Chapter Text
Summary: Kawaki learns jut how much his family truly loves him and how far is dad is willing to go for him as well as that you don't have to be a member of Kara to be a fucking monster.
Disclaimer: Kawaki was taken in by the Uzumaki-family when he was ten years old. This story takes place two and a half years later when he is thirteen. Boruto is twelve and Himawari is eight.
NARUTO POV
Naruto always loved when he got to work from home. Things felt less stressful and he enjoyed the comfort of his home and being around his family. The entire day had literally flown by, so he was surprised to see the clock on his desk showing that it was already close to midnight. Didn´t he just have dinner? "Just one more of these" he thought while glancing at the last mission report that needed his attention today. He could not wait to get done for the day and curl up with Hinata in bed.
He was just about done when he suddenly heard quiet footsteps from the hallway leading to his office. That was odd. His office was on the third floor and everyone in the house would normally be asleep at this hour. Judging by the sound off it, it could only be Himawari. Hinata was far more silent when walking and the boys had a habit of stomping or dragging their feet when in the house. The steps eventually came to a halt in front of his door but she did not open it. What was going on? Did she have a question? Couldn´t sleep? A nightmare? He could hear her shift from one foot to the other, obviously contemplating whether she should enter.
Naruto got up from his chair, deciding to open the door by himself. Himawari let out a surprised squeak when she was met with the image of her father in the door, obviously believing herself to be more sneaky than she managed to be.
"Shouldn´t you be in bed young lady?" He asked with an amused look on his face. She bit her lip, seemingly unsure of what to say and shifted her feet across the floor, not meeting his eyes. Naruto frowned. This was very unlike her. Himawari never had trouble speaking her mind. She had however a tendency to hold back words if she felt as though she was in trouble. What was this about? He asked himself before kneeling down on the floor and grabbing her by the hands. "Hima, sweetie. What´s wrong? You can tell me"
"Couldn´t sleep" she answered after a few moments.
"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked, still offput by his daughters strange demeanor.
She shook her head. "No it´s not that. It´s just..." She made a face as if she was struggling to find the right words. "If someone asks you to keep a secret... And you promised you would, but you think their secret involves something dangerous, should you tell someone?"
Naruto was taken aback by her question. Just were was his eight year-old confronted with this kind of dilemma? He thought about it for a few moments before saying "It´s important to keep promises and not go back on your word Hima but I think it is more important to keep someone safe. That being said... do you have something you might want to tell me?"
She contemplated with herself for a moment more before letting out a sigh. "I saw Kawaki yesterday when I was walking home. He was talking to these two guys. I didn´t knew who they were, but it didn´t seem like a very friendly conversation. When I asked him about it, he was acting super weird and shut down all of my questions. He made me promise not to tell anyone and told me not to worry about it, but now I can´t stop thinking about it.
Naruto took in what she had told him, concern etching onto his face. „Did you see who exactly he was talking to?“
Himawari shook her head. „They were really far away. They both had brown hair and were tall. One of them had a beard... I think“
„Hmm...“ Naruto answered. Just what on earth has Kawaki gotten himself into? Were they affiliated with Kara? Was he okay? Was he keeping secrets? Would he meet up with them…?"
„Daddy?“ His train of thought was cut short by his daughter. She had a questioning look on her face mixed with an expecting one. „What are you going to do now?“
He smiled at her before gathering her into his arms and standing up. „Well for now I´m going to get you back to bed because it is waaaay past your bedtime“ Himawari let out a huff of disagreement but nonetheless rested her head on her dads shoulder. „And tomorrow, I´m going to talk your brother and get this whole thing figured out, ok? You don´t need to worry about a thing.“ He reassured here while making his way down the stairs towards her bedroom.
