Chapter Two: Willing to–

Haku was many things, but confident wasn't one of them. He had always been a shy, introverted, and non-confrontational being, even when his mother was alive. They were homeless when she was; he had never had a home until his mother died when he was seven and Zabuza took him in.

Zabuza was this person that Haku just couldn't analyze no matter how hard he tried. Nothing he could think up could help him dissect Zabuza's persona.

In public, and especially around Kyuubi, Zabuza was distant and cold and even sometimes mean; but when it was the two of them at the apartment, everything else disappeared. That tense air, the unease built up throughout the day – all of it was gone because somehow, Haku might even go as far as to say that they completed each other.

Haku didn't understand it and he was way too afraid of it to try and explain it to Naruto. Naruto was positive Haku's lack of complete distain in Zabuza was alarming and he had already admitted to being completely unable to empathize with it at all in the past. Not that Haku blamed Naruto for that; Zabuza hurt Naruto a lot. But it was only ever because Kyuubi expected him to and he couldn't risk Kyuubi getting suspicious of him because those were untreaded waters and he didn't know what kinds of things might lurk beneath.

So Haku kept it to himself because Zabuza was possibly worth it and since he wasn't quite sure yet, he wanted to play out all his possibilities.

He grabbed his backpack and headed for his bedroom door; he was ready for school so he went to meet Zabuza in the living room.

The tall man stood near the front door and turned at the sound of Haku approaching. He placed an affectionate hand on his shoulder and Haku felt his cheeks burn at the contact. He prayed it wasn't completely obvious.

"You'll do fine, Haku. I'm always proud of you," the man assured gently, earning a deeper flush to his skin that Haku knew he wasn't capable of hiding.

They exited the apartment, and Haku could almost see the wall rise up between him and Zabuza.

When they got to the car, he sat in the back seat.

oOo

"Shit, shit, shit," Naruto breathed as he finished zipping up the last bit of drugs remaining from the previous night before he scooped a small sectioned-off pile of white powder off the surface of the table and into a thin zip-lock bag which he sealed shut and set down atop his open calculus book – it held about twice the amount of what he'd been filling small zips with all night; this was the small portion he stole from Kyuubi tonight and it would go toward putting him away for a really long time.

His eyes shifted to the clock in the kitchen as he brushed off his hands gently while rising from his chair.

It was 9:30. He had thirty-five minutes to get to school and take his test.

He hurried to the kitchen and washed his hands vigorously. He didn't want to show up to school late, and smelling like coke; one of those scenarios was bad enough.

Although – to be fair – it wasn't the coke they'd be smelling; it was the Novacaine and whatever other chemicals it was cut with that they'd smell. But everyone just basically associated the two as one thing anyway. His features curled at the smell from the faucet; sometimes water made coke smell horrible and sometimes it didn't. But right now it did and he hated it.

His fingers fumbled over the faucet and he knew he needed to take more Adderall because he was starting to feel incredibly fatigued.

But he hurried to his room and tried to ignore it, grabbing the small bag of coke off his book as he passed the table. His bookcase sectioned off in six symmetrical squares in two rows of three and he kneeled down before the first square on the bottom row, the wall to his left and the expanse of his room to his right. He reached for the books and binders filling the shelving and pulled out a handful, leaving an empty section a little bigger than his hand as he reached behind them and grabbed a sandwich size zip lock from the shadows behind the books.

It was very full and Naruto quickly added what he had to what was in the larger bag and he smiled in appreciation. He'd spent almost two years taking a gram or two here or there between shipments – always in such small increments that it was impossible to detect. Kyuubi was going to be fucking sidelined when he discovered what Naruto was saving it up for.

He returned the shelving to its previous arrangement before standing and returning to the kitchen to shut his book and slip it into his backpack as he pulled out a small orange tablet with the letters AD on one side and the number thirty on the other, a line down the middle between the three and the zero and two small dashes, one before the three and one after the zero – measurements for different dosages that a doctor would probably discuss with a patient being prescribed it.

Naruto wasn't prescribed Adderall and he actually didn't have ADHD, but a fake pad of prescription papers might have said differently and so might the four different pharmacies where he used those fake prescriptions.

One dry swallow later and he was picking up his bag to leave for school.

By the time he was entering the front office, he felt as if he might fall over, but he knew if he just gave the Adderall another fifteen or twenty minutes, he'd be perfectly rejuvenated and that timed down seamlessly to his test in that amount of time.

They didn't ask why he was late, or chastise him for it because they'd pretty much given up on the kids here and that was fine with Naruto. They just handed him his late slip and a bright pink detention slip which he groaned over as he took it from the receptionist with a hint of attitude.

Whatever, he would just ditch it.

He caught the last eighteen minutes of his English class before he headed toward his Calculus classroom. A lot of people stopped him along the way and they exchanged very brief words and a precise shake of the hands that ended with an exchange of goods in a subtle enough way that it wasn't easy to spot in a crowded hallway.

By the time he reached his classroom, he was seventy dollars richer than just minutes ago – or…Kyuubi was.

When he entered his classroom, he could feel the unease filling the air and he knew everyone was nervous about this test.

"Hey there, mutha fucka, thanks for joining us today," the tall, man at the front of the classroom greeted as Naruto shot him a humorous look, "You sure you're ready for today's test?" he asked, earning a somewhat suspicious look out of the blonde, "You missed some pretty important lessons this week."

"No I got this," Naruto assured, the determination in his tone just daring him to bring it on. The class gazed at him skeptically and he glared back inquisitively.

"What?" he snapped, shaking several gazes away by just his tone. He didn't particularly like being in this class – he was the youngest one, the only sophomore in a room of juniors and seniors and he still intimidated all of them. He got the impression that they didn't think he was very smart, regardless of the fact that he was in such an advanced class at such a young age; either that or they just really hated him for it. But they all knew his reputation and he hadn't lost a fight – at least not at school – so none of them spoke up.

