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

It took the sensory/scout types of the group less than 2 hours to locate the enemy.

Shine could only guide them so far, but once they passed the point she knew, they kept looking, following the wind.

Temari finally caught sight of a small fleet of ships, all built for heavy cargo and all very near the Land of Snow.

It was much colder here. Despite the climate of Cloud being balmy, the pressure system up north was at least 40 degrees colder (at least in Fahrenheit, which was what Wally went by).

They could see icebergs in the water, though they were farther away than the shore of Snow was.

It was basically like the Greenland of the ninja world, it looked like. After a few dozen kilometers of land, it turned into snow and ice.

Perfect to hide hostages--no one would want to come here.

The temperature drop made everyone but Shoto--and Dabi, for now--regret not layering more. They had gotten used to dressing more lightweight for the nearly tropical Cloud. [If you say this temperature layout makes no sense, remember it's a fictional world. Plus, honestly, you don't even have to travel that far to find totally different weather in the real world. Pressure systems are weird like that.]

"Crazy how different it is," Camie said.

"I don't know," Shine said. "In California, you can drive two hours, or less, and go from beachy weather to snow."

"Now that we've found them," Temari said, "what's our plan?"

"You know, we've been worried about it, but this will really be a cinch for us." Wally was treading water in place, which was weirding Omoi, Karui, and Samui out to watch.

Ay was fast, but, even he couldn't do that.

"Honestly, yeah, I think we over hyped this," Shine said. 

"Uh, genjutsu?" Sakura said, like she was stupid. "Problem."

"But, you gave us the antidote," Shine said. "And the magic part--whatever you call it--we should been able to resist now that we know to expect it. The same trick almost never works twice on me, at least."

"But what about us?" Naruto said.

"Well, if we see you go under, we'll grab you," Wally offered.

"We really might be over-prepared," Gaara mused, even though they were on water, the worst thing for his jutsu. "There's over 25 of us, and I only see 3 ships in that fleet. Eight-9 of us could take each one, in likely less than 30 minutes."

"Aren't you a little overconfident?" Samui said skeptically. "We're good but not that good."

"You're not that good," Bakugo scoffed. "We're great. I could take one single-handedly."

"Katsuki, no power plays," Shine said. "Don't think I won't send you back to shore if you try me."

"I just said we got this," Bakugo said. "Even Dabi could take 'em."

"Piss off!" Dabi snapped.

Sakura actually snickered.

"Naruto and I could take one ship by ourselves," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, Iike old times," Naruto said.

"I dunno, Sakura ripped off a mast before. Maybe she could take one," Camie said.

[A pretty forgotten Sakura moment that actually worked, so she wasn't totally useless for once in that arc.]

"A bit cocky, aren't they?" Omoi said to Karui and Samui. "Even with all their fancy clan jutsus, they can't take a whole 3 ships so easily."

Samui made no further remarks about it.

Karui shrugged.

"How deep is this water?" Choji asked.

Suigetsu jumped into it for a few seconds and then reappeared.

"Not that deep," he said. "A few fathoms down."

"But I think we found out your jutsu does not mix with water well," Shikamaru reminded Choji, thinking of the flood they'd been in before Cloud.

Shine considered the 3 ships. They were getting farther way.

"Perhaps one leader for each ship?" she said. "Sounds fair? We can pick our teams."

"Okay. Oh, let's make it a game," Wally said. "Whoever clears their ship first, wins."

"What do we win?" Temari asked.

"Uh...pizza?" Wally said.

"In the ninja world?" Shoto said.

"Ramen?" Wally tried again. "Ice cream? Whatever you guys want."

"We could pick the next movie for movie night." Temari was a bit salty that they hadn't gotten more say than a coin toss before.

"Deal," Shine said.

"You're turning this into a game?" Omoi said. "Rescuing people from kidnappers?"

"You've gotta keep some humor in situations like this," Wally said. "My buddies and I do this all the time. Like Legolas and Gimli."

"Best part of those movies," Shine said.

"Do you and Gaara have to be team leaders?" Temari asked.

