Great Lakes & Expectations chp 19(for real real)

Regina came back to the office at 9 with a sunny disposition and another set of papers. This time, Hiruzen read them fully before approving them. It was normally unreasonable for him to read everything brought- there was too much paperwork. It was why he had a staff of ten people just to pre-approve all paperwork and approve non-critical functions. 

These were just amended building approvals for Jiraiya-kun’s house. 

Wait, what was happening to that horrid little shack he and Tsunade-chan had built?

Oh. It was there, technically considered part of the main house. That was apparently necessary. The next few sets of paper were a series of complaints from the city planning board about the previous plans, because Jiraiya hadn’t had the foresight to apply for a multi-building complex, and hadn’t given permission to demolish that godforsaken safety hazard.

Unfortunately, he also hadn’t given Rejina-san the clad head position yet to authorize those changes, even though he didn’t live here.

Hiruzen felt an eye tic developing. 

He sympathized with the poor girl quite a bit. And she’d ‘solved’ the problem by adding a set of steep, useless stairs out to the shack. It was labelled ‘Father’s quarters’ in the building plans. There was no corresponding opening in the stone walls to let him out. Or in, he supposed.

Fair. 

Jiraiya-kun was good at camping. He was sure he’d be ok.

He stamped them with a small level of personal satisfaction and handed them back. Rejina-san whisked them under her jacket, and bowed. 

“There are some requests from the Daimyo awaiting your review, Hokage-sama.” She seemed to hesitate, as if uncomfortable in her role. The prestigious role that she had supposedly sought out.

He just sat and watched Rejina for a moment. 

True to form, she didn’t look away or flinch at eye contact. That showed an admirable amount of self-possession. She didn’t seem scared. She might have been bored as the moments dragged on.

She hadn’t responded to his roundabout methods the last few times. Whether that was a cultural misunderstanding or willful denial, he didn’t know. He didn’t have enough information. And that was a shock- he had never considered that Jiraiya would hide something of this magnitude from him.

‘Damn me for not checking more into Jiraiya’s life before this. I dislike unknowns.’

Maybe being straightforward was the best route. By all accounts, she seemed friendliest with people of that character. 

“So, your language skills have improved quite a bit since you last stayed with your father. You must have been studying.”

Rejina peered at him through downcast lashes. The side of her mouth tensed. “Yes.”

Well, that was an odd reaction to a compliment. He resisted the urge to sigh. Perhaps she just wasn’t particularly bright. She certainly wasn’t comfortable in Konoha.

“Rejina-san.” He said, trying to sound friendly. 

Her left eyebrow raised, just a little. The rest of her face stayed the same. The small movement somehow communicated significant displeasure.

“Rejina-hime.” He corrected. The eyebrow lowered. Evidently he’d set a precedent with introductions, and she wasn’t interested in a downgrade. 

That did remind him of Jiraiya, all puffed up and prideful. Much quieter, but the similarity was enough to bring out the faint resemblance.

He had work to do. “Rejina-hime,” he started again, “would you be so kind as to get some coffee from the office for me?”

Regina couldn’t read most handwriting in Japanese, which really limited her usefulness. There seemed to be a few computers in the office, but most of the reports seemed to be written by hand. 

She sorted out the mission scrolls and reports by color- which was at least a task she could easily do. Intermittently, she filled the coffee machine and hot water pitcher. 

Evidently several people in the office had been Uchiha- they were surprisingly shorthanded. That meant at least that there was a gap for her to fill, even if she couldn’t do many things that involved the actual paperwork. 

Frankly, her conversational Japanese ability was what had improved most. So they put her to work as the face of the office, taking appointments, checking names. 

Regina took several secured scrolls down to a bored-looking woman in Torture and Interrogation (yikes) and the Jounin Commander down the hall (less yikes, until she wondered what that title entailed). 

It felt demeaning and humiliating, to be honest. Making coffee and doing intern work wasn’t exactly below her- she knew it was a job that needed to be done. And that Japanese culture didn’t have those stigma about certain kinds of jobs. 

Just working in the Hokage’s office was prestigious in and of itself. Which was why she’d been rightfully accused of nepotism. 

Oddly, no one had a problem with nepotism everywhere else. Which was a thing Regina would never be able to address, due to how she got her job. Sure, she’d had qualifications. Lots of them. She even had done this kind of work when she’d done a Capitol Hill internship as a staffer. 

