*As this is the same scene as Chapter 3: Genma Shiranui and Konohagakure (only from a different POV), feel free to skip this chapter.
Previously:
The nii-san with the triangular tattoos on his face laughed. "Kid, I think you'll have a blast staying with us."
The other nii-san who was all covered up pushed his sunglasses higher and commented, "You will like staying in the Inuzuka compound. Why? It is a compound full of nin-dogs and pup-"
But before he could finish, the triangle-marked nii-san interrupted, "Let's go introduce you to my kaa-san!"
I felt something underneath me, and when I looked down, it was to find that I was riding the giant white dog.
I saw from the corner of my eye the quiet sunglasses nii-san that kept getting interrupted being left behind, so I waved back at him as a quick thank you. I thought I saw his hand rising to wave back, but the dog had entered the gates and I couldn't see him anymore.
I turned around to face the front again to find an area full of dogs, big and small, young and old.
I don't know why, but the nii-san started chuckling when he looked back at me, following him on his dog.
Chapter 4: Strong, Intelligent, and.. Ad..or..able... (Genma's POV)
(Posted 2014-10-24, Updated 2015-01-02)
{(S)}
When Genma had wanted a small C-rank mission to test his newly-healed leg, he was not expecting such an... emotional mission.
Genma arrived in the Obake woods after a day of traveling the ninja-way. He started heading north towards the small village inside; it had only been two days since Gai was last in this area.
He couldn't help but snort at the mission scroll as he checked who to deliver the message scroll to. Namura 'village'... it wasn't, really. More like several farmhouses stuck closely to one another.
Ah, well. On with the mission.
It was easy enough to find the mayor's house and give the message scroll to the mayor himself. He and his wife, Itsuki and Yuuna Tanaka, were supposed to be the foster parents of the suspected child.
After explaining to them that he had a message for them from the Hokage, Genma patiently waited while they started to read the letter. He had noticed a flash of silver from the doorway as he was providing his credentials to prove he was really from Konoha. He watched the flash of silver, to find that it was the hair of a little girl; probably the girl of the mission. While the mayor and his wife were in the middle of reading the message, the silver-haired little girl sneaked into the room and hid behind the mayor's wife.
She did bear close resemblance to Kakashi... If Genma knew exactly what Kakashi looked like beneath his mask.
The girl peered curiously at him, obviously trying to be subtle... but how subtle can a five-year-old get?
Then she had the bright idea of whispering to her foster mother, asking why the shinobi was so quiet.
After momentary confusion trying to figure out why being 'quiet' was a surprising trait of shinobi, Genma realized that in the little girl's short life, the only shinobi she had came across was Maito Gai.
So he laughed.
"Kid, all shinobi are quiet. You just had the misfortune of meeting Maito Gai first out of all the shinobi in the world."
Then he had the dark thought of her being totally overlooked, or worse, found by another shinobi from another village. He muttered under his breath, "Or was it fortunate that he did?"
Genma noted that the kid had heard his mutter, and gave her a wink.
So she had better senses than the average civilian. Was it only for hearing, or for other senses as well?
He was interrupted from his musings when the mayor and his wife apparently got to the part in the message where it said they had to give the girl up, for her and their protection.
After sharing a look with his wife, the mayor sent the kid for a Hakke-sensei.
As soon as she left, Genma commented, "Tanaka-san, you do know it is better to keep this quiet."
The mayor shook his head, disagreeing.
"We are a small village, shinobi-san. We all know of the story of how Kumiko's mother came by this village. Hakke-san and my wife was the one who were with her when she died. We all contributed to her nurturing and would want the best for her."
He gave Genma a rueful smile. "Even if I tried to keep it from them, in another few minutes, everyone would have found out that a shinobi has visited our home."
"Aa." Genma replied. There wasn't much he could say to disagree. This was a small village, and not so many people came by. From what the mayor said, all the villagers seemed to be fond of the child, meaning that it was less likely for them to give out information related to the girl to other strangers.
