Hello everybody and welcome to chapter 8, part 2 of Underwater. Obviously that wasn't the last chapter otherwise I wouldn't be posting this up. I just wasn't sure how the previous chapter was going to end. That's all. Well, enough chatter from me. On to the chapter! (Points heroically at the updated chapter). Oh yeah. One more thing. The last chapter was actually so long that I had to post it up in two parts. So this is actually part two. :)

Disclaimer. Don't own. Won't own. Can't own. Shan't own. So there! All I own is the plot line. The song is called 'Gravity' by 'A Perfect Circle'.

Warnings: graphic content related to depression

Other notes: I changed quite a lot in the last chapter. Some of you may be wondering why Itachi refused to make love to Naruto even though Naruto had already become intimate with him before then. Why? Because Naruto is young in comparison to him. He allowed Naruto to take him in order to show his sincerity as well as to establish trust between them. Being much more mature than Naruto, he feels the need to wait until "the right moment." Moreso, he wants Naruto to comprehend the intricate workings of a romatic relationship rather than allow his own feelings to dominate his actions.

P.S. Anyone for a little Kakashi X Iruka? Ha-ha-ha. Maybe if you squint at it sideways, you'll find it. Best of luck.

Chapter 8, Part 2. Gravity

"Sasuke...Sasuke!! Where are you Sasuke?" Sakura's loud voice pierced the early morning quiet.

The pink-haired girl had been calling for nearly two hours. Her sensei was nowhere in sight, and neither, apparently, was her crush. Just then Kakashi appeared atop a bridge post.

"Sakura. You talk too loudly. Where's Sasuke?" the jonin asked while jumping down from his post.

Sakura brushed her short hair behind one ear and bit her thumbnail cutely.

"I...I don't know, Kakashi-sensei. Usually he's the first one here, but when I got here this morning, I couldn't see him anywhere. I'm worried...We should go look for him."

An ominous feeling crept into his marrow. Something wasn't right. No...Something wasn't right at all.

"Stay here in case he comes back. I'll be back shortly. I'm going to check one place before notifying Lady Tsunade of his disappearance."

Sakura drew a hand up to her chest. She looked small and forlorn by herself on the bridge.

"Can't I come with you? I don't want to wait at the bridge because you'll forget about me."

'If what I suspect is true, it would mean further traumatizing her. I don't want her to see Sasuke if he's in the state he's in. Still...He is her teammate. She has a right to know. But I can't put her in that situation. Can I sense Sasuke's chakra? Yes...But its faint. Too faint. At least he's here in the village.'

"Sakura. Tell Lady Tsunade that I'll be coming with Sasuke shortly. Ask her to get several med-nin ready in a room in the hospital. Go now and don't ask questions, alright."

"Okay, sensei." Sakura said.

She took off running in the direction of the Hokage Tower. When she was out of sight, Kakashi took off in the other direction towards the Uchiha District. The sun seared his shoulders as he ran but he continued onward with ease. Being a jonin had its perks. Like being fit, for instance. As a teacher, he had to make sure to take care of his students. It was his responsibility.

'Lost again

Broken and weary

Unable to find my way

Tail in hand

Dizzy and clearly unable to

Just let this go.'

If Sasuke had done what was more than likely to be suspected, well, then he had a duty to fulfill. He was damned well sure that the stoic genin was not going to die on his watch.

Briefly he wondered if the boy wasn't in some sort of relationship with Naruto. It certainly seemed that way.

He searched for the genin's chakra again, nearly missed it, but then found the extremely faint energy source.

"Sasuke..." Kakashi murmured under his breath. "What have you done?"


With Sasuke, earlier...

When Sasuke woke, it was because of an intense pain crawling through his stomach like thousands of fire ants stinging him. He gasped. He gagged. He coughed, spewing forth a mouthful of bile and puke. His intestines were a wreck. His head felt like someone had taken a hammer and bashed him over and over again with it. The colors around him morphed into a kaleidoscopic view that disoriented.

