A/N: Whoo, guess who's back form ENGLAND, YO! Anyhow, England was fun; the hospital part, NOT SO MUCH, but England in general. I'm going to be coming back to my old schedule, and I'll try to update as much as possible when school starts next week. Hide me, Mommy. School's starting soon. MEEP. (hides in corner) ANYHOW! I hope you enjoy this chapter; it's more about Naruto's past than anything, but I still had fun typing it. WHOOT.
Disclaimer: Naruto and Co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
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Itachi entered the apartment to see Sasuke sitting on the armchair, looking out the window with his legs pulled up against his chest, his arms wrapped around the legs and his chin resting on his knees. The older Uchiha brother looked at the younger for a long moment, before he sighed, putting his coat on the rake and walking over to him, sitting on the arm of the chair.
"How was your day?" He asked, looking at the younger boy worriedly. Sasuke was just…Staring…At nothing.
Suddenly those dark eyes looked up at him, and Sasuke shrugged slightly. "It was fine." He said gently. "I did what you asked me to." Itachi smiled and nodded, then sighed and stood up, going over to the kitchen to start making them dinner. "Aniki…Why did you make me forget?" Sasuke asked gently, looking at the ground and not his brother. Itachi winced at that, looking back at the younger Uchiha with guilt in his eyes.
"I was trying to protect you." He replied honestly; it was what he was trying to do. He just…Did it wrongly. Sasuke nodded, closing his eyes. "Do you hate me for it?"
"I thought I would." Sasuke replied quietly. Itachi froze, gripping the counter with white knuckles as he closed his eyes, holding his breath as his heart clenched painfully. "…But I don't." Itachi opened his eyes in shock, his breath letting out and his grip loosening. "What's for dinner?"
Itachi sighed, leaning against the counter, before turning to look at Sasuke and smiling slightly. "What do you want for dinner, otouto?"
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Naruto shook his head like a puppy, water flying off of the wild blonde locks, before he looked up, pushing back his wet bangs from his blue eyes to see Kakashi drying his hair off with a towel, looking at him oddly. His blue bandage and his mask had been taken off, leaving his face to be bared; the only person who would ever see his face was Naruto.
"So how's Sasuke?"
"A little shaken, but he should be fine." Naruto said, smiling slightly. "I got Sakura to walk him home; they live in the same apartment building, so it's all good. Itachi told him to hang around the gang and me so that he can act semi-normal without worry of freaking out during class without someone he trusts there beside him."
Kakashi sighed, leaning against the wall and tossing him the towel, sighing as his hair flopped over the left side of his face. "That boy sure is a handful; he's going to break any second you know."
Naruto sighed, drying off his hair with the towel, and looked at him quietly. "That's why Itachi wants me around him; I can relate to him on more levels."
"You weren't raped, Naruto."
"I was damn close, Kakashi, and you fuck well know it."
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Sakura sighed quietly, pushing back her hair from her eyes as she continued to cook her supper, looking over her shoulder and sighing at Ino, who was looking out the window quietly. "What's up, Ino? Why'd you come over so late?"
"Sasuke Uchiha; what's up with him? He seems more quiet than usual…And his eyes are dead." The blonde said, looking over to her best friend quietly, her wet hair dripping droplets onto the blanket that was wrapped around her. Sakura sighed, putting down her kitchen knife and walked over to Ino, sitting next to her and looking out the window, watching the rain quietly.
"I don't know what's wrong; he says that he's remembering something in his past that hurt him. I didn't understand what he meant, though." She then smiled slightly, looking at her. "But we don't have to worry about that, right? What we have to worry about is getting you something to eat."
Ino smiled slightly and nodded, looking out the window again quietly as Sakura got up to continue cooking supper. "So…Where are the rents?" She asked gently, watching the rain fall quietly.
"They're on a big business trip again; they're never home so they might as well be dead." Sakura said bitterly, frowning slightly, before she sighed. "I got a post card from Hawaii last time they contacted me. That was a month ago. I doubt they're there anymore."
"Sakura…Aren't you lonely in this apartment?" Ino asked, looking over at her and frowning slightly. "I mean, it's meant for three people, and yet only one person lives here."
"I'm going to ask my parents when they call this month if I can rent out their room to someone so that it's easier for me to pay the rent. Most likely they won't mind as long as I put away all their junk in case 'someone tries to steal them'." Sakura snorted at that, then sighed, pushing chopped up carrots into the soup she was making. "It doesn't really matter to me; I hate them anyhow."
