A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update! I needed to re-write chapter 4 and school is STILL being a huge bitch to me T.T Anyways, since no one voted no for the KakaNaru lemon (-snickers-), I'll write the lemon! Though, that's not going to happen until a few more chapters -laughs evilly-. Though, I'm glad that you guys liked the last chapter (even though it had an evil cliffie and it was sad).
I'd like to thank my beta, astarte lea!
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Naruto's eyes widen in shock as he stared at the three. Naruto slowly clenched his hands into fists.
"Why?" Naruto said, his eyes showing anger, but behind the anger was fear.
"Simple, you are in Mishiba and Koyra's custody. Not Umino's." The woman said, annoyance flickered across her face.
"Iruka-sensei was waiting for the adoption forms to be brought to him. I've decided to live with him." Naruto said.
"But, you still have to live with your foster parents until Umino gets his adoption forums." The woman stated.
"..." Naruto stayed quiet.
Naruto paled as he remembered the memories of his foster father's abuse. 'I'm in deep shit.' Naruto thought. He saw the woman reveal a cocky smirk as she saw Naruto's paleness.
"I always wondered why you did live with your teacher instead of living with us..." Koyra trailed off, her face showing innocence.
'You fully damn know why!' Naruto shouted in his mind, his hands curling into fists. Mishiba smirked in triumph. Naruto felt a cold shiver when he saw his foster father's eyes. Naruto slowly walked to the front of Iruka's apartment door.
"Anyways." The woman said as Naruto faced the front door.
"Be a good boy and go get your stuff. Then, meet us outside so we'll get you back home." Koyra continued for the women in an overly fake sweet voice.
Naruto stayed silent, observing the number 7 drilled into Iruka's front door. He tried to control the anger that was starting to appear on his face. Naruto grabbed the keys from his back pocket and opened the door. He walked into the room, ignoring that he shut the door in front of their faces. He dropped the backpack onto the ground. He was now dumbfounded of what had happened a few seconds ago. 'How did this happen?' Naruto thought. 'Iruka-sensei should have had the adoption forums already and I could live with him. Now...Iruka-sensei is still in the hospital and I'm going back to them Naruto sat down on velvet couch and curled up into a fetal position.
'Everything's so messed up.' Naruto thought, looking at his reflection from the T.V. He dazed off in his thoughts. He didn't know how long he stayed in that position, but he knew he had to move and face them. He slowly stood up and walked into his room. He went into his closet that was next to his bathroom door and grabbed his backpack. He stuffed the possessions into the backpack and after he was done, the backpack was perfectly full.
He turned and looked at the now vacant room, he felt his heart squeeze when he thought of leaving Iruka. 'How am I going to tell Iruka-sensei about this.' Naruto thought, walking out of the room and into the living room. 'How am I going to survive with them?' Naruto thought as he shuddered. 'Stop whining.' A small voice in his head said. 'You will survive like you have always done. You have done this for 5 years. Soon, someone will come for you.' 'Right, I need to stop whining. Whining isn't going to help me.' Naruto thought in confidence, his hard gaze on the carpet floor.
Though the last part, Naruto did not believe at all. No one was going to come for him. His gazed softened into a sad look. A sharp knock snapped him back into reality. The blonde turned and looked at the front door.
"Are you done yet?" A gruff voice snapped from the door.
"Hold on." Naruto said, knowing it was Mishiba and he was NOT a patient person.
An annoyed scoff was his reply. Ignoring it, Naruto forgot to get his backpack from the room. Naruto rushed to the room, knowing if he went slower, Mishiba would get more furious which led to worse punishment. He quickly grabbed the backpack and rushed outside the apartment.
"What took you so long Demon?" Mishiba snapped as Naruto quickly closed the door, giving Naruto his usual nickname for him.
"..." Naruto stayed silent, his eyes staring at the ground.
