Chapter 27

Part 2

The blonde girl ran her thin finger over my chapped lips while whispering promises in my ear. She was older than me. Actually a lot older since only a year's difference could easily seem like three when you were still under 20. At first, I did not know what she wanted with me, but I figured it out pretty quickly when reminding myself of exactly where I was.

"Find someone else. I'm not sharing," I stated blankly and shoved her away so I could return to my spoon, but apparently, she had already made up her mind and she was not going to give up without a fight.

Her hand slipped in between two buttons of my shirt and she caressed the bare skin underneath the fabric. "Don't hold yourself back, I know you want to," she purred and grazed my chest with her long, black nails.

"I'm not interested."

People were constantly walking in and out of the room. Only a few settled down and stayed for more than just five minutes. I looked up and noted that a black haired guy was sitting with his back against the wall, looking more relaxed than anyone I had ever seen in my entire life. I did not know him personally, like all the other people there I had never bothered to get involved with, but I had seen him around the youth center quite often lately.

The youth center was not to be mistaken with one of those professional ones with at least some sort of supervision, administration and structure. No, this was just an abandoned house that a bunch of kids, including myself, had taken over and made into our base. The local authority let us be from the very beginning since they knew us youngsters were most likely to riot if we were to be thrown out and since we did not cause any innocent people harm, they did not see any reason to get us worked up. At least that was what I had overheard some of the older kids in the house talking about.

I was not much into politics and that sort of stuff so I had no idea if we were actually allowed to stay at the house or not. I just came there because I would not be able to do my thing at the orphanage without getting caught and punished. So in a way, the youth center was my home during that period of my life. I only went back to the orphanage to sleep and eat. Nothing less, nothing more.

"We can do it your way, I promise, Iruka-kun." How she had obtained my name was a question I could not answer, but she was starting to get on my nerves. She constantly bumped into me, making my hands unsteady. It was just her luck that I had not gotten very far in the process, but once the powder turned into liquid, it would be very unfortunate if she kept jerking me around like that. At the very least, it would end up costing me a lot of money that I would not get anything out of.

"Stop it," I commanded, but she kept on going.

"Please, I need this more than you."

That was the last straw. I grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her to the floor, glaring at her so even someone like her could not help but stare wide eyed in astonishment.

She took a moment to comprehend the situation and slowly guided her hands to my upper body, unbuttoning my shirt with those delicate yet dirty fingers of hers. "I thought you would change your mind," she whispered and craned her neck so her lips were able to reach mine.

If it had not been for her wrecked out appearance and shaggy hair, I would have admitted that she was indeed an attractive girl. She let my hand rest on her breast, only grunting a bit when I squeezed to find out if she was wearing a bra. Nothing.

"What are you waiting for?" she panted and looked at me impatiently. I was still in two minds about whether or not to do it, though at the time, I could not come up with any logical arguments to which choice was the better. Her or that?

She took matters into her own hands and changed our position so she was the one on top. I stared at her for some time, not wanting to be the one to make the final decision. I was fully aware that she would not back down then, but I could not get myself to take her when the thing at stake was something I desired just a tiny bit more than her pitiful excuse for a body.

The taste of her was repelling and she reeked badly, but that was only what you could expect. I probably was not any better myself. Still, I could not help but wonder if it was her or just the alcohol I had drunken that made me want to puke.

"Ngh... Ahh... Ahh," I moaned, grabbing onto her moving hips.

I had never thought I was going to be one of those who did it with someone like her in a place like that. It was degrading. When had I stooped so low? Well, that probably would not be as hard to answer as you might have thought. It all pointed back to just about two years ago. Back to elementary school. Back to a certain janitor.

Mizuki had been bragging to everyone all day about this new gift his dad had bought for him from America. He was getting on my last nerves, but there was nothing I could do to shut him up. Minato always told me to try and avoid getting into a fight. Especially if no one was provoking me directly in the first place. But Kami, how I wanted to knock that smirk of Mizuki's face. I just hoped the teachers would notice exactly what it was he had taken with him to school so they could kick him out for possessing such an object.

There was only one good thing about that "toy" of Mizuki's. Because it was so special, everyone was focusing on that for a change and I could keep to myself without someone trying to pick up a fight with me.

