A/N: Chiko92: thank you for your review! i know Nagato is an Uzumaki but in my story they are not related. The reason i chose Nagato was because of his background. I wanted a character that originally had good intentions but along the way they became twisted as they have in my story (which is explained in this chapter). I hope that clears up why i have chosen him for the part of the politician! :)
To everyone else who reviewed, followed or Favorited this story thank you! i was a bit shocked at the response i got from posting just the first chapter and am really grateful people are interested in it. It was an idea that had been swimming around in my mind for a few days and thought it was worth investing time into! so please keep reviewing as it means alot to me!
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By the time Naruto made it home it was well past midnight. His feet ached from the long walk, his shoulders stiff from the cold and his fingers numb. It had been a long walk home, one Naruto never wanted to repeat again. He swore under his breath, cursing his husband. The bastard hadn't even bothered to answer Naruto's numerous phone calls. His knuckles clenched painfully around the door handle, groaning with frozen stiffness. Surely Nagato was worried about him. Naruto scoffed at the idea, he probably enjoyed knowing Naruto had walked the two hour long journey home; some sick kind of punishment for embarrassing him.
The door creaked open and the cold blonde sighed at the warmth that hit him; receding his shivers to small tremors. Naruto marched his way quickly into the lounge, settling himself in front of the still lit fire. He held his hand's up to let the fire bring warmth back into them and fight of the frosty bite they had obtained. Never in Naruto's life had he felt as relieved as he did now, it was almost as if he could feel himself melting. He quickly stripped off his coat jacket to expose more skin to the flame and sat crossed legged in front of it. Naruto decided right then that he wasn't a winter person and he would be ecstatic for the bitter season to disappear.
"I was starting to wonder where you got to" Naruto flinched, Nagato's tone held no concern for him whatsoever and he almost began to feel a chill again.
"Really? I did tell you…or did you not bother to check your phone at all?" he spat out, not moving from his spot in front of the burning wood. Nagato walked up behind him and sat down. Wrapping a blanket around Naruto and began to rub his shoulders.
"It died at the party. I'm sorry Naruto, if I knew you had to walk all that way I would have come to get you" Naruto leant back into his husband out of habit. Then man's arm's engulfed him and between him, the blanket and the fire he felt his temperature rise quickly.
"How did you know I walked if your phone was dead?" Naruto retorted. He didn't believe Nagato in the slightest. "I could have caught a taxi"
"You had no money on you and considering the time plus how cold you look it's not hard to figure out" Naruto felt the red head place a kiss into the back of his head. "I'm sorry love"
"Whatever Nagato…" Naruto leant away from the embrace and stood up. He kept the blanket wrapped around him, not wanting to let any of the new found warmth escape. "I'm going to sleep in the spare room tonight"
"Don't be this way Naruto" His fist's clenched at Nagato's accusing tone. He hated how the man always tried to make him feel like he was in the wrong. "If you didn't ramble on to the Uchiha brother's you would never had been in that position"
"Are you kidding me? I told you I didn't want to go to that stupid party in the first place Nagato! If you hadn't of dragged me to that money pit of an event I would be in bed by now!" Naruto's blue eyes were ablaze. He was already irritable from being tired, he didn't need his husband poking holes in him.
"I'm running for mayor Naruto, it's your duty as my husband to come to event's to show support" Nagato spat back. The two men stared at each other. Naruto in defiance and Nagato in disappointment.
"When did you become this way Nagato. What happened to the man I married?" he watched carefully as Nagato mulled over his answer. The blonde was hoping deep down in his heart that a sign of the man he loved was still in the shell that only looked like him.
"I've had enough of this Naruto. You need to stop believing in fairy-tale endings and start living in the real world. Nobody cares for those with no future and the sooner you see that the sooner you can use your time wisely" Naruto stood rooted in his spot. His mouth hung open and eyes bulging. Never in his life had he felt so stunned. There had been a time once when Nagato had share his so called fairy tales.
"I can't believe you! I'm trying to make a difference! To give kids a chance to have the future they deserve and you're calling it a fairy tale!" his whole body began to shake in anger. "We were those kids once! Or have you just conveniently forgotten that?"
"How could I forget Naruto? Until Jiraiya found me my life was a living hell" the sound of his god fathers name made Naruto's heart clench. They had only recently lost the man and Naruto was still grieving for him deeply.
"If Jiraiya could see you now he would be ashamed" Naruto spat out, his blonde bang's bouncing off his head. A loud slap sounded out and Naruto raised his hand to his cheek. The area stung, the cold making the hit feel worse.