Mishiba glared at the top of Naruto's head. Naruto shivered in slight fear at the gaze, but didn't falter. Another scoff was emitted from Mishiba. He roughly grabbed Naruto's right arm and literally dragged him downstairs. Naruto winced as he felt Mishiba squeeze his arm as if the blonde was a prisoner who was about to be hanged. 'That's going to leave a bruise.' Naruto thought as he used his other arm to grab one of the straps of the backpack.
"There you are Naruto!" Koyra said in an overly sweet voice as she walked towards them.
Mishiba let go of the blonde's arm. Naruto let out a small sigh of relief as he lightly grabbed his right arm, which was the arm that Mishiba had held. The woman, which Naruto was suspecting to be an agent of an adoption agency; her rectangular glasses glinted in the bright sun, which made her eyes look lifeless and evil.
"Now that you've packed all your stuff, it's time for you to go home." The woman said, bitter smile appeared on her face.
"First, can I go see Iruka-sensei in the hospital?" Naruto asked, looking at his foster parents.
"Not today. Let the poor man rest after that terrible incident a few days ago!" Koyra said, a bit of drama was in her voice.
Her fake sweet voice didn't stop Naruto from seeing an evil glint in Koyra's brown eyes, nor seeing the same glint in Mishiba's blue eyes. In an instant, he knew.
They were the people who ran over Iruka.
Naruto gritted his teeth furiously, his fist clenched so tight that they began to turn white. He didn't feel the pain of his fingernails digging into his palm. 'Monsters...' Naruto thought, glaring at them, knowing they were ignoring it while they were talking to the woman. 'They ran over Iruka-sensei...just to take me and have all the money they could get?' Naruto began to see red.
"Monster! It's time to go home!" Koyra said, her sweet fake voice had now turned into a seething sound.
Naruto was startled, but kept his glare at Mishiba and Koyra. He noticed that the agent had left. He was now alone with his foster parents. Before, the blonde could speak, he was roughly pushed by Mishiba into their car which was beside him. His chin hit hard on the top of the small blue car and he winced. He quickly got into the car while rubbing his aching chin.
"Hmph, you're still as weak as ever, Demon." Mishiba spat at Naruto, seeing Naruto wince at the hit on his car as he and Koyra sat in the front, he was in the driver's seat while Koyra in the passenger seat.
"It'll make our job easier anyways." Koyra said as she let out a dark chuckle that made Naruto shiver to the core.
Mishiba stayed silent as he turned and looked at Naruto. They met eyes and Mishiba immediately smirked as he saw a flicker of fear for one second. Mishiba turned back and turned on the engine. The car slowly roared back into life and they rode to their house in silence. Naruto fidgeted his fingers on his jeans both nervously and in fear of what was going to happen as soon as they reached the house.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the house. Naruto noticed Sakura with her father, and Ino with her father. All four of them were standing in front of their house, as if waiting for him so they could welcome him back. 'They'll probably do the opposite.' Naruto thought as he scoffed. Mishiba parked the car next to the lane and all three of them got out.
"Welcome back to hell, Monster." Inoichi, Ino's father, mocked as a cocky smirk appeared on his face.
Mishiba barked out a laugh as if Inoichi had cracked a hilarious joke. Sakura's dad, Dakun (A/N: Does anyone know Sakura's dad's name?), joined in the laughter. Naruto just stood there, taking all the insults and besides, he was use to it, right? Sakura and Ino stood behind their fathers, Ino glaring at Naruto while Sakura kept her gaze on the grass. Sakura's arms were behind her back making her posture look as if she was nervous. She was rubbing her left arm, where one of her 'customers' had left her a small bruise.
After the laughter had died off, Mishiba and Koyra went into the house first while Sakura and Ino's fathers walked towards their house, a light snickering still emitted from them. Naruto clutched one of the backpack straps tightly. He slowly began to walk to the Mishiba's and Koyra's house, but was blocked by Ino.
"Well, looks like the little devil came back like always." Ino said, her voice sounding like a spoiled brat.
