The next day.
Genya was lounging in the rehearsal room at the Uchiha Clan Compound, with Chinatsu peeling an orange beside him.
Warm and cozy, life was sweeter than honey.
Then an Anbu arrived.
Wearing a cat mask, the Anbu knelt on one knee and spoke in an emotionless voice.
"Lord Genya, Lady Tsunade requests your presence at the Hokage Office."
Genya stayed where he was. Chinatsu slipped a segment of orange into his mouth, and he chewed and swallowed.
"Tell her I'm busy."
The Anbu fell silent for a moment.
"Lady Tsunade said that if you don't go, she'll come here herself."
Genya sat up.
The door to the Hokage Office was open.
When Genya walked in, Tsunade was standing at the window with her back to him, casting a shadow across the floor.
He stopped in the doorway rather than going farther inside.
"You're here?"
Tsunade didn't turn around. Genya grunted an acknowledgment, walked in, and sat in the chair in front of her desk, crossing his legs.
Tsunade turned to look at him, then walked behind her desk and sat down, folding her hands on its surface.
Genya had seen that pose before. She used it when interrogating prisoners.
"You secretly manipulated the Chunin Ninja Exams to keep Team 7 as genin."
Tsunade's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight.
"Give me a reason."
Genya leaned back in his chair, glanced at the window, then at the little cactus on her desk, before finally looking at Tsunade's face.
He spoke, his voice muffled.
"Uh... would the fact that I'm still a genin count?"
Tsunade choked. Her mouth opened, closed, then opened again.
Her expression swung repeatedly between fury and speechlessness before settling into a complicated look that said, You've got to be kidding me.
"That's