Warning: Angst, explicit language, hospitalization.
Will be working on both this fic and 'When it Rains' considering I finally have more free time on my hands. Enjoy :)
He couldn't breath, it felt as if someone was choking him. His heart was racing and all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball to wait for someone to save him.
His clothes started to get damp and his abdomen made it very painful to move.
A choked cry for help forced itself up his throat; making a tear run down his cheek.
"Help" he croaked out
Blue orbs examined the area he was in. The wooden floor was tainted with blood - his blood. Just looking at it made him nauseous; the urge to vomit was there, clawing at his throat. He jerked his head to the side as his stomach contracted violently and forced everything out. Chunks of blood spewed out of his coughing, choking mouth - some of the bile stuck to his lips.
The sound of a door closing had him widening his eyes
"Help" he tried once more
He heard a voice, but it was too far away to comprehend. Instead of calling out again, he felt his lids grow heavy with exhaustion, so he closed them. No one would be able to save him..
A burning sensation flared on his shoulder, feeling as though his skin was tearing itself. He blinked his eyes open, but the tears made it difficult to see.
With a couple more blinks, a figure came into view above him yelling out incoherent words that he couldn't make out. He tried to speak out to the stranger, but the darkness was gradually pulling him in and in the end, it succeeded.
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He was in a heavy black cloud. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, just the heaviness in his entire body. He tried to pull himself out of it using the remaining strength he had, and little by little, a low buzzing noise began to invade his hearing, along with clicking of feet near him. Where was he?
His eyelids felt heavy as well, but he blinked slowly as he desperately tried to open his eyes. After succeeding, the strong smell of chloroform hit the inside of his nostrils, making him wrinkle his nose.
It was a room - or more so a hospital room. Its walls were simply cream, not peeling or dirty, just cream. Not one single decoration was found at all save the limp curtain in which separated his bed from anothers.
"Naruto?"
Blue eyes watched as a figure walked towards him.
"K-ki-" His throat felt dry
"Naruto! Thank God your awake"
"W-wat..er" he managed to mutter out
"Here buddy, drink up"
A warm hand placed itself behind his neck as a straw entered his mouth. The liquid was cold but soothing; helping the pain in his throat subside a bit.
Carefully, he pushed the straw out if his mouth with his tongue and looked up.
A boy with shaggy brown hair, sharp eyes and triangle tattoos located on his cheeks, was looking at him - a depth of sadness behind his brown orbs.
"Kiba?"
"Dammit Naruto, you scared the shit out of me back there"
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to but, what exactly did I do?"
The teens eyebrows shot up in shock "You mean you don't remember?"
He shook his head.
"Well" Kiba crossed his arms "I was supposed to go over your house once your parents left on their vacation with your brother. Do you remember that?"
"Um, I think so"
"Well when I got there, the door was unlocked and you wouldn't answer me. I thought you had left with them after all, but then I..." he paused
"You what?"
"I found you lying on the floor in your room. You were so beaten up and...you just..you weren't moving" he explained with a frown "I was so fucking scared, I didn't know what to do."
Kibas words overstruck his memory, making his heart pound much faster in his chest
"I thought, they had actually killed you this time-"
"Kiba" he interrupted him with a shaky voice "the baby, the baby is fine right? P-please tell me it's fine"
Naruto perceived the way brown eyes looked away from him, making his blood run cold
"Naruto...the docs did all they could but.."
"But?"
"They..." his brown eyes made contact with his own as his friend struggled to talk
"They what Kiba!"
"Dammit - they couldn't save it"
The room remained silent as blue eyes stared blankly at the teen standing in front of him as the words sunk in. His happiness was gone?
"It was already too late"
"No" Naruto shook his head "No, you're joking right? Cause if you are...it's n-not funny"
"I-" the teen looked away from him once again "I wish I was bud" he whispered
He shut his eyes "Please Kiba.." he sniffled "please tell me you're joking"
"I can't..I'm sorry..."