"..." Naruto stayed silent, looking at the ground.
"Hey, aren't you listening to me!" Ino shouted a Naruto, her hands on her hips and glaring at the top of Naruto's head.
Sakura stayed silent. 'What am I suppose to do?' Sakura thought as she looked at Ino and Naruto. 'Should I help him? If I do, Ino will be suspicious and will tell my father that I'm defending the 'demon'.' Sakura winced slightly at that thought. 'He'll be furious.' Sakura turned her head and looked at Naruto. 'But...' Sakura trailed off in her thought. She saw Ino's right hand curl into a fist in anger. As long as Sakura knew Ino, she knew the blonde-haired girl did not like to be ignored, especially when it comes to people she heard or knew were hated. It always reminded her of when her father shunned her every day. The only thing he talked to Ino about was the business or who her next customer was. Ino uncurled her hand, but began to raise it above her head.
"Stop, Ino!" Sakura shouted as she stepped between Naruto and Ino.
"What?" Ino said as she stopped her descending hand.
Naruto snapped his head up and looked at Sakura. The blonde man was shocked to say the least. He knew that Ino was going to hit him from the movement of her shadow, but he never thought of Sakura defending him. 'She's different.' Naruto thought as he continued to look at Sakura. 'Sure she's still short-tempered, but why is she helping me? Is it out of pity!' Naruto thought, now glaring at Sakura. Meanwhile, Ino looked at her best friend with a shocked look on her face.
"Why did you stop me Big Forehead!" Ino said, glaring at Sakura.
"...Mishiba will be angry if you hurt Naruto. Besides, aren't ladies suppose to be nice and calm Ino-pig?" Sakura said, her voice filled with mock at the last sentence as she tried to change the subject.
"You're the one to talk Big Forehead! Beside, Mishiba wouldn't care about Naruto's health." Ino said in a huff as she walked towards her house, while looking at Naruto in the corner of her eyes.
This also shocked Naruto. Usually, Ino would send a cold glare at him and call him 'demon' or 'thing'. Never the less, he brushed it off and looked at Sakura. As soon as Ino was in her house, Sakura turned and began to walk to her house. Before she took her first step, Naruto spoke out a single word.
"Why?" Naruto said softly, small frustration in his voice.
"I...don't know myself." Sakura said quietly as she took a deep breath.
It was the truth, she did not know. Once she saw Ino's hand raised above her head, she knew what she was going to do and jumped in front of Naruto out of instinct. She felt some sort of protectiveness towards Naruto, like an older sister protecting her little brother from harm. 'Why?' Sakura thought. She noticed that Naruto was staring at her, with shock across his face. In an attempt to cover her own confusion, her opened her mouth and began to speak.
"Don't you dare think it was out of pity or get use to it!" Sakura said as she gave Naruto a glare as she placed her hands on her hips.
Naruto looked at Sakura, with a surprised look on his face. Sakura softened her glare and began to smile at Naruto. Then, Sakura herself realized something. 'I don't want to see anyone hurt him. He has a tougher life than me, a boy who was accused of something he didn't do. I knew that, but continued to treat him like trash.' Sakura thought, immense guilt weighing on her shoulders. 'But, this time, I'm going to help and protect him!' Sakura thought, feeling confidence throughout her body. Sakura smiled brightly at Naruto and ran off towards her house.
"Eh?" Naruto said in confusion of what just happened a few seconds ago.
'That...was weird.' Naruto thought as he shook his head. He walked into his house, clutching one of the backpack straps tightly. He shifted his eyes around the yard, trying to ignore the bright baby blue painted house he was approaching towards. Though, outside the house was very clean and nice, inside it were remainders of ugly memories that hung inside the air of the house. Naruto reached the the front of the stairs and he began to ascend up the stiars. Every step his mind was shouting at him.
First step.
'What am I going to do?'.
Second step.
'How am I going to go through this again?'
Final step.
'I'm...not ready for this!'