Plus, they all knew what he did to make money.

Bee shrugged slightly before he started handing out the test and Naruto fidgeted slightly, tapping his eraser softly against his desk as he waited for his test.

Perfect: he could have said it aloud. Everything he studied was on here and he breezed through it with ease because the whole world was a sharp, vivid place of black and white and the grey he created – just the paper before him – and he swore he could feel the graphite scrape off his pencil onto the paper beneath his fingers. He earned a few jealous glares when he turned in his test fifteen minutes later and Bee stared at him in disbelief for a moment, eyes steadfast on him as he returned to his seat with nothing to do to kill the time.

The man grabbed the paper and turned it right side up as he began to correct it, just to see if Naruto had really just done that.

Naruto didn't need to watch him correct it. He nailed it and he knew it. He concentrated on not fidgeting like he so badly wanted to and he wished he had something he could pour his concentration into.

The class dragged toward the end of the period and a very good portion of the class hadn't turned its test in yet when the bell rang. The students already finished and packed, stood and grabbed their things.

"Naruto, could you please stay after class?" Bee asked over the soft hum of the class as it exited the classroom in steady groups. Naruto sighed as he sat back down heavily, earning several dirty smirks from classmates that felt he deserved it.

When the last student exited and the door shut behind her, Bee crossed his arms over his chest and he gazed skeptically at Naruto who looked back uncertainly; it looked like he was in trouble and he shouldn't be in trouble.

"You cheated."

"No I didn't!" Naruto defended as he stood abruptly, "Who would I have cheated off? I finished first!"

"You had the answers then before class," Bee reasoned as he leaned back in the chair at his desk.

But even he seemed unsure of how he'd of gotten ahold of them and Naruto could hear the uncertainty thick as mist.

"I didn't and you know I didn't. I didn't cheat – I didn't! I'm not–"

But he didn't finish because it would be lying to say he wasn't a cheater – but he was also a liar, so he shouldn't have felt conflicted over lying about being a cheater.

Cheating and lying was a lot of what he based his life around. He did those things on very many occasions daily to other cheaters and liars.

But he'd never cheated in school because he never needed to and it was frustrating to be accused of having done so.

"Then why isn't there any work on your test?" Bee continued as he glanced down at the test still lying on his desk.

He did it in his head; it was the same thing he'd been trying to explain since very early in school – teachers usually hated that he could do math that they couldn't do without a calculator.

And usually, whenever he did try and explain that he'd figured out the square root of thirteen or the cosine of seven in his head, no one really believed him; his patience was wearing thin.

"Fine! I cheated!" he caved as he threw his arms up halfway in defeat before grabbing his backpack and slipping it on quickly as he made his way toward the classroom door, "That's all you want to hear anyway."

Bee watched him go with a hint of guilt lining his features; somehow he wasn't really sure if Naruto cheated or not anymore.

Naruto didn't really consider himself smart, but he knew he wasn't stupid and he was growing tired of people treating him like he was. He was in fucking Calculus as a sophomore! That should count for something at least.

Haku, meet me in the bathroom.

He slid his phone shut as he slipped it into his pocket as he headed toward the bathroom to wait.

He didn't have to wait long. Haku pushed his way through the swinging door not even minutes later and he approached Naruto immediately.

"What's up?" he asked uneasily, the worry clear in his tone.

"Give me everything you have," Naruto instructed as he gestured toward Haku's pockets, "I'm ditching. I'll sell it so you don't have to."

Haku gazed at him for a long moment and made no move to cooperate.

"Is something wrong Naruto?" he asked earning an impatient noise from the blonde before him.

"No! Just hurry it up while no one else is in here!" he instructed urgently enough to coerce Haku into obeying.

"But why are you ditching?" Haku pressed as he handed bundle after bundle over somewhat hesitantly.

"Because none of my teachers want to take me seriously. I'm only wasting my time right now. I need to clear my head and approach this differently," he mused as Haku's stash went directly into his backpack. Ok, maybe he was generalizing a little bit by pluralizing teacher, but he was angry so it was difficult to stay rational.

"What happened?"

"I nailed my Calculus test and my teacher's convinced I cheated – as if it's impossible to even consider that I could teach myself anything."

His tone was particularly bitter as he zipped up his bag before slinging it back over his unhooked arm.

Haku gazed regretfully at him for a quiet moment and Naruto realized immediately that something was on his mind.

"Come over after school. I don't have to work and you don't have to sell. We can just hang out, like we used to."

The motivation of something to look forward to eased a smile onto Haku's face and Naruto returned it without difficulty.

"Ok."

Naruto's smile widened upon verbal approval of his request and he placed an affectionate hand on Haku's shoulder as he swept past him toward the exit to the restroom.

"See you after three."

The door swung shut behind him and Haku turned toward the hall of stall walls when he heard a urinal flush and he watched as Uchiha Sasuke exited the furthest stall; he only remembered his name because Naruto seemed to hate him on a more profound level than Haku thought capable.

Sasuke's dark eyes kept steadfast with Haku's as he made his way toward the sink and he looked irritatingly unimpressed by what they both knew he overheard.

oOo

Naruto liked ditching because school hours were when the streets were emptiest and that was when he worked best. School wasn't even out and he was way ahead; his mother wouldn't have to work – he made way more than enough.

But he also hated ditching because if he could have one thing, he wished he could get an education so he could get the fuck out of this lifestyle; it was just kind of impossible to do when all the adults around him were either busy dragging him down or stepping on his fingers as he desperately tried to hang on to the edge of the cliff he felt like he was dangling over.

"Oi! Naruto!"

He turned at the sound of his name because the voice was both familiar and friendly and usually it wasn't both of those things combined.

He turned in time to see Suigetsu cross the street hastily to catch up with him and he waited in a form of acknowledgement.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" the young man asked as he fell into step next to the boy who shot him a skeptical look.

"Yeah," he confirmed facetiously, eyes shifting away in irritation, "But it's not worth going into."

