| [Sep. 18th, 2013|10:24 pm] |
“And we might find out where they’re hiding and stage a little ambush of our own,” Genma agreed. “If I were a bandit, I’d probably think about setting up base somewhere near these old quarries.” He circled his finger around a cluster of mine symbols at elevation above the town. “Intel said some of these are still active mines, but a lot of them are closed. Know anything about them?”
Ryouma shook his head. “There was some fighting there, but I was never involved.” He swallowed another mouthful of coffee. “Were any of the missing people miners?”
“That’s a good point,” Genma said. “I don’t think so, but let me check.” He pulled out a small, sealed notebook, pressed his thumb and fingers against metal plates on its covers, and pulsed chakra through his palm. Static ruffled the leaves of the book slightly as the unsealing jutsu activated. Inside the book, in coded script, were Genma’s notes.
“Looks like... Two,” he said, reading. “One was a retired miner—I don’t think he counts. And one was currently a miner, but he disappeared after a night out on the town, not in the mines.” He snapped the book closed. “So I guess that’s a dead end.”
“We’re going to have to do detectiving, aren’t we,” Ryouma groaned.
From much too close for comfort, Kakashi said, “For all our sakes, please don't.”
Genma snapped his head around, and Ryouma tensed.
Kakashi stood right behind them, his chakra presence dimmed to almost nothing. Evidently he’d learned the trick of suppressing the beacon of his ANBU tattoo, too.
Genma gave him a flat look. “The point of the jutsu in your tattoo is so that your teammates know where the hell you are, Hatake.”
“I’m here,” Kakashi said. Like Ryouma, he looked freshly scrubbed and put together. “My teammates are clingy for elite soldiers.”
“Stop wasting chakra on proving you don’t want to be part of this team,” Genma said. “It’s a safety feature.”
“It's invasive,” Kakashi countered, but he let the shield drop. The tiny pilot light that marked him as ANBU sparked back to life, but the remainder of his blue-white chakra field remained almost undetectable.
“Thank you.” Genma stood up, studying Kakashi in the growing grey light of dawn. “Your face is swollen on the left,” he said, eying the edge of a bruise cresting above Kakashi’s mask.
If Kakashi wanted it worked on, he was going to have to ask. |
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