Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character's from Naruto.
~ Four years later ~
Iruka sighed as he knelt down on the sandy gravel. It'd been four years to this day that Naruto had gone missing, seemingly disappearing in thin air in this very alleyway. In fact, detectives probably would've considered that possibility if it hadn't been for the tire tracks that were seen leading out of the narrow street way. Dragging his finger through the soft earth he traced different characters until finally he saw the name of his adopted child staring up at him. In a way Iruka was thankful for the sandy ground, not only for providing the tire prints so that they could possibly find the kidnappers car, but for proving that Naruto did not run away from home willingly. It was a small comfort amongst the many hardships that he'd suffered through these four long years, but a comfort non-the-less.
Naruto had been both lucky and unlucky at the same time. He'd known the love of a family and his parents only to have his only source of security and love ripped away from him at such a young age. The boy had been three years old when his parents were brutally murdered, yet another mystery that was never solved. Thankfully Naruto was away at a play date at the time and only learned of his parent's demise when he was successfully caged in the city orphanage.
Iruka had been an employee at the orphanage for 10 years before Naruto had arrived. It had only taken a single glimpse at the golden blond hair and the wide scared blue eyes for Iruka to know that Naruto would be going home with him. Of course, adopting Naruto hadn't been a walk in the park. For one, Iruka had had to quit his job so that he could even stand a chance at having custody of the boy because of the idiotic clause that stated that employees were not allowed to adopt any of the charges under their care. Iruka snorted and rolled his eyes; he still thought it was a stupid policy.
Heaving a sigh Iruka stood up from his crouched position and turned his face towards the overcast sky. Melancholy eyes became clouded as he remembered the other mountain he'd had to climb to adopt Naruto. Having your parents stolen from you is hard enough to deal with without having cameras shoved in your face and potential parents only wanting you for the brief 15 minutes of fame you'd grant them. Such a brutal murder would've attracted the media's attention alone, but add to that that it was the Uzumaki-Namizake family and what interest would've died out in three months was on the front page on and off for over eight months.
But Iruka and Naruto had gotten past it and moved on; or at least Iruka had. Iruka was always worried that the boy wasn't as content as he seemed; that his happiness was a well crafted farce. He'd never been a father before so whatever parenting he gave came from child reading books and instinct. That's why whenever Naruto would talk about how much he loved him and how he was the best father ever, he could never fully accept the phrase. Sometimes the two would have petty arguments where Naruto would say such hateful things about how he wished that he'd never met Iruka and that he was going to run away. Or course the boy would always apologize and claim that he didn't mean it and he could never hate his father, but Iruka always wondered if those were the boy's true feelings and the child was just too nice to tell him. Especially after he fell sick and had to squander all their money on hospital bills instead of toys. That's why when he'd heard of the tire tracks he'd been calmed, even just a little, because it meant that there was a chance that he could have his son back and they'd go back to their small, but perfect, family of just father and son.
But that had been four years ago, and what little hope Iruka did have about his son's return was shredded and incinerated until nothing but ashes remained. It took too much of him to keep getting excited only to be thoroughly disappointed time and time again. These four years had by far been the worst in his 36 years of existence and he was just looking forward to some well deserved closure. Unfortunately the closure he prayed for never came where his baby boy was back in his arms and the bad man was behind bars, but he'd have to accept that eventually and move on. After all he was 99% sure that his son, his Naruto was….dead.
Choking on a sob, Iruka wrapped his arms around his little body and just allowed all the regrets and lost dreams pour down his face. Pale arms encircled Iruka from behind him, cradling the distraught man to his chest.
"I can't…keep doing this Kakashi," sobbed Iruka. "It takes too much; I don't have any more to give." The brown haired man whimpered as he buried his face under his lover's chin.
"I know Ruka, I know. This'll be the last one, I promise. Sasuke's the best detective I've ever seen, if Naruto's still alive, he'll find him" Kakashi reassured gently. "You'll have Naruto in your arms soon, I swear it."
"Promise?" whispered the distraught man.
"With everything I have Ruka….I promise."
Tilting Iruka's head up, Kakashi closed his eyes and gently placed a kiss on the man's lips.
"What if…what if…he doesn't find him? What if he fails like the others? I can't take another disappointment Kakashi, I just can't."
"He won't"
"But what if he does?"
"Then I'll kill him" Looking down at the man in his arms Kakashi sincerely hoped that for his sake, Sasuke would deliver Naruto back where he belonged.
"Come on love, get in the car. We're going to be late if we don't head out now."
Nodding his head, Iruka hunched his way to the vehicle and slouched once he sat on the seat. Kakashi gazed down at the man of his dreams with his one eye and sighed as he shut the door for him. Shaking his head, Kakashi walked around to his side and slid in, taking one last glance at his lover before starting the car and driving towards the city.
'If I ever find the man that caused all this,' thought Kakashi, 'I'll kill him.'
~ Unknown Location ~
There was a bed in the dark room illuminated by the three or four lights that huddled around it. At first glance it seemed to be that the bed was the only thing in the sparse room, but if one squinted they could make out the camouflaged shapes of different monitors and machines around the room with their electric wheezes and blinking lights. All the wires from the appliances seemed to head to the bed, or more importantly, what was on the bed.
White silk sheets hung loosely off a figure lying on the bed delicately outlining the small form hidden from sight. Tanned limbs could be seen entangled in the sheets in a never-ending maze of cloth and skin. The wires seemed to be just as entangled, running up and down the boy's arms, chest, and legs possessively trapping the angel with their sleek cable bodies. The only thing that seemed free from the wires was the child's head gently leaning to the side and covered with long golden strands almost as fine as the silk he was wrapped in.
A man who'd been lurking in the darkness stepped forward, closer to the kid's body. Gently he allowed his hand to sweep across the sleeping face, caressing the cheek bones, chin…lips. Glancing up at the still closed eye lids he released a sigh and turned to the man working diligently on the computer beside the bed.
"Well? Is he healed?" questioned Orochimaru, slight impatience coloring his words.
"Yes, full recovery. Just allow him a few more hours of bed rest and he'll be completely rejuvenated." The man looked up from the monitor glancing at the kid on the bed before turning his spectacled gaze on his master.
"Why so impatient? Naruto's only been here for a couple of days, normally his recoveries seem to take at least six days."
A slight smirk settled on Orochimaru's lips as he spoke, "I've found him a new partner; one that I can tell will bring me hours of amusement." Letting out a dark chuckle, Orochimaru departed from the room, looking back only once before he walked out of the door.
"When my Naru wakes up have him meet me in my chambers."
With that the door closed and the room was once more bathed in darkness and silence.
A.N. I am so excited for this fic to get off the ground. I have so many great ideas for where this plot line can go. As you can see the chapters will continue to get longer and longer as we progress, that is a promise.
Please comment, let me know it you like it, if you don't, what you had for breakfast, how you're daydreams of fluffy SasuNaru moments are coming along…anything ^^ I love to read them…they make me bounce around the room and run all through my house jumping for joy before I finally calm down long enough to read another one and repeat the same process.
Anyways, I'll probably have this updated within the week so keep a look-out for it
