You Hold My Heart In Your Paws

Chapter 2: Fights & Flights

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Dang it.

Grasping at his chest, Naruto's lithe frame convulsed with his sobs, the choked, pathetic sounds rebounding against the white, fraying walls of his bedroom. The pained cries escaping those plump lips were heartbreaking to anyone, including the other occupant in the room, the one who was responsible for the ending of the little fairytale romance that Sasuke once held so dearly to himself.

Picking himself off of the hardwood flooring, Neji silently grabbed his boxers that had landed haphazardly at the foot of the bed, and slipped them on just as silently. He cautiously walked over to the other male, towards the pitiful sight, and braced himself for the blow that Naruto would most definitely be giving to him.

On the other hand, Naruto's mind was still trying it's very best to get rid of the haze that formed over it when he first saw Sasuke. It was trying its very best to clutch onto any bit of reality and sanity, anything that seemed plausible, believable, in hopes of keeping its owner grounded and from falling away into the depths of madness. It all happened too fast, and so quickly, that Naruto felt like the world was spinning and he was floating a good six feet away from his body. In a way, he was. Considering the fact that he betrayed and backstabbed his loyal, amazing, wonderful, faithful, magnificent, God, Naruto's limited vocabulary prevented him from coming up with any more adjectives to describe his perfect boyfriend, in the worst possible way imaginable.

Thoughts flittered about and around Naruto's mind, many of them taking on Sasuke's voice and repeating his departing words, 'You're nothing but a disgusting whore'. Naruto clutched at his head, wanting the voice to just dissipate and get out, to stop taunting him and laying out the truth of what he really was. It hurt to be reminded of what Sasuke thought of him. It cut him deeply, and the gash that those words created in Naruto's heart was so huge and gaping, Naruto knew it would take much too long a time to heal.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Naruto prayed to God that the earth would just split open right beneath his feet and swallow him whole, because he knew he deserved it. He knew what he had to done to Sasuke. He knew what he had done to the perfect, in too many ways to count, Sasuke.

He had been there for Naruto, through thick and thin. He was Naruto's first friend in high school, and slowly, gradually became his best friend, and was always there to rescue Naruto from the jocks who would amuse themselves by picking on those weaker than them. Sasuke had been there for Naruto whenever he needed help in schoolwork, whenever he needed an escape from reality, and whenever he just wanted Sasuke to be around. Sasuke had always been there for Naruto, and when brotherly love slowly morphed into something much greater, Naruto feared for Sasuke's reaction.

Imagine Naruto's surprise when Sasuke ended up telling him that he felt the exact same way, and he showed and showered Naruto with love, in so many different ways, and had always tried and did his best to be the best boyfriend for Naruto. He would let Naruto do whatever he wanted, as long as it made him happy, but always drew the line when he knew it would affect Naruto negatively, be it physically or emotionally. He was always looking out for Naruto, and Sasuke knew what put a smile to Naruto's face, and would and had sacrificed anything and everything to be able to see it.

Sasuke had put every part of himself into the relationship. He had put in so much effort into the relationship, into Naruto. Sasuke had shown and told Naruto countless times how much he loved him, how he wished that he could spend every single waking moment of his life just being by Naruto's side. Sasuke had done everything and gone out of his way to make Naruto happy, even if he himself had to sacrifice his sleep, food, and time. To Sasuke, Naruto meant the whole entire world, and he proved that to Naruto countless of times, more times than the blue-eyed fox could count.

Realizing what exactly Sasuke had done for him, and what he himself gave his fucking perfect boyfriend back as a 'thank-you' gift, Naruto winced in disgust at himself. His boyfriend was willing to give up anything for Naruto, probably even his own life, but he would throw the thought of Sasuke aside in an instant, and, quoting Sasuke's words, 'willingly spread his legs wide for another male with similar status'.

Naruto visibly winced at that abrupt thought that, no matter how much he tried, remained imprinted onto the back of his eyelids. Grabbing at his hair, Naruto let out the most broken scream that he could muster, as he opened his eyes and stared down at the evidence between his legs, that faint stream of white semen from his ass, the evidence that declared to the whole world that he had cheated on his boyfriend.

