Danzo stood before the Senju Princess, regarding the woman bemusedly. It was unusual for the Godaime to be in the office without her fellow Sannin-turned-guard dog, and even rarer for the office to be empty of her Nara shadow.
"As you know, Koharu is out of the Village, so the next Council of Elders meeting will have to be postponed until her return." The woman began, her tone frank, meeting Danzo's gaze evenly, her face perfectly bland, proving that she knew how to behave like a kunoichi, just chose not to.
"That seems logical." Danzo replied, withholding the more acerbic reply on the tip of his tongue.
"I'm glad you agree." The Godaime acknowledged, then inclined her head at Danzo seriously. "I didn't call you in here just for that, however."
Danzo relaxed slightly, curiosity piqued. He hadn't interacted with the Senju Princess since her return beyond the formulaic interactions necessitated by their respective posts in the Village. He was mollified by her acknowledgement of the summon being uncharacteristic.
"You and Saruobi-sensei may have had your disagreements, but I am not him. I am not my grandfather, either." She announced, a challenging look in her eyes that dared Danzo to disagree. He stayed silent, thoughtful, curious where the Senju was going with this. "I would appreciate your perspective in the next Council of Clans meeting."
Danzo blinked, keeping his features perfectly neutral. This was…unprecedented, but not unwelcome.
"I will be there." he replied, then, offering the woman the first acknowledgement of her position, inclined his head. "Hokage."
Kurenai startled when there was a knock on the door, exchanging a glance with Asuma over the kitchen table.
"Expecting more company?" Asuma asked drily, the picture of unbothered, though she knew him well enough to detect the surprise underneath the blasé exterior.
"Not to my knowledge." Kurenai huffed, concentrating on the presence on the other side of the door.
Kurenai's apartment was something of a haven, and she was proud of it. If it had been a mission summons, the messenger would've come through the window; Kakashi wouldn't have bothered with knocking, and all of Kurenai's other friends knew to flare their chakra if they wanted to be let in. But beyond the initial knock, there was nothing coming from the other side of the door, and Kurenai sighed, reaching the most likely conclusion.
"It's Hinata." She declared, and Asuma shot her a baffled look.
"I can't sense anyone." He replied, and Kurenai snorted, pushing to her feet.
"That's precisely why it's Hinata."
Her theory was proven correct when she opened the door to her apartment and found her student on the other side, and though there was something distinctly ill-at-ease to Hinata's countenance, the girl still shot her a small smile when their eyes met.
"Good morning, sensei." Hinata greeted quietly, and Kurenai felt an answering smile grow on her lips.
"Hinata, morning." She returned, then properly took in the state of her student and felt her eyebrow climb up her forehead. "You got a mission?"
"Yes." Hinata murmured, obediently stepping into the apartment when Kurenai moved aside to let her in, "Kiba, Shino and I are being sent to Kirigakure."
Kurenai's hand tightened on the knob as she closed the door, and her discomfort skyrocketed at who Hinata had conspicuously left out from the list.
"All three of you?" At Hinata's tiny nod, Kurenai felt the very frustration that Asuma had come to help her work through surge back up, and she pinned her student with a searching look, her ears ringing. "Why was I not informed?"
"I-I don't know, sensei." Hinata choked out, but Kurenai barely heard her, her mind working double-time to try and make sense of the situation.
"Rei, dial it back." Asuma snapped, his voice cutting through the ringing in Kurenai's ears, and only then did Kurenai notice how much she'd been projecting and how much Hinata had shrank back from her presence.
"I'm not- I'm sorry, I wasn't mad at you, Hinata, thank you for telling me." She hastily apologised, reaching out to squeeze Hinata's shoulder and feeling her heart twinge at how tense the girl was beneath her hand. "Who else is going?"
Hinata's breath shuddered out of her, but she was too kind to ignore Kurenai's question. "Jiraiya-sama, Genma-san, Namiashi-san, and Utatane Koharu-san."
Kurenai froze, her hand spasming around Hinata's shoulder before she wrenched it away when she saw Hinata wince. She turned almost mechanically towards where Asuma was still sitting, finding his steady gaze already on her.
