| [Jun. 3rd, 2009|08:14 pm] |
The genjutsu had been a mistake. But he'd known that before he'd yanked his hitai-ate down. It had been worth it, anyway, to see Ginta's pain collapse in on itself, drowned in dreams of summer sun; the clearest picture Kakashi had been able to focus on at a moment's notice.
An arrowhead gleamed dully between his fingers.
The ankle had been worse than he'd thought--broken around the dislocation, as was typical of such an injury. But there was warmth in Ginta's foot, now. Returning blood flow. Mobility in the joint. And everything had been easier after that. Even the thigh wound that had spurted old blood and older pus when Kakashi's blade had dug in deep.
The arrowhead twisted, turned gently in cold, unshaking hands.
He'd left Tsuyako to his clones, helping only when Ginta was fully bandaged and redressed in a spare set of Kakashi's ninja blacks. They hung too big on his slender frame. But there were antibiotics in both of them now, and tightly bound linen hiding the worst of the mess. Painkillers to dull the edge. Soldier pills for flagging chakra.
Kakashi licked his lips, tasted blood, and realized he should wash his mask. Change his clothes. Drink some water. Get up and do something the minute his skull decided it wasn't on fire--
Icy fingertips touched his shoulder, skidding over blistered skin. He jumped, almost jammed the arrowhead under a fingernail, and jerked his head around to stare at wide blue eyes. Pulled away when Ginta didn't take his hand back, and staggered to his feet. Ginta's eyes followed him.
"Welcome back," Kakashi said, smoke-stained voice grating in his throat. Ginta's hand stayed where it was, hovering painfully in the air. Kakashi stepped further away, slipping behind a clone and out into the hallway. The clone settled down where he should have been, smoothing Ginta's hair carefully back from his eyes, offering him water. Hoshika whined softly.
Kakashi fled, stepping past the weeping, terrified family into their bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
This shouldn't have happened.
But it had. So what was he supposed to tell Ginta now? |
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