He loved it whenever he was still able to treat her like a kid. It felt like just yesterday when both she and Boruto were about the size of his forearm and Kawaki would barely reach the height of his elbow. Himawari was already 8 years old and though he could still easily pick up all three of his kids with ease, Himawari in particular, was adamant on not being treated differently than her brothers who rejected even the smallest bits of affection with a passion.
It worried him that Himawari oftentimes seemed as though she wanted to grow up faster than she had to. He laid her down on her bed, filled to the brim with all kind of stuffed animals and pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Thank you for telling me Hima. Now you go to sleep and have a sweet dream, okay princess?" he said before kissing her goodnight. "I love you". "I love you too" she mumbled back, already half asleep.
Naruto stepped into the dark hallway, shutting the door quietly behind him. His head was swirling with thoughts and worries. He decided to talk to Kawaki tomorrow after dinner since he didn´t want to wake him and he had to be in the office really early tomorrow. Naruto went to check on his boys, hoping to calm his mind.
To his surprise, he found both of them in Borutos room. The older one sprawled on the couch and Boruto, his phone in hand seemingly asleep in his bed. He was happy that they got along as well as they did and that they often spend time together. He often suspected that Kawaki got better sleep whenever he was sorrounded by someone he trusted and he could not be happier that that someone was Boruto. So happy even that he refrained from scolding Boruto for obviously being on his phone so late in the night. He smiled in on himself and shut the door behind him, before making his way to bed, where Hinata was already fast asleep. He cuddled up close to her and let out a sigh of content, though his mind was still occupied with whatever Kawakis was up to.
The following day, he spend mostly in the office. It was tiresome yet full of important things that he was happy to get done. He left the office around 6:15, being right on time for dinner while still managing to stop by the Yamanaka-shop and pick up flowers for his wife. He made it home in a bit of a hurry and stepped into the house, a bouquet of lilac tulips in hand. "I´m home!" he yelled while taking off his shoes awkwardly with his one free hand. He stepped into living room where Boruto was setting the table. He looked up at his father surprised. "You´re on time for dinner... and you brought flowers. You got fired or something?" He asked with a smug expression.
"Oh, spare me your good mood" he answered, rolling his eyes. He passed his son, ruffling through his hair, despite his protests. Hinata was busy in the kitchen and got about as red as the tomato she was cutting when she spotted the flowers in her husbands hand. Naruto grinned. He loved when he was able to make her blush like that, as if they were still teenagers. "Oh darling, you shouldn´t have" she said before taking them from his hand and kissing him. "Thank you" She said and cupped his cheek with her hand. "You´re welcome darling" He answered, grinning even harder.
"Yuck! Can we get to dinner already?" Boruto yelled from the living room, an exaggerated look of disgust on his face. Hinata laughed "Sure honey, why don´t you go wash your hands and then call your sister?"
"Is Kawaki not home yet?" Naruto asked confused. "He´s at Ichirakus´s with Team 10" Boruto answered, making his way to the sink. Naruto frowned. This wasn´t necessarily odd. Boruto and Kawaki often had dinner with their friends and they were allowed to if it didn´t happen too often and they were back home by 9:00. This was a very normal occurrence, yet he couldn´t help the fact that a pit was beginning to form in his stomach. His talk with Himawari was vividly on his mind and though Kawaki had never lied to Hinata nor him, he couldn´t help but wonder if he was really at the ramen place or perhaps in trouble. The frown on his face didn´t go unnoticed by his wife who shot him a questioning look. "Later" he mouthed, overplaying his worries with a smile.
Dinner went by in a breeze, Himawari and Boruto quickly disappearing into their room after. Naruto explained the situation to his wife while they cleared the table. Hinata seemed a little worried as well but was quick to reassure him on the matter. "Kawaki is a good kid and if something was going on, he would tell us. Sure, he is starting to act like a hormonal teenager but I think you´re letting this go to your head" she said. "Hmm" Naruto answered, still not fully convinced.
