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

The bookstore was in the center of the Village, but on the ground.

It was a bit sunnier here; there was a huge circle of empty space, since the bridges were going overhead between the buildings.

It made the heroes and ninjas feel as if the whole thing could fall on their heads if there was one good earthquake, but the Cloud ignored it as if it was normal to have people running over your head while you walked around the town center.

None of them had been this far into the downtown area of Cloud before. It was shocking how different it was from the outer section. If you didn't look up at the overhead buildings, you could have thought it was pretty much a normal city...other than the rock pillars around it, but they could just look like towers if you didn't pay attention.

Sakura had tagged along out of curiosity--and maybe to learn more about the Village.

"Hey--" Sai was looking around. "--there's an arts and crafts store..."

"So what?" Sakura said.

"I don't remember seeing that in Stone Village or Rain Village or even Mist Village," Sai said.

"Don't you have crafts here?" Momo said.

"A few, but not a lot," Ino supplied. "You know we don't have a lot of time for things like that, but non-ninja have some stores like it... Still, that's the biggest one I've ever seen."

"You have art museums in Leaf, right?" Mabui looked over at her.

"We have...what?" Ino said.

"You're kidding, right?" Camie said. "You don't know what that is?"

"Sounds like a museum where you would have art," Sai said. "I'd like to visit a museum like that."

"Something interesting is happening here." Shine put a hand to her chin. "I've noticed that this culture is way behind on the arts. But that makes sense. So you have no museums for art specifically in Leaf... What about Sand?"

"I've only been there once, but I don't remember any," Ino said. "Doesn't seem to match Sand, does it?"

"Next you'll tell us you don't have a Science Center," Karui scoffed.

They looked at her blankly.

"What about an observatory?" Mabui said.

"What is that?" Sakura asked blankly.

"Oh no..." Dabi muttered. 

"Just how uncultured are you?" Omoi said. "I thought it was bad, but, I had no idea that Leaf was this far in the middle ages."

"Hey! We have an excellent medical program!" Sakura snapped.

"That's probably the only thing you have that's more advanced than ours." Mabui sounded like the snob Dabi thought she was there--but with some reason, in her mind.

"I bet you didn't know what any of those things were!" Karui was laughing at them, almost "Wow...that's just sad."

"What I don't understand is how you have those things," Momo said. "Rain Village was technologically advanced, I thought. They had factories."

"Factories? They cause pollution," Mabui said, with disgust.

"Yeah, gross," Omoi said. "We have plants. They produce clean energy."

"Not that you know what that is." Karui was rubbing it in.

"Actually, I do." Momo got tired of it. "I also knew what the other things were. We're not uncultured. We're just surprised that this is the first we've heard of it. But we didn't do that much sightseeing on the way here... Perhaps we just never noticed it."

"I'm not going to admit that I don't know what it is still," Sakura said to Ino, "because they're being prigs. But I don't understand. What are they all talking about?"

"Clearly Momo knows," Ino said. "Something futuristic, maybe?"

"But do you have an art museum or was that a joke?" Sai pressed. "I can't tell when people are joking."

"What are you, stupid?" Karui said.

Sai frowned. He knew she was insulting him.

"Actually, Sai just doesn't have emotions like we do," Camie said. "But he's got some, right? So he's not real good at sarcasm and humor yet, but I hear he's getting pretty good at anger, so I wouldn't push his buttons there, Suntan Commercial Girl."

"What did you just call me?" Karui said.

"In any context, that sounded Iike a compliment," Omoi said.

"No, it didn't," Karui growled.

"How can he not have emotions?" Omoi said. "He seemed pretty bold before."

"Brainwashing." Sai was not really bothered by saying this openly. "But it's getting better."

"Brainwashing is getting better?" Mabui repeated, with an odd look.

"You never answered his question," Shine reminded her.

"What? Oh...yes, we certainly do have one," she said. "And all the other things... If I knew that wasn't common knowledge, I wouldn't have said it so openly."