"Gen and Rai, Asuma." She echoed dully, feeling hurt beyond what she could verbalise, and Asuma sighed.
"They might've been told to keep it on the down-low, Rei. You know they wouldn't have kept it from you intentionally." Asuma soothed, but Kurenai wasn't in the mood to be coddled with false comforts.
"Well, they did." She snapped, then turned back to Hinata, trying to focus on the here-and-now. "Hinata, come."
Kurenai led the girl to her bedroom, pushing her to sit on the edge of her bed, then went to rifle through her wardrobe. When she finally found what she'd been looking for, she thrust the gilet out for the girl, trying to pull her facial muscles into something that resembled a smile.
"Wear this under your jacket." She instructed, watching as Hinata's hands fluttered over the material of the vest. "It's padded, and good at stopping sharp things from going where they shouldn't."
Hearing the underlying request, Hinata shrugged out of her own jacket and pulled the gilet on, zipping it up before putting her usual jacket back on overtop.
"Thank you, sensei." she murmured, twisting absently, clearly trying to adjust to the odd weight of the vest.
After giving her a second to adjust, Kurenai held out her hand and pulled Hinata up to her feet, pulling the girl in for a rough embrace.
Hinata wrapped her arms around Kurenai's waist, pressed her cheek against her chest with a sigh, and all-but melted in Kurenai's hold.
Touch-starved, Kurenai suddenly remembered Kagane declaring barely three months after getting Hinata as a patient, unused to positive physical contact.
Kurenai had resolved to provide that physical contact, and then proceeded to surround her kids with people who would never consider needing a hug or a shoulder to cry on a weakness. Genma had been a godsend, in that regard.
So teacher and student stood there for a few long seconds, each soaking up the comfort of the embrace, before Hinata visibly made herself pull back and directed a genuine, if wobbly, smile up at Kurenai.
And Kurenai-
Kurenai had never been good at letting go.
"You better come back to me in one piece, you hear me? All of you." she ordered, and she knew, in the back of her mind, that Hinata couldn't really promise something like that, but she didn't care. "I don't care who you have to get through to do it, you come back to me."
If Hinata was taken aback by her vehemence, she didn't show it.
"Yes, sensei." she whispered, then, after another shuddering breath, added, "I promise."
Kurenai nodded, mollified for now. Her kids had earned the combat squad designation fairly. She had no doubt that if Kiba, Shino, and Hinata allowed themselves to throw away their morals and fight to their full potential, they would be able to get through most of those who would try to stop them from trying to come back to her.
"Any other important information I should know?" Kurenai asked after a few seconds of silence, leading Hinata back out of her bedroom and into the living room where Asuma was still pretending to eat. "Anything worrying you, weighing you down?"
Kurenai had been heading for the dining table, confident that Hinata had only come to tell her about the mission and so could be persuaded for breakfast. But when she didn't hear anything coming from behind her, she turned around, finding Hinata frozen in the entry to the living room, her eyes wide.
That was a 'yes' if Kurenai had ever seen one.
"Hinata?" she checked, turning around and covering the distance that separated them, growing more concerned by the second when Hinata remained frozen.
Kurenai laid her hand on Hinata's shoulder, but when even that failed to produce a reaction beyond a shaky inhale and that wide-eyed gaze jumping to meet hers, Kurenai dug deeper.
'Hinata?'
Kurenai would never be a Yamanaka. She had heard too many horror stories of shinobi who had attempted the Yamanaka Clan techniques without their dojutsu, and she had no desire to become one of them.
But surface level thoughts? Kurenai and Anko had worked out a way to read those six months into their apprenticeship.
And so Kurenai let herself drop, feeling out for the pool of Hinata's surface thoughts, her concern overriding her usual compunctions about consent and autonomy.
The avalanche that greeted her nearly threw her right out of the technique; '-removed the first Caged Bird seal-never been to Kiri-need to teach Neji how to remove the seal-have to fight Ao-Father said he's proud of me-Father suspects Grandfather of something-don't think he's wrong to suspect-!'