Ino sighed, and nodded. "Yeah…Same here."
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The next day came with sun hitting Sasuke in the face in his open window, the rain from the day before having ended in the middle of the night. Sasuke groaned softly, turning in his bed, before he slowly sat up, looking around. He blinked lazily, looking at the door to see Itachi standing there looking at him. Sasuke shook his head, and Itachi sighed, before he walked over to him.
"Last day of school this week, then it's the weekend. We'll be going somewhere to celebrate surviving for a week here, and then you have to find a job so that you can help pay the rent with me." The older Uchiha said, and then smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Sasuke replied truthfully, looking up at Itachi. "I think…I think I'll be okay."
Itachi smiled, then nodded and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. "Get a shower and get dressed; your breakfast will be made when you're finished." He then smiled and ruffled up Sasuke's hair, walking out of the room.
Sasuke looked at the closed door, then sighed and got up to do as he was told. Sighing quietly, he got up and walked to his bathroom, closing the door behind him with a soft click and slowly started to remove his clothes to get ready for his shower. When he pulled off his T-shirt that he had slept in, he looked at the left side of his neck, blinking at the tattoo he had found the other day.
Suddenly he placed a hand over it, teeth clenched tightly as if he were in pain as he fell to his knees, his forehead resting against the cupboard door as his eyes closed and his mind pulled him back into another one of his many memories.
Orochimaru looked at all of the children he had gathered from a variety of places; the street, at schools, and even in some playgrounds. Lonely looking children that separated themselves from society and life. He had gathered them all; given them a place to stay. A 'home' or sorts.
"From now on your loyalties belong to me, Orochimaru Goizamu. I am the only one you can truly trust. I am the only one you can place your life into; your very thoughts and secrets. To show your loyalties to me, I am going to give you tattoos. Your tattoo will depend on what 'rank' you hold in this gang. Line up in a single file and stand quietly. We have a tattooist here to give you these markings." The children all stood up, lining up as they were told to do, Sasuke standing in between a white haired boy named Kimimaro who seemed to be quiet and a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes, a strand of hair in front of her face; Tayuya, he remembered her calling herself.
Slowly, one by one, they went up to the tattooist that Orochimaru had brought, him telling the tattooist what the tattoo had to look like on each person. Tayuya went up right before him, and got a tattoo on her shoulder that was zigzagged. Finally it was his turn.
He walked up quietly, looking at the tattooist with slight fear in his dark obsidian eyes. He sat down quietly and he felt Orochimaru smile fondly at him; he was the favourite. He knew he was the favourite. And he hated it, but he had to live through it; this was his only salvation; his only escape from reality. He'd deal.
"Left side of his neck; make it this one." Orochimaru said, showing the tattoo to the tattooist. The man raised an eyebrow in question, looking at him carefully.
"You gave this one to Anko when she was here." He said quietly as he prepared the black ink, telling Sasuke to relax and sit still, and to bear the pain as best as possible. "He a special one?"
Orochimaru smiled. "Very much so."
Before Sasuke could retort to that—tell him he didn't want to be special—the needle went upon his skin and started to forever mark his pale skin, making him close his eyes and hiss through his teeth in undistinguishable pain. A few minutes later, it stopped, and he looked over at his sore shoulder as the man took a cloth and wiped the blood off of it, before he tapped a white bandage over it, telling him not to go in the water for a while. He nodded, pulling his shift on that he had had to take off earlier, and walked out of the recreation building, not watching as Kimimaro got his tattoo.
As soon as he was out of sight, he learned against the wall, and let the tears of pain out finally.
Sasuke rubbed the tattoo quietly, breathing in deeply before he stood up, and finished getting undressed, starting his shower and stepping in as soon as the water got to the right temperature.
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Naruto stretched his arms up above his head leisurely, yawning widely as he sat up, blinking a little stupidly, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts and sighed, slipping the covers off of him and throwing his legs over the side of his bed, his feet planted firmly on the ground. 'I hate mornings…' He thought, sighing as he stood up, scratching his bare chest as he padded out of his room and into the hall, going towards the bathroom in nothing but his boxers. They were a dark; navy blue with red foxes imprinted on them and the saying, 'Like a Fox!' randomly scattered to make the pattern. Kakashi had bought it as a prank present, saying Kyuubi would be flattered.
