Another new story? So soon. Why yes, I am insane :). But this story is short, roughly five or six chapters at the most? The sixth will probably be an epilogue thing. Anywho, hope you enjoy this new one C:! Also, follow me on tumblr! Link is on my profile. (: Haha, just made it today ;).

Warning: This is a YAOI! And, sooner or later, someone's going to get fucked. Strong language, possibly. Pairings are SasuNaru HidanItachi and... yeah, that's it. This is also a warped Au. You shall see what I mean :D.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, every episode Sasuke would be a bastard, but tolerable enough that I don't want to strangle him every time he goes off on revenge o.o He's still a sexy bastard, though.

Enjoy Part one of A Painful Reality :)!

A Painful Reality

Part One

The last thing I remembered was the light…

The blonde stirred restlessly in his sleep. Every inch – every microfiber – of his body cried out in pain at the simplest of movements. The twitch of a finger sent flames erupting throughout his body. Even trying to move his cracked and bleeding lips were a burden.

If I could just die right now…

He felt that silver, bloodstained, link to Death quietly coax him on to the afterlife. He was so close… He could feel something tug and tug for him, to join him on the other side where there was such a thing as paradise.

Another shot of pain…

The wind whistled through the trees, and the clouds began to roll across the sky, hiding the waxing moon from sight. The stars were darkened, and their reassuring lights were shadowed by clouds of despair and misery.

I'm so close…

Footsteps crinkled against the grass. One by one, the raven stalked its prey. He was drawn in by the heart-wrenching sobs in the middle of the forest. Some strange feeling, something he knew very well but never wished to acknowledge, drove him forward to the crumpled and beaten body of the boy.

The last sob literally ripped a heartstring.

Hesitantly, the raven crouched down in front of the blonde. Before he could stop himself, his hand was already reaching out to stroke those golden locks that shone so brightly in the dark from the boy's face. When skin touched bruised and bloodied skin, his hand instantly snapped back at the inhumane shriek that escaped the blonde's lips.

The raven's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Obviously the blonde was sensitive to touch, that much was for sure. The only question that hung in the air around the raven was why?

As the clouds rolled by, the moonlight skimmed across the blonde's face, giving the raven a better view of all the cuts, bruises, gashes, and marks that marred the boy's face. His heart lurched, and his stomach tied into knots at the pure expression of pain embedded in the boy's features.

'I can't leave him out here.' He thought as he sat on his haunches, allowing the boy's wails to cease and his body to stop jerking before he made his move. After about several minutes, the boy's cries turned into whimpers and the only movement the blonde was giving out was the gentle – yet somewhat labored – rise and fall of his chest.

Sighing to himself, the raven wondered why in the world he was allowing such a thing as compassion and pity to overwhelm his senses as he scooped the blonde up into his arms. He was surprised to feel how underweight he was; as light as a feather.

He picked up a running pace as he trudged through the grass, determined to find out just what was it about the blonde that allowed such feeble emotions to buzz through his body like this.

+Painful Reality+

The next thing I remembered was voices…

"Sasuke… what were you thinking bringing this human here?"

"He's not just any human."

"Is he a mundane then?"

"He's neither."

"So you brought home a street rat?"

Naruto pulled a pillow over his ears to drown out the noise. He was too tired to realize the voices were completely alien to him and that the older one was completely bashing him on the spot. He pulled the covers closer to his body, relishing in the foreign warmth that he could only dream about for years.

It was so strange… this warmth and those voices surrounding him. It was even stranger when he felt fingers dancing through his hair, massaging his scalp to, hopefully, bring him pleasure rather than pain.

'What a dream…'

If he could, Naruto would stay in the blissful world his thriving subconscious always dreamed as reality. He'd never open his eyes again if it meant he could truly being ignorantly happy.

"Don't touch him, Sasuke. He could have a disease."

"Itachi, don't you have to go fuck Hidan or something?" the younger raven scowled at his older brother leaning against the doorframe. Itachi was always such a moody bitch after a long mission away from home – and his boyfriend, Hidan.

Smirking, Itachi redid his ponytail so that it rested nicely on his left shoulder. "I have already met up with Hidan." He smiled coyly, "The boy is a beast after three weeks without sex."

"Go away, Itachi." Sasuke bit out, nearly chucking a pillow at his retreating brother. One day, that sort of attitude was going to get Itachi killed either by Sasuke himself, or some rogue ninja with temper problems.

Sighing a huge breath of relief once he was left alone with the blonde, Sasuke took his time to study his face. The boy was obviously not a human that much was for sure since his face was scarred with intricate whisker-like tattoos. 'Perhaps he is a descendant of Kyuubi?' He thought as he leaned in closer, grimacing at all the dried blood stains he wasn't able to wipe off.

'No,' he finally answered himself, pulling and leaning back into his chair, 'a descendent of Kyuubi has an amazing regenerating rate. His wounds would have been healed by now. So… what in the world is he?'

Just as his last thought finished the blonde stirred in his sleep to release a cute little yawn. Sasuke chuckled despite himself. The whatever-it-was was sort of cute in its way, he supposed.

