Ren led Naruto through the corridors of the T&I department as they followed their guide, who was escorting them to the area with more VIP cells.

As they walked, they passed a procession of ten chained and manacled Otogakure ninja, looking downtrodden and resigned, which garnered Naruto’s curiosity.

But as the boy was about to open his mouth to ask, Ren suddenly put his hands on his shoulders and whispered, “Ninja protocol.”

Naruto’s eyebrows furrowed, but then he brightened up as he remembered that particular academy lesson. He realized that Ren was alluding to the part of the extensive ninja rules that described the need for secrecy in their profession and why they wouldn’t have all the information available to them.

Naruto happily nodded as he threw one last look at the backs of the Oto ninjas before turning back and deciding to focus on his current task.

Watching him, Ren inwardly sighed.

He didn’t have the heart to inform the happy-go-lucky guy with such a naive and fervent belief that Konoha is tantamount to justice in the world that the higher-ups have decided to proceed with the mass executions of Otogakure prisoners.

Ino’s efficient work at ferreting out their secrets only hastened their demise as they became useless to the village. And as feeding them cost money, it was decided to simply get it over with and get rid of them.

Ren tried to argue during his last meeting with the Hokage that most of these ninjas were nothing but civilians pressganged into torturous training before being forcefully conscripted for Orochimaru’s ninja village.

Orochimaru loved to kidnap people, throw them into a fighting pit while telling them that only a certain number of them were going to leave the arena alive. He loved to experiment on his prisoners and then use the fights to judge the effectiveness of his experiments.

Most of the Otogakure forces were made up of those who survived. Sure, there were some clans who joined Orochimaru willingly, recruits that were loyal to him and who he recruited mostly normally, and even your everyday scum who were paid and totally in their element in the service of such a sadistic boss.

But those were a minority made up mostly of the leaders who were giving orders.

Konoha could have easily figured out who was fighting willingly and who was literally tortured into fearful loyalty to Orochimaru and given a horror-inducing level of training and experimentation to be at least somewhat useful fodder for his forces.

Konoha could have separated those people, given them an offer to serve the village now that Orochimaru was dead. Ren reckoned many of them simply wished for a way out.

But the higher-ups wanted their pound of flesh. And so, they simply didn’t care. Kill them all, was the final decision.

And when Ren tried to reason with Hiruzen, who was still butt-hurt that he had rejected the promotion? Hiruzen simply told him with a deadpan look that the matters of the village’s leadership have nothing to do with an ordinary chunin.

… Ren wasn’t proud of it, but he had to admit he left the office quite speechless.

As frustrating as it was, Hiruzen wasn’t wrong. Then again, even if Ren was a Jonin, the matters of the village’s leadership would still have nothing to do with him, so it was a moot point.

But he had recognized that only later on, when he was already outside the Hokage building.

The decision was made, and Ren could not do anything about it unless he wanted to go against the village. What he could do was to spare Naruto the knowledge that Konoha wasn’t such a paragon of virtue as the idealistic boy thought for a little bit longer.

They entered the VIP cells, and their guide boredly gestured at two cells at the back of the room. “Number Seventeen and Sixteen. I’ll stay near the door. Call if you need something.” The man couldn’t sound more uncaring, and if he had a bubblegum, Ren had no doubt he would have been chewing on it right this instant.

Ren and Naruto advanced through the room and came to cell number sixteen first, where Gaara was calmly sitting on the floor with his eyes closed.

He had a chain fastened to his left ankle, but what truly restrained him were the seals both on the walls of the room and on the iron armbands fastened to his wrists.

Ren inwardly whistled. The village was clearly going all out to ensure their jinchuuriki prisoner was not going to get out. His eyes skimmed the seals, and his lips pursed.

Well, technically, Gaara could still-

“You are the man who defeated me.” Gaara’s voice suddenly resounded through the room as he opened his eyes and looked directly at Ren with an intensity that made him slightly uncomfortable.

Gaara was about to open his mouth, probably to ask a follow-up question, but Ren just shrugged and spoke first, “Sure. But I am not here for you. The whiskered chuckles over here,” He pointed his thumb at Naruto, who scowled, “has something to say to you first.”

That, at least, had diverted Gaara’s attention from Ren for a second. It was just a second, though.

“I don’t care about hi-” Gaara spoke again in his deadpan voice, but Ren ignored his words.

“I am here to visit your hot sister, you see.” Ren grinned, winking at the woman in cell seventeen who was watching him with a scowl on her face, trying to set him aflame with her gaze.

