A/N: The first thing I need to say is that in the last chapter I totally blew off ewon in my reviewer response. I was trying to post it during class, and ewon's review was new, so my mind was completely not in the right place when I replied to her (seeing as how I was also taking notes and iming my friend), and I think I implied that I would quit being mean to Naruto in chapter seven, which was obviously not the truth. So, I've posted a new version with a proper response, and I extend my deepest apologies for blowing off ewon, who was the first person ever to review me. And with that said, on to more author's notes. Oh wait, I don't have anything else to say. Warnings are Language, OOC, a little Angst, a little Violence, and the big whammy, coming up SASUNARU happy boy on boy love. Woo Hoo! That said, it's time to respond to my reviewers.

someone: I'm glad you liked it! And you're about to find out why everyone hates Naruto. It's pretty crazy. Anyways, thanks so much reading, and since you reviewed, I have a tray of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for you. Enjoy

xjuu: I know it's sad, but there's nothing I can do about it. The end of this chapter is a little happier, but the beginning is not so much. Naruto's past iss pretty insane, and maby a little unbelievable, but hey. That's the way I like things. Thanks for reviewing. Since you did, you get a pan of gooey, chewy, super tasty brownies. Keep reading. :)

sunhawk: That's interesting about the peroxide. I always thought it was okay, and the only reason I put it in there is because in fifth grade I did the same thing to my legs, arm, an shoulder when I was skating, and we used peroxide. Thanks for the good info. I'll never do that again! Thanks for reviewing. Do you like lemon squares? If you do, I have a pan fresh baked lemon squares with extra powdered sugar. Hope you like! ;)

But Home Is Nowhere...: Tearing You Apart Makes Me Feel Alive

Sasuke looked at the clock, rubbing the haze out of his aching eyes and groaning. "Three thirty. Dear God." He suppressed a yawn and attempted to turn back to the computer screen, but the bright white of the three open windows stung his eyes and provoked a harsh throbbing in his temples, so he looked away again.

He'd been sitting in front of his computer for the past six hours, desperately searching for anything about Naruto or his family, and had, thus far, been completely unsuccessful. Sighing, he decided it would be alright to leave the search engines to work alone and pushed his chair away from the desk. He stood slowly, stretching his cramped legs and walked out of his room. He felt carefully along the wall until he found the stairs, and the proceeded to descend to the kitchen.

Once he was downstairs, he flipped the light on in the kitchen and opened the fridge, standing in front of it and staring thoughtfully. After many moments of contemplating, he pulled a chocolate bar out of the butter compartment and grabbed a bottle of Sunny D. He then exited the kitchen, flipping the light off and crawled back up the stairs, snack in hand.

It wasn't until he'd finished unwrapping the candy bar and reclaimed his spot in front of the computer that he noticed a large message window blink on the monitor. SIX MATCHES FOUND! Sasuke nearly fainted, but opted instead to click the 'show results' button. For a moment the screen went black, and then there was one window with a newspaper article.

"Match one," he read aloud, chewing thoughtfully on the chocolate. "June 24, 1992. Virgin Park Disappearances Solved." Sasuke frowned. What the hell were the Virgin Park Disappearances? "Yesterday, at approximately two o'clock in the afternoon, police received a phone call from one Chihiro Miyazaki informing them of a dire situation in the residence of Rika and Yoh Uzumaki." Sasuke nearly yelped at the mention of the name, excited at his apparent success. He continued reading silently. 'Upon further investigation, it was discovered that in the basement of 1615 Angel Blossom Drive, there were more than thirty bodies in various state of decay and dismemberment. Among these bodies were the positively identified twenty three teens that have been reported over the last six months, as well as seven unknown people of the same age. Also found were the bodies of apparent kidnappers and murderers, Rika and Yoh Uzumaki, dead by self inflicted gunshot wounds. Left alive and confused was there two year old son, one Naruto Uzumaki. He was found by Miss Chihiro Miyazaki confused and abandoned in his crib. –visual: Blonde toddler clinging desperately to a weeping teenager's shirt.- The disappearances have been renamed the Blood Ink Murders due to the freshly administered tattoo found on the child's abdomen, presumably applied by the boy's father using ink that, when tested reveals traces of three different blood types, probably the blood of the victims.'

Sasuke quit reading there, his heart beating fast in his chest, and his head ready to explode with the weight of the information. Naruto's parents were serial killers. "They left him all alone. He probably had no idea what as going. He was only two." Sasuke felt like throwing up, or crying, or something. They hated him for his parents. They hated him for something he had no control over. Something that he had to be reminded of every single day. "They tattooed him using those peoples' blood. Oh dear god."

