"Now that you have been made aware of your new Bingo Book evaluations, I'd like to change the topic a bit and ask the ladies about their experiences as new chunin of the village. Are you satisfied with your positions in your new departments?" Hiruzen spoke, bringing the attention back to him.
Ren had to give it to the man. The question was so open-ended that he could spin it in many ways depending on how Ino and Hinata answered.
If they showed dissatisfaction, he could offer them a transfer or attempt to give them a Jonin promotion again. Trying it would cost him nothing, and if it ended up helping them, he could claim credit for it.
If they showed satisfaction, he could continue asking for more information. And who knows? Maybe he would even get something useful. Again, there was no harm in trying, no?
Ren inwardly shook his head as he relaxed. He was quite troubled by this meeting, but now it seemed that Hiruzen only wanted to get more intel on them while fishing for an easy way to establish a connection.
Sure. There was an awful lot of manipulation involved, but they lived in a ninja society. It would have been far more suspicious if he were completely candid with them. These subtle attempts to steer their thinking in a certain way through his speech were still tame in comparison with how convoluted ninja schemes could get.
Ren secretly let out a relieved breath, hiding it behind an amused huff. If establishing a more friendly rapport with them now that they showed themselves to be very worthy pieces in this game was all Hiruzen wanted out of this meeting, then Ren's worries were for nothing.
"I would say everything was alright so far." Hinata spoke with trained poise and a completely straight back, sporting a small, politely calm smile as she looked Hiruzen in the eyes. "The coworkers at the hospital are accommodating, and there was no problem I could not resolve in the few days since I started to work there."
"Ah. Yes. I heard about how quickly you have gained recognition in the hospital, Miss Hyuga." Hiruzen gave her a small nod of acknowledgement. "You helped many injured ninjas get well. The village is lucky to have you."
'Miss Hyuga.' Ren amusedly sent to both Ino and Hinata through the telepathy seal.
'I still remember how he called me Hinata-chan when I came for a D-rank mission with Team Eight two months ago.' Hinata mentally giggled.
Ino inwardly snorted. 'He is showing respect. It is all good and fine to patronizingly call genin kids with familiarity without asking for permission. He is the Hokage. That's just establishing the pecking order in a way that works well with his grandfatherly persona. But now that he has realized how strong we are and that we are not cute, clueless kids that have no chance of threatening him? Showing respect and treating us like equals is simply the most logical option.'
Ren mentally nodded. There is no need to make enemies when you can make allies. And this was Hiruzen Sarutobi trying to make allies while also pursuing his agenda.
"The hospital was still an unexpected choice for you, Miss Hyuga. I think many expected you to end up somewhere that handles security instead of healing." Hiruzen said with a thoughtful expression.
"I imagine there are complaints about my choice." Hinata hummed.
"Yes. The Elders from your clan are especially vocal about their dislike of your choice. The Hyuga Heiress working in the hospital... some say that it is undignified."
"I see." Hinata noncommittally said, stalling the conversation to a halt. The two of them stared at each other with unreadable expressions for a few moments until Hiruzen finally decided to break the awkward atmosphere that started to form in the room and spoke again.
"Anyway. If the pressure from your clan ever becomes too much and you feel like transferring, just come to me. I can easily handle it, Miss Hyuga." He kindly offered.
"I shall keep that in mind." Hinata nodded her assent, much to Hiruzen's satisfaction, and his attention started shifting toward Ino.
"And you, Miss Yamanaka? How does the Torture and Interrogation treat you? I reckon you are happy walking in your father's footsteps?"
"Hm? Meh. Not really." Ino casually shrugged. "It's not bad. Just a bit too much paperwork. Maybe I will transfer somewhere with more action in the future."
Ren almost lifted his eyebrow at the blonde girl when he heard her words, and he noticed that Hinata's lips slightly twitched.
That... was most definitely not how Ino felt about her new job. She sang it praises to heaven come, at home, and assured them she was very happy in her new department. Part of it had to do with the easy way to access so many mind arts practice dummies nobody cared about, and part of it was that her job was simply something Ino was good at, so she did not need to put in much effort and could mostly slack off while being praised for it. It took her at most two to three hours to be done with her work for the day, too.
No. Ren was pretty sure not even a crowbar made of chakra metal could dislodge Ino from her current cushy job.
But Ren and Hinata's hidden surprise did not last long, and they understood why Ino answered that way when Hiruzen's smile became slightly strained and the skin around the corners of his eyes tightened as he spoke.
"I see. Maybe I could help with that. I know how dreadful paperwork can be, and losing such a bright talent over it would be a major loss for the Intelligence Department. I foresee you having a very promising career there, Miss Yamanaka."
"Thank you. I appreciate it." Ino widely smiled and said in a grateful voice with a cheerful undertone. But unlike her outward appearance, she practically radiated gleeful smugness in the echoes of the telepathy seal.
Ren had an unpleasant feeling that he was missing something important in that interaction, but for the love of Sage, he could not think of what it could-
'Oh... I get it now.' Hinata suddenly mentally spoke with astonishment oozing out of her mind.
'Care to share?' Ren wryly asked, ignoring Ino's fond, mental sigh.
'I see that your lack of ability when it comes to politics has not changed, Sen-sei.' She teased him, and he sent her an impression of eye roll.
'I've got you for that, don't I?'
'Too true.' Ino giggled. 'Fine, dear.' Ren could feel a phantom sensation of a kiss on his lips. 'The transfer. He offered it to Hinata. That was suspicious.'
