A/N: Heh, after finishing several fics and getting one more to a point where its almost over, I just can't hold myself back any longer. I've been waiting to get started with this one for a very long time!

This is a yet another fic that did well in the poll. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who've voted already - there's been an incredible amount of you guys! (HUUUGS)

WARNINGS: YAOI, violence, language, oddness… Ya know, the usual lot. (grins)

DISCLAIMER: ME, thinking I'd own Naruto?! (starts laughing hysterically) Now THAT'S a good one. Every village mentioned in this story is purely fictional.

Oh yeah, and to those wondering! IF you want this to continue, I'm planning on making this about ten chapters long. It all depends on what my busy head comes up with next… (grins sheepishly)

VOTING, voting! What do you guys think about supernatural elements? I'm thinking that such would suit this story pretty well. I, however, do have a possible plotline for a story that doesn't include anything 'out of this world' as well. It's your call – I won't write in stuff you don't approve, of course! So let me know, yeah? Please? (glances pleadingly)

Awkay, because I've been stalling WAY long enough…. Let's get started! I truly hope you'll enjoy this.

(Btw… The lines underneath the chapter title are from 'Here I am' by Bryan Adams.) (grins)

Blind Spots

VERSE 1: Prologue – Of First Glances

"Here I am - this is me"

Konoha, Japan

The hospital's waiting room was so quiet that Iruka could actually hear the hollow buzzing and humming inside his head. His skull was throbbing painfully.

He'd been thinking and feeling too much – his head just couldn't take anything more.

He was still angry, he observed – he was fairly sure he would've killed those freaks if they'd showed up before him that long evening. They'd been systematically torturing Naruto for such a long time. This… was definitely going too far.

As from tonight things would have to change – whatever the cost would be.

"Iruka?" The rather old doctor – Sarutobi – had met him and Naruto so many times that pleasantries and introductions weren't needed. Looking to side, he wanted to wince at the expression he met. Somehow the doctor's sadness made the whole situation all the more real, and it was painful. "Naruto… is out of the surgery."

He swallowed thickly. "How is he?"

The man sighed heavily, appearing almost defeated. "I can't lie to you. I don't know how many villagers attacked him this time, but… The injuries were severe. Broken bones, even internal bleeding… He's a tough kid for not losing his consciousness."

He felt sick to his stomach, and if it wasn't for the doctor he might've thrown up right there and then. Instead, however, he buried his face into his hands and fought against breaking down.

The doctor took a moment before going on. "He's still under the anesthetics, but you'll get to see him in a few hours." He barely heard, didn't even register the man leaving.

He was absolutely still for about ten minutes. Then, as though running from something, he speeded out of the building, its smothering stench becoming too much to handle. He didn't have any idea how he'd ended up there, but he found himself nearby the entrance of the hospital, with a cigarette in his hand.

Had the situation been another, he might've chuckled. So much for quitting…

In the end he stayed outside for a full hour, his screaming thoughts becoming further and further tangled with each passing minute. He came to a conclusion that this would have to stop, once and for all – no matter how much it'd hurt.

Using absolutely all his determination, he pulled out his cell-phone and dialed numbers he'd sworn to never use again.

His eyes were dark and hard as he waited. It seemed to take a small eternity before there was finally a response. "Hello?"

He fought the urge to wince. In a way, he'd been hoping he wouldn't have to hear that voice… He, however, steeled himself rapidly. This was no time for hesitations. "Remember when you told me that you're willing to do anything to make up for what you did?" He took a deep breath. "Now it's time for that."

When Naruto woke up, the first thing he became aware of was ache – such that seemed to take over all of him. He emitted a moan, trying to clear his head.

What the heck had happened? Why…?

And then came the memories. No matter how hard he tried to hold it back, a soul tear slipped to his cheek, and despite the fact that it hurt he brought his hands to his face. "Damn it…"

"Naruto?" The tired and scratchy, yet soft male voice startled him at first, but when he recognized it as Iruka's he relaxed slightly. "Are you awake?"

He wouldn't have wanted to be, not with the memories. But he nonetheless opened his eyes, coming to a realization that he'd already brought his foster father more than enough worry. Very bravely he created a grin, although it stung inside and out. "Hey."

Iruka tried to smile, he could tell, but failed miserably. "Hey." Then, so unexpectedly that the change scared him, the man's expression transformed into an almost hopeless, disheartened one he'd never seen before. "Naruto, I… I'm so sorry."

