Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

It's a Hard Knock Life	By : Tatemshope Category: Naruto AU/AR > General Views: 2830 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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I don�t own any of the characters or products mentioned in this story.
Also, at the request of Argyle, I�m going to start sending out an e-mail when I update. If you would like for me to notify you of new chapters, please leave a review and your e-mail address. Remember, no one gets anything for free! ;)
****Warning**** Slight Naruto torture ahead... I think this will be it for awhile though, it was hella hard to write.
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Sasuke followed Kakashi silently through gloomy halls and up cold stone stairs. The dark haired boy had never worked in retail, so for him, the behind the scenes working of the mall would have been very interesting if it weren't for the horrible feeling in the pit of his
stomach. Had Naruto been abducted? Had he seen something or someone that had made him flee? Or, was it as he feared most, Naruto had seen him get violent with the boys at the table and it had scared him enough to run away.
Sasuke couldn't bring himself to dwell on that for too long because the feelings of guilt were agonizing. He had known this boy for less than 24 hours, but the blond was the first person in so long that made him feel normal. It was pathetic really, but there was something about Naruto that seemed to draw him in. Talking in the elevator... that had been the closest thing to friendship, outside of Hinata, that Sasuke could remember having in years.
He and Neji never really talked much during their relationship. It had always been almost purely physical. Actually, there was no almost about it; it had been purely physical. Neither boy was really much of a talker, and both boys were lonely, each in their own way, so the companionship and the sex had been enough... for a while. Sasuke
inevitably desired more, but Neji had no more to give. He had his own struggles, his own insecurities, and his own fears. For the Hyuuga boy, there was nothing worse than feeling saddled to someone else. All he wanted was a relationship that had no strings attached and Sasuke couldn't provide him with that.
Kakashi stopped abruptly in front of a set of wide double doors and motioned for the Uchiha boy to enter. The room was huge and there were monitors covering every wall. There were views of all the entrances and exits, views of each store, the food court, the
bathrooms, the changing areas (although you couldn't see into the actual dressing rooms) and of each and every door and hallway in the entire building. Several security guards were playing catch with an orange and swiveled around in their chairs to give Kakashi a nod when he walked past them. Sasuke was trying to check in each monitor for Naruto, but Kakashi continued leading him into his private office before closing the door.
"I can bring up any of those views on these four computers," Kakashi said, pointing at four monitors that sat on his desk. He reached over and grabbed a pen and paper and began taking notes as he asked questions. "How long ago was the last time you saw your friend?"
"About 15 minutes I think. We were standing in line for pizza and then I saw those assholes pointing at him so I went to ask them what there problem was... and then you know the rest."
"Any idea why he might have run off?"
"Hn." was Sasuke's mumbled reply. He wasn't sure how much he trusted his silver-haired teacher to be open-minded about all that had transpired.
"Was that a yes-hn or a no-hn?"
"Yes." Sasuke spoke more clearly this time and the concern in his voice betrayed the stoic mask he was trying to keep in place. Kakashi looked at him carefully, put the note pad down and came over to stand next to Sasuke, who was currently leaning on the door.
He gave him a questioning look, tilting his head as he inspected the dark-haired boy's face. He had been meeting with Sasuke for 2 months now and he'd never seen him show much emotion at all, but now his eyes were full of guilt and sadness. It was disturbing. Like looking into dark pools that should have been still, but instead seemed to have a monster swimming just below the surface.
"I'm fine." Sasuke started, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I'm sure your detective skills helped you deduce I barely know the boy... I don't even know his last name."
"That doesn't mean you don't care about him."
"I don't care about anyone but Hinata."
"Don't be a prick, Sasuke." Kakashi scolded carefully, pushing away from the door and sitting back at his desk. "You're angry, and that's fine, but you really do seem concerned about this boy, and if you want to help him, you need to control yourself."
"Are you a mall cop or my anger management coach?" Sasuke asked, glaring angrily at the man before him.
"Both, and you know it. If you'd prefer I get someone else to work on this with you, I can, but they'll tell you to park your ass in the lobby and after he's been gone for 6 hours, they may or may not get back to you.� Kakashi stopped and realized the tone he�d been using was harsher than he intended. He softened his voice a bit and continued. �I'm doing this as a favor... a teenager disappearing from the mall isn�t going to make a blip on the radar of anyone else. Do you want me to continue, or would you prefer to speak with one of my colleagues?"
Sasuke unclenched the fist he hadn't realized he'd been clenching and looked down at the floor. He was doing it again... He was letting his anger defeat him. Slowly, he turned his gaze back to Kakashi.
