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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.

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Chapter Thirty Four
Shikamaru left later that evening. Kakashi saw him off from the porch and went back inside. He put away the shogi set. He picked up the teacups they�d been using and brought them to the kitchen sink. He hesitated: should he wash them? Ordinarily Sasuke would. He sighed. Sasuke.
Kakashi washed the cups, paying particular attention to where Shikamaru�s lips might have touched the rim. He went around the house, cleaning up all traces of Shikamaru�s visit. Time passed slowly as Kakashi busied himself with chores. He swept the snowy footprints off the porch and steps; he neatened the main living area; he raked the coals in the stove. He sorted through the contents of the refrigerator, looking for anything spoiled.
The house was quiet as a tomb and he found himself listening for signs of life, of Sasuke waking. There were none. At last, Kakashi went upstairs to check on Sasuke. Shikamaru had been there as well, and Kakashi felt nervous that somehow, upon waking, Sasuke might divine that someone had been in his room. At this point, Kakashi had very little idea how Sasuke might behave when he woke. Angry? Resentful? Would he pretend like nothing had happened?
This last thought was troubling. It would be a very Sasuke-like mode of operation, and it was possibly the worst way to handle the current situation. Ignoring the problem wasn�t going to make it go away, no matter how much Sasuke might wish otherwise. And Kakashi realized that he himself had wished this, too. Having so many people getting involved in his--their-business was uncomfortable and awkward at best.
How much did they know? How much had they guessed? Shikamaru had more or less said out loud that he knew everything. Sasuke was a private person. He, Kakashi, was as well and while he didn�t necessarily mind people knowing the generalities of his life, it was deeply unsettling to think that they were scrutinizing the details. It wasn�t anyone�s business but his and Sasuke�s.
Kakashi realized that he was getting unreasonably angry over this and that the anger was covering up those things he was still decidedly not thinking about, but he couldn�t stop himself. It was easier this way. And maybe, just maybe, he could convince himself it was better this way as well. He could accept that he and Sasuke had a relationship: as warden and charge, as roommates, and even as friends. The other things were aberrations. Not realizing he�d been holding his breath until now, he let himself breathe deeply.
This was a mistake. He could smell Sasuke, could taste him in the air even though it had been hours since Sasuke had been in the room. Almost irresistibly, Kakashi found himself being drawn upstairs. Logically, he knew that no one had broken into their home and harmed Sasuke. He knew also that Sasuke hadn't woken up and wandered away. But still, Kakashi couldn't resist the urge to check on him.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, Kakashi had arrived at the door to Sasuke's room. Again, logic dictated that he'd climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to get where he was now standing, but he didn't remember doing it. He navigated the traps in the room, keeping half an eye on Sasuke in case he woke, and ended up at the foot of Sasuke's bed.

Kakashi spared a moment to remove the trap from the rug there, and he set up a nice, safe warded space that encompassed that piece of floor as well as the foot of the bed. He had no intentions of standing for however long it might take Sasuke to rouse. And if Sasuke should wake, still displeased�Well. That was where the ward came into play. With a sigh, he settled into place.
Sitting on the foot of Sasuke's bed, Kakashi willed him to wake up. It didn't work. Though Sasuke's breath was steady, and his heart beat, there wasn't so much as a flutter of his eyelids to indicate anything other than deep unconsciousness. The minutes slipped away as Kakashi waited.
He thought ahead to the future. He hadn't given it as much thought as it deserved, truly, beyond the idea of a nebulous someday when Sasuke might be better. At this point, he wasn't even sure what might qualify as better. Shikamaru's visit had been sobering. There were people in the village, people in high places who were still convinced that Sasuke hadn't--wasn't going to--made any progress at all. Not that testifying on Sasuke's behalf would be of any help. Kakashi would undoubtedly be told that he was too close to see what was really happening around him. He snorted.
What was going on was that Sasuke really was changing--bit by bit and not without some missteps--but he was changing. If Sasuke didn't get his chakra under control, though, it could be just the excuse needed to force the Hokage to issue those orders he'd held back for so long.