"Naruto…" the softest whisper that echoed throughout the bedroom broke Naruto off of his reverie. That voice, that voice that belonged to the one person that Sasuke hated with his whole entire being, that voice that belonged to the one person that Naruto had willingly had sex with, that one person that was enough to bring down Sasuke; he was still present in the room. Thus, laying bare the truth about Naruto's actions, declaring to the world that yes, he had officially cheated on his boyfriend.

Upon realizing that thought, Naruto opened up his mouth and let a pain-filled cry break through. It wasn't the fact that he had sex with his boyfriend's rival that caused that. No, it was the realization that Naruto had willingly done it. He had willingly allowed himself to be pleasured by someone other than his faithful and possible future spouse, had willingly engaged in sexual intercourse, and had willingly allowed to take on the path to break his beloved's heart. He had willingly done it, purposely permanently damaging Sasuke.

Naruto felt lower than the lowest.

As soon as he heard that scream, Neji was by his side in an instant, wrapping his pale, strong arms around the petite figure and pulling him into his chest. Neji could feel exactly how much Naruto was shaking by, and the sobs that wrecked through his small frame and the cries that left those soft lips were enough to tug at Neji's heartstrings. He held the boy even tighter than before, and used one hand to smooth down the ruffled blond locks, trying his best to calm Naruto down with just his words.

"It's okay, I've got you."

Those words that left the thin pale pink lips of Neji's did nothing to soothe Naruto. In fact, it only made him worse.

It only made him realize exactly how much he loved hearing those words from Sasuke instead, hearing and feeling his voice just wash all over him, soothing him, bringing with it the whispered sweet nothings that Sasuke would mindlessly utter during their post-sex cuddling. How Naruto missed hearing those words, and now, having to hear them from what he would call 'second-best', Naruto's heart broke into much smaller pieces than it already was in, and Naruto knew that those pieces would take a long time to be put back together, considering the fact that Sasuke was the only one capable of healing his heart.

But was that still true? Was Sasuke really the only one capable of healing him, when he declared out loud, not too long ago, that he loved Neji, the one who was with him, comforting him right then? Was Neji still 'second-best'? Naruto's little mind was just as confused with its own feelings just as it was with whatever had happened not too long ago. Who did he love? Did he love Sasuke? Had he even loved Sasuke? Does he love Neji?

Why did he even agree to this stupid relationship with Neji anyway? What did the past 6 months even mean? Why had he come back to Neji willingly, again and again, every single week, when he knew he had Sasuke back at home to help fulfill his sexual desires?

Naruto abruptly stopped his train of thought, and realized exactly what it meant. He was willing to sacrifice his little fairytale romance for a couple of nights of pleasure. He was willing to sacrifice his and Sasuke's relationship for the sake of his own selfish needs. He was willing to sacrifice Sasuke's happiness and heart for the sake of his own sexual desires.

He was willing to hurt Sasuke, damage him completely, all for a good fuck.

God, I really am a whore.

Breaking down into more sobs, Naruto's mind tried it's best to wrap around the current situation.

His boyfriend had just caught him cheating on him with his own rival, on their anniversary.

Sasuke's face at catching Naruto red-handed flashed through Naruto's mind, and he immediately gritted his teeth at the amount of hurt he saw rolling off of his boyfriend's face. Sasuke's last words to him and the echoing bang of the door replayed themselves in Naruto's mind, and he, for the first time in the past 2 years, imagined his life without Sasuke.

No Sasuke to see, no Sasuke to hear, no Sasuke to hold, and no Sasuke to touch. But the one fact that stood out the most amongst all the others, was that for Naruto, there would be no more Sasuke to love.

That was then that Naruto knew for a fact that he loved Sasuke. Imagining his life without a particular Sasuke Uchiha in it, was painful, and Naruto visibly flinched, and hastily got out of Neji's hold.

"Naruto…?" Neji called out softly towards him. He was obviously shocked when Naruto, out of the blue, flinched out of his hold, and never once looked up at him. He knew the thoughts that were going through Naruto's mind right then and there, and he couldn't help but let anger take over him, knowing for a fact that Naruto was going to break off this—this 'unique' relationship that they had.