Ren turned around, showing Gaara his back in an obvious dismissal, and walked toward Temari’s cell. “We can talk after Naruto’s business with you is over.” He added before he sat down on a stool in front of Temari’s cell, inwardly hoping that the promise was going to make Gaara at least somewhat open in his talk with Naruto.

With the corner of his eyes, Ren saw how the boys stared at each other in awkward silence before Naruto’s shoulders slumped and he sat on the stool in front of Gaara’s cell.

Ren let out a sigh.

Naruto clearly didn’t feel comfortable doing this. Yet, he really hoped the two boys could bond and make friends. While their two villages’ alliance didn’t hinge on it, it certainly would make their ties closer. Having a future Kazekage who considered Konoha’s jinchuuriki a brother would make many things smoother.

Especially when the Fourth War started. But somehow, as he watched the two boys, Ren started having doubts about whether this was going to work.

“Are you going to just ignore me?” Temari’s unamused voice pulled him out of his reverie back to reality, and his startled eyes met her blank stare.

A wry smile appeared on his lips with a hint of apology. “Oh! Sorry, I was just blinded by your beauty, and it made me speechless. You are radiant as the sun itself. Truly, a pure art given form.” He tried.

In his defense, that always worked on Ino.

“I still have smudges from when you drew dicks on my face, you asshole.” Temari deadpanned.

Ren awkwardly cleared his throat and diverted his gaze. “… Are you still angry about that?” He scratched his cheek before he decided to simply man up and turned back toward Temari with a slight admonishing expression. “Pettiness does not suit you.”

“Fuck pettiness.” Temari growled and grabbed the iron bars of her cell while almost pressing her face into them too as she glared at Ren. “One day, I will have my revenge on you.”

“I am afraid my face can’t bring out the full charm of a nearby dick quite as well as yours did.” Ren smiled, and he noticed that Temari’s lips quirked up. Just for a moment, before it was gone, it turned into an exasperated groan as she let herself collapse back into a cross-legged seat on the floor behind the iron bars.

“Sex joke? Really? You can’t do better? Here I am, jailed for days, and that is the entertainment you bring me?” The sarcasm was almost oozing out of her. “Can’t you at least tell me where Kankuro is?”

Her voice might have been dismissive as she had asked, but Ren noticed the subtle signs that betrayed her interest. Surprisingly, even Gaara in the cell next door slightly stiffened. He decided to assuage their worries.

“Your brother was not among the casualties nor among the prisoners. He most likely made it back to Suna.”

“Oh, thank the Sage.” Temari almost completely deflated in relief, and a small smile appeared on her face. But then she went rigid, and she gave Ren a suspicious look. “Why… Why tell me that?”

“It does not matter.” Ren said, “The preliminary peace talks with Suna are over, and you two will be going home soon. I reckon you will meet your brother in a few days anyway. It’s not some sort of major secret.”

“Truly?” Temari’s face lit up.

“Yes, yes.” Ren rolled his eyes, but nevertheless confirmed the news again.

“And you are not lying?” Temari doubtfully asked, making Ren chuckle.

“Why would I lie?”

“Because you are a dick-obsessed asshole?”

“Between the two of us, I am not the one who constantly mentions dicks.” He gave her a look that made her scowl.

“Don’t you dare say I am thirst-“

“You are thirsty, girl.”

They practically said at the same time, and Ren grinned while Temari put her face into her hands with a groan.

“Ugh. I can’t wait until I get out of here so I will never have to see you again.” Temari huffed, but her eyes showed a bit of amusement. “Why are you even here, bothering me?

Ren smiled. She said she wanted to get away from him, yet she instantly asked a follow-up question, intent on continuing their talk.

The tsundere.

But he could guess how boring being in a cell must have been for her. He shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I am here as an escort for Naruto. Seeing you was just a nice bonus. And I gotta say…” Ren paused a bit as his eyes roamed Temari’s figure, “Girl, you need a shower.”

Temari snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yes. Hotel Konoha honestly sucks. Maybe you could speak with the management here?” She dryly suggested.

“I am just a humble and simple chunin. Sad to say, I don’t have those kinds of connections.” Ren replied in mock sadness.

“Chunin, my ass.” Temari murmured, just as both hers and Ren’s ears perked up at attention when the boys next to them finally started speaking.

Their eyes met, and a silent truce was formed. For now, they were going to cut the chit-chat as they both seemed to be more interested in the talk starting near them.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep