where everyone stared at it.
Another knock came from the door.
"This is the room, right Legate?"
"According to the scroll from yesterday and from what the Hyuga told us today, yes. This should be it."
"…I have a feeling we may be at the wrong place."
"There's only one way to know for sure Caesar." The doorknob was jostled as an attempt was made to unlock it. "Hmm, we may be in the wrong place."
"Ludicrous." A paper scroll was unfurled. "I'm sure now. This is the right place."
"Then I'll need a moment." A brief scraping sound was heard. "Hmm? That's new. I really haven't done this in a while if I'm that rusty."
"Pick locks?"
"I rarely had the need to outside of class. Did you?"
"…That is a story saved for another day."
"Really Caesar? I have to say, I'm curious now."
The lock clicked.
"There. Problem solved."
"Stellar work Legate."
"Only one of my many duties Caesar."
The knob began to turn.
"Legate."
"Yes Caesar?"
"I have one last thing." The voice dropped to a near whisper. "Until I command otherwise, I think it'll be best for this little celebration for us to not refer to each other by rank."
"…"
"I know. It's a rather odd order but surely you can follow it, right Sasuke?"
"…It's odd but more than possible Naruto."
"Good."
The door was opened.
The three Shinobi standing outside were revealed to those seated inside.
"My apologies." Naruto Uzumaki made his entrance with Sasuke Uchiha not very far behind him, a redheaded girl following rather dazedly behind the Uchiha. "I was delayed by an unexpected reunion." He stopped, Sasuke stepping out of the way and allowing the dazed girl with the two to all but wander into Naruto. He smiled as he took her hand in his, brought her to stand next to him. "Allow me to introduce you to a distant relative of mine, Karin Uzumaki."
The girl could barely find it in her to raise her hand even partially, her face still one of shock, her body more held up by Naruto and his ever present force of personality than by her own will at this point.
"Isn't she part of the Hidden Grass?" A glance was given to Kiba as he spoke.
"Not anymore." Naruto's smile was one more fitting for when he had pulled pranks than what he had done out on the street, what none of the Shinobi in the room seemed to know. "I…had issues with how they were treating my family." He shrugged. He decided to laugh. "But that is a story for another time, this is a celebration so we should celebrate."
From next to him, the Uchiha was whispering into Karin's ear, seemingly giving her a name to each face at the table. She could only numbly nod along, the girl still seemingly overwhelmed by the situation she found herself in.
"She's family?" Kakashi found himself asking the obvious question. "On your mother's side?"
"Yes." Naruto's smile remained, didn't dim in the slightest or become mocking. "It's in the name if you had been paying attention." His tone was light as he took his seat, bid Karin take the seat next to him. On the adjacent side of the table, he smiled towards a now beaming Hinata. Her entire mood seemed to have risen with his arrival. "But yes, Karin and I are related from my mother, Kushina. We are both of the Uzumaki Clan after all."
Sasuke took his seat next to Karin as Naruto spoke.
"What about her being part of the Hidden Grass? You can't just take her, right? We can't just go and abduct foreign Shinobi, right?" Kiba looked to Kurenai for answers. The Inuzuka would be the first to say he rarely paid attention in class but he was sure he knew one couldn't go and grab foreign Shinobi like Naruto must've done.
"It's a diplomatic incident at minimum, an act of war if things go south." Asuma answered the question for him. "Something we don't need right now."
The girl seemed to shrink in on herself as he spoke, Naruto noticing such a thing.
On her opposite side, Sasuke took note of the charcoal brazier closest to him, the low burn to it. He frowned.
"Nonsense." Naruto may have still been smiling but it held an edge to it now. He showed his fangs as his grin widened. He waved off the concerns of the Jonin, of everyone as he spoke his next words. "Besides, I'm the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi. If they truly want a war, I have no problem showing them their mistake." His eyes darkened, threatened to turn from blue to crimson as his smile very quickly became a near grimace, a near snarl to showcase his rage. "They treated Karin horribly and I refuse to allow her to return to such a place."
He controlled himself after a moment, rolled his shoulders, bit down on his fury.
"You're the what? Since when? How? Why?" Kiba was one of many to react to what Naruto had just said. Shino hadn't shown much but he was staring at Naruto beneath his ever present glasses, his expression one of outright shock.
The Aburame had thought Naruto's Chakra was strange but never because it could be that of a monster like the Kyubi.
"Isn't that supposed to be secret? Like an important one you're not supposed to tell people?" Ino was next, feigned the shock she thought she should be feeling, looked to her teammates to see what they were doing.
"Oh. Wow. I'm just finding this out now." Shikamaru's shock was halfhearted, the Nara already deciding to focus on grilling his food once again.
