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

Wally could lay a foundation in less than 10 minutes, it turned out.

Frankly, no one thought he would be able to do it because it was complex, but it was nothing compared to the stuff he usually worked on.

Shine just simpered the whole time.

"You look like you're into this," Dabi said.

"I am," Shine said. "I can't appreciate it? I mean, dang, give him a week and he could build the Great Wall of China."

"That's an exaggeration," Momo objected.

"Maybe but how much of one?" Shine shrugged.

"Ugh, I hope we don't have to try to match his space," Suigetsu said. "He's not human, I swear."

"Do we have to get our hands dirty?" Karin asked distastefully.

"You're a medic." Ino glanced at her.

"Yeah...but...dirt is gross," Karin said. "Blood, I'm used to, but usually I don't even pierce the skin when I perform medical ninjutsu anyway, and dirt gets under your fingernails."

"I consider myself to be a pretty girly girl, and I'm fine with dirt," Ino said. "It's just nature. Nature is our friend."

"Nature is our enemy too," Suigetsu said. 

"I like nature," Jugo spoke.

They still weren't used to him talking about things lightly like this; it startled them.

"I don't want to do this," Sasuke said to Shine, as if she would care.

"Too bad," she said. "It's important that you participate this time. Besides, do you have anything better to do?"

"It's demeaning," Sasuke insisted.

"Oh, well, Your Highness, I didn't realize you were above all of us," Shine shot back with maximum sass. "If we the leaders can do it, so can you. And who do you have to impress?"

"That's a good point, Cactus Boy," Dabi said. "Though it might make you squeamish if you have to plant some of your own genus in there. Were there any cacti on the list?"

"I wrote down aloe," Ino said. "It's not a cactus, but it's a succulent."

"A what now?" Camie said. " A succubus?"

"Ew, no," Ino shuddered. "Completely different word, Camie. And don't ever say that again."

"Sorry, I've never heard of succulent or whatever before," Camie said.

"Aloe is a miracle plant," Shine said. "Cures a lot of things."

"Hey, guys," Wally said, "come on, let's get these walls up. That plaster isn't going to mix itself."

The assistant to Koji was the person getting plaster ready to mix. They were using jutsu, but it wasn't that much more than making it stir faster, nothing that couldn't be replicated.

Sakura, apparently resigning herself to the situation, elected to do this. It wasn't unlike her medical lab work in some ways, and she had an eye for precision.

Hinata helped with that too.

The boys were more willing to get dirty than the girls, and Naruto popped out a dozen clones to help apply the stuff as instructed.

It might not have been professional work exactly, but between Gaara being able to use sand to smooth things over and Wally's speed, it was passable according to Koji.

Shine thought he was really wishing he could criticize more, but they were making decent progress.

It only took them nearly two hours to get the walls finished, and adding a roof and insulation took only slightly longer because it was more detailed work.

Those who weren't working on this part went to go pick up some of the seedlings, seed packs, and soil that Ino had requested.

"So we have to plant all this?" Karin said.

"I don't really do dirt either," Camie said, eyeing it all.

"I suppose if it's necessary," Momo said.

"It's just dirt," Temari said. "This is easy labor compared to the other part."

"It looks kinda fun to me." Hanabi was not too fastidious about getting dirty. It appealed to the overly sheltered rich girl in her to do something that her family would think was beneath them.

"Ladies, I really didn't expect trained warriors to make such a fuss about this," Shine said.

"It's just not glam," Camie said.

"I just hate the feel of it," Karin muttered.

"Ugh, stop being pansies." Tenten hefted a bag and started walking back.

By the time they got it all back, though, it was time for a break for lunch.

"For one morning, this is looking pretty good," Wally said, drinking a bunch of water.

"That was harder than I thought." Sai  looked a little flushed. "I've never given the work construction companies do that much thought, but it's demanding almost as much as training."

"I have a feeling we're going to be real sore after this." Kankuro rubbed his elbow. "I thought we were in good shape."

