| Warm in the Shadows [Genma & Raidou] |
[Jan. 3rd, 2010|07:45 pm] |
Takes place in the early afternoon on April 8th, three days after The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
The very last thing Genma and Raidou had to do, before they could go home, was sign out with security. They were dressed in real clothes, which someone from internal ops had helpfully retrieved for them from their apartments. Genma was in jeans and a t-shirt, with an olive green hoodie over it, the left sleeve sacrificially split to accommodate the splint still holding his hand together. His arm was in a sling, held carefully close to his chest by straps of canvas, and there were still fading bruises, scabbing over cuts on his neck, and a pallor to his skin, but he was up, on his own feet. Eager to run (well, limp) free at last.
Raidou was champing at the bit to go, too. Their handlers had managed to get him similar clothes to Genma's: soft, faded jeans, a dark red t-shirt, and a brown hoodie that didn't quite hide the bandages still encasing the left side of his face and neck. If you overlooked their injuries, they were dressed for an afternoon of hanging out on any off-duty day.
"You understand your aftercare instructions?" The woman at the desk asked.
"Yeah," Genma told her. "Follow up in the outpatient clinic at 1100 tomorrow for me and 1120 for Rai, take our meds, watch for any signs of fever or infection, no workouts until we're signed off on that, no sparring, no jutsu, don't leave the village, take it easy, eat properly, get enough sleep, and don't take candy from strangers." His deadpan delivery ended with a wink.
She blinked at him, then laughed. "I see. Well then, Shiranui-san, Namiashi-san..." She pushed the sign-out sheet towards them. "I hope I don't see you back here any time soon."
Genma grinned as he took the pen from her. Signing was harder, as the paper wanted to scoot away from him, but Raidou slapped a hand down to steady it, then took the pen from Genma and signed himself out as well. |
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| Lost and Found [Genma & Haruichi] |
[Sep. 20th, 2009|09:16 am] |
[Backstory. Takes place the evening of March 14, immediately following Can't Stay Lost Forever and a few hours after Pay It Forward, half a week after Could You Bite The Hand?, and half a week before Walking In Your Footsteps]
It had been a relatively quiet week, which was just as well, Genma thought, seeing as he'd had to spend some portion of it explaining to Arakaki why he'd brawled with Raidou and broken a cop's collarbone. And worrying about Raidou. Healing his face. Listening for nightmares. There'd been that little talk with Tsume earlier in the day, too, and laundry and weapon sharpening and otherwise preparing for his upcoming mission with a rookie he didn't know.
He would have preferred to have Raidou on the mission, but Genma was very low on the list of people allowed to ask for favors from the mission office right now, what with his recent arrest. So he'd just have to go to the mission briefing tomorrow morning, and leave with this Gekkou Hayate kid in the afternoon, and Raidou would be fine. Was already fine. Had bounced back remarkably well, all things considered.
Now Genma just needed to get his gear in order for the mission. His med kit was running a little low on supplies--soldier pills, blood pills, poison antidotes, bandages. He decided to stop by the infirmary now, since late on a Friday afternoon was usually a good time to find them with nothing to do, while Saturday morning they'd be busy with whatever was left over from Friday night.
He made his way to the basement, paused to flirt with the mission desk staff, then turned the corner to find the medical bay empty as predicted. Empty except for one black-haired, hunched-backed figure in a white coat. His back was to the door, but that didn't mean anything to a Hyuuga.
"Yo, Haruichi. S'up? I came by to stock up and..." Genma broke off. Haruichi still hadn't turned around. Three-sixty vision not withstanding, there was something wrong about that.
"Haruichi?" |
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| The Ballad of Shiranui Genma [Yanagi, Genma] |
[Sep. 6th, 2009|07:15 pm] |
[Set mid-February, six weeks after Karma's Bitch, roughly four months after the Fox]
Yanagi had spent the last six weeks composing, re-composing, writing, scrapping, re-writing, and editing one single song. It had varied from punk to metal to a ballad to dirty limericks put to music, only to be tossed out so that he could try putting goth lyrics to a hip hop tune.
In the end, he had something he wasn't at all sure was any good, but it was certainly unexpected, and he'd had a fun six weeks playing with it.
He shifted the guitar on his back, retrieved from his father's house -- which was in one of the few quarters of Konoha that had been remarkably unscathed after the Fox had attacked -- and trotted across the snow that covered ANBU HQ grounds. They must have had a hot spell; it was only ankle-deep, with ice underneath. For mid-February, that wasn't bad.
Yanagi bent, hooking his guitar back before it slid over, and gathered up a handful of snow. He packed it, looking up at the building before him.
Shiranui Genma lived on the third floor, and if the information Yanagi had gotten was correct -- and it was, because Intel kept tabs like this, and he had access to Intel -- then Genma's window was--
There.
He popped chakra into the snow and tossed it upward. It arced against the night sky, brilliant white, skimming into blue, and spattered against the window. White electricity sizzled and crackled across the window. Yanagi ducked instinctively, muffling a snicker, ( and did it again. ) |
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| The Shadow Proves the Sunshine. [Genma and Raidou] |
[Sep. 2nd, 2009|10:13 pm] |
[Takes place in the morning of April 5th, the same day as Welcome to My Morning, three days following After the Rain and Just Enough Rope, and six days after Meet You on the Other Side.]
The day after Genma's second hand surgery and two days after Rina's visit (which he'd had heard about only in reluctant snatches from Genma), things had settled into something like a routine. 0600 brought a snap of florescent light as the first nurse of the day began the morning shift, followed almost immediately by the first cardiac clench of the day as Genma and Raidou twitched awake with their own personal curses.
(Holy Buddha's scrotum, was Genma's contribution today.
Son of a riddled whore, Raidou returned, with equal fervor.
Mornin', said the nurse.)
Then there was the ritual peeing in a cup (which Genma, as always, wanted to make a race), followed by the first blood samples of the day (there was no way to make that a race, but Raidou decided he won on account of not going corpse pale), and finally the systematic checking of IV lines, monitor screens, the black seals on Raidou's bandages, and the glowing blue ones on Genma's cast. Medications were adjusted and given, and Raidou almost missed it when Genma tucked his psych pill under his tongue and pretended to swallow it. He glowered; Genma gave him a narrow-eyed, slightly sulky look in return. The nurse stepped in before anyone decided to punctuate the lowering argument with a thrown bedpan, and made Genma swallow the pill.
( Then they had to rate their pain on a scale of one to ten. ) |
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| Almost Not Alone [Genma, Rina] |
[Aug. 29th, 2009|10:40 pm] |
[Takes place on the 3rd of April, one day after After the Rain, five days after Meet You on the Other Side, and about five years after Got That Mountain to Climb.]
It was almost a rule, that Genma always had to screw up all of her hard work whenever she wasn't there to fix it. Turning up the water from 'hot' to 'scorching,' Rina poured another handful of shampoo and tried desperately to scrub all the branches out of her hair.
One week. One week she'd been gone, and this was the kind of thing he got up to. How did he manage it? She'd been looking forward to a nice, relaxing shower ever since she'd crossed back over the border, and instead here she was, frantically scrubbing her skin off along with the grime.
Ducking her head under the spray for the fifth time, she forcefully widened her eyes, not letting them close. When she closed them, all she could see was--
Don't think about it. The note said it wasn't as bad this time.
No sense worrying until she got there, anyway--right, as if thinking that ever helps--and they wouldn't let her into the hospital until she was clean. Dragging her fingers roughly through her hair again, searching for dirt and debris, she ended up with just a handful of pale, gleaming strands.
Finally.
The water ran clear now, instead of red-black with ink and unidentified blood. Rinsing her hair one more time, she shut it off gingerly, using her fingertips so the layer of grime she'd left on the knobs wouldn't transfer back to her hands again.
( Housekeeping could deal with the dirt; she didn't have time. ) |
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| Karma's Bitch [Genma & Yanagi] |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|08:42 pm] |
[Takes place five years ago, mid-December, six weeks after the Fox's devastation of Konoha, approximately five months after FUBAR]
Genma had been in ANBU barely a month. His armour was still stiff, his mask still shiny, and the handle of his katana had only just begun to feel like it really fit his palms. There were a lot of new faces behind ANBU's masks. A lot of grieving faces behind masks both new and old. There was no one in Konoha who hadn't lost someone to the Fox's carnage. ANBU had sent more than a quarter of her agents to their graves that night. Genma had been still dressed in funeral blacks over bandages when he received the scroll stamped with Sandaime's seal asking him to take the oath and pledge himself to Konoha's black ops.