The mayor sighed. "I wish there was a way for us to keep her here, as she really is one of the best things that has happened in the village. There were some who were wary of her aloof personality at first, but all have come to see the benefits of having a child around."
He gazed out the window, gesturing towards one of the newer-looking farmhouses. "There has been three marriages since she began to talk, and two of the couples are expecting their firstborn children this coming winter."
"Congratulations."
In the following lull in conversation, they all decided to head outside to wait. After a moment of silence, the mayor's wife quietly spoke up, with quite a bit of awkward shuffling of feet.
"Shinobi-san, is there any other way besides Kumiko going to Konoha for protection? The Hokage was quite clear in the letter about the threats she faced if she stayed, but still..."
"Tanaka-san, there are plenty of ways for her to stay in the village. But does that mean that she will be safe? No." The mayor's wife looked crestfallen at that, and Genma couldn't help but feel a little pity for her. She must have been very fond of the girl.
The sounds of two people approaching took his attention away from the mayor and his wife towards the fields.
The girl said something indistinguishable to the man next to her, who stared at her with amazement, exclaiming, "Kumiko! You really have a great sense of smell! I always thought you won in our guessing games because you recognized the herbs you were saw in the basket!"
Hmm. So better sense of hearing and smell than the average civilian. Which... could possibly inherited from an Inuzuka, or... a person with a Dog-Summons contract.
To put it bluntly, it was shinobi protocol to avoid having sex outside mission parameters. Procreating outside the village had a tendency of creating holes in village security, making it liable to infiltrators who claimed to be the long-lost children of elite shinobi.
This implicit rule was never a part of the shinobi handbook, because it was one of the more obvious shinobi common knowledge... breaking this particular rule was a 'Bad Idea', with capitals. Big capitals.
It was looking more and more like Kakashi had gone against protocol, if Genma had not known Kakashi's personality for himself. While porn was a borderline reasonable past time for shinobi (even if he was reading it everywhere he went), it was more believable for him to have sired an illegitimate child than Tsunade-sama giving up sake - which would never happen in a thousand years.
While he had been thinking, the adults had not-so-subtly 'kicked' the girl out of the house to have 'adult-talk'. Genma glanced at the girl to find she was heading towards one of the storage sheds, one that had a faint herbal smell to it. As the adults weren't really concerned about her, he suspected that the girl often stayed in that particular shed. Perhaps she underwent herbology training under this 'Hakke-sensei'?
Genma pushed his chakra-sense out, keeping an eye out for the child. He belatedly followed the mayor back into the house to find that the mayor's wife was bringing out the tea while the doctor was reading through the Hokage's letter.
The mayor's wife spoke as she set out the tea arrangements on a small tea table.
"Shinobi-san, about the other methods of Kumiko staying in the village..."
Genma nodded to show he was listening. The mayor's wife hesitated once more, then asked, "May I ask specifically what the 'other methods' are?"
"I am not sure exactly what Hokage-sama has planned, but I would think it would involve a permanent hair color change, maybe chakra inhibitors, and other backup plans and details more or less like that."
Genma paused, slightly concerned that they would insist on the girl staying.
"Tanaka-san, though Kumiko staying is an option, it is a very dangerous one. Hokage-sama was clear that it would be best if the girl came to Konoha, and that only if the girl was adamant on staying in the village would she consider the other options of letting her stay. Even one slip in any of the mentioned methods could expose Kumiko, putting her in danger."
The doctor spoke up. "Exactly who is this shinobi Kumiko-chan related to? The letter just says elite shinobi..."
"That is classified."
At that, all the civilians tensed. Genma quickly backtracked, trying to ease their fears.
"I do want to emphasize that this is for Kumiko's protection. We want to avoid our shinobi from getting hurt, and if she is related, Kumiko-chan as well. Sometimes, knowing something is more dangerous than not knowing."
When there was no sign of the tension easing, Genma spoke again.
