Chapter 8 Blame It on Me
It had been exactly six weeks, five days, and fifteen hours since Sasuke had been transported from his hospital bed to this underground solitary confinement cell. It drove him insane, for all he could hear was the deafening sound of silence filling up the room.
To another, weaker man, these would have been the worst days, weeks of his existence. But sadly, Sasuke was used to the darkness and the loneliness that evaded his mind and penetrated his heart. It was moments like these that the bravado was drained from his system and all he could recall were the wrongs he had committed, the killings of people who might've had someone waiting on them to come home.
He would never say it aloud, but he definitely preferred the piercing glares of the villagers to this. At least he could grumble to himself about how annoying and clueless these people were, how untouched by corruption they were. But no… he had no distraction. Now he actually had time to think about the wrong he had done. And he didn't like it. Thinking about the consequences of your reactions and actually feeling guilty about them?
Yeah… not really an Uchiha trait.
He didn't even bother with toying around with the orderly who brought him food anymore. The first week, he would try to goad the orderly into a fight. But now… he just stared straight at the walls. Those unbearably white walls and the bright lighting.
Sasuke found himself thinking of all the things he could've done differently. All the paths he should have taken. He wondered if he'd taken another path, he would've killed less. Maybe, maybe not.
At first, those thoughts were harmless. But then they became less vague and more pointed. For instance: would he have been treating Naruto the same as before? Would he have felt about Sakura the way he had before? Would she have not been possessed by some unknown force and started to hate him? Would she be trapped like that forever? And by far the worst thought: Was Sakura even in her body anymore, or had she just drifted off little by little? Sasuke had beat himself up over that last one. All those maybes. Maybe if he had gotten home sooner, he could have prevented it. Maybe if he had never left it wouldn't have ever happened.
Puh-thetic.
His laughter echoed all around the room and he stopped suddenly, the loneliness enveloped him once more.
It was like this all the time.
He'd regain a scrap of his sanity and then be plunged back into darkness.
So this was what it felt like to lose your mind.
He couldn't blame all of the insanity on the alone time though. There was something about Sakura and Naruto. They would visit him once in a while, but she was always accompanied by that idiot.
He gritted his teeth, remembering how she held onto Naruto's hand so tightly and how she would either pointedly ignore him or give him this pitying look. How she didn't flinch under his scrutiny. But most of all, he hated that they looked so right together. How they would stare into each other's eyes when they thought he wasn't looking and how Sakura's face softened subtly when they had those moments. And he had to wonder: what had happened when he had left that made them so.
Didn't Naruto even notice that the girl wasn't Sakura? It made him angry.
Whatever it was, he didn't like it. Sometimes he would blame Naruto, but mostly… he would blame 'Sakura'.
Sasuke found comfort on blaming it on the stranger inside Sakura.
Kyoko's eyes fluttered open after her seventh time waking up that morning… err, evening. She normally would have been up before noon but the strenuous activities that had ensued the night before… well, she deserved a few extra hours of sleep.
Her eyes focused on a blur of bright yellow and piercing blue and she blushed a deep shade of red at the tender look on his face.
"Hey there." He murmured.
Kyoko felt tingles race up and down her leg and saw that he was tracing designs on the leg that was poking out of the sheets. Her eyes locked with his again. She was glad that Sakura had turned in early last night before her and Naruto had done anything. She actually felt bad about it.
"Hi."
Naruto smiled, then it was gone, replaced by a professional veneer. Jokingly he said, "So Sakura, how was it for you?"
Kyoko threw her head back and laughed. She never thought Naruto would say that to her before. Their lovemaking was so serious and calculated before. But now that both had opened up more to the other, it was more easygoing and effortless. They actually had fun now, if that makes sense at all.
Kyoko's laugh turned into a moan as Naruto took advantage of her now exposed neck. The hand that was tracing designs on her leg switched from the outside to the inner thigh, steadily and slowly caressing upward to her sex.
Kyoko's grip tightened on the bed sheet, and one hand came up to grip Naruto's arm, the one supporting him.
Naruto worked from her neck up to her jaw before their lips locked. The kiss was wild, fiery, and very much him. He licked her bottom lip, asking for entrance and she eagerly agreed. As Naruto kissed her roughly, his hand danced around the spot she needed him most, teasing her.
Kyoko made an impatient sound at the back of her throat before she flipped them over with her inhuman strength. Naruto was surprised, but went along with it, watching Kyoko with glazed eyes as she kissed down his neck to his rock hard pectorals. All the while, she maintained her eye contact with him, watching him watch her with lust in his eyes. And he loved it.
Kyoko had never used to take the lead. She would always let him, though she certainly knew how to give back. But never, had she done something so bold.
She kept moving, teasing him the way he had teased her, her long hair tickling his body as she went lower.
His abdominals contracted from her touch, with the effort of holding himself back from just taking her right now. Kyoko gave him a lust-filled grin before she latched onto his member.
