Prodigal Son
Chapter 1
Naruto sighed and tossed his cigarette butt out into the muddy street, casting a glance over to where his partner was "negotiating" with another unlucky store clerk.
"You gotta pay your debt, you piece of shit!" his partner bellowed, smashing the clerk's face into the wet earth outside his tailoring shop.
Naruto watched the clerk splutter and cough out mud, as his partner pulled the balding man back up onto his knees. It had been going on like this for a good half hour, with no results.
"I-I don't have your money! My family h-has to eat! Mmph!" the clerk cried, before having his face shoved into the dirt a second time.
"Hurry up, Yobu. I'm tired," Naruto muttered in a bored tone, reaching inside his kimono for another cigarette. He lit the cigarette and squinted out into the street, watching the villagers scamper through the rain on their way home. Naruto smirked when a few people sent hooded glances towards him and his partner, before turning abruptly and hurrying off. No one wanted to play hero; Naruto was almost disappointed.
It was a common thing after all – two black-clad men making unexpected house calls on different unlucky gamblers throughout the city. It was how things went with the Nakamori gambling dens – some unimportant clerk or peasant would stumble into the basement flashing money around, looking for some excitement for their dull lives. They would find excitement, just not in the fashion they had imagined. Once the money had been lost, the unlucky person would be taken to see Boss Nakamori in order to make a "deal". The deal would usually end with said person promising payment every month, or in some other order, and then would be allowed to leave. It was perfectly okay to leave the establishment, pay your debts at a later date, and forget it ever happened. However, if the gambler didn't have the money promised, Boss Nakamori sent a few of his yakuza thugs to pay a house call. Much like the one Naruto was on at the moment. The clerk currently having his teeth bashed in, by the brutish Yobu, had made a deal he couldn't keep; Naruto was sent to collect.
"P-please! I don't have the money! G-give me more time!" the man cried from the mud as he clutched at Naruto's pant legs, assuming that Naruto would have more pity than his partner. Naruto sighed and sent an annoyed glance at his partner, before slapping the clerk's hands away and bending down to the man's level.
The blonde put a hand beneath the frightened man's chin and lifted it so the clerk could look at Naruto's face. "Mr. Iriki.." Naruto whispered past the cigarette in his mouth, "I can't help you. You made a deal with the boss, and didn't hold your end. Now you got me out here in the rain listening to your pleas for more time?"
The frightened man sobbed pathetically and Naruto removed his hand, letting the man's face drop into the mud as he cried. Naruto couldn't remember the times he had made housecalls such as this, but he reminded himself not to go on the next one. One of the new punks could come and beat on merchants in the cold.
"How many daughters do you have, Mr. Iriki?" the blonde asked calmly, as he stood and brushed his pants off. The clerk jerked his head up out of the mud and his eyes widened considerably; he began shaking his head rapidly.
Naruto frowned and pointed at the clerk,"You understand that this is your fault, don't you? We didn't want to do this, Mr. Iriki..".
The clerk nodded his head slowly and his sobs reemerged with a vengeance, causing the man to shake and shiver on the ground.
Naruto sighed and tossed his cigarette out into the street, before turning to his silent partner, "Take him back inside and bring his youngest daughter to the compound.".
His accomplice nodded and pulled the protesting clerk to his feet, before shoving him back inside the shop. A few screams could be heard from the clerk's family inside, but Naruto gave it no mind. Yobu, was more ox than man; there was no way three girls and a busted up old man could put a scratch on him.
Stepping out from under the store's entrance canopy, Naruto felt the rain begin to dampen his hair. He sighed to himself, and slowly made his way down the street and into the heart of the city. He made relatively good time using the back-alleys and passages that he had come to know as a kid. It always helped to know the way around one's hunting grounds.
As he rounded one of the alley corners he stopped and paused in front of a silver pool at his feet.
