As of 2012: This story has been REMOVED. People have lost interest in it (including myself), my English is not the best and the plotline has got too many holes. I'm keeping the first chapter up because I want the date when I first posted the story to be available in 'case of emergency' a.k.a plagiarism. If you have any questions/complaints, you can PM me. And no, I won't re-upload the story nor will I email you a copy of it.

Disclaimer: Roses are red, violets are blue. I no own, so you no sue. The Naruto series and its world solely belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, I'm merely playing around in that world.

Note: This is my new story, and it involved SasuNaru. Since I'm pretty new with writing yaoi, this won't be up to par with your favourite SasuNaru stories out there.

Warnings: yaoi, coarse language, anorexia, bulimia, self-inflicted injuries, suicidal thoughts, non-consensual sex, implied sex, OCs, OOCness, character deaths, mixed English, drug abuse, smoking and quite a bit more.

Welcome To My Life
Betad by No More Masquerade and Yume Kaze

A young boy with long blonde hair was sitting on the floor in the corner of a dark room with his eyes closed. He wore nothing but a pair of black trousers and a t-shirt far too large for his thin body. His hands were lying still on his lap with his head tilted downwards, as if in prayer.

He sat like that for what seemed like ages; eyes closed and head down, wearing an emotionless expression on his gaunt face. It appeared that he was dead, but his chest moved up and down slowly, and if you listened carefully, you could hear a faint sob escape his lips.

He was not expecting an intrusion of any kind; his mind was elsewhere . . .

RING!

An alarm clock went off on the bedside table. A groan rumbled underneath the covers beside it, and a hand shot from the blankets trying to find the annoying object that was interrupting the most fabulous invention in the world; sleep, and slammed the alarm clock to shut it up.

Uchiha Sasuke wasn't a morning person. He went to Evanston Township High School, and since he went to that particular school, he had to get up early, no matter what his opinion was on the matter. Classes started at seven in the morning every day, and it was driving Sasuke completely insane. That stupid school was nothing more than a prison that held him as its captive, but it would all be over soon.

"Thank God for that," Sasuke muttered, taking a deep breath.

Sasuke tossed aside his blanket and sat up in bed. He wore only a pair of drawstring trousers, while his chest was bare. He yawned and stretched and then stood up, walking to the windows, where the sun hit his face and one could see the features of his face in its light.

Sasuke was a teenager at eighteen years of age, and he had a well shaped face mature features and a flawless skin. His eyes were dark – almost onyx – and like his hair, a deep brown a shade away from black. At 1.85 metres (6 feet), perhaps even taller, he stood quite a few centimetres above his classmates. He was slim, but had the broad chest and defined muscles of a man that flexed under his pale – nearly white – skin.

He looked out through the window and yawned again, turning back around and walking over to his bed. He found his clothes on a chair next to his bed and put it on. He had always hated that there was no uniform to wear, but he loved it as well. From the day he started high school and every day after that, he'd thought that uniforms would have made things so much easier.

The girls wouldn't chase him with those ugly bellybutton tops, and only God knows what they were wearing.

When he had dressed, he headed out of his room, closing the door behind him, and entered the dining hall, where his brother sat with a cup of steaming tea in one hand and a folded newspaper in the other. The date on the paper read the 17th of June – indicating it was not even a few hours until the school year wrapped up. Summer was drawing near.

"Good morning, Sasuke," said Itachi dryly, as Sasuke grunted in reply. A single eyebrow raised as Itachi appraised his brother's appearance and bad temper. "Or, perhaps I should say, 'Good Morning, Sunshine.'"

Sasuke took a quick look over the room and noticed that his parents weren't there. They'd probably already left. Great. That meant he'd have to ask Itachi instead . . .

"Can you drive me today?" Sasuke asked in an emotionless tone, ignoring Itachi's remark. He knew his attitude was unnecessarily cold, especially considering his subtle barbs was directed at his brother; but he couldn't muster enough concern for it to bother him.

"Sure. I'll drop you off, and then I have to get Deidara so we can go to his father's office," Itachi replied as he took a lingering sip of his tea. Sasuke spared his brother a quick glance over the rim of his own cup as he also took a few sips of green tea.

"Deidara mentioned something about a new offer from that company in Naperville. I don't remember the name of it. It was Sa— something," Itachi finished as Sasuke nibbled at the crust of his toast.

The freak that has been in jail. How can Itachi even stand that dense blonde? "Naperville, you said?" Sasuke asked, spreading strawberry jam on the bread and taking a bite before adding thoughtfully, "Maybe it's Sabaku Industries."

"Yes, that's it. You know Tobi, right?" Itachi asked, looking at his younger brother challenging. Sasuke didn't even blink, but stared down at his toast and took the magazine from Itachi. "I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, Tobi is from Naperville, and I think that I can meet him at your school, since he's staying with a friend who lives only a block away from it. Then we'll go and pick up Deidara."

