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Entropy	By : ersatzbeta Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1332 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I profit from writing this or any other fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Author's Note: This chapter's a hair longer than the ones I've been doing. I hope it is informative without being boring. Also! This chapter brings the total word count on this story to just around 55,000. That's something worth celebrating, don't you think? Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Nine
Kakashi woke up in total darkness, and he strained to feel what was around him. His heart raced in overdrive, tattooing a frantic beat on the inside of his ribs, matching the footsteps from his dream. It took him a minute or two of absolute stillness to realize that he was awake now, that nothing was chasing him. Even then, he couldn't dismiss how real it had felt. The glowing eyes had etched themselves in his memory.
As awareness filtered through the remainders of the dream, Kakashi sat up cautiously. His head felt like it had been used for kunai practice. It pounded in time with his heart. Genma's floor was, in all honesty, a lot softer underneath him than he had expected. Maybe the alcohol was cushioning the full effect of it. He sent his chakra out around him. Genma was�not in this room, not nearby. Genma wasn't anywhere Kakashi could feel.
Groping for a source of light, he was hit with sudden understanding. He was in a bed and not on a floor at all. Genma�s bed. Instinct took over and he switched on the lamp that he knew was on the bedside table. Light seared into his vision and he blinked rapidly to disperse the spots floating before him. Genma�s lights were always too bright. And then Kakashi backtracked. He was in Genma�s bed. Oh. Oh no. He looked over at the clock: two in the morning.
Shit.
He took stock as quickly as he could, marshaling his thoughts as they swam through haziness. He was in Genma�s bed. He was hung over. He was something like ten hours overdue to be at home. Sasuke. Sasuke was going to kill him. Kakashi tore back the blankets and stared. Well. He couldn't run right home like this.
Kakashi revised his thoughts. Genma�s bed. Probably still drunk. Very late. Naked. He felt his face. His mask was still on. If they�d done anything, at least he still had his mask. Had he and Genma�? Kakashi couldn�t say either way with certainty, and that was a whole other world of troubling.
He racked his brain as he searched for his clothes. He remembered that he and Genma had had some stilted, drunken conversation about ANBU--and he had gotten nowhere with his plan on that end of things--but after that, his memory failed. He steered his thoughts carefully away from the dream. He didn't care to remember that. A phantom pain lingered on in his chest.
Kakashi at last found his clothes lodged behind the armoire that stood opposite the bed. How it got there, he could only imagine. He shook it out, wrinkling his nose at how the scents of his afternoon still permeated it. Having the feeling that Sasuke would take it even worse if he came back in someone else's clothes, clean or not, Kakashi bypassed his initial thought of borrowing some of Genma's. He dressed.
Discretion being the better part of valor, Kakashi opened the bedroom window and climbed out onto the roof. He wasn't going to search for Genma, and he knew that his friend wouldn't take it amiss if he disappeared without saying goodbye. A seal flashed as soon as he set foot on the tiles. Kakashi dropped himself back, hanging on with one hand and balanced precariously with his toes on the windowsill, putting the bulk of the building between him and it. It was not one of his best tactical maneuvers, but it beat taking a trap full on in the face. When nothing exploded, and nothing tried to attack him, he poked his head back up. A square of paper lay on the roof. His breath escaped in a ragged laugh.
"Genma, Genma," he said.
Kakashi clambered back onto the roof and picked up the paper. It was a note for him. He glanced around to see if anyone had noticed his overreaction, but there wasn't anyone around to see. Good. He was relieved that he wouldn't have to use his Sharingan to alter any memories tonight; if anything else, he was sure his control wasn't one hundred percent at the moment. Kakashi tried to rationalize his own potential actions, even as he dismissed the thought. He wouldn't have actually taken anyone's memories away, of course, but it was always a temptation to fuzz them over, especially when Kakashi knew no one would remember what he'd done. Still, it was a bad idea to begin with, and it would definitely have made his headache worse.
He strained in the darkness to read the note. One of his eyebrows went up.
"Bold," said Kakashi. "Making inquiries, huh."
He had not anticipated that Genma might actually go and ask around right off. He knew Genma would be careful, but still. He sighed. ANBU were not to be treated lightly. Anxiety rolled around inside him, thinking about what Ibiki could and would do once he caught on that Genma wasn't asking around out of simple curiosity. Kakashi did not relish trying to run any sort of confidence on Konoha's top interrogation and psychological expert; Ibiki would probably see right through him, through everything. Kakashi found himself running for home as if there were someone already on his trail.
As he skimmed over the roofs of Konoha, it dawned on Kakashi that there was, indeed, someone following him at a discreet distance. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. One chakra signature, vaguely familiar, kept in step with him, two blocks behind. Kakashi slowed down. The other did too.
Instead of going directly home, he swung around to the Academy and waited for his pursuer to catch up. He didn't have much time for traps, and he was reluctant to use jutsu that might attract any more attention, especially when the chakra coming toward him was not overtly hostile. Focused, yes, but there were no signs of danger. Kakashi settled himself into a tree and kept a kunai close at hand. A night breeze pushed the scent of the incoming person to him, and he knew who it was. Even through the cloth of his mask, there was no mistaking it. Crushed grass, water, and a touch of cigarette smoke. Shikamaru.
