Chapter 5

The nurse was careful as she padded down the bandage around his torso. "How does that feel?"

Naruto gave her a playful smile. She was an older woman with greying hair and wrinkles that were becoming prominent around her neck. He's tired of seeing her just as much as she was tired of seeing him.

"There isn't much difference," he replied.

"Well, I can imagine. Your ribs are bruised badly, Naruto." She scooted back in her chair, removing the latex gloves from her hands. "You need to give it time to heal."

Naruto nodded numbly. He grabbed his shirt off the chair and swung it on, looking up and meeting the concerned face of the nurse. "Why are you looking at me like that?" He wasn't sure if he should pity himself or congratulate himself for at least being able to say he had one person to call a friend.

The nurse struggled to read the emotion behind the blank stare that seemed to be permanently carved over Naruto's face, the sadness that was aching in his eyes. She wondered how she would be able to live with herself if her son who was around Naruto's age had those same eyes. The thought alone scared her.

"Naruto, this can't continue."

Naruto laughed at her humorlessly. "Geez, I'm not dying. Don't be so dramatic."

"You refuse to admit that you are being bullied. That you need help." It was an awful truth that needed to be said out loud.

"Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. I'm just entertaining them til' they learn to grow the fuck up."

A few weeks ago it was a black eye. Last couple of months it was a broken nose. Last year, he experienced a concussion. What will it take for it to be a big deal? Now that he thought about it, if he wanted, he could really sue a shit ton of money out of the school. He will keep that in mind for the next time one of his teachers decided to give him grief over a late assignment.

"That's not a normal thing to say, Naruto."

"Nothing about me is normal." He swung on his blazer, his eyes wandering everywhere else but the woman in front of him.

"I need to speak with your brother. We need to meet and discuss ways we can help you. This nonchalant attitude of yours will get you killed one day. You don't seem to grasp the importance of the situation." She scooted her chair over to her desk, the wheels scraping against the crisp tile floors. In front of the computer, she began to tap over the black keyboard.

Naruto's face hardened. "Look, alright, fine, I get it. I'll chill out. No more fights. You don't need to get him involved."

The woman turned around with a notepad and pen in her hand. "Maybe we should consider transferring you to a new school."

"I just fucking told you I'm okay. You want to transfer me to a new school? You think I won't go through the same shit I'm going through here over there? You think I wanna go through this shit every day? You think I like wincing every time I take a fucking breath? You think this shit is enjoyable for me?!"

Naruto blinked away the rage that blinded him. He looked at the nurse, the terror on her face as she cowered away from him. He finally realized just how threateningly close he was to her. He loosened his balled fists as he pulled himself back.

"Sorry," he said remorsefully. "I didn't mean to yell."

The nurse moved her hand from her chest as she tried to calm herself. "Naruto, I'm just worried about you. You being unfazed by all of this scares me. How far do you want them to take it until you..." She looked down at her hands. "I couldn't bear it Naruto if you were to seriously get injured."

"I know, I understand. I won't get into any more fights. I mean it this time." He lifted up his backpack to his shoulder. "I should get back to class."

"Naruto…"

"Seriously, I get it." He placed his hand over her shoulder. "If you're worried so much about me, don't talk me to death." Just like him to resolve back to sarcasm during a serious discussion. Naruto quickly dodged the notepad that was swung at him. He laughed as he quickly left the clinic.

The moment he stepped inside the classroom all eyes were on him. The freak had returned. He bowed his head respectfully to the English teacher, ignoring the concerning stares he received from his peers as he walked towards his seat. He sat down and finally looked up. He rolled his eyes when the students averted their gaze in a quick motion. If only it didn't hurt like hell to laugh.

As the teacher carried on the lesson, he found himself tuning out the current discussion on English adverbs. For fuck sakes, who were they really going to speak English to? It's not like he was going to be walking down the street, minding his own business, and casually bump into a foreigner who would ask him directions to the nearest bar. He heard Americans loved drinking beer. Shit, was that offensive? He shrugged his shoulders. Oh well, he would just have to ask Sasuke when he comes back to Japan.

Had the classroom lights always been this unbearably bright? He slid his head down over his desk, blankly staring at the three musketeers sat three seats away from him. He wasn't surprised to find them tuning out the teacher as well, their eyes focused on their cellphones. If he had his own, he would probably be doing the same thing.