"I bet it is," Suigetsu assured as he glanced up the street toward the diner Naruto worked at and gestured for them to go inside. Naruto followed reluctantly because Suigetsu was older than him and in a weird way that didn't make sense, Naruto kind of liked him – he was somehow one of those people he didn't feel obligated to put up a front for. He didn't even feel that way with Haku and Haku was his best friend – well, besides Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't really count right now.

Suigetsu was kind of the adult-type figure that Naruto sought for in silence; even though Suigetsu wasn't really much of an adult. He was only a few years older than Naruto himself.

"Hey Juugo," Naruto began as the tall man behind the bar turned to face them in greeting, "What–?"

"Juugo, what the hell?" Suigetsu asked simultaneously while Naruto slammed his palms onto the bar counter as he pushed himself up in an attempt to get shoulder-level with his orange haired coworker. Suigetsu watched in subtle affection as Naruto hooked his heels onto the railing around the barstool beneath him, giving him an extra two and a half inches as he strained to see something that had his face bright with something foreign – something very childish and far too fitting for Naruto's features.

"Woh! Juugo!" he exclaimed as he reached out to pet the bird perched on his shoulder – he didn't know what kind it was, small and cute; that was his best description, "I'm positive this is a health code violation."

The bird shied away from his hand and he pulled back.

"Ah, it hates me," he laughed as he let his hand fall back to his side in compliance – as if Naruto was used to it.

"Birds are shy," Juugo defended as he glanced at the bird from the corner of his vision, "You have to offer companionship," he continued as he held out a finger for the bird to step onto, "before it can accept."

The bird hopped onto his hand with a colorful chirp and Naruto smiled in fascination. Juugo motioned for him to put his hand up like his and Naruto didn't hesitate to do so. The bird shifted on Juugo's finger for a long moment, sliding back and forth as it chirped uncertainly, before sticking a single leg out to wrap around his finger as if to test the waters.

Naruto hummed in glee, smiling widely when the small animal unfolded its wings to flap them experimentally as it scooted fully onto his finger.

"You can take him with you if you want," Juugo offered as he filled two glasses with ice and two different sodas.

"Really?" Naruto asked with a smile in his tone as he pet the small creature in his hands with the back of his index finger gently enough not to scare or hurt it.

"Yeah, can you set him free on your way out? I think he's getting bored."

"Ok!" Naruto agreed easily as he turned toward the end of the bar distractedly, sitting at the furthest barstool with eyes trained on his new companion. The bird was pecking affectionately at his fingers by now and Juugo smiled a little at how quickly Naruto could make another existence fall in love with his own.

It was weird now that he thought about it. A good majority of the people who loved Naruto most, hated him to begin with.

"Here you go," Juugo offered under his breath as he set the glasses down on the bar, Sprite for Naruto and Coke for Suigetsu.

"So, down to business," Suigetsu reminded as they settled into their spot at the bar, sodas fizzing softly on the bar's surface.

Juugo looked interested at the conversation starter and leaned his elbows on the counter to get comfortable – neither of them really cared; Juugo's lips were tighter than anyone else they knew. He heard everything and spoke of nothing. Juugo listened.

Naruto shot Suigetsu a wary and irritated look but Suigetsu's determination refused to sway even a fraction of an inch.

"I know too many assholes," the blonde began in a vexed tone.

"I'm sure your asshole – I'm sorry, your teacher is just trying to help," Suigetsu joked, earning a chorus of laughter from the blonde that hit him like music – it was good to hear Naruto laugh because it was almost like actually being happy and it was a little addictive. He didn't know how Naruto did it but he smiled a little bit nonetheless, "But in all seriousness, your teacher was probably just trying to help with – whatever it was that happened. What happened by the way?"

Naruto shot the wall to his left a sarcastic look and he looked as if he'd rather just not talk about it.

"My calculus teacher just thinks I'm stupid. He thinks I cheated on my test today – I finished first! I didn't cheat," he explained in an irritated tone.

"Woah, you're in calculus? Aren't you like…fifteen?"

"Fuck off!" Naruto defended, earning an indigent ruffle of the feathers on the bird's back, "Why does it matter how old I am?"

"Well that's why your teacher thinks you're a cheater. I didn't take calculus until college."

"That sounds as if it should be the reason he should believe me when I say I can do the work in my head, not the reason to feel suspicious of me."

"Maybe," Suigetsu agreed before they fell into a comfortable silence. But Naruto soon broke it when he realized something somewhat alarming.

"Hang on, you went to college?" Naruto asked, eyes subtly suspicious when Suigetsu looked somewhat taken aback.

"I mean if I would have gone I would have taken Calculus my first year," he corrected easily. It was either an easy lie or the truth and Naruto wasn't sure which so he didn't put it away in his mind as either.

Suigetsu left him wondering sometimes.

"I'm sure your teacher will figure out just how smart you are – give fate a chance to settle in; things always have a way of working themselves out."

Naruto gazed at Juugo for a long moment but didn't reply verbally as he shifted his gaze back to the bird in his hands.

They were kind words and Naruto didn't want to act ungrateful by saying something bratty…but he didn't really believe in fate or the sway of the universe or any of that. No destiny he'd ever heard of could lift the soda on the counter to his lips; if he wanted it, he'd have to grab it himself. He was pretty sure the same principle applied to the rest of the world. The only way to get somewhere was to do everything within his power to make it happen. His future rested in his own hands and he believed that without a single waver of doubt.

Of course, a little help with happy coincidence didn't hurt at all and maybe that's what he'd take out of it rather than feeling bad for so strongly inwardly disagreeing with Juugo.

Maybe this thing's way of working itself out was by what he chose to do next.

"What time is it?" he asked more to himself than anything as he turned to gaze at the wall behind him where he knew he'd find a clock.

"Got plans?" Suigetsu asked distractedly as he slowly stuck out a finger toward the bird in an attempt to steal the small animal while Naruto analyzed the clock.

