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

The moon finally came out, as predicted, and the team was able to see each other better.

Everyone who could made their way back to the beginning of the canyon--no one wanted to go back down it after that. Besides, the ground was all silt and dead things.

Choji had shrunk finally, thankfully before he used up all his chakra, and they were able to pick him up.

"That was wild," Naruto told Sakura. "Hey, where did you go? I thought you got swept downstream."

"No," Sakura said. "I was just clearing out some rocks." She wrung water out of her clothes. "This is just great. It's cold, and we're all soaked."

Dabi sneezed some more.

"I couldn't get dry enough without burning myself," he complained.

"Where is Shine?" Wally asked. "I thought you said she was on a bird."

"I thought she was," Sai said.

"And where is my baby?" Ami demanded.

Then they all saw a huge bird fly over.

It landed, and they jumped back--because it was real.

"Yeah, that," Sasuke said. "And here I thought we were going to have to try to explain it ourselves."

He and Sakura had not elected to ride on the bird; they didn't trust it... It didn't help that it had hissed at Sasuke when he'd gotten close to it.

"Hey, guys." Shine waved, sliding off of it, and Emiko slid down after her.

"Emi!" Ami caught her. "You scared me!"

"Mom," Daiki said, "I decided I don't like rainstorms after all."

"I'm glad you decided that," Ami said, without laughing somehow.

"Yeah, they suck," Asahi said.

"At least we're alive," Eichi said.

"I wasn't that scared," Haruki said.

"Hey, your brothers are twins, right?" Hanabi asked Eichi.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Not identical, but some people can't tell them apart anyway."

"That explains it," Hanabi said. "I thought you had a lot of siblings..."

"Oh, this is nothing," Eichi said. "Our neighbor in our old village had 8 kids."

"Oh...wow..." Hanabi said in wonder.

"Some people go as high as a dozen or more at home," Wally said. "Shine and I are thinking maybe 4 or 5. Just enough for us to keep up with."

"For you to keep up with maybe," Temari snorted. "I guess you have the speed."

"Well, we have so many adopted kids that we couldn't have too many, you know," Wally said.

"How many adopted kids do you have?" Momo asked.

"Counting all of you..." Wally went on his fingers. "...and the Remnant kids...even not counting the adults as kids in a way...sheesh, I don't even know... 40 or more."

"You're lucky you're not paying for all of those," Temari said, after a moment of shocked silence.

"You're telling me. I couldn't afford it." Wally shook his head.

"You're all okay, right?" Shine looked over the group. 

"We're okay," Camie said. "I had a scare though... So, uh, why do you have a giant bird?"

"Yeah, is that thing alive?" Ino was staring at it.

The bird ruffled its feathers, and then it walked toward Sai and sat down, the way a hawk sits on a branch.

Sai peered at it. "This...this is one of my sketches."

"So, funny story," Shine said, "I might have accidentally brought your bird to life while I was trying to straighten it out to see if it was still usable...so the down side is we now have a giant bird. The upside is... I'm sure there's an upside if I think about it long enough."

"You don't sound sure," Shikamaru said. "And I'm almost past the point of being surprised by any of the things you can do, but...really? You just accidentally brought it to life? How?"

"Well, if a staff can turn into a snake, why not this?" Shine said.

Wally started laughing. "I've seen magic too many times to find that unbelievable, but this is a new one for you, Baby."

"I know...but hey, maybe there's a reason for it," Shine said. "And...it seems to be intelligent. It understands me, and it clearly knows Sai, see?"

"It hissed at me," Sasuke said.

"Maybe it is intelligent," Shoto said.

It wasn't said with his old malice, more like the way he would roast Bakugo.

"Oh, shut up," Sasuke said, without much malice either.

"Maybe the bird knew you were a cat person," Camie suggested to Sasuke. "Boy...this is a weird world, but it's kinda cool, isn't it?"

"Nope, just weird." Tenten sized up the bird. "I don't know how you keep finding new ways to be strange, Shine."

Shine frowned. "It wasn't on purpose. Sheesh, some would think it was impressive."

"Don't hurt her feelings," Momo told Tenten. "It's...odd, but...I mean...we've seen a lot of odd things... Besides, some of you can do very similar things."