"Naruto" she said again while grabbing him by the hand. "There is no reason to worry right now. You hear me?" He sighed heavily and nodded. He knew she was right. There was rarely ever a time when she wasn´t right. It wasn´t, that he didn´t trust Kawaki. It was the fact, that some really powerful people were behind him, though the last incident regarding that was a year ago. It was the fact, that Kawaki had gone through some truly horrible things and Naruto wasn´t always sure if he did everything he should in supporting him. Most importantly though, it was the fact, that his family was the most important thing in the world to him and he would never forgive himself if something were to happen to them.
Hinata was next to him on the couch, reading, while he was trying to focus on the TV. Some show had been on for about half an hour, yet he
couldn´t even remember one of the things that happened. He glanced at the clock again. 7:55. Ichirakus closed in five minutes and from there it was a ten minute walk home. The minutes ticked by painfully slow. 7:59...8:02...8:05...8:07. He couldn´t take it anymore. Hinata had just gone to the bathroom so he grabbed his phone from the table and dialed Ichiraku-Ramen. They had gotten Kawaki a phone about a year ago, but he rarely ever took it with him and even less often picked up his calls. The phone rang for what felt like eternity before Ayame picked up on the other line. "Hello there, welcome to Ichiraku-Ramen place. We unfortunately just closed but..."
"Ayame? It´s Naruto. Really quick. Was Kawaki at yours just now?"
"Kawaki?... Oh yes, he was here with his friends, but they left about an hour ago."
Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. He was barely able to choke out a "thank you" to Ayame before hanging up. His thoughts were racing and even though the rational part of his brain was telling him, that there could be many good reasons for this, he was already at the door, putting on his shoes and sprinting out into the cold evening air. His mind was flooded with the most horrible pictures of his son, severely injured or kidnapped or bleeding to death or being experimented on or...
He didn´t get to finish his rampage of thoughts as he bumped into something right at the beginning of their front-yard. "Ouch" He heard an annoyed voice say. "Why the hell are you in such a hurry" Naruto knew that voice. It belonged to the one person who was in fact not in grave danger but standing right in front of him, completely fine. He let out a giant sigh of relief and stretched out his arms to hug the boy, who in response only took a few steps back. "What on earth is going on? Did something happen?!" Kawaki yelled, confusion written all over his face. Right, Kawaki was the biggest anti-hugger in the world.
Naruto took a few seconds to compose himself. "No, no, nothing happened. I just, wasn´t sure were you were. That´s all." Kawakis confused look turned into a flabbergasted one. "I was at Ichirakus, didn´t Boruto tell you?"
"No he did, it´s just... thats´s quite a lot of time to be spending there"
"That´s rich coming from you, don´t you think?" He answered in an amused tone while trying to slip past him.
Naruto clicked his tongue. He didn´t want to accuse his son of anything but he had to know where he was this past hour. He grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Kawaki. I wan´t you to be honest here. I know you left there an hour ago. I know you talked to some strangers two days ago and I would like to know, why you´re clothes smell of smoke and where you were. Whatever may be going on, you can tell me."
Kawaki looked up at him with a hurt expression and yanked his arm free from his grip. "Are you spying on me?" he asked.
"Kawaki, listen..."
"It´s my buisness where I go and who I talk to. All you told me is to be back by 9:00, which I am. So this really doesn´t seem fair." The boy snapped back defensively.
Naruto felt frustration build up in himself. "I don´t want to fight with you but I just spend the last two hours wondering if you´re ok and now you´re not telling me the truth. Doesn´t seem fair to me either. More importantly, I am your father, you are 13-years old and there are hundreds of very dangerous people out there looking for you. You can either be honest with me or face the consequences"
"Why are you like this all of a sudden? Nothing is going on, just leave me alone" He snarled, testing the older mans patience.
"I really don´t appreciate this attitude. Tell me where you were and who you were with or your grounded until this is settled" Naruto insisted.
