Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Everybody loves Tent: XI!"

Username: 
Password:    
Remember Me
  • Create Account
  • IJ Login
  • OpenID Login
Search by : 
  • View
    • Create Account
    • IJ Login
    • OpenID Login
  • Journal
    • Post
    • Edit Entries
    • Customize Journal
    • Comment Settings
    • Recent Comments
    • Manage Tags
  • Account
    • Manage Account
    • Viewing Options
    • Manage Profile
    • Manage Notifications
    • Manage Pictures
    • Manage Schools
    • Account Status
  • Friends
    • Edit Friends
    • Edit Custom Groups
    • Friends Filter
    • Nudge Friends
    • Invite
    • Create RSS Feed
  • Asylums
    • Post
    • Asylum Invitations
    • Manage Asylums
    • Create Asylum
  • Site
    • Support
    • Upgrade Account
    • FAQs
    • Search By Location
    • Search By Interest
    • Search Randomly

fallen_senbon ([info]fallen_senbon) wrote in [info]fallen_leaves,
@ 2008-02-11 21:22:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:genma, mission, raidou

It Takes a Partner [closed to Genma & Raidou]
Follows from It Takes an Assassin

As far as Genma was concerned it took far too long interviewing the civilian party guests and hired help, tracking down the party-goers who'd fled, and otherwise dealing with loose ends. The local law-enforcement showed up, not surprisingly, but took one look at the mayhem and the Konoha ANBU and decided it was a shinobi matter, best left to them to sort out. He and Raidou did manage to deputize the client's civilian bodyguards, so that helped a bit. But still it was several hours before Genma and Raidou had finished disposing of Suna nin and yakuza corpses, collecting information, getting the client settled in his well-protected bedroom suite under a doctor's care, and had a moment to themselves to start sorting out the disappearance of the wife.

They'd been given the use of a small set of rooms that had once been a nursery, complete with child-sized furniture and cute animals painted on the wall. At least they'd been given futons on which to sleep--much more comfortable on bruised and battered limbs than settling on the bare floor or trying to squeeze six-foot-tall bodies into beds meant for toddlers. Genma checked the room over thoroughly before finally slipping off his mask, then slowly, carefully unbuckling his armor and shedding his clothes. Every muscle had tensed and tightened, and the place where that kusuri-gama had struck was an ugly blotchy black and blue. He fingered it and winced, and was surprised he hadn't cracked a rib.

"Well," he sighed, and leaned against the wall, half undressed and entirely exhausted. "That was a piece of work. I couldn't believe how useless those bodyguards were. Someone seriously needs to have a talk with the client about his help. You think any of them were in on it, too, or were they just rent-a-ninja with no skills?"

(Post a new comment)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 05:37 am UTC (link)
"If any of them were in on it then the calibre of the average kidnapper is definitely south of talented," Raidou said with a very faint groan as he stripped off his broken chest plate. "On the other hand, they made us look damn good in comparison. If we get the wife back then we're definitely set for a bonus." His mask was already neatly placed on his futon. It was soon joined by a set of arm guards and the rest of his armour.

Raidou raised his eyebrows slightly at the sight of his own bare arms -- revealed by the sleeveless shirt he hadn't taken off. He whistled softly. The sand jutsu had left its mark behind. A series of long, striping bruises began at his wrists and stretched all the way up to his shoulders, a deep plum shade that suggested they were going to be hanging around for a while. From the ache in his legs he knew they were probably in a similar state. The rest of him too, no doubt.

The sand burns were even less appreciated.

"Colourful," Raidou muttered, and bent down to take his sandals off one-handed. His right arm was tucked tightly against his side, fingers wrapped around his belt to keep it anchored. The wound through his shoulder was a constant gnawing ache that grated at him, wearing him down, making him edgy and short-tempered. It had been useful when they'd interrogated the guests. Even more useful when he'd assured the local law enforcement that they had a handle on the situation, thank you, and if they wanted to help then they could do it by going the hell away. It was less appreciated now, when he actually had to think.

"So now what?" he asked Genma, finally sitting down on his futon with a momentary clench of teeth. "You want to track or sit tight and wait around for your rat buddy?" Which gave them the option of -- ohthankgods -- possibly sleeping. "Or a ransom note." Or her head on a stick if the kidnappers got pissy. All were valid options. Though the last rather killed the happy conclusion that lead to good-natured clients and bonuses.

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 05:56 am UTC (link)
"There's been no demand yet, so I'm guessing either the wife is actually in on this or they're biding their time because they haven't got a clue what they're supposed to do with her now that they have her," Genma said, and gave Raidou a critical once over. He didn't like the look of those bruises at all, nor the grimace on Raidou's face. There was arnica gel for the bruises, and creme for the chafed skin, but really there was no substitute for rest and some decent meals to build up lost reserves. He wanted to get a look at the shoulder wound, too, make sure it wasn't festering. And there was his own leg, which had stiffened up into a tight, miserable agony. Trying to do any running on it was going to hurt no matter what, but a few hours of rest might mean the difference between success and failure if it came down to it.