His startle over the usually calm man's reaction made his faked smile grow even wider still, to such extend that it hurt. "Don't be." He wondered why talking hurt as much as it did – it felt like his face had been ripped in two. Or was it just the smile? "I… I'm fine, see?" He hoped dearly that the man didn't see how badly he trembled while he stretched his arms to side – which turned out to be a big mistake. He almost cried out under the pain that erupted, and his carefully created expression fell to pieces.

No hit or insult had ever hurt him as much as the expression he saw on Iruka's face just then – a look of utter grief and defeat, such agony no one who doesn't have children could imagine. It took a full minute before the man managed to speak. "Naruto…" A hand wrapped around his, and he hoped from the bottom of his heart the brunet would've dared to hold on tighter. He needed the touch so much. "Things… Things can't go on like this anymore, okay? One day they'll give you a hit too hard, and…" His foster father trailed off.

Terror flooded through him, ice-cold and suffocating. A feeling of being abandoned struck him hard, stealing his breath. "What… are you talking about? I… I can…" Words died into his suddenly very tight throat. He couldn't even say 'I can take it' anymore.

Iruka's gentle eyes had never been as heartbroken as they were then. "I'm so sorry, Naruto – you… you can't even imagine…" The man swallowed, appearing torn. "But… You can't stay here, at least for now. The next time… The next time they may kill you. And… I'm not about to let them keep hurting you."
He swallowed thickly, feeling terrified and furious. Why the hell did it have to be him leaving, when it was obvious that it was they who had the problem – why was he chased away? Why did he have to go? But he, of course, voiced none of those thoughts. This time he didn't even try to fake a smile. "Where… Where are you sending me?"

Iruka's eyes were unfamiliarly dark and unreadable. The man looked away. "To… a very old friend. I'm trusting him to take a good care of you."

Four weeks later

Fireland, England

When Naruto opened his eyes in a slightly too cold buss – slowly waking up from a slumber – he first met fog that looked more like a wall than anything else. It was impossible to see more than a metre or so ahead. The whole landscape looked like it'd been ripped from a horror story with steep, rocky cliffs and narrow paths. His eyes flew wide, and his heartbeat gained a foreign, slightly erratic rhythm.

It looked like he was finally there – whatever 'there' was.

"Are you getting out or not?" The buss driver's expression was an extremely irritated one. "I don't have all day, kid."
"Sorry…", he muttered, gathering his things with some effort – and cursing his arm, which was still in a cast – then rushing out of the vehicle as fast as he could.

Once outside, he halted abruptly to keep himself from running into a person who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Looking up, he met a man with silvery hair and black eyes, of which one was covered by a eye badge. "You must be Naruto", the man guessed.

He nodded slowly, his hometown having taught him to be wary of people. "Yeah." He then created a grin, effectively chasing away all visible signs of nervousness. "Naruto Uzumaki."

The man seemed amused. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. You'll be living with me at least for a while." Kakashi then took one of his bags and gestured him to follow. "Now let's go. There's a storm incoming, and I'm pretty sure neither of us wants to be outside when it erupts."

Naruto agreed almost fervently. If this village was this chilling now, he didn't even want to think what its storms would be like.

He groaned inwardly as they walked on and the first, huge raindrops started to fall.

What a record – he'd only just arrived, and he was already wondering if he was completely out of his mind.

But then again, he reminded himself, this place couldn't be worse than Konoha. Right?

-

Kakashi sighed inwardly while watching Naruto walking before him. Of course Iruka had been almost brutally honest when explaining the situation, but…

Naruto's right leg was obviously malformed in one way or another. It was pointing inwards as though it'd been broken, and he couldn't understand how it was possible that the blond wasn't in pain. He counted that two fingers were missing from the boy's right hand. He'd also seen quite a number of scars on the blond's face. But the worst, however, weren't the physical damages. Although Naruto had tried to smile and grin, the boy's blue eyes had never been along. The long years of all but torture had left such an amount of fear and wariness lingering that he wasn't sure if any amount of time would chase it away.

He couldn't even imagine what this teen must've been put through in his narrow-minded home village, where people still persistently believed that handicapped were a god's punishment.

Without a doubt, this kid would have a very long road ahead of him, and he wasn't entirely sure where to start. But he was going to do this, for Iruka.

He wasn't about to give up this time around.

Naruto wasn't sure what he'd expected Kakashi's house to be like, but he nonetheless blinked with surprise at what he discovered as the man parked to a rather tiny yard.

The house was rather small – one and a half stories high, Kakashi had told – and looked like the maroon surface could've used some new paint. But nonetheless the house was homey and breathed out warmth. He almost liked it.