"Have fun," Sasuke said sardonically. Itachi only sighed at his 'oh-so-enthusiastic' brother and warned him, "It's already six forty-five; we should get going. You slept in pretty late today," Itachi pointed out as he looked down at his watch. He swallowed the last of his tea as Sasuke took the last piece of his toast in his mouth to eat on the way.

Sasuke glanced at his brother's retreating back and stood up. He passed by a mirror and raked a hand through his ebony hair. As he passed the couch, he grabbed his tattered school bag and followed Itachi out of their house, getting in the passenger seat of his brother's Mercedes and heading to Evanston Township High School.

As familiar streets passed by in watercolour blurs, Sasuke stared indifferently out the car window, watching as they passed the manicured lawns and inviting homes.

As unobservant and uninterested in such well-known surroundings as he was, he did not take into consideration that individual lives were unfolding in each house they passed, each one an intricate universe within four solid walls.

He was all too ignorant that in one in particular, a disturbed soul was so much more discontent than he could ever fathom.

The blonde boy muttered something incoherent as he brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his sickly thin arms around them like a child. A new sob tore from his throat and echoed in the inky room before the heavy silence of his room swallowed it.

"Oi!" someone shouted from the other side of the door, pounding his fist impatiently against the wood. He knew precisely who it was just from their knocking. "You're going to miss school if you don't get up now, Naruto!"

The weeping boy, whose name was indeed Naruto, looked at the door with red-rimmed eyes. His eyes were already swollen with the glass-sheen of unshed tears, his normally untainted cheeks striped by a glossy shine from tears already shed.

He didn't answer the man on the other side of the door, not immediately; he simply stared at the door not as if it was not inanimate, but the faceless person who had called for him.

"Come on now, Naruto!" the man shouted again, desperation edging into his voice. "It's the last day of school, and after this you're out of high school! You don't want to miss this day!" Naruto noticed that the man had tried to open the door while talking, but Naruto had already been two steps ahead; locking the door so that no one was able to come in.

"What is it, Naruto?" the man asked cautiously – to his dismay – Naruto could hear that he was concerned. "Why have you locked your door?"

Go away, thought Naruto, and he tried to will the man away from the door with his thoughts. Just go away and never come back.

"Mum and Dad won't be happy if you skip another meal," the man continued desperately, as Naruto felt guilt grow inside him. And Naruto knew he had lost – his family knew his weaknesses, and that the slightest sliver of guilt would derail his iron will. "Please, Naruto. Get up, eat breakfast, and go to school. It's the last day, come on now!"

"Coming," Naruto replied timidly, as if the man on the other side of the door could actually hear his words – he was fairly surprised when the man on the other side answered.

"Good! Mum made us toast today!" the man said with sudden cheer, like always when Naruto acquiesced like this. Naruto looked away from the door when he heard the footsteps begin to fade away. A blush of shame flushed into his cheek as he resigned himself, from the manipulative pleas of his family, to endure yet another day.

Another desolate sob escaped from his lips before Naruto decided to actually move from his spot on the floor. Steeling his heart, he prepared himself mentally as a small thought flitted quickly through his subconscious.

Perhaps I'll go to school . . .

Sasuke stepped out of Itachi's car and walked towards the entrance to his school. Itachi drove away, and Sasuke walked in through the double doors. Evanston Township High School was Evanston's only high school with around 2,000 to 2,600 students.

The grading system was just as it always was . . . always about damn grades. In other words, the school was heavily focused upon grades – so boring! Who cares about grades, right? Well, if you were ever naïve enough to ask someone at this particular school about the matter, they would look at you with the same inquisitive eyebrow and incredulous expression as if you'd grown extra limbs.

Their grades were the most important things they would receive in their entire lifetime, even more so than their first car or that first paycheck from their part-time jobs.

The majority of the students at the school took pride in their academics, rarely seeing anything but a high C inked on their report cards. The few hapless students who got D's or F's were the black sheep – they weren't exactly happy with their poor grades themselves.

When you're eighteen years old – seventeen in some cases – and finally graduating from Evanston Township High School your grades are the deciding margin for helping you get a job. It had always been like that and it always would be – even some of the older teachers, who were almost fossils, were privy to this extreme focus on the students' grades.

In other words, it's the paved way of life, as familiar an aspect of any of the school students as their morning routine or spoken language.

And, of course, why wouldn't Uchiha Sasuke be a grade-A student? He was in the top ten percentile of students at the school, ranked number four in the entire senior class. The only three people above him were Nara Shikamaru from his own class, a student that Sasuke couldn't remember the name of, and a girl named something Sasuke didn't even dare to pronounce – no offence, but she's from Colombia, and Spanish isn't Sasuke's strong side – who was the best student in the school.