The boy stared back at him, obviously unhappy with either one of those options. "Like I´m telling you shit" he muttered eventually whilst passing him and storming into the house. Naruto took a deep breath. He knew that Kawaki was prone to lashing out like that whenever he felt pushed into a corner so he decided it would be best to resume this in the morning. When he turned around again, Hinata was standing in the open front door. "What happened?" She asked when he approached her. He sighed again "I´m not sure, but he is okay and grounded until this is figured out"
"Do you think he will tell you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I would hope so, but I´m not sure. I´ll deal with this tomorrow, ok?." He said before kissing his wife goodnight and heading upstairs.
KAWAKI POV
Kawaki shut his door with a little more force than he had intended and fell face first onto his bed. He was angry. Fuming really. Why on earth would the Hokage distrust him like that? He could handle himself and there was no reason for him to be in his business like that. It wasn´t as though he was up to something to begin with. Shikadai had simply brought some cigarettes from home and made them all try it. That´s why he was late and smelled of smoke. He didn´t even take one and the other three hated it but there was no way he was going to tell on his friends. That´s when he realized that it must have been Himawari who told the Hokage about him talking to strangers. This was so typical for this family. Everyone always involved. It wasn´t as though he was getting into trouble.
He was simply... trying to do a good thing. He was walking through the village the other day when two guys approached him. He didn´t know them and he was weary at first, but after talking to them he realized, that they were just two guys who were trying to employ someone for a job. He was simply helping with emptying an abandoned warehouse a few minutes from the village. So far he had been there two times and he even met one other boy who was about his age, that got hired for the same reason. He found it very legit and the only reason he hadn´t told the Hokage was because of his motive for doing this in the first place.
He wanted to become a bit more financially independent. He hated it whenever he was handed stuff for free. It´s not as if he wasn´t grateful but it was rooted deep inside of him that things like food, a roof over your head and clothes had to be earned. Naruto had told him before, that he didn´t have to earn his place at the table but that was hard to believe for him. Sure, these guys he was working for weren´t the nicest people on earth and could be a little weird, but what did that matter as long as they weren´t affiliated with Kara and he was getting paid?
He rolled onto his back, letting out a annoyed groan. He was supposed to meet them tomorrow to get out the last of the stuff. He couldn´t quite remember what was left in there but it wasn´t as if it mattered anyway because there was no way he was leaving the house tomorrow.
"This is just great. I´m stuck here for indefinite time with Lord Seventh all up in my business." he thought to himself. He really appreciated the man for everything he had done for him but he also greatly appreciated his privacy. Up until two years ago he was the only one looking out for himself and he was really got at it. He took out the crumbled piece of paper from his pocket where he hastily wrote down the address of the warehouse along with a telephone number a few days ago.
He got up and dug out his phone from his bottom desk drawer. He dialed the number and was still contemplating what to say when someone on the other line picked up. "Yeah?" he heard a raspy voice, he couldn´t really put a face to. Not that he actually ever bothered with learning their names. "Hey it´s Kawaki from the other day. I won´t be able to make it tomorrow." He answered. The other end went quiet for a few moments. He was just about to hang up when he other man spoke again "Come now then".
"I can´t leave at the moment"
"What? You got anything better to do? Get your ass here. There is only a few things left and you´ll get double the pay"
"No, I mean I really can´t... I´m not allowed to leave the house"
"Do what you have to and get here! See you in fifteen" the man interrupted him before hanging up.
Kawaki sat on his bed, phone still to his ear as he felt adrenaline overcome him. Was he really going to do this? Was he going to disobey the Hokage and sneak out of the house late at night? He couldn´t, right? He was grounded and as he had learned a couple months ago, that meant to not leave the house. He thought about it a for a few moments when he heard a knock on his door.
"Kawaki dear, can I come in?" It was Hinata. He was just about to say yes when he heard her comforting tone but remained silent.
"I made you some hot chocolate."..... He still didn´t answer.
