Author's note: So, I stand by my oath to finish all my old stories! Even the ones I came up with on a whim in my final year of high school because I imagined how they could apply to my recently-discovered love life (I'm looking at you, Most Frustrating Week of My Life). But this one is so light and simple that getting out another chapter wasn't too hard; I just needed a good kick up the butt to make it happen. Thankfully, one reviewer did just that, so thank you, I luv Gary MOFO Oak. If it weren't for you, this chapter may not have existed for several decades. XD
Since it's been so long since I've written it, my writing tone and style feel like they've kind of changed, so I tried to keep it similar to how it was back then, just to be loyal to it. I hope you enjoy it, especially if you're one of the remarkable people who kept this on their alert list even though it looked doomed!
The Break-Up: Chapter 2 [of maybe 13]
At his home, Sasuke was diligently re-typing up the timetable on the family computer. Of course, 'family' just referred to him and Itachi nowadays, so he would have expected this activity to go relatively undisturbed by nagging relatives wanting their turn, but Itachi always had to prove him wrong. The elder brother was hovering just over Sasuke's shoulder, stealing glances at what he was typing.
"Do you know what privacy means?" Sasuke asked irritably, not looking away from the computer screen. Despite this, he knew that Itachi was smiling at him.
"If I don't watch what you're doing right now, I'll never get to see it. And what kind of brother-slash-guardian would I be if I didn't stand witness to your finest work?"
"Check your calendar. I'm eighteen now, so shut up with that guardian shit. And what do you mean, my finest work? This isn't some project."
"No?" Itachi cocked his head and rested it obnoxiously on top of Sasuke's own. "You're certainly putting in a lot of work, then, for something you don't have to do."
Sasuke muttered, "I do have to," and Itachi smiled again.
"Of course. 'Must go to the same university as Naruto because if I don't, the world will end and I'll drop out anyway to be wherever he is, because long-distance relationships are idiotic and designed to drive the participants insane.' That was what you said last semester, wasn't it?"
Knowing better than to answer that, Sasuke kept his mouth shut and typed. Itachi's near-eidetic memory meant that anything he quoted was as good as gospel and twice as trustworthy – for a select few people, anyway. If he didn't like someone he was more than happy to manipulate and lie to them. It had taken at least a year for him to say a single true word to Naruto, so obviously it was a reward hard to earn.
"I'm not making fun of you, Sasuke. I'm proud of you. Using your relationship to cheat the system is more like something I'd do."
Coming from anyone else, it would have been a backhanded insult, but Itachi was just messed up enough to mean it.
"It isn't using the relationship. In fact, it's virtually the opposite of that – it's the system that I'm abusing, for the relationship. You wouldn't know anything about that." Sasuke threw Itachi a scathing look, but it didn't have the desired effect: instead of looking acutely offended, Itachi just chuckled.
"All right. If you know everything about everything, then I guess you don't need my support with any of this. Fine. But when it goes wrong in ways even you can't anticipate, don't ask for my help."
"No problem," Sasuke growled. "The only way it could screw up is if people don't believe Naruto and I have really split up, but we'll do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen."
As Itachi shrugged nonchalantly, Sasuke couldn't help but be annoyed at him. Whenever he tried to do a psych-out like this, it left the target person second-guessing every decision they'd ever made. Even though Sasuke had complete confidence in his and Naruto's acting abilities, a niggling, unidentifiable doubt was trying to sprout its way into his mind. And along with it came the shrewd suspicion that maybe Itachi knew something because he was planning on doing something.
Sasuke tightened his mouth grimly. No; it may have been tough to tell sometimes if Itachi was on your side or not, but he wasn't deliberately vindictive. Especially not towards Sasuke. He was just being his usual, smug self.
Only a few hours after Itachi had left and Sasuke had printed out the fresh copy of the timetable (and emailed it to Naruto), that confidence he had was slipping. The Uchiha house reached a point of silence so quiet that it became unnerving. The building had all the usual creaks and groans, but those didn't offer up any impression that there was life inside. Itachi never made noise, so that was no big surprise, and three years ago Sasuke would have been the same, but of course, Naruto had changed all that. Naruto had always been the unofficial third resident, the ridiculously loud, messy one that brightened up every room. And with him around, Sasuke was never withdrawn, happy sometimes to yell for the sake of a cheap argument and just to hear his voice echo off the walls. Naruto was good at bringing out that side in people.
Since Naruto was around every other day, the prospect of practically four whole weeks without him was positively stifling. It was boring. Sasuke tried studying, but found himself restlessly drumming his fingers on his books. He tried eating but that just made him feel sluggish. He tried playing a video game but was frustrated to realise that all the good ones were either co-op only or at Naruto's place.
"Christ," he growled under his breath. This house could double as a morgue, it was so dead. Was Naruto really the only thing that made it interesting?
Damn it. It was only Saturday, the first Saturday of the charade, and he had already run out of ways to distract himself. It was almost embarrassing.
His eyes flickered towards his bed, where his mobile phone lay invitingly next to his other personal effects. Surely it wouldn't do any harm to call Naruto, would it? No one would see them together; they wouldn't be doing anything couple-y. It would be safe.
Unfortunately, he knew that was just wishful thinking, and that calling Naruto would be anything but safe. What if Iruka picked up the phone? What if he eavesdropped or checked Naruto's call history? What if Naruto accidentally let slip, "Love you," and Iruka realised they were faking it?
Sasuke resorted to glaring daggers at the phone and, when it failed to provide answers to any of these questions, he picked it up as if to throw it. But somehow the throwing part never happened, and of their own accord his fingers brought Naruto's name and picture up on screen.
