Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Waltz #2 ❯ Chapter 4

4.

 

“I'm never gonna know you now
But I'm gonna love you anyhow”

-Elliott Smith

 

For his seventeenth birthday, they celebrated by kicking the shit out of each other. In the treetops, on the forest floor, skimming across open water and through the empty streets of Konoha, they fought like dogs - loud and fierce. By two in the morning, they were both bleeding from minor cuts and abrasions. By three, Sasuke had a broken nose. By ten minutes after three, Kakashi was laughing at his own clumsy attempts at healing jutsu. His palm glowed and then guttered, then ignited again. Most missions he went on had an experienced medic-nin along. He didn't usually need the techniques he'd copied years before “just in case.”

 

Sasuke was watching him very strangely from his spot on the ground, bloody face turned upward for Kakashi to fix. His mouth was trying very hard not to smile.

 

“What.” Kakashi demanded as, again, the healing chakra in his hand flickered and disappeared.

 

“I didn't know you laughed.” His voice was muffled with all the blood clogging his sinuses.

 

“Are you kidding? Life is fucking hysterical.” That was certainly true, even if this was the first time Kakashi had laughed in years.

 

“Kakashi, you never laugh.”

 

“You've been gone for three years. What the hell do you know?”

 

“You. And you don't laugh.”

 

Kakashi formed the seals again and pressed his fingers firmly against the bridge of Sasuke's nose. “You're ruining the joviality of the moment.”

 

“Well, I just- Here, let me do it.” Sasuke swatted his hand away and, in the blink of an eye had lit up his own palm with strong, pulsating chakra. Kakashi barely kept his mouth from falling open. The mask helped in this regard a little. Sasuke quickly and efficiently healed his nose and then stood up, dusting off his shorts. Kakashi stayed on his knees, staring up at his former student. The young man, not a boy anymore, wiped blood on his sleeve and sniffed experimentally. “I just- I'm not used to hearing you...” Kakashi felt his gut do an embarrassing squirm. “It's... good.” Sasuke looked away and frowned, eyes closed. What was going on here?

 

Kakashi heard a small snicker and then his arm shot up to block a sandaled foot aimed at his head. He watched Sasuke fall back into a defensive crouch, eyes still closed, a faint smile twisting his mouth. He twitched his fingers in a “come” gesture. A cruel slash of a grin spread unseen under Kakashi's mask and the awkward moment passed.

 

By four, Sasuke was laughing at the amount of mud he'd managed to shove down Kakashi's pants. Kakashi had never quite heard a sound like that before - hesitant and throaty, obviously a sound not employed very often. The muddy water trickling down the back of his thigh was almost worth it.

 

By half past four, Sasuke's eyes had turned dangerous. Something had changed, and while Kakashi was immediately aware of the shift, he hesitated to name a cause. Perhaps it was the darkest time of night before dawn that had him uneasy. Perhaps it was the fact that Kakashi had startled him, getting him into a quick hold that thoroughly invaded his personal space and also effectively immobilized him. Perhaps it was this trapped sensation that triggered it.

 

The Uchiha had snarled and spat and the sharingan had swirled to life. Kakashi blinked and backed off. Neither had used their sharingan until that moment and Sasuke's sudden anger was indicative of something deeper and darker than their scrappy fight had seen so far.

 

“Sas-”

 

“Don't come near me. Don't you dare... ever come near me.” His voice was low and deadly, laced with terror. His fingers flashed through seals Kakashi'd never seen before. Instantly he had his sharingan open, but he was too late; he hadn't been able to properly see all the signs. The Uchiha clapped his hands together and the sound was unnaturally loud. It reverberated through the trees, and made Kakashi's bones rattle. This was Sound jutsu. Both his hands glowed with red-tinged chakra. “Stay away from me!” His voice cracked as he flew at his former teacher.

