| [Jan. 21st, 2010|09:54 pm] |
Of course he had to take his mask down. And breathe something else in. And let Genma see his face, again.
Konoha was only two days away. Maybe he could just walk home. Genma's double-jutsu had already done something, spreading numbness through acid-seared twitches, reducing full-body coughing down to naked, painful gasping. Kakashi even had enough control back to remove one hand from his knee and flatten it over his chest, where his heart thundered a beat that had nothing to do with panic. Nothing at all.
Genma mistook his silence for permission and reached out, one hand aiming for Kakashi's mask. Kakashi jerked back, and then winced when the world blackened around the edges. Tunnel vision; not enough air.
Genma's hand changed direction, catching him by the shoulder. "Slow breaths," he said, in that soothing-medic, I-am-so-very-calm voice. "Deep as you can."
Kakashi opened his mouth to swear, but Genma's other hand slipped through his guard like a knife and slid his mask down, smooth as silk. Kakashi choked on a snarl, both hands snapping up to grab Genma's arms, and then he just choked. Green-yellow dust glittered in the air, swirling around just like the grey-brown trap Suguru's corpse had released, and Kakashi was getting really tired of breathing in chemicals.
This one was a little different. It tasted warm in his mouth, syrupy in his throat, and then something like pure relief in his chest. Like air and breathing and forgetting anything stressful had ever happened, ever...
Almost exactly like a muscle relaxant, in fact.
Kakashi's grip loosened on Genma's arms, easing up from bruising to just holding. He felt himself blink once, slowly, and his pulse trickle down from adrenaline-soaked to a warm day in the sun. The world tilted a little, but didn't fade.
"What'd you..." he began, and dropped bonelessly into Genma's arms. |
|