Hi Doll!! Can you rank the leaf jounins driving ability? From the perfect driver to scared to get in the car with.
Thank you so much for this ask! It was a lot of fun! I only did a few jounin since I didn’t want this to get too long. I haven’t driven in a while.
LEAF JOUNIN DRIVING ABILITY
(there’s no appropriate gif lol)
KURENAI - probably the best. Follows ALL the rules. Is definitely the type to say, “If you don’t stop fighting back there, I’ll turn this car around.” Says it to even her adult friends. Almost 0 road rage, though she may get a little bit annoyed with bad drivers. She might make small, snide remarks (”Hmm, their blinker must be broken because I’m sure they would have used it if they could since they merged into my lane and cut me off.”) She waves other people to go first at intersections. Is the best defensive driver around. 10/10 would recommend riding with her - if you’re okay with, like, no music playing. Or at least music playing very quietly. She likes to talk to her passengers. If it’s people like Hinata, Shino and Kiba, she likes to ask them how school and work are going, what’s new in their lives, etc. Etc. She genuinely cares and thinks car rides are a good opportunity to talk to people. (She’s also not above locking people in her car to give them a stern talking to when they’re acting like idiots lol.)
GENMA - Pretty good. One of the best tbh. He loves to listen to music, but he’s kinda picky and he controls the radio/aux cord. You have to get permission to play your music. No one plays crap music in his car. He drives with his windows down all the time; it can get annoying if you don’t like that kind of thing. He also probably rolls through stop signs, but only if no other cars are around. He’s pretty considerate and doesn’t cut people off, lets pedestrians cross safely, makes sure everyone has their seatbelts on. He’s not looking to get people killed if they’re in an accident. No seatbelt? No riding in his car. Sorry, that’s just how it is.
GAI - Surprisingly good? You’d think with his loud and excitable nature, he’d be awful but he’s really not. He concentrates pretty hard when he drives. He can actually be a really good driving partner. He talks a lot, but he doesn’t mind doing all the talking if you don’t talk in the car. (Like me, I never talk in the car. I love driving with people who either do all the talking or play music and don’t try to talk to you.) He could play music if he wanted, but it’s never too loud and it’s probably all old stuff. Commandeer the aux cord and play your own music, something upbeat with drums and fun lyrics and he’ll totally jam out with you. He’s the driver that throws his arm out to protect his passenger when he has to stop suddenly. Although, he’s prone to getting into racing cars when someone pulls up beside him and Gai thinks it’s supposed to be a challenge. No Gai, they’re just getting up to speed this isn’t a race, GAI YOU HAVE PASSENGERS. (Most likely the one who taught Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee how to drive. Maito Gai’s Driving School For Youthful Future Drivers.)
ASUMA - He’s okay. He’s gotten into a few fender benders and when he was a teenager he drove through a garage door. He’s not as uptight about his car and he smokes whenever he drives. It’s kinda gross if you’re a passenger because you’re just going to be surrounded by smoke or the smell of cigarettes. He drives a kinda crappy car that holds four people, maybe five. When he was a bit younger he managed to fit anywhere between 6-10 people in his car. “Just sit on the floor or sit on their lap” was a common way of getting everyone in. He totally had people riding around in the trunk too. So make that like 12-13 people in his car at one time. And yeah he’s had this car since he was a teenager. He drives this junker because his real prized possession is the old car in his backyard that he’s fixing up. And by fixing up I mean he goes outside and leans over the hood to look at the engine while he smokes, wipes his hands on a rag, talks about what a “classic” it is, then he goes back inside. Ride with him if every other car is taken.
KAKASHI - Oh dear. This goes one of two ways. One: he’s an awful terrible driver and you SHOULD NOT GET IN THE CAR WITH HIM. (This is either because he never bothered to really learn/pay attention in driver’s ed, or he just really hates the responsibility of driving others around so he purposefully drives poorly so NO ONE wants to drive with him.) Two: he never learned how to drive. He just walks or takes a bike everywhere. Actually it may be both. He’s terrible because he never really learned so he just bikes everywhere. Don’t ask him to play music, don’t ask him to fix the AC, don’t do anything. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t even fiddle with stuff when he drives alone (IF he drives). He can’t be bothered. He’ll only be in the car for 5 minutes, it doesn’t matter. He likes that riding a bike is faster than walking, but people always comment on his strong calves or his hair blowing in the wind. It’s embarrassing. He may just walk everywhere. Tbh he’ll just stay home. Too far to walk? A bike’s too casual? No way he’s driving. Guess he’s not going. Or he’ll hitch a ride with someone else. Not Gai because that’s just not happening. Kurenai is okay but too strict for him. Best bet is Asuma; he just hopes his mask blocks out the smell of cigarettes. Or Genma, since he’s cool. But EVERYONE wants to ride with Genma, and Kakashi would rather be in a mostly empty car. (Okay once Kakashi rode with Asuma and Gai saw them and that definitely turned into a race and Kakashi was not having a good time at all.) Just don’t make him go anywhere, he’d rather be at home.
Hi again Can I get some headcanons with Genma celebrating his girlfriend Birthday for my big day?
Of course!! I lovedoing headcanons. 90% of my convos recently with my angel have beenstupid Akatsuki headcanons (mostly Saso and Dei but also Obi). You’returning 21 right (maybe?? Based on my limited knowledge and the lastrequest you sent in??)? Happy birthday!! I hope you have anabsolutely beautiful day! I’m also gonna tag @shiranuigenma because she can always use some Genma Wholesomeness™ Hope these are alright!
HOW GENMA WOULDCELEBRATE HIS S/O’S B-DAY
Genma may not be themost organized party planner but you bet your boots he’s gotsomething in store for you. If you’re more social, he’d probablytry to do a surprise party with all of your and his friends. It maybe at your apartment, or his (if you don’t live together), orsomeplace like a restaurant.
If you’re not verysocial or don’t like big parties, he’d do something smaller. He’deither invite a few close friends to your place for dinner (he cookedit, it’s amazing, you’re #blessed to be eating his creations tbh)or he’d arrange to have a small group of friends meet at arestaurant for lunch or dinner. He may even have a lunch with you andfriends, and then do a nice dinner with just the two of you.
Genmais a master baker. Seriously. This boy just knows how to makedelicious food. I headcanon he learned it from his mama. When he wasbut a wee toddler, he’d hang onto her apron and stand on her feetwhile she cooked and baked and eventually he picked it up. (He hasmad respect for his mom and still calls her up for recipes, advice,and asking why his souffle has chunks of egg in it instead of beingsmooth he followed the instructions perfectly.)So he’s definitely baking your birthday dessert, if you want one.Cake? Sure. Ice cream or custard? He can make that. Tarts? Flan?Something really complicated but delicious and beautiful? He’llspend all day working on it to make it perfect. So sweet.
Soafter dinner and dessert comes presents! Or before - it’s really upto you. I don’t know how you personally celebrate it, but sometimeduring the day Genma will turn up with anywhere between one to fivegifts for you. He just loves you a lot and wants to spoil you (butnot too much). Andevery gift he gets for you is very personal and something you’d useor like. He does his research. He may not be too sneaky about it atfirst (”Hey, what do you want for your birthday? Just wondering…”)because he wants to make sure what he gets you is actually what youwant. If you’re anartist, he’ll research the best brands, and may even snoop a littleto see what brands you frequently use and what you’re running lowon (paints, brushes, pens, markers, sketchbooks, etc). If you’re anauthor, he might buy you nice notebooks or some type of organizer foryour notes and ideas. If you’re not very artistic, he’d find theperfect gift for you - books, movies, music, collectibles, whateverit is that you really love. He loves supporting you and your hobbies.
After all thecelebrations are over - friends are gone, food’s eaten, presentsare opened - Genma would really just want to cuddle on the couch andwatch a movie or read a book with you. He’d also be willing to justsit in silence or talk with you if you wanted. He just loves spendingtime with you and holding you close (if you’re comfortable withit), knowing that you’re there with him, celebrating another yearof your life with him in it. He also probably breaks out some nicewine or other not-too-heavy alcohol to celebrate what he genuinelyhopes will be a wonderful next year for you. (And, yes, he does dodumb stuff after a few glasses and ends up singing “Happy Birthday”to you and pulls out the party hats he’s been hiding all day.)
Tbhhe probably has onemore gift stashed away for you, just for you to open by yourself.It’s not necessarily anything naughty or embarrassing - more likelyheartfelt and important. He just wants you to be comfortable openingit by yourself, so he’ll either leave it in your apartment (if youlive separately), or give it to you and go into another room (if youlive together). He’s a sweetheart.
