The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

22: Dead of Night

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

Hanabi outpaced Bakugo and said, "Come on."

She had her Byakugan activated, so he knew she was tracking someone, and he wasn't surprised when she rounded some corner to find the Eichi kid still slinking his way along. Apparently he  hadn't caught up with his friends yet, or they had gone a different way than he thought.

He jumped when he saw them coming.

"Hey," Hanabi called, running up to him. "I'm sorry about that guy back there. He's a loudmouth, all right? But he's not all bad."

"I heard that, you little brat," Bakugo said.

"Bite me, Explosion Boy." Hanabi turned to glare at him.

Bakugo found her nerve kind of impressive, in a way. He just huffed instead of blowing up.

"See?" Hanabi turned to Eichi, who stared at her like she'd lost her mind.

Then, slowly, he smiled as if he found it funny.

"Well, I shouldn't have asked," he admitted wryly. "Everyone knows not to ask people questions too much."

"I guess it's going to come out either way," Hanabi sighed. "But you guys didn't seem so bad. Our team is just trying to make peace... I kind of thought you might get the wrong idea from how we reacted."

By we she meant Naruto and Bakugo.

"You seem...well, like a nice enough person," Eichi allowed, "but...well, that doesn't make it smart. And another thing is, bringing so many famous shinobi here is kind of...a little chancy in the eyes of some people." He lowered his voice, as if afraid someone would hear him. "I would think you'd want to keep a low profile."

"We're supposed to." Hanabi rolled her eyes. "But some people just don't get it... About the Uchiha guy--"

"Shhh!" Eichi held up his hands.

Hanabi looked around.

"No one's here..." she said. "Trust me, I would know."

"Well, you can't be too careful," Eichi said. "If the whole village knew about that guy, they'd be upset...I think."

He frowned. "And this village isn't as safe as you might expect."

"People have been trying to kidnap my family since I was a toddler," Hanabi said bluntly. "I know that nowhere is safe, all right? I'm not stupid. But we're doing a good thing here, and you have to be brave and try to do the right thing. Or nothing changes. And I think even your dopey friends should understand that."

"Dopey?" Eichi said. "I think they're just worried. A lot of them lost their fathers because of the war--I did too, actually. The person behind it being close to their families isn't something to brush off."

"I see." Hanabi couldn't argue that was a good point. "But, honestly, he hasn't done anything bad. Can't people change?"

"I don't know," Eichi said. "I hope so, for your guys' sake as much as ours. I think someone like that probably doesn't deserve such loyal friends."

"I'm not his friend," Hanabi said in as salty a voice as she could. "I think he's a prick, but he's...an obedient prick, so far. And the lady in charge of us can make him toe the line. She's got him handled, trust me. Everyone knows it. And the Kazekage is crazy powerful too. We'll be fine. Starting trouble about it is just as stupid as us having him here, isn't it?"

"I guess you've got a point," Eichi said. "Asking for it is never a good idea... Anyway, I gotta get home... You guys hang around this area a lot?"

"Just today," Hanabi replied.