Summary: Naruto and Sasuke pull a trick to get Kakashi to show his face, but it goes too far and Sasuke almost loses his life. Naruto realizes a few things from his experience.
Implied Kakashi x Sasuke
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Naruto. I write for fun, not profit.
This was written July 17, 2006.
Any minute now. Sasuke grumbled internally, waiting for his sensei to come and 'save' him from drowning.
He still didn't know why he'd agreed to pretend to drown so Kakashi would have to lower his mask to save him. He'd never admit to actually being curious himself, no way.
But if someone didn't come in soon, he didn't think he could make it to the top for a breath of air fast enough.
The water remained undisturbed for another minute, and Sasuke figured that Kakashi hadn't fallen for it.
After all, Sasuke did know how to swim. He shouldn't have put himself through the humiliation of 'drowning', especially not for one of Naruto's pranks.
Why did I let myself get talked into this… He thought as he started to feel a little lightheaded. As it was, he was having to keep himself anchored to stop himself from floating up. He'd give Kakashi seconds more before he gave up and started swimming to the top.
Sasuke really hated losing though, so when Kakashi didn't come, he pushed himself further and stayed under for five seconds longer than he meant to. His chest heaved and he accidentally took a gulp of water, which set off a coughing fit. He tried to swim to the top immediately but halfway up, everything tilted sickeningly and the world flickered to black.
Naruto sat on the bank of the beach, pretending to bask in the sun. Kakashi sat a few paces away on a beach towel, orange book in hand. Even though it was so hot, he was still wearing his mask. Sasuke went in to the water a few minutes before, leaving his own beach towel behind. Naruto knew Sasuke could his breath for a few minutes and wasn't too worried. Now he just had to wait for his limit and for Kakashi to jump in to save him. After it was over, he'd use the excuse that he thought Sasuke was just messing around and so hadn't bothered to go in and find out what was wrong.
Naruto mentally grinned, expecting his plan to reveal Kakashi's face to go perfectly. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to get Sasuke to agree to it, but he chalked it up to Sasuke being too hot and not thinking properly. Then again, maybe he was just as curious as he to find out what was underneath Kakashi's mask.
If Sakura were here, she might have helped, but she was doing something girly with Ino and Tenten or something.
Shouldn't he be close to his limit by now? Naruto frowned slightly as he watched the water. Kakashi hadn't looked up from his book yet, and Naruto was feeling a niggling of doubt now. If Kakashi didn't save him, Sasuke would have to come up, thus ruining the prank and making both of them look stupid.
Hmm, I'm sure Sasuke knows his own limits. If Kakashi doesn't go in, he'll come back up himself. Naruto assured himself.
After another minute passed, however, Sasuke didn't make an appearance. Only when Naruto stood up, shielding his eyes with a hand to peer into the water did Kakashi glance up at him. Naruto must have looked pretty worried, as only then did Kakashi slay his book down, strip off his shirt and walked into the water, diving down once it was deep enough. Naruto would have cheered if he weren't so worried. Maybe Sasuke's limit had changed since last time. Maybe he hadn't gone over it and was still okay.
Less than a minute later, Kakashi emerged from the water soaked through, carrying a frighteningly cold and unresponsive Sasuke.
Please, be faking! Naruto bit his lip hard, because he knew Sasuke didn't 'fake' at anything.
Naruto suddenly wondered if he should take over (though he didn't know CPR), because he didn't know if Kakashi would take off his mask even at a time like this. He'd counted on it for this prank, but now he found himself just wishing Sasuke would sit up and say, "Hn. Dobe, where you worried?"
He needn't have worried. Kakashi jerked his mask down with no hesitation, placed his hands across each other on Sasuke's chest and preformed CPR. If Sasuke were really was faking, Naruto would make jokes about the picture of Kakashi kissing Sasuke for blackmail.
Watching Kakashi systematically pump and breath air into his best friend, he felt a great ball of guilt knot in his chest. He may have killed his best friend, all to see the face of his sensei who probably had a good and personal reason for wearing the mask in the first place.
"Naruto! Help me!" Kakashi called out to him in between breaths. After a moment of uncertainty, he rushed to Sasuke's side and pressed his hands to his chest, replacing Kakashi's as the man gave him instructions.
As he pressed down, he was amazed at the look on Kakashi's face. Never had he seen Kakashi look so determined, angry, and a look that Naruto recognized as desperation. Naruto knew now that he'd done something truly awful that he could never have imagined the consequences of.
"Come on Sasuke! Breathe!" Kakashi mumbled, leaning forward to breathe air into Sasuke's lungs once more.
Naruto felt his grip on reality slipping. Sasuke wasn't breathing. He was dead. This wasn't working.
…Sakura will never forgive me. Tears dripped down his face onto Sasuke's chest.
"Damnit…Sasuke!" His hands fell off Sasuke's chest. Kakashi took up Naruto's slack, never once hesitating, though he probably knew it was hopeless by now.
"Sasuke, don't you dare give up now!" Kakashi breathed one last desperate breath into Sasuke and pressed down on his chest one last time, hard. Naruto thought it was all over now, nothing could save his friend, until a sudden hacking fit forced him to raise his head almost fast enough to give himself whip lash.
Kakashi was pushing Sasuke onto his side, and he coughed up a lungful of water, not strong enough to hold himself up. Once he was done, he flopped back onto his back and tipped his head back to look at Kakashi.
"…You… your mask…" His voice was hoarse and thick with shock. Naruto realized he hadn't dared look at Kakashi once the mask was off. He'd already done enough. But now he figured he might as well as it was too late to take it back.
Kakashi didn't have thick lips, buckteeth, or anything else wrong with him. His face was rather flawless except for the scar down his right eye. Even Naruto recognized that Kakashi was rather handsome and he wondered why he would hide it behind that mask.
As Sasuke stared at his sensei, he thought he understood perfectly. His arm moved weakly on its own to trace the curve of Kakashi's jaw, and ran a thumb over the scar on his damaged eye. The eye was closed and it fluttered slightly when Sasuke's fingertips ran over it. The way Kakashi crouched stiffly by his side and the wideness of his eyes, Sasuke could tell he was surprised by his actions. It also could be he was still shocked that he'd almost lost a student. Sasuke remembered that Kakashi had had to perform CPR and what that entailed and a slight blush rose in his cheeks.
Naruto felt awkward, like he was peeping on an intimate moment. But it ended soon and Kakashi supported Sasuke so he could stand. Naruto opened his mouth to confess and apologize, but Sasuke sent a warning look his way, making him blink in bemusement.
"I'm sorry. I thought I could stay under for longer, but I couldn't, and I was too late making it to the top. I'll accept any punishment." Naruto sent him a shocked look. He'd just nearly killed his best friend, and he was taking the blame for it? Sasuke sent him another look that told him they would talk later.
Kakashi's mouth was drawn in a thin line, but he didn't say anything. He just escorted Sasuke to the hospital, arms around his shoulders in support. Naruto decided to find Sakura and visit him together. He didn't know what was going on between his sensei and best friend, but it was something he wasn't a part of (never was, really), and so left Kakashi and Sasuke to figure it out between themselves.
Safe to say Naruto learned his lesson. He couldn't even tell Sakura what Kakashi looked like under the mask because he felt too guilty. He would, however, tease her about missing her chance.