Hey everyone! Once again, thanks for the reviews (they make me happy!)! I'm extremely sorry this update took much longer than expected. My computer sucks and got a virus --. I lost most of the stuff I had on it and it's taken forever to fix it! But it's fixed now (at least I hope so)! Okay, so finally, here's the next chapter!

Demon Child

"You idiot! What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" Naruto didn't know what he did to have made Haru so mad...

"You know you're not allowed to eat dinner at the table. You're ruining my appetite. You don't deserve to eat the food that was bought with my hard earned money."

Oh yes. He wasn't allowed to eat at the table. He had forgotten because Haru was hardly ever home for dinner. He came home during the night, always drunk. And because he was never home, Kaila had always ate with him at the table. It was nice.

"Are you even listening to me, you little freak? Answer me!"

Naruto suddenly felt a searing pain in his skull, and found himself lying on the floor. He had been to lost in his own thoughts and thinking of how much better is was when it was just Kaila and him. Haru doesn't like to be ignored.

"Ha ha, that'll teach you to ignore me, you little demon." Haru kicked him in the stomach for good measure that caused Naruto to double over in pain, coughing up blood at the same time. Haru then left the room, seemingly satisfied.

Naruto felt his stomach tenderly and winced, thankful that his ribs were only bruised and not broken. No matter how bad he was beaten, he could never go to the doctor, because if Haru found out, well, he would need much more than a doctor. More like the Emergency Room. Kaila would instead help him as best she could, but she didn't know much about first aid.

The thing was, Haru had sent Kaila out to buy more beer and cigarettes. She had not wanted to go for she was afraid of what Haru might do to Naruto, but Naruto convinced her to go saying he could take care of himself. He didn't want Kaila to get hurt like he would.

Making sure the coast was clear, he dragged himself up to his bedroom. He just managed to get inside and close the door before the pain became too much. He lay on the cold hard floor. That's when he felt the tears come. They trailed down his cheeks and onto the floor. He had to control himself though, for if he sobbed to hard, the searing pain from his wounds would sweep through him, blinding him and doubling him over.

So there he lay, curled up and crying, on the cold hard floor.

Naruto shook himself out of his daydream. He looked around to remind himself where he was. Oh ya. He was at Ichiraku's, getting ramen with Sasuke. He had zoned out in the middle of their conversation. Well, more like silence. He didn't know why he had remembered that, though. He had most of those memories blocked, whether he did it subconsciously or consciously.

"Naruto? Naruto! NARUTO!"

"Wha- what?"

"Man, I've been calling you for the past five minutes. I know that you have a very short intention span, but that was even worse. Dobe."

"Hey, I do not have a short intention span!"

"Then what would you call what just happened?"

Naruto realized that Sasuke did have a point. "...Don't call me dobe!"

Sasuke just smirked at his obvious victory.

Naruto was about to yell at Sasuke, when another voice beat him to it.

"OOOOOHHHH SAAASSSSUUUUKKEEE!!!"

Sasuke groaned and Naruto growled. Didn't she ever learn?! Apparently not.

Sakura came running up to them. She had this look on her face that made the fact that she was up to something very obvious.

Naruto was about to tell her to fuck off (he didn't feel like dealing with her at the moment), when he saw someone else come up behind her. Naruto just stared at him.

"Oh, Sasuke, this is Rock Lee. He goes to a different school now, but I know him from earlier grades." The boy she had just introduced had a bowl shaped hair cut, was dressed in what looked like spandex, and had the thickest eyebrows Naruto had ever seen.

Sakura looked to Sasuke to see his reaction at seeing her with another guy, and just found him staring blankly at Lee.

Lee glared at Sasuke. He knew Sakura had a crush on him. 'But I will make her my girlfriend! I know I will! She and I were meant to be!'

"Hello." Lee said reluctantly. He didn't want to make Sakura mad at him right now, so he decided to be polite.

