Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Angels Have Fangs: A Cautionary Prequel ❯ Angels Have 26 Years of Flashbacks ( Chapter 1 )

P.S. -Warning this is a yaoi m/m fic and there is some child abuse in suggestion of child molestation, although it never quite crosses the line in this chapter.

Chapter One: Angels Have 26 Years of Flashbacks

Dirty, blunt fingers dug into the six year-old's jaw, forcing the small mouth to part despite the boy frantically trying to shake his head 'no'. His fingernails scratched usually at the man who was holding his jaw; but when his nails made a particularly nasty scratch, one good backhand from the burly man had sent him sprawling onto the dirty snow-covered ground.

It hurt. It hurt so much. The child couldn't remember the last time he had eaten or the last time he had laid sight on his mother. It could have been days. It could have been months. All he could remember was the gnawing ache of being hungry and the excruciating pain that now blossomed from the back of his head and the side of his face from the blow to the head that had sent his skull connecting with the unforgiving ground.

Before the blonde child could scramble up and try to run or curl up into the fetal position, he let out a keening wail. His blue eyes watered as he looked at the squat, little man who took sadistic pleasure in grinding his walking cane into his small hand.

"I told you kid, he's not coming back for you. Your boozehound of a stepdad sold you to pay off a hefty debt. Of course it wasn't enough so I had my henchmen break his legs too. But if you don't want me to have my men come for your mother next I'll need you to kneel in front of your first customer and blow him off. Think of it as sucking on a flesh-colored lollipop. Surely you've sucked on a lollipop before," chuckled the old man with the cane.

The blonde child paused only to take in the small man framed around his goons. His graying brown hair formed a frizzy halo around his worn out features and there was a smugness about him, as if he had already won the battle. So without further hesitation the six-year-old began to kick and scream. Head still throbbing, he thrashed it left and right, hoping and praying someone would overhear and take pity on him as those big hands reached for him again.

"Someone grab his head and the other hold his legs down. I don't pay you guys to just stand there and look scary," the old man snapped, glaring through his round, black shades at the big oafs. He was a respectable businessman of the highest quality. His name was known throughout the lands; but his legitimate business was a front for the shadier, lucrative business of trafficking in humans, goods and drugs. Technically speaking he was too high up in the food chain to worry about little whelps like the skinny flailing blonde; except the boy's body had been the only thing that was worth enough to pay off a debt after much prying and looking into the stepdad's finances. If he could he would have sold the child's own mother into servitude too; but she looked too worn out and old from drug usage to be any benefit to him. It would have only hurt business if he took her but the child, the child was a real beauty if you got pass the fact he was a headstrong brat.

Usually his employees were very adept at breaking in both children and adults, who stubbornly thought they could have more than the life of a human masturbation sleeve. But sometimes they ran across those who couldn't wrap their thick skulls around the fact that to disobey meant severe and immediate punishment. It didn't matter if they were young or old, born into servitude or not, Gatō's property had no choice but to obey. But that still didn't mean that Gatō wanted his merchandise damaged to the point that they were barely sellable. He wanted their spirits broken, not their bodies. And as his beady, black eyes traversed the bare limbs of the struggling child; he categorized every bump and bruise both old and new that littered the too small frame. Obviously starving him didn't work, locking him up in a dark room was laughable and threats meant nothing if they weren't back up with a kick or a slap.

If Gatō had let things carry on the way they were, then he would be forced to pay for the kid's medical bills to help mend broken bones. This in turn would force him to lose money, not gain it. Money was the thing that made things go round. It greased palms and made others turn blind eyes to things that were simply inhumane. He'd sell his mother all over again if it meant fattening his wallet. So when special cases like this came to him, he had to make it fairly clear that the human trash had no choice but to obey, even if it meant breaking a few eggs to make an omelet.

He squats down in front of the trembling boy, his wrinkly hand producing a capped syringe mixed with a dangerous cocktail of aphrodisiac and cocaine to make the child agreeable and addicted. He hadn't wanted to resort to drugging the child, but honestly the kid left him no choice as he popped off the cap with his teeth.