Somehow he managed to drag himself to an upright position so that he was leaning against the cool glass of the shower door. When he whacked his knee on the lower edge of the sink he gasped, surprised that he could still feel pain in his state. Worse still, the memories were slowly coming back to him. The whiskey. The medicine cabinet full of pills. Naruto, standing in the nude behind Itachi.

"Eh...bastard...Itachi." he choked out, gagging as his stomach flopped violently.

"Mmph..."

His stomach roiled and churned before sending its contents up his esophagus. They spewed out all over his shirt and down his legs. He coughed again, bringing up more half-dissolved pills and whiskey that burned his throat.

Fumbling in his half-blindness, he reached through the shower door, placed his hand along the edge, and began to feel for the razor that would end his miserable life. He always kept one in there for opening the packages of shrink-wrapped soap. He could never get those god-forsaken things open. After cutting his fingers on it several times as it slipped out of his grip, he pulled it out and stared at it in the overhead light.

"Howdidthelightgeton?" he asked himself, slurring his speech so that it ran together.

'Oh yeah. I was in here last night, taking pills. I wonder...if this is how Naruto felt...standing on the edge of the river. Oh Kami, my stomach hurts like hell. I just want this to be over.'

He ran the razor along his left wrist and a cut opened up behind it. For some reason, his body shivered with delight even though he was only really half-conscious. He wanted more. It felt...right. If Naruto...if that bastard was leaving him for his brother, than he had no purpose in living anymore.

All he ever truly wanted was for Naruto to be happy. He knew the truth...knew that the genin had left of his own accord. Kakashi didn't have to tell him that for him to know. And if Naruto was happy with Itachi by his side, then who was he to challenge that? He knew he could if he wanted to, but it was too late for that. He was going to die now.

He ran the razor over his skin again and again. The cuts bled freely across his wrist, running down both sides to be absorbed into his cloth shirt. Instantaneous relief brought his thoughts to a halt as blissful numbness spread through his body like a muscle ache.

His body lay slack against the icy porcelain of his bathtub and glass shower door. The tiny silver blade tumbled from his palm, clattering to the bottom and shattering the fragile quiet.

"…Fuck…"

Eyelids opened to reveal a pair of solemn sable eyes. Sasuke winced as his pupils began to adjust to the sudden alteration of light.

"Naruto…What would you say if you saw me like this?"

'I am surrendering to the gravity and the unknown

Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun

I choose to live'

He dragged himself into the shower stall and turned on the water although he wasn't quite sure why. Perhaps he didn't want to leave a messy corpse behind. Perhaps he didn't want the world to know that the famous Uchiha had committed suicide.

A sharp sting left him breathless. Tears swam at the corners of obsidian eyes. He sat, crying in almost a dignified matter, until the water turned cold and he was empty of tears.

"Why...Naruto...Why couldn't it be me?

The water seemed to rouse him further from consciousness. In protest, he slid the blade weakly across his wrist, then again deeply, slicing through a vein. Blood gushed out in a fountain of red. His mouth opened in a silent gasp.

He switched the razor to his other hand and dragged it across his other wrist, not even wincing at the fiery pain that raced through his opposite arm. He pushed deeper, grimacing as the blade skated over a vein. He cut again in the same spot, slicing it cleanly in two.

A fresh wave of tears overcame him. He cried for Naruto, for the love that he had lost, and for himself. As the world around him faded to black, he thought he saw a grayish figure hovering overhead.

"...Mother...?" he asked.

He thought the figure nodded and the next thing he knew was the world falling down around him. He gasped, reaching a hand up towards the grey figure before it could vanish, but his fingers met only insubstantial air.

'...Bye...mother. I'll see you soon.'


With Kakashi...

Sweat trickled down his face as he skidded to a halt in front of the door to Sasuke's mansion. He banged on the door several times with one hand, but as he expected there was no answer. All senses alert, he opened the door to the foyer and stepped inside, the shade draping over his features like a cool blanket.

