Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ My Business ❯ Lashing Out ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

He didn't feel anything. For the next month, everything that happened to him seemed as if it passed by in a blur.
He didn't care, he just went through every day like he usually did. He woke up, went to school, did his work, came home, ate and then slept.
His mother was beginning to worry about him, but Sasuke was too apathetic to even bother with changing his habits in order to make her feel better.
He hadn't seen Itachi since the night at the hotel, and although it wasn't really something to be upset over (normally, he would be relieved) Sasuke was.
He found his mind wandering constantly each day back to that night, and he'd cursed himself when he realized how far it could have gone were he not so reluctant. But he also cursed himself for getting drunk in the first place. That was one among few things that had embarrassed him in his life, and it more or less could have been avoided had he not felt sorry for himself. And why exactly, had he felt sorry for himself? Because he'd wanted Itachi to be at the wedding with him. It was almost scary when he really thought about it, and so he buried himself in his studies, reading in the evenings away. Every hour of his free time was crammed with Math equations, English sentences and adjectives to memorize, History information, science... anything.

And it was when Sasuke had read through and nearly memorized everything and anything in each of his textbooks, did he decide that he needed to do something more..constructive with his time. That, and get his mind off of his damned brother.

When he walked into his homeroom, people glanced up and their eyes followed him until he sat down. The only person who had actually succeeded in getting any verbal response out of him since his encounter with Itachi, was Naruto. All anyone else ever received was a nasty glare or a cold, apathetic stare that practically bled the words ‘So what?’. Dropping his bag onto his desk, Sasuke fell into his seat. He immediately tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling, eyes following the cracks and small bumps in the old plaster, as everyone chatted about what they did on Sunday. He had stayed home despite Naruto’s consistent nagging to go out to some new ramen restaurant, and simply stayed in his room. He hadn’t been eating properly--he never really ate with a consistent diet, but he found himself skipping meals more and more . He didn’t feel like interacting with his mother, who was, although controlled by an over-bearing husband, over all a really nice woman. It was an effort to put on a fake smile or talk to her normally. Much easier to fall into bed and sleep, finish his homework. Things that didn’t require social interaction.

“Ne, Sasuke, why do you look so tired all of the time?”

A small, ironic smile fluttered along lips usually set in a scowl, and Sasuke pulled his body forward. His elbows brushed the surface of his desk, and he slumped forward, onyx eyes steadying onto a set of crystal blue eyes. He stared at Naruto for all of twenty seconds before lifting a hand and smacking the other boy’s forehead with the heel of his palm.

“You’re in my space, moron.” he drawled, before promptly leaning back and dropping his hands in his lap. Naruto glared at him--a look that was more endearing than intimidating, and rubbed his forehead gingerly before leaning back in his own seat. They sat there, and Sasuke was glad that for once, Naruto was letting the chatter of their surrounding classmates fill in the silence that was thickening between them. But of course, like all good things, this didn’t last very long and Naruto finally cleared his throat. “Sakura told me that she made you a bento today because you never bring a lunch anymore.”

“Maybe I’m not hungry?” Sasuke asked, tilting his head. He avoided eye-contact with Naruto and hoped that he looked like he was extremely interested in his hands. Naruto traced a small chip in Sasuke’s desk with the tip of his finger, before shrugging. “Well, she wouldn’t listen to me. I told her you wouldn’t accept it and she hit me for saying that.”

“Who is saying I wouldn’t accept it?”

This caught Naruto’s attention, and his head snapped up. His eyes met Sasuke’s and this time, their stare lasted for a good minute before the bell rang, and the clatter of chairs as students scrambled to their desks caused them to break their steady gaze. As Naruto turned around to face the front, Sasuke leaned forward and supported his weight with his elbows. The hard wood beneath them felt strangely good, solid almost--and it reminded him where he was. He was able to keep himself from dozing for the first three classes, but by the time the bell rang signifying lunch, he was simply exhausted. Despite his studying, despite all of the things he’d drilled into his head--he couldn’t remember any of it. Little food and large amounts of sleep were a horrible combination he knew, but he just didn’t care. The only thing that bothered him now was the knowledge that if he kept this up, his grades would slip. That meant hell to pay at home, and even his own bedroom would be a safe haven no longer.

“Sasuke-kun?”

A hesitant, soft voice drew his attention from his thoughts. He had been leaning gracelessly against one arm, quite literally laying on his desk as the others around them continued to eat. He lifted his gaze but did nothing else, and a petite, pink-haired girl with brilliant green eyes smiled down at him nervously. He could see behind her back she held something, and from the mildly disgusted, anguished look that crossed Naruto’s features upon seeing the object, he supposed it was the so-called bento Sakura had made for him. “Sasuke-kun, I noticed that you didn’t have a lunch today.. again. I hope it’s okay, but I made you a bento. Please accept it!”

Bringing it forward, she thrust it out in a small bow, her head tilted downwards. Probably so he couldn’t see how red her face was, but Sasuke noticed, her ears gave it away. It took him only a moment of contemplation, but he sat up, leaned forward, and took the bento from her outstretched hands. She lifted her head then, blush forgotten, and eyes wide in surprise. Naruto was surprised too. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor, and a group of Sakura’s friends--huddled in the opposite corner of the room--watched in awe as he opened the box, and looked inside. It wasn’t extravagant, but it would do he reasoned.