"Never say that again" Nagato seethed out, his eye's wild and angry. Naruto was too shocked to say anything. His eye's forming tears freely as he stared blankly at his husband. Nagato's expression soften when he realised what he had done and pulled Naruto into a hug. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I just…I'm sorry" Naruto stiffened in the embrace, the feel of Nagato's hand on the back of his head bought no comfort to him. "It'll never happen again love, it was an accident"
"I-I should go to bed" Naruto whispered, pulling away carefully. He watched Nagato closely, searching for any sign of the man's previous anger. Nagato had never laid a hand on him before. Sure they had fought and sometimes things became heated but it had never resulted in anything physical. For Naruto the action supported his previous thinking. The man standing in front of him was not the Nagato he had grown to love. Nagato had changed into someone completely unrecognisable.
"Naruto…" he spun on his heal and quickly sprinted away from the stranger. His feet moving as quickly as they could until he reached the guest bathroom. Naruto looked at his reflection in the mirror. His blonde hair hung limply on his head and his cerulean blue eyes were glassy with unshed tears. What stood out though was the rapidly forming bruise on his right cheek. Naruto reached a hand up to touch it with his fingers but flinched when they skimmed it. It was definably one that wasn't going to disappear overnight.
Naruto made his way out of the bathroom and flopped down onto the guest bedrooms bed. His hands above his head and eyes trained on the ceiling. He had to admit what he had said to Nagato was wrong on many levels. He should never have mentioned Jiraiya, let alone say the man would have been ashamed of his adopted son. It was a wound Naruto knew Nagato would hold deeply. When Nagato was eight Jiraiya had found him wandering the streets, covered in days old blood and his small body to overcome with shock to talk. Jiraiya had taken the boy in after finding out he had become an orphan after his parent's had been murdered in a robbery gone horribly wrong.
Jiraiya hadn't been the best guardian to Nagato though, he had constantly left the boy by himself while he went off to do research for his collection of novels. This lead Nagato spending a lot of his time getting into trouble and often finding himself in youth shelters like the one Naruto volunteered in. Eventually Nagato made a few friends, Konan and Yahiko and they led him down a more productive path. Naruto had met Nagato through Jiraiya when he was eighteen and fresh out of school, he had come to visit his god father and after realising Nagato had a similar history to him the two quickly bonded.
Naruto climbed under the covers slowly, closing his eyes and trying to welcome the calm embrace of sleep. He found it a struggle though as guilt niggled in his chest. He had never meant to hurt Nagato and he knew that his husband was only trying to fulfil his vision in the only way he could. He had explained to Naruto that if they were to change anything, their best chance was for Nagato to place himself at the root of the problem. It seemed the closer Nagato got to his goal the more the man changed though; Naruto could see it every day. The man was losing the battle in himself, the corruption of politics slowly twisting the once pure vision of the future. Naruto rolled over to his side, he felt defeated as he realised his dreams were falling apart in front of his eyes.
…
Naruto woke late the next morning and he was thankful it was the weekend. Any other day and he would have slept half the working day a way which would have resulted in missed appointments. He stretched his arms above his head and let out a yaw. His stiff joints groaned and his legs had a dull ache in them that remained from his walk the previous night. Naruto let out a sigh and looked towards the door. He didn't feel like getting up. The bed he was in was safe and he could cocoon himself up and away from his problems. Naruto winced as he remembered the previous night's event's and threw the blankets over his head.
Naruto was certain the bruise would be a deep shade by now and he would have to come up with some excuse for his friends. Of course they would be suspicious but since it was the first time Nagato had laid a hand on him he doubted they would question him. Naruto berated himself silently. He felt pathetic and weak. Day after day he would offer people in similar situations help, suggest to them that the fault didn't lie with them and that there was no excuse for physical violence. Here Naruto was, a bruise on his cheek and a husband showing signs of progressing domestic abuse and all he could do was make excuses.
Guilt washed over him again. Naruto was torn. On one hand he had his training telling him he should have walked out the door and never come back. On the other was the burden of being responsible for what transpired. For the first time in his life he was in the other position. He wasn't the social worker. Naruto was the vulnerable, broken down patient that sat on the other side of the desk. The reality was too hard for him to face and he forced himself up. He couldn't lie in bed any longer and spiral deeper into his depressive thoughts.
He tiptoed over to the door and rested his hand on the doorknob. He took a deep breath and poked his head out, looking in each direction down the hallway. He didn't know what he would do if he saw his husband and he didn't particularly feel like running into him. Naruto waited a few seconds before making his way down to their room and leant against the door, listening for signs of life behind it. He heard no rustling so he entered quietly, his body flooding with relief at it being empty. Naruto had a quick shower then proceeded to get dressed in a plain orange polo and comfortable dark slacks. He would have preferred a comfortable tracksuit but Nagato had thrown out most of his underclass looking clothes.
Naruto avoided the kitchen all together, deciding to get food on the run. He picked up his key's and his wallet off the table in front of the door way and snuck out quickly. The first thing that Naruto noticed was that Nagato's car was gone and he felt like hitting his head against the wall in frustration. He had wound himself up over nothing, snuck around like a child afraid of being caught and all for nothing. Naruto sighed and entered his car, put his keys in the ignition and backed out of the driveway. It wasn't until he began to drive that he realised he had no clue where he was heading to.