"Uh... oh, um, hi." said Sasuke, finally snapping out of it. He looked over at Naruto, only to find him just as he was a moment ago. "Hey, dobe, anyone one home?"

Naruto snapped his head around to look at Sasuke. "DON'T CALL ME THAT YOU JERK!"

Sasuke smirked. "Aren't you going to say hello to Lee Naruto?" Actually, he couldn't care less whether he did or not, he just liked ticking Naruto off. It was, well, amusing.

Naruto looked back to Lee. "Oh, um, hi."

Sakura wasn't going to let this plan fail. "So, aren't you going to invite us to eat with you, Sasuke?" Sakura said in an overly sweet and determined voice.

Sasuke looked to Naruto for help, but finding none, he decided to let them. I mean, what could go wrong?

Sakura squealed and sat down right next to Sasuke (they were in a booth) immediately, leaving Lee to sit next to Naruto.

Sakura blushed and looked at Sasuke shyly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and wondered what possessed him to agree to this torture.

'I can't believe that Sasuke said yes! I expected him to say no! And Sakura, she's so- WHAT THE HELL!?' He had just looked over at Sakura and Sasuke, and saw Sakura slowly inching closer to Sasuke, hearts in her eyes. She had started to move her hands closer to his. Naruto couldn't take much more of this. He liked Sasuke, and seeing this was infuriating him! He quickly pretended to drop his napkin, and bent down to pick it up, taking his time. But that changed as soon as he ducked under the table. He saw Sakura moving her leg closer to Sasuke's, trying to play footsie with him. 'THAT'S IT! SHE HAS NO RIGHT TO DO THAT TO MYSASUKE!!!! MY SASUKE!!!!!'

He had planned on sitting up and screaming bloody murder at her, but, unfortunately, he had forgotten that he was still under the table...

"Wake up, you brat!"

'Huh...?'

Naruto felt a sharp pain in his head. He realized that he had just been punched. Probably for not getting up when he was told to. He just curled up into a ball, putting his arms over his head in a feeble attempt to protect himself.

"You just think you can sleep the day away, don't you? Well, get ready for a rude awakening!" said Haru. He felt himself being picked up. Went tense, then started shaking. He was dreading what would happen next.

He felt him being thrown out the window, so he started screaming. And before he could take a breath, he felt himself hitting the surface of very cold water. He frantically moved his arms and legs, trying to get back to the surface so he could breath.

He finally managed to get to a more shallow part, and kicked up to the surface, taking deep breaths of air. He then moved to the edge of the water.

He had been thrown into the pond next to the house, he realized. The sun was hardly up, so the air was still very chilly. He started to shiver as he lay there, panting.

Kaila had left two days ago. Her mother had been put into the hospital after a car accident. Naruto had wanted to go with her, but since her mother lived far away, and they had to take a plain to get there, he had to stay. The tickets cost way too much money, and they could barely afford Kaila's.

So he's alone with Haru. For an entire week. Kaila tried to make the trip as shot as possible, but Naruto had told her to go for at least a week. That way she could be away from the abusive Haru. Besides, he wasn't treated much differently even when she was here; it just hurt a lot worse.

So here he was, lying on the cold ground, soaking wet and shivering.

He then felt a kick to his already bruised ribs. He reluctantly opened his eyes to the sight of a grinning Haru. Oh no. He definitely didn't like that look.

"While I'm at gone, you better do your chores. If I find they're not done when I get back, let's just say things won't be pretty." He ginned once again walked away towards his car.

Naruto waited until he heard Haru drive away to get up. He moved slowly, for every sudden movement brought a jolt of pain with it. It took him a while, but he finally managed to make it into the house. He put the warmest close he had on, and went downstairs to the kitchen. The pain was already starting to numb, even though it still hurt. It was nothing compared to what he would feel if he didn't finish his chores today, though. He grabbed a quick bite to eat (some food that Kaila had hidden away for him) and went outside.

