'Tryin' to Get to Heaven,' Part 6

[midnightdiddle]

!-!-! Present !-!-!

"I'm so stupid," Kakashi whispered, closing his eye for a moment. "I'm so fucking stupid." He was completely unprepared, unaware, when a huge fist collided with his face, knocking him backwards. He looked up, shocked, at Asuma, trying to see past the black dots swimming in his gaze. "Asuma?"

"You're not the only one," Asuma grumbled, looking sick. "Kurenai's on Ibiki's team, and I haven't seen her since yesterday. Genma's dead, and Raidou's completely lost it. Anko's team has disappeared. But we don't have time."

Kakashi bit his lip beneath the mask, then turned, walking towards the remnants of the line. He felt, rather than heard, Asuma fall into step behind him.

!-!-! Nine Days Before !-!-!

Genma and Raidou were running through the trenches, parallel to the fighting, feet pounding against the dry, hard ground. The defenders to the west, behind them, were holding against the Sound, but in front of them the lines were threatening to collapse. When they neared the breaking point of the line they leapt out of the trench, crashing into the first of the enemies swarming the trenches. As they worked their way through the Sound, side by side, back to back, feinting and slashing and fighting, they moved further and further out, away from the trenches and the masses of bodies, until they were nearly alone.

Raidou was slamming the heel of his hand into the nose of a ninja, watching it break and squelch into the brain, when he heard Genma give a faltering groan. The younger man was on his knees, bent double, his head nearly touching his knees, and a shinobi loomed over him. Raidou lunged forward, butting the shinobi in the chest and slamming a long-bladed kunai through the man's throat. The edge of the blade caught on the spinal cord, holding for a moment before it snapped through. His enemy fell, dead, and Raidou glanced around. They were completely alone, far from the trenches.

Genma made another sound and Raidou looked down at him, stumbling backwards when Genma looked up, clutching his stomach, blood spilling between his fingers. Genma looked surprised, his hands cupping his intestines as they fell from his stomach, slithered through his fingers.

"Raidou," he said very softly, "I think-" The intestines coiled around his knuckes, red-stained purples, and a faint smell, like the stench of vomit, was on the air. Raidou was staring, his hands hanging helplessly by his sides. "Raidou," Genma repeated, voice strained. "Raidou, help me. I don't- there's something wrong. Raidou-" His voice was pleading, and Raidou's hands twitched. "Please-"

Raidou moved slowly, jerkily, forward, reaching out with clumsy fingers. The intestines were wet, slippery, and he fumbled with them, trying to shove them back into Genma's stomach. The younger man's mouth formed a soundless "o" and he leaned backwards, hands clutching his stomach.

"They're not supposed to be out," Raidou said in a shaky voice, trying to untangle cords of flesh. "It's bad, and you have to be careful, putting them back in, or you'll get an infection." Genma's eyes were widening, and Raidou knelt beside him, holding the stomach together as best he could with blood-covered fingers.

"Raidou-"

"It's bad, Genma. You always do these stupid things, these bad things, and you get hurt. Remember that time when you nearly swallowed your senbon? It's like that." He was babbling, useless words, useless just like his fingers, which couldn't hold the intestines in, or stop the blood that was pouring from the wound.

"Raidou-" It was all Genma could say, again and again, and his eyes were blurring with tears. "It hurts, Raidou, it hurts."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! You idiot, you damn idiot." He was leaning his head on Genma's shoulder, and the younger man was leaning against him in turn. The stench was getting stronger, and the wound just wouldn't stay closed. "Tsunade's gonna kill us when we get back." Blood-smeared fingers were clutching Genma's stomach desperately, and he shoved his face against Genma's neck, the brown hair tickling his nose and eyelids. Genma's neck was growing damp, and Raidou swallowed a choked sob, digging his fingernails into Genma's skin, trying to ignore the way his eyes burned. "You damn idiot..."

"Raidou, I-"

"You'll be fine," he interrupted, trying to ignore the way the dirt beneath them had turned to bloody mud.

"Raidou..." One last time. Raidou listened intently, but Genma didn't repeat himself. The younger man's body stiffened, then flopped across his like a ragdoll. He sat there, his friend's body in his lap, holding the intestines as they slid out of the body, as they slowly grew cold. When they found Raidou, he was half-frozen, clutching the body with numb fingers, caked in drying, sticky blood.

"Raidou-san," the first ninja said, crouched a few feet away, holding out her empty hands peacefully. "Raidou-san, you need to let go of him, we need to get moving."

He clutched the body tighter, and the intestines slipped and split between his fingers. "Quiet," he said stiffly, "be quiet."

She looked back at her team, then creeped forward. "Raidou-san, you need to come with us. You can leave Genma here, they'll be by to bury the bodies."

"Not dead," he muttered. "He's just sleeping." At the pitying looks he snarled, pulling Genma's body up against his so the head lolled against Raidou's shoulders. "He's sleeping, he's sleeping, he's sleeping!" He was screaming, flecks of spittle flying out of his mouth, and when he leapt to his feet, he dragged the body up with him. The ropes of flesh slipped free of his fingers, tangling around his and Genma's legs, and when he stumbled away from the ninja, the guts ripped and tore beneath his feet. He dragged the corpse with him, wrapping his arms around the body as though he were a child, lugging about a doll.

"Raidou!" It was a deep voice, and Raidou froze, clinging to the body. Ibiki stepped forward and Raidou sunk away, staring at the taller man with wide eyes, looking very lost, and very alone.

"I can't," he whispered. "I can't let him go, not again."




And so ends this posting. Hehehe. Thank you, NeNe! You were so much help. And you totally made my day.

Heh. Sorry if it's really gory. I'm toning it down, after this.

Comments

[midnightdiddle.livejournal.com]

I was having a gore-fest with nezumiko. Sadly, I won. >_<

I'm...not even quite sure what Ibiki said next. I died, right after Raidou's little sentence, and my brain went with me. Maybe, though, I'll pick up from there, and continue. Hehe. ^___^