Kurenai pulled back from Hinata's mind with a gasp, her head pounding, and she couldn't help but stare at the girl with wide eyes, which Hinata mirrored. The cacophony in Hinata's mind reminded Kurenai of herself at her worst, and she remembered far too well how that had ended.
"You cannot keep all that inside or you will explode." She finally managed, using the hand she still had on Hinata's shoulder to shake her lightly. "When's the last time you saw Kagane?"
"T-three weeks ago." Hinata hiccoughed, her eyes still wide even as her expression blanked out eerily. "But I can't burden Kagane-san with this."
"She's your shrink." Kurenai nearly shouted, reminding herself at the last second that she wasn't actually angry at Hinata. "Being 'burdened' with your fears and feelings is her job."
She took a few calming breaths and released Hinata from her vice-grip, trying for a smile. "Promise me you'll go to her when you come back."
And, for the second time that day, Hinata met her gaze and lied to her face. "I promise, sensei."
Not so much as a pause, a blink, or a twitch. Hinata lied like she breathed, and Kurenai dreaded the day somebody else would notice it and recruit Hinata for the sectors where that kind of behaviour was seen as an asset.
But that was a nightmare for another day.
As Kurenai led Hinata towards the door, Asuma finally spoke up.
"Hinata."
Teacher and student paused, half-turning towards Asuma to hear him out.
He offered Hinata a smile, but the expression in his eyes was calculating. "Thank you for telling Shikamaru to come to me."
And Hinata smiled, relieved, the smile finally reaching her eyes. "I hope he was able to work through what was troubling him."
"It's a work in progress." Asuma replied, returning her smile, then added a sly, "Don't be surprised if he comes to find you when you get back."
Hinata blinked, taken aback, but eventually gave a slow nod. "…I look forward to it."
And as Asuma went back to his breakfast, Kurenai pulled the girl in for another desperate hug, then finally led her out the door, managing to speak past the lump in her throat to wish her student good luck.
"You shouldn't have done that." Asuma chastised as soon as Kurenai closed the door behind Hinata, his earlier smile nowhere to be seen, an unusually severe frown in its place, the look in his eyes disapproving. "We've talked about using what you learned in T&I on the kids."
"It wasn't intentional and you know it." Kurenai replied flatly, settling heavily at the dining table opposite Asuma and dropping her head into her hands.
"And you know that that makes it worse." Asuma shot back, never one to take her bullshit, but Kurenai was tired.
"They've been trying to distance me from my kids, Asuma." She snapped, lifting her head just enough to shoot her friend a glare. "I didn't dissolve Team 8. In fact, I went and filed for us to be an official tracking and combat unit. Do you know how many missions I've been on with my kids since they made chunin?" Kurenai didn't wait for a response, her question rhetorical. "Zero."
But just as she knew him, Asuma knew her, and he merely raised an eyebrow. "And who have you spoken to about this?"
"Mission desk. They said it came top-down." Kurenai revealed, and Asuma's eyebrow didn't drop.
"So?" he prompted.
"So, I went to the Chunin Commander. And his orders came from Shikaku."
Asuma's expression crumpled, like he'd expected this answer but hoped against it anyway. "I'm not going to like what you're about to say, am I?"
"They're planning something, and it involves my students." Kurenai announced, not bothering to sugarcoat. "And I am being intentionally excluded."
"What are you going to do about it?" Asuma asked, his earlier disapproval momentarily shelved, his concern for Kurenai taking centre-stage. "Inoichi might be sympathetic; he's always been soft on you. But if Shikaku is planning something, then—"
"—then senpai is in on it." Kurenai finished for him, running her hand down her face and feeling far older than her years. "I'm going to ask him anyway. Inoichi knows that there are not many things I wouldn't do, especially for my kids."
"…Maybe don't word it like that when you talk to him." Asuma cautioned, and Kurenai opened her eyes, met his gaze, and smiled.
It was not her nice smile.
Hinata couldn't quite rid herself of the anxiety that churned her stomach the whole way to Kiri.
She had never been to Kiri in her first life. To the Land of Water, yes, on sabotage missions, as a nameless, Village-less ANBU, yes, but as herself, to Kirigakure proper? Never.