At least I thought I would not run into any trouble that day, but when my last class ended and I was on my way home to the orphanage, I was forced to stop when someone suddenly blocked my way.

"Hey, Iruka. Why are you in such a hurry? Don't you wanna see this cool thing my dad gave me?" Mizuki waved the shiny, unfolded pocket knife in front of me. I frowned and pushed his hand away.

"Don't point that at me," I answered sharply and sent him a glare. He only raised an eyebrow and huffed.

"I can point this at you all I want. What are you afraid will happen? It's not like I'm gonna cut you or anything. On second thought, I can't promise anything." Mizuki made a lazy attempt to cut me, but I dodged it easily.

"Hey, stop that!" I knew he was just playing with me, but he was taking the joke too far. That knife seemed really sharp and accidents happened so even if he did not intend to cut me – although you never knew with Mizuki – I still did not feel comfortable with him waving that thing near me.

"Relax, loser." The platinum blond placed his fists on his hips and put on an amused look. I tried to push past him, but he got in my way again. "Who said you could go? I'm not done with you."

"I don't care. Move."

Mizuki shook his head with fake relinquishment. "Iruka, Iruka, Iruka. I try to teach you how to behave, but you never listen. You know, it's hard playing your parent when you're not very cooperative."

"Shut up, Mizuki!"

"It's always the same with you, Iruka. You have no manners and you're tactless, but I guess that's only what you can expect from someone like you. If your parents hadn't abandoned you, then maybe you would actually be able to mix with the rest of us."

"My parents didn't abandon me, they died!"

"See, I hear what you saying, but I'm not sure if you're just making that up to make us feel sorry for you? That's pretty low, even for you, Iruka."

My blood began to boil and I glowered at him without actually being aware of it. My mind was somewhere else. I was choking Mizuki, making him pay for everything he had ever done and said to me.

"Why don't you just withdraw from school? Nobody likes you so it's not like anyone would miss you. Besides, you already know you don't belong here, so what's the point in staying?"

"I told you to shut up!" I burst out, taking a swing at him. Unfortunately, the blond's reflexes were faster at reacting than his common sense and so he gesticulated in order to protect himself from me.

When hiss eyes fell back on me after realizing that I was not going to try and hit him again, he discovered the consequences of his action.

I was staring at him blankly. He looked rather frightened, but as me, he had frozen up and we just stood there and did nothing. Said nothing. The line of pain across my nose was scaring me. What exactly had happened? Something was running down my cheeks and nose. Blood. I smelled blood.

"Iruka!" someone shouted and I heard steps running closer towards us, but I could not force my body to turn around and look at the approaching person.

A yellow haired man stepped in between Mizuki and me. The stunned look on his face only added fuel to my fear.

"Iruka, are you alright?" My widened eyes were in a desperate need of moist, but they would not close. I just stared at him, nodding one time without actually knowing what I was answering.

Minato turned around to look at Mizuki who still stood as if petrified. We were equally overwhelmed. Flabbergasted.

To both our surprises, Minato raised his hand and struck Mizuki hard before taking away his knife. The janitor started yelling something, but I could not follow. I was not aware of very much at the time.

When he turned back around to face me, he squatted and cupped my face. "Iruka, I'm taking you to the hospital. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" I did not answer him, only stared.

That day, Minato took me to hospital. There was not much they could do about it and they told us face cuts always seemed more serious than they actually were because of all the blood. They treated my wound, but I had no idea of how they closed it because frankly, I was only physically present the rest of that day and the next two days forward. That was why I did not show up at school, but when I came back an even worse surprise lay in wait for me.

"Where's Minato?" I asked one of the cleaning ladies who was in the middle of scrubbing floors.

"Who's that?" She did not even look up when talking to me.

"The janitor."

"Oh, he was fired." At that very moment, my world collapsed.

"Fired?" I repeated accidentally in doubt.

"Yeah. He hit some kid and confiscated his knife without permission. I think that kid's father even managed to charge him for neglecting his work as well. People should know better than to mess with anyone from the Touji family." She kept on talking, but I was not listening anymore. In fact, I was already on my way out of the front gate.