"You're a fucking mess," he said, still leaning against the wall. "I think our best option is to sit tight, let the rat do some digging, get ourselves in better fighting shape, and wait for the kidnappers to make whatever demands they're going to. You don't kidnap someone unless you think it will get you leverage or you want a piece of her tail. And no offense to our client's lady, but I just don't think this was a crime of passion."

He pushed away from the wall with a weary groan and limped over to Raidou, lowering himself stiffly to the floor beside him. "You better strip off the rest of the way and let me give you a once over. That sand shit didn't do you any favors. How's your head feeling? You need me to recast the anti-nausea thing?" He hoped not. It would be so nice if the concussion really were minor enough that by now it was just a headache.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 06:01 am UTC (link)
Raidou snorted, "Yeah? Well you're not looking too great yourself. My head's fine, and the rest of me is just bruises. Nothing you can do about it that won't waste chakra." He rolled his good shoulder and shifted back slightly. "If you really want to strip someone, you should deal with your own half-pants and get that leg sorted. You're bleeding through your bandages. No one likes a martyr, brat."

Genma looked roughly how Raidou felt. Unhappy and definitely ready for some shut eye. Raidou kept the wince off his face. His head wasn't fine, but painkillers would deal with that, and his stomach wasn't exactly peaceful, but deep breathing would take care of that. Besides, if Genma tried to take his shirt off, Raidou was going to have to hit him. That was the sort of thing that could sour a friendship.

"Fine, so we wait for the rat, save the lady or kill the lady depending on the circumstances, kill everyone else either way because I definitely feel the need to work off some tension. Stick out the rest of the week while our rich friend does his party thing or a funeral thing, depending how it plays out, and go home and have a beer." Raidou lay back with a faint, pained noise, and tucked his good arm underneath his head. "Sounds like a plan."

But first, some of that deep breathing. Raidou glanced over the colourful animals painted on the walls and found a careful rhythm as he tried to avoid hurting somewhat bruised ribs. Damn sand jutsu.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 06:13 am UTC (link)
If there was one thing Raidou was good at, it was taking a beating. Genma watched him with growing skepticism, debating whether to challenge his partner. He'd probably be alright with some painkillers and sleep. But the stilted breathing and the tinge of pallor along his jaw made Genma uneasy. At the back of his mind a thousand dire possibilities vied for attention: the blade had knicked Raidou's lung, there was a rib fracture, internal bleeding was putting pressure on his diaphragm, the head injury was worse than it had appeared and a delayed clot was forming on his brain, there was a slow-acting poison working its way through Raidou's body, infection was taking hold despite their efforts at cleaning the wound, the sand jutsu had crushed internal organs... And Raidou was lying about it. Lying about pain seemed like second nature to him, and it annoyed Genma no end. How the hell could he do his job as a medic and de-facto mission leader if he didn't have accurate data?

"Takes one to know one," he said, and handed Raidou a pair of round yellowish tablets. "I'm not the one pretending it doesn't hurt when it obviously does. I'm just trying to triage the more serious injuries first. And my leg's a pain in the ass, but it's not gonna kill me the way a clot on your brain might you." That was enough lecture for now. Raidou'd take the point, and either explain what was wrong or take the pills and wait it out. But if he yacked the pills back up again, Genma was going to kill him.

He lay down with a groan that expressed every bit of misery he was feeling, and slowly, carefully removed his leg bindings, bandages and pants. The fabric was stiff with dried blood, sticking to his skin and crackling as he pulled it away. "Son of a bitch," he said with feeling, rolling onto his right hip and glaring at the injured left. "Fucking Suna bastards and their vicious fucking jutsu. There's sand in it."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 06:23 am UTC (link)
If there was one thing Genma was good at, it was bitching. And worrying. Raidou took the pills he was handed and chewed them with a wince. They tasted foul, bitter and gut wrenching, but it got the medication into his system faster. His head ached nastily as he worked his jaw, forcing the pills down into a stomach growing unhappier by the minute. The automatic flood of saliva into his mouth didn't do much to clear his palate, but it certainly played havok with his gag reflex. Raidou swallowed hard and pushed himself upright, ignoring the warning flare in his shoulder. "If I get taken out by something as pathetic as a blood clot, I deserve to die."

Head wounds made you sick. Pain made you sick. It was a fact of life. He just had to hold the pills down long enough for them to do some good. Raidou scowled at Genma's hip, breathing tightly through his teeth. That was a nasty looking wound. Five wounds, in fact, scored deeply into Genma's flesh. Five very distinctive claw marks. "A sand-nin attack left sand. Colour me shocked. There's showers down the hall, why don't you go get yourself cleaned up?"