Kakashi shifted in his seat, stretching out first one leg, then the other. The problem was two-fold, at this point, but the more worrying was not the outsiders, but rather Sasuke himself. He hadn't reacted well to being told that there was something wrong with him. Though, truthfully, what had sent him over the edge had been the mention of Naruto. Or, rather, Naruto-as-Hokage. He glanced at Sasuke, laid out in bed, thoughtful.
For the first time in a while, Kakashi wondered what Sasuke really thought about his childhood teammate. They'd been working at cross-purposes for nearly their entire acquaintance, had tried to kill each other on several occasions. Naruto had spent years trying to find him, and Sasuke had spent that time, presumably, avoiding Naruto's efforts to bring him back into the fold. No, Kakashi didn't know what Sasuke thought of Naruto. But Naruto still felt something for Sasuke, that was obvious. He was still trying to save Sasuke.
Kakashi was no one's savior. Still, he felt compelled to try to help Sasuke. He sighed, tiredness washing over him. Feelings of responsibility aside, he still couldn't say what had made him accept the mission to look after his former student. Even now, he couldn't sort it all out. Things had gotten remarkably complicated in the meantime, and Kakashi worried at the idea that he might never have the opportunity to figure it out, if those unnamed persons in power were to have their way. If Sasuke were executed�
It was then, in the midst of this rather dismal line of thought, that Sasuke started to stir.
First, his breathing changed, speeding up and becoming more shallow. Then, his eyelids cracked open. Sasuke yawned, rolled to the side, and then, as if just realizing that Kakashi was there, he sat up.
"Sasuke?" said Kakashi.
Sasuke flinched back, one palm pressed against his forehead.
"Quiet," said Sasuke. "Please."
"Are you all right?" said Kakashi. "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine," said Sasuke. "what happened?"
Kakashi could see this was a lie; Sasuke was clenching his teeth and holding his head like it was going to explode at any second.
"You don't remember?" said Kakashi. "You were pretty upset�"
Sasuke shook his head and paled further. He sank back against the pillows.
"Chakra backlash," said Kakashi. "You should probably stay in bed for now."
Sasuke grunted. Kakashi took it as agreement, because Sasuke eased himself into a fully supine position again.
Kakashi hesitated then. Should he or should he not try to question Sasuke about his chakra? On the one hand, Sasuke was muddled; this definitely counted as a moment of weakness and it could be easier to get him to talk. On the other hand�Kakashi didn't feel entirely comfortable trying to use that vulnerability to his advantage. But he was no stranger to dirty tactics, and he probably would never have such an opportunity again any time soon.
"We were talking about your chakra," said Kakashi. "There was�something off about it."
Sasuke frowned, eyes screwed shut, face drawn.
"My chakra is fine," said Sasuke.
Kakashi frowned now. It was the denial he'd feared. Sasuke was going to pretend that nothing had happened.
"I don't have much at the moment," said Sasuke. "But it's fine. I can't stop you if you want to examine me, if you can't take my word for it."
It was as close to permission as he was ever likely to get. Kakashi then looked--really looked--at Sasuke's chakra. He studied it carefully. He followed its flow through the coils, minute though it was at the moment. And, though it felt like a spike was being driven through his head to do it, he used his Sharingan to confirm what he thought he saw. His blood ran cold, and everything around him ground to a halt. It was impossible. He struggled to understand what should not have been. Kakashi looked again. And again. At last, he exhausted himself and he stopped searching. There was nothing in Sasuke's chakra, nothing at all where there had been just hours before.
The instability was gone.
A/N: Hmm...nothing much to say right now, except that I'm glad to have gotten this chapter up in a timely fashion. I hope the turn this chapter has taken has left you curious, and not confused to the point of no return. Explanations are forthcoming, but I didn't feel I could squeeze them into this chapter without hurting the story. As it is, I admit I feel a little rushed/surprised that the chapter is over so soon.
See you all next week.
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Entropy