"Tanaka-san, Tanaka-san, Hakke-san. I know, to you, it seems unlikely that Kumiko would be found out in such a small village as this. You may be right. But we shinobi are a paranoid bunch, and since the last war, our paranoia is still at its peak. It would take a long while before it disappears completely. I'm sure you understand."
For a few moments, no one said anything. Then the doctor spoke with a sigh. "... Ahh, I knew Kumiko was special, but a child of a shinobi? I would never have guessed it."
He started rolling up the scroll he had been reading. "Although in the letter Hokage-sama said there was a possibility of being related, for shinobi a 'possibility' is treated as if it is a certain fact, am I correct?"
"Yes."
At that, they fell again into a brief silence, all preoccupied with their own thoughts.
When the mayor cleared his throat, about to speak with the concerned face of a worried parent, Genma felt an instinctual reluctance - he was not going to like the next several minutes...
"Where is Kumiko going to stay in Konoha? Is the place a good and safe place?"
Immediately after the question's meaning sunk in, the mayor's wife followed up with another question.
"Is she allowed to come visit our village?"
The doctor chipped in his two cents as well.
"Does Konoha have a safe field for Kumiko-chan to play in? She likes wide open spaces... Are there dangerous areas in the village that she might wander into by accident?"
With a mental sigh, Genma prepared himself for a grueling hour, if not several hours, of being grilled over details he didn't know. He supposed he would have to improvise, then tell Tsunade-sama what the guardians wanted for the girl.
Parental concerns were sweet, but difficult to deal with if one was not the parent.
{(S)}
Genma had finally calmed the 'parents' of the girl enough to ensure that Kumiko was to be in safe hands at Konoha.
The doctor, Hakke Takao, brought the kid back from the herb shed, sitting her down in the middle of the room. Together, the adults told her the news of her unexpected move to Konoha.
Genma couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. She had to give up her foster parents and home to protect herself and the village.
When the little girl stayed silent as she sorted through the information she was given, all the adults, sans the shinobi, fidgeted.
She then made her choice of leaving, which really was for the best, even if the mayor's wife was obviously dismayed by the choice.
He decided to give the child an extra few hours with her family, a night to stay with her foster parents.
They tried to offer him a room, but he saw that the house was too small for him to fit in comfortably, so he declined. Luckily, the communal grains storage house was empty enough, only storing bags of planting seeds that made a good enough bed with an extra blanket. The blanket was given freely by the mayor.
He left them alone for the night, excusing himself from the potluck dinner for a village-wide perimeter security check. He didn't really want to be the interloper in their family gathering. As if in thanks for giving them privacy, He was given a very extravagant bento, which he ate in the forest during his patrol.
{(S)}
The next morning was a beautiful day, with a clear sky promising great weather.
Genma noticed that the little girl had bags under her eyes, and a strange lack of expression.
Compared to yesterday's relative expressiveness, her face was as stiff as a wooden mask.
He watched the tearful hugs, kisses, hair-ruffling of the villagers, and the girl's body language. She was tensed up and was digging her fingers into her palms.
... Perhaps she was trying not to show her tears to her foster parents and villagers?
If so, she possessed a high-control over her expressions, for her age. Not seen often. She definitely had high social intelligence, with general intellect that was on par with that of a prodigy.
To protect the rest of the villagers, she chose the logical choice of going to Konoha. Also, by making sure everyone saw that she was 'indifferent' to coming back to the village, she was discouraging any attempts made to get her back.
...Or maybe he was reading too much into her actions. She was only five years old, after all.
After they had all said their final goodbyes, he lowered himself into a crouch when the child turned to face him, ready to leave. He offered his back as she walked towards him. He didn't comment or react when her expressionless face changed to that of a grief-stricken one when she turned away from her foster parents.
She clambered onto his back, and as he stood, he felt a his shoulder becoming slightly warm and wet.
He flicked a glance back to find she had hidden her face on his vest. He suspected that her control over her emotions were breaking.
After a nod to the mayor and his wife, he decided to spare the girl any more emotional scenes and shunshined away.
A few moments later, he felt her turn back towards the direction of the village and whisper a 'I'll miss you'.
