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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: My apologies for taking longer than anticipated to get this up...I don't know where the last couple weeks went! Happy reading!

Chapter Thirty Two
Just as quickly as he had succumbed, Kakashi snapped back into reality. He was still sitting at the kitchen table, now blinded by a massive headache. He closed his eye, quickly, and the pain lessened some, enough to open his right eye. He glanced around the room, wishing faintly that the afternoon sun weren�t so bright. There was Sasuke, laid out on the kitchen floor, limbs akimbo as if he�d simply dropped where he�d stood. Kakashi observed the steady up and down of his chest as he breathed. When he reached out with his chakra, he found that Sasuke had drained himself completely, that not even a single dram of extra energy remained. No wonder he was on the floor. Judging from his own headache, Kakashi was willing to bet that Sasuke was going to wake up with more pain in his head than he�d ever experienced in his life. The backlash from this broken jutstu was intense.
Kakashi closed his eyes and rubbed first one temple, then the other before trying to move. He eased himself out of the chair and knelt on the floor next to Sasuke. Kakashi rolled him over and checked him for injuries. Nothing visible. He wasn�t a good enough field medic to determine whether there was anything internal, and he debated for a few minutes whether or not to find someone who was. No. It was best not to bring in anyone else.
Kakashi sighed and stood again. Aside from the headache, he felt surprisingly fine. He hadn't made full contact with the Mangekyou world, it seemed. He looked down Sasuke. That had to be an uncomfortable position. He supposed he ought to drag Sasuke up to his bed. Sasuke was no threat to him at the moment, and even when he woke up, he�d be as weak as a kitten without his chakra.
There was something nagging at him, as if he had forgotten some vital piece of information and was just on the verge of retrieving it. There was something about that dream that he couldn�t properly recall, something that set his teeth on edge. Though it had only been the day before, it felt like years and he couldn�t remember why he felt so uneasy, looking at Sasuke as he lay, helpless, on the floor. Kakashi shook himself and tried to think logically.
He knew Sasuke was less heavy than he looked, which was probably a good thing. The headache currently pounding its way through his brain made it nigh impossible to mold chakra at the moment; he really would have to physically drag Sasuke upstairs. Kakashi sat at the table for some time, contemplating the task.
And then came a knock at the door, coupled with a perfunctory flare of chakra. With a backward glance at Sasuke, Kakashi crossed the living room and stepped down to the entry. He slid the door open and stared down at the person on the other side. Kakashi blinked.
�You again,� said Kakashi. �I thought you�d left.�
�Troublesome,� said Shikamaru. �Are you going to let me in?�
Already he was ducking under Kakashi�s arm. Kakashi was interested to see that Shikamaru hadn�t put his shoes on before leaving. He raised an eyebrow. Shikamaru�s feet looked cold: white and bloodless and a little shriveled.
�Yeah,� said Shikamaru. �Like I said, troublesome.�
�Were you on the porch the whole time?� said Kakashi.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. They walked to the kitchen and stood there, observing Sasuke on the floor.
�You can�t possibly believe that I would leave the two of you all alone to hash things out,� said Shikamaru. �It�s basic strategy.�
�Well,� said Kakashi.
The truth was, he hadn�t thought very much about what Shikamaru would or would not do after he�d left the immediate vicinity. There�d been Sasuke to think of, after all. Now that he was thinking about Shikamaru, he recalled that he had been one of the ones surrounding Sasuke the night after his failed attempt to raze Konoha. He had been one of the group who had handed Sasuke off to Kakashi. At the time, he hadn�t seemed angry, as some of the others had, but he�d been distant. Calculating, perhaps?
Studying Shikamaru�s bare feet now, Kakashi couldn�t say, at this moment, whether Shikamaru had been guarding the village from Sasuke or Sasuke from the village.
�You want help getting him up the stairs?� said Shikamaru.
For a moment, Kakashi was frozen with indecision. It was an innocent offer, and frankly Shikamaru sounded indifferent. Kakashi stalled and tried to play it cool, no matter that Shikamaru would probably see right through him.
