Another new story! I should really stop and concentrate on my other stories but I can't stop!

Disclaimer: Me not own Naruto!

Warning: Yaoi, Monsters, possible mpreg?

Chapter 1: Just different

They say there're monsters living in the city, coming out at night when the moon is at its brightest, hiding in the alleys, ready to strike, ready to kill.

But you don't believe in monsters, right?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Do you ever feel like you don't belong?

Like you're surrounded by a bunch of strangers even though you have been around them for years.

That's how 17-year-old Uzumaki Naruto felt as he sat in class surrounded by his peers. He stared off blankly to the front, not even listening as the teacher droned on about algebra, or King Lear, or something. Naruto wasn't even sure what the class was about anymore. The days seem to merge together, colours muddying up into an ugly grey. He looked at the people around him; he had known them for years, spent most of his life talking, joining in their jokes and trends, but he felt absolutely no connection to them.

He simply felt that he was just different.

Some might say that it was just teenage angst, and maybe it was... but this feeling of not belonging had never left him. It was almost as if he was watching a different species, and he was the one intruding upon their lives.

A sigh left him and he turned to look towards the window. It was nearing the end of autumn, trees had already shed their leaves, and the ground was covered in orange foliage. The sky looked overcast with angry clouds, and a strong wind blew. Naruto hoped it wouldn't rain, he hadn't brought his umbrella with him.

When the bell rang he was snapped out of his musing. He packed his books away and left, walking past a throng of students as he made his way out of the school. He hated how he was surrounded, squashed by the mass of bodies, all rushing to some destination. Naruto felt stifled, as if he couldn't breathe. He had to hurry and get out of the crowd, so he ducked into the nearby alley and used the back ways to make it to his part-time job.

The blonde worked at a bar/restaurant known as Ichiraku as a waiter, located near the centre of the town. He pulled the strap of his messenger bag tighter to himself and looked around, peering into the shadows to make sure that no one, drunk, mugger or homeless guy, was hiding there. When he felt safe he continued through, travelling through the maze-like path, avoiding the trash that littered it.

Then he stopped. Naruto didn't know why, but for some reason it felt like he was being watched. He looked around himself, but all he saw were the looming shadows of the towering buildings surrounding him. But he did quicken his step either way, not wanting to risk getting mugged while taking a short-cut. He sighed out in relief when he noticed Ichiraku just ahead of him, so he ran towards the building and entered through the backdoor inside.

What he didn't notice was the set of glowing red eyes watching him.

When Naruto entered the restaurant he was instantly hit by the steam from the kitchens. Old man Teuchi was the owner and cook of Ichiraku. A portly old man in his 60's, with receding black hair that was covered with a hair-net. An apron was stretched across his big body, covered in cooking stains, while the sleeved o his shirt were rolled up

"Ah Naruto, you're finally here!" came Teuchi's bellowing voice. "Get your apron on, there are a lot of customers in today."

"Yeah, old man!" he replied back, rushing to the staff changing room to stash away his bag in the cramped locker, and change out of his uniform into something more casual. Just remembering to grab his apron he rushed out of the changing room and grabbed a spare notepad from the counter.

Fridays were always busy days, with people coming out of work and being too tired to cook food, or getting an early start on happy hour. With him were two girls waitressing, and another guy manning the till and bar. He nodded in greeting at them before rushing to take the first order. Soon the hours dragged on and Naruto was starting to get exhausted. Luckily the amount of customers had considerably thinned and the drunk ones were good tippers.

"Taki, I'm going to take a break."

"Sure man," said Taki, he was a university student who like most of the employees here worked part-time. He was a lean brunette standing at 6 foot with tanned skin and sleek features, and light green eyes.

The blonde went behind the counter and to the employee changing room where he kept his homemade bento box, stashed away in his locker. He broke apart the chopsticks and started eating, being quite proud at how soft and fluffy he managed to get the rice this time. Getting his guardian Iruka to teach him how to cook was a great idea, even if he did get depressed with all other things his cooking uplifted him. By now he had gotten really good at it. Suddenly the door banged open and the two girls entered with shrill giggles and a spring in their step.

"Kyaaa, did you see the guy that just entered?" Akio shouted, she was a small girl just under 5 foot, with dark brown hair and a cat-like face, and plump pink lips.

"Of course I did, he was hot!" replied Chiyo, who was only slightly taller with long blonde hair, tied up in a ponytail. Both girls were the same age as him and went to the same girl's school, so they were the best of friends.

