Ns: Welcome to another one-shot by the Cassi-monster! This is an advertisement for the whole fic this came from...on my profile. Called 'Fifty First Kisses, Fifty Times 'I Love You''.

All the appropriate information is below:

Swallowed Whole
Series: Naruto
Pairings: Naruto/Sasuke
Rating: T for content and language
Summary: It seemed they were the perfect pair. They were always together, always smiling and laughing, but Naruto and Sasuke appeared to touch the bottom of the well. Somewhere along the line, the final string was broken and the two drew further and further away from one another. Living together prolonged it, but somewhere, someone needed to compromise...Naruto was the first to volunteer.
Start Date: 3/25/07
Finish Date: 4/9/07
Inspiration: Real life experiences

It seemed they were the perfect pair. They were always together, always smiling and laughing, but Naruto and Sasuke appeared to touch the bottom of the well. Somewhere along the line, the final string was broken and the two drew further and further away from one another. Living together prolonged it, but somewhere, someone needed to compromise...Naruto was the first to volunteer.

Naruto began the morning with a rude wake-up call from the sun, peeking through the blinds and splaying across his face. A groan escaped him as he sat up and a slight pain shot through him that seemed to come from his bum. He smiled a little, remembering the night before. Turning to the right, he could clearly make out Sasuke's sleeping form, bunched up beneath the bed covers. Naruto's partial smile weakened as his gaze fell down on his naked thighs. Clearly imprinted on the outside of them were purple marks where Sasuke had gripped them. Matching blue bruises were present of Naruto's hips as well. He smiled sadly.

"Sasuke was...really rough," he mused, hissing as he brushed his fingertips around the edges of the marks. They weren't the only evidence of Sasuke's gruffness. Not only from the previous night, but from many times beforehand. Freshly inflicted wounds included a dark red hickey on the blond's collarbone and various bites and scratches along his back and torso. A particuarly one was torn deep across his ribcage, courtesy of his lover's orgasm. There were other various barely visable scars assorting in size and color down the full length of Naruto's body, but he didn't mind. He never minded.

Even as he crossed the room and opened the bottom drawer of the dresser, he didn't mind. As he stole away some peroxide and bandages, as he tended his wounds, Naruto still did not mind because he had Sasuke. He loved Sasuke and that was all that mattered. Naruto promised he would always love and take care of his koibito, and do whatever he could to make him happy. That satisfaction alone was enough to make Naruto content.

Putting the drawn out items back into the drawer and shutting it as quietly as possible, Naruto pulled on orange and white pajamas, then hurriedly tip-toed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

By the time Sasuke stumbled into the kitchen, Naruto already had pancakes and plates piled high with eggs and bacon waiting on the table. He smiled brightly from his place at the stove.

"Good morning, Sasuke. How are you feeling tod--" he stopped in mid-sentence as Sasuke came behind him and attacked the boy's neck, knawing at the delicate skin there. Naruto smiled fakely and allowed his lover's hands to wander. He began to enjoy it just slightly when a rough digit pressed into his hip. Naruto hissed in pain as he drew back and struck Sasuke accidently. Sasuke had a highly annoyed expression on his gace, lightly tinted with anger and rising.

"You pushed me," he accused, gritting his teeth just slightly. Naruto's eyes widened.

"No! I just-" he was cut short by a sharp slap across his left cheek. The sting remained for several moments after while Sasuke turned abruptly and yanked away the tablecloth, bringing the food Naruto had prepared crashing down with it. Sasuke stomped away and the front door slammed shut and the blond winced, feeling a limp rise in his throat.

"I will not cry," he croaked, voice cracking noticably, "I will not cry. I'm stronger than that. I brought it on myself. I should not have pushed him, that's all."

Naruto knew he had not pushed Sasuke. He would never do that. But he was convincing himself otherwise, for the sake of what he called their relationship. Naruto was stilled slightly jarred from the impact, but crawled over to the mess Sasuke had created on the floor and picked up pieces of broken dishes and food.

