Kindred Spirits

Chapter 4.5 – Dinner Reservations

Naruto looked down at the plate set in front of him. Fidgeting in his seat, he held his chopsticks above the plate, a lump forming in his throat, and sweat beading on his forehead.

Was this stuff even real food?

The eight-year old gulped as he slowly reached over and picked up a slice of tuna, holding it gingerly between his chopsticks. His neechan was never that great at cooking (don't tell her that) so tuna was never this colour when they had it for dinner and he wasn't sure if it was supposed to be so red. Holding it up to his face, he gave it a little sniff. It didn't smell bad, or burned, so that was probably a good sign. And they were at a fancy dinner, so they probably knew what they were doing, right?

Everyone else was eating it, so it couldn't be that bad.

Naruto took a bite out of the tuna. It was chewy and it tasted kinda bland, but it was alright. Tuna was Yugito's favourite food, but it still wasn't as good as ramen. If they had ramen here, it probably wouldn't be so bad, and he could probably eat more.

He shuffled in his seat. He hated sitting on his knees, but everyone was doing it, and Yugito did ask him to behave, just for tonight. If he did behave, she'd teach him a really cool move when they went training tomorrow. He knew Yugito had lots of cool jutsu, so the chance to learn one was enough of a reason to be on his best behaviour. Even if he could feel his legs falling asleep, or that he didn't know half the stuff they were feeding him, or that the kimono she made him wear for the occasion was heavy, itchy, and uncomfortable.

The kimono was new and bought just for the occasion. He couldn't understand why they had to buy new clothes for a dumb dinner, but Yugito insisted. They went to five different shops to find a kimono for him, and a bunch of them almost didn't let them go in. He could still remember his neechan arguing with one of the associates about how she was buying a kimono for him, so he had to come inside.

Naruto tried to laugh it off, but buying kimonos wasn't fun. It was a good thing his sister was with him or he probably would never own a fancy kimono. Not that he wanted one anyway. Fancy kimonos sucked.

When they finally did find a decent store, they got into an argument because Yugito thought that the green kimono with the cherry blossom patterns looked good, and he demanded the orange one with the embroidered dragons. He didn't understand why she hated orange so much, because it was scientifically proven to be the best color in the world, but after an hour, they settled on a navy blue kimono with little rust-orange dragonflies on the sleeves.

It was good enough. At least it had orange on it.

Yugito bought a kimono too, choosing a simple light blue design with white clouds that ran up one sleeve and the back. Unlike Naruto, she didn't seem too uncomfortable with the outfit and ate her dinner with the dignity, lightly holding her sliced tuna between chopsticks before carefully putting it in her mouth.

Naruto forced down a few more slices of sashimi and the other fancy food that they were serving him. He still couldn't figure out what most of the stuff was (there was probably some tempura there that he ate or something), but some did taste pretty good, so he wasn't complaining.

Part of him wanted to know why the freaky white-eyed family even invited the two of them for dinner, but even if neechan told him why, he probably wouldn't get it anyway. He never understood the rich families. They always looked so snobby and stuck-up, and they always looked away whenever he was passing by. The freaky white-eyed family were different though. When he walked around with Yugito, they always bowed to her and gave her gifts, and called her "Yugito-sama". No one ever called her Yugito-sama, especially the snobby, stuck-up rich people. And no one was more stuck up than the freaky white-eyed family.

Except for Hinata. She was in his class, and she was pretty nice, even if she sat in the back and never said anything. He'd only actually talked to her once, but that was at the beginning of the school year, when her dad came over to where Naruto and Yugito had been standing and began talking to his sister. So while the grown-ups were talking, he figured the kids should too.

But she was so quiet that they maybe said like ten words.

She was sitting near the head of the table beside her dad, wearing a pale pink kimono. Naruto tried waving at her, but she just squeaked and looked away, and she hadn't looked up from her plate since. He thought he did something wrong, but the small smirk Yugito had given him probably meant that Hinata was just being weird again.

Which was like, all the time.

"I hope the food is to your liking," Mister-Hot-Shot-Freaky-White-Eyes asked from the head of the table. He already set his chopsticks on top of his bowl, and Naruto knew that usually meant people are done eating. Taking the cue, he put his chopsticks on his bowl too. It wasn't like he was going to eat anymore anyway. Maybe neechan would take him to Ichiraku afterwards.

"Yes, everything was wonderful," Yugito replied, gently placing her chopsticks against her plate, "Thank you for inviting us, Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi? That was a lame name. Naruto was so much better.

"I apologize this had not been done sooner. Certainly, you must have been very busy, as we have been."

Yugito nodded, "Yes, Hokage-sama has certainly kept me occupied."

"With all you have done for this family, a dinner such as this seems hardly suffice."

Naruto tilted his head. What did that mean? Neechan did something for these guys? Like a favour? Man, he was getting more confused each minute!

"I did nothing but do what was right."

"You may not think much of it, but the Hyūga family will be in your debt for your actions." Hiashi continued, motioning towards Hinata, "The Heavens only know what would have happened if you had not intervened."