Choji had never stopped, his focus on the piece of meat currently on the grill intense and unbroken.
Lee didn't react at all, none of Team Gai really did. While it was frowned upon, Gai had told them the secret after Lee's promotion to a Chunin. He had been considering such a thing ever since he had learned of Naruto's encounter with Lee, his fascination with battling Neji, and his promise to Tenten and had deemed it best for all three of them to know the truth.
"Naruto-kun has the right to tell whoever he wants." Hinata's pale eyes were focused on Ino, made the blonde almost shake at just how the girl seemed to do a complete 180 when it came to matters involving the Uzumaki. "You shouldn't say anything Yamanaka, you clearly already knew."
"Maybe I pieced it together." Whatever she was feeling about Hinata and her odd behavior, was replaced by anger at how she was being talked down to.
"I doubt that." Hinata's remark was followed by a look to Naruto, admiration, devotion, a weird mixture of emotions simply came to her face. "Naruto-kun was the one to tell me. He trusts me."
"Indeed I do Hinata-chan." Ino believed Naruto would have patted her head like a dog by the taunting smile on his face, the mockery that Hinata seemed to view as care from the way she all but preened for his gaze.
Sakura hadn't reacted to what he had said either. Ino turned to her, confused at how she knew. Green eyes met blue and she merely shook her head, mouthed Later as her answer.
"Now, on to what you said Yamanaka, why was I supposed to keep this a secret?" Naruto rose an eyebrow. He decided to laugh as she looked for an answer.
"It's…It's…" Ino was at a lost on what to say. "It's a village law?" Her answer was more of a question.
"If we're going into semantics, the older generation spreading the information to the younger was what had that law set up." Asuma earned a blue eyed glare. His student was clearly upset that he wasn't taking her side. He offered a shrug. "You could make a case for village secrecy needing you to lie about it if asked."
"I utterly refuse to deny the truth of my life, deny others the truth of my life." Naruto selected a piece of meat from the closest plate, set it down to grill. "I've spoken to the Hokage about this, he was the one who properly informed me about my nature as a Jinchuriki, why the Uzumaki Clan alone seemed able to cage the mighty Nine Tailed Demon Fox." His smile faded, became more somber than anyone had seen before.
"My mother held the beast before me. I don't precisely know what happened but the beast escaped the night of my birth, claimed her life when it did so." He frowned.
"Kushina's seal simply naturally weakened during childbirth." Kakashi spoke up once Naruto had seemed to reach an immovable silence, his thoughts elsewhere. "Efforts were made to restore it but…the situation worsened, the seal unraveled before anything could be done. By the time the situation was even somewhat under control thanks to the Fourth Hokage, your mother was already dead. With no other candidate, the Fourth had no choice but to select you as the next Jinchuriki. At least, that's what the ANBU reports say."
Naruto said nothing, he merely seemed to take it all in.
A moment later, he turned to Kakashi.
"I…appreciate the new information." Naruto spoke civilly at least with Kakashi. "While Jiji was more than willing to tell me why I was the Jinchuriki, he didn't tell me how I became one." He turned his gaze to Sasuke, earned a wordless nod.
He would have the Legion conduct their own investigation, see if Kakashi spoke the truth, see what exactly the Hokage had neglected to tell him back at their meeting.
The Uchiha returned his focus to his slowly cooking meat on the brazier in front of him, frowned once more.
"I'm sure if you have any questions, my old man will answer them. He doesn't know everything about what happened with the Fourth and you but he has plenty of guesses he could tell you, maybe one of them could be right." Asuma poured himself another drink as he spoke. "Maybe a few more of the old timers around the village too."
"…Thank you." Naruto nodded towards the bearded Jonin. "…All of this…such depressing words, are not topics fit for this night of celebration." Naruto made his statement, made his opinion on the matter clear. "I think we should discuss something else."
His grin returned.
"Now, I believe it is time for official introductions." Naruto didn't rise out of his seat even if he personally seemed to want to. He merely held out his arm, gestured to where the red haired Kunoichi was seated next to him. "As I've already said, this is Karin Uzumaki, my…cousin." His smile widened, one without a boast behind it but simply one of joy. He simply seemed to enjoy the fact that he could call the girl next to him his family. "I think I should introduce you all to her."
The girl's crimson gaze was focused on Naruto, spread to the rest of the table at his silent encouragement.
"I…It's a pleasure to meet you all…" The girl finally seemed to have found it in her to speak, to overcome some of her shock at the situation she had found herself in. "I-I'm sorry if I'm a bother. I don't mean to be."