Let's just say he was in the hospital for three days after that when Kyuubi learned of what the silver haired English teacher had done.
He turned the knobs of the shower to the proper temperature, and stripped himself of his only article of clothing, stepping into the stand-up shower and closing the door behind him, letting the water run down his tanned body before he grabbed his shampoo, squirted some into his hand and rubbed them together, before scrubbing the shampoo into his dampened blonde hair, closing his eyes.
His thoughts, as they always did nowadays in the shower, wandered to a certain raven head with dark eyes and a past that hurt him more than any kind of knife could. He always felt a little weird whenever he thought about the Uchiha; his heart would clench in a painful but good way, and his stomach would flip flop and twist, fluttering like there was a hundred butterflies in there trying to get out. His dreams about Sasuke were also…Weird. Provocative and dreams that he couldn't speak lightly around Kakashi because he would tell them to Jiraiya to write in his next book of 'Icha Icha Paradise'.
Sighing, the leader of the Bijuu gang rinsed the rest of the shampoo out of his locks and grabbed the conditioner, scrubbing it furiously into his hair as he tried to forget the dream he had recently had. A dream that…Well, he wasn't even going to continue thinking, so he changed the direction of his thoughts to a different direction.
Sasuke would be hanging around them again today; something he was really looking forward to. He felt…Lighter near the Uchiha; though he didn't know why. An Emo died in his pants, most likely, making him an Emo himself.
Sighing quietly, he turned off the shower, stepping out and grabbing a towel, wrapping it around his waist before he grabbed another towel and walked out of the bathroom while drying off his hair, water droplets trailing down his well toned chest, abdomen and arms. He stepped into his room, throwing his hair towel to the side as he walked to his closet.
Today would definitely be an interesting day.
If not, as Shikamaru would say, troublesome.
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Rin and Obito were talking quietly amongst each other as Kakashi bounced a young Naruto on his knee, the blonde laughing and squealing with glee. Suddenly, there was a knock on their door, and the three young adults looked sharply at it, eyes all narrowed dangerously. Rin stood up then, smoothing out the skirts of her brown Bohemian skirt and walked to the door, sliding open the little slot and looking out to see a young female looking boy with long black hair and dark brown eyes standing beside a taller man with short, spiked black hair and grey eyes, bandages wrapped around the bottom half of his face.
"I hear this is a shelter for half Japanese people." The man said his voice deep and gruff. Rin slid the slot closed and opened the door carefully, letting the two people in. "My name is Zabuza Momochi. This is my charge, Haku Shitashi." Rin smiled and nodded.
"Pleasure to meet you; you came here for shelter?" They both nodded, and Haku decided to speak up for the first time.
"I heard from people passing by in the street that there was a gang of people all forming together. The only pattern was that they were all half Japanese people. American people who are racist said they were most likely forming a sort of shelter or home for them so that they could be safe from those who hate them." His voice was smooth; almost feminine. Rin smiled at him and patted his head; he was around Naruto's age.
"Well, you've come to the right place; there are a few more people in this gang, including those three over there; Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. My name is Rin Itsumi." She smiled kindly. "Welcome to the Bijuu Gang."
Naruto sighed as he kneeled in front of the memoriam again, tracing the names of Haku and Zabuza, smiling sadly. "Haku…My first true friend my age." He said softly, and then closed his eyes. "Why'd you have to die?"
He then sighed, standing up and waving at the memorial stone, walking away from it calmly as the sun rose higher into the sky, brightening up the beginning of the last day before the weekend.
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Sasuke was sitting on the roof quietly, his knees drawn up to his chest as Sakura and Ino, who made a rare appearance on the roof that day, spoke on either side of him about random topics, once in a while trying to involve him into the conversation. He usually stayed out of it, though.
He felt eyes on him, and looked over to see Gaara staring at him blankly. He blinked at him, raising an eyebrow in question, and Gaara smirked slightly, shaking his head as he turned back to look at the floor, waiting for Naruto to come up to the roof. It seemed as though the blonde dobe was late today, something that wasn't relatively new. He heard the blonde and pink haired girls laugh on either side of him, and he quietly stood up, walking over to where Shikamaru sat with Neji, typing away on his laptop while Neji text something on his cell phone. Both looked up at him as he sat down on the roof's floor quietly, looking at nothing in particular.
"They were annoying me." He said simply as an explanation, and Neji smiled slightly, nodding while Shikamaru just shrugged in indifference, and they both went back to what they had been doing.
