-Naruto-

I know that you're awake.

I'm lying flat on my back now, inhaling, exhaling, focusing my mind on the rhythm of my breathing.

The hurt is still so fresh.

Your taste lingers on my lips, traces of warmth, of inexplicable feeling...

You had tasted surprisingly sweet.

What had I been thinking?

How could I have let you do something so crazy?

So cruel?

I trail my hand across my mouth, warm fingertips brushing over the lingering kiss.

It keeps replaying in my mind.

The phone call, Sakura's voice...

And then you.

You, your lips, your skin.

You everywhere.

The depth, the burning, complicated feelings stirring in that kiss, the feel of your hands beneath my shirt...

And the coldness of your voice.

You had been cruel.

So cruel, unimaginably cruel.

"You cheated. You kissed someone else. You kissed a guy, even."

My hand falls lightly from my lips to the mattress, chain clattering softly.

My fingers curl slowly into the sheets.

Seeking comfort, something to hold on to...

"And worst of all..."

I can't get your voice out of my head.

It had been ice, bitterness...

Smooth as marble.

"You kissed me."

"Fuck."

I sit up quickly then, my heart aching so fiercely I feel that it might burst.

The tears have dried on my skin.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

I'm cursing, wiping the traces of weakness from my cheekbones.

I feel your eyes on me now.

There's nothing I want more than to push you away from me, to yell, to show you just how much you hurt me...

But I'm so tired of it.

I'm just

so

tired.

I can feel you sitting up beside me, exhaling softly, running a hand through dark, silken tresses.

I can't even look at you.

I'm aching so fiercely, fully, silently...

And I can find no words to offer you.

"Naruto..."

Your voice is quiet now.

I can't read the emotion in your tone.

It is simply soft, the breath of a sigh.

"Fuck you, Uchiha. Seriously."

"Look, Naruto..."

"I said fuck you, Uchiha. Fuck. You."

I'm done.

I'm done talking to you.

I don't want to hear your voice, I don't want to see your face...

And I definitely don't want to hear what you have to say.

You sigh slowly, massaging your temple with something like wariness.

"I'm taking a shower now, so I'm allowed to unlock this for a little bit. You take one step out of my apartment and I will kill you."

I search for the key Tsunade had given me, fingers rustling through the clutter on my dresser before meeting that cool metal.

I know I'm supposed to unlink us as little as possible...

But I just can't stand being trapped like this any longer.

To escape from you, from your eyes and lips and gaze, for just a few fleeting minutes...

There is nothing I could want more.

-TO BE CONTINUED-