Naruto continued to watch them silently. Neji, that son of a bitch, was showing the rest of the guys something that immediately had their eyes gawking at whatever was on the screen. Whatever it was, it must've been interesting seeing as Kiba, who was rarely interested in anything was strangely captivated as well. If he concentrated hard, maybe he could hear their conversation. It helped that they didn't know how to whisper either. Naruto swore they were fucking idiots.

"Neji, I won't ask you again to put the phone away." The teacher tried her best to sound intimidating, but her naturally high-pitched voice failed to carry out the sternness behind her words.

"I'm not doing anything." Neji continued to scroll through the article on his phone. "Bro, I swear I need to be friends with this guy. Imagine clubbing with him... I'm talking perks on top of perks."

Naruto clicked his tongue when he missed the name of whoever Neji was raving about. The weird one who always wore sweats in substitute of his uniform trousers spoke next. Naruto rolled his eyes. How was he bullied every day by this lame ass kid, especially with eyebrows the size of fucking Africa.

"Sheesh, look at that jacket." Lee leaned in closer over Neji's shoulder, his peppermint breath invading Neji's nostrils as his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "How the fuck did I get stuck with you losers? I was born to be in the same league as this guy. You see those guys behind him, I should be one of them." He ducked his head as Neji tried to slap him.

"Shut the fuck up, dumbass." Neji glanced up to find the teacher's hard gaze on him. He winked at her, smirking when she averted her eyes back to the textbook in her hands.

Seriously, where was lightning when you needed it? Just one strike, if not to kill the bastard, then just enough to have him twitching on the floor like a rat caught on a trap. Naruto laughed quietly to himself, entertained by his own thoughts.

"Life just isn't fair. He's rich, good looking, and I heard he's smart as hell."

"Yeah, he's living in the states. Got accepted to one of those major universities." Kiba chimed in after Lee, the proclaim weirdo by Naruto.

"Fuck, I'm not even kidding, I'd suck his dick. I'm not even ashamed to say that." Lee moved away when Neji again tried to hit him.

"Get tbd fuck away from me." Neji swatted him away like he was a fly.

Naruto's eyes followed Neji's to Kiba who had made no comments toward Lee's statement. Naruto watched him intensely for any sort of reaction, even if just a twitch of his eyebrow. Kiba remained unflinching.

"You think you can pull off that jacket, Kiba?" Neji grinned.

Kiba leaned back in his seat. "That's Sasuke Uchiha. What chance do I have competing with a guy like that?"

The boys laughed at Kiba's shocking honesty. Neji opened his mouth to tease Kiba some more when a flash of blonde hair passed between his eyes and his cellphone was suddenly snatched out of his hand. He quickly stood up and took back his phone. His eyes narrowed as he shoved away Naruto who looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"You must have a death wish or something." Neji rolled up his sleeves as he slowly stalked towards Naruto.

Naruto stood unmoving. His mind was elsewhere, the threat before him completely ignored. "Sasuke's back?" he whispered.

Kiba dropped his head back in irritation. Not this shit again. "Neji, sit down."

"You definitely making me have some fun today." Neji swung his fist, landing a hard punch sending Naruto to the ground.

Naruto's automatically brought back to his senses, his hand cupping his aching jaw. He looked up to an unexpected sight.

"Are you deaf?" Kiba yelled, shoving Neji's chest. "I told you to sit the fuck down."

Neji's taken aback by the sudden attack and he retaliated with a hard shove of his own. "The fuck is your problem? Why are you defending this freak?"

Kiba clenched his jaw. "Sit down."

"Or what?" Neji dared him. "Don't tell me what he said yesterday is true. You two get together and paint each other's toe nails?" He bared his teeth when Kiba gripped the collar of his shirt. "Do it, I fucking dare you." He grinned, further antagonizing a pissed off Kiba.

Just when Lee's sure Kiba would really punch the shit out of Neji, he quickly inserted himself between the two before things escalated any further.

Within an instant, the petite teacher was by the students with a firm expression. She sternly instructed Neji to sit in the vacant seat in the front of the classroom. He was to sit there for the remainder of the semester. Neji protested angrily, boldly stepping into the teacher's face to intimidate her. He's shocked when the teacher's unnerving gaze warned him to take a step back. He huffed in defeat when his earlier warning from his math teacher resonated through his head. He rolled his eyes as he yanked up his backpack and headed to his new assigned seat.

