For a moment, she just stares. The surprise was clearly evident on her face, even though she tried to hide it- It was evident by how her eyes widened just a fraction, and her fingers stopped fidgeting with her sleeve.

Hinata had... Never thought of Kurenai like that.

To her, Kurenai-sensei had always been steady. Confident. Someone who knew. The idea that she still felt doubt was something Hinata could not even grasp the concept of.

She thinks she understands what her teacher is telling her, but... There was always that lingering fear that she was wrong. So, instead, Hinata lowers her gaze briefly, trying to sort through the feeling, her thoughts a little tangled.

“…I didn’t know…” she admits quietly.

There’s no judgment in it. Just soft, genuine surprise.

Her hands come together again, but gentler this time, like she’s grounding herself rather than hiding.

“I always thought you were… certain. About yourself.”

She hesitates, then looks back up, more earnest now.

“…If you still feel that way…” Hinata continues, her voice soft but searching, “then…”

She falters slightly, but pushes through it. Her eyes stay on Kurenai now, open and vulnerable in a way that shows she truly wants to understand.

She didn't feel she would be a good teacher if she tried to shield her students from everything and that meant also showing her own weaknesses.

One of the great lessons of childhood is learning that the adults are not infallible.

"It gets easier with time. The more you learn and grow, your confidence naturally follows. And perhaps most importantly, finding those that you can rely on and that will support you."

Hinata's expression is one of an earnest willingness to understand. It's what lets her known that Hinata will make it through whatever comes her way. The kind of inner strength she's always seen in the young girl.

He's following quietly in the shadows, reading their target's body language in order to determine when they're going to turn around to check their surroundings. It's every few blocks or so... Asuma doesn't feel like he's made it very far down the street. He can see Kurenai hiding not too far ahead, and when she gives him that nod and disappears a second afterwards, Asuma knows to make his way to her now.

Asuma is silent as he disappears, his feet barely touching the ground now as he runs towards their new hiding spot. It only takes him a few seconds before he appears behind his partner, one hand resting gently on her lower back for a short moment before he shifts away as not to completely crowd her space.

It's as Asuma says. He seems to be waiting for someone.

She nods. "Let's wait and see."

It takes only a few moments before someone else appears. Is it some kind of smuggling operation? Are they trading information? Kurenai tilts her head, waits, and... watches as they walk off together without a word.

He's staring intently at the palm of his left hand. There should be a scar. A part of him wants there to be. It's normal to bleed. When Shikamaru shoved his fingers into the wound, it should have hurt. Asuma should have felt it but in place of flesh and bone there had been nothing but static. His hand closes into a fist and briefly, there's a flash of pain as blunt fingernails dig into his palm. He repeats the action a few more times in an efforted attempt to reassure himself that everything was still as it should be.

Footsteps inside pull him from his thoughts and then he's reaching to open the window further.  Either to invite Kurenai out or give himself enough room to come back inside. "Hey..." The tiredness he felt was starting to seep into his voice as he leaned his head back against the railing before looking at her and holding his right hand out to her. "Did I wake you up? I know it can be a pretty easy thing to do most of the time but I thought I was more being careful tonight. Sorry..."

Soft steps bring her to the balcony and she finds him waiting in the cool night air. Kurenai shakes her head.

"I haven't been able to sleep." Kurenai steps out beside him, into the warmth of his side, and observes the quiet Konoha. It's so different from its busy days and yet no less familiar to her. Now she wonders how real it is.

We're free, Deidara thinks, raising his head to look at the sky through the trees.

The proctors say something about "allowed to go back to the village," and "any attempt to harm your teammate is grounds for immediate disqualification," but he's more focused on the fact that the air feels like air now.

"We're not out of the clear yet."

She moves to stand near him, keeping a watchful eye even as he flops down to the ground.

"The immediate danger is past, but we're still in the forest. I'm not going to leave you behind." To do any different would go against her nature. He may not be her student or even of Konoha, but he is her partner.

He sneered. Trapped in a fuckin' genjutsu again, because everything just loved seeing him in pa—

Roll: 1d3 = 3

But his partner for this round seemed... alright. Better than any Uchiha with the eyes, and better than the girl who stabbed him, at least.

Roll: 1d3 = 3

"Awww Dei-da-ra-kun! Don't you want to play with me?", called a familiar voice, its tone carrying some notes of anger.