 

Kakashi backed away quickly, putting trees, bushes and felled logs between himself and his enraged student. He let his body's survival instincts take over, suppressing the reflex to get Sasuke unconscious as quickly as possible. He wanted to see where this rage was coming from and how long it would last. His feet carried him backwards without the need to look behind him. He bent and spun away from the flaming fists aimed at his chest and face. Sasuke pursued him ruthlessly, growling and furious. Kakashi didn't let any of his blows land. It took way more energy to swing and miss than it did to swing and hit. Perhaps he'd tire himself out.

 

Right. And Naruto was Hokage.

 

Kakashi's thoughts turned to how he could get Sasuke to calm down. He vaulted up into the trees and flipped himself up onto a branch, staying in a low crouch.

 

“Sasuke,” he called. Movement in the branches above him drew his attention and suddenly three Sasukes were careening toward him. He blinked and replaced his body with a hapless log, which quickly became splinters.

 

He landed on all fours and disappeared into the shadows as the three clones searched for him. All three were clones... where was...? He spun and blocked one fist... and grunted in pain. His arm suddenly felt like glass, an expanding spider web of fractures creeping up to his elbow and down to his wrist. Sasuke's other fist jammed into his ribs and pain instantly exploded there as it felt like every rib on his left side was puncturing his lung with a thousand needle pricks. He breathed out sharply and found that he couldn't breath in. He started to slide down the trunk of the tree, weak with shock. He looked up into Sasuke's red swirling eyes and thought very briefly about begging. But he then decided against it and thought that if he hadn't been able to tell that Sasuke was planning on killing him tonight, then he was a poor excuse for a shinobi and he'd had this coming. He coughed and winced, knees giving out.

 

Sasuke blinked once and then again, deactivating the sharingan and suddenly looking very confused. The chakra in his fists dissipated and he took hold of Kakashi's uninjured arm, pulling it over his shoulder, taking all of his weight and gently lowering the jounin to the ground.

 

“Kakashi-” He choked it out.

 

“What were you thinking?” he wheezed back.

 

“I-” Black eyes searched his face, for what, he didn't concern himself thinking about. Hands that moments before had been trying to kill him fluttered over his skin, cool and rough, running over his ANBU tattoo, through his hair and along the ribs on his right side, the ones that hadn't been crushed with one punch. Sasuke looked panicked.

 

“Well, this is new,” Kakashi mumbled.

 

“I- I can fix it. I know how. Kabuto taught me.”

 

“Kabuto...?” The pain in his lungs was turning icy and his vision started to sway.

 

“He did it to me a few times and...” His hands wandered toward Kakashi's injured arm but the jounin jerked it away, nearly choking as bones moved like they were made of gravel.

 

“What did you do? And please keep your hands off me.” Sasuke's hands retreated instantly.

 

“It's, uh, it's the reverse of a healing jutsu.”

 

“I figured that much.”

 

“It... breaks bones through vibration. Hairline fractures that weaken the bone to the point that it can not support any weight. Kabuto-”

 

“Taught you. Yes, and right now, I'm very glad he's dead for both our sakes. And... as much as I hate hospitals, I'm afraid I need to get to one.”

 

“I'll take you,” he said quickly.

 

“Oh, good,” Kakashi grunted.

 

“Kakashi, I'm sorry,” he blurted. He ran both hands through his hair and glanced quickly around the forest. The light was just beginning to turn gray with dawn. “I- I thought you were someone else.”

 

Kakashi had plenty of witty comebacks for that but talking had suddenly gotten very painful, so he kept his mouth shut. He watched his old student struggling with his sanity, watched a battle that had largely been dormant - and Kakashi thought, over - these last eight months raging behind his eyes. The Uchiha pressed a palm to his temple and lowered his head, moaning low in his throat, eyes squeezed shut. Kakashi's heart lurched in a very undignified manner and his uninjured hand found Sasuke's, squeezing lightly. The young man looked up swiftly, eyes fixed on Kakashi's mask. Then he shook his head and his eyes cleared. The change from foaming at the mouth to lucid was like turning on a light. This made Kakashi quite nervous.