"But it's not permanent," Tenten said. "Is this? I mean, can you undo it?"

"I don't know. I could try grabbing her by her tail and see if she turns back," Shine said, taking the bird's tail feathers.

But the bird did not turn back.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Sai asked.

"I don't," Shine said. "There's only one way to know that, really, and I'm not interested in it, so...I'm guessing. It seems like a girl to me."

The bird just ruffled its feathers again and then looked at Sai.

Sai stared at it, and then he said, "Why don't we just keep it this way? It seems like you can't turn it back anyway... Maybe it could be  good to have a real bird."

"Ahem," Jugo said. "The bird says that she's Sai's bird...which we knew. Also that she's a girl...so I guess you were right, Shine."

"Sai, you sex your birds?" Sakura said.

"Wh-at?" Camie said.

"That's just what they call it," Shine said to Camie. "Not like what you're thinking." [As a chicken owner at one time, I can confirm this is true.]

"I suppose I have always thought of some sketches of mine as more feminine in some ways," Sai said.

"And what is feminine to you?" Ino asked.

"That's a good question," Sai said. "I don't really know...softer maybe?"

Here, Suzushi gave him quite the puzzled look.

"Don't ask him what he means by that," Dabi coughed. "Crap...I already feel feverish."

"Uh..." Gaara assessed the bird. "I don't know what we would do with it... It's a bird... Do you think it eats?"

The bird cooed.

"She says she eat bugs...and plants...and seeds," Jugo said.

"At least she doesn't eat humans," Dabi said. "Hey, Bird Whisperer, why don't you just ask her what she wants to do? Since apparently we're all taking this thing seriously now."

Jugo nodded at the bird.

It cooed again.

"She says she wants to go with Sai," he said. "I guess she's his pet."

A squawk.

"She didn't like the word pet though," Jugo said.

"Great, a social justice bird," Dabi said.

"Actually I believe it was just the term implying that she's ordinary," Jugo said. 

"I suppose that settles it," Sai said. "I've wondered if a pet might be nice--I mean, a...companion animal."

"Even when he's talking about his bird," Bakugo said to Camie, "he puts his foot in his mouth."

"It's cute," Camie said. "In a innocent puppy kind of way."

"You can stop clarifying, Camie, I get it," Bakugo snorted.

"Fine, you're the one who was sensitive about it." Camie tossed her wet hair.

"Gaara, we have to let her," Shine said. "It would be cruel not to... I mean, she's alive now. I feel responsible for her. Anyway, what else would we do with a giant...eagle?"

"Eagle, dove...sparrow..." Sai shrugged. "I don't really limit myself to one thing."

"Hey, Sai--" Camie patted his shoulder. "--she can be your emotional support bird."

"Oh...what is that?" Sai asked.

"Uh...you know, I'm not really sure. I've never gotten it." Camie shrugged. "But then, I'm not really an animal person."

"My cat only supports me when she's in the mood," Shine said. "She's really quite selfish."

"Well, you did get a cat," Wally said. "You sure like the hard cases. You know, if I had a pet, I'd want it to be something sporty...like a dragon. Or a horse...or a dolphin."

"If you want something that big, you can pay for separate housing for it," Shine said.

"I...guess we have to bring it." Gaara wasn't quite up to this situation. "Temari? Kankuro?"

"I...don't know, I guess." Temari was puzzled also.

"Sure, as long it's not part woodpecker and doesn't try to eat my stuff," Kankuro said.

"I'll ask her not to," Jugo said.

So that was that.

Since everyone was freezing, they set about making a fire from the fire pit Tenten had in her pack and some fuel Momo manufactured.

They waited the night out before they started walking again.

The bird sat down behind Sai and put its head under its wing.

"What are you going to call it?" Naruto asked Sai.

"Call it?" Sai said.

"Yes, every pet--uh, companion--has to have a name," Naruto said. "All my toad friends do."

"And there's Kiba's dog," Hinata offered tentatively.

"I've never named anything before..." Sai said. "Not even my paintings..." He put a hand to his chin. "But I guess she should have a name..."

"Pick something manly," Bakugo said. "Like...Bomber."

