She passed on the luck comment with only a snort. "Never felt like getting out. Plenty to do here." Her tone was a little dry; it wasn't like she hadn't kept herself busy. ANBU was practically a vacation after clan and kids.

She caught Kuromaru's single-eared profile, and revised that. A really lousy vacation.

"Is that where you've been? Busy getting out?" She grinned up at him, measuring him once more. It would make sense, though she couldn't think why a ninja would leave. Maybe he was a crappy ninja. Maybe he'd taken a few too many missions that had gone poorly--though he didn't bear any obvious scars. But he hadn't been surprised at Kuromaru talking, and he obviously recognized her tattoos; he was probably telling the truth about growing up here.

Smelling a lie was impossible with the cigarette smoke clinging to him like a shroud. She stepped closer, stepped away, and eyed him again.