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Shizune was blushing like crazy.
And it’s not for the same reason one would think it is.
It wasn’t because of the weather either.
And it definitely wasn’t because of a certain senbon-sucker, but not like she’d admit that to anyone.
The 15 year-old girl had practically returned from a two-day long mission, with chakra completely exhausted and overused. Shizune had been healing villagers day and night after a group of bandits and rogue ninjas near the Land of River border attacked and pillaged the village.
While Aoba, Tokuma, and their sensei Shibi were entrusted to protect everyone from the attack, she was assigned to tend to the wounded and the injured in a safehouse, with no roof to shield her from the rain.
It was a long and arduous process of healing and tending to the wounded. She didn’t have the strength nor the fingers to count how many people she managed to heal in two days. She just knew she was the only medic around and the villagers had it rough knowing they had no physician to help around.
Furthermore, she had refused to stop for a break whilst on their trek back to Konoha. Shizune knew very well that she was underestimating her limits as an iryo-nin, but she couldn’t drag her teammates down, no matter how many times Aoba pleaded with their sensei to stop for rest or how Tokuma playfully threatened to hit her with his Gentle Fist for her stubbornness.
Nevertheless, it was hard trying not to collapse on their way back.
And so here she is right now, making her way to the dango shop after Shibi-sensei and their team handed their mission report to the Hokage. In the end, the best part was that the job was a success and the non-stop work on her end was all worth it.
The worst part? It was hot for a spring day and Shizune not only made the mistake of underestimating the amount of chakra she wasted, but also underestimating the current weather in Konoha.
She had fought hard and long under the rain, but within a second under the heat, she started to feel the temperature within her rising and the pounding headache coming to attack her if she failed to tend to this immediately.
But Shizune was a rock. If she was a rock, she was unyielding.
And if she was unyielding, she wouldn’t break.
“Yo.” A familiar voice abruptly called and involuntarily caused her to shriek, stumble, and falter in her posture. Somehow, the temperature within her body rose at an unbelievable level, her cheeks manifesting into a dark red color. Her palms sweat and her fingers trembled as she hid her hands behind her back.
So much for being a rock , she thought.
“Genma! I didn’t see you there... What’re you doing here?” Shizune replied rather shakily.
The 17 year-old boy made a bored twitch of his senbon, answering in an impassive tone, “Nothing really. I was on my way to the dango shop when I saw you. How was your mission?”
“Exhausting. We heard reports of a village from the Land of Fire being ambushed by bandits and rogue ninjas. There was not a single medic or physician in town, so I was assigned to tend to the wounded and injured while everyone else helped to protect and defend the village for two days.” The jet-black-haired girl responded.
“Did it all go well?” Genma asked her.
“Yes. There were a few others I couldn’t save, but I managed to heal and rescue a good lot. Even though it rained for the entire time I was there.” She smiled, knowing that saving the lives of many with her efforts were enough to up her morale.
“You look like you deserve a dango after that mission.” He said while adjusting his black choker, unknowingly causing Shizune’s heart to palpitate and aggressively pump blood to her already blushing cheeks.
“Definitely,” she wiped the sweat off her brow and turned her heel in the direction of the dango shop, “I deserve a sweet, good old piece of dango–” Shizune’s surroundings started getting fuzzy. Her initial pace as she walked slackened as she felt her body going limp. Before her body was resigned to the fate of collapsing on hard ground however, a pair of steady arms managed to catch her.
Shizune’s eyes started to flutter close, but Genma’s light shaking kept her up. “Oi. Are you okay? You’re not dying, are you?” His joke in the end fell on deaf ears since she was trying her best not to pay attention to the pulsating headache.
“S-sorry. I’m fine.”
The senbon-sucker took notice of the warmth on her skin while he helped her stand up. She was too warm for her own good, and if it was true that she was assigned to heal villagers for two days, then she must have wasted a good lot of her chakra. Not to mention the normal chakra consumed travelling to their destination and back.
The jet-black-haired girl felt her body growing heavy as she walked, but with the copper-haired boy supporting her weight on their way to the dango shop, suddenly the thought of getting dango wasn’t so important anymore.
Luckily, Genma got the message. “Perhaps I can take you home. It’s the least I can do right now.” He offered.
Shizune’s eyes widened in alarm. “You don’t have to–” she didn’t feel like resisting any longer the instant she felt herself going limp once again. The shorter girl fought the urge to yelp when she felt him sling her arm around his shoulders, while his left arm remained secured around her waist.
