-o-o-o-Iruka, age 13 -o-o-o-

“Mizuki?”

The pale haired boy looked at his friend, dressing slowly beside the window. “Yeah, ‘Ruka?”

“Mizuki, can we talk? About this, I mean?”

Mizuki buttoned his pants and plopped into a chair, ignoring his shirtless state, and nodded for Iruka to continue.

The scarred teen lowered his eyes, focusing on his shirt as he buttoned it. “I . . .” he hesitated, fingers completely stilling in their actions. For close to a minute he stood there in complete silence. “I want to stop,” he finally whispered.

Mizuki didn’t move, letting the silence hang between them. The weight of it seemed to crush Iruka, making him smaller, making him disappear further into the shadows. Finally Mizuki stood, crossing the distance between them. “Why?”

Iruka stepped back, away from the other teen. “I just . . . do. It was fun, but . . .”

“But you like Aoriko, I’ve seen the way you gaze at her.” Iruka’s face stayed set, but the truth reflected across his eyes. Mizuki just crossed his arms, turning his back on the boy. “Goodnight, Iruka.”

“Mizuki, don’t do this. I want to talk about it!” He moved forward, reaching for one pale shoulder. “Mizuki -“

“Goodnight.”

-o-o-o-o-o-

Aoriko was a quiet girl. She had small glasses and kept her hair pulled back to keep it out of her face. She studied hard, but usually managed only average grades in her classes. After graduation, she had shown an interest in animals and spent a lot of time hanging out with the Inuzukas in their wild tents with their gigantic dogs. The contrast in her personality is what first attracted Iruka to the girl.

At the moment she stood in quiet repose, lost in thought and staring at the trees in front of her. Iruka stood behind her, doing his best to open his mouth and make words come out. Finally he managed a strange squeak of a noise and Aoriko jumped, turning to look at the boy behind her. Iruka blushed, offering a small bow and a feeble, “Hey.”

“Hey.” Her voice twinkled as she spoke, as if she were on the brink of laughing with every syllable. “Iruka, what are you doing here?”

“I, uh,” Iruka cursed himself, wondering why he had to blush in front of this beautiful creature. He cleared his throat, trying again. “I came here to see you. I, uh, I’ve seen you looking at these trees before.”

Aoriko turned fully to Iruka, smiling at him. “Have you been following me?”

Iruka ducked his chin, smiling at the slight jab. “And if I have?” The girl giggled and Iruka looked up to meet her eyes again. “Look, Aoriko, I think you’re really pretty. I wanted to ask . . .” Iruka hesitated as he felt a presence approaching them. It was oddly familiar while at the same time foreboding. “I wanted to ask you . . .”

“Iruka!” Slim, strong arms darted in, wrapping around the teen in a heartbeat. One hand cupped his jaw, turning his face to one side. Iruka’s eyes widened a second before Mizuki descended on his lips, kissing him harshly. He gasped and the pale boy deepened the kiss, tongue intruding the cavern of his mouth. After a moment he pulled away, smirking at the shocked boy. “I’ll really miss our nights together, ‘Ruka.” He turned to Aoriko, smile only growing. He nodded quickly and left without another word.

Aoriko blinked, looking after the retreating boy for a moment. Iruka looked at her, mouth still slightly agape. “Aori-“

“Don’t, Iruka. I guess you’re a pretty nice guy, but . . . I don’t swing like that. Sorry.” The music had left her voice, Iruka noticed. The way she looked at him had changed. Iruka’s face darkened. After a moment he nodded, turning to leave the girl.

It took twenty minutes to find Mizuki. By then, Iruka’s shock had worn off, fading into a quiet anger, simmering just beneath the surface. Mizuki was waiting in front of Iruka’s apartment building, leaning back against the low garden wall in front of the building. Iruka stalked towards him as he darted into the building. He growled, following as Mizuki led him into his own apartment and slammed the door behind him, glaring death at the other genin. “Mizuki. What. The. Hell.”

“What, you didn’t like my goodbye present?”

“Damnit, Mizuki! You did that on purpose! You knew she’d react like that, didn’t you?”

The pale boy smirked, stepping closer to Iruka. The scarred teen didn’t give up any ground. “I suspected. Now tell me, do you really want to be dating someone so narrow minded?” He reached up, brushing his fingers along the boy’s arm.