 

“I'll fix this,” Sasuke said firmly. “I'll fix it.” Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to Kakashi's, pushing hard against cloth. Kakashi sucked in a quick breath. Pain lanced through his lungs and he passed out.

 

***

 

He awoke to shouting. Three... no four people were struggling right next to his... where was he? He opened one eye and saw a white ceiling and white walls. Right. Hospital. If he didn't wake up in his own bed, chances were he'd wake up in a hospital. Hospitals were his second home, it seemed. He focused and tried to see who was fighting by his bedside and saw that he had an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth, blocking the events that he realized were happening by the door.

 

“I have to be here! You won't know how to heal him otherwise! If you won't let me do it, you have to let me stay so I can tell you how!”

 

That would be Sasuke. He sounded more worked up than Kakashi had heard in a long time. Only when he was truly in a panic, when he was fighting Orochimaru in his mind, did he sound this upset.

 

“Look, you little shit, it was your handiwork that put him here! You're in no position to be making any demands. You're lucky I don't have you locked up right now. You're lucky to be alive at all, you ungrateful piece of...” And so on.

 

That would be Tsunade.

 

“Please Tsunade-sama. We must heal Kakashi as quickly as possible. Sasuke-kun brought him here. He wants to help. I'll guard him myself.”

 

And that would be Maito Guy. Gods bless'im.

 

The fourth person did not express an opinion on the matter. Must be hospital security.

 

Kakashi closed his eyes and then opened them again when he felt his body suddenly tip forward. He glanced around the room. He hadn't moved... which meant - wonderful - he was on strong pain killers, probably morphine. Looked like he'd be awake for the duration of whatever was about to happen. He watched warily as Tsunade approached him. He tried to breath and again found that he couldn't really, but nothing hurt, thanks to the drugs. She stood over him, frowning. His eyes slid sideways to where Guy was binding Sasuke's wrists behind his back. He then sat the Uchiha down in a chair to bind his legs. Kakashi tried to analyze how he felt about seeing Sasuke tied up. He tried for a good ten seconds and then gave up, blaming his indecisiveness on the drugs. He was torn between relief that the person who attacked him was now restrained and fury that his former student, his ward, and his... whatever else was being held against his will. He didn't feel either of these in any great amount - he blamed it on the drugs - but he felt he should say something to the person who was his responsibility. As though he knew that Kakashi wanted his attention, Sasuke looked over at him then, black eyes wide.

 

Kakashi, grateful for the pseudo mask he wore, didn't feel the need to attempt a smile. “Sorry,” he murmured, his voice thready and full of holes. Sasuke started at his voice, then gave him a look of pained anger. He looked away quickly, eyes closed.

 

“You should be sorry, Hatake,” Tsunade groused, as though what he'd just said had been for her ears. He thought about being embarrassed and then discarded that ridiculous notion. It wasn't like he'd said anything too personal. It wasn't like he ever said anything personal. “What on earth were you thinking engaging that kid in a full-out fight? You're supposed to be monitoring his recovery, keeping him out of trouble - not inviting him to use unbelievably dangerous, forbidden techniques!” This last was said while glaring at Sasuke, but the Uchiha didn't look up or open his eyes or give any indication that he'd heard her.

 

For all her sharp words, when she turned back to him, her brown eyes held genuine concern. She touched his shoulder and then pushed coarse gray hair off his forehead. “But I'll patch you up like I always do.” She fiddled with something out his field of vision and suddenly he tasted something sweet in his oxygen mask. “Go to sleep now,” she murmured.

He did.