She's a strong kid.
{(S)}
By the time they stopped for a short break, the tears on his shirt had already dried out.
The kid was still quiet and subdued, looking ready to cry again as she ate the leftovers the mayor's wife had given them to eat on the way.
Genma was inwardly panicking. How'd you stop a kid from crying? He started talking about Konoha to distract her and cheer her up. It seemed to be working, as she seemed to be listening instead of brooding, so he continued talking about the civilian aspects of the village while they finished their meal.
He finished his meal and looked back at her to see her spacing out, holding an empty leaf-plate. She seemed to be staring at his senbon.
"Hey Kumiko-chan, do you want to see something cool?" When he waited in silence for her to answer, staring amusedly at her, she seemed to wake up, starting to pay attention again. When she found Genma waiting for an answer, she gave him a shrug.
Heh. How... cute.
So he started showing off, spitting the senbon in the air only to catch it again with his mouth after it had spun several times in the air.
She was watching, but she still seemed to be thinking of something else.
At least she wasn't sad. Or worse, crying. But he tried to get her attention again, talking to her while balancing the senbon on his nose.
"So it's okay for me to call you Kumiko-chan, then? I didn't really ask your permission yesterday. Did I even introduce myself to you?"
He glanced at her as he flicked the senbon into the air again and caught it with his mouth. She was miles away again. "Kumiko-chan?"
Ah, there she was. Heh, the kid was really cute.
"I realized that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Shiranui Genma. I'm a tokubetsu jonin, which means a mid-high rank in the shinobi corps."
He flicked the senbon in midair once more, watching how the kid's eyes followed the senbon but started to become distant again as she thought about something. Inwardly shrugging, he continued with his explanation.
"The shinobi corps ranking system goes something like this: academy students who learn shinobi skills, then genin who help out in the village, then chunin who usually do a little more challenging missions, then tokubetsu jonin who has missions needing their special skill. So you could say I'm one of the elite. You should feel honored, Kumiko-chan!" He gave her a wink, to which she only absentmindedly nodded to.
"Finally, there are the jonin, the highest ranked shinobi. These are the stereotypical shinobi that civilians usually think of when they think shinobi."
He inwardly gave himself a slap on the head after saying that last statement. Didn't he find out yesterday that she had set Maito Gai as the standard, 'stereotypical' shinobi? "Well... not Maito Gai, though. He's not... a... ah... typical jonin."
He frowned, as he wasn't very sure she would take that correctly.
As Gai's genin teammate, he didn't want to give her wrong preconceptions by accident. Best let her make her own conclusions after getting to know him herself.
He glanced at her again and found her paying close attention to something on his face near his mouth instead of the conversation at hand. Did he have something on his face? He wiped around his mouth, but it was clean. "Anyway, it's not really good to talk about someone else when they're not there, so... What's your favorite vegetable? Are you like other civilian kids not liking vegetables? What about pumpkins?"
Genma hoped the diversion tactic was not too obvious; he couldn't help inwardly giving himself another slap on the head. Did his creativity levels suddenly suffer? How could he come up with such a pathetic diversion topic?
Thankfully, she was still staring at his face, making no indication that she heard the questions or that she was paying attention to the conversation. He continued talking, hoping that whatever she was concentrating on had not alerted her to his pathetic diversion. "I consider the pumpkin to be the queen of -"
"Do you have something big stuck between your teeth? Why do you keep a toothpick with you all the time?"
The interruption caught him off-guard. "...?!"
Where did that come from? ... Something big stuck between his teeth? ...Toothpick...?
The kid pointed to his mouth. Seriously, a toothpick?
He followed her finger's direction with his own. He did not have - oh.
...the senbon?
As he tried to control the twitching corners of his mouth, trying not to laugh at the kid calling senbon a toothpick, he realized that Gai only carried around blunt weapons, so the kid had probably never seen kunai before, much less a senbon.
The thought was not much help in controlling his laughter about to escape - mistaking senbon for a toothpick! - though he tried; he really did.
