Author's note: Well, this turned out to be quite a bit longer than I expected *coughs* Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you enjoy this Halloween fic :)
Additional warnings will be given at the end to avoid spoiling the story, like with every Halloween fic ^^
Warnings: Triple pov with Naruto's being the main one; Halloween fic; drama; suspense; violence; alternate universe
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
Enjoy this Halloween fic :)
Remember the Name
The back of his neck prickled uncomfortably, his heartbeat annoyingly loud in his ears, as he checked his bag one last time. He'd been putting his bag together over the past week, wanting to be as quick as possible about it without drawing unwanted attention. It hadn't been easy, not with the older man's scrutiny, but somehow Naruto had still managed it.
Admittedly, there wasn't much in it: just two spare sets of clothes, an unopened toothbrush and some toothpaste and the sole picture he had left of his parents. Still the old man was like a hawk, taking notice of everything, even if that was something as inane as furniture being moved less than an inch. Naruto wasn't sure whether the man checked his drawers as well, but he wouldn't be surprised. That was why he had been very careful when pulling out his clothes, because one thing amiss would have alerted the other one to his plan.
After zipping the bag shut, he checked his phone, wincing at the low battery staring unforgivingly back at him. The charger of it was hidden in the man's bedroom, only coming out for a couple of hours each day just to charge the phone enough to get Naruto through the next day. He could try searching for it now, but that would be wasting time he couldn't afford to waste, so he just had to pray and hope to whatever god was up there that the phone's battery would hold long enough for him to reach the next town.
Shoving the phone in his back pocket, he stuffed his feet in his trainers and swung the bag over his shoulder. He had around one hour before the other one would return; that time would hopefully be enough to get him far away from here. It had to be enough; he couldn't stay here a day longer, not with the ugly fate that was looming over him.
He didn't even bother casting one last look around his room. This hadn't been his home since his parents had died and it would never feel like his home again. He hurried out of his room and down the stairs; his footsteps muffled by the carpet on the steps. The light of the living room had him drawing to an abrupt stop, his heart shooting up in his throat, because hadn't the light been off when he had arrived home? It had been off, no? But now it was on, which could only mean that –
His heart was ready to shoot straight out of his chest when a shadow blocked the light, creeping over the floor, before the older man appeared in the doorway. He was leaning heavily on his cane; the tool belying just how quick the man could still be on his feet when he wanted to be. Naruto was pretty certain the cane was just there as an accessory, a way to take people off guard. He knew just how fast the man could be.
"It's rather late," Danzo observed mildly; his eyes turning a shade darker when he took in the bag over Naruto's shoulder.
"Yeah, I know, but I need to return something to one of my classmates," Naruto lied, keeping his face and his voice even.
"Oh, at this hour? What's so important that it can't wait until tomorrow?"
"His notes. I missed some parts in mine so I borrowed them, but he needs them back tonight," Naruto replied; his hand tightening for a fraction around the strap of his bag.
The door was so close, just a couple of steps away, and then he would be out of here. But Danzo kept standing there, his gaze never wavering. He stood too close to Naruto; he only needed to reach out with his hand and he would be able to grasp Naruto's sleeve. That thought had him unconsciously taking a step back, closer to the wall.
His move didn't escape Danzo's attention, because nothing escaped him.
"And you couldn't return them earlier?"
"I forgot," Naruto put on a chagrined smile. "I only realised how late it was when I checked the clock just now." He edged closer to the door. "So I'll just go drop these off quickly."
"You don't need a bag for that," Danzo remarked.
"Well, the sky looks rather overcast, so I don't want to risk it," Naruto said quickly.
When he looked at Danzo, he knew the other man knew. Danzo knew he knew. For a moment they hung in suspended silence, weighing each other up. Then, quick as a snake, Danzo lashed out with his cane, intending on whacking Naruto around his head. The younger man was quicker, however, and he snatched up a large vase Danzo had insisted on putting in the hallway, though there had never been any flowers inside of it. Putting all his force behind it he lobbed it straight at Danzo, hoping it would knock out the older man, but not daring to linger to find out whether it would.
Before the vase even ended up on the floor, Naruto tore out of the house; the door slamming shut behind him. Right as he ran out of the gate, the front door was torn open again and Danzo growled warningly, "Naruto, come back here!"
Like hell he was going to do that! Forgoing the street – the streets wouldn't help him, they would just paint a big target on his back, make it easier for that arsehole to catch him – Naruto ducked in the space between the house and that of their neighbours. It wasn't exactly an alley, because it was too small for that, barely leaving enough space for an adult man to pass through, but it was a straight path to the woods bordering the town. The woods were large enough that warnings had been placed at the entrance to caution not to get lost. If he could just get deep enough into the woods, he might be able to shake off Danzo. From there he would just have to find his way back out, take a bus to the nearest town and then … Well, he would decide later what he would do. His priority now was to get the hell away from Danzo as fast as possible.
This side of the woods didn't have an official entrance, but he had spent enough time around these parts to know his way around even in the dark. He darted to the end of the semi-alley and jumped over the small creek he knew was there. There was barely any water in it, but if he didn't calculate his jump well, he might end up stumbling into it. There were enough broken branches and dead leaves at the bottom that he could end up slipping and hurting himself.
Which was something Danzo apparently had done just now, because he was cursing up a storm. Naruto didn't dare to look back and ran deeper into the woods, dodging low hanging branches and thorny bushes. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears and his lungs and legs were already starting to protest the speed with which he was practically flying between the trees, but he didn't even consider slowing down for one second. Not when he could hear Danzo's threatening footsteps still behind him, then close, then further away; his voice shifting between a coaxing and a threatening tone.
"Naruto, if you don't stop now, you will be sorry!"
They must already be deeper into the woods than Naruto had thought if the bastard felt safe enough to call out to him. As if stopping and going back would be any safer. If he didn't have to preserve his breath, he would be scoffing at the thought. Yeah, right, like hell was he going to stop running.
It was becoming harder to make his way safely through the woods, however; a thought which had his insides cramping up even further than the running and the slumbering fear were already doing. The trees stood a lot closer to each other here than at the edges, making it more difficult for him to navigate between the thick trunks. He kept having to shove branches out of his face, which delayed his process and already he had almost twisted his ankle twice when an unexpected dip in the earth caused him to stumble. How much further could he go? How long could Danzo keep this up?