Raidou needed to stop looking at claw marks. He needed to stop thinking about claw marks. He needed to stop thinking about feeling sick and feeling hands and feeling claw marks down his face--

"Actually, that's a good idea. I'm going to go take a leak. Maybe grab a shower. I'll be right back." Bathrooms. Down the hall. He was definitely going to be sick. Raidou didn't wait for Genma to answer, he staggered to his feet and lurched for the door.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 06:39 am UTC (link)
Genma was no fool. He scrambled to his own feet, stumbled and nearly fell when the injured leg didn't want to do its job, cursed floridly and followed Raidou. He waited unhappily while his partner knelt in front of a shiny, old-fashioned-looking commode, and heaved up the pills, the remnants of their lunch from hours and hours ago, and a whole host of really agonizing sounds. When it seemed like a break had come, Genma leaned in from behind and reapplied the jutsu, stronger this time, to quell the vomiting center in Raidou's brain. Then he slid his hands around, one on Raidou's forehead, one at the back of his skull, and reassessed the concussion. Still there. Still didn't feel as bad as it might, thank the gods.

"You fucking idiot," he groused, and recast the healing jutsu, working on reducing swelling again. "You could have saved yourself the dehydration and a whole lot of misery if you'd just told me your head was still bad." The smell in the room was none too pleasant, and Genma had to bite his own tongue and swallow. "Flush that before it makes me sympathy hurl," he said, without much sympathy, then softened a little. "Are you okay?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 06:52 am UTC (link)
Genma's two jutsu spilled into Raidou's head, banishing the nausea with that weird liquid sunburst pulse and easing some of his very vicious headache. He sighed softly with relief and caught his breath, wincing at the disgusting taste in his mouth. For a moment Raidou was tempted just to stay there, leaning with his good elbow on the toilet seat and letting Genma's hand support his head and cool the damp heat of his skin. He hurt, he wanted to stop. But that wasn't what being a ninja was all about.

He had a job to do.

Raidou pulled away from Genma's hands, reaching up to flush the toilet and get rid of his aborted attempt to take the damn pills. Then he slid his hand up the wall and braced himself before climbing to his feet. It was tempting to just lean there. It was even more tempting to answer Genma's question honestly. To admit that his head hurt and his shoulder hurt and he hurt. To explain about acid scars and how sometimes the memory blindsided him.

But Genma already knew how he'd gotten his scars, and Raidou wasn't one to whine. He barely tolerated it in others, he certainly wouldn't tolerate it in himself. "I'm fine, it just caught me funny." He wiped a hand over his face and summoned up a weak laugh, "Actually, I lie. I'm trying to lose weight. It's the shinobi diet plan. Don't tell anyone."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 07:01 am UTC (link)
"Yeah you lie," Genma agreed. "You lie like a bad rug. Come on, next place you're going to lie is back down on that futon, and I'll give you pain meds by injection if you can't keep them down as pills." It was one of the benefits of being an ANBU field medic--he had access to and always carried decent drugs. Actually all ANBU carried at least one dose of injectable morphine, because you never knew when you were going to get into a tight spot and desperately need to focus on something other than the pain that told you you were probably dying. And ANBU got into those tight spots more than most shinobi--it was the nature of the job. So Genma had what he needed. What Raidou needed.

"Also don't argue with me," he said, preempting the protest he knew would come. "You're obviously in pain enough it's making you ill. I'm halfway there myself and I didn't take a through-and-through to the shoulder." He slid an arm carefully around Raidou's waist to offer support, nudging his shoulder up under Raidou's uninjured one. It put his own injured leg between them, but Raidou seemed steady enough on his feet that he'd be able to be careful. Now if Genma could just figure out how to walk on it, take Raidou's weight, and not have it crumple. At least the activity had gotten it bleeding again a bit--maybe that would flush out some of the damn sand.

He caught sight of the pair of them in the mirror, both grey-faced and grim, Raidou bandaged, and himself clad only in black briefs, with blood running in little rivulets down his leg, and laughed. "Gods almighty we are some fearsome scary ass ANBU, huh? Let's get your mouth rinsed out and then we can go hole up and preserve the illusion."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 07:07 am UTC (link)
"If I argue, how likely is it that I'll turn around to find you trying to flying tackle me with a morphine needle?" Raidou glanced at the mirror, catching sight of Genma and the outline of himself for a split second before he jerked his gaze away, focusing on his mission partner instead. His mission partner who delighted in giving out lectures while he himself took people's almost steady weight on his injured leg and did more damage to himself.

His mostly naked mission partner.

Raidou lifted his arm from Genma's bare shoulder as if he'd been scalded and side stepped away. The move unbalanced both of them, but Raidou managed to check his own fall and catch Genma's elbow before the man pitched right over. Then he let go again, shoving his good hand into the back pocket of his pants and ignoring the ache that sparked as he stretched bruises the wrong way.

"Very scary," he agreed, while Genma gave him an are-you-insane look. "I suspect that's why they set us up in the kid's old room. To offset the terror. Personally I think the bunnies only make us look scarier."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 07:32 am UTC (link)
And there was that mirror flinch again. Great, idiot, make the man self-conscious, Genma berated himself. But what the hell was up with Raidou now with that little dance? Some kind of stupid machismo or something? "For fuck's sake, Raidou, you're barely standing. The last thing we need is you keeling over and cracking your head the rest of the way open on the tiles," Genma said. Frustrated and terse, his own pain and weariness were beginning to tell on him. He was a better ninja than that, he reminded himself with a grimace.