But in the face of the kid looking dead-serious, as if examining an unknown explosive seal that could go off any minute, asking why he had a toothpick all the time - his usual self-control was blown. It was like watching a kitten carefully pat at a harmless object, not really expecting it to do anything, but accidentally setting it off into motion and frightening the life out of the curious kitten.
So he turned away, trying to gain his self-control back.
He had been trying to contain his laughter and had almost succeeded in gaining back his composure when he sensed something moderately fast approaching him from behind.
All humor gone in an instant, he started molding chakra into the senbon to throw and reaching for his kunai pouch when he realized it was the kid and immediately broke off his movement and chakra.
He calmed his breath as his heart fluttered in a mini-heart attack; that had been too close. Killing or hurting the kid by accident with medical care still half a day's travel away in Konoha... He took a deep breath trying to calm his stuttering heart.
Strangely, the kid was holding his wrist, taking his pulse.
Didn't the kid know not to approach a ninja sudden - oh. That's right, this was only her second time meeting a ninja.
Then the kid went and did something even stranger than randomly checking for a pulse: she started to peer around the clearing, looking under the bushes and closely at the tree roots nearby.
Genma watched for several moments, then finally succumbed to his curiosity. "...What are you doing, Kumiko-chan?"
She answered without looking at him, crawling on her knees to peer closer at a tangle of tree roots. "Looking for the source of paralysis. Hakke-sensei said usually the antidote was found in the roots of the paralytic."
Paralysis? Antidote? Who was paralyzed?
"There doesn't seem to be any paralytic herbs... Shiranui-san, do you have a type of chronic illness with seizures? Have you ever had seizures before, or was this the first one?"
...She thought I was paralyzed? Or had a seizure? How-? ...Ah.
His shaking and twitching from laughter before. Then the pulse-taking after his mini-heart attack after aborting the defensive reflex.
...Twitching and erratic pulse were common symptoms of paralysis poisons.
"...Shiranui-san?"
Most civilians didn't know that, much less civilian children, whether they grew up at a farm or not.
"How do you know about paralytic herbs?"
"...Hakke-sensei told me. There were certain types of herbs I had to look out for if I wanted to play at Tenrai valley."
Okay, this made it official. She had high intelligence, and was possibly a prodigy in terms of understanding and applying the said information. No normal five-year-old kid, no matter how intelligent, remembered the symptoms from paralytic herbs and its counters.
They might be able to recognize and avoid the herbs, but knowing abstruse information such as where to find the antidotes to those herbs? That the antidotes had a tendency of coming from the paralytic's roots? The natural habitats of most paralytic herbs?
This kid was a genius.
...Though her social intelligence had to be evaluated again if she didn't recognize a person holding in their laughter. But... that could be due to the fact that she just hadn't had much experience in dealing with other people. Yet.
He found the kid still watching him with concern, so he assured her that he was alright. "Aa... well, I'm not in paralysis, and no, I do not have chronic seizures. I just... remembered something very funny."
There was a pause while she slowly nodded at him.
"You are very strange, Shiranui-san. Not as strange as Maito-san, but strange, all the same."
Genma turned pale. He was being compared to Maito Gai, of all people? And he was still strange?
"Umm, Kumiko-chan, you can call me Genma... And Maito Gai... is just a very special kind of shinobi. You shouldn't compare every shinobi with him, okay?"
He inwardly hoped she didn't call other shinobi strange hand in hand with Gai's strangeness. He loved his teammate, but to be compared with Gai and seen to be just as strange (or even stranger, if that was possible) was the worst insult in terms of eccentricity...
But... for the kid to just... decide that he was as strange as his teammate Gai... His teammate was putting up a facade to be underestimated! He had not! A facade and the real personality couldn't possibly compare in terms of strangeness! ...right?
This kid was making him doubt one of his most steadfast beliefs... no one was more eccentric than Gai, right?
He watched as she nodded seriously in response to his request, but he also saw the stubborn quirk of her mouth that all but said 'I still think I'm right'.
Genma inwardly sighed.
