| [Jul. 25th, 2013|04:58 am] |
There were a small number of ANBU who stayed in the barracks after their rookie year, but it was mostly the agents in T&I, whose offices were only a few steps from the ANBU residences. Not many in the Hunter ranks wanted to stick around the spartan dorms when their rookie year was up.
Although if Genma didn’t find a new apartment soon, he was going to be seriously considering the ANBU dorms himself. At least the vets got their own wing, away from the chaos of the rookies.
The halls of the barracks were quiet. They smelled exactly the same as they had when Genma had lived there: an unmistakable mix of sweat and disinfectant, strong soap, blood, and dust, underlain with the faint ozone-feel of high-powered chakra.
Raidou’s door was unremarkable, but inside was another story. The walls had been painted a soft cream instead of the stark grey-white of the rookie apartments. It was much bigger than a rookie’s studio, too, with a kitchenette and a closed door that must conceal an unseen bedroom. The main room had a red and blue striped rug on the wooden floor and a comfortable blue couch facing a low table with a television. Just under the window, a small kitchen table was decorated with a single candle and a soy sauce set. There were two chairs at the table, but it was clear which one Raidou usually sat in by the profusion of paperwork stacked up at one place.
The kitchenette was tiny, but bigger than Genma expected, and considerably more well used. Dishes dried on a rack, and pots and utensils were hung from hooks along the wall and under the counters, practically sparkling with order and cleanliness.
Genma took off his boots at the entrance, and slipped his mask off as soon as Raidou had shut the door, padding across the room to inspect a bookshelf overflowing with an eclectic array of reading material, and the cluster of photographs atop it. There was one of Raidou and Katsuko and the rest of their team, a couple others of what had to be Raidou’s previous ANBU teams, and one with a child-sized Raidou and two other genin mugging for the camera with their jounin-sensei. There were also a couple photographs of two women together, one of whom looked a lot like Raidou, and the other Genma recognized as an Academy sensei.
Raidou’s mom? Moms?
He turned away from his snooping to find Raidou watching him expectantly from the kitchenette.
“So? Who’d we get? Did we get Ayane?” asked Genma.
The sparkle in Raidou’s eye said it was better than that.
Genma raised an eyebrow and waited. Who would be better? Maybe Yamada? And there was Hatake Kakashi—no way he wasn’t joining ANBU, but he’d undoubtedly go to one of the veteran captains.
“Tousaki,” Raidou said, beaming.
“Shit, seriously?”
Raidou nodded.
“That’s awesome. I think. I figured he must have washed out,” Genma said. “Or bailed. After that whole situation at second Trial, who could blame him? Is his hand even in good enough shape for active duty?”
“He’d have to be, or why pass him through?” Raidou said. He set the folders down on the small table, outside of Genma’s reach. Genma could see the edge of the first two kanji in ‘Shiranui’ on one of them, and Tousaki’s name on the uppermost. The other two were obscured.
“Huh. That’ll be interesting,” Genma said. “Tousaki.” He caught Raidou’s eye and flashed him a grin. “Bet the other captains were green with envy.” Or shaking with relief. He pulled a senbon free from his thigh holster, spun it around a couple times, and tapped the edge of the folders. “I know one of those is Ueno, and I can read my own name... Who’s our other rookie?” |
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