"You can do it." Gaara didn't really like playing favorites and was worried that's what this was would sound like. [So pass it off to your older sister? I see how it is.]

"Wait, but if you do 3 teams, where will we end up?" Omoi worried.

He didn't think Shine would like him on her team, but Temari scared him too, so he was hoping for Wally.

"Shoto, Momo, you want to be on Team Wally?" Wally asked.

"Why do you never separate them just because they're a couple?" Tenten said.

"Duh, they work best together," Wally said. "That's the whole point of being a crime fighting couple."

"You know it," Shine said. "Even though we work just as well when we're working distantly on a situation as up close."

"Not true," Dabi said. "You separate all the time to give us a fighting chance. When you two do anything alone, you dominate. It's really pretty annoying."

"Oh, you sound like Sasuke." Shine waved him off.

Sasuke shot her a look.

"Well, I'm fine with it." Momo hoped they'd pick quickly. The ice Shoto was using for them to stand on right now was melting quickly, even in this cold water.

"I guess Camie can join us then, if you're worried about too many couples," Wally said.

"Chilling," Camie said. "TBH, Bakugo and I can do some TBI." [Together But Independent. It was 80s-90s slang. Not sure if anyone still uses it.]

Bakugo didn't deny it, though he hadn't expected Camie to be the one okay with it.

"Let's see, ice, fire, tools," Wally rattled off. "So I guess I should take Sasuke or Tenten, since that's more of the same skills... I mean, unless we want to try something new and use total different approaches to attack each ship."

"Oh, that would be fun!" Shine sounded willing to try it.

"Or we could just do the traditional balance of powers," Gaara suggested.

"Ah, lame," Wally sighed. "Whatever. Well, then... Samui, you use swords, right?"

She nodded.

"Uh, so do I," Omoi said.

"Just take him. He probably shouldn't be on a team led by women," Shine said.

Omoi only just registered that was an insult after Shikamaru snickered at it.

"That would have been you 3 months ago," Ino said.

"I've come a long way," Shikamaru said loftily. "Sure, women are a handful, but, Miss Likstar has proven to be much more clever than...most of the male strategists around here. And Temari is...well, scarier."

Temari gave him a look.

"So I can pick you then?" she said. "Or will you be too intimidated?"

"I'm not intimidated," Shikamaru said. "Though it sounds like a real drag."

"We'll drag your rear end, probably," Temari shot back. "Or were you wanting to carry your weight for once?"

"Always so harsh," Shikamaru sighed.

"The 3rd-wheeledness intensifies." Ino sighed, for a different reason. "Please put me on a team away from these couples."

"Omoi then, I guess, and Kankuro," Wally said. "I need 4 more, right? Suigetsu, want to join us?"

"Sure," Suigetsu said.

"And then Karin. We need a medic," Wally said.

Karin frowned. "I'm not just a medic."

"But there's no Tailed Beast to restrain," Jugo said.

"I'm not even sure who else," Wally said. "Did we do the math wrong?"

"Hon, you have to subtract 3," Shine said. "So each of us get 7 picks, more or less. You get one more."

"Gaara, want to hang with us?" Wally said.

"Why not?" Gaara agreed.

"Great, my turn." Temari didn't want to be stuck with the leftovers. "Choji, want to join us?"

"Why not?" Choji said.

"Sai, Ino," Temari said.

"I guess I'm not getting away from it," Ino muttered.

"Karui?" Temari glanced at her.

"Me?" Karui said.

"If you'd rather be with Omoi, we can trade someone," Wally suggested.

"I'm fine," Karui said hastily. "We should probably have at least one Cloud per team, right? To show our authority."

"I'll take Samui also," Temari added. "Then we have a sword person."

"Wait," Sakura said, "that means that Team 7 is all on the same team."

"And that you're Shine's problem," Temari said smugly. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I really don't care," Sasuke said. "Though I think our abilities are also redundant."

"Well, that's one medic but two fire users," Shine said. "Granted, we didn't have an even number... Let's see, 3 with Team 7, Dabi makes 4, Hinata makes 5, and Mabui makes 6. Then I have Jugo. That's 7. And Bakugo, that's 8. Zoe is as good as another member, but she'll be with Sai."