"I'm sorry,� he began softly. �I would like your help. His name is Naruto Something, he's 18, he has blond hair, blue eyes, he's of a smaller build than me, he looks more like he's 14, he's wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black DARE t-shirt. He has a burn mark under his left eye, a split lip and several bruises on his face. He also has several whisker-like scars on his cheeks.�
Kakashi lifted an eyebrow and Sasuke answered him before he could ask the question.
"I didn't do it... hurt him I mean." he mumbled, feeling slightly put off that his Anger Management coach would suspect him. 'Although technically I did just break a nose and a hand in the last twenty minutes. Come to think of it, Kakashi has every right to be suspicious.'
His teacher looked at Sasuke kindly and shook his head.
"I think you misunderstood my reaction. I know that you don't use the term 'friend' lightly. As a matter of fact, I believe I've only heard you use it in reference to Hinata. That being the case, I know you didn't cause those bruises. You�ve always shown yourself to be unspeakably loyal to the people... well... person... that you love. The reason I had any reaction at all is because his description fits that of a boy I've been looking for in a separate case."
"What kind of case?"
"Let's not discuss that until I'm sure they're the same person." Kakashi dismissed as he turned back to the screens. They were looking at four different angles of the food court. Kakashi had reversed the tapes to start playing from thirty minutes previous, and Sasuke
fiddled with the mouse a bit to advance time forward faster. He slowed it down when he saw Naruto and himself cross onto the screen.
A few moments later he watched himself cross over to the table, but he kept his eyes trained on the monitor that still showed Naruto. As Sasuke left his side, Naruto took a few steps to follow him; looked directly at the people Sasuke was speaking with, and then took off running out of the nearest exit. The Uchiha boy could see no reason why the blond would run away so suddenly. Sasuke's biggest consolation was that Naruto hadn't run because he'd seen him get violent.
The dark haired boy turned to ask Kakashi why he thought Naruto might have run off, but the older man had such a horrified look on his face Sasuke lost the question.
"That's him." Kakashi said softly. "How do you know him?"
"That's who?" Sasuke asked, confused by his teacher's reaction.
"The boy I mentioned. My other case. That's the boy. How do you know him?" Kakashi's voice cracked a little at the end of the sentence and Sasuke found himself a little bit intimidated. His teacher was generally calm and collected... typically bored. He'd never
seen the man show much emotion at all, but currently he seemed full of it. Sasuke was thoroughly convinced he was about to get in big trouble, but he told the truth anyway, since lying could only make the situation worse.
"He's a prostitute. I bought him last night while I was waiting for Hinata to get off the bus. I didn't have the greatest intentions when I did it, but once he got back to our apartment I overheard him praying about being hurt and being afraid of me... I didn't know what to do, and I couldn't call the police, so I called his master, bought him for two weeks, tried my best to be nice to him, and brought him to the mall to buy him some new clothes." Sasuke finished; sinking into a chair and steadying himself for the verbal thrashing he was about to receive. He knew that no adult in their right mind would be ok with pretty much any one of the sentences he had just uttered. Luckily, he was wrong.
"That was very noble of you Sasuke; both telling the truth and trying to help him. I'm sure we can find Naruto, but there's something I want you to see first. It may be upsetting, but if you�re determined to help him, you should probably know what he's been through."
Kakashi fiddled around on the computer for a minute with some files and then pulled up an image of a dark area, blocked in on three sides, which housed a dumpster, a Coke machine and a picnic table. Apparently it was some sort of outside break area for mall employees. The time on the screen said 23:30 and the date was from two weeks previous. Sasuke was about to ask what they were looking for when a dark Escalade pulled into the shot and four men stepped out of the SUV. They were all dressed in suits and ties, and from the stumbling they were doing, it was apparent they were drunk.
"It�s a rental. We checked the plates and it was rented out by a massive Peruvian company. They have no record of the person who actually signed for the keys ever having worked there." Kakashi explained, disgustedly, pulling over a chair so that he could sit down.
The men seemed to be arguing about something, but the video had no sound so Sasuke couldn't tell what they were saying. After a minute or two, one of the men stuck his head back into the car and Naruto emerged from the back seat. The tallest of the men sat down on the picnic table and motioned for Naruto to come over to him. The man unzipped his pants and Naruto serviced him with little hesitation. By the time he was finished the other three men had taken places on the picnic table and Kakashi fast-forwarded it as the blond boy moved from one to the other, giving each man a blow job in turn. Sasuke had paled and looked as if he was going to be sick. He should have known this kind of thing happened; Naruto was a prostitute after all.