Kakashi got down from his perch and tucked the kunai away. It would be impolite to greet the friend of a friend with a live blade, even if that selfsame friend was currently in his bad graces for a certain lack of forthcoming-ness.
Shikamaru dropped into the schoolyard beside him.
"I have a message," said Shikamaru.
"Oh?" said Kakashi.
He crossed his arms and feigned coolness. His headache was building up behind his right eye, like an ice pick going all the way through. He hoped he covered for it well enough, that he didn't look as haggard as he felt.
"Neji's gone on a mission," said Shikamaru. "He'll be back in three weeks."
"Shikamaru," said Kakashi. "I hope you're better at keeping your mouth shut than you are at trailing a person."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes as if he were still a precocious twelve-year old and not the experienced jounin he was.
"Troublesome," he said. "Fine. Have it your way."
He stretched and yawned, but he didn't ask any questions. Kakashi could see the gears working in his head.
"I think I'll go back home now," Shikamaru said, as if he were reading from a script. "This stroll around the village has helped relieve my little bout of insomnia. Good luck with yours, sempai."
And with a bare wave of the hand, Shikamaru was off again. Kakashi stood for a minute, lost in thought as Shikamaru's chakra passed beyond what he could sense. Neji had wanted him to know he was going to be gone. Ergo, Neji knew Kakashi would want to talk to him about Sasuke. But how would he have known that Kakashi had pieced the reason for the conversation together?
Kakashi thought about it as he continued on his way home. There were two outstanding possibilities. One: Neji didn't know he knew and was going to tell him anyway. Two: Neji knew that Kakashi knew because he'd put some sort of a watchdog jutsu on Sasuke or the house. Kakashi wasn't so altruistic as to think that Neji would simply confess something like this, so he ran along with option number two for a bit. Only half-aware of the outside world, he worked his way through the village. Neji was monitoring Sasuke. Well, Kakashi already knew he had been checking in with Sasuke from time to time. So what made this different?
He sat down on a tree stump just a few hundred yards outside the village proper. It was cold, but he grew numb soon enough under the clear, starry skies. Kakashi thought. Neji was off on a mission. Had Neji warned him so that he could keep a closer eye on Sasuke while Neji was absent? Kakashi knew that the Byakugan--indeed, the chakra of anyone--had limitations of use at a distance. So clearly, anything that would be taking Neji three weeks to do would be too far for him to monitor Sasuke's progress.
Standing again, Kakashi tried to shake the stiffness out of his body. He needed to get home, now, before Sasuke got it into his head to come looking for him. Though maybe he wouldn't. Kakashi scratched his head. Sasuke had been quite upset earlier. Experience told him that Sasuke would be less and less stable as time passed. That could be a problem. Yes, it could get ugly, with only one ANBU watching him. The ANBU wouldn't stand a chance if it came to a fight over whether Sasuke would be allowed to search for Kakashi or not. Grim humor rose for a second. As if Sasuke would ask permission.
Kakashi bounded through the snowy trees, flying over the frozen landscape as ably as he could. The alcohol in his system was rapidly burning away, leaving him thinking with awful clarity. One ANBU wouldn't be able to stop Sasuke. Kakashi envisioned carnage waiting for him; severed limbs, torn up swathes of forest, a smoking crater where the house used to be. Dead ANBU. Missing Sasuke, with unforgiving search parties going after him. Dead Sasuke, put down like a rabid dog. Kakashi sped up, the remembered scent of bodies burning clinging to his nostrils.
He wasn't sure which would be worse: for Sasuke to be ashes already, or having to watch as his corpse was methodically destroyed by an ANBU squad. Because Kakashi would watch. Sasuke was his responsibility. His heart squeezed tight inside his chest, and the cold air roared through his lungs. The forest blurred around him.
When he arrived in the yard, Kakashi was simultaneously surprised and relieved that everything appeared normal. He sent his chakra out, seeking Sasuke. He was in the living room, his chakra light and even in the patterns of sleep. Kakashi opened and closed the front door as quietly as he could. He took off his shoes and coat. He stepped up into the living room and found Sasuke curled on the floor next to the stove, and it occurred to Kakashi, belatedly, that he had forgotten entirely about bringing something home to eat. Not that Sasuke was going to care, this late in the night.
He decided not to disturb Sasuke. It was selfish--and potentially dangerous--to wake him up, just to satisfy his own wants, just to make sure Sasuke was okay. But then Sasuke shifted in his sleep, and the blanket slid off him. Kakashi would get close enough to pull the blanket up again, that was all. He'd do that and then go upstairs to bed.
He tiptoed over, got the blanket in one hand, and looked at Sasuke. His breath smelled faintly of ginger and scallions; spicy and warm, not so sharp as it might have been hours before. His eyelashes rested gently on his cheeks. Kakashi let his eyes travel further down than propriety might have allowed, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Maybe he didn't want to, and wasn't that a disturbing thought.