His walls, the walls he held up to make him strong gradually tumbled down, brick by brick. As much as he tried to hold it in, the pain came out like an uproar from his throat in the form of a silent scream. The beads of water began falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping.
He felt Kibas body embrace him into a hug, but it did nothing to stop the tears streaming from his deep blue eyes. To him, it was more than just crying, it was the kind of desolate sobbing that came from a person drained of all hope.
"I'm so sorry Naruto" Kiba whispered
The blondes chin trembled "W-why d-did it have to be my b-baby Kiba?"
"I don't know bud...I don't know"
His tan hand went up and placed itself on his abdomen; the slight touch made him flinch.
"Be careful" Kiba said. He let go of the blonde "they performed surgery on you so you have a couple of stitches"
Naruto nodded
"Why did they beat you?"
The blonde let out a short laugh "Menma found the results in my room" he tried explaining with a raspy voice "he showed both my parents and they didn't take it well. Can you believe it?" He continued to laugh "and I don't even understand why I'm laughing when all I feel is pain in my heart"
"Fucking Menma man" Kiba growled "Why does he hate you so much!"
"Because" Naruto gazed up at the angry teen "He doesn't see me as a brother, and my parents aren't biologically mine..I was adopted"
The silence made Naruto's blood run cold as the air that crept through the rooms open window. He never told Kiba about his adoption because all his family despised him cuz of it. He didn't want his only friend to hate him as well, or look at him as if he were some kind of loser.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Naruto bit his lip "You're my only friend, I was scared you were going to push me away if you found out"
Kiba snorted "As if you could get rid of me that easily"
Naruto swiftly looked up at the teen with tears in his eyes "you don't care?"
"Dude, you're my best friend, no adoption is ever gonna change that. Plus, I always wondered why you had blonde hair and everyone else had red"
"I think they hate me even more cuz of it"
"Ha! Didn't they hear? Red is so overrated; blonde is the new 'it' "
Naruto shrugged, he knew his friend was trying to lighten up the mood, but this time, it was hopeless.
"I just...I just hate how you let those imposters beat you whenever they want"
The blonde swallowed a lump forming in his throat "I guess I got used to it"
"Well what are you gonna do now?"
"I can't go back to that house" he sniffled
"Are you going to press charges?"
"No" the blonde choked out "it would be my word against theirs...no one will ever believe me remember?"
"Be strong buddy, I know it hurts, just...let it all out"
Naruto's shoulders dropped in resignation, complete hopelessness and heartache converted into tears that rained down his face at lightning speed. There was nothing else he could do but feel Kiba hug him and try to comfort him.
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"Are you sure you wanna do this?"
Naruto nodded
He had spent four days in the hospital when the doctor gave him permission to leave. Before leaving though, he used the restroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His skin was somewhat pale, but his light tan was beginning to appear, and dark bags adorned the bottom of his eyes. He recognized himself, but..it just wasn't the same person he remembered he was. The moment he stepped outside that day, a hollow feeling overtook him. Every bit of hope within him had shattered along with the happiness that began blooming once upon a time. Kiba's mom, Tsume, allowed Naruto to stay with them for a week, but they never really told her what had transpired. She seemed to glance at the blonde here and there since he would flinch more than usual, but she never commented on it.
Naruto had a hard time dealing with his loss that week. He spent his time laying on Kibas bed, simply pouring his heart out all alone because that's how he wished to be. He still felt a bit sore and his stitches continued to be sensitive so he couldn't really do much but walk around. Kiba had been helping him through it all though. He took him back to that horrible house the day of his discharge, and helped him pack some clothes for him along with some money Naruto had been saving for months. The blonde had found a portrait he was working on hidden under his mattress. It was unfinished and the spark he added on the painting no longer shone, but nevertheless he still took it with him. They didn't really know when his adoptive parents were going to be back from their vacation, so they made sure to hurry as much as they could to fill up the duffel bag and leave.
"Yes Kiba" Naruto responded with enough confidence "I just...I can't live with them anymore. Not after..."
"You don't have to say it, I understand. But are you sure going to your boyfriends house is the best idea right now? He hasn't even returned any of your calls since last month dude."