"I'm fine with the teams. Now how do we stop those jerks?" Naruto asked.

"I won't tell you all what to do," Shine said. "That's cheating."

"Are we allowed to sink the ship?" Temari said with too much enthusiasm.

"If you get the hostages off it first," Shine said. "And don't scare them--they've been through enough. Beyond that, I don't care what you do."

She drew her sword. "Onward, soldiers!"

"Soldiers?" Mabui repeated.

"Want to take the one on the left?" Wally asked his squad.

"I don't care," Shoto said.

"The left side doesn't bother you?" Camie said.

Shoto gave her a weird look.

"We'll take the one on the right then," Shine said.

"Great, we have the big one," Temari said.

It was only maybe 5 yards bigger, but apparently that counted.

A gull flew up to Jugo.

"There's a handful of people on deck," he said. "But the rest are below."

"Element of surprise," Shine said. "Let's go."

* * *

Wally directed his squad to sneak up on the ship, and then he'd catch up.

"I say we hit 'em fast so they can't hit back," he said. "Me and Suigetsu."

"Can we bust a hole in the ship?" Suigetsu asked.

"Uh...as long as we get all the people off of it." Wally shrugged.

"I can find them, but there could be more genjutsu traps or other traps," Karin warned.

"If we're fast enough, I doubt they'd have time," Shoto mused. "I can freeze the ship in place. That will make it easier for us."

"And it will throw them off balance, if they're used to the sea right now," Momo pointed out.

[A lot of people who haven't been on board a ship small enough to get rocked don't realize that your body adjusts to it eventually, and when you get off the ground seems to move up and down.]

"Sounds like a plan," Wally said.

"Is this all your plan?" Omoi said.

"Ah, relax," Kankuro said. "Wally's not much of a strategist, but he's too fast to have time for a real plan. Just try to keep up."

"Thanks, Kankuro." Wally wasn't even offended. "Let's do this thing."

* * *

"I'll just blow the ship sideways," Temari said. "The rest of you infiltrate it. I can knock most of them into the water, I bet. You get the prisoners."

"I'm not sure it will be that simple," Ino said. "Hanabi and Eichi said they were all under genjutsu."

"Can't you break it?" Temari asked.

"I can try," Ino said. "I don't like doing it now because--"

"You'll have to suck it up because most of us aren't that good at undoing it," Temari cut her off. "Unless Karui is."

"Uh...no, that's not a talent I have," Karui said uneasily. "But what if they have another drug?"

"We took the antidote. We should be fine," Shikamaru said. "But they could have other weapons... Still, we have us and Zoe--I think we have an advantage. No way they'll be ready for our powers."

"I can also sink the ship," Choji said. "I'm heavy enough."

Karui laughed nervously. Then she said, "Oh, wait, was that serious? The expansion thing?"

"Yes," Choji said. "What did you think I meant?"

"I thought it was a self diss," Karui said. "Like--you know what? Nevermind."

"Can you do the chit-chat later?" Temari said. "Sai, got any ink left?"

"Enough for this fight I think, but I should replenish soon," Sai said. 

"We've just gotta sneak onto the ship using our chakra, right?" Samui said. "I can help us a little."

"How so?" Temari hadn't thought Samui had any real jutsu.

"Cloud's special camouflage jutsu." Samui held up her hands. "There's moisture over this water..."

There was some spray and some clouds overhead.

Samui wove hand signs.

The clouds overhead seemed to sink down, and the water seemed to rise up into vapor and congeal around them, blocking them from view so that they looked only like sea fog.

"Huh, that's a good camouflage jutsu," Shikamaru admitted. "Wouldn't work in Leaf though."

"It's Cloud's method," Samui said. "Cloud camouflage jutsu. It's simple. Most of us can do it. Only works when there's enough moisture in the air though... Didn't Mist have anything like this?"

"They did," Sai confirmed.

"I've heard we stole it from them," Samui said carelessly.

it was so common to do this that no one batted an eyelash.