( Now, a month later, he'd already run five missions. ) |
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| Got That Mountain to Climb [Genma, Rina] |
[Jun. 27th, 2009|09:41 pm] |
[Backdated: Takes place a little over four years ago, on March 19th, about a year and five months after the Kyuubi attack, and a week after Genma's rescue from the Iwagakure prisons.]
Rina tagged along behind Ito-sensei, her head spinning delightfully, clutching a spiral-bound notebook already a quarter-full with clipped notations, sprawling diagrams, and enthusiastic exclamation points. The just-completed burn-repair surgery had been absolutely fascinating to watch--seeing glowing blue chakra-channels spontaneously reform themselves within the carnage of twisted fingers and torn flesh--and she'd noticed that Ito-sensei had used one of the modified sterilization scrolls that had brought her to his attention in the first place.
See, and they'd complained that she hadn't followed the blueprints! Clearly Ito-sensei didn't mind. Rina had been in the Seal Division for more than a year now, and had been making seals for years before that--certainly she knew enough to substitute the more powerful tri-point pattern for a quad-point, even if it wasn't exactly what the design called for.
Actually, if the tri-point was good, what if she used the double-stabilized quint-pattern she'd seen downstairs, instead? ...Awesome. Fumbling through her notebook, she pulled her fountain pen out from behind her ear and drew herself a quick sketch, then had to half-run to catch up with Ito-sensei as he pushed through the door leading to their last patient of the day.
"Genma," she heard Ito-sensei call good-naturedly as she slid in behind him, "there's someone I'd like you to meet." |
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| FUBAR (Genma, Yanagi) |
[Jun. 27th, 2009|04:00 pm] |
[Backdated: Takes place in August, three months before the Fox attack]
"Hey. Kid. You keeping a look out?"
Nori flashed an irritated glance over his shoulder, but then turned his sharp eyes back to the forest that surrounded them. "Of course I'm keeping a look out. And I'm not a kid." His teeth ground together, already expecting the taunt.
"Right. Rookie."
"I still outrank you."
That got Akira's goat. The special jounin glared at him, and Nori smirked. If looks could kill... this whole group would be dead. Rain ninja weren't exactly known for getting along -- at least, not these days. These days, they were more known for tearing into each other, everyone grappling for a piece of the country. This group was no different, though Yanagi hadn't yet figured out all of the political machinations. He didn't really need to; he just needed to get enough information back to Konoha to make sure this faction didn't win.
And stay alive long enough to get the information back to Konoha. There was a reason they sent ANBU in, rather than the normal intel jounin. ( Rain weren't kind to traitors. ) |
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| After the Rain [Hiro, Genma, and Raidou] |
[Jun. 13th, 2009|03:47 pm] |
[Takes place in the early morning of April 2nd, four days after Meet You on the Other Side and eight days after Dude, that was YOU?.]
It was two weeks later, on a different floor, but to Hiro the deja-vu felt palpable. Shiranui Genma, back in the hospital... And yet again, Hiro was walking down the white-walled hallways with a sheaf of papers--considerably thicker, this time--and a mission scroll.
This was actually his second attempt. The first time, he'd been intercepted by a hawk-faced woman who'd flashed her ANBU tattoo and credentials and told him in no uncertain terms to go home. Sato Kotoe, apparently, matching the face to the name heading his handful of reports--she was his superior both in general and on this case, and it had only taken a moment of meeting her eyes to read her clearly-projected implacability.
( Hiro had nodded sharply, and left. ) |
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| Love the Sound When You Come Undone. [Kakashi & Genma] |
[May. 17th, 2009|10:46 am] |
[Backstory. Set three years after the Kyuubi attack, one year after How to Lose a Life.]
Torture was an ugly word, but the kanji was simple to remember. Kakashi held his hands carefully above the paper as he wrote, trying not to smear wet ink with drying blood. He could feel the chuunin's eyes on him, tickling a wary brand as they looked him over from dripping silver hair to mud-caked sandals. He ignored the feeling for the most part, focused on not letting his fingers shake the words.
...captive was held for seven days, as instructed...
He felt buzzed--ramped up on chakra pills and bright red adrenaline. It hummed in his blood, danced along his bones. He narrowed one eye behind his ANBU mask, forcing himself to keep still as the pen scritched.
...genjutsu used first...
Illusions were easier. Quieter. They'd leave a scar, but not a mark. You could return a clean body and a shattered mind--if that was what had been paid for. Kakashi shifted, bracing his back against the cold stone wall. Fingers tapped against the board he was using to write on, spotting the wood with the marks of his trade. His left hand twitched through it, drawing out a pattern.
