Oh my god, I had so terrible writer's block – I spent so much time working towards this god forsaken dinner, that I completely forgot to plan out how I actually want it to go down. Think of giving birth a watermelon: painful and completely insane.
There's only bonding and politics in this one, but I do hope this clears up some of the confusion I read about in the comments – only to make way for more confusion, because I'm introducing a whole lot of people right now. Not all important, but still.
The first face that appears is a familiar one; the woman who stopped Hisao. Fresh-faced and happy she only vaguely resembles the valkyria who marched so easily into the middle of a fight. An enormous man is following her. The puppy fat she's come to associate with the Akimichi of her class has turned mostly into muscle; his arm is wider than the waitress frantically trying to get out of his way. Not far behind waddles Choji, still plump and generally pleased with the world.
"Aaaah – hello everyone!" the man booms out and pats his belly. "I've been looking forward to tonight."
To Hisana's surprise both Nara children jump up to greet him.
"Chouza-san, long time no see!"
There's a rather touching scene as Shiki and Shikano are passed around and squeezed until they turn blue.
"Good evening, Hisana-san," Choji finally addresses her.
"Choji-kun," she acknowledges and tries for a smile. Pleased, he sits down across from her.
"Ah," the woman booms, "it's you! I should have known, not many girls know how to handle Shiki-chan."
"Oi!" said girl protests.
"It's true, isn't it? That's a good thing; you don't want to be liked by everybody, it's only trouble. Akimichi Cho, please call me by my first name," she addresses Hisana.
And then the small restaurant is suddenly full.
Shiki's mother walks in with her husband in tow, followed by a woman who is undoubtedly her sister and who is dragging along the infamous Nara Shikaku and Shikamaru. They are closely followed, and occasionally hurried along, by Yamanaka Inoichi, only accompanied by his daughter.
People shuffle back and forth around the table, greetings are exchanged. Hisana is offered several first names, Yamanaka Inoichi being the sole exception. He pointedly sits down across from her, moving Choji a seat down in the process.
Hisana refuses to fidget under his grim look.
Ino, snatched by the back of her shirt by her father, is sat down next to him; longing looks at the free seat next to Hisana are resolutely ignored by everyone.
The mood changes radically again when the Nara women finally wrangle their husbands into their seats. Shiki's father, who curtly introduced himself as Nara Shikarou, is shoved into the seat on Hisana's left. His wife squeezes in next to him, while Shiki climbs over the table to sit on Hisana's right. Across the room several waitresses watch the chaos with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
"Everyone ready to order?" Choza booms and a flood of girls immediately scuttles over to assist. Drinks are brought; sake for the adults and melon juice for the children.
Inoichi is still sending her dark looks, but he's not saying anything, so she tries to ignore him.
The food is good. The atmosphere is light and there's a constant tussle about everything edible that everyone is engaging in with enthusiasm. Hisana takes to sneaking food from the surrounding Naras' plates, because Shiki doesn't seem to mind and the girl's father doesn't bother to defend his food. She herself only turns a blind eye towards Ino, who has taken to stealing some of her vegetables. When Shikano tries the same, she smacks his fingers with her chopsticks.
Everyone is very amiable, but she still can't quite shake the nervousness. She's not here for the fun, after all. Or at least, not entirely.
"How was the rest of the tournament?" she grudgingly addresses Ino. The girl jumps at a chance to spill the beans.
"It was terrible! Mizuki-sensei insisted we still have a match – for formality's sake. He said it's important to 'face your own limits'. Shiki-nee-chan said that means 'getting humiliated in front of witnesses'. Genma-senpai was really angry. He yelled at them a lot about using 'excessive force', but he couldn't really punish them or anything." She flicks her hair over her shoulder and rolls her eyes dramatically. "I think we should probably have tried at least. But then again, they beat Sasuke-kun. They were really weird."
Hisana nods carefully.
"I heard they used to be in your year."
"Yeah," Choji quips up between mouthfuls of meat, "but they were boring, so we didn't play with them. And then one day poof – just gone. We all thought they'd quit. It happens."
"In hindsight, that was probably naïve," Shikamaru admits. "They were pretty good, after all. You don't just quit when you're good."
"Except," his father suggests, "for family reasons."
"Nah. Then there'd have been some sort of good-bye party. We had some of those before."
Hisana herself has had one of those, too. A boy in her class, Mamoru-kun, quit after his older brother died and he had to step in as the new heir to their family business.
"I also heard," she says, "that elder Utatane-sama took an interest in one of them."
"The Aburame know a lot," Shikaku remarks and Hisana freezes.
How did he know that? He hadn't been there, had he? The table has gone suspiciously quiet; then only sound is that of someone chewing. She remembers, quite suddenly, that this man was Konoha's most esteemed Jounin Commander, and curses herself. She shouldn't assume that nobody is watching her, when she clearly knows that everybody is watching her. Wasn't there a freak out? She clearly remembers a freak out.
