Authors Note: Hey! This is my very first fan-fiction story so tell me what you think! :) Let me know if you want more because I might make more chapters if anyone likes it. Warning: If you violence makes you queasy don't read
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Obviously XD
It was easier to delude himself that his home life didn't exist when he was surrounded by his friends. He could almost pretend his life was perfect. He was quite good at that. Delusion. He was actually rather impressed that his brain could so neatly separate the two realities of his life. The one that occurred at his house and the one that occurred anywhere but there.
The two lives he lived were radically different. One was like the warmth of the sun, gently penetrating the skin of everyone relaxing under its welcome heat; the other, however, was like the bitter cold, stinging the unprotected flesh of plump cheeks while uninvitingly thrusting itself all way to the heart, where it taints every precious memory with frigid unkindness.
Naruto's stomach lurched while one-by-one his friends said their goodbyes, disappearing to their homes where they knew a hot meal and two loving parents were undoubtedly waiting for them. Soon enough, the tall blonde teenager, who was now alone, slowly made his way to a house he had always lived in. A house that harbored his most heartbreaking memories and many terrifying moments.
Naruto slowly opened the door to the house, careful not to make any noise. He didn't want to risk awakening his father, who was likely already passed out somewhere, at least the blonde optimistically hoped. He stepped into the doorway and silently closed it behind him. The house was abnormally tiny compared to the residences of his classmates. Of course, he attended a private academy on a full scholarship while the rest of his peers depended on their parent's wealth to foot the tuition fees.
Immediately to the left of the entrance, somewhat hidden by a wall partition extending halfway across the room, was the living area. A compact room used exclusively for Minato to drink and watch television in. Naruto avoided the room altogether. To the right of the entrance a short hallway led to an unassuming kitchen. The kitchen was small but relatively clean, Naruto would stay up on restless nights and clean all the debris and empty beers cans left over from the day. He found the cleaning therapeutic, like once the kitchen was completely scrubbed of his father's presence he could almost pretend that he was the only person that occupied the space and forget about his troubles. On the far side of the kitchen revealed a longer hallway which accommodated at the very end of it the only original bedroom in the house as well as the only bathroom. The left-most wall of the kitchen included the door that opened to a set of stairs to the basement.
Coming home everyday was a process Naruto had gotten down to a science through trial and error. He would make as little noise as possible, even pretend he didn't even exist as he discovered this course of action was the least likely to get a reaction out of Minato. He left no trace of his ever being there.
The only indication of a teenage boy living in the house resided in the basement; a tiny bedroom forming off of the boiling room. There was a small mattress in the corner of the bedroom with a thin ratty blanket and lumpy pillow made on top of it, a large collection of books directly next to the mattress, a full length cloudy mirror that didn't hang on a wall but rather leaned against it, along with a neatly folded stack of boys' clothing. Other than that the room seemed bare of personal items.
Naruto could hear the television blaring sports news from the living room, hoping it's noise would mask any footsteps leading him to the basement. The blonde's bookbag hit the partition wall with a thud as he turned to enter the kitchen, it was hard to see what he was doing as all the lights were off. The only light was the dim glow that reached the entrance from the tv screen. The boy stopped and closed his eyes. It seemed like the thud hadn't disturbed anyone so he crept further into the hallway toward the kitchen.
A hand slammed down hard on the wall in front of the boy's face. Minato had been waiting up for him in the unlit hall. "You're fucking late," Minato slurred, leaning in closer toward the blonde's face.
"I'm sorry," Naruto bowed his head in submission. He didn't want to look into the cold eyes of his tormenter, nor did he want to inhale more of the putrid liquor smell leaking from his father's mouth.
Minato took his other hand and forced the blonde to face him directly."Sir. Say, 'I'm sorry, sir." The older man pierced the clear cerulean-blue eyes of his son with a hard unforgiving blackened gaze of his own, his large masculine hand gripped the blonde's chin so tightly that the boy couldn't look away.