'Yet, when you tried to show dissatisfaction, he tried to keep you in the Intelligence Department.' Ren mentally nodded. That was indeed suspicious. But as much as Ren could see the subtle manipulations, this was a different thing. This had to do with subtle village politics. And Ren was never good at that. He probably wouldn't be swimming in so many problems if he could navigate that mine field.
'Is he trying to steer us into politically dead-end positions?' Hinata asked, and her frown reverberated through the telepathy seal as Ino sent an impression of a proud nod.
'T&I is a sweet gig. But S-rank or not, I am not going to get much recognition down there. There won't be any opportunity to get to the spotlight for me while being locked in the dungeons with the prisoners as their minder. It's the dead-end of all dead-end jobs. It's probably why he wants to keep me where I am.'
'And you used it to decrease your work.' Hinata mentally smiled. Who knows how Hiruzen would feel if he knew he had been played?
'What can I say? Opportunities to get ahead in life should not be wasted.' Ino smugly replied.
'But I am different. I am a med-nin.' Hinata added with a huff.
'You are a political threat that will only get bigger. A heiress of the strongest clan. An S-rank kunoichi. The first S-rank Hyuga since the establishment of the village. And in a job where you will interact and save the lives of countless ninjas. Worse yet, you are actually extremely good at the job, too.' Ino explained Hinata's current position, and Ren was starting to catch up on what this was about.
'The more people she saves, the more adored and recognized she will get. Ren interjected,
'Steering her away to a more Hyuga traditional path would prevent that kind of political disaster. Tsunade had been on an unsanctioned vacation from Konoha for well over two decades, and yet, she is still loved so much that, thanks to her past achievements, there was not much resistance to her appointment as the Fifth Hokage in the village.'
'Medic ninjas are valued.' Ren nodded. That is a fact. You don't mess with the white mage. The rule applies even more in this world because you don't know when you will need one of them to save you from bleeding out.
'But Tsunade was the only medic ninja in the village who was also an S-rank threat until Hinata showed up. Do you have any idea how easy it will be for Hinata to gain support for the Hokage position once she has a few years of hospital duty under her belt?' Ino sighed. 'Sarutobi is right to worry. Especially if he has his own plans and Tsunade proves to be a good Kage. The precedent for S-rank medic ninja taking the office will be there by then.'
Ren and Hinata sent the impression of a nod and disengaged from using the telepathy seal. Barely a second passed outside, and not noticing their mental discussion, Hiruzen continued speaking.
"It's good to know you are adjusting well to your new posts. It's regrettable that you have decided to split up from your genin teams, but I understand. I hope the decision did not cause some undue friction between you and your previous teammates." Hiruzen carefully probed, pushing the discussion forward.
"Don't worry. We explained it to our Jonin Instructors and teammates. There was no problem." Ino breezily said, and Ren noticed that she knew her casual tone annoyed Hiruzen.
After all, it was his son who had been 'abandoned' by his student.
"Yes. It is not like we are going to ignore their existence. We might not be a team anymore, but... You know." Hinata added with a small shrug.
"I see. I am glad to hear that the Will of Fire burns brightly in you." Hiruzen happily smiled, and Ren almost snorted.
Yeah. He reckoned it would have been truly a shame if Asuma lost his connection to Ino and the connection he had to Hinata through Kurenai. The Will of Fire at its finest, indeed.
To be fair, Asuma and Kurenai were innocent in this situation. Ren doubted Asuma knew about his father's machinations and plans. The man was too laidback to be an active part of them just yet.
But if he somehow managed to get Ino and Hinata's backing, then the future Hokage position was going to be all but assured in his favor as long as he became an S-rank ninja. From that perspective, it wasn't weird that Hiruzen wanted Ino and Hinata to maintain their good relationships with their genin teams.
Ren inwardly groaned. This whole situation was such a convoluted mess. And Ino wondered why he didn't give a shit about politics. Just thinking about all the intentions of others and their likely plans was so damn bothersome.
Hiruzen's eyes finally fell on Ren, who was becoming a bit fidgety. "But I guess, we should stop with the chit-chat and get to the reason why I called you for this meeting." Hiruzen sighed and unsealed some documents before he put them on the table.
Ren, Ino, and Hinata instantly stiffened, not expecting the sudden turn in the conversation. They realized that no, this was not just a social call aimed at fishing out for their intentions. And just like that, their good mood evaporated as they became wary.
Recognizing their reaction for what it was, Hiruzen's tone became solemn as he gently put his hand on the documents. "These contain the preliminary peace agreement between Konoha and Suna." He slid them toward Ren's side of the table while giving him a heavy look, "I think page thirty-two will interest you the most."
Feeling uneasy, Ren reached toward the documents and started hesitantly leafing through them until he hit the aforementioned page. As he skimmed it with his eyes, skipping all the boring stuff about trade agreements and whatnot, he abruptly stopped when his eyes reached the halfway point of the page, where a new topic started.
"What the fuck is this?" Ren owlishly blinked in absolute disbelief.
Ino and Hinata leaned closer to get a peek at what he was looking at, and when they read the title, all of their amusement was instantly drained from their faces.
They raised their heads, and three very unhappy sets of eyes landed on Hiruzen, who nervously chewed on the end of his smoking pipe, almost biting into it as he got quite uncomfortable from the blast of killing intent that hit him from both Ino and Hinata.
"Er... I can explain?" He helplessly asked with a genuine sheepish expression.