Chapter 2: A Second Secret: You Were What?!
It was dark and there was no one on the street. She could hear people still partying in the bars and clubs she passed. Joyful music and beautiful decorations hung over her head celebrating the Nine-Tailed Fox's Defeat. But this was always a night to fear not to celebrate for Naruto. The day of her birth was a day she best kept out of sight or feel the wrath of the villagers. Sneaking through alleys and sticking to the shadows had gotten her just a few blocks from home. All she had to do was cross the street and run through the alley between Bloody Mary Bar and the old warehouse and she'd be home free. Of course the gods hated her so the second she stepped out the shadows to cross the street one of the local drunks came stumbling out of the bar.
"Hey you!" the man yelled as he threw his bottle at her barely missing her head.
"Eep," Naruto yelped before she ran across the street and into the alley.
Hearing the man run after her Naruto ran into an open door of the warehouse. She quickly jumped over the railing of the stairs and ducked under them. The blond haired ninja heard the man stumble and curse as he ran passed the door. It was silent for a few moments before she dared step out from under the stairs. Naruto breathed a sign of relief and started climbing the stairs. Then a hand covered her mouth and she felt a prick on her neck before everything went black. She awoke shortly after to find herself still the basement and she could barely move no matter how hard she tried.
"Don't even bother trying. It will take another hour before you will be able to move more then an inch," a cold voice sneered.
Suddenly a figure in black wearing a blank white mask appeared. Naruto shook in fear as the man stood over her. The faceless mask sent a chill up her spine. All she could see of the man was his cold, heartless green eyes.
"Now then lets get started," the faceless man whispered cruelly as he grabbed her legs.
And then there was nothing, but pain, blood and tears.
Her underwear was ripped off.
She cried in pain and fear when he slapped her.
It felt like she being ripped apart from the inside.
When he was done blood and something white dripped out of her.
"Don't bother with telling anyone. No one will ever believe you or even care for that matter. This is what you get for being a demon child," The monster stated before he left.
The next the thing she knew was she was in a sewer in front of large cage with two large red eyes glaring down at her making her shaking fear.
"The first crack has been made my little vessel," a dark voice whispered as a clawed hand reached through the bars.
Naruto screamed.
Naruto shot up from her bed breathing heavily. Tears ran down her face as she tried to stop herself from shaking as she held Akane to her chest, the kit simple snuggling into her chest trying help the only way she knew how. This was not the first nightmare she had since that nightmare, but that was the first time she had remembered so much detail and the first time she had experience that strange creature with the red eyes. After she calmed down Naruto sat Akane on the bed and realized the time. She didn't need to get ready for school since she promised the guys to rest for the day so she decided to take a long shower to calm her self down and relax.
Naruto quickly slipped her nighty off and hopped into the shower. Letting the hot water run through her hair she let her mind wonder to the day before. She knew that she could trust Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba with her secret, but still she hadn't been able to tell them the whole story. She still felt dirty and disgusting whenever she thought about that night. For the first week after she had taken scalding hot showers for an hour each morning and night to make her self feel clean again. She still had trouble looking adults in the eyes. Scared she'd see the eyes from that night.
Just as she stepped out she felt the familiar wave of nausea hit. Rushing to the toilet she puke what was left of her dinner from last night. After flushing she quickly rinsed out her mouth and brushed her teeth to get the taste out. Deciding to eat something easy she went to kitchen and cut up an apple. Her mind still on the dream of course lead to trouble in the form of cutting her finger with the knife.
"Ow!" Naruto yelped before she ran to a drawer to find a band-aid.
Opening the first drawer she found herself staring at the pregnancy test she bought a month ago. Staring at the little box she thought about the last couple of days. First there was the nausea and now the sudden fatigue. Could she really be pregnant? Making a decision she grabbed the box and walked to the bathroom.
The wait was killing her. Every few seconds she would glance at the little white stick sitting on counter waiting for the timer to go off. It was worst then any punishment that Iruka sensei had ever given her. But when the timer finally dinged she couldn't bring her self to get up and look. What would she do if it were positive? She was only eleven years old for God's sake and didn't know anything about raising a child. If people found out would they make her get rid of it or take it away after it was born? That thought made her angry for some reason. It was her body and her baby so she would decide what to do with it. Of course she didn't know if she even had a baby yet. Finally she stood up and walked over to counter. Slowly she picked up the tiny white stick and stared at the little screen.
She ran out of the apartment as soon as she finished putting on the henge.
/
"What a drag," Shikamaru signed as he walked toward Naruto's apartment.