"I think we were bound to notice sooner or later," Shine said. "Why is it secret?"

Mabui frowned.

"I see," Shine said. "Well, we're not here to steal secrets, no worries."

"But you must have, right?" Karui said more interested. "You went to Rain Village? No one goes there. What was it like? "

"It was wet," Sai said.

They waited, and he didn't make any further comment.

"Is that all?" Omoi said.

"That was 90% of what we noticed," Camie said. "That, and it was cold, clammy, and dark. The people were nice enough tho."

"The people were nice?" Mabui repeated.

"Are you just going to keep echoing us?" Dabi asked, testily. "Because if so, I'm just gonna start saying 'Cloud Village sucks' to see what happens."

"That's not funny, you big baboon!" Karui cried, making a fist.

"I thought it was," Dabi said.

Shoto was smirking, but he coughed to hide it.

Mabui pressed her lips together like she was trying to keep from saying something sharp in return.

So she wasn't entirely without a temper, Shine noted. Well, she wouldn't be a Cloud shinobi if she didn't have one.

"They were very welcoming." Momo hastened to change the subject back to Rain. "Mirai, the leader, made us feel at home as much as she could. They told us they didn't want to be like Pain... You know who that is, right?"

"I think everyone knows that," Karui scoffed. "And you bought that?"

"Not at first, but our stay really wasn't bad," Momo said. "The worst thing that happened was what we did amongst ourselves, not what they did."

Shoto looked down.

"Sorry." Momo realized her mistake. "I didn't mean to bring it up."

"What happened?" Omoi asked.

"They had a fight," Bakugo said before they could stop him. "It was hilarious."

"That wasn't what you said at the time," Shoto said darkly.

"Hindsight," Bakugo said. "Sasuke, you should have beat him up more, though. He didn't even realize you were holding back, you went so light."

"Next time I'll keep that in mind," Sasuke said flatly. "Or if we ever fight."

"Oh, you don't want to fight Bakugo." Camie shook her head. "He's not like Shoto. He'd kill you, not even kidding."

"I hope you're kidding," Shine said severely.

"Okay, not actually, but he might as well," Camie shrugged.

"I'm confused. He only has one attack and Shoto has two. How is he more dangerous?" Sasuke said.

"I have to agree with Camie on this one," Shine said. "Never fight Bakugo. I haven't. I don't want to find out how it ends."

Bakugo smirked. "D--n right you don't."

"So you fought." Karui glanced at Shoto and Sasuke. "And...you're still alive?"

"Sasuke held back with you too," Bakugo said. "What's the big shock?"

"What was your jutsu again?" Omoi asked Shoto.

"It's--" Shoto began

But Dabi cut him off. "Nice try, Lollipop Boy. But no one needs to answer that."

Mabui knew what it was, but, oddly, she said nothing.

She did ask Shine, "Why would you let them talk to you that way? I know you just said you allow more, but you wouldn't even fight your own student?"

"Why do I need to? He listens to me without me having to beat him to a pulp first," Shine said. "That's a success in my book. I could beat him, but I would never live it down. And it's not fun. That's all. Don't worry, they're kidding--he hasn't killed anyone. That's just how they talk where he lives. It's figurative."

"I see." Mabui didn't see. "So did they not actually fight?"

"They did fight, but it was pretty small," Shine said. "They didn't get really hurt... Boys will be boys."

Mabui didn't understand that either.

But fighting was nothing new in Cloud Village, so she didn't ask more.

Karui and Omoi wanted more details but didn't expect Shoto and Sasuke to give them any, and the others didn't help

So Karui asked again about Rain Village. "So what kind of defenses do they have?"

"As if we'd tell you that," Camie snorted. "We're not finks."

"Yeah, mind your own d--- business," Bakugo said.

"We take the confidence of the Villages very seriously," Shine said severely again. "They all trust us not to exploit them when they allowed us entrance in the name of peace, and if you want the same treatment when we leave here, you will not push us to reveal their vulnerabilities. Because I think we'd have to reveal yours if we did, just even the odds for them."