The blonde couldn't help but sigh at their prattle as they talked about the new patron and his dreamy looks, while they combed their hair and reapplied more make-up. All Naruto could think of was his late lunch was completely ruined. He gave the girls distasteful looks, and put the rest of his lunch back in his locker before leaving them to their devices. But he would get his revenge on them. He looked around the large dining area looking for the guy the girls were describing.

He spotted him instantly of course. All dark and broody sitting in the corner, with midnight-black hair, and skin as white as snow. He was a handsome guy for sure, with a straight nose and a strong jaw, and Naruto was sure that under the heavy black trench coat he probably hid an impressive body.

He plastered on his best smile and made his way towards the man. "May I take your order, sir?"

The man looked up at him and he was taken aback by how black the guy's eyes were, like deep pits that you could fall into. He had never seen anything like that before, but he pulled himself together, trying to ignore how intimidating those eyes were.

"I'll start with Prawn Tepura, with soba noodles and a side of soya sauce for dipping," he said. Even his voice was deep, with a velvety smoothness that made the blonde shudder. No guy should have a voice like that.

"A-and to drink?" he asked with a stutter.

"Hojicha," he said simply, handing him the menu, and just in that instant their fingers touched.

Naruto quickly snatched it back and went towards the kitchen service window to hand Teuchi the order. Ignoring how hard his heart was beating and how his hand seemed to tingle where they had touched. Naruto hissed at the feeling, it was just a stupid touch of some random guy, he wasn't even gay for god's sake! But he couldn't help but rub the spot where it tingled. Wishing for the feeling to go away.

He turned around only to be met by a pair of angry glares. Akio and Chiyo were not very happy with him if their glares were anything to go by.

"What the hell, Naruto?" the blonde yelled.

"Yeah, why did you serve that guy? I wanted to do that!" shrieked the brunette.

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow at their antics. "You guys took too long putting on make-up, so don't blame me if you weren't quick enough," he replied, pushing past the angry girls.

But really he did want to avoid the customer from now on, so he let the girls serve the man his meal when Teuchi called.

Nevertheless the day was over, and he could finally go home. He said his goodbyes and stepped out of Ichiraku, shivering at the cool autumn air. Naruto pulled his coat tighter around him and took the main street home. Luckily the streets were nearly empty and he was glad of not being stuck in a crowd, but it looked just like he had feared, that it had rained while he had worked; the air smelled damp. At least now it had stopped. He ran across the pavement, his trainers squelching on the wet ground.

Then there was that feeling again. The feeling of being watched.

He looked around but found no one nearby, the street was empty. Naruto bit his bottom lip nervously, his blue eyes darkening with fear. "Better not hang around here..." he muttered to himself and ran home.

Naruto lived in an apartment block with his guardian Umino Iruka, he was a kindergarten teacher with long brown hair that he kept up in a ponytail, and a small scar across his nose. He had adopted the blonde when he was 8, and brought him a better life. So when he saw the block looming ahead of him he was glad, knowing he was almost home. Naruto ran up the small set of stairs and towards the large double doors. He pushed in the code to undo the lock to the main door and let himself in. The lights flickered on automatically, banishing the looming darkness; the sound of his ragged breathing echoed off the walls, pointing out how alone he was.

"What's wrong with me?" he berated himself., thinking he was being followed and jumping at shadows as if he was some little kid.

He shook his head and went over to the lift, pressing the up button to call the elevator down. However the nervous feeling didn't leave him until he entered the lift and reached his floor. He exited the metal box and walked down the hallway to his door and fished out his key to open it. Iruka and he shared a two bedroom apartment, with one bathroom, and an open-plan kitchen where a breakfast bar separated it from the living space.

"I'm home!" he shouted out, hanging his coat on the wall and toed off his shoes.

"Ah Naruto, dinner's almost ready, why don't you get cleaned up," came Iruka's voice from the kitchen.

"Okay," he replied, going to his room to set his bag down, and then went to the bathroom to wash his hands.

When he came to the kitchen the table was already set up, tonight they were having lasagna. He licked his lips and rubbed his hands together with glee at the sight of the delicious food. Iruka set a glass of coke down by his plate before he started to cut into the lasagna, cutting out an especially big piece knowing how bottomless the blonde's stomach was.

"So how was school?" the brunette asked, sitting down to eat his own piece.

"The same as always," he replied, tucking into his lasagna.