"It takes a lot more strength to build something than to fight," Shoto said, rubbing his shoulder and wincing. "Fighting lasts only for a few minutes, usually. Building takes hours. I've done things like this a few times, when I redid my room... I was exhausted afterward way more than from training usually."

"I still don't know how you did that," Momo said.

"With hard work," Shoto said vaguely.

"I don't know how you got that huge bed into your room," Shine said to Momo.

"With...hard work?" Momo said. "And...my butler."

"Her life, am I right?" Camie said.

"By the way, Sasuke didn't do much to help." Suigetsu ratted him out just to get on his nerves.

"I mean...he moved some planks," Wally said. 

"That's real brain work right there," Dabi said. "Well, with those girly hands of his, probably got splinters or something."

Sasuke shot him a dirty look.

"Girly?" Sakura glared at Dabi. "That's sexist."

"It's not super fair to her," Wally said. "Sakura did a lot. She might be a natural at this, actually."

Sakura wasn't sure how to take actually being praised by one of them.

"She's one of the guys?" Tenten said.

"Shut up," Sakura snapped at her.

"Well, hey, Koji said it was 'acceptable' work," Wally said. "I took that as we did good. I notice you ninja never compliment people that strongly."

"We see it as overstating to go that big," Temari explained. "Only kids talk like that."

As if on cue, some kids from the neighborhood walked into view to see the build.

"Whoa, they made it all in one day," one said.

"It's like magic," said another.

"That's so cool," said a third.

"Aww, aren't they cute?" Shine put a hand to her heart.

"Little spies watching us, I bet," Suigetsu said.

"I'm sure they're not," Momo said.

"Watch this," Suigetsu said.

He formed himself into a water-kaiju, though a small one, and spat water in the direction of the kids.

They freaked out and ran off.

Suigetsu laughed. "That was pretty good, right?"

"Suigetsu," Karin complained. "You're starting trouble."

"What? They're just little brats--" Suigetsu was cut off by Shine whacking him in the side with her sword's flat.

The sword actually made contact with him instead of going through him, and he'd not actually been hit by something in so long that the sensation caught him off guard.

"Ow! D--- it!" he yelped. "What the heck was that?"

"I never want to see you pull anything like that again." Shine's tone was scary. "We don't go around scaring children in this group. Is that understood?"

"Hear hear," Hanabi agreed.

"Yeah, geez," Camie said. "What they ever do to you, bro?"

"Jerk," Ino muttered.

"I was just having a little fun." Suigetsu was put out. "They're fine. I didn't actually hit them."

"Is that the point?" Shoto said crossly. "They're innocent."

"Next time I'll hit you harder," Shine warned. "We don't tolerate harming children, mentally or physically, in our team. Children are to be protected. Is that going to be a problem for you?"

"Uh...no..." Suigetsu didn't dare argue with her.

"Good," Shine said.

"If she hadn't, I would have," Wally said. "That's not cool, man. Poor kids were just curious... I'll go tell them we're sorry and the scary man got the stick."

He dashed away.

"Better help him." Momo got up and followed.

Karin hit Suigetsu with a piece of trash when he sat back down, and he shot her a strange look.

"It was a low thing to do," Jugo said to him.

"Oh, lay off, I already got the sword," Suigetsu said.

"Delinquents aren't in fashion, yo," Camie said. "Right, Bae?"

Bakugo snorted, not wanting to join in her joking about it.

"They're so laid back about people insulting them," Shikamaru remarked, between bites of his lunch. "I forget how strict they are about things most people don't think of. What he did wasn't anything that unusual."

"Well, it is messed up." Temari frowned. "Pick a fight with people who can fight back, not with the weak."

"It's a big part of the faith," Shoto supplied. "Jesus talked about how much He loved children. And if you harm them, it would be better to have...some kind of  heavy stone tied around your neck and to be cast into the ocean. He was very serious about it. Shine and Wally are some of the most protective people of children I know. They love children. I like kids, but I don't have much experience with them, since I'm the youngest. My sister does teach them."