"You can't do that," Omoi said. "We would never allow it. Besides, you won't find out any of our vulnerabilities. Why do you think Mabui is watching you--" He stopped.

Karui punched him, but it was too late.

Mabui frowned at him.

"I guess not being good at secrets isn't just a problem for us," Dabi muttered.

Shine acted as if nothing had happened. "Well, in that case, you have more reason not to pry."

"It's a little unfair, isn't it?" Omoi said, rubbing his head. "You know all about those Villages. The Lord Kazekage will be able to use that. If you're not going to share it, why go at all?"

"I never knew that peace was handing one neighbor a knife to toss at your other neighbor," Shine said. "Truly, you are teaching me about how Cloud views peace."

"Don't listen to him," Mabui said hastily. "We have no orders to ask you about that. They were out of line."

Karui and Omoi glared at her. It was the truth, but they didn't like her embarrassing them like that.

Mabui had just been thinking of what would happen if Gaara asked Ay about that conversation and what it would look like for her if she didn't do something to stop it.

She was so tightly wound, Shine was getting worried about her more than ever. But, judging by how the other two were handling this, no wonder Ay only trusted this woman to watch them. Clearly, she could keep her mouth shut and they couldn't.

Dabi was noticing this too.

Omoi rushed to change the subject. "Since we're in the downtown, maybe we should pick up some more paper bombs for our next assignment. Just in case."

"Ninja paper?" Sai said. "I actually need that. Where is the store?"

Karui frowned like she didn't want to answer that, but Omoi said, "It's just this way. Down that street."

"Sai ,wait," Shine said. "We'll go there after the bookstore. I don't want you to go off alone or even with just one person...not here."

"Yes, Likstar-sensei," Sai said obediently.

"But you can go. No need to stay with us," Shine told Omoi. "We'll probably be in the bookstore a while. When I get to browsing it can take hours. The library at home should have a bingo card for me."

"A library might be better than a bookstore," Momo said. "We can't spend our budget on books."

"Did you ever hear the Thomas Jefferson quote? 'When I have money, I buy books, and if I have any left over, I buy food,'" Shine joked.

"That's not sustainable," Sakura said. "You're so weird, Shine-san."

"Back at you, Sakura," Shine said. "I saw the magazine you bought yesterday."

"Hey, that's important," Sakura said.

"We might as well go," Karui said to Omoi. "Now thanks to you and your big mouth, we can't get any more information out of them."

"Oh, sure, it's all my fault, not you being pushy," he grumbled as they walked away.

"Do you really think Choji has a chance there?" Bakugo said to Camie once they were gone.

"Uh, I'd say he's got 100% of a chance," Camie said. "And she's not into Omoi, clearly."

"I just don't get it," Shoto said. "They couldn't be more different. I actually like Choji... He's not very talkative, but he's nice."

"What are you talking about?" Ino said.

"You didn't notice him checking out Karui?" Camie said.

"What?" Ino somehow had missed that entirely.

"Checking her out of what?" Sai said blankly. "She wasn't at the hospital or a hotel. Is this slang?"

"Yeah...and you got it almost right but completely wrong at the same time," Camie said.

"So not only does he not have emotions, but he doesn't understand idioms," Mabui muttered. "That one is vulgar though, so it's for the best."

"Sai doesn't understand idioms because he grew up in the Foundation with little contact with the outside world," Shine said. "So even the ones that are not emotional, he never heard them before. He's literal. He knows a few, but only the ones they used, I guess, and, frankly, a disturbing amount of slang about inappropriate things that makes me question the man who ran that hellhole a lot more. But, Sai is innocent. If he says something to you that's insulting, ten to one, he didn't know it was. He doesn't try to hurt people's feelings on purpose."

"You really don't need to explain this to me. I'm not going to take it personally," Mabui said. "This is my job."

"Just trying to be considerate." Shine shrugged. "You have to get used to us if you'll be supervising us every day. Momo helped us adjust when we were with her class for the first few weeks. It was very helpful."