"I might go back over to school. I could get there before my teacher leaves," he mused as he turned back around, eyes glaring suspiciously at Suigetsu when he retracted his hand quickly.

"I think you should," Juugo interrupted easily, earning Naruto's rapt attention because people hardly ever agreed with him, "It'll show your teacher that you care by taking the initiative and that's something they respect a lot."

The bird hopped over to Suigetsu's slowly approaching hand but Naruto hadn't really noticed and it was probably just good timing because Suigetsu had a feeling Naruto would have stood as abruptly as he did, palms slamming against the bar surface as he stood from his stool with or without the bird on his finger – tunnel vision was a small side effect of Naruto's determination. When he decided on something, the rest of the world disappeared until he finished whatever he set his mind on.

It was his most admirable and most annoying feature all in one, especially if you disagreed with him. Because a lot of his decisions usually ended with him getting screwed to help someone else and that alone was scary to think about because Naruto didn't ask for help from anyone ever. And he didn't have much to give up to begin with.

Even now, Suigetsu wondered when Naruto's last meal was – his last real meal; not whatever shit he bought with his EBT. All Suigetsu knew, was at fifteen, he wasn't interested in cooking a balanced meal for himself and Naruto probably wasn't either.

But this was for himself so Suigetsu wasn't going anywhere near criticizing him.

Juugo shot Suigetsu an odd look when Naruto turned and exited the diner swiftly one goodbye too soon. His mind was completely somewhere else.

His walk to school had been far too long and far too quiet with nothing to distract his reeling mind and by the time he snuck back onto school grounds, he felt a little uneasy but way too anxious to wait so he slammed the door open as he approached the tall man at the chalkboard who stopped mid-lecture in time to catch the calculator tossed toward him.

The door shut, sealing a deafening silence as Naruto stepped back a small distance.

"Naruto, I'm teaching a class."

His eyes shifted toward the general mass of eyes upon him and he immediately glared straight toward the dark pair at the far left of the room. He didn't really give a fuck.

"Just make them leave," he suggested easily as his eyes shifted back toward the tall man several feet before him.

"I can't! That's not fair to them–"

"I didn't fucking cheat!"

"Hey mutha fucka check that volume – we don't want the other teachers hearing that language do we?" Bee urged quickly.

"Then hear me out and make them leave," Naruto repeated in a silent threat for the next thing ready to spill from his mouth at whatever volume he felt necessary, "And if I go down for language, I'm taking you with me."

"Well that's about it for today," Bee began as he turned to address the class that didn't look all too disappointed to be let free several minutes early at the end of the day.

Naruto shared a significant glare with Sasuke as he exited the classroom with the last few stragglers and soon, the door shut and it was quiet when only the pair of them remained.

"Ask any question, you don't even have to write it down, and I'll answer it without showing you any work – there's no one here for me to cheat off of and I can't have the answer because I don't know the question. You don't even know the question yet."

Bee stared at him for a long moment, eyes filled with some sort of smiling amusement and crossed his arms over his chest.

"For the sake of seeing this and not because I think you cheated, find the square root of six-hundred ninety-three."

The meaning behind the words registered first and he smiled in disbelief before realizing he had a question to answer.

"What nearest decimal do you want it rounded to?"

Bee laughed dryly in amusement as he unfolded his arms, typing in the problem into the calculator and looking at the number given to him.

"Just round to the nearest thousandth," he instructed easily, eyes steadfast on the number on the screen.

"Twenty-six and three-hundred twenty-four thousandths."

Bee shook his head incredulously; that was pretty amazing.

"Here," Bee hummed as he leaned back several inches to grab a sheet of paper off his desk. Naruto grabbed it and his lips split into a smile at the 'A' on the top of it.

"Hah! Thanks," he breathed, eyes rooted on the letter at the top margin of the sheet in his hands.

"Don't thank me," the man laughed earning Naruto's curious gaze, "Technically, I didn't do anything. You taught it to yourself."

"Kinda," the blonde shrugged modestly; he could feel his cheeks burning a little.

"Naruto, you know, this skill you have–"

But before he could continue, the sound of the door being thrown open interrupted them and both turned to see Haku standing in the doorway, eyes incredulous and slightly crazy. Haku had his moments.

"Naruto! I just heard what you did!"

"He-he," the blonde grinned with a vixenishly accomplished smile as he held up his test for Haku's eyes to scan. He gazed at it with furrowed eyebrows for a long moment before it registered in his memory that this was what had upset Naruto earlier. It seemed Naruto resolved everything without him and he felt himself ease with relief; usually things didn't go this smoothly when Naruto was left to solve a confrontation on his own. Naruto was far too impulsive to think rationally and it always got him in trouble.

He just plain didn't think before he spoke ever, and to make matters worse, he never failed to keep to his word, no matter how impossible it seemed.

"Naruto, that's great!" Haku complimented, earning a sheepish blush as he pulled the paper away from his vision as he shrugged submissively.

"It's whatever, Haku let's go," he mumbled before shooting Bee a grateful look and leaving for the exit.

Haku followed him out the classroom, watching him with intrigued and wary eyes. Naruto was so odd at times. On a pleasant day, he seemed to enjoy flying under the radar; or, at least a general perspective from Haku liked to believe so. But when Naruto wanted someone's acknowledgement, all inhibition was cast aside because he didn't care what means he had to take to do what he had to do to get what he wanted.

He was only loud when he had to be – when people refused to acknowledge him; unfortunately kids in their situation were rarely acknowledged for much. The teachers knew what they did – him and Naruto; it hadn't been verbally confirmed, but everyone knew when a person was selling drugs. There were very recognizable signs and Haku was pretty sure any idiot could figure it out.

When they got back to Naruto's mom's apartment, Kyuubi was asleep on the couch and Naruto shot him a look Haku wasn't really sure how to describe; it was a mix between unconditional animosity and something more complex than that – Naruto really hated Kyuubi.

