The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

51: Telling The Team The Full Truth

[OP: "Soldier, Poet, King"--The Oh Hellos]

["Face My Fears"--Caleb Hyles]

Day 49:

"When did I fall asleep?" Camie yawned some time in the later morning.

"I don't know, but why did I have to wake up?" Ino pulled her pillow over her ears.

"Come on." Temari was up already of course. "We have a ton more work to do, and you can't stay in all morning. It's already 10 a.m. at least."

"That's late?" Wally said, half kidding.

"Tell my sisters that," Shine muttered. "Seriously, we didn't get enough sleep."

"Well, that's too bad, but we still need to get busy," Temari insisted, sending a gust of wind that nearly knocked half of them off their cots or sleeping bags.

"Eek!" Hanabi dove under her sheets more.

"And what do you expect us to do?" Shikamaru sat up and rubbed his neck. "There's nothing out there but rain."

"Actually, it's not raining anymore," Temari said, yanking aside the window drapes that must have only been there for insulation, because no way was anyone in this village worried about a glare.

Light did stream in, though it was muted because the buildings in front of them blocked the sun.

"Everyone here must have depression because of low vitamin D," Shine remarked, rubbing her hair. "I should take some tablets of it."

"I've heard that eating some fish can also help--and eggs," Momo remarked.

"But we only have packaged food right now," Tenten said. "Seriously, what are we going to eat her? Tadpoles?"

"That's offensive," Dabi said. "Naruto has frog friends."

"Well, I can't ask them since you won't let us summon." Naruto seemed a little grumpy, probably because he hadn't had much of a dinner.

"Whine, whine, whine." Shine got up. "When I was your age, we didn't have packaged food. We lived off the land. We ate dandelions out of our backyard and drank water from streams. And I walked uphill to school both ways."

"I thought you were homeschooled," Dabi said dryly.

"And you can't walk uphill both ways," Sakura scoffed.

"Sure you can," Shine said. "If the school is on one hill, and your house is on another, you'll walk uphill to the school on the way and uphill to your house on the way back. There, served." She imitated a mic drop.

"I know all of what you said was BS," Bakugo said. "You lived in California in the 2000s. You have cell phones, and you've probably never even had a flower pot."

"Actually, Katsuki, for your information, we did have a backyard garden, chickens, and a fruit tree at one point," Shine shot back. "And we cooked our own meals, and I've been to farms, and I know more than you think about it, Mr. Wiseacre. Not everyone who lives in California is a kook."

"Is California famous for kooks?" Temari said with interest.

"O,h all the other States think we're insane." Shine waved her hand like it meant little. "They think we all smoke weed and the only pot in our gardens is marijuana, and that we all believe in saving the polar bears and green cars and psychics and astrology and burning incense."