Okay, I know I just published this yesterday, but it was WAY to short, so I added some stuff. Hope you like!!!

Summary: The boy had a metal collar around his neck that was attached to the wall and without his shirt on she could see every bone, bruise, slice, and scar on his torso. He sat in the corner with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head down. "Naruto…"

Rated for abuse, cutting, self hatred, and other things that I am too lazy to type…

It's AU, and has a little bit of OC'ness.

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Ayame knocked on the door, her sunning green eyes wary. If "He" was there then she would have to run, but she really wanted to see her friend. She was worried by his absence from school. He was always there; "He" made him come. It didn't matter if he was sick or in pain, "He" always made him go. When her knock went unanswered she reached down finding it unlocked. Letting herself in, Ayame closed the door gently. She made her way up the stairs of the 3 story house, but stopped at the second level. She saw a flash of movement, and heard a couple small noises from somewhere behind the non backed stairs. She made her way around the stairs and found a tiny door under the stair well with an old flash light lying next to it forgotten. She opened the small door and turned the light on, and there, in the very back corner was her friend. The boy had a metal collar around his neck that was attached to the wall and without his shirt on she could see every bone, bruise, slice, and scar on his torso. He sat in the corner with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head down.

"Naruto..." she gasped, although she didn't mean to. The boy looked up, his normally sparkling blue eyes dull and lifeless. He stared on in disbelief at his childhood friend. She made her way into the small space and hugged him, but he did not return the gesture. His mind was buzzing with hundreds of questions, but he could only manage one word.

"Why?" he whispered into the figure still hugging him. Ayame withdrew and gave him a quizzical look. He thought for a moment choosing his words carefully. "Why did you come, you know what 'he' will do if he finds you here. Why would risk you your own well being for my own?" She sighed.

"Because," She said in a calm voice. "Unlike everyone else in this crappy town, I care. You should know that by now." He put his head down on her left shoulder, wincing as the movement stretched fresh wounds. She put her arm back around him.

"What am I going to do..." he sobbed."I can't take much more of this... But I'm still not old enough to move out, and no one else.... No one else would even consider..."

She sat there and recalled the reason he had ended up in this situation, Naruto had grown up on a foster home, but when no one would take him in somewhere along the lines he decided he would do whatever it took to get adopted. He ended up in her neighborhood, the worst part of town where the cops never dared to venture, where his foster father could do with him as he pleased. Although she knew his pain and how much it hurt to be alone all too well, coming from a similar background, she could do nothing for her friend. All she could do was comfort him and try not to hear his screams during the night, or try to disregard the red lines on his wrists from where he tried to relieve his anguish, but it wasn't that easy. She wanted nothing more than to get him away, but she knew that his foster father would never relinquish custody of his "toy."

Suddenly they heard a loud slam; both teens heard the noise and recognized it fearfully. Even though it was dark, the Naruto could see the color rush from his Ayame's face when someone was heard coming up the steps. They saw a large dark figure appear through the door, liquor on its breath, that was now in the passage way. Without thinking Naruto pushed Ayame into the far corner just as a hand grabbed the leash attached to his neck and fumbled with the look on the wall. She watched as he was yanked roughly threw the door and it was closed. When the footsteps faded into who knows where, she made a dash for the front door, reminding herself to close it softly, and ran down the street to her own "house". Half way there she stopped and shuddered as she heard Naruto's pained and fearful screams as "he" did who knows what to his adopted son's already mutilated boy. Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered the words "I'm Sorry" and continued on. That's all she could do.

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Ayame glanced at her watch, it was almost 7 o'clock. At this rate she was going to be late for school and she really wanted to wait for Naruto. She couldn't even imagine what state of mind he would be in.

"Get out!!!" a voice yelled as Naruto was literally kicked out the door and his backpack was thrown on top of him. She sighed as she watched the blonde get up and walk over. He was wearing a baggy long sleeved black shirt and tripps, he also wore a wide leather choker to cover up the red mark he probably had from the metal collar. They both walked awhile not saying a word, until Ayame looked behind them and saw multiple red dots leading to Naruto's left. She stopped and he did also giving her a curious look. Naruto flinched as she grabbed his arm and pushed back the sleeve. He dropped his gaze and his bangs fell over his eyes.

"Naruto! Are you crazy?" She yelled. "You cut right before school!"

He broke free of her grasp and backed up; he really hated it when Ayame got mad. He collapsed onto his knees and she watched as a tear ran down his face. She knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry… I … I just couldn't take it… I… I'm sorry…" he whispered.

"I know, I know. I shouldn't have raised my voice." She said calmly. "It's not your fault, I'm not mad, I promise, just don't do it again." She waited for him to regain his composure before she took a bandage out of her first aid kit for Medic Training and dressed his arm. They then got up and continued on to school.

When they got there, the hallways were empty and it was 7:25 which meant they were late. Ayame took a deep breath as she opened the door to their first period class and all eyes were on them.

"What are you excuses this time Ayame, Naruto?" The teacher, Iruka-sensei asked annoyed. Ayame met his gaze, but did not reply, instead making her way to the back corner of the classroom with Naruto right behind.

"Well?!" Iruka asked impatient.