"Sorry. Look, just be careful." He thought about the walk back down the hall, and decided to save his leg some trouble and make use of the room they were in. "Wait here, we should go back together, I'm gonna drain the lizard," he said, and swung unsteadily around to use the toilet. He heard water running behind him, and assumed Raidou was doing the sensible thing and rinsing his mouth.

"I had a buddy in ANBU a while ago who had a bunny mask. Very cute. Scary as fucking hell when he was on a mission too." He finished up and tucked things away, tugging his briefs back into place and hobbling over to the sink to wash up. "Let's go get camp setup in the kiddie room, get some drugs on board, and then I'll see about finding us some grub. Think you can eat? That jutsu ought to be holding so tell me if it's not."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 07:43 am UTC (link)
Washing his mouth out helped Raidou to put his head back together. He splashed some cold water over his face for good measure and stepped aside so that Genma could get to the sink. They were both on edge; some missions were like that. Generally the missions that went wrong. You just had to keep a handle on it and not get stupid. "Bunny mask, huh?" he murmured, as Genma washed up, letting his earlier comment pass. "Poor bastard. Did he piss off the quartermaster on his first day or something?"

Raidou let his attention return cautiously to his stomach, testing the strength of Genma's justu. A little uneasy, but definitely holding. That was a welcome relief. He brushed his fingers over the tight black stretch of shirt that covered his lower belly before letting his hand drop once more. Definitely bruised from head to toe, but on the level of what-could-have-beens that was almost nothing. The shoulder was a something, but not one he was going to let hold him back. "It's good. I'll eat," he said with a decisive nod. Raidou had no intention of making the rookie mistake of passing out from low blood sugar once they got back out into the field. "You know, when I said your mission gods owed me some karmic pocket change, this was not exactly what I had in mind."

Food. Sleep. By the time they got the wife back -- corpsified or not -- he would have his mind on the future and everything else locked back where it belonged.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 07:55 am UTC (link)
"He was an Uchiha," Genma said. "Had it coming just for being who he was, really. You know how people get about the hoity-toity clans. But he wasn't really typical. I mean, yeah he was rich and stuff, and had to do what his clan said, but he was kind of his own guy in other ways. Not so uptight and class conscious." He laughed and headed for the door. "I mean after all, he dated me, so that tells you a lot right there. You'd probably have liked him. He was a good rule follower."

Remembering Masa was easier than it once had been. Farther in the past. And for all the intensity of the relationship he and Genma had shared, it had been a brief one, cut short by Masa's untimely death--always a risk with dating a fellow ANBU. It had been the last time Genma'd broken his No Rookies policy. He was definitely not making that mistake again.

Raidou seemed easier on his feet walking back, though obviously still in pain. As soon as they were back in the nursery, Genma decided, he'd put a seal on the door, get some meds into both of them, bandage his leg, and then go raid the kitchen. At least the client would be out for several hours, and the civilian guards seemed capable of handling him so long as he stayed in his bedroom. With the traps he and Raidou had set outside the house, they'd be safe enough to rest and recover a little.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 09:02 am UTC (link)
"An Uchiha, huh? I knew you had some odd kinks, but damn." Raidou smiled slightly at the face Genma pulled at him. "Bunny Uchiha." He shook his head, "No, don't think I ever worked with him. I definitely would've remembered. Also, point of interest, is everyone in ANBU gay? Because I'm starting to think the ratio is really a bit skewed..."

By the time they made it back to the room, Raidou was quietly running through every swear word he knew and directing it at a certain group of Suna-ninja. The problem, he realized bitterly, with throwing up your damn pain meds was that you didn't actually get the pain meds. You just got misery. Extra misery with vomiting on top of injuries. And who the hell had designed that particular bodily reflex anyway? How did it help? What was the damn point?

Genma's hip was still bleeding. A bright red ooze that slid down the long length of his bare leg and outlined the edge of his footprint with each step. Raidou's inner ninja protested leaving such an obvious trail. But frankly, anyone who didn't know they were here by this point was blind, deaf, dumb, and utterly and completely stupid.

So far they were doing a splendid job as Konoha's spooks, Raidou thought wryly. Very subtle.

He sank back down on his futon gratefully and let out a slow breath, composing himself. Somehow the cheerful animal wallpaper was even less appealing on its second viewing. "You need a hand with that?" he asked, nodding at Genma's hip. "I've got one spare. Works and everything."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 09:19 am UTC (link)
"Meds for you first," Genma said and dug out one of the little pre-filled syringes. Even with his anti-nausea jutsu working, he wasn't about to trust that Raidou'd be okay with another dose of pills. If they got the injectable stuff into him then maybe the pain would settle enough he could eat. They both needed food, preferably meat to combat iron loss from bleeding. So getting Raidou out of pain was critical. "I can give you a shot or a suppository, and I'm guessing I already know which one you'd prefer," Genma added with a wry grin.