"Class?" Mabui was interested now. "So you're a teacher."

"Did the sensei part not make it clear?" Shine said.

"Sensei can mean more than a teacher," Mabui said.

"True, I almost forgot that part, but 'master' is nothing I want to be called, thanks. So teacher it is. Yes, I'm a teacher. I love kids."

"You're so young to be the leader over Chunin," Mabui observed, still suspiciously. "What level are you at?"

"My own," Shine said cryptically. "I'm not interested in answering those kinds of questions. Also I don't like anyone questioning my credentials so much, but I can't help them doing that. Doesn't mean I have to listen to it the rest of the time."

"I didn't mean to offend you." Mabui backed off.

"I know...it's just annoying." Shine shrugged. "Sorry."

"I think we're here," Momo said. "This is the bookstore, right?"

"Whoa..." Ino looked up.

The bookstore was much bigger than they'd expected. Leaf had one of course, but it was the size of a store in an outlet mall.

This was what Shine would have known to be a Barnes and Noble equivalent.

"I take it the printing press is one of the many things you have in this Village..." Momo guessed.

"Doesn't every village have that?" Mabui replied.

"I guess..." Sakura blinked. "Though most of our books in Leaf are shipped in from the surrounding area."

"I think Jiraiya's were, weren't they?" Sai said. "I don't know any other authors by name."

"Naruto would know that better than I would," Sakura said distastefully. 

"Maybe we can find magazines in here," Camie said.

Hanabi and Eichi had been quiet this whole time, not wanting to get involved in the adults' conversation, but now they bee-lined into the store.

"I've never seen this many books in one place," Eichi said.

"Neither have I," Hanabi said. "Do you think they have manga here?"

"What is that?" Eichi asked.

"They're graphic novels...you know...pictures and text?" Hanabi said. "My mom never lets me read them at home. She says they're vulgar and inappropriate. But they look cool."

"I don't know what my mom would say about it..." Eichi said. "But...she's not here...so..."

"You're thinking what I'm thinking then," Hanabi said. "Now's our chance to explore."

They took off toward the section for teens or kids...though shinobis' idea of children's books was pretty basic.

Shine remembered too late that she wouldn't be able to read anything.

"I guess I'm just here for the experience," she said.

"You think you can't handle it still?" Momo said.

"Honestly, Momo, I'm to where I recognize your kanjis, but it's the way you write--vertically or backwards, to me at least. It's too much to get used to. I can stand it for a short time, but after a while my brain starts to hurt."

"I see. I guess that would be difficult. It's a shame though... It's not like we can find an English bookstore."

"It's fine. I can always summon books. You just have fun." Shine waved her off.

"I'm going to look for one about the tools they have here," Momo said. "Just in case..." She took off for the practical section of the store.

"Reference," Dabi said. "Later."

"There's a big self help section here," Sai said. "Maybe I can find one about those romances."

"If you mean you need help if you actually enjoy those, then sure," Sasuke said derisively.

"Says someone who never once read or watched one," Sakura said.

"Sakura, do you even like them?" Ino asked.

"I guess they're okay sometimes," Sakura said. "I mean...a lotta them are stupid but some of them are okay... I know you read them."

"Finding one that's not just hentai is the hard part," Ino said.

"Honestly, samesies, chick. I read fan fiction, and it's, like, 95% smut," Camie said. "Now that I'm all spiritual, how am I supposed to find good fiction?" [The meta humor is not lost on me... Hey, that's why I'm here.]

"Romance is a waste of time," Sasuke insisted.

"You seem a little chattier than usual," Camie said. "Did you get a caffeine high?"

"No..." Sasuke said. "Though I do feel slightly more energetic than before..."

"That's what a caffeine high is." Sakura slapped her forehead.

"I think I like you better this way." Camie peered at Sasuke. "Say something else."

"Leave me alone," Sasuke said.