And there was a knock at the door.
Both let out a very frustrated groan.
"God damn it." Kyoko muttered, getting up from where she lay.
Naruto's face was tight with the pain of an unreleased orgasm, his muscles were contracting and bulging. Kyoko admired his self-control.
"You're… telling me." Naruto ground out, sweat breaking out on his brow. He sat up, swinging his legs over to answer the door, murderous intent on his face.
"Naruto!"
"What?"
Kyoko bit her lip. "I should get it. You might murder the poor kid."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "I would not-"
Kyoko skewered him with a look, imagining how the messenger would look when a naked demon vessel answers the door with a murderous glint in his eyes.
"Fine, get the door then." Naruto's thoughts seemed to be aligned with hers.
Kyoko got up, wrapping the sheets around her lithe form, and trudged to the door, schooling her features into default mode, trying not to let her frustration show on her face.
"Can I help you?" Kyoko tried to smile but it turned into a grimace.
The younger shinobi gulped and stuttered. He eyed her scantily clad form with half interest, though he was too scared to show it. It was apparent that he had interrupted something extremely intimate just then. "U-um, Lady Tsunade wanted to i-inform you of your appointment at the holding facility with Sasuke Uchiha."
"Well is that all then?" she asked and was about to close the door.
"Actually ma'am, she also told me to inform Uzumaki-san that he should accompany you."
"How does she know…?" Kyoko trailed off. Then she remembered that the young shinobi was still there and muttered a, "You're dismissed." Before she promptly shut the door in his still bewildered gaze.
Kyoko walked into her room, worry becoming the dominant trait on her face.
"So," Naruto drawled, "do we get to pick up where we left off?" He was leaning back on his forearms, no doubt attempting to look sexy.
Kyoko couldn't stop the smile that snuck its way onto her face. She bent down and picked up a pillow, which she then chucked at his head. "Idiot, get up. We have to report to the holding cell in a few minutes."
Naruto groaned in frustration and muttered something under his breath. Kyoko could've sworn he said something along the lines of, "Damn bastard, he's ruining things and he's not even here."
She pretended not to hear and dropped the sheets before walking into the bathroom, her shoulder blades undulating smoothly under the smooth skin as she moved.
When Naruto didn't move from his current position, she walked back out, leaning on the doorway.
"Ne, Naruto-kun. I'm going to take a shower. You wanna come?" She made a come-hither motion with her delicate hand before walking back into the bathroom with a knowing smile, knowing he was bound to fall into her trap.
With amazing speed, Naruto jumped up and bounded over to join her, slamming the door shut and locking it on the way in.
And from there, they continued…
Sasuke's trained ears heard footsteps. Not a minute later, some of the lights in the holding cell were turned on and it blinded his eyes, them not being used to bright lights… or any lights at all. Like seriously, he had to pee in the dark.
He squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. All he could tell of the person was that they had a delicious silhouette. So naturally, he knew it was Sakura.
"What are you smirking about?" Her voice cut across his inner musings.
He carefully slid on his default mask and shrugged in indifference. "Why do you care?"
She bristled and looked just about ready to launch herself at his throat when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. It was then that Sasuke noticed that the idiot was with her.
It didn't go unnoticed by Kyoko as Sasuke gritted his teeth and a muscle jumped on his cheek.
Kyoko took a second to compose herself then said in a detached voice, " I don't." She looked at his pathetic form sitting on the dirty cell ground. "Not anymore." Then, not being able to control herself anymore, she turned on her heel and left.
Now it was only Naruto and Sasuke.
The intense urge to bang their fists against their chests was almost funny. The two were exuding dominance and neither would back down.
Naruto unlocked his cell with a special key that had symbols inscribed all over it. No doubt a chakra infused key. The cell door swung open, but Sasuke didn't budge.
"Follow me, or don't. Either way, I don't really give a damn." Naruto said with surprising authority.
Naruto turned to leave when Sasuke called after him mockingly. "I see the class failure has finally grown up."
Naruto stopped and turned his head slightly to look back at Sasuke. "Yeah, I have grown up Sasuke. I know right from wrong, and I make my own decisions. But the question is, when will you?" Then he continued to walk on.
Sasuke was left speechless. What was he supposed to say? Naruto had called him out on his bluff. He was right. Sasuke supposed that Naruto really had grown up, though that was something he counted on never happening. It saddened him, though he secretly felt proud of his friend, his brother.
Right then, Sasuke made a choice. He would follow Naruto's example. It seemed that Naruto had reached a level that Sasuke hadn't gotten to yet. And Sasuke vowed that he would get there someday too.
Though he would never tell anyone, he knew that Naruto had won the war despite the countless battles he had been victorious in.
So he stood, dusted himself off, and followed his best friend out of his cell and out into the world.
A/N: Wow, I had to delete A LOT of the paragraphs here. There were a lot of things I'd typed before that don't go with what I'm thinking about now. Ech… this is all such hard work.