"Nonsense." Naruto smiled at her, crimson eyes turning to him in shock. She seemed at a lost to why he would be happy. "You will never be a bother to me. You are family and you will be treated as such."
"Naruto is right." Sasuke spoke from next to her, his eyes drifted away from the brazier as he flipped over a few pieces of meat. "You are his family and if you are his family, you can consider me a close friend if nothing else." He didn't smile but he spoke his words with certainty, spoke them as if they were a truth to the world.
"See?" Naruto laughed, took her hand in his. "You will, at minimum, always have the two of us. Like I already told you."
"So…are you going to introduce us or not?" Tenten was the one to pose the question, smile at the red haired girl. "Anyway, I'm Tenten Ken and any friend of Naruto's is a friend of mine."
"I am the student of Konoha's Green Beast and strive to match my sensei in passion, my name is Rock Lee!" With a beaming smile and thumbs up accompanying his words, Rock Lee introduced himself. "I hope we can be friends!"
"Neji Hyuga." Neji merely nodded to the girl.
"My name's Kiba Inuzuka and this right here is Akamaru!" The ninken barked his own greeting, Kiba tossing a piece of grilled meat from his chopsticks up to the ninken resting on his head. "Don't be too amazed that you're looking at the next Hokage!"
"Shino Aburame." Shino's greeting was much more subdued when he noticed Karin's gaze turn to him. "Ignore him, he's not properly trained yet." He couldn't pass up the chance to drive Kiba up the wall, earned a look of betrayal from the Inuzuka that made him chuckle. "Akamaru tries, but he gets rather excitable."
"Ah come on Shino! Why'd you have to say something like that?"
"Say what?"
"Quit playing around! You know what you just did!"
Once more, Shino could only let out a light chuckle, was unable to hide his amusement. Even Akamaru seemed to join him in laughter, sharp and short barks serving as a substitute for laughter from the ninken.
"Hinata Hyuga." The smile Hinata gave to the crimson eyed girl was…odd. It didn't hold menace or anger, was simply odd. The girl seemed to be examining her, judging her. Whatever she found, she seemed satisfied as her smile became a bit less odd, more welcoming, warmer, than it had been before. "Please, come to me for anything you may need. Any friend of Naruto's is a friend of mine as well."
"The name's Shikamaru." Shikamaru said no more, already seemed uninterested. "I like keeping things easy."
"Choji Akimichi." Choji didn't take his eyes off the meat grilling in front of him, took a moment to adjust it with his chopsticks.
"I'm Ino and this is Sakura." Ino spoke for both of them, Sakura giving her a look and the pink haired Genin earned a look in return. "I think we should hang out sometime. What do you think?"
"I would like that." Karin could only numbly nod her head as she spoke, Naruto sharing a glance with Sasuke over her head. Once more, the Uchiha nodded.
Their communication was silent once again, Naruto's order needing not a single word for Sasuke to understand what he wanted.
A moment later, Sasuke turned back to the table and breathed out a stream of flames.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Choji and Shikamaru, seated nearly directly across from him, shared in their reaction as the flames raced over the table, dissipated just as they would have reached the edge.
The Uchiha did nothing but gather up a pair of chopsticks and select one of the now freshly grilled pieces of meat.
"There's nothing to be worried about." Sasuke's nonchalance was mirrored by no one at the table, all of them choosing to simply stare at the Chunin. Even Naruto seemed to be a bit confused about what he had just done, why he had just done it. He seemed to notice the stare from the blonde alone, raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Really?"
"I have to admit, I'm interested in an explanation." Naruto was part of the group consensus of wanting to know the why of what had just happened.
"Alright." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, held his chosen piece of meat in his chopsticks as he pointed to the brazier. "That cooks too slow."
"So you set it on fire?" Shikamaru was busy checking himself as he asked, made sure there wasn't a spark on his clothing that would cause him to erupt into flames.
"He's not wrong." Choji had managed to calm down after the initial panic, reached over to take up one of the now freshly grilled pieces of meat. He popped it into his mouth. "Hmmm." He chewed for a moment, sampling the taste, before swallowing.
His gaze turned to Sasuke and he nodded.
"Good work." The Akimichi applauded the Uchiha's work.
The Uchiha only smirked.
"As an Uchiha, it's in my blood to be excellent at this."
"I had heard rumors about the famous Uchiha Grilling Techniques but never thought I'd see one in action, taste it for myself. The stories don't do the real thing justice." Choji was quick to snatch up another piece of the freshly grilled meat. "This texture, the taste, it's just incredible!"
Shikamaru could only stare at his longtime friend as he seemed to just compliment the Uchiha's "cooking" technique. The Nara stared at one of the pieces of meat in front of him and, after a moment to think about it, grabbed a piece and popped it into his mouth.
