Bruises & Bitemarks (SasuNaru)

16.

The weekend comes soon enough. We spend Friday night doing homework again, to my dismay, but I do feel good to have it behind me when we finish just before dinner. After eating we sort of drift off and do our own thing. I chat on IM with my friends and listen to music; Sasuke pulls out a notebook and writes furiously, scribbling and crossing things out (who knows what it is he's writing). After a while I get bored. I glance over at Sasuke. He's intensely concentrated on whatever he's doing, so I decide not to bother him. I sit around staring blankly at him for a bit, watching the way his hand flies across the page, how he pauses very seldom and only for the briefest of moments. He turns at least five pages before I get bored again. I get up, head to the bathroom for a shower, and fall asleep to the sounds of pen on paper. It goes on and on, and I dream of tests, of taking notes and doing homework and writing essays and tests and more tests. I jolt awake, then realize I haven't actually fallen asleep in the middle of a test like I thought I did. I look for the source of the sound. It's coming from the corner of the room, where Sasuke's desk is. He's sitting there, writing.

"Holy shit, Sasuke, have you been writing all night?"

He snaps out of his zone and swivels his chair around to look at me. "No, dobe. I wasn't wearing my pyjamas all yesterday, in case you hadn't noticed."

I look again. He is indeed in his PJs, whereas yesterday he was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. "I had dreams about writing all night. But, y'know, I don't write in my spare time. So it was all schoolwork and shit." I stick out my tongue in disgust.

"Sorry," he says with a shrug, then turns back to his notebook and keeps writing. I get out of bed and walk up behind his chair, but he closes the book when I get close enough to read it.

"Done already?" I ask, draping my arms over his shoulders and putting my chin on the top of his head.

"For now," he answers, storing the notebook on his shelf. He takes my hands and laces his fingers through with mine. "Any plans for today?"

"Dunno. Wanna go to the arcade with the others or something?"

"I'm not really that into video games."

"Aw. Can't we at least go for a couple of rounds of DDR?"

He looks doubtful. "We're going to attract attention again."

"I think you fail at having fun, teme." My back is starting to hurt from leaning over, so I sit on the edge of his bed, pulling his wheely chair along so I can put my chin over his shoulder. "What do you want to do, then?"

He shrugs.

"Well if you're gonna reject my ideas, then at least come up with your own."

"Then let's go out for a run," he suggests.

I stare at him blankly.

"Jogging, dobe. We'll jog around the grounds."

"I don't want to run. We get enough exercise in gym class."

"You're supposed to exercise every day. We have gym every other day. Come on."

"Don't wanna. Go yourself."

He gently pushes me off of him, then stands up. "I will then."

I take over his chair, sitting backwards on it so I can wrap my arms around the back, and watch as Sasuke goes over to his closet, takes out some gym clothes, and proceeds to the bathroom. I stare at its closed door until he comes back out, then spin the chair so I can see him put his shoes on at the door. He grabs his iPod, slips it in his pocket, and inserts his ear buds.

"See you later, dobe."

"Have fun exercising, teme."

I sit there for several minutes after he leaves, staring into space, mind blank. Eventually I snap out of it. I blink. The room is empty, silent. I used to love this kind of environment, the few moments I could get alone in the dorm. But now, the emptiness seems unwelcome, unfamiliar. The lack of another body – not just any body, but Sasuke – in the dorm makes it feel as though something is missing. I guess it is. Coming to a sudden decision, I change into shorts and a t-shirt, grab my iPod, headphones, and cell, jam on my shoes, and head out.