...progressed to physical methods on the third day...
( The chuunin was glaring. ) |
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| Meet You on the Other Side [closed to Genma & Raidou] |
[May. 6th, 2009|07:24 pm] |
[Directly follows Follow You Into Dark]
One of the hardest tasks a medic ever faced, according to the wisdom of Konoha's most experienced healers, was keeping alive a patient who believed he had lost any reason to continue the struggle. Only the suicides were worse, and it being a ninja village, there were almost no suicides who survived long enough to receive any medical treatment at all.
No, it was the shinobi who came in a bloodied mess, clutching dogtags torn from the necks of corpses; the men and women who had watched their partners cut down; the jounin-sensei bringing back the lifeless bodies of the genin they had sworn to protect; the survivors of capture and torture who had failed their missions, their teammates, themselves--those were the ones the medics dreaded caring for most. There was no hope you could give a man who'd had all his hopes wrenched away.
Of course, Konoha's medics weren't the types to give up easily. Even in the most dire of cases, there was always a chance. ( As long as the patient made it through the first twenty-four hours, they said, there was hope. ) |
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| Doubt in Your Faith [closed to Raidou and Genma] |
[May. 5th, 2009|02:18 pm] |
Directly follows All the Way Through
Hearing was the first sensation to come back this time. Hearing and pain. Feet pounding, harshly-drawn breaths, and the gentle clank of weapons. Shudders jolted through Genma, striking reverberations like a temple gong from his right side with every breath. It boiled into something else in the pit of his belly; oozed coldly from his hip down through his left leg to his dangling ankle; strangled like a serpent coiled tight around his neck...
And his hand.
( Merciful Kanon, his left hand. ) |
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| Woke With This Fear [closed to Genma & Raidou] |
[May. 2nd, 2009|06:07 pm] |
[Takes place Wednesday, March 26, six days after Girls Girls Girls! and Playing Doctor, four days after Chemical Lessons]
At a little after three in the morning, Genma was sleeping soundly. Really soundly. He was dreaming one of those confused but pleasant dreams that involved being lost in a cavernously large training facility, and discovering all kinds of interesting weapons the likes of which he'd never seen before. He was gleefully collecting a sort of combination shuriken-nunchaku device, testing it out with child-like delight, when a sharp sound intruded. Hammering, pounding, a voice calling something indistinct. His name. He was on his feet before he quite realized why, reaching for the imaginary weapon he'd held only seconds before.
The pounding continued, but seemed to come from next door now, not his own. Although he was sure he'd heard his name shouted. This definitely demanded investigation. He located a real weapon or two. With a senbon between the teeth, poisoned tip outermost, and a freshly-sharpened kunai in his left hand, he cautiously opened his door.
There was an Intel agent in dress-greys standing in front of Raidou's door.
Genma blinked, squinted, blinked, and asked what the hell was going on in a gravelly voice. |
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| Playing Doctor [closed to Natsumi & Genma] |
[May. 1st, 2009|11:53 am] |
[[Takes place March 20th, a few hours after Girls! Girls! Girls! and a day after Slow Dancing in a Burning Room.]]
After his conversation in the showers with Kaito, Genma had managed to get himself clean, though not shaven, and dressed in a freshly laundered hoodie and loose jeans. He'd been intending to go get some food, but the effort at cleanliness had taken that ambition right out of him; instead he'd gone back to his apartment, taken another dose of the poison antidote the medics had sent him home with, and tried to nap.
Duty nagged at him though. As his clock blinked 14:23, he gave up, got up, opened his blinds, and got out the damn paperwork. The sky outside poured a steady grey torrent that couldn't quite decide whether it wanted to give in to the turning of the seasons or continue to cling to the tattered remnants of winter. Propped up in bed, tucked under a thick green comforter and a soft but ratty-looking blue blanket, he watched the rain slash against his window, and sucked on the end of a pen.
He'd been debriefed in the hospital yesterday; the written report was really just a formality at this point. But it had to be done. ( The last thing he wanted was some pissed off Intel flunky showing up at his door demanding the thing, and filing another complaint against him for late paperwork. ) |
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| Girls Girls Girls [closed to Genma and Kaito] |
[Apr. 29th, 2009|02:10 pm] |
[Takes place March 20th, two days after Hit the Mark and the day after No Explanation Necessary.]
