hmm...chap 28!

I'm not sure, but somehow a mysterious force within me says the story is drawing to a close... maybe another five chappies or so...(with this remark I've probably jinxed it to become neverending...)

hmm... If my suspicion proves correct...anybody have a plot bunny they wanna get rid of? I've got some empty cages!

OMG I REACHED THE 100 REVIEW MARK! AND THE 30000 WORD MARK! I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOOO MUCH!

°catches breath°

bladeboy, herewith I name you the hundredth reviewer of my first ever fic. You get...cookies. And some ramen. Love you!

Randomness: Apocalyptica. "Refuse – Resist."

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Whore Street

Pain.

Fear.

No...daddy!

Jiraiya – please STOP!

Naruto sobbed brokenly into the blood-stiffened mattress, his aching, abused body cringing away from the memories as they hushed, snickering evilly, through his mind. God...how long had it been now? He'd stopped counting how often he came in, not able to take the knowledge of how many times he had 'played' with him, destroyed his body and mind with his disgusting toys and words.

And these memories...such torture! Worse even than his sick ideas and the filthy things he whispered sibilantly into Naruto's ear. The blonde's thoughts were fixed on the darkest experiences he'd lived through. He felt only his father's touches and thrusts, not recalling the happy times – he relived only Jiraiya's anger, the few rewards he'd received forgotten.

The last torture, the deepest pain, came from Gaara. From not being able to think of Gaara, because the memories of pain, no matter how delicious, called up memories of other, dirty and shameful pain. He missed the redhead so badly that he couldn't breathe at times, his heart constricting beneath his cracked ribs.

Nothing eased his agony, no amount of moving or shifting or hiding. He couldn't escape it, because --

-- it was inside of him.

Pain continued to hammer into him, mentally and physically, and he found short relief from time to time by slipping into uneasy unconsciousness. But there the physical hurt was his enemy, too much to sleep through but not enough to keep him unaware.

Naruto groaned an image of Jiraiya away, only to find it replaced by his father, eager and rough on his yet-too-small body. He whimpered. God...

...he didn't know how long he would be able to stand this. Or even how long he wanted to stand this. His breath already came in pained gasps, every moment an eternity of fear. He could feel himself giving in – death would be so much easier than this, so much better...

The door opened, and he froze. His whole body tensed up and he whimpered again.

No...

"Hello, pet." The light turned on, and the man sat on the bed, the mattress creaking in protest.

Naruto gasped in panic as the cold, clammy hand slid over the back of his thigh, over the kanji. Naruto had been relieved almost to tears when he had left it untouched, had praised it even. At least that... at least that he could keep.

"Now, though this is a very pretty sign and quite fits to you..." There was a trace of a smirk in the icy voice.

"Please, please don't..." Naruto whispered desperately. "Please leave it --"

The man ignored him. "...There's one major flaw in it."

He leaned over Naruto's shivering form, his breath hissing along the blonde's neck. "...I didn't do it."

Naruto shrieked as a jagged blade settled onto his thigh. "NO! Don't --"

He moaned in fear. He needed the sign. Without it, he was nothing. Without that connection to Gaara, he would be lost forever in this darkness, this endless cycle of agony.

The man chuckled. "Ah – you are so responsive! By all rights, you should be comatose with shock and blood loss...amazing."

The knife began to press into the skin, Naruto sobbed harder, the man hissed in amusement --

-- and the door squeaked open on tis rusty hinges.

Naruto tried to crane his neck around to see who the intruder was as he moved away and muttered, "Who the hell are you?"

When there was no answer beyond the man's gasp of pain, Naruto wondered whether...

He tugged at his bonds, frustrated. What was going on? He heard a crash as something fell with a loud thud, and tugged harder. He had to stop, though, as one of his broken ribs shifted and ground beneath his skin. Helpless, he lay still, trying in vain to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

Naruto heard a succession of deep groans from his captor, then there was silence.

He couldn't turn his head enough to see more than pants and lower shirt of his 'savior' as his bonds were cut swiftly and angrily, but it was enough.

"Gaara..." he whimpered, breaking into tears.

The Sandman pulled him into a sitting position, forcing a shriek from Naruto's lips, and dragged his eyes over his form. Naruto shivered. Gaara's eyes...

They were hard as crystal, and just as cold.

He tensed, wondering whether this was the end for him. Huh. Saved from one freak by another, then killed that one. He almost laughed at that one.

Instead of killing him, though, Gaara stood again and his eyes shifted to a black -clad heap on the floor – him. The hardness in his eyes became even more pronounced, the teal almost metallic. His left hand curled into a parody of the victory sign, middle and index finger crooked and flexed.

Naruto watched him, frozen,as the redhead kicked him to lie on his back. The slanted reptilian eyes fluttered open, the sensuous lips curling into a snarl. He tried to get up, but Gaara's foot forced him back down.

The Sandman knelt in front of the trembling man, and Naruto held his breath as the claw-hand tore across the sharp-chinned face, blood spraying in the pale fingers' wake --

-- he screamed, a sound of incredible pain and fear --

-- and Gaara was suddenly twirling a knife in his hand – no, not any knife, his knife – , the blade flashed down...

Naruto was too weak to watch this, he decided, and promptly fainted dead away.

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hehe...Orochimaru bashing...and fun!

And there was even a bit of plot in it!

liked it?

Tell me!

Randomness: Nirvana. "Breed".