"Bakugo!" Camie kicked him in the shin. "That's not like Sai at all. He should pick what fits him."

"Something artsy maybe?" Hanabi suggested. "What's an artsy name...?"

"Banksy," Dabi said.

"Oh my gosh, people still know who Banksy is," Shine said.

"Hey, I make it a point to know anyone who got famous for breaking the law enough to have the people on the side of the law wanting their art," Dabi said.

"Why not keep it simple?" Shikamaru suggested. "Something friendly. That's what most people call their pets."

"You're interested in this?" Temari was amused.

"Hey, whatever he picks, we'll have to call it that if we need to," Shikamaru said. "You want to say something embarrassing over and over again?"

"I see your point," she admitted.

"Hmm." Shine was eating a meager breakfast. "Sai, this bird friend of yours is a unique thing. I think it should have a unique name. Something no one else would think of."

"How can I think of it then, Miss Likstar?" Sai said.

"Maybe after something that's important to you?" Ino said. "You know, all our names in the Ino-Shika-Cho thing come from our clans' jutsus and their relationship with the animals that inspired them. Deer, butterflies, and...boars."

Sakura did not make the pig joke, thankfully.

"Oh..." Sai brightened. "That's an idea..." He considered. "I know--we should call her Zoe."

"Zoe? After the team?" Lee said.

"That's perfect," Shine approved. "She came to life... Zoe means life."

"Oh, that makes sense," Choji said.

"That's a passionate name!" Lee approved of it.

Tenten rolled her eyes again.

"Okay, no offense, but how do you put up with this guy on your team all the time?" Kankuro asked her.

"I try to tune him out," she said. "How do you put up with Temari on yours?"

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about," Kankuro said.

"Yeah...and Lee is like...my weird cousin, I guess," Tenten said. "I mean...we're not that close, but we're on the same team, so mind your business."

She didn't know why Kankuro just grinned when she said that. But it probably had something to do with her calling Lee a weird cousin.

"Zoe is a unique name," Wally said. "Like Sesame Street."

Shine threw a wrapper at him. "You did not just compare us to a show for preschoolers."

Ami smiled at them. "It's nice to see a young couple that gets along so well. You remind me of how my husband and I were when we first got married."

She then looked a bit sad.

"Lady, you have 5 kids. I think you were like that for a while after you got married," Wally said.

"Wally!" Shine cried.

But Ami laughed. "No, no, he's right."

"And that's too much information," Dabi said. "Someone change the subject."

"How do you feel about fungus?" Camie asked.

"Huh?" Dabi said.

"You said to change the subject." Camie shrugged.

"And that's the first thing that came into your mind?" Dabi said.

"I should ask the bird if she's okay with the name Zoe," Sai mused. He looked up. "Are you okay with it?"

The bird perked up its head and just made a sort of chirping sound.

"That's a yes," Jugo said. "Also she says she's trying to sleep."

"I think that translation thing is going to wear thin," Suigetsu muttered.

Karin was shivering still. "Yeah... Hey, how long was I unconscious?"

"I dunno...20 minutes maybe?" Suigetsu said. "You coughed up a lot of water. It was gross. Also, why do you keep almost drowning? I think you have negative chi with water."

"Hmm, I wonder how that could have happened." Karin frowned at him.

"Don't look at me," Suigetsu said. "I fought a current today. I've had enough of a rough time."

Karin sighed. "Yes...I'm getting real sick of you rescuing me so many times."

"Next time you can drown then." Suigetsu was ruffled.

"I mean that I'm pathetic," Karin said. "I used to be better at not dying."

"Oh, quit talking about stupid things and just go to sleep." Suigetsu made a big show of turning away as if she was being stupid.

Karin just frowned at him, but then she shrugged like it didn't matter.

Actually it had made her feel slightly better, in a weird way.

Sakura watched them and then rolled her eyes. "Ew."

"So you see that too." Ino leaned over. "Weird, right?"

"I don't know which is weirder, her or you," Sakura said.

Ino frowned at her. "Oh sure, you should talk."

"Nevermind, I'm tired." Sakura turned away.

Not everyone could sleep, but at least they were a lot warmer than before.

