"I could eat my body weight in sushi." ~Mikey Way
Chapter 18: Sushi and Ibiki
Kabuto glanced at the sushi restraunt and turned to Shikamaru. "This is where we're going?" he asked, surprised. He'd never been in such an establishment, but it appeared that Hinata had reserved the restaurant- yes, the restaurant. The sushi restaurant happened to be the sort of establishment where high-class officials would take distinguished guests out to eat, the kind of restaurant where each guest was catered to by a master chef- a restraunt that only served one dinner party per night.
Kabuto never thought that he would be fortunate enough to visit a restaurant of this caliber, and to think that he would be going with two of his enemies was more surprising than he had expected. He felt… overwhelmed. And a bit out of place, despite the fact that Hinata had assured both he and Shikamaru that they looked "dashing," something Kabuto had never before been called in his lifetime. The three of them were dressed in formal kimono. Hinata's kimono consisted of elegant layers of lavender and cream-colored cloth, Shikamaru in layers of brown and dark green, and Kabuto in lavender and white. Not his personal favorite colors, but he hadn't had much of a choice in the matter- Hinata had "borrowed" the kimono from Hyuuga Neji for him, and it's not polite to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Hinata paused just outside the restaurant, shuffling awkwardly.
Shikamaru looked bored. "So? What are we waiting out here for?"
Kabuto elbowed Shikamaru's thigh, which just happened to be at elbow-level, since he was once again confined to a wheelchair.
"Ow! What was that for?" Shikamaru demanded irritably.
"Don't be rude," Kabuto snapped. "She's the hostess. Don't question her judgment, it reflects poorly on your character and the actions of the hostess."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Why are we here?"
Hinata frowned. " To eat dinner…"
"No, I mean outside," Shikamaru clarified, gracefully dodging Kabuto's elbow.
"Oh, that," Hinata said. "We're waiting for Tenten, of course."
"Tenten?" Shikamaru repeated, frowning slightly. "What for?"
"You didn't think I would go to dinner with two men all by myself, did you?" Hinata asked, sounding positively scandalized.
Kabuto gave Shikamaru a "no duh" look. Shikamaru responded by rolling his eyes. "How troublesome."
"You better not be calling me troublesome, Nara."
Kabuto resisted the urge to facepalm. What was it with Konoha and being so rude? Though he had to admit Shikamaru had probably deserved that snide comment.
"So this is the invalid," Tenten drawled, hands on her hips, her right hip cocked higher than her left. Her head was tilted to the right, and her eyes glinted. She was also wearing a formal kimono, its color scheme one of varied red shades and gold highlights.
Kabuto scowled. "Yes, I'm the invalid. The name's Kabuto. Nice to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise," Tenten replied easily. "The name's Tenten."
"Can we go eat now?" Shikamaru complained.
"Follow me," Hinata said, leading them into the restaurant.
They were met at the door by a man in a formal kimono, who said, "Welcome, ojo-sama and honored guests. Follow me, please."
The group followed the man to their seats, and were quickly served. Each person had their own chef and waiter, which made Kabuto just a bit uncomfortable. It was odd, having someone hovering over his shoulder at all times. He was used to being relatively isolated, and didn't appreciate having his "personal bubble space" invaded, especially not by a complete stranger.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru seemed too at ease, and seemed to be ignoring over half of the rules of etiquette- though Kabuto suspected that Shikamaru simply couldn't be bothered to try and follow the rules, rather than an ignorance of the rules. He probably found etiquette too "troublesome."
"So what's the occasion?" Tenten asked after a little while, giving Shikamaru a disgusted look when the Chunin stuffed two pieces of nigiri-zushi in his mouth at once.
"Kabuto's finally well enough to get out of the house and back on the couch instead of stealing my bed, that's the occasion," Shikamaru replied with a half-irritable look, though he mostly appeared relieved. Kabuto figured that had more to do with Shikamaru finally getting his bed back and less to do with Kabuto's own general health.
"Oh. I thought it was something important," Tenten said dismissively.
Kabuto just rolled his eyes.
"It is important! Kabuto-senpai almost died-"
"Would you stop bringing that up?" Shikamaru demanded in a pained tone. "It bugs me!"
"I still don't see why," Kabuto drawled.
"That's seconded," Tenten added. "What the heck, Shikamaru? The guy's a prisoner, and he's going to be killed soon anyway- no offense," she added, glancing at Kabuto without a hint of remorse.
"None taken," Kabuto replied easily. At least someone here is willing to live within the boundaries of reality, he thought, shaking his head slowly.
Hinata looked appalled. "How can you say that, Tenten?"
"Um, because it's true," Tenten offered, raising an eyebrow. "He's a prisoner of war. What do you think we're going to do, coddle him to death?"
