Sasuke remembered standing in the same place for 10, maybe 15 minutes before the sound of the front door slamming for a third time got him to snap out of his thoughts. He knew what he'd just done, but at the same time, he felt nothing. Hollow. Naruto had been right to yell at him and walk out. After all, Sasuke couldn't give him what he wanted. He hadn't been able to this entire time, and now, with his father being ill, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon either. He was angry, but he didn't know to whom to direct this anger. He was mad at himself, but he was also mad at everyone else. Even just standing here, it felt like there was a gaping hole in his chest.

He glanced at the bed he'd shared with Naruto. He thought about the things they'd said to one another last night. The way the physical aspect of their relationship had taken on so much more intensity. It was cruel, really. Everything he'd thought he'd wanted over the past nine months had been right within his grasp. Naruto seemed to think he had a choice in the matter, but there was none as far as he could tell, so it was best to make it clear now. Why lead Naruto on? Why give him hope when there was none?

When he heard a knock at his bedroom door, he tensed. Itachi barged in without waiting for his response, and, not surprisingly, Yahiko followed behind. They must've gone after Naruto. Both were wet from the rain. Sasuke kept his expression impassive as he watched them, his defenses already up and on high-alert.

"If you're here to lecture me," he said flatly, "Don't bother."

"Naruto left." Itachi crossed his arms. "He seemed very upset."

"And?"

"Sasuke," Yahiko said, adopting a much more lighter tone than his brother. "There's no reason for you to push Naruto away like this."

"What do you know?" He replied. "I was honest. I let him know as long as father is like this, I have no intention of coming out. That's what Naruto wants me to do, isn't it? What you both think I should do?"

Itachi took a step forward, the look he wore menacing and cold. It frustrated him even more that his own brother was obviously taking Naruto's side.

"So, you want to play the villain, do you?" Itachi asked. "You think by pushing him away you're helping him to understand your feelings? Naruto is your friend. More than that, he loves you. When did our parents raise you to take those kinds of feelings for granted? Tell me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What do you know of self-sacrifice, huh? You were happy to get out from under father's thumb by going off to college. I've put everything aside to please him, but that's my choice. There's no merit in coming out right now except all of you will apparently be able to breathe a sigh of relief. That you think it's alright for our family to be shaken right now makes me wonder just how truly selfish you've grown, Itachi."

"Stop being such a foolish, spoiled little brat," Itachi said, looking dangerous as he grabbed Sasuke by the collar and backed him up until he collided with the wall. "You're the one who's selfish and a coward. If you never had the intention of being a man and answering Naruto's feelings, you shouldn't have made him believe that you felt the same."

"Itachi," said Yahiko, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Itachi ignored him. "Sasuke. What will you do? Will you always run? Will you cling to this pitiful life you've made for yourself, pretending that it's for the sake of our father, our family, when the truth is that you're afraid? You think Naruto doesn't know? Naruto's never given up on you, and yet you've treated him like nothing more than trash. You don't deserve him."

"You think I don't know that?" He replied in a low voice, grasping his brother's wrist like a vice. "Do you think I scared him off because I think I deserve someone like him? He has no idea what I'm capable of, and neither do you. You think you know me," he spared Yahiko a brief glance and even smirked, "But you have no idea who I am. You think I'm your innocent little brother, but I'm not. I wouldn't know what to do with someone as idiotic and pure as Naruto. He says he'd have no problem dating another boy, but it's because he's oblivious about how people treat each other in this world."

"And so," Itachi's fingers started to wrap around the base of his throat, "You sought to teach him such a lesson? That even those you trust the most will hurt you on a whim?"

"Yes!" Sasuke shouted in his face. "He'll thank me for it later. When he's with someone who can make him happy, someone who's willing to go as far for him as he's willing to go for others!"

"What you're saying doesn't make sense," Yahiko cut in. "If you believe Naruto would go that far for the person he loves, if he's willing to forgo the fact that he's normally attracted to women to be with you, then why wouldn't you have faith that he'd wait for you?"

"I don't want him to wait!" Sasuke snapped. "Why should he have to wait? I don't even want that kind of burden on my mind. I don't... I don't want to carry the weight of his unrealistic expectations on my shoulders! It's unfair. Even if he doesn't ask me, I know he expects it of me. To come to the right decision. What he thinks is right. But what about me? What if I just want to be left alone? Why do I always have to do what everyone tells me to do? I was fine before he came along, and I'll be fine without him now!"

Itachi suddenly let go of him. "I've never been so disappointed in you as I am right now. You are right. You don't deserve him."

Stunned, Sasuke's gaze fell to the floor, Itachi's words echoing in his brain. Without another word, his brother turned his back on him and left.

Even more than the earlier look of hurt and rejection on Naruto's face, the idea of his brother being disappointed in him was a soul-crushing blow. But he was so tired of everyone deciding what was best for him, manipulating him behind the scenes in order to guide Sasuke toward the course they wanted him to follow. But, even if his path led somewhere dark from now on, it was his path to choose; not theirs.

"Sasuke," said Yahiko. "He doesn't mean that. He's only upset you're denying yourself something you deserve. Even in this situation, it's okay to be happy. I know Naruto was struggling to come to terms with his feelings last night because he didn't know what they were. That kid cares about you. Don't punish him for that."

"Shut up." He pinned Yahiko with an accusing glare. "You have no right to talk to me about happiness or what I deserve. When did you ever care about my feelings? Do you know how it felt? To be fucked by you and discarded? Now you want to lecture me about my relationship with Naruto as if you've always looked out for my best interests?"

Yahiko's expression changed completely. "Would you like me to say I regret it? What happened between you and me? Is that what you want to hear?"

Sasuke smirked. "What? You didn't enjoy fucking your best friend's little brother?"

He felt the sting of Yahiko's backhand before he even had the chance to register it happened.

"Fucking grow up already, Sasuke," Yahiko yelled. "Stop blaming everyone else for your fuck-ups. Maybe if you were half the man your brother is, you'd have Naruto by your side right now, but as you are, you deserve to be alone. You deserve to wallow in your own misery and self-pity, but just know that, if you keep pushing everyone away, there won't be anyone left, and you'll have nobody to blame but yourself."

With that, Yahiko walked out, slamming the door behind him hard enough to knock one of the few frames Sasuke had hanging on the wall.

He stared numbly at it while rubbing at his cheek. Finally, he went over and picked it up from off of the floor. In it, he was standing next to his brother and their parents on the day of Itachi's high school graduation. His parents looked so proud. He was smiling, too. They appeared the perfect family. But now there was a crack in the glass.

Sasuke carried it over to the desk and sat down in the chair. He stared at the photo for some time while dragging his finger over the crack.

What would happen next? By now, Naruto should've changed his mind about him. Maybe he'd even give up. Maybe they weren't even friends anymore. Sasuke should put an end to all of these naive fantasies he'd been having since he met Naruto. It was Naruto's fault anyway. He'd made Sasuke believe that, just for a moment, he deserved something more. That everything can work out if one simply has the will to change things, even if they seem completely out of anyone's means to control.

Yet, Sasuke was the selfish one for having a realistic outlook on the situation? For cutting ties with Naruto before it got even more complicated?

Well, if that's how everyone wanted to see it, then so be it.