The Uchiha boy was struck with another wave of guilt as he thought back to the elevator earlier. He should have tried harder to resist Naruto's advances. The boy was obviously only doing it because he thought it was the only way Sasuke would find worth in him. Kakashi interrupted his thoughts.
"This is the part I thought you should see. Turn it off if it gets to be too much."
Sasuke wanted nothing more than to have the video turned off at that instant. He wasn't sure he could stomach watching anything else, and since Kakashi seemed upset about it, it was bound to be bad. One of the men on the screen was talking to Naruto and the boy was shaking his head no. The blond's expression changed and the boy was clearly frightened.
Naruto took a few steps backward like he was planning on making a run for it but the man was faster than the boy and caught him by the arm before he could make an escape. The man drew back his arm and backhanded Naruto hard, causing the boy to stumble backwards into a heap on the ground. Another one of the men walked over to Naruto and
pulled him up before twisting the blond's arm a bit and dragging him toward the table. The boy was putting up more of a fight now and the two men who had stayed in the background moved forward to help subdue him. One man held both of his hands tightly behind his back, another man punched him a few times in the jaw and the stomach, while the third man took off his tie and tied it tightly around Naruto's eyes.
The first man took off his own tie and wound it tightly around the boy's wrists. Naruto was pushed forward hard and he fell face first onto the picnic table, cracking his chin on one of the sharp edges. With no way to see and no way to get his hands free, he still did not give up trying to escape. He pushed his face along the table so that the blindfold would slip up his forehead. As soon as he could see even just a bit he took off trying to run away again. He was caught easily and this time the beating he received was much more severe. The men were laughing and joking and they would let Naruto crawl almost to the edge of freedom before dragging him back and striking him again. Watching
it, with as much detachment as he possibly could, Sasuke found himself wondering how Naruto had survived this night. Maybe that's why he had disappeared... he was nothing but a ghost in the first place.
When Sasuke looked back at the screen Naruto was on the ground and the men took turns kicking him. One of the men who had leaned against the dumpster to smoke walked over to Naruto and put out the cigarette on his arm. The change in the boy was immediate. He stopped trying to fight, stopped trying to protect himself, and pulled his knees close to his chest. The men all looked at each other in surprise and dragged Naruto over to the picnic table. They positioned him so that his stomach was resting on the table but his legs were still on the ground.
One man held him down as another man untied his hands, forced them above his head and then strung the tie through a support beam under the table and back up to retie them again. This pulled Naruto to his tiptoes and one of the men had suggestively placed his knee between Naruto's legs so it was clear what he should expect.
The blond started to struggle again and the man from before pulled out a cigarette lighter and began waving it menacingly toward Naruto. The boy laid his head resignedly on the table and two of the men began to remove his pants as well as his blindfold. Tears were flowing down his face and it looked as if he were begging the men to let him go. His pleading got him nothing but a few more blows to the back of his head. After the last round of hits, he struggled no more and as one of the men stepped up behind him Sasuke reached over and clicked on the pause button.
"How much worse does it get from here?" Sasuke asked, bile rising in his throat. This was much worse than he'd imagined. Somehow he'd made himself block out all the burn marks and the bruises and chalk them up to rough foreplay. He knew that wasn't realistic, but even the worst abuse stories he'd heard at summer camp were nothing compared to this. Gang rape was a totally different ballgame.
"Much worse." Kakashi answered grimly. "We didn't know it happened until the following day so they had plenty of time. One of the janitor's went out the next morning and found the ties that are binding your friend as well as blood just about everywhere. I got called at home, came in and went over the tapes. I've been trying to find out who the
boy was ever since."
"How long did this last?" Sasuke asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
"Another hour or so. He passed out after a few more minutes of what you watched." Kakashi closed his eyes, shook his head, and then looked back up at his student. "They wake him up a few times, but for the most part, he's out of it. At one point they grab a beer bottle out of the trunk and... and... you know, I think you've heard enough." Kakashi finished as he noticed that Sasuke had gone from pale to white as a sheet.
"How fucking sick do you have to...to be..." the Uchiha boy started to say, but couldn't finish because a wave of dizziness hit him and he had to sit down. He wasn't sure if it was from shock or from the fact that once again he'd managed to miss a meal. At this rate he would die of starvation before ever being able to help anyone.
Kakashi sat down next to him and placed his hand on Sasuke's arm.
"We need to find your friend. Can you think of anywhere he might have gone?"
Sasuke had no answer. He didn't even want to attempt a guess. Before he could think of anything else, he needed to see with his own eyes that Naruto had survived this night. Somewhere in his mind he knew that he had, he obviously had, but he wasn't going to feel better until he saw him stand up and walk away from that picnic table.