Naruto gazed out the window; Kiba was right, it was disappointing to know that Sasori kept denying his calls. His boyfriend had never done that before, so the closer the bus took them to his house, the more he felt his palms sweat. It was going to be difficult for Naruto to inform the guy he loves that he had miscarried his baby, but it had to be done. His conscious would only be at ease if he told him the truth.
The sound of the bus halting made him stiffen
"We're here" Kiba said as he stood up with an orange duffel bag "C'mon"
Naruto shut his eyes and gradually breathed in and out. He could do this, Sasori would be upset - but they would get through it together.
Opening his eyes, he got up slowly from his seat and followed Kiba.
It was a quiet neighborhood, there were no children in sight and no cars seemed to pass through the small street except for the bus.
"Well" Kiba broke the silence "I guess this is it. Do you know which house is his?"
Naruto shook his head "Hes only invited me once before"
He saw his shaggy friend raise an eyebrow
"He said he rents a room from an old lady who hates visitors. When we first started...you know...he made me sneak in at night through the window so I couldn't really see much but the street name"
Naruto looked around but didn't seem to find any familiar house nor window that could belong to Sasori. He should've asked for the address a long time ago to make things much easier.
"Um, bud, is that him over there?"
The blonde followed the finger Kiba was using to point with, and saw a car pull up in front of a yellow house. A blonde girl got out of the drivers side and Sasori from the passenger side.
"That doesn't look like an old lady dude"
Naruto watched in disbelief as his red haired boyfriend grabbed the blonde by her waist and kissed her.
It was as if some translucent force punched him right in the stomach and knocked the breath out of him. His eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened, showing how speechless he was.
"That fucking asshole!"
Blue eyes watched as his friend ran Sasori's way and he instantly came back into reality
"No" he whispered. He tried to run after him but the pain in his abdomen made it nearly impossible. Instead he power walked as fast as he could to stop whatever Kiba was trying to do.
Time seemed to slow down though when he witnessed kiba grab Sasori by the shoulder, spin him around, and punch him square in the face. The red head fell on the floor with a thud and sent Kiba a glare.
"What the fuck man!"
"Fuck you!" Kiba spat out "how dare you fucking cheat on Naruto!"
Once he heard the commotion, the blonde froze in place. He was already near all three of them, but his body refused to walk all the way. He saw Sasori turn his way and his black eyes connected with his own blue. His stomach churned when he saw a smirk on the cheaters face.
"Babe" Sasori said as he turned to look at the blonde girl "Go ahead, I need to handle some problems"
The girl rolled her eyes "Whatever, just hurry up"
Getting up from the floor, he wiped the line of blood that flowed down his nostril "Well well well, Naruto, what a surprise"
The blonde couldn't speak, the lump in his throat prevented him to do so.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
"Why you.."
"Kiba, stop" his voice forced itself out "let me talk to him"
He felt his friends eyes on him, but he didn't have the energy to look at him. He already felt embarrassed and humiliated enough. Having to see the pity in his eyes would only make him feel worse.
"Fine"
The sound of footsteps was the only indication that Kiba walked away
"Why?" Naruto questioned
Sasori crossed his arms "Why what?"
"Why are you cheating on me?"
A chuckled erupted out of the guys mouth "How can I cheat on someone I'm not with?"
Blue eyes widened
"But..I thought..."
"What? That we were in a real relationship? Get real Naruto, you were just a good fuck to pass the time"
"I gave myself to you" he whispered
"And I enjoyed it, trust me" Sasori smirked "but it was your choice to believe everything I told you - just how it was your choice to offer your body to me"
Naruto swallowed the lump in this throat. He refused to show weakness to someone who didn't care about anyone else.
"You're pathetic if you ever thought I would even want someone to see me with you. I mean, look at you" he waved his hand up and down "you look awful. Why else do you think I told you to keep our fucking a secret? Just go home and be useless somewhere else." And with that, he turned and walked away.