"I will just leave it out your door then, alright?" He heard how she sat down the mug on the floor.
"Oh and Kawaki? I want you to know that neither your father and I are angry at you, ok? I´m sure Naruto may seem like it but he is just worried. I think it would be best if you just talked this out tomorrow, alright?" He gulped, feeling a heavy weight pull on his heart because he already knew what he was going to do next.
"Hmm, thank you" was all he said in response.
"Alright dear, try and get some sleep then. Goodnight" she said after a moment and he could hear her silent steps retreating to the masters bedroom. He waited for about two more minutes in which he didn´t move a muscle and simply listened for any more sounds coming from the hallway. The house was quiet and the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
He dug out a black hoodie from the pile of clothes underneath his bed and threw it on. Then, he got up and went over to his window. His room was right outside of the porches roof so he had an easy way out. He had never sneaked out before but when he first moved in, it was one of the first things he´d taken note of. He slid down the glass roof and grabbed on of the roofs pillars and climbed down.
He hit the floor of the porch silently and listened for any more sounds coming from the house. There was no going back now. "I´ll be back in two hours and
they´ll never even know I was gone" he thought to himself before hastily making his way to the warehouse.
The streets were near empty and he didn´t see anyone who might have known him, not that he knew that many people in this big village anyway.The night was cold and he was glad that he had chosen to put on the hoodie. He walked fast, his heart still hammering against his rib cage because he was well aware that he was doing something wrong. Despite the consequences that would await him if he were caught, he couldn´t bring himself to stop. He had always been like that. Mitsuki had once called it his tendency to self-sabotage. But what did that matter now? He was going to get this over with, get paid and then tell the Hokage in a few days when things calmed down. Everything would be fine.
He made it to his location, faster than he had anticipated. The guard at the village entrance distracted by his book hadn´t even noticed him slipping by. The run down building in the middle of nowhere looked even more abandoned at night and Kawaki had to watch where he set foot, since there wasn´t any source of light around. The ground was muddy from the rain these past couple of days but also because of the river that ran right next to the house. He suspected that his had once been a mill or a fisherman's house.
The door was cracked open a bit so he didn´t bother knocking. "Hello?" he said as he stepped into the dark room. This was odd. There was no sign of anyone around. "Maybe they finished without me?" he thought as he trailed with his hands along the walls to find the light switch. Suddenly, a shadow emerged from the connecting room. So fast, that he barely had time to register it before he felt a cloth pressed onto his mouth and his arms got pinned behind his back. He couldn´t get away and all he was able to do was let out a muffled scream before everything went black.
The first thing he noticed was that he couldn´t really move. Not only because his arms and legs were tied but also because his entire body felt numb to the core. He opened his eyes, unsure of his surroundings. There was little to no light in whatever room he was in but he could still make out the figures of two people lying next to him. He himself lay on his back with the most terrible headache he had ever experienced. The realization hit him a few moment later and he shot up, despite his heads protests. "Shit Shit! SHIT!" was all that crossed his mind. He had massively fucked up. Whoever these guys were, they obviously weren´t up to any good and he just got caught up in this.
Or were they targeting him directly? He shook off the thought, his entire body shaking when he thought back to the people who were looking for him. He had to get out of here, NOW! He started looking around the room. There was not a single window and the door appeared to be of solid wood. He had to be smart about this. His eyes averted to the two people lying next to him and his heart skipped a beat. "Oh no, Oh No! Oh God!" he shrieked while pushing himself as far away from them as possible. He recognized one of them as the boy he had seen here before. The main difference being, that he had been much more alive the last time he saw him.
It´s not like Kawaki had never seen a dead body before, in fact he had done so quite often but that didn´t make it better right know. Next to the boy lay a girl he had never seen before. She was a few years younger than him and her face was as pale as snow. They were both dressed in only their underwear and both of them had big and visible cuts all over their torso as well as marks on their arm that indicated they were tied up. He also noticed small marks, that looked like they were left by needles in different sizes. When he checked his arms, he found a few of them as well. This explained why the world seemed to be spinning ever since he opened his eyes, drugs. He was familiar with being exposed to drugs, but that didn´t make it better right now either.