"We're late Iruka-sensei, that's all there is too it." She said unnaturally composed. Naruto was silent as he watched the other students move away and give him dirty looks. Iruka nodded and went back to his lesson, all the while keeping an eye on the two as Naruto drifted off to sleep and Ayame sketched something in her infamous notebook. Ayame puzzled him though; she was the one student he couldn't read. He could never tell what she was thinking and even when he thought she wasn't paying attention and he asked her a question, she would always answer with complete knowledge of the topic. This wasn't what disturbed him however, what he never understood was how she could be so impassive, never showing any emotion and never speaking unless spoken to. The girl fascinated him, but why.

After the bell rang and everyone was packing up to leave Iruka called Ayame up to his desk. He waited until all of the students, including an ever wary Naruto, left for their next period.

"Now," he said turning his attention to his student. "Why were you and Naruto late, and I want the truth." Ayame thought for a moment and Iruka could have sworn he saw the girl tense.

"Who wants to know?" she asked in monotone. "I haven't broken any laws."

"Ayame! I'm serious!" he said raising his voice a little almost hoping to intimidate the girl, but without success. The girl stared at him blankly and unfazed. She walked over to the door and grabbed the knob.

"Let's just say I was comforting a friend." She said with a glance over her shoulder, and then left.

The rest of the morning went smoothly and lunch came just in time. Naruto waited in line with Ayame as she got her lunch which they shared, and he went to sit down while Ayame detoured to the bathroom. He looked around and his gaze was met with many hatful looks and murmured insults. He sighed, for him that was life. He turned his attention to the tray of food in front of him and played with the mashed potatoes with a fork, he wasn't really hungry.

His thoughts were brought back to the cafeteria as two fists slammed into the table. He flinched, but did not take his eyes off of the tray.

"Leave me alone Kabuto." He said looking up at the silver haired senior in front of him. The rest of his gang, Kiba Inuzuka and Ino Yamanaka grabbed him by the shirt from behind making him stand. The other students gathered around in a large circle shouting words of encouragement to Kabuto and moved the tables hoping for a fight. The two stood on opposite ends, one glaring and the other looking at his feet. Naruto really didn't want to get into a fight today, he was still very sore from the previous day with his foster Father. But when two students stepped out into the circle he chanced a look up. It was Shikamaru and Chouji, and although they had never done anything to hurt him, he was still shocked by the sight.

"Kabuto, leave him alone." Shikamaru said.

"Ya, what'd he ever do to you?" Chouji added.

"I suggest you two don't get involved, especially you fatso!" Kabuto told them. Although Chouji would have killed any normal person to call him that, Kabuto scared the crap out of him so he just settled with a hateful glare. No one spoke for a few awkward moments, but when the silence was broken everyone was shocked by who had done it.

"Shikamaru, Chouji, stay out of it." Naruto called over to the two wide eyed sophomores.

"Shut up demon!" Kabuto yelled.

"No." Naruto stated bluntly, but soon regretted it as he saw rage pour into the senior's eyes. Before he knew it the silver haired boy was charging at him. He closed his eye, and heard fist meet flesh, but for him, there was no pain. He opened and looked in horror as he saw that Ayame had taken the punch for him. She slowly got up from the spot she had landed and looked at Kabuto with the intent to kill. Everyone backed up, including the now wide eyed Kabuto, as she walked over and stood next to Naruto. Kiba and Ino quickly made their way over to their "leader."

"Does anyone else want to try that." She asked daring.

"That's enough!" All eyes went to the brown haired teacher and all of the students, excluding Naruto, Ayame, and Kabuto, scattered. The three looked at Iruka waiting. "All of you! To my class room NOW!"

They filed out of the cafeteria and walked in silence to the teacher's room. He led them in and closed the door. Ayame and Naruto sat and watched as Iruka wrote a referral and called Kabuto's parents before dismissing him. After he left he looked at the other two. The three sat staring at each other for a while before the teacher finally broke the silence.

"So am I calling you parents or what?" he asked sternly. Naruto flinched at those words, if Iruka called his father he would get beaten severely, and he really didn't want that to happen.

"Is there really a need?" Ayame asked trying to cover for the blonde. "Did we really do anything wrong? We threw no punches and tried not to get involved, so why would you need to take such measures."

"I wouldn't be to get you in trouble, it would merely be to inform them of what happened, and if they want us to do anything to prevent this from happening again." He informed them, and while any other student would have leapt at the opportunity, Ayame just shook her head.

"We don't need anyone butting into our business." She stated her voice a bit angered. "If the need had aroused that I needed to do something, Kabuto would not have walked out of cafeteria to accompany us. We are more than capable of handling these situations on our own." Iruka turned to Naruto who looked from the desk to him and then back.

"And you agree with this?" He asked the blonde.

"Yes Iruka-sensei." He nodded never taking his eyes off of the desk. "We will inform our parents ourselves." He stated knowing it was a lie, but hoping to get the teacher off their case.

"Very well, you may leave."

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Okay I know that the cutting thing didn't really have a place in the story, but it will, I promise! Any who, I'll try not to make you wait so long for the next Chapter, but remember I do have a LIFE!!!