Summary: After three years, Naruto is finally back in Konoha…where everybody hates him. He has no choice but to continue his act where nothing matters and hope that sooner or later, they'll accept him. AU, some OOC, M/M later on
Warning: bullying, violence, yaoi in later chapters
Naruto: 12
Shikamaru: 12
Kiba: 12
Sasuke: 12
"blah blah" – speaking
"blah blah" – thinking
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"Cracked Mask of Innocence"
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Chapter 0: Prologue
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"Naruto…are you okay?" Kiba and Shikamaru were staring down at the slightly petite blonde. Sasuke was there too, though he was still as quiet as ever. They were seeing the Namikazes off since they were moving to Tokyo. They hadn't known the real reason for the move until now, right before their brother was going to move away.
Naruto was standing slightly off to the side, his face downcast as he stared at the ground. His small frame trembled slightly as he clutched his left arm with his right. The bruises from yesterday's beating were still sore. His eyes teared as he thought of how the others had looked at him in disgust.
The three boys were speechless as they watched the shivering blonde. They hated how weak and lifeless their brother looked, contrasting greatly with how cheerful he always acted…but that may have been just an act. When the four of them had become brothers in all but blood, they had sworn to protect each other no matter what, and here their youngest brother had been bullied right underneath their eyes.
"Naruto…gomen, we didn't protect you from the bullies." Shikamaru whispered as he moved to touch the blonde. Kiba and Sasuke moved slightly forward too, wanting to comfort the depressed blonde.
The young boy flinched before shaking his head back and forth furiously. "Iie, iie," he whispered, "it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself because of someone like m – "
Kiba grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shook him furiously until the blonde's head whipped back and forth. "Don't you dare say that, Naruto!" he yelled, "DON'T YOU DARE SAY 'FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME'!" He emphasized his last statement with a shake to the boy for each syllable.
Naruto cringed, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes as his wounds flamed up again. "K-Kiba…itei…" he whispered. "Gomene…gomene…"
Hearing this, Kiba was incensed. "What are you apologizing for?!" he yelled again, shaking the trembling blonde even harder. He was about to try and slap some sense into his brother, but a hand grabbed his wrist as an arm snaked around his stomach. Shikamaru held onto the furious boy, trying to calm him.
"Kiba, you're scaring Naruto…calm down," Shikamaru sighed. At the mention of said blonde, they both looked towards the younger boy.
Naruto was shivering in Sasuke's arms, his small hands fisting into the other boy's shirt. He trembled and his teeth chattered as tears rolled down his cheeks continuously. His eyes were blank and staring into nothing as he shuddered. "I-I'm s-s-sorry…o-onegai…d-don't hurt m-me anymore…" he whispered repeatedly.
Sasuke continued to hold the trembling boy as the other two gathered around Naruto. They watched with worried eyes as the blonde slowly began to calm down. Kiba was quiet, completely different from his usual brash and loud self. Little by little, the petite blonde calmed down and slowly released his grip on Sasuke's shirt.
Sniffling slightly, Naruto sat up, hating himself for the show of weakness around his brothers. He had to act strong so they wouldn't worry. His eyes widened in panic as he saw his parents leaving the house with the last of their boxes. Quickly, he stood up and rubbed furiously at his face and eyes in order to completely erase any evidence that he had been crying.
The small blonde turned to face his brothers and smiled at them. It was slightly forced, but the love that was in it was real. "I'll be fine, Shika-nii, Kiba-nii, Sasu-nii. Onegai, don't worry about me." He said, "I hope I see you guys again."
"'Course we will, usuratonkachi. Don't worry about it." The three of them knew that their blonde otouto was far from fine, but they had to bend to his wishes if the other didn't want them to worry about it.
Naruto seemed to ponder for a second before grinning and bouncing forward. "You have to email me, neh, neh? Onegaiii~" He gripped their hands between his small ones and smiled winningly at them.
"Sure, Naru-chan." Shikamaru promised, squeezing back. Naruto pouted slightly at the use of "-chan" with his name, but let it pass.
"Wheee~ I can't wait!" Naruto gripped his brother's hands even tightly and spun them all around. Damn, he still surprised the other three with his super strength all the time. Naruto finally released their hands and bounded backwards before spinning in a circle.
"See you!" Naruto waved his small arms furiously and bounced towards his parents, who were already waiting in the car. The other three smiled and waved back at the now energetic blonde. They watched sadly as their otouto climbed into the car, which zoomed away.
The three had just turned to leave, about to head back to their respective homes…when they heard a loud screech and a crash. They stiffened and their heads whipped around to gape in the direction that the Namikaze family had gone in. They stayed frozen for another moment before running off towards where the crash had sounded. The three boys skidded to a stop at the scene before them.
A truck was on its side, smoking from the engine, indicating that it was about to explode. It was what was beneath it that caused the three to pale and freeze. Underneath the truck was the car that they had just seen off a few minutes ago.
"U-uso," Shikamaru whispered, "This can't be happening…it can't. H-how…" The usually calm boy felt his knees buckle as panic overtook him. A rough shake to his arm from Sasuke broke him out of his stupor.
"Call the police." The pale, dark haired boy ordered firmly. "They should be able to help. We should try and see if…if they're still alive." His voice faltered towards the end, but he refused to lose his cool. At the rather shaky nod from his two brothers, he headed towards the truck and ducked his head at the smoke.
