"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."
― Leo Buscaglia
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When they finally get back to the apartment, Ren feels somehow lighter. Better. As if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders, and it may just be so, which only secures her opinion that talking to Shibi-sensei was a good idea. She, herself, would have never thought of actually asking for help, even if the situation was potentially dangerous to her and, worse yet, to others. It just doesn't occur to her—the fact that she can ask for help and not only not be ridiculed for it, but actually get it. She is still trying to wrap her head around that one.
Were it a couple of years ago, before her reincarnation, Renee would've balked at the idea and laugh it off, and now—well, there's Genma, and Shibi-sensei, Kisame, Gai. A few people who maybe wouldn't laugh her out of the room for asking for help, she knows that logically, but it still didn't occur to her to ask for help. It just isn't something she does. Danzō is her problem (is he though?) and as an adult, she should be able to deal with her problems alone, because asking for help is wrong (but is it though?).
(She still remembers her grandmother's cold eyes, and her mother parroting the toxic language she had been raised with, hoping to make Renee the same.
Do it yourself. No one will help you. Be an adult. Nobody cares.
But it was true, wasn't it? In that world. It just doesn't quite hold up here.
In a way, they succeeded, making Renee just another copy in their line. That's why she moved far, far away, and partly why she swore to never have children or, Sage forbid, daughters. The wheel had to break, and Ren would be the one to break it.)
(It didn't occur to her to consider Sasuke and Naruto here. They aren't her children, after all, just her wards. Just her little siblings. It's different.)
Ren visits Genma's apartment the next day, just after the kids had gone to the Academy. Deidara is the one who lets her in, before going back to the couch and flopping right back on top of Torune. The Aburame boy barely shifts, merely putting the book he was reading on top of the blond's head. Had someone told Renee way back when that Deidara and Torune of all people would come together and become friends, good friends at that, she would probably think they were crazy. Seeing the two now, however, she can't help but think that they work really well together, despite their wildly different skillsets and personalities. They just click, and even if it had been meant to be temporary for Deidara to settle in, Ren is pretty sure the two would end up in a permanent partnership.
Genma is in the kitchen, looking like he had been hit by a car and nursing a coffee. It's more bruises than cuts, and nothing seems broken, but the mission he had returned from literally a couple of hours ago really put him through the paces. He looks like he's about to keel over and fall asleep, or die, and definitely not in a state where he would be able to make himself anything to eat.
Now, Ren had come to talk to him about her planned 'vacation' in Jōren and what would happen during that time, but that can wait.
"Stir-fry with noodles sound good?" she asks, pushing past him and to the fridge. There are plenty of vegetables, which means Deidara had probably gone shopping after they returned from their mission. Genma mutters something that sounds like an affirmation and tries rather hard to not faceplant into his coffee mug. Ren wishes he would just conk out for eighteen hours straight like his body clearly needs, but Genma tries very hard to sleep only at night when he's in the village. Which, given that it's barely half past eight in the morning, is pretty stupid in her opinion.
Worst comes to worst, she'll just wrap him in a blanket and mandate sleep time. Ren never claimed to be particularly mature, and definitely is not above just sitting on him until he got some rest.
"You're making food?" Deidara calls from the living room. Unlike Ren's flat, the kitchen and living room are separate rooms rather than divided by a half-wall, so he has to be loud. Not like being loud is a problem for Deidara of all people, though.
"Yeah!"
"Make some for us too!"
"I'm not your fucking housekeeper, you brats!"
"It's either that, or takeout, because Genma banned us from kitchen after last time!"
"And for a good Sage-damned reason," Genma mutters darkly into his mug. Ren doesn't ask, just cackles.
"Even Naruto can feed himself with instructions!" she calls back, as though she hadn't intended to prepare enough for all of them to eat and still have leftovers for Genma for later, anyway. "How can you not? You're older!"
"He attempted to cook with his clay because the stove is apparently too boring!" Torune answers instead, his voice full of mirth. Deidara shrieks, and there's a thwack. "Why did you throw my book, you explosive idiot!"
There's a shriek and a thud. Torune must have shoved Deidara off of him to go retrieve his book, and then there are sounds of a scuffle.
"If you break anything you're paying for it, you know the house rules!" Genma calls, a bit weakly, but the sounds of what probably was the beginning of a fight come to a stop with a yelp and a thud and Deidara's indignant 'get the fuck off me!' Ren snorts, and doesn't let it take her mind off of cooking. It's always been somewhat therapeutic for her, regardless which life she's considering. That and, if she says so herself, she's gotten pretty damn good at it.
If you are an adult, you could cook, or at least feed yourself and some others reliably.
("Men don't cook, it's a woman's job," her grandmother sniffed once.
"Children don't cook, it's the most basic requirement as an adult to feed their children," Renee bit back scathingly, and refused to step into the kitchen. She was an unwilling guest, she would not raise a hand to cook, especially if it was on the principle of her being a woman.)
It's not long before she's setting a plate in front of Genma and digging into her own portion, as Deidara squirrels the two remaining plates back to the living room.
"So, what did you want to talk about with me?" Genma asks eventually, and Ren wants to talk to him, she really, really does, but he looks like he needs a nice, long nap much more than a Ren-induced headache, however used to them he may be.
"Oh, just something very stupid I will be doing in like, uhhh, four days or so, but you should get some rest first."
