| [Jun. 3rd, 2009|08:28 pm] |
At the exact moment Ginta shouted, Kakashi had his head in the sink. Blood trails spiralled away from the gory mess of his lower face, streaking the water crimson. It had been years since he'd had a proper nosebleed, but this one was trying to make up for lost time. He swallowed coppery water, soothing a raw throat. His mask was on the floor of the bathtub, drowning in its own scarlet puddle.
Alarm slammed down the chakra links connecting him to his clones. He jerked up, splashing water everywhere, and found the air filled with Shouma's deep barks. Ginta's yells. Panicked, mostly-gagged sounds from the family in the hallway. Ragged, spasming chakra brushed against the edge of his senses--Tsuyako's.
He slammed out of the bathroom, through the hallway, and back into the bedroom without stopping to re-cover his face. Chaos met him; this time he wasn't pleased to see it.
Under the restraining hands of two clones, Tsuyako arched like bent bow, eyes rolling back in her skull. Straining bandages blossomed with fresh blood. Her heels dug desperately into the old mattress.
Hoshika had yanked Ginta half off the bed, trying to get him out of range without doing further damage. His pale face was twisted in an agonized rictus, fists clenched tight. He'd stopped yelling.
Kakashi darted to Tsuyako's side, shoving between struggling clones to cup his hand around the back of her neck. His fingers dug into the stacked column of her spine, searching out key chakra points before she asphyxiated herself. He found one bundle of nerves, then a second, and lanced his chakra through them. She collapsed like a headshot victim, frenetic movement replaced by horrible stillness.
He hovered his hand over her mouth, and didn't feel breath.
Wrapped in icy calm, he ordered a clone to Ginta's side, dropped to his knees, and sealed his bloody mouth over hers. One hand pinched her nostrils closed. He breathed, once, twice. Drew back as the remaining clone compressed her chest. Breathed again. The clone jolted chakra directly through her heart, turning insubstantial at the edges as it used itself up. Kakashi breathed, forcing air down her throat--
With an aching, wrenching gasp, Tsuyako coughed herself back to life beneath his hands. He held her carefully down as wracked limbs tried to draw themselves in.
"Easy," he said, murmuring into her ear. "Easy. Just breathe. I've got you."
She shuddered, tears leaking out of tightly closed eyes. Across the bed, Ginta trembled in the grip of his clone, face turned ashen under sooty streaks. Kakashi sighed with relief.
"I leave you alone for one minute..." he muttered, brushing a strand of Tsuyako's hair back. Rock-steady fingers slipped his hitai-ate up; it took less than a second to ease the kunoichi back into pain-free unconsciousness. "Still with me, Ginta?" |
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