But that wasn’t why they’d hired her. The Sandaime obviously considered her a total inconvenience. She was just being kept around in comfort to make Jiraiya and Tsunade happy. 

Regina didn’t contemplate what would happen to her if someone figured out she had no relation to Jiraiya whatsoever. She’d be dead before she knew it, probably. 

She looked around the office, and remembered that none of the other staffers were civilians. All the staff were at least Chuunin. They needed that kind of loyalty and clearance to get anywhere near here. 

Every single person she worked with, handed papers to, shared office omiyage with was a trained killer. 

She felt tense and overwhelmed. It was like living with her own parents again. 

The constant dread, the lack of being able to express her emotions for fear of reprisal. She didn’t feel safe in her home, or on the street. 

Jiraiya was kind and well-intentioned. He had probably meant to keep her safe by forcing her to come here. 

If he couldn’t get her to her own home, it might have been kinder to kill her quickly in that post office. She doubted it was going to get any nicer.

Eventually, Keiko and the other office staff members left to go get lunch. 

Regina didn’t particularly mind staying behind. She really needed to catch up to what was going on in this place, and being alone made her feel less unsafe. 

She poked into the office supplies for a new notebook, paper trays, and writing utensils, and started taking notes in English. 

Shinobi who were on her shit list for missing parts of their paperwork were highlighted in pink. Things for her to relay to other office staff were green. Anything that needed to go to the Hokage was in orange, which seemed to suit him. 

There was a report from the T&I department that she shouldn’t open. That went to the Hokage. 

A letter addressed to her, from Iron. Huh. 

Uh. That should probably… be reviewed? She doubted anyone would appreciate her receiving secret mail in the Hokage Tower. That went in a separate pile. She’d ask Keiko how she should handle those. 

God, the paperwork was unending. She started scanning for keywords and sorting as much as she could accordingly. 

She noticed Keiko returning from lunch early, because a pile of papers for the Hokage disappeared. 

They coughed loudly. 

She looked up. A man with face-framing facial hair and a bored expression was staring at her. He was also built like a brick house. Two other people were behind him- a man in a green jumpsuit and a woman with ruby-red eyes.

“Worker-san, I need to see my father.” Brick House drawled. 

Also, he was an asshole. He could have asked her name. 

Still, it was probably her job to figure this out. 

“Name?” She asked. 

He glared at her a little. Then he pointed to his hitai-ite, and down to a sash on his waist. Obviously he thought she was stupid. 

“I’m new here.” She said simply, ducking her head in polite but false apology. “I need a name.”

“Very new.” He sniped a bit- then seemed to remember that he was not in fact an animal. “Sorry, Sarutobi Asuma.”

“Thank you.” She was aware it came out clipped, but hey. Regina was only human. Or maybe just a worker.

She was trying to find his name on the register, but it didn’t seem to be there. And the Hokage had meetings now, at 11, and…

“It’s Asuma, not Fusuma.” He snapped. 

She glanced down. Her hiragana shorthand did look pretty illegible. 

“How are you working here, anyway?” He griped, leaning down over the desk. “I thought you had to be competent to work here.” His voice was slightly raised. 

He didn’t know shit, but that hurt. It was only her first day and frankly this guy could fuck a tree for all she cared. 

She gritted her teeth and wrote his name down on the next available appointment time. 

“Anou, Sarutobi-san, that wasn’t very youthful of you!” The man in green said, giving her a thumbs up. 

She wished she could summon up that kind of cheer. She smiled at him.

“This is Jiraiya Rejina-hime!” The man hyped her up, and evidently there were now… flowers? And a rainbow? Involved. A petal fell slowly down to her lap and then evaporated. 

Oh. It was genjutsu. That made more sense. She had been betting on a pocketful of petals. 

“Thank you for the lovely introduction.” She said, with a slight smile. “May I have your name, shinobi-san?”

The two shinobi with him blanched. 

“I am Might-o Gai!” he beamed. Oh wow. There was more genjutsu. “The Green Beast of Konoha! I am pleased to finally make your acquaintance, Jiraiya-hime!” He winked. And suddenly there was a considerably large tortoise under him. 

Regina quite liked tortoises and turtles, actually. She really liked grumpy-looking animals who used salmonella as a defense mechanism. 

Maybe Jiraiya wasn’t a one-off? This seemed similar to his self-introduction, only less long. 

“I’m very pleased to meet you, too!” She smiled again. She wrote down his name. 

