That he had played the distraction wasn't a reassurance. She could smell his mood change, the crab apple scent that rolled off of him despite the lie of his smile. Tsume lifted one eyebrow sardonically at the contradiction before looking away.

She knew people weren't Inuzuka. They didn't have her sense of smell, and contradictions like these were normal for everyone else. She just wasn't very good at them--what point in learning to smile when you felt bad, if the people you were growing up with could scent the lie?

But no one else was Inuzuka, and remembering that--not getting annoyed when they tried to cover such an obvious feeling--was something she had to consciously remind herself of.

In the meantime, she still didn't know whether or not he was safe to run missions with. He had to be, to have made it into ANBU--it wasn't like they were at war any more. They didn't have to take anyone who applied.

She slanted a look at him side-long, watching him watch her familiar. "So tell me, pup. What do you do in ANBU? Most everyone has a speciality." Maybe he was a poison-guy--though he didn't smell like it. But it was possible he didn't have to worry about coughing so much for that.

Heck, maybe that was part of the reason he coughed. The very thought of poisons--inhalants or otherwise--made her nose wrinkle. She still couldn't imagine spending more time in that lab than necessary.