Sasuke was currently walking towards his locker, which was on the third floor, and, of course, had to be the only damn floor without any of his classes on it. The students who looked in Sasuke's direction gazed at him with envious eyes, while the others who didn't knew their own shortcomings just from the longing in everyone else's faces.

"Isn't that Uchiha?" they said as they watched him drift by them with awe, and from the girls – even a few of the guys – lust, love, admiration and intimidation.

Dark hair, darker eyes. He was the kind of guy that was good at everything; sports, academics, getting girls, and anything else you could come up with. He was the guy whose popularity expanded beyond his high school; every girl in the city wanted him, not just the girls in his school, and . . . well, some of the guys in his school as well. He was the guy that was so powerful that others feared what would happen if they pissed him off. Sasuke Uchiha: the guy that was the best at absolutely everything.

The guy that everyone thought had everything.

He was the guy who was missing the most vital part of anyone's life.

Naruto walked slowly down to the kitchen, where the rest of his family sat and ate their breakfast. Naruto's family consisted of five children – of whom he was the middle child – his mother, Kushina, and his father, Minato. He had one older brother, who had been the one knocking on his door that morning; his name was Haruki, and his appearance was strikingly like his mother's, aside from his hair, which was blonde like his father's.

So, his green eyes and pale complexion came from his mother.

Next was Haruki's twin sister, Akane, who looked just like her mother, Kushina; her hair was bright red and, though they were fraternal, she and Haruki looked extremely alike. They were both twenty, and would start their last year at Loyola University after the summer's end.

They had already been let out of school two days prior, so they were free until August.

Next came Naruto, who was identical to his father, Minato; blonde hair, blue eyes and tan skin, though Naruto wasn't as tan as he had been when he was younger. During the past year, he had become paler and thinner. It worried his parents, but he wouldn't talk about it, so they let it be, waiting for the day when he would bring it up on his own.

One thing that did distinguish Naruto from his father was that Naruto had dread locks. They weren't really that long, but they did go to his shoulder blades, and Naruto was rather fond of them.

Naruto was seventeen years old and he would soon be out of high school and starting in the same university as his siblings in August. His parents had actually forbidden him from getting in to another school than Loyola, why? His dad worked there, that's why, and he also knew that his parents and the head of Loyola University, Tsunade Sannin, had something to do with it. Considering the fact that Tsunade was Minato's adoptive mother and all . . .

Well, well, well, enough about him; next in line came Yuuki, who would be starting his second year in high school, being fifteen years old. He looked very much like Minato as well, but his hair was as red as his mother's. And, as it is foolish to leave out such an important detail, he was very gifted when it came to school, but he also worked his arse off to keep his good grades.

Hani was the youngest of the five siblings, and she was already twelve years old and going to middle school. She looked like her father, though she had her mother's green eyes, so Naruto and Akane were the only ones who had all of their mother's and father's traits.

"Good morning, Naru-chan," Kushina said as Naruto sat down at the table. Noticed the suffix? Well, you see, the Uzumaki family was from Japan, and they had moved to the US when Naruto was only ten years old. They had a damn good reason for moving too, but let's continue.

Naruto nodded at his mother and grabbed some milk and chocolate, mixing them in a big white cup to make chocolate milk.

"You're late for school, Naru. It's already six forty-five, and since you want to walk, you won't make it in time," Yuuki said, grinning, seeing as he and even Hani, were out of school like their older siblings. That left Naruto as the only one waiting for school to let out.

Damn those fat guys who decided that the universities and middle schools in Chicago and Evanstonshould end earlier than the high schools, Naruto thought sourly. Wait a minute . . . high school . . . Yuuki's in high school and he's already out.

"Why did you get out earlier than me?" asked Naruto, looking up at Yuuki, who grinned the "foxy grin" that the Uzumaki family was known to possess.

"Because, unlike you, I've got straight A's instead of straight F's," Yuuki said, making a face, receiving the reply of Naruto's rolling eyes.

Let the Devil take these damn bragging idiots for little brothers, Naruto thought sourly.

"You've never seen my grades, so how can you be so sure that I've got F's?" Naruto asked, sipping his chocolate milk. "What if I'm an A-student?"

"Yeah right; and pigs can fly," Akane said, smirking at her little brothers' conversation.

"When did you grow wings?" asked Yuuki, grinning towards his older sister, who looked really pissed. "Did you finally—?"

"One more word from you and you'll be cleaning up your own blood," Kushina warned as Minato sighed, how could he ever had marry this cruel woman.

"Naru-chan, you've got to hurry now; you've only got fifteen minutes of benefit, and I don't want you to be late," she said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Haruki will drive you, and I don't want any objections."

Naruto looked up at her with a frown. "Why the heck would he drive me when I can walk?" he asked, and Kushina gave him a stern glare.