Totally loves givingyou “birthday kisses”. He says they’re even more special thanregular kisses. He doesn’t really explain why, but he doesn’tneed an explanation or a reason. They’re always gentle andlingering and he smiles softly afterward. (also after-wine kisseswith Genma? 10/10 would recommend)
Ifyou have to spend your birthday apart, he’ll send a card and a giftto you so it arrives precisely on your birthday. He’ll try to use acourier ninja (even if he has to lie and say it’s some importantdocument or gift for a feudal lord so that he can use theirservices), or he’ll give it to someone he really trusts since hecan’t hand deliver it. He either uses some sappy romantic birthdaycard or a really stupid birthday card with a lame joke, there’s noin between. The gift he sends is a nice one, but the moreimportant/personal one he keeps at home to keep it safe because hedoesn’t trust courier nin that much.Then he’ll celebrate with you when you get back (probably just anat-home dinner and movie).
Justgenerally, Genma will try to give you the best birthday he can. He’dnever force his own ideas of a “perfect” birthday on you. If youwant to stay home in sweats, that’s fine. If you want to getdressed up and go out, that’s cool with him too. If you want tocuddle, awesome. If you’d rather not be touchy-feely at all, that’sA-OK. If you’re uncomfortable accepting gifts, he wouldn’t forceyou to accept any from him. If you’d rather cook, he doesn’tmind. This is YOUR special day, and he wants YOU to enjoy it. He’sjust a really awesome boyfriend and loves you lots and lots.
Hi can you do something with this? Tsunade throws a ball (or something fun ) for the ninjas (after the war) and hires someone(that's shy) to teach dance for the ones that want extra practice and Genma ends up asking the girl who was hired to go to the ball with him?
Of course!! This is such a cute request ommggg, thank you for sending this in!! Sorry if it’s too long. I don’t know how not to do that??? Also I haven’t finished the series so, like, everything I know about most of Shippuden/the war is through gifsets, rip.
I’m sorry this took me a while to get out! I had 3 different versions and this was the one I liked most. I also haven’t written for Genma since I was like 15, so I kinda took cues from @shiranuigenma ‘s writing. If anyone knows Genma, it’s her (what a hoe).
Words: 3.406Rating: General Pairing: Genma x Reader
Your entire body stiffened at the solid knock on the front door of your studio,signaling someone’s unexpected arrival. You’d been hired a littlemore than a week earlier to give a few dancing lessons to some of theshinobi in the village for the upcoming dance that the Hokage, LadyTsunade, had arranged. When she’d called you up the week before,she explained that she wanted the residents of Konoha - especiallythe ninja who had risked their lives during the war - to know thatthey were moving forward and leaving the dark past behind. While manypeople were still recovering emotionally and physically from the war,and bits of the village were still in disrepair, enough time hadpassed for something as seemingly frivolous as a Shinobi Ball to beheld.
“It will beshinobi only,” Tsunade had explained to you very seriously. “Ithought it’d be nice to have something just for them. However …These are trained soldiers of war. Many of them won’t be willing togo to these lessons, but I’ve made them mandatory for that veryreason. I really don’t want to see a bunch of grown adultsstumbling around like pre-teens, stepping on each other’s toes andfalling over themselves. Everyone has to have at least a full week oflessons, and after that they can get extra lessons from you if theywant.”
Tsunade had seemedvery sorry that you were the only person in charge of teaching dozensof shinobi how to dance, but your studio was the only one leftstanding in the village - and since dance lessons weren’t apriority immediately after the war, you were the only instructor whowas still teaching. But every one of the ninja who’d shown up forthe past lessons had been more or less very kind and willing to workwith you - and, surprisingly, with each other. The ones mostenthusiastic about learning to dance were the ones you had come toknow as Gai and Lee. They were both already incredibly flexible andagile (even with Gai’s leg in a cast), eager to learn the evensteps and calculated movements of the dances on the list Tsunade haddrawn up. (More accurately, the list her assistant Shizune had drawnup.)
Thankfully, Gai andLee’s overenthusiastic participation in every lesson - and theirnatural talent for many of the dances - had distracted most of theothers into watching them, leaving you without a dozen pairs of eyes on you. It also helped that many of the shinobi were more interestedin dancing with one another (an exuberant blonde had been more thanwilling to partner up with a girl with pink hair “for old time’ssake”), and some of them seemed to know the basics of dance prettywell (a silver-haired jonin turned away when you asked where helearned how to dance and he merely mumbled, “I’ve had … a lotof diverse training since I was a child”).
But as the days wenton, fewer and fewer shinobi showed up for the full lessons. Each onehad been given a piece of paper that Tsunade asked you to mark withyour signature to prove they’d shown up.
“It doesn’t saywe have to stay for the whole lesson,” the one you’d learned wasIzumo said as he held out his slip. “Just that we have to show up.We’ve shown up. Not that we don’t like it here,” he motioned tothe dim studio, hot with body heat and humid with sweat, “but we’vegot a lot of important things to do. I think we’ve learnedeverything we can from you, so maybe just … put your initial nextto the rest of the days? Thanks.”
You’d compliedwith Izumo and Kotetsu who opted out after the second day, and oncethe others realized how easy it was to get out of the lessons, theysoon followed suit and abandoned the class. Yesterday was the finalday of mandatory lessons and only Gai and Lee had shown up, asfaithful as ever, dressed in green jumpsuits and wearing their toothygrins. Not even the stoic Kakashi, who had a natural rhythm he wasalmost ashamed of, had bothered to show up (not that he showed up ontime for the lessons in the first place). As far as you knew, no onehad signed up for extra lessons and no civilian in the village hadstopped by your studio since before the war.
You steeled yournerves, strode over to the door, and did your best to yank it open.It sat crooked on its hinges and the top corner was shoved tightlyagainst the jamb, forcing you to brace one hand on the wall and useyour entire body’s strength to wrench it open. It flew back,slamming against the wall, and sent you stumbling back a few steps.Your face burned hot with embarrassment when you saw one of yourstudents - one of the ones who’d dropped out halfway through -standing there, a look of mild surprise on his face.
“Sorry,” hesaid, chewing on the senbon between his lips, “didn’t mean tobreak your door.”
“N-No!” you saidquickly, reaching out to place a hand on the peeling paint of thefront door. “It wasn’t you. This old thing always gets stuck whenthe weather changes. Uhm, wh-what are you … doing here?”
The man pursed hislips together and the senbon wiggled in the air. “I’m here for alesson, what do you think?”
You looked away whenhis brown eyes caught yours, a look of mischief crossing his face. “Alesson? Did the Hokage realize you dropped out and make you comeback?”
“No,” he saidsimply, leaning against the jamb, his eyes trailing over youplayfully. “As far as the Hokage’s concerned, I came to everylesson. I’m just here for the extra practice.”
Youfelt your hands shake as you picked at the paint on the door’ssurface, letting it crack and flake to the ground. “O-Oh, well …I didn’t think anyone was interested in extra lessons. Only twopeople actually came to all the mandatory ones,anyway …”
“It didn’t hurtyour feelings, did it?”
Quickly, you turnedto him with wide eyes to see his face was serious, his eyes dark.“What? Hurt my feelings? No!”
“Oh, good. Ithought maybe …” He cleared his throat, adjusting the senbon inhis mouth. “So what? Are you gonna make me stand out here allnight? We can dance in the street, I don’t mind. Do you?”
Your ears turnedpink and you shuffled away from the door, awkwardly motioning himinside the cool building. “S-Sorry about that. I don’t normally …er, what dance did you …?”
Genma grabbed theedge of the door and gave it a good once-over. It was clearly in poorcondition and not at all sized correctly for its frame. Biting histongue from making a rude comment, he pushed it closed and it slammedshut, wedging itself closed too tightly. You jumped at the noise andGenma now bit his tongue to keep from cursing. “Uh … Whichever one youwant. I think I dropped out after the third day, right? So, whateveryou taught after that.”
Youfought the urge to give the man an unimpressed look. If he would’vejust shown up in the first place … “Okay, so what do you rememberfrom the lessons you didgo to? We can start from there and continue.”
Genma gave asheepish smile and shrugged. “To be quite honest, I don’tremember much. Do you think we could start over?”
Paling, yourshoulders dropped and you looked at the man in disbelief - but thepuppy dog look he gave you sent a hot blush across your face. Youturned stiffly and mumbled an unconvincing “sure…”
Walking to thecenter of the room and standing to face the wall of glinting mirrors,you watched in the reflection as Genma followed you, a flirtatioussmirk across his face. Did he have any other expression?
“Sure is lonelyhere,” he said, his eyes moving up to look at you in the mirrors.Even if the mirrors hadn’t been there, you would’ve been able totell he was approaching. The floorboards underneath you shifted andcreaked under his weight and you could feel the heat radiating off ofhis body as he approached; he was like a human space heater.
“Mhm,”you said, already regretting this decision. You couldn’t deny thatthe older man was incredibly attractive and the ever-present smirk onhis face made your stomach turn to butterflies, but your cripplingshyness wouldn’t allow you to entertain such thoughts without anice layer of blush covering your face. You were sure that by nowhe’d noticed the embarrassing stutter that cropped up whenever youspoke, a side effect as your brain malfunctioned from his cuteness.Your heart fluttered in your chest as you turned slowly to face him,keeping your eyes away from his. Reaching out with your left arm, youtook his hand in yours and gently folded your fingers between his. Hewatched you closely with entertainment written all over his face -without even looking at him, you could just feel hisamusement. Desperately trying to act professionally, you guided hisother hand to your waist.