Naruto ran a hand through his spiky hair, and gazed at his reflection in the puddle of rainwater. His style was aloof, and his kimono had long since been customized and altered so that it was now a dark brown color, rather than most yakuza's jet black. Instead of the normal sandals that yakuza wore, he wore tabi-boots that came up to his knee, covered over with leather shin guards. His forearms were also adorned with leather guards, and on one wrist he wore a simple bracelet of jade beads, given to him by his late fiancé. His sword was slung across his back in a customized sheath, depicting a mythical dragon battling a gigantic fox. He smirked at his reflection and scratched the stubble on his chin, before stepping through the puddle and continuing on his way.
Naruto neared the Nakamori compound about an hour after leaving the clerk's shop, and grinned at what greeted him.
Apparently, Yobu had arrived a few minutes before him and was having a difficult time walking up the stairs into the compound. Naruto figured the erratically, squirming body bag thrown over the man's shoulder might have something to do with it.
"Oi, that one doesn't seem to be dead yet, dumbass," the blonde called to his struggling partner.
The larger man halted his ascent and threw the large bag to the top of the stairs with a roar, "You carry her, you lazy ass." he growled, pointing at the squirming bundle.
Naruto grinned roguishly and also pointed at the offending body bag, which had begun to squirm even more ferociously, "A biter?"
Yobu shook his head and patted his crotch tenderly, "A kicker."
The blonde couldn't help but chuckle as the large man stomped up the stairs and into the compound, muttering darkly under his breath. Naruto sighed and unsheathed his sword, poking it into the bag just enough for the occupant to feel the sharp point.
"Ok sweetheart, listen up. I'm going to haul your ass for the rest of this little trip. If you try any of this jumpy shit on me, I will not hesitate to poke a few extra holes in you. Are we clear?"
The bag stopped squirming, and the top part nodded slowly in acknowledgement. Naruto sheathed his blade and hefted the bundle onto his shoulder, stumbling a little bit. The bag was a little heavier than he had expected, but after a few minutes he balanced out and advanced through the building's double doors.
'What the hell do they feed kids these days?'
Naruto hauled his burden through the main entrance and wound his way through the maze of rooms and corridors that comprised the sprawling mansion. Various yakuza and house servants occupied the rooms, and would wave or grin as the blonde passed by. After a few minutes he had reached the courtyard, and had to jog through the garden to avoid getting soaked. On the other side of the compound, he slowed his pace and shook the rain out of his hair. He had to watch his appearance on the other side of the mansion, as it was this part that housed Boss Nakamori's immediate family and honored guests. The crime lord had purchased the huge mansion from a bankrupt samurai clan a few years back, and had christened it as his headquarters and home. The front part of the mansion that Naruto had just come from was where Nakamori's gang hung out and more importantly, where the majority of business took place. The back part, housed Boss Nakamori himself, and his office.
The blonde approached the office door and nodded towards the two burly guards keeping watch outside, "Boys? A hand if you wouldn't mind?"
One of the guards helped Naruto remove the body bag, and set it on the floor.
"What's in the bag?" one of the men asked, tapping it with his foot.
The blonde smirked, "Late payment."
Both guards raised their eyebrows in unison, making Naruto chuckle lightly. He was about to explain when shouting rang from inside the office, and his hand instinctively palmed the handle of the sword on his back. One of the guards shook his hand and jerked a thumb at the door, "Jojin is back."
Jojin was the elder Nakamori's oldest son and heir, and in Naruto's opinion, a complete and utter asshole. The pampered fool was given the world on a silver platter, but no matter how many times Boss Nakamori trusted the young man with something important it almost always ended badly. A far step from his father, Jojin was cruel, impractical and impulsive. One senior yakuza had once called the boy a powder-keg just waiting to blow. The senior yakuza was found later, strangled to death in a public restroom.
Naruto sighed and gripped one of the black bag's handles and began dragging the bundle into the room, while a guard held the door for him. The two occupants of the room went quiet and watched curiously as the blonde hauled the body bag into the middle of the room.
"What do I owe the pleasure, Naruto-kun?" Boss Nakamori asked from behind his desk.
"Yes. What is that?" Jojin asked, his voice laced with disdain.
Naruto eyed the pale, sickly looking, young man with something akin to disgust in his blue eyes. He couldn't stand the Nakamori heir, and he made it well-known for all to see.