Luckily, it felt like at least Genma shared her concerns, and Hinata was happy to run next to the man for most of the journey, finding his presence comforting in the absence of Kurenai's trademark calm.
She'd told Jiraiya the moment they had stepped out of the Village gates that she needed another seal-related favour, but beyond that, she was content to run where directed and stay in the tentative formation their group had fallen into.
A week into the journey, once they were properly in the Land of Water, Hinata wanted nothing more than to return to Konoha. The Land of Water was cold, dark, and humid, and the mist in the air was almost worse than the constant rain of Amegakure had been, the few times she'd had the misfortune to end up there.
Even with her many layers, Hinata found herself having to regulate her body temperature with chakra, her jacket thick but not waterproof, and waterlogged as it was, it only added to the overwhelming, bone-deep chill.
At least she looked less miserable than Akamaru.
"Is your plan to wait for an escort, or make our own way across the water?" Utatane-san asked when they finally reached the edge of the mainland of the Land of Water, staring out at the misty ocean spreading out before them.
Jiraiya snorted, shaking his head, his usual enormous ponytail bundled up into a tight bun, seemingly also displeased by the humidity. "We wait for an escort. There are unaffiliated tribes on the smaller islands, and I don't want to risk us getting attacked. It's a lawless land out there."
"So we wait?"
"So we wait."
They waited for five hours.
But, eventually, when Hinata's muscles were aching from being hypervigilant for so long and Kiba was visibly fighting sleep with every blink, there was a gruff; "Konoha-nin?"
"That would be us." Jiraiya confirmed, pretending not to notice how Kiba, Hinata, and Shino had all visibly startled.
Their escorts revealed themselves, emerging from the mist like ghosts, masked and covered from head to toe, only their chakra signatures fluctuating oddly as Jiraiya rattled off their group's identification numbers.
Finally, their presumed-escorts nodded. "Follow us."
And so they followed, all climbing aboard a boat Hinata hadn't even seen appear from the mist, and the journey that followed was entirely, eerily silent.
In a way, it was a testament to how much they had all grown, because Hinata didn't think that thirteen-year-old Kiba from her first life would've been able to stay silent for over half an hour, especially as more and more of the Kirigakure skyline revealed itself to them, but this Kiba, her Kiba, was different. More of a shinobi than a child already, and though it pained Hinata to think of why that change had come about, there were moments, much like this one, when she was grateful for it.
Finally, it was time to get off the boat, and Hinata fell into step with Genma once more as they were led deeper inland, more grateful than ever at the fact that Jiraiya and Koharu were willing to make themselves the 'face' of the Konoha contingent.
Suddenly, their small group came to a halt, and Hinata peeked over Shino's shoulder to find almost ten Kirigakure shinobi standing between them and the gate into the Village, all radiating various degrees of hostility and mistrust.
"Konoha-nin." One of the Kiri-nin grunted, eyes scanning over their group with obvious disinterest. "Kirigakure welcomes you."
A Kiri kunoichi snorted at that, making it clear what she thought of the greeting, but Jiraiya merely inclined his head, not reacting to the provocation. "We thank you for the welcome."
"It is the only one you will get." The kunoichi from earlier sneered, baring visibly serrated teeth. "Kirigakure does not need this alliance; her people will not thank you for trying to force it."
"And we will not beg them to make it happen." Jiraiya replied evenly, still polite but colder now, and Hinata couldn't help staring at the man's back in shock, surprised at his composure. "But our respective kage wish for us to try, and so try we will."
It seemed that the kunoichi had no reply to that, subsiding with a final disdainful huff, and an uncomfortable, distrustful silence fell between the two groups.
And then, as Hinata was hoping for the ground to open up and allow them all to hide from the unfriendly glares of the Kiri-nin, a shadow suddenly dropped a few metres to her left. She had all of two seconds to take in the familiar long hair and warm brown eyes before she was being taken by the wrist and pulled into a hug, Haku's arms wrapping around her shoulders, his hold almost desperately tight.
