"Well look what we have here, boys. It's the famous Nine-tails." A tall, muscular guy said with a sneer on his face as he looked down at the blonde like he was scum. The blonde, Nine-tails, quickly turned around and his fierce blue eyes narrowed as he assessed the area.
He was surrounded, it would be an unfair fight, but that was how these people were. They played dirty. "Akatsuki." He hissed out, he grit his teeth showing his sharp canines. Nine-tails growled and crouched low, ready for a fight.
The man who just spoke to him had razor sharp teeth that made his grin look slightly murderous. The blonde wouldn't be surprised if the guy killed him in the upcoming fight, but he wasn't going to go down so easily, he'd at least rough them up a bit.
His blue eyes moved back and forth sensing danger from the people who were closing in on him. For the first few hits that were thrown at him, he dodged and even landed a few punches and kicks, but he was easily overwhelmed with the onslaught of people. Being ambushed like this was uncool.
At some point, his energy was beginning to drain and it was even an effort to stand up but he still held tough in the end. As soon as the enemy realized that the blonde was down for the count, they took turns beating him up; making him cough out blood and groan with pain.
They kicked him in the stomach multiple times when he was too weak to get up, taunting him to fight back, laughing and spitting at him. When they got bored belittling him, some held him upright while others would whack him in the jaw or torso.
He didn't know how long he was there, accepting the beating, and didn't know when it suddenly stopped. Nine-tails began to wonder how he was still alive, maybe it was god's punishment for all the sins he had committed? Make him live in pain to the very last breath without any mercy.
The blonde's mind was still a bit hazy and his eyes were blurry, with what felt like sweat but it could've been blood, when he saw the group of boys walk away from him, some spitting at him before they caught up to the rest. They left him there to die.
He groaned a bit once they were out of sight, it hurt to move. He wriggled his fingers slightly but he sighed when he realized that he was wasting his last bit of energy. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the sky going from light to dark; while a bittersweet smile spread across his face, laughing at how weak he must have looked.
---
When the blonde came to, he let out a tiny strangled groan. His limbs ached as his head felt like it was being smashed in with a hammer. He cracked open his blue eyes and observed his surroundings.
He expected to find himself still in the filthy alleyway, waiting for someone to find him as he hung on to his last thread of life, but instead he was in a bright room.
It was not the hospital; it didn't smell like disinfectant, it had more of a homey feel to it. Shifting his fingers, he felt that he was on a bed, a nice clean bed; certainly not his bed. He tried to lift himself up, his damaged hands supporting him but he just crumpled back onto the bed.
He, then, realized that he had exceeded his energy usage for the day as spots began to appear before his eyes and cluttered up his vision. Before he totally blacked out, he saw a dark-haired man with surprised look on his face. 'What a wonderful shade of eye color.' The blonde thought blankly before he was dead to the world.
---
When the blonde woke up once more, he knew he was in the same place and in the same bed. As he wondered how long he had overstayed his welcome, he sighed.
"Ah, it looks like you're finally awake." A deep voice, that soothed the boy's ears pleasantly, came from the doorway of the room. The blonde pulled himself away from staring at the ceiling to look at the newcomer.
He was a dullish looking man, about late twenties, with small signs of wrinkles at the corners of his eyes from laughing happily. He had glasses and unnatural spiky hair while having this goofy but kind of boring smile on his face. The man was ordinary looking, like a normal everyday business man.
The dark-haired man came in, while kicking the door open with his foot, with his hands full, carrying a full tray of food with one hand and a set of clothes with the other. "I found you in an alleyway, it's a wonder how you're still alive." The raven said with the everlasting smile on his face and it almost sickened the blonde. How can somebody be so freakin' happy?
Nine-tails didn't respond and it didn't seem like the man expected him to, he just kept on talking anyways. He pulled out a foldable table and placed the tray on it, while he dropped the clothes onto the edge of the bed. "Are you okay, now? Can you sit up to eat?" He asked as he made his way over to the blonde's bedside.
"Who are you?" The blonde's voice came out, it was scratchy and cracked, like it was dry and hadn't been used in a while. The raven chuckled, he had been talking all this time and didn't even say his name. "I am Sasuke, and I am your savior." The man said as he pulled the covers off the boy and helped him sit up.