Naruto was defenseless, his father's two arms were a caging him in so there was nothing to do but look up. At least half a foot separated the father and son. Naruto was not considered short but his father was a monster. Minato's arm were burly and clearly not lacking in muscle. His chest was ridiculously wide as well and seemed to protrude outward like he was eternally proud of some achievement. The only sign indicating Minato's lack of care for his health was the onset of a beer-gut, forming over a very hard, muscled stomach. "I'm sorry, Sir…" Naruto whispered fearfully.
The blonde's usual charismatic light-hearted radiance quickly deteriorated into dread and darkness. Naruto's face suddenly looked much younger than his actual sixteen year body. He always believed fear reverted a person back into a child. "That's not good enough." A hand shot out from the darkness and cracked across the face of the handsome teenager.
The blonde gasped but managed not to let any further sounds of pain escape him. It shouldn't have been surprising. It was a fact his father was violent, but for some reason it didn't keep the boy from being shocked every time the man laid a hand on him. He still longed for the man to give him an affectionate nudge to the shoulder.
Deep down the boy knew that despite the cruelty he received from his father, he would forgive him without hesitation if only he'd display one act of warmth, which only made these altercations more painful for the blonde. All he wanted was to beg for his father's love, but he wasn't deluded enough to believe that would ever work. In fact, if he ever did that his father might actually kill him.
He was ashamed of these feelings. He wanted to be strong and unaffected, but the child inside him was clinging desperately to him, not letting him throw away that part of himself. The part that desired to be treated like a son.
"- soft pathetic child. I don't know how in god's fucking earth you're mine. You're all your mother...yeah...that's what's wrong. She was a piece of shit too." Minato grabbed the boy tightly by his upper arm and hauled him into the middle of the kitchen.
Naruto stayed silent. The only sound coming from him were ragged, panicked breaths. The older man threw the blonde onto the hard tile floor and landed a hard kick to his abdomen, making it even harder for the boy to breath.
"Please…" the innocent blonde moaned, sprawled on the floor.
This further infuriated the physically superior man, he delivered another kick, this time to his son's back. At this point, Naruto could no longer stand on his own, however, Minato roughly caught his arm and towed the boy's weight up again. He slammed the boy into the counter, causing more pain to shoot up his back.
Minato suddenly let go of the boy, letting him slide to the floor. The man stalked off, grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the counter on his way out. As suddenly as the punishment started, it was over, as it often was with Minato. The man would take out all his aggression on the young boy and then abruptly stop, jarring the mind of the blonde.
Naruto sighed in relief as the minutes passed and his father made no reappearance. He got himself off the kitchen floor and made his way to the basement steps. It was still difficult to move but he knew if he didn't leave Minato would materialize for a second act.
The blonde peeled off the now tattered shirt once he entered his room. He caught himself in the mirror and gasped at the condition of his body. His chest was covered in bruises and he could already see the damage appearing from his most recent beating. The other's were turning a purplish-green as they aged. No one would ever love a body like this. Scarred and bruised. A wave of shame overcame him.
He hated the image he saw in the reflection. He knew no one deserved something already so broken. Although the blonde felt this way, the injuries were covering up smooth tanned skin, with a healthy layer of muscle underneath. His hair had an adorable messiness that reminded others of a carefree child. His eyes were bright blue globes that sparkled in the sunlight, full of energy and determination when he was away from his father. The boy, however, didn't see any of that and turned the mirror around so he wouldn't be subjected to his reflection any longer.
Naruto stripped down to his boxer briefs and laid carefully on his mattress. He reached for a book in the stack that sat next to his bed, Biological Science 6th edition. The blonde couldn't afford to make a single mistake academically. He worked tirelessly to attend the school he did and they didn't tolerate scholarship students who didn't perform at a high scholastic level. He wasn't particularly gifted but it was amount of time he put in that allowed him to succeed. Diving into Chapter 12 of the text, Naruto spent the next couple hours reading and taking diligent notes in the margins.
Reading was one of his favorite things to do. After a while of reading he would become so enveloped in the information or the characters that he was able to forget himself and focus solely on the book. At home that's what most of his time was spent doing, and eventually he'd fall asleep on whatever he was reading at the time.
The blonde's last thoughts before drifting off, head lying on the text, were filled with different theories of evolution and hoping he'd be able to cover up all the bruises for school the next day.