Hinata's cheek ended up smushed against Haku's collarbone, her nose accidentally pressing into the dip between Haku's shoulder and throat. Haku smelled like hospital antiseptic, clearly fresh from a shift, but beneath that there was a comforting mix of petrichor and seawater, and Hinata found herself unconsciously relaxing for the first time since her squad had left the borders of the Land of Fire.
Her own hands tangled in the fabric of the hospital scrubs at Haku's waist and she let herself sag against the boy, breathing in deeply and feeling her breath shudder on the inhale, prompting Haku's arms to tighten around her even further, the offer of support silent but unmistakeable.
She didn't know how long they stood like that, but suddenly, the sound of a throat clearing ripped Hinata from the near-doze she'd fallen into and she wrenched herself from the cocoon of Haku's arms, clipping Haku's chin with her head with how fast she pulled away, remembering far too late that they had an audience.
Haku loosened his hold and let his arms drop, but he kept his hand on Hinata's shoulder as he, too, turned to face the group of Kiri-nin watching them with a mix of bemusement and outright disdain, though Haku seemed unbothered by the scorn on their faces.
"You're an embarrassment to your master." One of the Kiri-nin commented, his face scarred, his lip twisted into a permanent scowl. "And you weren't assigned to the escort detail."
"I wished to greet a friend." Haku replied evenly, seemingly not at all affected by the insult, if not for the way he shifted ever so slightly so he stood more clearly between Hinata and the other Kiri-nin.
"A Leaf-nin." The kunoichi from earlier spat, scorn in her eyes as she regarded Hinata and the rest of her squad, and even Haku wasn't spared from the disdainful glare.
"A Leaf-nin who saved your nephew." Haku reminded the kunoichi sharply, his voice suddenly as cold as the ice he commanded. Then he turned back to Hinata, his voice still cold when he spoke, but his gaze was warm when she met it with her own. "I have to return to my shift now, but I'll find you tomorrow. Well met, Hinata-san."
And then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, Haku disappeared, only the barest displacement of air to prove he had been there in the first place.
Hinata swallowed, then turned to the group that had accompanied her from Konoha, and the desire to disappear underground returned full-force; while the Kiri-nin's open disdain was to be expected, the shock on the faces of the Konoha contingent was almost worse. Only Kiba and Shino appeared unbothered, and Hinata quickly flashed to the space between the boys, not able to stand the calculating look in Jiraiya's eyes.
"Follow." One of the Kiri-nin finally ordered, turning on his heel without further ado, and Hinata jumped when she felt Kiba reach out and snag her hand, either seeking comfort himself or somehow able to sense how desperately she needed it.
With her heart in her throat but a warmth blooming in her chest, Hinata squeezed Kiba's hand, then searched blindly with her other hand until she grabbed hold of Shino's sleeve.
She nearly gave in to the urge to cry when Shino twisted his wrist, but instead of breaking the contact, his gloved hand caught hers, his hold looser than Kiba's, his posture signalling clearly to those who knew where to look that he was far less at ease with the touch than the Inuzuka, but his hand was warm in Hinata's, the offer of comfort unequivocal.
With her teammates at her side both literally and figuratively, the misty unknown of Kirigakure no Sato suddenly seemed far less daunting than before.
Genma hated diplomatic missions.
He hated them, but even he couldn't deny that he had a good record with them.
His temperament, skillset, and general trajectory meant that people didn't really know him unless they knew him, yet his success rate and experience made him a sensible pick for any sensitive missions.
Missions such as an unprecedented treaty discussion, with three Clan heirs, a Sannin, and a Village Elder on the team.
On that backdrop, Genma's role was almost done for him: observe, remember, record, report. Fade into the background, let Jiraiya and Koharu do the talking, let Raido watch the baby heirs, and focus on watching who was the most vocal opponent of the proposed treaty, who could be a problem for Konoha, who might need to be covertly…nullified.
"Konoha doesn't need this alliance. We might be better with it than without it, but we don't need it." he remembered the Godaime saying, when he'd reported to her sealed blood room by himself the morning of their departure for his actual mission briefing. "What we definitely don't need, however, is another potential large-scale conflict or invasion. That's your role on this team. But don't get caught, Shiranui. I'd hate to disavow you."