Naruto returned to his own seat despite his teacher's wish for him to go to the infirmary. He laid his head back down on his desk. He's dealt with much worse than just a slightly bruised lip. He also didn't feel like dealing with another earful from the overbearing nurse for already breaking his promise to her. At the moment, he only had one person on his mind and just the thought of that person was enough to have his body becoming numb to the pain.

—

"What are you doing?" Jaron sang, peeking his head through the small opening of his uncle's bedroom door.

Naruto was sprawled out on his large bed, his eyes watching the ceiling. "Contemplating if we live in a giant globe owned by aliens who are watching us like ants trapped in a jar."

Jay nodded his head as if he understood his uncle's nonsense. "Why?"

Naruto finally turned to meet his nephew's curious eyes. He motioned the boy in and padded the space beside him. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Did you finish yours?" Jay giggled when his nose was squeezed.

"You're not allowed to ask me that, baby boy." Naruto smiled. He only seemed to do that when this precious angel was around. He suddenly sighed, eyes once again gazing at the white ceiling. He chuckled when his nephew mimicked his actions.

Rejecting the boredom, Jay finally spoke. "Why are we staring at nothing?"

"I'm waiting for your mother to come home so I can get my phone back."

Jay nodded, then looked around in confusion. "But mommy's home. He's in the kitchen."

Naruto sat up abruptly. "Since when?"

Kyuubi moved back and forth spreading out the meals he had purchased that evening. There were various traditional Japanese dishes, dishes he hasn't eaten since his parents died. Dishes he knew Naruto would absolutely love and would bring back happy memories of their joyous childhood with their parents. Finished with setting up the table, Kyuubi hoped this idea of his wouldn't blow up in his face. He never knew what to expect when it came to trying to please his brother.

"I want my phone back." Speak of the devil.

Kyuubi looked up to find Naruto approaching him with his usual irritated look on his face. He smiled a greeting to him.

"Come eat with me first and I'll give it back to you."

Naruto looked around at the fancy set up. Flowers in a vase placed in the middle of the glass dining table. The numerous dishes scattered around in a bouffet like setting.

"What's all this?" he asked skeptically.

Kyuubi wiped his hands with the kitchen cloth hung over his shoulder. Habits of a part time waiter.

"There's been a lot of tension between us lately and I was thinking for once we could eat together and you know, just talk like how we used to." He sat down near his son who had already begun to eat his portion that was set out for him. "That's why I asked you to pick up Jay today so I could have time to get all of this."

Naruto scoffed at the pretentious act and turned to head back to his room until his brother's pleading voice stopped him.

"Naruto please, do this one thing for me."

Naruto didn't budge. "Or what… you'll hit me again?"

Kyuubi bit the inside of his cheek as guilt washed over him. "Just this once, please."

Naruto debated the idea for a moment and finally gave in. He sat opposite his brother and silently served himself. He gazed intensely at the dishes before him, a sense of nostalgia gripping his entire body and filling him with warmth. He brought a spoonful of soup to his mouth. As he ate the food, he was silent, marveled at the familiar taste of his favorite dish. The soup his mother always used to make.

"I had to take the taxi all the way out of the city just to find a restaurant that still made this soup." Kyuubi tried to ease the tension with light conversation as he watched his brother eat the soup while holding back tears.

Naruto dropped the spoon as he sat back in the chair. He wiped the silent tears from his face with the back of his hands. He stared at the dish.

Kyuubi stared at his own plate and noticed he hadn't eaten any of the food. He brought a spoonful of plain rice to his mouth.

"So, I was thinking we could have a heart to heart. You know, really start to communicate and finally get to understand one another."

"How are we living so well?"

Kyuubi furrowed his eyebrows at the sudden question. The spoon of rice half way to his mouth was dropped back into the small bowl beside his plate.

"Inheritance from mom and dad, obviously."

"Don't play dumb with me. You just recently inherited mom and dad's wealth when you turned 21." Naruto stared at his brother with a harsh glare. "We moved into this apartment when you were just nineteen. Where did you get the money from to be able to afford this place? And don't say you put down a loan because I know you wouldn't have been approved at your age for such a large amount."

Kyuubi dropped his fork, the utensil colliding loudly against the glass plate. So much for a cordial dinner between two brothers. "I borrowed money from a friend."

"What friend?" Naruto asked sharply. "When Tsunade kicked you out, where did you go? More importantly, what the fuck did you do to be able to borrow that kind of fucking money?"