"Temari is better with kids than you'd expect," Kankuro said, getting him a shove from his sister.

"I remember that," Camie said. "Did you help out at Leaf's school? And, like, the kids were super sorry to see you go."

"Oh, I have ways of dealing with kids," Temari said as if she didn't care, but her expression said that she did, in fact, like kids.

"I really think it's strange that they let such a harsh woman teach children," Shikamaru said.

"Not the former psychopath?" Dabi said, amused. "No offense, Gaara."

"None taken, I thought it was odd that they allowed me to also," Gaara said. "But only Matsuri was willing to listen to me, the first person in the village outside my family who gave me a chance. I was quite grateful to her."

"She's a little older than Hanabi now, isn't she?" Hinata asked.

"Between her and us," Gaara said. "She's come a long way. She has a different sensei now, of course."

"Temari isn't that harsh," Camie said, remembering Shikamaru's comment. "Don't be hating, bro."

"Isn't she called the Shrew of the Sand?" Sakura said.

Temari frowned at her.

"That's not nice," Camie said.

"Oh, really? Coming from the person who calls me a b---h constantly?" Sakura said.

"Didn't know it bothered you that much," Bakugo said. "You never say anything about it."

Sakura turned red from anger. "Not say anything? Why, you--"

"I think you just triggered Dark Sakura," Camie warned Bakugo.

"Perhaps Sakura has a point," Shine said. "You've been calling her a lot of names rather excessively. It's not respectful."

"If she stops calling Naruto a moron constantly, I think she can talk about us calling her out for her b----y behavior," Dabi said.

"That's not the same thing," Sakura said.

"Because you say it's not," Shoto pointed out flatly. "Not because it's not just as hurtful."

"Ah, guys, it's fine. I don't care," Naruto said. "I mean, not usually... It's nothing new."

"That's not the same thing," Sai noted.

"Shut up," Sakura said to him.

"And now I want to retract my sympathy," Shine said. "Gosh, Sakura, if you can't be kind to the people trying to defend you or their other friends, what's the point of us being nice to you? Do you understand what nice is?"

"The point is that--" Sakura stopped as if she wasn't sure how to finish that.

"I got it." Camie put up her hand. "If you promise not to call Ino a pig anymore, I'll stop calling you a b---h. One nickname for the other."

"What? You stay out of it with Ino and I," Sakura said. "Our rivalry is our business."

"Your relationship is more like one-sided bullying, if you ask me," Dabi said. "Not that the blonde can't dish it back, but what did she ever do to you? You started this crap fest."

"What?" Sakura said.

"Guys, can you not do this in front of everyone?" Ino was mortified.

"Sorry, you're right. It's not good form," Shine said. "One thing leads to another, however, with all this underlying tension. But, you know, it's not like it's different from how you treat each other. You fight in front of all of us all the time. Why is it so much worse for us to ask you why? What's worse, the ugly behavior itself or talking about it?"

"Hands down, people prefer to just act ugly than talk about it," Suigetsu said.

"And why is that?" Shine said. "Is it easier to do ugliness because we're cowards than to call it out? It's easier to be mean than to be kind."

No one had an answer for that.

Sakura glanced at Naruto like she expected him to defend her.

Naruto rubbed his neck nervously. "Well, Sakura, you know, maybe it's only fair to ask you not to insult people if you don't want them to...you know? Since it's kind of all going around."

"So the worm turns," Dabi said.

"Ergh!" Sakura said. "You don't have to put up with Naruto all the time like I do."

"Just once I'd like Naruto to clap back," Dabi muttered.

"We have to put up with you every day," Bakugo said, getting irritated. "Which is worse? At least the Noodle Brain isn't dishing it out constantly but whining when it gets dished back."

Sasuke started to find this amusing.

He knew better than anyone how hypocritical Sakura was and had always disliked it about her, and seeing her squirm while trying to find a way out of what they were saying was highly entertaining.

