| [Feb. 26th, 2017|08:29 pm] |
Neither of the Intel agents was injured. Both of them were exhausted, almost chakra-drained, run past the ragged ends of their stamina. Kurenai's dark, disheveled head tipped back against the cabin wall, but her crimson eyes flickered open when Ryouma pulled back the blanket Kasumi had draped over her. She offered up her wrist, her voice a hoarse croak. "How are they?"
"Thirteen's in bad shape, except for Kasumi. We're all right." Her pulse was high, but slowing. Ryouma scraped up a little of his remaining chakra and dribbled it into her, through the smaller wrist node. Her lashes fluttered sooty against her pale cheeks, and her chapped lips found a smile.
He looked at Satomi, curled bruised in seeming-sleep against Kurenai's shoulder. "Is she—?"
"Tired," Satomi rasped, without opening her eyes. "We went into Intel because we didn't want to run for thirty-six hours straight. I'm a cartographer. And your Vice-commander's an asshole."
"Damn straight," Ryouma muttered. Satomi coughed on a laugh, and took the canteen he gave her. He took her other wrist, and checked her pulse while she drank.
Kurenai said, "Namiashi-taichou told us what happened with Fukuda. Is her sister safe?"
"She's asleep, in the little cabin. With the baby." Ryouma hesitated, stemming the trickle of his chakra into Satomi. "She's blue. The baby. She's got gills."
"Hoshigaki clan," Kurenai murmured. "That'll cheer Hirano up. He's been insisting it's a bloodline, not tattoos or scarification…" She took the canteen from Satomi, drank deeply, and passed it back. "Fukuda Kimiko. How's she coping?"
He'd almost forgotten that their Fukuda, the dead woman, shared a name. "Uh— She took it pretty hard, but she held up. She's strong. They both are. Were."
"Takedo didn't think she'd make it out alive," Satomi said, abruptly, her eyes still closed. She rocked her stubbled head against Kurenai's shoulder, burrowing down into the blanket, and said, "We both have sisters. One of us'll be there, when Kimiko wakes."
"Thanks." Ryouma's own throat was scratchy, but he capped the canteen.
Satomi tucked her chin down, almost an acknowledging nod. Kurenai tipped her dark head against the Uchiha's, and murmured, "Just twenty minutes. We'll be up."
Ryouma doubted that, but he let them be.
Kakashi was still working on Ginta, cleaning and salving the least severe of the oozing burns. Kasumi had taken up the job of smearing salve over Usagi's half-healed burns, while Usagi made pained faces and drank her liter of electrolytes. Genma had stabilized Abe's wrist and drained the swelling, while Raidou watched, stone-faced, from the door.
"Think you can splint this?" Genma asked, looking up at Ryouma. "Cover the wound with a light dressing but don't put any pressure directly over it. Put the splint on with his hand in a neutral position."
"I can supervise," Abe said, tipping his head up from the piled belts. "Go treat my lieutenant." |
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