The senbon-sucker completely dismissed the way his stomach was doing weird and funny jumps at the moment, choosing instead to maintain his composure and his cool exterior.
“Come on. Is your house nearby?” His voice was surprisingly gruff as he spoke, but she tried to ignore the way he shied away from her gaze at his question. Frankly, she thought it was rather cute of him.
Perhaps it was the fever talking, or it was out of the fact that she noticed a faint blush on Genma’s cheeks.
Shizune sheepishly replied, “Yeah. It’s near the dango shop, actually.”
“Great. Maybe we can pick up some dango along the way and you can eat them in your house.” He said.
“That’s… not a bad idea.” She shot him a small smile before they made their way towards the direction of the dango shop. What they both saw next made her take back her statement.
Inside the shop, Asuma, Kurenai, Raidou, Gai, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin were casually conversing while eating their dango. And boy, Kakashi’s mask was briefly down before he purposely swallowed the entire contents of the sweet to prevent any more people from taking a peek at his face.
But for them, that wasn’t the shocking sight to see.
Raidou had dropped his dango, staring at Genma and Shizune as if cold water had been splashed onto his face. Asuma and Kurenai had stopped chatting and had turned their attention to the pair right in front of them. Gai stood rather upright in shock after casually leaning onto the wall. Kakashi, Obito, and Rin equally shared looks of confusion and bewilderment at the encounter.
At this point, neither of them knew what was juicier: Minato currently selected as a candidate for Hokage or seeing Genma holding Shizune rather close to him, right in front of the place they both knew their entire friend group would congregate.
Genma wished they would stop looking at them like that. The Shiranui frowned at them accusingly, “What? You all look like you saw Kakashi’s face or something.”
“Genma. Shizune. What a surprise.” Raidou broke the silence, eyeing the pair teasingly. Obito fought the urge to snicker, while Kakashi shook his head at Rin who seemed to be delighted at the existing contact between the said pair.
“Hey guys.” Shizune meekly uttered.
“Is there something between you two we should–you know– know about?” Kurenai made a subtle remark. Shizune blushed at the suggestion, further reddening her already blood-rushed face.
“You idiots can keep dreaming. We’re here to get some dango and then we’re leaving.” Genma kept his tone cool and stern.
“Oh? Why so soon?” Raidou smirked at his friend.
“Shizune doesn’t feel well. I offered to take her home.” The senbon-sucker replied, trying his best not to elicit any form of suspicion from his already prying friends. They were equally too nosy and well-informed for their own good.
“You guys hear that? Genma offered to take Shizune home! Well if that isn’t youthful, then I don’t know what is!” Asuma and Obito snickered at Gai’s bold emphasis on the word ‘offered’.
“Now, now, don’t go too far by teasing them!” Rin waved her hands cautiously, sweat-dropping at the exchange between her friends.
“You guys are just trying to incite gossip whenever you can. Leave them alone.” Kakashi steely added.
“Or what, Bakashi? You’re too dense to be a part of this conversation!” Obito retorted. And just like that, the two members of Team Minato started bickering with Rin naturally having to mediate the ongoing session between her two teammates.
Genma rolled his eyes at the turn of events. As Kakashi and Obito argued, the copper-haired boy allowed Shizune to take a seat beside Kurenai while he ordered their dango. Shortly after, he received two sticks of the sweet in a small takeaway packet.
He was getting ready to leave and support Shizune’s weight once again, inevitably generating some mild excitement and uproar from their friend group. The sudden return of contact between the two of them was miraculous enough to stop the scuffle between the Hatake and the Uchiha, much to the Nohara’s relief.
Genma and Shizune waved them off, getting ready to leave, but Raidou’s next comment threw the Shiranui off completely. “Tell us if anything interesting happened at night, alright?”
An irk mark appeared on Genma’s head. Without hesitation, he shifted his head to the side and spat his senbon so that it landed squarely on Raidou’s foot. The brown-haired ninja yelped and comically fell out of his seat in pain.
“Tch. Dick.” The copper-haired ninja muttered as he and the jet-black-haired kunoichi left the vicinity immediately, the last noise they heard being the collective gasps and laughs that most of their friend group made.
**
The pair have finally reached Shizune’s apartment. It was currently afternoon and the sun was beginning to die down. To some degree, Genma was relieved that he doesn’t have to hold her like he did a while ago (the subtle teasing from Raidou and their friends were too much, even for him); however, he felt surprisingly empty once the weight beside him was no longer present.
“Is anyone living with you?” He inquired as he held the door open for her.