"And it's not that there are all that many gay ANBU, it's just you know, if you pal around with one queer you're gonna have a higher likelihood of running into others, right? Also, if you do want the meds as a suppository, I won't think it means you're gay. Any ninja asks for his pain meds rectally, a good medic knows that means he's afraid of needles."

He carefully got himself on the futon, now bloodstained and messy. Damn, he'd left a trail even a blind man could follow--have to clean that up once he got bandaged. He could work on it when he went to get food. He pulled out the antiseptic and winced at the thought of washing the grit out of the wounds. Fucking Suna. And weren't they supposed to be allies not enemies? But then that was often the case. Their villages might be overall at peace, but that didn't mean you weren't gonna run into them on opposite sides of the same mission every now and again.

He set the antiseptic down, looked up at Raidou, and very deliberately made a show of taking his own pain meds. Pills for him, since his stomach was mostly settled. "Alright, I took mine, you take yours. And then I might need your help with bandaging this if you think you can help. I think I'll throw a sealing jutsu at it, too. Don't want to fuck around with sutures."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 09:34 am UTC (link)
“You run across a ninja with a needle phobia," said Raidou, holding out his good arm for Genma to inject with some resignation, "You might want to let him know he's in the wrong profession." He eyed the splatters of blood Genma was leaving all over the place and cast a sharp look at his friend’s pale face, watching it as Genma messed around with needles and jabbed something that felt all kinds of pointy into Raidou's arm. He blinked once, feeling the drug slide into his system and begin its work. Warmth was the first thing he always noticed, gathering in his stomach and at the base of his skull.

Raidou gave Genma another sharp look, this time flavoured with no small amount of annoyance. "I'm not that bad. You didn't need to give me the strong stuff." It'd knock out the pain, oh yes, and it would knock Raidou out along with it. Bastard thing. Sleep was all very well and good, but he preferred to have sleep he could wake up from without a siren going off next to his head. Especially on a damn mission.

Raidou muttered something uncomplimentary about Genma's heritage and pushed himself stiffly up off the futon, moving to kneel down next to his mission partner. This close the wounds on Genma's hip looked even more unpleasant. "Alright, before I start mouthing off about blue fairies or some such shit. What do you need me to do?" The angles were all awkward for Genma. Raidou suspected he would mostly just need that extra hand, possibly a brace to stop him falling over while he twisted.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 10:39 am UTC (link)
"You'd be surprised how many guys there are have a thing about needles," Genma said. "I mean some of 'em, it's understandable, maybe they got hurt bad or watched a partner die from a senbon attack. But senbon are common enough that's almost like being afraid of blades, you know? And a hypodermic is nothing like a senbon anyway." He was babbling a little, talking to keep himself and Raidou focused while he started to dab an alcohol-soaked square of gauze at the gashes on his hip. "Motherfucking god damnit," he cursed in a long hiss, and nearly lost his balance.

He managed to stay upright, and bit his lip hard, breath coming in a sharp hiss. "I gave you the good stuff because I know you always pretend you're in less pain that you are. Stupid stoic idiot," he said through clenched teeth.

The burn of the alcohol in the wounds sent a stomach-turning shiver right up his spine and made Genma wonder, briefly, if he ought to have gone with one of the non-oral methods of pain control himself. He gritted his teeth and caught his breath, holding the blood-stained gauze poised for another attempt at cleaning, but hesitating to inflict the hurt on himself again.

"I know how long the client is gonna sleep, since I'm the one who dosed him. If Shinobu gets back with intel about the wife and we have to move fast, I can dose you up with something that will counteract the narcotic. You won't like the way the pain comes back all at once, but you'll be awake."

No more delaying, he thought. "Can you brace me up while I clean it out and seal it? I promise not to puke or pass out, but I gotta admit I feel kind of close to the edge." He'd thought the bleeding had been stopped, and only started up again when he stripped off the bandage. Now he was wondering if maybe he should have worried about it sooner. That light-headed feeling could definitely be a blood-loss thing. Maybe he should tell Raidou? He didn't want to, but then he'd just finished being pissed at his partner for keeping the details from him. With a sigh and a grimace, he readied himself to attack the wound again. "I might have bled a little more than was good for me."

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 10:49 am UTC (link)
Light was the second thing to go. It began with just a gentle blurring around the edges, a soft sort of golden rim that spread and spilled across Raidou's vision every time he turned his head. He blinked hard and tried to keep his attention on Genma, focusing on the words that echoed very slightly with double harmonics. Raidou shifted and sat down next to him, angling himself so his side was pressed against Genma's back and his good hand could get a grip on Genma's shoulder. Supportive, but out of the way. "Oh, goody," he muttered dryly, "That'll be the fun icing on the magnificent cake that is this day. I think I've had that drug before. Wakes you the hell up." Painfully. With any luck he'd just be able to sleep off the narcotics and wake up sans hangover. That was a nice dream.