The downside of these missions was that he was always incredibly drained by the time everything was finally said and done. So he relished in the relative privacy of the accommodation they had been shown to as soon as the official greetings and scheduling was done, doing his usual sweep of the room with Raido before allowing Shino and Kiba to enter.
It wouldn't do to get caught by a trap with two Clan heirs in the room, after all.
The boys had swept the room with calculating eyes, then set about separating the two sleeping mats laid out by the window, dragging one to the corner furthest from the door. Then, after consulting with the Raido and Genma, they also dragged the unclaimed tall table on top of the second sleeping mat, before both beelined for the mat by the window and set about getting ready for the night.
Genma arched an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting, more than familiar with the fact that safety was a subjective concept, and routines and rituals – no matter how seemingly nonsensical – were often all that stood between active shinobi and paranoia, particularly once they were separated from their teammates.
Genma himself hadn't been surprised by Utatane and Hinata getting a separate room – still in the same complex, luckily, but on different floors – but he wondered how well the kids would handle the separation. Going by how they had slept during the journey, and Kurenai's occasional comments on their propensity for sticking close ever since the C-Rank where they had faced Itachi, Genma didn't have high hopes for their ability to last the entire duration of the mission.
Still, he was surprised when the door creaked open about an hour after all of them had settled in, and Akamaru trotted in, Hinata behind him. Genma hadn't even realised that the nindog hadn't followed them into the room in the first place, but now that absence was obvious, and the explanation behind it even more so.
Hinata squeezed in through the gap Akamaru had left, slipping into the room with silent feet and haunted eyes. Rather uncharacteristically, she didn't pause to greet Genma or Jiraiya, intent on the space between Kiba and the wall, and Genma probably shouldn't have been surprised at the realisation that the three intended to share one sleeping mat.
He wondered how red in the face Hiashi would be at the impropriety his eldest was indulging in, and had to hastily stifle a snort, not wanting to draw the kids' attention onto himself.
When Hinata reached the boys, Kiba had already shuffled over, making room for her on the leftmost side of the mat, Akamaru curling by his feet, making himself comfortable on the pillow Kiba had sacrificed earlier precisely for that purpose.
Genma watched, growing progressively more worried as Hinata sat, because she still hadn't spoken, nor even acknowledged either of her teammates beyond sitting where indicated.
As if reading his thoughts, Kiba rolled over onto his side and peered at the girl tiredly, though Genma couldn't have predicted what came out of the Inuzuka's mouth: "Comfort or space?"
Hinata didn't startle, her face blank but for the slight warmth that lit her pale eyes when she met Kiba's gaze, and finally, when it almost seemed like she wouldn't reply, she wordlessly extended a hand to her teammate.
Grinning, Kiba grasped it, shifting so he could hold it comfortably, and within seconds of muttering a quiet goodnight to the room at large, he was already half-way to dreamland. Hinata had also relaxed marginally at the touch, her own eyes falling closed, her chakra stabilising into false-sleep, her expression growing peaceful as she slipped seamlessly into meditation, though she remained sitting.
Genma sighed. False-sleep was…not a skill Kurenai would've taught the kids, that was for sure.
But he kept silent, then set about his own nighttime routine, running a precursory sweep of the room for the final time before settling in for the night, his and Raido's bed rolls on opposite sides of the room to the boys'.
Jiraiya had yet to leave the table.
After about twenty minutes, and after Raido had settled in for the night beside him, turning so he was facing the wall, Genma addressed Hinata.
"You should sleep." He murmured, trying not to startle the girl, gratified when a single silver eye slid open slowly and no knife landed at his throat. Aiming for his usual cheer, he offered Hinata a wry grin. "Meditation's restorative, but it's got nothing on proper sleep."
Hinata didn't reply, leading Genma to wonder if they were going to go through another non-verbal spell, but she snapped him out of his musings when she suddenly activated her Byakugan and looked around the room.
Her chakra never once slipped from the rhythm of pretend-sleep.
