CHAPTER THIRTEEN

DINNER DISASTER

Finally Saturday, the day everyone had been waiting for, had come. Well, not exactly. Jade wanted to get the upcoming 'family' dinner over and done with. She could not wait to be rid of her father, his whore, and the annoying twins from hell.

The twins had been spending the majority of their time tormenting Jade and the others. Abigail had taken an immediate liking to Deidara. Every chance she got, she would cling onto his arm, and whisper seductively into his ear. She was constantly sending him flirty smiles, and giving him soft inappropriate touches. Though she never received her desired reactions from the blonde, she kept on trying. It took everything the blond man had to not rip the Abigail's arm off every time he felt her hand slide slowly up his thigh; it was at that time that he and Itachi seemed to come together in a silent agreement. Whenever the Uchiha saw that the girl was going to make a move he would warn the blond and help him make an escape.

Carter was his usual self, with his goofy playboy attitude and constantly flashing his charming smile. Sadly, had none of the girls been friends with Jade and had met him by chance, he could have swept any one of them off their feet. That morning he was once again flirting with Sakura. Luckily for her, Alex was stopping by for a visit at work, and while she couldn't do anything against Carter, it didn't mean Alex couldn't. After being stared down by Sakura's boyfriend, he decided she wasn't worth it and moved on to the other girls. After that, he made his way to Kim's work place. He wasn't even able to get a word in before he was being dragged away by an all too eager Sasuke.

After a long morning that seemed to drag on, the ragtag group made it back to the loft where they lazed around in the living room, each doing their own thing trying to make time pass faster. Sasuke and Naruto pushed the ottomans in front of the TV to play video games. Hinata and Sakura were seated at th coffee table doing some research about the new world they found themselves in on Jade's laptop. Hana, Itachi, and Deidara sat in a circle on the floor playing slapjack with Itachi winning and Deidara sporting a bright red hand. Konan and Nagato sat huddled together on the sofa utilizing Kim's laptop. Kim sat on the new sofa that was added to the living room reading a mystery novel with Kakashi sitting beside her reading a book of his own.

Jade was experiencing what she believed to be a mild panic attack. She didn't want to spend her evening with her 'family.' In an attempt to calm her nerves, she tried to keep her mind off the dinner that was sure to end in disaster. Standing at the entrance to her closet, she took a deep breath before rifling through its contents. Before she even realized it she had a complete outfit laid out on her bed. Needing to keep busy, she made her way into the others' rooms and did the same for them.

All too soon it was time to head to the restaurant. They all squeezed in to Ren's truck and Jade's car. Some of them had to sit on others laps to make enough room for the rest. Almost everyone argued the whole twenty-something minute ride to the restaurant they were supposed to meet Jade's family at.

They parked in an underground parking garage, opting to walk the rest of the way. Arriving at their destination, the others waited on Jade and Kim to catch up. Jade had been having bad feelings ever since she woke up that morning. She could just feel it in the air, or maybe it was just in her head.

"You okay," Kim asked, extending her hand toward the blonde.

"I'll be fine," Jade assured her friend after taking a deep breath to calm herself. She straightened out her dress one last time, squared her shoulder, and grabbed Kim's hand. The two girls regrouped with the others that were waiting outside the French restaurant, they walked inside.

"We had a reservation under Rose," Ren informed the hostess. The hostess looked to the computer screen in front of her, grabbed thirteen menus, and handed them to a waitress, who led them to their table, which was located in a privet room. Once seated, she took their drink orders, and left.

"Okay guys. Make sure to order the most expensive things on the menu. Get dessert if you want to. My father's paying, so make sure we put a nice big dent in his bank account," Jade ordered, eyes furiously scanning the menu.

"Don't you think you're going a bit overboard," Kim asked, eyeing her friend warily.

"Daughter, it's free food. Since when have you ever complained," Ren spoke out, brows crinkling as he read the menu.

Kim remained silent, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. She slowly read through the items on the menu, mentally deconstructing end dish. Appetizers? Foie gras?Grilled leeks and stewed garlic on toast? Chèvre with herbs, olive oil, and lemon zest? Entrees? Soupe à l'oignon? Beef bourguignon? Ratatouille? No dessert.