The faster they got to Konoha and correct her misconceptions of what a 'normal' shinobi was, the better.
"Ready to go on?"
{(S)}
When they stopped for lunch several hours away from Konoha, she took the initiative in the conversation, this time.
"So, what is that symbol thing on the metal plate on the back of your head?"
Ah, an easy enough question. He hoped there wasn't another misconception incident like the one at breakfast.
"Oh, this is called a hitai-ate. The symbol..." Why is she calling the leaf a symbol? "...Isn't it obviously a leaf? A swirly one?"
He tilted his head to show her the leaf.
She squinted, then turned her head a little to the side. She turned away and did not meet his eyes. "...Aa."
...It was not obvious? Genma couldn't help the following outburst. "How could you NOT see that this is a leaf? ...What did you think it was anyway?"
She looked embarrassed, hesitating before answering.
He raised his eyebrows to prompt her.
"...a snail...?"
After a momentary pause, Genma facepalmed. Now that he mentally recalled the image of the leaf symbol on his hitai-ate, he could now not un-see the snail. He did his best to pour figurative bleach on that thought, but it wasn't working very well.
He felt like a traitor, but... he could see where the kid was coming from. The leaf symbol did look pretty confusing for a... leaf.
Now that he reflected on it, when he had been a small kid - before he understood what it stood for! - he had thought the leaf insignia was a paintbrush or some animal's tail.
Genma sighed again, and tried pouring more figurative bleach on that tidbit of neuron connections in his head as well.
It would not do for him to see a paintbrush or animal's tail or, for Kami, a snail every time he saw a Konoha hitai-ate or insignia. If the Yamanaka's or Ibiki got even a hint of that, he'd be pulled to T&I for a psych checkup. Not fun. No, not fun at all.
He saw Kumiko being sheepish for being unable to see the leaf and gave her a reassuring smile. "... Anyway, this hitai-ate is a symbol to show that you have come of age and are willing to take up responsibilities of the village as a shinobi."
And an implicit vow to take up the Will of Fire: to protect and cherish and love Konoha.
"Oh."
The rest of the meal was silent, both of us in a reflective mood. She was a quiet kid, not feeling too uncomfortable in the silence. Genma was grateful, as he had had to deal with loud, annoying children too many times.
He got up when she finished, and crouched to let her up on his back for the last leg of the journey.
Ten minutes later, he noticed her grip loosening. He turned slightly to see her sleepy, half-closed eyes, drooping open and closed as she was about to fall asleep.
...That was actually... really cute.
He shifted mid-jump to place her in a more comfortable position, tightening his hold to secure her better.
If asked, Genma would claim that Kumiko's small puff of breath on his neck had made him ticklish. But had anyone witnessed the actual moment when Kumiko snuggled into Genma's neck with a small mumble, they would have seen that Genma, the imperturbable tokubetsu jonin, had cracked a 'loving-oji-san' smile.
{(S)}
When they arrived in Konoha, Genma stopped before the gates.
"Kumiko-chan, we're here."
As she woke up from the stop in movement, her confused and dazed face was... cute. After he let her down, she rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Genma didn't use 'adorable' to describe things often, but... that... was ad...or...able.
They walked towards the village, passing the gates. He glanced at the kid to see her gawking at Hokage Mountain, as well as the village people milling about the marketplace. He supposed that it was a large number of people for a girl from Namura 'village'.
He greeted Kotetsu and Izumo, signing to them to let Tsunade-sama know that Kumiko had arrived. As Kotetsu answered him verbally and Izumo signed in confirmation, Genma watched Kumiko from the corner of his eye to see her look back and forth from the two chunin and himself.
She had that serious thinking face again, and Genma could practically see her spacing out.
...She was probably comparing them to Gai in her head. He sighed, and hoped her misconceptions about shinobi was in the process of correcting itself soon.
Genma took her hand and prepared to walk, planning to show her around Konoha on the way to Hokage Tower.
As they started walking, Kumiko asked a question. "We're not going to fly-run like you did on the way here?"