Focus, idiot.

Raidou blinked again and frowned as things blurred still further. Definitely the strong stuff. The warmth was spreading out, sinking into his muscles. His skin. Stretching through nerves and blanking out the pain signals. First the bruises dropped off his mental map, mercifully fading into a static wash of nothing. Next went his headache, a scrawling pounding ache that had clung steadily to his temples and clamped around the back of his skull. It eased and drained slowly away to his great relief. Last was the wound through his shoulder. The constant gnawing hurt that had raked Raidou's attention raw for the last few hours faded, drawing back and slipping away under the influence of whatever Genma had give him. Raidou's jaw ached slightly as his teeth unclenched, the lines of pain written into his face smoothed over. "Oh," he said very softly, and let out a quiet breath.

Genma had said something. Raidou yanked his attention back to where it should be by the scruff of its neck. Close to the edge. What edge? They were on the floor. There were no edges to fall off of. He shook his head slightly, fighting the grip of the drug. Now was not the time to be stupid.

In retrospect, there was never really a good time to be stupid.

Raidou wondered vaguely how wide his pupils would be if he looked in a mirror right now. Probably pretty wide. But he had dark eyes anyway, so you wouldn't really be able to tell. At least, he was fairly certain he had dark eyes. Brown eyes definitely. Brown eyes tended to be dark. He probably had dark eyes.

Focus, idiot!

Genma was still talking. Or he had been talking. Something about bleeding. He was bleeding too much. Had bled too much. That was a red flag. Raidou dragged his thoughts back together. "You should take some blood pills. And eat something. Get your blood sugar up." He chewed his lip for a moment. "Just for my own information, what exactly is a good amount to bleed?"

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 11:26 am UTC (link)
By the sound of Raidou's voice the meds hadn't taken long to act at all. Genma'd been careful with his dosing, not wanting to do anything to make the head injury worse, but it looked like Raidou was either extraordinarily sensitive or more likely he was just that tired and close to the edge himself. At least he'd probably get some decent rest. If they could both get a couple hours of quality shut-eye and let their bodies heal up a bit, they'd be in good shape.

Genma really, really hoped Shinobu would report back that the wife was a co-conspirator. It would be hard on the client, of course, to learn his wife wanted him dead, but it would be so much easier to deal with if all they had to do was take her and her nest of vipers out. If she was innocent then they'd have to rescue her--a whole lot more work. But then that's why they were paid the big money, right? Genma snorted at his own train of thought.

"We are so requesting additional hazard pay for this one when we get back," he said. "Especially if we have to rescue the wife." He braced himself, leaned back against Raidou, and poured disinfectant directly over the wounds. It ran down his leg in pinkish streaks, and Genma hissed sharply, sucking air through his teeth and scowling so hard it made his head hurt. Fortunately the burn evaporated with the alcohol, and after a moment in tense agony, his head cleared.

"I don't think there's a good amount to bleed, exactly, but there's definitely a level that's still okay and a level that's not. Once you go over half a liter you're probably starting to look at really feeling it, and a liter is the limit before you seriously get into trouble." Talking to Raidou made a good distraction, and his solid presence at Genma's back made the whole operation much easier.

"I'm gonna cast the sealing jutsu now, and then I'll take a blood pill like you said," he told him, and carefully gathered and formed the chakra for the healing jutsu. Healing yourself was always a little tricky, because you had to manage the chakra flow particularly tightly. He concentrated hard and placed his hands, glowing faintly green, over the middle of the gashes. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then slowly, steadily, the edges started to draw closed. He stopped when he'd gotten it about halfway sealed. Any more and he was going to keel over and pass out, and Raidou would undoubtedly not think him any too brilliant for that.

"Okay," he said, panting slightly. He didn't move. "Bandages next."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 12:26 pm UTC (link)
"Good," said Raidou, just a shade vaguely. Blood pills were good. Bandages were good. It was all good. He was starting to become very aware of the extraordinary amount of heat Genma was generating. It seemed to leak directly from his skin and into Raidou's, peaked at the points of contact between them. Raidou's bare shoulder to Genma's naked back. He could feel the hard bumpy line of Genma's spine, the solid flexing planes of his muscles as he moved to tend to the wounds on his left hip. Raidou craned his neck slightly, shifting to watch the glow of green light as Genma worked his jutsu.

Pretty.

The blood all over the futon was also pretty, in a gory sort of way. Dripped in little flower petal bursts of red and longer sweeps of darkening colour, marking where Genma had moved. An artwork of abstract design. Raidou looked at it and tried to figure out how much blood Genma had probably lost. It should have been a simple sum, comparing surface area and volume, ratios and litres, but math was currently just slightly beyond him. Raidou scowled as the numbers scribbled neatly through his head and dropped away without leaving a ripple of sense. The painkiller was definitely doing its job, unfortunately it was stopping Raidou from doing his.

