"That would be why the details are too classified for the likes of you and I,” Genma said. “And it’s just conjecture. I don’t know for sure, but it fits the data. Explains why she needs to eat so much, to feed all that chakra burn. And why she can’t really do small jutsu. You notice she never makes fewer than a half dozen clones? With that much raw chakra wide open and always on, there’s no way she could safely give someone a chakra transfer. She’d have burned your coils right out. She’s got some hard-core seals keeping her chakra contained so it doesn’t burn her own system up. I had to learn how to send them into full lockdown, in case of an emergency that I hope we never see.”

Ryouma’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think—” He looked down quickly, catching Genma’s eyes. “They gave you the seals, but not the story?”

Genma nodded. “The seals, and one or two useful details for me as a medic for treating her in the field. The rest, like I said, is just an educated guess. I do know she was young when it happened. Barely into adolescence. She would have been still growing—that probably helped her survive it.”

“Poor kid,” Ryouma said softly. He looked down at his own booted feet, scuffing silently through the few remaining fallen sakura petals. “No wonder she didn’t talk about it.”

Genma nodded. “It explains a few things about her.” They walked a little way in sober silence, before Genma broke it. “Anyway, Ueno’s chakra issues and how we used our chakra sensors aside, any other thoughts about the mission? Or about the team, or ANBU in general? You really got thrown in the deep end with this team.”

Ryouma’s lips quirked in a wry expression. “I've been getting thrown into the deep end my whole life. I'm a good swimmer.”

Given what Genma know about Ryouma’s past, that was probably an understatement.

Ryouma tipped his head back, studying the clearing sky. “Do all the ANBU teams have medics?” he asked. “We'd have been screwed without you.”

“No, but they should,” Genma said. “Given the intensity of our missions, there are a lot of casualties in ANBU. Although sometimes I think teams with medics on them get the more risky missions. But look how few field medics there are even outside of ANBU. There just aren’t that many people who have both the skill for medical jutsu and the temperament for ANBU, or so they tell us.” He eyed Ryouma. “Actually I bet you could do medical jutsu, if you wanted to. You’ve got the chakra control to do your rot jutsu, and you’ve got the right natures for medical stuff. If you ever want to learn some, I’ll teach you.”