But Temari said in a low voice, "Couldn't think of using that yourself in the Village Hidden in Clouds."

Karui and Samui made no response to her snarky remark. 

All of them used the fog cover to approach their target at high speed, and they could be silent doing it, as ninja. 

They were the only group without any heroes or...whatever Shine and Wally were in them, so they had the biggest stealth advantage, and Temari intended to use it.

Shikamaru mused though.

The Cloud stole even the most basic jutsus? And they had been trying to steal Leaf's jutsu for years. The Uzumakis, the Hyugas...

They almost never started any altercation that wasn't over that. He didn't even know if there had been a time. Though, he did realize that his knowledge of ninja history was much more limited than he used to think.

But, barring looking for Sasuke (and that had been to retrieve their prized jinchuriki)...had Cloud ever attacked just out of spite?

Or was their jutsu stealing the spite? They never seems to use anything but their basic arts.

And he realized that Karui and Samui had not offered up any other skills. Did they simply not trust Team Zoe enough to share them...? But in this highly dangerous rescue mission, why not share what they could do? They knew even less powers, at least somewhat.

And while fighting Sasuke of all people, they hadn't used any special moves other than lightning, which everyone could do.

Come to think of it, lightning was also a Land of Fire attack, though theirs was a different form...but their lightning was still less powerful than Sasuke's Chidori. It was less concentrated, anyway.

It reminded Shikamaru of when he'd met Rock Lee in the Chunin Exams and no one had expected his special attacks. The odd thing about it hadn struck them till he'd fought Gaara, the most powerful one there, and hadn't used anything other than Taijutsu. And then they'd all seen how odd it was.

Then the answer hit him so cleanly it was strange he hadn't thought of it before.

What if Cloud didn't have a lot of special jutsu?

Honestly, almost no Village had as many as Leaf did, anyway. The Uchiha, Uzumaki, Hyuga, and  Senju clans had given them dominance in that area from the beginning.

But Mist had their Water, Lava, and of course Mist Styles, and their special swords too... Not as much as Leaf, but they could do some kekkei genkai. Stone had their Particle Jutsu and other things like it, Earth Style attacks. Even the bandits, lower level fighters, had had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

But...come to think of it, the one Land of Lightning scum they'd caught with the bandits had only used lightning too.

And Rain Village...they had less too, but they'd had the Konan woman and some others, a few things.

Sand had theirs too. Puppets, Wind Style, Sand Style...

All of them somewhat unique, though they had the same centers. But the individual users had their own attacks. Temari's style wasn't like the other wind users. Gaara wasn't like other sand users.

It was uncommon for low level shinobi not to have kekkei genkai, but what was weird was that Shikamaru didn't think even Ay or Bee has used any attack other than lighting and swords and speed, beyond what the 8-Tails could do. Which was not Bee's own talents, but the Beast's.

"Shika, is something wrong?" Ino asked him suddenly. "You're frowning."

"Am I?" Shikamaru looked up.

"Yes, like you're trying to solve a problem. You always get that look," Choji said.

"Oh...yeah, well, I was puzzling on something," Shikamaru said. "I don't know if I really am sure yet...but, have you two noticed any Cloud ninja using any special jutsu attacks since we arrived?"

Ino and Choji thought.

"Only Lightning Style," Ino said.

Choji nodded.

"But that's not special. They all attack the same way," Shikamaru said.

"That's not that unusual." Ino knew that too.

"It's unusual for the Kage not to have a special style. All the Kages of the other Village have a unique jutsu. Ay only has speed," Shikamaru said. "Just chakra-induced speed. And durability. And isn't that all we've heard of his ancestor? Lightning, speed, strength."

"Hmm, that is true. Maybe he doesn't have any other affinity," Ino said. "But so what? He's still scary."

"He is, but does he sound a little like Might Guy to you, then?" Shikamaru said.

They thought.

"Hey, they are kinda similar," Choji said, "the way they fight."

"I guess so," Ino said. "Not personality-wise, but, yeah, their attacks...minus the lightning for Might Guy."