* * *

Day 75:

Daybreak saw them all mostly dry and mostly ready to get back on the road.

Dabi was still coughing, and he had a sore throat, and he looked a little feverish.

Momo gave him lozenges, but he was still cold.

"You know what? I'm sending you home," Shine said. "You'd have to check in soon anyway. You can rest there for a bit, out of the elements, and then rejoin us when it's convenient. It should only take a few hours."

"Hmrf, just don't have any more adventures without me," Dabi said. "I mean, almost drowning? That's one for the bingo book."

"Your bingo books must work differently than ours," Sai commented.

After Dabi was gone, they got to walking.

"Sai, where's that bird?" Sakura asked.

"I...think she's looking for food..." Sai said.

Zoe was, in fact, grubbing for worms, which littered the ground after the flood. Also small rodents.

She caught up to them every now and then but didn't seem inclined to walk with them.

But it was just as well, Shoto said, because she might do other things normal birds did, and he would prefer if she did them well away from them.

Oddly, no one really felt it was that weird to have the giant bird with them now... It was just another day in the life of their bizarre team, and they'd had enough weird things happen to them already for it to seem pretty tame.

They were nearing the end of the Land of Earth now and would soon be in the Land of Fire. Lee would go home from there, while the others were still trying to decide whether to send Ami, Yui, and the kids to Leaf or to Sand.

Gaara was inclined to think Leaf was the best choice. Easier terrain for them to adjust to, and less harsh than Sand in some ways. But they would need permission, he thought, from Kakashi.

Sai sent Kakashi a message, and they finally got one back near the end of the day that said it was fine to send the family to Leaf. If they were Gaara's allies, then they were Leaf's allies.

"Kakashi-san is really pretty nice," Momo said.

"I think he's kind of weak willed," Shoto said. "But at least he's not cruel and selfish. I guess not everyone has to be the same."

"That's something new for you," Momo said, "to make those kinds of allowances for people. But it's sweet."

She smiled.

Shoto smiled also.

* * *

 As they traveled, they soon realized that the storm had cost them even more time, because a lot of the dirt washed out by the rain had filled up the passage through the mountains they'd have to climb to get to Fire.

"We have to take the long way," Temari said. "Or fly... Sai, do you have enough paper?"

"Not as much as I would like. I used a lot in Stone Village," Sai said. "But if we must..."

"I'd rather save it for a real emergency," Gaara said. "We can go around. It'll just take another day or so...but can you send Cloud a message that we'll be a bit longer again?"

"They'll just love that," Temari muttered dryly.

* * *

[Image of Mabui sitting in chair.]

That same day in Cloud Village, Mabui was musing over some troubling events.

There was some crime inside the Village, with their forces so depleted, but that was not it.

She'd been having nightmares again...ones about the War. Ever since she'd seen that intelligence building blown up by the Beast Bomb, the sight of the pit in the ground and the sound had revisited her in her dreams...not to mention the demonic tree that had nearly drained her and the other ninja of their very life force.

It seemed worse than usual because she had to focus so much on the Kazekage's team (who'd been the most involved in stopping it) to prepare for their visit.

That had to be why she kept thinking of it, too... It had all been one big haze.

And it didn't help anything that Ay had asked her about it all for the 100th time since the day before.

She had nothing new to tell him but the slight bit of information that she'd gotten from one of the Kazekage's friends out of the...non-ninja.

Whom she wasn't sure was a reliable source--the rude, copper-haired man who seemed irritated at just being there the entire space of time she'd been around him and his friends--but she'd told Ay what he'd told her

"Genjutsu doesn't work on us," he'd said at the time, which was also a rare power to have. But his later statement, which had not been delivered in the most polite of words, had been even stranger:

"I'm not using chakra, that's how. Gosh, you people are all so slow... This thing will stop spreading any second, so we just need to wait it out. Stick close to me so it doesn't eat you. Unless you want to look like a deflated juice box." [From the New Way of Ninja book.]

Mabui had written this all down for Ay in detail after the War, so she had as good as memorized those strange speeches.

What confused her further, she told Ay, was not only what he'd said but that he seemed to have no qualms about saying something so shocking, something that most people would not have owned up to, even if it was true. It would surely mark them for outsiders.

