***** Prologue*****

Naruto wandered in the streets of Konoha lifeless like a lost soul. Searching for something to clear his mind and help him get rid of the excruciating pain that crushed his heart as if a tractor had passed on it at full speed. Impassible to the full moon that graced the sky with its silver rays or to the breeze that made dead leaves swirl in a graceful waltz. The sweet music of the fireflies and the cooing of the owls were like a background melody; surely singing somewhere yet he didn't actually hear it. The pain in his heart was so strong that he was almost unable to feel anything even the lightest appreciation to all those things that usually made him feel good on his way home. In fact his house had stopped being a home; it was now an unappealing concrete cell filled with the echoes of his agony, the non living witness of his torment, that bore the marks of his hurt and rage from every room to every brick-like a deserted scene setting. Everything in his life had become lifeless and dull since the day when he had played the games of love bet his whole life, his body and soul and he had lost them to the love of his life and his best friend. On that fateful day when, he had tasted the sourness of deceit and betrayal. That was three months ago.

For a long time he, Sakura and Sasuke had been the actors of one of the most famous plays of the world- The Love Triangle. A very cunning and dangerous one as he came to know later, because in the course of their performance he had lost himself. From the beginning the acts had been displayed clear enough; he loved Sakura who loved Sasuke who didn't love her in return. Clear enough! Sasuke had left the village with no intention of returning- breaking Sakura's heart as he crossed the gates of Konoha. The pink haired girl had made him promise to bring her long time love back. Being the caring friend and the amorous fool he was Naruto had only happily compelled to her wish. Years had passed Naruto had never forgotten the promise. As a matter of fact he had endeared all his time and energy to train in order to bring the teme back to village. Missing no opportunity to confront him and try to bring him back. But the years had made Sasuke's lust for revenge greater and Sakura's desire to be with him weaker. So finally desperate and lonely she had turned back to Naruto for the love she craved so much, with promises of eternal love and affection. Foolishly he had fallen in the trap. After all how could an enamored heart resist the call of the one that had sent him burning in the throes of passion?

Even if he had Sakura's love he didn't relent on his efforts to bring back his friend to the village. As hard as it had been, he had finally succeeded in his quest to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. That had been during an ultimate battle that had almost cost both of their lives. Yet he had done it. Sasuke was back in the village he had to face the council still he was no more leaving; everything was perfect. Almost too perfect now that he thought about it. How could he have believed in all that picturesque scenery? Had the crappy experiences he had lived not teach him to be careful? Obviously not that's why the lesson had been taught to him over again. If Sasuke's taste for revenge had been put under control, his desire to rebuild his clan had been so powerful that he had not hesitated a minute to compromise their friendship once again to achieve his goal. Even if it meant taken what meant the most to Naruto away from him- Sakura the love of his life. The latter had not been difficult to convince given that, she had always wanted to be with him even when she went to Naruto as he came to realize afterwards but too late to save himself from a heart break. In the final act the treachery had been revealed to him when he had been invited to the two traitors' engagement party.

"I tried to make you understand I was still in love with Sasuke, the pink bitch had argued seeing the unvoiced hurt in his eyes, but I didn't want to hurt you. Please Naruto don't be mad at us for too long. I beg of you to be happy for us. We're friends!"

If they had not aimed at hurting him, too bad they had failed because he felt worse than he'd ever felt in his whole life. Yes he had not been mad for a long time because at that second, all emotions had started draining from his heart. No he couldn't be happy for them in fact he didn't want to try. Lastly he was not sure anymore they had ever been friends because friends never stabbed you in the back and made a fool of you. Fool. That was exactly the role he had played from the beginning. A role he had willingly and blindly accepted to play all in the damn name of love.

Now he was never going to indulge into the same mistake anymore. Even if he'd wanted to; when the curtains had fallen he'd been left with nothing else to give…

Not too far, Karin indulged herself in an introspection exercise too. Only this one was the type you did when you felt your life was coming too and end. Indeed she really thought she was going to die either because of the more than intoxicating odor that emanated from the pile of garbage where her head was plunged or either because of the treatment she'd been receiving for almost three hours now, of which the blood and semen smeared on her bruised body, her swollen eye, the ringing in her ears and torn clothes were talking proofs. But inevitably the conclusion was the same; her life was going to end in the same way it had always been-MESSY. For the past 21 years that repulsing word had characterized her existence either in its four letter form or the five letter one; Mess and Messy, the only other alternative being CRAPPY. She had secretly hoped in the end things won't be like that but these rogues who had caught her on her way back home from her work at the town library, had raped her an uncountable number of times, taking their turns and sometimes all of them, and were now kicking her in the stomach and spiting on her face, obviously thought otherwise.