"Believe me, they're well on their way to doing just that," Kabuto commented blithely.
Tenten shook her head slightly. "Honestly, I'm surprised the ANBU even let you come out here and do this," she said, gesturing at the restaurant. "It must be that Hyuuga influence or something."
"Who, me?" Hinata inquired innocently. "I just didn't ask them. I assumed it would be all right…"
Shikamaru, Tenten and Kabuto stared at her in mild shock and slight amusement.
Tenten shook her head again. "Hinata-chan, you are one of a kind…"
"One of a crazy kind," Shikamaru muttered. "If the ANBU get mad, I'm so blaming you."
Hinata shrugged. "That's all right. The ANBU are always so kind to me…"
Tenten glanced at Kabuto and muttered, "I was right. It's totally the Hyuuga influence."
"I think it's just her," Kabuto replied in an undertone.
"What was that?" Shikamaru asked, trying to be included in the conversation.
"Nothing," Tenten said quickly. "Just that ANBU don't like many people. Like him," she jerked her head in Kabuto's direction.
"That's just 'cause they didn't want to know that the Akatsuki have a better dental plan than Konoha does," Kabuto scoffed, stone-faced.
Shikamaru blinked. "Wait… what?"
Tenten laughed. "Oh, that's a good one! No wonder Ibiki got mad at you…"
"Oh, I'm sure he wasn't mad," Kabuto said. "His other methods just weren't working, so he moved on to the next tactic."
"But he was so mean!" Hinata exclaimed.
"Yeah, whatever you say. He could have done a lot more than what he did. A lot more." Kabuto shrugged. "He was being nice, if you ask me."
"WHAT?" Shikamaru shrieked, doing his best to disturb the peace. Hinata just shook her head furiously.
Tenten shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right." Her countenance darkened momentarily. "Speak of the devil…"
Kabuto followed her gaze, catching sight of Ibiki and three ANBU striding towards their table. "Oh look, my ride's here," he quipped, popping some sashimi into his mouth.
"What is he doing here?" Shikamaru growled irritably, shoveling down some of his own sashimi.
"I'm guessing he's here for our favorite prisoner," Tenten said with a no duh look.
"Since when was I the favorite?" Kabuto asked. "Don't I get an award for that?"
"Yeah, a nice stay in our high-security prisons," Tenten shot back.
"Touché," Kabuto acknowledged with a slight nod of his head.
By this time, Ibiki had reached their table. "Yakushi."
Kabuto glanced up. "Morino."
Ibiki looked taken aback. "Let's go, Kabuto."
"Yeah, whatever, Ibiki." Kabuto replied, stressing the man's name to emphasize the lack of honorific.
"You can't take him again!" Shikamaru proclaimed with his mouth half-full. "The Hokage told me that-"
"An associate of mine has taken over Yakushi's case," Ibiki interrupted, leveling his gaze in Shikamaru's direction. "I just had some time on my hands."
"Yeah, either that or he just couldn't stand the thought of never seeing me again," Kabuto smirked.
Ibiki spared a glance in Kabuto's direction. "You wish," he said coldly.
"Not particularly," Kabuto replied.
"Is this how all of your interrogations went? And if so, did you record them? This is high-class comedy," Tenten commented, watching with undisguised amusement as she munched on her own sushi appreciatively. Shikamaru and Hinata glanced at her in consternation. "What?" she said defensively, "It is!"
Ibiki rolled his eyes. "Much as I've enjoyed this conversation, we need to get going."
Kabuto quickly popped another piece of sashimi in his mouth, rolling it around his mouth for a moment, savoring the flavor before scooting his wheelchair away from the table. "Lead on," he directed. "And, uh, you might want to get someone to push me around unless you're planning on taking frequent breaks."
Ibiki gripped the wheelchair, rolling his eyes. "I don't have time to babysit you, kid. I'm just doing this as a favor for Takeshi-san."
Kabuto shrugged in response.
"I hope Takeshi-san does a better job than you did," Shikamaru muttered to himself.
Ibiki glanced at him and sneered. "Don't count on it."
Tenten elbowed Shikamaru. "Shut up, idiot."
Shikamaru scowled and shoved some more food in his mouth, watching Ibiki with distrust.
"Anou, Ibiki-san," Hinata said tentatively as Ibiki began to move away from the table.
Ibiki paused, glancing at Hinata. "Yes?"
"Please don't let him get hurt again," she said quietly.
Tenten rolled her eyes and made a disgusted sound. "I don't understand you people…"
Kabuto had to agree.
A/N: ...I feel like every other quote is about food these days... perhaps I'm trying to tell myself something? Ah well.
I'm starting to get close to running out of pre-written chapters... Oh no! Whatever shall I do? (Running off and writing with MidnightAnimeAngel would be a good start...)