 

***

 

Hinata really was a very nice girl, Kakashi decided as he let himself be led down the hall by the diminutive Hyuuga. She deserved someone calmer and cleaner and bit more subtle than Naruto. She should get over her crush on him and move on. Perhaps he'd tell her that one day when he felt like butting into other people's business. As it stood right then, she was taking him to where Sasuke was being held. He should have been in bed, but Kakashi hated hospitals and he hated uncertainty; he hated not knowing the things he wanted to know. So he'd found Hinata while she was making her rounds through the hospital and talked her into doing him this tiny favor. He was nothing if not a charmer. She'd blushed. He was glad on some level that he could still make girls blush.

 

Kakashi realized they were heading for the psych ward. He also realized that he didn't want to see Sasuke in that place again. The health facilities in Konoha were top notch, but the psych ward wasn't a pretty place to visit no matter what part of the world he was in.

 

Kakashi heard Sasuke before they got to his room. His voice was harsh and arrhythmic. It cut through Kakashi's forced calm and drove him to pick up his pace, even though his lungs still didn't want to expand. Hinata hurried along with him. “Kakashi-sensei... he's... He didn't react well to your healing process. Tsunade said that he tried to intervene and... ” She trailed off as he finally stood in front of the thick glass window set into the door to Sasuke's room. His old student's wrists and ankles were still bound, though judging by the raw state of his wrists, he'd been working on getting out of those for some time. He slithered and squirmed on the floor, struggling to free himself, threatening the walls with dark glares and curses.

 

“Stay away... Don't come- don't come any closer... don't look at me... Don't stare like that! Don't you have to blink ever? No... no, stay back. I can fix it myself. I'll do it. Fuck you, I can do it my- Nngh! No, it hurts when you do it! Get off! Get off!”

 

Kakashi pictured Kabuto breaking Sasuke's bones. Kakashi pictured Kabuto teaching Sasuke to rejuvenate the bones he'd just pulverized. Kakashi pictured Tsunade pounding that creep to a smudge on the earth. He'd have to send Tsunade a thank you note.

 

Blood was dribbling from Sasuke's nose, smearing on the floor, getting on his cloths.

 

“...Out of my... get out of my head!” Sasuke cringed then shouted, “My brain is coming out all over the floor! I can't make it stop; it won't...”

 

Kakashi eased into the room and then turned off the lights. Hinata stayed by the door. He lowered himself onto Sasuke's bed and then sat back so he could lean against the wall. “Sasuke,” he said quietly, firmly.

 

“You're not here...and you're not here.” Kakashi wasn't sure whether Hinata was being included in that statement or not, or whether Sasuke was addressing them at all. But Kakashi didn't want her to see him like this. This wasn't Sasuke. This was a broken child. Sasuke was silent and moody and constantly questioning his own strength and always, always working to be stronger. Sasuke was proud and dark and more graceful than any shinobi he'd seen; more versatile than Neji, a bit more subtle than Lee, and without Itachi's malicious intent. What he didn't quite have in sheer power he made up for in adaptability - especially now that he had Kabuto's fighting and healing abilities along with his own, Kakashi's, and whatever Orochimaru had taught him. Sasuke did not lay on the floor and get nosebleeds and shout at walls. He was embarrassing himself. Kakashi growled and leaned over to pick up the cup resting on the bedside table. He'd been hoping for glass; he'd wanted to make a good smashing sound, but plastic would work. The cup didn't weigh much but it made a satisfying 'Bup!' as it struck Sasuke's head.

 

Silence hung heavy in the room. Hinata had her hand over her mouth; Kakashi leaned back against the wall and Sasuke lay on his side breathing slowly and blinking like mad. Then his eyes closed and he rolled onto his back.

 

“Kakashi?” he called softly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“You're not dead. Tsunade did it right?”

 

“Presumably.”

 

“Good... Did you just hit me with a Dixie Cup?”

 

He ignored that. “Hinata, would you be so kind?” She nodded and warily approached the young man on the floor. Sasuke, to his credit, stayed still as Hinata's small fingers undid the bindings on his hands and feet. He then held still as she healed the worst of the abrasions.

