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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
- 7
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- 9
Chapter Seven
Kakashi strolled up to the Konoha gates. He checked in with the on-duty chuunin. They waved him on and Kakashi nodded; it was as close to a conversation as he generally had at the guard post. Then, as soon as he got far enough away, weaving through the crowds with expertise, he turned off the main street and leaned heavily on the closest wall. He felt underneath his vest. Even the lightest touch was painful. Kakashi sighed. He�d have to go to the hospital and have whatever those guards had managed to score on him tended.
Ordinarily he wouldn�t have bothered. If the wounds had been really bad, he would have done some stopgap measures on the way back and then collapsed upon reaching the front gates. If the injuries were light, Kakashi would have let it get out that he was hurt, yes, but he would have milked his injuries to get some time off. He wouldn�t find himself heading for the hospital as he did now. But there was Sasuke to think about where there hadn't been before. Kakashi frowned. It was thinking about Sasuke that had gotten him hurt in the first place. Best not to start again. He forced himself to a speed only marginally faster than his usual amble. His side protested every time he put one foot in front of the other, though any casual observer wouldn't notice. Kakashi needed to be at his peak to deal with Sasuke, that was all. Lazing around in bed while waiting to heal was not a smart idea. For one, he was sure Sasuke was not temperamentally inclined to being a nurse.
Kakashi checked in at the emergency room front desk. He tried to look unaffected and bored as his paperwork was processed, though he wasn't sure how successful it was: the nurses here were frequently uncanny. The waiting room was empty, but he hoped that he would be able to sit down in private somewhere. It was oddly embarrassing to be at the hospital when he wasn�t dying.
A nurse directed Kakashi to an empty examination room. He was instructed to take off his clothes and don a gown. He considered claiming some sort of modesty if she seemed like she was going to stay in the room, but before he had a chance, a code came over the intercom and the nurse rushed out. The door slammed behind her. Kakashi shrugged and immediately wished he hadn�t. He had an insistent urge to rub his side where it hurt the most, to try to alleviate the pain. To distract himself, he removed his gloves and stripped off his pants as carefully as he could. He toed off his sandals with a minimum of wincing. Kakashi was able to get out of his vest, but he struggled with the tight-fitting shirt beneath it. He was glad no one else was in the room. He wondered if the doctor would make him take off his mask.
Disrobing left him a bit short of breath. Kakashi decided that, in the interest of being a model patient, he would deign to sit on the exam table for a minute. The doctor would be late. Doctors always ran late. He�d rest a minute and then, somehow, wriggle into the johnny and be standing at the ready by the time someone came to examine him. Tying the johnny might be out of the question, though, given the way his side was protesting. Codes kept blaring out of the PA system. Kakashi ignored them. He considered throwing a kunai at the speaker. When he twisted around to examine the intercom, his body throbbed in warning. Kakashi speculated that the speaker was probably an expensive item and not easy to replace. He would spare it, this time.
He was still sitting on the table, waiting for a medic, when the door exploded in a hail of smoke and splinters.
Kakashi looked up from beneath the improvised shield of a tray that had held surgical instruments a moment before. Sasuke stood in the wreckage of the doorway. He looked paler than usual as he brushed ashes off his clothes. He hesitated a moment before crushing a still-glowing cinder on his sleeve, as if he were confused as to how it had gotten there. Sasuke�s eyes were moving constantly and the Sharingan flickered in them.
Kakashi felt the ANBU land on the ledge outside the window and he relaxed minutely. He didn�t take his eyes off Sasuke. It was nice to have backup today, even if it was costing him some dignity. Kakashi sighed. He wished, distantly, that he�d already put on the gown. At least his mask was still on. He tensed again, sending a twinge up his side as Sasuke stepped into the room.
�No flowers?" said Kakashi. "I�m in the hospital after all.�
Inside, Kakashi was calculating how much time and space he�d need to subdue Sasuke, and whether Sasuke could kill him or only hurt him on top of his still untended injuries. He knew the ANBU wouldn�t be able to intervene in time, but they could probably pull Sasuke off him after the fact. Kakashi took a deep breath, readying himself.
Sasuke turned his head sideways. He didn�t look like he was going to attack, which was good, but he seemed confused, at best. At worst� Kakashi didn�t know. Sasuke had been a few letters short of a post box before Kakashi had gone into the field. Now he appeared worse. Much worse. Kakashi hadn�t realized how much Sasuke had improved since his release until now, the products of an apparent relapse standing right in front of him.
�I heard them saying you�d come back,� Sasuke said. �But you didn�t show up, and I�d waited and waited and now I�m here.�
Sasuke turned his red, pin-wheeling eyes on Kakashi and then past him, to the ANBU in the window. He crossed the room and sat on the stool near the foot of the exam table. He was a yard away from Kakashi.