“P-Put your hands,um … here,” you mumbled.
“Ooh, saucy,” heteased when his fingers brushed against your hip. You felt yourentire body burn and you quickly adjusted his position, moving hishand up higher on your waist.
“S-Sorry, Im-meant h-here …”
“That’s okay,”he said, settling his thumb under one of your ribs. “I like thisposition better anyway.”
Jell-O didn’tshake as much as your legs were in this moment. You blinked rapidly,the studio suddenly far too hot and small, your hands tremblingviolently.
“You’reshaking,” he murmured, the senbon rolling over his pink lips. “AmI making you nervous? Is it this?” He bit down on the needle so itturned upwards, shining in the overhead lights. “I can put it awayif you want. But, trust me, I’ve never harmed anyone with this Ididn’t intend to.”
“N-No, it’sf-fine,” you muttered. “Take a step back.”
“Huh? Am I too close?” He looked at the space between you two, your hips nearlytouching, his chest hovering before your face. “I thought we weresupposed to be this close for this dance.”
“I mean … that’sthe first move - you take a-a step back. And then you take a step toyour left.”
“Right.” Genmagrasped your hand and waist a bit tighter, pulling you with him as hestepped backwards, slowly going through the dance with ease. When youlooked up at him in surprise, the corner of his lips pulled up in asmile. “Sorry,” he said, “I guess I remembered more than Ithought.”
Genmaled you around the studio and you almost immediately relinquishedpower to him, allowing yourself to follow in his graceful footstepsaround the creaking floor. For a brief moment your eyes closed andyou took in everything about the man you were with. His palms werecalloused and dry - undoubtedly from years of fighting and trainingwith weapons; his shirt smelled like woodsmoke; and his breath wassoft as it brushed against your hair. The clickof the senbon was easy to hear as he bit down on it and rolled itover his tongue to the other side of his mouth. Never once did youdare to look up, instead keeping your eyes on the middle of hischest. Your mind reeled at the grace with which he spun you aroundthe room and you could sense that he was staring at you - smirking,mocking you. He hadcome here fully knowing how to dance; he was just here to get areaction out of you. He’d known from the first day how shy you were- he was one of the ones who’d made comments about how softly youspoke and how you must’ve been afraid of your own voice. Truly youwere afraid of being heard, and subsequently judged, by thedisgruntled ninja who were being forced to take your lessons. He didall of this just to make fun of you.
Whenyou stopped moving, Genma’s hands remained on your body and hechewed on the needle for a while before saying, “So, how was that?D’you think we can move onto something more complex? I heard youtaught Gai something that involved some sort of flip at the end? Idon’t know how hedid it - but I’m sure he’d figure out a way …”
You shrunk back fromGenma, prying yourself out of his grasp. “I-I think that’s enoughfor today. I didn’t teach him a-anything like that. The Hokage’sgiven me a list of dances to teach all of you, and - and they’reall pr-pretty basic. Since, uhm, … you know Gai and Rock Lee werethe only ones to complete their lessons. Everyone else got about asfar as you … so it doesn’t matter if - if I teach you the otherdances … because you’d have no one to dance with.”
“Sure I would.”
“You’re …going to dance with Gai? You know he’s in a wheelchair, right? Ikind of … had to teach him … a modified version of the dances -”
“That’s not -no.” Genma huffed, sticking his hands into his pockets. “I meantyou.”
Youwould’ve been able to hear a pin - or senbon - drop in the silenceof the room. Despite being frozen in shock, your eyes snapped open tothe size of plates and your heart shot up to your throat. Did youhear that right? Genma was asking youto the dance? Finally gaining some sense back, you blinked thedryness from your eyes and looked towards the front door, a beam ofearly evening light filtering through the cracks in the wood.
“You - You should,uhm,” you cleared your throat and fiddled with the hem of yourshirt. “You should go.”
“Wha - why? Did Isay something wrong? Did I -” His eyes widened slightly and he tooka step back, his lips pressing tightly together to keep the senbonfrom falling out of his mouth. “I’m sorry, did I do something tooffend you? If I did, then —”
“I can’t,” yousaid suddenly, catching him off guard. “I can’t go with you.”
“Why? Did - oh …”He tried to hide the disappointment on his face. “Somebody elseasked you, huh? I should’ve known. I guess that’s what I get fordropping the lessons. Do you mind my asking - who was it?”
“Huh?”
“Who asked you?Don’t tell me it was Gai. He already has this ‘eternal rivalry’thing going on with Kakashi, I don’t need him starting it with metoo if he finds out I wanted to ask you.”
“No, I - I’m notgoing with anybody.”
“Oh! So you’refree! Wait - then why aren’t you going with me?”
Racking your mindfor a legitimate excuse, you folded your arms across your chest andheaded for the front door. “It’s - It’s a shinobi-only dance.The Hokage told me that b-beforehand. I’m not … a shinobi. Ican’t go. Even i-if I wanted to.”
“Is that all?”
You threw acautionary glance over your shoulder at the man and he lookedrelieved.
“I thought youdidn’t like me or something.”
“It - uhm, I just… I-It’s not professional,” you sputtered, reaching the doorand grasping the handle tightly to steady yourself. “I was hired toteach you, I can’t …”
“Oh, c’mon.Mixing business with pleasure isn’t always bad,” he mused, hisfootsteps echoing in the room as he drew closer. “And I’m surethe Hokage doesn’t mind if you go. I’m sure she’d be glad tohave you there to correct us when we make fools out of ourselves infront of everybody.”
Your hold on thehandle tightened and you wondered if you’d be able to open it intime to make a quick escape into the evening. This was too much foryou to handle. It was bad enough when you were just teaching - butnow he was asking you out, and you still couldn’t tell if he wasmocking you or not.
“Am I making youuncomfortable?” he asked, noting your shaking hands grasping at thedoor handle and twisting it nervously. “I’m not … I’m notgoing to hold you hostage here until you say yes, you know. I - jeez,you’re trembling. Am I scaring you?” Genma took a few large pacesback, throwing up his hands. “I’m sorry! I promise I’m not acreep. I just …” He flipped the senbon in his mouth and lookedaway, a soft pink tinging the bridge of his nose. “I just reallyliked you, was all. I thought you were really cute and …” Hetrailed off, pulling the senbon from his mouth and rolling it betweenhis fingers. “I’ll leave now. Sorry for bothering you.”
Still he stoodbehind you - realizing he couldn’t get past you to get outside. Youreleased the door handle, clenching your hands into fists and turnedaround slowly, your head turned down. “Are you … Are you makingf-fun of me?”
“Huh? What do youmean?”
“Y-You… You dropped out of the class … after three lessons and - andnow you’re showing up for extra practice. And you asked me to thedance, even though it’s only f-for shinobi. Besides, you’re -you’re way too …” You huffed and crossed your arms to keep abarrier between the man and yourself, “You’re way more attractivea-and cool than me. There’s no way you’d want to go anywherewith me. I’m - I’m just a dance instructor. If - If - If you’rejust asking me as a joke, I don’t appreciate it …!”
“No, I’m notdoing anything like that! I really want to go with you! I wouldn’task you as a joke. I mean, I’m not always the nicest but I’m notmean. At least not like that.” Genma took a few slow steps forwardand you looked up to see he was smiling softly, the teasing look gonefrom his face. “Now that we’ve gotten that cleared up … Ifyou’re still worried about the Hokage not letting you attend, thenwe’ll just skip it. We can have our own dance here - just you andme. It wouldn’t bother me any. And if the Hokage asks where wewere, just tell her you were still giving me lessons and we losttrack of time.”
You couldn’t helpbut laugh at that and felt your heart flip at his grin. “If - Ifyou’re serious, then … Okay. Sure. I’ll - I’ll go with you.”
Genma reached hishand and you hesitantly placed your fingers to his palm. “Good. Now… you really need to teach me the rest of the dances. I was bornwith two left feet, you know.”
“Hmm, you seem todance pretty well …”
“That’s onlybecause of your instruction.”
You let out anothersmall laugh and allowed Genma to take your hand in his after hepopped the senbon back between his lips, resting his other palm onyour waist. “So, where did you want to begin?”
Genma squeezed yourwaist, “Why don’t we pick up from where I dropped out?”
“Okay … you’ll- you’ll have to stay close to me. So I can guide you properly.”
“Uh-huh.”
His shoulder rolledunder your hand and he instinctively pulled you closer. Taking along, shaky breath, you managed to say, “So for this one you needto take two steps to the right and then —”
“Don’t tell me,just show me. Go ahead and lead. I’ll follow.”
You nodded,straightening up and looking Genma in the eye. “Okay, then. Butyou’ll have to keep up. I won’t slow down.”