And also he liked to know he wasn't the only one who got this treatment.

But he perceived that Sakura was clueless about it being a reflection of her own behavior. She didn't see how what she did was just as bad, or worse, even, since her friends hadn't done anything to her to warrant it. Sakura just hated to be called out by people period, it seemed.

And she was so unused to it that it mystified her almost as much a Sasuke, but with her, confusion turned to anger, not withdrawal.

"You're all full of it," she said. "I don't know what you think I do. I don't think you're even right, but you treat the others with respect. And I'm not doing anything to you."

"Then we're not doing anything to you either, sis," Camie said.

"Okay, we figured it out." Wally and Momo reentered the scene at this moment. "The kids are okay now. I told them it was just him goofing off--they decided not to come back yet, but I said they could watch us paint it in record time if they changed their minds... Is something going on here?"

"Usual drama," Shine replied.

"Ugh! I hate you all!" Sakura threw up her hands and walked away from them to probably go punch a rock.

"Maybe we are bothering her too much," Shoto said. "What's the use of trying to reason with her anyway? She's never going to change her mind about us."

"Did you all provoke her again?" Momo said. "One of these days she might break one of your bones, I'm serious. You know you can't bounce back from that like Naruto can."

Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"I guess we did get carried away," Camie admitted. "Sometimes I do feel a little icky about Sakura, but then she says something mean about her friends and it pisses me off all over again and I stop feeling bad."

"Well, maybe you don't need to fight their battles," Temari said. "They should do it themselves."

"Pardon?" Sai said.

"I mean it." Temari leaned on her fan. "If you would stand up to her, they wouldn't have to do it for you. And why do you let her treat you like that anyway? Naruto, you're much stronger than she is. Why not just tell her to stop hitting you? And Sai, you can't think of something?"

"Tell Sakura to stop hitting me?" Naruto said, as if Temari had suggested waving a red flag in front of a bull. "Uh, I think that would make it worse."

"You know, a bully will bully until you tell them not to," Wally said. "Sakura's not that bold that she'd keep picking on you if you just said you wouldn't let her anymore. And I think Te is right--the rest of us feel like we have to step in because we want to protect you guys, but she's not going to care unless it comes right from you. And you too, Flower Girl." Nodding at Ino.

"Perhaps they're right," Momo said thoughtfully. "I've never been bullied...and usually my friends defend me if someone starts to poke fun at me, but I've wished I was a little more ready to say something about it myself. I think I've improved at this though. And they have stopped. Maybe you should just honestly tell her you don't like it."

"Try telling Sakura that," Ino winced. "We're rivals. It's like I'm admitting defeat if I tell her I don't like it--and can't handle it."

"Sweetie, that's stupid," Shine said, kindly, considering the wording.

Ino was shocked enough by it to do a double take.

"Really, for all of you this applies," Shine said. "Rivalry is a dumb thign to engage in among friends and family to begin with, and pretty useless even outside that unless it's amiable. And it's not. The name calling, the petty insults and jabs, it's ridiculous. You're doing Sakura a disservice by allowing her to act that way unchecked. No one has ever told her she's wrong, clearly, and now it's almost too late for her to understand it. But is it her fault if you all just let her do it? It's not okay for her to act that way, but no one tells her that. I think Sasuke is the only one who's even gotten close to it."

Everyone looked at Sasuke in shock.

"I have no idea what she's talking about." Sasuke certainly didn't remember.

"The one time you called her out on what she trash talked about Naruto?" Shine said. "First day of Genin assignments?"

Sasuke had totally forgotten about that...and so had everyone else who had known about it, which wasn't anyone other than Camie--and Momo, who'd viewed that part after meeting them.

"What did he say?" Naruto, of course, was never told that story.

"Perhaps you should ask him," Shine said, shrugging. "The point I'm making is, barring that, no one does anything about it. And that was years ago. She ought to know the effect she has. And I know that it hurts your feelings more than you let on. If it didn't bother you, frankly, she wouldn't bother to do it."

