“Asuma, listen,” Genma said. “This shit i’m in right now, it’s so classified I could probably get in trouble for just thinking about it with another person in the room. But you’re my friend, and you’re ANBU, too, even if you aren’t active-duty. I need to talk this out with someone who isn’t going to make a note in my personnel file, or go after my team if I say the wrong thing. You know?”

There was a little puff of breath against Genma’s skin, a twitch that was probably a smile tugging at Asuma’s cheek. “Yeah,” Asuma said. “Pinky swear.”

There was only one way to make that legit: Genma reached down to where Asuma’s hand rested on his belly and hooked his pinky into Asuma’s.

Somehow, even with that, the words were hard to get out. “There’s a lot,” he said. the fire that had left him homeless nearly two months ago. The attack at the ANBU Trials, and Orochimaru’s phantom threat. The coup at Hikouto, and whether Konoha was on the cusp of another war. Asuma. Hajime. Genma’s dad, with his not unfounded anxiety for his son’s safety.

And there was Team Six. Ryouma with his crippling insecurities and minefield of issues. Katsuko’s nightmarish hidden past and her unstable chakra. Kakashi’s thorny unapproachability and near-constant limit testing. But rising like cream to the top...

“Right now, it’s my captain,” Genma said. “And my team. He’s suspended for… I don’t even know how they’re going to class it. Criminal charges for unsanctioned kills if they really decide to screw him to the wall. And it’s bullshit. At least, I think it’s bullshit.”

Asuma was silent for a minute before saying, “Not as bad as treason, I suppose. You think they'd shitcan him for it?”

“For murder? And massive property damage that affects trading capacity at a key port? The way the post-mission interviews have gone so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went after the whole team.”

“You followed his orders to trash a port?” Asuma’s voice was full of disbelief.

Genma shook his head. “The mission was split. I had the two rookies with me in Ibaragashi City. Namiashi and Ueno were in Tsurugahama. And their half of the mission went sideways. Really, really sideways. From what I got from them, the port damage and the civilian deaths were unavoidable. Or… Well, understandable. Mist was there with a bigger force than we were expecting. When I said we took down Iebara and his team? That was just me and the rookies, and we were way outside of town. Mist had another whole unit in Tsurugahama waiting in ambush. If the rookies and I’d crossed paths with Iebara and his crew somewhere populated, too… I don’t even want to think about it.”

Asuma nodded. “Can't reasonably take the whole team out for that if they weren't all in the same town. Assuming your superiors believe your mission reports. Know if you've pissed off any of them recently?”

“No. I...Honestly, it’s not my own skin I’m worried about here. My half of the mission was an unqualified success,” Genma said. “It’s Taichou. And the way the rookies and Ueno are reacting. I’ve been trying to keep them on track, and focused on the positive. Telling them this is all a routine formality — there were losses, Tsurugahama complained, and so there’s got to be an inquiry. Missions go to shit sometimes, and collateral damage happens. Given that our mission was critical to Konoha’s safety—” he stopped himself, flinching away from the details that would link Team Six’s mission back to the events in Hikouto.