There were no noises, but the odor of vomit soured the air. He followed the smell cautiously and it led him to the bathroom where he found an unconscious Sasuke bleeding out into the bathtub.

'Oh god.'

He was at his student's side in an instant. A critical black eye scanned Sasuke, assessing the damage to his bloody wrists and the vomit-stained shirt. A few half-dissolved pills were visible on the dark blue fabric.

'What did you do, Sasuke?'

He checked for a pulse and found it to be sluggish and thready.

'He must have overdosed. The idiot. What was he thinking? Two students in less than seven months...attempting to kill themselves. I don't understand. What am I missing?'

Kakashi sighed and adjusted Sasuke until he was securely on his back before taking off towards the hospital.

'I fell again

Like a baby unable to stand on my own

Tail in hand

Dizzy and clearly unable to just let this go

High and surrendering to the gravity and the unknown

Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun

I choose to live, I choose to live, I choose to live.'

Sasuke's body was prone all the way to the hospital. He quickly sought out the Hokage's chakra signature and teleported to the source.

"Lady Tsunade."

"Yes, Kakashi?" the blonde-haired woman turned and was shocked by the sight of a desperate-faced jonin holding a bloody Sasuke in his arms.

"Oh...Kami...What happened?" she asked, taking the unconscious boy from him.

"He...overdosed. I found half-dissolved pills on his shirt and he smells of alcohol. He's cut his wrist with something sharp too. Probably the razor on the bathroom floor."

"Thank you, Kakashi. I'll get him treated immediately. Wait here. I'll tell you when he's in the clear."

Tsunade rushed off with Shizune to a small, private room and left the door open behind her.

"Shizune, we need the stomach pump and a dose of charcoal, stat."

"Hai, Lady Tsunade." Shizuka left and returned a few moments later with a strange looking contraption and a syringe full of black liquid.

"Here you go." she said as she handed the device to Tsunade.

They pumped Sasuke's stomach together and brought up the remnants of pills and the alcohol that hadn't already been absorbed into his blood stream.

"Kami...there's so many of them. There...I think we're done here."

Tsunade wiped her sweaty forehead and stood up, sending cracks and creaks up her spine.

"Oh, its no fun being old, Shizune. What's his status?"

"Pulse is slightly elevated and he's got a fever. His face is flushed as well, but he looks dehydrated. See the white marks around his face and eyes?"

Tsunade nodded and the young jonin stepped back.

"Administer the charcoal to absorb whatever else is left in his stomach and give him ice to cool down his body temperature. I'd say it's touch-and-go for a while. Those pills have been in his system for some time and I'm not sure if he'll make it with that dosage in his bloodstream."

"Hai."

"Good. I'm going to inform Kakashi of his status. Look after him Shizune. The last thing we need is an Uchiha dying on our watch. Let me know if anything new pops up."

"Hai."

Shizune brushed a strand of dark hair from her face and eyed Sasuke with a look of apprehension. His body was almost as pale as the bed sheet but his cheeks were flushed and sweaty. The heartbeat monitor beeped steadily alongside the bed. She placed several bags of ice on his body to help reduce his fever before generating enough chakra to heal the cuts on his wrists. They healed quickly but left raised white scars just over the veins of his wrists. Now all they could do was hope and pray that he would pull through this.

Tsunade left to speak with Kakashi. When she walked into her office, he was staring blankly at the wall, a look of defeat and desolation scrawled messily across his face. It was poorly hidden. One could easily see the emotional turmoil bubbling beneath the surface of his visible eye.

"What am I doing wrong, Tsunade?" he asked.

His words were laden with guilt and anguish that was only attainable through extraordinary circumstances...such as the ones that were happening currently. When the elder woman spoke, her voice had a gentle quality to it.

'Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun

Help me survive the bottom.'

