"I don't think that's what Taichou was asking for," Ryouma said doubtfully. He scratched Kin's ears. "How about we make a, uh, three-way deal? We take Nomiya somewhere he won't come back. Harubi-san gets to go home and take over the brewery, and Tanigawa holds tanuki festivals again. And we take home what's left of the sake."

The festivals were a stab in the dark, a guess based on Goto's mocking comments during the brewery tour. It didn't seem to be a very successful guess. No one rallied at the thought. Several of the older tanuki muttered amongst themselves, aghast.

Maybe they didn't like getting pelted with buns, after all.

But Harubi looked thoughtful. Her daughter eased a little, enough to lean against her mother's side. Harubi lifted a hand to stroke the girl's hair, and asked Ryouma, "Where would you take him?"

"Uh." The problem with thinking things out as you went along was that sometimes it required a lot of thinking. "Southern Wind Country? Mangrove? We know a really excellent swamp with leeches…"

"Cliff edge," Kakashi murmured. "Middle of the ocean. A wolf god's den."

"Forest of Death would work too," Genma added wryly, "but I believe we just agreed not to kill the man."

Raidou glanced across at Kurenai. "Or Konoha. Intel always has use for extra bodies. I'm sure Shibata could persuade Nomiya-san to a new, more useful career, if he was so inclined."

Kurenai said quietly to Harubi, "You know him best. Would he leave if threatened? Would you live without fear, while he did?"

Harubi's lips pressed together. She looked down at her daughter's scarred cheek. "He might leave. But his friends would stay, and his family. He has a brother; his brother had children."

The girl made a disgusted little noise. Harubi smoothed her hair and let out a breath. "I feel safe here, most of the time, but we can't spend the rest of our lives here." She lifted her chin. "We don't have to go back to Tanigawa, either. What is your Konoha like? Do you have a river?"

"We have a river," Kurenai said, watching her closely. "It's good clear water, when ninja aren't turning it into dragons. Konoha may be too warm for good sake brewing, but I don't doubt you could find a suitable home in Fire Country. The Fire Daimyou is very fond of your sake, Master Brewer."

Something sharpened in Harubi's gaze, like a knife-blade beginning to scour clean from rust. "Perhaps he'd appreciate a source closer to home."

"In Fire Country you'd be closer to the source for your rice," Genma put in. "In the higher elevations to the south, there are good mountain streams and a cooler climate, too."

Kurenai looked at him, and then at Raidou. "Our negotiating authority does not bind the Daimyou, of course. But I have recently spent time in Hikouto, some of it in the Daimyou's presence. I believe that you would be welcome in Fire Country, Harubi-san. You could return to Konoha with us, and make your decisions from there."

There was a light in Harubi's eyes, almost. Hope awakening. She dropped her hand to her daughter's shoulder. "What do you think, Sen?"

The girl's wary scowl hadn't faded. She looked at Kurenai, not her mother. "Why are you helping?"

Of course she looked at Kurenai. Kurenai was the one actually helping, proposing a plan that could realistically work, a life Harubi and her children could live. Kurenai was the one who could meet Sen's angry, mistrustful gaze and say steadily, "Shinobi don't always get the chance to help people. We want to take this one, while we can. Maybe someday you'll be in a position to do the same."

"So you're feeling guilty 'cos you kill people." Sen folded her arms, mulish. "I don't want to help anyone. People suck. You're only helping 'cos your Daimyou is going to shout at you if you drag home empty-handed."

Kurenai blinked, taken aback. Sen drew herself up in bitter triumph.