The first droplets of rain splattering apart against his forehead distracted him for a moment. He was both happy about and dreaded the rain at the same time, because a hellish bout of rain might throw Danzo finally off his tracks, but it would also make it a hell of a lot more difficult to keep running if the earth would turn into a slick pool of mud.
Something grazed his arm and then burning pain exploded around that spot, making him yelp and grab his upper arm, ducking away instinctively. His breath caught when something slammed forcefully into a tree not even a foot away from him, causing the bark to burst and the tree to shudder.
A bullet.
Danzo had his gun with him. Danzo had just fired his gun at him, had aimed a bullet right at him. Probably had a silencer on it as well, because Naruto hadn't heard a gunshot at all, wouldn't have noticed anything amiss if his arm hadn't been nicked and the tree hadn't been hit. It was sheer pure luck that there wasn't an actual hole in his arm right now and his stomach rolled when he pulled his fingers away. Nausea crept up the back of his throat when the moonlight filtering through the leaves showed the reddish smear on his fingertips: blood.
So Danzo had been planning on getting rid of him from the start. Guns and especially bullets were supposed to be locked up at the precinct. There was no reason for Danzo to have his gun now, let alone loaded and with a silencer on top of that, not unless he had been planning to get rid of Naruto from the very beginning.
Fuck, now he really needed to get the hell away from him! This first shot might have been a warning, if it hadn't been a miscalculation on Danzo's part, but Naruto wasn't ready to test his luck any further. Where the fuck could he go to, though? Danzo kept trailing behind him, doggedly, no matter how deep Naruto went into the woods. He would have to find a place to hide, but where could he find something when the darkness of the night made it almost sheer impossible to seek out anything that could provide a hiding spot? This deep into the woods he could barely make out the outline of the trees and the exceptionally large bushes, let alone trying to find a place to hide!
"I'm giving you one more chance, Naruto."
Danzo's cold voice echoed from somewhere behind him, turning the already chilly night air even icier. The rain was steadily beating down now and Naruto bit back a curse when he tripped over a protruding root. He caught his balance against a nearby tree, nearly biting down on his tongue when the sensitive skin of his palm got stabbed by the rough bark, instantly followed by pain shooting straight up from his ankle to his leg. Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Forced to a stop, his breath escaped him in a shuddering hiss as he looked down, squinting at his throbbing right ankle, lifting it up. Even without reaching down to touch it, his ankle felt hot in his shoe and he winced. Motherfucker, he couldn't have twisted it that badly, right? Sure, the ground was getting rather slippery and his foot had been caught behind the root before he had managed to do a half spin and balance himself against the tree, but it couldn't be that bad!
Cautiously he placed his foot down, resting a bit of his weight on it.
FUCKING SHIT!
He could taste blood; he had bitten straight through his lip it seemed. Fuck, this was bad, really bad. His ankle could hardly bear his weight without threatening to collapse, but it wasn't as if he could take his sweet time and rest here for a moment! Every second he kept standing here was another second that Danzo got closer to him and this time the arsehole might not miss again. He just had to – keep going, yeah, just keep going and he would – he would figure something out. There had to be some kind of deep ditch he could hide in or maybe he could find some bushes clustered together and hide underneath those. Danzo didn't have a torch with him, so he couldn't use that to track Naruto down.
The rain and the darkness were his only saving graces at the moment while simultaneously hindering him as well. There was irony to be found here, but Naruto wasn't exactly in the mood to appreciate that.
"Just keep going," he muttered underneath his breath, forcing himself to take one step after the other. "Don't stop, just keep going."
Every time his right foot hit the ground, pain spiked up, making him feel as if he was stepping into rusted nails every time. He tried to keep most of his weight off it, but that was almost an impossible task, given how uneven and slick the ground had become. All he could do, was grit his teeth and force himself to keep going, even as his breathing became laboured and his vision blurred with every spike of pain shooting up his calf.
"You're only making it harder for yourself!"
Danzo's voice was distant now, more distant than it had been so far, but Naruto had no idea whether he really was that far behind or the pain was messing with his mind so much that he couldn't even estimate distances anymore. With his vision dancing and the rain streaming down, he couldn't even check how badly his arm was bleeding. The place where the bullet had grazed him felt numb, but he couldn't tell whether that was a result from the cold rain pelting down on him or simply because the pain in his ankle was too overbearing for anything else to register.
A crow cawing nearby startled him so much he lost his footing and stumbled, barely able to grab onto a tree before he fell down; his knees hitting a puddle, splashing up the muddy water. The new twinge in his ankle had him gasping for air as the pain slammed into him like a freight train. Squeezing his eyes shut, he could only sit there for a moment, cold wetness seeping through his jeans while his ankle radiated uncomfortable heat.
How deep was he in the forest? Was he actually going deeper or was he merely running around in circles? Every tree looked the same, every bush and dead branch identical in the night. Where was he supposed to go? Maybe he could try to call –
But when he groped around in his pocket for his phone, he found nothing but air and damp cloth. Shit, he must have lost his phone when he'd stumbled before. Then again, he scowled down at the puddle he was still kneeling pathetically in, who could he have called? He had no friends, no family left. The police? Yeah, right, like they would even believe him, let alone do something.
Lightening suddenly cracked open the sky, briefly illuminating the forest. For just a couple of seconds he could see he was at the edge of a clearing, but with no way to orientate himself that knowledge was useless. For all he knew, it could be one of the clearings at the entrance of the forest, which wouldn't really help unless he somehow managed to hitch a ride before Danzo found him. This late in the evening and in his sorry state, it seemed quite unlikely anyone would be willing to pick him up if he already found someone.
A crow – perhaps the same one, who knew – cawed again, attracting his attention, before thunder absorbed the rest of the cawing sound. Lightening followed very quickly after that, which shit, wasn't really good, not with him being surrounded by nothing but trees that would easily catch fire if a bolt struck. As he looked up, however, in the direction of the cawing, the brief lightening bolt allowed him to spot something in the distance. Something that looked remarkably well like the corner of a roof.
A roof.