Soon, he was in front of a white wooden door. He slowly reached his right hand towards the copper knob, wanting and wishing he wasn't going to go back to this house. He had to though, and he grasped the knob. He slowly turns it clockwise and pushed it slightly forward. Once the door was fully open, he slowly and hesitantly took a step forward. He almost chocked at the thick, tension in the air that spread throughout the room and maybe throughout the house.
'Nothing has changed.' Naruto thought as he shifted his backpack from right to left uncomfortably. He closed the door behind him, and stood silently in the living room. After counting to five, he took a step. 'Should I go into the kitchen and meet Mishiba and Koyra or just go to my room?' Naruto thought, shifting his eyes around the room. He heard stomping footsteps, that creaked against the floor, coming from upstairs. He quickly decided and walked upstairs. Once he went to his old room, he threw his backpack on the bed and looked around.
The room, like the rest of the house, hadn't changed at all . It was definitely dusty from the lack of cleaning in the room, but that was all. The blonde blew slightly on the dusty top of the drawer and sneezed as the dust particles flew to his nose. After many sneezes from Naruto, the blonde managed to clean the room with a cloth he had brought with him. He stuffed his clothes into the drawer and the rest of his items. He closed all the lights in the room, which made the room completely dark except for the silver light casting over the window across the entrance door. Placing his backpack onto the ground near the drawer, he laid himself on the stiff bed. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed, trying to get comfortable.
He looked at the clock sitting on a small desk next to him. '6:00 P.M already?' Naruto thought as he yawned. He turned around so that he was facing the ceiling and closed his eyes. A minute later, a loud bang was heard outside his room. Naruto stood up out of reaction and stared at his entrance door. Lights peeked at the bottom of the door. Naruto grabbed the blanket from the other end of his bed and threw it over his head. As he pretended to sleep he saw the door opened and large light casting over the dark room. A large shadow then cast over the light.
It was Mishiba.
Naruto quickly shut his eyes and breathed deeply, hoping that Mishiba wouldn't bother him if he's sleeping.
That did not work.
Naruto soon finds himself dragged by the hair and shoved onto the hard wooden floor. He winced at the impact and began to stand up. Bad mistake. He felt immense pain on his shoulder and shouted in pain as he fell down again. He clutched his shoulder and looked up. Mishiba was holding a black leather whip in his right hand and a grin on his face.
"Since, you ran away from us and didn't tell us where you were, it's time for your punishment." Mishiba said as he raised the whip above his head.
Footsteps were coming towards them and Naruto looked through Mishiba's legs. It was Koyra and she has the same grin on her face. Both were grinning like they took pleasured in abusing the blonde.
"This is going to be fun." Mishiba said, his grin widening as he lashed the whip at Naruto again.
Slash! One on his arm.
Slash! One on his back.
Slash! One on his legs.
Slash! One on his chest.
It continued for minutes, but for Naruto, it felt like hours. Finally, Mishiba looked at Naruto with pleasure in his eyes, loving every second of his control over the 'Demon'. He gave one last punch at Naruto in the cheek, walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving Naruto severely injured on the floor. Naruto barely managed to hear the laughter from both Mishiba and Koyra. He looked at the injuries on his body. His arms and legs were slashed to the point where they looked like large cuts. His revealed chest (which was covered until Mishiba tore the top of his pajamas) has some specks of blood on the lashes. He couldn't see the injuries on his back, but he knew they were probably worse.
Taking a small deep breath, the blonde slowly began to stand up, only to fall down in the process. He winced at the immense pain. 'Looks like I'll have to sleep on the floor.' Naruto thought as he made small movements on the floor. Feeling both weak and drained from what had happened today, he immediately fell asleep lying on the floor.
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Naruto shifted in his sleep and managed to knock his head on one of the legs on the desk. He opened his eyes and looked at the wooden leg. He groaned and rubbed his forehead lightly. The blonde felt pain from moving his arm and looked at it. 'Last night...' Naruto remembered as he saw the dry crusted blood on his arm. Feeling more energetic, he slowly stood up. Immense pain shot through his legs, back and chest, but he managed to fully get up.
