["Caesar"--The Oh Hellos]

"Hmm." Sai was searching for any notes about this situation and didn't think he'd found any. Maybe some on the Todoroki versus Sasuke deal might help. They'd compared their situations before...

"Oh, hey, Sai." Ino was just about to exit the same door with a clipboard and rubber gloves.

Sai, forgetting that he was not supposed to walk and read at the same time anymore, looked up too late and crashed into her before she had time to dodge.

He dropped his notebook, and Ino dropped the clipboard.

"Oh..." Sai said. "That wasn't very attentive of me."

"Yeah," Ino said, but she was smiling instead of frowning. "But at least it wasn't breakable..." She picked up her clipboard and the notebook also before Sai could, though she nearly hit him in the head since he started to bend over to do so.

"You really should be more careful with your stuff." She handed it to him. "You wouldn't want to leave this around here...especially with that guy around." Glancing at Suzushi.

"Oh...I didn't think of that." Sai realized his mistake. "I should have hidden this away somewhere. Too many of my notes could be taken out of context."

"I guess we should have thought of that before." Ino pursed her lips. "I feel like he's watching us."

"That's his job." Sai glanced back at Suzushi, who was staring at them with a blank look. "Of course, I can't tell what he really thinks... This is a strange situation."

"I'm sure it is." Ino shook her head. "It must be weird. Isn't he from the Foundation?"

"Yes," Sai said. "But why would that be weird?"

"I...well, does he know how you feel about it now?"

"How I feel about it...oh... No, I don't think so."

"That would be weird," Ino said. "What if he didn't like it?"

"Well, he doesn't really like or dislike anything right now." Sai didn't quite get her meaning. "But he probably would think it was foolish to abandon the teachings of it. "

"That's what I meant," Ino explained. "I can just imagine how it would be for me if I did something like that and my family knew about it. Not that the Foundation was like family...but...uh..."

"Yes..." Sai thought out loud. "Not like my real family... I suppose if he graduated he must have completed that ritual...to kill his emotions. It's possible that it can't be reversed now."

"That's horrible," Ino muttered. "That must make you feel sorry for him, huh?"

"I don't really know what that means," Sai said.

"It's not a nice feeling," Ino said. "But it's not that bad. It's kind of just like...right here." She put a hand on her chest. "Feels a little hollow, because you feel bad that someone else is suffering. You pity them."

"Oh...oh, that is what I was feeling then," Sai said, brightening. "I wasn't sure... I suppose I do then."

"It's too bad," Ino said. "But I don't think...even if there was a way, that if we said anything about it, that would be smart right now. That doesn't seem like it should matter, but we don't want to act unusual."

"I don't know if I can help that..." Sai's spirits sank.

Ino had to giggle slightly at that. "I...uh, I mean more of...in a suspicious way."

"Oh..." Sai realized he should have known that from context... That was an oversight.

"Do you mind getting out of my way?" Sakura had come up behind Ino unnoticed by them. And she was still in a bad mood.

Ino moved out of her way promptly.

"And get moving. We're not supposed to be talking right now," Sakura snapped at them as she walked by.

"All right, all right." Ino rolled her eyes and followed her.

* * *

"We're supposed to be working, not flirting," Sakura said when they had gone out of Sai's earshot and to the tent where they were supposed to be helping.

"I wasn't flirting," Ino replied. "Just talking."

"Right," Sakura sniffed.

Ino pursed her lips. "You don't have to be so mean to me."

Sakura shot her a dirty look. "I'm not... Anyway, you've been taking their side this whole time."

"Why does there have to be sides?" Ino said, getting fed up. "I know you're upset because they haven't been so nice to you, but they're not so bad... Did they really deserve this?"

"I'm not happy about it either," Sakura replied. "Because I'll get in trouble too."

"You could back out then," Ino said. "If you hate it so much with this team, why do you stay?"

"I won't give them the satisfaction of making me quit." Sakura frowned. "But it seems like even my fellow Leaf think I shouldn't be here."

"It's not that--I asked them to bring you here!" Ino hissed in a sharp whisper. "It's just that you don't seem to be enjoying it, not even before Lady Tsunade arrived. And you always made it seem like you thought we were traitors for liking this team... I guess they give you a hard time, but it's still better than being left out, inst it?"