A roof meant a house. A house meant people or at the very least a hiding place. He had no idea who would choose to live this deep into the woods, but who the hell cared? This was his best chance at hiding from Danzo and if he was quick, the man would never even know where Naruto had disappeared to!
He almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to get up again and his ankle was definitely screaming in protest this time; the pain almost unbearable at this point. He ignored it all: the constant throbbing of his ankle; the uncomfortable heat; how swollen his ankle felt in his shoe; the rain pelting down. He was only focused on one thing: the promise of shelter, the sneak peek of a roof promising him safety.
He almost fell down twice more when his sneakers got stuck in the mud, but he forced himself to go on, ignoring his stinging palms from where he had caught himself against rough tree barks and paying no mind to the large radiating ball of agony that his ankle had become.
Breaking out of the tree line had him drawing to a stop, baffled as he stared at the building in front of him. This wasn't merely a small house or a cabin or even a cottage. Even in the darkness of the night, only occasionally illuminated by the lightening, the absolute grandeur of the manor was hard to ignore. It towered over him, an imposing presence even amidst the huge trees surrounding the property. An iron fence separated the manor from the woods, but the gate stood cracked open, swinging eerily back and forth with an awful creaking noise every time the wind blew.
How had he never known there was a manor in the woods? Who even lived here? He couldn't immediately spot a car nor a direct road leading out of the woods, but nevertheless he hurried over towards the gate, squeezing himself through the crack. The iron felt almost freezingly cold against his hands when he braced himself against it to push himself through and for just a couple of seconds it seemed like the gate wouldn't open far enough to let him through. Then the wind grew in strength and the gate was forced a little bit further open, allowing him to slip past.
Not daring to stand still long enough to try to catch any sort of noise that might betray Danzo's location, he limped as fast as he could to the front door; his heart almost in his throat. His hands were trembling almost violently when he raised them and he swallowed, forcing the both of them to ball into fists before he knocked as loudly on the door as he dared to. By this point the rain was pouring down so hard it formed a curtain of its own and he hoped the sound of it, coupled with that of the thunder and the wind would hide his knocking from Danzo if the man happened to be closer than he thought.
"Is someone here? Please, I need your help! Danzo's after me and I need to hide!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he realised what an idiot he was.
God, but he was so stupid! Even if there was somebody living here – which judging from the absolute darkness behind each window appeared very unlikely – they wouldn't want to open the door for a complete stranger, let alone somebody who claimed he was being chased! That would be basically inviting trouble inside and nobody was stupid enough to do that. Fuck, but he was such an idiot!
He would just have to – fuck it, maybe try to go around the back of the house and see if there was some kind of shed? He could hide in there until either the storm passed or morning arrived, whichever came first. After that, he could –
The front door opened. He had still one hand braced against it, helping to keep the weight off his twisted ankle, so when the door swung open, he fell forwards with a startled yelp. Already bracing himself for the fall – this really wasn't his night, god fucking damn it – all the breath got knocked out of him when instead of smashing his face into the floor, two strong arms looped around him, holding him up. He was dragged inside; the door immediately falling shut behind him.
He had approximately three seconds to worry whether he hadn't landed himself in deeper shit when he looked up and got his first look at his saviour. He fully blamed the adrenaline and the pain for how stumped he was at the man's handsomeness. Black hair was spiked in the back with bangs framing an aristocratic, sharp face. Chiselled cheekbones, piercing black eyes, and a kissable looking mouth made up the face of one of the hottest men Naruto had seen till date. He couldn't help but gawk at the man, wondering how he had never seem him around town before. The other man barely looked a few years older than him, yet Naruto couldn't recall ever having run across him before. There was no way he could have forgotten someone like him, not when the man looked like he made a career out of modelling.
"Are you hurt?"
The low, deep voice sent a shock through Naruto's system and he desperately blamed the fading rush of adrenaline again when instead of answering the question like a normal person, he instead blurted out, "I'm sorry for the intrusion!"
That earnt him a stare and he groaned, slapping his hands in front of his face. "Just – sorry, ignore me, it's been - "
A rough night didn't exactly describe the bone deep panic that had settled in nor the attempt on his own life by the guy who was supposed to be his guardian.
"Are you hurt?" the man repeated, seemingly ignoring Naruto's incoherent babbling.
Naruto tried to straighten out as much as he could with the man's hands still resting on him. The hands had shifted from his upper arms to his elbows, cupping them and keeping him upright. He pointed at his right foot, which he lifted off from the floor.
"Twisted my ankle pretty badly after I fell a couple of times," he admitted and awkwardly gestured at his left arm, making the other man pull away his hand as if burnt. "And I – I got grazed by a bullet. It bled for a while, but I don't know if it stopped bleeding."
He was starting to feel a bit light in his head, but he couldn't tell whether that was because of blood loss or simply because the adrenaline was finally fading away, leaving him trembling and shivering in the hallway. Distantly he noted that he was dripping rain all over the intricate looking carpet and he hoped he wasn't staining it with his blood on top of that.
"You had quite the night, hm?" the man remarked, his eyes slightly narrowed.
A near hysterical chuckle escaped Naruto before he could reign it in. "You could say that."
He almost couldn't believe he was actually standing inside the house, that this man had actually let him inside in spite of the danger he might have invited in. He couldn't, didn't dare to relax, however, wound up tight like a spring and he nearly jumped when the man carefully tugged at his right elbow.
"The living room is right there," the man said and gestured at a room on their right. Some faint light was creeping from underneath the door. "Why don't we get you settled on the couch there and I'll grab some supplies to treat your injuries?"
"You don't have to!" Naruto instantly protested, already feeling guilty for fucking up this man's evening.
He probably hadn't expected to deal with a half-drowned, bleeding and limping youth, who'd claimed to have been chased down by someone.
"What would be the point in letting you stay here if I leave your injuries untreated?" the man asked unimpressed. "You can hardly keep standing here in the hallway."
Naruto looked down once more, wincing when he realised he'd already left a muddy trail behind when he had only taken a couple of steps inside the house. "I'm sorry, let me just get rid of my shoes first," he mumbled embarrassedly and went to fumble with his right shoe first, figuring he would get the hard part over with first.
Before he could fully lean down, however, the man's hand tightened around his elbow and he was gently but firmly pulled along to the living room.
