Bruises & Bitemarks (SasuNaru)

43.

School hours drag on as though someone's purposely set the clocks to run twice as slowly. Sasuke and I get through the week by making our off-hours more interesting wherever we can, hanging out with the gang and Sui in the evening or chasing each other across the grounds or sharing Sakura-chan's Valentine chocolates or cranking up the heat in the dorm room. I lose count of the number of times we get each other off. On one hand it's relieving to not be hyper-aware of the way the count is increasing, but on the other it's a bit daunting to know we've gone past being able to keep track. Still, it's a kind of relief I've never had before – it's better than wet dreams or jacking yourself off in the shower, and from a biological point of view it's just something teenagers have to do, right?

By the last class on Friday I'm just about ready to quit school forever; Sasuke's not even in this class to be immature with and all I can do is flick notes to Sai and Sakura-chan when Kakashi-sensei is facing the chalkboard. Halfway through the class Sai suggests going to the Stoneheads after school, which makes the remaining half-lesson on photosynthesis that much longer. I swear I could try to strangle a plant by the time the bell rings.

I text the others on the way back to the dorm. Just as the last message sends and I slip my phone into my pocket, a familiar voice appears in my head.

"You've sure been having fun this past while, haven't you, kit?" Kyuubi drawls. He doesn't expect me to answer out loud in public, meaning that he's free to ramble on. "I hope you're enjoying your sins. Not that I know anything about religion," he adds casually, "but don't they say something about gays? You're going against nature. If nature is a religion, humans are the biggest sinners on the planet. Tons of them, too. Nature never intended technology. You shouldn't be able to harness the elements. And certainly you shouldn't feel like engaging in reproductive activities with someone of the same gender. What kind of garbage is that?"

I close the dorm room door quietly behind me. "I don't care what you think," I say, my voice even, my heart calm. "You can try to goad me into being angry, but I'm above it. You're just a grade-school bully."

"But you're still in grade school, technically. Grade eleven."

"And what grade are you in, five?" I flop back on my bed.

"Well haven't you ever wanted to be a kid again?"

Sometimes I can't tell whether he's trying to provoke me or if he just wants conversation. I don't bother answering him.

"I notice you don't freak out anymore when I talk to you. Gotten used to being a schizo?"

His use of the term is deliberate, I know it. I wonder if Sasuke still thinks about that.

"Don't start talking to me in public, though," he grins. "They'll put you in an asylum for sure."

"I thought you knew I was aware of that." My patience for Kyuubi running out, I close my eyes and focus my mind on Sasuke and the demon's presence draws away. Then I pull out my iPod jam on my headphones and blast the music as loud as I can without hurting my ears. It feels good to drown in sound sometimes.

Though I don't hear the door opening through the thrumming bass, nor see it since my eyes are closed, I sense Sasuke's presence long before he reaches the side of my bed. I pull up a knee to give him space to sit.

"Hey, Sasuke?" I say as he sits down, stopping the music and pulling off my headphones so that I can hear him. "What do you think I should do about Kyuubi?"

When silence follows, I open my eyes. Sasuke's watching me in thought.

"We don't know any other way to suppress him," he says. "We don't really have a permanent cure. Maybe Tsunade-sensei and Jiraiya-sensei will find something. They seem to know a lot about it."