She was not telling the truth. Minato had not been fired, I thought to myself, mentally rejecting the possibility of him being gone.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, stumbling over various objects, even my own feet. No. Minato was not gone. He was just sick or something. He was at home, nursing himself. There was no doubt that I was going to see him again next Monday. Maybe Tuesday, but that was it. He had always been speedy at recovering.

A drop of rain fell onto the tip of my nose. Rain. It was not a sign. Or was it perhaps a good sign? Rain did mean a new beginning after all. But wait, a new beginning was not what I wanted. Then was it a bad sign? No, Minato was okay. He would return to work soon, there was no doubt about it. Still, I did not turn around and go back to school. I could not block out what she had told me. I had to check on him.

But why would they fire him? Did Mizuki's father really have that much power over everyone? Minato was only protecting me. It was not him who had brought a knife to school and cut one of his classmates. Why. Why had they fired Minato?! Stop, I should not think like that, he was not fired!

By the time I reached his house, I was gasping for air and literally struggling to stand. I was not used to run for that long. But I was finally there and that was all that mattered. In a few seconds, Minato would be standing in the doorway, telling me that he was okay and that he would return on Monday. He was not fired.

I knocked on the door, but no one answered. After knocking two times more without getting a respond, I pressed down the door handle and entered the unlocked house myself.

Something was different. I had been to his house before and something was most definitely different.

I walked into the living room, finally pin pointing what was wrong. "It's all gone," I whispered, turning around on my heels when someone entered the room from behind me.

"Iruka-kun?" The yellow haired man seemed surprised to see me there, but his lips did not curl upward like they usually did when he greeted me. Everything was so different.

We stood in silence and looked at each other. Probably both trying to figure out what to say next.

Minato was the first one to make a move. He went over to the wall opposite me to take down a small painting. His back was turned towards me when he spoke, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school now?"

I could not hold back any longer. I needed to know. I needed to hear the words coming from him; the only man I could trust.

"Did they fire you?" His entire body paused for a second before he went over by a cardboard box and packed the painting away.

"They didn't have a choice," he answered almost coldly. What was going on? Why was he pushing me away?

My eyes dropped to the floor and I scratched the scar across my nose.

"Don't do that," he said suddenly and our eyes finally locked. I knew I was not supposed to scratch it so what would happen if he was no longer around to remind me of those kinds of things?

My hand withdraw to the sleeve of my shirt and grabbed a good handful of it. If I did not hold onto something, I was afraid I would faint. My heart pumped hard against the arm that was pressed against my chest and I suspected that my breathing would not go steady not even once the exhaustion from running would wear off.

Minato closed the lonely box and picked it up, heading for the front door.

"Where are you going?" I asked frantically and followed him.

"Iruka-kun, you already know that there's no jobs left for me in this village. I have to leave." So he was leaving. He really was leaving.

I held my breath and looked at him when he started packing his car. He ignored my gaze. "No, you can't go. You can start working at the orphanage, don't you think that's a good idea?"

"I'm not qualified for that sort of job," he replied flatly and without feeling. His behavior only made me start to panic. Why was not he doing anything? Why was not he trying to find a way to stay?!

I tried again. "I'm sure you could learn. Come, we can go ask them right now." I took his wrist and tried to drag him with me, but he only wrenched out of my grip.

"Stop it, Iruka-kun." A lump formed in my throat as I grabbed onto his arm like my life depended on it.

"Sensei, don't go, I want you to stay here with me. Please, I beg you, don't go!"

"I told you to stop!" He shouted, ripping his arm away from me and put on the most furious look I had ever seen him wear. I barely noticed the curious bystanders.

"Sensei?" I whispered surprisedly and took a step away from him. Why was he mad? I had not done anything, had I? No, I did not want him to be mad at me - that would only make him want to leave even more.

"I'm done. You should go home." I was not sure what he meant when using that tone. And why was his voice so shaky? Was he not angry with me anymore?

I would not give up. "No, I'm staying with you!" I stated stubbornly and tried to grab his arm again, but he raised it out of my range.

"Iruka-" I unintentionally gave him a thump in the stomach when I forcefully threw myself at him.

I could not restrain my tears any longer. "Don't leave me, sensei. Please, take me with you! Adopt me and take me with you. I don't want you to go without me. I don't care if we have to live in another village and I have to go to another school, just don't leave me here!" I cried loudly and clung to his wrenching body.

