Blood of the Broken, Scars of the Spiral (there are whirlpools in our veins)

Chapter Three

Whimpers began to crawl up his throat, what did he do?! What did he do to make her so angry?!

His enraged crying turned to confused sobbing as the world around him started to blur.

It was too much, too much noise, too many smells, so many people, why won't they all just go away?

Dog-boy moved too quickly for Naruto's eyes to follow. One second he was standing beside him, arms wrapped around him protectively, watching wide-eyed as the girl screamed her hatred, the next moment he was beside the girl, holding her limp body.

"Suru, take her to T&I," Dog-boy ordered, and there was something scary about his voice as he looked down at the unconscious girl. "I'm curious to know just who it is that's been supplying her with poison."

"At once, captain," the woman from earlier, the one in the deer mask, said, flitting forward to take the unconscious girl from dog-boy and disappearing.

"Go to sleep, pup," Dog-boy whispered, and despite his efforts to stay awake, he finds himself slipping away.

Tonight he finds comfort in his dreams in the form of red hair and sunkissed white sand.

When Naruto woke up in the morning, he was in a strange room, Aiya was next to him, asleep.

When Aiya woke up she explained that the matron had decided that the two of them would share their own room at night. The room was locked and only Aiya and the matron had a key.

"'Course, that won' stop someone from pickin' the lock," Aiya said, "so we gotta stick sommat in there before we go ta sleep, 'kay? We can't forget. Lock picks can't git in if there ain't no room for 'em," she explained and Naruto listened.

He was still in shock, kids had been mean and hurt him before as a form of 'punishment,' but his life had never been threatened.

Eiko, Naruto later learned the girl's name was, attempt on his life was the first but it wasn't the last. Eiko wasn't the only child in the orphanage who had been orphaned by the Kyuubi Attack, which was clear from the beatings he'd sometimes endure from the other children.

For some reason, they thought it was his fault, and they wanted revenge.

A week after Eiko's attempt, a boy who was enrolled in the ninja academy had smuggled home one of the funny-shaped knives they used to practice hitting targets and tried to stab him. Aiya managed to deflect the strike and the masked watchers– ANBU, Aiya later told him they were called– came out of nowhere and took the boy, Genku, away.

Naruto didn't see Genku ever again.

Kei was next to try; she hit Naruto over the head with a ceramic pot. It had shattered to pieces and the result had been painful and bloody. Naruto spent two days in the white place while the people in white coats picked the pieces of ceramic out of his booboo's (later Aiya told him that the white place was called a hospital and the white coat people were actually called iryo-nin– Aiya was a gift from the gods and nothing anyone said could convince Naruto otherwise)

Kei disappeared too.

So did Kenma and Riku after they tried their luck.

The next attack was different.

He and Aiya had been playing Oni Gokko when it happened.

The boy who'd lunged at Naruto was better trained than those who'd previously made attempts on his life. About five-and-ten years maybe with short violet hair, he had one of those funny knives in his hand, and even as Aiya screamed out, "Naoko, no!" he lashed out with his foot, hitting Naruto in the chest with his foot. His chest exploded with pain as he was thrown back with a meaty crunch. He could hear Aiya scream again as he landed and he couldn't even move, he was in so much pain.