"Ouch," Camie said. "That's brutal, sis...but true, lol."

"But...what can we even say?" Ino said. "Just don't talk to us like that anymore? That sounds so pathetic."

"Do you respect yourself?" Shine asked her point blank.

"Do I...what??" Ino said, strangely.

"Do you respect yourself?" Shine repeated. "Do you think you don't deserve to be talked to that way? Did you do anything to earn Sakura's scorn in the past?"

"I...don't think so," Ino said uncertainly. "I mean, we split over the rivalry."

"Yes, which is dumb enough, but it's worse to handle it so immaturely," Shine chided. "If she won't learn by us dishing it back to her, then maybe she will if you're direct. I won't force any of you to do it. It's your decision whether you want to take that from her for the rest of your lives. But rest assured, she will never stop until you make it a point. People always do what they're allowed to get away with unless they have massive amounts of self control. People meet your expectations. I actually find it sad that no one expects more of her."

"That's like the slogan for her life," Dabi said. "No one expects anything of Sakura."

"It's hard to expect something of someone who doesn't try," Shoto said.

"Perhaps she doesn't try because no one expects her to try," Momo countered. "We live in such high expectations in our...culture, at home, I think we've perhaps missed that there are people who are treated like they're useless."

"Hmrf." Bakugo knew all about that. "Well, people can underestimate you... 'Course what galls me about Sakura is more that she's powerful but doesn't bother to use her power to do anything helpful most of the time."

"Well, it's her choice, I suppose," Shine said. "And it's your choice what you do about it. Perhaps our approach has run its course. The same thing doesn't work for everyone, and we're only frustrating her. And this goes for all of you--it's not just us."

Ino cringed.

"Fine by me," Temari said. "But I still think they should just tell her to knock it off. I would never take that from anyone."

They believed her.

* * *

The lunch break ended abruptly after that, and they went back to working, painting the walls and so on.

Everyone got paint on their clothes and skin. Thankfully most of them had spares.

Some of the kids came back and wanted to help. They thought it was fun.

Wally let them, after showing them how to do it evenly. And the two ladies, with Ryuji and Lin, were helping them now too, so it was going pretty quickly.

Sakura came back. Her temper was short-lived, usually. No one made any more snide comments to her.

Shine felt sick from inhaling paint fumes after a while and had to take a break. She started singing, naturally, and it appeared to be a working song:

"A single voice is joined by multitudes in song. With every verse they're finding harmonies that rise to heaven sure and strong. 

"Richer and richer the soil in which they thrive. Higher and higher a hymn of what it means to be alive!

"You've got to give a little more than you take. You've got to leave a little more than was here. You may be prideful of the strides you will make, but keep one thing clear:

"You're just a player in a much bigger plan, and still you have to give it all that you can. The very measure of your soul is at stake. You've got to give a little more than you take."

https://youtu.be/B_VKI_hPEbc

["More Than You Take"--Joseph: King of Dreams. Always liked this song. ]

Shoto used ice to lift up another bucket of paint and as a scaffold to reach higher up.

"Too bad you can't stick to walls," Tenten said. She was doing so with her feet and holding a paintbrush in one hand while she held a bucket in the other.

"Girl, stop showing off," Camie said. "That crap is heavy too."

"This work is beneath me," Bakugo said.

"I think you're beneath us actually," Temari remarked. She was sticking to the roof, nailing some things in place.

"When he says it it's fine," Sasuke griped to himself. He still couldn't believe he was actually doing this, but at this point not doing it would've only have gotten him laughed at by the others more than doing it did--but they did find it funny to see an Uchiha working, save for the heroes, who just found it funny because he was stuck up.

"Sasuke, can you pass that bucket here?" Camie asked, smirking.

She got a glare.

"He's worried he'll hurt his hands," Dabi said.

"Big talk from the guy who's been slowing down the most," Suigetsu remarked.

