The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

25: Housekeeping

While this fateful meeting was going on, the others were busy doing their much more menial tasks.

Momo had assigned them in teams to take a section of the house and scrub the floors, especially the corners, and clean the surfaces of tables and chairs and windows.

And some people were doing the kitchen with the sinks and cupboards too.

"I mean, it's kind of fun doing this together instead of alone..." Ino tried to put a good spin on it while she was wiping down the counters.

"I don't think I'm doing this right..." Sai had barely ever used the kitchen in his own apartment. Foundation members had very basic cooking skills. He was trying to clean the garbage disposal in the sink.

"What are you doing?" Karin asked him strangely.

"Momo said that citric acid cleans the blades." Sai had what was left of some oranges they'd had in the fridge. Apparently, citrus fruit was more native to the Land of Earth than other fruits. They were the least expensive in the marketplace.

[Based on the terrain, I wouldn't be surprised. I live where citrus trees grow real easy, and it's sandy and rocky soil, which seems like the Land of Earth's norm. Which, incidentally, is not good for many plants with shallow roots, but it works better for fruit trees. Apples also grow pretty well in that terrain.]

"Yeah...but that didn't mean you need to use it to clean them by hand," Karin said, like he was stupid. "Just run the disposal."

"How does it work?" Sai asked.

"Geez, how new are you?" Karin sniffed, pushing up her glasses. "You just flip that switch there."

"Well, we don't have these kinds of sinks in the Foundation. We just had those big outdoor ones," Sai explained, reaching for the switch.

"Sai! Pull your hand out first!" Ino yelped real fast.

Fortunately for Sai, his hand wasn't that far in, so when the loud noise went off and he yanked it out real fast, it had only caught the tip of his finger.

"You idiot, that could take your fingers right off!" Karin cried. "How do you even survive? Honestly, you're such a space cadet. I think you're worse than Camie is."

Sai was quite surprised by the accident.

Ino was going to yell at him also, but Karin doing it made her realize how petty it was before she said anything. 

It wasn't like he knew any better...

"It's fine," she said aloud. "I once did almost the same thing at home. My mom stopped me just in time... I mean, I was only 6, but it was different for us."

"Well, I was helping my mom in the kitchen when I was younger than 6," Karin sniffed. "And safety is the first thing you learn. I mean, next you'll light a stove and hold your hand too close to it."

Sai said nothing. Either he didn't know she was berating him, or he didn't care, or he had no clue how to respond. Or a combination of two of the three.

"I've got it," Ino offered, holding out a hand. "Give me your hand."

Sai held it out, and Ino healed up the cut.

"You know he won't learn that way," Karin pointed out.

"Karin, don't you have a cupboard to organize?" Ino shot back.

The food cupboards had gotten very messy with so many people just grabbing things out and not moving them back into place for several days.

Karin seemed like the OCD type, so Momo asking her to clean it up was probably smart.