After the last light-hearted chapter, now something heavy to go along with it:)
Thank you all very much for your comments! I'm so glad I'm not sending this out into an empty void on the internet. Someone is reading this!
The consequences of the summons for tea are twofold: Aburame are suddenly greeting her in the streets. It's a little strange because she knows exactly none of them, but they nod at her and occasionally awkwardly remark upon the weather (which is continually nice) and it's all actually rather charming.
Team 7 watches the whole thing with bemusement, aware of a change but not entirely of its significance. Genma seems duly impressed.
"I don't know what you did, but I'm about 90 percent sure it's a good thing …?"
The Aburame's sudden interest in her seems to set the other major clans on edge though. She didn't think about what accepting an invite into their compound would mean, beyond the approval of Shizuha's parents, but, as Genma points out, she's resisted any kind of association with other clans for a pretty long time. The Aburame are the first she's gotten close to in any capacity.
"You can probably expect an invite from the Hyuuga. I don't think they will want anything from you, but you know how they are."
Several things happened in the past week.
Yamanaka Inoko approached her during lunch. Shoulders squared and a little apprehensive she made her way over, until Shiki causally sauntered up to them.
"I got this," she said, waving the girl away, "we're all good."
The relief on Inoko's face was obvious and she retreated hastily.
There was also a scuffle between Sasuke and a persistent Inuzuka boy who apparently tried to befriend him and wouldn't take no for an answer.
This wasn't much of a surprise either, because the dog clan isn't one to be outdone easily; she's already expected. The only surprise was, in fact, that it wasn't actually Sasuke who ended the confrontation and got into trouble, but Sakura and Naruto, who summarily punched the boy in the face and kneed him in the gut, respectively.
Poor Sakura was frog marched home by her mother that day, silent but stubborn, and Hisana had no doubt that any scolding would roll right off of her.
Naruto was carted off to the Hokage. Out of both of them he was probably supposed to be punished harder, but, as he proudly recounted just yesterday, the Hokage merely congratulated him on making friends and told him to be a bit nicer to his fellow leaf ninjas.
"Officially I am not to associate with you anymore," Sakura only said, as she causally emptied her mother's bento into the trash. "But I told her if I can't see you anymore, I'll punch every boy in the face until nobody wants to marry me for sure anymore."
Privately Hisana thinks that's a grand idea. Maybe it would make the woman lay off a little and it would certainly gain Sakura a fearsome reputation.
Sasuke seems pleased as punch – ha! – about it. Naturally, his face doesn't show a thing, but he has stopped protesting when Naruto reaches over to steal some of his food and Sakura hasn't gotten a single eye roll since the incident.
While this makes her a little giddy, it doesn't negate the fact that her team punched an Inuzuka and she'll have to do something about it.
She certainly isn't going to punish them. Not even for show, because she wants them to be protective of each other. If Sasuke now returned the favor somehow she'd be fit to retire that very moment.
But she'll have to apologize. So the Inuzuka got what they were after in the end. Maybe that was the plan from the start, she muses. It would explain why they haven't raised much of a fuss about it.
It's a little vexing, to be outsmarted by that clan, but no matter how wild and unruly they are, they wouldn't have survived this long if they didn't possess some kind of street smarts. So maybe it's excusable. She's up against adult ninja after all. No matter if Inuzuka or Hyuuga, she's outclassed regardless.
This means she'll have to visit the Inuzuka, if Genma is right the Hyuuga – she's not looking forward to that – and because of Shiki she'll have to make some kind of gesture towards the Nara. At least. These Ino-Shika-Cho clans are a political disaster for an outsider.
She ends training a little early that day and tells Sasuke to go ahead and eat with his teammates.
"I still have something to take care of. See you at home."
Then she goes home, locks herself in the bathroom and has a small, controlled freak out.
The room is tiny, which helps a little. It feels safe. She brought a bottle of water, an apple, a pen and her notebook. There are three names written on the last used page, underlined thrice.
Inuzuka
Hyuuga
Nara
She's not worried about the Aburame. Currently they are only flattered, and if she plays her cards right it'll stay that way. The others, she doesn't know what they want. The Inuzuka might only want to get ahead of the other clans, step on some toes, so to speak. But is that really all?