Ay had told her, confidentially, that the blunt woman (whom he'd mentioned before was Lord Gaara's "sensei" apparently) had said some similar thing and was also rude and brash about it.

Only convincing, apparently, as she'd gotten even Madara Uchiha to stall for a bit on the battlefield.

Mabui replayed the words again and just could not make any sense of them. No one didn't use chakra...and how would you fight with such power without it?

She had only seen a few of the others' powers, but she knew that the one man's speed who'd snatched her out of the building was rivaling Lord Ay's at least. And she had never seen fire as hot or destructive as the blue fire the rude one had used.

And she'd seen others use explosions to fight, only explosions...or ice and fire...

She hadn't seen the females' abilities very well, and no one else in Cloud seemed to have witnessed them except for her, and Ay slightly.

In light of all this, it was indubitable that they were the most questionable additions to the Kazekage's group. [Oh, if she only knew who else was in it right now, she might sing a different tune.]

"Mabui!" Ay's thundering voice startled her out of her musings.

She rushed into his office.

Ay had a scroll with ink prints on it. "This is unbelievable," he said. "This letter just arrived from Lord Gaara... Apparently, they're being delayed again...something about a storm. The impudence!"

"The weather is bad this time of year in the eastern lands, sir," Mabui said calmly. "What kind of storm?"

"I don't know, but if they hadn't been heading south in the first place, it wouldn't have happened," Ay said. "At this rate, they'll never arrive here. If there's one thing I don't like, it's people who aren't punctual."

Given how fast he was, that was certainly true.

Mabui didn't know what to say to help, so she just waited.

Ay almost forgot she was there, but then he said, "Well, we'll have to delay the preparations again... I have half a mind to give him a piece of my mind when he does get here. The younger generation has no respect for time, that's their problem. They're lazy..."

Mabui had learned to virtually tune out these rants after working here for over a year, but she privately hoped that Ay didn't plan to actually say this to another Kage. She couldn't be sure he would mind, but the impertinence of doing it would not be lost on the sharply observant sister, she knew.

The very idea made her cringe. Maybe Darui would calm him down if he was here for that meeting... She wondered if it would just be her. That wouldn't go so well. Darui had more authority.

"Mabui, are you paying attention?" Ay cut into her thoughts again.

"Yes, sir." She straightened.

"Then take this down:" Ay dictated a very abrupt reply to Gaara's message that was not more than barely civil.

Mabui didn't bother to point that out. She just wrote it down and took it to the messenger department.

On the way she ran into Shi, Ay's other main guard next to Darui, and also the main medic for his officials.

"Ah, Mabui," Shi said, with a thin smile. "Any word from the Kazekage's party yet?"

Everyone knew they were on their way, but Ay had not wished to broadcast the reason they were delayed too openly.

"Yes, we still think it will be in about a week," Mabui said calmly.

"Isn't that what you said a few days ago? That's a long week," Shi said. "They're not changing their minds, I hope?"

"No, I believe they've simply had a rougher journey than usual."

"You seem to know all about that," Shi said. "I suppose it's your job to be informed."

Mabui stiffened a little, but she wasn't going to let Shi get her to show any signs of irritation.

"I need to get to the message department," she said, with a forced smile. "Excuse me."

"Yeah, of course," Shi said, with a sideways glance at her as she walked away.

Mabui shook her head to herself once she as out of his range of sight.

Some people...

The messenger in charge of sending hawks came to the door promptly when she knocked on it.

"Form Lord Ay, for the Kazekage," she said.

"Another one?" he said, irritably. "How many times are these people going to slow down? Shows a lack of resolve if you ask me."

Mabui refrained from commenting, as it wasn't her place to do so.

"What is it this time?" the messenger asked.

"I'm not at liberty to disclose--" Mabui answered, and the door got slammed in her face before she even fished.

She frowned at it and then turned and walked away.

[If I didn't know better, I'd say that the Cloud shinobi have a bit of an attitude problem toward outsiders...but you know, based on the show that wouldn't make any sense at all, would it?]

* * *

Day 76:

The following day finally brought Team Zoe, with their new mascot Zoe (as Camie was already calling the bird), to the edge of the Land of Fire.