...Fly-run? Oh, shunshin. Shunshin was too quick for civilian to get a look around the village.
So he made a small white lie, wanting to show her around her future home, but not wishing to be a total laughingstock among his peers about having feelings. "Nah, I feel like walking so I can save up chakra for a short mission later."
He did need to go on a mission later, like, tomorrow later; also, he did have to save chakra for a short mission, like, after a challenging mission - so technically, he wasn't lying.
Genma knew that, at least this time, his lie was pretty credible. So why was she staring at him like that?
"...What is chakra?"
He blinked. He inwardly gave a sigh in relief, because for some reason, getting caught lying to this particular little girl seemed... undesirable. Genma recited the standard explanation for chakra.
"Chakra is a sort of mixed energy of spiritual and physical energy. Both can be found in everyone, both civilians and shinobi, but shinobi train to mix the spiritual and physical energy, creating chakra."
Inwardly, Genma added, Some people trained to use only the spiritual or only the physical energy, but that was the minority and not used often.
"Chakra is the energy needed to use jutsus and speed and strength enhancements."
He looked back at the kid, expecting her to be confused.
She was staring intently at him, eyes twinkling with interest. He continued.
"In most cases, chakra has a blue color, to those who can see it. I believe yours may be white, which only one family in Konoha is known to have. A family trait only seen by one family is something called a Kekkei-Gekkai around here. If you do have white chakra, then it's definite proof that you are related to one of our elite ninja, because the only known Kekkei-Genkai of white chakra is found in Konoha."
He watched as she absorbed that information, nodding slowly in understanding.
Genma shrugged. Only time would tell if she understand the explanation enough to apply it herself.
He started pointing out some notable places for her, starting with the Konoha marketplace, which was bustling with people and merchants selling their wares.
The two continued walking through the streets, with Genma occasionally pointing out a good restaurant or landmark to the small child.
About ten minutes later, they reached Hokage Tower.
In front of the building, Genma deliberated between taking the stairs and chakra-jumping through the window.
If he had been alone, he would have taken the stairs, as he had earned enough of Tsunade-sama's ire for using the window instead of the door these past few weeks.
But... during the trip, Kumiko seemed to enjoy the shunshin, and he wanted to give her last ride.
Of course, he had no idea or even slightest inkling that having Kumiko with him as he came through the window would act as a shield from Tsunade-sama's wrath.
"Here Kumiko-chan, take my other hand as well. I'm going to jump pretty high and I don't want you to fall."
Genma decided that the muted delight in Kumiko's face was worth the risk of Tsunade-sama's wrath. He felt the tugging of the corners of his mouth as his mouth attempted to make another oji-smile.
Fortunately for his reputation as Genma, the imperturbable tokubetsu jonin, the half-smile slipped off his face when a white sake cup flew past his face.
Unfortunately for his status of well-being, he felt his impending doom as his face paled with the realization that his Hokage had missed hitting him on purpose.
"Shiranui, what did I say about coming through the window? One more strike and you get demoted to C-ranks for the rest of the month!"
Tsunade-sama was signing with her fingers as she rubbed her closed eyes, telling him to report after taking the child to the hospital, and to use the door, not the window, dammit.
He tried to stay calm, breathing slowly and keeping his heart-beat slow and regular.
Kumiko was slowly creeping behind his leg, taking shelter from the scowl on Tsunade-sama's face... and Genma couldn't help but wish that he could do the same, hiding behind something or someone else.
Come on, Genma, you can do this... Kumiko is looking at you for guidance... She is meeting Tsunade-sama for the first time and doesn't know that Tsunade-sama is actually not that scary... to children...
With a (very fake) rueful grin, Genma cheerfully commented, "Sorry, Tsunade-sama. I forgot again."
A beat of silence.
Oh Crap. Tsunade-sama had that... that... glint in her eyes that most ANBU termed 'contemplating the use of extensive medical knowledge and chakra to inflict the most pain in the most horrifying manner'.
"Report, Shiranui."