"Is it?" Sakura replied tightly. "I think I'm wasting my time... Sasuke doesn't care about Naruto or me. He's got new friends." Bitterly. "They've convinced him that I'm clueless...and whatever Naruto is. I never had a chance here."

"Sakura..." Ino was surprised. "Where is this coming from?"

Sakura scowled to herself.

Ino knew she'd had some kind of fight with Sasuke--but Sakura had never really criticized him or yelled at him, so this was new.

"Did Sasuke tell you that?" she asked.

"Might as well have." Sakura unpacked some medicine bottles with enough anger to make you think she was about to chuck them at someone. "Well, I don't care anymore... Let him do what he wants."

Ino didn't buy that for a second but still thought it was odd for her to say it.

"But..." she said aloud, "maybe he's...changing? Don't you want him to be better?"

"I wanted him to accept us," Sakura said bitterly. "To accept that Naruto and I care about him. Not some crazy people from who-knows-where. Stone Village is probably right to--"

"Shh," Ino hissed.

"Well, I'm not surprised anyway," Sakura said in a lower voice. "It's not my fault that this happened."

Ino had been following her up till then, but that last part...well, she was trained to analyze people's words as part of interrogation--though she hadn't actually done any interrogations yet.

"No one said it was your fault," she said strangely. "You didn't invite Tsunade here."

"No, I didn't," Sakura said. "And I never told her anything that bad."

"What do you mean?" Ino said.

Sakura seemed to realize she'd said the wrong thing. "I--nothing."

"Sakura--" Ino lowered her voice. "--did you talk to her about them, before we left?"

"Not right before," Sakura said, nervously. "Just after the war. She had questions about why they showed up again, so she asked me... Didn't she ask you?"

"No," Ino said, not surprised, really. Tsunade never asked Ino for help with anything. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her I didn't know where they came from or how they knew about the war. I mean, I guess it was probably the Sand, but...and I couldn't explain their powers. She asked about that, but I didn't know." Sakura shrugged. "I mean, I know they say it's Divine."

"Sakura, tell me you didn't say that to her."

"What was I supposed to do? Lie? She's my mentor--I had to answer her." Sakura got defensive. "But she wasn't going to do anything about it. I'm sure it was the...other Kage who made this happen."

"Was that...was that the only time?" Ino asked faintly.

"Yeah...I mean, other than the first time they came 4 years ago. She asked then too. All I told her was stuff about them trying to get Sasuke and how it didn't work...which was true... What? I didn't do anything wrong."

Ino shook her head. "What if she passes that on to you-know-who? It could look bad."

"Well, it's not my fault they do things that are suspicious." Sakura yanked the lid off something so hard it popped off and rolled onto the ground. She stared at it like it pissed her off.

"Maybe they have been a little hard on you," Ino admitted, "but they were going to work on that... They weren't just going to let it keep going the same way. At least they cared that much. Why would you want to bring them down...? I mean, back then, they weren't even like that to you....and if they knew you did that, I could understand why they'd be hostile."

"They didn't know," Sakura said sharply. "And don't tell them."

"Why not? It could be important."

"They'll say I started this whole thing," Sakura said. "But I didn't. I'm sure Tsunade-sama wasn't going to poke into their business at all till now."

"But we already wondered if she might be going to the villages to find out what we were doing," Ino protested. "This makes me think that's even more true. Come on, Sakura, they didn't do anything to deserve this. Being mean to you is not illegal. And they've helped you in other ways, haven't they? Trying to save the world, bringing Sasuke back."

"Well, I didn't want it like this," Sakura said, upset. "This isn't really doing that...it's just...putting him under their control."

"He had a choice, all of us do," Ino argued. "He just chose to be here--but that's what's driving you crazy, isn't it? You're jealous."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? Why would I be jealous?" Sakura said.

Ino folded her arms. "Sakura, I don't care what they've said about you--it's no excuse to put them in danger... Tsunade will look to you for more information about them, I know it... What will you tell her?"

"I don't know, I guess I'll find out if she asked me," Sakura said.

"Fighting was one thing, but petty revenge is another," Ino said. "This is more serious than hurt feelings."

