"The Apprentice moves to the Shrine, and I put a second paranoia token on the Demolitionist," Noburi announced with barely-concealed glee.

Hazō groaned in belated realisation. "The Demolitionist is the real culprit, isn't he? All those cards you've been playing on the Diplomancer were just a bluff."

It was a pleasant, sunny afternoon. Inoue-sensei and Akane had just headed off to talk to Takahashi about ninjutsu trading, Keiko was going to be back any minute now, Kagome-sensei was busy re-fortifying the fort after realising that he didn't know whether the tapirs had high-jumping powers, and Noburi was wiping the floor with Hazō in their latest board game. With the Demolitionist having hit his paranoia limit, and the Analyst refusing to use her goodwill ability on the Apprentice, Hazō was doomed unless...

"Keiko!" he shouted with unalloyed delight. "How are you?"

Noburi spun around sharply, his elbow knocking over the board which Hazō had carefully nudged into position a split-second earlier.

"I have learned that our world is a tiny bubble of sanity within a universe so alien that our thoughts cannot make the shapes required to describe it, and that to gaze upon the true face of reality is to invite a madness that is both torture and liberation," Keiko said in an even voice. "But other than that, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Hazō and Noburi exchanged glances.

There was something Inoue-sensei had talked about recently during their diplomacy lessons. Genuine praise and encouragement could have a powerful effect on people, not merely making them view you more favourably in general, but also generating feelings of trust—and, especially when the other person already trusted your judgement, they had the potential to influence that person's self-image for the better. She said it was something every leader needed to learn.

"You mustn't push yourself too hard, Keiko," Hazō said emphatically. "I know you've been working outside your comfort zone with the negotiating and training, and you've been doing a great job, but please don't let yourself burn out."

"A great job?" Keiko echoed. "Takahashi-sensei is an excellent teacher, and I'm glad that he has chosen to give up his time to teach me, but I could tell how disappointed Inoue-sensei was that I let him take control of the negotiations. And she's right. I'm a failure as a diplomat. If I only have one way to contribute to the group, why should I not dedicate all my resources to it?"

"Keiko," Noburi said, "you've got it all wrong. Inoue-sensei's disappointed with herself, because she wasn't prepared for Takahashi's trick, and sent you in without backup or a readied plan. Nobody's blaming you. You're awesome."

"Nobody is expecting you to be Inoue-sensei either," Hazō added. "She's our negotiation expert—you simply happen to be good at other things. Now come on. I'll make you some tea, and Noburi is going to give you a shoulder rub to relieve the tension from your training."

"I am? Uh, I mean, yes, of course, I'd be delighted to!" Noburi exclaimed, shooting Hazō an "I owe you one" look out of Keiko's sight.

But it was not to be.

"Ahoy the fort!" came a girl's voice from outside. The three genin came out to see a teenage girl dressed in ninja leathers, with an axe on her back, waving at them in a friendly fashion.

"Hi," she smiled. "I'm Yuno. I'm here to show you around the village and explain our customs. Who's coming with me?"

"This must be the guide Yoshida said she'd send us," Noburi explained to the others. "Well, I'm up for it. How about you guys?"

"I will respectfully decline," Keiko said, eyeing Yuno with poorly-disguised suspicion. "I have only just finished training, and need rest."

"I was going to go through some new ideas with Naitō-sensei in half an hour," Hazō added. "Sorry, Endo. You're on your own for this one."

Noburi shrugged, not visibly put out by having to spend the afternoon wandering around the village alone with an attractive girl. "Looks like it's just me. Shall we?"

o-o-o-o

Elder Takahashi, looking more animated than Mari had ever seen him, pondered the Firefly Technique scroll.

"Interesting. Very interesting. Yes, I believe we will be able to teach you the arts described herein, as soon as one of our own can master the technique themselves. We have some excellent Fire Element users, so I do not anticipate any problems."

"And in regard to the second matter?" Mari asked.

"That depends," the ninjutsu master replied. "What can you offer me?"

She'd considered this. Offensive techniques that could be used against the group were, for obvious reasons, a bad idea. Defensive techniques were fine as long as they didn't counter the group's actual abilities (which meant, for example, that the Wind Wall Technique was right out). But best of all were utility techniques. A village which hadn't seen serious ninja vs ninja combat for a very long time would likely value them much more highly than the outside world did.