He worthlessly pounded at the table a moment later, his head in his hand.
"Dammit, why'd you have to right about this Choji?" The Nara's words earned a laugh from both his friend and the Uchiha across from him.
"Help yourself Shikamaru. There's plenty." Sasuke returned his attention to his own plate. "As long as Akimichi doesn't eat it all."
Normally, the Akimichi would have directed a glare towards the Uchiha for such a comment but his focus was presently on his next selection from the grill. Just this once, he would be the Uchiha a pass in gratitude for his excellent grilling technique.
Located further down the table, Asuma had his head in one of his hands, his free hand currently occupied with pouring himself another drink.
"…I can't believe it was all true…They actually used to set their food on fire all the time. Why? Who even thought of that? How do you even do that?" Asuma was muttering to himself before downing his latest glass of sake, felt the alcohol numb him to the insanity Sasuke had just confirmed for the Sarutobi about the Uchiha.
"Mind enlightening the rest of us on what just happened?" Kakashi nudged Asuma, Kurenai and Gai's focus on the Jonin as well.
"It doesn't make sense…It doesn't make any sense at all…." Asuma let his head hang for a moment longer before dragging himself up in his seat. "My dad used to tell me the Uchiha were pyromaniacs in the making. I, stupidly, didn't believe him. I didn't think anyone would make a tradition out of lighting their food on fire. Turns out I was wrong."
"Ah…I guess that explains what just happened." Kakashi nodded at the new information.
Another gout of flames washed over part of the table.
This time Sasuke laughed.
"Should we be concerned about that?" Asuma seemed to be considered the expert on the Uchiha's strange cooking habit, Kakashi looking to him for an answer of some kind.
Asuma threw back another drink.
"I'm not getting involved in that." The Sarutobi seemed set to say no more on the subject, reach for the bottle to pour another drink for himself. "Not getting involved in that at all."
With rather regular gouts of flames from the Uchiha, conversation continued on as normal.
Shino shared a few words with Shikamaru once he had moved from besides Choji, had let Kiba take his place. Choji, Kiba, and even Naruto seemed to eventually make a game of tossing a piece of meat from a plate and seeing if Sasuke could strike it with one of his miniaturized fireballs. The Uchiha succeeded each and every time, even when the three each threw one up into the air together. The challenge only grew from there. Tenten found herself able to laugh at the scene as the Uchiha downed a glass of water after one rather spectacular fireball that split into a handful to strike the handful of meat Choji had caught on his chopsticks and tossed into the air next. Ino was busy trying to convince Asuma to give it a try with his own Fire Release techniques, the Sarutobi trying to explain he was more of a Wind Release user than Fire Release. Sakura was trying to convince Ino how bad of an idea it was to have the Jonin, who had been drinking, try to set food on fire.
Kurenai had downed another drink at the insanity and Gai joined her, the Jonin only able to use one hand to drink since the other kept a now rather intoxicated Lee from trying to punch the meat to cook it via a headlock. Kakashi was happy to reach over and refill his drink and maybe gave Lee another glass when Gai wasn't looking.
Neji had switched seats to sit next to Hinata at her urging, the two sharing a quiet conversation that had the older Genin wide eyed. She laughed at his expression more than once, patted him on the shoulder. She had turned to speak with Karin eventually, Naruto switching with his cousin not only to let the two talk privately but also because he wanted to throw more meat into the air.
Kakashi kept an eye on things just to make sure they didn't get out of hand. Beneath his mask, it was easy to see he was smiling.
It was hard to say how much time had passed but eventually almost nothing was left from the order. Everything had either already been cooked or left as scraps on over a dozen plates.
"I guess one of us should go ahead and pay for all this." Kakashi rose from his seat, looked to the other three Jonin.
"There's no need." Naruto didn't rise from his seat as he spoke, he nodded to where Sasuke was seated, the Uchiha twirling one of his chopsticks between the fingers of one of his hands.
"C-Naruto and I paid for it before we came here." Sasuke stumbled over Naruto's name, still didn't seem extremely used to not referring to him by his self-given title.
It was safe to say that no eye at the table wasn't focused on him at that moment.
Naruto outright laughed at such a thing, looked to one eye in particular.
"Don't worry Kakashi, I truly did pay for it all. It was nothing to me." Naruto's smile was something else, was for once without any malice in that moment. "Since I did arrive late and with an unexpected guest, I simply felt like I should be the one to pay." He turned to Karin with a smile. "That reminds me, did you enjoy yourself my cousin?"
The girl couldn't help her smile.
"Yes. I did."