"It's nothing you've done, Kakashi. These kids...Were Naruto and Sasuke in a relationship? Do you know?"

Tsunade sat down at her desk and folded her hands under her chin, resting her elbows on a stack of paperwork several inches high.

"I suspect they were. Naruto left and then Sasuke...Sasuke does something like this. I...It...It only makes sense. If they were together, than Naruto leaving Konoha would logically send Sasuke spiraling into depression."

"I'm just wondering why Naruto would leave in the first place," said Tsunade.

"Are you sure he wasn't forced to leave?"

"Toughen up, Kakashi." said Tsunade, making Kakashi wince ever so slightly. "He brought things with him. If the Akatsuki had kidnapped him, they wouldn't have cared enough to let Naruto take things with him. He took the photo of Team 7. That's a bit sentimental for the Akatsuki."

Kakashi let out a depressed sigh. "You're right. I just..."

"Stop blaming yourself. None of this is your fault. Sasuke's condition will be touch-and-go for a while, seeing as how whatever crap he ingested is mixed with alcohol. Go home and get some rest, Kakashi."

"Call me if anything changes." the jonin said as he left the room.

Things were so confusing. He couldn't tell how he felt. Everything was jumbled up like the clothes in a washing machine. And like the colors whirling around, thoughts flew every which way inside his mind, further confusing the usually calm jonin.

"Naruto...Please come home."

He took the long route back home and spent twenty minutes walking rather than ten. He paid little attention to where he was going, using only the corner of one eye to avoid contact with buildings. Grief. Anger. Frustration. The jonin had never felt so alone.

He navigated through the narrow streets and made a left at the bridge without really thinking about it. Only moments before, he'd stood there, blissfully unaware of the tragedy that awaited him at the Uchiha Mansion. Only moments before, his mind had been at peace.

'Calm these hands before they

Snare another pill and

Drive another nail down another

Needy hole, please release me.'

When he finally looked up from the ground, he discovered that his feet had taken him to the Memorial Stone just outside of the training grounds. With a sigh he stood before the obsidian monument dedicated to the fallen ninja that died to protect the village from the nine-tailed-fox on its attack sixteen years ago (1). He didn't have to scan line after line for Obito's name. He knew where it was.

His calloused fingers traced the name again and again, running over the elegant cursive script.

"..."

There was a noise from behind him, the sound of feet touching the ground.

"Kakashi? Is that you?"

The silver-haired jonin turned to see the one he secretly wanted the most in times like the one he was currently facing. But he'd never been able to confess his feelings for the pony-tailed chuunin. Never. For doing so meant opening his jaded heart for someone to love.

"Hey, Iruka."

The other man drew closer, suspecting something was off with the jonin.

"I heard about Sasuke." Iruka confessed softly.

His mellow voice sent shivers of desire down Kakashi's spine though he refused to acknowledge any feelings he might have had for the other man. More than anything, he wanted to drown in something besides the anguish that tore away at his heart with gusto.

"The village isn't the same without Naruto," said Kakashi emptily.

"He is the sunshine of this village. It suffers without him. Right now, it is truly raining in the hearts of the ones who loved him most."

Iruka's voice spoke of wisdom beyond his twenty-six years. Kakashi supposed that spending several years as a teacher had something to do with it. Either way, it was definitely raining inside his heart and he wanted the sun to come out and shine on his light-depraved soul.

He sighed, releasing his pent-up emotions. A gentle hand touched his shoulder and he couldn't help but flinch at the contact. Normally no one ever got that close to him. He disliked it. Iruka noticed the wince and dropped his hand instantly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I forget sometimes that you don't like people touching you. Please forgive me." Iruka bowed his head in regret.

"You don't have to apologize to me." Kakashi spoke quietly.

The wind blew around them, sweeping Kakashi's hair across his face. With one hand he pushed it back but it fell in front of him again. He closed his eyes, inhaling the gentle scent of forest in the breeze, and tilted his face towards the pallid sun. It felt good, warm, like the gentle hand that had been on his shoulder only moments before.

