I do not own Naruto. I never will. Meh.

SANITY 10

When Genma entered Raidou's room, Raidou was awake and looking out the window. Genma noted that the feeding tube was no longer present. The room was as pale as Raidou. Genma remained by the door, waiting for Raidou to actually acknowledge his presence or at least move. He was already having second thoughts in disturbing Raidou with his suspicions and, for the lack of a better word, fears.

When Raidou didn't move, Genma approached him, pulling a chair and sitting beside him. "Hey."

"Hey." Raidou mumbled, voice strained and scratchy as he turned to look at Genma.

Genma noted the horrible deep sunken eyes and dark circles. His irises were no longer visible due to his dilated pupils. His skin had visible spots due to the exceedingly pale color he was in. The corner of his lips were dark and the scars on his face seem to crinkle more than it should.

"Good to have you back." Genma smiled, despite his best friend's appearance.

"It's good to see you. Where were you?" Raidou adjusted his head on the pillow so that he wasn't craning his neck too much.

"Missions. I just got back." Genma shrugged.

Raidou remained quiet for a while before he smiled at Genma. Genma didn't know how to react because it's been a long while since Raidou smiled that way. He found it rather ironic that Raidou was smiling this way while being at the state he was in.

"Liar." Raidou chuckled then looked out the window. "Is it warm outside?"

Genma blinked from the previous accusation. "Sort of. Are you cold?"

"No. But I know I don't feel the warmth. It'd be nice, summer you know? The beach." Raidou slid his eyelids shut, as if picturing the ocean. "Because it feels like I'm always in the Snow country."

Genma bit the urge to take his friend's hand and warm them in between his; it would improper. They were not in that kind of relationship. "You were diagnosed with pneumonia."

"I know. Still though. Doesn't hurt to dream." Raidou opened his eyes and looked at the window again.

Genma looked at his shoes. "No. It doesn't."

Silence came over both of them, neither saying a word. Genma wasn't sure how to bring up the reason he came and what he really wanted to tell Raidou. Watching his friend stare at the window in his almost ghostly pallor, Genma felt utterly helpless. Genma decided to make casual conversation instead but Raidou beat him to it.

"Izumo and Kotetsu came by earlier." Raidou said, eyes softening at the memory.

Genma felt a smile tug at his lips. If anyone was in need of some cheering up, that duo can be counted on. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, They looked happy." Raidou's fingers started to fiddle with the hem of his blanket.

"They're always happy. They're the most cheerful pair I've ever met. When they're out of duty that is." Genma leaned against his chair, relaxing a bit.

"They're happy with each other."

Genma blinked. "I guess."

Raidou's lips tugged up again in to a fond smile. "It must feel nice. To be loved that way."

Genma stared at Raidou's face. "Which way?"

"The way they do for each other. It must feel nice." Raidou laughed a bit, a pleasant sound despite the slight strain in his voice. "Did it ever occur to you that they've been dating in secret?"

Genma's eyes widened. "I've had my suspicions but I never thought they were really dating."

"That's why they moved in together. I'm glad they're happy."

Genma nodded in agreement. "So am I."

Raidou was looking at the window again, thinking about the past. Genma didn't know why the fond and reminiscing expression on Raidou's face made his heart clench. It looked as if that's all Raidou will ever have; memories. Genma wasn't entirely sure how he got his tongue to work around the tight knot it was in either.

Swallowing the lump on his throat, Genma leaned forward a bit. "Raidou?"

"Hmm?"

"Look at me." Raidou turned his head towards Genma. Genma wasn't sure how he looked because Raidou's expression turned to a worried one. "When you get out of here, we're going to find a nice apartment and we're going to live together, like Izumo and Kotetsu. And then, we're going to take a day off or two and go to the beach."

Genma's voice was shaking, unsure and terrified of what he's saying. He's putting his years of friendship with Raidou in jeopardy by even announcing such a thing.

"Genma …"

Genma took Raidou's hand then and pressed his forehead against the cold calm, clutching it tight, afraid of something that he's not entirely sure of. "I swear to you that you won't regret it. I'm going to make you the happiest man ever. I swear my life on that."

Raidou chuckled, voice trembling a bit when he spoke. "What's gotten in to you, Genma? You do make me happy."

Genma shook his head, moving to sit on the bed. "No, no I don't. I want to be able to love you, Raidou."