He slammed his door a little louder than necessary when they got to his room and he immediately lit a cigarette. Haku didn't even see him pull out the cardboard box of partly-empty cigarettes and he knew Naruto must have been feeling particularly overwhelmed by whatever emotions were swirling around in his cognition because he only ever really smoked when he was.

But Naruto's eyebrows furrowed slightly and he seemed to remember something or discover a dark thought, Haku wasn't sure. But he ashed the cigarette almost roughly before putting it out after just one solitary drag and he almost seemed to spit the smoky air out with frustration and trepidation and Haku knew he had something heavy on his mind. He didn't blame him for it; they hadn't expected Kyuubi to be there. He wasn't often here weekdays until later at night.

"Haku, I'll be right back, ok? You can smoke if you want. You know where to find it," he assured as he tossed his pack of cigarettes toward the boy sitting on the end of his bed who caught them with a grateful and very small smile. He reached in and grabbed an odd looking cigarette from the far back corner, hidden well by the foil package wrapping. His fingers rolled over the smooth, cool plastic surface as he twisted off the brown end to reveal the hallowed out inside.

If the apartment didn't already smell so strongly of weed, the smell might have crept across the room when he opened it.

Naruto tossed him a lighter as Haku passed back the mostly full carton of cigarettes before he exited the room to the hallway as he made his way toward his mother's room. He hesitated – and for a really long time – at her door. He learned early to avoid her room the closer it got to evening; it wasn't evening now, but almost seven years of skittish behavior as he reached for the doorknob couldn't be erased in a moment as arguably as insignificant as this.

"Mom?" he began softly as he knocked, opening the door slowly and with caution. His eyes found the bed and he saw his mother in her bed alone and all his hesitation disappeared, especially when he saw how badly she was sweating. She was shaking and moaning in her sleep and Naruto knew she was having a nightmare, "Hey mom, wake up, it's after three," he continued in a soft tone as he made his way around the bed toward her side, kneeling down next to her and patting her softly on the cheek. He was afraid of waking her any more abruptly – she might lash out.

She woke up slowly and reluctantly and everything about her features screamed sick and Naruto waited with trepidation for what kind of mood she might be in; drugs fucked with people and his mom messed with a lot of stuff that Naruto reverently feared. He wasn't sure if it was her choice or not…probably by now she was begging for the fix; it was how Kyuubi was able to use her apartment – use her.

Her eyes found him and Naruto watched her forcer her features close to normal because she didn't want to worry him.

"Hey baby," she whispered in a tired tone as she wiped the back of her hand across her forehead in an attempt to remove the sweat beating across her pale and clammy skin.

"Have you eaten anything today or yesterday? Mom you look sick," he noticed in an anxious tone.

"I'm fine baby," she reassured in a gentle tone as she rolled onto her back, eyes landing on the empty side of the bed, "Where's your dad?"

"God, mom," he whispered, more to himself than anything – she was so out of it. He reached over and placed a gentle hand on her face, turning her back toward him, "Dad's dead, remember?" he reminded, earning an odd look from the red haired woman.

"I meant Kyuubi," she mused softly while Naruto pulled back, eyebrows furrowed. Her features were shifting and he could tell she was trying not to look as sick as she did; what a helplessly futile thing to try and do – but Naruto didn't really think any less of her for it. He was just as stubborn as her. His dad did always used to say he was his mother's son. He inherited a lot of her personality and a good portion of his looks. So he couldn't help but feel a small surge of pride because, to him, relentlessness was admirable; people should never give up.

But more disconcerting was what she had actually just said. She meant Kyuubi? Kyuubi? When the hell did a term reserved for fatherhood and Kyuubi's person fall anywhere near close in categorized thought to be considered possible to interexchange, even by accident?

How the fuck did anyone consider them equal?

"He's not my fucking dad, mom!" he almost yelled in a frustrated tone, "Not even close!"

God, he missed his dad so much.

So much because his mom wasn't even real anymore: she was a paper-thin shell of herself and she knew it. It was what drugs did to people.

She didn't have much of a choice. When Minato had been killed, she was left with no job and an eight year old boy who needed to eat and go to school and have a home to return to at nightfall. So she did what any desperate high school dropout in her situation would have done. She waited as long as she could, but the economy was poor and it was her last resort.

If only she could have done the job without the drugs – but that was idealistic and naïve to imagine; without the drugs, she would be useless. Without the drugs she could walk away at any time. Without the drugs she wouldn't have a deadly need to stay and do whatever she was told, whenever she was told.

"Could you go get him for me?" she asked in a halfway desperate tone.

"Mom, you need to eat. When did you eat last?" Naruto urged in reminder. She forced herself to ignore his disappointment that she was putting the day she needed to face off so consistently. She shot the ceiling a thoughtful look, but it soon turned anxious and Naruto knew she was heroin sick.

"Go get Kyuubi," she whispered as she closed her eyes, an arm draping over her eyes.

"Mom just–"

"Go Naruto! Ok?" she snapped, voice soft but irritated and Naruto pulled back in disappointment. He was fighting a losing battle; nothing was as life-consuming as heroin – at least it seemed that way in so many different places in Naruto's life. Drugs were always getting in the way.

He shouldn't really talk. He did quite a few drugs himself and he fucking hated himself for it; she probably loathed her own existence just as much as he derided his own.

He stood and exited the bedroom, not bothering to close the door on the way out as he entered the living room and willed himself to not act like a little shit for his mother's sake; but seeing Kyuubi sleeping so soundly on his living room couch with an empty bottle of tequila on the coffee table next to him and the TV left on overnight just made his blood boil.

He contemplated how to rouse the man and his mind went straight to the 409 under his kitchen sink but he slapped himself mentally for it before resolving to just calling his name from the other side of the coffee table separating them.