She finally shifted from the rigid straight-backed posture she'd been meditating in and rested her elbow on her bent knee, propping her cheek on the palm of her hand. From there, she trailed her fingers to her forehead and tapped the outer corner of her eyebrow three times, then she smoothed her hand down her face and tapped her chin four times. Three up top, four below.
Then, Genma watched as she went through the signs for the elements, feeling a weight drop in his stomach. Water, water, water, fire, wind, wind and…steam.
Genma stifled a sigh, but a report was a report, no matter how unorthodox, so he momentarily ignored who it was who was giving it and pressed; Hostile?
Hinata hesitated, but her response was confident, even though her face remained expressionless. Not yet.
Good. Genma allowed, then aimed for a stern look. Sleep.
For a moment, Hinata didn't reply, her fingers frozen over her lips where she'd finished the last sign. Then, she sighed, conceding, even when she clearly unhappy about the order, and Genma watched as she carefully released Kiba's hand, then crawled to the mat that had been meant for one of her teammates that they had set aside earlier.
He felt oddly like he wanted to cry when he suddenly understood the reason why Kiba and Shino had dragged the tall table that had been in the centre of the room onto one of the sleeping mats; Hinata crawled under the table and curled up, belatedly raising her arm to allow Akamaru to snuggle close, the nindog settling with its back to her chest.
Curled up as she was, her back to the wall, the table above her, and Akamaru serving as a physical barrier between her and the rest of the room, Hinata for once looked like the child she was supposed to be, small and scared and seeking comfort in any way she could.
But with the added context – protection, not play, battle-weariness, not blanket forts – the image threatened to wrench Genma's heart right out of his chest.
Then, between one breath and the next, Hinata's eyes closed and her chakra settled, the false-sleep wavelength she'd been emulating glitching only slightly as it settled into real sleep.
Genma sighed, then steeled his nerves and turned to regard Jiraiya, not surprised to find the Sannin already looking back at him. He smiled wryly at the man, wondering if there was any chance at all of the Sannin keeping what he'd seen to himself. Or, if, for old times' sake, he'd be willing to give Genma a heads-up before he inevitably took his report to the Godaime.
Because Hinata hadn't given her report using Chunin Sign. She hadn't even used Jounin Standard.
No, Hinata had gone and slipped up for the second time in as many weeks and used ANBU Code.
And Jiraiya had seen it all.
Treaty talks with the Mizukage were both enlightening and enormously frustrating, and Jiraiya hated that he found himself grateful for Koharu's presence on this mission, the woman's lifetime of experience in politics lending her a silver tongue and the ability to see through what to Jiraiya read as flirtatious friendliness.
But then, where Koharu's insight was a blessing in some situations, her shrewdness was a curse in others, as Jiraiya was currently experiencing.
"I don't understand why the Hokage chose the most chaotic, revolutionary team she could." Koharu sniffed as they were leaving the Mizukage's office, and Jiraiya stifled a sigh, having felt the displeasure that had been brewing in the Elder since the day that they'd arrived and she witnessed the way Momochi's apprentice had greeted the Hyuuga heiress. "You leave them alone for much longer and they'll accept a Kiri headband."
Personally, Jiraiya thought that was a bit of an exaggeration, but he could see why somebody who didn't know the team before might've thought so.
"Tsunade-hime asked for them to not be involved in the diplomatic proceedings, and they're not." He replied evenly, aware that that had not been the Elder's point, but not willing to let the woman think he was ignoring orders.
"Only just." Koharu huffed, and her gaze was far sharper than her age would imply. "They may not be involved in the treaty discussions, but they're involved everywhere else."
Jiraiya sighed. So that's what this was about.
"Sometimes," he murmured, thinking back to his own early years as a shinobi, how long it had taken him to learn that very lesson and become comfortable with his role both in the Village and out of it, "you have to allow people to do what they're good at."
"I beg your pardon?" Koharu blinked, sounding almost offended at Jiraiya's comment, and her immediate indignation drew a quicksilver smile from him.