 

“Sasuke-kun,” She murmured. “They'll be coming for you soon, especially once they know that Kakashi-sensei is here.” He nodded and sat up gingerly, rubbing feeling back into his fingers. “You should try to stay calm and just explain to them that-”

 

“What.” He snorted in derision. “That sometimes I just go crazy? That I have these hallucinations that Orochimaru and Kabuto are still here? That I can't seem to control my own brain?”

 

“Well, I wouldn't say that exactly...”

 

Kakashi snorted a laugh from the bed and Sasuke looked up at him with a glare. Then he carefully got to his feet and hobbled over to where Kakashi sat, eyes sliding closed as he approached. Disregarding the fact that there was someone else in the room besides the two of them, the Uchiha lifted up his old sensei's shirt and prodded his ribs with chilly fingers. They still didn't hurt fortunately. Then those same fingers felt along the bones of his forearm, pressing in places and turning his wrist back and forth.

 

“You'd give Sakura a run for her money when it comes to the 'pushy nurse' title,” Kakashi grumped.

 

“Tsunade did well,” he said quietly.

 

“She must have had good instructions.”

 

Something very strange happened then and Kakashi was ridiculously glad that Sasuke was facing a way from Hinata, where she sat, diligently wiping blood off the floor. Sasuke was blushing at a compliment. He was flushed and smiling just a little. Kakashi felt his old, walnut-sized heart give a great thud as it expanded to fill a bit more of his chest. He met Sasuke's eyes, even though they were still closed and suddenly remembered the rushed kiss he'd been given right before he'd blacked out. Sasuke's eyes opened and dropped to his mouth, once again covered by his mask. Apparently he was remembering that kiss too because-

 

All three of them felt the arrival of the Hokage a few seconds before she actually showed up in the doorway. Sasuke growled and dropped down beside his old teacher. He sat very close, thigh and shoulder brushing his. Even though the kid was trying not to, he still looked threatening. He looked like he was guarding someone, even though Kakashi knew with a sinking feeling in his chest that it was Sasuke who would need protection in a minute.

 

Tsunade had come alone. She stood with her hands on her hips and gave the room a good hard glare. Hinata, surprisingly, did not duck her head but stood straight with her hands loose and ready at her sides. Tsunade's glare softened when it rested on her. It hardened again when she saw the two of them leaning wearily against the wall.

 

“You should be in bed,” she hissed at Kakashi. “And you...” she started, jabbing a finger at Sasuke. “You are more trouble than you're worth as far as I'm concerned. I could have you put away for a very long time for what you did. But others,” she glanced at Kakashi, “seem to think you're worth saving. So, I am officially confining you to this room until such time as we can figure out what to do with you. You have demonstrated that you are neither trustworthy nor safe as a member of this village, let alone as a shinobi. You will stay here-”

 

“Tsunade-sama--” She ignored Kakashi's interruption.

 

“You will stay here and you won't give us any trouble for the next 48 hours. We'll know what to do by then.”

 

She reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a syringe. Next to him, Sasuke's breathing sped up. “What is that?” Kakashi asked sharply. Even in his slightly drug-addled state, he could work up the energy to be suitably suspicious of a needle headed for his student's arm.

 

“Don't get your panties in a bunch, Kakashi. It'll just suppress his chakra for a few days, so he won't give anyone any trouble.”

 

“Then he can come home with me.” That probably wouldn't happen but it was worth a shot.

 

“Absolutely not. You'll be in hospital too until I'm sure your bones have knit properly. I'm keeping you both under my supervision until we get this sorted out.”

 

“You can't keep people in a hospital against their will, Tsunade, even if you are Hokage.”

 

Her large brown eyes narrowed. “I can have the appropriate documents drawn up in under 15 minutes. The news is out that the Uchiha is unstable. It's my responsibility to contain the threat he presents.”