“Are you all here separately, or would you be wishing to meet with Hokage-sama together?” She asked. If she got off track, they would likely miss the open window in five minutes. The Hokage was constantly busy. 

“Same appointment time, please. Yuuhi Kurenai. Thank you, Jiraiya-hime.” Yuuhi said, with a polite smile. 

Regina took down her name as well. 

“The Hokage has an open meeting time at 12:15, if you would wait by the door.” She didn’t really mean the smile, but she was in her customer service mode. It was that or the depressive, mildly suicidal mood she couldn’t shake just yet. She hoped that having something to do at night would keep her from the edge.

And the other would probably make the Hokage think she was too much of an inconvenience to keep. 

They took their seats by the door. At 12:15 she let them into the office with a polite smile and a bow. 

She was glad when they left about half an hour later. Sarutobi-san looked pretty irritated. The other two didn’t show any indication of how their meeting might have gone. 

They all waved at her as they left, with varying degrees of friendliness. 

Regina went back to sorting color-coded scrolls. She was interrupted when the Hokage called for her. He looked tired and worn, and far older than she remembered from this morning.

“Jiraiya-hime,” he said. He closed the drawer in the center of his desk, but the smell of smoke was hanging heavily in the office air. 

She resisted the urge to cough. “How can I help?” Regina said, waving her hand in front of her face. It wasn’t very polite, but she liked to breathe.

The Hokage didn’t acknowledge her pulmonary distress. He breathed out, and the smell got even stronger. He was staring into the air. “How have you been finding the office?” he asked.

She didn’t get the sense that he was really invested in that topic. “Fine,” she said, a little helplessly. She didn’t particularly feel fulfilled, but she wasn’t screaming and dying. 

“Good, good,” he said. He sighed and bent his head. “I”m going to have Hatake-san come in sometime this afternoon. Can we fit him in? It may need to be a long appointment.”

She forced down a grimace and pulled up her mental stock of the schedule. “Can it wait until the evening?”

“If it must, yes.” The Hokage tapped his fingers against the desk. “I admit that some time would help me to arrange what I must say.”

She knew that tone. “Maybe even enough time to think of a good reason that you don’t have to have that conversation.”

He looked up at her sharply, as if he had just realized she was there. She had enough time to wonder if she had made a mistake. And then his face melted into amusement. He nodded at her. “As you say,” the Hokage said. “Are you prone to that as well?”

“I can convince myself of anything when the alternative is intolerable,” Regina readily admitted.

He snorted, and then immediately straightened his face. “An apt turn of phrase,” he said. “I must tell Hatake-san something that he will find intolerable.”

“And he will take it calmly and reasonably, and then talk with his therapist about how it affected his feelings?” Regina asked. “He seems relaxed.”

He outright laughed.

She blinked and drew back.

He kept laughing. It turned into coughs.

Regina scowled.

The Hokage wheezed a bit, leaning back in his chair and patting at his chest. “Relaxed…” he said. “Ah. I would not say ‘relaxed,’ exactly.”

“So, I was wrong,” Regina said, wondering what was so funny about this. “I’ll make the appointment for after my work hours end, in that case. Have fun with that.”

“Oh no, no,” the Hokage said, eyes crinkled with mirth. “Please stay. I would like to extend a formal invitation for you to attend this meeting.”

“What,” Regina said. 

“Just a joke.” He waved it away. “I might like for you to sit in on my other meetings today, however.” He eyed her evaluatingly. 

“Starting now. Would you please open the door for my councilors?”

She did so, watching silently as a trio of deadly elderly filed into the room. They, unsurprisingly, did not seem to register she existed. 

They all went into the adjoining conference room, which was bland and grey and sad. They took their seats on the surprisingly luxe couches. They had some sort of velvet upholstery and looked full of stuffing. 

‘If he ever lets me, I’m gonna nap in here so hard.’

Regina went to sit quietly in the corner by a large and leafy fern, observing. 

She did note that Shimura-san went immediately to sit across from the Hokage in a single chair. From another perspective, it seemed like he might be at the head of the room. 

‘Interesting, maybe. Or it means absolutely nothing, except that these people won’t share a couch, despite having worked together their entire lives.’

They seemed to cut through the formalities, though, barely acknowledging the common beginnings of a normal meeting before getting down to business. 

