Chapter Summary: Genma isn't one of Minato's kids.
He's fought on the front lines and seen the worst of what the shinobi world has to offer and Minato can't coddle him like he does his kids.
But Genma's a good kid, and Minato only wants the best for him.
The war has been over for three days Genma's been back in Konoha for less than 24 hours. Genma's muscles burn even more than when he was in the trenches which doesn't make any logical sense whatsoever.
It's supposed to get better since leaving the front lines but his muscles are stiff and every time he moves he wouldn't be surprised if something just snapped.
Before he's always disliked hospitals but now it's worse, it's grating on his nerves, pulling and poking and with every second he's more convinced it's a good idea to start climbing out the window. But that's stupid because Genma's pretty sure he won't be able to walk across the room right now, let alone scale down the side of the building.
He's more of a mummy than a human at the moment with the amount of bandages that are covering his body – the aftermath of an explosion that he was too close to.
The injuries are a few days old, but no one had the chance to do much for him except bandage him up and keep fighting.
The nurses had all grumbled at the sight of the injuries now, dirty and unhealed, and so he is stuck in hospital until they were sure he was not going to topple over as soon as he's discharged.
Genma really did feel like he was going to face plant the second he stood up. It was just exhaustion catching up with him the nurses had said. Not to mention the fact that in the last week of the war he hadn't stopped. No one had. Between the fighting, the running, always been on guard, always been ready, always ready to fight, muscles always tense and now very suddenly been put into a situation where he needed to relax. He needed to sleep and rid himself of the mindset that he could die at any moment.
And doing all that was turning out to be a lot harder than anyone had told him it would be.
He lays back in his bed, and sure it's better than the trenches - anything has got to better than the trenches - but he feels so unsettled and he wants to get up, to move, to do anything other than lay here.
Simply laying in this hospital bed is like he's wasting time, like he's being lazy and one of his officers is going to come around the corner at any second, covered on blood, dirt and sweat and tell him to get off his ass and so some work.
But that won't happen because Genma supposed to be the hospital. He's supposed to be resting. But that doesn't make him feel any safer.
No place is really safe and he feels no more secure here than he did when he was killing shinobi on the front lines.
Genma tugs the covers up to his chin and strains his ears, listening to the bustling of the hospital. It's a nicer thing to listen to than Genma's head which keeps suggesting things like what he needs to do to get away, and how he could fend off an enemy if need be.
The hospital always has a sense of underlying urgency to it. The smell of hope and despair is mingled into something Genma just doesn't like. He'd tried to explain it to his civilian father once when he was refusing to go to the hospital. The place smells wrong, feels wrong. He hates the itchy sheets, how dark the rooms are during the night and there's that second of panic when you don't know where you are upon waking.
But civilians aren't shinobi and Genma's father couldn't hope to understand why shinobi hate the feeling of waking up in an unknown place, the feeling of unfamiliar bed sheets, unrecognisable faces, white walls and that suffocating feeling of being trapped.
There's a cry of a baby, the yell of a woman, the rushed steps of nurses and doctors, the fluctuating chakra signatures of injured shinobi and civilian alike.
He hasn't seen Raidou in weeks. He knows Gai is alive and Ebisu is as well. He hasn't seen Aoba or his old friend Koto since they were deployed to the front lines which was months ago.
He's pretty sure he saw Asuma at one point but Genma isn't confident in trusting his memory of that.
And he can't even look for them because he's stuck in a hospital bed with aching muscles and unsteady legs and when he asked the nurses they wouldn't even answer.
So Genma's stuck in the hospital. He feels exposed and vulnerable. A strong gust of wind could knock him over if it tried hard enough and after all these months on the front lines, that kind of weakness feels like a death sentence.
He's stuck in the last place he wants to be and all his friends could be dead.
There's a scream. High pitched, panicked and full of terror. Genma jerks upright, breath heaving and heart pounding in his chest. It's the scream of a civilian, the part of Genma's brain that's still rooted in logic can understand that but all screams sound the same to the less lucid part.
All screams sound like he's watching Isamu and Makoto – the people on his last squad – get blown into tiny pieces. Reduced to
Genma squeezes his eyes shut and forces himself to breathe. He's made it this far. He survived the Third Shinobi War. He's not going to burn himself out now by over-reacting.
Genma pulls the blankets back and carefully moves so he's sitting on the edge of the bed.
His legs are beyond stiff from the constant strain he's put them under and the massive purpling bruise all the way up his left calf is still painful but Genma can't keep sitting here panicking over who's dead and who's alive. He needs to know now even if it isn't what he wants to hear.
