"No, see, I would never break your heart," Genma said, raising his voice so Raidou could hear him over the sparkling sound of liquid echoing off ceramic. He pushed a hand through his mussed hair, combing out greasy tangles, and shared Raidou's dreams about a shower. A hot shower would be really fabulous, but there was the matter of his leg, which ached fiercely under bloodied bandages. And the paperwork. End of the day? What kind of assholes did they have in Intel who wanted it by the end of the day, even if it was... Genma glanced at the clock again. Even if it was overdue by more than twenty-four hours.

Genma pulled open one pouch to find his medkit, setting that carefully on the bed beside him. He'd need that when he got around to dealing with that dog bite. He hoped Tsume was okay. She'd been off ever since they'd left that mine, insisting on staying in wolf shape even though that had to be a chakra drain she could ill-afford. If he weren't so damn tired now he'd send a clone to look for her. But the very idea of raising the chakra to create a clone made his stomach turn and his body ache. Chakra-drain was really a pain in the ass.

Another pouch yielded the box containing the eyes, seals intact. It was cool to the touch, almost cold. Thank gods whoever had designed the thing had planned for the need to keep the precious prizes chilled for days, maybe even weeks. There was time to write the report, get these things turned in, and maybe get some food. Not that food sounded even remotely appealing, but that was a side effect of having gone too long without eating.

"Rai. When you finish, think you can see if there's any more juice or anything in my fridge? And something besides rat bars. We should probably eat."