The remainder of the hour sped by. Everyone regained possession of their personal beverages, and the buns disappeared, mostly into Katsuko. For a morning that had begun with the soul-crushing realization that Kuroda was their interim captain, the day was shaping up remarkably well. Even with Asuma’s grief, his and Genma’s housing situation to worry over, and the unresolved question of Raidou’s return — he would return; the alternative was best not speculated about — Genma was lighthearted. As were the rest of Team Six, judging by the banter. Genma was convinced he’d even seen Kakashi smile. He allowed himself a moment of pride; few of the other new teams were gelling as well, and none of them had run two harrowing missions that landed half the team in the hospital and gotten their captains suspended as their Welcome-to-ANBU package.

“It’s quarter to eleven,” he said, finally, nudging Ryouma’s leg with his knee. “Tousaki and I need to head over to the hospital now if I’m going to have time to get him set up with the right people before my appointment.”

Ryouma groaned like a sulky teenager, but he shoved over so Genma could get out of the booth, and by the time Genma was ready to stand, Ryouma had his crutches ready and waiting for him.

Katsuko made an aggrieved sound into her empty coffee cup.

“You two really don’t have to come with us,” Genma said. He let Ryouma help him stand. “It’s just going to be boring medical stuff.”

“It's just a cave,” Kakashi deadpanned. “Couldn't possibly be full of demons. What's the worst that could happen?”

“You might get lost, lieutenant,” Katsuko added brightly. “Or kidnapped. We should be there to help.”

Kakashi may have had a fair point buried under the sarcasm. Or not. “We knew there were demons going in, just not how many, or how big,” Genma countered. “The hospital is more likely to have unpalatable food and merciless physical therapists, but who am I to turn down a free ANBU escort? Our clients pay top dollar for that kind of bodyguarding.”

“Top tier bodyguarding,” Katsuko agreed, peering into her coffee cup in vain hopes of discovering more. “Yup.”

“We’ll expect a tip,” said Kakashi. He got to his feet as soon as Katsuko had vacated their side of the table.

"Twenty percent of nothing...” Ryouma mused. “Wait, I know that. That's nothing, right?”

“Bodyguarding isn't a service industry,” Katsuko informed Kakashi. “If you want a tip, you mug them for it after the bodyguarding is done.”

“This is why neither of you get bodyguarding jobs.” Kakashi went ahead of them to hold the door open for Genma.

“Ueno, you’ve got that inverted,” Genma told her. “We don’t rob our clients; we want them to hire us again. We rob our client’s enemies.”

"What if you genjutsu the client to think you're the enemy and then you rob them?” Katsuko asked. Most of the late morning traffic in the street paid them no attention, but a couple of adolescent genin did a poor job of pretending they weren’t eavesdropping.

“Well,” Genma said as if he were considering it, “assuming you don’t get court-martialed and executed, and assuming Taichou hasn’t caught you first, skinned you alive, and nailed your hide to the office door as a warning to everyone else…” He cocked his head at Katsuko. “How are they going to pay for the mission if you’ve robbed them? Or pay for another mission? Repeat business is really important to Konoha’s revenue stream.”

“And that's why you should study basic economics, children,” Katsuko told the genin, who turned maple-leaf red at having been caught. While they beat a hasty retreat into the nearest shop, she watched Genma, eyes tracking his bandaged leg as it pendulumed forward on his crutches.

Had she been stalling for time to disguise the fact they were slowing their pace to match Genma’s? The more time Genma spent with her, the more layers he discovered. He was beginning to understand what made Raidou so fond of her.