Insanity's Slip

Chapter Six

By Boejangles

Naruto took in a deep breath. They had met with Kakashi earlier and had to pull some weeds from a ladies yard. It wasn't hard at all, but was a needed stage in ninja development. When he and Sasuke had arrived home they went to the back to practice the Jutsus from the scroll.

Sasuke jumped into the air before performing the fire phoenix, which he had been practicing all afternoon.

"That looked good," The blonde commented.

"How's the fire flicker coming?" The older boy asked.

"Well…I have the first part down, but I keep singing myself."

"Alright, lets stop and do more tomorrow." Sasuke rubbed his forehead trying to make the headache he was getting go away.

"Alright, I'll make dinner." Naruto said following the dark haired boy into the house.

Sasuke nodded and went off to his room shutting the door with a slight thud. He turned and looked at the bed and then the far wall. His head was pounding and he could feel the sweat sliding down his brow. His heart was speeding for an unknown reason. He needed to lie down and rest. Yeah some sleep would do him good.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling when he heard a loud thud. He set the pan he had pulled out down on the counter and made his way upstairs.

"Aniki, you okay?" He furrowed his brow when there was no answer, "Sasuke?" still no answer. He knocked lightly on the door.

The door was yanked open in a quick motion followed by an angry, "What?" causing the blonde to jump backwards.

"I just heard a noise and wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"How sweet of you," was the sarcastic reply.

"I'm just gonna go an finish diner." Naruto said backing away from his older brother and heading back towards the stairs.

"Aww, and I was looking forward to playing a game. Don't you want to play a game with me?"

The blonde visibly stiffened; he couldn't say no, but he didn't want to say yes. "What kind of game?"

"Hide and seek." Sasuke responded with a smirk.

"I should really go finish diner."

"One…two…"

Naruto ran sliding when he reached the stairs and then bolted down the stairs. 'Hide hide hide!' his mind was yelling at him. He needed to find somewhere. He turned to go left and then stopped and ran right. Before turning and going into the bathroom; he made his way into the bathtub and pulled the shower curtain. Crouching down he pulled his knees to his chest, set his head on his knees, and listened.

"Ready or not here I come!" The blonde cringed slightly when he heard these words. He listened more carefully. The footsteps were above him and he didn't need to worry yet.

He could hear as the steps left his bedroom and stopped at the closet, then the upstairs bathroom, they were coming down the stairs, then the faded as they walked into the kitchen.

'Give up, give up.' Naruto chanted to himself. His ears picked up when the steps left the kitchen and went into the living room, and then they stopped completely. He listened closely; the footsteps were coming towards him. 'Shit'.

He closed his eyes as the bathroom door was opened. The footsteps slowly came closer.

"No, he couldn't be in here. I must be all wrong." Sasuke said almost playfully. "I wonder what would happen if I turned the water on."

Naruto was completely still, he didn't want to move or breath. Maybe Sasuke was testing him. He wasn't going to react, he was going to be still, be invisible. His plan however went out the window as a yelp left his lips from the sensation of the burning water leaving the showerhead.

Sasuke yanked the shower curtain back, "Boo!"

The blonde pushed back against the shower wall trying to ignore the hot water hitting him.

The dark haired boy got a smirk as his hand moved to the water control and shifted it to the far right.

Naruto shivered slightly as the water got icy. He stay pushed against the wall and wondered why he wasn't getting hit. He watched as Sasuke flipped the switch so that all the water stayed in the tub and didn't drain. It was just some cold water, better then getting beat.

Sasuke laughed as the blonde shivered and the water got higher. "Thought you were really smart didn't you? Well you were wrong weren't you?"

"I'm sorry." Naruto mumbled through chattering teeth. He didn't know exactly what he had done, but better just say sorry anyways.

"That wont work this time." The older one said reaching and grabbing the blonde's shoulders that struggled. He yanked the smaller boy forward and then pushed to the side downward.

Naruto pushed his arms forward hitting the bottom of the tub. He fought against Sasuke pushing him down, but his right arm gave out. The dark haired boy pushed down hard causing the younger one to be submerged in water.

Bubbles came up as Naruto kicked his legs wildly and reached his arm around to hit at the older boys.

Sasuke yanked him out of the water and turned him deciding he would prefer to see his brothers face as he struggled and in a quick motion he pushed the blonde back into the water.

Naruto scratched at Sasuke's arms trying to get him to let go before grabbing the side's of the tub and trying to pull himself up. His feet were kicking like crazy. One kick managed to turn the water off. He could her as the water stopped and that gave him and idea so he tried to kick the lever to drain the water.

Sasuke pulled him back up and watched him gasp for air.

"Stop please." The younger boy managed to beg before being pushed back under water. His hands went to the older ones wrists and he tried to dig his nails into them so that he would be let up.

Sasuke just growled and made a jerking motion that caused Naruto to hit his head on the bottom of the tub. He then jerked the blonde back up.

"Cold, so cold. P…please, stop." If he was going to say anything else being pushed into the water cut him off.

Naruto stopped struggling as the water became warm to him and he was content not to move. He pushed his foot out and heard a small thunk noise as the drain was turned on.

Sasuke started shaking the younger boy, pulling him out and then pushing him back in the water rapidly. Naruto just went limp in his hands as everything became blurry to him. The dark haired boy pushed the boy back down and then let go leaving the bathroom.

Naruto coughed up some water and took in a breath before everything went black.

His eyes opened slowly as he looked around. How did he get wet? He was covered in water but it seemed to be almost dried. His head wasn't hurting anymore. He walked out of the room and made his way down stairs and coughed slightly.

There was smoke, it was coming from the kitchen. Something in the oven was on fire. He turned off the oven quickly and pulled it open trying to get it out. The smoke caused him to cough again.

"Naruto. Naruto!" Sasuke called out knowing his little brother wouldn't just leave something in the kitchen unattended. "Naruto!" He started searching the house frantically after the fire was out.

He yanked open the cracked bathroom door and saw Naruto in the bathtub. His head was leaning against the side of the tub and his hair was wet and stuck to the top of his head. Sasuke ran in and shook him slightly.

"Naruto, Naruto answer me." There was no response, just silence. Sasuke realized that his little brothers lips were pale and he was drenched, his skin looked pale. He pulled the smaller boy out of the tub and onto the floor. He leaned down and listened for a heart beat. There was a steady beat. He then listened for breathing it was there but faint, to faint almost like it was barely holding on.

Sasuke cupped his hand onto Naruto's chest and put the other one on top of it and pushed down. "One, two, three." He counted the compressions and then opened the blonde's mouth and breathed into it. He moved back and started compressions again, "One, two, three. Come on, you cant leave me too, come on." He screamed before breathing into his mouth again.

He paused and checked for air before doing another set of compressions before breathing more air into the blonde. "COME ON!" He screamed pushing down on the smaller boy's chest three times.

Naruto's head moved to the side and he coughed up more water. He was cold and his body started to shiver to get him warm.

Sasuke had a wave of relief wash over him as he saw his younger brother breathing normally. He grabbed a towel and wrapped him in it. "You scared me what happened?"

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled still slightly out of it.

Sasuke shook his head, "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"Cold, so cold."

Sasuke picked Naruto up and carried him up the stairs deciding to get him out of the wet clothes and try and get him warm.

'I'm sorry Sasuke, I'm sorry.' Naruto's words replayed in his head and he wondered what exactly he had missed.