Raidou's eyes were wide, unbelieving. Genma knew he must sound crazy, but he didn't care. He looked away from Raidou's face, afraid that Raidou might say something cruel again, but kept holding his hand. It surprised him when Raidou returned the hold. When Genma was able to look at Raidou again, Raidou was smiling; happily, gratefully and it shattered Genma's heart that such simple words could make Raidou's face look so young and so happy. It made Genma wonder just how much Raidou longed for that kind of affection.

"Thank you, Genma."

Genma smiled, laughed and held Raidou's hand close to his chest. He believed then and there, that Raidou was going to be really okay.

XXX

Raidou remembered falling asleep with Genma holding his hand. No matter how much he convinced the man to go home and get some rest, Genma remained stubborn. He didn't want to admit the fact that he wanted Genma to stay because he didn't want to appear selfish but he was glad Genma stayed nonetheless.

Raidou woke up with a slight jolt in the middle of the night, with Genma asleep on the hospital chair, fingers relaxed around his hand and mouth open as he snored. Raidou's breath was coming out short and quick, as if in panic.

At the back of his mind, he knew that he shouldn't be around Genma anymore; he shouldn't get close, despite the offer that made him very happy. The dream of the hanged man and the scattered body parts kept coming back to his head in fast flicking pictures. Without really thinking, Raidou slid his hand out of Genma's quietly. With all his stealth, he dressed and left through the hospital window.

Raidou ran to his apartment, stopping in the middle of the dim lobby. He felt a presence behind him just as all the hairs at the back of his neck stood on end. Swallowing, Raidou climbed up the stairs to his flat, entering his cold home and bolting the door. He headed for the bedroom and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Counting silently from one to ten, he closed his eyes.

Almost immediately, sleep washed over him.

XXX

When Raidou woke up, he heard loud thumping noises. Sitting up from bed, he followed the source of the sound. He took the stairs and found himself looking at the lobby. There was a figure wielding a kunai and stabbing an unmoving person on the floor. Raidou made a dash to stop the person but stopped instead, a scream bubbling in his throat as he watched himself stab K to death, and rip him to shreds with his hands and kunai, throwing pieces of him all over the place.

A quick glance around told him there was another body. Raidou felt his breath stop at the sight of the dead old man. His neck was twisted, broken in one quick turn.

"Die! Telling me to leave this house? It's mine! I live here! Die! Fucking bastards!"

Raidou shut his eyes and screamed.

XXX

Raidou sat up from his bed screaming. In his panic, he continued screaming and made a dash for the lobby with a kunai in hand. He headed for the technical room and drove his kunai in to the gas pipe, tearing it apart with strength he never he knew he could possess.

"I'm so sorry, K! I'm so sorry!"

Raidou tore the piping off, the smell of gas assaulting him. He headed back for his flat. He was not religious by nature but for some odd reason, his trembling hands dug out his old praying beads. He knelt in the middle of his living room and started praying fervently, not wasting a moment. It won't be long before the smell of gas fills the entire building. He was no longer thinking. He couldn't remember what happened but he knew he killed them; it wasn't even a mission.

In his chant of prayers, the beads trembled in his hands. The room grew cold, making the hairs in Raidou's body stand on edge. He wasn't sure what made him look up in front, but he did. In his haste, he left his front door wide open. He stared at the man standing in front of him, a noose around his neck, his clothes bloody and his eyes line with bluish-black circles. He was dressed like a Jounin; the flak jacket looked like the ones his father used to wear, the old models.

The stranger grinned, baring a set of full white teeth. "You killed them all. Didn't it feel great?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Raidou gritted out, hands shaking. The cold was seeping in to his bones, shaking his entire body. His words came out choked and forced. He couldn't stop the chattering of his teeth. Raidou knew, in his kneeling position with the man towering above him, he was in a very vulnerable state.

"You tore them apart. Painted the room in blood and flesh. It was magnificent."

"I did not!"

"You long for it. You shouldn't fight it. We, ninjas, are bound to love the sight of blood. The kill. The death of innocents. You are marvelous!"

"No!"

"Kill! You love it! Admit it!"

"No! I don't! I don't like it! You bastard! Go away! Go away!"

Raidou threw his praying beads at the man. It hit him on the face and fell on the floor with a clatter. Raidou didn't hesitate in getting up and heading for the kitchen to grab the box of matches from the top of the refrigerator. He headed straight for the corridor and threw the emergency exit door open. He struck a match and tossed it down the stairs, watching as the flames lit and scattered. He headed back for the apartment just as he felt a smashing force hit him at the back of the head, his face colliding with the floor hard. Raidou heard his nose crack under the force and felt his teeth shake, blood oozing down his face as the stranger continued to smash his face on the floor.

But Raidou didn't care.

