With a rising trepidation, Ren walked toward Sarutobi's new office. Finding its whereabouts was not hard. Ino and Hinata were already supposed to be waiting for him in front of it, so he simply asked them through the telepathy seal.
As he arrived, he found his girls sitting on the chairs for visitors. Ino instantly sprang to her feet, and Ren found himself hugged as his arms subconsciously snaked around her small frame, fondly returning the embrace.
"You good?" Ren whispered as he affectionately nuzzled his cheek into her hair with a small smile as he heard a muffled hum of agreement from his small blonde princess.
His previous trepidation nowhere to be found.
Hinata chuckled as she slowly stood up and walked toward them. She leaned over Ino's back before greeting Ren with a mischievous peck on his lips.
"Hello. We are okay." Hinata backed off and smiled in that serene way that could make one calm down. "What about you? We could feel some apprehension through the seal." She tried to sound casual, but Ren nevertheless noticed the hint of worry in her voice.
Now. That explained the eager and affectionate greeting from Ino, he guessed in his mind with an amused huff. She was trying to make him feel better. It was adorable.
He kissed the side of Ino's head before answering, "I am okay. Just... curious about the upcoming meeting. Any idea what it could be about?"
With a small heave, Ren took a squeaking Ino into a princess carry before he sat down on a nearby chair and put her on his lap while Hinata followed and sat next to him, leisurely leaning her head on his shoulder with a content sigh.
Pouting, Ino's eyes met Ren's, and she let out a cute snort before she pecked his lips, just like Hinata did before, and burrowed her nose into the crook of his neck on the other side from where Hinata was leaning on.
"No idea." Ino mumbled with a small giggle.
"Me neither. I was told to come here at this time during my meeting with Lady Hokage earlier today." Hinata answered, and Ren wondered if he should ask about their experience with meeting Tsunade, but he reckoned that they would have told him if it was as disturbing as his was.
Well, speaking about it in public was a no-go, and he couldn't exactly erect an anti-eavesdropping barrier in the middle of Hokage Tower either. He planned to share his experience with them today at home, so maybe they were going to do the same.
If it were in any way urgent, they would no doubt be clamoring about it to him through the telepathy seal. The fact that they were quiet and seemed happily content did a lot to calm Ren down.
"Well, if they attack us, give them hell." Ren jokingly said with a half-grin as he gently rested his chin on the top of Ino's head.
That earned him a small snort from Ino while Hinata rolled her eyes in amused exasperation. "They are not going to attack us."
Yes. Sure. But it had to be said for the ANBU standing near the door inside of Hiruzen's office that was no doubt listening to them. He couldn't pass up on the opportunity to threaten the old man via a joke, now, could he?
That surely had to go against some unwritten rules of shinobi etiquette or something.
But Hinata was correct. They could not attack them.
Their trio was a very unique existence in Konoha. Not only now, but also in the village's history. Maybe only Hashirama, Mito, and Tobirama could boast to be a tight-knit group of S-rank ninjas within Konoha.
And they lived to old age. All of them.
Hashirama and Tobirama might have looked young in the anime, but they were actually in their fifties, if not sixties, when they died. Ren could not tell from the top of his head which age it was.
That was practically ancient, with how short the life expectancy of ninjas usually was.
Konoha could drive the S-rank Sakumo to suicide. Hell, Danzo might even have threatened him with Kakashi's life to push him past the point of no return. It would not surprise Ren.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and his ANBU might have chased Orochimaru away from Konoha, almost killing him in the process.
Shisui might have been ambushed by Danzo and driven to suicide, even though Ren had no freaking idea why the idiot ended his life instead of reporting the act to the Hokage and warning him that Danzo now had access to Kotoamatsukami.
Alas, he was a Uchiha, so stupidity was his default setting.
Itachi might have been given an order to practically become one of Konoha's most heinous traitors by slaughtering his own clan, even if Ren had no idea why he didn't let the civilians and children live. It wasn't as if Danzo could kill them once Konoha ANBU flooded the scene and started securing the survivors. Konoha would not have touched them. They would have cherished them as a precious resource.
But let's give the dumbass Uchiha number two the benefit of the doubt and say that it was Obito who finished off the civilians and kids. Hah. Right. As if.
Hell, Itachi might have just killed the actual traitors and spun the narrative that he protected Konoha with his actions. That would have been comparable to pissing into Danzo's cereals with how it would utterly ruin his plans for the Uchiha clan.
Sure, his clansmen might have resented Itachi for it. But they would have been alive.
The point was, Konoha had numerous S-rank ninjas. And most of them died or were made into rogue ninjas in some shady way. Or they were driven from the village by some other means in Tsunade's or Jirayia's case.
The problem was, all these S-rank ninjas were alone. Even Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were no longer the tight-knit Sannin trio they had been during their youth by the time their tragedies that drove them away from Konoha occurred.
They all had their own life and stayed apart. They were practically easy pickings for the old schemers.
Ren, Ino, and Hinata, though? They were three S-rank ninjas in a romantic relationship. Attack one of them, and you kick a hornet's nest, making the other two furious enough to come at you, kunais blazing and elemental jutsu roaring.
They were the furthest thing from an easy target. As long as they stayed together.
Hence, Ren did not believe they would be attacked. Nor did he believe they would be schemed against with murderous intent. But anything below that? It was fair play. Schemes did not need to end in the target's death, and the Konoha current leaders were all old hands at them.
That's why he was feeling uneasy about the upcoming meeting. He could not even begin to fathom what kind of bullshit Hiruzen was going to spring on him and his girls. The only thing Ren knew was that the old man was going to do it in a way that would be hard to refuse.
Nevertheless, a steel-like determination flooded Ren as he glanced at the peacefully resting women leaning on him. No matter what, Ren was going to refuse if it harmed them in any way.
Not even Konoha was worth their happiness.