Keeping and making sure that his anger was still well under control, Neji nodded determinedly to himself, knowing that he had to snag this blonde, right then and there. Why? Because he was a Hyuuga, and he was currently holding onto Uchiha property. He couldn't let Naruto crawl back to Sasuke, that would signify that Neji had lost, signify that Sasuke, even though he had lost the battle, had won the war.

No.

Neji could not afford that. He could not afford losing his face to the bastardly Sasuke. He still had his ground to stand on, and a war to win. So what if he was being a selfish bastard? He still had his Hyuuga pride to uphold. He wouldn't let some meek person like Naruto keep him from getting his prize, and 'prize' meaning watching Sasuke die, a little by little, slowly, by having to face the fact that the love of his life had been taken away by a fucking Hyuuga.

So what if he didn't love Naruto? He was just a tool to get what Neji had always wanted, to successfully break the Uchiha until he couldn't stand on his own two feet any longer. He was just someone to use in getting what he wanted, what would determine the outcome between the constant battle between Hyuuga Corp. and Uchiha Inc.

Naruto was nobody.

He was just a tool.

Nodding resolutely to himself, and making sure that his concerned mask was back on his face, Neji moved to tilt Naruto's face, grasping his little chin with his index and thumb. Slowly, he tilted the rounded face upwards, making sure to lock gazes with him, and Neji, just for show, gasped.

The indefinite shade of blue was a deep cerulean, and was covered by a thin veil of salty tears. The crystal-clear water constantly streamed down the scarred cheeks, reminding Neji of the rivers that his family would often sail on back during the time they were on their World Tour in Venice. The button nose was all red, and was scrunched up constantly, the sounds of sniffs making their through to Neji's ears. The plump bottom lip that Naruto loved to pout with was being held behind a pristine row of white front teeth, and the chin that he was holding onto was trembling from the effort of keeping sobs at bay.

Even when he was heartbroken, Naruto was beautiful.

A sharp gasp cut through the sudden still and cold air of the bedroom, and Neji took a while to realize that Naruto was trying his hardest to speak, trying his best to quell down his cries in order to get whatever Neji did not want to hear, ever, since the start of this relationship, out.

"Y-you're no-not t-the o-one th-that I-I wa-want, N-Neji," Naruto whispered, and as soon as those words left his lips, Neji's fist, the one that was holding onto his chin, met with his face.

Neji knew that Naruto was going to say those words. Neji had thought that he had prepared himself for that devastating blow, but with anger reeling through his veins at a much greater speed than he ever thought possible for a calm and collected guy like himself, Neji could not have held himself back even if he tried.

He didn't want his plan on ruining Sasuke Uchiha to backfire. He had planned it out so that it would have worked to his favor, and ended up breaking Sasuke so that he would have emerged the champion. He had thought that his plan was fool-proof, considering the fact about how loving he had been towards Naruto during the past 6 months. He had thought that the amount of attention and love that he had showed and given and showered Naruto with was enough to override that of Sasuke's 2-year's worth. He had thought that Naruto would finally wake up and realize that hey, Sasuke was the wrong choice, and Neji was the right one, and would finally crawl into his arms, making Neji's plan a success.

But no, in fact, Naruto had to go all crazy and unexpected on him, and ended up crawling back to his pathetic boyfriend, therefore successfully using Neji Neji fucking Hyuuga had been used by the stupid and pathetic Naruto Uzumaki.

What a blow to his ego.

And before he could have even thought about stopping himself, Neji removed his fingers from Naruto's chin, clenched his fist as hard as he could, and slammed it into Naruto's pretty little face. He felt more than heard the satisfying crunch of Naruto's little button nose breaking, and the warmth that spread across his knuckles was no doubt Naruto's blood.

The knowledge of successfully hurting something that belonged to his rival, adrenaline started pumping through Neji's veins at an impossible pace. Having to hurt something/someone was one thing, but having to hurt something that was Uchiha property was another. It brought a thrill to Neji like no other; because he knew he was indirectly hurting and causing even more grief and sorrow for that bastard of an Uchiha

And that thought made Neji ecstatic.