"That's not it. Of course I wouldn't want anyone to get into too much trouble over a few spats, but...well, I'm not in a position to stop this now... Are you going to tell them?"

"I don't know if I should or not." Ino shook her head. "I kind of wish you hadn't owned up to me about it."

"We used to be friends," Sakura said.

Ino stiffened. "Well, it wasn't my fault that that ended, was it?"

"But...still..."

"You can't have it both ways," Ino insisted. "You can't expect everyone to be nice to you when you're not nice to them and you go and tell things about them behind their backs. It's like you always wanted to get them in trouble. And you also don't seem to care that the rest of us were happy doing this... What about us? You can't say that we're friends and act that way."

"Well, they never tried to act like my friend, and since you joined them, you haven't either," Sakura shot back.

There was a time that would have worked on Ino...but, though she felt slightly guilty, it didn't make her cave.

"I wanted to give this a chance," she said. "To try something new... The old stuff wasn't making me happy. I don't believe it was making you happy either... Why are you so afraid of change anyway? What did we have to lose? But now it might be ruined...at least if we make any more missteps... I can't...I don't want to talk about it now."

She walked away.

"Hey, we're still working!" Sakura called after her.

Ino moved to a different table.

They didn't speak for the rest of the day.

Ino also went back to the compound separately from Sakura, going with Camie and Bakugo, who also wanted to head to the marketplace to pick up some supplies for Kankuro, who was too busy with talking about the medical project to go himself.

* * *

The end of that day had no one feeling very satisfied with how it had gone. Tsunade included.

Though nothing that bad had happened, but the tension was palpable.

Shine told Wally it was exhausting.

"I think we're in this pretty deep now," she said. "But I feel bad in a way, being at odds with Tsunade. We've never seen eye to eye, but, there's no reason for us to be enemies either. I think she's being made to choose sides here."

"I was hoping that she wasn't watching us, but I felt like everyone was uncomfortable being around her and that Suzushi guy," Wally said. "I think it's safe to say we were right about that. But she might not want to be doing it."

"Maybe not... Well, I guess hindsight is 20-20. Perhaps being so bold about criticizing her was a mistake," Shine sighed. "I never expected to be working this close with her."

"Yeah...well, you know, I have told you that not everything needs to be a big conflict," Wally said.

Shine glared at him. "So it's my fault?"

"No, I didn't mean that." Wally held up his hands. "Of course the Tsuchikage is responsible for putting us against each other (if that's what's going on), and she should have minded her own business, but I think she's not that interested in you. Just because you don't agree doesn't mean that everyone is out to get you. I just think it's not helping. What if you tried to smooth it over?"

"I don't know if I can," Shine said. "We rub each other the wrong way."

"We have that problem a lot," Wally said. "But we should set a better example for the kids."

Shine rubbed her forehead. "Look, I have no hate for Tsunade or even Onoki. This just makes me mad, being watched and undermined. And Tsunade is irresponsible. I don't always dislike her, but I can't agree with her methods. And shinobi take that quite personally. So how would we get along?"

"That's a tough one, since I have the same problem with other superheroes," Wally admitted. "And she's probably opinionated like you are."

"Babe!"

"Just the truth...and there's nothing wrong with being strong-willed, but...I mean, you could let it go." Wally rubbed his head. "We don't have to work about teaching her, after all. So it's not really bad to just let it slide. Try to be generous about the watching thing. I would feel better if we could confirm that she was doing it, but would that make it worse?"

"She must know we know," Shine said. "I guess handling it civilly is the only thing left to do. You're probably right... I'm a little mad that you said it, but I know deep down that you're right. I just don't want to do it."

"Would it help if you tried to think of her as younger than you?" Wally suggested.

"Why would that help?" Shine waved one of her hands.

"Well, you always say you have bigger problems with older adults in authority than you do with kids," Wally said.

"I think we even have that in common," Shine remarked.

"Yeah, I admit being babysat grates on my nerves too," Wally said. "But you learn not to take it so personally after a while. This isn't about you and your skills--it's about them questioning our motives. And they haven't taken the time to learn those motives upfront. They're doing it behind our backs. But our movies are still pure, aren't they? So why let it bother you so much?"