She still feels a little justified in being caught off guard. She does have to watch out for them, but they are also Shiki's family and she – maybe stupidly – considers them allies at least. All she has thought about until now, is the enemy watching her. Shiki is smirking broadly at her; there's clearly a bit of schadenfreude in there and she thinks that, maybe Shikaku's remark was supposed to be reassuring rather than a threat. Maybe she's been over-analyzing them.
"People tend to dismiss them," the man continues, outwardly unaware of her racing mind. "It's a good thing they're not interested in exploiting this sort of folly. I am, of course, unaware whether or not Utatane-sama has something to do with pulling them out of the Academy. It is a known fact that all Elders take a very keen interest in emerging talents, however. The Council only consists of exceptional shinobi, so they are more than capable of protecting themselves; pitting their guards against each other has become somewhat of a popular past time though. I imagine, if they were to hear of such a tournament, the chance of measuring those guards against their peers would be quite appealing. Hypothetically."
The medics, she realizes. Their teachers must have asked around the hospital for volunteers. Of course the Elders would have eyes and ears there too.
"The learning curve of genin is steep and evens out among chuunin," Shikarou quips in a calm, gravelly voice. "Those hypothetical guards could be worlds ahead of you now; you will all reach this particular point in ability soon enough. Pitting students of such different levels in ability against each other might be morally reprehensible but not an unusual method to drive home the reality of our profession. What do you say, was it effective?"
Hisana is openly staring at him now. She doesn't know what is worse: the fact that these abilities are still supposed to be genin level, or the fact that this is the sort of monster she'll become too.
"It was – it …"
Words have left her. She doesn't even know what it was, only that it was frightening and that it shouldn't have happened. Shiki's mother, who sheepishly introduced herself as Sachiko, takes pity on her.
"Don't worry, dear," she says and reaches over to playfully tap Hisana's hand. "It'll all become less frightening while you're actually doing it. The only true cure for fear is familiarity."
That sounds logical, so she decides to simply take it as it is presented, even if she can't quite accept it emotionally yet. From the corner of her eye she can see Ino staring at her with a considering look, as if it's truly new to her that an Uchiha might be frightened of anything.
"Is Sasuke-kun better now?" she finally asks, "And Forehead too, I guess. She got really beaten up."
She seems completely unaware that her father's face has acquired an uncanny likeness to that of an ill-tempered bulldog at the mention of Sasuke's name.
For now Hisana decides not to comment on the obvious exclusion of Naruto from Ino's concern. She nods.
"He's ok. It really irked him that they lost, but I think he's far more hung up about their match with Inuzuka Kiba's team. They all are."
"You mean Hiro-kun, right?" Shikamaru asks. "It ended pretty abruptly."
There's pointedly no mention of Danzo's possible paternity.
"Sakura's … not ok I think. I'd have rather kept her around for a while, but her mother is not a fan."
"Of what?"
"Well, of me, mostly. Being a ninja in general, too."
Ino gawks at her.
"What? But she always talked about how great ninjas are."
"Yes," Hisana agrees, "probably ninjas who aren't her daughter. She thinks Sakura is wasting everyone's time and so she should just hurry up and become a housewife already."
Several heads turn her way.
"Uhm," Shikamaru's mother blurts out, "isn't that a little early? I mean, it's not like she'll have to get married before she hits eighteen, right? Shikaku and I met pretty late."
Said man huffs and sinks lower into his chair. It's obvious the topic makes most of the Nara men uncomfortable and even Chouza looks a little unhappy, while he gulps down half a liter of beer.
"I'm not sure when she wants her to settle down, but I guess 'as soon as possible' is about right. She said she's worried nobody would want Sakura when she's all bulky like kunoichi get sometimes."
This time it's Inoichi who takes offense.
"I'll have you know, my wife was a taijutsu user; female muscle rarely builds up as big as male muscle does."
"I know that," she feels forced to remind him, "but Haruno-san wants her to be a civilian girl, with a civilian husband. I'm pretty sure those would be intimidated by any sort of muscle."
"Then why in the world would she send her child to the Academy in the first place?" Cho fumes. "Give the child a dream and then take it away – that's terrible."
"She said she thought Sakura would get tired of it by herself. When she figures out she's no good, or doesn't fit in, or whatever else she tells the girl on a regular basis."
Ino is nearly vibrating out of her seat by now. Her mouth opens and closes occasionally, as if she's readying herself for some sort of protest, and her hands have turned white around the edges of the table.
"But … she was always so nice! I don't understand, why would she say that?"
"She's a civilian, Ino," Shikamaru quips, "they're not like us."
His mother whacks him.
"Don't be so dismissive! I'm sure she has reasons to dislike ninjas. I agree though, that Sakura-san shouldn't have to suffer for it. Has anyone tried talking to her?"
Hisana makes a vague 'so-so' gesture.
