The Way Into Mist Village (Naruto)

7: Prisoners

[OP: "Second Child, Restless Child"--The Oh Hellos]

"So now that we're all chill," Camie said after a pause, "what's up?"

"Up?" Sai said.

"Why did you want to sit with us?" Bakugo translated. "Meme-Face needs a reader board."

"Oh, you know you love it," Camie said.

"Well, honestly," Sai said after a pause, "other than that, I was wondering about earlier. Everyone seemed to be upset. What was it that upset you?"

Referring to Camie.

"Don't ask that s---, moron," Bakugo said.

Camie winced. "It's a little touchy of a topic, isn't it?"

"It is? Oh..." Sai neither seemed embarrassed nor concerned, just curious. "I didn't realize that."

He glanced at Ino. "Were you upset because of your father?"

Ino blanched. "I...well...uh...I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh," Sai said.

"This guy is clueless," Bakugo said.

"I thought you would like him," Camie said. "He's a lot like you, Bae."

"What the frick does that mean?!" Bakugo exploded.

"Chill out," Camie said. "It's like how you yell all the time, only he's just calm all the time."

"I don't see the relation to those things," Sai remarked. "However, no one is answering my questions about this. I did speak to Dabi-san about it earlier. He said I have become 'empathetic' and that's a good thing. I'm trying to figure out what he meant by that. I did look up what empathy is. It means to know how someone feels."

Ino gave him a weird look and then looked at Camie.

"I see," Camie nodded sagely. "What did you feel empathetic about, yo?"

"Well, I was speaking of losing my brother," Sai said without much feeling, though his face did look troubled, "when they were speaking of losing their fathers, and I guess that was empathy."

"You need Burnt Chicken Nugget to tell you that?" Bakugo snorted. "Can't you figure anything out for yourself?"

"I have hypotheses, but they often turn to be wrong," Sai said, "so I double check them with people... Sometimes that helps."

"Scientific, huh?" Camie said. "That's more Momo's thing than mine, but, bruh, I think it's not that complicated. You said already there's similar stuff you've gone through--of course you can try to picture how they feel."

"But not everyone's the same," Bakugo argued. "People experience things differently. Stuff that scares other people doesn't scare me."

"Sure, we all have our own issues," Camie said, "but I think most people feel sad with loss. I don't have to be a genius to get that one figured."

"I've heard you mention your brother before," Ino spoke, anxious to get the attention off herself. "What happened to him?"

"He died...of an illness." Sai did look more sad there. "But he never told me he was ill until it was too late. He was trying to protect me."

"Gosh, that's heartbreaking," Camie said, pouting. "I don't have siblings, but, if I did, that would mess me up."

"I thought everyone felt that way about their brother," Sai said. "But since this team formed, I notice that the Todorokis, though they are brothers, don't act at all like me and Shin. And the ones from Sand, they seem to have compassion for each other, but they aren't quite the same. Everyone seems to think differently, and I can't keep up with it. But Naruto says that everyone has bonds."