“Okay, it sounds dumb when you put it like that,” Genma admitted. “It’s not the fact he used the genjutsu that worried me. Like I said, that was a smart move. And it’s not the walking into a trap. That is a concern, sure, but Akiyama was an order of magnitude more fucked up than anything we were planning to throw at these guys. I don’t get the impression Tousaki is in the habit of ignoring risks.” He sighed, rolling the beer bottle between his palms, and took a moment to collect his thoughts, trying to put some kind of explainable logic behind his intuition; it wasn’t coming easily.

Raidou seemed inclined to wait him out—to hear him out, at least—since he didn’t interrupt.

“The thing about the rot jutsu—it just made me aware how dangerous this kid would be if he went wrong. And I know Yondaime-sama and Sagara-sama are no fools, they wouldn’t have tapped Tousaki if they weren’t sure of him, but there’s something there that— I don’t know. Emotional. Something.”

Raidou nodded slowly. “Gut-feeling?”

“Yeah. Gut-feeling.” Genma let out a relieved breath, taking another drink of his beer. Even if Raidou didn’t agree with him, at least his captain wasn’t dismissing him out of hand. “It’s not anything I think we need to act on, necessarily. But you asked what my concerns were, and that’s one of them: I have a gut-feeling there’s something up with Tousaki Ryouma that bears watching out for.”

Raidou pushed one large hand through his hair, rumpling it into unruly spikes. “Okay,” he said simply. “I don’t see it, but I’ll keep a watch.”

“Thanks,” Genma said. He ate the last bite of his banana and folded the peel up onto itself, making a neat little bundle. “As for the other thing, that’s obviously out of our hands. If they end up forging some kind of bond, then great. I hope it’s one that includes the whole team.” He eyed Raidou for a moment before plunging ahead. “I guess the other thing we should talk about is Ueno.”

Raidou studied his empty bottle, then looked pointedly at Genma’s nearly drained one. “We’re going to need more beer.”

“That good, huh?” Genma said. He’d guessed as much. Whatever was going on with Katsuko was clearly complex, with long, deep roots. He wondered if her overly-bright chakra was tied into the problem.

Raidou grunted agreement as he stood and grabbed another pair of bottles from the fridge. Strong fingers made quick work of the caps, and he passed a fresh bottle to Genma. A little cloud of condensing vapor spilled from the open neck.