The sun was up now. Naruto was sort of happy about that. It might warm him up now, but it would make working outside unbearable later.

And so, Naruto started working, ignoring the pain that once again made itself known.

'Owww... my head hurts...' Naruto tried opening his eyes, but, for some reason, the light was so bright. He then felt a cool hand on his head, and heard Sasuke's voice.

"Sasuke, why is it so bright?" Naruto rasped.

"You slammed your head on the table in Ichiraku's pretty hard."

Oh, that explained a few things. Especially why his head felt like it was splitting open.

Naruto frowned. He had had a dream. He couldn't remember what it was about, but it felt as if he had had that same dream before. It had felt so real. And, he hadn't liked it.

"What's the matter, dobe?" Naruto could hear concern in his voice. It was weird hearing something like that directed at him, but it made him feel good.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just a headache." Not true. The dream kind of worried him, like he should remember something. But he didn't want to worry Sasuke. He had already caused him so much trouble.

"You should probably get some more rest. You'll probably feel better."

"Okay. Um, hey, Sasuke? I'm really sorry."

"For what?" He sounded confused.

"I cause you so much trouble. It must be really tiring and annoying being around me so much. I'm always causing trouble for you and everyone. I just..." Naruto could feel himself start to choke up. He stopped talking because he couldn't really find the right words, and he would end up crying.

"You just nothing. It's my choice to be around you. I like being around you. Unlike other people, your not boring at all, and you have a really good heart. If I really thought you were troublesome and I didn't like being around, I would have kicked you out a long time ago and told you I didn't like you."

Naruto feel better... so he smiled.

"Thanks Sasuke."

He slowly drifted off to sleep once again, subconsciously hoping that he would find out what that dream was about, but then again, not really wanting to go through all the bad feelings it gave him...

'Ugh... it's so hot.'

Naruto's muscles ached and screamed at him to take a rest. His wounds were in full protest as well. But he couldn't take a break. If he did, he probably wouldn't finish before Haru got home... and, well, he didn't need to think about what would happen to him right now.

And so he continued with his work. He even wished he could be thrown into the pond again it was so hot.

He had eventually stripped down to just his shorts, and even that wasn't helping much.

He paused and looked down at himself.

His stomach was covered in bruises; you could hardly find a few inches of clear skin. There were also cuts and scrapes littering his body. Some bruises were turning yellowish, fading, but they were always surrounded and replaced with new ones. It was like some child had painted on him while he was sleeping. If that were the case, Naruto would have laughed at the sight, except this wasn't the case.

He gently prodded one of the bruises. He instantly hissed and whipped his hand away. He definitely wouldn't do that again.

He then remembered what he supposed to be doing. He mentally scolded himself for wasting time, and once again continued.

The sun had started to go down when he finally finished. He was very relived that Haru wasn't home yet.

He had painted the house, brought out the garbage, weeded the garden, raked the leaves, and cleaned the inside of house.

He ultimately felt like shit. He had thrown up in the middle of the day, the heat finally getting to him. He also had an awful headache. His wounds were still hurting like bitches, and he had the worst sunburn he had ever seen.

He had forced himself to eat some food, because he knew that was the last he would be getting for a while.

He heard a car drive up, so he went to his room as quickly as he could.

He heard the front door slam open, and hear Haru yell in a slurred voice to get down here. No way in hell was he going down there right now.

He franticly searched around for somewhere to hide.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit!' he thought. He could still hear Haru downstairs, so, as quietly as possible, he ran into the next room, which was Kaila and Haru's room.

He opened their closet and quickly got in. He shut the door and hid himself behind all the coats and pants and such that hung down low. There was also a lot of stuff on the floor, so that hid his lower body. But he knew that wouldn't be enough if Haru pushed aside the hanging clothes. He then laid down and piled as much stuff on him as he could, trying to make it look like the rest of the junk on the floor. His wounds and sunburn protest all this, but at the moment he was too frantic and scared to pay them any mind.

