"It's not a suicide tooth if you've got enough immunity," Genma insisted. They'd had this conversation before, when Genma had been working on developing a tolerance to that poison. When Haruichi had reluctantly agreed to supply sufficient antidote so long as Genma promised to stick to a very strict regimen of minuscule dose increases. They'd had the conversation, and Genma hadn't quite convinced Haruichi then that the risk was worth the benefit. But now...

"It saved our lives, Haruichi. Suicide was the last thing I was trying for."

Haruichi's look conveyed just how much he was holding back. And there was his offer. Not just for Genma, but for Raidou, too. For all that Genma trusted Ito-sensei, and the nurses and Raidou's doctors... Having Haruichi offer...

Genma took a slow breath. The machine clicked and whined and started work on a different set of motions. More circular this time, grating frozen joints back into flexibility. Genma's breath became an open-mouthed gasp, for just a second. Then a pant. A closed-eyed bout of deep concentration.

"Ito-sensei said two months before I can try casting jutsu. He said it's not as difficult a repair this time, as before..." Four years ago. Haruichi had been new to ANBU, but he'd been there. "And they said Raidou's burns aren't going to scar in a way that restricts his motion." Dare he even ask? Haruichi had to know already, what question was coming. "We're both going to be fit to return to duty, right?"

They'd said so. Ito-sensei and Raidou's doctor from the burn ward, and Kotoe-san, the woman from Intel. They'd all said yes, you will return to active status in ANBU. But Haruichi was the one person Genma really trusted not to lie. If Haruichi said it, said yes, especially if he sounded pissed off about it, then it was true.