"Forget about the shoes, it's fine," the man said dismissively. "How are you even going to take them off if you can't lean on your right foot?"
Naruto pouted slightly, but didn't have a response to that. Gritting his teeth and bearing the pain had been his idea, but now that he was no longer running for his life, the pain was becoming harder and hard to ignore until it seemed as if he couldn't think about anything else but the pain, throbbing in sync with his heartbeat.
With the man's help, Naruto managed to hop into the living room, falling down rather heavily on the couch after dropping his bag on the floor next to the couch.
"Wait here, I'll be back soon," the man informed him and left.
Getting rid of his left shoe was easy, the wet material slipping off his foot quickly. Removing his right shoe on the other hand had him both gasping for air and clenching his jaw, doing his best to keep his scream back. Untying it wasn't a problem, but trying to get it off his foot without letting it brush too much against his ankle was almost a mission impossible. His ankle had swollen so much he could barely move his shoe without spikes of pain shooting straight through his leg. How the hell had he managed to make his way here when his ankle was in this shape?
Adrenaline probably. The fear of being killed also tended to spur someone on.
When he finally got his shoe removed, he carelessly let it drop down on the floor and fell back against the couch, panting and screwing his eyes shut. He sucked in deep breaths and tried to think about anything else but the pulsating, burning pain in his ankle.
He forced his eyes to open again and looked around, hoping to distract himself. The living room was rather barren looking, especially for how huge the house appeared to be. There was the couch he was sitting on, big enough for three or four people to sit on. One leather armchair made up all the seating possibilities. There was a low table in front of him with a book lying rather crooked on top of it, as if it had been thrown on it in a rush. The letters were too faded, making it impossible to read the title. It must be quite an old book, which was confirmed by the bookcase standing next to the window, which was filled with thick books facing the room with their cracked spines and equally illegible letters.
The place still had a traditional fireplace, Naruto discovered to his surprise, and it was only now that he noticed there was a fire going on; the flames crackling merrily, a sharp contrast against the rumbling thunder and the steady hissing sound of the rain. A carpet covered the ground here as well, detailing some kind of animal Naruto couldn't immediately make out. The carpet was large enough to cover the table, the couch and the armchair, but left the rest of the floor naked to the eye, showing the dark wooden planks making up the floor. Equally dark wooden panels covered the walls midway until pale green wallpaper covered up the rest. A couple of thin cracks shot like spiderwebs through the ceiling and Naruto wondered just how old the manor was.
Even barren as the living room was, the place somehow still exuded sophistication and luxury. This manor didn't look like it had been built in the past ten years, but Naruto couldn't recall ever having seen it before when he wandered through the woods. Then again, he didn't think he had ever gone this deep before either, which would explain why he hadn't encountered this place before.
Thinking about how deep he must be in the forest only made him wonder once more how he had never seen the man before in town. There didn't appear to be a direct road leading out of the forest either, but surely the man – if he was the owner – had to go out sometimes to get supplies, no? Ah, but perhaps the road was in the back? He twisted around in the couch, spotting another window behind him that presumably looked out at the garden. The curtains were drawn now and as he didn't feel like limping over to get a quick look, he remained seated.
"I could have helped you with your shoes if you had waited a bit."
Naruto couldn't help but squeak in fright at the unexpected voice floating over towards him. The man raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused as he walked over to the couch, bearing towels and a first aid kit. As if it was Naruto's fault that he had been as silent as a ghost when entering just now!
"Figured I might as well get rid of them while waiting," Naruto muttered; his heart slowing its too rapid beating when he calmed down slightly.
The man eyed his right ankle critically. "That couldn't have felt good."
"It wasn't really a breeze, no," Naruto said chagrined.
"I've got some towels for you to dry yourself off a bit," the man announced, placing the pile of towels right next to Naruto before taking a seat himself. "I'll check your arm first, just in case you're still bleeding and then I'll take care of your ankle, all right?"
"You don't have to, I can do it," Naruto tried to rebuff him, but the man scoffed.
"You look ready to faint," he said derisively. "Best if I do it. It's quicker this way."
Well, if he wanted to waste his time … Defeated, Naruto offered his left arm, letting the man examine it closely after rolling up his sleeve. Fortunately the sweater he wore was an oversized piece, meaning that the sleeves were easy to roll up, even though some of the material clung a bit to the wound at first. Naruto bit down on his lip when the cloth was carefully removed from the cut; the slight sting briefly flaring up higher than the pain in his ankle.
"Well, looked like you got lucky," the man announced after carefully examining the wound. "It isn't deep, so it won't require stitches. It started bleeding again, but that's just because we rolled up your sleeve. I'll disinfect it before taking a look at your ankle."
"All right, thanks," Naruto said feebly, feeling awkward with his arm extended and a towel resting on his head, but what could he do?
As the man cautiously started disinfecting the cut, he asked, "You want to tell me why Danzo is after you?"
"It's … I don't know whether you'll believe me," Naruto admitted hesitatingly. It sounded rather incredulous, his story, something you would encounter more in an action movie than in real life.
Dark eyes briefly flickered up to his face before the man focused on his arm again; his movements slow but methodological. "Try me," he said calmly.
Naruto took a deep breath. He was still rather hesitant to talk, but was there a point to keeping quiet about it? Either the man would believe him or he wouldn't. The worst he could do was kick him out afterwards, Naruto supposed and then he would be on his own again, but that was fine. It wasn't as if he hadn't been on his own for the past two years.
"My parents died two years ago," he started and while the man briefly looked taken aback, he didn't say anything. He merely bandaged the wound before turning his attention to Naruto's ankle, lifting up his leg and bracing it over his lap.
Naruto felt a bit awkward with his leg stretched out across the man's lap, hyper aware of just how firm those thighs felt underneath his calf, but it was easier to speak when the man wasn't looking at him.
"Somehow, I still don't know how, Shimura Danzo became my guardian. I don't know why he accepted the role, when he isn't exactly a fan of kids," Naruto went on sarcastically. In fact, Danzo wasn't a people person at all, which made his choice of profession pure irony. "He made it quite clear to me that he wasn't interested in being my guardian, but I was stuck with him anyway. I never was allowed to see my parents' will, but I knew where he kept it, in a drawer with a lock."