They're greeted by a disembodied voice, but this time when it speaks her name she's able to pinpoint its general location.

Before she can do little else, however, a very familiar looking contraption falls out of the sky and snags against her cheek. The two kunai tied to each end of a wire. Kurenai presses her fingers to her face and draws away with blood.

"Stay alert for more attacks." Wary, red-ringed eyes survey their surroundings. That voice, it came from this tree, she's sure of it. No matter how ordinary it looks.

The moment she touches the tree, however, she stumbles forward, and watches in disbelief as the tree movies away, the clearing expanding tenfold in the process.

"I'll go first." She nods to Asuma in the darkness, then opens the trap door and disappears through it back into the academy's halls.

As expected, Komorebi is nowhere near her, and so there's no one to witness the dashing shadow that makes its way from the hallway to the classroom. The window Asuma spoke of is still open.

Kurenai moves toward it. Moonlight and fresh air spill through and caresses her skin, a welcome feeling after hiding in the hallway's shadows for so long, but she remains focused on the task at hand. The area is clear and it's time to make her escape.

With practiced ease, Kurenai slips out of the window and down the side of the building, barely disturbing her surroundings until she lands on her feet beneath the shadow of a tree.

"I'm clear." She speaks into the mic. The academy looks quiet from here. Hard to believe there's several ninja trying to escape its confines.

He takes a moment to shut the door behind him, as if that would conceal the path he'd taken. They were aware of the proctor's route she was taking through the halls. She hadn't entered any rooms, though Asuma supposes it hardly matters now. They all had a clear path to escape.

The classroom is dimly lit by the moon's rays pouring through the open window. The smell of smoke still lingers, though just barely now. Asuma smiles to himself and makes a break for the window, channeling just enough of his chakra towards his feet to run down the outside wall of the academy. Once he spots Kurenai in the line of trees, he runs towards her and takes cover in the underbrush.

Shikamaru was five years old when he learned how to suppress his chakra. And he was twelve, crouched behind a tree in the Forest of Death, when he realized there was no way for an ordinary shinobi to conceal it completely. His mother had known the entire time.

It seems like Komorebi's trying to teach him the same lesson.

After her silhouette glides past the teachers' lounge, Shikamaru slips out. He leaves the door cracked with a coat rack stand hidden in the shadows by the west-side wall, which separates the lounge from the hallway he's in. If the team needs more time, he can make noise and emit chakra. From where Komorebi is, she would be able to sense his general direction; he can only hope that she'd investigate the lounge first.

Kurenai's voice crackles in his ear. Then Asuma's. The tension in his shoulders soothes over. Two safe, and he knows Ino can make it.

There's no way they'll hold their sensei back now. With Shikamaru keeping tabs on Komorebi, and with both their escape routes secured, all that's left is to finish executing the plan.

Ino sits on the edge of the roof, using her heel to press down on the ladder. The joints are caked with rust, but it feels nice and stable.

Halfway into her descent, Ino notices the ladder's not fully extended after all. She gives the drop-down ladder another nudge with her foot. This time, its lack of movement is less welcome, but she can jump the rest of the way down if she has to.

"I'm heading down n—eek!"

With a grating clang, the bottom half of the ladder falls away just as she lifts her foot to keep descending.

Jumping it is, then.

Landing on the grass, Ino looks over her shoulder to make sure the noise didn't draw any eyes. She then glares at the broken ladder beside her before moving to rejoin Asuma and Kurenai.

His eyes sweep the darkened corridors of the Academy one last time. They've grown a lot since the first time they stepped foot in here—him, Ino, and Chouji.

Ah, well. No use dwelling on the past when he's got her, Asuma, and Kurenai waiting for him outside. A faint smile rides his lips as he pulls open the transportation scroll.

It tires quickly thereafter.

"Ugh," is the first thing Shikamaru lets out in his team's presence. He tugs at his ear, still ringing from the ladder's sudden malfunction. "That felt like a humiliation ritual. Dunno what the higher-ups got in mind, putting us through the Exams again. It's such a drag ..."

But hey, everyone got out. That's all that matters.

The time between Ino's and Asuma's reports on Komorebi's movements isn't particularly long either. At best ... "We have about two or three minutes before she restarts her round." More, if he's able to hold her back. "Ino, can you make it down the ladder in two?"