Ignoring Kakashi's question, he unpaused the screen and fast-forwarded through the next hour and a half. Only half-watching because he still felt faint. He started the tape up again when the men got into their car and left. For a few minutes Naruto laid still on the table and Sasuke feared he'd been correct; the boy was dead and he'd gotten elevator head from a ghost. Then, as if waking up from a long night's sleep, the boy slowly pulled his legs up onto the table and worked diligently at untying the knots that had him bound to the table.
When he had freed himself he sat down on one of the benches and put his head down on his arms for a few seconds before kneeling on the ground beside the table. Sasuke immediately realized the blond was praying, and as the boy crossed himself and stood up unsteadily, Sasuke paused the video again. Naruto was real, and he was not dead.
He could still be helped. The Uchiha boy would pay a million dollars if he had to; he had the money to spare. After what he'd just seen, he wasn't letting Naruto back out of his sight and he was going to find out who these men were and make them pay. He was quite sure Gaara would know how to go about hiring an assassin. That had actually been brought up in one of the first conversations they�d ever had. Thinking about killing the people who had hurt Naruto was making him feel infinitely better. Now he just needed to find the boy.
"Can you think of anywhere he might have gone?" Kakashi asked again, feeling slightly bad about pressing the issue, but wanting desperately to see for himself that the boy who had haunted his dreams was in fact, ok. He hadn't wanted to say anything too specific to Sasuke, but ever since he'd seen this video he'd been unable to sleep without having nightmares. This kind of thing should not happen, and especially not to someone as helpless as the boy on the screen.
Sasuke thought to himself about all the places Naruto might go. He didn't know much about the boy. He had Naruto's master's pager number at home, but that could just get the blond in more trouble. He didn't think the boy had any idea where he and Hinata lived, so it was unlikely he would attempt to get back there. Plus, there was the whole issue of why he had run off in the first place. If Sasuke had scared him somehow, he might try to go somewhere he couldn't be found.
Sasuke stared at the screen trying to get some clue and that's when it happened. Without the mouse having been touched, the screen shot back a few seconds and showed Naruto praying again, crossing himself, and standing up. Sasuke glanced at Kakashi to see if he'd noticed, but he acted like he'd seen nothing. Sasuke looked back at the screen and it
happened again. The shot flashed back 5 seconds, Naruto was praying, he motioned the sign of the cross, and then stood up. Sasuke jumped to his feet startling Kakashi and causing him to drop his note pad.
"Where's the nearest Catholic church?"
"St. Andrews is about 10 blocks away. That's a decent guess, but don't get your hopes up too much. It will be a miracle if he's there."
"I think if anyone deserves a miracle, it's him." Sasuke muttered. Kakashi nodded and grabbed a gun from his top drawer.
"Let's go." Kakashi said as he took off quickly out the door, Sasuke following him closely. They burst out through a side door and Kakashi paused for a moment. "We can take my car or we can run. Preference?"
"Run." Sasuke said and watched in amazement as Kakashi took off running across the parking lot at astonishing speed. Later, after they'd found Naruto and everything was ok, he was going to have to ask his teacher if he'd been on the Olympic team. Sasuke took off running after the silver-haired man, doing his best to keep up. They arrived at the church in under 5 minutes and they both stopped on the steps trying to catch their breath.
Sasuke's lungs were burning, but he wasn't about to waste any more time. He pushed open the heavy double doors and stepped inside. The church was massive and the ceiling was made of stained glass. The carpet was a plush red, and the pews were dark oak. Sasuke's parents had taken him to mass when he was little, but after the fire, he'd
mostly given up on religion in general. Still, he could admire the beauty of a place like this and his breath hitched in his chest as he stared at the Stations of the Cross along the wall. Memories came pouring back to him and�
"How can I help you, my son?"
Sasuke turned and found a kindly looking priest staring at him from about ten feet away.
"I'm looking for my friend. His name is Naruto and he has blond hair and blue eyes and--�
"Sasuke, you should have waited for me before you entered." Kakashi said as he stepped through the doors. Sasuke noticed he had his hand on his holster as if he were expecting to shoot someone.
"Father." Kakashi acknowledged, moving his hand away from his gun and adjusting his shirt.
"How can I help you?"
"This boy," the silver-haired man started, nodding toward Sasuke "has come looking for his friend. He's a smallish boy with blond hair and blue eyes. It's imperative that we find him. His life is in danger."
The priest eyed them carefully but said nothing. He turned his back and started to walk toward the front of the sanctuary. When he was halfway up the long aisle he turned back to them and gave them a sad smile.
"Although the church always welcomes those in need, I have not seen the boy of which you speak here today."