A malicious grin seeped onto his face as Neji pulled back his fist and rammed it back into Naruto's face, making sure to hit his eye. Feeling the eyeball underneath his fingers push back into its socket brought Neji even deeper into the depths of insanity, as with each punch that he threw at the face of Sasuke's little fox, grew the hatred that he had towards the Uchiha.

Disregarding the pained cries that were let out from Naruto's pink lips, the wetness of the cheeks that he constantly attacked, the bruises along Naruto's eyes, jaw and nose, Neji continued abusing him, continued on with his actions, letting anger and insanity take the wheel of his mind, with it making no attempt at collecting itself and warning its owner about the possible consequences that could take place after this little episode was over.

Naruto had no idea what had happened and what was going on. At first he was being confronted by a calm, collected Neji, the Neji that he had 'loved', the Neji that helped him get rid of his insecurities and made him feel good and beautiful about himself. Not even two seconds later, his face was met with Neji's fist, only this time, this Neji was different. He was much more malicious, vicious, much more mad and insane than the Neji that he was used to. This Neji had completely lost all trace of reality and had lost his sanity. This Neji was much too deep into the pool of madness, and Naruto knew that if he didn't come out of it, or if he didn't get out of the way, he would get killed.

And right now, Naruto knew that the chances of him coming out alive were slowly dying down.

Feeling Neji's fist connect with his jaw, Naruto cried out in absolute pain and horror at feeling his jaw break, and along with the multiple attacked areas, like his eye and nose, Naruto was on the verge of losing his consciousness. He could see little black spots entering his vision, and he knew what it meant.

He could tell from experience after all.

Having been constantly a victim to bullying taught Naruto a lesson too many, and giving a memory too much to remember. Feeling the punches make contact with his face and various parts of his body brought back too many memories, which were often the main cause of his nightmares, back to his throbbing head. He knew he was going to go out like a light soon, but he had to stay awake. He had to. He still had issues to solve with Sasuke, who, he prayed to God, would give him a second chance.

Screaming at the top of his lungs when Neji punched his jaw again, Naruto prayed to God that Neji would stop, that he would at least be merciful enough to stop this madness, to at least have some pity on Naruto and just leave him be to suffer.

Apparently God had heard him, and Neji immediately stopped.

Neji looked over at the damage that he had done. Blood matted the bright blond locks down and the crystal-blue eyes were clenched shut, tears escaping the closed eyelids. Various purplish-blue-black marks littered the slender body, and Neji could see, as bright as day, the way Naruto's nose bent at an impossible angle, and the blood seeping through the crack of the bridge.

He wanted to punch Naruto even more, to hurt him even more, but he knew his limit. He had to draw the line at Naruto's point of consciousness and unconsciousness.

Feeling the adrenaline and excitement leave his body, to be replaced with sudden fear and panic, Neji's eyes immediately widened in shock at the sight before him. Finally registering in his head what exactly he had done, what his insanity and moment of pure madness had made him do, Neji's mouth hung agape as he could only stare helplessly at the prone and vulnerable figure at his knees.

The faint sound of Naruto's choked gasps and whimpers of pain barely registered themselves into Neji's mind, and he quickly got dressed and grabbed his cell, punching in the number for an ambulance immediately.

He wasn't a complete asshole; he knew that he had to take responsibility for his actions. But the Hyuuga name was a powerful one, and he was obviously not stupid enough to actually confess to his abuse to Naruto. He would just make up some believable lie that would convince the hospital staff enough for them to treat Naruto and not interrogate him.

Yeah, that's what I'd do, Neji thought to himself and immediately pressed the 'call' button, getting ready to put up the act of his lifetime.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: Hey guys! Thank you for reading, and if you've enjoyed reading this fanfic, then be sure to review! It would really make my day! The next chapter would probably come up soon, hopefully (because of my tight schedule, haha). Anyway, thank you so much for reading! If you don't like it, then just tell me how I can improve on my writing skills down in the reviews as well! Thanks again!