“I wouldn’texpect anything less. After you.”
Youweren’t sure how or why, but the moment the two of you startedmoving, all hesitation left your body and you found yourself glidingaround the room - not sure if he was leading or you were, but itdidn’t matter. Before you knew it, you’d danced well into theevening and had no intention of stopping any time soon.
Hi again! Could you please do another scenario with Genma with a shy reader that's not a ninja and it's there first date but she ends up getting sick and he surprises her by coming to take care of her?
This was perfectly timed because I always get sick in October-November. Now if only I had a cute ninja boy coming to take care of me while I sat on the couch and watched movies all day. /sigh/
Thank you for the request!! I had a lot of fun writing this!! Please let me know if you think my scenarios/headcanons are too long! Also I literally just figured out how to write Genma, idk how he’d text 😂 I did my best.
Words: 3.144Rating: General Pairing: Genma x Reader
Thiswasn’t how it was supposed to go. When Genma asked you out twoweeks ago you had been so excited that you were near to crying - butyou were also incredibly nervous. Genma was one of the mostinteresting guys you’d ever met, and you felt as if you were theequivalent of a talking potato sack. Not to mention you weren’teven a ninja so why onearth he’d even bother with a civilian was beyond you. Someone ofhis caliber should really be looking for a girl just as strong andknowledgeable and brave and outgoing ashim. (You’d barely managed to squeak out a “yes” when he askedyou to dinner, and it took every ounce of strength just to look himin the eyes when he spoke to you.) He must’ve read the confusion onyour face because almost immediately after asking you out, he said:
“You know, you’rereally cute when you act shy. And I figured if I didn’t ask youout, we’d never get anywhere.”
You’dthought about that for the last fortnight, your face bright red and ashy giggle falling from your lips whenever his face appeared in yourmind. But among the excitement was a bit of fear and the typicalinsecurity you often faced. You’d never really gone on a datebefore and certainly had never been asked out by someone like Genma.He’d suggested something simple - just a small dinner at a curryshop outside of the village. He said it was a cute little place andhe was sure you’d like it because it was out of the way and fewpeople went all the way out there to eat. It was nice of him to thinkof you like that, but there was still so much pressure. Would youlike the food there? What if it was too spicy? What if he thought youate too much? Or not enough? The thought of someone watching you eatwas a little overwhelming. And what if - did you dare to evenentertain this thought so early in the relationship? - what if at theend of the night he tried to kiss you? What if he kissedyou and you had curry breath? You’dabsolutely die on the spot.
Unfortunately,stressing out for the last fourteen days had done the exact oppositeof helping your health and you woke up the day of the date with asore throat, runny nose, and pounding headache. You had somehowstressed yourself into a cold,and now you were even more miserable than before. (Of course itsurely had nothing todo with the fact that you’d left open the bedroom window the nightbefore and had kicked off your blanket in the middle of the night…)
“I can’t go on adate l-like this,” you shuddered, pulling a thick woolen blanketover your shoulders and sneezing into a tissue. “I can’t l-lethim see me like this.”
Forlornly,you looked towards the clock hanging on the wall and your heartdropped. It was already noon; six hours until you were supposed tomeet Genma at the gates so he could walk you to the restaurant. Thiswasn’t good. It’s not like you could take some magic pill to getbetter immediately, and you were certain that if you decided to go onthe date then something mortifying would happen - you’d sneeze onhim, or go into a coughing fit while eating, or you’d get himsick. You couldn’t risk it - not when you’d somehow managed tograb his attention in the first place. You weren’t going to ruin itby being grossly sick all over him in a restaurant. There was onlyone option, and it killed you to even think of it.
You’d have tocancel the date.
It’d be a lie tosay you didn’t cry for a few moments as you convinced yourself thatit’s what was best. Did you want to cancel the date or did you wantto show up and gross him out?
Gathering whateverremaining strength you had, you dug your phone out of your sweatpantspocket and went through your list of contacts before you foundGenma’s number. He’d given it to you when he asked you out, butyou hadn’t texted him before. Would your first text to him reallybe canceling the date? Sometimes the universe sucked.
Steadying your handsenough to text out a legible message, you pressed send and waitedwith bated breath, the pressure behind your eyes and in the bridgeof your nose growing.
Genma - can’tmake it. im sick. rain check?
Itwasn’t good to sit there and wait so you placed your phone on thefarthest part of the coffee table and curled up on the couch, feelingawful. Everything was starting to ache and you weren’t sure whatyou should do to feel better. Going to the hospital was out of thequestion - you weren’t dying,you just had a cold. And you didn’t want to be a burden on anybodyelse by asking them to come over and take care of you. So you werestuck with the only solution - suffer alone until you were better.
Your heart jumped atthe sudden buzzing of your phone vibrating on the table and you leaptup to grab it, hands shaking as you eagerly read the message fromGenma.
That sucks. We’llreschedule. Hope u feel better soon
He hoped you feltbetter soon?! That was so nice of him! Before you could finishgushing over the simple text, a second one came through.
Let me know ifthere’s anything I can do to help
Yourfingers moved quickly to type that he didn’t have to do anything,but then you stopped. He was asking - offering - to help you throughthis dreadful time. Would it be ruder to accept his invitation andpossibly get him sick, or to decline it and spare him the vision ofyou stuffed up and snotty? It really didn’t matter if you were at arestaurant or at home, you didn’t wanthim to witness you blowing your nose or hacking or just looking likeyou’d crawled out some Pit Of Disgusting. You hated to admit it,but you got kind of whiny whenever you were ill and it was prettyembarrassing. With a little bit of heartache, you finished the textand sent it.
No, that’s okay- thx tho. I appreciate it
Almost immediately,another response sent your phone buzzing in your hands.
Anything for you;)
Youvaulted the phone away quickly, your body instantly burning hot, asurprised laugh escaping your mouth. “Wh-What? What was that?”you wheezed, pulling the blanket up to your face and staring inelation at the phone now lying on the floor across the room. “He -He put a - a winking face! What does th-that mean? Does he … oh mygosh.” Hiding under the blanket, you allowed yourself to gigglechildishly and closed your eyes tight. Genma’s perfect face wasthere - a smile gracing his features. He put a winkingface! That was good, right? Andhe’d said “anything for you”. Anythingfor you. Anything for you.How did he mean it? Would he really do anything for you? Your stomachgrowled and you grimaced; maybe you should have asked him to bringyou something to eat …
The phone buzzedagain and you practically threw yourself across the room to grab it,scrambling to clutch it close your face and read the message.
U allergic toanything?
Confused, you rereadthe message and checked to see who it was from. Genma had sent it,that was certain but … Did he think you’d called off the datebecause you had had an allergic reaction or something? Or - did hethink you’d canceled the date because you were allergic to curry?You were legitimately sick and this boy thought you were skipping outbecause you didn’t like his taste in food?
No - im good. Notcurry!! hahaha I was looking forward to eating there /:
Thatwas good enough, right? Assure him that you weren’t avoiding himbecause of that little restaurant, and that you actually didwant to go with him.
Same. Oh well.Maybe next week.
Then, a secondlater:
What r ursymptoms? Like are u coughing and sneezing? Sore throat? Or somethingelse?
Was he concernedthat your illness would still be there by next week when you actuallywent on your date? You shifted on the ground, resting on your elbowsas you thought over what to say. The point of canceling the date wasto keep him from knowing what you were going through at the moment.
Youtyped slowly, regretting every letter of your text: headache,sore throat, runny nose, congestion, sinus, everything hurts!!! ))):I feel like death tbh
Five minutes passedof absolute silence and your chest twisted in embarrassment. Had yousaid too much? You knew it - you’d messed this up. No good. Genmawould surely ditch you and go for some girl with a perfect immunesystem who looked absolutely glamorous even when she was suffering,and certainly didn’t complain about it. When another five minutespassed without a response, you pulled yourself back onto the couchand cuddled under your blanket and sighed heavily. Why did it have tohappen now?! Today of all days.
The phone buzzedagainst your chest and you yelped, jolting upwards and dropping it tothe ground. Fumbling around for it, you grabbed another tissue fromthe nearly empty box on the table and dabbed at your sore nose.
Grape or orange?
Nowthis was getting weird. Your response was only: what?
Genmaswiftly replied: Do you prefer grape or orange? Or cherry??
Uh… I don’t …care????? What is this for?
Insteadof answering, he simply asked: did u still want to go tothe curry place next week? I’ll pick u up next time. What’s uraddress?
Stumped, you staredat the glaring screen in your hands. What was going on? He was actingstrange. But your cold-infested brain wasn’t willing to work withyou to figure out what he was doing so you merely texted back youraddress. He stopped responding and you wondered if it was a mistaketo tell him where you lived. It was almost one o’clock and youreyes were feeling the weight of your illness. Sniffling into yourhandful of tissues, you curled up on your side and let yourself fallasleep.