"Language," she said, and Naruto rolled his eyes. "He'll drive you so you won't be late, of course," she said, and smiled again. "Talking about late, I've got to be at the hospital in a few minutes. I would have driven you, but my office is on the other side of town."

Kushina stood up, and her extremely long hair waved behind her as she gathered everything that she had used during breakfast. She put it all in the dishwasher and looked over at Naruto, who had only drunk half his glass of chocolate milk.

"Eat some toast as well, and then go change into some better clothes. You can't wear sweatpants for school," she said, and kissed Minato goodbye before smiling at them all. She also gave Naruto a kiss on the forehead; Naruto closed his eyes as that moment passed. "I'll quit at five today, to make sure that supper is ready in time." With that, she left the house and drove off in their blue family car.

"You heard her," Haruki said, as Naruto stood up and went to the sink. He poured the chocolate milk down the drain and put his cup in the dishwasher, just like his mother had done.

"You're not going anywhere until you've eaten at least half of a piece toast," Minato said, looking at Naruto, who was just about to exit the kitchen. Naruto sighed and ignored his father, heading up to his room. Minato swallowed the rest of his coffee and put the cup down on the table, bringing his hands to his face and sighing.

"He's got to eat something, Dad," Akane said, and looked at the spot where Naruto had sat. "He hasn't eaten a decent meal for over two years. Sure, he eats, but not much."

"I know, Akane," Minato said and crossed his arms on the table. "He has lost too much weight, and it worries me and Kushina so much, but every time we bring it up, he either changes the subject or ignores the question."

"Are you sure that he's healthy enough to attend uni?" Haruki asked, biting into his cheese toast. "Since it's pretty far away from here and everything, he'll have to live in a dorm; either a single or a double and we—" Haruki pointed at himself and Akane "—won't be able to look after him, since we'll be attending our own classes and living in our flat."

"I've thought about that, too," Yuuki said, and he was very worried over his big brother. Even though they quarrelled all the time and acted as if nothing was wrong, something really was wrong. "What if he tried it again?"

"Again?" Hani asked and looked at her father and older brother. Her green eyes were full of confusion; she had no idea what they were talking about.

Minato looked to his daughter with a frown, and then at Yuuki, who looked away, ashamed. Hani didn't know, since she was too young to understand, but when Naruto was fourteen, he had tried to kill himself. Without any notice, he had locked himself in his room with a pair of scissors on a whim.

When he hadn't come out for over an hour, Haruki had begun to worry and knocked on Naruto's door, but when he hadn't heard an answer for over three minutes, he panicked.

He'd called for Kushina and Minato, and Minato had tried to break the door open, but the door was pretty sturdy, so it wasn't that easy. Haruki and Minato had tried together, and finally got through the door, but Haruki had immediately run out of the room and collided with the wall across from Naruto's door.

Kushina had screamed and, in the domino effect, Akane and Yuuki also ran to Naruto's room. Hani had been at a friend's at the time and didn't know what was happening at home. It was decided that she was not old enough to hear of her brother's suicide attempt, and she remained in the dark ever since.

Naruto had slit his left wrist so deep that he had stopped breathing by the time Minato and Haruki broke through the door. Kushina was a doctor, and therefore was able to stop the bleeding and give Naruto CPR before the ambulance came to their house. Everyone in the Uzumaki family had been pale and scared to death that day.

Naruto had woken up a few days later, and when he found out that he was alive, he had screamed and cried for hours. Kushina and Akane had also cried, while Minato didn't quite know what to do; his son had wanted to die, and he had nearly succeeded with suicide.

They found out later on that Naruto had been cutting himself, though suicide was never his intention; but something had happened at school a few weeks earlier that changed his mind-set and brought him to the conclusion that death was the only option. Everyone in the family knew what had happened that day, and they weren't surprised with Naruto's choice.

"You think he's going to try it again?" Haruki asked, and, as before, Hani was quite baffled. Yes, she knew that her brother had been in the hospital due to a near-death incident, but she didn't know what had occurred to put him in such a state.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did," Minato said, as he looked at Hani, who was frowning. "Could you call Moegi and ask if she wants to have a friend over tonight? Mum and I need to discuss something with Naruto, Haruki, and Akane this evening."

Hani understood that this was something serious, and nodded to her father. She was curious what this all was about, but she didn't dare to ask, because, after Yuuki had mentioned "that incident", everyone at the table had gone pale.

She put her dishes in the dishwasher and went to go call Moegi. Perhaps Konohamaru would be there as well?

When Minato was sure that Hani couldn't hear them, he looked at Yuuki and then at his hands. "I think you need to go to a friend's as well, Yuuki; this is something Kushina and I have to discuss with Haruki, Akane, and Naruto only," Minato said, as Yuuki smiled a sad smile. It was because Haruki and Akane were in the university Naruto would attend; Yuuki understood that very well.