The first step from the bed almost ends in Genma kissing the floor and the only thing that saves him is the frantic grasp for the bedside table.
He pauses, holding on to the small table with both hands and takes a deep breath. Slowly he lets go of one hand and puts it on the wall, then the other one when he's sure he's got his balance right.
He shuffles along, using both hands to keep himself upright, cursing all the painkillers he's drugged up on.
He strains his ears and listens out for noise along the hallway. There's still the soft wail of a baby but that seems to be from further away and he can't really hear much more.
He pries the door open and wiggles his way out.
The hall is quite dimmed, as expected for this time of the evening and Genma can't sense any chakra signatures that are moving towards him so he eases himself into the hall, closes the door behind him and takes a moment to catch his breath.
Genma's always been good at sensing other people's chakra and he knows what Raidou's, Koto's, Aoba's and Asuma's feel like so as he walks and senses them then he'll know they're here. Genma's still got enough chakra left, so if he stumbles - literally in Genma's case - upon a nurse, he can always throw up a basic henge of some sort.
Either way, he's not going back to bed until he knows. For better or for worse. He needs to know.
He shuffles along the wall, keeping his head down, watching his sluggish feet in an attempt to stop himself closing the gap between himself and the floor, hands still bracing him up. He keeps his senses alert but he can only sense chakras he doesn't recognise.
He's pretty sure his Lieutenant, Shi, is down the hall and he wants to visit him at some point as well but this matter comes first. His friends come first.
Genma is too busy concentrating on manoeuvring around a cart to focus on the people rapidly approaching from around the corner until Genma's face hits something hard just as his legs decide enough is enough.
He knows he's falling but he simply doesn't have the strength to react to catch himself. Genma braces himself for colliding with the unforgiving floor and probably giving himself a concussion and a lot of embarrassment on the way as well.
Suddenly there are arms around his waist and Genma finds himself staring up at yellow hair and a gentle smile and all Genma's cognitive function comes to a screeching halt.
The Yondaime Hokage stares down at him and the gentle smile is quickly turning into something that is much more concerned. Genma knows he needs to say something, tell the Hokage he's fine, sorry for troubling him but his legs are shaking and there's a chill that's settled that's raising the hair on Genma's arms and he physically cannot get any words out.
Minato opens his mouth, probably to ask if Genma needs a medic but soft voices down the hall interrupt him.
Definitely shinobi if Genma's chakra sensing is still working properly. Minato seems very inclined to ignore them when Genma catches the word 'Danzou' and Minato freezes.
His face barely changes, still looking at Genma with easy concern but Genma can see the subtle wariness in his face.
Minato shuffles them both into a little storage alcove as the voices approach and holds Genma tightly in his arms.
"Danzou-sama has been acting strange lately, don't you think?" one voice says quietly enough that Genma has to strain himself to hear it.
"Hmm yeah. It started when Kushina-sama found the Mokuton user but it's gotten worse since Uchiha Shisui awakened his Mangekyo. Apparently, it's very powerful." The other voice is equally as quiet and Genma frowns.
He's been out on the front lines for too long. He's heard along the grapevine that there was a Mokuton user now but he hadn't heard about Uchiha Shisui awakening his Mangekyo and wasn't he about seven years old?
Genma looks up and Minato and thinks. Danzou has some problem with the Mokuton and the Mangekyo Sharingan.
It's not Genma's place to say anything but Danzou has always made him uncomfortable. He'd even mentioned it to his Jounin sensei, Chouza. Chouza had given him a long, unreadable look and told him to keep listening to his instincts. Chouza hadn't really confirmed anything, only that Genma's instincts weren't misguided.
He's not sure what Danzou might actually be doing and hadn't tried to find out. Genma's just a Chuunin. Leave that to the big guns.
But he'd thought about it. From what information Genma had gathered the man wants to protect Konoha and is prepared to go to any length to achieve it. If Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyo was really that powerful and if the Mokuton user was getting stronger… well, they are the two jutsus that stand a chance against the Kyuubi. Does Danzou want the powers to himself? Wants those kids under his wing? There is still too much Genma doesn't know and too much cloudiness in his head to figure it out.
The voices drift off, chatting about other irrelevant things and Minato looks down at him, blanches and quickly but gently lowers him to the floor bracing him against the wall. Minato puts a hand against his Genma's forehead.
"Your chakra is so low. You shouldn't be walking around at all," he says and frowns, pulling his hand back.
He's thankful he's sitting down because the wave of dizziness that hits him is overwhelming and swallows Genma's words despite how gentle Minato is being.