An hour later youwere woken up by heavy knocks at your front door. It startled youawake and you rolled off of the couch, dazed and utterly lost as towhat was happening. Scrambling to your feet, you wiped drool off ofyour face and ambled over to the door, your voice croaking in pain asyou muttered, “Coming …”
Groggily, you pulledopen the door and looked blearily out into the bright world. Youshaded your eyes and squinted at the shadowed figure filling yourdoorway.
“You look as badas you said you feel,” came a voice.
Your eyes widenedand you dropped your hand, finally realizing that it was none otherthan Genma standing at your door.
“Wh-What are youd-doing here?!” you shouted, throwing your hands up to coveryourself although there was nothing to be covered. You were alreadydressed in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, and although your hair waswild and uncombed and your nose was as red as the swirl on Genma’sjonin jacket, you weren’t indecent. Still it was almost shameful tobe standing before such a beautiful man looking like you’d climbedout of a dumpster recently.
“Aren’t yougoing to invite me in?” Genma asked, a small smirk playing on hislips.
Youglanced back at your small apartment and you could almost feelyour cold lingering on the air. He didn’t want to go in there. “Uh… you’ll … you’re gonna get sick -!”
“Don’t worry, Igot it covered.” Genma reached into one of the half dozen bags hewas carrying and pulled out a white surgical mask, using one hand tomaneuver it onto his face. You’d only just now noticed his senbon was nowhere to be seen. “See? Now I won’t catch whatever youhave. Heh, do I look like Kakashi now?”
“What?”
“He… you’re not a ninja. Right. You’ve probably seen him around.Kind of weird … got hair out to herethat’s silver, always has a mask on, always reading that orangebook.”
“No, I - I knowwho you’re talking about. I m-mean … What is all that?” Youmotioned to the different bags Genma was carrying and he grinned fromear to ear (not that you could see it).
“Well I figuredsince you weren’t up to going out tonight, we could have a nightin. Is that alright?”
“What? Really?”
“Sure.” He heldup a few bags with a local market’s logo across it. “This is somemedicine - I got three different kinds, since none of them coveredall of your symptoms. I also got you some tissues - it sounded likeyou’d need them.”
You looked away andblushed, trying to stealthily dab at your running nose with acrumpled tissue. “Th-Thanks.”
“Noproblem. I also got us dinner - or lunch, I guess.” He held up two paper bags from arestaurant you’d passed by before. “I wasn’t entirely sure whatyou eat, so I got a few different things.” He then shook a fewother bags strung along his arm, “And then I grabbed us somedrinks. Nothing alcoholic, though. Didn’t think you needed to betipsy and sick. Iwouldn’t make you wake up tomorrow hungover with a cold.”
You stared inabsolute awe at the man, a happy smile spreading across your face. “W… Wow! That’s so n-nice of you! I d-didn’t think … I thoughtyou’d …”
Hecocked an eyebrow and showed you the bags again. “Listen, Iappreciate the thanks but canI come in? I’ve walked all over the village with these.”
“Oh! R-Right.Sorry.” You stepped aside to let him in and he glanced around yourapartment.
“This is cute. Youlive alone?”
“Y-Yes …”
“Good. I don’twant anyone disturbing our date.” He dropped the bags onto thecoffee table and looked back at you. “Actually, I just don’t wantto share my food with anyone but you.”
A dry, croakygiggle jumped out of your throat before you could stop it and youcovered your face in shame. Genma gave a soft laugh himself and wavedyou over to the couch.
“Don’t beembarrassed; you’re sick. Come on. I also bought tea leaves to makeyou something hot to drink, since I’m sure you could use it. Whydon’t you put a movie in and I’ll get started on making the tea?”
Defeated, youcrumpled to the floor in front of the small media cabinet that yourtelevision was sitting on. You only had a few DVDs and you’dwatched them all to death, but if picking a movie meant you’d getyour date after all then you’d bite your tongue and suck it up. Youchose one of the more exciting films - something you’d seen once inthe village’s theater and had liked enough to purchase - and pushedthe disc into the DVD player. By the time you made it back to yourseat on the couch, Genma was arriving with two mugs full of hot tea.He handed you one and your entire body warmed with the heat of thecup. He pushed the edge of your blanket out of the way and sat downnext to you, setting aside his cup and digging through the plasticbags on the table.
“Here’s themedicine,” he said as he deposited one bag into your lap and pulledanother bag closer.
Whenyou looked through it you found three different flavors of cold syrup - orange, grape, and cherry. So that’swhat he was talking about.
“And here’s thetissues.” He then opened the two paper bags and pulled out steamingtake-out cartons. “Just tell me what you want and you can have it.”
Silently, youadmired the man beside you as he shuffled around the cartons and setup a line of bottled drinks. He caught your eye and raised aneyebrow, and you could sense the questioning smile hiding behind thesurgical mask.
“What?”
“Noth-Nothing!”You held your cup tighter and brought it to your face, breathing inthe earthy scent of tea. “I just … really appreciate this.Th-Thank you.”
“No problem. Iwasn’t going to pass on an opportunity to go on a date with you.Even if it’s …” He motioned around the apartment and shrugged.“I didn’t really feel like walking all the way out to that curryplace tonight anyway.”
Feeling a bit bold,you gave him a serious look (which was made fairly intimidating withthe deep bags under your eyes and the raw skin around your nose) andsaid, “Well don’t think - uhm - that you’ll get out of t-takingme there one day … You promised me a-a date there … and I expectt-to go there.”
Genma pulled downthe mask to reveal his broad grin, his eyes locked on yours. “We’llgo when you feel better. Promise.”
You smiled back andpressed the rim of the hot cup to your lips. “You know - you didn’thave to go through all of this for me.”
“I said anything,didn’t I?”
“Huh?”
Genma pulled out apair of disposable chopsticks and broke them apart, handing you oneof the take-out containers. “I said I’d do anything for you,right? I meant it. Mostly. Some things I wouldn’t - … Anythingwithin reason, I guess. This was no bother. This the movie you wantto watch?”
He changed thesubject so quickly your foggy brain had a hard time keeping up. “Yeah… uhm, thank - thank you.”
Genma gave you asideways glance and a small smile pulled at his mouth. “You’dbetter stop talking before you lose your voice. We won’t be able totalk when we go out next week. Then what’ll we do?”
Shrinking into thewarmth of the blanket, you nodded. “Uh - oh, well … What if I’mnot feeling better by next week?”
“Oh, you will,”Genma said as he relaxed into the couch, kicking his legs up onto thecoffee table. “I’m gonna take care of you until you feel better,so you’ll have no excuse for canceling our next date.”
Blushing hotly, younodded and smiled down into your tea. You were starting to think thatmaybe being sick wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Hi sweetie I have one more ask.. Could you do another one with Genma with a shy reader that's not a ninja that's turning 21 maybe the reader knows one of ninjas from the leaf and they decide to ask their fellow shinobi friends to help celebrate reader Birthday but it's the readers first time meeting everyone else?
So after the disaster that involved me permanently deleting my 1st draft of this story on accident (*sobs*), I wrote this all yesterday, edited it today and now I’m posting it way earlier than I thought! I was going to wait until December since that’s your b-day month, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting! And you’ll notice I made this a prequel to one of your other requests! I hope you like it!
The Best Birthday Gifts Are A Surprise (aka how many names can I make up for Genma before it’s not funny anymore?)
Words: 2.542 Pairings: Genma x Reader Also on AO3 Prequel to TheBest First Date Ever - Considering It’s Flu Season (Tumblr) (AO3)
If there was ever atime when you wished to disappear, it was now.
Kurenai,one of your friends, had spent all day with you for your 21stbirthday. She picked you up at your apartment early in the morning(too early for you, but you managed to get enough caffeine in youbefore she arrived so you didn’t look toodead), took you out to breakfast, and then walked you through thevillage to do some window shopping. A little before noon, Kurenaiexcused herself to run into a shop to “pick up a few items” sheneeded. You waited outside for a while before she reappeared with tworather high-end shopping bags on her arms and a happy smile on herface.
“Do you want toget lunch?” she suggested.
“Sure! Where didyou have in mind?”
Kurenai guided youdown the street, the bags swinging on her arms as she took the lead.“There’s a nice little place just up here. I think you’d reallylike it.” Kurenai walked you towards a small building and steeredyou into a casual-looking cafe. The walls were full of large, clearwindows without curtains or blinds, letting in the afternoon sun; thecafe was filled with sleek wooden tables and bright yellowupholstered chairs. It was surprisingly busy and there was already alarge group of people in the cafe, sitting at a row of tables in themiddle of the room that they had pushed together. The tables werelittered with cups and sake bottles, but no food. You tried to edgeaway from the loud group and towards a window seat but Kurenai seemedoddly drawn to the people and she grabbed your shoulder, smiling assweetly as ever.
“Where are yougoing?” she asked.
“O-Over here? Ithought we could sit … uhm, no?”
Kurenai shook herhead and pushed you forward towards the large group. “I think weshould sit over here.”