When Yuuki had gone up to his room and closed the door, Minato let out a shaky sigh, and Haruki laid his hand on his father's shoulder.

"Dad?" he said softly, and Akane looked at the two men in front of her.

"I don't know what to do; I really don't," Minato whispered, and nearly broke down in tears.

Naruto had changed into some better clothes, which consisted of black trousers, a white long-sleeved shirt and a blue t-shirt on top of the white one. It was a casual clothing style for students of Evanston Township High School.

Naruto was about to walk out through the door, when he shot at glance at a very old Japanese newspaper that lay on a shelf on his bookcase. He read the headline and he felt a shiver run down his spine. He gulped and left his room, closing the door with a small click.

At the top of the newspaper, written in bold, Japanese symbols, was printed "Nine Year Old Boy Brutally Assaulted On His Way Home From School".

The blonde was currently walking down the hallway of Evanston Township High School. Haruki had driven him on his motorcycle and Naruto knew that he had talked with their father and Akane about something.

They're worried that I'll try it again, he thought and he suddenly remembered the newspaper in his room; he stopped for a brief moment but soon continued to walk again. They've removed all the sharp objects in the house and they keep the entire cutlery locked up in drawers in the kitchen.

Yep, Naruto's parents and siblings were really worried for Naruto. He nearly died that day, but since they decided to hide all the sharp objects, he stopped eating instead. He barely ever ate. He drank, yes, but when it came to food, that was another story.

The only times he ate was when someone forced him to eat, which Minato did during suppers and, Naruto didn't know why, but he felt so horrible after those times. It wasn't because he had eaten; it was because he worried his parents so much.

Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the raven in front of him. Naruto bumped into him and stepped back before looking up at the person. Onyx eyes met blue and Naruto turned his head away and then continued to walk again.

Sasuke looked after Naruto without a single visible emotion on his face. When Naruto's blonde dreadlocks disappeared among the students, Sasuke returned to his locker. He looked at his math book and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"Damn idiot . . ." he muttered before closing his locker and heading off to math class.

The first time Sasuke had met Naruto was in their freshman year at Evanston Township High School. Sasuke looked exactly the same as he had back then, the only difference between then and now was that he was much taller, had a sharper profile and more muscles, but Naruto was a different story . . .

Naruto was much thinner now than back then, his hair had grown longer and therefore had he decided to make dreadlocks of it all. He also looked hollow in some weird way, his eyes had never been bright like his younger brother Yuuki's, actually . . . the first time Sasuke had seen Yuuki, he was surprised.

He had never seen any of Naruto's siblings but he knew he had four, so when he saw how bright Yuuki's eyes were and how shiny his red hair seemed to be as it was being illuminated by the light around him, Sasuke had just stared.

Naruto was nothing like his brother, Naruto's eyes were dull and life-less, his hair was straggly and his skin was supposed to be tan, but it looked like sandpaper; pale with a faint tan tone in it. But there was something that Naruto had, but Yuuki didn't have, and it was that something that drew the young Uchiha's attention.

Sasuke knew since a long time ago that he liked Naruto, more than just in a friendly way, but he wasn't sure he would call it infatuation or not.

He was undecided about his sexual orientation, but he did know that he liked Naruto – a lot – and that he would like to have a relationship with the blonde and get to know him better. It didn't really matter though, because very soon, he'd be going off to university and he'd probably never see Naruto again.

The thought pained the Uchiha, more than he would care to admit.

"Hey, Sasuke!" someone shouted as Sasuke turned his head towards the noise. Ino Yamanaka came running towards him and it looked like she had been looking for him for a long time, because her face was flushed, which meant that she'd been running a lot.

Ino was one of the few girls that didn't have some kind of a crush on him, but it wasn't that strange since Ino didn't go for men. Yep, you heard it right. Ino liked women and it was something she didn't care that the school knew about or not. She was proud of being a lesbian, since by actually letting people know, she showed them that she wasn't a coward.

"Sasuke! I have to tell you something!" Ino said and stopped in front of Sasuke who looked down at her with a cold but also confused facial expression. He was interested but there wasn't much time until their first lessons started.

"I got into Loyola University!" she exclaimed and even though Sasuke was really happy that his friend would enter the same university as him, he seldom showed it on the outside, he just smirked and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"That means that Shikamaru, Shino and you will go to the same uni as I," he said after opening his eyes again.

"Isn't it awesome? But you want to know what?" she continued and pointed a finger in the Uchiha's currently annoyed face. "We four are the only ones who'll go to Loyola University, at least I think so. I know there is this other girl though, but I can't remember her name . . ." Ino smiled but Sasuke felt as if someone had hit him in the stomach, really hard.

That meant no Naruto.