He turned his head to the side and cracked his neck. He walked slowly towards the bathroom and fully looked into the large mirror. The mirror only reflected down to his chest. Naruto winced at what he saw. A large purple bruise was planted on his left cheek and slashes across his chest. There was some dry crusted blood on his chest from some of the slashes. He turned slightly so that he could see his back. The back was the worst. Thought there were only two slashes on his back, they were each about ten inches long.
After seeing his wounds, he took off his pants and went into the shower. As soon as hot water hit softly on him, he grabbed a washing cloth and started to scrub on the crusted blood from his body. After a few minutes, he managed to clean most of the wounds and crusted blood off, but it also made his body bright red from the scrubbing. After he finished washing, he got out and started to rub ointment on his body.
After he finished, he walked out of the bathroom and took out a pair of navy jeans and a black shirt with an orange jacket from his drawer. He also wore the same Nike's from yesterday. As soon as he finished changing into his clothes, a knock was heard behind his entrance door.
"You can come in." Naruto said, hoping that it wasn't Mishiba or Koyra.
The door opened and a female walked in. It was Sakura. She was clutching tightly onto her blue purse as she looked around the room. She turned and looked at Naruto with a smile, but it soon disappeared when she saw his bruised cheek.
"It was Mishiba wasn't it?" Sakura quietly said, talking more to herself than the blonde.
"Who do you think? Why do care so much about me now?" Naruto said, his words coming out more harshly than they were suppose to be.
Sakura winced at the bitter words from Naruto. She stood still, thinking of an answer for him.
"Because...I realized that I didn't want to see you get hurt." Sakura said, looking Naruto straight in the eye.
"That doesn't explain why you care about me now. If your dad found out that you're helping the 'demon'-" Naruto started, but was cut off.
"Don't say that your a demon!" Sakura said, her voice rising in angerly.
Naruto's eyes widen at the outburst.
"If you admit that you're a demon, then that will make everything worse." Sakura said, her voice becoming softer.
"How do you know what it's like?" Naruto said, looking at Sakura with curiosity in his eyes.
"Because, even though we're different, I know how you feel." Sakura said as she looked down at her feet.
"..." Naruto stayed silent, waiting for Sakura to continue.
"I'm sure you heard of the rumor going around about me and Ino..." Sakura trailed off as she began to shuffle her feet.
Naruto thought for a moment as there were many rumors about the two girls. His thoughts turned to rumor that had spread a few weeks ago. People were whispering that Ino and Sakura were prostitutes. Most people did not believe that. Naruto's mind clicked as he looked at Sakura in shock. Her head was up and looking at Naruto. Her eyes told him.
"The rumor was true..." Naruto trailed off, continuing to look at Sakura.
"Yeah, someone saw me with one of my customers. It started eight years ago, after my mother's death. I didn't want to do it, but I wasn't forced either." Sakura said, her eyes lowering in shame.
"..." Naruto stayed silent.
"I just wanted to have a happy family, but things happen I guess..." Sakura trailed off.
"Don't expect me to give any pity." Naruto started, the reply was quiet, but firm.
Sakura looked at Naruto straight in the eye. She nodded, understanding the blonde. 'Accepting pity from people...doesn't do anything good for the problem.' Sakura thought as she smiled at Naruto.
"I don't expect any." Sakura began.
"Though I can't stop Mishiba from hurting you, I'll do my best to help you." Sakura said as she walked up and stood in front of Naruto.
She turned to her side and dug into her purse, searching for something. Naruto looked curiously at the pink-haired woman, but stayed quiet. The girl smiled brightly as she found what she was looking for. She took it out of her purse. It was a small glass container that contained a blue substance.
"This is an ointment I always use when I have bruise. It works really well." Sakura said as she held out the container to Naruto.