“But why?”
A few of the peopleat the tables looked over and perked up, waving at Kurenai.
“Oh,”you said, voice thick with dread, “you knowthem.”
“Yes, I do. And Ithink it’s about time I introduced them to you. Don’t you want tomeet my friends?”
“Not really … Imean, no offense!”
Kurenailaughed softly and nudged you forward. “This’ll be good for you.They all want to meet you. And I’m pretty sure there may be one ortwo you’d love tomeet.”
“Right …”
Kurenaistood before the tables and proudly announced your presence to thegroup. Then she went about introducing them all to you - handfuls ofdifferent names you barely had time to remember, one thrown at youright after the other. You realized they were all ninja, and it putyou on edge a little bit; you were the only non-shinobi in the cafeat the moment. Would you even have anything to talk about with them?You knew nothing about weapons or fighting or the politics of keepingthe village safe. Would they like you? Would you even be able tospeak to them? Therewere so many of them … and they were all total strangers. All theireyes on you, watching you, taking you in.
Suddenly in a chorusof a dozen voices, there was a loud cheer (some more enthusiasticthan others, you were pretty sure some only grunted) of, “Happybirthday!”
Yeah, you definitelywanted to disappear.
Turning to Kurenaiin horror, you muttered, “You planned this!”
“Ofcourse I did,” she said, still smiling as she guided you to yourseat between herself and the silver-haired ninja she called Kakashi.“It’s your 21st birthday and I wanted to do something special foryou. Now sit down! We’re going to order you lunch and then we canall get to know each other. I mean, youwill be getting to know them.”
With as muchbetrayal on your face as you could manage, you sat down reluctantlybetween the two ninja and folded your hands in your lap.
“So … what doyou like to do?”
You looked up to seea ninja with shoulder-length hair and a bandanna on his head staringat you. What was his name? Genna? Gamma? He chewed on a long needleand narrowed his eyes at you. Your face flushed red at the attentionand you stammered.
“Uh, th-things.”
“Things?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay. What kindof things?”
You shruggeduncomfortably and pressed into the back of the chair, wishing youcould escape. “Just … things.” Quickly you looked away, afraidof what kind of judgmental gaze he was giving you. Instead you metthe sparkling eyes of the ninja dressed in a green jumpsuit; youremembered his name - Gai. Not like you could ever forget someonelike him. He gave you the brightest smile you’d ever seen in yourlife and a big thumbs up.
“Happy birthday!”he bellowed, but his cry didn’t bring any attention which surprisedyou. He must’ve done stuff like that quite often. “I hope youhave a truly joyous and youthful day! You deserve only the best! Weappreciate you spending this most special time with us! You have awonderful friend in Kurenai!”
“Yeah …” youmuttered, momentarily reconsidering your friendship with thekunoichi.
“How’d you meetKurenai?”
Youturned back to see the same needle-chewing ninja as before, staringat you intently. He leaned his elbows on the table and folded hishands together. Drat, what washis name? Gebbo. Ginkgo.
“Oh! Uh …w-well, I actually hold private dance sessions. She asked if I’d doa few lessons with her students to teach them different moves andstretches that could help them with their, er, ninja training. Youknow, m-many athletes take dance classes!”
“Is that so?”
“Y-Yes.”
He nodded as ifthinking it over and rolled the needle to the other side of hismouth. “So you dance? You any good?”
“I-I think I’mfair. I … make a living teaching other people how to do it. So …yes?”
He nodded again.“Okay, so you dance. That’s something you like to do. Right?We’re making progress. What else do you like to do?”
You looked toKurenai like a child seeking its mother for help but she was busytalking with Asuma - the only other person who you knew at thisparty. Admitting to yourself that you weren’t going to get anyhelp, you turned back to Grab Bag or whatever his name was and rackedyour mind for what you liked to do. “I … like movies.”
“Yeah? Whatmovies?”
Crap. “Uhm … youknow, like … the ones they show in the movie theater here.”
“Huh. Descriptive.Do you read?”
“Mhm.”
He pointed beyondyou, “You read that?”
You looked over toKakashi who was holding a bright orange book and seemed unperturbedat being a reference point. You tried to glance over his arm at thecontent but he seemed to sense you and shifted away. “I … don’tthink so.”
A waiter appearedand you realized you hadn’t even given the slightest glance to themenu. Scrambling to look it over, you frantically tried to choosesomething inexpensive and easy to make.
“It’s yourbirthday,” Kurenai said gently, touching your shoulder, “don’tworry about it, okay? I’m paying for you.”
“You can’t -”
“I can and I willand I’m going to. Just choose what you want. You only turn 21 once.You should enjoy it.”
Through your guilt,you decided on a menu item and ordered alongside the other ninja atyour table. The conversation shifted among the small groups aroundyou, but Goku (Gazebo? Godzilla?) continued to try to get answers outof you. How long have you taught dance? Did you like this cafe? Howoften do you hang out with Kurenai? Do you know any other ninja? Thequestions weren’t too invasive but they came at such a rapid speedyou were having a hard time processing what was happening, but youmanaged to reply nearly as quickly - though you couldn’t quiterecall what you’d said. It was almost like he was trying to sizeyou up to see if you were a suitable addition to their friend group.
Halfway throughlunch, a ninja with a burned face - you remembered him to be Raidou -turned to the ninja with the bandanna and said, “Are you up fortraining later, Genma?”
Youslammed your hand down and shouted, “Genma!” Thatwas his name.
Five people turnedto look at you, including Genma. He quirked one eyebrow and rolledthe needle over his tongue.
“Yeah? What do youneed?”
Was it possible tohave this much blood rushing to your face? You shrunk away and lookedat your plate. “N-Nothing! S-Sorry, I just wanted to say I - I alsolike … music.”
A playful smirkcrossed his face and he looked at Raidou. “Yeah, that’d be fine.”
Feeling foolish, youstuck your fork into your food and mashed it until it wasunrecognizable. Lunch ended, most of the people paid and left with afew parting words of “happy birthday” or “happy 21st” andscattered into the village. Soon it was just you, Raidou, Genma,Kurenai, and Asuma. The atmosphere of the cafe seemed to changeimmediately and Kurenai stood, placing the two bags on the table.
“Here you go,”she said.
“What’s this?”
“It’s yourbirthday present, of course. You didn’t really think I wouldn’tget you one, did you?”
Stuttering out athanks once you realized it was useless to refuse it, you tried tobow but hit your elbow on the table and the dishes clattered againstthe wooden top. Genma and Asuma laughed not unkindly and you coveredyour face in shame. At least you hadn’t faceplanted into yourplate.
“Asuma and I aregoing now. Will you be alright …?” Kurenai’s eyes shifted tothe two men sitting across from you and a knowing look settled on herface.
“I think so …thank you, really! For breakfast and - and lunch … and my gifts! Ireally don’t deserve so much kindness!”
“Youdo,” Asuma said quickly, “and now if youwould be so kind, we have our own date.” He ushered Kurenai out ofthe cafe, leaving you alone with Genma and Raidou.
Raidou cleared histhroat and stood from the table. “I should be going too. I’llmeet you at the training grounds?”
“Mhm,” Genmareplied.
Raidou gave you aquick nod and a soft “happy birthday” before leaving as well. Youclutched your gift bags to your chest and rose suddenly, bumping intothe table again.
“Well I better begoi -”
“Why are you insuch a hurry?” Genma reclined in the chair, arms behind his head,smirk on his lips. “Do you not like me?”
“H-Huh? N-No -”
“No?”
“I mean - no, I …I … d-do?” You weren’t really sure what you were saying anymoreand you weren’t sure if it mattered.
Genma sprang forwardand jumped to his feet, nodding towards the door. “You want to go?”
“Are … Are you …telling me to leave?”
“No, I mean didyou want to take a walk with me?”
“Aren’t youmeeting your friend?”
Genma chewed on theneedle some more and shook his head, walking around the table. “I’llmeet up with him in a bit. But I want to talk to you first.”
“Why?”
“Jeez, you’redifficult aren’t you?”
“I - I don’tmean to be! I’m sorry!”
Genma eyed you for abit and when you decided to look away he pulled the needle out of hismouth and said, “How about dinner?”
“What?” youmumbled, unsure if you heard him clearly.
“Dinner? You andme?”
“R-Right now …?We just had lunch.”
“No - what? Notnow.”
“Later? Today?That’s n-nice of you but I don’t think I can accept anything morefor my birthday.”
Genma’seyebrows pulled together and he stared at you with a serious look ofconfusion. “Not today.”He took a deep breath and said slowly, “I want to take you out todinner - like, a date. How about in two weeks? I’m pretty busyuntil then.”
Youreyes widened in shock and you stared at him in silence, hands shakingand bags trembling against your chest. Was this really happening? Youhad barely said three words to the guy (okay, more than that butrepeating “Mhm” and “Yeah” didn’t really count), and now hewas asking you out? This didn’t seem right. What was his deal? Youweren’t even a ninja, so why would he bother? It’s not like you’dengaged in a rousing conversation during lunch; you merely spat outsingle-word answers to his version of 20 Questions. HadKurenai set this up? You made amental note to passive-aggressively get back at her for this.