"No, I can hear it out. It's not even nine, I won't be sleeping—"
"Nuh-huh. You're going to bed, and you're going to take a long, healing, restful nap, to regain your strength and not strain your body any further."
"Ren, I'm fine, just tell me—"
Ren sighs and stands up, grabbing the empty plates and Genma's equally empty coffee cup and putting them into the sink, before turning to the man in question.
"What?" he asks, bristling. Ren doesn't answer, just wraps an arm around his shoulders and hooks her other hand under his knees, and easily lifts him up, only barely wincing from the healing gash on her hip. Genma yelps, but wraps his arms around her neck in a reflex. It doesn't stop him from glaring.
He may be tall, but he's taller than Ren only by a few scant centimeters, so carrying him isn't at all awkward for her. She moves to his room—in the back of the flat, just like hers, the smaller one—and unceremoniously dumps him onto the bed. He glares and attempts to get up, but Ren just slaps his hands away, as he's neither anywhere near his peak form, nor really trying all that much, and tucks him in.
Oh how the tables have turned. He used to be the one tucking her in, way back when Ren still barely reached his elbow instead of being almost as tall as him.
"Ren," Genma says, and it sounds like a complaint. But he's in his house, his kids are safe, he's just eaten a warm meal, and the only other person in his room is someone he actually trusts, and it's soothing his senses, even if he's one of the deadliest assassins Konoha has produced to date. Ren lays down on top of the covers next to him, and puts her hand on his side, both for comfort and to keep him there. There isn't really any need for that though, because Genma is drifting off right before her eyes.
"Sleep," Ren tells him softly. "You're at home. Everyone is safe. Sleep."
"Thank you, Ren," he mutters sleepily.
Genma's eyes close, and his breathing evens out. Ren leaves five minutes later, once she makes sure he's actually, fully asleep. The last thing she needs is a nap when Shibi might contact her at any moment, and she has a date later in the day, no matter how much she'd like to, right now.
She gives one last warning to Deidara and Torune (mostly Deidara) to please be fucking quiet or else, puts the remaining stir fry in the fridge for later, and returns to her apartment.
A beetle comes in around noon, carrying a note. It's short, and very simple.
'This is definitely enough to start. I will see to it myself that justice is served."
Ren slumps with relief, despite the underlying worry. Danzō is an insane old man, but he's a powerful insane old man who thinks he's right in what he's doing, and that makes all the difference.
This time Ren brings the kids straight back home, feeds them dinner, and by the time she's done helping them with homework, it's high time to start getting ready for her date.
She doesn't particularly care about her appearance, to be frank. There's no real point, either, if only for the practicality. She would, if she were in the spy branch of her job, but all she does is kill people, she doesn't need to be all dolled up for it. That doesn't mean she can't dress up, just that—to be honest, Ren dresses more like a hot guy than she ever did like a pretty girl. Especially now, as she had the surgery early, and because of that never really bloomed into a feminine shape.
Hibiki would deal. Worst comes to worst people would just assume he was with a guy, and even that isn't all that bad.
Don't get her wrong, she feels good as a woman, she just enjoys not being feminine. She also feels good in heels, but they would make her significantly taller than Hibiki, and she doesn't want to overwhelm him too much. Thankfully, she has quite a few metal-soled combat boots of all shapes and sizes in her closet. Well, she has five pairs, but considering that she has nine pairs of shoes in total… She may have a problem. That, and trench coats. She has seven of those.
She brushes her hair—she would need to cut them soon, they are slowly starting to look like a mullet—to make it appear like the chaos is intentional, and throws some spare clothes into a storage scroll that she secures to her wrist. The dress-up is quick after that; a loose, white turtleneck, black high-waisted pants that are neither too tight nor too baggy, like jeans but not because this world apparently doesn't have them, fuck, metal-soled boots reaching a little over the ankle, and, of course, a trench coat. A bit of perfume and a quick 'I'll be back in the morning, be good' to the kids, and Ren is out.
It's maybe two minutes before seven when Ren gets to the water dragon fountain, built in honor of Tobirama or something, and Hibiki is already there. By the looks of it, he's just arrived himself.
And fuck, but Hyūgas are pretty. Mostly stuck-up assholes, but, as Hibiki has proven, not beyond redemption. And, as Hibiki is proving right now, very pretty. Ren would be jealous if she weren't from the other clan with notoriously good genetics. (There were bad apples, of course, but nobody could blame Fugaku for how he looked now, could they?)
He is basically dressed like a K-pop star. Hell, he looks like one too, with his pretty, delicate face, and silky dark hair pulled into a braid. He is wearing a gray hoodie under a deep-blue coat, dark blue pants, and shiny shoes that looks an awful lot like normal loafers. And they're heeled.
Ren looks at Hibiki inquisitively, and he smirks. They are actually the same height now.
"Petty," Ren snorts as she comes face to face with him. Hibiki smirks.
"It's not my fault you're so goddamn tall," he says. "I have to compensate somehow to not look like an absolute twink."
"But you are an absolute twink," Ren teases. "That, and I'm actually more muscular than you."
"Fuck you," Hibiki says grouchily.
"Maybe later."
He huffs a small laugh and tugs her in for a kiss. In the corner of her eye, Ren sees a civilian girl stop her approach towards them and smirks into the kiss as the girl's face contorts with indignant anger.
She may be petty, but Ren never claimed otherwise.
Awwww