"What about you? You're going to need it too." Naruto said as he looked at Sakura.
"Don't worry, I have lots of these." Sakura said, smiling as she grabbed Naruto's right hand and placed the container in the hand.
"Thanks..." Naruto trailed off as he scratched his scarred cheek sheepishly.
Footsteps were heard from downstairs and a loud curse was also heard. 'Mishiba's mad again.' Naruto thought as he felt a cold shiver up his spine. Sakura noticed Naruto shivering slightly. 'When Mishiba is mad, he takes it out on a person.' Sakura thought. 'Meaning he's going to take his anger out on Naruto. I need to get Naruto out of here for a while until Mishiba calms down.' Sakura thought as she grabbed Naruto's left hand.
"You need to get out of here for a while." Sakura said, looking at Naruto.
"Eh?" Naruto said, surprised, but knowing that the pink-haired girl was right.
"Besides, don't you need to go see Iruka-sensei?" Sakura said as she pulled Naruto's hand lightly.
Naruto winced at the pull, remembering the injuries on his arms. Sakura noticed Naruto winced and let go of his arm.
"Sorry." Sakura said.
"It's ok." Naruto replied, walking with Sakura out of his room and downstairs.
As both of the teenagers walked downstairs, they saw Koyra sitting on the black velvet couch while reading a book. She looked up at the two and smiled at Sakura while giving a hateful glare at Naruto.
"Where are you guys going?" Koyra said, her fake motherly voice showing.
"W-" Naruto began, but was cut off.
"We're going shopping." Sakura quickly said, cutting off Naruto's reply.
"He's going to help me." Sakura continued as she gave Naruto a look, her eyes showing him to trust her.
Naruto only show a small nod.
"Well, have fun Sakura." Koyra said, smiling at the girl.
"Make sure he doesn't run away like last time too." Koyra continued giving Naruto a glare.
Sakura only smiled as she walked out of the front door, Naruto quickly following her. As they walked through the front yard, Naruto saw Ino looking at them in the corner of his eyes. The blonde girl wasn't glaring at him, just staring. Sakura also noticed Ino staring also, and smiled at her. Ino looked at Sakura with shock on her face, but was quickly covered by a scoff and a glare at the two as they passed by. 'I think Ino is starting to think about Naruto as just a boy, not a monster.' Sakura smiled brightly at the thought.
After they were at the sidewalks, they slow down their pace. They both stayed silent as they went to the hospital. As they reached to the hospital, Naruto looked at the clock that was hanging behind the front office. '2:00 P.M.' Naruto read. 'I can go see Iruka-sensei now.' Naruto thought, smiling at said thought, but it was soon replaced by a frown. 'How am I going to tell him that I'm living with them now?' People that walked pass them, were giving glares at the blonde's direction, but he was too preoccupied to notice them.
On the other hand, Sakura glared back at them as they walked into the elevator and began acending towards the second floor. In a few seconds, they both stood in front of a door with the number 203 glued onto the door. Sakura turned towards the blonde and noticed nervousness on his face.
"Naruto, I'm sure Iruka-sensei will understand about you living with Mishiba and Koyra." Sakura said, giving Naruto an encouraged smile as she stepped back from the door, thinking that Naruto would want to talk to Iruka alone.
"...Ummm, Sakura, can you...ah...come with me?" Naruto stuttered nervously, scratching the back of his head sheepishly at the girl.
Sakura's eyes widened in shock, but nodded. Somehow, she understood why the blonde asked her to come with him to talk to Iruka. 'He's willing to be my friend.' Sakura thought, feeling joy burst throughout her body. She smiled at Naruto as he slowly reached for the knob. He grasped it and turned it, making the door open. They both walked into the white room.
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A/N: I'm SO sorry that there was no mention of Kakashi in here! -sob- I had to develop on Sakura and Ino's character (and no, I'm not going to bash Ino in this story). BUT, I'll promise you guys that there WILL be a KakaNaru moment in the next chapter! Please R&R!