| [Aug. 30th, 2015|10:44 pm] |
“Not a thing," Raidou said. "But for the sake of argument, let’s assume Sagara will assign someone at least quasi-stable. So you just need to keep Hatake from eating them, Tousaki from accidentally seducing them, and Ueno from starting an actual rebellion and burning them at the stake.” He looked at the office plant, which failed to offer any useful advice. “Maybe we should consider sedatives.”
“In theory, Sagara and the Hokage know what they’re doing. Not that either of us quite trusted them when they put us in charge of this team in the first place, but let’s suppose they do.” Genma shoved his hair back with both hands, flattening it as if he could iron out the problem with willpower alone. “They’d pick someone who could bring Hatake to heel, ignore Tousaki, and keep Ueno in check. So…” He thought for a moment. “Which floater captains are lesbians from high profile families who have a lot of little siblings?”
Raidou snapped his fingers. “Inuzuka Minori.”
“Out of ANBU. She picked up a genin team at the last Academy graduation.”
“Goddamit.” Raidou scratched his head. “Know any straight guys you’d trust?”
“Hajime, but he’s out of commission for at least two months.” Silence trickled into the room as Genma chewed his senbon thoughtfully, and Raidou frowned at the ceiling. “That was it, I’m afraid.”
“Maybe there’s a secret lesbian captain with a lot of spare time we don’t know about,” Raidou said.
“Shikaku!” Genma said, which made Raidou blink, since Nara Shikaku was a married man with a son, as far as he knew. “Not for a lesbian, I mean,” Genma clarified. “But — oh, no, he has a team, so we wouldn’t get him anyway.”
“I can’t even explain the mental image I had just then,” Raidou said. He shook his head. “Assuming Sagara doesn’t have a spare lesbian or incredibly patient married guy stuck in her back pocket, let’s plan for someone less stellar. If you’ve already got Hatake on your side, that’s a bonus. Tousaki’ll probably try to challenge another captain if he’s feeling his oats, or undercut them if he’s unsettled — I know you can handle that.”
Genma nodded, serious but unworried.
“But Ueno,” Raidou began, and he could hear Shibata whispering ‘favorite’ in the back of his head. He sighed. “She’ll just have to handle it. Keep her busy — she’s already taken on the rookies, so that’ll be something to ground her. If she’s insubordinate, derail her before she gets herself suspended.”
“If any of them are insubordinate, I’ll channel you at your pissiest,” Genma said smartly. “They’ll run laps to Suna and back if they step out of line. I won’t let them — or myself — fuck this up. We’ll be in good shape for you when you get back to us.”
He was so earnest Raidou couldn’t even laugh. There was a clear gleam in Genma’s whiskey-brown eyes, like he was completely prepared to run Team Six out into the desert himself, and return them tough, tanned, and ready for duty the very minute Raidou could take them back.
Raidou nodded once, and said simply, “Then I’m counting on you, fukuchou.”
Color touched Genma’s cheekbones, spreading a dusky arch over the curve. He looked down, embarrassed. “Taichou.”
Raidou smiled, and saved the poor man’s blushes with a subject change. “Looks like you’re working on reports,” he said, nodding at Genma’s desk. |
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