| [May. 22nd, 2017|01:47 am] |
“Don’t think there’s room in there for you,” Ryouma said. But he seemed to find the actual mechanism. He hauled on the rope, Genma worked his end, and slowly and evenly the whole knotted jumble of rope, dog, man, and more rope rose out of the gloom.
There was a layer of crumbled dirt spread over them, and Kakashi had definitely taken the worst of the fall. He was on the bottom, with Tsuyoshi twisted awkwardly over him. One of her paws had raked his hitai-ate all the way down over both eyes.
What Genma wouldn’t have given for a camera.
“Tie it off so it won’t slip back down when you let go, and I’ll free them,” Genma said. He knotted the lift rope while Ryouma mirrored him, then reached for the red-tagged bit of elastic cord that bound top net to bottom. “Don’t bite me when I let you out. I tried to warn you to let me lead.”
Kakashi didn’t wait for the elastic to snap free; he had a kunai out as soon as he could move his hand, cutting the ropes apart. Tsuyoshi leapt clear, taking the upper half of the trap with her. Kakashi lay on the lower layer, spread-eagled, like he trying to relax on an uncomfortably taut hammock.
Except he didn’t look even a little relaxed. He sat up, shoving his hitai-ate clear of his eye, and glared at Genma.
Genma decided to let Ryouma be the one to give Kakashi a hand up.
Tsuyoshi gave several violent shakes to get the netting off of her, then stalked indignantly away to sit with her back to them all, licking at a torn paw where the barbed rope had bitten through.
Kin scrambled frantically into Kakashi’s lap the moment he was back on solid ground. She sniffed anxiously at his scrapes, swiping her tongue over a collection of scratches on Kakashi’s arm. He didn’t suffer her nursing care long. “I’m fine,” he said, swatting her away lightly. Then he turned a murderous look on Genma. “Exactly how much of this training ground is trapped?”
“Most of it,” Genma said. He might have been trying to spook Kakashi about the spiders, but there was no need to exaggerate this answer. “We held the October Trials here last year, and a lot of teams use it as a traps avoidance course. Taichou and I were probably going to bring you here sooner or later anyway.”
“Because Kiri wasn’t bad enough?” Ryouma crouched and reached a hand out to try to brush the dirt out of Kakashi’s hair. Kakashi’s visible sliver of skin and the tops of his ears turned a dull red, and he ducked out of Ryouma’s way.
Pakkun, meanwhile had gone from tense with worry to silent shaking to outright guffaws, rolling on Genma’s shoulder. “Did you forget how to genius?” he asked brightly. “You fell down a hole.” That set him off into helpless, wheezing laughter all over again.
Genma was starting to like the little dog.
Ryouma rocked back on his heels and rested his forearms on his thighs, with his hands hanging loosely between his knees. His fingers fidgeted through practice seals — a habit that he often seemed to turn to when he was trying to puzzle something out. “Captain wouldn’t have time or equipment to rig new traps like this. So he’s gotta be relying on the ones that’re already here. You know ‘em all, Lieutenant?” |
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