Suddenly, Gaara looked up, making everyone else look up as Naruto climbed up onto the roof at last, a serene look on his face as if he had been thinking before his face broke out into a grin and he waved lazily at everyone. "Hallo."
Sasuke stood up at that, and walked over to the blonde, standing in front of him as Naruto looked down at him oddly, cocking his head to the side. "Yes?" Sasuke sighed as he looked up at Naruto staring down at him with a questioning look, an eyebrow raised slightly above the other.
"Aniki…Told me to tell you whenever I had a memory…" He said softly. "I don't know why; he just told me to."
Naruto nodded, crossing his arms as he looked at him with a thoughtful frown. "What memory?"
"My tattoo." He said softly. "It was the day we all got our tattoos…When the gang had first been formed. The tattooist…Mentioned Anko."
"The co-ed gym teacher; right, of course. She had once been Orochimaru's pride and joy…But she wasn't bitter enough for his tastes. And she also left because she grew to hate the man a lot. She still has the tattoo; that's why she wears the high collar jacket all the time." Sasuke nodded in understanding, finally getting why she had told him about Orochimaru being pissed at him that day. He then sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked to the side. "That all…?"
"No…" Sasuke whispered quietly, closing his eyes. "But there are too many to tell you all at once."
Naruto simply nodded, placing a hand on Sasuke's head and ruffling up his hair, smiling a little. "Tell me when you can."
Sasuke nodded. "I will."
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Naruto and Haku sat side by side, playing with marbles quietly as the adults spoke to each other quietly, glancing at the children once in a while, before speaking to each other again. Naruto either didn't notice it or didn't care, but Haku was a bit unnerved about it; and it showed.
A few more minutes later, when Haku had glanced at the adults for what seemed like the hundredth time now, Naruto sighed and looked up at the female looking boy, smiling at him reassuringly. "Don't worry about them; they're just explaining to your guardian something about me." He said softly, looking at him as Haku looked at him with wide, curious eyes.
"What about you?" He asked, curious to know more about this blonde haired boy in front of him.
"I have another side…It's a very dangerous side…" Naruto looked down at his marbles. "They're warning your guardian…In case that side ever breaks out and hurts someone…Or kills someone…"
Haku looked at the pained expression on Naruto's face, and placed his hand over the blonde's fisted hand, smiling at him softly. "I'll be there to help you change back." He said quietly. Naruto looked at him, before a grin broke out on his face.
"Thanks."
Naruto shook his head, a hand on his temple as he listened to Yamato Tsukishima, the World History teacher, talk about something that he could really care less about. Even though he acted like an idiot during school, he was actually on a level higher in intellect than everyone else; except, of course, for Shikamaru. But his IQ was over 200.
He looked out the window quietly, remembering Haku and his gentle smiles; his quiet laughter; promises that he never spoke. He was a gentle speaker with a large vocabulary; even for someone so young, his speech had always been elegant. And he cared for Zabuza a lot; so much that he would go as far as die for him…
And he did. He died for Zabuza…And Naruto had never forgiven the man. Zabuza, of course, was still alive. He was the male gym teacher, and he had often tried to talk to Naruto and tried to ask for his forgiveness, knowing how the blonde kept grudges.
Naruto would always push him away, though, and walk away from him, leaving the man to stand there, looking regretfully at his back. He had sworn the day Haku died…
That he would never forgive him.
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Sasuke hugged himself briefly, shaking his head before he started up the stairs to the roof, lunch bag in hand as Neji walked up behind him, Shikamaru ahead of him with Chouji, who was talking about something and eating chips like it was the last day on earth or something. They all got up onto the top finally, and Sasuke looked around briefly, before he sat by the stairs on the floor, opening his bag and taking out his thermos of soup quietly, opening it and sipping it, reveling in the warmth that had stayed there since it was packed that morning by his older brother.
A shadow stopped in front of him, and he looked up to see Naruto with his arms crossed, looking down at him with a soft smile, his head tilted to the side. "Why are you sitting all alone?" He asked, crouching in front of him so that they were eye level. Sasuke shrugged lightly, looking to the side as he tried to avoid those blue eyes that had been haunting him at night recently. "Well, teme?"