But before they ever crossed over into it, they spotted some people coming toward them. Hinata and Hanabi saw them first, but Karin could sense them long before they came into view.

Ami said she was quite frightening as a scout, and she was glad she was not on the side of some rogue Shinobi.

She had no idea how much that remark stung.

"Hmm," Hinata said, after she'd been looking for a few minutes. "I think those are Leaf shinobi. I'm sure I know that chakra signature, but I can't entirely pin it down from here."

"If I didn't know better," Karin said, "I'd say that one of them is that idiot who fought Madara using Taijutsu.."

"It can't be Guy-sensei," Lee said. "He's in a wheel chair and can't fight anymore." He said it sadly.

Momo suddenly got a strange look. "Shine, do you remember when you said I should just try to ask about that?" [Stone Village Book.]

"I do, now that you said it," Shine said. "Did you?"

"I did, but I forgot all about it," Momo said. "And since I wasn't there in person...but there was that one story of the son healed from a distance... Do you think?"

"Anything is possible, sweetie." Shine patted her shoulder. "Let's see. Better not say anything till we're sure, though. It would be too cruel if we were wrong."

Momo nodded.

However, soon her resolution was unnecessary, because Tenten said, in shock, "That is Guy-sensei!"

"It can't be!" Lee gaped.

But it was.

And who was with him but Iruka, Naruto's old sensei/best friend.

"Did Tsunade do something to help him?" Lee gaped.

"And she didn't tell me?!" Sakura cried.

Shine started laughing.

Lee tore off to meet Guy, and Naruto ran after him.

Sakura glanced at Shine. "What's so funny?"

Shine just started laughed again.

Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Wait...oh my gosh...are you serious?" She pointed at them. "It was you, wasn't it? And you didn't say anything."

"Did I miss something? How did you get that?" Ino asked.

"It wasn't me, really," Shine said. "Momo's getting quite good at her faith, don't you think?"

Momo looked stunned. "I didn't know it worked... It was just a thought, a prayer--a wish, really...  I suppose it must have happened... I can't think why we didn't hear of it."

"so...you can heal without even being there?" Sakura said, with a tone that said she was on the verge of a meltdown.

"I...suppose sometimes..." Momo wasn't that sure of herself yet.

"Of course you can," Sakura said, pissed off. "Why not?"

She kicked a rock.

"You know, jealousy over things like that is not a good attitude to have," Dabi, who was back by now, said to her.

"Shut up," Sakura said. "I wasn't jealous."

"Right, envious, that's slightly different," Dabi said.

"You did sound kind of envious," Shoto confided. "But isn't it a happy thing? Why be upset about it? I don't understand you at all, Sakura."

Sakura had no response to that.

Lee and Naruto got close enough to Guy and Iruka to talk finally.

"Guy-sensei!" Lee said.

"Lee!" Guy had the kind of impish grin on that you knew meant he'd been anticipating a reaction. "How has it been?"

"It's been fine," Lee said, as if the Rain Village and Stone Village debacles had not mattered. "But...when did you...? Did Lady Tsunade perform a special operation on you?" [Nope, because apparently Lee could get that, and Guy couldn't for reasons.]

"No," Guy said. And then he got a befuddled look. "It was the strangest thing, actually. A few weeks ago I was minding my business and watching some students train at the pre-Genin school, and then I just had feeling in my legs again, and I stood up. Like nothing ever happened...well, just a slight slowness. I guess the chakra network heals itself after all."

"I thought that they said that it was impossible," Naruto said. "Even after I tried to help."

"Well, these things are a mystery, Naruto," Guy said. "Even to us. That is the passion of youth."

Naruto didn't really understand what he meant. "And, Iruka-sensei, why are you here?"

"Kakashi-sama couldn't come himself, so he asked me to stand in," Iruka said. "He thought you'd appreciate it... Though, I guess you're not returning to Leaf with us."

"Ah...no, not yet," Naruto said helplessly. "But it's good to see you... Hey, have you met all our new friends yet?"

"No," Iruka said.

And he hadn't, somehow.

Naruto remembered suddenly that Iruka was the only adult man he knew whom Shine never said a bad word about, so he supposed this was a good a chance as any to introduce someone the team would approve of.