"Genma-senpai talked to her, but she was really rude and didn't want to hear it. I'm just waiting for Sakura to graduate, so her mother can't force her to quit anymore. Legally, at least."
Sakura's will is strong, she's proven that already, but Hisana knows that mothers are always a special case. She does worry occasionally if Sayuri could pressure and guilt trip Sakura into quitting before Tsunade arrives to act as the better role model. And isn't that sad? – A drunk gambler preferable to Sakura's own mother.
"At least there's you", Chouza offers, "as long as someone takes an interest in her career, she'll have a support net. Her mother might be a big influence, but don't underestimate the power of shared sweat and pain."
She remembers hearing something like this today already, so she nods.
"At least I've talked her out of her diet," she says and casts a side-long glance at Ino. She's moving into dangerous territory right now. How much can she give away, before she's betraying Sakura's trust and how much does she have to give away to get the reaction she's looking for?
Ino's surprise is purely ego-centric.
"Why? What's wrong with diets?"
"They're torture," Choji says, but apart from him nobody seems to feel compelled to comment.
"You're dieting, aren't you?" Hisana asks.
"Yes", the blond preens, "I read about it in one of Kaa-chan's old books. The trick is get slim muscles, so that you can still pose as a civilian woman. It's hard, but I want to be like Kaa-chan was. When I told Forehead, she said she's also going to diet and that she'll be slimmer than me to impress Sasuke-kun." She pouts. "I don't know who's slimmer – probably me – but Sasuke-kun hasn't said anything yet, so it's still on!"
There are so many things wrong with that statement; Hisana takes a moment to decide where to even start.
"Ok, first of all: Sasuke doesn't care about your diet. Trust me. There's probably nothing he currently cares less about. I'm telling you the same thing I told Sakura: If you want to impress him, beat him. Sasuke's general disregard for people is unisex – either you're better than him or you're uninteresting."
There's a visible sigh of relief from Ino's father. She's not quite sure what exactly Inoichi feared tonight, possibly that Ino and Sasuke could one day decide to elope, but whatever it was, it seems to be put to rest for now.
Great; she just pulled her cousin's galley off the rocks, now the Yamanaka patriarch only hates her.
"Second: how exactly do you diet? Because I get the impression you and Sakura don't do it the same way."
Ino ponders this for a second.
"Well, I rarely eat meat to keep the protein to a minimum. Green veggies – even though I don't like them – and I only eat sweets on Sundays. And on my birthday. Oh yes! – I'm cooking alone now, so I can control how much I eat of everything."
That sounds … reasonable. If she represses the instinctive reluctance to give a child a kitchen knife; Ino is a ninja after all and Naruto, stupid, clumsy Naruto, does more dangerous things on a regular basis.
More curious eyes have turned their way.
"Why?" Inoichi asks, "How does Sakura do it?"
She doesn't actually want to say it out loud; wherever the line between 'feeding necessary information' and 'talking too much' may be, she's pretty sure that would be crossing it.
"She ate too little," Shiki says instead, casually, as if it's really no big deal. "Apparently her mom knows as much about our lifestyle as she does about parenting."
Hisana and Sachiko both reach out to pinch her.
"Don't just go spilling people's secrets," Hisana hisses.
"Don't be rude," Sachiko admonishes.
"Ow, ow – ok! I'm just saying … parents can mess up a lot."
There's a general murmur of agreement, followed by a more leisure debate about civilian born ninjas and their handicaps.
The transition of topics is so smooth, Hisana feels it must be scripted. It probably is.
After that an invisible pressure lifts from Hisana's shoulders. It seems as if all topics that needed discussing were worked through and everyone could go back to enjoying the food. There's more joking now, as well as some old family stories to embarrass just about everyone on the table.
At the end of the evening, just before ten, she's almost sorry to leave. There's more hugging and promises to meet again. Ino is suspiciously quiet, as she's been most of the evening.
"I think I'll have to talk to Forehead again," the blond muses, just before following her father out of the restaurant. "Obviously she still needs me, so I guess I can be gracious and help a little more."
Hisana does pointedly not to snort and instead nods solemnly.
"Yes, I think that would be best."
This earns her a little smile and a wave before the girl hurries away. On her way back home, she can't help but think that it has been a productive day. Not a nice one, despite the rather pleasant ending, but a good one nonetheless.
"You were right," Shikarou muses, as they leisurely make their way back home.
"Wasn't I?" Shiki preens. "I told you so."
Shikaku rolls his eyes.
"Yes, yes, alright. She was rather fun. I'm curious to see where this will go."
"So that means we're not getting involved?" his wife wondered.
"No no. There's no need for that yet, I think. It would just mess with the data. And the fun."
"You're going to drive that girl into an early grave," Shikano warns, only half joking, but all he earns is suppressed giggling from his female relatives and a pat on the shoulder from his father.
"What in the world are they talking about?" Choji whispers to his father, as they slowly follow just a few feet behind. Chouza only shakes his head.
"Nara-talk. Don't think about it too much."