Once Jade had finished explaining everything to the ninja, they ordered their appetizers and entrees. Naruto had somehow coaxed Sasuke in to an esacargot eating contest. Everyone watched on with expressions of fascinated disgust. Some even going so far as to encourage them; Deidara and Nagato. At some point, the boys' drinks disappeared from the table which resulted in the two choking with nothing to was the food down. Sakura soon got fed up with their antics and got after them, calling them morons as she hit them on the backs a few times. When she got them both to stop choking, she turned her wrath on the others, calling them idiots for encouraging such behavior.

Jade was having such a good time, that she forgot the reason they were all gathered together in some expansive French restaurant. That was when 'they' walked into the room. Abigail took the open seat that was on the other side of Deidara. The blond inwardly groaned, a scowl marring his boyish features. Carter sat next to his twin, Amber was next to him, and Logan sat in between his wife and Ren.

The waitress came back to take their orders. Everyone was silent as they waited for their food to come. Mostly everyone. Abigail and Carter were too busy being flirts to really notice anything. The rest of dinner continued in the same awkward fashion. Once the plates were cleared from the table, Logan encouraged everyone to order desert, even ordering wine for those old enough to drink. He was doing everything that he could to make what he had to say that much easier.

"Jade, I have something important to tell you," Logan's voice broke through the conversation. Those who still were eating or talking stopped feeling the tense atmosphere. Even Naruto, who had been loud all throughout dinner, was silent. That same feeling of dread once again washed over Jade. She griped Kim's hand under the table nervously. "Abigail and Carter are your brother and sister."

"You keep saying that, but just because you adopt them... it wont make that true. They are not my family," Jade growled with narrowed, her fingernails imbedding themselves into the palm of her best friend. She took a deep shuddering breath.

Logan fixated a glare on his daughter. "What I meant to say is, they are your half-brother and sister. They are my children. I am their birth father."

Jade stayed silent as she struggled to process the new information. She began to calculate the difference in age between her and the twins, among other things. It didn't make sense. She kept coming to the same conclusion every time, but she couldn't accept... that! It was like her mind stopped working in that moment. When she finally got all her thoughts in order, she exploded.

"They're a year older than me! You married mom three years before I was born! You mean to tell me, that you were cheating on her the entire time? While she was sick? While she was dying and confined to that hospital bed, you were out with her," Jade shouted, jabbing a finger in Amber's direction. "Did you even love her?"

"Of course I loved her. She was my wife," Logan said outraged, springing to his feet.

"Apparently you didn't love her enough to stay faithful. You have those two bastard children to prove it," Jade cried. Logan snapped. He was about to hit her when Ren decided that it was time he intervened. Ren had him pressed up against the wall with one hand resting between the older man's shoulder blades and his other hand pinning the man's right arm against his back in a way that threatened a dislocated shoulder.

"Let go of my husband," Amber shouted, her voice reaching a glass breaking pitch. She was about to swing her purse at Ren, when Kim stopped her.

"Don't touch my dad," she threatened as she moved to stand before her father. Her hardened eyes narrowed at the woman in a way that sent chills down her spine until she backed down, which wasn't very long. Itachi and Sasuke felt a combination of pride and terror at the sight of their newly dubbed sister's death glare.

Jade was in shock. She could only watch the scene unfolding right before her eyes. Logan had broken free from Ren's hold, and took his frustrations out on the man. Ren, never one to just sit back and take a beating, fought back. Kakashi and Itachi tried to get the two men to stop, but in the end their attempts proved fruitless.

The two men fell through the screen wall, that separated them from the other guests in the restaurant. A few panicked people called the police, while most of the teenagers took out their phones to record the fight.

Carter and Abigail stood there smirking at Jade. That pissed off Kim. So she reached back at random and picked up Naruto's chocolate eclair, that he was still eating, and took aim at the smirking twins. She might be clumsy, but no one had ever accused her of having bad aim. It was Jade's turn to smirk.

"I guess revenge really is sweet," Kim stated, licking chocolate cream filling off her fingers, eyes widening as the rich flavor her her tastebuds. Though she didn't have much time to think before a piece of some kind of sticky cake was aimed at her. Soon everyone was engaged in a food fight. Jade couldn't help but think about what great friends she had.

When the cops arrived, the restaurant was in complete chaos. More fights had broken out, and almost everyone had joined in on the food fight. The entire place was a mess. The officers demanded order.