"So…", Kakashi woke him from his thoughts. "Do you think you can live here?"

"Yeah…", he managed, forgetting to fake a smile. "I guess I can."

The man smiled. "That's good." The silver-haired then started to move. "Now, let's go inside – I'll introduce you to Sasuke."

He frowned. "Sasuke?" He then remembered. "Oh yeah, your foster son!"

Kakashi nodded, appearing somewhat amused. "Don't let him startle you, okay? He's… not exactly a model example of friendliness. You need to be patient if you want to get close to him."

He tried his hardest to grin. "Nah, don't worry. I can handle him."

Kakashi chuckled. "You sure are a brave one."

For once, his grin was a genuine one. "So I've been told."

He wished his bravery had lasted a little longer. He swallowed thickly before following slowly as Kakashi climbed out of the car. At the moment, he was once again seriously wondering what he'd gotten himself into…

As soon as the door was opened, however, his doubts faded away. The house was somewhat messy – he guessed that almost no item was in its rightful place – but he nonetheless fell in love with the building instantly.

Yes – he could definitely imagine living there for a while. Or could, until he heard steps and Kakashi's voice. "Sasuke, this is Naruto. He'll be living with us for a while."

He turned his gaze, and just had to blink twice at what he found. Sasuke… looked nothing like he'd imagined from Kakashi's words of warning while standing there with folded arms. Sasuke wasn't overly tall or big – the boy's frame was so slender it could easily be called thin. Black hair and even darker eyes created a stark contrast to almost inhumanly pale skin. The boy stood before him looked almost frail – beautiful, as handsome didn't exactly work in this case. Very beautiful, and cold.

He outstretched a hand, once more trying to grin for the sake of his sanity and dignity. "Hey. I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
Sasuke didn't accept his hand, didn't even look at him properly – the raven seemed to be staring at some spot behind him, and he felt tempted to investigate what was so captivating. "Are we going to continue this pointless chitchatting, or will you help me make some dinner?"

He muttered under his breath while following the raven, who ran a hand against the wall while going, as though feeling his way around. "What a sunshine…"

"Hn", was Sasuke's response.

Neither noticed how Kakashi disappeared from the scene with a wistful little smile on his face.

In the kitchen – which was tiny and not exactly overly tidy, yet cozy – they started working in silence, he doing as much as he could without really knowing where to find anything. But despite the unnerving elements of unfamiliarity he started to relax while chopping vegetables the best as he could. He'd always enjoyed cooking – somehow, in the kitchen's warmth he felt like a normal person. It was a huge relief.

While cooking, he found himself paying attention to some of Sasuke's rather strange habits. The boy… was barely looking at what he was doing. The raven seemed to be using his fingers for seeing – his hands measured every single distance and felt their way around with such care that it looked like the boy's fingers had been dancing.

He frowned. There was something wrong with this boy, something he couldn't quite put his finger on…

"You're staring, aren't you?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Eh… Sorry. I was just… wondering." He then frowned, approaching the raven although he had a feeling it wasn't wise. "Sasuke, what are you doing?" He laid a hand to the boy's shoulder, instantly surprised by how Uchiha's whole body shuddered violently and tensed up against the contact, as though his touch had burned. "Sasuke… Are you….?"

"Yes, okay?" To his surprise, the boy looked towards him. He shivered a little when meeting a pair of obviously unseeing, yet flaming eyes. "I am blind – I've been as blind as a bat all my life." Just then the phone started ringing somewhere in the distance. The raven all but spun around, starting to head away. "I've gotta go."

He groaned inwardly, fighting against the desire to slam his forehead against something hard.

Only one hour behind, and he was already anxious to get back home. Or perhaps it was 'former home' already. He didn't know, and when he mused some more he came to a realization that there was very little he did know anymore.

Had he focused a little less on those gloomy thoughts, he might've noticed a tingle on his skin that'd never been there before.

They didn't meet for the rest of the day, but that was nonetheless how their story began. Their lives would never be the same again after the burn mark their meeting had left, that much was sure. Whether the change would be good or painful, was still very much of a mystery even to fate itself.

TBC, or does it?

A/N: So… Whadda you say – was that a worthy start out? Do you want to see where this thing shall be headed?

My time on a computer seems to be VERY limited these days (groans), so I have to start tuning out right about now. PLEASE, do leave a review before you head out as well! It'd mean a lot to hear what you guys think about the future of this lil' fic. And if you want this to continue, remember to vote, yeah?

Until next time, I hope – be it with story or some other!

Take care!