Footsteps pad along in the distance.

Shikamaru moves behind the coat rack, his hand still poised over his mic as he watches the door.

"I can't tell if there's a direct path from where you are to the rooftop, Asuma. It's a pain in the ass, but I would go back and try the window."

A silhouette appears at the far end of the frosted glass. He reaches into his pouch.

Though the lack of Komorebi's footsteps up here are a welcome repreive, but she's not out of the woods yet. As if to reminder her, the evening air sits still and stagnant.

Ino positions herself against a corner of the fence. From here, she can keep an eye on the windows in question, and maintain a quick path to the ladder. Clambering up the fence and down the other side would leave her too exposed, make it too difficult to keep an eye on the situation while moving.

A Yamanaka doesn't take those risks without an ally to cover her. Not unless romantic intrigue is invovled.

"Asuma-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, I've got a clear line of sight on the east side. Once you're out, we'll follow."

"I'll go first." She nods to Asuma in the darkness, then opens the trap door and disappears through it back into the academy's halls.

As expected, Komorebi is nowhere near her, and so there's no one to witness the dashing shadow that makes its way from the hallway to the classroom. The window Asuma spoke of is still open.

Kurenai moves toward it. Moonlight and fresh air spill through and caresses her skin, a welcome feeling after hiding in the hallway's shadows for so long, but she remains focused on the task at hand. The area is clear and it's time to make her escape.

With practiced ease, Kurenai slips out of the window and down the side of the building, barely disturbing her surroundings until she lands on her feet beneath the shadow of a tree.

"I'm clear." She speaks into the mic. The academy looks quiet from here. Hard to believe there's several ninja trying to escape its confines.

One of his hands deftly reaches for her glowing scroll at her hip to secure it in one of the leather holders he'd found, and then once it's fastened shut, he places it back in the pouch she'd been keeping it in. "That'll help block the light." The hand lingers for a moment, his thumb gently circling over her hip before he pulls it back to shove it into his pocket.

His other arm extends to rest against the wall above her head though (as much as part of him wanted to) he doesn't make an attempt to further crowd her space. His stance might suggest he's a little too relaxed but he's kept his eyes peeled, he's been listening, and he's still aware of Komorebi's chakra.

After seeing him off, Ino pauses, her hand on the doorknob. Komorebi's chakra grows more and more oppressive by degrees. It's water about to hit that intense boil once again. Time to move.

She makes her own way into the hall and in the direction where the scent of smoke is weakest. She's creeping down the passage that leads to Lady Hokage's office when her earpiece crackles, fuzzy staticky noises that sound like frantic movement.

Ino freezes. Ducks into a nearby pocket of shadow. Waits to hear the situation.

No way.

No WAY.

Asuma and Kurenai are hiding. Together. And they're being so cute about it. This test really is her reward.

Hands clapped over her mouth (because if she doesn't, she will squeal), she listens intently. Was that static from them? What kind of hiding spot are they in right now? Did Kurenai take Asuma's cigarette away? Did their hands touch?

The oppressive feeling of Komorebi's chakra is on her again, and nearing its boiling point. She'd completely lost focus.

As quiet as she can, Ino makes a dash for the nearest room: Lady Hokage's office. Fortunately, the heavy door opens soundlessly, and Ino slips behind it just as Komorebi's presence hits its peak.

Shakily, she presses her hand to her mouth again, this time to hold in the sharp exhale that wants to burst from her lungs.

When the coast is clearer (because it'll never be clear, not until they leave), Ino opens her mic to the other three.

"Komorebi's in the north hall, heading—"

She closes her eyes, hones her senses, feels the proctor's presence trickle weaker and weaker.

"—east. Hokage-sama's office is unlocked."

Then she hurries to switch communications to Shikamaru's line alone, and hisses, half-harried from tension and half-giddy with delight.

"Did you hear them just now, Shikamaru?! New plan: we are not following the sensei. Not unless it's life or death."

He's crouched behind an armchair, hands pressed into the Rat seal. Beside him, moonlight bleeds into the lounge, soaking the marbled floors all the way to the door. But Komorebi doesn't come back.

A frown pinches his brows. He lingers for a few moments more before letting the seal fall to his side. Perhaps the hallway is longer than he'd assumed ... or they're in another genjutsu.