"You may leave, Jojin. We will discuss this in detail at a later time," Boss Nakamori ordered, interrupting the staring contest.
Jojin scowled at his father from across the room and swept out of the office, not at all happy about being dismissed. The older Nakamori sighed and calmly turned his attention back to the bag waiting for an explanation. Naruto wondered just how a son and father could be so vastly different from one another.
Boss Nakamori was large and portly man, with a large white beard trailing down his belly. Every time he laughed, Naruto couldn't help but liken him to a wise old toad.
Naruto jerked a thumb at the door Jojin had left from, "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."
The older man waved him off and snorted, "Bah. No, not at all. I am curious though, as to why you have dragged a body bag into my office, and deposited it so graciously upon my favorite rug."
Naruto snorted; he knew full well that his boss abhorred gaudiness in favor of practicality. The old man had told the blonde once that the only reason he surround himself in decadence was to keep up appearances with businessmen and diplomats.
Naruto smirked and tapped the bag with his foot, "This, sir, is the youngest daughter of one, Iriki Momichi."
The blonde watched as Boss Nakamori stroked his beard thoughtfully, and raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm assuming he didn't have the money to pay his debts then?"
Naruto shook his head and reached inside his kimono for his cigarettes, "I had Yobu deal with it."
The older man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "The sins of the fathers.."
Once his cigarette was lit, Naruto looked at the bag thoughtfully, "Indeed. What should I do with her? I don't like the idea of sending her to the brothel; she is too feisty."
The old man considered his protégé for a while, before shrugging childishly, "I dunno."
Naruto exhaled a cloud of smoke and frowned at his boss, "Bullshit. Where you want her? I am in no mood to be making "administrative" decisions."
"Tough. She is your responsibility."
The old man knew was he taking a chance leaving the girl with the young blonde, but he would have to risk it. Ever since the old man's niece had been murdered, Naruto hadn't wanted to have anything to do with any girls the organization came in contact with; Boss Nakamori planned to change that. He didn't like seeing his right-hand man so lost in life. Every man needed a woman by his side; Naruto especially.
Naruto scowled at the old man, "You can be an asshole sometimes."
Boss Nakamori nodded sagely and smiled, "You love it."
Without another word, the blonde picked up the body bag and trudged out of the room. He heard the old man laughing behind him, and couldn't stand the position he had been put in.
'Fucking fantastic.'
Outside in the rain-soaked streets of Yosin, two men watched the yakuza compound from a small restaurant.
Their gaze didn't shift when the owner brought them two cups of tea. "Here you are gentlemen," the owner cackled, holding his hand out for payment.
One of the men produced two gold coins from his robes and dropped them into the old man's waiting palm. "We will be left alone. Keep the tea coming," the man ordered, his face concealed within a dark hood.
The owner's eyes widened at the amount of money and shook his head furiously, before retreating to the kitchen. The hooded man had just paid him what he could earn in about a month of good business.
"He is in there," the shorter of the two stated calmly. "We should take him tonight."
The other man, the one that had paid, shook his head and took a sip of the tea. "No. Soon, but not yet."
Naruto wasn't happy.
People moved aside as the angry blonde trudged back through the mansion, his burden squirming violently. Naruto growled at the bag and headed straight for the compound's small holding area. He had no intention of babysitting some girl, no intention whatsoever. Moving at a brisk pace, the blonde reached the holding area and swept past the bored guards. Using his own key he unlocked the first empty cell he came to and dropped the body bag roughly onto the cement floor.
The bag stopped squirming instantly, and Naruto snorted, "Too late, sugar. You are already here."
No sound came from the bag and it didn't move an inch. He poked the bag a few times and didn't get a response, "Okay, thats not right.."
Moving swiftly, Naruto slipped a thin blade from his shin guard and sliced through the black material, opening the black bag up fully. His gut seized up when he rolled the young woman out of the bag; she was bleeding badly out the back of her skull.
