Marked & Tied

Author: Ladelle

Rating: M

Comments: Because I have been randomly fascinated with the psychology of Sasuke and really wanted to write a few quick drabbles to get creative juices for psycho!sasuke out of my system.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Naruto stood with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the back of the couch as light from the outer hallway pooled into his house, revealing his boyfriend from the outer atrium. "It's two in the morning, Sasuke. And what the fuck is this?"

Naruto stepped forward and tugged at the other man's shirt which was caked in some sort of reddened dirt. There were a few construction sights near their apartment that were using a new and powdered scarlet-colored cement, but the amount of muck crumbling off Sasuke's top was too much for any sort of accidental encounter.

Seemingly irritated, Sasuke pulled Naruto's hand away from him and allowed the door to their apartment to close behind them, driving their living room to darkness. Naruto yanked his hand loose from Sasuke's tired grip and paced to where he knew the light switch was, and turned the overhead lighting on. He saw Sasuke blanch at the sudden brightness and shook his head.

"What the hell were you doing?" Naruto raised his hand to indicate Sasuke's ensemble. Normally, Sasuke was the poster-child for pristine. Everything in Sasuke's life had its place: every book on the shelf, every can in the pantry, every perfectly penciled-in appointment in his leather planner. But now, as Naruto soaked up the sight of stained designer slacks and muddied Dockers, a sense of anxiety was beginning to well within him.

Sasuke watched him, unmoving, his face nearly solemn, save for a small ounce of annoyance that caused his lips to arch downwards. "I'm sorry I was late getting home tonight."

Naruto blinked before raising an eyebrow. Late was an understatement considering Sasuke got off work at five. There was nothing sincere about Sasuke's apology, and he hadn't even gone as far as to mention that this wasn't the first time this had happened. Once or twice a month, Sasuke disappeared. Naruto would wait up, worried, only to be incredibly relieved when his boyfriend would saunter in with a simple apology. This time was different.

This time, Naruto felt that something wasn't right.

Moving back, Naruto swallowed, and felt his chest tighten. The sick feeling of worry that had driven him to wait up in the dark for Sasuke to return home wasn't the anxiety chewing at his gut. "Were you with someone else?"

This time, Sasuke did roll his eyes. Slender fingers slid through Naruto's hair as Sasuke walked past, headed towards their room. Naruto decided that answer wasn't good enough and followed.

"Sasuke." Naruto paused in the doorway and leaned against the doorframe. Sasuke didn't acknowledge him. Naruto's head was hammering with a headache he hadn't realized he'd been sheltering. He raised his voice. "Don't ignore me."

"Naruto. There's no one else," Sasuke answered with exasperation, and he shrugged out of his shirt after loosening the first few buttons. His build was sleek and slender, and his skin was the color of a peach colored pastel. Tousled black hair shagged around his porcelain face, looking damp. Naruto wondered if it had been raining. He realized he didn't care.

"Where were you then?" he wouldn't let himself be distracted. He hated arguing and being the initiator. Naruto was in no way girly or possessive. But feeling left in the dark, literally, left him with enough chaos brewing inside of his mind that he wasn't willing to just walk away. Sasuke was slipping through his fingers, one day at a time. There were things Naruto didn't know, and things his gut told him he didn't want to know, going on. The feeling in the pit of his stomach wouldn't let him walk away.

Sasuke mumbled something and Naruto told him to repeat it. When Sasuke turned and their eyes met, Naruto felt a chill climb down his spine and settle in his abdomen. There had been times, just like this one, when Sasuke didn't look like Sasuke.

"I killed someone."

Naruto frowned. "Ha. Ha."

Sasuke's expression didn't feign humor. In fact, as they stared at each other, the intensity in his dark eyes heightened, and Naruto found himself rooted in place, suddenly feeling very cold.

"No, really. What were you doing?"

Sasuke snorted, and his head tilted leisurely to the side. "I just told you."