"Hold him still," he grunted, ready to stab it into the child's arm. Then he grimaced when the six-year-old spat right onto his weasel-like face. Gatō simply chuckled and used his silk handkerchief to clean up the spittle before he raised his cane up to strike a mighty blow down over the trembling blonde's head. But before the blow could connect, the cane was viciously yanked from his grasp and tossed aside. Before he could protest or fully stand up again the old businessman was slammed against the brick wall.

"Gatō, what do you think you are doing?" growled a voice, so sinisterly dark that it left Goosebumps in its wake.

"K… Kurama, Sir. I… I didn't expect for you to… to…" He stuttered, unable to finish his words. The old man knew that there were things worse than someone corrupt like him. Demons that purposely hid in the shadows, wearing faces of normal people so they may easily feed on both the meek and the corrupt alike. Gatō knew that if he himself was a heartless monster that ruled over people with money; than the redhead, towering over him with predatory, amber eyes rimmed in red, was the Goddamn boogieman who ate people like him for breakfast.

"Of course you didn't," sneered the redhead. He grabbed the man by the lapels of his expensive suit and lifted him slowly against the brick wall until the squat man was eye level with him. "I allow you to do business on my territory with the only order being to follow all my rules. They aren't too hard or too much for a smart, savvy businessman like yourself to obey, right?" he growled out, all gnashing sharp teeth.

"Of course, of course," choked out the old man, trying his best not to piss himself from fear.

"I don't allow for child prostitution, child trafficking, or even child abuse here in Limbo. I like for children to be as innocent for as long as possible. Humans are more succulent if they start off pure before they are eventually tainted by life," he practically purred the last part, licking his lips in hunger.

"I… I didn't mean to… I didn't even know you were going to be here," Gatō confessed, which was true.

Usually Kurama locked himself up in his office or bedroom while he let others watch over the city of Limbo. He had three strong demons under him that watched the northern, western, and southern regions of his bustling city. It was a city that he had built single-handedly with his ingenuity and prowess for finances. It was a safe haven for the corrupt and those who wanted to gamble their lives away in booze, sex and drugs. Limbo was neither heavenly nor hellish and depending on the citizen/traveler it could be both a blessing and a curse, nestled in the middle of a vast desert. Escape was damn near impossible and death was promised to those who were caught three times disobeying any of Kurama's rules.

Up until now Gatō had been smart enough to stay on Kurama's good side and either allowed his associates do the dirty work for him or do the dirty work himself behind closed doors. But when the blonde whelp had burst out into the cold, snowy alleyway he was forced to handle his business right then and there and make an example of him. His reputation had been at stake and usually the demons under Kurama looked away if given enough money and humans to devour. But it was hard to bribe someone who practically had everything and ruled over his lands sometimes with an ironed-fist.

This would thankfully be a second strike and Kurama was all but prepared to take out his small branding tool to sear a star across his neck, close to the first one. But just then, one of his henchmen took it as an attack towards their employee's life and quickly rushed towards the back of the red-head fiend with his katana raised.

"No, you fool!" Gatō cried out too late for his henchmen to take back his action. He yelped, landing on his ass as the demon suddenly dropped him to grab at the katana raised at his head.

Clawed fingers were already puncturing the neck of the idiot who had tried to jump the redhead even as he yanked the blood-stained katana away with his bleeding hand to toss aside. Those henchmen who tried to escape through the dank, cold alleyway into the market street ahead, quickly were blocked by shadow tails that quickly writhed themselves into existence from Kurama's backside. "Kid, if you don't want to have nightmares, then I would suggest you turn around and face the wall," he said stiffly to the blonde, who was no longer being held in place.

Dumbly the blonde nodded, turning his back on the violent scene, his eyes trained on the graffiti brick wall on the other side just as the man Kurama held up made a wet, guttural apology before letting out a painful scream. Blue eyes widened in surprise, his curiosity wanting to see how he had disposed of the man, but the redhead's words and the sliver of fear that crept up his spine held him still.

