Reason I Breathe

Chapter4

Naruto stumbled backwards as he tried to escape. Strong hands pulled his arm with the dislocated shoulder. Naruto screamed and collapsed. Pein slapped him hard and pulled him up once more. He slammed Naruto into a nearby wall.

"You can’t escape me that easily, Naruto," Pein whispered as he licked Naruto’s neck.

"N-no! I’m done with th-this shit," Naruto spat.

He earned a fist into his ribs. Yep, they were definitely broken. Naruto’s vision exploded with white stars. He gasps for air. He was clinging to Pein’s arms as his legs gave out. He still was not breathing. Pein stepped back and watched the boy crumple to the ground. Pein’s foot lashed out and connected with the boy’s side. Naruto could not manage a scream. The foot smashed into the damaged side again and again. Naruto’s vision was blacking out. He heard cold laughter as the foot connected one last time. He woke later to find himself breathing. That was a start. He looked around carefully. He was farther back in the alley, alone. He tested his body slowly. He found breathing more difficult as he uncurled himself. He groaned as he noticed his lack of pants and the un-ignorable pain searing down the back of his legs. He let the tears fall down his cheeks. He noticed a bag at his finger tips. Carefully, he sat up. He found his pants and struggled into them. He pocketed the powder. He leaned on the wall for support and made his way to the street. He was falling against the walls of buildings around him as he drug his body towards home.

Naruto saw feet. He choked on a cough as he forced himself to straighten. His eyes traveled up the body in front of him. He could tell the person was a man by the time his eyes focused on the strong chest. Black eyes stared at him. Confusion and pity were plain on the face looking at him. Naruto noticed the ponytail last. He almost laughed.

"Nara," he coughed.

He gave up on standing straight and fell forward. Strong arms wrapped around him. Shikamaru held onto Naruto for a minute before he spoke.

"I live close. I’m taking you home."


****

Naruto bit his hand as Shikamaru popped his shoulder back into place. The white stars danced in his eyes again. He was now certain they were mocking him. Shikamaru rubbed the shoulder gently. He cut Naruto’s shirt from his body and removed his pants. Naruto chuckled before wincing and groaning.

"Didn’t kn-know you wanted me n-naked, Nara."

"Don’t joke, Uzumaki. You need a hospital, not a run down apartment in downtown Konoha," Shikamaru hissed.

"W-won’t your parents mind that you took in a stray?"

"They live abroad."

Naruto stayed quiet. He wanted to ask why Shikamaru lived in such a shit hole, but did not. He bit his hand again as his ribs were checked. The walls were too thin for screaming he had been told. An hour later, Naruto was laying on the most comfortable couch he had ever met. His cuts were cleaned and bandaged. He had been helped into large pajama pants. He was fishing through his pockets when Shikamaru kneeled in front of him. Naruto paused, hand stuck in his pants pocket. The boys looked at each for several minutes. Naruto fished out his bag and wiggled it in the air.

"Want some?" he offered.

"Mendokusai," Shikamaru sighed before standing. "You had finally seemed over that stuff."

"H-hey! How did you know?" Naruto demanded.

"I’m not stupid," was the answer.

Naruto blushed.

"Well, I’m hurt. And it would seem that I was raped to earn this, so I’m using it."

Shikamaru froze as he started walking away. He looked down at the blonde attempting to sit up. He kneeled again and took the bag away.

"Hey!"

"No."

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. Shikamaru shook his head. He stood and pocketed the stuff.

"Ne, what were you doing down there anyways?"

"I don’t always sleep well. So. I walk."

"Lucky me."

Shikamaru chuckled softly. He had to agree with Naruto. He had never walked that street before. When he had left his apartment, he had followed an intuition that led him in that direction. Maybe the Hyuuga boy was onto something with all that destiny talk. Shikamaru busied himself in his kitchen. Naruto surveyed the apartment. It appeared to have a large living room with the kitchen connected. A bar top served as the barrier between the rooms. Naruto saw a door across the room from him. It was sure to be a bathroom by the small size of the door. Naruto wondered where Shikamaru’s bedroom was. The boy was holding a mug of hot tea minutes later. Shikamaru had settled to sit on the floor. He turned the television on as he sipped his own tea.

"Where is your room?" Naruto asked.

"Behind you," Shikamaru replied.

Naruto nodded and finished his tea. They watched late night shows for almost an hour before Naruto began drifting off to sleep. A blanket was laid on him and Shikamaru was gone. Naruto opened his eyes to look around quickly before submitting to sleep. The television was still on. And his powder was on the floor where Shikamaru had been sitting. Naruto fell off the couch with a thud. His bit his hand once more. Quickly, he scooped up the powder and hid it. He rubbed his head and winced. Shikamaru sighed as he walked back into the living room.

"Mendokusai," he repeated.

He helped Naruto up and headed for bed again. Naruto waited until he heard a door click shut before pulling the powder from a hiding place under the blanket. He decided the coffee table would have to do. He slowly crawled off the couch and over to the table. He laid out the powder and inhaled it. He had to fight to control the burn. It was rare that he had nothing to snort the heroin with. He rubbed his nose gently. He replaced his bag in his pants pocket and crawled back to the couch. The pain started fading and Naruto drifted off to a sound sleep.