�They weren�t going to let me come," said Sasuke. "But I broke the seal.�
Sasuke glanced down briefly, and Kakashi saw a few smears of ink at the base of his throat and around his wrists. Kakashi snorted. Sasuke was lucky he hadn�t blown his extremities off from the backlash. Still, maybe it had something to do with his disturbing appearance.
�Are you feeling well Sasuke?� Kakashi said. �If not, you�re in the right place.�
Sasuke looked around the room. It seemed to finally register with him that he was in the hospital.
�I�m a bit tired,� he said.
Sasuke frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, daring Kakashi to speak. Kakashi�s eyebrows shot upward before he could stop himself. If Sasuke admitted to weakness, it was undoubtedly much worse than it appeared. Sasuke would have gritted his teeth and passed off a severed leg as a scratch if anyone asked about it. Kakashi tried to be casual.
�Oh?� said Kakashi.
�You were gone,� said Sasuke. �I couldn�t sleep with them--� and here he gestured at the window-- �watching me. So I stayed awake.�
�Well, missing a night�s sleep isn�t abnormal,� said Kakashi.
His instincts screamed inside his head. Kakashi struggled to keep a calm expression. He knew the signs of a ninja on the edge of collapse, and Sasuke had them in spades. Kakashi had to keep Sasuke believing that he was relaxed, that nothing important was going on, or he might get violent. Three feet wasn�t nearly enough space between them. Kakashi's skin crawled.
�But you still haven�t told me why you�re here,� he said.
He had a sinking feeling. The longer Sasuke talked, the worse he sounded.
�I stayed awake as long as I could,� Sasuke said. �When I got tired I went up on the roof and watched the stars. Except then it was raining but I couldn�t go inside.�
Sasuke shivered and drew in on himself. Kakashi made a quick sweep of the room for potential weapons. There were a lot, which could be either very advantageous or very, very bad if it came to a fight.
�They were waiting for me to go inside so they could go back to staring at me through the windows,� Sasuke said, his frown deepening.
Kakashi decided that Sasuke was more than just tired. He looked sick, upon closer inspection. His cheeks had a light flush and all the skin Kakashi could see was shiny with sweat. Fine tremors rippled across Sasuke�s shoulders.
When Sasuke was distracted by a nervous orderly peering into the room, Kakashi hand-signaled the ANBU detail. Did Sasuke do anything that might have made him ill? Kakashi was disgusted with the answers. Not only had Sasuke stayed up every night and cat-napped in the day, but he had sat unprotected in the rain for the better part of two days. Why hadn�t the ANBU sent for a medic when Sasuke started getting sick? Not their job his ass. If Sasuke hadn�t been sick and, Kakashi suspected, somewhat delusional because of it, he wouldn�t have broken the seal and done who-knew how much damage to the hospital. Kakashi had no idea what else Sasuke might have done en route. Sasuke might not have been here now at all, as close to raving as he�d ever been, if the ANBU had done their jobs properly. Kakashi silenced the thought that it was his fault, for taking the mission in the first place. It wasn�t his fault.
Eventually, a doctor came by and patched up Kakashi. She also gave Sasuke a look-over. Kakashi noticed the doctor�s hands trembling as she made a show of not noticing the incinerated door. The doctor gave Kakashi medicine and instructions and ordered the both of them home. Kakashi got dressed as quickly as he could manage, flatly ignoring the way Sasuke wouldn't let him out of his sight even for that. They walked quietly along the streets of Konoha, Sasuke three paces behind. The whole thing with the doctor rubbed Kakashi wrong. Still, putting up a fuss and insisting on staying for treatment at the hospital would only make the other patients nervous--not to mention the doctors and nurses. Kakashi was more than ready to go back to his own, familiar apartment, even if he was going home with an edgy, sick Sasuke. He wanted to shower, eat something that wasn't a field ration, and then collapse on his bed for a day or three. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder and sighed. Sasuke had to come first, for now. Sasuke needed him. This conclusion surprised him with its simplicity, and the resonant sense of rightness that came with it wasn't something he could easily put aside.
Kakashi got Sasuke settled on the couch. He took his bags into his bedroom to unpack. As soon as he entered the room, he realized Sasuke had been in there. Things were slightly off: pictures just a hair to the side of their former positions; the covers on his bed at a different crooked angle; the door to his wardrobe not properly shut. And there, on the window, was a Sasuke-sized handprint. It had to have been deliberate, that lone print. Kakashi was furious, but it would be meaningless to take it up with Sasuke now. It was too late after the intrusion, and Sasuke was sick and in no shape to appreciate how angry Kakashi was. Kakashi had his doubts that Sasuke would realize his infringement even when he was well. He threw his dirty uniforms in a corner and polished kunai for a while.
