Chapter 85: The Security Inspection

Ren had expected Hokage Tower’s security inspectors to arrive at noon.

They arrived shortly after sunrise instead. The classrooms were still being opened, and half the staff had not finished breakfast.

Ren stood in the freshly painted main entryway, looking at the early group. Kakuzu stood to his right, holding an open ledger. Kurenai leaned against the front desk, while Itachi stood near the front desk with the Academy safety folder Ren had dumped on him the day before.

Standing opposite them were two official Hokage Tower inspectors carrying clipboards, looking incredibly nervous. Standing slightly behind them was a third man in standard shinobi gear. He had been introduced as a security specialist, though neither of the official inspectors seemed comfortable around him.

Ren checked his pocket watch. "Your letter said noon."

"We were told to begin now," the lead inspector replied, attempting to sound authoritative.

Ren slipped the watch back into his vest. "Then whoever told you can pay the early-opening fee."

Beside him, Kakuzu immediately held up a freshly written invoice.

The lead inspector blinked, completely thrown off balance, but the silent security specialist simply pushed past him and began walking down the hall.

"Start with the classrooms," the specialist said, walking past the other two.

Ren waved them forward, entirely cooperative. Openly resisting would look suspicious, and Ren had absolutely no intention of giving Danzo a legitimate excuse to shut the building down.

The group moved through the academy. They inspected the classroom sealing materials, the student records, the guard posts, the emergency exits, and the storage rooms.

Kakuzu trailed directly behind them, his pen scratching loudly against his ledger every time an inspector touched a door handle or opened a cabinet.

The second official inspector finally looked back, visibly sweating. "Why are you following us so closely?"

"Damage assessment," Kakuzu said flatly.

"We haven’t damaged anything," the inspector protested.

"The day is young," Kakuzu noted.

Near the back of the group, Kurenai’s attention shifted to the security specialist. He kept drifting away from the inspectors and toward the supply cabinets.

Before she could say anything, Itachi lightly touched Ren’s sleeve. He didn’t point, but his dark eyes were fixed on the reflection in a nearby window.

"The man near the cabinet put something inside," Itachi said quietly.

Ren didn’t immediately accuse the man. He simply let the inspection continue for another two minutes, perfectly calm, until the security specialist dramatically opened that exact cabinet, reached inside, and pulled out a heavy parchment tag.

"Restricted combat seal," the specialist announced, holding it up. "In a civilian classroom."

The two inspectors immediately reached for their shutdown forms.

Ren looked at Kakuzu. "Is that ours?"

"No."

Kurenai stepped forward and took the seal from the specialist. She checked the ink, then the paper.

"It was made this morning," she said. "Not here. The ink doesn’t match anything in the Academy’s seal room."

Ren looked at Itachi. "You saw him put it inside?"

Itachi nodded. "Yes."

The specialist’s expression shifted. Only slightly, but enough.

The lead inspector slowly lowered his shutdown form. The other man looked from the seal to the specialist and took a step away from him.

Ren signaled one of the Academy clerks.

"Seal it," Ren told the clerk. "Three copies. One for Hokage Tower, one for the clan, and one for the Daimyo’s office."

The lead inspector swallowed.

Ren looked at him. "Are we still closing the school?"

The specialist threw a smoke pellet at the floor.

Grey smoke swallowed the hallway. By the time the guards reached the window, he was already crossing the courtyard.

Kurenai’s kunai flashed through the smoke and sliced a strip from the back of his sleeve. She caught the cloth as it fell.

"I have his chakra now," she said. "If he comes near the Academy again, I’ll recognize it."

The lead inspector stared at the open window, then slowly put the shutdown form away.

"We’ll continue the inspection," he said.

Ren smiled. "Please do."

They recommended stronger locks, clearer labels on the seal cabinets, and mandatory genjutsu training for the office staff.

Ren accepted the changes without argument. Kurenai had already suggested most of them the day before.

"We’ll handle it," Ren said.

Kakuzu handed the lead inspector another sheet. "Invoice for the new locks."

Ren returned to the estate an hour later, holding a formal envelope stamped with the Hokage’s official seal.

Jiraiya had formally requested permission to visit Naruto.

Instead of summoning her to his study, Ren walked across the compound to Kushina’s neighboring house. He knocked once on the sliding door and stepped inside only after she called for him.

Kushina wore a loose house robe, her red hair hanging freely over her shoulders. She looked up when Ren entered.

Ren stopped, then turned his attention very deliberately toward the decorative scroll on the opposite wall.

Kushina noticed and adjusted Naruto slightly, amused.

"Since when do you have manners?" Kushina asked.

"Since Tsunade told me to protect the eye I have left."

"I told you to come in."

"You didn’t mention the situation."

Kushina snorted. She settled Naruto against her shoulder and pulled her robe closed.

"You can stop studying the wall now."

Ren turned back and placed the envelope on the low table.

"Jiraiya wants to visit," Ren said.

Kushina’s hands paused on Naruto’s blanket. She stared at the Hokage Tower seal stamped into the wax.

"Did he ask Hiruzen again?" she asked, her voice tightening slightly.

"The request came through the tower," Ren confirmed.

Her expression changed, a flash of deep irritation replacing the domestic warmth from a moment ago. Jiraiya was still thinking like a shinobi navigating a military asset, not a man trying to see his family.

"You can say no," Ren added smoothly.

Kushina looked at Naruto for a long time. The baby let out a tiny, contented sigh against her collarbone.

"No," Kushina finally said. "I’m tired of waiting for him to become brave enough to knock."

She looked back up at Ren.

"But he doesn’t bring an ANBU escort," Kushina stated, her terms coming out naturally, not as a prepared legal speech. "He doesn’t check Naruto’s seal. He doesn’t take him outside. And he speaks to me directly."

Ren nodded. "I will inform the gate."

Ren turned to leave, stepping closer to where Kushina was sitting to pass the low table. As he walked by, Naruto suddenly reached out with a tiny, incredibly fast fist and grabbed Ren’s index finger.

Ren stopped abruptly. He stood awkwardly beside Kushina’s chair, staring down at the newborn who was currently refusing to release his grip.

Kushina laughed softly. "He likes you."

"He has poor financial judgment," Ren noted dryly.

Kushina reached over to loosen Naruto’s grip. Her fingers brushed Ren’s knuckles and stayed there for a moment.

Ren looked down at their hands.

Kushina released him first.

"There," she said, adjusting Naruto’s blanket.

Ren fixed his cuff even though it had not moved and headed for the door.

When he reached the estate’s front gate, Kakuzu was already standing beside the guard post, building Jiraiya’s visitor form.

Ren stopped and looked at the growing stack of heavily formatted paperwork on the clipboard.

"How many pages?" Ren asked.

"Nine," Kakuzu replied, his pen scratching steadily against the parchment.

"Reasonable," Ren noted.

Kakuzu finished writing a clause detailing exactly how much the Sannin would be fined if he damaged the stepping stones in the courtyard. He flipped the page and slapped a fresh, blank sheet of paper onto the clipboard.

"Ten," Kakuzu said.

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