"Kuromaru didn't want to bite your head off, seeing as you were in uniform. He brought me down to make sure you were a bona fide intruder before he gutted you." She grinned back. "He's graduated from steak to man."

She opened a cabinet on the far wall, peering at rows of empty hooks. She closed it, opened another door, and closed it on paperwork. The third door had a bundle of keys. She pulled them out, rattling them together triumphantly. "You're in luck, pup. I don't have to wake the desk chuunin, which means I don't have to share this rumor, which means it might be enough to get you out." She grinned again. "And if I can handle my bundle of warm 'n fuzzy, surely you can. I mean, you're--" she paused out of reach and looked up at him. "Big."