The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

82: Momo and Shoto Educate Sasuke

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

Momo still hesitated. "I'm sure that you can see already that they just help whoever needs it... What happened today is even more proof of that."

"No reason to make it such a big mystery then," Sasuke said. "It must be something shameful if you won't tell it."

He knew that was not true, at least they wouldn't think so, but if he wanted to get a reaction from her, he succeeded.

"It would not be shameful!" Momo cried. "They're good people. Even when we don't see eye to eye, it's never a doubt of whether they mean well, and you should know that by now."

"You wouldn't hesitate unless it was that." Sasuke must have learned some tricks from Shine or the others in all this time about how to get around people; he didn't think he'd ever have thought to say this before.

Momo was kind of easy to read anyway.

"Don't let him manipulate you into it." Shoto apparently was not as easy. Granted, he could be dense, but Sasuke wasn't exactly being subtle.

Momo realized it was true and got a hold of herself. "Of course, you're right."

Sasuke began to despair of either of them caving in and turned away in frustration.

They exchanged a look.

"Sasuke, what could possibly be the only reason they would reach out to you?" Momo asked quietly, now much more composed.

"If I say because there's some use for me, you'll only get offended," he replied flatly.

Plus, if it was that, why suppress his powers?

No, everything they had done contradicted all the usual reasons people approached him.

Shoto looked almost as if he rolled his eyes, though he was not the sort to usually use that gesture.

"Perhaps he's not being dense on purpose," Momo said to him, just as if Shoto had spoken aloud. "Maybe he really just doesn't know what it looks Iike... I mean, before you met them, what was your idea of real...love?"

"My mother's love was what I thought real love was," Shoto answered, not noticing that Sasuke had given a start when Momo used that word. "I still think so, only now I think there were sides to it I didn't see with her. I think everyone shows a different side of it, if they want to be loving. My mother's way is to be encouraging and kind, but other people's way is to protect people fiercely and to help them become the best person they can be, even if they don't always like it. Or to make them laugh... There's a lot of ways to love others. I don't think I ever used to use that word for it."

"I agree," Momo said. "The word 'love' is a little stronger than we like to use so casually, but then, it's all over the Bible, so I suppose it's all right. Shine uses it so freely--I envy her lack of embarrassment."

"I've never heard her use that word," Sasuke interjected.

They looked at him like they'd forgotten he was listening, though perhaps they hadn't actually--only wanted him to not feel they were lecturing him.

"That's odd," Momo said, and she seemed like she was sincere, not making a point. "She uses it all the time. She's never said that to you?"

"Why in this world or yours would she?" Sasuke sounded disgusted, though really he felt kind of uneasy.

"Why not?" Shoto said. "It's not a word I throw around, but the way they think of it, it's not always something sappy. They think of it as an action and lifestyle as well as an emotion. They explain it better than I can, but the way we use that word is very narrow compared to them. I suppose it's cultural."