"I could never provide you with the things the orphanage can, you know that. Now let go, I'm running late."

"No!" My nails bore into his back through his clothes and I shook my head frenziedly against his stomach. "Don't leave me behind! I don't belong here, I belong with you! You're my home, sensei!"

Minato grabbed my arms so firmly that it hurt and forced me to let go of him. He tried to shove me away, but he never had time enough to get inside the car before I clung to him again like a koala cub cleaving to its mother's back.

"Don't go!" I screamed, but this time he shoved me so hard that I fell to the ground on my bum.

He got inside the car, but I could not admit defeat. I could not go to school everyday without knowing he would be there to comfort me if something happened. Could I even live when knowing I would never see him again?

I got up as fast as possible and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"No, stay! Stay!" I pleaded and tried to make eye contact. He was avoiding me again, only looking straight forward. He looked so angry so I did not understand why his eyes were glossy.

The engine was turned on and the car began moving.

"No, no, no, no!" I begged him in every possible way I could think of, but the car only moved faster. I ran next to it, but my legs could not keep up with it for long."Sensei, stay!" I cried out as he drove around the corner and I fell to my hands and knees.

There was no air left in my lungs. No strength left in my body.

He was gone and I was alone. Again.

The tears streamed down my face, dripping down onto the asphalt. Occasionally one landed on my hand, only making me clench my fist even harder.

The supervisors from the orphanage did not find me until late that night. They had been looking for me all over the village and found me the last place they would have expected me to be. The old janitor's house.

I was in bed with a fever for a week after that.

At my first day back at school, I broke Kotetsu's nose.

I lay on the floor with my head resting in one hand as I watched her fiddle with the syringe. My shirt still hang loosely down my sides, exposing a chest that was paler than usual.

She sat in front of me without moving for quite a while before she finally rose to her unstable feet. For a split second, she looked at me over her shoulder. I could not remember ever seeing anyone with pupils as tiny as hers. With a snort, she turned back around and walked out of the room, the back of her repulsive dress still being tugged inside her panties.

I sighed and rolled to my back, staring up at the ceiling. She had used up the last of my supplies. It would require at least a few stolen items and maybe playing errand boy for one of those low lives again in order for me to acquire enough to make another fix. Man... I truly regretted my choice.

But even if she was not worth it, she was still my first.

Though I could easily have been without the gonorrhea.

oOoOoOoOoOo

A ticking clock awoke me. I did not know where I was, what time of the day it was and even what day. My eyes fluttered insanely as I tried to open them. The light in there was so bright, it would take some time getting used to.

"Ah, you're awake." I carefully turned my head to the side, seeing a woman in a white coat.

"Where am I?" I asked and flinched when she unexpectedly started flashing me in the eyes with her medical penlight.

"You're at the hospital. We were called out to get you after you had taken an overdose of cocaine. Try to lie still." I blinked a couple of times before straining myself enough not to move so she could do her job.

I breathed out heavily and looked the other way when she was done.

An overdose? The last thing I remembered was fighting with someone and then taking a celebration line afterward. Had that been enough to nearly kill me? After all this time, had not I become more tolerant? Well, I knew you could not always count on how diluted it was so maybe I should have been more careful after buying my last bag from a new dealer. It was too late to start worrying then, obviously.

"The doctor will be here in a minute." We got eye contact and she smiled at me. "You were lucky. Not everyone is able to survive something like that." She went out of the room and I started staring up at the ceiling. I did that a lot.

"Lucky, huh?" I snorted as I studied the pattern above me. Lucky was not exactly what I considered myself.I never considered taking my own life, but maybe I really was better off dead. Nevertheless, I was too scared to do so. Instead I tortured myself. Not only physically with all the drugs I had been taking lately, but mentally as well. I felt like I had to be punished. I was not sure for what reason and since I had stopped wondering about it a long time ago, it was probably a mystery that was to be left unsolved.

I rolled onto my side and slid one hand underneath my head, staring out into space.

I was alive. Should not I be happy? Maybe it depended on how you looked at it or rather who looked at it. All I could think of was that I probably had to get myself a job to be able to pay off the medical bill I had burdened myself with. The orphanage would surely take care of it in the beginning, but there was no doubt that I had to make up for my bad doings.

