“Well done!” the vendor congratulated him, and offered a tray of brightly colored charms. “Take your pick.”

“If I pay for my sister, can we count my target for her instead?” Ryuu asked.

The vendor blinked, then looked at Ka-chan. He seemed like a nice man, face sun-weathered and framed with laughter lines, but the quirk of his mouth said, no threat here. “Sure,” he said. “As long as she hits one target.”

Ryuu paid another two coins, and handed Ka-chan the slingshot. The vendor laid out another five rocks.

Ka-chan picked up one of them, weighing it in her hand, and tested the stretch of the slingshot. Kakashi thought, badly balanced piece of junk.

The first shot was a whisper too wide.

The vendor grinned, tucking his hands into his pockets. Kakashi adjusted his aim and put four holes through four different hoops. Ka-chan turned with a bright grin, set the slingshot back down, and asked Ryuu, “Which prize do you want?”

Ryuu beamed at her, face lit like a sunrise. “Nee-san is the coolest.”

The vendor’s mouth was open. He shut it abruptly and gave Ka-chan a shrewd look. Then he reached up to his shelves, pulled down one of the wooden puzzle boxes, and, after a moment’s thought, one of the fluffiest tanuki toys. He pressed the toy into Ryuu’s hands, the box into Ka-chan’s, and gave her a little wink. “Enjoy the festival, tanuki-sama.”

Ka-chan blinked. Inside his own head, Kakashi folded up laughing.

A broad hand came down on his shoulder, startling him so much he almost dropped the box. “Are you making trouble already?” Gendou asked.

“You were supposed to be choosing food-stalls,” Rie added.

Busted. Ka-chan hugged the box to her chest and said indignantly, “We did!”

Ryuu rattled off a hasty list. “Takoyaki, roast corn, karaage on a stick, shioyake, and dango.”

Gendou leaned over and stage-whispered, “You forgot about the taiyaki.”

“And okonomiyaki,” Ka-chan added.

Rie made an amused sound. “Is that all? Come along, then.” She ushered them away while Gendou bowed politely to the vendor and apologized for his rowdy offspring. The vendor, clearly on a mission, waved this off and insisted Gendou take two of the lucky charms with him.

When Gendou caught up with them again, fingering one of the red-dyed charms thoughtfully, Ka-chan asked him, “Can we get melon soda, too?”

Gendou glanced down at her, and for a second Kakashi had the dizzy double-vision of looking up at Genma’s face, distorted like melted glass. It passed after a moment, but it left a cold prickle up the back of Ka-chan’s neck. Wrongness in the world.

There was a reason Intel agents didn’t use henge for long-term missions, besides the chakra drain. A reason most jounin didn’t use it for anything beyond grabbing a quick advantage in a fight. The mind didn’t like being held in the wrong shape. The longer you forced it, the more fractures would crack and spread.

They wouldn’t stay here for more than one night.

“Where’s Obaa-san?” Ka-chan asked.