When he finally woke up, his groggy and somehow piercing eyes found Naruto's and he glared a very generous portion of threat. Naruto could admit that he was profoundly defenseless to it; his mother was heroin sick which was as good as not even here at all so Kyuubi was free to kick his ass if he felt like it. Not to mention that Haku was here, and Haku really didn't need to deal with it, especially when Naruto had promised they'd hang out. Haku deserved a couple hours of positive vibe.

"What?" the man snapped in a harsh tone that had Naruto shifting his eyes away in insecurity. Every single thing counted and he desperately needed not to fuck up, for Haku and his mother's sakes mostly. So he coaxed himself to humble his hatred enough to sound self-effacing because that would let Kyuubi know he was willing to humiliate himself however possible if he would just go help his mom.

Kyuubi reached for an empty sandwich size zip-lock bag on the table and he shook it with distasteful look, probably at the fact that it was completely empty. He tossed it over the armrest his head rested against and it fell into the empty metal trashcan under it. Naruto stared at it for a longing moment but he yanked his gaze away with a determined edge.

Patience!

"My mom needs you," he explained in a low tone, eyes steadfast on the floor as he avoided Kyuubi's piercing gaze.

Kyuubi's eyes shifted toward the clock on the wall and he smirked softly.

"I'll bet she does."

But he didn't say anything else because he loved to torment Naruto in whatever way possible and Naruto had already submitted himself to endure it.

"Well will you go help her? She's getting sick," he explained in the most neutral tone he could grit out.

"Why should I?" Kyuubi asked in an amused tone as he smiled widely, arms crossing over his chest and ankles crossing at the opposite end of the couch as he leaned into the cushions beneath him, features downright superior as he waited for Naruto's answer.

"She really needs to eat, and she won't eat if she's sick," Naruto pleaded halfway monotonously. He was trying not to sound too desperate because he still had a little pride. Plus, his mind was halfway elsewhere.

"Why does that matter to me? What benefit is it to me to get up and help her?" he inquired in a tone Naruto couldn't quite decipher; he grit his teeth in irritation.

"What do you want?"

Kyuubi smirked and Naruto shifted his eyes away because Kyuubi knew he was broke – not that Kyuubi actually needed money from him. He just liked to make it as hard as possible for Naruto.

"Give me your cigarettes," he demanded with a wry smile. Naruto fished out the requested item before throwing them at the man's chest with a good amount of irritation in his demeanor. He'd just bought them. Fuck.

But seeing Naruto's frustration was only fuel to get Kyuubi toward helping his mom and it was working for the most part. Kyuubi was getting up.

A thought suddenly struck him and he realized he'd better make food while his mother would actually eat it. It would still be a pain in the ass to get her to do it, but at least she wouldn't be throwing up.

Kyuubi left for the hallway and Naruto searched through the kitchen, realization hitting him slowly that they had no food and he was already out of credit on his EBT. He felt his frustration boil because he'd just helped his mom get high for nothing and lost his last pack of cigarettes in the process until he got paid at the end of the week.

He knew cigarettes should be just about the last thing he should complain about, but the bad choice to smoke had already been made and he regretted it with a very profound knowledge of how stupid it really was.

But that didn't make it any less addicting or any less shitty when his withdrawals kicked in.

Something chimed in his memory and he straightened as he glanced toward the trashcan at the end of the couch. His eyes shot to the wall shared between half the kitchen and his mother's bedroom. Kyuubi probably wouldn't come out right away.

His eyes swept the counter and he grabbed the first clean napkin he saw before heading for the small metal can and pulling out the bag gently and surely, fingers careful not to touch the plastic directly. With another quick glance toward the hall he hurried off toward his room and slipped inside quickly.

When he reentered his room, Haku shot him an inquisitive look – he probably looked a little crazy; he was high on adrenalin and potential because he'd been waiting for this exact moment for years. His eyes were probably burning with vengeance.

He felt a bit grateful for Haku's tact to at least ignore him long enough for him to finish what he was doing – obviously it was important. He pulled several books free from his bookcase and stuck the bag, along with the napkin, behind the books, before the missing section was returned, blocking his small and odd treasure away from eyesight.

Things were coming together and his eyes were watching his future blossom with possibilities before the sound of a lighter snapped him back to reality. Oh right, his mom was probably getting high right now thanks to him. And to top it off, he wouldn't be bringing her that food he'd talked about.

Naruto sat down heavily on the edge of his bed by his bedside table and lit the cigarette left in the ashtray before Kyuubi saw it and took it, too.

Haku watched him with trepidation in his features. Naruto really only smoked cigarettes when he was stressed and he didn't blame him at all for that. Naruto was in a very tight spot right now at a very young age with very little consent. He usually smoked a few months at a time until a very gray period would pass, but this one had been rolling on without end for nine months now and he feared for when and how it would end. These things usually died spectacularly.

"Sorry, Haku," he apologized softly with a genuinely deceiving smile. He hated how good Naruto was at lying to him; he wanted so badly to come off as this perfectly content person and he knew Naruto only did it for Haku's sake. He passed the orange bubbler in his hands toward the boy next to him and Naruto smiled wider in appreciation as he accepted the piece with one hand and the lighter with the other.

He held the carb with the thumb of the hand holding the piece by the thin neck as he flicked the lighter and lit the bowl. Smoke filtered into the chamber with a soft bubbling before he released the carb and tried to clear it. But he handed it back to Haku half full, smoke rising from the bowl and out through the carb and mouthpiece, chamber half-full as he emptied his lungs with a soft cough.

"That's impossible to clear if the bowl stays lit," he breathed out through the smoke and a wry smile – his piece was trying to get him more fucked up than he'd anticipated; sneaky pipe.

Haku laughed as he took the bubbler as it was handed to him and he quickly cleared the smoke left inside before it got stale.

But the bowl was still lit and the chamber filled with more smoke as the old smoke was sucked out and Naruto laughed, a good amount of smoke escaping his lips as he did, enticing a cough from his lungs. Fuck he wished he'd of gotten all the smoke out first before coughing.