�Hmm,� said Kakashi.
He didn�t like the idea of anyone else touching Sasuke, and he knew Sasuke wouldn�t be happy with it either. On the other hand, Sasuke wouldn�t have to know, and it would spare Kakashi some trouble. Kakashi didn�t fancy knocking his legs about or something while he carried him; while he was capable of carrying a body all by himself, it was awkward and, frankly, kind of stupid with someone willing and able to help. Kakashi nodded.
�You take his feet,� said Kakashi. �I�ll get his head.�
It was, Kakashi tried to tell himself, a tactical move and was not a decision based in paranoia. He couldn�t trust anyone else not to drop Sasuke, not to crack his skull open or something, all under the guise of accident. He didn�t know what Shikamaru�s motives were for offering to help. Were he and Sasuke friends? He knew, vaguely, that Shikamaru and Neji were friends, so his offer could have come from being the friend of a friend. It was plausible but not necessarily probable.
Shikamaru hefted Sasuke�s ankles, and Kakashi bent and caught Sasuke beneath his shoulders. Sasuke was reassuringly warm.
�Ready,� Shikamaru said.
�Okay,� said Kakashi.
They lifted Sasuke up off the floor. His head rolled back against Kakashi�s chest, and it thumped gently every time they took a step. Kakashi was almost grateful that Shikamaru wasn�t asking questions about any of this. Then again, Shikamaru probably already knew the answers, his intellect having only sharpened over the years since he�d made chuunin. And besides, from the porch Shikamaru would have had a pretty good idea of what had happened.
Crab-walking to the stairs, they detoured around what furniture there was and gave the stove a wide berth. Going up was easier than expected. Kakashi was silently impressed with the way Shikamaru seemed to know which way to turn and by how many degrees he�d need to shift in order to make it over the banisters and around the sharp turn of the stairs.
�You�ve done this before,� said Kakashi.
�Once or twice,� said Shikamaru. �But it�s always a little different, depending on the staircase.�
They made it up the stairs and into the narrow hall that ran the length of the second floor. Shikamaru, having walked backward the entire time, didn�t have a clear view.
�His room is at the end of the hall on the left,� said Kakashi. �The door�s open.�
�Any traps?� said Shikamaru.
�Don�t touch the furniture,� said Kakashi. �Except the mattress. And avoid the rug at the foot of the bed.�
�Okay,� said Shikamaru.
�Don�t try to turn on the lights, either,� said Kakashi.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at that.
�Explosive tags and senbon,� said Kakashi. �Not lethal, but painful.�
�Troublesome,� said Shikamaru.
�He wouldn�t be Sasuke otherwise,� said Kakashi.
Shikamaru was quiet as they walked Sasuke�s body down the hall. Kakashi assumed he was doing some sort of thinking on the matter, but he was still feeling reprieved. Shikamaru wasn�t grilling him. It was actually a little strange. Kakashi did a little thinking of his own as they crossed the threshold and shifted Sasuke onto the bed. Things weren�t adding up properly. Shikamaru showed up out of nowhere and made himself useful without asking a lot of questions and with a minimum of complaints. Then, instead of taking off when Sasuke had lost control, he�d stuck around. His behavior didn�t make sense. He was sure Neji wouldn�t have asked Shikamaru to take on all this.
Kakashi scratched his head. He looked over at Shikamaru who, now that Sasuke had been deposited on the bed, was just standing and staring off into space.
�Shikamaru,� said Kakashi.
�Yeah?� said Shikamaru.
�Did Neji really ask you to look in on Sasuke?� said Kakashi.
Shikamaru sighed and folded his arms behind his head.
�Yes�and no,� said Shikamaru. �He expected me to observe. I don�t think he meant for me to actually talk to either of you. And I know he had no idea that I might offer what I am about to offer.�
�Offer?� said Kakashi.
�Sasuke isn�t well. Any idiot can see that,� said Shikamaru. �And frankly, it�s only a matter of time before that---details about his condition--is brought to the council and to the Hokage.�
Shikamaru turned around now and looked Kakashi in the eye.