"What the fuck is he Gatō? We never signed up for this?!" cried out one of the goons. The child could just barely feel the warmth of fingers reaching out for him to use as a human shield before the fiend must have yanked him away.

The child's heart quickened, his breath coming out in frozen puffs while he watched the fight playing out in faint shadows against the wall. He could have closed his eyes, but it was too horrible to look away. He could see serpentine tails capturing up the bulky goons one by one and either smashing them down against the wall and snowy ground; or holding them still so the demon standing in the center could rend the squirming human to shreds.

Pleas fell on deaf ears in and outside of the alleyway. It was more than likely that any who managed to peek inside the alleyway knew better than to pry. Most who grew up in Limbo and survived, or were even just visiting, knew that prying only led to trouble and no one wanted trouble went it came to Kurama. But if it wasn't for the fact that some of the guys dying now had also been the ones who had roughed him up, the child would have felt an ounce of pity for them. Instead he stayed put, limbs locked in fear until he heard the voice of someone new entering the fray.

"Hiro, Yuki, Tenchi, Daichi and Amu, born on 19**, 19** , 19** , 19** and 19**, in the same village, Nami no Kuni, only to die, today on March the 3rd from decapitation, maiming and pulverizing of one Kurama," a voice said clinically as he scrawled in a tiny, little book. A petite man dressed in a tailored suit, stepped outside of the shadows opposite the alleyways only entrance and carefully stepped over the bloody corpses strewn on the snowy floor. The strange newcomer stepped over the fallen not because he wanted to respect the dead by not stepping on them, but because he didn't want to get blood and intestines on his new Italian shoes.

"You may turn around little one, buy don't look at the ground. And you… you're a bit late, aren't you Shinigami?" drawled the red head, as he rubbed his hands clean on a patch of clean snow. The demon disregarded the splatter of blood that peppered his handsome features in order to none-to-gently remove a black leather duster from one of the corpses in order to don them onto his own shoulders. "Perfect," he purred, hugging it close to his sinewy frame before muttering, "Even more so once I get the human stench off it."

"Like you didn't enjoy my absence, Kurama. Case in point," snorted the Shinigami in question. He made sure to point his fountain pen at the red fiend shrugging off the duster to fold it neatly over his forearm.

"How's your demon boyfriend Zabuza doing? Enjoying shacking up with a Shinigami or has he wizened up yet? It's going to catch up with you two sooner or later. That shit's going to hit the fan and the smell might choke one or both of you too death," Kurama said, neatly switching the topic. All but one shadowy tail had disappeared, the last, hovering dangerously close to Gatō in case the old man tried to escape while he was conversing.

"If something does go wrong, I'll be able to handle it. I don't need your help," quipped the petite man, tucking a chocolate lock, which had escaped its bun, behind his ear.

"It's fine by me Haku. But if you'll excuse me, I have business here," Kurama said dismissively, turning his back on the Shinigami. It didn't last too long before the fiend had to shield his person with his shadowy tail as the block senbon needles clattered to the ground.

"I would watch your back if I were you demon. You amuse me, that's why I let you run unchecked; but if you don't wise up soon, Ebisu will be after you. And he hates filthy demons like you more than you hate humans," Haku said warningly. Then in a whirl of snow the Shinigami disappeared taking away the bobbing souls he collected before Kurama or any other fiend tried to make one of the souls a snack.

Kurama snorted because he knew that if Haku hadn't been a star Shinigami, he would have made an awesome demon. But that didn't matter right now as he turned on the quivering human boss, who was still left over and presently pissing himself like some squirming pup. "Gatō, I may be a monster, but even I wouldn't promote child prostitution. So knowing that you are on my land, why shouldn't I slaughter you like the gutless little pig that you are?" The red head purred out, bending his tall frame down to peer into the frightened, shades-wearing eyes of the corrupt businessman.

