Chapter 11
The next few weeks, Hiroshi saw very little of Ren. They didn’t see each other every day to begin with, but it seemed like between their new informant and her team and the updated training she had put them under with the Chuunin Exams happening in three more months. It meant his research was suffering – and likely would continue to do so until things died down a little – but it was for a very good reason.
So seeing her walking down the street, he veered off towards the nearest street vendor and bought her a coffee. Where he liked only a bit of milk and sugar, though, she typically put in milk and spices – a decidedly Kiri tradition she had swam straight into. He was quick about it, making sure to snap the cardamom pod with his teeth so it could soak in the coffee a bit before he caught up to her.
It was right to get her coffee. She looked so tired in front of him, and the second she smelled it, she took a long drink and then put an arm around Hiroshi. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“You still have half of it left.”
“That’s what’ll keep me going, the first half was to keep me upright.”
“You sure you don’t need to go home? Take a day?”
“When has taking a day ever been an option?” She laughed, “You and I serve the same Kirigakure, right?”
Hiroshi fell into step beside her as she walked toward the Mizukage’s office.
“You have a meeting with Mei?”
“Our visitor had some new information to divulge. I have to pass it up and write some of it up.” She groaned. “I don’t want to deal with this shit.”
“I take it you don’t want to run a spy network, then?” Hiroshi smiled a bit at her ire for the newest addition to her pile of ongoing assignments.
“Never. I’m a happy little assassin.” She scowled. “And of any of them, Takeshi is the only one I could see enjoying a spy network, anyway. Kid likes talking to people and running circles around them. Fighting and battle strategy, not so much.”
Hiroshi laughed at that. There was something so dichotomous about the terms ‘happy’ and ‘assassin’, and he knew that Ren would never use that phrasing if she really was more awake.
“You think your kids will be ready by the time the Exams start?”
“They were ready weeks ago. I’m making sure they make an impression, though, so I need to make sure they’re fucking impressive.”
They already were, but telling that to Ren was likely to result in a glare and an explanation of just how much more impressive they could be if they kept working. She was not only fiercely demanding of them, nor was she just fiercely protective of them. She was also so fiery and parental toward them that they were quick to gain her compliment and just as quick to earn her ire if she knew they weren’t performing to muster. Her standards were high, and they all seemed to thrive with the expectation that they were capable of more than they were achieving.
She would be a terrifying parent – a taskmaster who created tiny monsters, something valued in mothers in Kirigakure – if a woman was an accomplished shinobi, it was expected her children would rise to meet that same standard. And damn if she wasn’t demonstrating that with her genin team (widely considered to be a test run for Kiri shinobi for what they would be able to push their own children toward accomplishing).
Hiroshi hummed as she walked towards the training ground. Sometimes he wondered how things would be different if his family had made it to Konoha.
*
“He told me that when he left there were no plans to go after the Exams, mostly because they want to get all the others before they go after Konoha.
“Other than that, he seems to think there is a reasonable chance that they will avoid Kirigakure for now. We have nothing they want. He did stress, however, that there was always a chance plans had changed in the last few weeks, what with Konoha officially sending theirs into the Exams.”
Mei nodded. “That sounds about right based on our preexisting intel.”
“What are you planning, Mei?” Ren leaned forward. “You have more information than the other Hidden Villages, and you have a practically untapped well of intel who is completely reliant on you – a blind man with that big a target on his back can’t take care of himself on the run. If I learned anything about you during the war, it’s that you’re making plans months in advance.”
And this was why her Jonin Commander and Strategic Advisor were separate people. Even if Ren wasn’t officially listed because of her positions not only within the village as a Genin supervisor and the contact for a human intelligence asset, but also in longer-term tactical plans for the village, she was still the one that Mei called for advice when it came to more intricate strategies. Some of the potential political messes were easy to plan for – she didn’t always need to call Ren in. But once in a while it was worth it to forego her Jonin Commander and bring in one of her sharpest strategic minds.
Human strategy, especially, was not Kiri’s strong suit. Feelings tended to be beaten down, people tended to be blunt, and coordinating around the mainlanders was a difficult task. At least Ren had the experience to guess at the rules of decorum that were expected.
That didn’t mean it was any less a pain in the ass to deal with someone who saw through her like she had shouted her intentions.
“We need to ensure he’s guarded. And we need to worry about our asset’s safety. There’s no reason to expect they would cross paths – we can keep the potential problems hidden behind closed doors, but we don’t need to aggravate the closest thing we have to an ally.
“I want you on the protection detail for the Konoha boy, and I want you to pick a few people to guard the other man. The first test, you’ll be off detail because of your role, but on all the others, you are to guard him and his team. Your own team, I am sure, you can trust with Haku or Chojuro.”
Ren nodded. “In terms of my guard team, how involved will we be? They have to have autonomy to complete their Exam tasks.”
“You will have three other ANBU-level shinobi with you, preferably from the Assassination Division. Follow, but do not be seen or sensed, and make sure that you step in if anything out of the bounds of the Exams happens. This includes foreign shinobi that are not participants attacking, but most of your focus will be on preventing enemy success in the event of an Akatsuki attack. Am I understood?”
“Perfectly, Mizukage-sama.”
*
Ren sat her genin down in a circle in the training field. She had been drilling them into the ground for the Chuunin Exams, and while she liked to think she had been making time for their mental health she couldn’t deny she had been somewhat neglectful the last two weeks in particular as she was spreading herself thinner and thinner being picked up to help set up for the Exams. But, more importantly, she had not made them reflect on what their weaknesses were lately. That had to change before the exams. If they were aware, they would compensate for it and wouldn’t get bitten in the ass by a weakness they were unaware of. x
“What do you each have to say?”