Before he could get any closer though, he heard sirens coming closer. Just as he looked up, two police cars and two ambulance vans squealed into the intersection. A fire truck was close behind. Four policemen climbed out of their cars as the firefighters began to spray the smoking truck down with water.
Seeing that help was here, Sasuke immediately vaulted backwards from the truck. He stood together with Kiba and Shikamaru as the smoke from the ruined truck slowly dwindled and went out. As soon as the smoke disappeared, five workers from the ambulances ran towards the smashed car.
A few tense minutes passed with the three boys gripping each others' arms. Dread filled them at the shout one of the workers directed at the policeman. "We have two dead and one fatally injured. We have to try to get out the injured from the car before we remove the deceased. The rear door of the car is barely damaged; we should be able to remove the injured boy without much difficulty." A nod came from one of the policemen and the workers proceeded to open the door of the car.
The three boys felt weak as they saw the small body being carried out of the car. The blonde hair was matted with so much blood that it was almost completely red. The small frame was crumpled; tattered clothes barely hung onto the small boy's frame.
They didn't feel themselves moving until they had nearly reached the workers. "P-please, is our brother alright?" Kiba asked desperately. Their eyes were fixated on the unmoving blonde.
"Brother?" the medic questioned.
They nodded. "Naruto is our brother in all but name and blood." Shikamaru stated firmly. "Please, can we go to the hospital with him?" The medic considered for a moment before jerking his head in affirmative. "Get in the van," he ordered gruffly, but rather kindly.
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Kiba was pacing back and forth, almost wearing a path in the pale carpet of the hospital hallway. Sasuke was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed; he almost seemed to be sleeping. Shikamaru was the only one sitting; he was leaning forward, with his elbows resting on his knees as his fingers formed a sort of circle. His eyes were also closed – he seemed to be sitting in quiet contemplation. Overall, it was a rather peaceful picture…minus the pacing part.
This scene was shattered when the door of the emergency room next to them slid open. They all jumped, two towards the door, the other, out of his seat. The doctor held up his hands in an attempt to placate them. "It's alright, his wounds looked worse than they really are."
The three boys relaxed visibly and sighed in unison. "So how is he?" Shikamaru asked.
"He has two cracked ribs, a broken arm, and some wounds on his face that will scar. Other than that, however, he only has slight bruises and scratches all over. The ribs should heal in about three weeks, and the broken arm about two months." The doctor stated, expecting a ruckus. However, he was quite shocked by the boy's reactions.
"Phew, he's perfectly fine then. The recovery should only take two weeks or so, including his arm." Kiba exclaimed, mainly in relief.
"He's always recovered about four to five times faster than any normal person." Shikamaru explained to the doctor, who had a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Is he conscious yet?"
The doctor shook his head in the negative. "We gave him some anesthesia for when we reset his arm. The effects will wear off in another hour or so."
Kiba once again piped up, almost cheerfully. "That'll take him about ten minutes or so." Shikamaru nodded again towards the, once again, dumbfounded doctor. Sasuke just smirked.
"Are you making fun of me, boys?" The doctor seemed to be getting angry. "I won't believe this. No human can do that." His voice slightly faltered as he met three pairs of flat stares.
"Then we'll see in ten minutes or so, shall we? Whether or not we're joking…" Sasuke scowled.
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Two weeks later…
"How are you, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. The blonde had made a full physical recovery, but the other three boys had no idea about what his mental state was like. The younger boy had gone into shock at the news of his parents' deaths, and had been rather quiet ever since.
Naruto was quietly tracing his new scars. They were whisker-like marks – three on each side of his face. He was glad he had them…this way he would never forget about his parents. He knew his brothers were worrying about him, but he knew, that with time, he'd slowly recover.
The blonde boy smiled at his brothers. It was a small smile, but it was progress since it was the first smile they had seen since the accident. And now, they were seeing the blonde off at Konoha Airport for his flight to Tokyo. If only the four of them could spend more time together.
"I'll be fine," the blonde replied quietly. "I'm gonna be with baa-chan and ero-sannin. I just have to hope that they don't end up starving me to death because they can't cook and they only gamble and drink." The other three snickered at his statement…though the sad thing was that it was true.
[In Tokyo, Tsunade and Jiraiya sneezed simultaneously.]
The three boys crowded Naruto, hugging him and wishing him good luck. They exchanged their goodbyes and Naruto turned away to walk towards the checking station.
"Naruto," Shikamaru called. The blonde looked back, questioning. "You remember that you'll always have a home here, Naru-chan." A sad smile crossed the smaller boy's face and the other three knew just what he was thinking. If he had a choice, the other wouldn't be coming back – not with all these memories in Konoha.
Naruto turned and walked towards the terminal. The three behind him watched as he walked further away. His back looked so small and so lonely. There seemed to be no one around him at all.
That lonely back would stay ingrained in their memory for years…
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A/N: I hoped you guys enjoyed this. I wasn't going to do something like this, but now I have some sort of half formulated plan going on in my head. If you've read any of my other stories, trust me on the fact that I'm working on them. I've just hit a sort of wall on them and I'm super busy with high school stuff. Dx
Tata~ I'm out.