It would have honestly been his pleasure to kill the old man because the filthy human had the nerve to believe that he didn't know everything that went on in his territory, including the bribes he thought he won his fellow demons on. Kurama would relish taking it out on the old man's hide, but only wrinkled his nose in disgust at the smell of piss and fear that clung to the old man so desperately.

"I… I'll never do it again. I promise. P… Please spare my life. I…If you do I'll never d…darken your doorstep. I… I'll even give some money to ch…ch… charity," he gasped out. The idea of giving money to charity almost hurt him just as badly as the real fear that ate at him after seeing his goons easily disposed and lying in bloody heaps on the snowy ground.

"I won't mark you, but know this Gatō, if I see hide or hair of you, if any of your associates step into my city, I will find you and enjoy every single moment making you squeal like the little piggy you are. Now go before my good mood lessens," he barked out. He chuckled darkly as the man quickly grabbed his cane in left without even a backward glance to the blonde merchandise he left behind.

Then slowly he turned boot clad feet around to look at the scared, little man-child that he had saved on a whim. He hated all humans; correction, most humans. But something about this child, who was now trying his best to stand on thin, wobbly legs, had called to him. His lips curled without permission into a cruel little smile as he saw that despite the child's fear that rolled off him in seductive waves, that the child still had a lot of fight left in him. 'Good because I hate weaklings,' he thought to himself before speaking directly to the child. "What's your name human?"

"M… My name is Arashi," the blonde said after a few minutes of hesitation. He poked out his tongue to lick at his bleeding bottom lip, wondering what this creature who had saved him would do to him now that he had ensnared him.

"You could have run while I was distracted. I only told you not to look my way." Kurama stated, curiosity piqued as he walked stone-washed jean clad legs over to the human. He made a loose circle around the quivering child; his shadowy tail swished docilely behind him as if it wasn't capable of so much more.

"Even if I could leave, I wouldn't have anywhere to go. But you saved me so I figured…" he trailed off, hesitant to continue. It was quite clear this man or beast, thought the blonde was beneath his notice.

"Figured what human? Speak up! I'm not a mind-reader," growled out the red-head, purposely showing fanged teeth. He applauded the small human for barely flinching.

"Take me with you. I… I could cook or… or clean. You can use me a… anyway you might—" Arashi spluttered out, unable to stop saying the first things that popped into his head. Everything in him screamed to be afraid of the demon before him, especially with the fresh carnage at his feet. But the male in front of him had sadly been the first person in a long while, that had been nice to him. How could he turn away from that?

"Let's not lie little human. The reason you were so cut and bruised was because you refused to do `just anything'," he murmured in a seductive purr, even as he gently took the child's chin in his hand. He waited for the child to snatch his head away or mutter more lies; but all the child did was look at them with those pathetic blue eyes that were as pure and deep as a cerulean ocean. Then he breathed out a simple word. "Please."

"Why?" he demanded again, as if prepared for some elaborate trap.

"It wouldn't be right…. Not paying you back."

"You'll regret it one day," Kurama warned, narrowing his red-rimmed eyes at the man-child.

"But not today," Arashi had stated boldly. This in turn earned a chuckle from Kurama as he released his chin.

"I guess I can find something for you to do. Maybe keep you as a human pet. But if you are to come with me you'll have to throw away your past, including the name Arashi. If you come you will be known by the name Minato," he stated firmly, waiting for the child to decide.

The blonde, battered child stood there, barely daring to hope that he might have a bit of security with this red-haired fiend. Sure the man before him was violent and seemed easily angered, but in his way he cared about children and for as long as he remained in the demon's good graces he could dare to hope for more. So after a few minutes worth of thinking he finally nodded his head and gave the red-haired fiend the first tentative smile he had made in weeks.

"For now own, my name is Minato and I want to come with you," he breathed out in a shaky breath, feeling oddly liberated.

"Hn," hummed Kurama in acknowledgment. The fiend then turned around and walked out of the alley expecting the human pet to follow closely behind. He now had to explain to three demons that ruled under him that he had claimed a human for his own.

To be continued...