The blonde's memories flashed him a picture of his own fiancé, bloody and dying in his arms; it was enough to plunge him into action. Naruto pulled the woman out of the bag and ripped a chunk of fabric from her red dress in one smooth motion, applying it to the wound on the back of her head.
Cradling the bleeding girl's head, he called out to the guards outside, "Guards! Get me a bucket of cold water, and some towels!"
He heard some shuffling and a chair fall over, "W-what the hell is going on in there, sir?"
Naruto gnashed his teeth and cradled the young woman's unconscious body to his chest, "Just hurry! Fuck! Get a doctor too!"
The sound of running feet greeted his ears, and he prayed they would hurry. He couldn't watch another innocent girl die because of him; he wouldn't let it happen a second time. Pulling the girl back a little from his chest he took a better look at her. She wasn't as young as he thought, and he was aware that she could easily be the same age as him.
The girl wore a plain red dress, short black shorts, and an odd pair of blue sandals. Naruto didn't pay much attention to her clothing however, as his gaze was instantly drawn to her face. The blonde had to admit, the young woman was quite attractive, despite a split lip and some caked blood. The girl's lips were a soft, cherry-blossom pink, and her skin was pale and smooth like porcelain; he couldn't help but wonder what color her eyes were. He also noticed, guiltily, that she was well developed and curvy in all the right places. The oddest thing about the mysterious woman, however, was her hair; the blonde had never seen anyone in his entire life with such an odd hair color. Pink.
His thoughts were interrupted however as he heard multiple sets of feet rushing in his direction, "In here! Hurry!"
A few seconds later the guards returned with a bucket of cold water and an armful of towels, with one of the house servants trailing in their wake. Naruto paid them little mind as he took the items from them, quickly soaking the towels in the cold water, and then cleaning the wound. He was relieved to find the cut wasn't life threatening; head wounds bled like crazy, but the girl's was superficial. He was more worried about whether or not the impact with the floor had given the girl a concussion. Naruto hoped she was lucky and had just been knocked out.
Once he was finished attending the wound; Naruto sat the girl's head in his lap and gently wrapped a soaked towel around her head, staunching the blood from her wound and soaking his kimono in the process. Satisfied with his work, Naruto slowly removed the top of his kimono, being careful not to bump the girl's head. After tossing the wet and bloody garment to the guards outside the cell, the blonde realized he would be spending the night in the cold cell, wearing only his pants and fishnet shirt, 'Awesome. This day couldn't be going any better,' he thought to himself.
Naruto sighed and ran a bloody hand through his hair. "So? Where is the fucking doctor?"
The guards started a little at being addressed, "Umm the doctor isn't available sir, not until tomorrow."
The blonde scowled at the news and shook his head, "He will pay for this later. Right now I want you two to bring me as many blankets as you can. Also, bring me some hot tea and some rice."
Both guards took off immediately, leaving Naruto with the unconscious girl and house servant.
The servant didn't hesitate long before entering the cell and crouching beside him, "Naruto-sama, would you like me to relieve you? I can watch the girl for you."
Naruto shook his head, "No, I'll be staying in here tonight."
The servant smiled weakly, seeming uncertain about having him sleep in the cell. "Are you sure? You don't need anything?" she asked.
Naruto shook his head grumpily and sighed, "No, I'm fine. See if you can find Yobu-san and send him here. Oh! Get my kimono shirt from those two imbeciles, and make sure it gets cleaned and dried properly."
The servant nodded her head before leaving, and Naruto waited till her footsteps had receded, before returning his attention to the young woman in his arms. The girl hadn't moved an inch and Naruto was beginning to curse himself for being so rough with her. The head injury wasn't the only injury though, and as the blonde looked her over, he could make out various bruises on her slender arms and neck, 'She must've put up quite a fight.'
The blonde shivered a little and instinctively reached for his cigarettes, only to realize they had been in his kimono top. Naruto sighed loudly and frowned at the unconscious girl; he knew it wasn't her fault, but he was angry just the same. The nicotine helped him cope with his stress, and he could've used a little stress-relief at the moment.