Naruto watched him leave with wide eyes. He blinked slowly, but with every blink, his eyes grew more and more glassy.
For the second time in less than a month, he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.
"You okay bud?"
Naruto gave him a sarcastic smile "I'm never okay"
He could no longer take it, his knees gave out. Kiba hurriedly grabbed him, but it didn't stop him from pouring out his grief in a flood of uncontrollable tears with gut-wrenching sobs spilling out through his chest
"Why doesn't anyone want me" he mumbled through the suppressed sound of hiccups "I'm so stupid"
"You're not stupid" Kiba snapped back
Not even his comment was able to sooth the blonde this time.
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The voices in the background weren't loud enough to cover the sounds coming from Naruto's nose as he continued to sniffle. He had wiped his face so much that his eyes were red and swollen. It took Kiba around thirty minutes and an ice coffee to get him to stop crying
"Feel any better?"
The blonde gave him a deadpan look
"Hey" Kiba raised up his hands "just trying to help out"
"I know" Naruto sighed "it's just, a lot of stuff to take in. The parents that raised me, beat me till I almost died, I...lost my baby.." he looked away as he tried to blink the tears away "and turns out I was being used...it...hurts Kiba." He took a sip from his ice coffee and welcomed the cold liquid as it relieved his discomfort and soreness.
"How about we leave this town and go live somewhere else? No one will know who we are and you'll be able to start fresh"
"No. I don't have enough money and your dead wrong if you think I'm going to let you leave your house." Naruto replied "you're eighteen and about to start college"
Kiba slouched on his seat "you're right, my parents will try and kill me too - uh" he gave the blonde an apologetic smile "sorry"
"Don't worry about it"
Looking around, Naruto examined the place. It was a very popular coffee shop in this town, almost everyone attending the college near the area came here. It made him wonder though - how it would feel like to attend that is. After high school his adoptive parents didn't allow him to attend college because they simply wanted him to be at home locked up.
"Dammit Kakashi! This is all your fault!"
"Iruka I said I was sorry"
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. He turned his gaze to the counter where he saw two strange men arguing. One of them had a high ponytail spiked up, warm brown eyes, a deep scar running across his nose with a black suit on. The other just looked plain weird - he was also in a black suit, but he had grayish hair spiked up to the side in an impossible angle, black eyes, and there was something covering his face starting from under his eyes to his neck.
"Kiba, have you ever seen those guys?"
Said teen looked around the blonde and spotted them "Hm, na. Never seen them, but look at everyone's reaction" his brown orbs moved back and forth "I doubt anyone here knows them"
He was right, almost every person in the cafe were looking at the two strangers with frowns upon their faces.
"Now what are we gonna do? Huh? We're not going to make it to the meeting because your forgetful ass forgot to put gas in the damn car"
"I said I was sorry babe c'mon"
Both men made there way to a booth right in front of Naruto and Kiba and sat down.
"Oh no, don't you c'mon me, I blame you!"
"Wow" Kiba muttered "sounds like a married couple"
"Ah, well you see kid" naruto turned to the voice and saw the masked man tap Kibas shoulder "that's because we're engaged"
Kiba widened his eyes and chuckled nervously "Uh, congrats?"
"Thanks" the stranger said before he took a sip from his coffee "By the way, do any of you happen to know if there's a gas place around here? We've been asking, but everyone seems to be on their period today"
"Kakashi!"
Kiba erupted in laughter whereas Naruto's lips curled up a bit
"Actually" kiba calmed his breathing "my mom owns one. It's just around the corner. If you want-" he glanced at Naruto "we can take you there - by walking though"
"Yes!" The ponytail guy practically yelled out in excitement "I mean-" he cleared his throat "that would be great"
"Rrrright, c'mon bud, lets take them"
Naruto nodded
The more they walked outside in the fresh summer air, the more Naruto found the two strangers to be kinda cool and laid back. He managed to get their names because the one named Iruka kept blaming Kakashi for their trouble, which he found amusing.