"They're a tracking-specialising team that earned a secondary combat designation while still genin." He explained as they walked, itching for a silencing tag but knowing that they were likely going to be watched the entire way back to their accommodation. The fewer stops and questionable behaviours exhibited, the better. "That's rare, and it takes a very specific type of team to pull something like that off."
"And how does that relate to you letting them roam free around Kirigakure?" Koharu pressed, and Jiraiya huffed, not too fond of the woman's tone, but letting her doubt slide off of him with the ease of long practice.
"Because I asked around the Village about what sort of team they are. Mission reports tell a lot, but the most important information you can only get by talking to people."
"And what you found out swayed you this much?" Koharu asked archly, her disbelief clear, and Jiraiya cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders back and pinned the woman with a serious side-glance that made her miss a step before she regained composure.
"I found out that the Aburame is the first of his Clan to diversify his skillset to include taijutsu and, more recently, bukijutsu. Not kenjutsu, but bukijutsu; breadth, not depth." He murmured, keeping his eyes ahead and intentionally not offering Koharu a hand. He would answer her questions, but he didn't have to be nice about it. "As a result, he's slowly befriending one of the Seven Swordsmen and one of the Mizukage's prospective successors through politely hounding him for information about their shared interest."
He smiled humourlessly, then continued before Koharu had the chance to butt in.
"The Inuzuka's strength is his empathy. And he's a chameleon, in a way, blends in where the other two stick out. At their Exams to Kumo, he befriended the jinchuuriki of the Two Tails. On his mission to Suna, he befriended one of the Kazekage's children." Jiraiya slanted the Elder another glance, letting her absorb the information. "Here, he's going around, talking to the common people, to the children, and he's so genuine that people want to tell him things."
He sighed, getting to the one that was simultaneously the easiest and most difficult of the three. "And the Hyuuga is a shadow. She lets her teammates take the spotlight without a second thought, she's quiet, polite, non-violent. She makes herself almost too easy to underestimate."
Jiraiya had heard Shikaku's assessment on the matter, had initially scoffed at the man's assertion that the Hyuuga was doing it intentionally, but the longer he spent in the company of her team, the more he found himself agreeing with the Nara.
(The more he found himself fearing for Team Eight's future)
He banished the thought for the moment, shaking his head as if to physically dislodge it, released the breath he'd unconsciously been holding, and finished his summary. "Yet she's her team's combat specialist, and she's managed to befriend the right-hand man of Momochi Zabuza just by being herself."
He eyed Koharu again, not surprised to find the Elder looking back at him, her eyes ever so slightly wider than usual at the information he was offering. "By letting these kids 'roam free', as you put it, we're getting access to information that you or I could've only dreamt of."
Koharu absorbed his words for a few seconds, then scoffed bitterly. "Assuming that they report on everything."
Jiraiya huffed a laugh, his amusement bleak and short-lived.
"They're good kids." He found himself defending, aware of what had been whispered about him when he'd first left the Village longer-term and not wanting the same fate to befall Yuhi's brats. "Their information gathering methods may be unconventional, but that doesn't make them traitors."
Koharu was silent for a beat, and her response, when she offered it, was thoughtful. "You've thought about this."
This time, Jiraiya's huffed laugh was more genuine, if still wry.
"I'm the Spymaster." He replied, the title Hiruzen-sensei had bestowed upon him what felt like a lifetime ago weighing heavy on his shoulders. "It's my job to think about how to best gather information."
"Then maybe you could tell me what I'm doing here." Koharu announced as they entered their accommodation, not splitting off from Jiraiya to go to her room but following him into the men's part of the apartment, and Jiraiya gave in to the urge to slap a silencing tag on the wall as soon as the door closed behind them. "I haven't left the Village in over a decade, Jiraiya. What reason could the Hokage have for sending me with you?"
And Jiraiya sat heavily on the chair by the table, resting his elbows on the wood and raking his hands through his hair as he mulled over his response. Then, he sighed, giving up the pretence, and regarded Koharu tiredly, and he could tell by the way the Elder stiffened that she had not expected to see him so serious.
"Danzo is going down, Koharu." Jiraiya declared, his voice soft yet the words damning. "You've always been more reasonable than Homura. It's time to decide what side of history you want to be on."