 

Kakashi risked a glance at the young man whose shoulder was still touching his. Sasuke had his eyes closed, his expression blank. He had a smear of blood on his upper lip. He looked younger than seventeen.

 

“Look,” Tsunade said with a tired shake of her head. “I am not the enemy here. I'm trying to do what's right... for the village and for the two of you.”

 

“Leaving us alone is the right thing to do,” Sasuke murmured.

 

Kakashi frowned. Since when had their arrangement warranted the plural pronoun 'us?' When had Sasuke and Kakashi become 'us,' become 'the two of you?'

 

Kakashi knew the exact moment and it had been over a year ago, when he'd taken a skinny, half-crazy Uchiha out of the psych ward and brought him into his home. That had been the start. He should have known it then; on some level he probably had. But if that had been the start and he'd had over a year to try and help his former student put his life together and this was all the further they'd gotten - back in the psych ward, not quite as skinny, 1/8-crazy - what did that say, what did that confirm about Kakashi?

 

He cleared his throat. “Tsunade-sama, please give us a moment?” Hinata nearly sprinted out of the room. The Hokage crossed her arms over her ample chest and said very sternly, “I will be on the other side of this door, and I'll be back in five minutes.” Kakashi nodded and she was gone.

 

They sat side by side in silence until, with a slight hitch in his breathing, Sasuke took hold of Kakashi's hand and pulled it into his lap. Kakashi opened his mouth several times to express his regret, to say “I'm sorry I failed you, Sasuke. I'm sorry I couldn't do better for you. Perhaps another arrangement would be more suitable. Perhaps if you lived with someone who had a less tragic track record you'd have a decent shot at a normal life.” But he couldn't quite bring himself to say those things, because he didn't want them to be true.

 

Instead, Sasuke spoke. “This is how it will be. Okay?” He spoke as though the first letter of each word should have been capitalized. “Leave here and don't think about me; forget about me and go back to your boring life. Teach some new genin or something. The next time you see me, I'll be better. I'll have avenged my family and I'll have finally gotten Orochimaru and Kabuto out of my head.” Sasuke turned to him and searched his face in that perfectly serious way he did everything. “When you see me again, I'll be new.”

 

Kakashi looked up at the ceiling. “Why would I want 'new?'”

 

Did he really just say that out loud? No, he couldn't have. He wouldn't say something like that. He'd never actually say-

 

“She's coming back in a minute.” Sasuke's voice, right in his ear, then warm breath on his face, a hand on his leg and gods, he was far far too old for this. Then Sasuke was kissing him, pulling down his mask and pressing their lips together, sort of half leaning over him. Kakashi reached up to rest his fingers on Sasuke's jaw, to perhaps push him away, or maybe to crush him to his chest and hold him there like some missing rib or vital organ. Instead he let the kiss go on; he let a fiery ache bloom in his gut; he let it swell up to his laboring heart until his lungs were filled with it. Then he broke away and shoved himself off the bed just as Tsunade came back. She watched him leave the room, confusion and a question in her pretty face. But he blew past her, or rather he shuffled past her as fast as his recovering body would let him. He didn't want to see that needle go into Sasuke's arm, didn't want to see his... didn't want to see him brought down with chemicals. He wanted to honor at least that part of Sasuke's request. The rest... well, he could be stubborn too if he wanted. If the effort was warranted, Kakashi could be very stubborn.

 

***

 

He stood back and admired his handiwork, crossing his arms over his chest, careful not to get any blood from the bowl or his fingers on his shirt. He looked down at the hundreds of characters swirling and criss-crossing the floor. Too bad they couldn't just stay like that - flat, harmless, pretty. Too bad that in a matter of minutes they'd come to life, snaking along the floor to run along Sasuke's arms, legs, chest and throat, sealing up his chakra as they went. Too bad Kakashi was the one doing this to his former student. Too bad Sasuke was just crazy enough to warrant it.

