The Way Through Stone Village (Naruto)

6: Group up

[OP: "Bitter Water"--The Oh Hellos]

"Did we ever decide how to approach the Tsuchikage about our quest?" Gaara asked Temari and Kankuro after breakfast.

"Not in so many words," Temari said, polishing her fan. "Dang it, I need to repaint these stars. That acid rain ruined the paint."

"Now they look like they're bleeding," Kankuro said.

"Ew!" Temari said.

"Hey, it's kind of cool that way if you ask me," Kankuro said.

"You're such a guy about stuff," Temari said.

"And you're such a girl," Kankuro said.

He got shoved out of the room with a gust of wind and nearly hit Shikamaru as he was lazily moving towards the exit.

"You never do that to me," Gaara said to Temari, quite calmly.

"Oh? Well, Kankuro is used to it," Temari shrugged, putting her fan back down.

"That right there," Kankuro said, coming back in and rubbing his head, "is why you've never had a boyfriend."

"And how many girlfriends have you had again?" Temari replied.

"This is not on topic," Gaara said.

"Sorry, I swear the heroes' habit of being too light about things is rubbing off on me," Temari straightened. "But I think we shouldn't hit Lord Onoki with all that right away. There has to be some way to ease more into it. Mei was one thing, but she's just...different."

"We have to do something here," Gaara said. "If they won't let us help them with missions, how else would we occupy our time?"

"The same as before, I guess. We could help them with stuff," Kankuro said.

"Would that satisfy them?" Gaara wondered.

"Hey." Wally poked his head in. "If you kids want any ideas, I do have a suggestion."

"I'm not a kid," Temari said. "20 soon to be 21, remember?"

"Oh, you're grown up, huh?" Wally said. "You must like younger men then."

Temari blushed. "What?"

"The point is," Wally went on, "I think the service idea is good, but you were a little worried about people thinking you were chumps, right? But it's still a thing for other nations to give each other gifts?"

"It can be," Gaara said. "But it has been a trap."

"Oh, they Trojan Horse it, huh?" Wally said. "Shine would be proud I made the reference. Hey, pro tip, smart people like it when you know about stuff they're interested in, even if it's just a little bit. Shows effort. Keep that in mind, Tee-Girl."

"Tee-Girl?" Temari said, in disgust.

"But hey, if you make the gift something right here in the village, you couldn't be sneaking in any trap, so what's wrong with that?" Wally said. "And it's less embarrassing for you that way, isn't it?"

"That's not a bad idea," Gaara said. "If we had any idea what they wanted."

"You could find out," Wally said. "Ask around. We want to meet the village anyway, right? Just like before."

"It's worth a shot," Temari said. "Unless you have a better idea?" she asked her brothers.

"I got nothing," Kankuro said.

"I like this one," Gaara said. "We tried doing some things in Mist that were unusual, and they work all right, but we should incorporate it into something more workable for everyone, not just us. Mei was kind enough to overlook our blunders, but I would make them less in the first place."