That honestly should have been the first warning sign that something hadn't been right. Why hadn't he been allowed to look at his own parents' will when he had already been sixteen by the time they died in a car crash?
"I managed to pick the lock around a week ago."
That earnt him an impressed look from the other man, which had him flushing.
"Impressive," the man murmured. He picked up a small jar with something white inside of it. "This cream will help with the swelling."
"Thanks." Naruto cleared his throat and continued, "There were a lot of technical, judicial terms that I didn't get of course, but there was a part in the will that stated that I'm to inherit quite a hefty sum a month after I turn eighteen."
His mind still reeled when he thought about the number he had seen printed on the paper. He hadn't even known his parents had managed to save so much money, let alone that he would stand to inherit it a month after turning eighteen.
"But if something were to happen to me, if I pass away or if I am proven to be incompetent then - "
"The money would go to your guardian?" the man easily supplied the rest of the tale; understanding flashing up in his eyes.
Naruto smiled bitterly. "Got it in one go. Yeah, turns out Danzo became my guardian not out of the goodness of his heart, but because he can get his hands on a lot of money if something were to happen to me."
He wasn't so naïve of course to think that money wouldn't change people, but up until this very night he hadn't really wanted to believe that Danzo would be so vile as to try anything.
"I didn't – I guess I didn't want to think about why exactly Danzo had agreed to become my guardian, but afterwards I overheard a phone call between him and someone else and - " His breathing hitched, a lump forming in his throat before he forcefully pushed it down.
"He was asking how easy it would be to get me committed, whether that would have an impact on the will or not. I couldn't hear the other person's reply, but …"
He hadn't wanted to know either. The fact that Danzo had been so flippant about asking whether he could have Naruto committed, meant that whoever he had been talking to was in cahoots with Danzo. Perhaps they had even discussed how easy it might be to do away with Naruto completely, maybe make his death look like a suicide, but Naruto hadn't lingered to hear the rest. He had heard enough from that short exchange, enough to know that he had to get away before his life would turn into a complete hell.
It was silent for a little while. Naruto focused on the slow but sure way the man was rubbing the cream onto his ankle. His fingers were cold, but the coolness somehow helped with the pulsating burning, making it slightly easier to relax in the man's hold. He would feel embarrassed at letting the man, someone he didn't know at all, take care of him, but he was so tired, so spent that he wanted nothing more than to sink back into the couch and drift away.
"I knew I had to get away before it was too late, because I turned eighteen this month. Not like that would give me much time before the will would enact that part," Naruto eventually went on, ignoring the crack in his voice. "I had to wait until tonight because Danzo was supposed to be in a meeting still, but – he was home. And I knew he knew that I had found out, so I had no other choice but to run."
"Could you go to the police?"
Naruto couldn't help a bitter snort from escaping. "Danzo is the head of police. No way anyone of his men would believe he tried to kill me."
"Ah, it's like that," the man murmured and for a moment something dark, something unknown, passed across his face before his features smoothed out again.
"You believe me, right?" Naruto asked in a small voice, pulling at the edges of his towel.
He knew it sounded so farfetched, but it was the awful truth. Danzo had only taken care of him in order to get his hands on the money. For all Naruto knew he might also have fudged the guardianship, because there was no way dad or mum would have appointed Danzo of all people as his guardian. Danzo had been dad's superior, but it wasn't as if dad had had a great relationship with the older man when he'd still been alive. Naruto had attempted to contest the guardianship, but who would believe a grieving kid over an esteemed head of police?
"I believe you," the man stated.
He could have said it just to placate Naruto, but steadfast truth resonated in his voice, indicating he meant what he said. It made Naruto slump back in the couch in relief; the back of his eyes stinging with tears at having someone on his side at least.
"This might hurt a bit, but I have to wrap up your ankle to keep it steady," the man announced, unravelling a long white bandage.
"That's fine," Naruto mumbled. Already the cream around his ankle seemed to be doing its work; the area turning slightly numb, making it more bearable when the man started winding the bandage around it.
"You've got a beautiful home," he remarked dumbly after a moment, feeling like he had to break up the silence even when the other man looked quite at ease taking care of a stranger.
"Thank you, but I'm afraid this house wasn't built after my taste, but my parents'," the man said lightly.
"Oh, they have good taste," Naruto smiled. "Where are they?"
He had noticed just how silent the rest of the house was. When neither of them spoke, only the storm outside provided noise.
"Dead," the man said simply. "I inherited the house."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Naruto said awkwardly, gnawing on his lip.
The man shrugged, looking wholly unperturbed. "It is what it is," he said calmly. "They have been dead for a while now."
That must have made the man an orphan even younger than Naruto had been when his parents had died. After all the man looked barely a few years older than him. How difficult must it have been to already lose his parents at such a young age? At least Naruto had had sixteen years with his mum and dad.
Feeling awkward and a bit desperate to change the topic, he said, "I don't think I've seen you around town before."
He knew he hadn't seen the other man before. His was a face – and a presence in general – that was hard to forget or to miss after all.
The man chuckled; the sound doing odd things to Naruto's lower belly. "You wouldn't have. I'm rather self-sufficient."
"Oh, you plant your own fruits and vegetables then?" Naruto inquired interestedly. That would explain why he hadn't seen the other man before in town.
"Something like that," the man hummed and finished wrapping his ankle.
When Naruto tried to turn his ankle, he found he could barely move it; the bandage wrapped firmly around it.
"I can get you some tea," the man offered next, making no move to dump Naruto's leg from his lap. "That might warm you up faster than the towels will."
"If it isn't too much trouble," Naruto muttered, feeling oddly shy all of a sudden.
The smile the man threw him had his cheeks burning. "No trouble at all. I'll be back shortly."
He carefully lowered Naruto's leg on the couch before standing up and disappearing once more in the hallway. No matter how much Naruto strained his ears, he couldn't make out the man's footsteps nor any creaking of the floor that might indicate where the man was. For such an old house, it really was well-kept! Even in his house the floor had started being noisy in some parts and that house was a lot younger than this manor appeared to be.
"Here you go."