The blonde wondered if his brain had sustained any damage because it seemed like everything was going too fast for him to comprehend. At some point, the raven actually fed him food and he didn't realize that he was being pulled into the older man's pace until after he was laid back down. It was really a blur, he couldn't remember whatever the man had said, but he didn't dwell too much on it since he now had a full stomach and was ready to go to sleep again.
---
The older man groaned as he supported his body with his hands. His back ached, in fact most of his body ached. He was getting too old to sleep on a couch, but he did that in courtesy of the boy he was nursing back to health. He yawned and rubbed his eyes childishly, then smacked his lips a couple of times while he looked around.
The room was filtering sunlight from the windows and everything was quiet, so quiet that he could hear the birds chirping clearly. He got up from his old lumpy couch while hearing his knees and elbows crack when he stretched. Walking around the couch, he scratched his butt while making it towards his room, where the young boy was supposed to be.
When he got in, it took a few seconds for him to focus, since he was immediately blinded by the bright sunshine. When his eyes focused, he noticed the blonde was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't really surprised, it was only natural to leave a stranger's home, but just in case, the raven checked underneath the bed and in the closet to make sure the blonde wasn't hiding or anything.
He sat down on the bed and sighed. He would probably never see the lad again. Now he was back to his quiet and lonely apartment. He had to admit that it was kind of nice having someone in his home and taking care of them.
---
The blonde limped slowly towards his destination, the people on the sidewalk looked at him funnily with concern but did nothing to help the boy.
Nine-tails was in rough shape, but he knew he couldn't stay in some kind person's house. What if they found out he was a gangster? He didn't want the older man to get in the crossfire, between the gangs, because he was helping him.
His eyes were starting to blur so he had to constantly shake his head to keep focus. His body ached, apparently two or three days, after a major beating, didn't make you any better. He wore a big oversized sweater, the hood up so that it concealed his bruised and battered face. He wore baggy sweatpants but people could still see the obvious limp in his step.
Nine-tails stopped at the crosswalk and black dots started to appear before his eyes. He tried to move but his body wouldn't respond to him anymore and before he knew it, he began to fall forward and the ground was getting closer and closer to his face. He squeezed his eyes waiting for the impact but he didn't feel anything.
He turned his head slightly and he saw a brunette about his age behind him, holding him up. The blonde's body must have been going numb since he didn't feel any body contact with the other boy, he couldn't feel anything at all. The last thing he remembered before going limp in the boy's arms was: 'Ah, thank god Kiba was here. Or else I'd be causing a commotion, or worse; dead.'
---
When the blonde awoke, he knew he was in a different house. He made a little sound that didn't sound like the sigh he was supposed to make. He really hated feeling so weak and he felt annoyed that he kept getting moved to different places. He turned his head to the side and his eyes landed on a photo.
It was of the brunette from earlier, but he was hugging a big dog from around its middle in the picture. Nine-tails, groaned as he forced himself out of the bed; he pulled off his shirt just leaving the last layer of clothing, which was his wife-beater. He walked slowly out of the room and down the stairs gently; every time he went down one, it sent a jolt of pain through his body.
Kiba must have heard the blonde coming down the steps since he shouted from his seat but didn't look up. "Hey Naruto, where you been, man? I haven't seen you for days, yo." The brunette said keeping his eyes fixated on the television. When he didn't hear a reply, he turned around.
The first thing he saw was the blonde's bandages and he was instantly enraged. So angry that he stood up and dropped his bag of chips, that were now spread across the floor. The blonde eased himself in a chair and relaxed into the seat, all that while ignoring the brunette's anger.
"Yo! Who did this?! Was it your asshole father?" Kiba shouted at him and the blonde had to wince. The boy's loud voice was not helping his headache. "Nah, he's too much of a coward to touch me." The blonde replied to get the other boy to stop hounding him.
"Then who did it, man?" Kiba asked impatiently. Naruto swallowed a bit, unsure if he should tell the brunette, it made him sound so weak. "I was ambushed by the Akatsuki." The blonde finally said. It didn't seem to fully set in as a few moments passed and Kiba didn't do or say anything and then when his mind was together, he was angry again.
