"Well, that's good." But she'd already moved past Touga and onto the barking cough the pup was giving. He didn't smell ill; she'd have caught that right off. "You have an issue with your lungs?" she asked warily, reaching a bench and stepping on it to perch on the back, her feet on the seat.

People didn't generally get into ANBU if they weren't in peak health, but maybe he wasn't the rookie she'd assumed. Besides which, focusing on his problems was a great way to distract her from her own.