"About two thirds of the school will enter a university outside the state and the rest will go to different universities inside the state. I think that . . . wait, hold on . . ." Ino suddenly said and frowned. Sasuke looked at her cautiously with a crocked eyebrow.

"Oh, that's right! I think that there will be one more person who'll go to Loyola University! So that makes it six in total!" she exclaimed cheerfully after what felt like a whole minute for Sasuke, but it had actually been less than ten seconds.

"That explains why you bleach your hair so many times," Sasuke said boldly with a sigh. "You're so dense that it would've been scary if you weren't blonde."

"Hey!" Ino shouted crossly and looked at Sasuke with a petulant face. "I don't see you having problems with that blonde little boy in the other class," Ino retorted teasingly as Sasuke's face grew pink.

"Shut up Ino, there are more people than us in this corridor," Sasuke hissed angrily as Ino giggled.

"What? I can't help it that I'm a fangirl of homosexual guys, but hold on! Why haven't you asked him out yet?" Ino asked curiously with a stunned facial expression at Sasuke, who began walking towards their first lesson, ignoring her question. "Hello! You're avoiding the question!"

"Yeah and I've got a reason for it," Sasuke said as Ino pouted childishly.

"Aw, come on Suke!" Ino coaxed him while smiling. "The chance of meeting him after high school isn't very positive but if you ask him out now you'll meet him during the summer and when you're home during the holidays. Please Suke!" Ino continued to beg as Sasuke fought the urge to hit something.

"Stop calling me that," Sasuke said irritability, as they finally entered their classroom, unfortunately – for Sasuke – Ino and he had the same lesson. "I'm pretty sure that by asking him, he'll freak and call me fag."

"Oh really?" Ino said innocently again as they sat down. Ino sat behind Sasuke and the seat next to Sasuke became occupied by none other than Shikamaru Nara.

"Shikamaru?" Ino said softly and looked at the lazy teen with a high pony-tail.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow cautiously, but lazily of course, and looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"Don't you think that Suke should ask Naru out? I mean, they won't see each other after high school, going to different universities and all."

"It's too troublesome to discuss that with you," Shikamaru retorted lazily as Ino's face fell.

"Why you little—"

"Good morning class!" a happy voice said cutting off Ino's sentence.

"Last day of high school, time passes so quickly," the teacher said nostalgically, whose name was Suzume Namida, a woman in her young thirties with black curly hair and glasses on her petit nose. (1) "It felt like yesterday when you all entered high school . . ." she wiped a faked tear from under the glasses and then clapped her hands together cheerfully and so fast that the class went rigid. "So why not give you something to work with over the holidays!"

A huge groan was heard from the class and Ino was one of them. Sasuke just sighed and Shikamaru muttered a lazy 'troublesome.'

"What?" Suzume asked and looked genuinely surprised over their reaction. "With work I mean this; you'll have to go to five different beaches and take photos, you have to watch five movies, be with friends at least more than five times and of course . . . have fun!" she exclaimed as the class looked at her incredulously with frowns and amused smiles and smirks.

She had always been crazy; it was a well-known fact.

"Okay! Well there isn't much to do today so . . . well . . . there will be a show in the drill-hall and I've got a surprise for you, er . . . we teachers have a surprise for you. . ."

"You think it's the same thing as last time when the seniors of last year gradated?" Ino asked Shikamaru and Sasuke, clearly showing signs of being in her own la-la land. "We weren't able to sneak in since we weren't allowed to be there at all, but it's said that they had a party with professional dances and a real DJ," Ino continued dreamingly with a small smile playing on her beige lips. "Why is it that only our school does these kinds of things?"

"Because this school is too trouble—" Ino smacked Shikamaru on the head harshly before he finished the sentence. "Ouch! I'm not your punching bag."

"One more 'troublesome' from you and I'll castrate you," Ino warned him as Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly while Sasuke chuckled.

"Ino! Shikamaru!" Suzume called out loudly as Ino jerked her head up with an astonished facial expression.

"That would be the two of us, Ms Namida," she said as Suzume sighed. "What? What did we do?" Ino asked 'oh-so-innocently.'

"It's the last day of school so I won't punish you but one more word and you'll miss something you really don't want to miss," Suzume said as Ino rolled her eyes. Suzume could never be mad at any of her students, not for real at least.

"Anyway, the surprise is something very special me, dear students, and it took us much time to get it prepared for you," Suzume continued as she smiled while Ino sighed again. "You're going to see . . . the students from all the lower classes perform!"

"What?" Shikamaru asked incredulously as he lazily raised an eyebrow. "Why would we want to see stuff like that?"

"Mr. Nara, please act more social when you're in class," Ino said in a faked voice that reminded both Sasuke and Shikamaru of Suzume herself.

"You're giving me Goosebumps Ino, so shut up," Shikamaru hissed angrily and sighed. "You're so troublesome."