He let out a shaky breath, resting his head against the wall he had just scooped up against, closing his eyes. Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he would open them again and be back in his bed, sipping on a cup of hot chocolate, never having messed up.... He didn´t. He was still tied up in an abandoned warehouse. All alone, with no one but two corpses next to him. The uneasy feeling that everything would perhaps not be alright creeped up on him. He could already picture himself dead, lying next to those two and his throat closed up at that thought. Fear and panic came over him waves and he wanted nothing more than to have never come here. "I want my parents" he thought as he felt tears come to his eyes.
His parents? That was odd. He basically never referred to the Hokage or his wife as his parents. He knew that he had been officially adopted and that everyone around him, including the two of them did so, which didn´t bother him but he never really felt like doing so himself. He had called Hinata "mom" on two or three occasions by accident but he couldn´t remember a single time, that he called Naruto "dad". Most likely, because Hinata filled a role in his life, that had never been occupied in the first place, not like Naruto.
Kawaki had only ever called two people "dad" and both of them ended up hurting him. The Hokage had once told him, that he was fine with whatever he chose to call him so he didn´t bother getting past this mental barricade that seemed to exist. He wasn´t too opposed to the idea because in the past two years, he had learned, what a father was supposed to be and whenever Himawari or Boruto called Naruto "dad" it seemed like a form of affection and trust. Though that was a level of trust and vulnerability, he just wasn´t ready for.
Did that matter now anyway? Would he even be allowed back at the house after he so blatantly ignored to follow rules? He thought back to what Mitsuki said. He really did have this tendency to destroy the good things in life, so why would anyone want him around? He was now full on sobbing, his tears falling onto the moldy wooden floors. He sat there for a few moments, trying to sort his thoughts in his foggy mind when he heard voices from the other side of the door. He scooted closer, his limbs still tied together and pressed his ear against the door.
"...no, because we already have enough from the other two to sell. Besides, you can always kill someone, but you can´t bring them back to life" He heard a voice say.
"I obviously know that Kyle but keeping him alive is more trouble than it is worth. Selling organs is far easier than selling a whole ass person, especially if that person just so happens to be connected to the most powerful man on earth." Another voice replied. The raspy sound made Kawaki believe it was the man he spoke to earlier on the phone.
"Aw, come on man. There is no way he´ll find out. The boy snuck out, didn´t he?. He isn´t even blood. Besides, you weren´t worried about that connection when we chose him for this a few days ago. The boss said, that he had a customer who was looking for a boy. The girl you picked out therefore didn´t work out and the other boy was too old. Sure, that Kawaki is about the same age but he is small and scruffy. He´ll pass for a ten-year old and he isn´t ugly either."
There was silence on the other end of the door and Kawaki noticed that he had been holding his breath. Human traffickers as well as organ dealers. Of course. That explained the cuts on the other two bodies. This was just his luck, wasn´t it? He cursed himself for not checking this whole thing out more carefully. At least they weren´t affiliated with Kara so his judgement wasn´t totally off but that seemed really meaningless right now when he was faced with either getting sold of to some weirdo or having his heart and liver cut out. It was a good thing, they weren´t aware of the advanced technology implanted in his entire body or they wouldn´t waste a second cutting him into pieces.
"I suppose, we can make the offer and see what he says..." The other man finally replied.
"YES! You won´t regret this. We´ll make some good money if we play this right. I´ll go get him." Kyle answered with an enthusiasm behind his words that made Kawaki shiver. The door opened abruptly and he was now looking up at the man. Kyle was one of the biggest guys Kawaki had ever seen. Maybe one inch shorter than Boro and with a body that made him look more like a mountain than a man. His face seemed rather friendly at first glance but the well kept hair and beard weren´t enough to distract from the psychotic smile plastered on his face.