There's rustling in his ear. Movement. Shikamaru sets them aside as he squints at the bulletin board hammered into the east wall. Is that ... ? A patrol route, looking eerily similar to the layout he has mentally mapped out in his own head—except with more spaces north. And if Komorebi was just here, around the teachers' lounge, then ...

He reaches up for his mic but stops mid-way.

There's more rustling then. Whispers. Asuma's voice. Kurenai's voice. Whatever thought Shikamaru had in that moment dissipates, and he finds himself pressing his earpiece in, as if that would help him make sense of what he's hearing. What's happening? Are they—

Ino comes through, and Shikamaru damn near rips the earpiece out.

"Could've chosen a more elegant way to tell us," he grumbles, rubbing the base of his neck. His gaze returns to the patrol route. "North Hall, heading East ... yeah, that tracks. Looks like she patrols—" Right. He should probably loop Asuma and Kurenai in too.

He switches his mic back to the main line.

Ino suddenly comes on over the mic and reality comes back to her. They're on a mission and shinobi shouldn't fall prey to distractions.

Shikamaru comes on next and once he's finished, she nods and presses her hand to her ear piece. "Good job, Shikamaru. Asuma and I will stay hidden until she passes."

"Yeah, we can have one on the lookout." He glances over at the window panels lining the upper wall. When he'd ducked earlier, it didn't seem like Kotorebi was carrying any source of light when she passed by. So she can be anywhere. "The hallway between us and Asuma and Ino should be clear. I'll check it out."

The vents are a tight squeeze, and his shoulders strain to keep him upright. Shikamaru crawls along nonetheless, peering down into the hallway in question before making his way across.

"Coast's clear," he murmurs into his mic.

He looks ahead into the darkness. A gust of cold washes over him then, prickling at his skin and at the hairs on the back of his neck. He can't see where the vents end. The cool metal, once welcomed, now presses into him on either side. And the walls are closing in and the walls are closing in and the walls are closing—

Shikamaru tumbles out of the ventilation shaft and has half a mind to grab onto the ledge so he can quietly lower himself into the teacher's lounge and hide. He'd been aiming for the hallway at the very end but ...

His first breath is laboured.

He blows another puff of smoke towards the ground, and then turns back to Ino. There are no footsteps that he can hear in the hallway straight ahead, and where Ino had just come from was clear as well. How accurate his assumptions would be within the next few minutes or so was anyone's guess. Komorebi seemed to be moving quickly.

"I'm gonna check out the hallway between the classrooms. Spent a little too long in this room, I think." He could circle back if needed but there were still other things he wanted to investigate.

At the moment, his priority was a hiding spot.

Asuma opens the door to the hall. His movements are slow and careful as he looks in both directions. He can feel Komorebi's chakra fade in and out as she walks, her own footsteps echoing through the hallways of the academy.

Throwing a little bit of his own caution to the wind, he closes the door behind him and steps out. She's getting closer, and it's putting him on edge so he begins moving. Another few feet, and Asuma sees the glow of another scroll, as well as the familiar silhouette of his partner while she's investigating a heavy wooden door.

Komorebi's footsteps grow louder from around the corner, and without so much as a second thought, Asuma rushes towards Kurenai. An arm slides around her waist, and he pulls her into the enclosed space with him. A part of him hoped it hadn't come off as too forceful. If he had, he could apologize profusely later. The door glides shut, and pulls out one of the scroll holders he'd found in the other set of classrooms to hand to her.

Silently, she slips from the vent and into the hallway. She can hear Komorebi through the hallways. Judging by the sounds and her other senses...she's closer than Kurenai thought. But there's still time to search and they need every advantage they can get.

Kurenai moves confidently through the darkened hallway when a strange sight along the ground catches her eye. The outline of something. Her hand moves along its outer edge until she can fit it into the indent of a handle. Soundless, the heavy door opens to reveal a dark space. It doesn't go anywhere but it is some kind of secret hiding spot.

And then she feels him, Asuma, at her side pulling her into this dark space. She doesn't resist, simply fits herself against him as they take up the entirety of the hidden area. It's not a smile that greets him however but a frown.

"Asuma, why are you smoking here?" She plucks the cigarette from his lips and puts it out immediately against the wall that they're cramped up against. "The smoke and smell will give you away." He knows better.