Naruto went through the possibilities in his head and eventually ended up on the rougher side of town, outside a familiar and comforting building he spent the majority of his free time in. Konoha youth shelter. Naruto parked in his usual spot and made his way inside. He greeted the receptionist, Shizune with a forced smile and made his way to the staffing areas.
"I thought you weren't coming in today" a familiar voice rang out. Naruto beamed at his closet friend. The man in front of him was slightly shorter than him, standing at 5'6. He had short red hair, almost the same colour as Nagato's and piercing sea foam eyes. A tattoo lay above his left eye and it was creased in a questioning manor due to his eyebrow being raised.
"I changed my mind, I thought you weren't either Gaara" Naruto retorted back, copying the man's stance. Gaara was one of Naruto's closet friends. They had met on the streets and had vowed they would help each other pursue their goals. Naruto and Gaara drove each other to finish school and go to college where Naruto majored in social work and Gaara in law. The two now worked together fighting for those who were too vulnerable to stand up for themselves. Naruto was thankful he had Gaara on his side. He was a ruthless lawyer and had put many child abusers behind bars, cases that Naruto had referred to him and each one free of charge.
"Last minute paper work. One of the parent's filled for custody so I'm going for complete emancipation" Naruto's brow's creased. It was rare when the parent's fought for children that ended up at the shelter. "It's concerning, I'm assuming the parent is just missing the welfare pay check"
"It's rare but there's always one" Naruto frowned and sat down on the couch. Gaara sat next to him, his eyes travelling to the mark on the side of Naruto's cheek. "It's fine"
"That looks awfully like a hand mark Naruto" It was a statement, not a question. Naruto should have known he would never get anything past Gaara. The man was unusually perceptive, he never missed even the smallest of details.
"It was my fault…" Naruto muttered. He flinched at the words. He had heard those four words so many times in his career, he had never expected them to come from his mouth though.
"That's what they all say Naruto" their eyes met and Naruto could see the anger in Gaara's eyes. It was a stark contrast from his sad blue ones. "This is the first time?"
"Yeah. I told him Jiraiya would be ashamed of him, it's to be expected" Gaara's eye's flared up again and Naruto saw his hand's clench. Naruto hated how he couldn't stop himself. Excuse after excuse was flowing out of his mouth before he could even think about it.
"If he lays a hand on you again Naruto I'll have a restraining order in place so fast he won't even know what hit him" Gaara's response was mild and Naruto knew he was holding back. The two knew from experience lecturing never made any progress. It was up to the person to make the choice to leave, with support of course.
"I feel stupid for saying this but it would have been a onetime thing" Gaara stood up abruptly. Naruto's words worried him and he knew it.
"Divorce him Naruto" Gaara wasn't requesting it, he was trying to get Naruto to see sense. "We both know your marriage has been getting progressively worse. Nagato has all the signs and you know it. He's been manipulating you, controlling you and now his behaviour has escalated to physical violence"
"Gaara…" the red haired man held up his hand causing Naruto to stop and let his words sink in.
"There is only one way your marriage is heading Naruto. I will have the divorce papers written up by Monday and on your desk for you to revise" Gaara walked out of the room, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.
Gaara was right. Naruto knew the second Nagato had hit him that he would have to leave the man. The fact that he was making excuses for Nagato just sealed the reality of it all. If Naruto didn't leave the marriage now there would be a high chance things would escalate further and he had been through too much already to let Nagato turn him into a victim. The decision weighed heavily down on him but he knew it was the right thing to do. Nagato was a stranger to him now and the longer he dragged things out the more at risk he was.
Naruto began to think of the past few years. He sifted through memory after memory and each memory solidified what Gaara had said. Nagato was constantly manipulating him. He had tried to do it to him last night by making Naruto believe he was at fault. He was also very controlling. Naruto's current outfit proved that. Nagato controlled every aspect of his life except the precious area's that Naruto refused to give up like his volunteer work but even that had been suffering lately. The signs were also there for the escalating aggression. God knows how many holes in the wall Naruto had patched up lately from Nagato's outbursts of anger.
Naruto hung his head forward and his shoulders heaved from his sudden onset of sobbing. How could he have been so blind until now? He dealt with this sort of thing every day and yet he couldn't see that he himself was one of the very people he fought to protect. It had been a long time since Naruto had felt so vulnerable and exposed. Not since he was a child had he felt this broken down and betrayed. It was like his very world was shattering around him and he couldn't even think of how to pick up the pieces again. Through the broken shards that was now his life there was a slither of hope and strength. He had made his decision and there was no going back now. His marriage was over and he was going to make sure it stayed that way. Naruto Uzumaki was no longer going to allow himself to be a victim.