No doubt they were part of the large set of people who hated her till their guts and who had wanted her dead from the first day she had been brought to Konoha , three years ago. Shortly after Sasuke's battle with Danzou, during which he had used her as a human helmet, almost killing her as he broke her heart too. He was about to finish his JOB when she had only just been rescued by his former team mate and sensei. She had been brought to Konoha healed and jailed. No need to explain that as one of Orochimaru's former underlings, actual teammate of the revenge lusty bastard and supposed partner of the Akatsuki she was a source of information and a top class criminal- an ENEMY. Her jail sentence had not lasted very long though two years only. She could have rotted there the rest of her life if not for the help of Kakashi sensei. Till now Karin was unable to explain what had prompted the silver haired man to rescue her, find her a place to live even if it was a tiny one room flat, and find her a job as archivist at the village library before leaving her alone again. Karin couldn't hold a grudge against the man he had done more for her than any other person had in her whole life. Not even her parents who had found nothing better to do than dying making her an orphan at a very young age. Leaving her at the mercy of manipulative bastards like Orochimaru and traitors of the kind of Sasuke Uchiha. The two of them had used her to achieve their selfish goals; the former dying before he could dump her, the later playing with her feelings and body before dumping her.

Yet being the fighter she had always been Karin tried to put all that behind her in order to concentrate on living a new life in which she could make amends for her past mistakes. Even if it meant facing the hateful glares people cast her everywhere she went, working hard to be paid a misery, living isolated from the rest of the world and praying every night and day no angry hateful villager ever made an attempt to TESTher fighting abilities which were oh so lacking normally and especially now a jutsu suppressing seal had been placed on her in exchange of her freedom and a guarantee that she could never escape or harm anyone in the village. But since misfortune had made it a point to accompany her, her whole life through-her prayers had not been granted long. There she was on the verge of dying after passing in the hands of three blood lusty rapists like a table tennis ball, on a pile of waste on the cold hard ground. She already saw the carvings on her tombstone if she was given one:

"In the memory of Karin used, battered and dumped till the end- like a real MESS. God have mercy on her soul."

Karin's vision became more blurry and a throbbing pain, threatened to burst her head. She closed her eyes slowly wishing for death to come quickly. Soon the sounds of cruel snickering and laughter began to fade away along with those of belt buckles. The ground was no more so cold; she could no more feel. She was going. Suddenly everything went silent and still. There was a sharp pain in her back and then nothing.

Naruto was about to round a corner when he bumped into a sturdy short man, taking him off-balance. The drunkard cast him a death glare that left Naruto unmoved very used to this kind of behavior:

Hey you! The man shouted, don't you have eyes!

Ignoring him Naruto started turning away, when he saw two other men standing behind the loud mouth. They must be his companions, he thought. From the look of things they were as drunk as their friend. The scent of alcohol and tobacco strongly clung on them. At the moment one of them still had a cigarette in his mouth, the red tip of the roll shining in the dark like a third vicious eye. His friend that stood next to him had improperly zipped pants under which he was surely naked because Naruto could see the tip of his cock threatening to pop out. The guy was either too drunk to notice or he didn't give a damn. Both ways Naruto came to the conclusion he was a freak of exhibitionist because when he saw Naruto's eyes going there instead of feeling a slight surge of shame he addressed the blonde boy a sly disgusting look. Just for that Naruto felt like hitting him really hard. Nevertheless he tried to keep composure. It was not as if he had never witnessed; this type of scene before; this part of town was a shelter for night creatures. Prostitutes and rogues had set quarters here. Over the years Naruto had stumbled across drunkards, men in heat, couples in the middle of sex and so many other sleazy scenes of the sort. So this band of crooks didn't affect him beyond that. He had intended to pass his way but he felt a hand gripping his arm:

Leaving us already Kyuubi? Asked Mr. Exhibitionist. Why don't you stay for a little chat with us?

