The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

9: They Wonder as They Wander

[OP: "Grow"--The Oh Hellos]

Back in the present, Shoto was still upset but trying to hide it, and he didn't appreciate Dabi bringing it up. How had he even known?

Dabi had put it together when he saw them talking and recalled the mood of the past day had been kind of off. He was way more observant of Shoto than Shoto suspected.

Shine went back inside after telling them all they could head back to the lodgings if they didn't want to do anything else in the village, and since Ino and Karin both very much did not, they took her up on it.

Temari wanted to join the meeting, and Shikamaru wanted to be left out of it but was kind of curious, so they decided to stick around.

Dabi, Shoto, Jugo, and Sai left.

Sai kept reading his new book, and Shoto asked him what it was--and was sorry when he got way more of an answer than he bargained for.

They wondered what the other teams were up to.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Kankuro aruged. "You cannot tell me that a full-power attack is more effective for capturing people than a complex one."

"Any dumba-- would be able to see that if you scare the criminal enough, they'll run," Bakugo argued.

"If you ask me, both is good," Suigetsu said. "Hit them with a big attack and then catch them once they're running for their lives."

"I think that's just what your team would do," Tenten put in. "Either way, this argument is dumb."

"It's not!" Bakugo and Kankuro both said at the same time.

"It's fun to play them against each other though," Suigetsu said to Tenten.

"You're obnoxious," she said.

"Ugh, you sound like Karin. I thought you were supposed to be the chick who was one of the guys," Suigetsu complained.

"That doesn't mean I don't think this is dumb," Tenten said.

"That's just what a girl would say." Suigetsu deliberately said that to make her mad.

"What I think," Kankuro said, before Tenten could do anything to Suigetsu, "is that Bakugo just doesn't like to use precision trapping because he can't."

"That's the freaking reason you don't like to use big attacks--because you don't have any offensive destruction power, pansya--!" Bakugo argued.

"I thought we were checking the perimeter," Tenten pointed out.

"We are," Kankuro said. He looked at the wall. "Looks fine. And listen here, Blasty, I have offensive pewor. You see these puppets? They have spikes with points on them. You're a one-trick pony."

"And you're the kind of prick who doesn't like to fight his own battles and lets his dumb toys do it," Bakugo said.

"Do they have to be so loud?" Tenten rubbed her ears.

"At least they're having a good time," Suigetsu said. "I feel sorry for the other groups--all those touchy-feely people? Please. Give me a good weapons debate any day. 'Course these two fools don't see that swords are the best weapon hands down--and traditional."

"Nothing's traditional about your sword," Bakugo objected.

"How can you even say that?" Suigetsu said.

Tenten rolled her eyes. But she really vastly preferred this to the talk about feelings and ideals that usually was around the others.

[Anyone else get the feeling Kankuro selected his group precisely to avoid that kind of talk?]