Then he stopped, stunned. He furled his chakra in tight so that he wouldn't disturb Sasuke. Kakashi pulled the blanket over him as softly as he could. Then, he marched himself upstairs. His stomach churned furiously. He opened his door, walked through the doorway, and shut the door behind him, careful not to slam it. He locked the door.
Slowly, deliberately, Kakashi activated the chakra-blocking wards in his room, and he let himself go. His chakra raged as he thought of the new lines of bruises, purple-black and swollen, that marched up and down Sasuke's snowy white skin. The bruises looked painful. They were Neji's handiwork. Kakashi arm ached in sympathy, and Sasuke's were far worse than what he himself had received. Every time his chakra flared too high, the wards absorbed the power. Kakashi thought absently that it was a good thing he'd put those wards in in the first place. Though they were designed to contain Sasuke's chakra, they worked just fine for him.
He decided, then and there amid the violent lashing of his chakra, that he was going to kill Neji the next time he saw him. Or beat him to within an inch of his life. Neji may have gotten the jump on him last time, but he wouldn't be able to pull the same trick twice. Kakashi laid down on the bed, fury simmering beneath his skin and boiling in his chakra. So this was why Neji had sent that message.
He kicked himself for not guessing the real reason earlier. The message had been a warning, yes, but it had been an unspoken promise as well. Neji would be back in three weeks. That gave Kakashi three weeks to plan the confrontation, three weeks to visualize and strategize. There were so many good jutsu to use in a situation like this. He hardly knew where to start. Even as he thought this, he knew it wasn't going to happen, not like that.
Kakashi heaved a sigh. He had already started to calm down, his immediate ire worn out. He reeled his chakra in. He'd have to keep his anger from Sasuke in the meantime, and he would have to watch over him as well. With a twinge of regret, Kakashi realized that he couldn't outright kill or maim. He needed Neji because Sasuke needed Neji. Also, the sorts of questions people might ask would be inconvenient. He shuddered at the thought of an ANBU inquiry.
Frowning, Kakashi tried to lay things straight in his head. He knew what was going on with Sasuke, more or less. Sasuke himself might, or he might not, but he wasn't talking about it either way. Neji definitely knew. Shikamaru had undoubtedly formed some good guesses during his late night message run, and if Genma spent enough time digging around in ANBU business, he might too. Kakashi crossed his fingers and hoped that Ibiki was still in the dark.
What Kakashi needed was a better plan. If Neji had hit Sasuke's tenketsu again, that was a bad sign. Kakashi tamped his anger down. He reminded himself that Neji was helping, no matter how awful it looked. Neji was buying Sasuke more time, at great risk to himself. Kakashi felt a little better as he rolled over on his bed. Neji was doing the right thing here. Kakashi needed to use these three weeks to try and discover, more accurately, what was wrong with Sasuke's chakra, if they were to have any hope of fixing it before it got out of hand�before Sasuke was found out and summarily executed.
Kakashi shivered. He let down the wards and unlocked his door. He could feel Sasuke downstairs, still asleep by the stove. He wasn't dreaming, though, and the vibration in his chakra was nonexistent at the moment. Kakashi yawned. The stresses of the day were catching up to him, and his adrenaline was running out. He needed sleep. Whatever residual unhappiness Sasuke might be feeling could be dealt with in the morning. And, with any luck, Kakashi would be able to bury his anger at Neji somewhere deep inside where Sasuke wouldn't notice it. Kakashi lay on his bed for a long time as he tried to let his thoughts drain away.
He dropped off to sleep without warning: one second awake, and the next total oblivion.

A/N: I know I've remarked upon this before, but this story keeps getting more and more complicated. It's getting pretty crazy, writing it all out! I mean, I know what's going to happen and all that, but it is getting a bit trickier to lay things out so that you, the reader, understands it too. And now, for a couple review responses.
Maya-Nara: as the next few chapters roll on--at least, I think it will be in the next few--the dreams should start to make more sense. (I love doing dream scenes, but I always worry that they're going to be too out there.) I'm glad you're still reading and enjoying!
morbid_curiosity: To my knowledge, there is, unfortunately, no automatic notifier for story updates through the site. I can't see your email address because the site doesn't allow it--I guess there were too many spambots or something collecting them. Still, I'm glad you're enthusiastic about the story. I try to update about once a week; more if I can, less if I can't avoid it.
I've been giving the idea of an email-update-notifier some thought, ever since morbid_curiosity asked, and I am of two minds about it. On the one hand, there's spam/privacy issues to be considered, along with the idea that, maybe you'll miss out on some great story on the big lists if you're only visiting for a specific update. On the other hand, it would be very convenient, and it's not a difficult thing to do. I don't know.

Would you readers like notification by email? If enough people were interested, I could look into it further. If I may be so bold, you might instead try bookmarking my author profile, if you'd rather not go through the big list of stories.

Anyway, see you all later!
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Entropy