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One shinobi laid in the bed of an inn, two stood beside him, and five waited in the room next door. Many kilometers from home, they had no choice but to lay low after an unexpected battle broke out, and an old, dingy inn was the only place the team could safely go.
“Can’t even collect firewood quietly,” Genma grumbled, peering down at his injured teammate. “Dumbass.”
“Be nice or let me do my job in peace,” Rin scolded, her hands glowing green with healing chakra. “Even if you’re right and he is a dumbass-”
Genma raised his eyebrows as he shifted his gaze up to Rin. “So you’re saying I’m right.”
“No.” Rin gritted her teeth and refocused herself on Gai, whose broken arm she had to move off of his chest to check for injury. She waved her hands over his chest, closing her eyes to better sense what was going on inside his body. “Shit.” She sensed a likely cracked rib. She tried to imagine how it could have happened: Gai was talking to himself about the important job of collecting firewood, when an enemy heard that he and Ebisu were on their own, further away from the rest of the team, and took the opportunity to swoop down. That much was obvious. Why? She had no idea. Didn’t really care. Ebisu had apparently ran to “get help,” leaving Gai to fend for himself. She had found that part out listening to the way Choza-sensei had talked his ear off. Gai’s fighting style was so reckless, he could have been injured a vast number of ways…
“Is everything okay?” Genma interrupted her thoughts, and his voice was soft- the most genuine Rin had ever heard him.
“I don’t know if I can treat him, I mean, he’s probably got a broken rib, and that’s a lot more difficult to treat than his arm.” She sighed. “We might have to get him to an actual hospital.”
“Just treat him with your green heal-y chakra, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Genma wiggled his fingers over Gai, imitating Rin’s healing.
“I only started training with the medical-nin a few months ago, I don’t know if I can-”
“I’ll go talk to Choza-sensei.” Genma sighed and walked out, carefully closing the door behind him. He knocked on the door he knew the rest of teams Choza and Minato were staying in five times, as agreed. Minato opened the door.
“I take it Rin’s still working?”
“Yes, sir, she’s found a broken rib and thinks we may have to take him to a hospital.” Genma caught Ebisu’s eye across the room and watched him shrink back slightly under the weight of the news.
“I’ll talk to her. You stay here.” Minato left the room, and Genma could only hope that whatever pep talk his superior had in mind would work. Rin was a genius when it came to precise chakra control, and he knew that she would be able to heal Gai just fine. He hated the stupidity of it, but she just had to believe in herself more. He sat by his teacher, who looked about ready to explode with another lecture about not giving in to fear and leaving teammates behind. An uncomfortable silence fell instead, as if Choza was too exhausted to bother with the lecture.
Every minute that passed felt like an hour. Genma looked around the room, taking stock of how everyone seemed to feel: His teacher was worried, above all else, shifting position every so often, as though he couldn’t sit still. Ebisu looked like he wanted to sink through the floor and die (and in the moment, Genma didn’t think he’d be entirely upset if he did). Obito’s foot wouldn’t stop tapping. Kakashi… was Kakashi. Genma wished he could point out any hint of emotion in the boy’s face, but his eyes were turned up to the ceiling, blank but sharp as always.
Five knocks hit the door, startling everyone out of their trance. Obito was the first up, opening the door so fast it threatened to jump off its hinges.
“Is he gonna be okay?”
“Should be.” Minato smiled at his student. “Rin did a wonderful job patching him up. He’s just coming to now.”
A wave of relief washed over the room, and everyone followed Minato back into the room where Gai was laying on the bed.
“Sensei…” he mumbled when he saw Choza. “Am I a dumbass?”
“Yes,” Kakashi said before Choza could respond, crossing his arms. “Biggest dumbass I’ve ever seen.”
“Kakashi.” Minato scolded.
“Am I wrong?”
“My student isn’t an idiot,” Choza interrupted, though it seemed he didn’t really care about what Kakashi said- he knew that the boy still held respect for Gai, even if it was just for the fact that Gai was the only person he knew more stubborn than himself.
“Of course he’s not an idiot, he’s just a bit of a dumbass sometimes.” Kakashi risked a glance at his teacher, who let out a sigh.
“Language.”
“You never scold Rin or Obito for swearing, why me?” Kakashi asked, crossing his arms. “Is it because they’re older?”
“No, it’s because I haven’t given up on you yet. Obito has no filter and Rin spends her time around medics who take after Lady Tsunade. Even if you get nothing else out of my teachings, I hope you have manners and a clean mouth.” Minato turned his gaze back to Gai, as if to signify that the conversation was over.
“Fuck.”
Minato let out an exasperated sigh.
Kakashi was quite pleased with himself. He’d never had reasons to swear; swearing was associated with strong emotions, which he tried his hardest to hide from his team. But if it meant annoying his teacher, then it was worth it. As much respect as he had for his teacher, the man was fun to irritate.
Gai finally sat up, groaning with the pain in his chest and ignoring Rin’s complaints and orders to stay down. “My rival, you must keep an honorable tone! Using words such as that in such a manner is no good for someone like you!” He winced from the pain of movement as he pointed directly at Kakashi.
“Shut the hell up before you hurt yourself again.” Kakashi smirked under his mask. “I’ll say whatever the fuck I want, I’ll still beat you in every challenge you come up with.”
Little did he know how mistaken he was.