"Are you familiar with the Zephyr's Reach Technique?"

Takahashi leaned forward very slightly. "Tell me of it."

"It is a Wind Element technique. For a low chakra cost, it enables the user to extend a hand made of wind that can carry light objects, and is capable of sophisticated acts of distant manipulation. Allow me to demonstrate."

Mari casually tossed a few strands of ninja wire into the air above herself, being careful not to look like she was aiming remotely in Takahashi's direction.

"Zephyr's Reach Technique!"

An invisible breeze danced through the air, catching the wire and wrapping it into a complex, many-sided bow that then slowly descended to hover before Takahashi.

Takahashi's eyebrows rose. "I am a Wind Element user myself, and I know our ninjutsu library backwards, yet I have never seen anything like this. Yes, I would be grateful to learn the Zephyr's Reach. In fact, if an ability of that kind were combined with..."

Takahashi's eyes focused on a point somewhere in the distance, as his lips moved soundlessly. Naturally, Mari read them, but as far as she could tell he was just working his way through ninjutsu development jargon (which was not a familiar field for her).

She coughed politely.

Takahashi's eyes snapped back to her.

"Ah, yes. Well, I have given the matter some consideration. You have brought new ninjutsu to our village for the first time in centuries, and you and I are allies in a common cause. It is not something I would normally consider, but I believe I will teach you a ninjutsu unique to this village—it was invented by the Founder's master, and taught only to him, so nothing like it will exist in the outside world."

He turned to Akane, the intended student, and looked at her thoughtfully for a few seconds.

"A harsh winter is coming, and you must be prepared if you are to endure. Thus, I shall teach you... the Elemental Mastery Technique."

o-o-o-o

"Kagome-sensei, I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Hazō began carefully.

"What's that?" Kagome-sensei asked, not looking up as he stuck another explosive seal to one of the few bare patches of Multiple Earth Wall.

Hazō and Inoue-sensei had agreed that this needed to be handled gently. Really, most things to do with Kagome-sensei had to be handled gently, but this one even more than usual.

"We're all really grateful for how keen you are to protect us. You're an important member of the team, and we all feel that way about you too."

Kagome-sensei grunted, and turned away so as to suggest that the seal in front of him required his absolute attention.

"But there are better ways to go about it than blowing people up the second they look like they might be becoming a threat."

Kagome-sensei turned back towards him.

"You're saying..." he said slowly... "that... I shouldn't... blow up... threats."

Suddenly, Hazō could see altogether too much of the whites of his eyes.

"Ah, crap. You've been experimenting with seals again and something's gone wrong and now your mind's been shunted sideways to a parallel dimension where everything is insane and soon you're going to start with the rituals and there'll be spiders coming out of everyone's eyes and—"

"Kagome-sensei!" Hazō cut him off. "I haven't been experimenting with seals. I'm just saying you need a more nuanced approach.

"Look at it this way. We're missing-nin, right?"

Kagome-sensei nodded cautiously.

"So our lives are effectively one extended stealth mission. We have to eliminate threats to ourselves, but we can't afford to attract attention."

Kagome-sensei nodded again.

"That means we can't afford to use explosions as the solution to every problem. You're our secret weapon, Kagome-sensei. We use your talents when there's absolutely no other way to get things done, like when we're making sure our base is safe from intruders, or when it's too late to avoid fighting. But when we can, we rely on more subtle skills like diplomacy and deception, because giving away our full abilities when we don't have to is crazy. Does that make sense?"

Kagome-sensei frowned. For a few seconds, he was silent, as if turning the idea around in his head.

"Wouldn't want people to think I was crazy. Bad things happen to sealmasters who go crazy. Long range artillery-type bad things. Wait. You don't think I'm crazy, do you?"

"Uh," Hazō said.

"Not at all, Kagome-sensei," he quickly went on. "You just... have an idiosyncratic approach to life."

Kagome-sensei puffed out his chest. Hazō had a vague suspicion that he didn't know what "idiosyncratic" meant.

Encouraged, Hazō got to the point. "So I know you get angry when you see one of us in trouble, and we're really grateful that you care that much, but could you please try to rein in your temper and not blow anyone up unless someone is in actual immediate danger of getting injured or killed?"

