“No!” Genma blurted before he could think. His visceral rejection of Kurenai’s suggestion surprised him. “I mean, no. We’re a good team. He’s a good teammate. He’s just, when he has a turn like this, mid-mission, I have no idea what to do to get him out of it. He hasn’t jeopardized a mission yet…”

“Do you have reason to believe he’ll jeopardize this one?” Kurenai asked.

“Did we have reason to think I’d destroy a port?” Raidou asked, desert-dry. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, and gave Kurenai a weighty look. “So we’re clear, this is all off the record. Not for an Intel report.”

Genma’s mouth went dry. He should have considered it. He joined Raidou in frowning at Kurenai. “If you’re putting anything in a report, it’s that I said this team should stay together. We’re an effective, cohesive team.”

Kurenai took a bite of her dinner. “I’m here to gather actionable information for your mission. You’re the ones who need to file reports on the health and fitness of your teammates.”

Raidou’s mouth curved into a crooked half smile. “Thanks, Kurenai.” He arched his back and stretched, popping the joints in his shoulders and neck, much less tense. And he knew Kurenai. If he trusted her, then Genma would, too.

Genma ducked his head in an apologetic bow to Kurenai.

“Not to be an optimist,” Raidou said, “but maybe tomorrow will start with missing kids falling out of trees, a bunch of sake barrels floating down the river, and Tousaki making us breakfast. That could happen, right?”

“It could happen if you kicked him out of bed and ordered him to cook,” Genma said. He followed Raidou’s example, rolling his shoulders and slithering the tension out of his spine. “Sorry for my rudeness, Yuuhi.”

Kurenai tilted a red-lipped smile at him. “Paranoia is an occupational hazard. But let’s be clear. If you don’t want Tousaki pulled off your team, what do you want?” She softened again. “Think of this as prep work for that mission report…”

Genma glanced at Raidou. “I don’t know. A map to his issues, so we can anticipate what’s going to trigger him off, maybe? His file is fairly thin. Outside of his reading problems and his being orphaned and trained late, we don’t know much about him.”

“We know someone broke his knee young,” Raidou said, with a swift look at the tent.

“I’d thought that was a combat injury,” Genma said. He frowned, trying to picture Ryouma’s medical history file. “But maybe it wasn’t.”

Kurenai set her chopsticks carefully aside. “You have all the pieces, surely. He was orphaned young, and left Konoha with a man who'd been dismissed from the chuunin corps for drunkenness on duty. He came back three years later with a knee broken and half-healed, with no evidence that his education had progressed any further than the day he left the Academy, and with moderate to severe authority issues. His first fractures over this mission showed when he heard Nomiya had abused his wife and children. What do you think his triggers are?”

“I didn’t know about the disgraced chuunin,” Genma said. “That’s not in the file. That’s the grandfather? It certainly all fits, but…” He spun a chopstick between his fingers like a thick senbon. “I can’t even ask why Konoha would send a half-trained child away with a drunk. There were a lot of mistakes around the war, and a lot of orphans.” He stabbed his chopstick through the empty foil packet.

“Does Intel know if Tousaki’s grandfather died?” Raidou asked. His eyes were on the fire, and his words measured.

And how the grandfather died? Even a half-trained academy student would have a solid arsenal of skills to use against a drunk old man. Genma caught Raidou’s eye, certain they were sharing a thought. “Tousaki didn’t develop his rot jutsu until he was a genin or chuunin himself, right?”

“Genin,” Kurenai said. A slight frown made her brows crease. “If there’s a file on Tousaki Yousuke’s death, I haven’t found it.”

“How about a last known whereabouts?” Raidou’s voice shaded dark as he added, “I’d pay for that mission.”

Kurenai tipped her chin. “And yet you were worried about Tousaki wanting to kill Nomiya?”