"Ino! Shikamaru! How many times to I have to tell you to not interrupt nor talk when I talk?" Suzume asked with a stern voice as Ino rolled her eyes again.

"Okay, okay, sorry Ms Namida," Shikamaru said lazily as Sasuke smirked at his friend's facial expression; as bored as ever.

Naruto was in a totally different class from Sasuke, Ino and Shikamaru. He had the same class as Shino though and when he heard about the show; he sighed 'oh-so-enthusiastically' and decided to skip it.

He was heading towards the exit when he felt someone following him, so he turned around quickly and was met with a pair of dark glasses and a high collar.

"Uzumaki," Shino said, his glasses reflecting light to Naruto's face and it made Naruto's eyes burn painfully. Said blonde raised a hand to cover his eyes, as he squinted; it was as bright as the sun itself. He turned away, completely ignoring Shino who apparently had something to say.

"Uzumaki," Shino tried again, as Naruto turned around again with a frown over his face, obviously annoyed by Shino's presence.

"What?" he asked tersely, as he looked angrily at Shino's expressionless face. "I'm pretty busy, you know?"

"Busy doing what?" Shino asked as Naruto actually blinked because it was very rare to hear Shino talk so much, all at once, and especially if it wasn't one of his friends he was talking to, which Naruto wasn't.

"Getting the hell out of here?" Naruto replied matter-of-factly, as if it was a question. "Who would want to watch that stupid show?"

"Listen Uzumaki," Shino began emotionlessly as Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes irritably. Why couldn't the bug-loving idiot get it? He wanted to be left the hell alone. "There are two men here today that aren't from any of our classes, and last time I saw one of them was on the first day here as freshmen, he was with you so I thought they might be looking for you," Shino explained as Naruto frowned incredulously.

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto asked, impatiently. Even though Shino didn't show it, he was acutely aware of Naruto's abhorrence towards him.

"I do not know their names, but one is a red-head and the other one has got very light hair that seems to be grey, and I know that they work somewhere near Loyola University in Chicago. It was the red-head I saw with you four years ago," Shino went on, noticing how much paler Naruto went, and he frowned behind his glasses.

"W-where are they now?" Naruto asked nervously and tried his best to maintain calmness in his voice, but it didn't work out that well. A red-head and a man with silvery hair . . . Sasori and Hidan? No . . . "Are they here right now?"

"Yes," Shino answered simply. "They're waiting outside the gates."

No! Naruto thought frantically. No! No! No!

"I have to go," Naruto said abruptly, and turned around quickly to get as far away as possible from Shino.

Shino could simply do nothing more than look after Naruto as he ran towards the nearest restroom. Not good, he thought absentmindedly for himself and went towards the drill-hall for the show.

Naruto burst into the restroom quite loudly and looked extremely pale while holding his hands over his stomach, almost as if protectively. He felt so sick. He felt as if he wanted to puke, but also as if he didn't want to. Everything was so bloody confusing! Why where they here? Hadn't they done enough already? What were they going to do this time?

Naruto was pacing around in the room frantically, and from time to time clutching his blonde dreadlocks absentmindedly. What the hell was he going to do? He stopped with his hands on one of the basins. He looked at his reflection and saw that his skin was paler than the normal pale tone he wore nowadays.

"Shite," he said out loud as his hands began to shake.

As Shino had said; the last time they had been here was four years ago, when Naruto had entered high school. The first day had gone completely normal but when Naruto was about to take the bus home, Sasori had shown up and began talking with him benignly.

Naruto didn't know what his motive had been back then because Sasori had acted all nice and was smiling constantly.

Now when Naruto thought back to that day, that smile had never reached his eyes and it felt as if it was laughing at him, repeatedly. Naruto had talked with him for so long that he missed the bus and when Sasori noticed that, he'd offered Naruto a ride home.

Naruto had said no and when Sasori tried to persuade him further, the blonde had begun to panic. Sasori's smile had faltered for each time Naruto had said 'no', and before he'd been able to break into a run, Hidan had showed up as well.

The only thing Naruto could remember from that was the pain and blood. They had hurt him so immensely and then left him in an alley a few hours later.

Naruto's parents had freaked out and called the police. Haruki and Akane, who had taken the same bus that Naruto was supposed to take home, had been suspicious when they didn't see their little brother. They had called home and asked if Naruto was going to do something after school that day. When they heard no from Minato, they knew that something was wrong, very wrong.

It took the police one and a half hours to find Naruto, who was conscious but in such a state that he couldn't move. Naruto had never seen his parents cry as much as that day. Kushina and Minato were crying until they didn't have any more tears to cry.

This was the second time around that Naruto was hurt, but during the latter time things had escalated to the worse, without the police knowing exactly who the culprit or the culprits were. The first time had happened when he was nine and it had been all over the news about that incident since Kushina was a very famous doctor, so when something happened to her or her family it was hard to keep it from the media.