Kaito slept for twenty-four hours after he and Natsumi got home, woke long enough to take a piss and drink some water and then went back to sleep for another twelve. Another piss, more water, feeling his raw, over-used pathways finally starting to ease off, and more sleep. Eight hours that time, and when he woke the sun had set.
Kaito staggered down to the cafeteria, ate, and staggered back up the stairs to bed. He really hated soldier pills. They made his pathways sore--and he wasn't used to using his bloodline limit pathways for any length of time. They'd have been sore anyway, but add to that artificial chakra and... ugh.
At least they'd gotten Osamu home. He wondered what had happened to the guy afterward. ( Poor miserable bastard. ) |
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| Ask Me Another [Closed to Hiro and Genma] |
[Apr. 21st, 2009|10:02 pm] |
[Takes place on March 18th, about an hour after The Color of Incense]
It was his first time in the ANBU wing of the hospital. Hiro looked around curiously, but the sparse hallways didn't appear any different from the regular shinobi wing--well, except for the watchful guards posted at the entranceway. The disapproving look the desk-ninja had given him when he presented his dogtags and mission assignment was different, too; of course, on the lower floors they didn't clear patients for debriefing immediately after they had regained consciousness.
But his contact had been cleared just ten minutes ago, so the tired-eyed woman had to wave him through. Not until he had wasted another ten minutes filling out a clipboard laden with paperwork, though. In triplicate. Almost like some kind of delay-tactic, he thought, annoyed.
This information was important, though. Intel was always important. And who did they think he was, T&I? He wasn't planning to hurt anyone. Hiro had filled out the forms and handed them across the desk politely--because irritability never got you anywhere--but he hurried on his way down the corridor, eager to get the interview done so he could leave for Juunan before it got too late.
The room he was looking for was about halfway down--number 418, the scarred desk-ninja had provided reluctantly. He paused for a minute before knocking, sending a thread of chakra to his eyes so he could survey the situation before he engaged.
The patient was resting quietly, eyes closed. His skin would have blended near-invisibly into the crisp white of the hospital sheets, if not for the flowering brown-purple bruises that spread luridly across his face, tense with pain even while sleeping. He twitched every so often, his shoulders hunched and haunted.
Hiro knocked loudly, releasing his Byakugan as he saw Shiranui Genma startle awake. |
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| The Color of Incense [closed to Genma & Hayate] |
[Mar. 13th, 2009|06:34 pm] |
Takes place late afternoon on March 18, after Wake Up in the Breakdown
Genma managed brief passes at consciousness over the course of two journeys and many hours, one trip in the company of villagers from Itodake to the home of the village head man, a second escorted by ANBU and medics back to Konoha. He remembered telling someone what his suspicions were about likely poison ingredients, and a medic's gloved fingers probing his side. He remembered the prick of a needle sliding into a vein on the back of his hand, and not being able to muster a protest beyond a weak groan.
There had been a stop at the village gates. Hayate coughing. A woman's voice asking what they were supposed to do with injured ANBU. "Log them in, they've already got escort," another female voice had answered, and Genma had opened his eyes to see a dark-haired chuunin from the guard post reading the reg number off his dog tags.
There had been controlled chaos, and Hayate's voice protesting sharply about something, once they'd reached the hospital. Too-bright lights, and shuddering chills when he was stripped to the skin by gentle, efficient hands. A low-pitched voice close to his ear telling him not to fight them.
( Then there had been warmth, at long last warmth. ) |
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| Wake Up in the Breakdown [closed to Genma & Hayate] |
[Feb. 12th, 2009|04:28 pm] |
[Immediately follows Walking in Your Footsteps. Takes place night/early morning of March 17 and 18 ]
Running clear of the smoke and chaos of the city was a huge relief. They weren't being followed--Genma checked every several minutes for any sign of pursuit, but there was none. He took the rear position, letting Hayate lead, watching him carefully for any sign he was faltering, but if anything he seemed to be improving: taking surer steps, increasing his pace. The pain pills and soldier pills must have hit their peak, he thought. And the bandage around Hayate's broken arm was holding, thank every god who might be listening.
After an hour of steady flight, Genma finally let his guard drop just a little. Aside from themselves, there were no signs of life other than the occasional hunting owl or bat, and a few scurrying mice and other nocturnal prey in the leaf litter. The moon cast sharp shadows, and the air smelled warm for March, and damp, as if it might rain in a day or two, but for now the sky held stars and a few scudding clouds--no threat. It looked like maybe their bad luck had come and gone.