Kiba and Choji got held back after class so he had go check on Naruto alone. Surprisingly it wasn't because they skipped class yesterday, but because Kiba got into a fight with another student and actually bit him and Choji ended up stealing food from the teacher's lounge during recess. Iruka was actually very understanding when they explained that Naruto's old apartment was burned down and they had to find it. Of course they fudged the truth a little by telling him they had asked Kiba to help find Naruto's new apartment when they ran into him on his way home for lunch and that it took awhile for Akamaru to follow Naruto's scent to her new apartment. He had a feeling that Iruka knew they were lying, but he probably figured they had just stayed at Naruto's house to take care of her. After all they were her closest friends.
Slipping inside her apartment Shikamaru heard a whine as Akane came up to him and nuzzled his leg. Picking up the fox he noticed how quiet it was. He quickly walked to the bedroom and found Naruto silently sitting on the floor staring in front of her and holding something in her hands with strange look on her face. Shikamaru grew worried when he noticed that her hands were shaking and there were tears running down her face.
"Naruto? What's up? You look like someone told you that Ichiraku was closing down," Shikamaru stated in worry.
Naruto didn't react to the jab and continued to stare into space. Akane whimpered and nudged her head against Naruto's hands, but there was still no reaction. Shikamaru frowned and kneeled down in front of Naruto and gently wiped the tears off her face. Naruto jumped up in surprise finally snapping out of whatever daze she had been under.
"Sh-shika-ma-maru?" Naruto stuttered as more tears began to run down her face.
"Naruto what's wrong?" Shikamaru asked growing more and more worried.
"I-I'm sorry," Naruto whimpered looking down in shame.
"Sorry for what?"
"I didn't tell you guys everything about that night. I-I lied about what happened after I hid in the warehouse. I-I j-just wanted t-t-to forget what t-that m-man did t-to me!"
"Naruto what happened? What did he do?" Shikamaru demanded to know as he tried to figure out what could have possibly been done to put his friend in such state.
"Shika, I-I was raped!" Naruto exclaimed as she collapsed into Shikamaru's arms crying.
It was like someone had poured ice-cold water down Shikamaru's back. She had been raped. One of his best friends had been raped. He felt like he was going to be sick, but tried to keep the bile down. Naruto needed him to be strong right know. He could have his own break down later. That's when he noticed something white on the ground next to him. It looked find of like a thermometer, but instead of showing a temperature there was a plus sign lit up on the screen. It took only few seconds for Shikamaru to put things together. His thoughts were conferred when he saw that there was ten more scattered on the floor behind Naruto.
"N-naruto…" He mumbled not knowing what to say.
"I-I th-thought it m-might b-b-be wrong so I-I bought m-more, b-but i-it's the same f-f-for all of t-t-them," Naruto whimpered as she tried to calm down, "W-what am I going do I-I d-do, Shika?"
Shikamaru wasn't sure how to answer. Naruto was eleven years old she shouldn't have to be going through something like this. This kind of thing shouldn't have happened, but it did sadly. He couldn't think straight as a million different scenarios of what had happened race though his mind. He needed more details and then they could figure out what to do.
Taking a deep breath he grabbed his friend's shoulders gently and said, "Naruto I need you to tell me what happened. Let's go to the living room okay."
Naruto who was just beginning to calm down nodded silently as Shikamaru helped her stand. The two quietly walked out into the living room with Akane at their heels. Naruto sat down on the right end of the couch pulling her legs up and hugging a throw pillow to her chest almost if would act as a barrier for her protection. Shikamaru sat down next to her and waited for her to start.
After a few moments of silent Naruto whispered softly, "He… he was waiting for me inside the warehouse you know. I had to always go through that alley to get home. But because of the celebration the bar near the apartment building was still full and that drunk saw me when I had to cross the street to get to the alley. I honestly think that even if drunk hadn't seen me the man would have still attacked me. All the drunk did was make it easier for him to get me. I had ducked into the first opened door of the warehouse and jumped over the railing and hid under the stairs and waited for a few minutes to make sure no one was coming after me. Looking back on it now I feel kind of stupid because I remember that same door being boarded up just the night before."
Shikamaru clenched his fist, but remained silent and let his friend continue.
"When I thought the coast was clear and I came out of my hiding place and started up the stairs. Then a hand covered my mouth and I felt a prick on my neck and everything kind of went black. When I woke up I could barely move and that when I saw a man come out of the shadows. He was wearing all black clothing and had a white mask covering his face."
"A white mask? You mean like the ones the Anbu Black Ops use?" Shikamaru asked in shock, 'Damn it! Naruto could be in real danger then if anyone found out. No doubt if they got wind of this they make sure to silence her and make her disappear!'
"Y-yeah, but it w-wasn't like the n-normal ones. It was j-just a b-blank mask with two eyeholes. A-all I c-c-could see w-was h-his cold green eyes s-staring d-down at m-me as he… he..." Naruto hiccupped as she tried not start crying again.
