#shin.

HE LAUGHS AND IT’S A TERRIBLE SOUND, though he’s not sure who it is that’s laughing.   zyre or vale, two parts of the same whole?   layers upon layers with more secrets in between.   his armor is vale’s, that’s no doubt, but it’s zyre whose interest has been piqued, zyre who steps closer in vale’s heavy boots and stands tall before her kneeling figure, weaponless and sure.

this one is smart, but she knows more than most, has reached too far.   it’s dangerous out here in the dark and he doesn’t doubt that she’s devout in her intent, but she has no idea how wide it stretches, how deep it goes.   does he know her in a distant memory, a face from early on, from before the storm and the relative calm that followed?   even if he doesn’t, he knows the shadows in her eyes speak to her survival, that the pain she wears like an armor has become impervious through the years.   it comes with age.   it comes with living.

slowly he sinks to her level, armor gleaming blacker than night in the sharp light as a heady storm brews overhead.   his helmet offers her nothing to gauge his intent, save for the way his head tilts, almost curious.   is he goading her?   he hasn’t decided yet.

“Bear-senpai.”

Bear watched the asset tense as she entered her office, she tilted her head ever so slightly in greeting. Technically no assets were allowed within her office unless they were on official business. The reality of the situation played out differently and her vents and their scent nullifying seals were an oft-used route to avoid detection. If no one could trace the asset’s entrance into her office then no one wanted to make an accusation against Danzo’s second.

Or rather, perhaps they did want to make an accusation and cause dissent within the Godaime’s regime but Chiyome would crush them. Her assets were more important than petty politics.

“Asset Sai, report please.”

Her tone was clipped, clinical but her hand reached out and gently snaked its way around his body to rest on the shoulder furthest from her. It wasn’t a hug, it couldn’t be, but it was the closest physical comfort she could allow herself--Just as much for his safety as for hers. If they began looking to her for comfort in public places it could alert Danzo to a greater level of attachment than was allowed.

“Asset Shin still has not sent word back of his progress, he has officially passed his second deadline of report and will face consequences if he returns.”

Bear kept her face calm and impassive even as her heart clenched at the younger boy’s clinical tone. She gave his shoulder a soft squeeze before releasing him, she walked past him as if the contact had never been made and sat down at her desk to review her paperwork for the day. While Danzo preferred doing most things under the table in terms of overall village involvement, the man kept meticulous records and it was in part her duty to review and store them appropriately. What she cared for was copied and squirreled away in a few small caches around the village, birth records, custody records, medical records, death records.

She did her best to remember it all, but she was no Uchiha. Records in triplicate hidden throughout the village would ensure that her assets could never be fully erased, not while she breathed.

With a clipped tone, sharper than intended but with no real heat, Bear split her attention between Sai and her work, “When he returns I will assess the necessary actions taken towards him.” The sooner the better, if he would only send back word then she could disappear the problem altogether. Falsify an injured hawk, a malfunctioned scroll, or if worse came to worst implicate one of the Uchiha in order to save Shin from decommissioning. He had such a short amount of time left, but he deserved that time.

Besides, for once, Bear was almost certain that the Godaime was correct in his frenetic suspicions of the Uchiha. She heard more than him, if only through the eyes and ears of her assets intermingled within anbu. Some things trickled back to the Godaime, those that if overheard without her careful filtering would be received badly but others were tucked away safely in the confines of her mind. Sealed tight as a corpse scroll as it was, it would take a veritable army of Yamanaka to pilfer any information, even the Godaime could not take from her what she was not willing to give.

“Asset Sai, please alert me immediately if word from Asset Shin is received, when he returns I want him sent directly to me for debrief,” Her eyes flickered up briefly before moving back to her work, but one hand reached down to pop open one of the secret compartments of her desk. Without looking up she pulled out a small, minimalistic black notebook.

Asset Sai had been given a combat notebook, of course, but such a tool could not be wasted on anything but spars and missions. It was a rationed tool, each page meaning the potential difference between life and death. This notebook was no such thing, with simple paper and a small pack of kohls neatly tied to the cover with thin twine. It was set carefully on the edge of her desk and summarily ignored. She could not say one way or the other if one of her assets handled contraband if she never saw them take it. She had simply misplaced the book, and it could not be found.

Wait, really? Not that she doubted her appeal--she had spent years honing it the way that a warrior would hone their skills to win in battle--but Shin had come across as more than a little aloof in the brief time that she had known him. He reminded her of some of the more brilliant choreographers or fashion designers that she had known during her time as an idol, with how centered his mind was around his chosen artform. That kind of devotion to his craft was impressive, especially considering how most of the teenagers she knew--herself included!--could be flighty and indecisive. That steadfastness was one of the main things to intrigue the Lovers.

...well, that and how his hair looked like it would be a dream to play with.