Once the authorities had everything under control, Logan was quick to place the blame on Ren. He claimed that the man had jumped over the table and attacked him, and he had no choice other than to defend himself. When Ren tried to explain what really happened they did not believe him, because of his past criminal record. Everyone was beyond outraged as they were forced to watch one of the officers place Ren under arrest. Their anger only grew, when Logan told Jade that she had no choice but to go with him back to New York. She refused to go, saying that she would rather stay and have nothing to do with him.

After everything had finally calmed down, they left. As soon as they arrived back at the loft, they all took turns using the showers. All were silent as they sat in the living room area, wondering how everything had gotten so out of hand.

"Kim I'm so we sorry about your dad getting arrested because of me," Jade apologized. She had been feeling guilty ever since they officer had placed Ren in handcuffs.

"What are you talking about," Kim asked, head tilted slightly to one side. "Jade, my dad thinks of you as a daughter. He would do anything to protect you. Besides my dad never liked Logan in the first place. Getting to kick his ass, was like a dream come true for him." Kim smiled reassuringly.

"You and your dad are beyond awesome," Jade exclaimed a bright smile on her face. She wrapped the other girl in a tight embrace. "But it still hurts to find out about my father cheating on my mother. To think, all this time he's had another family on the side. Well I hope he's happy. Though I can't say I'm going to miss him." While she wouldn't miss the man, it still hurt. He was her father after all.

"We'll be your family from now on, 'ttebayo," Naruto exclaimed brightly. The others nodded in agreement. Jade beamed.

"Enough of the heavy. I love how Kim got a perfect shot on that slut, un!" Deidara was now standing. "The way that piece of cake landed right on her face!"

Naruto sulked over the loss of his chocolate eclair.

"You seemed to be having fun rubbing pie into her hair. From what it looked like, it was a deep lather," Jade joked. Deidara just grinned at his work being praised by his follow artist.

"What's going to happen to Ren," asked Hana. Despite trying to avoid the topic of heavy subjects, they couldn't not worry about the man who had graciously taken them in.

"He should be calling soon." Kim pursed her lips in thought. "If not tonight, then tomorrow morning."

"It seems like this has happened before," Nagato came to the conclusion. Kim and Jade could only smile sheepishly.

Kim's cell phone rang. It was Ren. After a short one-sided conversation, she hung up.

"What happened," Itachi asked.

"Well, he going to be in jail for about four days. The good thing is, no one decided to press charges." She took something out of her pocket, and started messing with her phone. "He said not to destroy the house, and I'm going to have to work at the shop in the meantime. Joy."

"Who are you calling," Sakura asked Kim, when she put her cell phone to her ear.

"No one. I'm just checking something." She hung up the phone. "So, Jade do you feel like going on a shopping spree tomorrow?"

"With what money? I'm poor, remember?"

"Why, your dads of course," Kim stated holding up a credit card. They all stared at her.

"Wha... When did you... How did you," Jade was stunned. Though in the ebony haired girl's opinion, Jade was doing an amazing impersonation of a goldfish.

"I took it out of his pocket before he left. This is his company credit card, it's unlimited. An unlimited amount of money to go shopping. Well, before he finds out and closes the account or someone in accounting. It's one-hundred percent legal too. You're his daughter, and under eighteen. So by law he has to support you." She waved the card in Jade's face temptingly. "What do you say?"

"I say, hell yeah," Jade exclaimed jumping up and down. "Are you guys in," she asked all the others. At the idea of making Logan pay, pun intended, for all the pain he caused Jade, they agreed.

"We should go without using our employee discounts, and pay full price," Hinata suggested. Everyone looked at her in shock. Who knew, that the Hyuuga heiress could be so devious. They stared at her with their mouths gaping, causing her to turn a lovely shade of red.

"Tomorrow we shop, dattebayo," Naruto exclaimed standing up, a fist in the air.

"Dobe," Sasuke muttered.

"What did you call me Teme!"

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"Dobe!"

Teme!"

"DOBE!"

"TEME!"

"Shut up you two! Or I'm going to feed you to a pack of wolves," Hana shouted in annoyance. Naruto and Sasuke sat down on their knee, backs straight with their hands placed on their laps. Everyone was shocked at her outburst. Once the shock passed, and everyone calmed down; she groaned. "Oh Kami-sama, I'm turning into my mother!" Itachi patted her on the back.