| [Jun. 10th, 2013|05:47 am] |
Katsuko found Raidou on the wall five minutes later, tracking his familiar chakra signature. She eyed the ANBU in the tanuki mask leaning against the wall across the walkway, trying to remember if they’d met before, and gave a mental shrug. “Namiashi-taichou,” she said, stopping in front of him where he was standing like a statue on the back wall’s lip. She threw out a casual salute. “Demonstrating your amazing stealth skills again?”
Raidou tilted his head down, standing judgmentally in the light of the glorious morning sun, and looked at her. His crescent-moon mask gleamed unimpressed skepticism down upon her. “Are you qualified to comment on subtlety, Ueno?”
He couldn’t see her grin through her mask, but she let him hear it. “Just because I think subtlety’s boring doesn’t mean I’m not capable of it, captain. Have I told you yet that you look particularly shiny today?”
“I had two days without you,” Raidou said, an answering grin in his voice. “It refreshed my ability to sparkle.” He stepped down from the wall and gave her shoulder a friendly punch in greeting, then raised his voice. “Shiranui, come meet our third wheel.”
The ANBU in the tanuki mask—Shiranui, now she remembered the name—had turned to stare at her and Raidou, his posture guarded. “It turns out we’ve met. At a blossom viewing party before the trials.”
Raidou did the full-body version of a blink. He turned to Katsuko. “You went blossom-viewing?”
“I appreciate nature’s beauty as much as the next person, Namiashi-taichou,” Katsuko said gravely. “Besides, Shiranui invited me. It would have been rude not to.”
Raidou leaned down and said very quietly into Katsuko’s ear, “Tell me you didn’t sleep with him.”
“I didn’t,” Katsuko muttered. “Stop being creepy in front of the new guy.” She crossed the walkway and offered her hand to Genma. “Hey,” she said, smiling. “Welcome to the team.”
Shiranui hesitated, then shook her hand and gave a slight bow. “Thanks. I really didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.”
“Me neither,” Katsuko said, frankly. “Can’t say I’m upset, though. Glad to have you, Shiranui.” She jerked a chin over at Raidou. “You and Namiashi are gonna be the only two vets on the team. Have fun with that. No pressure.”
“You’re not a rookie,” he pointed out.
Katsuko shrugged. “Barely. This is the first year I can haze newbies.” She grinned. “It’s gonna be fun. How are you and the captain getting along? He didn’t bully you, did he?”
Shiranui’s posture relaxed slightly. “So far Crescent Moon-taichou has been a perfect officer and gentleman. Is that something I should be on my guard against?”
She stifled a snort. “Not at all,” she said, not bothering to hide her grin, and turned to look at Raidou. “A perfect officer and gentleman, huh?”
“I’m going to ignore that skepticism,” Raidou said, and then grew abruptly serious. “How much did they fill you in before they called you up?”
“Not much,” Katsuko said. “There was a threat at the trials, and the higher-ups think it might have been a feint to draw attention away from Konoha. There’s talk about a full scale assault against us. You?” |
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