~ Earlier ~

"Rest," Hazō said. Instead of collapsing to the ground as he'd expected, Akane pushed herself up from the plank she'd been holding for the last six minutes, walked to the bench, and sat down. She was gasping and her muscles were quivering, but she kept her head up and drank water carefully.

"Thank you, sempai," she said. "I know that it must be difficult to work with a student who can't keep up, but you have been very patient."

Hazō dropped onto the bench beside her, taking a long pull on his canteen to give himself time to process that. "You are not so far behind as you think," he said at last. "Your conditioning is acceptable for a ninja, you have good reflexes, and you have never complained once, or given anything less than your absolute best. The training required by the Righteous Face Punching style is extreme, and few are willing to do it. It speaks very highly of you that you will."

Akane blushed. "Thank you, sempai," she said.

Hazō flipped one hand in a gesture of casual dismissal. "How did you come to be here?" he asked.

Akane looked down for a moment, then made herself meet his eyes. "I was in the Academy at Hidden Leaf," she said. "I was not the best in the class, but I was in the top third. I passed my final exams and was due to graduate in the morning. Then Mizuki-sensei came to me at night and told me that there was one more part of the exams, a field examination. He had me pick from a hat to see what mine would be, and the paper I chose said 'Penetration test: steal the Forbidden Scroll from Hokage Tower'. He gave me a card stating that I was a student at the Academy on my final exam, and told me that the ninja there knew that penetration tests were to be expected and, if I was caught, I should show the card. I broke into Hokage Tower but was caught almost immediately. When I showed them the card they knew nothing about it. They restrained me so that I couldn't make hand seals and brought me to holding."

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She smiled a trembling smile. "My taijutsu may not be excellent, but I have always excelled at trap making, mechanical tests, and escape artistry. It was very early in the morning, and my captor was young and inexperienced—a new chūnin who had pulled graveyard shift. I was bound and just a student, so he wasn't quite as attentive as he should have been. On the way to T&I I slipped the bindings on my hands and kawarimied. I kept kawarimiing until I was nearly chakra exhausted, then hid in a midden until the search passed me by. From there I was able to escape Konoha. I wandered for a time, and eventually heard about this place."

Hazō looked at her with respect. "That is a most youthful accomplishment," he said.

The smile was more solid this time. "Thank you, sempai," she said. With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet. "I believe I have rested enough," she said. "Shall we return to training?"

"Of course!" Hazō said, leaping to his feet. "We shall Stoke the Fires of our Youth with the first tenet of the Righteous Face Punching Style: Always Punch Them In The Face!"

o-o-o-o

~Now~

"Wake up!" Inoue hissed. "Grab your gear, we need to go!" She was jittering, bouncing from foot to foot.

Hazō was on his feet in an instant. "What's wrong, sensei?" he asked.

"I just killed a guy in the Fortress," Inoue said. "They'll find the body any minute, we need to go!"

"Sensei, if we leave now we will be pursued by people who know our actual faces," Keiko said. "Where did you put the body?"

"Under a desk! It was the only place, come on!" She grabbed Keiko by the arm and started to drag her to where their bug-out bags were stashed.

"Sensei, breathe," Keiko said. "Do what you are always telling us to do," Keiko said. "Breathe and think."

Inoue started to snap at her, but then paused and forced herself to breathe. For several long seconds she stood with her eyes closed, breathing. Slowly, her body language calmed down. Finally, she opened her eyes and nodded.

"Thanks, kid," she said. She sank down onto the futon. "Oh boy. This is a mess."

"What happened?" Noburi asked.

Briefly, Inoue explained about her failed infiltration. "It was stupid," she said. "It just...pushed some buttons. When I was a kid, I had an uncle...I was an early bloomer and, well, anyway." She shuddered. "I kinda panicked. Kami, I haven't done that in years."

"If I may make a suggestion, sensei," Hazō said. "I think—"