"See!" he exclaimed through his cough. He had more to say but he stopped in favor of coughing harshly into the bend of his arm; that was ok though, the harder the cough, the higher he was, "I'll clear it one day. I'll just power hit the whole bowl until it's nothing but ash – then it can't refill."

Haku laughed genuinely because Naruto probably wasn't kidding and if he said he'd do it, he probably would.

"Today's one day," he added softly before lighting the bowl to escape Naruto's sharp gaze.

"Haku you're instigating!" Naruto accused in an amused tone while Haku smiled around the mouthpiece.

Naruto smiled fondly at the boy next to him and tried not to visibly flinch when he heard a loud thud and audible arguing – Kyuubi probably just hit his mother. Haku shot him a subtle look and he put the pipe down before he could spark the lighter.

"Maybe we should go," he whispered as he glanced toward the window. He hated it, because there was nothing he could do. In retrospect – nothing. Nothing. Nothing! Fuck! If he tried to intervene, he usually made things much worse for his mom and he understood a thing or two about letting someone handle their own situation; not that he was unwilling to help his mother – but he knew when it was a lost cause by now.

Plus, she asked for him to come, so she knew what she was getting into. And he knew there was no way he could help.

They both stood and headed for the window and Naruto flinched visibly this time when Kyuubi hit his mom and Haku ignored it because he respected Naruto's pride enough. Haku reached for the window and unlatched the lock as he tossed it open before climbing nimbly through the small spaces between the bars over Naruto's window.

Out of all the people who visited Naruto's home, only he, Haku, and Gaara could still slip between the bars and they were almost too big to fit through; Haku doubted they'd be able to by this time next year. He was confident Naruto would figure out another escape route if not just modify this one without the landlord finding out.

Naruto squeezed through next and he let the window slide shut with an audible click as the window locked itself. All the windows in this building were equipped with that feature; Naruto liked and disliked it – it was impossible to sneak in unless he left it open which was just asking for someone to try and break in. His window was on street level – people walked past his bedroom window all hours of the day.

Plus, having an escape was way more important than having an entrance because no one really cared when he came home, so he wasn't complaining.

"Naruto!" he heard from across the street. Both boys glanced up to see Suigetsu and Naruto waved in acknowledgement as they quickly crossed the street to go meet him, "Hey, how'd your meeting go with your teache – Naruto? Hey!"

Suigetsu was only attempting to be nice; Naruto had seemed so determined – he saw him last within the hour. But Naruto walked right past him and he didn't even get to finish his question.

But the blonde turned and stared at him expectantly as he motioned for him to follow.

"Come on, I gotta get out of here," he explained easily before continuing down the street toward the diner – it was where he always went second; his place to think for a minute without anyone bothering him.

They entered the diner and looked toward the bar. Juugo wasn't scheduled tonight and Naruto shot Haku a subtle glance; he could see the anticipation fall into disappointment in his eyes and he glanced toward Suigetsu next who looked back at him sympathetically.

"Hey, how bout we go back to my place instead?" Suigetsu suggested: more for Haku than anyone.

He glanced up at Suigetsu and smiled shyly in approval. Naruto felt his heart swell with the type of smile on Haku's lips – the kind that he was trying to force down but couldn't. Naruto didn't really understand Haku's fascination with Juugo but…to each his own. He was positive Haku was gay; he just wasn't sure if Haku knew it yet himself, but he'd figure it out on his own. It was better that way.

When they got to the apartment, Juugo was in the kitchen and his features brightened instantly when they landed on Haku.

"Hey, Juugo," Haku greeted coyly as he took a seat on the stool at the corner of the kitchen. Naruto shared an amused look with Suigetsu at his behavior. They struck up a personal conversation and Naruto pretty much knew he would be occupied for the remainder of the night. Suigetsu and himself sat down in the living room and watched something on the television while chatting here and there.

Every so often he would read something in his phone and his expression would range from irritated to confused and Suigetsu subtly wondered who he was talking to.

"So how'd your meeting with your teacher go?" Suigetsu asked when Naruto put his phone back down in his lap, blue eyes shifting up to meet Suigetsu's.

"Great! I got an A," he explained in an uplifting tone.

"Naruto you should really try and go to college," Suigetsu encouraged in a genuine tone.

"Why?" Naruto asked, tone suspicious and eyes narrowed.

"Why go to college?"

"No, why are you telling me that?"

"What, I can't have responsible ideals?" Suigetsu inquired in a halfheartedly offended tone.

"No," Naruto corrected with an amused smile as he kicked his feet up onto the coffee table before them, "It just caught me off guard is all."

Suigetsu mumbled something about disrespectful kids as he followed suit and something jingled near his feet as he upset it upon throwing his feet onto the table and he watched Naruto slap his fingers over whatever it was and he was already one hundred percent distracted by it.

"What is this?" he asked in awe as he held up the small treasure in his fingers.

"Uh…I don't remember what it's used for actually–" Suigetsu admitted as he scratched the back of his neck with his hand as he smiled sheepishly. It looked like…a piece of metal about the length of his finger and bent at a ninety degree angle – hm, interesting.

"I didn't actually mean, 'what is it'," Naruto explained in an unimpressed tone. Suigetsu laughed; sometimes Naruto made him feel really dumb, "It's a tension wrench."

"Oh," he breathed in understanding. He didn't even know he had a tension wrench – or what a tension wrench was even used for. What could it possibly fix? It was so small, "Do you – um, do you want it?" Suigetsu asked as he shrugged in indifference, "I would probably just end up throwing it away."

"Fuck yea!" Naruto cheered as he grasped the wrench with his hand tightly, a smile splitting across his features. But his hand opened quickly and it seemed as if he'd noticed something. He looked at the handle of the wrench and ran his finger across a small strip of sandpaper stuck there then laughed in amusement, "This belonged to a thief. If they come looking, don't tell them where to find it."

"What?" Suigetsu inquired, completely lost by his candid words, "How do you know?"