And despite what Genma said, the Hyuuga will want something from them. The rivalry between their clans was apparently legendary and she doesn't know how just petty they are. Maybe they can't pass up a chance to make life hard for a few Uchiha orphans. They're the most powerful clan right now. She has no doubt they could force her into doing whatever they want.
The Nara are dangerous in an entirely different way. She doubts that they mean any harm, especially because Shiki is her friend. No, they aren't a danger to the Uchiha, they are a danger to her personally.
The next day she marches up to Nara Shiki and pulls her aside.
"I'm going to invite you."
"What?"
"Tomorrow I'm sending Sasuke to you, with a formal invite to you and your brother."
Shiki's eyebrows furrow until they meet in the middle of her forehead, a slim, dark monobrow.
"This is a big, fat 'screw you' to the Inuzuka clan, isn't it?"
"And to the Hyuuga, because I'm expecting an invite any day now. You said your parents aren't going to invite me, because it's basically stupid and the Nara aren't particularly famous for their involvement in politics. Which means everyone knows you don't give a crap about the Uchiha as a clan. I can't exactly invite your parents – our apartment is a whole in the wall. But I can invite you, and to make it more official, your father's heir."
Shiki grins.
"So that they'll know you prefer us anyway. That you do whatever you want even though they're forcing your hand."
"There are more than enough Inuzuka in our year. Why did they try to involve Sasuke who has no say and doesn't care? They've been trying to make me react, either by making friends with him or by antagonizing him."
"Which was a mistake. I get it,"Shiki sighs. "Ok, alright. We'll come. Tou-chan already suspected something like this. He thinks this is the funniest thing, you know? Do I need to wear a kimono? Please, no."
Yes, she does have to. But Shiki is mollified by the promise of sweets and homemade curry, which doesn't fit the occasion at all, but is pretty much the fanciest thing Hisana can cook up herself. And it isn't as if anyone is going to tell.
She drags out Sasuke that evening to buy a kimono. Her cousin has grown like a weed in the past months and she doesn't want to risk upsetting him by unburying his old kimono that might hold memories and probably doesn't even fit anymore. As expected, he grumbles and complains, but finally decides on a very simple, Uchiha-blue design. Hisana is satisfied; he might bitch about it, but Sasuke usually does what he's told to the best of his abilities.
While her cousin dutifully carries his kimono home, Hisana darts ahead of him to buy groceries. They arrive home almost at the same time, with Sasuke nearly closing the door in her face.
"That was quick, Hisa-nee."
"I want this all to be over, so I'm hurrying."
He snorts.
"Do you know how to write the invite?"
"No, do you?"
He gives her a flat look.
"I'm eight."
"Well, excuse me; I thought you were a prodigy?"
She actually agonizes over the invite the least. If she wrote something like 'Friday 7 p.m., please don't turn up early' it would probably be pretty close to what a typical Nara invite would say. She imagines Shiki's parents having a giggle about it and then just sending their kids at half past five anyway. Not that they'd arrive before eight.
She manages something half formal that doesn't sound too awkward. Her penmanship is acceptable too, even though Sasuke snorts at it, the little brat, so she's reasonably satisfied.
The Nara also seem satisfied, because they bother to show up on time.
Shiki is wearing a simple brown kimono with pink flowers and a half-dead look that tells Hisana she didn't manage to take her nap today. Her hair is in braids. It looks terrible.
"Oh sheesh. Food's that way," she blurts out before she can help herself. Shiki snorts and casually walks past her.
"Tadaima."
All that's left on the front door is an awkward looking Nara Shikano. Shiki doesn't usually talk about her brother, apart from the obligatory 'troublesome' that, Hisana figures, is often associated with siblings in general and Nara siblings in particular. He's a little older than them, twelve or thirteen maybe, shortly after graduation. It occurs to her that she should have expected that, since she's never seen him at the Academy.
His kimono is the same brown color as Shiki's only without any pattern. He's even wearing the same exhausted expression.
Only his eyes are a shocking, ice blue. She suddenly remembers Shiki telling her about her mother's alleged affair with a Yamanaka and has to grin. It appears Shikano knows exactly what she's thinking because his face turns a little grumpier still.
"Come in," she offers, "before your sister eats all the food."
He mumbles something that could have been a greeting and shuffles past her.
In the kitchen Sasuke looks incredibly put out while Shiki sniffs the pot of curry.