Iruka chuckled at the blonde's attitude. Naruto had always been a quiet boy, well it was better now than when he was younger. Even if he didn't shy away from things, he did get quickly disinterested. That's when Iruka remembered something. "Your birthday is in a few days, how about we have a party? Do you want to invite someone?"

Naruto paused, he had completely forgotten that he was going to turn 18 soon. Oddly enough, even though the mentions of his past birthdays never really fazed him, for some reason this one actually excited him. He couldn't really explain it and maybe it was best not to, then again, inviting someone to his birthday? Well he knew plenty of people, from his classmates to his colleagues, but they were all acquaintances to him, not really friends. He only ever invited them when he was younger because it seemed to make Iruka happy. Then his mind suddenly flashed back to the dark-haired stranger at Ichiraku, and he felt his cheeks heating up.

"Well?" Iruka asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Er... no, it's alright Iruka, I think I might be a bit too old for parties," he replied with a chuckle.

The brunette frowned, and then shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so, but you're still getting a cake. 18 is a big step forward, it will change you."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

The days seem to carry on like normally. Naruto found himself once again in class bored out of his mind; he didn't really know how much more he could take. It seemed as if the days seem to grow longer and more soul destroying as it went on. He was more than tempted to go back to old habits and skip classes, but exam season was just looming over the horizon and he had promised Iruka that he would actually make an effort with his studies.

Although the way things were going right now he won't be able to stay awake, much less take notes.

The balding teacher droned on about how Japanese actions inspired the people of Asia; Naruto only listened with half an ear. The majority of his attention was focused on the clock. In his head he counted the seconds hand, watching it move around until finally it hit '12' and the bell rang. Instantly he was out of his seat and started to discreetly make his way outside. Missing gym wouldn't be such a huge deal, it wasn't like he would even get any marks out of it. It would also be the last class of the day, so there wasn't much point for him to be out.

Hiding out at the roof would be impossible, recently they had started locking the roof since so many kids tried to sneak themselves up there to cut class. In fact there wasn't a good place to hide in this school. The librarian was to nosey, the school nurse didn't like anyone taking up beds, and Hall monitors roamed everywhere else. The best option would be to leave school. So he went round the back near the sports area; it was mostly secluded and filled with lots of trees for cover. There was a path there, it led out further back and followed the slightly worn path, and soon he was out of the school grounds.

Naruto took off the jacket of his uniform and ruffled up his shirt, untucking them from his slacks, then put his coat on. The autumn wind that blew chilled him. It was still early, meaning that most people were at work, and the streets were pretty empty. Only a few elderly people and housewives were out shopping.

Which meant that as long as Naruto stuck to pretty secluded areas he wouldn't be caught. There was a bridge he often visited when he was younger. It stretched across a small canal with a grassy slope on either side. He used to try catching fish in the water; to this day the blonde didn't know if there were even fish in the water. Not that it really mattered, just that it was peaceful.

He took the small set of stairs down to the bank, stumbling slightly when the overgrown knoll caught his leg. Near the edge was a boulder, just big enough for Naruto to sit comfortably, so he went towards it and sat down. The water looked darker now than usual, then again the sun wasn't out either. It was cold; his breath came out like smoke, and the quiet gave Naruto time to think.

Tomorrow he would turn 18, Iruka said that it would change him somehow. Naruto latched himself onto that word. 'Change'. He found it an odd word to use. Iruka probably only meant it in the sense of growing up, but the blonde felt there was something more to it. Crazy of course, trying to find meaning in something that isn't there. He wouldn't change, he would still be Naruto… just a bit older.

A weary sigh left him with a roll of his shoulders in an attempt to shake those thoughts out of his mind. He looked around himself, eyes brightening when he found a long stick nearby. Naruto bent down and reached for it, then used the long stick to weave patters through the canal water. He saw the reeds being pushed by the water, and then he heard something.

Soft footsteps upon muddy ground.

Naruto noticed how much quieter it had gotten, even the wind seemed to have stopped. He looked up confused, turned to look towards the bridge and gasped when he noticed a man clad in black standing there. The same stranger from Ichiraku.

The man stood at the bottom of the stairs, intimidatingly, as if he held his own dark presence. Then slowly he made his way towards him, his , his movements fluidly graceful like liquid, before coming to a stop in front of Naruto. He looked down at the blonde; his black eyes seemed deeper than usually. Half his face was covered with an up-turned collar.

"You need to run," he whispered.

So what do you think?

Review and join the dark side, we have cookies!