Genma sighed, feeling adrenaline finally easing away. It left a headache in its wake and an awareness of every cut and bruise the fight had inflicted. A hint of a bellyache--had he taken a kick to the gut and didn't remember it? It had been such a sudden and furious battle... How had they been found out? That was a major problem. By now whoever had sent those ninja to ambush them would no doubt be aware their mission had failed. It was a problem for Intel, he told himself. No sense making his head ache worse worrying about a problem he couldn't solve.
He whistled to catch Hayate's attention, and flashed him coded signs. Doing okay? His partner nodded, not breaking stride even a little. Genma nodded back and concentrated on making sure they left no trail to be traced. Home was only another eight or nine hours' run away, if Hayate could hold out that long.
Another hour into their journey, and Genma was really starting to feel his body's hurts. Cuts and bruises burned and pulled, and his belly felt almost like he'd eaten something that disagreed. The headache, too was unrelenting. He didn't want to stop. Probably getting dehydrated, he told himself, trying to remember the last time he'd had any water. He tipped his mask up and sucked down a few mouthfuls from his canteen, tossing back another soldier pill and adding a pain pill for good measure. Then he sped up to tap Hayate on the shoulder and hold out a pair of tablets for him, reasoning that since his meds were wearing off, Hayate's had to be, too. |
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| Walking In Your Footsteps [closed to Genma and Hayate] |
[Jan. 31st, 2009|08:59 pm] |
[ Mission Assignment: Takes place four days following Pay It Forward, three days following The Weight of the World ]
Genma and Hayate had arrived in Juunan with little trouble. There'd been decent traveling weather, decent roads, and no urgent need for more than the most cursory of notice-me-not jutsu while on the way. The rookie kid was, Genma decided, pretty much okay, although that incessant coughing was kind of annoying. He hoped it wasn't going to be a problem on the mission. Probably Hayate didn't get too many assignments where lying stealthily in wait was necessary.
The inn they decided to make their base of operations was, in a word, squalid. It had clearly once been a decent place--traditional even, with papered doors and tatami floors. It had just as clearly moved beyond that now, seeing more service with prostitutes and their tricks from the nearby pleasure quarter than from legitimate travelers. The bored desk clerk had given Genma and Hayate a brief glance, inquired if they wanted the room for an hour or the night, and demanded payment up front when Genma told him it was for the night.
It had in fact turned into a couple of nights. They'd had to scope out the offices of Juunan's city council member Oimikado Hanabi, where there were documents to be stolen and a murder to be staged. They'd had to figure out where guards were posted and what their routines were, and specifically where those documents might be located. And they'd had to tail and observe the habits of Oimikado's assistant Mitsugawa, the target of their assassination plot. Well, not their plot. Someone's plot. Someone who didn't want to get his or her hands dirty. That's what ANBU was for, after all. Doing other people's dirty work.
Now, two days into their stay, Genma felt like they had done all the casing it was profitable to do. The sun was slanting towards a pale orange set, and he and Hayate had just shared an early meal of some locally famous shrimp dish. Genma speared a bit of it out of a paper takeout container, leaned back against the headboard of the Vibrating Pleasures bed the inn had thoughtfully given them, and looked up at his companion. "So, I think we could maybe stage the hit tonight, if you're ready." |
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| Pay It Forward [closed to Tsume and Genma] |
[Jan. 22nd, 2009|11:07 pm] |
[Takes place March 14th, five days after Would You Bite the Hand, two days after Connect the Dots, and one day after All the King's Horses and All the King's Men...]
"You're cheating."
"I am not!" Kuromaru shuffled his cards in his human hands, lips pursing together as if that might help him think.
"You are, too! If you have two aces, that means there are five in the deck." Tsume shuffled her stack and glared at her familiar, who was currently wearing her face--if horribly injured. In human form the scabbed injuries should probably be bandaged, but bandaging through a body-change was almost impossible, and they fell off his fur. She looked away again quickly. The hitai-ate he'd pulled down over his missing eye did little to hide the twisted, oozing flesh around it, raw skin that coursed across his temple, smearing over his forehead and writhing around the mangled flesh of his missing ear.
Her nausea was from the jutsu that had given him human form, a jutsu she probably shouldn't have done. ( His appearance wasn't helping her guts any, though. ) |
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