 

The seals were more severe than a leash, but not so crippling as a strait-jacket. He would still have enough control over his chakra to travel quickly and cling to tree branches. He could get himself to safety if trouble found him. He could still pack a punch if he couldn't run. But he wouldn't be able to manipulate chakra like he did before. No fire breathing, no clones, no sharingan, certainly no chidori and none of the techniques he'd learned in Sound. Basically, he only had taijutsu - he had the power of his body. Which was considerable. But in a fight, he was no longer a wild card. He was no longer a threat. The seals Kakashi painted on the floor and the ones he was painting now on Sasuke's bare skin were not a strait-jacket, but they were definitely a muzzle.

 

Sasuke sat calm and still amongst the seals, didn't moved as Kakashi knelt beside him, painting his temples in blood. But he was not silent.

 

“Why are you the one doing this?”

 

“I like finger painting.”

 

“Kakashi, why you?”

 

“Because Tsunade had a hair appointment.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Because Tsunade trusts me, and she trusts...” His throat nearly closed up around the next word, but he forced it out, just to see how it sounded coming from his own mouth. “...us.”

 

Sasuke turned to face him. “I didn't want you to see me like this.”

 

“I don't what to see this at all. But I didn't want anyone else touching you.” Sasuke looked like he was about to do that blushing thing again. “Because you would probably kill them and try to escape,” he added. The Uchiha smirked instead of blushing. Much safer to smirk.

 

Kakashi lifted the hair off the back of Sasuke's neck and painted a few more characters across that pale skin. Then he set the bowl aside and wiped his hands on a towel hanging from his pocket. “All finished,” he said softly. Sasuke's back stiffened and his fists clenched and unclenched once. He was nervous. He was probably afraid.

 

“Kakashi,” he murmured.

 

The jounin picked at some blood under his fingernail. “Hm?”

 

“Kakashi, look at me.” One gray eye met two very dark eyes. “Tell me again that this is temporary.”

 

“This is temporary.”

 

“Tell me and mean it.” Kakashi looked at him for another long second.

 

“I promise.”

 

He performed the seals quickly and clenched his teeth as he pressed his palm against Sasuke's spine. Instantly, a strong gust of wind whipped around them, tossing hair and clothing. It roared in his ears so loud that he wasn't sure whether he actually heard an anguished “Wait!” or whether he was imagining it. He stood perfectly still as dark red characters swirled and darted around his feet, slithering along Sasuke's ribs, around his wrists, circling his throat, sinking into his temples. In the din, Kakashi's voice was swept away as soon as the words left his mouth, but he hoped Sasuke heard them.

 

“Forgive me.”

 

As the last of the squirming characters sank into his skin, the wind died down and then stopped. Silence and stillness hung in the air for several seconds until Sasuke took a deep, shuddering breath, body going taught. Kakashi tensed, not sure what was about to happen. But then, Sasuke released his breath slowly and Kakashi relaxed, only to stiffen again when Sasuke suddenly slumped backwards. Kakashi caught him against his knee and propped him back upright, just as he'd done four years ago during the chunnin exam.

 

That had been a bad year for the Uchiha. Kakashi hoped that this year was at least a little better.

 

He knelt down beside his former student, prodding him into a more stable sitting position. Sasuke didn't make any effort to maintain that position though, so Kakashi let him topple over. He straightened the young man's legs and arms and then laid himself down on the floor beside him. Resting his head on his hands, he stared up at the ceiling. They'd performed the jutsu in the basement of the hospital. The ceiling had lots of ducts and pipes that needed to be dusted. Kakashi hoped that no spiders decided to fall on his head while he lay here.

 

He turned to face Sasuke and watched him in silence, counting his breaths, watching the flutter of his pulse against his neck. “You alright?” he finally asked.

 

Sasuke didn't open his eyes. “I don't know.”