the worst guys [male konoha 12 open]

"Are we still talking about me getting here before the others?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes with a faint smile. He waved to Shino and greeted him in a kind manner. He never knew the bug user too well, he he didn't mind his company in the slightest. He found his abilities fascinating, and his tolerance incredible. The thought of that many bugs on someone just. It rubbed him the wrong way, should be be the one covered in the bugs.

He placed an empty plate by a seat for Shino to use and adjusted the food so they could all get to it easily. He wanted Shino to feel welcomed with them. Shika knew he was the odd one out most of the time so he wanted to make that change as best he could.

"Why don't you just go call her name from a rooftop if you're so worried about her, man? I haven't seen her in a long time." He nudged Kiba with his elbow. The boy was so lovestruck it could make a man sick. "What about you Shino?"

Kiba could only groan as Shino declined his food in order to sulk more and insult him instead, stubbornly poking at his short rib and doing his best to pretend like he didn't feel guilty. To be fair, it was exactly this behavior that made Kiba apprehensive about inviting Shino in the first place--but then he supposed, leaving him out only further fueled his fire. He'd just wanted a nice night out that didn't come down to snarky jabs--or at least not serious snarky jabs. Jabs between friends that were clearly meant in a joking manner were fine, but it was pretty clear that wasn't what Shino was doing. Kiba waved his hands, sighing loudly as he picked more short rib off the grill in the center of the table and back to his plate. "All right, all right. I'm sorry we started without you." A comment about how touchy Shino was was on the tip of his tongue but for once, he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.

At Shikamaru's comment about the Hyuuga, Kiba felt himself tense up, clenching his jaw in his best effort to keep his face going red, but his cheeks still felt like they warmed and he could only hope it was just the heat of the barbeque. "I'm not gonna shout her name from the roof! I'm not... worried about her, I'm sure she's fine." He shrugged, eyes narrowing at the way Shino hesitated over exactly what of Hinata's Kiba was in need of. "I'm not in need of her presence, either," he continued, feeling his shoulders curl inward slightly as he got more defensive between the boys' harmless suggestions.

"I just, I haven't seen her in a while! I'm not gonna stop by her place about it, what would I even say? 'Hey Hinata, I don't have any real reason to be here it's just been a while since we've spoken?'" Upon saying it, he wondered if that might work--it actually didn't sound too desperate or pathetic, but maybe it would from Kiba? No--he wasn't going to do it. "Look, she's probably busy! That's fine! I was just wondering if you guys had seen her. Hey Shino, do you know if anyone else is gonna show?" he asked, hoping no one would notice how abruptly he was changing the subject and just let them talk about something else.

Shikamaru looked up from his plate and brought a hand up to wave at Neiji. He was surprised to see the ninja here, given that he never seemed all that interested in them, but he was pleased nonetheless. He was glad to see everyone together again and hope there'd be more on the way. Oh how he hoped.. it was turning out to be a nice break.

"How's it goin', Neiji? Didn't think I'd see you come around." He pulled another plate from the small stack and placed it by the empty spot, just like he had done for Shino. "You guys are welcome to order whatever you like. I'll help chip in for the meal." He wanted everyone to feel welcomed and relaxed, so he also poured some tea for Shino and Neiji in their small tea cups since he was refilling his own.

"We were just talking about Kiba missing Hinata, if you wanna chime in. I'm sure you've seen her more than anyone else at this table." Shikamaru smirked and eyed Kiba from the corner of his eyes, sure the dog boy was getting flustered and more tense by the second and mere mention of his crush's name.

Kiba started as Neji approached, actually so distracted by the scent and defending himself against Shikamaru's teasing that he didn't smell Neji coming. He actually jumped in his seat as Neji spoke up, clamping his mouth closed and clenching his teeth tight--hopefully Neji hadn't heard what he was talking about before, because Neji hearing Kiba whine about how much he missed seeing his cousin around was not something he wanted to happen.

"Hey," he greeted in return, trying to offer a polite smile and then pay attention to his food for his own sake, not wanting to say anything stupid. He picked at another piece of the meat until Shikamaru spoke up again, instantly going red at the dribble that was pouring out of his alleged friend. "I didn't--I don't, I wasn't--she's just my teammate! I was just wondering where she'd been, I haven't seen her around! Shino and I wanted to do some training with the team," he added, staring at the Aburame in a half-threat half-plea for him to go along with what he was saying. "But you should probably order food while you can, so, yeah. That's that."

"Yeah, Kiba, what could possibly happen?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and went back to his food again. He flipped the meat over on the grill and picked a piece off and placed it on his plate. "Good to hear you keeping up with missions, Neji." It steamed and he hummed quietly at the smell. He dug his teeth into the hot meat and nearly cringed at the burning sensation, but at the same time he enjoyed it along with the taste. He was pretty sure if he opened his mouth the steam would float out as if it were smoke.

Taking the tea cup in hand, he took a small sip and exhaled with a exaggerated "ahh." Neji's presence was something he wasn't used to, just as Shino being around wasn't usual either. Shika was glad they were around since he wanted to get to know them more after all these years. He had an interest in their abilities, but he was always just too busy to ask about anything, or generally too tired to bother.

"While you guys are here, I wanted to let you know I might be taking some time off to go to Suna for a few days. So if Kiba decides to talk to Hinata, keep me up with the details."

Kiba squinted at Neji and Shikamaru as they continued to tease, but they did have a fair point: what else could it possibly be? In retrospect, it was stupid to avoid her because he was nervous, it was obvious what was between them was friendship and nothing more. Her feelings had always been for Naruto, teammates and friends was all it could possibly be. "What's the worst that could happen, really? I feel like if I tried to go in there her family would say dogs aren't allowed in the house, and I don't mean Akamaru," he grumbled, trying to shift the conversation slightly--although he was being quite honest in that he doubted her parents thought very highly of him. They were the noble Hyuuga clan, and he was an Inuzuka. There was a pretty big difference there.

Just when Kiba had given up on Shino, the bug user made a comeback, shifting the focus even better than Kiba had attempted to--away from Kiba and the Hyuugas and onto Shikamaru and his prospective woman. He snickered at the way Shino had phrased it, picking a short rib and eagerly taking a bite. "Mm, Shikamaru, tell Temari we say hi when you see her," he added, focusing on saying 'when' instead of 'if.' Even despite the teasing, if Shikamaru was headed to Suna even in part to see the Kazekage's sister, he did hope it went well. It'd been obvious for a while now how Shikamaru felt about the girl, especially considering even Naruto could tell, and the Hokage was pretty oblivious when it came to affairs of the heart. "Although, are you going for business or pleasure?" he laughed again, chomping up another short rib with pride in his clever joke.