The guards came back a few minutes later with the blankets and food, and after completing their tasks, retired for the night. Naruto wrapped two of the soft woolen blankets around the sleeping girl, and draped the last one over himself, hoping to ward off the cold creeping into his sore limbs. Grateful for the slight increase in warmth, Naruto poured himself some tea and ate a portion of the rice, saving some just in case the girl woke up.
To anyone that knew him; Naruto would've looked quite out of place cradling an injured woman in his arms. Not that Naruto was a heartless beast that craved blood and destruction; he was simply a product of his upbringing. One doesn't survive the back-alleys and mean streets of Yosin by being soft-hearted and kind.
The blonde had risen to his position in life by being tough and becoming the alpha-predator among a city of predators. He killed because it kept the other predators in check. He killed because Boss Nakamori demanded it. He killed..because he was good at it.
No matter how much he killed though; Naruto was still human.
A few hours later, footsteps approached and a large figure obscured the doorway, "You asked for me?"
Naruto took a grateful sip of the now cool tea and eyed the large man. "You call this the youngest daughter?" he asked.
Yobu blinked in confusion and looked between Naruto and the girl resting on his lap, "The kicker?"
Naruto nodded and took another small sip from his cup, "She took a nasty blow to the head, and now I'm playing babysitter. Ironic eh?"
The larger man chuckled quietly and shrugged at his blonde comrade, "She was pretty feisty, I had to knock her out to get her in that damn bag. Did she put up a fight when you let her out or something?"
"No, I dropped her on this damn cement and she went out like a light; she was bleeding pretty badly not too long ago," said Naruto, eyeing the makeshift bandage adorning the girl's head.
Yobu sighed and looked out towards the way he had come in. "Why keep her in here? I could help you move her to one of the empty rooms," he offered.
Naruto shook his head and drained the last of the tea in his cup, "Nah. If she had a concussion I don't want her to move too much, it could worsen her condition."
The larger man chuckled a little more loudly this time, "When did you become such a softy? I know she's a looker, but seriously, you think she is going to thank you when she wakes up and gets sent to the brothel?"
Naruto smirked at his partner and gently shifted the girl into a more comfortable position on his lap, "This one isn't going to the brothel. Boss said she's my responsibility, and I don't aim to send her to those vultures."
Yobu watched in silence as his blonde friend carefully brushed the girl's hair out of her eyes, reminding him of an adoring mother with her child. The protective manner Naruto showed towards the girl set him off a little; he had never seen the blonde killer act so warmly towards another human being, other than his late fiancé, anyways. Of course Yobu hadn't been part of the organization whenever Naruto had a fiancé, but he had heard stories about the man's peculiar attitude during their short relationship. The blonde had become a legend among the yakuza as a talented, cold-hearted killer with a "devil may care" attitude and a chip on his shoulder. Only when he had been betrothed to Yuki Nakamori did the population see another side of the man, a warm, caring side that shocked them to the core. It drew his allies closer, and gave his enemies hope of victory, a false hope anyways; the gang-war was enough to show that. After Yuki's death, the old Naruto returned, and the bad days returned with him.
After the war was finished, and the blood was washed from the streets; Naruto locked his heart away completely. Sure, he would draw the occasional beauty into bed with him, but that's all that it ever was, a night of sex and alcohol, followed by heartbreak for breakfast. A womanizer to the core, the blonde would entice the hopeful, young women with whispers of love and romance, but in the morning a cold, empty bed was all that greeted them. Yobu pitied not only the poor girls, but his friend as well; the blonde wasn't willing to be loved.
The large man was broken from his thoughts when the blonde coughed to break the silence, "Hey moron, come get my sword. I don't want to think what would happen if this one wakes up before me and decides I'm the enemy."
Yobu sighed and entered the cell, taking the blonde's sword and sheath from him, "Want me to lock up too?"
Naruto nodded slowly and tossed his own pair of keys to his partner, "Probably should. Just come get me in the morning."
The large man caught the small ring of keys and retreated from the cell, locking it behind him, "You kids be good, ya hear?"
Naruto's answered echoed from the cell as Yobu walked away, heading towards his room, "Fuck you."