"I will not cry," he chanted time and again, thin clear tears slipping unnoticed down his numbed cheek.

And so, much later, when the floor was wiped clean and the table reset with silverware and the napkin holder, Naruto was nearly finished. All that was left was to do was cook dinner and then wash the dishes after. Said dinner was simmering away on the stove; a mild red curry and rice with a teapot that had just gone off, whistling behind it. Naruto hurried to shut off the eye and the squeal died down. He gave the curry one last stir before taking the pot into his hand and scooping portions onto the piles of steaming rice on the table. Sasuke would be home any minute and things had to be just right. It was Sasuke's birthday and even though he had tried to start his day off good and failed, that didn't mean he couldn't finish it well.

And as this was all finished, Naruto smiled to himself and reached across the table to light two white candles. And then he sat. The clock across the room read 6:35 PM, meaning Sasuke would be home any minute. Cerulean eyes glanced down at the steaming pile of curry and rice.

He always did something for Sasuke on his birthday, no matter what. The previous year, the dedicated blond got out of bed with the flu and still managed to make Sasuke a pot roast and vegetables, his western-style favorite. Sasuke had been so happy; he'd even given Naruto a hug and a kiss and hand-fed him with a spoon. They made slow, gentle love until the wee hours of the morning and Sasuke told him how much he loved him.

Naruto smiled fondly at the memory, but it slowly melted away as he glanced down and noticed that delicious steam no longer slipped away from the plates of food. The candles in the table's center had worn down to their halfway mark, wax building up at their bases. The flames flickered dangerously, threatening to go out at any instance. A quick feel of ceramic told him the tea had gone cold as well. Naruto's shot back to the clock.

"Eight fifty-nine?! Have I been sitting here that long?" Naruto asked aloud. He shot to his feet and ran through the house, checking to see if he somehow missed Sasuke's arrival home. He flung himself into empty rooms and burst through every door more than once. His empty steps echoed all through the home against the hardwood floors. Every room was exactly how he had left them, mostly tidy and untouched. Beds in guest rooms that were never used remained made, covers turned down slightly for the guest he knew they would never have. All the floors were the same, never changing, staying consitant through and through. A hard exterior, and even tougher interior that stayed untouched. After awhile of hopeless searching, Naruto gave up, deciding Sasuke wasn't home. A defeated sigh heaved from him and he retrieved the present he got Sasuke, all wrapped up in black and blue paper, and set it down by his lover's plate on the kitchen table.

Naruto took his place there once more, looking and feeling slightly dejected. By the time he was settled back in his seat, the clock read 9:30. His eyes stared blankly out, consiousness buried deep in thought and minutes passed unnoticed.

Where is my Sasuke? He's never home this late...Maybe he got hurt on his mission! Or he's been captured by enemy nin! What if he...NO! Naruto snapped out of the daze and rubbed his temples. That won't happen to Sasuke. He's just too strong for that!

Panicking, despite what he told himself, his eyes found the clock once more.

Oh my God...11:00

Just as the blond Kyuubi was about to release his tears, the door in the livingroom opened and closed. The lights were off and the candles dimenished their wicks, leaving only a mountanious pile of wax. Raven hair and the body attatched stumbled a little as it entered the kitchen and dining room area.

"Sasuke! Thank goodness! I thought something terrible had--"

"Shut up."

Naruto halted in mid-step as he had headed to greet Sasuke. "Sasuke, what's..." The look his lover gave him made his mouth stop functioning. Without warning, the glare melted away from him and he stumbled forward, wrapping his arms around the blond's neck.

"You're really...pretty," he breathed. Naruto jerked his head backwards and coughed.

"Have you been drinking?"

Sasuke's face turned sour again and he uncoiled himself from Naruto. "Why? Does that bother you?" He positively spat the word 'bother', "Because I don't fucking care."

