Raidou braced an elbow on the bolted table, watching the pair of lieutenants vault down from the prow. Sakamoto Ginta was a short, blonde shadow on Genma's left, with bright blue eyes and a smile that was just a little on the suspicious side of friendly. Together, sun-glowing and dressed in unremarkable dark clothes, they looked like a couple of young men on a working vacation.

Across the table from Raidou and Usagi, Yuuhi Kurenai and Uchiha Satomi had also swapped their Intel uniforms for wrap shirts and sturdy pants, loose-fitting enough to conceal blades. Kurenai hid her crimson eyes behind muddy brown contacts; her tumbling black curls were tied up in a high ponytail. Satomi—

Raidou really didn’t know where to start with Satomi.

In his general experience, Intel agents were either stunning or blandly unremarkable — Kurenai was the former; Oita, the department commander, was definitely the latter — but Satomi took a sharp left from standard. The pale skin, short stature, and delicate bone structure were typical Uchiha, along with a personality like a bitten snake. Her head was shaved nearly to the scalp, leaving only an aggressive suggestion of hair. A dozen healed holes in her earlobes marked the former presence of piercings. She looked more like a Yakuza than a shinobi, minus the tattoos.

Katsuko probably would have loved her.

She and Kakashi also seemed inclined to circle each other like territorial cats. But for a mission where accurate recall was crucial, Raidou would take all the Sharingan he could get.

Genma and Ginta chose seats for themselves, and Usagi launched into a rapid fire explanation of the details Kuroda had handed down. Kurenai interjected with her own thoughts; Satomi sliced the conversation short whenever it started to derail. Both lieutenants readily offered their own commentary — Genma’s, thoughtful and clear; Ginta’s, incisive but occasionally confusing — and Raidou threw in his own ideas.

They were young teams, with fledgling leaders, but as information flew between them, Raidou found himself fighting down an impatient smile. A sane infiltration needed weeks of planning, veteran commanders, and concrete information from a source other than a one-armed kunoichi with very good reason to murder them all. But this was ANBU: sanity optional. They’d crack Kiri open and bring the bones back for Konoha, and they’d do it with rookies.

Raidou leaned forward. “Yuuhi, talk us through those caves again.”

Kurenai spun a freshly drawn chart around on the table, and took them through Kirigakure’s first line of defenses.

Kuroda returned from Fukuda’s cabin when the sailors were lighting the evening lamps, and ordered Kakashi out of the rigging to guard Fukuda. The remaining rookies were tasked with re-checking equipment and preparing the evening meal.

With only minimal unpleasantness, Kuroda sat down at the table and critiqued their plans.