Naruto listened to Yobu's footsteps die away, before letting out a sigh and leaning back against the stone walls. He listened intently as the storm continued outside; the distant rumble of thunder making the little cell vibrate a tiny bit. Wrapping the blanket a little tighter around his frame, he checked the girl one last time before drifting into a fitful sleep.
Dreams began to flutter and dart through Naruto's subconcious, like startled fish in a pond.
The images seemed blurry and out of focus, but gradually began to sharpen and hone themselves in his minds-eye.
Naruto's first meeting with Yuki Nakamori.
Their marriage in the spring in the compound courtyard. Yuki seemed to glow in the sun.
The night they had learned Yuki was bearing a child. All had been well till later that night..
"Why are you behaving like this?!" Yuki bellowed at her husband.
"Don't take it that way! You know how dangerous my life is! I have more enemies than your father!" Naruto replied, grasping his wife by her frail shoulders.
"So I shouldn't have this baby because you're scared that people might harm you through us?!" The woman cried, tears flowing from her pretty eyes.
Naruto shook his head and let his wife go, falling to his knees and looking at the floor, "No, Yuki. I'm not scared of other people harming you. I'm scared that I will harm you.."
The image fluttered and wobbled before skipping to another image.
Naruto and Yuki lay in bed, wrapped in eachother's arms.
"You're not the monster everyone paints you out to be, Naruto. I've seen a different side of you; a side you keep tucked away for me and my father. Their is love, good, care, affection, and..life inside you! I just wish we were in a place where you could let everyone else see it.." Yuki murmured into her husband's chest.
"Maybe..maybe someday we could move away from here and I could change for you, Yuki. For you..and our child."
At that, the image blurred and was washed away as Naruto fell deeper into sleep.
Little did anyone know, the day after those precious times in Naruto's memory; Yuki and Naruto's unborn son would be slain and Naruto's bloodlust and revenge would paint the city red with blood.
Naruto woke up much later with an uncomfortable tickle at his neck, and in his drowsy state he absent-mindedly made an effort to push the offending object away, earning himself a rather painful nick on his hand. Cursing grumpily, the blonde opened his eyes.
The pink-haired girl had apparently woken up before him, produced a knife from somewhere, and was currently holding it dangerously close to his windpipe.
Naruto blinked a few times to get the sleep out of his eyes, "Good morning."
The young woman scowled, "Where am I?"
After a few seconds Naruto shrugged, and waved a hand around the cell, "I really have no idea, but from appearances..I would have to say a prison cell?"
Not amused, the young woman dug the small knife into his neck and hissed in his face, "I'm not screwing around!"
"Well obviously," Naruto stated, ignoring the small trickle of blood coming from his neck.
"Do you want to get your throat slit, wise-guy?" The girl warned, scowling at him.
"Listen, we are both on this side of the bars, so until we get on that side of the bars, lets just try and not eat eachother. Ok, pussycat?"
The girl clearly didn't appreciate the humor, but lowered the knife from his throat, "What do they have you in for?"
Naruto smirked and wiped a small trickle of blood from the shallow scratch on his neck, "I'm a serial killer."
The girl grunted and rolled her eyes in response, sheathing the small blade in her sandal. Apparently the girl accepted that he had been locked up alongside her, and therefore, was no longer a threat.
Still grinning mischievously, Naruto decided to play along for a bit, "What are you in for?"
The girl raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you care?"
Naruto sighed and pointed at the towels adorning the girls head, "Well, I did save you from bleeding to death."
The girl inspected the back of her head, wincing when her hand brushed across the wound. "Ouch! Umm thanks, I suppose. Did you see-Agh!"
Naruto frowned as the girl grabbed her head with both hands and clenched her teeth in pain. Moving around had obviously aggravated the wound, and her body was doing its worst to get her to lay back down.
Naruto pushed himself off the ground and went to crouch near the girl, putting a gentle hand on her back, "Hey, you need to lie down. Moving around is going to aggravate your wound, and if that happens, it won't heal correctly."
