"What the fuck is wrong with you, man? Shit, give me your phone. I'll text him for you."
"No, it's fine. I'll reply."
"Do it, then, dude."
"I will. Geez…"
"Do it now."
"Kiba! Let go of my phone!"
"I'm going to text him for you!"
"Kiba! I'm not kidding, let go!"
A game of tug-of-war ensued as the poor cellphone was pulled back and forth between the two. Kiba had always been bossy and impatient… With a final hefty tug, Naruto freed the phone from the other's grasp and glared at his friend, miffed. The brunette matched the annoyed stare with his own.
"So, you gonna text him now, or??"
The blonde merely narrowed his eyes, allowing Kiba to feel the full weight of his annoyance. But a few moments later, with a small huff, he flipped up his phone, hitting Sasuke's speed dial number and sending him an ellipses. Once complete, he looked up, blue eyes swimming with irritation.
"There, you happy?? Can I dress out now?"
Kiba looked back with a triumphant grin as he pulled out his own set of gym clothes and jokingly said, "Only if you call me Master."
Naruto punched him before he, too, turned toward his locker to retrieve the bland grey shirt that bore his full name written in dark blue marker across the chest along with almost neon orange shorts. Kiba was laughing, his short, harsh chuckles almost sounding like barks, as the blonde set his gym clothes on the bench beside him and pulled up his shirt, beginning to undress. Around them, male students were chatting lightly as they switched from their everyday school clothes to those more suited for exercising in. A wolf-whistle sounded from behind the two friends as their tops were removed. Naruto flung his shirt aggressively in the direction of the noise.
"Shut the fuck up, Sai."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
What?
Naruto stared at the word. He was in English class now, his phone hidden from the view of the teacher. He had read the reply, but hadn't believed at first that it was the only text he had gotten. But… He checked his messages three times and that was it.
…Was that all he had to say? He didn't… He wasn't even going to add another word or two? Just a simple "what"?
…You're lying to me…|
He watched the line blink for several seconds. Did he want to do this? What if Sasuke got mad? Naruto'd be upset then, he knew he would. But… it hurt him knowing he was being lied to. That his own boyfriend wasn't open to him… didn't trust him enough. Weren't they supposed to trust each other? Even with the not-so-pleasant things? Naruto was still for a few more moments before his thumbs began to move again and type once more.
You're lying to me so you can pretend whatever happened didn't… Why? You can't just… tell me?
He hit send and then waited. Waited while the people, the room, around him still moved, still went on with their everyday routine. But he noticed nothing beyond the rectangle of light in his lap. His eyes focused gradually more and more until the brightly colored background became nothing more than a blur of pixels and it almost seemed as if he was trying to look through the phone, straight through the glass, metal, and plastic to where the little electronic signals radiated. His mind took over from that point, his imagination riding the invisible signals up, up past the atmosphere to a satellite where it was aimed then shot back down towards the earth into the long, elegant body of a teal juke.
His mind hit a bump there. What did Sasuke look like now? He knew the sleek shine of obsidian eyes would reflect against the glass of the screen… And he knew the boy's facial features, the curve of his nose, the swell of his lips, but… Had he changed his hairstyle? It had been months since he last saw him… Had he grown it out? Or perhaps he had cut it? …Colored it? No. No, he wouldn't have altered that gorgeous black color, so dark that light made it shine blue. He couldn't have…
Naruto's brow furrowed as his imagination ran off with the idea of Sasuke with different hairstyles and colors. He looked… absolutely ridiculous. There was no way that could happen. In his mind, either Sasuke kept his duck butt hairstyle he had left with, or it just wasn't Sasuke. The face would melt together into a featureless blob with hair. A lifeless doll wearing a wig. He had to think of his boyfriend as he remembered him, before he moved. Hair short and spiked in the back, and bangs long and thrown in his face like a veil. A thing to hide behind…
He just loved hiding, didn't he? Loved playing the part of Mr. Dark and Mysterious, huh?
Lying about what? I've got nothing to lie about.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, vivid blue slits of annoyance aimed at the words on the screen. His thoughts spun and collided into a squirming mass of frustration within his head as his fingers began to work furiously at the keys of his phone.
Lying about how you feel. You always do that. You always hide your emotions and stuff and make me have to push to get any information. You act like you feel okay when you don't. That's lying.
His breathing was notably heavier as he finished and viciously hit the send button without going over what he had said. Noticing the quickened pace, he breathed in deeply to slow it and glanced around the room, blinking a few times as if coming out of a trance. No one was paying him any mind, everyone around him was far too engulfed in their own conversations as they went through "group study time". Naruto's eyes fell down to his desk. He flipped open the book in front of him to a random page, not to read it, but just in case someone glanced over at him it looked more like he was doing something productive. His hand slid back under his desk as his phone vibrated.
But I normally do. I'm normally fine.
The blonde let air out through his nose in a huff.
Oh? Recently you haven't been. I can tell, you know. And whenever you really don't, you still act like you do in order to hide it.
Two minutes after it was sent, there was a reply.
Idk. I'm always fine, though. So ehh.
Naruto hit the reply button too quickly, frowning at the blank white screen, and went back to his inbox to reread the message. "Idk"? "Ehh"? What the hell…? Was Sasuke purposely acting ignorant and annoying in order to avoid admitting the blonde was right, or was he really that much of an apathetic ass?
No, you're not. You just say you are.
Denial. It was always denial. Sasuke would never admit anything without a fight. So he would. If it took a fight, then so be it… He was so tired of trying to be patient. Trying to be understanding. To consider how Sasuke felt. It was time that the bastard consider how Naruto felt for a change.
And if I say it and believe it enough, that makes it true.
Naruto felt his hands tense and twitch as he struggled to keep his expression neutral, his body relaxed. He had to be calm. He was still in school.
No. It doesn't. It just means your lying to yourself!
He all but attacked the send key, tossing his phone mercilessly into his open bag that lay beside his desk. No more. He couldn't handle talking to Sasuke anymore right now. He was in school, he couldn't lose control. Not in front of everyone. All these people… No. He couldn't. He couldn't even read Sasuke's reply lest he be tempted, taunted, into continuing the conversation. No, he'd wait. Wait until he was out of school, until he was at a place where he could be upset…
His breathing was erratic again. Working on regulating it, he let his eyes run over the open books of those nearest him. Might as well get to work… What page were they on? 370? He flipped back a few chapters in his own text, scanning the title.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
The picture of a long furry creature, curled around the neck of a young boy like a scarf, grinned up at him. A mongoose? Looked like a weasel. Weasel… Itachi… Sasuke…
No! He had to concentrate. Determined, he began to read. He was doing quite well too, until he got down to the appearance of Nag the cobra, which made him think of Orochimaru, the cold-hearted pedophile creep who Sasuke had been afraid was stalking him at one point…
Damnit! He slammed his textbook shut with a huff. This wasn't working. Was there nothing that wouldn't eventually remind him of Sasuke? He sighed, the exhale long and hard, and pressed his palms to his eyes in frustration. Green and orange spots began to dance behind his eyelids and he watched them with a sort of bored fascination. They began to make interesting sorts of patterns, blinking in and fading out and swirling…
"N-Naruto-kun…?"
The soft inquiry was almost drown out by the chatter of their classmates. Unsure if he had heard correctly or not, the blonde lifted his head and glanced up.
His vivid blue eyes met pale lavender. He blinked and started, jerking out of his stress-induced near comatose.
"Oh! Hinata."
