"Get back here you fucking brat!" Mizuki roared; his voice vibrating off the stained walls that enclosed their small home.

Naruto whimpered and ran faster, he had to get too his room, had to get too his sanctuary; the only place he thought of as safe. His legs ached and he knew they would be decorated in bruises tomorrow morning, from where Mizuki had kicked him in a fit of pure rage. It was nothing new. He should have become used to it by now. So why was there crystal like tears still running down his cheeks?

Panting heavily Naruto scrambled up the stairs, ignoring the sharp pain stabbing at his limbs; he could not allow Mizuki to do anymore damage to his broken body tonight, he was at his limit. With his foster father close behind him, he threw himself into his safe haven and slammed the door shut; locking out the man who caused him harm on a daily basis.

His room was bland; cream walls where the only aspect that stood out, there was a small mattress placed in the corner with a thin, grey blanket Naruto had sneaked from Mizuki's room, bunched up on top. There were no toys, no games, no luxuries that you would expect a teenager of Naruto's age to have; he was not born into privilege, like so many others who attended his school.

"What are you doing, you waste of fucking space!? Get out here now! Don't make me wait! I swear I'll kill you, you little demon!" continuous pounding at his bedroom door, coupled with the verbal assault thrown at him from outside his sanctuary caused Naruto to tremble with fear. He knew that Mizuki would get tired eventually, finish off his bottle of vodka and pass out in the battered sofa, leaving Naruto in peace for a short time. However this thought did nothing to halt the steady stream of tears and muffled cries coming from the blonde haired boy.

Limping over to his worn mattress, he curled up in the foetal position in order to conserve the little heat available to him. Over and over in his mind he reminded himself why he stayed with Mizuki, why he accepted his violent ways and never reported the abuse inflicted on his person. He would never go back to that terrifying place again. He refused. Anything, even his foster father, was better than the horrendous experience he was made to endure at the orphanage.

"I can't go back there…I can't…j-just stick with it…it'll b-be okay Naruto…" he quietly sobbed to himself, trying to recreate the much needed comfort that his guardian was supposed to produce for him.

The blonde haired boy knew that forcing himself to attend school the next day was going to be pure hell; from past experiences Naruto was aware that the pain from his injuries only got worse as they slowly healed. It was inevitable.

Clenching his eyes shut and forcing out the remainder of his tears in the process he waited for sleep to claim him, conscience of the fact that dreaming was his only escape. His only rest bite to the unbearable nightmare that was his life. Surprisingly his dreams consisted of everything he'd ever wanted out of existence; parents, friends, love, comfort, security and the feeling of being needed by another human being. All that he had in his possession were his dreams and fantasies, which is why he treasured the small slices of death given to him every night. With these final thoughts he drifted off into blissful unconsciousness.

Golden sunlight swept across tanned skin, illuminating the blonde, silk like hair as crystal blue eyes opened to the morning chorus. Yawning and wiping away the remainders of sleep from his eyes, Naruto checked the time from a small damaged clock located on his left wall; 6;15 AM, thank god he had not woken up late. Pushing the thin blanket from his body he decided it was time to survey the damage, even though the Uzumaki was too young to be employed he realised he would need to treat his wounds if any were infected; he loathed breaking in to his savings.

Rolling the bottom of his trouser legs and shirt up he cringed at the dark blue, almost black, splodgy bruises that littered his limbs and torso. Half of his body was adorned in small gashes where he had fallen onto razor sharp pieces of smashed glass after Mizuki had thrown him across the room. It was not uncommon for his foster father to break mirrors and windows and ornaments in a fit of rage. Heaving out a sigh as he carefully rolled down his clothing, he resigned himself to the fact that school was to begin in a few hours and he would have to stop off at the nearest store to purchase some cream for his injuries.

As quietly as he could, he rolled off his worn mattress and gingerly changed into his school uniform; trying as hard as possible to avoid touching his aching body. He had only been attending Konoha High for a few months now, his foster father had thought it necessary to move to a new town due to the fact that his low wage job could not support both individuals plus the house they used to live in; not that the money Mizuki earned was ever spent on Naruto anyway. Aside from small scraps of food needed to keep the boy alive, his Mizuki gave him nothing. Evething Naruto owned, which in truth was next to nothing, had come from the savings his parents had left in their will.

In all of the two years living with Mizuki he had come to realize one thing; the man was extremely careful when abusing his foster son, even when he was intoxicated. No one had ever found out as his injuries where always placed on either his limbs or his torso, areas which could easily be covered.

Releasing another drawn out sigh Naruto tiptoed down the stairs with as much grace as humanly possible with the pain he was currently experiencing. Reaching the door he glanced back to find Mizuki passed out and snoring on the battered sofa, an empty bottle of the strongest vodka knocked over in the corner. Opening the door to let himself out the blonde boy came to one conclusion; it was going to be a very long day.

Authors Note:

Okay I'm not too sure whether I should make this fic a romance between Sasuke and Naruto or a romance between Kakashi as teacher and Naruto; or even just a friendship fic between any character and Naruto (preferably Gaara ;).

Reviews are always welcome; I love to get feedback to know if I'm doing it right or not. Also let me know if you guys have any ideas sometimes I get such bad writers block or am too scared to write certain characters in case they turn out wrong and OOC.