The girl didn't answer, but reluctantly nodded her head and let Naruto assist her in laying back down on the blankets. Naruto took his own blanket and rolled it tightly, before slipping it under her head as a makeshift pillow.
"Thank you," she muttered as she pulled one of the blankets over herself.
Naruto chuckled lightly and ran a hand through his hair, "You can call me Naruto."
The girl looked up at him from the floor and smiled weakly, "Sakura."
Naruto grinned as well and stood up, turning towards the bars of the small cell, "Well Sakura, you go ahead and rest. I'll see if I can get these assholes to bring some food."
He waited for a reply, but never got one, as the girl had already fallen back asleep.
Looking over his shoulder, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the slowly rising and falling form of the girl in his charge. Approaching footsteps caught his attention, and he quickly turned back towards the bars, peering intently in the direction of the prison's entrance.
Yobu rounded the corner and smiled brightly upon seeing the blonde waiting for him, "There he is! Already sick of her, blondie?"
Naruto waved his hands frantically, bringing two fingers up to his lips, "Shhh!"
The larger man raised his eyebrows curiously, but quieted down and approached the cell stealthily, giving his friend an odd look, "What? She asleep or something?"
"No. She thinks I'm a prisoner. I woke up this morning with a knife to my throat, and I don't want to give her a reason to use it again."
Yobu almost laughed out loud at the antics of his blonde friend, "Haha! Why the hell do you care? C'mon man, let's get out of here. You can check on the chick later."
Naruto scowled and raised his fingers up to his lips again, "Shh! No, I'm staying in here with her. I'm going to try and get to know this one a little bit; I owe her at least that much."
The large man smiled broadly and waggled his eyebrows, "You are sweet on this little firecracker, aren't you? I gotta let the guys know about this..!"
Naruto growled, "Shut up, dumbass. You just keep the food and hot tea coming, alright? Let the boss know what is going on, but nobody else. Just the boss, okay?"
Yobu nodded happily, "Sure thing. It's good to see you take an interest in the opposite sex again."
This comment earned another growl from the blonde, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Yobu sighed comically and began walking away, "Those one-night stands weren't fooling anyone."
Naruto watched his partner leave, wondering just what the larger man was getting at. Take an interest in the opposite sex again? Since when did people start caring about his love life? And what did that have to do with wanting to hang around a beautiful young lady? The blonde frowned and ran a hand through his spiky locks, 'Bunch of idiots'
Naruto spent the next two days talking to the pink-haired girl about a myriad of different topics. Naruto would tell her things about himself, admittedly leaving out different "dark spots" in his life, but giving the girl a feel for who he was. He told her of his life on the streets, his "adoption" into a powerful "family", his faults, his fears, and finally his fiancé and unborn child. The blonde didn't really know why he spilled his life story to the almost complete stranger, but something about the girl calmed him, and he liked the feeling of sharing his feelings with another person. In return, the girl, Sakura, told him of her home village, her hobbies, her likes and dislikes, and other mundane little things in her life. Naruto listened quietly, posing questions here and there and joking when the chance presented itself. The blonde could tell she was leaving out parts of her stories, like her village's name, and her profession, but he didn't mind. It was obvious that Sakura wasn't related to the Iriki family, and he had tried to remember to tell Yobu to go question the Iriki family about the girl that had been in their home, but for some reason he never got around to it.
The missing links in the two prisoners' stories heightened the mystery, and only encouraged the two young people to probe deeper into each other's lives. So it happened that the two came to be almost friends in their time together, sharing information and jokes, laughing and flirting, almost completely oblivious to their imprisonment. Each time Yobu brought food and sustenance to the two prisoners, he was greeted by Naruto's booming laughter, accompanied by the twinkling giggle of the pink-haired girl with him. After one such meal, Naruto noticed Sakura rubbing at her neck and shoulders in an irritated manner, and it piqued his curiosity.
Naruto set his empty rice bowl down and raised an eyebrow at the girl sitting across from him, "Something wrong?"
Sakura groaned and nodded, "Yea. The muscles in my neck and shoulders seize up whenever I move. I think the nerves have been damaged."