He holds Genma upright by his shoulders, waiting patiently for the dizziness to pass.
It takes another few seconds for Genma to get his mouth into working order, but he eventually looks up at Minato and hopes he doesn't look as exhausted as he feels.
"Sorry, Yondaime-sama," Genma manages but as Minato grips him tighter he thinks he may look worse.
Minato studies him for a moment and then asks "were you trying to get somewhere?"
Genma swallows and lets his head rest against the wall. He wouldn't be nearly anywhere near this exhausted if it weren't for the painkillers he was drugged up on. A weird part of Genma prefers the raw pain he had always been feeling while on the front lines. That never-ending ache, the constant throbbing of old, ignored injuries. The pain sharpened him up, motivated him to keep going.
And Genma just collided with the Yondaime's chest and laid in his arms for the last few minutes and the Hokage is even actively worried about him because he looks so terrible.
"I need to find out if my friends are de- " Genma stops himself. No need to take such a negative approach as his Jounin sensei always told him. "If they're alive. I haven't seen some of them in months."
Minato obviously picks up on Genma's stumble but he doesn't comment thankfully. Instead, he carefully scoops Genma into his arms and stands up slowly, obviously trying to avoid giving Genma any more dizzy spells.
"How about, I'll take you back to your room, you tell me the names of your friends and I'll find out for you?" Minato says.
Genma's forces his face not to react at been carried by the god damn Hokage or at what Minato's offering to do for him - which he's getting good at. He's got the best poker face out of all his friends at the moment. "I don't want to interrupt any errands you're running, Yondaime-sama."
Minato huffs shakes his head dismissively. "It's absolutely fine, Genma-san"
Genma has no idea why the Hokage would know his name personally. Genma's just a Chuunin. He's really nothing special and has no outstanding skill sets. He's a pretty standard shinobi. Genma dismisses the thought temporarily and rattles off his room number
They make it back to the room in less than half the time it took Genma to get as far as he did and he can't help but have an internal chuckle at that.
Minato gently lowers him down and pulls the blankets back up to Genma's waist and props the bed up so Genma can actually see what's going on.
"I know one of your friends is Asuma Sarutobi, yes? He's definitely alive, I saw him as I was coming here." Minato says, leaning against the bed looking at Genma through curious eyes.
Genma's chest eases slightly. That accounts for one person.
"Um, Raidou Namiashi, Aoba Yamashiro, Koto Nara and Kurenai Yuuhi." Genma's not that close to Kurenai, but if the Yondaime is really going to check for them, he'd like to know if she's okay.
"I'll be back soon then," he says and flickers out of the room.
That makes things a lot easier for Genma, although it has landed him right back in the spot he doesn't want to be. But still, the Hokage himself is running errands for him. Genma's sure the Yondaime has better things to do than run around finding information about a random Chuunin's friends.
Genma pulls the blankets up higher and thinks about his father. He's much easier to think about than the possibility that his friends might have died. The Shiranui have always been a clan of shinobi and civilians, and Genma's father had never known anything about the shinobi life until he married into the Shiranui clan.
Genma's shinobi mother died when Genma was five, and his father had taken to look at the path that Genma had chosen with disdain.
He hadn't come to visit Genma yet, and Genma hadn't a chance to call him. Usually, someone notified the parent, but with the chaos of the war freshly over, that might have gotten lost in translation.
He could ask the Yondaime to help him with that, but that might be overstepping the mark.
Genma spends the next few minutes trying to rest and not think of anything too intensely. He lets his eyes fall shut and tries to relax on the bed.
An undetermined amount of time later, there is a gentle hand on his shoulder and Genma jerks awake before he realises he's at the hospital. Not in the trenches.
Minato catches him as his head swims and he lists to the side, one hand on his chest and the other on his back and he gently presses him back to bed.
Genma lets him, exhaustion heavier than before and it's just easier to let the Hokage do his work than resist it.
"Yamashiro has a few broken ribs but is otherwise fine. Namiashi will likely be in the hospital for the next few weeks but he'll live and Yuuhi broke her arm but is home now." Minato says, his voice detached, as though giving a report.
Genma blinks hard, trying to wake himself up because the Hokage is standing right there, and Genma's falling asleep. The relief that bubbles through him is quickly replaced with dread. There is a name missing from that list.
"Your other friend, Koto Nara," Minato looks down at him, his face painfully blank. "was killed two months ago." Nothing changes in Minato's voice. It's eerily impassive, as a Hokage's should be.