"Funny," Kagome-sensei said in a musing voice, "Uchinomiya-sensei used to say the same thing. 'Explosives are the right tool for any job, but not for every job. If you rely on them too much, they'll stop being the best weapon in your arsenal and become a crutch for a tactically crippled mind.' I always wondered what he meant by that."

Kagome-sensei never talked about his past. Hazō couldn't let the opportunity slip.

"Was Uchinomiya your instructor?"

Kagome-sensei nodded distantly. "Died right before I made chūnin. Decades of perfect sealing research, then one day he forgets to turn on the dispersion seal before experimenting, and bam! Self-replicating crystals everywhere. Oh, we got rid of them in time—damn things turned out to be weak to fire—but they drained all the moisture in your body if they touched you, and he'd been right in the epicentre..."

Suddenly, Hazō was a lot less comfortable moving to the part of the conversation where he brought up his ideas for unusual seal use.

o-o-o-o

Kei sipped her tea as she reflected on today's training session. She'd been anxious at first, but she was slowly warming to Takahashi-sensei. He was a strict teacher, quick to comment on mistakes and slow to give out praise, but on the other hand every compliment from him felt earned, and resulted in a tangible burst of happiness. It was much more satisfying than the Mori training she remembered, when excellence had been the default expectation and failure was met with confusion at best, or more often with accusations of laziness and intimations of a future of mediocrity if she did not shape up.

Needless to say, Mari-sensei was still the best instructor ever, but still... part of Kei would be sad when it was time to leave this place.

"Um, hello? Excuse me?" an unfamiliar voice interrupted her thoughts.

There was a small, mousy young man waiting for Kei when she left the fort. Still tired, and not feeling especially diplomatic, Kei gave him a blank stare.

"Hi," he went on anxiously. "I'm Yoshida Shintarō. Madam Tsukiko sent me to be your guide around the village?"

Kei began to get a very bad feeling.

o-o-o-o

"That red ribbon over the threshold of the house? That means one of the women who lives there is having her moon flow. She has to stay inside until it's over, and only family can go in. That way the taint is contained until she can perform the cleansing ritual. The cleansing ritual is really boring, but once you get used to it you can get it done pretty fast."

"Uh-huh," said Noburi, looking (and feeling) extremely uncomfortable, and desperate for an opportunity to change the subject.

"Say," he asked, "what's with the axe? I've never seen one quite like that before."

Yuno reached back and pulled the axe into view. It was an eerie piece of black metal, with crimson wrapping around the handle and a series of carmine markings splattered across the entire weapon.

"Do you like her?" Yuno asked happily. "Her name is Satsuriku no Watagiri, but I just call her Satsuko. She's really old, and most people in my family don't like her because they think she's cursed, but I think that's just superstition. I mean, just look how beautiful she is."

She shoved the axe practically under Noburi's nose. "See? Look at these grooves there, near the cutting edge. Those are to make sure the blood splashes everywhere when you cut into people, so you get covered in it and then your enemies can't see you bleed if they hit you. And sometimes it also goes in the enemy's eyes and blinds them. Isn't that brilliant?"

"Yes, that's... very impressive," Noburi agreed, thinking it best not to argue with the girl waving an axe at him.

"I know, right? Satsuko is my very best friend. We've been practising the Kannagi Mountain Cleaver Style together since we were little."

Noburi blinked. "Kannagi Mountain Cleaver Style? I thought the Yoshida were sealing specialists."

Yuno looked puzzled as she sheathed the axe once again. "What do the Yoshida have to do with anything?"

Noburi took a second to process this, then carefully stepped back. "Yuno, which family do you belong to?"

"Well, the Kannagi, obviously. I mean, technically I'm adopted, but I've been a Kannagi ever since I was very young, and I'm learning their secret style and everything, so..."

"Um, not that I'm not really grateful or anything," Noburi said, "but what made you decide to offer your services as a guide to us?"

Yuno took a step forward, restoring the previous distance between them.

"It was Grandfather's idea. He's the number one candidate for the upcoming opening on the Council of Elders, and he wants to make it clear in advance that he is going to make a better job of being friends with you guys than his predecessor. Does that make sense?"

Noburi relaxed a little. That was more believable than a potential assassination attempt (though it might still be better to stick to populated areas for the time being).