The massacre of an entire clan seemed to be the item of the day. Regina wondered how her new puppy was doing in the hospital. She’d need to go by to check, as soon as she could. And maybe send another panicked letter to Tsunade.

She refused to come in the village for obvious reasons, even as Tsunade obviously waffled about helping a boy in a coma. 

“The Uchiha were formerly in charge of both our police force as well as a founding clan. Their absence in the village presents a significant loss of strength.” The Hokage said. He sounded strong and confident. But somehow oddly formal for the group.

Hadn’t they known each other since, like, infancy? Tsunade had said they were appointed to these made-up positions purely based on friendship/nepotism.

Homura-san hummed and leaned on his cane. “This loss is crucial. Iwa and Kumo will note our lack of strength. It is very possible that we will be encountering conflicts with them.”

“Only if the absence is made known before we recover ourselves.” Koharu-san countered, her voice wavering with age. 

“It is no real loss.” Shimura-san countered. “The clan was a weakness, due to their treachery.”

The other two counsellors hummed in acknowledgement.

Regina felt more than a bit sick. They were talking about three hundred something people of all ages, murdered in their beds, as if they were debating the pros and cons of local bakeries. 

She felt more secure in her initial assessment of them as total and utter garbage. It was hard to even to pretend to want to sympathize with them when they disregarded human life so entirely.

Luckily, she didn’t have to like or even respect them to do her job. She was just an observer today.

“The lack of a police force is a real loss.” The Hokage said firmly. “Our ANBU are already occupied. Patrolling the city as well as our borders will put a strain on our resources.”

“We could outsource it to the genin corps.” Homura-san said, thoughtfully. “It is a large and somewhat competent body of shinobi.”

‘Except that means the same problem of over-militarization, alienating the civilians that power your economy.’ Regina thought sourly. She kept her face blank as a sheet of paper. It took a surprising amount of concentration.

Shimura-san grunted. “The Uchiha were incompetent as a police force. Is it necessary to replace them?”

Christ, what a dick. 

“They could not even determine the cause of the incident that killed the Yondaime.” he went on, contempt oozing out of his mouth like an open wound.

The Hokage levelled him with a look. 

“I believe that is at least partly due to your actions, removing them from village operations, and alienating them from our forces with baseless accusations.” It came out dry. 

To her, it was clear he was angry beyond belief.

She edged closer to the potted fern, hoping that no one would remember she was here. Everyone looked past her like she was furniture anyway, could it not work for her today? It was worth a shot.

The room was dead quiet.

Regina tried to become one with the plant. Leafy thoughts.

“In any case, we must have patrols to monitor the city and mediate disputes.” The Hokage redirected.

“This is why I asked Jiraiya-hime into this meeting.”

OH, fuck you, dude. Why. Why her.

“Jiraiya-hime, you have come highly recommended for your intelligent analysis and relevant education.” The Sandaime said, being both highly complimentary and putting her in the line of sight of three elderly people who sniffed at infanticide. “Would you have any recommendations for the formation of a new police force?”

She thought for a moment, but then reasoned that waiting too long would smack of idiocy. She waited for just long enough that she hoped they thought her Japanese wasn’t good enough to catch everything. 

“Was the police force entirely made up of Uchiha Clan members?” She asked. 

The Sandaime shook his head. “I believe that some of the police force were other shinobi who displayed interest. They currently have no orders.”

“How many remain?” She stared at the space above his head by about a foot.

“About twenty, all told.”

That wasn’t many. But it did mean that there were enough that there wasn’t necessarily an information or training gap. They didn’t need to lose all their institutional experience.

“I believe that Homura-sama’s (she added the upshot in title to what they seemed to think they deserved, out of a sense of self-preservation) suggestion of the involvement of the Genin Corps has merit.” She said slowly, letting the words roll off her tongue. It was best to speak incredibly carefully. She didn’t want to be misunderstood. “However, an all-shinobi force alienates the civilians whose trade and missions power Konoha’s economy. I would suggest interviewing the remaining police officers for their appropriateness to leadership positions, and draft a training regimen and standards with their cooperation, so as not to lose the benefit of their experience. The real duty of a police force is to maintain peace within the village, and therefore shinobi abilities are not always necessary. Traditionally, they are for awareness or information distribution, as well as investigation of smaller crimes”

She looked around the room. They seemed to be actually listening to her. 