Sasuke's shirt was on the floor, but the red mud splattered on it looked different now. Naruto felt his lips draw closed and was conscious of every single breath that he took. There were times when Sasuke wasn't Sasuke. He remembered one of them, as his vision swam away from reality in an attempt to make sense of what was unfolding in front of him.

They had been children, and neighbors. They had often played together. There had been a dog, a big nasty thing that Naruto had always been afraid of. Sasuke had never feared it though, only hated it.

The dog had gotten loose one day, and killed a stray cat. Sasuke and Naruto had walked up on it during its bloody conquest and Naruto had thrown up. A couple of days later the dog was found, dead. Not by accident; someone had stabbed it. Sasuke had, and he had admitted to it, staring Naruto down with the same gaze and intensity that Naruto was met with now.

The lump of fear and unease filling Naruto was enough to keep him quiet. He didn't know how he knew, but Sasuke wasn't lying.

Sasuke, after waiting for a response, let his fingers drift to his pants where he began to unbutton them. It was a normal routine fro a normal day, and Sasuke was watching Naruto with such a strange delicacy that Naruto felt as though his throat had suddenly been stuffed with cotton.

Finally, he managed to speak. "You killed someone?"

Sasuke smirked. "You told me to, don't you remember?"

Naruto found his voice again. "I think I'd remember asking you to kill someone."

Sasuke smiled and his pants fell to the floor, leaving him clad in only his boxers. He stepped out of his slacks and knelt down to retrieve both them and his shirt. "We were watching the news. There was a man, and you recognized him…"

Naruto felt his face turn pale. He remembered that much. He and Sasuke had caught a late news report of a man Naruto had often seen at a nearby park. Naruto had always figured that the man had a couple of kids running amuck on the playground, the but the report claimed him as a wanted for raping and killing a little girl that lived up the street.

"I said…I said men like him deserve to die. I didn't tell you to…Jesus fucking…you killed someone? Are you fucking with me?" Naruto felt the walls of his sanity crumbling around him. Sasuke had to be joking. He looked so…normal. His expression was that of someone who was on the verge of admitting to telling a joke, only Naruto knew- he just knew – that this wasn't.

Sasuke shook his head and pulled a grocery bag from a collection beneath their bed, and jammed the clothes inside. After he set it down, he took a step towards Naruto, and out of pure instinct, Naruto stepped backwards. Their eyes met again, and this time, Sasuke looked curious.

"Are you mad?"

Naruto was stumbling to grasp whatever morality he had left. "Mad?" Naruto didn't know what he was. Confused probably, but not mad. No, something else…

"You shouldn't be mad. You were right. He deserved it. He said he was sorry, that he wouldn't do it again…but it's like you said; people like him can't be helped. He died so easily. He really didn't deserve to live."

Naruto's vision was drawn to Sasuke's hands. They were pink, as though he had washed them, but a stain hadn't quite dissipated…

"With your hands, you…" Naruto felt his defenses crumble, and he fell to his knees. He had always known that Sasuke wasn't like him; didn't think like him. It made sense. Sasuke's family had been killed in front of him, not long before they had met as children. Sasuke had always been different. He was manipulative and incredibly smart, and admired. But there was another side of him, one that Naruto was rarely able to glimpse. Like a room in a house with a bright light beyond that Naruto could only ever manage to see a second before the door clicked closed.

And now, standing before him, the door was open.

And it scared the shit out of him.

Sasuke's hands were on his shoulders and they were looking at each other with the same eyes. Searching each other for something, unsure of what they'd find. Naruto was on the verge of hyperventilating, and Sasuke's lips drifted to his neck, planting kisses along his jaw-line, and down to his shoulder.

"Are you…" Naruto hissed as Sasuke sucked on a bit of skin, a sensation he normally would have enjoyed. Sasuke's breath was hot on his flesh. "Are you going to kill me?"

Sasuke swallowed and it was audible, and then he was laughing, smiling genuinely at Naruto's concern. His eyes fell half-mast and he sighed. "I was planning on fucking you."

"Oh," Naruto said, his heart like a jack-hammer in his chest.

"I can't kill you," Sasuke whispered across his lips. "You're the only thing that keeps me sane."