“Fine,” Hayate answered rubbing the back of his head with his ‘new arm’ trying not to blush. Felicity was as stunning as the shinobi remembered, her fiery red hair dancing blissfully across her shoulders as she cleared her throat. “All things considered that is. I’m sure you’ve heard the… news about Radasanth.”

He cleared his throat while a number of others came into the grey corridor before heading off elsewhere in the building. His eyes darted around anxiously, even here he couldn’t shake the feeling of someone watching him over his shoulder. But he forced himself to refocus on Felicity once more as the two exchanged a handshake.

“This is actually my first time being back here since, how long have you-“ He was cut short by the obnoxious man from earlier.

“Hey you,” he said pushing on Hayate’s shoulder. “You heard anything bout that new monk who defected from the citadel?” The Shinobi glared at the man, threatening him without saying a word. The message was read loud and clear as he left with an unhappy grunt.

“These green recruits will be the death of me, wouldn’t you think they’d know the chain of command by now?” He waited a moment before he continued contemplating the urgency of getting examined by a doctor or letting them deal with him later. Seeing the amount of wounded and staff coursing about the decision wasn’t hard to make, there would be time another day. “Why don’t we take this conversation to a place a little more quiet, my office isn’t far or we could go looking for whoever this monk guy is. I’d like to catch up a bit but being here is starting to make my stomach turn already.”

In truth Hayate hasn’t been himself for a while now, and seeing Felicity’s smiling youthful face filled him with a calm he hadn’t felt in a while. And in the same vein made his competitive spirit flare up wondering if she had gotten any stronger, and who exactly recruited here into their ranks. He wanted to stop right there and pick her brain but knew there would be a time and place for that later.