He got into the blonde's space, gently examining his face, lifting up the blonde's shirt, to inspect the damage. Kiba sat for a few minutes a loss at what to do until he whipped out his phone and called a few people.
Akamaru, the brunette's dog came bounding out of nowhere, and jumped on the blonde's lap. The blonde moaned in pain and Kiba was quick to pull the dog off of him. He made the big dog stay in the kitchen while making sure that the blonde wasn't hurt any worse than he was before.
Just then, the doorbell rang and the brunette ran to get it. When he opened the door, the house was instantly filled with loud voices that constantly let out curses and slang. The blonde sighed, he supposed this was going to happen. It wasn't much of a big deal anyway.
"Where is he?!" A voice shouted and the blonde could barely make out the brunette's reply. He heard heavy stomps making its way towards him. "Dammit, what did they do to you, Naruto?" A redhead came from another room and he immediately knelt down to cradle the blonde's bruised cheek in his hand.
Naruto slapped the hand away in annoyance, they acted like he was glass or something, but the redhead just replaced his hand and looked over the damage.
More people came through and gasped, some even yelled angrily when they saw the state that Naruto was in. "Quiet." A deep and calm voice said, but those who really knew him, knew that he was pissed. A boy, just the same age as everybody else came through from the other room and the chatter immediately stopped.
He was tall and his hair was long, about mid-back, but it didn't make him look girly, it made him look elegant and fierce. "Neji." The blonde said as he inclined his head forward to show his greeting. The elegant looking boy did the same but did not say anything.
In their gang, this boy, Neji, was their leader. He always kept a level head about anything and didn't let on any more emotion than he should have. Those he got close to, knew when and what he was feeling even if he didn't show it on the outside.
"What happened, Naruto?" The long-haired brunette asked and then Naruto had to sigh once again. It was almost like the saying 'add insult to injury'. He was injured and it was really hurting his manly pride that everyone kept asking about what caused him to be so battered. "Like I said to Kiba, I was ambushed by the Akatsuki." Nine-tails said and slumped further into the recliner.
It was quiet for few minutes as they all processed this information. The redhead was knelt down by Naruto's chair, his head kind of low so that nobody could see his expression. A few of their gang members were sitting on Kiba's staircase, biting their lips and gripping their fists. Some were angry like Kiba and punched the wall a few times.
It really sucked, their kind of gang was all about family. They cared about each other when nobody else would and they would believe in each other when outsiders said they couldn't do it. So when Naruto got beat up like this, it was a really big blow for the whole group.
"You know what, yo? We should beat up one of their members to pay them for what they did to Nine-tails." A person spoke up while a few agreed with him by shouting some slang. "Yeah! We should show them what the Nins are all about!" Another shouted, getting hyped up and ready to put the plan into action.
"Shut up." The redhead from the blonde's side said, but it was said with such an emotion that people had to stare at him. "Whatcha say, Gaara? You wanna fight, yo?!" The guy who started the commotion said.
"Are you stupid? Naruto is one of our best fighters, so how could you think that we'd stand a chance? Look what they did to him, you fuckin' fool. We'd get beat down instantly. They have more numbers than us and if they're as good as everybody says they are, then how can you even think that we'd have a chance at beating them?" The redhead said angrily, annoyed with what they said, not even realizing what a number they did on the blonde.
The group was deathly silent, all the hotheads from before shut up realizing that they were weak and that was an even bigger blow. How can they protect their family if they weren't strong enough? "That's enough, Gaara." Neji broke in and destroyed the silence. The redhead was about to argue angrily but the look that their elegant leader sent him quieted his protests.
"Whereas Gaara was right, we cannot just let go of the fact that one of our members has been attacked." The leader rationalized and some of the gangsters started asking how they were going to get revenge.
Neji smirked slightly and crossed his arms against his chest. "Well, this is what we're going to do…"
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Kazuki-kun: Any questions? We'd be happy to answer them.
Daikaishi: I hope nobody kills me for trying to write like a gangster, even though I'm not.