"No, I don't mind..." Naruto lied badly and wrung his hands together, turning to take his place at the table once more. He smiled meekly up at Sasuke. "Aren't you going to eat this nice dinner I made you? I made it...for your birthday and all...I just didn't expect you to be in so late, so it's a little cold..." Naruto placed the right words at the right time so as not tp upset the intoxicated man in front of him. Sasuke's eyes scanned everything on the table. From the plates of curry, to the cups of tea, and even to the melted candles. He looked back to Naruto.

"And?"

Naruto would've stumbled backwards had he been standing. Instead, he flinched and felt a pang of hurt shoot through his chest. "Well, I just thought maybe you'd like to spend some time with me, like last...year..." he trailed off.

"You shouldn't have assumed something so stupid like that."

Naruto stood with his hands outstretched slightly. "But Sasuke! I just want to be close to you! I want to have time together to do things with you!"

Sasuke's glazed-over eyes glared menecingly and he brought himself upright. "Maybe I just want to do things alone!" he almost screamed. he took three steps forward and Naruto drew back, expecting to be struck. Instead, Sasuke about-faced and stormed towards the bedroom. And even though the physical pain never came, a deep hurt formed within Naruto, and he could feel the sting on his cheek and the liquid in his eyes.

The house was clean, all the laundry was done, and Naruto was freshly bathed and dressed and had on his best silk kimono. He smiled keenly at his reflection in the mirror and patted himself down, straightening out the creases. A quick glance at the wall clock told him it would only be a few minutes before his beloved came home...on their two-year anniversary. It had been two weeks since Sauske's birthday and he had made up for what happened by giving Naruto as much love and attention as he could fit into one day. Naruto was now certain that he could trust him completely and was very much prepared for that evening's activities. He smiled to himself at the thought. One last minute preparation, spritzing on some Hugo(1), the present Naruto had gotten Sasuke for their anniversary and he heard the front door open and close.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed happily and headed in the direction of the front room. However, the sight that befell him was not one he had expected to see. There, in the doorway, under poor light from the lamp near him, stood Sasuke, with a look in his eyes that would make even the Kyuubi cower in fear. A flame shimmered in them that was unmatched by any jounin. Naruto swallowed hard and stumbled backward, making for the closest exit. He had seen this look many times before and oftentimes found himself on the recieving end of whatever wrath Sasuke happened to be experiencing.

Naruto scrambled away and held his eyes closed tight in prayer that he would be able to escape with minor injuries and had nearly made it to the back door when something held him back. Something had hold of the sash from his kimono and wouldn't let him go any further. He looked back to find that it was the side table that had caught the loop. Tears of frustration forming on his cheeks, he gave it a hard tug and broke free. Unfortunently, that was enough time for Sasuke to catch up to him. Naruto found himself suddenly being pulled to his feet by a hand jerking his hair. He called out and clawed at the hand that grasped him.

Sasuke growled and slapped Naruto clean across his left cheek; the kitsune barely made a sound, knowing better than to act out.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Did you think I wouldn't find out?!" he shook Naruto hard and expected an answer.

"I don't know what you mean, Sasuke! I--"

"Shut the fuck up!" Sasuke screamed and struck him again. "Don't you realize that people in this village talk? I know you've been going to Kiba's house all the time when I'm on missions!"

Naruto was dumbstruck. He had no idea what Sasuke was talking about, but he never left the house without his lover. His cheek burned from teh force of the blows and the few tears that fell down them practically hissed from it. Naruto tried to pull away.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I never go anywhere without you!" he nearly screamed. And he told the truth. He just couldn't understand what would make Sasuke think that. Said man almost released the grip on his hair, then caught a whiff of the air.

