Disclaimers: Naruto is someone else's, this is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.
Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, sexual assault, torture, sexual content (yaoi), & angst.
Note: This story is a slight au at first, but gets into more canon kind of material as it progresses. Naruto & Sasuke are in Konoha Academy in the beginning, but it's more like a high school. They are sixteen in the beginning, nineteen for most of it, and twenty-one later in the story.
Another Note: I revised this story when I got back into it, so if you've been gone for a while you might want to start with a reread. Some are minor changes and some have a lot of rewriting to help the story stay interesting & flow better. Sorry that I held off on this one for a while. Don't worry- it won't happen again :)
It's All In Your Head
Chapter 1: Bruise
--
Bits of gravel dug into Naruto's palms as he shakily pushed himself up. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, his fingers trembling against his bruised lip.
He winced.
His whole body was in pain. His back ached from being thrown to the ground, and the rough path had lodged small rocks into the sensitive skin on his forearms. Pain radiated through his jaw from the man's fist slamming into it, repeatedly, and he could feel his wrists already bruising where they had pinned down.
Embarrassment flooded through him at the thought.
What they did to him, what they tried to do, filled him with revulsion. Even though they had been forced to leave things.. unfinished, he couldn't get rid of the shame curling in his gut and rising up the back of his throat.
Naruto tried not to think about what would have happened if the people passing by hadn't spooked them, but it was all he could think about. It penetrated his mind, poisoned his thoughts.
He blinked back tears, fighting to keep his emotions in check.
He could still feel the rough hands of the two men who had forced down his arms, gripping his wrists hard enough to make his hands go numb.
They had laughed.
Laughed as he struggled, desperate to pull his arms free. Laughed as their friend climbed on top of Naruto, dark eyes roaming over his body, gleaming with cruelty and excitement.
He wanted to forget, but it just kept replaying in his head over and over…
"St-stop! Please- please don't do this!"
The man punched him across the face, effectively silencing him. "Monsters don't deserve mercy."
Ignoring his pleas, the man slipped his rough, calloused hands under his shirt. Naruto made a small fearful sound, and quickly bit his lip to stifle it when he saw something in the man's eyes spark. That was exactly what he wanted him to do.
"Let- let me go" he said, his voice shaking.
The man grinned down at him as his hands continued to explore- moving down his chest, his stomach, before stopping to finger the waistband of his pants.
Cerulean eyes widened, filled to the brim with horror. "No.." he breathed. "NO!! Let me go! St-stop! ST-"
A hand slammed down to cover his mouth, and another slid down the front of his pants. Naruto screamed, a muffled terrified cry. His legs kicked out as his body flailed against the man, but it was useless. He was at his mercy, and he had already made it clear that he had none.
Before his attacker could go any further, a couple laughed from the walking path on other side of the dense bushes Naruto had been pulled behind, and the three men froze.
The one on top of him suddenly grabbed Naruto's length, his grip painfully tight. The blonde screwed his eyes up just as tight, shivering with terror and disgust. The man moved his mouth close to his ear, and Naruto flinched.
"Say anything about this, and I will come back to find you" he grated out, "and I'll finish what we started."
Then they released him, and left him lying there- in the dirt, gravel, and dry leaves, his face red with shame, eyes filled with unshed tears.
After a while, Naruto pulled his shirt back down, and pushed himself up, his hands trembling.
Why? Why would they do this?
He choked back a sob and lifted himself up on unsteady legs. And, with no other options, he walked home. Where this horror would fester in his mind, and he would be painfully, utterly alone.
--
Sasuke eyed the blonde as he walked into the classroom.
He looked like shit.
His clothes were more disheveled than usual, his hair an angry blonde mess, and his lip was split open- a deep purple bruise pushed against it. Heavy blue eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, and dark bags pulled them down, like he had been sobbing instead of sleeping.
No one else seemed to notice. They didn't even spare a glance. And for some reason that pissed him off.
Eyes cast down, Naruto took his seat next to the raven.
"What happened to you?" Sasuke asked, trying to keep his voice its normal cold, dejected tone to mask the concern behind it.
Naruto turned his head away from him. "Nothing.." he muttered.
"Well, that's obviously a lie."
The blonde bit his lip but winced in pain and quickly released it.
"Naruto-"
"It-" he swallowed, "it doesn't matter, Sasuke."
"Hn."
He turned his attention away from the stubborn, and unusually quiet blonde, but found himself glancing over at him from the corner of his eye throughout the lesson.
What the hell happened to you?
--
As they cleared out of the classroom, Sasuke found himself following Naruto down the hall. He didn't know why he couldn't let this go, but it bothered him. Maybe it was because this seemed like something more than just some stupid fight he got into, maybe because he was so secretive about it. Or maybe it was the sad, broken look in his eyes- like he was lost in his own private hell.
Whatever it was, Sasuke found himself drawn to Naruto.