Genma swallowed, telling himself that there couldn't be that big of a consequence to using the window, and hoped that she would overlook it, believing that he really did forget.
...But he saw the glare that he was still receiving from Tsunade-sama, and regretted his decision and his faulty reasoning of thinking that Kumiko had been enough of a shield for Tsunade-sama to not dole out punishment on him.
He was much more subdued as he responded to her verbal command.
"Mission accomplished. I just wanted to check with you before taking her to the hospital for the blood test."
Tsunade-sama gave Genma a long glare promising consequences if he used the window again, then softened her glare when she turned to Kumiko.
Hmm... He had expected either a chakra-laden finger-flick to the head or a month of D-rank missions... So perhaps the plan of using Kumiko-chan as a shield had actually worked.
"Hello there. I'm Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage. Or you may know me as the person who asked you to come to Konoha. What is your name, gaki?
Kumiko made a little awkward bow, looking quite nervous. Genma fought the tugging corners of his mouth from another appearance of the oji-smile, only just barely controlling the smile from showing.
"My name is Tanaka Kumiko."
"Hm. There does seem to be an uncanny similarity between you and that sorry excuse of a ninja. I'm still waiting for him; he was due an hour ago."
Tsunade-sama started muttering, ranting to herself about Kakashi's not-so-commendable habits and tendencies. "Promise to be punctual, hmph. Asking me to stop gambling would have a better chance of succeeding."
Genma knew what Tsunade-sama was doing - testing the sensitiveness of Kumiko's hearing, as well as checking for body language that would betray interest in Kakashi - just in case she was an infiltrator trying to find more about him.
"Not used to the paperwork, pfft. More like, doing everything to avoid it. That upstart brat better get up off his backside and take up this job soon, or there will. be. consequences."
Genma couldn't help flinching at Tsunade-sama's last several words. Though the mutters were to determine Kumiko's hearing range, he couldn't help but think that some of her true annoyance at Kakashi was showing through her forceful words near the end.
He observed Kumiko, who gave no sign of recognition at Kakashi's characterization traits and simply looked puzzled. In fact, she didn't seem that interested in the chronically late shinobi at all, more interested in Tsunade-sama's office and the view of Hokage Mountain.
It didn't seem very likely that Kumiko was an infiltrator.
Tsunade-sama looked like she came to a similar conclusion.
"Alright Shiranui, off to the hospital. And use the door next time, or I will show you exactly how high you need to be to touch the clouds. Am I clear?"
As she made a shooing motion with her hand, Tsunade-sama signed to him to tell the medic to check for a sleeper-seal, just in case.
...And to use the door, or else.
"H-hai, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade-sama turned away from him and gave a small, genuine smile at Kumiko.
"Tanaka Kumiko, welcome to Konoha."
Kumiko gave a small smile in response. At her small but bright smile, Genma couldn't help feel another tug on the corners of his lips as his mouth attempted another 'loving-oji-san' smile.
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
At Kumiko's attempt at being formal, his mouth finally succeeded in making the smile. (It was hidden behind a hand, so his reputation was still intact)
...She was really... ad...or...able.
Footnotes
'Loving-oji-san' smile/ Oji-smile (Loving-uncle smile/Uncle-smile): This is a smile most people have on their faces when watching/seeing something cute and innocent (like twin babies 'talking', a kitten falling asleep while eating, a puppy chasing its tail, and everything cute and innocent that makes one go 'Dawwwww...').
It is called a 'loving-oji-san' smile because even the most macho of guys are said to automatically start practicing this smile when they become a daddy to a little baby-girl.
Some countries actually call this smile a "Daddy-smile", because the feeling when smiling this smile is said to be similar to the feelings dads/fathers have when wishing "to protect his cute little daughter from the 'yuckiness' of boys". (Quote by an anonymous dad)
...This is a term that will be used somewhat frequently in the upcoming chapters.
A/N - IT'S A FILLER CHAPTER, and the plot is seriously NOT PROGRESSING. I KNOW.
...Deal with it.
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