�I�m sorry, but there�s nothing I can do, either to help Sasuke himself or to stop the spread of information,� said Shikamaru. �I can�t offer you an in at the ANBU headquarters, either.�
Kakashi felt some sort of a qualifier coming on, and he paid rapt attention to Shikamaru. This was beyond important, and he knew it in his bones.
�Not that I wouldn�t love to have that sort of access,� Shikamaru said.
He seemed distracted for a moment. Kakashi prompted him.
�But?� said Kakashi. �I�m assuming there�s a but in there.�
�But I can offer you this,� said Shikamaru. �I have a fairly intimate knowledge of what goes on at the Hokage�s office and what happens in the council chambers.�
�Oh?� said Kakashi. �Do you?�
�Yes,� said Shikamaru. �You could say I have ears there. I can offer you information.�
Kakashi�s thoughts raced around. Shikamaru was breaking the law. Not only was he breaking the law, but he was offering to�well. Kakashi supposed a person couldn�t break the law more but that was exactly what he was proposing. Stealing information was bad enough, but sharing it was a different beast altogether.
�It�s not like I�m giving you state secrets,� said Shikamaru. �Not that I would think you�d have a use for those anyway. But I can offer you anything that comes through either of those offices about Sasuke, so you might have a chance to plan accordingly if worse comes to worst. It�s not much, but it�s better than nothing.�
�On the contrary,� said Kakashi. �I�m sure it�s a great deal of information.�
Kakashi thought for a minute. This had to be some kind of a trap. This could not be a genuine offer. Maybe Shikamaru was working with someone? ANBU? Or the Hokage himself? Though he did his best not to show it, Kakashi was starting to sweat. He struggled to keep his voice calm, to play along until he figured out what angle Shikamaru was working.
�This must be a risky move for you,� said Kakashi. �If anyone catches on, you�d be in trouble, I�m sure.�
�I have contingencies,� said Shikamaru. �I�ll be fine, more or less.�
Kakashi�s thinking backtracked for a moment.
�And you said Neji wouldn�t expect this, coming from you?� he said. �I�m sure he wouldn�t like you treading so dangerously close to working against the Hokage.�
Shikamaru snorted.
�I don�t intend to tell Neji,� said Shikamaru. �He�s a good man, but he�s too moral, too indebted to the Hokage to not tell him when something like this is happening.�
The implication that Shikamaru was not either of these things was not lost on Kakashi. Interesting.
�Hmm,� said Kakashi.
He pretended to think it over as he picked over this new information. He crossed his arms.
�What�s in it for you?� said Kakashi.
�Excuse me?� said Shikamaru.
�Like I said,� said Kakashi. �It�s a lot of risk to be taking just for Sasuke.�
He couldn�t help glancing over at the prone form on the bed.
�You�re right.� said Shikamaru. �But you need to understand, it�s not that I�d be doing it for him. Not specifically, anyway.�
�Then why?� said Kakashi. �Why offer at all?�
Shikamaru held up a hand and ticked off fingers.
�In no particular order,� he said. �There�s Sasuke himself, not that he�s anyone special to me. He�s a comrade, no matter what else has happened, and deserves my help on that alone. Two, there�s you.�
Kakashi blinked and put his mildest, most blank expression on his face.
�Don�t look at me like that,� said Shikamaru. �He�s important to you, don�t try and tell me he�s not. Three: it would be hard on Neji to lose one of his closest friends. And four��
�Four?� said Kakashi.
�Naruto,� said Shikamaru. �He�s spent years of his life trying to get Sasuke back, and years more staving off his execution order, giving him time to recover, making sure he wasn�t farmed out to one of the out-country prisoners� labor camps, despite the urgings of the council.�
Kakashi frowned. To have his worst, only half-realized fears confirmed like this�the situation was worse than he�d imagined. He�d been blinded by the small domestic harmony that he and Sasuke had created, had allowed himself to be fooled into hoping that things would work themselves out.