Takeshi started. “My strengths are close quarter combat.” An understatement, really. Akane had shown him how to use a shortsword and a naginata and he had taken to it like vines to trees. “My weaknesses are longer ranged combat and genjutsu, generally. More specifically, my stamina doesn’t work well for the longer range, and my chakra reserves are smaller than average, meaning I can’t compensate with anything flashy to get in close. As for genjutsu, I need to pay closer attention to my surroundings if I have any hope of developing a sense for when I’ve been put under a genjutsu.”
Ren nodded. “You are also getting stronger in strategy, but you still have an issue with rushing in without having more than a vague idea of what you’re doing. If you have the opportunity to, you should always make at least two plans.”
The four of them groaned and recited the mantra she had been drilling into them. “One for if things go perfectly, one for when things get fucked.”
“Language.”
“That’s word for word how you say it,” Suzume said, scoffing. “And, yeah, I know. One of my weaknesses is I mouth off to authority. It will likely have an effect on the decision on whether or not to promote me, but I would like to think I’ve gotten better. Other than that, there is the fact I can’t aim a kunai for shit, but ninja wire lets me at least set up some decent traps so it looks intentional. My strengths are my natural leadership skills,” Ren would call it more of domineering the situation and refusing to back down until reality bent at the fucking knee, but that was beside the point, “and tenacity. And ninjutsu.”
“You also have good chakra control. If, by some ridiculous happenstance, you don’t make chuunin we are getting you put into a medical apprenticeship. If you do make it, I would recommend you fill out specialty forms.”
“Takeshi is the medic, though.”
“You can have more than one medic per team – in fact, I would recommend it.”
Suzume nodded. Ren had learned that dealing with her was largely based in answering questions she refused to ask. Read the situation right, though, and her questions were obvious, especially when she was in a particularly verbal mood. In battle, it ended up working to their advantage – her teammates had begun to clue in to how she communicated and they manipulated it for strategy planning using a similar communication style – refusing to say explicitly what they were going to do next.
Kimiko took the slight lull as the prompting for her to start. “Under you and Haku-senpai my swordsmanship has definitely improved. The water jutsu you taught me – the spit one?”
Ren nodded, not bothering to recite the name. Kimiko had a tendency to not shout her techniques at the top of her lungs. She would do well in the Assassination Corps of ANBU or even as a Hunter Nin. Personally, having done both, Ren would rather see her in Assassination Corps, if only because the missions tended to be less dangerous and it meant less chance of seeing one of her own come back bloody and busted up because a missing-nin nearly killed them.
Kimiko continued. “It’s a useful distraction. As for more specific strengths, I am inclined to list ninjutsu and genjutsu, but if I am not mistaken I would say I am fairly rounded.”
Ren nodded. “You are, which means you don’t have obvious strengths and weaknesses, but they are there. Your forms are still a little rigid, and that won’t help you in a fight at all. You also tend to freeze up right before throwing an attack, and that can get you killed in the field, as I’m sure you know.”
Kimiko nodded.
“Masuyo?”
The girl in question looked up, her head tilted to the side. “I don’t pay attention to my surroundings and I have trouble with teamwork. But Kimiko is helpful with paying attention and Suzume and Takeshi won’t let me get away without teamwork. Neither will you, for that matter, Senpai.”
“Teamwork keeps you alive.”
Masuyo nodded.
“Now what are your strengths?”
That was the struggle with Masuyo. The others got a feel for talking about their strengths and weaknesses and what that would entail pretty quickly, but Masuyo seemed only to grasp talking about her weaknesses. It took prompting, and on bad days coaxing, to get her to talk about her strengths.
“I can think of things.”
Suzume rolled her eyes. “You’re a good field strategist, ‘Suyo.”
Masuyo seemed uncomfortable with the blunt praise.
Takeshi leaned forward to whisper at her like he was sharing some great secret. “And you’re way nicer than Suzume – definitely an asset when we need to talk to civilians.”
Suzume scowled and shoved him, but she didn’t argue the point.
Her team was doing well, and they were getting closer each day. She worried they wouldn’t pass – but maybe they would do fine. Maybe that worry was for nothing.
(If something didn’t go wrong, though, she was pretty sure that would be miracle enough.)
*
Kakashi stood behind his three genin, looking at Anko’s team and having some idea of what was coming. The only real question was why Genma was in the room.
“Your teams are the most viable genin we have for promotion. Mitarashi, your team has been active just over a year and have handled each mission with a surprising amount of camaraderie and efficiency for genin, especially in their first year as a team. They will represent Konoha well, and you should be proud.” Anko was hiding it well, but Kakashi caught the bright look in Anko’s eyes at the praise.
Tsunade turned toward his team. “Even with having been disbanded and regrouped with slightly altered membership, Team 7 has maintained an adequate mission record and training regimen to qualify, and beyond that the three of you demonstrate enough specialization it would be a waste not to send you to the Chuunin Exams in Kiri. It will certainly make a statement.”
Kakashi bowed. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”
Genma leaned forward. “And I’m here because…”
“You, apparently, already have some acquaintance with Kirigakure shinobi, as well as with the village itself. You will be going as somewhat of a guide, but also to be installed as a diplomat.”
Genma blinked. “Diplomacy doesn’t tend to be what I’m good at. Kind of the opposite, actually.”
Well, that was one way to describe assassination. ‘Opposite of diplomacy’. Though Kakashi would argue of all the ways to do it, assassination could be pretty diplomatic. The person being assassinated at least got to die without the fear of knowing they were about to die.
“I hear that’s what works best in Kirigakure.” Tsunade smiled. “They may be trying to get away from the Bloody Mist reputation, but there’s definitely an edge there.”
Well, this would be interesting.