"Because I play the bad guy when I have to," Shine said, "but also when people put me in that position. It's hard not to just lean into it and act like I have something to hide. I am combating that urge now, but it's not easy to."

"If it helps, I don't think you're the bad guy," Wally said. "I know you're trying to make these kids lives better. And that's more than Tsunade has tried to do except as Kage, and most of that was damage control. Gaara is the visionary for sure. Still, she's not as bad as the 3rd, right?"

"Let's keep using that line. I'm sure it'll help," Shine said sarcastically.

But then she checked herself. "Sorry...I know you're trying to help...and it helps, a little. I'm just...frustrated. And worried about Gaara. I can tell this isn't sitting well with him either."

"I'm almost impressed how he's handled the situation," Wally said. "He's used to being criticized and mistrusted, but actually being monitored like this on his own mission has to be a kick in the pants. And he's 17. I know I wasn't mature enough to laugh this off at 17."

"Age does kind of help with that part," Shine said. "We at least have a little humor about it even if we're still annoyed, but the kids just haven't been through this enough times to laugh about it... They seemed very stressed today. Which makes me more stressed. But I shouldn't take it out on Tsunade...you're right."

"I know you don't really want to," Wally said. "You care about doing the right thing... It's just tough to know what it is..and really I'm kinda relying on you, because I'm not that good at handling this stuff either. I might not get as mad about it, but I don't have a clue how to smooth things over... My trying to do that has usually ended badly at home."

"I always thought that was because you don't get mad at people as often, you have less reason to know how to smooth it over," Shine said. "Really, that's a compliment if you think about it."

"Thanks, Babe... At least someone thinks so." Wally grinned sheepishly. "I'm sure GL would say that we shouldn't have stepped so far out of line..."

"We're both more rebels than he is," Shine said. "And we're leading teams of mostly rebels also...so...what did we expect? I can only attempt to try to fix it."

"Hey, that's all we can ask." Wally held up his hands.

* * *

Accordingly, Shine, knowing it was smart to do this as soon as possible so she didn't have time to build up the dread in her mind about it, found Tsunade about to leave the compound again.

"Since you said no drinking here," she said, seeing Shine, "I'm going to find somewhere else to do it."

Her tone wasn't very respectful, but Shine decided to just take the silver lining that she was at least respecting their wishes on that.

"Thanks," she said. "But can we talk for a moment?"

Tsunade saw Wally was not far behind.

"Why not?" she said unenthusiastically. "What is it?"

Shine had already made sure Suzushi was not close, because he had been distracted by the fact that Sasuke was currently sitting on the roof of the house (which seemed suspicious) and was watching him from outside--which was annoying Sasuke, but he was trying to ignore it.

Shine told herself to just get it over with.

"Well," she said aloud, "we...have been thinking about why you were suddenly assigned to stay with us, and we decided to just come out and admit that we've figured out the reason."

Tsunade stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"We talk about everything in this team," Shine replied evenly. "We know how Gaara's session with Onoki went. I wouldn't tell you about it if I didn't think you already knew. You've not asked us about it, so that indicates that you already heard something from Onoki. Otherwise you'd surely have been curious about a peace mission of your close ally. And you've acted very much like you don't wish to be here."

"I knew you wouldn't want me to intrude," Tsunade objected. "And it's clear that you don't."

"To be candid with you, no, we don't," Shine said. "Clearly you want to do your own thing, and we thought that was fine. Our missions really don't need to intersect, even if they are complimentary...so this is awkward for both of us...but we've thought about it, and there's really no reason to blame you for that."

Tsunade hadn't thought that's where she was going with it. "There...what do you mean?"

"Well, it doesn't seem like it's your choice," Shine explained. "So, it's not fair to hold you responsible for the change. It's just unfortunate that it will hold all of us up, but if this is just what it takes to earn the trust of the villages, then we'll just have to do it. So we've decided to just help you as much as we can. I hope you'll do us the courtesy of giving us tasks that we can feasibly accomplish. Hopefully we'll still have the time to work on getting to know the village better. In a way it might be good for them if you have more help, right?"

"I...I guess..." Tsunade was puzzled. "But...if you think that I'm...watching you, why are you owning up to it? Doesn't this just prove that you're already too far into the village's business? Well, I knew you would suspect something, but if you know, then you'll hide anything that might incriminate you."