"I don't feel like idle chit chat right now." He said softly, and Naruto grinned slightly. He was starting to sound a little more normal; that was a good sign. The dark boy then looked over at the leader of the gang and his dark eyes pierced through Naruto, making the blonde blink stupidly for a moment. "That means you too, dobe."
Naruto thought over what he had just said, before he laughed and nodded, standing up and looking down at him. "Enjoy your quiet lunch, then." He said, lifting a hand as a farewell sign and walked over to where Gaara was sitting, looking at him curiously. The red head's green eyes looked at Sasuke's obsidian ones, before he smiled slightly and looked up at Naruto as he sat down, saying something that made him shrug his shoulders slightly.
Sasuke sighed, shaking his head as he ate, closing his eyes. His quiet lunch…Hn, like his mind would let him.
He sat on the park bench quietly, curled up into a ball and sniffing quietly, looking at nothing in particular in front of him. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see a pale man with golden eyes and long black hair looking down at him, purple lines tattooed by his eyes and along his nose. The man smiled at him, crouching in front of him so that they were eye level, tilting his head to the side. "Why are you sitting all alone?"
"Because no one wants to sit with me; because I'm not good enough for them." The man smiled slightly at him, reminding the young boy of a snake before they struck.
"I think you're good enough. Why don't you come with me? I'll give you a home."
"I have a home."
"Obviously not one good enough to be filled with your presence, hmm?" Sasuke looked at him carefully. "Well?"
Sasuke sighed, opening his eyes and sipping his soup again, looking at the blonde haired dobe as he spoke with the red head, then sighed.
Not good enough…
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He silently stepped into the old recreation building, looking around as old memories filled his mind, making him smile pleasantly, which in itself was never a good thing. He then looked over to where the meeting room had once been, and there he saw all of his old members having a meeting of their own, Kidoumaru seemingly the leader of the Oto Gang now. He laughed quietly as Kabuto stepped up behind him, smiling slightly as he pushed up his glasses, and both made their way towards them, Orochimaru eyeing them all and seeing how well they had grown. He rose an eyebrow at some of their hair; pink? Orange? Purple? Indeed.
"I see you've lived well while I was gone." He said, making the meeting stop, and all eyes turn to him, wide and surprised. "Yes…I am back."
There was a silence for a few minutes, before everyone turned to him and bowed to him in the traditional Japanese way, seeing as they were all half Japanese as well. "Welcome home, Orochimaru."
He smiled.
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Naruto and Haku watched the adults fight off a bunch of thugs behind their hiding spot, Haku looking antsy and worried for Zabuza. Naruto took his hand quietly, smiling at him reassuringly. "He'll be fine! Zabuza-san is strong." Haku looked back at him, and smiled a little uneasily, nodding as he held his friend's hand back tightly, needing the reassurance.
The reassurance was broken, though, when Zabuza was surrounded by three of them, two of them holding him down while the third one pulled out a switchblade, flicking it open with a flick of his wrist, smirking at Zabuza who looked at him with narrowed eyes, muttering something the children couldn't hear. Naruto was watching with fear, when suddenly Haku broke out of his grasp, running towards him and jumping in front of him just as the thug swiped the blade towards Zabuza's neck, making his get the blow instead. His head was partially severed as he dropped down dead, his blood pooling around his head and the feet of those around him, his eyes wide and blank.
Zabuza looked down in pure horror, before he heard a growl coming from where the two had been hiding, and he looked over to see Naruto standing there, his eyes a bright red with cat slits instead of the normal pupils, the lines on his face deep and his eyeteeth sharper than usual. His nails had lengthened into claws and he rushed out at the thugs, ripping them apart and killing them by snapping their necks or crushing their air tubes, throwing their bodies to the side. He stopped, looking up at Zabuza, his eyes narrowed as he fell to Haku's side, placing his hand on his friend's cold cheek before closing his eyes quietly.
"I'll never forgive you…" He hissed angrily, before he stood up and ran away, Rin calling his name and Kakashi running after him with Obito. Zabuza dropped to his knees, picking up Haku and cradling him quietly, lowering his head.
"I'm sorry…"
Zabuza sighed as he looked out the window in his office, clenching his pencil tightly as he remembered that day vividly, before looking up at the boy that stood before him, hands in his pockets lazily. "Naruto…You're dismissed."
The blonde raised an eyebrow, before shrugging indifferently, and turned, walking out, not even looking back when Zabuza watched him leave with regret in his eyes. He didn't care about what that man felt.
He was the reason his best friend was dead.
