Bruises & Bitemarks (SasuNaru)

29.

"Hey, kit."

I feel the rumbling voice more than I hear it, echoing in my bones and shaking my heart.

"What is it this time?" I ask.

"Oh, no, I didn't have anything worth saying," he says, a grin spreading across his face, sharp teeth emerging. "I just wanted to make sure I could still contact you when I wanted to."

"And if I don't want to talk to you?"

"Tough luck."

"That's my line." I walk away.

—

When I wake, my mind is free of Kyuubi's presence. It's dark, and so quiet that I know it can't be anywhere near morning yet. I sit up, then hold still, reaching out, sensing for other existences. I find Sasuke's next to me, still asleep for now, but rising to consciousness rapidly. I try to discard it and continue my search, but as he stirs out of sleep, the activity of his being disrupts the silence.

"Stay still for a minute," I say, just as he opens his eyes.

I wait for him to stop moving, then commit his presence to the background and search for another, darker one. Wherever I look, though, I find nothing. There could be people in the next room, but I can't tell. It's not magic. I know Sasuke's presence, and I know Kyuubi's.

"What are you doing?" he asks quietly when he notices I've relaxed again.

I slump back onto the pillows. "Kyuubi called me again. I barely said anything to him, but I was trying to sense him just now and I couldn't at all."

"Maybe you have to be asleep," Sasuke offers.

I nod. "If I go back to bed, he might try again."

"You have control over whether or not you want to talk to him."

"Yeah."

Sasuke finds my hand under the covers and takes it. "Go back to sleep. It's not even light out yet."

—

This time, I speak before Kyuubi can.

"Why are you going out of your way to contact me?"

"Really and truly and honestly?"

"Can I trust you to give me that sort of answer?" I shoot.

He laughs. "No."

"Then lie, and I'll figure it out."

"I know what you think I'm doing," he rumbles. "Don't forget I also experience your every waking moment. You're smart, turning to the Uchiha to help you. He knows better."

"You're right," I say, refusing to let him goad me into showing emotions. "Sasuke is smarter than me. He's more sensible and he knows what to do in all sorts of situations. I wouldn't trust myself to be able to get myself out of this."

Kyuubi's eyebrows go up. "Oh, is that so?"

"I thought you knew that already, seeing as how you're stalking my every move."

"Not like I have a choice, brat. But that's not what I was commenting on." He lowers his face to my level, leering at me through slitted eyes. "When you speak to me directly – like now – I understand you much better than when I'm observing. As an audience member all I can do is glean impressions of what's going on and how you feel. Emotions – ha! What a weakness."

Silently I turn my back to him and sever the communication, sinking back into dark, dreamless slumber.

—