They had moved to the US not too long after that to make sure that Naruto would be okay. Naruto knew the faces of the men but didn't dare to tell the police because he was so freaking scared.

Said blonde shook his head and clenched his eyes a few times before opening them. He was still staring at his reflection. If they were here again, it could only mean that they were after him . . . again.

Naruto felt the tears burn in his eyes. What to do! Tears fell as he began pacing again, frantically. Should he call his dad? Or his mum? Kushina was at work and she was very busy considering her being in the medical line of business.

Naruto began hyperventilating. Seriously, should he call his parents? One of his siblings? Naruto gulped and tried to pull himself together. The most reasonable option would be to call on his parents, but he didn't want to bother them and what if Shino was wrong? They'd get mad at him, that's for sure. The shattered teen stopped hyperventilating and went out of the restroom.

He wasn't going to go to the show but he didn't want to go home either, what if they were waiting outside the school for him?

Shino had never been wrong from what Naruto knew.

He went to his locker and was about to grab his bag and then go to an empty classroom and wait until the day was long over when his pen-case loudly fell out of his bag and down onto the floor. He bent down to pick it up and then he noticed that he hadn't closed it properly before. Scissors were sticking out and Naruto froze.

A bloody image flickered in his mind as he picked it up.

Minato was at home together with Haruki, Akane, Yuuki and Hani. Haruki and Yuuki were playing a video game called Mario Kart ©while Akane and Hani cheered them on enthusiastically. Minato only smiled at them as he sat in another chair reading a book.

The phone starting ringing and Minato asked Hani to answer it. Hani skipped into the kitchen and picked up the phone answering with a jolly voice.

"Hello! This is Hani!" she said cheerfully and she heard a gasp at the other end.

"Hey Hani, it's N-Naruto," one of her big brother's stuttered on the other line nervously and Hani frowned because her brother never stuttered, not that she knew anyway.

"Nii-chan?" she asked, worriedly, as she used a little Japanese, which they often did at home since they'd lived in Tokyo before. "Why are you calling home?" she asked, not smiling anymore.

"U-um . . . I need to talk with D-Dad so . . . d-do you think that y-you can . . . get him f-for me?" Naruto asked shyly and Hani knew that something had happened. Her big brother was crying on the other line.

"Hai," she said obediently and laid the phone down on the nearby kitchen sink.

She went back to the living room and her dad looked up at her questioningly and then frowned when he saw that something was bothering his youngest daughter.

"What's the problem Hani?" he asked as Hani nervously looked down at her feet before looking back at her dad. The boys had paused the game to look at her because Hani was always a cheerful little girl.

"Naruto-nii's on the phone and he's crying Tou-san," she said quietly and since she didn't know what was wrong with her brother she started crying too. Akane went over to her after sharing a scared and worried look with Haruki and Yuuki. She hugged her little sister who cried more even though she was quiet.

Minato hurried to the phone and picked it up. "What's wrong Naruto?" he asked and his voice was shaking slightly.

"T-Tou-san . . ." Naruto started, and Minato knew at once that Naruto was more than simply crying. He was also in pain, physically or emotionally, it was hard to figure out.

"What has happened Naruto? Are you hurt?" Minato asked and he heard Naruto sobbing on the other line. "Please Naruto, tell me."

"I talked w-with a guy named Shino a-and . . . he said t-that there were a man here a-at the school which he h-hadn't seen since the f-first day of our f-freshman year . . . he was there w-with another man as well . . ." Naruto started to explain as Minato's eyes widened, he knew what this was about, "H-he didn't know their names, but told m-me what they looked like, and . . . it fitted S-Sasori and H-Hidan . . ." Naruto had a hard time trying to speak properly because he was crying and sobbing so much.

Minato sat down on the floor and noticed that Haruki and Akane had entered the kitchen while Yuuki hugged Hani and tried to comfort her. They had questioning looks as well as worried.

"Have you seen them yourself?" Minato asked as he tried to stay calm.

"No . . . but I was going to m-my locker to get my bag a-and when I pulled it out . . . I . . ." Naruto stopped and Minato closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, fearing the worst. "I found my scissors . . ." he finished and at first Minato didn't understand but then his eyes widened and Haruki and Akane looked at him worriedly.

"I had a . . . r-relapse. . ." Naruto finished as Minato cursed. Maybe the talk Minato planned with Naruto would have to wait until another day.

(1) She is a real Naruto character and was the one who taught Ino and Sakura the importance of a female ninja being able to pass herself off as a normal woman when undercover.

If you didn't read what it said at the top: This story has been REMOVED so there will not be another chapter. Please don't put put this on your alert lists. If you have any questions, you can PM me, but no, I won't re-upload the story. Cheers.