Raidou, despite evidence to the contrary, was not a fool. He didn't miss the anger that stiffened Genma's shoulders and darkened his expression despite the lightning. He didn't miss the way he reined it back in, either. Nor the way he was going to cut his storm walk short to get Raidou back in the cave.

I need less self-sacrificing partners, thought Raidou for an odd little moment. It never turns out well for us.

He flashed a scout sign back: You so dumb you don't know what cold is? And lifted his hand to press the back of it to Genma's forehead. Heat bled from hot skin to cold, making him suddenly aware of how frozen he really was. And how very much Genma was not.

Genma who was going to come inside.

Raidou sighed and took his hand back. "Alright," he said, frustrated and frozen and hating himself for wanting to be warm and wanting to stay and not being able to do either. "Stay here. Cool down properly. I will be right there," he jerked a thumb at the cave entrance. "Flash your chakra if you need help, okay?" He waited for an acknowledgment and then turned on one heel and walked back into the cave. The entrance wasn't much warmer, but it was out of the wind and rain for the most part and that would be enough. Raidou leaned one shoulder against the rough stone wall, and wrapped his arms around his ribs. He could still feel his fingers and his toes; he was fine to stay longer.

This mission was turning out to be a complete pain in the ass.

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Genma waited until he was genuinely shivering before he finally picked himself up and headed back inside. It had taken nearly an hour, maybe longer by the look Raidou gave him when he made his way back in, dripping and drenched, with his hair hanging in iced-over clumps and his skin a mottled red-white. While the fever might have been artificially induced, the after-effects were identical to the real thing. Sheer, limp-muscled, bone-aching fatigue. The chakra-expenditure the jutsu had cost undoubtedly added to that. He gave Raidou an exhausted look, pushed past him, stripped off his soaking wet pants without so much as a shred of modesty, and grabbed the pair he'd been wearing originally where Raidou had lain them to warm by the fire.

Tsume was asleep, curled up with Kuromaru, who watched Genma with wary yellow eyes. Good. She was asleep, under the blankets still and no longer shivering. Her color was more normal, too.

A black top--his, Raidou's? It was impossible to know, except that Tsume was still wearing one of Genma's over her own--was hanging by the fire. Genma shrugged into that and stumbled towards Raidou again. "Gotta crash out. Just a little. You keep first watch okay?" It was barely articulate, but the best Genma could manage at the moment.

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"Y-yeah, yeah, I've got it," said Raidou around teeth clenched to stop them chattering. He picked up a blanket with semi-numb fingers and wrapped it swiftly around Genma before he pitched over, grateful it was already warm from the fire. Then he set his hands gently but firmly on Genma's shoulders and pushed him to the other side of the blaze, guiding him to the opposite side from Tsume and her dog. If anyone had a violent wake up--unlikely but possible--he didn't want someone getting hurt because they were in each other's personal space.

The cave was warm. Raidou rationalized that he would probably stop shivering fairly soon, so he could ignore it until that happened. That seemed logical.

"Sleep, kid, I've g-got it for a bit." Warm, dry clothes would also help. And food. He definitely wanted food. Raidou stripped his shirt off as he moved, completely as uncaring as Genma had been about his pants, and tossed it on the rock by the fire. He managed to get a spare out of his kit and yanked it on, then he did the same for pants. Getting buttons and ties done was a little beyond his current dexterity, so he left them. Gods it was cold.

Food. Fire. Keep watch. That was what he needed to focus on.

Raidou got their last blanket, set the remaining stew back over the fire to reheat, found his book, and slid down the wall to sit between Genma and Tsume. The fire was warm, the cave was warm, and he had a blanket. A warm blanket. Plus food in a minute. He was definitely going to warm up soon.

Any minute now.

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The fever was gone, the blanket was warm, the hideout secure, and Raidou was taking first watch. It was safe, finally, to stop. When Raidou pushed, Genma stumbled to the floor, curling up in an exhausted ball where his partner put him. Knees drawn up, hands curled close against his chest, and wet hair shoved back from a tired, pale face, Genma was asleep almost before he was fully horizontal. He didn't dream, he didn't move, he didn't even feel the passing of time a normal sleep gives you.

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Eventually it got warm enough for Raidou to feel exactly how cold he was. He shook for a while, felt his teeth chatter, ate some stew, shook a little more, and communed with the fire until his skin turned pink again. When he felt vaguely human he shifted back, leaned himself against the wall, and read his book by flickering firelight. It wasn't a great book, but the plotline had at least three twists and one he didn't actually predict in advance, so Raidou was fairly content.

After a while he reached a pause in the narration that suited him and set it aside, folding his knees up to rest his elbows on. The cave was warm, almost cozy, and quiet with the sound of slow, even breathing. Raidou fell into the half-lidded almost-trance that any ninja acquired after enough practice, and watched his teammates. Genma was a still presence on his left, folded around himself and mostly hidden by his blanket. In the distant awake part of Raidou's brain not focused on watch he was grateful Genma was too tired to have nightmares. They didn't need another hand episode on top of everything else.

Tsume and Kuromaru were a matched pair on his right, tucked so close together he couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. Kuromaru's fur shone gently sable in the warm glow that filled the cave and cast black shadows. Tsume he could barely see. Just a slice of her cheek etched in red ink, and one hand curled against Kuromaru's chest, fingers lax in sleep. He was glad she wasn't the nightmare type, either.

Six hours into his watch, Raidou knew he was supposed to wake Genma and change shifts. That was how it went and that was what they always did. But after six hours of watching his friend sleep deeply enough to barely twitch, Raidou was fairly certain he knew who needed the rest more. One night awake wouldn't kill him. He banked the fire, ate a little more stew, drank some strong coffee, and picked up his book again.

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