"Ah, I think I broke him," Camie sighed. "He's so boring... Hey, Sakura, what did you even see in this guy? When he's not being mean, he's really got nothing going on in his head." [Why I hate Sasuke in the later show. In the first one, he had a personality, even if it was muted, but then it just became pure spite later.]

"What?!" Sasuke got angry.

"Yeah, total airhead." Camie didn't seem to care. 

Bakugo laughed.

"I'm not an airhead!" Sasuke snapped. "And look who's talking?"

"But I'm interesting," Camie said. "You are literally the most boring person in the world when you're not trying to kill someone. I mean, you don't read, you don't play games, you don't have an artistic hobby. You're a just a blob. You're Mei from Avatar."

"I don't know who that is," Sasuke said. "And I'm not boring."

"Really? What's the most interesting thing you can think of right now?" Camie asked.

"Other than how much I'd like to get away from you?" Sasuke said.

"That's so dull," Camie said. "That's the best you can think of is running away? What's next, napping?"

"The gag is getting tired," Sakura said. "Sasuke is not the type to have hobbies. Unless you count staring at the lake."

"Why are you getting involved in this now?" Sasuke said.

"To piss you off," Sakura replied flatly.

Sasuke was almost impressed by that answer...

"Is that the best thing to do for your health?" Shoto said.

"You did and you're still alive," Sakura said. "Seems to me the worst Sasuke does when he gets mad is hurt himself."

"I wouldn't poke the bear," Bakugo said. "Unless you're going to beat him up afterward. Then it's okay."

"Is that the kind of wisdom I can expect from you, senpai?" Sakura said mockingly. "What's next? Don't take candy from strangers?"

"I've done that though," Camie said. "It wasn't bad."

"How are you not a statistic?" Shoto asked.

"Because I defy the odds," Camie shot back. "Anyway, Sasuke, I dare you to pick one book in here that you'd never normally read and read it."

"That's a trap," Sasuke said.

"That would be every book," Sakura added meanly.

She was getting on Sasuke's nerves--and worse, she was doing it on purpose this time.

"What did he do to you?" Bakugo asked Sakura. "Actually, wait, I don't care."

"Did he do something?" Shoto asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Sakura scowled. "Just drop it."

"Fine." Shoto accepted that easily, unlike most people.

"Sakura just hates me now," Sasuke surprisingly commented on it. "It's a complete reversal from before."

"You know, Shine has told us that love and hate are two horns on the same goat," Camie said. "Which I think means they can both kill you."

"It means that those feelings can come from the same source," Bakugo corrected. "Just look at how a lot of marriages end."

"I think it means that you have to care about someone a lot to begin with for you to hate them with a passion," Shoto said. "Look at my family."

"Stop analyzing me," Sakura said. "I never said I hated anyone, and you're all getting on my nerves. Why don't you just find something to read?"

"Why don't you?" Camie asked.

"I will!" Sakura stalked away.

"But be honest, you're enjoying this, aren't you?" Camie asked Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged. "It's a nice change of pace..." This was not completely true of his feelings. "But it probably won't last. She's mad because she thinks I'm not really going to change."

"Or is she mad because she thinks you are?" Shoto muttered.

"So when will it end? When you prove her right or her wrong?" Camie asked brazenly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Sasuke said carelessly. "I always wondered what it would be like if Sakura treated me the same as Naruto, and now she's treating me worse than everyone else. There's a saying about being careful what you wish for."

"Why do I feel like you don't mind it?" Bakugo said. "What's wrong with you anyway? Do you enjoy being hated?"

"If hate and love are like the same goat," Camie said, "maybe to him, hating someone is loving them in a twisted way."

"That makes no sense at all," Shoto said. "And it's disturbing also. All of you make no sense to me. Why do you like to torment each other?"

"If you don't like it, Icy Hot, go hang out with your girlfriend and be sickeningly sweet all the time," Bakugo said.

"I think I will," Shoto said haughtily and walked away.

Camie just laughed. "He's so funny when he's serious." She made a smoke image of Shoto. "I'm Shoto, and I 'm a prince who always demands respect and love from my adoring fans."