Just like before the man appeared silently, giving ghosts a run for their money. Again Naruto startled, but he quickly covered it with a smile, accepting the steaming mug. He noted the absence of a second mug.
"You don't want any tea?"
"No, I'm fine," the man said dismissively and sat back down, lifting up Naruto's leg and returning it to his lap as if they sat in this position every day.
It made Naruto blush again and he looked away, busying himself with taking careful sips of his tea. When the tea was halfway gone and the upper layer of his tongue felt scorched away by the hot liquid, he lowered the mug and cleared his throat softly.
"I'll be out of your hairs soon," he promised and cast a look to the window, where the lightening was briefly visible through the curtains. He winced. "Just as soon as the storm lets up a bit, I'll leave."
"You might as well stay the night," the man said calmly. "There is no saying when the storm will let up."
"I guess, but I already took up a lot of your time," Naruto said embarrassedly.
"It's fine. What kind of person would I be if I left you stranded?" the man said soothingly. "Why don't you finish the rest of your tea? It might help you feel better somewhat."
"Yeah," Naruto sighed and started sipping from the tea again.
It was rather delicious, he had to admit, even though he wasn't really a tea drinker to start with. There was a vague floral undertone he could taste, together with something else sweet that he couldn't immediately identify. The tea felt soothing somehow, if such a word could be attributed to tea. It warmed him up from the inside and before he fully realised it, his eyelids started to become heavier with each blink until he was starting to struggle to remain awake.
"Looks like someone could use some rest." The man's voice was both gentle and teasing.
Naruto was only vaguely aware of the mug being removed from his hand and he uttered a vague, nonsensical noise of protest. He didn't even know what he was protesting for; with how tired he was feeling, he was likely to drop the mug and break it. The man was right, though; he really could use some rest. He could barely keep his eyes open anymore and he looked on blearily how the man placed the mug on the table. Naruto had the vague idea of lying down on the couch, but his attempt to lie down was halted by the man, who tapped his shoulder.
"I'll take you upstairs; you can sleep in one of the bedrooms," the man said.
"No, here's fine," Naruto muttered. "Don't want to take up a bed."
"You won't," the man riposted calmly. "I'm the one who suggested it."
"Don't think I can get up the stairs," Naruto said after a pause, frowning slightly. His right ankle felt completely numb to the point where he suspected that if he were to put his foot down he would simply collapse through it.
"I'll help you up," the man promised.
"Well, if you insist," Naruto mumbled through a yawn and sat up, intending on shuffling forwards so that the man could loop an arm around his shoulders and carry his weight.
That was not what happened. Instead of bringing his arm around Naruto's shoulders, the man put one arm around his back and the other under the hollow of his knees, picking him up that way. Without looking like he was breaking a sweat, the man calmly turned around and started making his way out of the living room; Naruto draped stunned over his arms.
Was this – was he seriously carrying Naruto upstairs? Bridal style?!
"Are you seriously carrying me?" Naruto squeaked baffled, as if the man wasn't literally holding him in his arms right now, carrying him across the threshold and into the hallway.
"Yes, because you can't lean your weight onto your foot," the man said calmly. "I bandaged it well, but that doesn't mean you should risk standing on it yet."
"But I'm heavy!" Naruto protested, his mind reeling as the man started carrying him up the stairs, as if he weighed nothing more than a baby.
"You're as light as a feather," the man smirked before his face softened a fraction. "Just rest, all right? You're safe here, I promise."
A part of Naruto wanted to protest, because Danzo was still out there probably, looking for him, and if he found the manor and discovered this man had been hiding Naruto … He didn't want the man to get into trouble for him, but with every step the man took, it was getting harder and harder to remain awake.
He was only vaguely aware of the man shifting him once in his hold to open a door; the wood not giving even a single peep when it swung open. It was too dark to make out what was in the room, but soon Naruto was placed down on something soft yet firm: a mattress.
A blanket came to cover him and his hand shot out to grab the man's wrist before the other one could turn to leave.
"What's your name?" Naruto slurred, because only now did he realise they hadn't introduced themselves yet. A silly thing to fixate on, but it was all his tired brain seemed capable of focusing on now.
The man turned to face him. "Uchiha Sasuke."
Uchiha Sasuke … Hm.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto introduced himself, because that was only the polite thing to do when you had barged into someone's home, trekking mud and rain all over their carpet before taking up their time and first aid supplies.
His name had Sasuke smiling, not in the polite way most people did when being introduced to someone but in a way that Naruto's exhausted brain couldn't even attempt to dissect at the moment, so he didn't even try.
A soft chuckle followed him into his sleep. He was completely out of it before he could even hear Sasuke's retort.
A part of him wanted to turn around and go back home. The storm was only growing in intensity and remaining in the woods at this point was akin to suicide. The thought that the brat might escape and get away once and for all spurred Danzo on, however, and he doggedly followed the direction in which he'd seen the boy run.
Naruto couldn't have gone that far; not with the way the rain was beating down, turning everything in mud and transforming every small hill into a mini-landslide. Danzo was irritated that he hadn't thought to bring a torch with him or one of the bloodhounds, but it was one thing to cover up the fact that he had taken his gun with him. Asking for one of the bloodhounds would have raised too many questions for sure, even when he was the boss.
Another flash of lightening had him looking up in annoyance, shielding his eyes from the rain. It was at that moment that he noticed something softly gleaming, poking out above the top of the trees.
A roof.
He raised an eyebrow and paused. He had never known there to be a house in these woods and certainly couldn't recall any roads leading to the building. Perhaps it had been long ago abandoned?
It would make a good hiding place if someone was on the run, however …
There was no certainty that Naruto had come across the same building, but it would be remiss of him to not investigate the place. One hour, he promised himself. If he hadn't found that little bastard in one hour, he would return home. With how bad the storm was and how harshly the temperatures were going to drop tonight, there was no way the kid would survive through the night.
The trip to the house took him longer than he would have liked, as his shoes kept getting stuck in the mud and he had to keep finding his balance against the trees or risk slipping and falling onto his back. The holdup only served to fan the flames of his ire and he thought darkly, the kid should count himself lucky if I kill him with one shot.
He had considered simply committing the kid, pretending his grief had turned him suicidal, but then Naruto just had to be difficult and try to run away.