Well, not quite. He was still upright, and still holding Genma upright. That was something. A very small, very pathetic something, but something nonetheless. Raidou's attention turned once more to Genma's back, drawn there by the warmth bleeding into his side. Genma's skin was soft under the callused pads of his fingers, underscored by the hard, notched line of his collarbone. Raidou glanced at his hand, and then looked at Genma's shoulder beneath it. He blinked once and moved his hand aside, brushing his thumb over three well healed scars that ran from Genma's collarbone to skim over the curve of his shoulder and sweep down his back. Old wounds. Raidou shivered faintly and cursed the drugs. Fucking narcotics playing with his reactions. "Damn," he said quietly, "What's with you and claw marks, lover boy?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 12:43 pm UTC (link)
"Claw marks?" Genma asked, and turned his head to look at his shoulder where Raidou touched him. "That's my souvenir from fighting the Kyuubi, but that's the only claw marks..." He looked down at his hip and made a wry face. "Oh, I guess that looks a little claw-like, too. It was a wind jutsu though." Now he was starting to babble as much as Raidou was. The pain meds he'd taken were less intense and took longer to hit him, but that soft-focus tiredness was starting to well up around him. Raidou was really the one who had faced claws, he thought. Claws dripping acid that had raked furrows across his face and shoulder and left a lot more behind than just physical marks. Maybe it wasn't so surprising he focused on similar scars when he saw them.

"Maybe it'll scar up and give me a kind of exotic matched set, you think?" he asked. "It's probably a lot more aesthetic this way, with the opposite hip and shoulder. Kind of balances." Bandages. He was supposed to bandage the thing, now that he'd cleaned it up and stopped it bleeding. He leaned against Raidou, warm and sturdy, and really just wanted to sleep. It was comfortable there, and now that it wasn't hurting so much, he could focus on things like the scent of his partner, sweat-tinged and harsh. Pain and adrenaline always made you stink, but it was a familiar kind of stink. A we survived stink.

Bandages.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Genma made himself sit up enough to reach for the rolls of bandage he'd laid out for himself, and started trying to wrap his leg. It was a real bastard of a spot to try to get a decent bandage around. He could get the bottom edges of the wound covered well enough, but to cover the top he was going to have to anchor the bandage around his waist. All because he hadn't dodged in time. Not of course that that was any real slur against his skill, given the sheer numbers of enemy ninja they'd faced.

With a little more twisting and a lot of leaning on Raidou for support, he managed to get the wound fairly covered. Now he had to dress again--ugh. At least he had a spare pair of pants. And go foraging for food. Raidou was nodding, and he was so tired. "You want to just nap a bit before I go try to scrounge up dinner. We have rat bars." He sighed and turned to look at Raidou again. "I really just want to crash out a few minutes, til Shinobu gets back."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 12:51 pm UTC (link)
Raidou studied the Kyuubi's mark clawed into Genma's shoulder and whistled softly. "You got that close to the fox and stayed in one piece? You must've been carrying one hell of a lucky charm." The scars were white, old -- five years old, he knew now -- and well healed, the skin shiny and smooth. They caught the blurring light in the room and gleamed softly, paler then the milky coffee colour of Genma's skin. Raidou splayed his fingers out, laying one carefully over each mark. Thumb, middle and pinky. He had large hands, but even fully stretched Raidou barely covered the scars. He pulled his hand back, letting it drop to rest against his leg now that Genma was done with his squirming. "If you're going for aesthetics, a tattoo is probably easier. Less chance of blood and guts and gore and all. Y'know, unless you go to a real butcher."

Of course, they both already had tattoos. Raidou turned his head slightly, dark eyes flicking from Genma's scars to the scarlet spiral inked into his upper arm. A mirror to his own. A duplicate of many, in fact. An army mark that was all the sign of rank they would ever need. Raidou smiled slightly. As badass tattoos went, the ANBU swirl was pretty much top of the food chain. Hard to beat that.

He glanced up, meeting Genma's tired eyes. "You look like shit," he told the man bluntly. "You should sleep." So should I, he thought, with drowsy sympathy. "Take your blood pills like a good kid and we can both crash. The wife will be waiting when we wake back up." Raidou chuckled without any real humour. "Of course, whether she'll be happy to see us is a different thing entirely."

His futon was over there. Moving was the next step. Then crawling. Then sleeping. Shouldn't be too hard for an elite shinobi. Raidou gathered his legs underneath him carefully, placed his palm against the bloody bed covers, and completely failed to make it up. Still, bonus about being a ninja. You learned to fall gracefully. He missed his injured shoulder and everything.

"Fuck," muttered Raidou, with feeling. Then he laughed.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 01:01 pm UTC (link)
"The hell are you doing?" Genma asked and turned around so he could see his partner, who was now sprawled across his futon, bandaged shoulder uppermost and still stainless white--thankfully he hadn't fallen on it and reopened the wound. "Just straighten out and sleep here. You're gonna hurt yourself," he said, and pushed at Raidou's legs, urging him into a less diagonal position on the futon. "I'll sleep on the other one. And only for a little bit." He yawned and sighed, reaching up to wipe at eyes that felt gritty with fatigue. "Just til Shinobu gets here."