"What the FUCK?" Sasuke grabbed the front of Naruto's kimono and dragged it up to his face. "How are you going to sit there and tell me that you haven't done anything when it's fucking all over you. What's the matter? Forgot to take a fucking shower afterwards?!" Naruto was still confused and prepared to again ask what he was talking about when he felt Sasuke's fist make contact with his jaw once again. This time, as it happened, Sasuke let the force of the blow knock him backwards and away from him. Naruto's crumpled body slid across the hardwood and didn't move. "All I fucking asked for is to come home on our fucking anniversary and spend some fucking time with you and this is what I get?! You smell like a fucking man and this isn't anything like anything we fucking own! I'm going to bed." his voice echoed through the home and he stormed away, slamming the bedroom door hard enough to make the walls shake.

Naruto, a shuddering mess on the floor, took a small breath. "I'm...alone..."

There was only a slight hesitation before He wrote it. Pen to paper, handwriting shaken from the endless quaking his body provided. A simple sentence was all that was needed. He tacked it to the wall, few teardrops shattering as they hit the hardwood beneath Him. Underneath where He put up the note, his body slid down against the wall and slumped to the floor. The kimono He still wore was torn to shreds where it was gripped, but He didn't care. It wouldn't matter soon enough, anyways.

In his shaking right hand he loosely gripped a kunai with crushed rubies pressed into the metal--it was the birthday present He had gotten Sasuke, though until that moment, it had remained unopened.

"Like paper hours...shredded as they pass. To deny them, is to walk on broken glass (2)," his gentle voice recited, holding the kunai a little tighter. "This must be what you wanted. Afterall, you told me once that you wanted to do things alone...right?" a sad smile came to Him and He held the blade to his throat, pressing into where He could feel his heartbeat speed up under the point. Another shallow breath was taken and with a swift swipe across the thin flesh there, the steady beating came to a stop. The lifeless body slumped over, eyes wide open, mouth cracking a sickening smile, blood splashed across his hand and collecting in a dark puddle beside him, leaking even to taint his wild golden locks.

When Sasuke would enter some time later, he would find Naruto like this. He would be far too late but he would check to see if he was alive anyways. He would shriek in horror and rip the note Naruto left him from the wall. He would read it and chills would run down his spine as they reality of the words sunk it. It would say:

"Maybe I just want to do things alone, too."

...and Sasuke...would cry.

Alternative Ending--This begins right before the very last scene switch. Maybe some of you will like this version better...?

Closing the door behind himself without making any noise was not as hard as He thought it would be. Neither was reaching into the top of the closet and drawing out a box from two weeks ago that remained unopened and quietly unwrapping it, dropping the paper to the floor. The contents of such, a ruby-encrusted kunai He had gotten for his beloved on his birthday, shined eerily in the bit of moonlight seeping it between the blinds over the bed where Sasuke slept. For some time, He only stood there, fingering the blade, slicing through the skin of his fingertips and running the blood created from such down the handle. And then He decided. He would not take it anymore.

He made his way to the side of the bed and turned down the covers just slightly, only enough to discover Sasuke's beautifully naked throat. The sleeping man's chest moved up and down slowly with his breathing, flawless skin bathing in that same moonlight. It sickened Him. He took in a shuddering breath and brought the blade down only close enough to run along the flesh without slicing.

"Sasuke..." He whispered. The other opened his eyes just slightly.

"Naruto...? What the hell are you--" A sickening gaze came over Him and He shrugged slightly before gripping the kunai and pressing down with such force that the bed groaned beneath them. There may have been murmering. There may have been tears. There may have even been pleas for help. But if they were present, He took no notice of them. He sank to the floor and smiled a little at the thin trail of blood that had found a way down the sheets and dripped steadily onto His knee.

"Good-bye."

1--Hugo is a kind of men's perfume (I say it like that only because I don't know how to spell Colougne..?)

2--I wrote this. Please don't steal it

NS: Well...I'm done. I hate to sound excited at the end of a chapter like this one, but...I did finish! So which did you like better? The suicide or the murder? I think I like the suicide the best, but that's just me. Again, gomen for the extreme OOCness and I hope I haven't cliched in a way that I missed...as I have often done that before. Oh, and I hope none of you missed the fact that when I capitalized 'He' or 'Him', it was Naruto. R&R!