| Hold the Line | [Aug. 30th, 2015|03:31 pm] |
[Takes place around midday May 15, Yondaime Year 5, immediately after The Summoning and Follow My Lead]
The universe was on Raidou’s side. Genma was in the first place he checked — working by the lamplight glow in Team Six’s windowless office.
As soon as Raidou opened the door, Genma’s head came up. He turned from his desk, one eyebrow quirking up in anticipation of a question, and stopped dead when he saw Raidou. His mouth opened. The senbon between his teeth wavered.
“Taichou,” he said blankly.
It had only been four days, but it was an actual, physical relief to set eyes on the lieutenant. Like the moment a chokehold relaxed and there was air again.
Raidou drew a breath and leaned against the door frame. “Fukuchou,” he said. “How’re you doing?”
There was a pair of crutches leaning against the desk; Genma reached for them, clearly intending to stand, but kept his seat when Raidou waved him back down. “I’m fine,” Genma said. “How are you doing?” He shot a look at the open door. “Can we…?” Quick fingers darted through the hand-sign for talk, meaning, Can we talk freely?
Raidou stepped in and closed the door behind him. “I’m still suspended, but they lifted the no-contact ban, so long as I don’t interfere with the team. I don’t think anyone’s bothering to listen in.”
Genma’s shoulders slumped nonetheless, but he still looked better than the last time Raidou had seen him. Since the last time had involved a hospital bed, the bar wasn’t high. Green-yellow bruises underscored his eyes, legacy of a healing broken nose. More ringed his throat from Iebara's choking. He was wearing civilian clothes, a dark t-shirt with a subtle leaf design, and jeans relaxed enough to accommodate the bandaging that still obviously encircled his right thigh. His hair was twisted up and back into a loose topknot, leaving casual strands to fall around his face. There was a old and clearly much-loved hoodie folded over the back of his chair.
He looked tired, pale, and stressed, but crutches meant walking and paperwork was dedication. Genma was taking care of the team, just like Raidou had asked.
“Can you stay and talk for a minute, then? I have some tea we could share.” Genma lifted a thermos by way of demonstration, and then gave Raidou a sharper look. “Are you okay?”
Raidou moved over to perch on the edge of his own desk, which was swept clean of paperwork. “Yeah,” he said. “I just got out of a meeting with the Hokage, Shibata-sama—” both of Genma’s eyebrows flew up, “—and Sagara-sama.”
“Shibata?” Genma repeated, in tones of faint horror. He glanced down at Raidou’s hands, as if to check for missing fingernails.
Despite himself, Raidou felt his mouth hitch. “He did my psych eval. He was actually— My hands are fine, Shiranui, he didn’t torture me. He gave me tea.”
A faint tinge of color touched Genma’s cheeks. He sat back, smoothing his hair out of his face with one hand, and glanced down at his thermos. “Are you sure it was just tea?”
“If it wasn’t, it was the subtlest poison known to man,” Raidou said. “Or I’m still back in T&I and the last two days have been a really bureaucratic hallucination, which seems counterproductive.”
Genma snorted.
Raidou got back on track. “How much do you know about the mission?”
“I pulled your report and read it this morning,” Genma said, with open honesty. “And I know what you told me in the bunker, when I was treating your injuries away from the rest of the team.”
Only a week ago. It seemed like so much longer.
Raidou nodded, relieved and only a little queasy. It was easier if Genma already knew, especially since Raidou didn’t have to explain the details. He cut to the chase. “Shibata thinks I’m redeemable with some genjutsu training. He wants me to work with Yuuhi Benihime and—”
Genma held up a hand, relief subverted by surprise. “Benihime-sama? As in the Crimson Eye of Konoha?”
Raidou hadn’t finished wrapping his head around that, either.
“I guess she owes Shibata a favor.” And maybe Raidou really had impressed Shibata somewhere in that meeting. It was a nice thought. “I’m also supposed to get trauma counselling. If I complete both to his satisfaction, he’ll recommend that Yondaime-sama and Sagara-sama reinstate me.”
“Reinstate you as captain of our team?” Genma said.
Raidou nodded. Genma's whole face brightened into the most genuine smile Raidou had ever seen him show, broad and uncomplicated and wholly pleased, as if the thought that Raidou might not pass the training hadn't even caused a ripple. It was like tripping into unexpected sunshine. Raidou smiled back — there was no way not to — and leaned back against his desk, breathing in the air of Team Six's office. He'd missed the damn room, even.
"The one other caveat is that you get an interim captain in the meantime," he said. "And I don't know who it is. Sagara-sama said they'd report in at 0900 tomorrow." |
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