I have to find out what happened to him.
They rounded a corner in the hall and Sasuke could see that they were coming up to a single stall bathroom- a perfect opportunity to get some answers.
Sasuke rushed up to the unsuspecting blonde, grabbed his arm, and yanked him into the bathroom. Naruto yipped in surprise as he was forced into the small room, and quickly spun around to face his assailant.
"Sasuke?" His brow furrowed in confusion. "What- what the hell are you doing?"
The Uchiha locked the bathroom door before turning to face him. He wasn't surprised to find that the blonde was pissed off, fists clenched tight, a snarl already in place. But he was surprised to see the fear in his eyes as he stared back at him.
Why would Naruto be afraid of me?
"Tell me what happened to you."
Naruto blinked. "What..?"
Sasuke stormed up to him, eyes burning as Naruto quickly backed up, trying to get away from him. He grabbed the blonde, spun him around, and held his head in place as he forced him to look in the mirror.
"That" he said coldly. "Tell me how that happened."
Naruto tried to turn his head away, but Sasuke's grip tightened. "Let go" he breathed.
"Not until you tell me."
Naruto clenched his teeth in anger as his cheeks flushed red. "Dammit, Sasuke. Let go!!"
He threw his elbow back, attempting to jab him in the stomach, but Sasuke saw it coming. He grabbed Naruto's wrist and forced his arm behind his back.
"Ahh!" Naruto cried out, as the hand on his bruised wrist tightened.
Sasuke looked down and saw the purple markings beneath his fingers. His eyes shot up to stare at the blonde's pained reflection.
"Naruto.. what happened to you?"
He struggled pointlessly in the Uchiha's grasp, forcing back the tears that threatened to shame him even more. But his embarrassment quickly turned to rage. "Fuck you, Sasuke! You have never cared about me before!" he spat out. "Why are you acting like you do now?!"
Sasuke studied him for a moment, then released his grip and took a step back. Naruto turned to face him and shoved him, hard- sending him reeling back towards the door.
"Why don't you just do what everyone else does and leave me alone!"
Naruto stormed up to the door, pushing Sasuke aside so he could unlock it. He started to pull it open when a pale hand suddenly slammed it closed. Naruto flinched, despite himself.
Sasuke leaned in. "Maybe that's exactly why I won't leave you alone."
Cerulean eyes widened. "Wh-what are you saying..?"
"You will tell me", he said firmly. "One way or another."
Naruto clenched his jaw. He jerked his head to the side to glare at the raven blocking his exit. "I don't owe you anything" he growled.
Then he pushed Sasuke's arm down and yanked open the door.
"Naruto-"
"I'm warning you, Sasuke" he snapped. "Back. Off." Then he stormed down the hall- away from Sasuke's curious gaze, prying questions, and unwelcome concern.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes on the retreating blonde. He wasn't about to give this up- especially after that reaction. Naruto was going to tell him what happened, whether he wanted to or not.
Sasuke left the bathroom and headed down the hall, moving with newfound purpose towards a staircase he definitely should not know anything about. One that required an advanced jutsu or two, an empty corridor to access, and being privy to a village secret to begin with. It was clearly meant to be off limits to academy students.
Lucky for Sasuke, he was a Uchiha.
Being Konoha's best and brightest came with many annoyances, but a few privileges as well. One of which was the uninhibited trust from his superiors.
He had been down in this particular hidden chamber many times because of this- carrying down assortments of heavy artifacts or transporting heaps of priceless scrolls for a far too trusting teacher or two. Once he learned to access it on his own, he started to use it as a quiet place to think or study. He had yet to be caught and even if he was, he doubted that any of the teachers would care. Sasuke was their model student- they trusted him implicitly. As long as he respected the space and no harm came to the artifacts inside, he didn't see any harm in exploiting it. Especially when it meant having a space free of Sasuke-fangirls and infuriating blondes.
The Uchiha took his time getting there, making sure the hallways cleared out before anyone noticed him. He approached the hidden door, double checked that there was no one in sight, and after a few complicated hand signs, gently cracked it open and slipped inside.
Sasuke stood on a platform above a staircase that spiraled downward into a dimly lit cavern. He slowly crept down the thick stone steps, careful to keep his footsteps silent. As he descended, he strained his ears- listening for any sound, any sign that someone else had gone down there, but as far as he could tell there was no one.
When he made it to the landing, he pressed his back against the wall and slowly moved forward, avoiding any light so his shadow wouldn't give him away. He checked around the door-less entry and scanned the small room inside. The walls were lined with bookshelves- each one filled from top to bottom with tightly bound scrolls, ancient texts, fragile artifacts, and thick unfurled parchment. A small lamp waited for him on a low wooden table.
No one else was there.
Sasuke stepped into the room and over to the shelves filled with a particular set of scrolls. He smiled to himself.
"Time to do a little research."