Yes, Kakashi translated.

They’d seen that on the mission too, when the lieutenant had dealt with his paralysis by managing everyone else’s care. Even now there was a restless twitch in his fingers, like they wanted to pick up a senbon. Genma was not a man who liked empty hands, Kakashi suspected. Or being helpless.

Which made him one among many.

If Kakashi were a better person, he’d know how to offer some comfort, but he’d already stretched his boundaries to their limits by making this trip. He hadn’t told Genma anything that wouldn’t be public knowledge soon; it was only a matter of time before word about Asuma got out. Konoha was about as water-tight as a sieve. But a word more would be too much, even to another ANBU.

“I should go,” Kakashi said.

Genma looked up, eyes light beneath his backwards tied hitai-ate. “Before you do, I was actually going to come find you tomorrow, but we could do this now. You have any thoughts about the mission, now that you’ve been home a few days and had time to process?”

Probably should have seen that one coming.

“Intel didn’t get everything they wanted already?” Kakashi asked.

“This isn't for Intel, this is for us. You're a rookie agent on your first team, and that was your first mission.” Genma braced one elbow on the arm of the couch, propping his chin on his hand. “You're also a smart, capable ninja. Newcomers sometimes have insights veterans miss.”

Kakashi huffed, soft and amused. “Flattery, lieutenant?”

“Honesty,” Genma said, but his mouth hooked up on one side. “But maybe a little flattery, too. It works with a lot of people.”

Kakashi just bet.

He folded his arms, leaning thoughtfully against the entry-way wall. “We needed better intel. You can say that for any mission, but demons and bandits are not the same. One ANBU team wasn’t the right tool. They needed squads, several of them, and a sealing team.” Assuming Konoha could even spare them, but that wasn’t really the question Genma was asking. “That said, with what we knew, I think the captain made fairly smart choices.”

Genma nodded once. “Given how unprepared we were for what we found, we came out of it better than a lot of teams might have. We were lucky not to lose anyone.”

“Or skilled,” Kakashi said quietly.

“That, too,” Genma said, looking a little pleased.

“What were your thoughts?” Kakashi asked.

“I agree with you on the Intel situation.” Genma tapped his mouth with two fingers, no code that Kakashi recognized. “And I think we performed well under the circumstances. There are some decisions I wish we could go back and revisit, but it would have been hard to make them without all the information. If we'd known what was down there… It would probably have been a smarter call to seal the mine entrances and call in backup. Even if it meant losing the civilians.”