Shikamaru gently took his friend in his arms once more and whispered, "Its okay, Naruto. You don't have to continue if you don't want too."
Naruto shook her head and continued, "I-I don't re-remember much after that. J-Just bits and p-pieces really. M-mostly I remember f-feeling pain a-and seeing my b-blood. T-there was one point h-he slapped me to s-shut me up. Then it was o-over."
Shikamaru could feel his blood boiling as he listened to Naruto struggle through the story of her attack, but kept his cool as Naruto continued.
"Before he left he said, 'Don't bother with telling anyone. No one will ever believe you or even care for that matter. This is what you get for being a demon child.' Then he was gone. Took a little while, but I was finally able to get up and walk home. It hurt to move, but all I could think about was getting somewhere safe. Then I found the apartment burned down and you know the rest," Naruto finished.
"Why didn't you go to the Hokage? He would have done anything to protect you and would have that man hunted down in no time so why didn't you go to him for help," Shikamaru questioned.
"Because he may have cared about what happened to me, but no one else would have. I've seen members of the council among the mobs that attack me. There are Anbu all over the place, but only three of them have ever tried to protect me and they have been dead since I was eight. Most of the kids at the school won't even talk to me because their parents tell them too. Other then Iruka Sensei all the teachers at school ignore me or act like I'm a nuisance when I go to them for help. Do you really think I could count on the villagers loyalty to Gramps to over look their hatred of me and actually put in an effort to find that man especially if he really is member of Anbu the most respect ninja group in the village?"
Shikamaru found that he couldn't argue with her because she was right. The way people treated Naruto made it clear that she could maybe trust a handful of people and even then she kept her distance at times in fear of bring the people's wrath on to them as well. There were a few times Shikamaru had come upon the angry mobs attacking Naruto. Each time he tried to help he ended up bruised and getting scolded/praised for helping her from his parents who both upset he had been hurt, but proud he had tried to protect his friend. Still after those times he would hear people telling his parents to get a hold of him before the devil child corrupted him any further. Naruto would avoid him as well for a week or two scared that if she got close to him that he would get hurt again. She had done the same thing to Choji and Kiba when they had been in similar situations. Now after years being attacked and now being raped by a possible Anbu she didn't in feel safe enough to turn to the Hokage for help.
"Naruto…"
"I want to keep it Shika," Naruto whispered.
"What?" Shikamaru exclaimed in shocked.
"I know it stupid… But I… want to keep the baby! I still want to be a ninja, but if I can hide the pregnancy until summer vacaction and then make people think that the baby is Hina's I could keep it," Naruto explained.
"Naruto do know what you are even saying! You are ten years old! Some nutcase in a mask who is still out there raped you! How would you even take care of the baby! What about school! If you kept the baby you would be putting it in danger especially during taijutsu class! Not to mention the fact that you would surrounded by train ninja could figure it out at anytime," Shikamaru ranted trying to get his friend to understand her situation.
"I know."
"Then why would you think you could just hide something like this and why would you even want too?"
"Because its my family."
"What?"
"This baby… it's my chance to have a family. When I took the first test I got so mad at the thought of someone hurting my baby or taking it from me. I know its stupid and completely crazy, but the second I realized out that I was pregnant I… I felt so… happy. This baby is my family who I can love with all my heart and who will love me too. I can't even imagine trying to get rid of it. I want to have this baby Shika so I can give it all the love that I know my parents would have given me. I want to watch it grow up and someday make a family of its own that it will love just as much as I loved it. This is my only chance Shika. I know that it going to be hard and dangerous, but I have to try. I want to have this baby Shika. It the only chance I'll probably ever have to having a family. I want to be a ninja, but I also want to be this little angel's mommy," Naruto explained with tears running down her face.
Shikamaru was silent for a few moments before he finally spoke.
"First of all this isn't your only chance to have a family. Any guy would luck to have you and wouldn't give damn what his family thought if he really loved you."
Naruto sent him a shaky smile in thanks as Shikamaru continued.
"Second yes it crazy and stupid and you know what. That is just what I would expect from you."
Naruto looked in shock as that sentence.
"Look I know you and you are going to do this one way or another so I will help you find away to keep your secret and still be a ninja. It going to take a lot of planning and we are going to be danger especially if the father finds out, but you know what, Nara's love a challenge. I'll help you keep the baby safe Naruto, because you're my friend and I can't let you do this alone."
Naruto stared in shock at Shikamaru before she tackled him to the ground and hugged him tightly as she cried and thanked over and over again.
Shikamaru smiled and muttered, "What a drag."
Okay this is my second attempt at chapter 2. Someone said that the first version was too cheery and I had to agree with them. So I hope you guys like it. If it's still too cheery I'll just have to do better in the future chapters to get how difficult this is going to be for Naruto and her friends across. Please Review.