Sasuke leaned forward, covering his face with his hands, unable to keep from crying. It hurt him just to imagine what Naruto went through, it hurt him to lose his own parents in a normal fashion. But to have them do something like that would be unbearable. Why did they hate the boy who was just as much a victim as anyone else? It was even more of a mystery to him at that point then it had been before. "How can they possibly blame him for that? He was only two." Sasuke pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, rubbing hard and trying to forget what he'd just read and ignore the heart breaking images of his own parents that were flooding his mind.

He didn't even remember it happening, but he had a very clear recollection of the day Itachi had explained everything to him. He'd been four, and he'd wondered why he didn't have a mommy and daddy like everyone else, so he'd asked big brother. He ended up wishing he hadn't. Itachi had shown him pictures of the car after the crash, and had explained to him exactly why their parents hadn't survived. It had broken Sasuke's heart then, and he found it impossible to imagine what it must be like for Naruto to live the burden left by his own parents. It was both heart breaking and exhausting.

Sasuke composed himself momentarily and closed the window, deciding he knew enough and did not need to see the other five matches. He reached forward and flipped off the monitor, leaving the computer on in case he needed it in the morning, and then turned off the desk lamp. He threw the trash from his candy bar and Sunny D away and then stripped out of his jeans. He crawled into bed wearing his boxers and t-shirt and clapped his hands twice. The room was plunged into darkness, and as he drifted off into sleep, the large red numbers on his clock read four fifteen a.m.

333333333333333

When Naruto woke up, he felt considerably refreshed, and had nearly forgotten about all the horrible happenings of the day before. That is until he moved and his entire body either stung, ached, or throbbed in protest. He looked at his alarm clock (the back up that he'd bought a week ago, knowing he'd destroy his on the first day of school) and it read seven o'clock. He had plenty of time. He sat up slowly and walked into the bathroom to begin work on band-aid removal.

He winced and braced himself as he took hold of the bottom strip and pulled. Hard. By the time the final bandage was removed, he'd screamed like a girl three times, and had successfully waxed the entire front of his shin. It looked like the wound wasn't planning on scabbing over, so he reached down into the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a roll of gauze. He refused to go through the band-aid removal again that afternoon.

He slowly wrapped his leg three times, making sure to cover the entire length of the deep scrape, and then pulled out a roll of medical tape. He measured the correct amount and the taped the gauze tightly so that it would not come undone during the day. Currently, he had no blood circulation in his leg, but he knew that would return in a few moments. "Nice job Naruto. You treat your wounds well."

The blonde was giving himself a half smile in the mirror, and before he left, he shot himself a thumbs up. He then began sifting through his dirty clothes pile, and pulled out his one pair of jeans and a black wife beater. Pulling them on, he told himself that he absolutely had to do laundry tonight, and that he would seriously injure himself again if he didn't. He figured he probably would.

Suitably dressed for the day, Naruto picked up one of the grocery bags and carried it into the kitchen. He quickly began preparing the cup of ramen that he was planning on eating and grabbed a glass from the cabinet. The microwave dinged just as he was putting the juice back in the fridge, and he sat down to a breakfast that was considerably better than the one he'd eaten the day before. "This is more like it," he said through a mouthful of noodles, and continued the thought inside his head, 'Maybe today won't be so bad.'

When he left the house fifteen minutes late, he checked the key twice to make sure it would work that afternoon, and was almost smiling as he walked down the street. The sky was cloudy again, but it wasn't going to rain right away, so Naruto walked at a leisurely pace, trying to ignore the constant throbbing in his body. So what if he was hurting? At least today was going to be better.

Naruto was happy when he entered Sans High on his second day of school.

TBC...

A/N: Blargh! Another shorty. Or was it? I can't tell. Blah! Never mind. So, I revealed a little of Naruto's past, and a teeny bit of Sasuke's past. I hope Naruto's parents weren't too unbelievable. I had to do something really drastic, or else it wouldn't have made sense for everyone to despise him so. I'm just afraid it was over the top. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. I'd like to hear either way, although this is something I probably won't change much about. I kind of meant it to be a little unbelievable. Whatever, even if it's bad, I have a little bit of affection growing within me for Naruto's past. Although I do hate being so mean to him. Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and please tell me what you think. This chapter's title is from "Top of the Food Chain" by the Dirty Worms. They're from Austin. That's where I live! I really love this song, it's just so, grrr. Anyways. That's all I have to say.

Good morning, good evening, and goodnight.