“Yeah. Uncle Dan departed for a one-week mission to Suna as an envoy of the Hokage, since we’re aiming for a peace treaty with the Sand daimyo and the Kazekage. He won’t be here for a while.” Shizune replied.
“Will you be okay? Do you er… have anything to eat?” Genma asked her.
“Yeah.” She responded, eyeing him suspiciously.
“Can you cook?” He asked her again.
“Yeah… wait–what’s with all these questions all of a sudden? I can take care of myself for now.” Shizune assured him, knowing fully well he had just contributed a good time of his day to take her home. Yet she secretly hoped he would refuse and offer to take care of her like she dreamed he would the moment she stepped right in front of the gates of Konoha–
“If it’s too much for you, I guess I can er… cookpumpkinsoupforyou.” The last part of his sudden offer came in a rush. Shizune furrowed her eyebrows.
“What?” The jet-black-haired girl uttered.
The senbon missing in his mouth aggravated him, but even more so, his rather kind and sudden offer barely sounded like something he would do. At this point, his heart was running at a speed faster than light.
Nevertheless, he managed to say it with ease this time: “Why don’t you go and wash up? I’ll go grab a freshly-grown pumpkin from my house and cook soup for you here?” He shot her a genuine smile.
Shizune didn’t know what to say. If she spoke, her words would come out jumbled and irrational, and she would lose herself because the boy she so obviously liked went out of his way to take her home AND make pumpkin soup for her.
Call her crazy, but she was thankful that she got sick. Otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to tap into Genma’s sweet and caring side. More than often she saw him as this calm, collected, impassive , and level-headed individual. For her, it was nice to see a different side of him for a change.
“So?” His voice broke her trance.
The Kato smiled back and nodded in approval, agreeing to his offer.
“Alright then. Save the dango for later when I get back.” Genma fished the small plastic containing the sweets out of his pocket. Shizune gently took the packet out of his hand and closed the door.
Unaware that Genma still lingered right at her door, she silently squealed and almost forgot she was sick for the time being. He happily grinned before leaping out of the apartment complex, speeding his way back to his house to grab the ingredients.
On the way there, he made a mental note to get some new packs of senbon from the weapons shop and actually chew on one before he gives himself a headache from clenching his teeth.
Genma’s house was quite far as it was situated in the grassy side of Konoha, but it was certainly not far from where Kakashi lived. He would see the silver-haired Jounin return home every once in a while with nothing but a suspicious grin on his face and his nose stuck in an orange book (the idea of what the younger kid was reading amused him to no end).
When he got to his house, the first thing he did was to head to the small yard behind and carefully cut a small yet freshly-grown pumpkin from its stem. He then grabbed some squash and a few herbs and finally stored the ingredients in separate containers, all of which were packed in a carrier.
All of a sudden, he felt like a farm boy instead of a shinobi. It was rather wishful thinking on his part, but no matter. He was loyal to the village–to the people–and he would gladly give his life up to maintain the once-in-a-lifetime peace Konoha is in right now.
Not to mention that he would do that especially for a certain someone, but not like he’d admit that to anyone.
Right after stopping over at his house, Genma visited the weapons shop and purchased brand new packs of senbons. Immediately, he grabbed one out of the packet and placed it in his mouth, sighing in relief at the feeling of thin metal between his teeth.
By the time he had finished his mini errand, the sun had completely died down. The clouds gave way for the moon, and the evening glow illuminated the traces of golden hues in the night skies. It was a rather beautiful picture to look at, but remembering that he offered to cook for Shizune, he hastened his pace.
Unknowingly, seven familiar figures were sneakily shadowing him as he made his way to Shizune’s apartment.
**
The jet-black-haired girl was still in disbelief after Genma’s polite offer to take her home and the consequent offer to cook her dinner after that. Again, she wouldn’t say it’s out of character for him to show her that much kindness, but it was certainly rare since he seemed to be indifferent to most people’s struggles.
Shizune plopped herself on the couch comfortably, letting her weight fall on the object after having a fairly long and hot shower. The headache and the heavy feeling in her body was still there, but the dried-up sweat and grime no longer held her down.
For a few more minutes, she allowed herself to rest on the couch before the door to her house opened, revealing Genma with a new senbon in his mouth and a carrier in his hands.
“Hey.” She greeted him softly.
“Hey yourself. Sorry I took quite long, I er… wanted to give you some more time to relax, I guess.” He scratched the back of his neck; again, an unlikely manner coming from him, but Shizune laughed at his consideration.