"Hey, I never did this before," Dabi said. "I was trained on how to set things on fire, not paint houses."

"That's something you have in common then," Suigetsu replied.

Sasuke picked up the bucket anyway to pass to Camie.

It wasn't the heavy lifting that he couldn't do--all of them were strong--it was the skills, but that actually was a bit more humiliating for ninja.

Camie, by contrast, lacked the same enhanced chakra strength as them, but she was doing fine with the application--said it was like painting her nails (that was probably a joke).

Unfortunately, she took the bucket a little too fast, and Sasuke cut his hand on the metal handle. [If you've ever worked this kind of job, you know how easy it is to cut yourself on small metal parts. Hurts a lot, too.]

"Ah," he said, though it wasn't that big a cut.

"Whoa, oopsies," Camie said sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't want to drop it, yo. Hey, have you had your tetanus shots?"

"What?" Sasuke said.

"Is it rusty?" Momo asked.

"I dunno," Camie said.

"These are new paint tins, right?" Tenten said, wiping her forehead--streaking it with dust.

"I'm fine." Sasuke had had worse than this plenty of times--though he really was kind of a wimp about it deep down. Only he kept his complaints usually to himself.

"Let me see." Sakura walked over.

"I said it was fine," Sasuke snapped at her.

Sakura frowned.

Shine left her spot where she was helping Ino form seed plots to come inspect.

"It's probably nothing," she said, nonchalant . "But sometimes little cuts can be deeper than they seem. Let's have a look."

To Sakura's surprise, Sasuke sullenly extended his hand.

Shine inspected it without moving any closer.

"It doesn't look serious to me," she said. "Sakura?"

"I don't think it's deep," Sakura said, swallowing her ire. "But there can be germs on this kind of stuff."

"Yes, be sure it's disinfected and wrapped up before you do anymore," Shine said.

The news that this wasn't getting him out of working really didn't surprise Sasuke that much from her, thought he figured the others would have just let him off.

"Are you sure he should--" Sakura even began to say.

"He's fine," Shine said. "You heard him. But best to be cautious. Please, Sakura, he's had much worse than that and walked away from it. I'm only worried because of all the toxic substances we're working with right now."

Sakura bit her lip. "Fine, I guess. You know, if you'd gotten trained workers to do this like most people would, maybe--"

"Maybe what?" Shine interrupted her, firmly. "Accidents happen all the time, Sakura, no matter what job you have. Sheesh, I've been paper cut reading a book before. Why would you worry about it?"

"I'm not worried. I just think you could show more concern for people's safety," Sakura retorted tightly.

"I thought I was." Shine shrugged and walked away.

Sasuke smirked slightly.

"What are you smiling at?" Sakura turned to him before he could stop.

"I wasn't," Sasuke lied.

"It sure looked like you were." Sakura frowned. "She's so rude... I can't stand her."

"That remark would be ironic if you'd heard the conversation earlier," Sasuke said, just to make her squirm.

Sakura didn't think Sasuke had ever used the word "ironic" before.

"It would be what?" she said in befuddlement. "And what conversation?"

"Don't ask me. I wasn't listening that hard." Sasuke was lying about that.

"Hard not to ask that, and why would you anyway?" Sakura was confused. "What are you trying to do?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, stop bickering," Dabi called. "Just patch him up, Haruno."

"Shut up, Dabi!" Sakura shot back.

"Ohh, scary," Dabi said. "And creative, I mean, what's next? 'Shut your trap'?"

"I like 'pie-hole' better," Camie said.

"Wouldn't it be mochi-hole for you guys?" Wally said. "That weird doughy stuff?" [Don't try frozen mochi balls from the store. They're gross. I'm sure they're better in Japan, but the knock offs over here are one of the worst things I've tried.]

"Pie's okay too," Camie said. "I'm not against western food. Some of it is real delish."

"I like your taki and takoyaki and taiyaki and all the 'akis'," Wally said. "But don't get the fish in your soup thing, sorry."