"Only one way to find out."

And that was true. Regardless as to how small the space was, it was possible it could prove helpful. Komorebi was still in the hallway beside them.

Asuma's gaze turns to Shikamaru before climbing up beside him on the desk. "You wanna come with me? We'll cover a bit more ground if we split up."

With that, Asuma hops up to crawl through the vents. Maybe it's not the most graceful, but it's quick, and he moves in a straight line until he finds the vent above another set of classrooms. His drop to the ground is silent, and he pulls his lighter from his pocket to light his cigarette. "I made it to the other side. More classrooms if you head straight."

This is no time to dwell in the past, however. The last exam had gone relatively smooth, all things considered, but with a new exam comes new challenges and information to be gathered. And this time, their task revolves around being stealthy.

While Shikamaru and Asuma busy themselves with the ceiling, Kurenai presses herself against the wall and hears the faint footsteps of the proctor.

Asuma's familiar voice crackles into her ear piece and she looks at the other two and nods. "Stay hidden. Remember your training. I'm going to investigate out here." The higher risk should fall on someone more experienced and their proctor will be patrolling the hallways.

Kurenai disappears into the shadows, not even the door leaving a sound as she sneaks out and into the darkness of the hallway. Crouched in the shadows of an alcove, Kurenai waits and watches.

At the same time, it makes Ino that much more aware of Chouji's absence, surrounded by all this nostalgia...

With a small shake of her head, Ino brings herself back to the moment. She'll just have to brag to him later about working with Kurenai, who's on the move in the direction of those footsteps, growing louder and louder like an anxious heartbeat.

Standing up on a desk, she looks back at Shikamaru. Having him at her back also means looking away and leaving her trust with him.

Still, that doesn't mean she doesn't have her preferences.

"You'd better be right behind me," she whispers, before climbing up after Asuma. After a few turns, she closes her eyes. Remembers. Yes, this should drop her right outside the west wing of classrooms.

"I should be just outside your classroom, Asuma-sensei. This hall's clear."

As soon as Ino's leg disappears into the ventilation shaft, Shikamaru ducks. The footsteps outside the classroom draw closer, louder, each step weighed with a steady rhythm—which means Kurenai had made it past Koborebi undetected. His eyes flick up to the hole in the ceiling. If Koborebi peers in, it would be evident where they'd gone. He can hold her here, temporarily, if it means giving Asuma and Ino a few extra seconds to find a place to hide.

His fingers inch toward his pouch, where the palm-sized scroll is safely tucked away. The moonlight doesn't reach far enough for shadows to matter, so he'd need to make his own light source ...

But the footsteps don't stop.

Shikamaru draws his hand away and reaches up to his microphone, lowering his voice to say, "Asuma, Ino, she's headed your way. Move fast." He creeps along the rows of desks to the one underneath the vent. Earlier, when he stepped on it, something jiggled inside.

... Pencils?

Could be helpful for distraction. He pockets the pencils and climbs back up on the desk. A pause. "Kurenai-sensei, where are you?" He'd intended to follow Asuma and Ino to the West side, but that would leave Kurenai behind. She can handle herself, he's sure, but he doesn't want to take any chances. If Neji hadn't woken up at the last second to swim out then he would've—

Once her footsteps recede, Kurenai moves toward the alcove. She searches quickly, moving her hand through the darkness, and grabs a scroll. Pulling it into the moon light she realizes her intuition to search the high risk area had proved correct. Her efforts have won them a teleportation scroll. Kurenai gives the area a quick glance, finds nothing more of interest, and returns to the classroom.

Shikamaru is still inside. She nods and produces the scroll. "Here, take this." And presses it into his hands. "We may find more items in the hallways where she roams."

Asuma has spoken at length of his pride in his team, but she knows he and Shikamaru have spent much time together outside of their training as well. A bond similar to hers and Hinata's. And even here in the dark, she can see the intelligence shining in his eyes.

Shikamaru finds his footing on one of the desks and prods the ceiling tiles. The leftmost gives way, sliding open to reveal a ventilation shaft. "Hey, guys. Found something." A quick glimpse tells him it'll be a tight squeeze and the risk of being stuck ...

"Can't tell where it goes."

His heels land quietly on the ground. Komorebi is nearby, so they should make a run for it.

Or.

He can let the other three escape first and take her on himself.