"Oh! Look whos´s already awake." He spoke in a chippy voice. "Now listen, if you don´t make this too difficult, we won´t have to either, ok?" He crouched down and Kawaki could see the syringe he held in his hand. His body was telling him to run, but he knew that there was no way he was going to make it, so he simply closed his eyes as he felt the needle pierce his neck and he fell into darkness once more.
The rest of the night felt like a hazy dream. There was the sound of a camera clicking. Rough hands touching him. Clothes being stripped from his body. Someone opened his mouth with such force that he felt like his jar was going to break. The faint sound of a drill and of course the faces of the two of them looking as if they didn´t have a care in the world. Everything felt so far away and yet so incredibly imminent and terrifying. The thought of being cut open and laying dead without even a heart in his chest crossed his mind over and over.
He remembered the time when his birth father sold him to Jigen and his expression when he saw the money. Not giving a shit what was going to happen to his only child. He remembered begging him not to do this. Begging him to let him stay and promising that he would do better and be of use but that had not had stop him. In this moment, he couldn't even bring himself to be angry at the man, because who wanted someone loke him around anyway?
He woke up, being able to form a coherrent thought in what felt like eternity. He still felt drowsy and had no idea how much time had actually passed but he realized he was tied to a table that felt as uncomfortable as it was cold. He was dressed in only his boxers and there was no sign of anyone else around. It was a different room than the one he woke up in earlier. It seemed much cleaner and resembled a hospital room. He wasn´t even sure if he was still at the warehouse.
He noticed a burning pain on his shoulder, though he wasn´t able to make out what it was. He felt as though he was trapped in a nightmare. His body didn´t feel like his own and the fear he felt made him want to vomit. He looked around as much as that was possible in his position and noticed a variety of tools on a small table next to him. A scalpel, a drill, tweezers, syringes, pliers, a camera and a saw. He gulped. Had they decided that he was of more use dead? Were they going to cut him up right here? Was this where he was going to die?
His head was spinning, but before he could descend into panic he heard a door being opened. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, pretending to still be out. This had always worked with his birth father. It wasn´t fun if you weren´t awake to scream.
Someone sat down on on a stool and rolled closer to the table. Something cold and jellylike was smeared onto the burning part of his shoulder. Then, he heard the sound of a scissor. It took him every bit of self-control to not flinch at the sound but to his surprise, the scissors went and cut the restraints at his arms. Adrenaline rushed through him. This was his chance. Whoever this was, was alone and believed him to be sleeping. He had to do this, NOW! His eyes shot open and he forced his body to sit up as fast as possible before pushing the man off his stool and to the ground. In all honesty, he was surprised at his own strength but he had learned time and time again that adrenaline pushed your body to the limit.
The man hit the floor hard, unprepared and with a look of surprise in his eyes. "Hey, what do you think..." He yelled but he didn´t get to finish as Kawaki got up fully, grabbing the camera next to him before hitting him as hard as he possibly could against his temple. Dark eyes looked up at him in horror before the blow landed. The man, by the looks of it, the one not named Kyle passed out, his head hitting the floor with a thump.
Kawaki stood there, on his wobbly legs, the camera still in hand as he watched a pool of blood form underneath him. Was he dead? Kawakis breath quickened. It wasn´t as if he didn´t think he deserved to die but killing someone was definitely not something he was too fond of.
He snapped out of it. Looking around the room, he noticed his clothes on a chair in the corner of the room. He slipped them on as fast as possible and then his eyes fell onto the window, through which he could see into the pitch black night. He was definitely still at the warehouse, the river indicating as much though he was now on the second floor. He opened the window and looked down. It was a high drop to the floor but he couldn´t risk walking through the door and getting caught by Kyle. He didn´t get much time to contemplate his decision further as he heard footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. He was just about to climb out when the door opened.