"You could have had it so easy," he muttered and glared.
But no, just like his dad, he just had to be stubborn. No matter. After tonight he would be rid of the menace and the inheritance would go to him instead.
The sight of a gate standing ajar had him lifting an eyebrow. He stood there for a moment, studying the decrepit looking manor. Once upon a time the manor would have been grandiose looking, he supposed critically, but the years had obviously done a number on the building. All the windows were still intact, but there was no denying that even in the occasional flashes of lightening, the manor looked past its prime. One of the shutters was swinging back and forth, a victim of the ferocious wind. One of its slats had fallen off, leaving a thin gaping hole behind in the middle.
Decrepit looking it might be, but it would still be able to serve as a good hiding place, so Danzo stepped towards it, forcing himself through the gap in the gate with immense difficulty. For just a moment, a couple of seconds at most, it felt as if the gate was fighting back, trying to push him out and he growled irritated, pushing against the iron trails roughly. It moved with a loud, protesting screeching noise, leaving him just enough space to push through.
The grass had grown so tall it brushed easily up against his thighs and he waded through it, marching to the front door. He tested the doorknob and found it easily giving away underneath his touch. With a grim smile he pushed the door open, listening to the groaning of the hinges.
It was so dark inside that he had no choice but to grab his phone and use the small torch on that one. He scanned the floor and his smile grew when he noticed muddy tracks against the worn out carpet. It looked like his little fugitive had indeed found the manor before him. Now the question was: where the hell was the little bastard?
Try as he might, he couldn't stop the floor from creaking underneath his footsteps and he spared a moment to feel annoyed about that, before he shrugged it off. With how badly the storm was brewing outside, it was questionable whether Naruto could even hear the woodwork creaking. Keeping his gun out, he first took a look in the room on his right. It had been a living room by the looks of the couch and armchair. His attention was pulled to the last remaining embers in the fireplace and he walked to the hearth, bending towards the centre. So Naruto had managed to find dry wood in order to stoke a fire? Impressive.
He drew himself up and shone the torch throughout the rest of the room, but found nothing else of importance, save for the discarded sneakers he was certain Naruto had been wearing tonight. The sight of them had him staring and he narrowed his eyes. Why would Naruto remove his shoes in this place? Seemed rather risky when he had no idea that Danzo was right on his tail.
Well, nobody had ever claimed the kid was a genius.
Scoffing to himself, Danzo left the room and made his way deeper into the hallway. The second room had the door open but showed nothing but a desk and a couple of chairs. The third door led to the kitchen, but it was as barren as the first two rooms, no indication that the boy had been here. The thin beam of his torch danced across the walls, showing old, rusty brown smudges. He studied them for a little while, recognising them as old blood spatters. Apparently the manor's history wasn't all that clean then.
Dismissing the stains, he turned around and went back to the hallway, studying the staircase. If Naruto wasn't downstairs, that only left upstairs, provided that the boy hadn't snuck out. His shoes were in the living room, however, so it was doubtful he would leave without them. He could have crept downstairs during the time Danzo had been in the kitchen, of course, but testing out the first step of the stairs told him that if that were the case, he would have definitely heard him.
He was a bit dubious about the state of the staircase, considering how old the manor in general appeared to be, but if Naruto had managed to go upstairs, then he should manage as well.
He was halfway up the stairs when he became aware of it: the sound of soft giggling. It raised the hairs in his neck and he whirled around, lifting his gun. "Who's there?" he barked out.
Instead of a reply, another chorus of giggling followed; the sound somehow both eerie and joyful at the same time. It echoed around him, as if he was surrounded, but no matter how many times he cast his torch around him, he saw nothing but empty walls. A loud thunderclap had him jumping in spite of himself and he hissed in irritation. He stood there, pricking his ears, but the giggling was gone; having disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
He probably had imagined it. Perhaps the sound had merely been the distorted cry of an animal. Which animal he could not say, but he wasn't a veterinarian or a specialist in animals in general. Steadying himself against the balustrade he finished walking upstairs, finding himself on a big landing with five rooms to investigate and an extra staircase which most likely led to the attic.
He surveyed the rooms before deciding to start in the one furthest to left and make his way around to the second staircase like that.
When he turned around, he came face to face with a pale skinned youth. Swallowing his shout just in time, Danzo backed away; his fingers tightening around his gun. "Who are you?" he demanded harshly, trying to figure out where the young man had come from. It couldn't have been from downstairs, because Danzo was still near the first stairs. He hadn't heard any of the doors opening either, nor had he heard the second staircase creaking. How the hell had he managed to sneak up on him?
"Interesting that you should ask that, when you're the one barging into my home," the young man smirked, his thumbs casually hooked around the edge of his pockets.
Objectively he was a handsome man, but there was something in his black eyes that set Danzo on edge. He hadn't made it to the position of head of the police by pure chance; his instincts had nearly always been correct and now every instinct he had was blaring loud and clear. Everything about the guy screamed danger as if he was just one second away from snapping and Danzo eyed him cautiously, trying to see if he had any weapons on him.
"You look rather young to own this house," he remarked coolly. And too irresponsible as well, if he couldn't bother with the upkeep of the house.
"And you look rather old to be breaking into homes," the man shot back. He was still smirking, but it was wholly devoid of humour. The smirk looked both empty and dark and the hairs in Danzo's neck were raised once more.
There was no doubt in his mind that he was currently dealing with a very dangerous person here, even when he couldn't immediately spot any weapons. Underestimating the man simply because he appeared unarmed would be foolish however and Danzo raised his gun in warning.
Instead of being alarmed, the young man merely looked thoroughly entertained, as if the gun was something funny instead of a weapon that could kill him.
"I'm looking for my ward," Danzo spoke smoothly, keeping the gun trained at the man's chest. "We had an argument earlier this evening and he ran out. I've been looking for him and I have reasons to believe that he is currently holed up somewhere in this house."
"Oh, you have reasons to believe, do you now?" the man said mockingly.
Danzo gritted his teeth. "I'm not here to harass you, I simply want to take my ward with me."
"Hm, that is going to be a no from me, I'm afraid," the man said lightly, still wholly relaxed. "I suggest you take your leave, before something bad might occur."
