| [Apr. 8th, 2017|09:01 pm] |
For a moment, Ginta said nothing. He stretched his shoulders, spreading his arms along the walls, a study of unconcern. “Tousaki was asking me about the rules on fraternization on the way over from Intel. Said he’d hooked up with an officer some time in the past, but I gather he’s a free agent.” Blue eyes narrowed, searching and intelligent.
Raidou didn’t react.
Ginta shrugged, wriggling and resettling like he was stacking his vertebrae back into alignment, and continued. “Then he asked me why we officers hadn’t made the Vice disappear already. I told him ANBU policed ourselves internally for any abuses of power amongst us, but we weren’t going to commit treason for that little pissant at the top. Was that appropriate?”
That last sentence flicked like a knife, barely slicing before it was sheathed again.
Ginta, Raidou realized, was built somewhere on the model between Kakashi and Katsuko. Intensely private, a little bit random, and equally inclined to attack or distract. He’d offered some information, but he hadn’t answered an actual question. He’d just swerved the conversation.
On the other hand, if Ryouma was asking an officer he barely knew about fraternization rules (worrying) and fragging a superior officer (stupid) in public, he was next on Raidou’s list for a Conversation. Granted, Kakashi had also approached Kurenai and Ginta on the Look Far, which was its whole own concern. But speculating on a ship, drunk-tired and far away from Konoha, was one thing. Crowdsourcing opinions next to ANBU—
This was exactly how distraction worked.
Raidou grunted. “Tousaki’s impolitic. That’s not news. My concern right now is you, Sakamoto, and why you’re hanging around my rookies instead of tending your own.”
Ginta shook his head, amused. “I ran into your rookie outside Intel. Kurenai and Satomi invited us out for a drink. Tousaki was the one who suggested we get everyone from our teams and go dancing. Said Hatake had already signed on, but you and Genma might need persuading. So I offered to help persuade. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve spoken three words to either of them since the end of the mission.”
Raidou looked at him for a long moment, and didn’t say anything.
Slowly, the amusement filtered out of Ginta’s startlingly blue eyes. One foot twitched, a tiny fidget. He said, “What’s this really about?”
Did there need to be a reason beyond: You make the hair stand up on the back of my neck? Raidou wasn’t a genius, but he had instincts. Ginta was a smart man, a ferociously brilliant ninja, and exactly the kind of person who snapped people in half for fun.
At least, Raidou was reasonably sure.
(Why, exactly, did Genma like him?)
“An abundance of caution,” Raidou said finally, and let his arms relax. He hooked his thumbs into his belt. “Both of them nearly got killed in Trials, and the last three months have been worse. I’m inclined to look twice. But if I’m wrong, I apologize.”
If he wasn’t wrong, he’d apologize to Usagi and get her a new lieutenant. |
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