"What the hell was..?"
Kyle stood in the door, taking in the sight of his partner on the ground and Kawaki at the window. His expression turned from shock into anger and before Kawaki had the chance to leap out the window, he crossed the room in three long strides and grabbed him by the neck with one hand. "What did you do?" He yelled directly into his face. His body was thrown against the wall, the hand around his throat squeezing tight. "You disgusting little piece of shit. Did you really think you can just get away like this?" Kawaki panickly struggled against his grip but there was no way of getting out with his feet dangling a couple of feet in the air.
"You just had to make this difficult, didn´t you? Were you planning on going back to daddy?" He mocked and slapped him straight across the face with his free hand.
"Well let me tell you something you little fucker. You were dumb enough to go here in the middle of the night, all on your own. You didn´t listen and in case you haven´t noticed, you´re not even the Hokages real child. You´re a filthy little street rat that was taken in out of pity. You are nothing but a disgusting little menace that no one wants around." The air was getting thin and Kawaki felt as though he was really far away, though the words were loud in his head.
"If it wasn´t for the fact, that you were already sold, I´d kill you right now for killing Eddie." He whispered with a hate filled voice before dropping him to the ground. Kawaki sucked in a huge breath of air.
Kyle turned around, presumably looking for another way to restrain him. Kawaki tried his best to calm his panicked breathing. The words he had just heard hit hard, because it were thoughts, he oftentimes had himself. He did feel like an invader that no one really wanted and he did know that he was a screw-up in many ways, but for fucks sake. He had every right to not die and he had not survived this past 13 years to have this be his destiny.
He had a fire inside him that not even Jigen was able to stomp out and he had survived worse things than fucking Kyle. He was a Shinobi and he would not be caged again, no matter what. Kyle knew shit about him and he definitely didn´t know that he had gone through far worse and that his body was made to withstand the unimaginable. He got up and charged at Kyle with all the strenght he had left, his body radiating with anger. He saw Kyle grab the scalpel and felt a sharp pain when it got thrusted into his shoulder. What came next was blurry in his memory. He remembered being in pain and Kyle screaming angrily and then, an opening to get away. He leapt out the window without hesitation this time, Kyle almost catching him by his sweatshirt but ultimately missing.
He hit the ground hard, twisting his ankle in a nasty way and hurting his hands while trying to soften the landing. His clothes were stained from the mud and grass surrounding the house and his head was pounding even harder than before. He knew that he didn´t have much time. When he glanced up at the window there was no sign of Kyle, which meant that he was probably on his way downstairs already to get him. Fear and stubbornness won out over his body's protests as he got up and limped in the direction of the river. He spotted a small bridge made of ropes and wood suspended above the roaring river. "Perfect" he thought. If he crossed it and then cut it from the other side he´d be safe.
He heard heavy footsteps behind him but he didn´t dare to look back "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" he thought as he stepped onto the wobbly bridge. He crossed as fast he could before grabbing the scalpel that was still embedded deep in his shoulder and pulling it out with a wince of pain. He knew that he wasn´t supposed to but there wasn´t much else around to cut the ropes with. The scalpel suddenly seemed a lot duller than when he had been impaled a minute ago and the large shadowy figure of Kyle creeped closer every second. Just before he reached the bridge the final rope snapped and the bridge collapsed. Kawkaki let out a breath of relief when Kyle came to an abrupt halt. It was dark and he could not see the mans face but he heard him shout again, even over the sound of the roaring river.
"YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN´T HIDE. I WILL FIND YOU AND IF IT´S THE LAST THING I´LL DO!!"
A chill ran down his spine as he turned around. There was no way back across the river and he had no idea where he was. He was so incredibly tired and the pain in his body made him want to crumble to the ground, yet he made his way into the cold night, not yet sure where he was going. He had to keep moving, because what other choice did he have