"I guess it's best that I never really went into detail about my normal travels, then," she mused, munching through a new mouthful. This was far from the first time she had been hurt, or involved with something a woman like her probably shouldn't have been. Better to spare him the distress.

"Oh." She blinked at that sudden turn in conversation, and was hit by a rush of emotion that was probably obvious to someone with the training he likely had. The most prominent was relief, because if he lingered in their borders after the recent dust-up, Orochimaru would likely have seen him thoroughly taken out of the picture. The second was guilt, because friend or not she shouldn't be happy about a possible nuisance to her master surviving. The rest was a muddle of confusion mixed with a pinch of sadness.

It was rather draining, this friendship thing.

"That's probably a good prospect," she said, at length. "It's...It's good to have somewhere to call home. Security is invaluable as you get older." 'You won't be safe here for much longer' she didn't say, and actually didn't feel guilty for the unspoken warning. It was nothing he probably hadn't surmised himself, after all. "I will miss seeing you though, I think."

...

She...hadn't meant to say that, and took a long sip of tea to hide her surprise.