Hiro froze, and thought very, very fast.

It wasn't Raidou's glare--that didn't matter. He would do what he thought was best, as the ranking Intel agent present, and what could Raidou do about it? Certainly not hurt him, as he seemed to be threatening, and it wasn't as if they were friends. He didn't have to "play nice."

But one of the ranking, incontrovertible rules of Intel debriefings was, don't lie. Trust was one of the most important commodities that a ninja had, and one of the hardest to regain when lost. Paranoia was all well and good, but without trust, what did you have?

Not a village, that was for sure.

As a debriefing agent, Hiro was representing, not only himself, but the entire Intel division. If Hiro lied and Genma found out--which he would: that kind of mundane, unimportant-except-to-one-person secret was impossible to keep contained--then the damage done would encompass them all. Genma's usefulness as an agent would be seriously compromised.

Unless Genma understood. Accepted the lie, and realized it was necessary. Was he rational enough to do that? Hiro didn't know.

But was he sane enough to tolerate the truth? No, a little voice in Hiro's head whispered.

His Byakugan was still active. He looked at Genma, just for an instant.

Shuddering, rabbit-quick heartbeat, pulsing fragilely within its broken enclosure. Lungs straining, barely able to draw enough breath. And on the outside--don't look at his hand!--his limbs trembled, pupils flared, and his equally-broken partner's low, steady voice was the only thing keeping him together.

Maybe he could handle it--ninja were strong, and ANBU were steel. Maybe his partner would be able to carry him through it; maybe he'd break, and Raidou would catch him. In an ordinary situation, maybe Hiro would chance it--it was the way things were done.

But Raidou had forced the issue. Told the lie. And if Hiro countermanded that statement now...

I hope you realize you may be costing me my career.

Hiro nodded, tight and small. "Raidou's right. They're all dead."