I took the prompt bodyguard and ran with it… I was relating it to guarding each other when one of them can't. Idk. Anyway.
The characters Shun and Ume aren't mine and belong to the wonderful writers of ANBU Legacy and if you haven't read it you need to. Right now.
Summary: fresh from the Third Shinobi War, Genma finds himself sitting next to Raidou Namiashi's bedside despite having barely spoken and really needing to be in a hospital bed himself.
Genma moved around on the plastic chair, clearly made for people who hadn't been almost blown to smithereens a few days prior.
He'd been in the thick of the fighting and the furthest platoon from a medic tent. His two squad mates had been killed and Genma's body had been pummelled with what felt like every scrap of debris the explosion had to offer.
He wasn't sure who had grabbed him and practically dumped him on the nearest field medic but all anyone could do was bandage up the worst of it and keep going.
The neglect of his injuries was what had landed him in the hospital practically the second he stepped back into the Konoha.
The nurses had grumbled over the injuries, they would all scar. All of them from the ones covering his legs to ones that had done their best to scrape most of the skin off his chest and arms and the few wounds that now decorated his face.
The only reason he wasn't laid out on a bed himself was due to sheer stubbornness alone.
Genma peered over at the bed his was sitting next to.
Raidou's face was heavily bandaged as was his neck and chest. The last week of the war had fucked them all over it seemed. And some worse than others.
There wasn't a real reason Genma should be in the room. Genma and Raidou were still strangers. They'd met in a rare and blissful moment of tranquillity, neck deep in an adult's war.
They'd exchanged names and respected glances and yet, that small exchange had pulled Genma out of his hospital bed against the better judgement of the nurses and himself to sit by Raidou Namiashi's bedside.
Maybe it was the morphine making his head so fuzzy.
Either way, he found himself sitting on a plastic chair really not made for people who'd been shot up full of shrapnel next to a person he barely knew because a gut feeling had told him to.
He wished desperately for a toothpick, a senbon — anything to keep him occupied.
A soft knock on the door shook Genma out of his reverie and twisted to look at the door.
His wounds protested against the motion, and he with-held a whimper, squeezing his eyes shut.
A soft hand pet him on the head and whispered soothing words.
He ripped his eyes open blushing furiously at the plump, middle-aged woman in front of him.
"Hm, are you a friend of Raidou's?" she was squatting in eye level with him. The smile on her face was of kind concern. He took a breath and wondered how he must look — a kid in hospital shirt and pants loosely fitting on his lithe body failing to cover the mass of bandages covering what felt like every inch of available skin.
He probably looked more bandage than human at this point.
"I met him a few weeks before the end of the war," Genma started. "When I heard he was here as well, I came to see him."
The woman chuckled and gave his head another gentle pat and moved to sit next to Genma on the next available chair, closer to Raidou's head. "I'm Raidou's mum." She leaned over Raidou's head gently brushing her hand across his forehead carefully avoiding the bandages. "I'm glad you were here while we weren't." She sat back in the chair and looked over at him. "It may sound silly, but when there's no one here with him, I worry. Even if you two don't know each other very well, thank you for looking after him."
Genma's felt his eyes widen, and he straightened in his seat, ignoring the faint pull of stitches "It's not a problem, especially if it gives you peace of mind."
The woman's smile rapidly faded, and she let out a gasp "I didn't even introduce myself and loading all this on to you!" She let out an embarrassed chuckle but continued to smile. "My name is Ume!"
There was a shuffle of feet at the door and a gentle flare of chakra. Genma turned to face the door again. The woman screamed shinobi. Retired, if the prosthetic leg was anything to go by.
Genma nodded and hoped he didn't look as out of it as he felt. He felt overwhelmed despite only two people talking with him. Morphine. Had to be the morphine.
He met her eyes and said "Genma Shiranui. Nice to meet you"
Shun approached the bed and ran her hand along Raidou's, studying his face carefully. "Shouldn't you be in bed, squirt?" she asked not taking her eyes from Raidou.
Genma faltered as his brain came to a halt. That was the whole problem. He should be in bed. But he was here, with Raidou and his mums because he had to be here. He had to make sure Raidou was alright.
"Yeah… probably," he said.
Shun looked up and manoeuvred herself to sit in the other chair on the other side of the bed and smiled softly. "Do you feel better now?"
Genma frowned and Ume elaborated, carefully patting his hand "She means, after seeing your friend and seeing he's okay, do you feel better?"
Genma looked at Ume, her smile soft and calm and Shun, patient and kind. He considered the question. He'd felt cramped in the hospital bed like there was a thousand things he needed to do and here he was, resting. He'd felt twitchy but sitting next Raidou — a person he technically still didn't know — he felt the calmest he'd felt in weeks.
Genma nodded and let himself smile and tried to ignore how foreign it felt on his face. "Yeah, I feel much better."
Shun grinned and let out a chuckle "good. I'm glad Raidou had someone to look after him while we weren't here."
Genma glanced over at the reason he'd dragged himself out of bed.
Hopefully, Raidou would be willing to be his friend when he woke up.
I apologise for medical inaccuracies. I kinda winged it…
Please comment to help me get through the day, thank you.