“In order to both eliminate unnecessary waste of shinobi forces’ time and energy, as well as provide more perceived and real security for the entirety of Konoha, I would consider implementing this police force as a cooperative effort between members of the Genin Corps and interested, qualified members of the civilian sector. This would rapidly increase the numbers of the police force, inspiring confidence in merchants and other residents, and delaying or eliminating the perception of weakness.”

She swallowed spit, and looked to the floor without angling her face down.

“This may still require ANBU patrols for security from outside forces, but would dramatically decrease the need in numbers to do so, allowing those special forces to be more appropriately allocated according to their specialized skills.”

To be honest, she’d probably forgotten something. Or been unintentionally rude. She hoped that if she’d perpetrated a faux pas, they’d be forgiving enough. 

Silence reigned. She didn’t raise her eyes.

“Very apt analysis.” The Hokage said. 

Someone grunted in what she thought might have been affirmative. 

She looked up to her Hokage. 

He was examining her again. She was tired of being examined, but at least he didn’t seem to think she was useless anymore. 

“I assume your silence is in agreement.” He looked out to his counsellors. 

They said nothing. 

“Very well.” He turned back to Regina. “Tsunade-hime stated that you had significant education in this area, yes?”

“Hai. My education was focused in both security inside the state, and international negotiation and statebuilding.” Her heart was beating in her throat.

He hummed, and apparently decided something. “Submit this proposal to be as soon as possible. I would have you implement and design it, with my approval.”

It was an obvious dismissal. But he looked to her hiding plant instead of the door.

She bowed, and stepped back to the wall of the room. That had gone surprisingly well. But she thought leaf-melding thoughts anyway. These people were terrifying.

“As for the matter of the Uchiha massacre, we need to determine what happened.” Sandaime-sama said. He was gritting his teeth. Evidently this was one of the many intolerable things he had to discuss today.

“They were traitorous.” Shimura-san dismissed. 

Regina judged him hard. There were definitely murdered babies in that shitstorm. 

The Hokage was maybe judging him too- she was guessing by the way that he lightly clenched his fists in his lap. It was over in less than a second.

“They were members of this village.” He countered gravely. “And may I remind you that they committed no treasonous actions.”

Shimura-san continued on anyway.

“It is clear that Uchiha Itachi took action himself, despite your counsel. He sought more power in the preceding days, seizing one of Uchiha Shishu’s eyes for his own in order to dispose of a family he hated.” 

This wasn’t even the one she’d decided to assault with bees. What a bunch of charmers. 

“That is an obvious lie, Danzo.”

The Hokage’s voice was cold. So cold. 

Regina felt her shoulders start to tense. The atmosphere in the room was distinctly murderous. The plant wasn’t enough cover for this kind of shit.

“You took action against a clan you despised and distrusted, against my orders.”

Regina looked at the floor. She hoped to God all these people had bought that she was a ninny.

“Get out of my office. Disband your Root. You are hereby and forever removed from my Council. It is only by my indulgence that you have been allowed these freedoms, despite your past actions. No more.”

She was not going to look up. Regina slowly and quietly moved actually behind the plant in the room. 

This was not the kind of thing she wanted to be involved in. At all. This was tantamount to treason, and she would like to be very far removed from any discussion about it. 

“Jiraiya-hime, please escort Shimura-san out of the tower. And cancel our standing appointments.”

Fucking hell. 

She re-emerged from behind the fern. And bowed really really low. 

She averted her eyes as she followed an obviously angry Shimura-san out of the room. Regina resisted the urge to swallow the excess saliva in her throat as she held the heavy office door open. 

Shimura wasn’t moving. 

Fuck fuck fuck. 

“Shimura-sama.” She said quietly, and bowed lowly again.

He just stared at her. 

“Princesses don’t bow that low to shinobi.” He said dryly. “You need lessons.”

She didn’t exactly disagree, but she wasn’t going to be taking advice from a man who’d just been ousted out on his ass in front of her. 

He evidently saw that on her face. He visibly clenched his jaw, then seemed to purposefully relax his face.

“It is a sad thing when pragmatism gives way to emotion in the running of a state.” He said. 

She wasn’t really interested in his manifesto at the moment. It was her job to chase him out with a newspaper. Like a dog who just pissed on the carpet.

“You seem a pragmatist. Capable of reason.” He made eye contact with his one exposed eye. “I trust you are aware of your defects in this area, and will rectify them to serve your country better.”

He looked her up and down. She was wearing the nicest version of Tsunade’s chosen outfits for her. 