“It’s fine. You’ve been way too nice today.” Shizune looked down sheepishly.
“Ah. Is that so.” He mused, settling the carrier on the wooden table and smirking at her.
“I-I mean… thanks. Really. You didn’t have to do all this.” She fought a blush that crept up to her cheeks and fiddled with the fancy obi around her yukata.
“No worries, Shizune.” He made an upward twitch of his senbon before making his way to the kitchen and immediately readying the ingredients before he gradually cooked the soup.
The jet-black-haired could smell the warm aroma coming from the kitchen, and knowing Genma was responsible for it made her heart elated. Despite the warm temperature the house and his cooking provided for her, Shizune shivered. She was sick, and she may or not be assigned a mission the day after.
A few minutes later, the smell from the pumpkin broth activated her sense of smell. Currently it was the only thing her nose could sense right now, and she couldn’t wait to taste what he cooked.
She patiently waited for him to grab two bowls and watched as he efficiently distributed the soup onto the porcelain objects. Genma made one last touch by placing two spoons for the both of them to use.
“Food’s ready.” He called for her.
Shizune wanted to get up herself, but the ache in her body accompanied with the inner drop in temperature prevented her from moving. For once, she felt pathetic as a medic since she should’ve known better than to continue healing people in the rain.
“Can’t get up?” Genma walked to her across the living room.
“Yeah…” Shizune averted his gaze and continued to feel herself shiver until a soft article was placed around her shoulders. She stopped to look at the material before widening her eyes.
“Genma, I can’t wear your jacket. You might get sick.” The jet-black-haired girl made the effort to return it to him, but he only refused and draped it on her shoulders once more.
“You need it.” The copper-haired told her sternly. Shortly after, she accepted his act of kindness and hesitantly wore his long oversized jacket. The warmth it provided for her was comforting, and she could practically smell his scent all over.
“Thanks. Again.” She mumbled.
He stared at her for far longer than he should have, but it was a rare sight to see someone else, let alone her wearing his black and red jacket. Genma’s senbon nearly dropped in his stupor, but luckily he broke out of it when he decided to bring the food to her instead. At the moment, he couldn’t respond to her gratitude.
“You know timewise, you could have cooked the soup at home.” Shizune joked.
Genma scoffed. “You don’t think I knew that?”
“I thought you did. And also, you could have grabbed the blanket from my room instead of lending me your jacket.” The jet-black-haired girl chuckled, knowing fully well the lightness in her tone as she joked.
“ Haha . You’re welcome, I guess.” The copper-haired boy rolled his eyes.
“I’m just kidding, Genma. I appreciate you taking care of me. Really.” Shizune smiled fully, her eyes closing like it usually does when she beams at him. He found it rather cute and intriguing.
That being said, he grabbed the two bowls of his favorite pumpkin soup and set it down on the coffee table. He eventually settled himself down after making themselves tea.
What Shizune did next nearly made his heart stop.
The jet-black-haired leaned on him and rested her head on his shoulder, completely disregarding the personal space that was present just a while ago before he offered her his jacket. Genma practically froze on his spot, unable to contain the blush on his cheeks at her sudden gesture.
“Your jacket is comfy.” She said as she breathed in his scent, hugging the fabric completely as if that was the only thing that mattered.
“Er… thanks?” On the inside, he was a mess. Overall, his stomach was in a frenzy and his heart continued beating. Noticing how Shizune was already close to his chest as she nestled her head in the crook of his neck, he nearly panicked. But he trained himself to control that feeling. He always wanted to remain calm, but this girl nearly made him abandon that principle.
“Your heart is beating fast, you know?” She mused, with him fully unaware that her heart is beating just as fast.
“Yeah, because the soup will get cold if we don’t eat it. So come on.” He grumbled. Shizune laughed.
“I’m messing with you! I can’t wait to try your favorite food for once.” She beamed at him.
“Well jeez, I should’ve known.” He helplessly grinned back at her. They both laughed lightly and peacefully ate, before he allowed her to lean on his shoulder once more. Shortly after dinner, Genma and Shizune pulled out the dango from the packet and ate them as they talked.
Both were completely unaware of the fact that Raidou, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin were watching them from the windows, snickering and grinning like hell at the scene that was unfolding before them.
Shizune was blushing like crazy.
And this time, it was indeed for the same reason one would think it is.
It still wasn’t because of the weather, but rather the constant beating of her heart, consciously telling her that young love was undeniably exciting and she wished she could feel it more often.