Only Fools Fall For You (SasuNaru)

• Part 23 •

His stomach clenched so painfully it was hard to manage to choke the words out. "Where's Sasuke?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," he replied though not seeming at all concerned about it. "If I had to guess I would think that he is practicing his performance for the ball." Sasuke was a part of it too? "Was there something that you needed to discuss with him?"

Naruto backed up a bit more, feeling goosebumps on his skin. "Not really..." he whispered.

There was a brief silence that seemed to literally sting him. He could not bring himself to look away from the older man's eyes, feeling that doing so would mean the end of him. "I have heard so much about you." He flinched as he heard his name spoken but remained silent. "A poor orphan boy who ran away and ended up at this academy after trying to be a whore is quite the story. You even managed to be my little brother's roommate by chance."

He nodded to confirm the story but his stomach was tied in so many knots he felt that if he opened his mouth he would vomit.

"I am sure you two must have grown rather close through the experience."

For some reason he shook his head. He didn't want to give him the slightest hint of what he felt.

"It is a waste of your energy to lie to me." Fuck! Those eyes were not just intimidating; they read him like a damn book! "I was told that something troubling, involving Sasuke, happened this afternoon. It also involved you. Care to explain?"

"... You... You know already, don't you?" he fumbled with his words as Itachi took a few steps closer.

"Yes," he stated bluntly. "I wanted to hear from you how you made Sasuke betray an engagement."

"T-that's not fair!" He blurted out, unable to get his legs to move. "How could you do that to him and arrange a marriage with someone he doesn't even like?!"

"Everything I do is for his benefit. If he wants to inherit this company he needs to do this simple task," Itachi replied nonchalantly.

"Marriage isn't simple! It's something you agree to because you love someone, right?" He felt as if his argument was falling on deaf ears. "I don't see how this helps him at all! When I got here he was miserable and sulked all the time! He didn't know how to let anyone in because he never knew that anyone could care!"

"You seem quite fond of my little brother." The statement itself was enough to make Naruto put a hand over his mouth. Perhaps he had said too much. After a long pause where his dark eyes scrutinized the younger boy closely he began to speak again. "You do not seem to understand how crucial this marriage is to Sasuke. If he does not go through with it, then all that he is working for at this academy will be for wasted."

"Just give it to him then if you want him to have it! Don't force him into something he doesn't want!" His hand came to meet his mouth once again, feeling more enraged as the conversation continued but immediately regretting talking back to the Uchiha.

"It seems you do not know the whole story. As I have said, everything I do is for Sasuke's benefit." His voice remained low and unconcerned as he briefly looked down at his hand in thought. "The Hyuuga's were the ones that came up with the proposal in the first place. If the marriage goes through then we will use it to merge the companies."

"You don't need a marriage for that."

"You do if you want Sasuke to be the head of it," Itachi countered almost immediately, completely prepared for anything the blond could think of. This guy could not be surprised or moved in any way, could he?

He thought about Hinata. She was shy and not particularly special when it came to leadership skills or even coming up with original ideas. During their projects for macroeconomics she relied on Sasuke's skills to get through it, even though she was fairly smart herself. If the Hyuuga's had Sasuke as her husband then they could use him instead of Hinata, and the company wouldn't have to sell itself out to find a suitable person to lead. What pricks!