The glass-trapped light on Sarutobi Hiruzen’s desk cast soft, flickering shadows on the walls of his office. Paperwork flanked his elbows, waiting to be done—but there was always paperwork waiting to be done. He tapped the haft of an ink brush gently against the scarred surface of the desk, thinking.

There was no knock at the door. Arakaki stepped inside, walking soundlessly across the nightingale floor. He hadn’t brought a bottle of wine with him this time, and Hiruzen didn’t have their customary Go game set up and waiting. There was no room for either, tonight.

“Hisoka,” Hiruzen said, with a nod. “Take a seat.”

Arakaki dropped a stack of folders carefully on the desk, and fell into the empty, leather-bound chair with an unusual lack of grace.

“You know why I’m here,” he said, with a weary sigh. “Have you gotten any updates from the hospital?”

Hiruzen glanced at a half-open file he’d had cause to memorize over the last few hours. Blood transfusions, chakra healings, battled infections, lapses in and out of consciousness. It would take intensive rehabilitation before Sakamoto Ginta’s twice-repaired leg was able to withstand the rigours of missions again. Hatake Kakashi still wasn’t staying awake long enough for a full debrief.

“Nothing that you are not already aware of,” he said. “You interviewed them this afternoon?”

Arakaki nodded.

“What were your impressions?”

Arakaki was silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “Both men are aware of the severity of their situation,” he said at last. “Neither agent is reconciled to Tousaki's disappearance. I couldn't asses how much of Kakashi's reactions came from his physical state and how much from his emotional one. He was withdrawn and difficult to engage with, but the doctor I spoke to said there was still a significant amount of head injury being treated.”

Hiruzen nodded, noting the way Arakaki referred to the living veteran by his first name, but kept Tousaki Ryouma at a family name distance.

“Ginta was much more alert,” Arakaki continued. “He apologized for his actions, but said he felt he had no choice, and he did not regret them.”

Hiruzen sighed. “That sounds like him.”

“I don’t even know where to begin with him.” Arakaki rubbed his temples as if they ached.

“He acted with compassion and courage—and utterly failed to think through the consequences of his actions,” Hiruzen said, tapping the pen again. “Worse than that, he disobeyed direct orders and involved another agent, not to mention leaving the village while injured.” Which in and of itself was forbidden. Konoha had enough issues with enemies, without feeding injured shinobi directly into their teeth.

"I have no idea what will get through to him,” Arakaki said, and for a brief moment Hiruzen could hear the frustrated harmonics of a father in his voice, except that Arakaki’s recent marriage was still a childless one. “Confine him to the village? Dock his pay? Neither one seems likely to have a lasting effect, and he's a valuable agent. He and Kakashi both. We can't go easy on them just because we need them, but the truth is we do need them, and they know it."

“But we do not need this example to breed like wildfire through the rest of ANBU,” Hiruzen said heavily. “Even with the mitigating circumstances, Kakashi still abandoned a mission. Ginta stole information and passed it on to an agent without clearance. Both of them put their own safety and that of Konoha’s at risk for a single teammate, and while I understand the reasons, I cannot condone the actions.”

Asuma’s words came back to him, angry but truthful. Even your own analysts think Kakashi and Ryouma were a couple—what's wrong with letting the guy look for his boyfriend?"

Everything, when it destroyed three lives instead of just one.