Chapter Fourteen
Pint-sized Breakfast Adventures
"Pass the eggs, Troll." Kisame snapped his fingers in Gaara's direction. The little kid scowled angrily, ready to fire back with his trademark attitude.
"Get them yourself, fish brain, I'm not your maid!"
"They're next to you, you little snot, so pass the damn eggs and pipe down!"
A wet splat was heard, and Kisame's face now had scrambled eggs on it. He jumped up and began to swear profusely. Gaara snickered.
"You frickin' loon, that's hot! Get your sorry self to timeout! Throwing eggs at your elders is forbidden!" Itachi tossed him a towel as Kisame began to wipe off the remnants of egg from his face. Gaara continued eating, blissfully continuing to needle Kisame. Shikamaru leaned back and fell asleep, Tenten was drinking juice from a mug, and Chouji wolfed down a third plate of eggs. Hinata shook her finger at both Gaara and Kisame.
"There will be civility at this table, or you can both eat your breakfast cold. Kisame, no swearing, Gaara, no throwing food. Now behave, children." They both murmured softly in agreement. Hinata was a scary lady when she was angry. Oh so very scary. Gaara abruptly tried to look contrite, hoping to preserve his position as chief cookie taster. Kisame gave a cry of protest.
"Hey, that ain't right! You can't do that! He can't do that! He's too cute! He'll get off scot free! He can't just-"
"Shut up and eat doofus! Sheesh, a guy can't get a little shut eye around here!" Shikamaru snarled angrily, he had just fallen asleep…
Hinata shook her finger at him too. There was no way he was escaping her notice.
"You finish your breakfast, and wake up! You have to go over the money from last night and start our taxes, not to mention measuring the two rooms for the needed amount of paint and tile, and you need to fix the oven in the back with Chouji when he and Tenten get back from delivering those three cakes. Kisame, you need to deliver those cookies for the senior's function at the Wind Civic Center, and don't forget to collect the payment. Itachi, Gaara, you need to help me mix up today's order of cookies, muffins, and the rest. So eat up, people, it's a busy day!"
"Yes ma'am!" Chouji dumped a bunch of scrambled eggs on his plate and began to eat rather rapidly. Gaara chomped on his food as well, it wouldn't do to waste any of this tasty food, after all. Hinata was an excellent cook.
Itachi made a noise of surprise, almost choking on his coffee. He waved the morning's paper at Hinata.
"You read the paper yet? We had a reviewer in, apparently, and it's good! Here, and I quote, 'while the location is a little questionable, the food brings you back to Grandma's house. It's fresh, satisfying, and warms your soul. The breads are the best that I've had in a long time, and the sweets make me feel like a child again, when my Grandma used to sneak me some cookies or a piece of cake. You can taste the love in this bakery.' Hear that? You can't get much better than that!" Hinata looked shocked, and then a happy smile lit up her face. Gaara began to wiggle in his chair, excited. His wiggling drew Kisame's attention.
"Wiggle worm! We need to do something about that energy! Alright, you go scrub each and every toilet and shower! That aughtta teach you the proper way to wake someone up!" Gaara scowled at him and tossed his empty plate at him.
"You get to clean up the table; I have important matters to attend to. Those cookies won't make themselves, you know." Kisame rolled his eyes. He was such a little snot.