"Perhaps we would," Shine said, pretty deadpan for someone who knew that they'd already done that. "But if we figure it out and don't tell you, we'd still do that, and you wouldn't know. What's the difference?"

"The difference is...do you want me to tell the Kage that I can't learn anything?" Tsunade said. "Do you think that ends well for you?"

"Do you think in any scenario this ends well for either of us if you do find out something?" Shine replied.

Tsunade had to pause to take that in, not because she didn't understand it, but because she wondered why Shine would point it out. [Sure didn't seem like she understood it when she talked to Onoki, am I right?]

"So why then?" she said. "What is your plan?"

"What is yours?" Shine shrugged.

Tsunade frowned. "You know I have no real loyalty to you. I should just call it as I see it."

"Yes, we haven't exactly gotten along," Shine said. "But I wouldn't call us enemies. We still helped your village."

"Yes, but I know that help wasn't as straightforward as it seemed," Tsunade said. "I know that you let Uchiha go that first time, years ago. And that you had the power to stop him and didn't."

Shine was surprised by this, but her face didn't show it.

Wally shot her a questioning look. How did Tsunade know that?

"I also know that you vanished for years and appeared again in the war with no warning," Tsunade added. "And your actions there didn't make sense to me either. You were brash, just like before. And you didn't respect me as the Hokage."

Shine did not say that she was not the only one around that time who hadn't, and that Danzo and the elders had been a much bigger problem and they didn't get punished for it--but she was thinking it.

But she glanced at Wally, who nodded at her, and she suppressed her irritation.

"Perhaps," she said, with difficulty. "But did we threaten you?"

Tsunade frowned. "No."

"And didn't we help?" Shine went on.

"Yes...in your way," Tsunade said.

"And Sasuke is with us now," Shine said. "But with Team 7 also, which is closer to being in Leaf than he's ever been. He's not its enemy."

"That was Naruto," Tsunade said.

"Granted, but he's stuck it out this far," Shine said.

"That may not be in your favor," Tsunade said. "I shouldn't warn you about this, but if we're being candid, I might as well tell you that your alliance with him is one of the reasons they suspect you."

"We knew that would happen," Shine said, with a firm look. "But I think Sasuke's safety and well-being are more important than our reputations."

If that was a dig at Tsunade's tendency to cave into peer pressure, Tsunade wasn't clear on it.

"That answer won't impress people who think he's up to no good," Tsunade said.

"The fact that he has done nothing wrong in the villages we've been to while with us is not enough to convince them," Shine said. "So my words won't be either. But I know the truth. That's what matters. And you would too, if you looked at it with open eyes. You must admit that you have never known us to harm anyone of your people."

"No," Tsunade said. "But that's not enough. You could plot something."

"I suppose," Shine said. "But then we'd probably have just left the village as soon as we knew we were suspected. Don't worry about us hurting you over this. Even if we could do it, we wouldn't. I don't believe in threatening people into not reporting things...but I would like to know how you knew all that about us. Because some of it doesn't seem like something you'd know just from what you've seen of us."

"I think you can guess how I learned about it. I looked into it, and I know you have no records... I thought that was suspicious. But if you had a good reason for it, perhaps I would hear it."

That was generous, all things considered, from a former Kage.

But Shine shook her head. "It's better for you not to know that answer to that. And not for the Tsuchikage's sake, but for other reasons. Just as you have people who hunt your special jutsus, we have people who would hunt us for our strength, if they had the information to do so. And I won't put the burden of being associated with us on you if you aren't willing to take those risks. But it has nothing to do with the villages or the peace mission itself. It's just our history. Shouldn't affect the security of the shinobi here."

"That's a lot to admit if you don't trust me," Tsunade said.

"I thought if I didn't give you a reason, you would just suspect it anyway." Shine shrugged. "But if you think that the Hyugas being possibly hunted by people make them all guilty of treason or deliberately endangering everyone around them, then I guess you think the same about us...but if you don't think that about them, then why should we automatically be any different? You can be innocent and hunted just as often as guilty and hunted. What did Orochimaru do?"

"This is not reassuring me that you're not a security risk," Tsunade said.