Genma must have readthe confusion and apprehension on your face because he quickly said,“You know, you’re really cute when you act shy. And I figured ifI didn’t ask you out, we’d never get anywhere.”
You? Cute? Were youhearing things? The cafe suddenly felt warmer than a sauna and youwere sure you looked like a tomato. You forced yourself to speak, aspainful as it was.
“Y-You want to goon - on a date? With - with me?”
“Yeah. Is thatalright?”
You nodded, movingto cover your face with your hands but hitting yourself in the chinwith your bags instead. “Ow! Uh … y-yeah, that’s f-fine! I mean… it - it’s great.”
“Good. How aboutthis curry shop outside of the village? It’s kind of small andpretty far removed, so there shouldn’t be a lot of people there.You … don’t strike me as the social type.”
You would have beenembarrassed if it wasn’t so true. You bit your lip and slowlylowered your arms to your sides. “That … That sounds w-wonderful.I … I’d r-really l-lo-love to … to do that.”
“Alright.” Genmapopped the needle back into his mouth and smiled. “Two weeks fromtoday. Meet me at the village gates and we’ll walk together to theshop. Does that work?”
“Mhm.”
Genma huffed throughhis nose in a sort of laugh, “It’s a date then. I’ll see you intwo weeks.”
Totallyflabbergasted that you’d been able to make such plans with such acute guy with such few words, you merely nodded and watched him headtowards the cafe exit. When he reached the doors, he turned aroundand gave you another smile. “By the way - happy birthday.” Thenhe left the cafe and strolled down the street.
You collapsed backinto your chair and squeezed the bags in your hands. Had that reallyjust happened? You pinched yourself to make sure - yep, it had. Youcouldn’t believe it, but it was real.
Barelycontaining a squeal, you hurried out of the cafe and back to yourapartment. Your date wasn’t for another two weeks but you had toget home and scour your closet immediately.It’d take you at least fourteen days to decide on the perfectoutfit - and maybe go over a few imaginary conversations in yourhead. Maybe Kurenai making you meet all her friends wasn’t such abad thing after all.
Maybe,just maybe, when you saw her again, you’d thank her.
Hi again can you make a part 2 to the dance one with Genma? Maybe them asking Tsunade, getting ready for the dance and the actual dance.
@litkatkim I hope this is okay! I know it took me a while, and I didn’t get to include everything I wanted to but I didn’t want to make it too long! This is my last request in my inbox and now I can focus totally on my other fics without feeling guilty, woohoo! Thanks for being such a sweetie and waiting so patiently for this!
Words: 3.022Rating: GeneralPairing: Genma x Female Reader [Sequel to this post] Read on AO3
You stood beforeTsunade, hands wringing with nerves as Genma spoke with herseriously. He stood a few steps ahead of you, as if to protect youfrom the older woman’s deadpan stare. You knew this was a bad idea.
“Youwant to what?” sheasked, folding her hands together and lowering her head to stare atyou while Genma spoke.
“I asked her ifshe would go to the dance with me, and she said yes. But we wanted toget your permission first,” Genma said quickly, his senbontwitching nervously in his mouth with every word. “Or, rather,second I guess, since I already asked …”
“Youdo realize this dance was for the shinobi only?”Tsunade asked, one eyebrow raising seemingly in harsh judgment.
“Yes,” Genmasaid, shuffling slightly to his left to block you from view of theHokage. “And she was worried about that! She didn’t want to gowith me unless it was okay with you, Hokage-sama. So we came here toask you for your permission.”
Tsunade sighedheavily and sat up, folding her arms across her chest and lookingfrom Genma to you, unimpressed. “You sound like a teenager askingto take my kid out to the movies or something. You’re not sixteen,Genma. And she’s not my kid. I hired her as a dance instructor, andI think it’s fine if she wants to go to the dance with you - eventhough she’s not a shinobi. Besides,” Tsunade gave a knowingsmile to you, “I’m sure that it’d be good having her there. Shecan correct any missteps - and I’m sure there’ll be plenty.”
You bowed deeply,feeling your face flush hot. “Thank you, Hokage-sama! I appreciateit a lot!”
Genma bowed as well.“Thank you,” he said.
“Just don’t messaround,” Tsunade called as Genma ushered you towards the door. “Iwant you two to be at the dance! If I don’t see you, I’ll sendANBU after you to track you down. Got it?”
Fearstruck you at the word ANBU.You weren’t entirely sure what it meant, but it didn’t sound good- especially if they were supposed to track you down.
“Yes,Hokage-sama,” Genma called out before shoving you through the opendoor and down the hall. “C’mon, let’s hurry up.”
“Where are wegoing?”
“We’re got toget you something to wear.” He tugged at your sleeve and you pulledaway in embarrassment. “I mean, not that this isn’t cute but …you’ve got to dress up. It’s a dance.”
“I know it’s adance,” you said a bit defensively, hugging yourself and leaningaway from Genma. “But I … I’m not sure how much I like the ideaof going shopping … with you.”
“Well that’smean.”
You shook your head,turning to face him once you left the stairs and your feet met the hard-packed earth. “Ijust … You don’t want to go shopping with me!”
“I don’t want togo, or you don’t want me to go?”
You turned away andshrugged. “B-Both?”
Genma rolled hissenbon over his tongue and shrugged. “Alright. I respect that. ButI’m gonna ignore it.”
“Huh?” youasked, turning to look at him.
He grabbed yourwrist and pulled you towards the shops. “We’ve only got a fewhours to go shopping. It took you so long to get the nerve up to askTsunade about even going, that we wasted a lot of valuable time.”
“Sorry …”
“Don’t worryabout it. If I were you, I’d be intimidated if I was asked out by aguy as handsome as myself, too.” He grinned wide, wiggling hiseyebrows. You blushed and socked him in the arm.
“Knock it o-off!You’re not as f-funny as you think.”
“Really? That’skind of a shame, because I think I’m hilarious.” His smile toldyou he was teasing and you rolled your eyes, still trying to processthe fact that a guy like him wanted anything to do with you. Itseemed so strange that he’d even want to talk to you, and yet herehe was - escorting you to a shop so you could pick out a dress forthe Shinobi Ball, something you never imagined you’d ever attend.Genma let go of your wrist and strolled alongside you comfortably,turning his head up to look at the afternoon sky. You took a momentto admire him, smiling softly as he chewed on the senbon then pursedhis lips together and let out a whistle. Whatever Genma saw in you,you were glad he did see it because this was a moment you never would have wanted to miss.
“I’m not sure I… You can’t!” you protested, clutching at the silky folds ofthe dress you wore. “You can’t buy this for me!”
“Why not? Youcan’t afford it.”
“H-Hey …”
“That’snot what I meant! I mean, you’re a dance instructorin a shinobi village. A village that’s still recovering from a war.And I know for a fact that business for you hasn’t been all thatfrequent since the war started.I just want to do something nice for you, since I’m the one whoasked you to go with me …” He reached out and looked at the pricetag. Disguising his surprise with a couch, he dropped the tag andshrugged. “It’s not too expensive! It’s fine. But you gottamake sure - is this one you want?”
“Genma -”
“Is this the oneyou want?”
You turned to lookat yourself in the full-body mirror, examining the soft fabricflowing around you. It complimented your skin tone nicely and youreyes seemed to shine in the lights framing the mirror, though youwere partially convinced it was from how happy you were. You wereabsolutely glowing and a happy smile spread across your face as youcaught sight of Genma standing behind you in the mirror, looking atyou with admiration. Blushing warmly, you rubbed your arms and turnedaround.
“Yes,” youmurmured, “this is the one I want.”
“Good,” Genmasaid, grinning. “I hoped so. Alright, go get changed and we’llcheck out, huh?”
“Okay,” you saidbefore heading back into the stall to change back into your clothes.
“Andyou’re absolutely sure?”Genma asked through the door.
“Are you trying tomake me doubt myself? Because it’s working.”
“No - not that!But this shop has a No Returns policy, so …”
“Y-Yes, then! I’msure! Absolutely!”
“Okay … good.Uhm … I’ll go wait up front for you.”
Yousighed, looking at yourself in the mirrors lining the walls of thechanging room. You turned around, inspecting yourself from everyangle. Was this thedress you wanted? Pushing out all the negative thoughts and guiltthat clouded your mind, you stared at yourself from every angle inthe small room and nodded firmly. Yes. This was the dress. This wasyour dress.
Not wanting to keepGenma waiting any longer, you quickly changed clothes and joined himup front, the dress draped delicately over your arm.
