| [Feb. 9th, 2008|11:48 am] |
When Genma heard that Haruichi was back in ANBU, he went looking for him pretty much immediately. When he heard, upon arriving at the medic's office to find a nurse but no medic, that Haruichi was having his fitness for mission duty tested by the director of ANBU operations himself, he wasted no time in heading for the dojo. The news had some fairly stunning implications.
One, Haruichi was not only not dead, he was in fact, evidently in fighting form.
Two, Arakaki and the powers that be had finally decided to add another fully trained medic to the field-operatives' ranks, which the field-medics like Genma--who for the most part were, like Genma, Hunters or Intel Operatives who had additional training in first aid and field medicine--had been petitioning their senior officers for for months.
Three, Arakaki either thought Haruichi had spectacular promise, or he had an axe to grind. And if it was the latter, Genma feared for Haruichi's health.
It wasn't that Arakaki was a cruel man. Not at all. It was just that he was an old-school war hawk. A by-the-book officer, who took his responsibility managing Konoha's Black Ops regiment very seriously. He wasn't a cruel man, no, that would be his counterpart, Shida Akumaru, the director of Torture and Interrogation, but he could be a hard man. If he was trying to prove a point, he was like a pit bull in his tenacity. Unrelenting. Unsympathetic. It was that diamond hardness that made him capable of leading ANBU's field operations, but it was also a little terrifying.
What Genma found was at least as surprising as the news that Haruichi was back had been. Arakaki was dressed in a gi, had one leg bandaged and showing fresh blood, and was standing grimly in one corner, arms folded, eyes glittering dangerously, looking at the pair of men on the mats.
Haruichi was pinned, flat on his stomach, with his arms wrenched up incapacitatingly hard. His shortish hair was in wild disarray, his face pale and bruised, with high spots of color in his cheeks, and his eyes were in activated byakugan. He looked deeply pissed off.
And Raidou was there. Straddling Haruichi, pinning him, looking like he hadn't taken a single blow himself in this spar, also looking deeply pissed off, and committing what seemed like a seriously career-limiting move, mouthing off to Arakaki.
Well, Genma wasn't willing to see Haruichi killed, which evidently from Raidou's comment was what he thought Arakaki was driving at. And he wasn't willing to see Raidou exiled to some crappy border patrol post. So he had to step in.
"Er..." He entered the room with enough stealth to not look a fool in front of Arakaki, and enough noise to make sure they all knew he was there. "I'm sure what Raidou meant was to ask if you'd seen enough of Haruichi-sensei's sparring capabilities to have an understanding of his strengths and weaknesses."
"Shiranui," Arakaki said, turning to look up at the newcomer. He wasn't a tall man, something that always surprised the new ANBU recruits. He was such an imposing figure that it was hard to believe he barely topped 5'9". "Interesting to see an assassin attempt diplomacy."
"Sir," Genma said, and glanced at Raidou. Cool your jets, idiot, he thought furiously at his friend.
Arakaki recrossed his arms and turned to gaze at the frozen tableau on the mats once more. Then he took a deep sniff of a breath that conveyed a subtle disgust with everything he saw. "Yes. I've seen enough. Hyuuga is pathetically weak on defense, no matter how offensive he may be. He will not be assigned field missions until he improves." He turned to leave, brushing past Genma on his way to the door. "You've certainly stuck your neck out for your friends, Shiranui. I hope they're the sort who would do the same for you. Hyuuga," he added, raising his voice. "I suggest you find someone to teach you how to block and dodge. Your retest will be in two weeks." And with that, he left.
Genma stared a moment more in stunned silence, before crossing over to Raidou and Haruichi. "OK, what the fuck was that all about?" |
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