Come to think of it, though, they never said anything bad about Guy either... Interesting. [I think the humility and non-pervyness of both those characters has a lot to do with that.]

"Come on!" He tugged them that way.

When they got within earshot, Tenten was demanding Momo explain herself more.

"You couldn't really just have said it or thought it, and that was all. You must have done something else," she said.

"I really didn't," Momo said. "I don't know why you don't believe me."

"Because your other stuff is at least something like ours, but that's something else," Tenten said.

"And why can't it be?" Shine asked. "You know, Jesus never healed the blind the same way twice. Once He just spoke, and once He put His hands on their eyes, and once He spat and made mud and put it on their eyes."

"Ew, gross," Karin said.

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"I have no idea," Shine said. "Symbolism maybe?"

"For what?" Shikamaru was weirded out.

"Uh, guys," Wally said, "I think they can hear you."

They looked up.

Iruka was looking at them strangely.

"What were you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"This!" Tenten pointed at Guy. "Apparently, it was all Momo-senpai's fault, and no one told us anything, and I'm always left out of things!"

"But no one said anything to me either," Lee said. "Wait, Momo-san, it was you? But how? You were here."

"I don't know," Momo said. "Let's not talk about it anymore."

"I'm confused," Guy said. "This young lady had something to do with it? Who exactly are you...?"

"Oh, right, we've never met," Wally said. "Hey, I'm Wally West. You can call me Wally."

"I'm Shine Likstar," Shine said. "You can call me Shine."

The teens all introduced themselves, though Momo was still a bit self conscious.

"It's good to finally meet you, Iruka," Shine then followed up by saying.

"I did know you'd heard of me," Iruka said. "Whatever Naruto told you, I'm sure not all of it was true."

"I didn't tell her anything bad, I think..." Naruto said.

"Naruto always speaks highly of you," Shine said, quite deferentially, to the others' surprise. "And I know you're a kind and  fair man."

Iruka was surprised at her. "Oh...uh...thank you?"

"Shine, we have to seriously talk about you just bombing with the compliments," Dabi said. "You're going to weird him out."

"Why is everyone so weird about that?" Shine complained.

"You should talk about being sensitive about compliments." Wally nudged her. "Remember when we first met?"

"Okay, okay." Shine waved. "I give up."

"That's a first," Sasuke muttered. "I don't remember Iruka being anything special."

"Do you ever remember anyone being special?" Shoto asked.

"What is with you?" Sasuke said. "I thought we called a truce."

"We did, but I can still have my opinion," Shoto said. "Iruka is a very good person, from what I remember. And you should remember people like that."

"And what did he do? Since you all know so much," Sasuke asked irritably.

But that he asked at all was unusual for him.

"He basically took Naruto under his wing. He was the first one who ever gave him a chance, apart from the 3rd Hokage," Shoto said. "And he doesn't get a pass, because he never told Naruto who his father was or made the Village stop picking on him. Iruka was at least more innocent than that. He tried to understand Naruto even though he was afraid of the Fox. That takes some courage. He reminds me of our homeroom teacher Mr. Aizawa."

"If that's true," Sasuke said, not understanding how this had explained all Naruto's exchanges with him in the past, "why did Naruto say we were the first people who accepted him?"

"Naruto says that about a lot of people," Shoto said. "I think it's all the same to him maybe. Personally, once I had friends, I didn't really care so much who was my friend first...and it's not always the first friend you make who you spend the most time with or have the most in common with--it just the one who starts you on the path. Come to think of it, I hang out with Bakugo more than Midoriya."

"Don't give that prick weird ideas," Bakugo said. "That doesn't make us best friends or anything."

"I thought you already had a best friend," Shoto said.

"I hate that term anyway. It sounds wussy," Bakugo said. "We're just tough enough to withstand each others' company, that's all."

"I think I'm more than tough enough to withstand your company," Shoto said. "Whatever you mean by that."

"This is not helping me," Sasuke complained. "Your team can't talk about one thing for longer than 2 minutes straight without derailing."

"Oh, shut up, wuss," Bakugo said. "Try talking at all sometimes."