Touching the untouchable

Chapter 32

Maybe it would be for the best if he was gone. Naruto snapped out of his dark thoughts, pinching himself harshly. He rubbed at the bruises on his arms, taking a shuddering breath to calm himself down. When he had returned from the cafe after a day's work, he had been exhausted from the constant working and no resting that he had let his guard down. He had forgotten to make sure that every room was checked whilst keeping one exit always available for him. He had - Naruto felt his empty stomach lurch at the thoughts of what happened after.

The landlord had been waiting as if knowing he would slip up some day - which he did. Naruto had let his defences go and allowed for vulnerability. The landlord had slipped out from behind him, meaty hands curling around his throat and slamming his back into the wall. Naruto had struggled hard as the landlord released a hand in favour of roaming Naruto's body. The blond wanted to scream and fight back but all the sound that came from his lips was strangled chokes and harsh attempts at getting air into his lungs. The hands were harsh and unforgiving, so were the lips that left Naruto feeling like he was dirt.

He could see the edges of his vision darkening as the landlord continued his icky touches with one hand whilst the other held him in a tight grip around the neck, almost as if unaware of just how much the blond was lacking the precious supply of oxygen. Naruto's body felt weak as his strugglings slowed. It had been the shrill of a ringtone that had jolted Naruto from almost passing out and the landlord from pulling his pants down. The landlord had been angry at the interruption, throwing Naruto harshly against the wall next to them. Not the least bit concerned when the blond landed in a heap on the ground before making his way out to tend to the important phone call.

When Naruto had been thrown, his head had collided with the wall so hard it cracked the plaster walls. He hadn't remembered how he ended up on the ground but the last thing he remembered seeing was the feet of his attacker walking out of his apartment. When he came to, he cursed. He had been out of commission for almost two days, laying in his own dried up blood.

Naruto shuddered again at the pain and the ill feeling that was crawling all over his skin. No matter how hard he had scrubbed in the shower, the feeling of the man's hand was not leaving him. It made him feel awful as the memories of his childhood rose so quickly and vigorously he had been surprised he wasn't on the ground yet. "Get your shit together Naruto. You have work to do." Naruto growled at himself, ignoring the sharp throbbing from his head. For all he knew, he probably cracked his skull apart but he didn't have time for the hospital. There was an important meeting today for the Uchiha Corporations and he cannot afford to be tardy about it. Making sure the little bits of blood had stopped running, he cleaned up by covering his bruises like he usually did with heavy coverage concealers (or was it called foundation? He cannot remember), knowing it was not wise to leave it not bandaged but he didn't want to look odd as he idly promising himself he would go to the hospital later before rushing out in his neatly pressed suit, important documents in hand.

Swallowing the dizziness that washed over him for the tenth time in the past hour, he continued his presentation, aware of Itachi's eyes on him. It made him feel oddly nervous as if the Uchiha would be able to see all the concealed bruises that covered Naruto, finally going to see how disgusting Naruto was. Naruto blinked to clear his blurry vision as he accompanied his boss around at the function later that evening. By then, Naruto was pleasantly surprised he was still standing but he was grateful for his body for cooperating with him. He hoped he could slip away soon as his field of vision was getting positively awful. His head was pounding with a massive migraine and it felt so heavy that he was wondering how his neck was able to hold it up. He prayed to the angels that he was not bleeding or anything, there was no need to cause a big fuss. 'Bleed later... Bleed when I am alone, not here, not now.' Naruto chanted to himself as if he could somehow control when his blood chooses to flow.

He didn't know what had happened but the next minute he was standing in front of Itachi, a furious expression of someone he doesn't know extremely close to his face. Something else happened that he was not sure of either as the next time he tuned in, the person was gone and he was looking at the bright lights and the pretty chandelier that he had wanted to spend his night looking at instead. An unpleasant feeling rose up his throat and Itachi's beautiful face filled his vision. He could see Itachi talking but he couldn't hear anything. The worried and scared eyes of his ex-lover looking frantically at him, his hands were pressed to Naruto's abdomen. Frowning, Naruto wondered why. He looked down to see what Itachi was pressing at as he was vaguely aware that he was confused as to why he couldn't feel Itachi's hands on him. A thick black handle was jutting out of him, blood staining the suit material around it. The offending object looked awfully close to where his heart had been, having just slipped in between the rib bones.

To him, Itachi looked like he was about to burst into a sobbing mess but the silent tears to ran from his eyes down his cheeks still left the man looking stunning. He was somewhat aware of the frantic muffled yellings as he raised a hand weakly to stroke away the tears rolling down Itachi's face. The touch seemed to have shocked Itachi slightly as the man looked at him wide-eyed. "You are so beautiful." Naruto thought to himself, unaware that he had said it out loud for Itachi to hear.
"Shh. Save your strength, love." Itachi said, trying to be firm and reassuring for Naruto. The sound of the ambulance sirens had never been more welcomed. Naruto cracked a weak smile at Itachi. "I am sorry for everything I did, Itachi." Naruto muttered, feeling exhausted and oddly at peace.
"Hey hey. Naruto please! Stay with me." Itachi cried out as the hand that had been stroking his cheeks absently fell to his side.