Warnings: Implied! prostitution, sex, non-con
Disclaimer: Don't own it.
Summary: When Iruka finds Naruto abandoned, he has to take him in. He wants to give Naruto a fighting chance at success in life. That means enrolling him in Ninja Academy, but the cost to enroll is high. Iruka pays with the only thing he has – his body. And Kakashi? He ends up falling in love with a prostitute. AU, Yaoi
Chapter 1"The Old Life"
Iruka took a moment to simply appreciate the aesthetic beauty of his newest client lying beside him. They'd just finished up, and the sex had almost been enjoyable for once. The silver haired man had been concerned for Iruka's own pleasure, and he'd asked him not to fake pleasure he didn't feel. It had been a nice break from what he usually had to deal with.
The mysterious ninja had only one eye revealed, and he narrowed it in Iruka's direction thoughtfully. Iruka looked up at him with a small, fake smile.
"Do you do this sort of thing all the time?" he asked in a monotone voice.
"It puts food on the table," he replied in casual dismissal. The client's eye relaxed into a lazy stare. He seemed to simply want to study him. That was fine with Iruka, as being stared at was a lot easier on his ass than taking another rough pounding like the one he'd just received.
"There are other jobs that would put food on the table," the client commented, as if not really interested at all. Iruka began to feel a little irritated. His regular clients were never so chatty.
"Well, those jobs don't pay as well, and there are other expenses to consider. Do you really want to talk about this when I could be giving you a massage?" Iruka asked, hoping to distract the curious man. For another long moment the man was silent as death, and then he rolled to his side and stood abruptly.
"I'm done with you," he announced, as if more to himself than to Iruka. The brunette stood as well and fetched a damp washcloth. His client waited patiently, his perfectly proportioned, pale body looking like some ancient statue made of white marble. Iruka always could tell when a client was a ninja by the way that their bodies were built. He didn't get them often.
He returned with the cloth and sank onto his knees, rubbing the warm rag up and down the man's upper thighs to wash off the mess and then gently washing his limp cock. When he was done cleaning, he remained on his knees between the man's long legs, cheek nestled against his inner thigh.
Then he told him his price, and placed a small, chaste kiss to the man's leg.
"That's expensive," the man replied, staring down at him with that same contemplative, relaxed gaze. Iruka shrugged and stood, trailing his fingers over the man's nude front as he did so.
"You think I'm not worth it?" he asked, tilting his head to the side coquettishly. The silver haired man's eye narrowed and his lips shifted under his mask.
"You were worth it. Get me my clothes," he ordered. Iruka smiled, relieved the man wasn't going to argue about his price, and fetched the garments for him. The man dressed quickly and tossed the bills onto the bed. Without another word, he was gone.
Iruka deflated like a popped balloon the second he left. Another miserable, hellish night was over. He could finally get back home. Dragging up the last bit of his strength, Iruka waddled into the inn's tiny bathroom and turned on the shower. He waited until the water was hot enough to relax his muscles and stepped inside, scrubbing himself down with the complimentary soap so that his son, Naruto, wouldn't smell some strange man on him. When he was done cleaning off, he toweled himself dry and slipped into his spare set of clothing. He tied back his long, brown hair and returned to the bedroom to pick up the money. When he had collected all his belongings, he left the room and locked it. Because the innkeeper was a client of his, he was allowed to keep the room for whenever he needed it free of charge, as long as the owner got a significant discount.
He would clean the room up later – he was too exhausted to do it just then.
He made his way home as quickly as he could, hurrying through the dark, dangerous streets until the grungy apartment building that he called home loomed in front of him. Knowing the front doors would be locked at such a late hour, he took to the fire escape – wincing with every rung. It had been a long, physically demanding night.
Finally, he reached the second story and rapped his knuckles gently against the glass. It took a few moments, but eventually a small boy appeared on the other side of the window and unlocked it. Iruka pushed it open and climbed inside, re-locking the window behind him.
His small, adopted son hugged him tightly around his legs.
"You're early, Daddy!" Naruto said. Iruka smiled, feeling like all the negative feelings he'd been carrying around all evening just drained away. He lifted Naruto with protesting arms and carried the boy into the living room. The small radio was on and some paper was scattered over the floor along with a rainbow of stubby crayons.
"Did everything go okay while I was out?" Iruka asked. He hated that he had to leave the small boy alone in the apartment in the evenings, but it was really the only way. Soon things would change – they just had to survive a little longer.
"Of course I was okay! I'm tough, remember?" Naruto asked as Iruka set him down on the rickety kitchen table. The boy was about eight-years-old – short for his age and angelic in appearance. Iruka had found him wandering the streets one night when he was around five years old, helpless and abandoned. An orphan himself, Iruka had taken him in. Iruka knew first hand what life was like at the orphanage, and couldn't send another child there to suffer. He saw in Naruto a chance to do something that no one ever done for him – he saw a chance to make his life really worth something by loving and raising Naruto.