When he had done enough work on his equipment to calm down, Kakashi noticed that it was time for Sasuke�s medicine. He deliberately made noise coming into the living room. A well Sasuke would have thrown a kunai or two his way--annoying, but nowhere near fatal. Who knew what he might do while ill? Kakashi tried not to think about an out-of-control Mangekyou, provoked by fevered nightmares. He cleared his throat when he got within three feet of Sasuke�s head.
Sasuke sat up quickly for a sleeping person. Kakashi was fascinated to see he was indeed asleep and not merely leaving his eyes closed. He didn�t want to startle him awake, so he tried to slip the tip of the medicine dispenser between Sasuke�s lips. He was surprised when it actually worked. He pressed the plunger down and the medicine hit Sasuke�s taste buds. Sasuke's arm shot out, catching Kakashi's wrist in a hold so tight that it ground the bones together. He cracked his eyes open.
�Kabuto? What��
He stopped and took a better look. An unreadable expression crept over his face.
�Next time wake me, or I�ll spit it out in your eye,� Sasuke said.
He let go of Kakashi. He took the plunger, swallowed the dose, closed his eyes, and was asleep again in seconds. His body folded back onto the couch. Kakashi fought against draping a blanket over him. What had Sasuke thought he was doing with the medicine? He was almost certain he didn't want to know. His hands moved almost before his mind could catch up, pulling a blanket over Sasuke's torso, even as his wrist bones settled back into place and the skin darkened into bruises in the shape of Sasuke's fingers. Kakashi dropped the corner of the blanket as if it were hot. Sasuke didn�t need mothering. He stood for a moment. He studied his hands and, for once, they weren�t what he expected. They were strangely foreign, grafted onto his familiar arms. Kakashi forced them down at his sides where he couldn�t see them anymore. He went back to his bedroom.
Over the next few days, Kakashi did as Sasuke asked, waking him for medicine and water and soup. He also roused him during nightmares. Sasuke�s eerie, half-strangled cries came right through the walls, penetrating Kakashi's sleep and dreams. He got used to Sasuke�s hot forehead branding his shoulder during the short staggers to the bathroom so Sasuke could use the toilet and swipe at his teeth with a toothbrush. Kakashi drew the line at sponge baths, though Sasuke smelled terrible after the first day. And, while he wasn�t a good nurse, he thought it said something that Sasuke didn�t die under his care.
Sasuke recovered slowly. Kakashi was glad that he left some of his paranoia and bad dreams behind when the fever broke for good. Already he had learned more than he needed or wanted to know about Sasuke�s time away from the village. He also now knew visceral details of Sasuke�s imprisonment, things that had been unsaid in the dry facts of the reports he�d read. Sasuke would be completely humiliated to know what he�d said in his sleep. Kakashi burned with embarrassment for him. He wanted to forget what he�d discovered. Sasuke seemed to know he�d done something while he was sick, and so he went around acting as normal as he had ever had. Kakashi kept his best poker face up. If Sasuke ever got the courage to ask him what he had said, Kakashi had already decided to lie.
The next time the topic of a house came up, Sasuke said as calmly as he could without seeming desperate--a noble but unsuccessful effort--that he�d like to try it. Either they would succeed or not. In the case of failure, it would give them more time before looking for a new place. Kakashi suspected that Sasuke�s imaginings of what the neighbors might have overheard recently had influenced his decision. It probably wasn�t the most objective way to decide, but at least Sasuke had finally given him an answer. Kakashi didn�t know how this would affect the unacknowledged tensions between them. He sighed. Like it or not, caring for Sasuke was his duty. If moving to a house in the middle of the forest would be best for Sasuke, then he was prepared to work hard to get them there. Besides. They were two S-rank ninja. How hard could it be?
A/N: This chapter (in particular, Sasuke's illness) was one of the first things I thought up when I started this story. Originally, the whole Sasuke gets sick thing took about three paragraphs. It's been really challenging a few dense paragraphs of exposition into something more readable. I think I did a decent job of keeping the boring narrative to a minimum.
I'm pleased I could get this up so soon, too. I almost didn't get the editing done today! I always get suckered into extensive editing, no matter how long or short a piece is. I'll pick at it for an hour or two, leave it for half an hour, and come back and edit some more. It probably sounds ridiculous, but I'm hoping that it makes the story better in the end. (If you notice something unforgivable, please let me know so I can fix it.) It'll probably be midweek before I update this story again. Until then, happy reading to you all!
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