Once they all got to the gas station, kiba introduced both men to Tsume. They all got along great and Tsume ended up giving them a full tank of gas for free when one of her tow trucks brought the car to them. Kiba and Kakashi were filling up the car while naruto smiled at Tsume while she yelled at Kiba to do his job right.
"What's your name?"
The blondes smile faltered when he saw Iruka waiting for an answer "um, Naruto"
"You don't talk much do you"
"Sorry" he mumbled "it's been a long two weeks"
"So Blondie does speak after all"
Blue orbs glanced at Kakashi and Kiba walking towards him
"Naruto is very talkative actually - well with me" Kiba chuckled "but don't let his shyness fool you, he's actually a very talented artist"
Naruto's ears picked up a gasp coming from Iruka's direction
"You paint?"
"I uh, yeah I do" naruto stuttered
"Wow, do you have any work you can show us?"
The blondes smile disappeared. When him and Kiba went to his room, he had only gotten one of his portraits and forgot to take his sketching book with him.
"I seemed to have misplaced my book"
"But" kiba intervened "he painted that mural behind you guys"
Both Kakashi and Iruka swiftly whirled around and were left opened mouthed in awe. There painted on the wall, was a grand picture of an old fully white dog laying on a field of grass surrounded by beautiful trees and flowers. Naruto remembered the day he worked on it, it was last year when Kiba's dog passed away. Kiba's mother was the one who asked him for the favor and Naruto never denied anything to them because to him, they were practically his family.
"Wow" Iruka breathed out "it's magnificent, you have such great talent"
Naruto felt his face burn "thank you"
He felt a bit confused when he saw both men whispering to each other, so he glanced at Kiba, but his shaggy friend just gave him a shrug.
"Alright blondie" Kakashi looked straight into Naruto's eyes "Iruka and I just opened up a new club where we live, it would be an honor if you could paint something inside of it. Would you be up to it?"
Disbelieving, Naruto looked between both men. Did he hear right? Were they offering him a...job?
"What?" His voice shook with surprise
"You would be doing us a great favor, we'll even pay you" Iruka voiced out "please say yes"
A slow smile built up in the blondes face as the offer sunk in "you mean it?"
"Of course!"
"B-but I.." getting paid wasn't the issue, he just didn't have anywhere to stay if he decided to accept. It would be in another place - an unknown one at that.
"That's great dude! You've been wanting to get away from here and you found an opportunity" Kiba excitedly said
"Yes but..I have no where to stay, I'm sorry" Naruto confessed
He caught both men glance at each other before nodding in agreement
"We really don't have anyone else to ask" Iruka explained "and it seems as though you want get away from here so...how about you stay with us and we let you work in our club. That way, you can earn some money to buy or rent yourself a place. You can even invite Kiba over"
Naruto was baffled. His heart and mind didn't know how to react. They both were used to torment, pain - just bad news overall. His eyes began to water; he turned to Kiba and his friend gave him a nod with a thumbs up.
"Okay, I'll do it" he breathed out
"Great!" Kakashi said as he began to walk to his car "we'll take you to your house so you can pick up your stuff"
Naruto frowned "I don't have a home" although the statement wasn't true, that's how he felt. He could no longer call that house anything but painful memories.
Both men were caught off guard considering they froze mid-step
"Everything I have and need" he pointed at the bag slung on Kibas shoulder "is in that duffel bag"
Iruka looked at Kiba, blinked twice and then gave the blonde a gentle smile "Alright" he said "let's get going. Make sure to get your friends number so you can call him when we get there"
Naruto nodded.
"I'll try and visit alright" Kiba stated as he handed the orange bag to him and a piece of paper scribbled with his cell "cause like I said, you can't get rid of me that easily. Stay strong bud"
For the first time since everything went downhill, Naruto laughed. It was bright and happy and it felt...right
"Thanks Kibs, for always having my back. Give Akamaru a big hug from me when you see him, I know he's still at the vet. And tell your mom to stop giving you dog treats, you breath is starting to stink"
His shaggy friend grinned and extended his arm out to him with his hand in a fist; Naruto did the same and they both laughed in harmony as they fist pumped