"I know you're tough, but there are people out there who are tougher than you right now, and I worry," Iruka replied. It was a familiar conversation. Iruka opened the pantry and frowned at the paltry contents. "All we have is ramen again. I haven't been able to get to the store," Iruka said sheepishly. The real reason was lack of money. Still, Naruto beamed.
"That's okay, it's my favorite!"
"I know, but it isn't very healthy," Iruka replied. Naruto stuck his tongue out. Iruka sighed and began to prepare the ramen for dinner. It was late, but the two of them were accustomed to the schedule. They slept late in the mornings, usually until about noon. When they both woke up, Iruka had a few hours to spend with Naruto, often times running errands or taking Naruto to the library. Then, when it started to get dark, they went home and ate. Iruka made sure Naruto was safely locked inside the apartment with something to occupy him, usually a cheap toy, a puzzle, or some art supplies, and then he would go to the inn where his clients would come 'visit' him.
In this way, he had saved enough money over the past year to make Naruto's dream a reality. He finally had enough to pay for the boy to attend the Ninja Academy in Konoha.
The noodles softened in the boiling water and Iruka drained them. He added seasonings that both he and Naruto liked and brought the cheap meal to the table in disposable bowls. As was tradition, Iruka stopped Naruto from gulping it down immediately.
"Naruto, you know we say a few words before dinner." The blonde boy sighed, as he did every night, and tilted his head as a sign he was waiting. Iruka smiled at him tiredly and stared down at the lump of noodles. "I'm thankful we have this meal, and I'm thankful I have such a good son to share it with," he said. Naruto smiled broadly, his tan face lighting up with joy. Iruka didn't really believe in praying, but he liked the idea of taking time every day to focus on the positive things in his life instead of the negative. Besides, it gave him an opportunity to remind Naruto of how much he was loved.
"I'm thankful we get to eat ramen, instead of vegetables!" Naruto announced, before digging into the meal. Iruka smiled at his antics and ate his ramen at a more leisurely pace than his young charge. When Naruto was done inhaling his food, the boy began the ritual protestation of teeth brushing.
"You know I'm going to make you do it no matter what excuse you think up, so you might as well get to it." Iruka watched as Naruto pouted, attempting to convince him with puppy dog eyes. He was more affected by those big blue eyes than he let on. "Go on, Naruto. I'm ready for bed. It's been a long day," Iruka said softly. Sensing his adopted father's tiredness, Naruto quit his game and trudged into the bathroom to wash up. Iruka followed shortly after and brushed his teeth as well. When the two were done, Iruka led Naruto into the tiny bedroom filled mostly with the double bed. Naruto crawled in and moved over to the wall, waiting patiently to be tucked in. Iruka straightened out the messy covers and then drew them up over the young boy's torso. He tucked them around him, tickling him as he did so, and pretending he couldn't hear Naruto's giggly complaints.
"Stop tickling me!" Naruto whined. Iruka chuckled and quit his teasing. He placed a gentle kiss on the boy's whisker-marked cheek.
"Good night, little cat. I love you," Iruka whispered.
"I love you too, Dad, but no more kisses! That's for babies," Naruto complained, his little chin jutting out as he pouted. Iruka couldn't resist smiling at him.
"You'll always be my baby. It's a hard lot in life, but you'll just have to deal with it," Iruka informed him with a tired smile. The blonde boy scrunched up his face as if the idea was distasteful to him, but Iruka could see the smile tugging at his lips in response to the affection Iruka showed him.
"Dad, tell me a story about the Ninja Academy," Naruto asked, a yawn ending his sentence. Iruka sighed, not really feeling up to it, but trying to think of a story to tell anyway.
"Well, in a little while we'll have enough money that we can move out of this village and into Konoha, where all the ninja train and live. They have a school there just for training ninjas. I'm going to enroll you, so that you can become strong and won't ever have to go hungry or need things. Everyone will respect you, and you'll make lots of friends your age from powerful clans. You won't have to deal with the kind of people that live here – people that don't have any dreams." Iruka watched as Naruto's eyelids drooped.
"Daddy?" he asked, reaching a hand up to touch Iruka's face and hair. He liked doing that right before he went to sleep.
"Hmm?" Iruka replied quietly, leaning into Naruto's petting.
"I want to be the Hokage, but what's your dream?" Naruto asked.
Iruka had a lot of dreams that he could never tell Naruto about – dreams of living a life that didn't involve prostitution or criminal activities. He settled on replying, "My dream is to see you happy and successful in life. Now go to sleep, okay?" Iruka sat with him a little while longer until Naruto curled up into a little ball and began to snore.
Iruka picked up the living room and washed some clothing in the sink, hanging the wet clothes to dry on a wire he'd strung from the table to the kitchen counter. When he was done with the chores for the night, he joined Naruto in the bedroom and gratefully collapsed onto his side of the comfortable bed. Sleep came easy to him after such a long day.
A/N: This story is already completed. I'm cleaning it up a bit as I post it, and updates will be every day. There are 14 chapters, but some of them are 20+ pages. I'm really hoping the readers here on will enjoy this. If you have any comments, questions, or snarky remarks, feel free to leave a review. Thanks!