Yugito's eyes hardened slightly, "I do have a feeling it would have been disastrous."

A nod, "Indeed." He cleared his throat and continued, "But it seems…I have a request to make of you, Nii-san. You must think so unkind of me to ask, after all you have already done for us."

"Not at all, please continue."

"My daughter, Hinata," at the sound of her name, the girl seemed to shrink into her kimono further, "Is having difficulty with her training. You have experience with training such…" Naruto felt creepy white eyes turning his way, "…unique pupils. I feel there is no ninja more capable of enhancing her abilities than you."

Yugito blinked in confusion, "You want me to…train your daughter? Hiashi-sama, I'm not a practitioner of–"

"I am aware. But I feel Hinata will benefit from a…new training perspective to supplement her current regimen."

The elder blonde rubbed the back of her head (which was also weird to Naruto, because instead of a ponytail or a wrapped braid, like what she usually wore, her hair was pinned back…with real pins!) and let out a breath in thought. After a moment, she turned towards Naruto, "Well, what do you think? Do you think you can handle a training partner?"

Eyes narrowing into slits, he crossed his arms over his chest, "I guess that's okay."

"You sure? If I train both you and Hinata-sama, I'm going to have to divide my time."

Naruto grinned, "That's fine, neechan. I'm pretty good already anyway."

Yugito shook her head, before turning back to Hiashi. She lowered her head in a slight bow, "I'm honored that you would ask me to train your daughter. I would be more than happy to help her alongside Naruto, if she's alright with it."

Hiashi turned towards the girl, her cheeks flushed red as she shuffled in her seat, "Um…t-thank you, I would l-like that v-very much." She stammered, her voice barely above a whisper. If Naruto didn't see her lips moving, he would be pretty sure she didn't say anything at all.

Clearing his throat, the Hyūga elder nodded, "Very well, then it is settled. I look forward to seeing how well you progress, Hinata."

The only reply from the quiet girl was a small squeak and a nod.

The fancy dinner with the freaky white-eyed family ended not long after. Sitting on the patio outside the Hyūga manor's dining area, Naruto fumbled with his slippers as Yugito stood by, her attention somewhere else.

"Are you really going to train Hinata?" the boy asked, tying his sandals closed as he slipped his foot into the next one, "Do you really have to?"

"I'm going to do it," she replied, "I don't know why Hiashi-sama asked me to. They're very particular about what they teach their kids." Yugito shook her head, "Let's go, Naruto. You didn't eat a lot during dinner. Didn't like the food?"

He scrunched his nose as he followed his sister, "It was too fancy. I'm okay with ramen."

"We'll stop by Ichiraku for a bowl. Sound good?"

Naruto whooped as they turned the corner. The Hyūga clan's compound was huge, like a small city within the borders of Konoha. Yugito had observed the buildings when they were being led inside for dinner. Retracing their steps shouldn't be too hard.

"Do you two need an escort? Wouldn't want to get lost here, would we?"

His hands already resting at the back of his head, Naruto spun around, tilting his head in obvious confusion.

Wasn't Hinata's dad just having dinner with them? When did he change into a ninja uniform so fast? And he even had a headband on, too.

Yugito cracked a small grin, "You sure you don't mind?" Sensing the look on Naruto's face, she ruffled his hair, "This is Hiashi-sama's brother, Hizashi-san." A pause, "…they're twins, Naruto."

"Oh, I knew that," he huffed. The other man laughed, holding his hand out for a shake.

"Naruto, right? It's nice to meet you."

Well he looked tons nicer than the other guy, so the boy smiled and shook the offered hand, "Yeah! Future Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Future Hokage? I'm lucky to meet you, then." Hizashi nodded, before turning towards Yugito, "I assume my brother invited you hear for…a favour?"

The three continued to walk, Naruto leading the way. He didn't really mind that Hizashi was with them, he seemed nicer than the other guy and less stuck-up. The other guy was like an older Sasuke, which meant he was lame. But this guy was a ninja, so he was probably lots cooler too. He and Yugito sounded like they were talking about something important, which meant it was boring, so Naruto stopped paying attention until they reached the main entrance to the Hyūga clan's compound.

"It was very nice to meet you, Naruto," Hizashi said, "You seem to be a fine young man. I'm sure you'll become Hokage if you continue to work hard, as your sister tells me."

With a chuckle, Naruto rubbed his nose, "You bet! And Hinata's gonna train with us too, so I'll help her."

Naruto didn't notice Hizashi's expression darken, but Yugito certainly did. "Thanks for escorting us, Hizashi. Come on, Naruto. Isn't Ichiraku closing soon?"

That was enough to get the poor boy moving.

Note: I'm so sorry this took so long to update, and after all this waiting, it's a very short "in-between" chapter, because I'm mainly using it for a bit of exposition for an event in the next one, which is currently still being written.

Again, I apologize for the huge delay in the update, and hopefully, I'll be able to post the next chapter much sooner.

Thank you all for continuing to read and follow this little story of mine. I really appreciate it. :)