| [Jun. 10th, 2013|06:10 am] |
“Hey, listen,” he said. “When we get done here, I’m gonna swing by my dad’s. He lives above the bakery. You want to come with me and get some buns? It’ll be whatever didn’t sell today, but they’ll be good.”
Katsuko hesitated. “Are the buns free?”
“For my teammates? Always. Especially if we bring him back spices and stuff from missions in interesting places.”
“For the free buns, then,” Katsuko conceded.
Genma looked up at Raidou. “Captain?”
Raidou rubbed one sun-reddened shoulder. “You had me at ‘bakery,’ honestly.”
Genma smiled behind his mask. “Good.” He stretched again. Fast approaching and familiar chakra caught his attention. When he looked over the wall, four shinobu in bone and black were already scaling it. “Here comes Team Twelve.”
Nara Shikaku’s deer-faced mask emerged first, followed by his lieutenant and two more. He surveyed the rag-tag pieces of Team Six, sketched a casual wave of greeting to them all, and looked up at Raidou. “We’re relieving you,” he said.
“We’re relieved,” Raidou returned, in what had to be the oldest and most stale joke in military history.
When they were away from the gate, heading up the street towards Konoha’s heart, Genma caught Raidou’s eye. “And you kicked me off the team for punning?”
Raidou snorted a surprised laugh. His body language was looser now that they were off the wall and actually moving again, still tired, but with more purpose and animation. “Yours was worse.”
“Only a little worse,” Genma said. “But yours certainly had antiquity on its side, I concede. Am I still off the team, then?”
“Guess that depends how good these buns are,” Raidou said. His attention was back on Katsuko, silent and intense, with her chakra flaring and frayed.
Genma reached out to tap the hard plate of Raidou’s arm guard. All OK? He nodded his head at Katsuko’s shadow.
They traveled in silence for a long moment before Raidou reluctantly flashed back the single handsign for undecided.
Genma nodded. On your six, he signed back.
As lieutenant, it was his job. As a ninja, his duty. But he was starting to actually care about his new teammates, too.
“Come on,” he said, picking up his pace a little. “If we get there looking tired and pathetic enough, maybe Dad’ll make us dinner, too.” |
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