"Are you threatening me?" Danzo asked in disbelief as outrage started to build up. Did this brat even know who the hell he was?!
The young man's smile widened as he leant forwards, showing off his teeth in a cold grin. "No, because that implies I might not go through with it. I am warning you. You leave now and - "
Danzo shot him before he could even finish talking, too furious to listen to the bastard babbling on. Who did he think he was, threatening Danzo as if he was some mere punk who could be intimidated by –
He froze when the bullet shot straight through the man's chest – as if nobody was there at all. The bullet hit the opposite wall, sending shrapnel flying. Meanwhile the young man still stood there calmly, as if nothing was wrong.
As if he hadn't just been shot.
Panic had Danzo shooting a second and a third time, but every bullet just went straight through the young man as if he wasn't there. As if he was a ghost.
"I'm getting bored now," the young man announced flatly. "And I don't want you to wake him up."
Danzo whirled around, aiming for the staircase, because this wasn't something he could handle, this was something too fucked up to even comprehend, but before he could reach the first step, a murder of crows suddenly surrounded him from all sides, screeching and cawing right into his ears. He yelled and lashed out, intending on beating them away, but they wouldn't let themselves be deterred and instead started jabbing their nasty sharp beaks at him, hitting him wherever they could.
In a desperate attempt to escape from them he dashed away, wanting to escape into one of the rooms, but he tripped over the raised threshold. His forehead hit the sharp corner of something, stars exploding in front of his eyes.
Right before he blacked out, he saw the young man leisurely walking towards him; the crows chittering now as if laughing.
As if they knew something was going to happen.
When Danzo regained consciousness, his head was absolutely killing him and involuntarily a groan left him. He only became aware that something was seriously wrong, when his groan sounded off to his own ears. He tried to swallow, but discovered he couldn't – and then realised he was missing his tongue.
He was missing his tongue.
His tongue was gone.
Why was his tongue gone?!
His eyes shooting open, they widened in horror when he saw the rows of bricks stacked high up in front of him. His heart jumping into his throat, he tried to look around, but found that he couldn't. Not without all his limbs and his back screaming with excruciating pain, which had his eyes watering and him gasping uselessly for air.
"Not such a big mouth now, hm?"
His eyes shot up, latching onto the young man's face peering through the one remaining gap in the wall. The man smirked once he saw he had Danzo's attention.
"I told you it was best to leave, but you wouldn't listen," he said and his dark eyes glittered menacingly. "I couldn't have you hurt him any longer, so you have to go. Don't you think your new room is nice?"
A cruel laugh left him when Danzo glared up at him, trying to fight down the panic intend on strangling him.
"Oh right, a bit hard to look around when you're distracted by the pain of having all your bones broken, hm?"
His bones broken.
Broken.
The word bounced around in his skull, but he found it hard to make sense of it, even when he numbly realised that he literally couldn't move at all without every part of his body hollering in absolute agony . He couldn't move his arms, couldn't move his legs, couldn't even twitch his pinkie without wanting to scream. How had this …
"I'm just returning the favour, you know," the man said casually. "Your father thought it was so much fun to bury me behind a wall and leave me to starve to death; I figured you would like the experience too. Really builds character, you know?"
His father? He forced his head to turn around, dread like a leading ball in his stomach when he saw that he was surrounded on all sides by nothing but brick. Brick and earth, the air stale and dead. As if magnetised, he found his gaze being pulled back towards the young man.
The man hummed when he saw Danzo staring at him. His eyes darkened even further, fire smouldering in the depths of them when he explained, "As it turns out, the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. Your dear father murdered my family and had me starve to death in an attempt to take over the company. Now you tried to kill Naruto in order to take his money." He tsk'd, sounding disapproving when he continued, "You got too greedy, Danzo junior, and you tried to touch what's mine."
"What are you?" Danzo whispered horrified; his brain fighting against the terrifying realisation. It was what he wanted to ask at least, but nothing but gargling noises escaped him and he felt something warm dripping down the corners of his mouth.
The man cocked his head to the left, apparently having understood him after all. "Does it matter? You aren't going to leave this place alive. You're going to spend the rest of your miserable life, however short that will be, here until you rot. But I'm not as bad as your father is."
There was a small plank high above Danzo and the man placed something on it; a nasty smirk on his face.
It was a bottle of water.
"Here, you've got some water, wouldn't want you to die of thirst," he mocked.
The last brick slipped into place just as Danzo tried to scream.
Still revelling in the mental image of Danzo's broken and bloodied body, imagining just how terrified and out of his mind the old bastard must be now, Sasuke returned to the house. The storm was still going on strong, the rain pelting down, but he was unbothered by it. He was even grateful for it, because the noise of the storm had helped covering up Danzo's irritating screeching when Sasuke had taken his time breaking every single bone in that disgusting body before ripping his tongue straight out of his mouth.
He had had to wait for more than a century, but finally he had been able to take his revenge. Even better, his lover had returned to him after Sasuke had been forced to witness him dying right in front of him before Danzo Senior had buried him behind a wall. It had taken years, but everything had finally fallen into place.
Who could have predicted that tonight of all nights, his death day, Naruto would find his way back to him? Even better, that Sasuke was able to put an end to that despicable Shimura bloodline as well?
Smiling, he made his way to his bedroom, where Naruto was still peacefully asleep, unaware of what had just transpired. The blond laid curled up underneath the thick blanket; his right leg stretched out. His hands were curled up like a young kid would and Sasuke softened at the sight, remembering that he used to do that in the past as well.
Careful not to wake him, Sasuke sat down on the bed and reached out to caress Naruto's cheek. The skin felt hot and smooth underneath his touch and Sasuke couldn't wait to discover just how similar this body of Naruto felt compared to the past.
"You're safe here," Sasuke murmured and leant down to brush his lips lightly against Naruto's, sighing at the way they pliantly parted underneath his. "Don't worry, I won't ever let you go again."
They would finally be together forever. Sasuke would make that happen.
He laid down next to his love, cradling him against his chest, waiting for the moment he would awake.
Outside the crows tittered with joy.
The End
AN2: Additional warnings: Character deaths both in the past and the present; torture; ghost Sasuke; slash; reincarnation; dark Sasuke.
I hope this fic was fitting for Halloween! Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.