Iruka jerked out of reach. “I think it’s for me to decide one way or the other! Don’t touch me!” Mizuki stepped closer, one hand tangling in the other’s shirt. Iruka shoved it angrily away. “We broke up, Mizuki!”

This, oddly enough, sent Mizuki into a fit of giggles. “No, Iruka. You broke up. You’re the one who believed this was a relationship,” he growled, undoing Iruka’s shirt in a flash.

Iruka jerked back, trying to escape those hands, but Mizuki stayed right there, persistent. The last of the buttons popped free under the other’s tugging, baring Iruka’s chest to the teen. The brunette twisted angrily. “Get off of me. This isn’t just sex-“

“This has always been just sex, Iruka. Stop fooling yourself about it.” He caught Iruka’s fist and grappled the boy to the ground.

Iruka gasped as his pants were tugged down. He kicked out, but his legs were caught in the fabric, trapping him. With Mizuki’s long fingers wrapping around his wrists, Iruka couldn’t get leverage on the other boy. He grit his teeth around curses as he was forced onto his stomach, one arm twisted painfully behind his back. The other hand was released and Iruka twisted, swinging back at the other.

Mizuki shifted his weight and Iruka suddenly had to use his free hand to keep his head from cracking against the floor. He gasped again, giving a cry as Mizuki pushed one finger into him with no warning. One gave way to two as tears began to stream down Iruka’s cheeks. He managed a feeble ‘stop’ that was ignored moments before Mizuki removed his hand, pushing forward without hesitation.

Iruka screamed outright, not prepared for the intrusion. Mizuki pulled on his arm, dragging another cry from him as the move wrenched his shoulder. The other hand tangled in the brown hair, pulling savagely there, too. Iruka’s whimpers played counterpoint to the grunts above him.

After several minutes, Mizuki came, stilling and pulling roughly wherever his hands had purchase. Muscles relaxed and Mizuki settled his weight onto the weeping boy under him. His hands traced lines to Iruka’s shoulders, swiftly turning the boy over. Before he could react, Mizuki had his arms pinned again, smiling coldly into his face. Slowly he shifted, lowering his mouth to the boy’s throat. “This is what it’s about, Iruka,” he murmured against the sensitive skin. He bit down, marking the boy and finishing the thought without words. This was about ownership.

Rather than pulling away, Mizuki stayed where he was, pinning Iruka with his body and freeing one hand. His fingers twisted, brushing lightly along the boy’s ribs. “What are you going to do now, ‘Ruka? Are you going to cry to the jounin? Go back to Sensei?” The tanned boy shuddered, but twisted again, trying to dislodge the genin on top of him. Mizuki’s fingers curled, finding purchase in his vulnerable side. Iruka gasped, stilling at the silent threat. Suddenly he was painfully aware of just how vulnerable he was. There were at least a dozen ways he could be killed or crippled from this position before he could do anything to stop it. More tears slipped down his cheeks.

Mizuki just purred into his ear. “Did you know only chunin can teach at the academy?” Iruka shivered, giving no other reply. He’d told Mizuki about his ambition the second time they’d been together. To think that he would use the information against him like this . . . Mizuki’s hand caught up Iruka’s left hand, twisting painfully. “Do you think you could pass the chunin exam without your fingers? You couldn’t even perform a simple jutsu, let alone the type that would be required. So tell me,” his hand twisted further, forcing another whimper from his captive. “Are you going to keep quiet about this?” Iruka was silent, not looking at the boy above him. Mizuki growled, forcing his chin up and staring into his eyes. “Yes or no, Iruka.”

After another moment, Iruka nodded, averting his eyes again. With a cruel smile and a deceptively gentle pat to his cheek, Mizuki finally released him. Iruka watched as the boy straightened his clothes, trying to gain some perspective on what had just happened to him. Mizuki was still fully dressed, disheveled pants the only sign of what he’d done. Dimly Iruka looked to where his shirt had been discarded several feet away. It was ruined. As Mizuki smoothed his hair back, Iruka rolled to his side, watching him go to the door. “Goodnight, Iruka,” he sneered, walking calmly into the hallway. Iruka curled in on himself, shivering violently. More and more tears streamed down his face in silence. He didn’t move for hours.

-o-o-o-o-o-