"I can't be sure," Shikamaru mused, putting a hand to his chin. "But, I had the weirdest thought: Do Cloud not have special kekkei genkai of their own?"

"They do. Mabui-san has one," Choji said. "That teleportation thing she does."

"Yes...and she's the only one we've seen use a unique jutsu style," Shikamaru said.

Ino and Choji exchanged a glance.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Ino said. "But...every Village has their own special jutsus, Shika. I mean, they have clans. More than one. How could Cloud only have one?"

"I don't know that it does, but even their normal shinobi have less diverse abilities than we do," Shikamaru said. "They rely on swords, even fighting an Uchiha...and lightning, and it was basic lightning, too, not any controlled attack like we can do. And I've never seen them use clones."

"So?" Choji said. "That doesn't prove they don't have anything. Maybe it's because they just met us. They don't like us too much."

"So why not initially use them?" Shikamaru said.

"They didn't want us to have info on them?" Ino said.

"But they want us to assume they have nothing?" Shikamaru said. "If it comes down to it, what Cloud fighters have we seen that we couldn't easily beat, outside the ones we're working with now and the other officials?"

"I'm sure they're tougher than they've shown us," Choji said.

"Really? Because I think even I could take Karui single-handedly," Shikamaru said. "And you could take her and Samui both by yourself, based on what we've seen. Ino wouldn't even have to fight them, probably. And we're not the strongest of our Village. Sasuke and Team Taka beat them even with handicaps. Either the Cloud weren't trying that hard, or they really had no other attacks."

"How could they be that weak?" Ino protested. "Cloud Village is feared by everyone else."

"Because no one knows anything about them," Shikamaru said. "If I'm right--and it's a long shot--but if I am, that would be the only way to protect their image, so no one would want to attack them...but things might add up: why there's never been a massacre here over a powerful clan, Why no one has ever stolen their jutsus. You never hear of that. Why Mabui is so prized as an assistant despite her clear vulnerability to many attacks."

"Or she's just good at her job," Ino said.

"That's not enough in the ninja game, you know that," Shikamaru said. "You have to have skill...or a bargaining chip."

"She might have skill. She and Dabi held their own alone for most of the amnesia crisis," Choji said. 

"Maybe, but that could have been mostly Dabi," Shikamaru said. "I'm not positive I'm right...but keep an eye on them. See if they use any other attacks. They never once bragged to us about any special power they have, only their skills in sword fighting. That's odd in of itself. No one in Leaf would brag about mastering swordplay when we have jutsus."

"Well, it's a useful skill. Even Sasuke uses one," Ino said.

"Has he ever threatened anyone with it?" Shikamaru said.

"No..." Ino reflected. "I guess not."

"I still think that sounds too odd," Choji insisted. "What would the odds of a whole Village not having more than one clan with special powers be?"

Shikamaru nodded. It did sound farfetched.

 * * *

Mabui used the same fog camouflage on the other team.

Shine, Dabi, and Bakugo were using Sai's flying bird sketches to stay out of the water for now, and the fog covered them too, if they flew low.

"I don't care if you destroy the ship," Shine said. "Just don't kill anyone. Be gentle with prisoners. They may be in a state of shock."

"Or worse," Dabi said. "Sparky and Wise Guy's description was pretty freaky. And how could they be under genjutsu for so long? I thought it lasted hours, usually."

"It's not even that," Sakura said. "Something about it is creepy. Do you think they drug them repeatedly?"

"Would explain a lot," Sasuke said. "But they'd be useless as workers if they kept them in that state."

"Depends on what you want them to work as," Shine said darkly. "I hate to even go there. I hope they're all right."

"You seem to care a lot about people you don't even know," Mabui observed.

"Shouldn't I care about their suffering?" Shine said.

"I didn't say otherwise..." Mabui looked down. "I suppose I know by now that that's your trademark...but ours is to protect our own people."

"If this is some kind of excuse for Ay's wanting to pull out," Sasuke said, "save it. It's things like this that that made me want to quit the Village."

"I thought it was for revenge," Sakura said.

"You of all people know it was more than that." Sasuke glared at her.

"Do I really know anything?" Sakura replied.