Naruto yawned once more, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. His mind though, was still clouded by the heavy fog of sleep and lethargic movements until his dazed, blue eyes landed on amused, onyx ones.

The blonde shrieked like a mother fucking banshee out from the deep.

"W-What?" Naruto shifted his head left and right. This wasn't his small, almost closet-like, room he was forced to sleep in every night with the chipping paint on the walls and the dirtied carpets. The warm blankets that covered his waist downwards weren't the old, tattered ones he kept as the tangible link to his parents.

And the person currently raising his eyebrow towards him was most definitely not his bastard of an uncle.

The raven cocked an eyebrow, not feeling the least bit phased by such an outburst. Instead, he allowed the boy to get adapt to his surroundings and waited to see how he would react to being placed in a new environment. You could say that Sasuke was treating Naruto as a science experiment, but then again, the blonde was an intriguing specimen to the raven.

"Don't scream," Sasuke softly commanded, "you'll give yourself a headache that way."

Naruto merely blinked in utter stupidity. Who the hell was this guy? And why in the world did he care about Naruto's welfare? Slowly, the blonde's defensive wall start to crack brick by brick, but he was still a little weary of the stranger in front of him.

Trying to readjust himself, Naruto winced slightly at the dull, pin-like, shots of pain that danced along his stomach, his arms, his legs, and his neck area.

The pain was a reminder that these few moments of blissful peace were going to end all too soon.

"W-Where is Uncle?" Naruto fidgeted silently, not even daring to stare the raven in the eye. His hands started to twirl and tug at the blanket wrapped around his legs due to the nervousness running through his veins.

Now it was the raven's turn to be confused. He was still trying to figure out what in the world this boy was, only to come up empty when none of the characteristics matched up with any of the creatures and higher beings his vast knowledge knew of.

Sasuke merely shrugged, "I don't know of any 'Uncle' here. If you're looking for him, he's nowhere to be found."

The raven was stunned to see a small smile of relief grace the blonde's features.

"Oh," Naruto said quietly.

"You seem to be alright if you have the ability to scream like that." Sasuke crossed his ankles and started to toy with the ANBU mask in his hands. "So you must tell me…" he placed the mask on his face and cocked his head to the side, "What in the world are you?"

The next thing I remembered was the cold steeliness of his voice…

Naruto flinched at the tone. He was used to people calling him a monster, a freak, a waste of space, but never had someone ever blatantly come out and ask him what he was like he wasn't even a human being to begin with. The blonde would not cry though, he couldn't cry when there would never be anyone there to wipe those tears away.

Instead, Naruto gritted his teeth so hard he thought they were going to snap, and clenched his fists around the blankets. He met he raven's covered eyes with a heavy gaze that he had mastered and defined over the years to obtain the effect of indifference.

"You're one hell of a bastard."

Naruto couldn't see it, but the raven was smirking behind his mask. He found the blonde's wavering emotions somewhat cute. 'Just a second ago he was playing the shy little fox. Now he's cursing to my face. What a strange creature, indeed.'

"I've been called many things before," Sasuke removed the mask off of his face to show off his devilish smile, "but never have I been called a bastard."

Naruto scowled. Sure, this guy had saved his life – for whatever reason was beyond the blonde's capable thinking – but his prick-like ways were most definitely a turn off. Scoffing, the blonde turned his nose upwards in the opposite direction, refusing to make eye contact with the raven, but still mumbling a weak 'thank you' anyways.

Sasuke merely nodded and decided to tackle phase two of his interrogation. Relaxing his body, the raven instantly gathered a nonchalant air around himself in hopes it would ease the blonde long enough to get some reasonable answers from him.

"So, I'm presuming you have a name?"

Naruto scowl deepened. Was this guy for real? Shaking his head, the blonde propped himself up on his elbows and stared straight back at the stoic raven. "Of course I have a name." He replied haughtily with his bottom lip jutting out in a pout.

Sasuke raised an amused eyebrow. "Then you won't mind telling me your name, then?"

"Of course I'd mind, you prick!" Naruto yelled, instantly regretting it when a pang of pain rang through out his skull. His bit onto his bottom lip hoping it would drown out the pain. "Sure you saved me life and all but you're acting like a complete bastard!"

The raven titled his head to the side and gave him a cocky smile. "Is being curious about one's affairs make me a bastard?"

The blonde scowled. "Now you're making it sound like I'm the bastard."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and started to toy with his bangs. "I simply want an answer to my question as all."

Naruto sighed, seeing that there was probably no way out of this interrogation. A slight blush stained his cheeks and he cleared his throat a few times, avoiding any unnecessary eye contact with the passive raven.

"It's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Constructive criticism is always welcomed! I'll most likely update this story tomorrow, so keep sending in reviews anyways, haha (:! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow me on Tumblr. On there, I'll share some fanfic recs of my personal choosing and fan's choices, updates on my own fanfiction and delays, and simply it's a place to hopefully grow closer to fans? NO! I am not a creep. I just like to make new friends :D.

Till next time... Tomorrow, hopefully!