“Thanks,” he stated simply, before picking up the chopsticks that were lain carefully on top of the food. He began to pick at it, and once he’d put several grains of rice into his mouth, he looked up. Sakura was still standing there, dumbfounded by his behaviour. Mildly curious. Sasuke tilted his head. An idea came to mind, and if it weren’t for the food in his mouth, he would have smiled. Setting the chopsticks down, he pushed the bento onto one half of the desk, and moved his chair over.

“Do you want to eat with me?”

As he spoke those words, a hushed whisper had fallen over the classroom. Sakura looked flustered, and Sasuke tried not to smirk as she sat down carefully, almost shyly, beside him. She opened up her own lunch--something small, she was no doubt on one of those stupid diets all the girls seemed to be on now a days-- and began to pick at her food. Sasuke ate his own lunch now in silence as well, enjoying the things she'd made. Although he wouldn't admit it. He was careful not to finish though, and when he put the lid back on the box and pushed it away from himself, he gave Naruto a lazy smile. The other boy had a suspicious look in his eyes, and they were narrowed to mere slits. It would have been something to be concerned about, were Sasuke not able to read the obvious jealousy radiating off of him. He said nothing however, and instead glanced at the clock.

“I have to go to the library,” he stated suddenly. Standing up, he turned and layed his hand on Sakura’s shoulder. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, “Thanks for the bento, Sakura-chan.” And left. And as soon as he’d reached the door, he could hear Sakura getting up. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she told her friends, and he smiled.


-*-

The library was quiet. One of the main reasons why he’d chosen to go there, instead of say...the courtyard. The roof would have been an option also, but it was cold up there. He didn’t mind, but he knew that if Sakura were cold, it would kill the mood. He wasn’t exactly sure on what he would do, but when he saw the pink haired girl wander into the library with a nervous, lost expression on her face, he shrugged. It didn’t matter. She liked him--but he wanted to see just how much.
When she found him, he was standing in the back, inspecting some books with a bored expression on his face. His fingers skimmed over the spines of several texts, before he finally feigned noticing her presence. He’d known she was there for about five minutes.

“Oh,” he said finally, turning around to face her. She was about four inches or so shorter than he, and that alone gave him the feeling of being in control. Not being helpless was a relief, and it washed over him, filling his veins with adrenaline. What was he going to do? What could he do? In all honesty, Sasuke truly believed that she would let him do anything he wanted to her. Stepping closer, he loved the way she backed up against the rows of books that lined the shelves. Tilting his head, the boy lifted a hand and brushed the tips of his fingers along her cheek, his thumb and forefinger toying with several strands of hair, before leaning down so that their noses were nearly touching.

“S-sasuke-kun?” Sakura whispered, before he tilted her head up and pressed their mouths together. It was a soft, gentle kiss--something that he'd initiated, something that he was controlling. She applied pressure hesitantly at first on his lips, and he took a step closer, the front of his shirt brushing her breasts. She didn’t pull away, and instead, her arms slid up to wrap around his neck. One of his hands rested on the small of her back, as his other gripped her jaw to keep her head in place, lips against his own. An image of Itachi, smiling --no, smirking, down at him flashed through his mind, and he pressed harder against her. She gasped when her back hit one of the shelves, and pulled away as the tips of Sasuke’s fingers found the hem of her shirt.

“S-sasuke,” she stuttered as his fingers crept upwards. They brushed the high waistline of her skirt before she pulled her hands away and lightly pushed at his chest. “Sasuke-kun, w-what are you doing?”

“Don’t you like me, Sakura-chan?” Sasuke breathed mockingly against her forehead, “Don’t you want me?”
“Sasuke-kun, we’re in a l-library!”

Sasuke brushed his lips against Sakura’s temple, before running them over the shell of her ear, something that Itachi had done to him in turn. She shivered, and he pressed himself against her, vaguely aware of his growing erection as both of his hands crept up her shirt. She let out a small noise when he smashed his mouth back against hers, and his teeth found her lower lip where he bit tentively as his fingers skirted the underside of her breasts. Her breathing was getting heavier, and he found that his was too, and a tiny glimmer of a moan escaped her when his hands curled around each breast entirely. They stayed like that, in the back of the library pressed flush against one another. Sakura was very still and Sasuke was mildly surprised by the soft, yielding skin under him. The warmth radiating from her body was comforting, and he dipped his head to nuzzle the side of her throat. She seemed to like this and a soft pant slipped past her lips before she turned, lips hesitantly brushing his cheek.

“Sasuke-kun, are you okay?”

Sasuke stiffened when she asked this, and he knew then and there that she was aware something was bothering him. Any arousal he’d felt disappeared, and he sighed, his hands falling from her chest, and he pulled them out from under her shirt. They rested then on her trim hips, and he said nothing. Her small hands came up and she carefully sifted them through the strands of his hair. This also comforted him, and he pressed his mouth to the tracery of veins that ran down the side of Sakura’s neck and disappeared under the collar of her uniform. He didn’t say anything, but he knew his silence was enough. Sakura slid her arms up around his neck, and pulled him against her in a warm embrace. Nothing about this was sexual, and instead of pushing her away, the boy pulled her against him and they hugged, almost clung, desperately to one another.


A/N: Short chapter. Not for the sake of updating, but because there really isn't much else to put here. I DO NO OWN ANYTHING TO DO WITH NARUTO. THE ONLY THING THAT BELONGS TO ME IS THIS PLOT.