A loud explosion shook the building as the main pipe blew. The flames scattered all over the place quickly, engulfing everything in its path. The simultaneous sound of glass windows shattering rang out.

The stranger screamed and continued to pound Raidou's head in to the floor. It surprised Raidou that he wasn't loosing consciousness yet. The flames reached his kitchen and a loud explosion rocked the man gripping his hair, throwing him away a few feet. Raidou knew that the flames must have reached his aerosol cans of insecticides and air freshener under the sink.

Raidou skidded across the floor, his back colliding with one of the walls in his living room. He struggled to regain his senses, no longer sure what he should be doing and what he shouldn't. He caught sight of his wires by the couch where he threw his flak jacket a few days ago. Crawling towards it, he pulled out the wires and shakily made a thick noose with it.

Struggling to his feet, he wound the noose around his neck, and stood on his center table, wounding the wire on the lamp hook on the ceiling. He coughed and choked on the smoke, the heat making him sweat and hard to breathe.

He stared straight ahead, at the shelf where his television was sitting. Soon he won't own anything. His eyes strayed on the group photo lying on top of the television, taken during the Jounin graduation party years ago.

He stared at Genma's face and prayed that he'd understand and forgive him one day.

XXX

Genma woke up when the nurse started shaking him awake harshly.

"Shiranui-san! Shiranui-san! Where is Namiashi-san?" The nurse panicked.

Genma blinked and stared at the empty bed. It didn't take more than a few seconds to put two and two together to understand where Raidou went. He cursed loud, making the nurse step back from the extreme foul language he used.

He didn't even excuse himself. Without thinking, he headed directly for the apartment he knew Raidou would be in. When he spotted smoke and a bright flame from afar, his heart stopped beating. He stopped thinking as he hurried, ANBUs and other Jounins rushing to scene with him.

It was an inferno.

Genma found himself staring at the building that was once so beautiful now a mere blaze of orange and red. Around him, jounins and ANBUs were positioning themselves to stop the flame from scattering, to contain it with a water-based jutsu. None could situate themselves in one place because the building was coming apart. The concrete was falling off in large chunks, forcing the jounins and ANBUs to dodge the falling debris.

"Raidou!" Genma yelled, feeling for his presence. He couldn't concentrate hard enough in his panic.

"No one is inside!" One of the ANBUs yelled, so that Genma could hear him above the blazing noise.

"No! Raidou is still in there!" Genma yelled.

"The building is going to collapse! You can't get in!"

"You're fucking ANBU damnit!" Genma yelled and turned to face the building.

Genma knew no one was going to believe him. He ran past the people around him and threw himself in to the flames. Once in the middle of the lobby, he coughed and tried to see around him. It didn't occur to him to cast a jutsu from within. Instead, he took the stairs, where it was as hot as a sealed oven, and dodged the falling concrete. His clothes tore and his skin got scraped from all his dodging, but he didn't feel it. All that mattered to him was how he was going to get Raidou out of the still growing inferno.

He reached the top most floor, the floor already shaky and cracking as the flames around him licked everything. He coughed, his lungs struggling through the smoke and heat to continue functioning.

"Raidou!" Genma yelled as loud as he can and ended up in a coughing fit. He leaped large steps towards the door he knew Raidou lived in. "Raidou!"

He was foolish to hope that Raidou would answer. He found Raidou's open doorway and stared at the mess it was in. The flames were everywhere. He threw himself in, intent in searching for his friend. He didn't have to look far. He found Raidou swinging from the ceiling, his chokes silencing as he slowly turned blue and quiet.

Genma heard himself scream as he dashed for his hanged friend. He severed the chord from the ceiling, throwing it away as far as he can, just as part of the ceiling collapsed in front of the entrance, sealing them both inside. Genma made panicked noises as he held Raidou's head close to him, the blood on the man's ruined face staining his clothes. Genma could feel the tears of desperation trickling down his face as he looked around for a way to get out. He eyed the cracked glass of the living room balcony. The curtains were long gone, the curtain rod already on the floor. Soon the ceiling would fall on them.

Genma grunted as he lifted Raidou on his back, coughing hard and spitting as he got to his feet. Without hesitation, he ran towards the balcony and jumped, leaving the fire behind him. He could hear the chorus of shouts from below, all eyes on them.

Things slowed down for him, the cold air filling his lungs. It made him dizzy, see doubles, as his grip on Raidou loosened from the velocity of their fall. Genma shut his eyes bracing himself for the fall, ready to break a few bones to cushion their landing if he needs to.

He gripped Raidou tight, his safety coming first as he fell head first in to the ground.