"Hey! Watch your mouth." Kyuubi stood up. He looked down and saw his son watching them with innocent eyes and cheeks puffed out with food. He didn't want Jay hearing that kind of language. He shook his head as he began to pack away the food. He should've known this shit wouldn't work. "I did what I had to do, alright, Naruto. I don't know what you want to hear but that's the truth."

"You want to know what I really think you did, Kyuubi?" Naruto's tone taunted Kyuubi.

"Naruto, seriously, that's enough."

"No, no. You want us to communicate so let's fucking communicate." Naruto appeared sinister as he continued to torture his brother. "You know what Tsunade used to say about you, Kyuubi. After you left me to raise your son for two fucking years all by myself — you wanna know what she said?"

Kyuubi shook his head as he prompted himself back down on the leather seat. "You are the most ungrateful person I've ever met in my life." He was fed up. Naruto could go on and spew all the insults he wanted, he didn't care anymore. "You're such a spoiled brat."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Should I be grateful to a brother who probably fucked all the men in a whorehouse to get money for a good life?"

Kyuubi stood up abruptly, his hands slamming down frighteningly loud against the glass table. "Fuck you, Naruto!"

"Yeah, there he is! Go on, what else?" Naruto clapped his hands. He had finally succeeded in pushing his brother over the edge. "Finally, the real Kyuubi comes out."

"You're such a fucking asshole. I have done nothing for you to treat me like this." Kyuubi's fists clenched as his eyes glazed over with tears.

"No!" Naruto gasped in mocked exasperation. "You haven't done anything at all, Kyuubi. No, you're never at fault, right? No, you never do anything wrong, do you?!"

Kyuubi began walking away from the dining table, away from his antagonizing brother. He walked in quick strides, attempting to get to his room until his path was blocked. "Naruto, get the fuck out of my way." His voice was hoarse and it's obvious he was about to cry.

Naruto's getting a kick out of this. "Aww… what's the matter, Kyuubi?" His smile was almost maniacal as he laughed at his brother's clenched fists. "You're balling your fists? You gonna hit me again?"

Kyuubi shook his head. "No." He was a mess with hot tears streaming down his face.

"Look at you." Naruto moved into his brother's face, his cold eyes ridiculing him. "No wonder Itachi left you. You're pathethic." He laughed seeing the anger within those emerald eyes. "Oh, don't get angry. You've changed, remember?"

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"Well, that's a dumb question." Naruto spoke the rest of the words bitterly. "You're a selfish prick that's why. Good for nothing but getting on your knees and opening your mou—"

Naruto stumbled back. His finger grazed his aching cheek from the punch he's dealt with. He gritted his teeth as he went after Kyuubi, stopping when his body was pushed back by small arms wrapped around his waist. He looked down with startled eyes.

"Please stop fighting. Stop being mean to each other." Jay was crying, his small arms holding his uncle as his little body struggled to push his Naru away from his mother.

The room was engulfed in complete silence. The soft buzzing from the cartoon show was the only sound audible to the two brothers. Kyuubi was the first to move. He stormed over to the dining table and swiped the dishes onto the polished floors. The sound of glass shattering filled the apartment along with Kyuubi's angry shouts. The beautiful vase of flowers was hurled against the wall, instantly shattering into pieces at the moment of contact. Utensils scattered the ground along with broken glass.

"Being a little dramatic, don't you think?" Naruto yelled. His right hand consciously kept the five year old pressed against him to keep him from witnessing the heartbreaking scene.

Kyuubi said nothing as he quickly walked away from the kitchen.

"Yeah, do what you do best. Make a mess and leave me to take care of it afterwards." Naruto sighed as he finally released his hold on his nephew. "Go watch tv, baby boy."

He walked over to the kitchen to observe the chaotic scene closely. He's finally got what he wanted, a rise from his brother. So why was he not as happy as he always dreamed he would be? As he approached the small closet within the living room, he gazed at his nephew who had curled his little body over the couch. Naruto's heart sank at the sight. Jay buried his head in his arms as he cried softly. Naruto had focused so much on causing his brother the pain he had felt for all these years. He never once thought about the innocent five year old who would be caught in the middle of it all.

There have been many moments in his life where he absolutely hated himself. He's never hated himself as much as he did in this moment. He clutched the broom in a tight fist. He began cleaning just as the doorbell rang. He cursed under his breath and in a fast stride reached out for the door knob. The broom in his hand came tumbling down to the ground.

"Still as beautiful as I remember. Hi, Naruto."

—

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