For a moment he almost wanted to just curl up next to Raidou where he was, share a futon and some body heat like a couple of brothers. But Raidou would certainly balk, and a look at the red-brown bruises striping his flesh made it clear he couldn't offer the man anything in the way of comfort with any kind of bodily contact. It was a strange thought anyway, Genma told himself. A strange impulse. He blamed it on the pain meds and blood loss and stress in general.

Instead he pushed himself to his knees and rifled through his med kit for the suggested blood pill, which he downed with a swig of water from his canteen. They'd need to refill, he thought, and hoped he'd remember when he woke up. Pants next. He wasn't bothering with the bloodied ones with their wind-ripped holes, but went to his pack and pulled out a second pair--always, always, always carry extra clothing for a mission of a week's duration or longer--he was really glad Kazuma-sensei had drilled that into him. Getting into the trousers was painful even with the meds coursing through his bloodstream, and slow, as he had to be careful not to dislodge the bandage. At least once they were on they'd help hold the bandage in place.

Next a shirt. Better to be fully clothed in case trouble came looking for them sooner than they anticipated. He shrugged stiff shoulders into the sleeveless turtleneck of the ANBU standard issue, and glanced over to catch Raidou watching him through half-lidded, dazed-looking eyes. "Go on, get a little sleep. I'll wake you up in an hour, make sure you're still thinking. How's your head doing now?" Another prodigious yawn from Genma made it clear he was just as tired as Raidou; he pulled out his watch and set it to chime in an hour.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_raidou
2008-02-12 01:08 pm UTC (link)
"Still attached," mumbled Raidou, "don't know about thinking, though. Feel a little... fuzzy." That was something of an understatement, his head felt stuffed full of warm pink clouds -- coherent thought had been whittled down to the tough choice between lying on his side or on his back. Both put some part of his body in contact with Genma's blood drying all over the sheets, which he wasn't too happy about, but his back had the advantage of not being so heavily bruised. Back it was, he decided, and rolled himself over carefully, pulling his left arm out from underneath him to lay on his chest.

He was, Raidou knew, in a significant amount of pain, but that knowledge wasn't translating into anything with real meaning. Raidou was aware he hurt in the same way he was aware he had a nose; it was there, but that was about the extent of it. He pulled his free hand up and brushed his nose absently as he thought, and then dropped it back to his chest, catching his dogtags on the way as he did so. They clinked faintly as he curled his fingers around them. Very reassuring things, dogtags. If you ended up horribly mutilated or worse in the course of a mission, at least they'd know what name to carve into the stone.

Raidou turned his head a little, blinking open eyes he hadn't realized were closed, and looked at his mission partner. Genma was wearing more clothes now. That was good. It was a very uncomfortable thing to be naked. Raidou could feel his own breathing slowing down, becoming shallower as the drugs swept through his system. He pulled in a full conscious breath and let it out, watching it curl up to the ceiling wrapped around that pink cloud. Wait, that wasn't right. Raidou blinked and dragged his eyes open again, focusing on Genma. He looked tired, but he also looked okay. He was doing Raidou's job. That was a little weird. "Hey, Genma," his voice was a low slur, deep enough to be almost a rumble. "Don' let me sleep too long. M'kay? Trusting you." He sighed quietly, eyelids sliding closed. "Not suppos'd to be th' one lookin' after me. S'rry..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-12 01:24 pm UTC (link)
Genma looked up sharply when Raidou called him. Hey Genma... It was almost unheard of for the other man to actually use his name, especially on a mission. It was always "lover boy" or "kid" or "brat" or the occasional "asshole". He could count on his fingers the number of times Raidou had actually called him Genma--usually when Genma was not responding otherwise--when Raidou had to wake him from a nightmare, or when something happened to set him off about his hands, or when he was injured badly enough that he wasn't quite conscious. The only other exceptions were when Raidou himself was profoundly out of it with pain or fatigue or, in this case, painkillers. In the six months they'd been friends, Genma could call to mind only twice that had happened. Using a nickname was, after all, as Raidou had explained, so that even when his guard was down he wouldn't slip up and reveal Genma's name to any eavesdropping enemies. It was a level of paranoia that Genma might have laughed at in someone else, but something about Raidou applying that degree of absurd caution for his sake was oddly touching.

"Raidou," he said quietly back. "Who the hell else is supposed to look after you if not me? I'm your partner, idiot. Get some rest." For a long, quiet moment he watched Raidou's scarred face, the hard line of his jaw softened in sleep to a more gentle curve, the fierce eyes closed with long black lashes quivering every now and again, as Raidou shifted into deeper sleep. Then fatigue overtook Genma as well, and he fell into his own dreamless slumber.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)


[info]fallen_senbon
2008-02-22 01:57 pm UTC (link)
Continues in It Takes a Morning Person

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Home | Site Map | Manage Account | TOS | Privacy | Support | FAQs