"He's here." Sasuke demanded.
"He's a priest, Sasuke. He can't lie. Can you?" Kakashi directed the question to the young holy man.
"I assure you, I am not lying. I have not seen that boy today." The priest looked at Sasuke, eyeing him up and down as if measuring his trustworthiness.
"He's here." Sasuke insisted again, glaring at the priest as if he were trying to set the man on fire. Kakashi grabbed him gently by the shoulder and started to guide him toward the door. Sasuke wavered a little on his feet and his teacher gently pushed him into a pew.
"Father? Do you mind if we sit here for a few minutes." Kakashi asked.
"Not at all. Like I said, the church welcomes all those in need."
*ring* *ring*
Sasuke looked toward his pocket and then the priest.
"Is it ok to answer a phone in church?"
The young priest laughed and nodded.
"Yes, it's not a sin as far as I know. Please end the conversation if any parishioners come in though. They may be praying."
"Thanks." Sasuke said as he flipped open his phone.
"Sasuke? Are you still out shopping?" Came a cheerful voice from the other end of the phone.
"Hinata?" Sasuke asked, knowing full well it was her, but needing confirmation.
"Are you all right? You sound awful. Did something happen?"
Sasuke drew in a long breath.
"Naruto ran away."
"Oh, Sasuke-kun, I'm so sorry. I'm sure he'll turn up. Where are you? I'll come help you look."
"No, I think you should stay at the apartment in case he tries there."
"OK, if that's what you want. Where are you right now?"
"At St. Andrew's downtown. I was so sure he was here. We were watching the video of what happened to him before, and then at the end he prayed and crossed himself. I didn't think much of it, but when Kakashi asked me where he was, the video jumped back and it showed him praying again. I ignored it the first time, but it happened again and I was so sure--" Sasuke's voice broke off. He would not cry, but that didn't mean he didn't ache. He'd let Naruto down.
"Sasuke?" The priest asked, and the Uchiha boy noted with interest that the priest seemed to have been listening to his conversation.
"You know, confession is good for the soul."
"Confession?" the boy asked, looking up at the priest with puzzled eyes.
"Yes, confession." he said, nodding his head to a Confessional booth that sat up near the front of the room. "Please use the door to the left."
Not completely understanding why, but sure there was a reason behind it, Sasuke quickly ended his conversation with Hinata, promising to call her back as soon as he'd heard anything, and made his way to the small, closet like room. As he stepped inside the booth he shut the door and pulled the screen open so that the priest inside could hear him, although not see his face.
"Forgive me father, for I have sinned." came a small voice from the other side of the enclosure.
Sasuke froze; he had come in the priest's entrance and it was Naruto sitting in the adjoining booth. Shit! What should he do? He hadn't been a practicing Catholic for a while now, but he knew very well it was against the rules to listen to someone else's confession.
"It has been one week since my last confession." Naruto continued.
"Naruto, stop." Sasuke managed to get out. "I'm not the priest. He sent me in here looking for you."
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his disembodied voice carrying eerily through the grate.
"It's me. Why the hell did you run off?" The Uchiha boy knew he sounded angry, but he was suddenly furious.
"I... I knew once they told you what I did, you wouldn't take me back home with you. You wouldn't think Hinata would be safe and you'd send me back out." Naruto replied weakly. He wasn�t crying, but Sasuke could tell from the scratchiness of his voice that at some point in the past few minutes he had been.
"Send you back out? What are you talking about? You thought those boys were going to tell me something you'd done and that's why you ran away? Are you crazy? Those guys were jerks and if you'd stayed for two more minutes you would have seen me beat the shit..." realizing that he was in a church, Sasuke lowered his voice and began again. "You would have seen me beat the crap out of two of them. What could you have possibly done that could be so bad?"
"I can't tell you." Naruto whispered sadly. "Please leave."
"Naruto, this is a confessional. Use it. I'm not going to judge you for what other people made you do."
"Promise?"
"This is ridiculous. Tell me what you did. We have a lot to do in the next two weeks and I'd like to get started."
"You're not mad?"
"You're driving me insane." Sasuke muttered. Oddly enough, his anger had dissipated without him needing to count backwards or visualize bunnies and beer. He supposed that after what he�d seen on that video, staying angry with Naruto was too cruel for words.
"Remember, you asked me to tell you. Can you at least pretend to be a priest?� Naruto questioned plaintively. �This is bad stuff. The worst thing I've ever done."
"Oh for crap's sake. Fine. Start from the beginning."
"Ok... forgive me father, for I have sinned. It's been one week since
my last confession."
~~~~
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It's a Hard Knock Life