Koto was a close friend. Someone he'd gone through the Academy, the Chuunin exams and most of his childhood with.
Genma breathes slowly. In and out and forces himself to meet the Hokage's eyes. Minato doesn't have time for sympathies. Genma is just another one of Konoha's soldiers. Another one of Minato's soldiers.
Genma is not anyone of Minato's precious people. No matter how much Koto's death makes his eyes burn and his throat ache, Genma is one of Minato's soldiers and he can't afford to show weakness in front of his Hokage. No matter how much he hurts.
He steels himself and nods. "Thank you Hokage-sama," Genma says and he's surprised how level he's able to keep his voice.
"I'll see you when you're feeling better, Genma," he says. There is a slight bit of emotion that bleeds into the words, barely noticeable.
The distance between them feels like a chasm, and Genma feels an overwhelming need to get off the bed and kneel, but not only is that physically beyond Genma's capabilities right now, it's also not logically something Minato would expect of him at the moment.
Minato doesn't quite smile at him, but Genma is sure it's not disappointment either. He turns then, Hokage cape flowing behind him.
Genma finds himself falling asleep, heart aching and head swimming, even before Minato has left the room, and he's far too exhausted to fight it.
Minato hovers by the hospital door and sends a glare at a too curious nurse and grins as he runs away and pokes his head back in after a few minutes when he's sure Genma has fallen asleep.
Genma's breathing is even, chest rising and falling gently. The bags under the kid's eyes are like black smudges. His cheeks are gaunt and shallow, and his hair is still dirty from his time on the front lines.
If he has someone to go home to, he should be released tomorrow. The drugs and post-battle exhaustion is what's roughing him up the most.
Minato's looked at his file though - civilian father - and he doubts Genma would want to be released into the care of him.
Civilians aren't shinobi, and the life of a shinobi is very different from a civilian. Even after all this time, civilians just tend to be awkward about wounded shinobi, especially wounded, grieving shinobi.
Mourning is different between people, but there is a large difference between shinobi and civilians. Civilians expect tears, melancholy, sadness but most shinobi don't let it show and it can appear to civilians as cold, detached and unfeeling when that's not really the case at all.
Dealing with death so often, they've just gotten good at how to deal with it.
There wasn't much information on how Koto had met his demise which Minato wasn't surprised by. In the middle of a war, there was lots of death and no time to grieve.
Genma would be fine though, he'd proven that much when he'd held strong in Minato's presence. His face warped into one of such painful sadness for a split second before he's pulled his face together, smoothed out his expression and looked back at Minato with a practised mask of indifference.
If Genma survived the war, Minato had been considering recruiting him to the Hokage guard detail. After he is released from hospital and declared mission fit of course. But seeing Genma now, even far from his best, he'd shown what Minato had been looking for.
Loyalty. Determination. Strength. Not in the way of been physically strong necessarily but Genma had made it clear that the shinobi life was something that he would have no problem handling, and that was what Minato had been looking for.
With Kakashi, Tenzou, Rin and Obito he can baby them a little. They're his team and they never actively fought on the front lines. The young ones still had to contribute to the war, but they remained off the front lines, an attempt not to throw away the next generation of shinobi so carelessly.
But he considers them his kids as much as he does Naruto.
Genma is different. He's older than them and can already say he's fought in a war, and that is different from any mission that could ever exist. He can't baby Genma really, or maybe this is Minato's way of coddling shinobi who aren't his kids.
He doesn't lean over to touch him, run his hands through his hair that always works to sooth the minds of his kids. He's sure Genma won't appreciate it and he hasn't been off the front lines long enough for Genma to not react poorly to unexpected touch.
Either way, Genma will definitely be a formidable asset to his guard detail and he can't help but feel hopeful for what's in store.
Genma lost friends during the war and he's hurting. War hurts. That's just the way it is. And maybe Minato's being harsh and a little cold to brush off the hurt like that but Genma isn't a child any more and he likely wouldn't appreciate his Hokage acting like his father.
At least not right now.
Maybe when Genma's settled in he can inflict the kids on him to loosen him up, but in due time. All in due time.
There's a lot Minato wants to change. But he's only mid-twenties with a war fresh on everyone's minds. Minato wants a world where he doesn't have to see children as young as seven gaze out into nothing with that thousand mile stare full of trauma and unending sadness.
There's so much he wants to change, but if he's patient enough, if he plays his cards right then maybe no kids have to go through what his kids have.
Sorry for any errors! My brain just stopped all functioning.
I have a few vague ideas for where this should go but please throw plot bunnies at me!