He paced around the room staring at it for half an hour. Half a freaking hour. God, what did he do before Naruto was in his life? He looked past Naruto's photo on the phone to check the time, but all that did was make him groan about how much more day there was.
His fingers began moving again. This boredom was impossible. He'd send Naruto a text.
Not one for touch-screens, Sasuke took no time racing on the tiny keypad to write the words, Did you tell Iruka?
Completely innocuous. That was a message that implied no single emotion, that could mean whatever the reader wanted it to mean, from curiosity to accusation to ridicule. It meant that Naruto could safely receive and read it without their lie being exposed.
Barely a minute later, Sasuke's phone buzzed to life as it got a reply: Yeah, he was all broken up about it, all right.
Is he with you? typed Sasuke immediately.
No, thank God. He's driving me insane. To make me feel better he's been telling me all these horrible break-up stories, mainly his own. He might be listening at my door to check I'm not slitting my wrists, for all I know.
Well, keep your voice down and delete these messages, just in case.
I know! I'm not an iDisk!
You mean 'idiot'? Turn off your AutoCorrect, idiot.
Sasuke couldn't help smiling. Even if it wasn't in person, teasing Naruto was the most fun activity in the world. Well, besides kissing Naruto. Or watching Naruto shirtless. Having sex with Naruto in the gym shower at school. That one was certainly still an intoxicating memory.
Without waiting for a new reply, Sasuke sent, How are you passing the time? I am literally out of things to do.
Besides pretending to cry and having to tolerate Iruka playing his high school mix tape of heartbreak songs? I've been stuck in my room like it's a prison cell. Oh yeah, I've been doing so many push-ups I can barely lift my hands to text.
That one finished with a winking emoticon. Naruto enjoyed bragging about the amount of exercise he did, while occasionally bemoaning the fact that Sasuke stayed in perfect shape without even trying, mostly doing the former because he knew Sasuke liked imagining it. As far as Sasuke was concerned, his boyfriend never looked better than when he was sweaty and mid-workout. So Naruto telling him that this was exactly how he'd been was quite deliberate, and quite provocative.
Careful, idiot. Trying to entice me isn't going to work, it's just going to make us both more frustrated for the week. No alone time until the fourth, remember?
As Sasuke wondered how effectively they could integrate phone sex into their plan, after a long wait Naruto replied. Ugh. I wish I wasn't so academically challenged. This sucks.
I know.
No, Iruka's making me watch A Walk To Remember with him. I don't even understand! How is that relevant, how?!
Sasuke grinned at Naruto's misfortunate and texted Good luck, but didn't get anything else in response.
By the time Monday morning rolled around, Sasuke felt like some kind of immobile zombie. When sitting in the empty house got too depressing the day before, he had grabbed his bag full of schoolbooks and dragged himself outside until he found himself by the local library. With nowhere better to go, he parked himself inside and stayed there until closing time – a full eight hours later. He got through five practice exams in that time.
It was almost a relief to be back at school, with distractions abound, even if this close to the end of term there were very few real classes. At least there was structure and activity; at least there were people.
Sasuke automatically followed his usual routine from front gates to lockers to classroom. He considered sitting somewhere other than his normal seat, but then figured if he was the one that supposedly broke off his and Naruto's relationship, Naruto would be the one distraught enough to seek change. So Sasuke sat down where he always did and waited for others to file in at the bell.
Naruto himself was first to enter, and for a split second Sasuke thought optimistically that they might get a minute alone, but alongside him were a dozen or so others. Among them were some of their friends, Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru. Naruto looked like it was with great restraint that he didn't run across the room and leap at Sasuke, but he contained himself. Their friends had gone suddenly quiet, with Kiba being particularly obvious as he looked between Naruto's tense face and Sasuke's impassive one. They must have heard.
Kiba was actually the one who moved first. He walked deliberately, with heavy steps, to the opposite side of the room from where Sasuke sat and called out stiffly, "Let's sit here today, guys. Change it up. Naruto, c'mon."
Naruto grimaced and obeyed, Shino and Shikamaru following, too. For some reason, Sasuke was a lot more bothered by this than he expected: he and Naruto had both agreed that telling their friends the lie would be safest, as not many of them were good liars themselves, and although he had anticipated a bit of awkwardness interacting with them, what Kiba did seemed outright antagonistic.
Not entirely certain how to react, Sasuke stayed put and waited out the entire class. It was essentially free study, which meant a good amount of silence, and somehow that made it harder to concentrate. Naruto was usually as loud, obnoxious and distracting at school as he was at home, and perhaps Sasuke had gotten accustomed to working with that. Seeing him across the room acting grave and sullen was positively jarring.
Sasuke steeled himself. He could handle this; he had known it would be difficult at first, but better to go without Naruto for a few weeks now than for a few years at university. He was an Uchiha, damn it. He wasn't going to falter.
He couldn't falter, because he knew if he did, Naruto would crack and spill everything.
After focusing on that thought for the rest of the class period, Sasuke all but raced out of the room when the bell went, half-expecting one of his friends would come after him. When none of them did, he found himself frowning as some less-than-pleasant thoughts entered his head. He and Naruto had lots of friends, all of them fairly close, but there were three of them who had completely ignored him, brushed past him like he was nothing. Surely that wasn't a normal reaction to hearing that two people had broken up; maybe if they'd just been Naruto's friends, sure, but they were Sasuke's friends too!
Weren't they?
His frown deepened.