"Will you two control yourselves for at least one hour?" Dabi interrupted. "This twisted dynamic of yours is bad enough when we're not in peril. How did you even get along in that wilderness, even with amnesia?"

"Actually they were getting along better while they had it," Hinata said quietly.

"Were they?" Naruto said. "I wish I remembered that."

"Burn," Shine muttered.

"I'm glad you made Hanabi stay back," Hinata said. "She's already been in so much danger... I feel terrible for it. I just hope Lord Ay..." She trailed off.

"He won't harm her," Mabui said. "He'd not dishonor the Village by doing that when you're helping us..."

She hesitated. "I know he comes off as indifferent at times. He's a man of war. Making tough decisions is part of the role. But he is not wholly without pity."

"I wish we saw some of it on the outside," Naruto said bluntly.

"Or at all," Bakugo added.

"I believe it," Shine said. "Did I ever tell you why I like Ay?"

"I don't think so." Mabui would have liked to know this.

"It's not a long story, so we have time before we get close." Shine glanced at the ship again. "In the war prior to the recent one--well, it might have been after it--but in a time when Leaf and Cloud were still enemies (so really any time before now), Ay had some wounded shinobi on a mission to catch some unsavory ninjas with an exploding parasite jutsu."

"I've heard of that," Mabui said. "Our medical records have it under unusual enemy warfare... Shi had to go over that for the hospital. He asked Lord Ay about that time; it was before he was a medic."

"What did Ay say about it?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing," Mabui recalled. "He just said they found a solution but it wasn't worth recording. Which I thought was odd. But we didn't question it."

"Big surprise there," Dabi said. "Of course he'd not mention the real reason."

"I guess it was too embarrassing for him," Shine said. "It was Tsunade's niece, Shizune, who actually saved the infected shinobi. Ay begged Tsunade for help, even on his knees."

"No!" Mabui was shocked. "Lord Ay? Surely you're mistaken."

"I'm not." Shine didn't say it angrily, just firmly. "Tsunade was not the most helpful person at the time, but she finally agreed to it if he won an arm-wrestling match...after standing out all night waiting for her to come meet him...in the rain... Ay is persistent."

"I forgot that part. That's gold," Dabi snickered. "Like a boulder... Sounds like something my old man would do if he thought it would get him farther up in the rankings... Frick, at least Ay had an unselfish reason for being a stubborn ass."

Mabui didn't bother to say he shouldn't talk about Ay that way; she knew it wouldn't do any good by now.

"He did win," Shine said. "By speed. I guess he caught her off guard. I admire Tsunade only for being willing to help an enemy at all, considering her maturity as a person at the time. I wonder if that was why the Cloud didn't attack Leaf too much for a while. There are moments of mercy even between enemies sometimes. It's astonishing if you know how much they hate each other."

"This story is hard to believe," Mabui said. "And if you had not said he stood all night in the rain, I would not believe it. But you couldn't possibly expect me to believe that unless it was true. It's too ridiculous. But it sounds Iike him. He's stood out an entire day waiting for news before."

Naruto chuckled. "That's so funny... Bee's so much more laid back than Ay. How are they brothers?"

"They aren't actual brothers, you know," Shine said. "Honorary, remember?"

"Oh, right...but still, you'd think they'd be more alike," Naruto said.

"And how alike are you and Sasuke?" Sakura said. "Besides, Ay and Bee are alike. They're both stubborn, and they're both one-track. Only, Bee is what Camie would call a mix track, and Ay is making tracks in everything."

"I didn't expect that kind of joke from you," Dabi said.

"I'm trying new things," Sakura said. "Apparently, I have no sense of humor." She made a face at him.

"Well, that joke was awful. Maybe that's not gonna change," Dabi said.

"Like you're ever actually funny," Sakura said.

"I think he's funny...sometimes," Naruto said. "But only when I don't like the person he's insulting."

"Every smart aleck is funny if they're sassing someone you don't like," Shine said. "I've learned that many times that some of my people won't like me as soon as I turn it on them but are all for it before then."