"But is that something that we can be punished for?" Shine asked. "And is it something we can help? Because if not, then what's the point of using it as a reason to mistrust our intentions?"

"I'm not unreasonable." Tsunade put her hands together. "I've never particularly liked your approach, but I've never seen it as outright against the law--riding the line at times, but...talking to people is not really violating the laws of the villages. I would have assumed it wouldn't be enough to bother about, if that's all you ever did. And from what I've gathered, that's mainly all you've done so far here. But words threaten many people. And words that are like yours, about certain things--" Pointedly. "--are dangerous."

"A scalpel is dangerous if you don't use it right." Shine tilted her head. "But it can be used to save lives. I hope our skill level is enough for words to be a tool and not a weapon."

"Always have a clever answer, don't you?" Tsunade said. "But that won't save you, not here. Stone Village is about hard reality. Anything other than conclusive proof will not sway them. I'm going to say this once, before things go further: Even if I come up with nothing on you--and given your skill at guessing what people will try, it's also likely that you've covered your bases--but even if I don't, that won't be the end of it. Why not just leave the village while you still can preserve your dignity?"

"Because if we run then we look guilty," Shine said. "As much as you will look guilty if you run from this now. Which is why you're still here, I assume, and didn't just leave after you were asked to do this. We're in too deep to just pull out without consequences."

"Then for your sake, I hope that you look innocent at the end of this. But if there are things you won't tell me, then I wonder how innocent you can be."

"The innocent often have to hide just as much as the guilty do," Shine replied. 

"I hope that comforts you later," Tsunade said dubiously. "I'll do my duty. I can't make you any promises that you'll like it. Frankly, I don't think I owe you that."

"If you say so." Shine shrugged, holding back any comments on what they'd done for Leaf that would make her owe them. "I suppose I should also apologize to you if I did offend you in the past... I don't regret standing for what I believe in, but I have been known to pick a fight when a fight is not necessary. No surprise to you, I'm sure."

"It's not," Tsunade said. But she was surprised Shine admitted it. "But what kind of front do you think you'll keep up if you say that to anyone who questions you?"

"If I was trying to make excuses for myself, I would probably not say it," Shine said. "And I know that admitting fault is a taboo thing for leaders here, seen as shameful...but it's not where we live. We believe that leaders should own up to their mistakes. You may think that's foolish, but it would be dishonest for us to act as if we were perfect. I hope you understand."

"Where you come from is a strange country then." Tsunade shook her head. "But I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm going out."

"Fine then." Shine nodded.

Tsunade left.

Shine sighed. "Did that go well?"

"I think...it went as well as it could have..." Wally said. "I mean...she didn't get mad. I thought what you said made sense. Maybe I should have chipped in, but...well, I barely met her before, so I didn't really know what you guys were talking about."

"It's fine, I appreciate the moral support." Shine smiled weakly. "Well, at least I tried to help. And it does seem like she's not maliciously doing this. That's something... It just won't help if they are determined to find fault, and, unfortunately, what she said basically confirmed that they are looking for dirt on us."

"I almost wonder if we should just jet," Wally said. "Running away might look better than them digging up some fake dirt on us and then making it out to be a huge thing...but we can't back down like that."

"No...we can't," Shine said. "I wonder about that Suzushi though. I don't think he's going to be pacified by us admitting that we know what's going on. And he'd probably not care about sparing us any pain or damage."

Wally shook his head.

* * *

"Ugh, I'm gonna hit the showers," Camie said when they got back from shopping. "And, like, I never wanna see a pickled fish head again."

"I thought it looked interesting," Bakugo said.

"That's, like, the biggest reason not to want to eat that," Camie replied. "Your fave fruit is a pineapple because it eats you while you're eating it!"

"What?" Ino said.

"Nevermind, you don't wanna know, sis," Camie said.

Ino shook her head. "At least third wheeling with you guys is always interesting."

"We weren't on a date," Camie said. "We're hanging out... Uh, what's the package you got tho?"

"Just supplies," Ino said, with a nervous look. "I'm gonna put this away before I wash off."

She hurried away.

"She was lying," Bakugo said offhandedly.

"I thought so too." Camie tugged her hair. "But why?"

"I don't really care. I just know she was lying." Bakugo walked away.

Camie shrugged and went for a fresh set of clothes.