"Fish soup is pretty normal all around the world," Momo said. "I can't understand why you don't eat it."

"Personally, I think soup meat should be beef, pork, or poultry," Wally said. "The way nature intended it."

"So wrong," Camie snorted.

The conversation continued this way, and Sakura knew that her complaints were being forgotten. She resigned herself to it with an annoyed sigh.

* * *

Finally, they had that round of work finished.

The building looked pretty good for the work of a day, Koji had to admit.

They would do the inside the next day, but for now they were too tired. Even Wally just wanted a hot shower and dinner.

"I don't think I've ever worked that hard in my life." Kankuro rubbed his neck as they walked back to their lodgings. "Though it wasn't as hot as midday at home."

"And at least there's no threat of sandstorms," Temari said. "Though there's rain blowing in. Fall weather is moving this direction now too."

"How do you know that?" Hanabi asked her.

"I...just do." Temari realized that it was strange for her to be so sure of that. She sensed wind pattern changes, but not usually that much.

"Temari is like freaking Pocahontas," Camie said, mangling the pronunciation to the point where Shine cringed.

"Like what now?" Ino asked. 

"That sounds like a sneeze," Shikamaru said.

"Nah, she was like this Native American princess. Disney made a movie about her," Camie said.

"Which was full of inaccuracies," Dabi said.

"Shut up, Dabi, it's for kids." Camie waved him off.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Temari said. "I hope it was flattering."

"She has this song about painting with the colors of the wind," Shine explained. "The movie itself is kind of mediocre, but the music is great. That song was my favorite one. Mostly because I liked having long hair,and the wind, and I always wanted to be able to fly with it, but what girl didn't want to do that?"

Since that was a strong possibility for ninjas, it didn't strike them as anything that special. They hadn't realized that things they did every day might be the work of fantasy to people from another world--or culture, since they don't all know the world part.

"Yoarashi can do that," Camie said. "But that song is a little too zen for his energy."

"I don't really know what zen means," Shoto said, "but I instinctively think that that statement was correct."

"Ah, bro, you don't still dislike him, I hope," Camie said.

"I guess he's fine," Shoto said. "I just don't really understand him."

"If it helps, neither do I," Shine said. "He's a bit of an oddity even for me. I mean, I get it, but I don't. He's got so much energy--he's like a squirrel with ADHD."

"Lol, that's funny," Camie cracked up. "I doubt he'd even be insulted by that."

"Was this Pocahontas person a wind user?" Temari asked.

"It's more like a metaphor for their relationship with nature," Shine said. "Pantheism, actually. They prayed to rocks and trees and animals and thought everything was bonded with it. However it's a bit romanticized in the film. Not all natives were just exactly alike in that way, and they weren't all peaceful. Depends on which ones you're talking about. But her tribe was. She was a friend to the settlers...though it didn't end so well for her in real life. There were others like her. Still, she's remembered as a hero because she tried to maintain the peace."

"She sounds admirable," Gaara said.

"I don't think pantheism makes sense," Momo said. "But it does sound nice to feel connected to nature."

"But that's the good and beautiful side of nature," Shine said. "People who make nature their god end up making it a devil. Nature Is cruel and bloody just as often as it's beautiful. But that's because nature is not perfect, just like everything else about this world. Toxic plants are part of nature. So are toxic animals. So is cannibalism. Man is supposed to know better than the beasts. Some people understand that but still respect nature, and I have no reason to disagree with that--I do also...but there were those who made the cruelty of it an excuse to do whatever they liked. And they became like beasts, all right. You always become what you worship."

"What if you worship nothing?" Suigetsu said slyly.

"Then you become nothing." Shine didn't miss a beat. "Nothing worthwhile anyway."

Suigetsu didn't like that answer much.

Camie started humming "The Colors of the Wind", though she was not the best singer of the group.

https://youtu.be/nn2LTCs8KII

[Here's a video for nostalgia's sake--this is the best animated part of the movie, you gotta admit.]