He sneered a bit, then it disappeared. 

He was really getting on her last nerve. She wanted to fight him. If she thought he wouldn’t immediately whoop her ass, she might have. She looked out into the hallway. No one was there.

‘Come on, you fucks. Save me.’ She chanted in her head. But it was deserted for some reason.

“You should comport yourself as a princess and representative for Konoha’s shinobi, as dictated by your birth station.” He informed her, seemingly unaware that he now had about as much authority over her as the average melon. “You are foreign, and so your lack of knowledge is not your fault. You should have been a shinobi. However, you’re too old.”

‘I’m too old for something?’

“Please, come this way, Shimura-sama.” she gestured and only bowed her head. Was it smart? No. But this dude was being a real pain in her ass. “I was told to escort you out of the building, and must do so. Shall I consult you for career advice at a later time?”

He processed that with a blink. He seemed to go through the stages of grief so quickly that she missed a couple. 

“Yes, please.”

Oh. She forgot that sarcasm wasn’t a Japanese thing. 

Dammit. 

He followed her out of the building without any other words. She was aware that he was watching her the whole time. 

She was starting to feel twitchy and a little scared. She probably should not have talked back to him.

“Thank you for your time and expertise, Shimura-sama.” She bowed at the door and gestured out into the street. 

“I look forward to our future meetings, Jiraiya-hime.” He bowed, stiff and surprisingly low. 

Then he left. 

“Yikes.” she murmured, and wandered back up to the Hokage’s private meeting room in a daze. 

The counsellors were still sitting there, evidently in some sort of shock.

The Hokage looked livid. 

She bowed. “Shimura-sama has left the building, Hokage-sama.”

“Good.” His voice was ice. “Counsellors, our meeting for today is adjourned. I trust you will remember this.”

They scooted. 

Regina held the doors open as they walked out. They managed to compose themselves before leaving his office. 

The office was still empty- she wondered where everyone was. 

After Homura-san and Koharu-san left, she went back to the Hokage. He was at his desk, smoking and staring at a crystal ball on a pedestal. 

“Hokage-sama.” She said quietly, not wanting to intrude. This dude’s job sucked pretty hard. 

“Jiraiya-hime.” He replied, not really looking up. “Did Shimura-san give you any trouble?”

“He offered me advice.” She admitted readily. “To learn how to conduct myself as a… princess.” The word still sounded foul in her mouth. All this lying was getting to her. 

“Not bad advice.” The Hokage said, blowing out a series of smoke circles. Regina began fanning the air in front of her face. 

“I believe in this circumstance he is entirely correct, sir. I would best be able to represent Konoha in this station, as I am far too old to pursue shinobi training.  I do not know how to find a teacher, however.” She looked down at the floor. 

Comportment lessons were hell. But she’d gotten through before. She’d be so comported. 

The most comported, maybe. 

“I will have one found for you.” The Hokage said lowly, as if turning the idea over in his head. “It would make you a better asset.”

‘Thanks. Love to be dehumanized in the morning.’

“I also accidentally asked for his advice in general.” She put forward. “I… forgot that this was a cultural difference.”

He blinked. Once. Twice. 

“How.”

“In my culture, if you ask a question that is ridiculous, it is not an actual question. I asked him if he had any other thoughts as to how I could improve myself. He took it as a question of mentorship.”

The Hokage choked a little. 

“I am aware that a man now banned from your office and council is not an appropriate mentor. I made a mistake with my cultural understanding and words.”

It was nice to be honest, for a change. Plus, again, Regina didn’t want to be in the middle of traitorous nonsense. She had enough intrigue in her life. 

He shoved more tobacco in his pipe and puffed furiously. He evidently got enough nicotine to calm his nerves, because he slowed down after a few seconds. 

“Shimura-san is not without merit.” He said, obviously disgusted in general. “He may have some perspectives that you may find useful. So long as you report to me, I see no problems with your interacting with him.”

He looked up at her and made direct and authoritative eye contact. 

“Besides, the village cannot know that he has been disgraced in this way. It would be devastating to Konoha. I cannot disallow him from appropriate contact with you or others.” He looked at her, conveying meaning with his eyes and speaking very deliberately.

Well. Okay. He was definitely a traitor. That was awkward. But… outing him was somehow worse than keeping him around? He was an elder. He had the exact same amount of implied authority. All the Hokage had done was removed him from an official position. 

Fuck. Her job was shit, too.