| [Oct. 1st, 2010|11:34 pm] |
Sugimoto's voice calling his name was the last thing Genma heard before he lost consciousness. Hours later it was the first thing he heard again when he woke. He startled into a shiver and found himself on his back on the ground, lashed to a stretcher with broad belts crossed over his legs and chest. It was hauntingly familiar, but the afternoon light dappling among the trees was tinted orange and gold as it passed through autumn leaves, not gray with late spring sleet.
"Shiranui-san, wake up. You're safe." Sugimoto's voice, still unflappably calm, but warmer now where before it had been commanding. He opened his eyes to see her looking down at him, to feel her hand on his shoulder.
"What... Where?"
"Fire Country," she told him. "We just crossed the border. I'm sorry to wake you, but you appeared to be dreaming."
Had he been dreaming? Nothing that he remembered. But if it was the sort of dream a handler would wake you from, it couldn't have been good.
"We've stopped for a rest."
"Pardon me, Miho-san," said an older man wearing glasses and the white hood of a Konoha medic. "Genma-san." Quick, cold fingers took Genma's pulse, probed at his chakra, swiped across his brow. "How are you feeling? Do you need to urinate?"
Genma stared in confusion at the medic. What kind of weird question was... But the suggestion took. "Uh... yeah."
"Good."
"Can I get up?"
The medic unfastened the belts and helped Genma into a sitting position. "Excuse us a moment, Miho-san." Sugimoto turned her back, and the medic handed Genma a plastic vial.
"You're kidding me," Genma said, staring at the thing.
"You're on IV chakra support," the medic said. "We need to keep tabs on volumes in and out." He didn't wait for Genma's acknowledgment, and didn't turn away to give Genma any privacy, either. "How's your head?"
"It hurts." He squinted his eyes against the brightness of the sunlight. Everything hurt. Every muscle, every joint. He felt so wretched it was all he could do to just keep himself sitting upright. When he got around to it, even pissing hurt. While Genma took care of necessity, the medic fussed with the IV. Sugimoto stayed five paces away, talking to a red-haired woman taller than herself and wearing an ANBU field uniform.
The headache eased when the medic set green-glowing hands to Genma's forehead and the back of his neck. Genma's apathy went with it. He handed over the filled vial and tried to stand. "We're going back for Kakashi," he grated, but only got as far as his knees before balance and strength failed him. The medic seemed to be expecting it, and caught Genma with practiced ease.
Sugimoto and her companion turned towards him in synchrony. "We are going back to Konoha where you can get the medical care you need," Sugimoto said. Another ANBU materialized from the shadows, but kept his distance. "Representatives from Konoha are already negotiating for Hatake-san's release."
The masked woman cocked her head to one side. Genma almost recognized her, but couldn't pull up a name. She wasn't Eros, and there weren't that many women Hunters...
"This is Aki-san. If you're well enough for a conversation, we need to discuss what happened on your and Hatake-san's mission, starting with any details that may be pertinent to the negotiations now underway."
Understanding washed over Genma like a wave of nausea. Debriefing. Now. Before they got back to Konoha.
"You have to get him out of there." Genma's voice ground into ash in his throat. He recognized the red-haired woman now. She worked for Shida. |
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