Bakugo started laughing. "That's him to a tee."

Sasuke even found it vaguely amusing but didn't want to laugh. He felt he was encouraging Camie way too much to keep teasing him.

"Hey, if  you don't want to pick a book, how about I pick one?" Camie said.

Sasuke frowned. "Only if I can pick one you would never read."

"Do you know me that well?" Camie said.

"A dictionary," Sasuke said.

"Oh, burn," Camie snorted. "Joke's on you, I have read a dictionary before...well, parts of one. Hey, it's kinda fun sometimes. I'd so read it if I could get you to read one book."

"Not good enough then," Sasuke said. "Maybe an encyclopedia."

"She's not as dumb as you think," Bakugo said. "She could read both those things just fine. If you want to drive her up the wall, pick a depressing book."

"Why are you helping him?" Camie asked.

"If you start something, finish it," Bakugo said.

"I'll remember that in the future, Bae," Camie complained. "I'll get you back for this. What a traitor."

"Might as well look around at my choices." Sasuke didn't like to admit that he had no idea where to find a "depressing" book. He never looked around bookstores or read fiction.

"Oh, please no," Camie groaned.

While they were arguing, Momo was having a much better time finding things that sounded interesting to her, things about local shops and how to books on simple crafts or weapons kits...a lot of things.

But she knew anything really dangerous wouldn't be in a public bookstore... Still, it was nice that Cloud had so much stuff about this kind of thing.

She did find a book about the shinobi forces. It didn't contain anything specific, because of course that would be dangerous, but it did mention that, aside from Lightning Style, their favorite mode of combat was to use the art of sword fighting, even that they prided themselves on using swords instead of kunai and other showy attacks. Cloud valued speed and skill more than showy jutsu.

This made sense, based on Momo's research of Cloud. She remembered that pretty much all of them had used swords.

Mabui didn't though, she noted, glancing over at her. She didn't even appear armed, though she must be if she was smart.

Mabui herself was looking through the reference area now, trying to find something useful (and harmless) on Cloud.

She hadn't seen Dabi go in there, though if she'd thought about it she'd have remembered him saying he was going to, but she was engrossed in browsing.

She wasn't missing anything the others were doing though. She watched them out of the corner of her eye. But they were doing nothing suspicious. Even Uchiha only seemed to be having petty arguments with his teammates that didn't sound like what a coldblooded killer would be having.

Strangely, now that it had been nearly 3 days, Mabui was starting to realize that he didn't strike her as a coldblooded killer, period. He seemed...normal. Well...for a moody teenaged boy.

No one would have thought he was such a feared person just looking at him. And she hadn't seen his eyes turn red once, as if he was holding back.

Was it possible?

No...no she couldn't start thinking that way. Lord Ay would never trust the Uchiha, and she shouldn't let herself start hoping that he really could have reformed... Uchiha did not reform, that one thing was certain after the War... They just bided their time.

She shivered to herself, thinking about Madara and Obito and the cold look in their eyes as they'd been blasting the battlefield with bombs and then spikes...and then the demon tree had turned into a huge red eye...and then oblivion.

She didn't remember much of her dream while she was under it, only of her helplessless at the feeling of losing control of her limbs and then her mind going blank... The scenes had gone through her mind, but they'd faded after the jutsu was broken.

The first thing she'd recalled after that was this team walking over the battlefield and the plant itself shriveling up into little pieces...

Distracted, she reached for the wrong book and realized she'd just picked up something about business permits.

She put it back with a frown.

Someone was on the other side of the bookshelf, and, to her chagrin, it was Dabi.

Dabi saw her at the same time and also scowled.

"Following me?" he said.

"Don't flatter yourself," Mabui said tightly.

She didn't know why she said that, other than she was tired of his remarks.

After Shine's explanation, she supposed this was all talk, and she knew all about bluffing. She dealt with people like that all the time. And now she thought even his tone was one of false toughness.

Predictably. So many shinobi were just cowards hiding behind some jutsus and having enough people backing them up.