His heart stopped when he heard someone walk into the room, and his face paled. He immediately stopped moving, even breathing.

Haru walked around the room. Naruto could hear him checking in different places to try and find him.

"Hehe, I know you're in here kid," Haru slurred in his drunken state. "I've checked everywhere else. This is the only room left.

In one swift movement, the door to the closet opened. Naruto would have jumped at this, but his fear had paralyzed him. This wasn't good. He was alone in the house. With a drunken Haru. Naruto know that if Haru did find him, he wouldn't live to see the next day.

He heard Haru shift the clothes on the hangars, trying to see if Naruto was hiding behind there. Naruto's heart was now pounding so loud, he began to wonder why Haru hadn't found him yet just by that sound.

After a minute or so more, Haru receded and shut the door. Naruto heard him turn off the lights, and exit the room, shutting the door behind him. He waited one more moment before he let himself breathe, just to make sure.

He was just about to shift positions to make himself more comfortable, when he heard the door open again. The bed squeaked, and he knew Haru was going to sleep. Now he had absolutely no chance of make an escape, or even moving to make himself more comfortable. One wrong moved could send an avalanche of junk down off him, alerting Haru most definitely.

The pain he had to endure was like nothing else. There were sharp things digging into his stomach were most of the bruising was, there was pressure on every part of him that was sunburned, and his headache had returned.

He just... wanted the pain to go away. He didn't want to feel any more. He couldn't even care less if he died right then and there. At least he wouldn't have to live in this hell even more...

But, if he died, then he wouldn't ever be able to see Sasuke again.

'Huh? Where the hell did that thought come from? Who the hell is Sasuke?' Naruto frowned. He thought hard, and a moment later, a picture of a boy came to his mind. He looked so familiar, and yet Naruto didn't know why. The sight of him made him feel... happy...

His surroundings started to fade away, until he was engulfed in darkness.

He looked around frantically, the happy feeling of a few moments before completely gone.

He tried to scream, but only to find that he had no voice to scream with. He tried to move his hands, but he once again found that he had none. His body was gone.

He wanted to cry, but he couldn't even do that. He was bound to float in this eerie darkness for eternity. All that was left of him were his thoughts.

"Just wake up dobe."

'Huh?!'

Naruto sat up in a cold sweat. That was one of the worst dreams he had ever had. He now remembered the dream. It was of when Kaila had left for a week, leaving him alone with Haru. And as if that wasn't enough, he ended being engulfed by some strange darkness.

And, someone had told him to wake up. Who had it been? Well, they had said...um... oh ya! They had said '"Just wake up dobe."'.

'Well, like it's hard now to figure out who said it. There's only one person who calls me dobe. Hehe. Seems like Sasuke's always saving me from something. HEY! I don't need to be saved! ...Well... I guess there have been a few times where I needed some assistance... ARGH! I'm not weak!' Naruto sighed. 'Well, I guess it isn't so bad. If I had to be saved by someone, at least it's Sasuke...' At the last thought, Naruto started blushing.

But that didn't last long. The dream he had had once again reared its ugly head. It made Naruto shudder at that memory... he hadn't thought of this stuff for years. He thought he had blocked it all out... why was he remembering now? He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to go through this shit again. It just... hurt so much...

Hehe! Well, finished! I decided to end it on a different note then some other chapters. Naruto doesn't have Sasuke there making him feel better! Oh, but don't worry! I love Naruto just as much as the next person! I gotta make him feel better! He's just too cute!!! And, sorry if Lee was out of character... I can't really think of how he acts at the moment. But oh well. This is an AU. Not the same! And I'm gonna stop apologizing for Sakura's behavior. No one is making you read this! Oh, and so I can answer this question before it's asked, Sasuke was about to freak out on Sakura for touching him, but Naruto made his move first :). Ja ne!