"But enough about my family," Yuno said dismissively. "It's a few minutes' walk until the next thing I want to show you, so why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"

o-o-o-o

"So when you said a harsh winter was coming," Mari asked slowly, "you were being completely literal?"

Takahashi nodded. "Oh, yes. In a climate such as ours, a technique that raises or lowers the temperature of a room to comfortable levels is nothing short of invaluable. We teach the Elemental Mastery Technique to all our children as soon as they're ready to learn ninjutsu."

Mari looked at Akane.

"I'd love to learn it!" Akane exclaimed. "I mean, it's a technique designed to support your teammates and make everyone happy. What could be more youthful?"

Mari bit down on her first, second and third retorts.

"Aren't you concerned by the lack of combat applications?" she finally asked in a carefully neutral voice.

Akane shook her head. "Hazō-sensei will think of something. He always does."

o-o-o-o

"And that over there is the Betrothal Stone," Yuno pointed at a rounded grey slab that looked more like a road marker than anything. "Couples come here to formally become betrothed to each other. When they do get married, the Lorekeeper pronounces the ancient blessings over them on that dais over there."

"What do they do if it rains?" Noburi asked.

Yuno gave him an incredulous look. "They postpone. A marriage begun in rain will end in tears. Don't they know that where you come from?"

Noburi caught himself looking back at her—her eyes were a faint shade of red, and caught the light in a rather pretty way—then quickly looked away. Yuno had an intense gaze that constantly made him worry about violating the rule against meeting an unmarried person's eye for too long. It occurred to him that it might make his life a lot easier if he established Yuno's marital status, and found out for a fact whether he had to spend quite so much time staring at her left ear.

"Say, Yuno," he asked, "are you single?"

Yuno's entire demeanour transformed in an instant. Noburi could feel the air begin to vibrate with the intensity of her attention as she turned to fully face him, her eyes locking onto his face.

"Why, yes," she purred, "yes, I am."

o-o-o-o

"Inoue-sensei?"

Inoue-sensei stood up as he walked towards her. "What is it, Hazō?"

"Well," he began, "I've just been thinking about how complicated things have been the last few weeks, and... I wanted to say how grateful I am for the way you've been keeping us all together and steering us through the most difficult situations. I appreciate it."

Inoue-sensei's eyebrows rose. "Well, I... that's very sweet of you. What brought this on?"

Hazō squirmed a little. "Nothing special. I... guess I just wanted to say it while things are so peaceful and I have the chance."

Inoue-sensei nodded. "That's my little Hazō, growing into leadership bit by bit."

She moved in for the inevitable, but Hazō was ready.

As he stepped back, and she stepped forward, there was the unmistakeable click of a heavily-padded but nevertheless very strong bear trap, made with Akane's help and placed with extreme care. If he couldn't move fast enough to dodge Inoue-sensei, then the solution was to make sure Inoue-sensei couldn't move at all.

Then his brain processed a very important piece of new information. It informed him, politely but firmly, that the bear trap was around his leg, right before Inoue-sensei's hand descended enthusiastically on top of his head.

"Dispel!"

And... yes. He was, in fact, standing half a metre in front of where he thought he'd been standing.

"Better luck next time," Inoue-sensei laughed as she made him wonder why he even bothered having a hairbrush.

o-o-o-o

Evening came, and the team assembled for their nightly meeting, which opened with Akane chattering excitedly about her two brand new ninjutsu.

"Good job, Akane," Hazō congratulated her. "You've shown huge improvement in your skills recently. And I'm very impressed with how you handled that whole Kōta mess."

Akane turned her head slightly sideways in confusion. "But the whole Kōta mess was my fault in the first place. Twice."

Hazō shook his head. "The whole Kōta mess was Kōta's fault. Don't ever lose track of that. I mean, yes, there are things you should try to do better in the future, like not drawing out dangerous fights, and being more careful about whom you trust, but on the whole I think you did very well in some challenging circumstances."

Akane beamed. "Thank you, Hazō-sensei! I will work twice as hard! No, three times as hard!"

Next, Hazō turned to Noburi.

"And you. You've been doing sterling work with your healing. You're the main reason this village likes us, and that's essential to what we're doing here. Also, you're about the only one of us who's managed to consistently stay out of trouble, which is a bigger deal than it sounds."

"Um," Noburi said. "About that..."