(Mabui didn't notice that that might just as easily have applied to her own Village when she thought it.)

Dabi didn't like her sassing him so dismissively. Someone had gotten bold since yesterday.

Shine must have ruined his street cred when she'd talked to her.

He came around the book shelf.

"What did Shine tell you?"

"Nothing much." Mabui stared past him at the wall, to his further annoyance. "She just wished to reassure me that I didn't need to listen to your thinly veiled threats."

"I thought so." Dabi had known she'd do it... Well, Shine had warned him anyway. "So now you're brave because she said she'll protect you, is that it? Sounds like her."

"I'm not sure what you mean." Mabui continued to stare past him. "I would prefer not to speak of it anymore. I pity her for dealing with such insubordinate followers."

"Insubordinate, huh?" Dabi had been called that before. "Better than sheep."

That finally got her attention.

"Why are you persisting in this? What is the point?" she said coldly. "I'm not looking for a fight. I'm doing my job."

"That point's been established already," Dabi said. "But that's not all, is it?"

Mabui didn't like him alluding to this subject again...especially in public.

"I don't know what you mean," she lied, turning and walking away.

Dabi followed her. 

"Listen, Dragon Lady, I'm getting tired of not getting a straight answer about this. Something is going on here, and I want to know what it is."

"As if I'd trust you enough to explain it even if it wasn't classified," Mabui shot back. "Stop following me."

"So you can follow us, but we can't follow you?" Dabi implemented the same logic as before.

Unfortunately, it was hard to argue with it...at least without saying something that would be a bad idea to say in public.

Mabui wondered how someone could be this frustrating to deal with and still not get themselves in trouble for it.

Before she could think of a way to get out of the situation, she saw some other Cloud who were in the shop looking her way.

Great...more rumors.

Dabi noticed also. "You know, we always have an audience of some kind in this Village. 1984 much?"

1984? What was that supposed to mean? The year...why call it that? It wasn't the 100th and 84th year of anything...

 Something about these people just didn't add up. Things they said, the way they dressed...something was off.

Mabui was supposed to figure it out, but how was she expected to do that if everyone in this Village made them suspicious?

This plan just looked more impossible by the day.

She shook her head and walked away again.

Dabi didn't follow her this time. Apparently, he didn't want an audience.

Good riddance.

But when she went to the counter, she got weird looks from the clerks.

"Was that one of the Kazekage's party you were with?" said one.

Mabui just nodded curly.

"I heard they were here, but I hadn't seen them yet," said a different clerk, one who'd been working there for years. "There's so many of them."

Mabui didn't mention that it was less than half of the team.

"That one is kind of handsome though," said the first clerk. "All of them are, actually... Ah, maybe it's just 'cause they're foreign, you know? Foreign men always look better."

"You're addled," said the older clerk. "They're the same as anyone else. Probably less cultured and more arrogant. They're barbarians out there, you know. I'm surprised they know what books are. "

"Was he bothering you?" the younger clerk asked Mabui.

"Yes," she wanted to say, but didn't.

"No," she said instead. "Just had a question."

"She's the one in charge of them," the older clerk addressed the younger one. "Remember?"

"Oh...right..." the younger clerk said. "Hmm, that must be terrible. Are they all as brutish as they say? Is it true that they have criminals with them? Ones that look like wild animals?"

"I never saw anyone like that," Mabui said. "Is that what's going around the Village?"

"Only some people believe that," the old clerk said. "I heard that the Kage's assistant was in charge of them...but aren't you too busy for that, Mabui? Goodness knows that you basically run that office."

"They're delegating some of those responsibilities to other people." Mabui was still sore about that, but she hid it from them.

"Is it because you survived the War with them?" the younger clerk said. "I hear that was how... The whole Intelligence Division died except for you. Crazy luck, isn't it?"

This girl might just have been too naive to know better than to say that, but Mabui frowned anyway. "I need to go. Can we hurry this up?"

They shrugged, and the older clerk rang up her order.