The dance was beingheld at one of the buildings reconstructed by Yamato. It had beendecorated with paper lanterns, stone statues of lucky animals, andone corner held a small altar with burning incense so each guestcould pay respects for every life lost in the war. The buildingsmelled like jasmine and vanilla, but it wasn’t overpowering.Dozens of shinobi had already arrived and were dressed inuncomfortably formal attire. No one looked pleased and they were allstanding off to the side, muttering under their breaths about“wasting time” and how it was “silly” this had beenmandatory. Gai was there, looking surprisingly dapper in a tuxedowith a pressed white shirt and a flashy green tie. He smiled brightlyas you arrived, looking skittish and embarrassed to be surrounded bysuch powerful ninja.
“Hello!” Gaicalled, waving you over to the dessert table he was sitting beside inhis wheelchair. Kakashi was lounging there too, nose pressed into thepages of his book. He too was dressed in a suit, but had a smoothblack mask to match. You and Genma quickly walked over to the pairand you bowed in greeting; Genma merely gave a nod and Kakashi wavedback curtly.
“You lookradiant,” Gai said, beaming. “We had no idea you would be here!But it’s a pleasant surprise! Are you here to upstage us all? Youknow, I’ve still been practicing. This little injury can’t keepme down,” he said as he tapped on his wrapped leg. “Right,Kakashi?”
The silver-hairedjonin sighed “He’s been insisting we all practice together.”
“Oh good,” yousaid, lighting up. “So all my hard work hasn’t gone to waste!Thank you, Gai. I appreciate it.”
Kakashiblushed in embarrassment and looked away. “I - I didn’t say itwas a waste topractice …”
“Of course!” Gaishouted, giving you a thumbs up. “And I see - are you twotogether?”
You blushed hard butGenma stepped closer to throw an arm around your shoulder. “I askedher to the dance and she said yes,” he replied.
“Good for you!”Gai smiled. “I think you’re just about the only ones to get adate.” He looked around the room at the other shinobi and shook hishead. “It’s a bit pathetic isn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t saythat,” you began, following his gaze. Your face fell when you sawthat everyone was standing around on the outskirts of the dancefloor, looking miserable and awkward. You saw Iruka was trying tohide from a hoard of some of the older retired kunoichi who had settheir sights on him. Yamato was standing by himself, looking the mostuncomfortable in a suit, talking to somebody about how he’d made thebuilding they were in - and the table they were using - and thechairs they were sitting in …
“Well?” Genmaasked, bringing you out of your thoughts.
“Huh?” you said,turning to look at him.
“Whatdo you say? No one else is going to start dancing without someincentive. You’rethe dance instructor. Why don’t you show them what all thoselessons were for?” He held out his hand and you tentatively tookit, squeezing his fingers in yours.
“Alright … uhm,who’s leading this time?”
Genma smirked andquirked one eyebrow. “Does it matter?”
Rolling your eyes,you turned to face him and placed your hand on his shoulder, his handfinding a place on your waist. “Fine, then. I guess we’ll startand see where it goes …”
“Sounds good tome.”
“We’ll do thefirst dance we learned … is that okay?”
“You’re theinstructor.”
“Yeah, but you’remy date.”
“Fair enough. It’sfine with me. That’s a dance we all attended classes for. Maybe wecan encourage them to join.”
Youlaughed softly and nodded. “Sure. We’ll go with that.” Slowlyyou took the lead, guiding Genma out towards the dance floor insmall, graceful steps. He followed suit, relinquishing leadership toyou as he’d done before. The music playing softly overhead didn’tmatch your pace nor your dance, and you tried to tune it out to countthe steps as you moved around the polished floor. As you spun around,you caught sight of the rest of the shinobi staring at you and youtripped over Genma’s feet and stopped, looking down in horror. Yourface burned hot at the realization that every single personin the room was watching you.
“Is somethingwrong?” Genma asked, trying to see your face.
You shook your headquickly, standing up and brushing your hair back. “I-It’s fine! Ijust got, uhm … c-caught up in … I was just di-distracted, wasall …”
“Right. That’sokay. Do you want to pick up where we left off?”
“Su-Sure.” Yourhands shook as you took your place flush against him again, nowcompletely aware of everyone staring at you. But unlike your dancelessons from before, these ninja wouldn’t just up and leave thebuilding. Tsunade was somewhere among the crowd watching, waiting,with hawk eyes to catch anyone trying to escape early.
Hesitantly, you bothbegan your dance around the room, less graceful this time around nowthat you were aware you were being watched. Your body tensed everytime your eyes shifted from Genma’s chest to over his shoulder. Gaiwas giving you the biggest grin you’d ever seen and two thumbs up,but everyone else seemed bored. At least they weren’t making fun ofyou … You tripped again, your mind caught up in the idea of all theshinobi laughing at you and you buried your face in your hands.
“Hey, it’salright,” Genma said, rolling the senbon around in his mouth.“You’re just nervous is all. I think everyone is. Why don’t weget a few more people out here and we can -?”
“No,” you saidsuddenly. “No, I - I’m … I’m done … for now.”
“But I -”
You shook your head,gathering up your skirt and hurrying off of the dance floor and intothe dimly lit edges of the room. Genma sighed heavily and followedafter you.
“Lovers’quarrel,” you heard someone mutter under their breath when youpassed by. Though their tone was joking you couldn’t help but feeleven more embarrassed. Not only had they seen you dancing andtripping, but they’d seen you run off without your date too. Thiswas getting worse and worse by the second.
“That was anabsolutely lovely dance,” Gai said when you brushed past him to getto the dessert table. “Your moves were so elegant and flawless!”
“Hm,” Kakashiadded, turning back to his book.
“Th-Thanks,” youmuttered, unable to look at either of them.
“Just promise meone thing,” Gai said, reaching out to touch your arm. You turned tolook at him, confused. He grinned and his eyes closed tight, “Promiseme you’ll save the last dance for me!”
Givinga forced giggle, you nodded. “Sure. I’ll do that …”Unfortunately Gai didn’t know that that probably wasyour last dance for the evening. You couldn’t imagine going backout there to make a fool of yourself again. Instead, you’d drownyour sorrows in chocolate and sweet red bean cakes. You fiddled witha tray of sweets while the rest of the shinobi continued to millabout uncomfortably. Genma appeared before you on the other side ofthe table and cocked an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong?Why don’t you want to dance? Is it me? I know I didn’t get in asmuch practice as I should’ve but, heh, I thought our privatelessons were pretty useful …” He grinned teasingly, but youweren’t amused.
Turning away, youfolded your arms across your chest. “D-Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Say stuff likethat! I-In front of people … You’re … you’re trying toembarrass me.”
Genma’s expressionshifted from entertainment to surprise. “No - No I’m not! I justdon’t know why you’re so embarrassed. I thought we were having agood time. I mean, you may have tripped up a few times but it wasgoing pretty well. What changed?”
You motioned towardsthe crowd of shinobi and backed up against the wall. “They’re allwatching me.”
“And?”
“And?And they’re - they’re watching me!I don’t want to dance in front of so many people … I’ve alreadymessed up twice.”
“Trust me, any oneof these guys would - and probably will - mess up way more thantwice. Besides, I think they were all staring at you because of howbeautiful you look and how well you dance.”
You flattened yourhands against your thighs, feeling the silk of your dress, and shookyour head. “You’re just saying that.”
“I am saying it.Because it’s true. Look at you! I bet everyone’s jealous I got togo with you.”
Blushing, you chewedon your bottom lip and looked up at him cautiously. “I don’tthink that’s true … but, I … uhm, thank you.”
Genma raised aneyebrow. “Whatever. You just don’t see yourself from myperspective. I’d be jealous if someone else went with you.” Hemade his way around the dessert table and reached down to take one ofyour hands in his. “You’ve spent a week giving us all lessons forthis very moment. Now you get to be here. Who cares if no one elsedances? Who cares if they all watch? I just wanna dance with youtonight.” He looked into your eyes, his mouth curving into a soft,genuine smile. “Will you dance with me tonight?”
A happy laughescaped your lips as you grabbed his other hand and pulled himcloser, resting your head against his chest. “Yes,” you said. “Iwill.”
“Good!” Genmagently led you towards the dance floor. “Let’s show these loserswhat real dancing is, huh?” He placed a hand on your waist andpulled you closer. “Just keep your eyes on me and don’t mindanyone else. Okay?”
“Okay …”
Swiftly, he took thelead and guided you around the room. Your eyes locked onto his, warmand comforting and reassuring. Your hand gripped his, he pulled youeven closer, and rest of the room melted away. It didn’t matter ifeveryone in the entire village was watching you. All that matteredwas you and Genma.
You threw one glanceover his shoulder and laughed at the expression on Gai’s face -some mix of excitement for getting to see you dance again andjealousy for not being able to participate. Genma followed your gazeand gave a quick nod to the wheelchair-bound shinobi.
“Don’t worry,”he said, “I’ll make sure you get the last dance with her.”Turning back to you, he leaned down and softly whispered, “But allthe other dances are mine.”
Your eyes flutteredclosed and you leaned your head against his shoulder. “Genma?”