"Oh? You know something about nerves, huh? You a doctor?" he asked.
Sakura looked over at him and shrugged, "Something like that."
Naruto smirked at the girl and stood up, crossing the distance between them and crouching beside her. "Want some help?"
The girl eyed him suspiciously, and some color entered her cheeks, "How do you plan on doing that?"
Naruto smiled warmly and winked, "Lie down on your stomach, and I'll give you a massage."
Sakura groaned in disbelief, "You know how to give a proper therapeutic massage?"
Naruto nodded and pointed to the blankets on the floor, "I don't know about therapeutic, but I know how to give a massage. Now lay down before I change my mind."
The girl raised her eyebrows curiously, but obeyed and was soon lying face down on the blankets with her head in the makeshift pillow, "Don't get any ideas, Naruto."
Naruto straddled the girl's lower back and playfully pinched her rear, "Not in a million years.."
Sakura squealed and tried to reach back and slap him, but only ended up straining her neck, making her wince and put her head back down, "Bastard."
The blonde chuckled lightly, but didn't respond. His hands were shaking as he reached for the zipper on the back of Sakura's red top, and he cursed himself, 'Acting like a whipped pup. Calm dooowwnnn.'
Steeling himself, he slowly tugged the zipper, biting his tongue as the zipper slid downward, revealing more and more of the girl's flawless, pale skin. He desperately wanted to put his lips to the girls exposed back, but had to fight back the urge when he felt her tense beneath him, 'So she is still tense huh? We'll have to fix that..'
Sakura's muffled voice broke through his thoughts, "You can stop unzipping me now."
Naruto winced and stopped unzipping the dress, noticing just how far down he had gone, "My bad."
No more words were exchanged however, as Naruto gently laid his cool hands on the girl's warm skin, earning him an exasperated gasp from the young woman. Smiling slyly to himself, Naruto began to knead and roll the stiff muscles under the girl's porcelain skin. He started at the top of the spine, massaging the girl's neck and upper shoulders, methodically rubbing out the knots and hard spots in her sinewy muscle with expert precision. After a while, he moved a little lower, putting his palms over her shoulder blades and applying pressure, pushing the girl against the floor and releasing the strain on the muscles there. Sakura moaned into the pillow, and Naruto bit his lip as heat flooded into his cheeks. Once finished with the middle back, the blonde trailed his hands downwards along the girl's spine, slowly massaging both lines of tight muscle he found there. The entire process took nearly half an hour, and Naruto almost laughed out loud when the girl's breathing slowed, and came in steady, heavy breaths. It had only taken him half an hour or so, but Sakura had already fallen asleep.
Naruto carefully zipped the girl's dress up and got to his feet, draping the last blanket over his cellmate to keep her warm. Seating himself across from Sakura, the blonde lit one of the cigarettes Yobu had brought him, inhaling deeply, before releasing a lazy cloud into the darkening cell. In that moment, he had decided that the cell had become one of his new favorite spots. It wouldn't last forever though, and he saddened at the realization of it all. He couldn't live in the prison forever, and once released, the girl would probably try to stab him, not that he could blame her though. Here she was, being held in some faraway prison with a yakuza killer, kept from her family, friends, and life. Naruto felt the shame of his actions rise into the gorge of his throat, making him want to vomit in shame. He tried to entertain the thought that the pink-haired beauty might forgive him and give romance a chance, but he quickly cast hope aside. What self-respecting woman would want a life with him? Sure, women were attracted to him, but the kind of attraction they held for him was like an explorer's love for caves. The mystery and danger that surrounded him is what attracted them, and once that was out, he was just a cave, a dark hole of death, sorrow, and danger.
He was shaken from his thoughts by an explosion from somewhere in the complex that shook mortar loose from his cell, peppering him with dust and grime. Putting out his cigarette, Naruto stood up and went to look through the bars of his cage, casting a wary glance back at the girl, still oblivious in her sleep.
Naruto took a cautious step backwards as Yobu came flying around the corner with Naruto's sword and sheath in hand, "Naruto! We're under attack! Naruto!"
So, what's everyone think about the first chapter?