"If you're so hungry you can sit down. The sooner everyone is sitting properly, the sooner there'll be food," he grouches.
Shiki smirks and rolls her eyes a little.
"You sound like Kaa-chan."
They eat in the living room, because the kitchen table is actually a western one and she felt obligated to make a little effort at least. After all this was supposed to be an official thing.
"So, how was the Aburame compound?" Shiki asks through a mouth full of curry.
Her brother pinches her in admonishment, which only makes her choke.
Sasuke's face gets impossibly grumpier as he fills her cup with water instead of tea. She gulps it down and winces.
"Sheesh. I was only asking."
Her brother gives her a look.
"Don't talk with your mouth full."
When Hisana makes to answer though, he leans forward eagerly.
"It was nice. You've never been there?"
"They're pretty isolated. I've walked past the gate once or twice but you can't really see anything with the trees and what not."
"It was nice," she repeats a little slyly. "You really need to see it for yourself."
Shikano deflates and Shiki makes a face.
"Oh, come on."
"I don't know what you mean."
She might be a little self-absorbed, but Hisana has enough awareness to know that she witnessed something special. This is her experience and she isn't going to share it.
She hasn't even told Sasuke all that much, though honestly, that was as much to actually make him come along the next time as anything else.
Her little cousin doesn't exactly dislike her friends, but, in his little world where he's the strongest, they uncomfortably confront him with reality. They are older, taller, meaner and Sasuke doesn't like feeling inferior.
It doesn't help, of course, that none of them take him all that seriously. Shiki usually pokes and prods at his weak spots for fun and Shizuha … doesn't quite know what to do with him, so she ignores him. Which is almost worse.
The Nara siblings polish off the curry in record time.
"Not as good as Kaa-chan's," says Shiki, "but I'll take it, 'cause it comes without the nagging."
"If you didn't like it, you could have left a little more for me," Sasuke gripes and reaches sulkily for the last piece of bread.
"If you eat too much, you'll get fat", the Nara teases and snatches the bread from under his fingertips. Not even Hisana's quick reflexes can prevent the scuffle that follows.
"You know," Shikano says and claims the abandoned bread, "Tou-chan was a little worried about you."
"Oh?"
Yes, she's expected this, but the full attention of a Nara is disconcerting at the best of times.
"Yeah," he drawls lazily, picking out the soft insides of the bread. "I mean, you had that nervous breakdown at the beginning of last year, right?"
She stiffens. Ito-sensei wouldn't have told anyone – how does he know?
"I mean," he continues, unperturbed, "it's not exactly a surprise after … whatever happened exactly."
Next to them Sasuke tackles Shiki to the floor.
"I saw," he says. "How did you think Sensei found so quickly? She wasn't even sure you'd actually come in that day."
"…So?"
"So, I'd love to tell him there's nothing to worry about. But that would be lying and he'd know that right away. I will tell him though, that Shiki-chan and I have it under control."
She can feel herself relax a little.
"Do you? Have it under control?"
He shrugs.
"Whatever it is that's wrong with you, you're a kid. I can't imagine anything you could be up to that the two of us can't handle. Also" – he slants a look at Sasuke and carefully places the empty piece of bread crust back near his plate – "I don't think you're doing anything stupid. Not with him to take care of."
Shiki bursts into boisterous laughter, as she lets Sasuke wrestle her into a head-lock.
"I give, I give! Take the stupid bread. But don't come crying when your fangirls abandon you, because you've gotten chubby."
The boy triumphantly snags up the bread.
"Shiki-chan," Shikano quips, "It's time to go home."
Shiki grins.
"Had a good chat?"
When she looks at Hisana there's a strange glint in her eyes.
"Come on, Sasuke. Let's bring our guests to the door."
Shikano marches out of the door much more confidently than he walked in earlier that evening. He gives Hisana and Sasuke a quick salute.
"I'll be walking ahead. Hurry, Shiki-chan."
For a moment Hisana doesn't know what to say. The earlier conversation has rattled her and Shiki's eyes still hold that strange and unfamiliar look. The decision is taken out of her hands when the girl hugs her.
"I don't know what's going on," she whispers in her ear, "but you have my back, I'll have yours."
Then she ruffles Sasuke's hair and moseys off.
"Thanks for the food!"
"Your friends are terrible," her cousin hisses and bites viciously into his piece of bread.
"What – HEY! That's just the crust!"