The presence of trees jolted Genma from his daze, their fall cushioned by the sudden presence of tree branches and leaves. He felt the floor hit him and arms hoist him and drag him and his friend's weight away from the scene of the fire.

It was but a few seconds later after he got air in to his lungs and he could breathe again did he push past the hands trying to give him first aid and throw a tantrum.

"Raidou? Where's Raidou? Help Raidou! You have to get him to a hospital! Raidou!"

An ANBU held him down. "Shiranui-san, you must attend to your wounds first!"

"Where's Raidou?" Genma shoved the hands away and looked around, everything swaying around him as he got to his feet. He spotted a few people gathered around another figure a few feet away and wobbled his way towards them. He shoved the people away after catching sight of a familiar thatch of brown hair. He knelt by Raidou's slightly blue face, shaking him awake. "Wake up! Raidou! Wake up! You have to wake up you stupid bastard! Please wake up!"

"Shiranui-san, calm yourself. It's too late."

"No, you lie! You can't make a diagnosis! You're not a medic! He's just asleep!" Genma voice shook. He tried to look for a pulse and couldn't find any because his hands were shaking so much. "Raidou, goddamnit, wake up! Wake up!"

Other jounins were forced to pry Genma off Raidou as the man's body was carried away. Genma screamed and fought those holding him. He cursed and cursed until they were forced to knock him out to calm him down in his hysteria.

Genma hated them for it.

XXX

When Genma opened his eyes, he was on a hospital bed. He sat up with a jolt, shocking the nurse who was looking at his clipboard by the foot of the bed.

"Where's Raidou? Where is he?" Genma demanded, fearing the answer.

The nurse looked at the bed on the other side of the room, a curtain separating Genma's bed from the other. Genma got off the bed, wobbled a bit and pulled the curtain back.

Raidou was lying on the bed, attached to a respirator and half his face bandaged along with his nose. Genma found himself staring at the heart monitor, seeing the stable heart beats. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he knelt by the bed, taking Raidou's hand in his.

Genma dipped his head, thanking the heavens that his best friend was alive and breathing. The nurse left them both alone, closing the door behind her quietly. Genma could feel the tears pricking the corner of his eyes, the relief releasing a dam of emotions in him. His shoulders shook as he sobbed quietly. He really thought that he lost him to some angry and selfish spirit.

He really believed that Raidou left him that time.

Raidou's hand twitched in his, startling Genma. Genma looked up and found Raidou looking at him with one worried eye. Genma bit his lower lip and held Raidou's hand tighter.

"I thought you were dead." Genma whispered, voice cracking. "I thought I lost you."

Raidou shook his head a bit, eyes saying, it's over now.

"If you left me, who am I going to share my apartment with?" Genma asked, touching his forehead to Raidou's pale and bruised hand.

Raidou wrapped his fingers around Genma's hand, attempting a reassuring squeeze.

"We'll start over. Is that all right?" Genma asked, sniffing and looking at Raidou. No trace of the building was salvaged. Raidou lost everything he ever owned and all that was left to him by whatever family he once had.

Raidou smiled at Genma, an unspoken thank you going out to his best friend.

XXX

When they were back on their feet, Raidou wordlessly walked back to where the building once was, Genma beside him. The debris was cleared and all that was left was a patch of dirt and sand. The area was taped, a sign warning off strangers.

Council's property – do not trespass.

A signboard was up, saying that the patch of land would be used for planting purposes instead of construction. From a distance, there was a group of monks blessing the land with prayers.

"It's over." Raidou mumbled, rubbing his still bandaged nose.

"Yeah." Genma nodded, an arm wrapped around Raidou's shoulder.

"May he rest in peace."

Genma knew who Raidou was talking about. "I thought I was going to lose you to him."

"When I was going to hang myself, I thought of you. I hoped, that you'd forgive me one day." Raidou said. Genma couldn't look at Raidou and stared at the monks instead. "It had to go."

"Yeah." Genma nodded, silence passing between them, just the distant hum of the monks' prayer and wind rustling the trees around them echoing. "Come on. Let's go home."

"Yeah."

FIN

This is finally done. I guess I don't really need to explain much. The man who possessed Raidou was attached to that house. So the house is gone, Raidou is gone.

I was supposed to end this fic originally by killing Raidou (ie) he went insane. But decided not to. I dunno. I get the feeling I've cheapened the story by going with this ending instead. Meh.

My inner Raidou/Genma love won over … plot. Meh.

This is done. Concluded. I hope you lovely readers enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed typing it.

Domo!