Yeah it will be fun, insisted Shorty loud mouth.

I'm in no mood to have fun, Naruto replied drily.

Come on don't be such an ass. It's not every day we get to meet you face to face. We just want to…ENJOY.

No need to say he was not talking about a leisure moment. They clearly intended to start a fight. Given they were bigger in number; they surely thought they could afford to beat him up. That was indeed trying their luck because they could have been an army of filthy drunk individuals like them; he was going to break them into pieces. At the moment Naruto saw one launching on him and made no attempt to escape his blow. Before the fool realized what was happening to him Naruto had caught his hand and was squeezing the fatty fist like a vulgar paper ball making the poor man scream all his guts. His friends came after Naruto in a joint attack, kunais in their fists but before they knew it they laid on the floor pinned to the ground by their own weapons.

-Let's get out of here dudes! Mr. Smokey said. We've had enough for today seeing the murderous gleam in Naruto's eye.

"Wise man", Naruto thought to himself

With that the three idiots scrambled to their feet and started running for their lives. They had already gone a certain distance when Mr. Exhibitionist shouted:

Say Hi to the girl for us! You can have your way with the slut. We really had a nice time playing with her, he spat sarcastically. While his friends burst into laughter.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows puzzled by their words. Nevertheless he turned around and headed back home. Few meters from there, the strong scent of blood hit him in the face. A cold chill made his body quiver. One could have thought after so many years of training battles and missions he had become accustomed to blood. To some extent yes but there was always something gut-clenching about an innocent's blood spilt on the floor. His eyes caught the glimpse of a kunai and he went closer. The sight that welcomed him almost made him feel like puking. Face down in a heap of rubbish a lady laid in a pool of blood and semen. Bruises patterned her petite figure thoroughly and her clothes had been turned into rags. Her body was so inert she could pass for dead.

"Say Hi to the girl for us. You can have your way with the slut. We really had a nice time playing with her."

Damn! Those scoundrels had done this. Had he known it he would have inflicted them the beating of their lives before they got a chance to run away. Even now he was very tempted to repair his mistake. His wrath was at inches from over spilling. But he had to control himself now was not the good moment. He had to spare his energy to bring the poor girl to the hospital before it was too late. Slowly and cautiously he turned her around, crimson blood-bathed hair covered her face, her breathing was low but she was still alive. She was even starting to regain consciousness as she whimpered softly. Soon her eyelids fluttered and crimson eyes opened weakly. For a second a slight tremor shook her body as a gleam of fright crossed her hazy eyes.

Don't be scared, Naruto said in his most reassuring voice, I mean no harm to you.

The red head seemed to assess his credibility for a few seconds before she relaxed as much as her sore body enabled her to. But when he attempted to take her in his arms she wriggled restlessly.

I just want to bring you to the hospital.

She shook her head slightly and whispered in a hoarse broken voice:

N-not like this…P-please…

Naruto figured what she meant when he looked at the blood and semen literally bathing her body. He understood she wanted to conserve the small dignity left to her as much as she could. His heart clenched for the nasty treatment she had suffered and he couldn't suppress the surge of protectiveness he felt for her nor could he mask his appreciation for her strength despite her condition.

Okay, he acquiesced understandingly.

He took what was left of her clothes off and rolled them into a ball that he used to wipe the drying soiling fluids away from her body. He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and he used it to clean her face with all the gentleness he was capable of in order to hurt her least. When she regained an almost acceptable appearance he removed his shirt and he draped her inside. The cloth covered her frail body as much as it could. At least she was no so more exposed.

Now we're going to the hospital okay? He asked as he scooped her in his arms.

She just nodded slightly before closing her eyes and clinging to his bare chest.

Thank you Naruto, she whispered cutting him off guard.

He stared at her battered features and her crimson hair for a moment and froze when the realization of whom he held in his arms sunk into his brain.

D-don't worry Karin everything will be all right. I promise.

With that he raced to the hospital in the clear night silently wishing they made it soon. But mostly praying the promise he'd made under the full moon will turn true more than anything he'd ever prayed for in his life. Let everything be all right…For the both of them.