Bruises & Bitemarks (SasuNaru)

98.

"Sasuke."

"Hn."

"Sasuke, you asswipe, look at me!"

I dig my nails into his wrist, and he finally tears himself away from his computer, whipping around angrily. His face goes stark white when he sees what I'm holding up.

"Give that back!" he snaps. He jumps to his feet and makes a grab for the envelope, but I pull it away. "You've been rifling through my stuff! You've invaded my privacy, you fucking—"

I wince at the word, but it doesn't stop me from grabbing the front of his shirt and shoving him forcefully against the wall of his room, hard enough to force a cough from him, and I take the opportunity to pin his arms.

"Your privacy is the last thing you should be worrying about, bastard," I snarl. "You've been hiding this from me. Why haven't you told me about this?"

"I knew you'd try to stop me," he grits out. "You'd tell me it was dangerous or dumb or something."

"Because it is!" I shout, pushing him harder against the wall. "Itachi's a murderer. Akatsuki's the most wanted group of criminals in Konoha. You can't just go running after them like it's a game of tag!"

"It's none of your fucking business what I do!"

"It sure as hell is," I retort. "I'm your boyfriend, Sasuke. I'm more than that. Didn't you say something about chains being stronger than strings? Haven't I helped you through shit like this before? Tell me what the letter means."

"Give it back, you—"

I dig my fingernails into his wrist. "Tell me!"

The pain flickers in his eyes, registers in the crease of his brow. "It's a clue. He sent me to different pages on the internet to find where the first location was, then—"

"Location of what?"

"Of the next clue. I'm almost there, Naruto, I'm running out of time!"

I frown at this. Itachi's letter clearly stated that if Sasuke didn't find them within fifteen days, his chance would be lost. His chance to find his brother again. And it's the last day.

"I know what this means to you," I say. My voice is low, but I can still feel the anger bubbling within me, rousing Kyuubi. "I know how much you want revenge. But it's not worth dying for, Sasuke."

"For a genius he can be a real imbecile," Kyuubi chuckles. I squint as my vision flares red.

"I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't do," he spits.

"I have as much a say as you do!"

"Tch, you keep telling yourself that."

"You don't technically, of course. I know, I know, that's not the point. He isn't listening, is he? He's forgotten all about you."

I grit my teeth at Kyuubi's words. "Sasuke! Don't I mean something to you? Just two weeks ago you were fucking sobbing into my shoulder about how we were going to be separating, and now you won't even look at me! Do you call this love? Do you call this a relationship?"

"You were the one saying I need to get my mind off of you! Shouldn't you be happy I'm doing that now?"

"I didn't mean you were supposed to ignore me and push me away! There's such a thing as balance!"

"Would you get your head out of your selfish ass? This isn't about you!"

"I know that!" I shout. "It's about you, because everything is about you, isn't it?"

I immediately regret saying that, because it's such a blatant lie. Not everything has been about Sasuke. In fact, most things haven't. They've been about me. Selfish, screwed-up me. But I'm not about to point that out.

"He isn't buying it," says Kyuubi. "If there's one thing about Uchihas, it's that they love revenge more than anything. With them it's all about the history of who wronged whom. Do you think you can make him forget that? Are you important enough to him to erase his past?"

"Just get out," Sasuke says. Trust Sasuke to give the commands even when I'm the one who's got him trapped against the wall. "Get out of my room. I'm busy, and you're a distraction."

"Tell him what this is worth," Kyuubi suggests. "Tip his scales for him. He gets his revenge, or he gets you."

I take a deep breath. He'd choose me. He'd definitely choose me. The sentences construct themselves in my head and my core begins to shake, because the words are so weighty that I'm sure I'm going to crumble with the pressure. It seems like such a gamble – he'd choose me, right? So why am I so afraid to say this?

"Listen, Sasuke," I say finally, glad the trembling hasn't extended to my voice. "I'm giving you a choice, and I'm going to spell it out clearly. You can go after Itachi and get yourself stabbed or shot or something, or you can give up the chase and you can have me. You can't have both. If you choose your revenge, it's over between us. We're breaking up. You understand, right? What that means?"

Sasuke's eyes flash with a hundred thoughts. I swear I see them flicker red.

"So? What's your answer?"

My heart is pounding in my ears. The silence outside of my head is deafening, my muscles all tensing at once.

Sasuke opens his mouth to speak.