"Only one way to find out."

And that was true. Regardless as to how small the space was, it was possible it could prove helpful. Komorebi was still in the hallway beside them.

Asuma's gaze turns to Shikamaru before climbing up beside him on the desk. "You wanna come with me? We'll cover a bit more ground if we split up."

With that, Asuma hops up to crawl through the vents. Maybe it's not the most graceful, but it's quick, and he moves in a straight line until he finds the vent above another set of classrooms. His drop to the ground is silent, and he pulls his lighter from his pocket to light his cigarette. "I made it to the other side. More classrooms if you head straight."

This is no time to dwell in the past, however. The last exam had gone relatively smooth, all things considered, but with a new exam comes new challenges and information to be gathered. And this time, their task revolves around being stealthy.

While Shikamaru and Asuma busy themselves with the ceiling, Kurenai presses herself against the wall and hears the faint footsteps of the proctor.

Asuma's familiar voice crackles into her ear piece and she looks at the other two and nods. "Stay hidden. Remember your training. I'm going to investigate out here." The higher risk should fall on someone more experienced and their proctor will be patrolling the hallways.

Kurenai disappears into the shadows, not even the door leaving a sound as she sneaks out and into the darkness of the hallway. Crouched in the shadows of an alcove, Kurenai waits and watches.

Kakashi was right. Now it looked like it wanted to play again. From above Suteki tells them they're on the right track and, that they need to tire it out somehow. Who knows where his own spool of wire went... The tiger had seemed to like that but it pounced and threw him to the ground to get it.

Now that the winds have stopped for a moment, Asuma reaches out to brush a hand against Kurenai's back before stepping forward. His knuckledusters are put away, out of sight into the pouch at his hip again, and then he reaches a hand out towards the tiger. If he could get close enough to touch it, maybe he could try to restrain it, like Suteki said.

There's more bared teeth, and maybe Asuma should have stopped there but he does not. He jumps forward to make his grapple attempt regardless and the roar that the tiger lets out is different from the previous. It's ear piercing, loud, and the winds that surround him now are both chilling and scorching. He's knocked off his feet and his back hits the ground hard but the pain and increasing heaviness in his body doesn't stop him from trying to get back up.

If he squints, he can swear its smirking at him, taunting him and so Kakashi responds in kind, the corner of his eyes upturning as arms are spread wide, making himself as wide as possible as he starts to run towards the cat. "You wanna dance kitty? Let's dance." There's an uncharacteristic drawl in his voice as he rushes forward, slipping under the winds that hum in amusement at the antics shared between him and the gate before him.

The laughter from him is authentic, full of joy as his arms close around the legs, pinning them to the Earth for but a moment before the tiger has him pulled to the ground. In a heartbeat the hold is broken, Kakashi rolling amongst the grass as he feels harmless claws dig deep into his back, the deep chuckles as he's used as a springboard for the tiger to launch itself high into the air before landing so gracefully upon the ground.

Yet Kakashi is not annoyed or even harmed by the actions, feeling the tail come to rub against his cheek, against the eyes squeezed almost painfully shut as it moves the protector back into place, allowing him to open the eye once again. "Smart Kitty..." A turn of his head towards the woman beside him, urging her into action with words and a haphazard smile.

It's all or nothing. She's the least physically strong among them, especially a genjutsu practitioner, but right now she doesn't have that to rely on. So she throws her whole body into her hold. Arms loop around the tiger's neck and her body braces itself against its fur coat, holding it still against her.

She expects the tiger to fight back, to throw her as it had Asuma and Kakashi, but instead it tilts its head upward and fits itself snugly beneath her chin. A rumble breaks from its throat and travels up her arms but she realizes it's not threatening her, it's purring. They stay like this for a moment. Even as the winds hum around them, she closes her eyes and holds the tiger in her arms.

The moment is fleeting as the tiger shifts in her arms and leans backwards. It falls backwards and Kurenai follows with a laugh, releasing her hold as it paws at the air.

Once more, the winds pick up around them, picking up speed until all she can hear is the howl of the wind. And just as quickly, the winds dissipate, and so too does the tiger.

Kurenai flops onto the grass with a heavy sigh. Dark hair splays out behind her head in waves, ends sticking out and grass clinging to her, but she can only feel relief. And a little bit of sadness at the tiger's departure.