A sigh escaped my lips. The doctor had just entered. Was I going to listen once he began his speech? Probably not. It was not like he actually cared for someone like me anyway.

And I was right to assume that the people working at the orphanage was tired of me. They practically forced me to get a real job when I could not explain where all the money I collected came from. They could never really get me out of the shit I had surrounded myself with, they could only push me in the right direction.

That was when I met Tenzou. A strict, though caring, shop owner. He took me under his wing and swore that he would help me get better. I did not realize that I actually wanted any help until I saw how most people lived. For my entire life, I had not seen much else than the inside of the orphanage, my school and places like the park where Minato had brought me from time to time. But I had never noticed anyone but myself. I was so enshrouded by self pity that eternal sadness and loneliness was all I thought life had to offer me. Tenzou showed me otherwise and I began to feel ashamed of myself. He was right when saying,"Once you're old enough to leave the orphanage, it's up to you alone to decide what you want to do with your life. No one ever has to know what you came from. You can form your own future."

Tenzou gave me a dream. A dream of moving to Tokyo and becoming a wealthy and acknowledged accountant. In Tokyo, there would be so many different people, maybe even someone who had had a life similar to mine. I could create a new life in a place where no one knew me. I could start from scratch. That was what I wanted.

I started getting professional help after Tenzou had recommended it to me. It did not turn out so well and I figured if you needed something done properly, you had to do it yourself.

And so I began taking some responsibility and went cold turkey. It was a drastic and very sudden decision, but once it was made, there was no turning back. The time it took me to rehabilitate was longer and more painful than I had expected, though it was all worth it. Just seeing the proud look on Tenzou's face when I returned clean and healthy was enough to satisfy me for a long time. He did not even scold me for not showing up at work for over two weeks. I guess I should have called him.

My success was due to my own determination. I learned only to trust myself.

But eventually, it was also I who shot myself in the foot and began coming up with excuses to why I should not leave the village. I had lived there my whole life so there was a certain security in it. I knew what to expect of it. I could see myself grow old there. I could not see myself do that in a city like Tokyo. It was just so distant and things could go even worse there.

I was evidently the biggest obstacle in my path to happiness and in the end, a stable, known future won over the insecure and unpredictable one that waited for me in Tokyo. I stayed and chose to forget about my dream. Instead, I began living inside my own head. I created the perfect world where those pricks from the outside could not disturb me. I hated everyone. Everything was their fault. They were the reason why I was not happy. The only problem was I did not want to face the awful truth. The hate I felt towards them was only self-hatred directed outward. And with the hateful signals I sent everyone, I, of course, only received such signals back, causing me to think that it was in fact the world and not me that needed an attitude adjustment.

What happened next? Then came a man I had never seen before, which was strange because I knew about everyone in the village or at the very least, I knew their faces. But his I did not know.

He was so different. So kind. So polite. So unprejudiced. Who was it he reminded me of?

For a long time I was not sure. Not until that fateful day where he sat me down and asked about my past. A past I had not been confronted with in a long time.

All the anger I had earlier turned into fist fights had been contained for a long time, but after I met him, they surfaced again. The cocky noesis, the self-criticism, the identity crises. Everything. I was turning into a monster again and it was all because of him.

oOo

Kakashi looked at me with slightly widened eyes. When he asked for the reason why I was so angry, he probably had not expected to get an answer like that. It was so complex, I was not even sure if I understood it myself.

But there was one thing I had finally agnized. The last puzzle piece had fallen into place.

"You remind me of Minato," I said quietly with a voice that had gone hoarse from all the talking.

He stared at me without saying anything while a smile tugged at the side of my lip.

Yes, he reminded me of Minato. My first and only friend had finally returned to me.

oOoOoOoOoOo

*Victory dance*
The 27th chapter is up!

Man, almost 30 chapters long. I've out done myself :O!

By the way, some say Mizuki's last name is Touji, some say he doesn't have one. Well, I named him Touji since he needed a last name xD Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

And hopefully we will soon have another one shot winner :D The 150th review is not far away so keep it going - I could really use a one shot challenge ^^!

I don't know when the next chapter will be published, but I'm gonna work on it today so if you cross your fingers, it might not take so long :)

Until next time. See ya'!