The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

67: Odd Jobs

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

Temari's group, which was smaller, had been accompanied by Kyuu.

Kyuu appeared to be intrigued by leaving his Village yet again, and he informed them he'd never been to Quiet Stream, which was the town they had gone to. [In Japanese, that is Shizukana Nagare, but that's more of a mouthful.]

They had less trouble gaining entrance to the village, because Gaara himself had gone with them. So had Karin and Suigetsu. With Shikamaru and Choji, that made an impressive cast.

For all Shikamaru had said he'd be stuck with girls, there were only two, Karin pointed out to him.

Choji, while quiet, had fit into the team well. He was easy going, and he and Shikamaru were comfortable with each other.

Temari actually almost felt ignored now that he was around, since Shikamaru was the type to direct his remarks to his friends, since it was the least amount of effort.

Of course she didn't complain about this and told herself it was ridiculous to even think it.

Choji, who was better than Shikamaru at reading people, kind of suspected it.

"You shouldn't neglect your team leaders," he told Shikamaru, good-naturedly.

"I wasn't neglecting Gaara..." Shikamaru was also as dense as Sai was at times.

"Yes, I don't understand that problem." Gaara was equally dense.

"Good luck with those two," Karin told Choji.

"Hmm," Choji said. "Where are you from again? And you're...Naruto's cousin?"

"Distant cousin," Suigetsu said. "You can tell because they're nothing alike."

"We might be a little alike," Karin said.

"You're both kind of...emotional," Shikamaru suggested. "Naruto can be a hothead."

"Naruto doesn't really seem like the type," Karin said. "And I resent that you're saying that I'm one. Please."

"Don't you beat up Suigetsu on a daily basis?" Temari asked her.

"He can't feel it..." Karin looked a little embarrassed.

"Then why do you do it?" Choji asked the real question.

"I don't know... He's annoying." Karin frowned.

"Hmm," Choji said again. "But from what I notice, you don't really seem to have a problem getting along most of the time. Just now and then."

"What do you mean?" Suigetsu said. "We've never gotten along."

"Actually, he's got a point." Temari looked back. "You two go from bickering to level-headed discussions so fast, it's like you flipped a switch."

"Maybe if you just didn't provoke each other, you would be friends," Shikamaru even added.

"Oh, sure," Karin said with a frown. "Wel,l I could say the same for you and Temari-san."

"When do I provoke her?" Shikamaru asked.

Choji nodded sagely. "Maybe Karin-san has a point."

"What? You too?" Shikamaru said. "Hey, I came with this team to get away from all the girls nagging about hurt feelings and being nice to each other."

"So having standards," Temari replied.

Karin smirked.

"It's good that you've made some new friends," Choji told Shikamaru.