Cuts & Bruises

Prologue

Naruto Uzumaki quickly ran up the stairs as fast as his six-year-old legs could carry him. As soon as he reached the room at the end of the hall, his room, he opened the door as fast as he could and then slammed it shut. He quickly looked around the room, trying to find the best hiding place. His eyes quickly spotted his bed.

He took a step towards the bed, but stopped when he remembered how his mom would tell him hiding under the bed would get his blonde hair dirty. However, when he heard footsteps on the stairs, he quickly scrambled underneath as fast as he could.

The door to his room burst open, and in the doorway, he could see the lower half of his father. He tried to put more distance between him and his father, but the wall stopped him before he could make much progress.

"Naruto!" His father's tone was harsh and filled with anger. "Get out here! I don't have time for your childish shit, Naruto!"

Naruto covered his ears and closed his eyes shut.

"Minato! Stop, this is ridiculous!" Naruto's eyes opened when he heard the voice of his mother. "He just spilled some milk, it's not the end of the world!" He could now see his mother's lower half enter his room and he inched closer.

"He spilled the whole damn thing, Kushina. And just fucking left it there!" He yelled at her.

"Watch your mouth in front of him!" She shouted at him.

"Know your place." He snapped.

"Excuse you? What did you just say to me?"

Naruto hunched back up against the wall. He then noticed that they moved away from the doorway. He scurried out from under the bed and made a run for it.

"Naruto!" His father noticed him and tried to chase after him.

Kushina quickly blocked his path, eyes narrowed in irritation. "Stop this Minato."

"Move." Before Naruto reached the stairs, he heard his mother let out a scream. He made an abrupt stop and turned just in time to see his father slam his mother to the ground and stepped over her and towards him. He couldn't move and just watched him in terror.

"Minato, stop!" His mother called out, her voice strained.

His father grabbed his arm and yanked, hard. Naruto quickly shut his eyes as he saw his father's fist flying towards him.

Sasuke Uchiha, age 7, stood in front of the door to his older brother's, Itachi's, room. He knocked gingerly on the door, awaiting his response.

Itachi opened the door and sighed at his little brother. His long black hair tied up in a messy bun. The two of them looked like twins, minus the eight year age difference. "Can I help you, Sasuke? I'm kind of busy."

Sasuke looked at the ground, disappointed. "Since papa isn't home yet, I was wondering if you could help me with my homework?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "When are you going to learn to do it on your own?"

Sasuke's lip quivered but he stayed silent, continuing to stare at the ground.

Itachi's eyes softened and he gently patted his little brother's hair. "Listen, this weekend I'll spend all day with you. How about that?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in excitement and he nodded enthusiastically.

Itachi gave a light chuckle. "So you think you can do your homework on your own?"

"Yes I can!" Sasuke ran quickly down the hallway and into his room.

He was about to finish his math homework, when a sharp and sudden pain hit him in the stomach. His eyes started to tear and he lifted up his shirt to see a black and blue mark. His eyes widened in surprise when an onslaught of the same pain hit him all over his body. He started to scream suddenly, crying out for his mother.

His mother, Mikoto, quickly came bursting into the room, panting heavily. Itachi quickly followed after her, concerned about his brother.

Mikoto gasped at the sight of her son, writhing in pain on the floor, bruises covering his body. She turned to her eldest son. "Itachi, I got this."

Itachi nodded silently and gave one last concerned look at his brother before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

"Sasuke?" His mother stepped closer to him and kneeled next to him. "What happened, dear?"

Sasuke stayed quiet, sniffling and crying.

"Has it stopped?"

A nod and more sniffling.

She gently picked him up and placed him onto his bed. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Sasuke sniffled some more before giving her a nod. He pulled the blanket that was at his stomach up to his chin. "I was just doing my math homework when my tummy started to hurt. There was a weird mark there. And then, all of a sudden, it started to hurt everywhere!" He started to cry once again.

She gave him a sad smile and sat on the bed next to him. "I'm so sorry, darling."

Sasuke started to calm down and looked up at his mother with tear filled eyes. "What was that, mama?"

"That was your soulmate."

"Soul Mate?" Sasuke looked up at her, confused.

She nodded. "Yep. A soulmate, is a person you're supposed to be with for your whole life. They're supposed to love you and you're suppose to love them. They are your best friend,your special person."

Sasuke thought for a minute before he brightened. "Like papa and you? Is papa your special person? Your soulmeat?"

She laughed and nodded. "Soulmate. Not meat. But yes, he is."

"Does everyone have one?"

She gave him a nod.

"Even Itachi?" His face scrunched up in mild disgust.

She giggled and patted his leg. "Yes, even Itachi."

He stuck out his tongue. He then sat up in bed, looking down at his lap. "So why did this happen to me?"

"Well, soulmates also feel physical pain that the other one feels. So if you fall down and scratch your knee, your soulmate will also hurt their knee."

Sasuke looked at her thoughtfully, his finger gently tapping his lip. "So that just means I can never get hurt again!" He gave her a large smile.

Mikoto smiled at him. "I guess so!"

"But what happened to my soulmate? Are they okay?"

Her smile turned to a frown, she had a good idea what was happening to his soulmate but didn't know how to explain it to her seven-year-old. "You're going to have to be tough for them, okay? I know you're strong so they must be strong too, to be your soulmate."

Sasuke smiled brightly up at her. "I will be! I'll be so strong so that I can protect them too! Then they'll never get hurt either! I promise, mama!"