"So that's why you've defended Ay." Sasuke looked at Shine. "I've wondered the entire time in Cloud how you could think of him as any better than Onoki. But that's just the kind of crap you would do, so you like it."

"Thanks...I think." Shine gave him a wry look. "I think I'd have just outwitted her into it. But I'd say that Ay might even be more effective against Tsunade. She's never liked me that much."

"I think she likes you more than before," Naruto said. 

"It sounds as if Ay-sama is a kind man deep down," Hinata said strangely. "To his own people. I can't...see our Kage swallowing their pride enough to ask an enemy for help for one lowly shinobi."

"Lord Ay views all his people as valuable, no matter their skills," Mabui said. "It's one of the reasons Cloud adores him, though...well, of course, he can be a lot to handle for us."

"I'm surprised that Cloud appreciates any trait that sounds remotely like one we'd agree with," Dabi said.

"Touya," Shine warned. "Aren't we past this?"

"Usually we don't agree with any Villages," Dabi said. "What? I can't admit that anything about Cloud turned out to not suck as much as we thought?"

"Wow, you made him admit it doesn't sucks as much as he thought," Bakugo said to Mabui. "That's the most he's ever complimented any of you. The frick happened in that glade?"

"Nothing," Mabui said almost too quickly. "I'm sure he's being sarcastic anyway."

"Always," Sakura said. "If it's any consolation, you're not the only one he's a jerk to. He's never been nice to me, ever."

"I think he's about as nice to you as anyone else," Sasuke noted, too low for Dabi to hear him over the water.

"No, he hates me," Sakura said. "He's always insulting me. From day one."

"He might just be the kind of person who does that because he can't say anything else," Sasuke said, as if he knew from personal experience--which he did.

"Why couldn't you say something nice?" Sakura didn't buy it. "It's no different than saying something mean. If you really think about it."

"It is different," Sasuke said. "Saying nice things makes you vulnerable. People think they can use it against you if you have a soft spot for someone. You think he likes Hanabi, don't you? But he usually quips at her too. Only she doesn't mind it."

"But he's also says nice things about her," Sakura said.

"Not often. Only indirectly," Sasuke said. "I doubt Dabi dislikes anyone in the team that much more than anyone else, maybe just doesn't like anyone, period. But I doubt they were any higher on his his list than anyone else. He doesn't even talk nicely to his own brother."

"But they have a rivalry," Sakura said. "That makes more sense... Though I guess they've gotten a little better lately. The challenges of the mission seem to make them agree more."

"Whatever." Sasuke didn't care to discuss it any longer.

But it was strange that he'd said anything at all about it.

"You think it's BS, right?" Sakura applied to Mabui. "Someone acting like a jerk because they don't know know how to act nice."

"No," Mabui said. "I think that would sum up many of my comrades' from Cloud actions. Ours is a very direct Village. But some people find it harder to be direct about good things than bad things. Lord Ay only praises us directly rarely, and when he's mostly not thinking of how it sounds. I can't say for sure if that means your teammate really likes you or if he's genuinely an ass."

She looked down for a moment. "Though I think perhaps there's more merit to what Uchiha-san is saying, after what I've observed recently."

"Really?" Sakura said oddly. "Why?"

"I don't know that a man who regrets killing even enemies can be completely mean-spirited," Mabui said. "His hatred of Cloud seems to be based more on our...indiscretions against your team and Leaf... Unfortunately, I can't exactly say that's uncommon for ninjas to resent... I don't like it, but I can't condemn it more than what we do. It wouldn't be fair."

"I did not expect that from you." Sasuke glanced at her again.

"You all think the worst of us," Mabui stated flatly. "That we're never fair, never willing to consider anyone else's perspective. But we're not machines. We can feel pity. Perhaps, even for you, if you allowed anyone to see you as less than a monster."

Sasuke was stunned that she'd said that to him.

Mabui was surprised at herself. Where had she got the resolve? She was scared of him...and yet she'd started to lose that fear after watching him act more normal with his team. But to go so far...

But Sasuke did nothing to her.

Sakura only glanced at both of them weirdly and didn't comment.