Naruto's eyes remained glued to his newly acquired instrument and he smiled at the question.

"I just do," he breathed before his eyes shifted forward and he looked pensive, "I want it on my keychain. Too bad there's no way to get it on there."

"We could weld it," Suigetsu suggested impulsively as he jumped off the couch with an impressive amount of energy, "I'm positive I have a blowtorch around here somewhere."

"Oh geeze," Naruto breathed to himself uneasily as he watched him move toward a pile of assorted crap he didn't want to throw away near the corner of the room before he began sifting through it.

"See!" Suigetsu claimed in victory as he held up a helmet – not a blowtorch but ok, "This is the mask I used to have to wear when I used a blowtorch at my old job."

He smacked it on and flipped down the face mask, leaving a small window from which Naruto could still see his eyes. The younger looked pretty unimpressed.

But a victorious 'blowtorch!' echoed through the apartment and Naruto knew he found the tool he was looking for. He moved toward the outlet where the TV was plugged in and Naruto watched him a little incredulously.

"Uuh, Suigetsu? Won't that blow a fuse?" Naruto inquired, earning a hesitant and thoughtful look from the blue haired man.

"Ooh, I'll go through the bathroom," Suigetsu suggested as he fled toward said location, "They have special outlets for that right? So women can use their hair-driers and whatever?"

"Except that's a blowtorch – and it's just a little bit different from a hair-drier."

"Hot-air-blower, fire-spitter, it's all the same, isn't it?"

"Whatever Suigetsu, this is your apartment and you're and adult. Do what you want," Naruto assured with hands raised to his shoulders, palms out in surrender.

Suigetsu smirked in triumph as he plugged in the tool before heading for the couch, the long, orange extension cord trailing along behind him.

"Let me see what we're working with here," he breathed as Naruto pulled out his keys with one hand while holding his newly acquired tool in the other. He tapped the bent part against the keyring gently before looking up in inquiry.

"Is this actually gonna work?" he asked, tone unsure.

"It should. Most wrenches are made out of chromium and keyrings are made of stainless steel which is just steel with chromium added to it to prevent rusting. Plus, this is technically an oxyacetylene torch, which means it gets hot enough to weld – it mixes fuel with oxygen. So let's cross our fingers huh? Alright just hold it together where you want it welded…" Suigetsu trailed off, earning an incredulous look in return.

"Fuck no! You'll burn me!" he denied hastily as he pulled his hands away quickly before Suigetsu could bring the blowtorch any closer.

The blue haired man grabbed the keyring out of one hand, and the wrench out of the other, with a hint of attitude and Naruto gladly let him. He headed for the kitchen and Juugo and Haku evacuated the general area smartly.

Juugo said something about blowing a fuse once again and Suigetsu shot him a glare while he steadily ignored the warning.

He filled the sink with cold water as he lit the torch and the rest of the electronic appliances didn't seem affected so he continued until the welding was finished and he dropped the keyring into the water with a loud hissing, steam rising to the ceiling for a moment from the heat.

Naruto and Juugo shared a quick look because neither of them had really expected it to work and Suigetsu turned in time to catch the end of it.

"See! You guys were just being paranoid! This is a man's apartment and I'm a man," he explained in a deep voice as he held up the blowtorch with one hand while flipping down the faceplate of his helmet and lighting the fire in his hand.

Then it was quiet and dark and Naruto hit the floor laughing riotously, partly because he was clumsy enough with the lights on and it only took fractions of a second to find something to trip over.

"A dumb man!" he deemed through his laughter while Suigetsu reluctantly joined in, followed by Haku and Juugo who had been silently watching since Suigetsu's initial screech of 'Blowtorch!'

Good friends were hard to come by.

oOo

Sasuke lay on his stomach on his bed, pencil tapping against his cheek as he read through the textbook laid out before him.

What the fuck was he supposed to be studying about? He swore he read this like eight times now. He seriously couldn't focus with how distracted he felt.

As if to nail the lid on the coffin, his phone vibrated and he tossed his pencil over the edge of his bed as he rolled over onto his back, pulling out his phone swiftly in the process and sliding it open to read the text sent to him.

Teme!

Thank god. Someone he actually liked talking to.

Sasuke smirked a little because of Naruto's antics. His personality blared through even in a thing as detached and unreadable as a text and that kind of amazed him because Sasuke failed to show even an ounce of his personality in person. Or maybe that was his personality – the lack thereof; he didn't know. He didn't really care.

Ah, the guy who doesn't text back when it's important.

It was only seconds before he received a reply.

What do you mean? You're the one who never texted back. Asshole.

Ah, whatever. It was just a technicality when it came down to it; it was probably a stray text that never met its destination. Sasuke scrolled up to see the last text that never went through and he wished badly it had reached Naruto because he really wanted to know the information he'd been inquiring about. And by now it was far too late to re-request the information he wanted; it was no longer the appropriate time, and Naruto probably had other things to talk about.

Forget it, what's on your mind, dobe?

Too much.

Sasuke felt his stomach drop from the ambiguity alone. Naruto didn't even yell at him for the nickname; things were getting worse.

Do you need help?

Sasuke waited a very long time for a reply and he wondered if Naruto was caught up with something or if he was having a difficult time admitting it but he just assumed it was the latter when he finally did receive a short 'yes' and nothing more.

What do you need?

He responded much quicker this time.

Food, please? It's for my mom. I have no idea when she ate last. I'm out of EBT.

Sasuke grit his teeth as he reigned in his patience. Naruto's mother was so lucky to have a child like Naruto; he was willing to do anything for her, even demolish his pride directly to Sasuke himself – the person he strived to be best for more than anyone.

Ok, but what about you?

He wasn't sure whether to feel surprised or not to find that Naruto wouldn't respond.

oOo

I know the first two chapters are really slow, but the plot will pick up pretty much right at the beginning of chapter three – thank you for being patient :) the worst is over lol