Iruka shifted his weight to the other foot while coughing slightly. This brought Kakashi back to earth. He stared hard at the chuunin, a mixture of desire and worry creeping into his gaze. The younger man seemed to sense this and blushed.

"Are you alright?" asked Kakashi.

"Oh. It's not anything to worry about. There is a cold going around in the Academy and I think a few of my students may have...well...contributed to the cough. I'm sure its nothing."

"Your cheeks are red." said the elder man teasingly.

The chuunin's eyes widened at the statement. "Well..." he coughed again. "Eheh...Um...

"Maybe I have a fever?" he spoke cautiously, as if he were asking a question rather than making a statement.

'You are, without a doubt, the cutest, sexiest chuunin I have ever met. I want you to know how I feel...I want this to grow into something more than just lust...but how? How can I when I can't even tell you how I feel?'

"Iruka, I..." he started, then stopped, unsure of what to say or how to say it. "Never mind. I'll see you later."

The jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a disappointed Iruka behind.

'Was he going to tell me...he couldn't...Kakashi couldn't have feelings for someone like me...could he?'

Despite his outwardly friendly appearance, Iruka felt more alone and depressed than ever since Naruto left the village. The boy was the only reason that he chose to stay alive, though no one, not even Ibiki Morino, the strict interrogator, would be able to get him to admit such a thing.

Naruto and Kakashi. The two made a pair that sustained his very existence. Yet now his heart felt cold and heavy as a lead weight. Solid, dark, and full of insubstantial meaning. What could this possibly mean for him? Well, whatever it meant, he had to do something. He couldn't stand idly by while the possibility that Kakashi had feelings for him existed.

Yes. He was going to find the somewhat enigmatic jonin and tell him how he felt.

And if he were rejected? Well...then there was only one other option. That was to wait until Naruto returned and smother him to death with his motherly affection. There was no way he was giving up on life just because someone he liked didn't return the way he felt. He could cope. He could learn to live. Couldn't he?

He followed the faint trail of chakra left behind by Kakashi until he came to the jonin's house. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There were footsteps, a pause as Kakashi checked the chakra signature, and then a click as he opened the door.

"Oh, Iruka? What are you doing here? I'm not trying to sound rude or anything, but didn't we just meet at the Memorial Stone?"

Iruka took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Kakashi could tell by the way he was acting that the man had something almost gravely important to say. The younger man shivered in the coolness of the house; it must have been like sixty-something degrees in there.

"I..."

Before Kakashi could invite him in, Iruka crossed over and kissed him boldly on the lips. It was awkward with the mask in the way, but then Kakashi reached up and pulled it down so that they could kiss again. Kakashi's tongue darted in playfully for a split second before they parted. Both were left breathless in the wake of each other.

"I..." Iruka began again.

"Like you." Kakashi finished.

The elder man shut the door as their lips collided again. This time it was more frenzied, frantic almost as each man gave in to the other's desire. Kakashi opened Iruka's mouth with his tongue and ran it over his teeth. They tumbled down onto the plain white couch located beside the door so that Iruka was pinned by the elder man.

"A lot." the silver-haired jonin added as they kissed again.

"Isn't it cold in here?" asked the younger man, blushing as he spoke.

"I'm sure I could think of a few things to warm you up." Kakashi replied before bending down and unbuttoning the chuunin's green vest.

'I am surrendering to the gravity and the unknown

Catch me, heal me, lift me back up to the sun.

I choose to live, I choose to live.'

Ah!! Almost a nosebleed there. I just had to put what would happen to Sasuke cause I couldn't leave you all hanging. I'm taking a very important poll, so listen up, people. Should Sasuke

Live

or,

Die.

The answer is up to you. Giant cookies to all you Kakashi X Iruka fans!! Woot!! (does wootness dance. Uh-huh, Uh-huh. Mm, mm, mm!! Woohoo!!)