�I know he�s been fighting the council over Sasuke ever since he made the exemption,� said Shikamaru. �And, you might be interested to know it was on his orders that your ANBU watchdogs were cut to the minimum, and not due to any good behavior of Sasuke�s.�
Anxiety welled up inside Kakashi. He tried--and failed--to tamp it down completely. He could manage, he told himself. He and Sasuke would get through this mess somehow. It would just be harder than he�d been expecting. He scrutinized Shikamaru�s face, searching for some sign of deception.
�It would break Naruto to give the order,� said Shikamaru. �I don�t believe he�d continue successfully as Hokage after having Sasuke killed, and that would put the entire village in jeopardy.�
Shikamaru brought his arms down and jammed one hand into a pocket while Kakashi considered Shikamaru�s argument. It was solid, though Kakashi still wasn�t sure why all this was worth more than possible charges of treason against Konoha. Teammates came before mission orders, maybe, but the laws of the entire village? It seemed extreme. Kakashi looked at Sasuke again.
�It�s the lesser of two wrongs to do this,� Shikamaru said. �Treason or no.�
Sasuke seemed so fragile, even though Kakashi knew he was more than capable of defending himself. His chest rose and fell with reassuring regularity, even as his chakra ebbed so low it was undetectable. Kakashi needed to protect him, no matter the consequences.
At length, Kakashi nodded.
�If you are certain,� he said.
�I am,� said Shikamaru.
�Then I suppose there�s nothing I can do to convince you otherwise,� Kakashi said. �Is there?�
Shikamaru yawned and stretched, mindful of the furniture.
�We�ll have to make further arrangements while Neji is still away,� said Shikamaru. �I don�t suppose you�re any good at shogi?�
�As far as cover stories go, that�s a bad one,� said Kakashi. �No one would ever believe that you�d come all the way out here just to play shogi.�
�That�s not what I meant,� said Shikamaru. �It would help me plan if I were to play, either against you or against myself.�
�Ah,� said Kakashi. �In that case, there�s a board downstairs.�
�After you,� he added.
He gestured to Shikamaru, who, with his hands back in his pockets, left the room, retracing his steps exactly.
Kakashi lingered a moment, looking at the unconscious Sasuke and memorizing his features. Even in the half-lit room, his skin glowed pale, and his lashes were inky-dark against his cheek. The frown lines embedded in his forehead were smoothed away for the moment, gone with his conscious thoughts. The steady up and down of his chest comforted Kakashi. He brushed one hand over Sasuke�s chest, his palm resting for a second over his beating heart.
With a sigh, Kakashi turned away at last and walked out the door.
A/N: This chapter took forever. And by forever, I mean I'm still not altogether happy with it, but this is the fourth draft and I'm ready to move onward. And again, this chapter is a prime example of the story getting progressively more complicated whenever I look at it. Also, this chapter was a bit longer than I had expected. I just couldn't get the contents of it together any sooner.
That being said, I'm not sure that I like this part of the story, especially. I guess my real problem is Shikamaru's believeability in the role of informant. It surprises me how...gray a character he's turning out to be. I don't know how much impact he'll have on the rest of the story, either, or even if he'll appear again (directly and not by word of mouth.)
Maya-Nara: Sorry for the incredibly late review response! I'm glad you're still reading! I'm sure there's plenty of room for interpretation about what's between Shikamaru and Neji. ^_^ Truthfully, I kind of don't have an OTP for this fandom, mostly because I can't choose just one character/pairing; I like them all! (Kakashi and Sasuke, together or separately, come easily to me, for some weird reason, therefore I write them frequently. I really ought to switch it up more often...)
Thus far, I have not received any requests for an email update list. If you have emailed, it never made it through, and I'm sorry for that. If you would like to be part of such a list, you can email me at ersatzbeta@gmail.com. If no one wants to do it, that's fine too. I just want to put it out there as a possibility.
Anyway, I'll be back in a week or so, if all goes to plan. Later!
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Entropy