About the rating:

This story is rated M for language, violence and sexual situations. Topics WILL include torture and sex of the non-consensual kind. And any smex found herein will be limited to male/male. If any of these things make you squeamish, go read something that's NOT rated M.

Disclaimer:

I don't even know why we bother with these fucking things. If I owned Naruto, would I really be writing fanfiction about it? Seriously…

Fragile: Handle With Care - Prologue

Hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back, you realize there were a hundred things you could have done differently; a hundred ways of changing fate. So many opportunities you didn't take and questions you never got answered.

"You don't know what you have until it's taken away from you." It's a phrase we hear all the time. Yeah, it's clichéd, but that's probably because it's true. You don't take the opportunities because it's something you can put off until tomorrow. You don't ask the questions because it's too morbid to think you'll ever run out of time.

Even after you lose someone, and vow not to make the same mistakes again, the human psyche has subtle ways of deceiving you. Just when you start to think that it might be better to simply hold nothing dear to you, the subconscious mind takes over. It's the voice in your head that tells you, "This time will be different." It's the part that still allows you to believe in happy endings. You get a feeling of invincibility, because this time, you're doing everything right.

But it's all just a defense mechanism. Without this misplaced sense of hope, people would lose any reason for living. The inevitability of death is ignored in favor of a short period of happiness.

We never called it "love", as if the word itself were taboo; as if saying it would somehow summon disaster for us. Not that it mattered. Even without saying it, we both knew. And the end result didn't change. Maybe if I had told you from the beginning, things would have turned out differently. But like I said, hindsight is perfect.

You warned me over and over again that this would happen someday, and I told you that I understood. But the easy day-to-day life made me too relaxed; too complacent. My mind tricked me into believing that it would last.

I was a fool.

'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'

Author's Note:

Yeah, I know it's a short chapter and a long note, but bear with me…

ANGST…I really wanted to write a nice, light comedy, but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone. Um…before I go on with the rest of the fic, let's get a couple things straight. I believe strongly in the Commandments of fic-writing. Someone wrote them out once, and I can't really remember how many there are, but whoever you are, I give you much credit. They are invaluable in my pursuit of good fiction.

Firstly, I will NOT use random fan-Japanese. Yeah, I totally used to think it was cool until I realized how ridiculous it sounds to have a Japanese word in the middle of an English sentence. The point of fic writing is communication, NOT showing off my mad Japanese skillz…or something. Any terms used are there because A. they are generally known in the Naruto fandom (i.e. Genin, chuunin, jounin, sensei, etc…) or B. cannot be expressed in English (i.e. –san, -chan, -kun, etc. These are relevant to show the levels of relationships between characters.)

Secondly, there will be NO Mary-Sues. None. I refuse. And no main OCs. They are never done well…If there are any OCs, which I think there may need to be, they will be few and far between and certainly NEVER paired with a canon character. Eww…

Thirdly, I will not hold this fic hostage for reviews. If you like it, tell me what you think. If you hate it, rip it apart. But tell my why you hate it, so I can make it better next time.

Lastly, I will not abandon my fic. I will finish it, even if the ending is less than stellar.