Cuts & Bruises

Chapter 9

Sasuke woke up, his body aching terribly. He groaned in pain and tried sitting up, only to wince as the pain because too much. Pulling open the drawer to his nightstand, he grabbed the bottle of aspirin that he uses when the pain is too much to handle.
After taking two pills, he slowly got up and began to get ready for the school day.
It wasn’t until he was finished getting ready and was heading downstairs that the aspirin kicked in and the pain turned into a dull ache. He walked into the kitchen and saw his brother sitting at the table, a bagel and some fruit on a plate where he sat.
As Sasuke sat down in his chair, Itachi looked up from his phone.
“About last night,” he started, placing his phone face down on the table. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his brother then continued to look down at his plate, spreading cream cheese on his bagel. “I’m sorry for getting upset. Work was just very stressful, it wasn’t very fair of me to take it out on you.”
“Do you believe me about mom?”
Itachi let out a breath. “No.”
Sasuke shrugged and said nothing.
“How are you feeling today?”
Sasuke impatiently placed his half eaten bagel back on his plate and scooted back and out of his chair. “I’ll be waiting in the car.”
Itachi soon followed after Sasuke. The ride to the school was silent, neither Uchiha willing to talk. As Itachi pulled up to the front of the school, Sasuke said a quick goodbye before hurrying to meet up with his friends.
“Sasuke!” Kiba waved frantically at the raven, Neji and Naruto gathered around him. Naruto smiled brightly at him, also waving. Neji gave a simple wave.
“Hey.” Sasuke greeted when he finally met up with him.
“What’s wrong with you?” Naruto asked as they headed to their homeroom.
“Sasuke has a, complicated soulmate.” Neji briefly explained to him.
Naruto’s eyes widened. “No shit?” He looked to Sasuke who looked ready to pass out. He gently placed a hand on the raven’s shoulder. “I know the feeling.”
Sasuke looked the blonde up and down before raising an eyebrow. “You’re soulmate is in trouble too?”
Naruto paused in his thoughts before giving Sasuke a sad smile. “Yeah, something like that.”
They reached the classroom and took their seats. Kiba leaned forward in his seat. “Looks like you two have more in common then you think.”
Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow, smirking at him. “Seems like it.”
The bell soon rung and classes began. Sasuke stayed quiet throughout most of the day, allowing Naruto to talk, barely responding to any of the conversations.He couldn’t help but to think of Naruto going through what he was.
Before he realized, it was the end of the school day and the four of them were saying goodbye. Kiba and Neji walked away and Naruto was about to head back into the building to head to Iruka’s classroom.
“Naruto,” Sasuke heard himself speak up. Naruto stopped and turned around to face him. “Do you want to come over?”
Naruto’s eyes widened. “Really?” He waited for Sasuke to nod before he smiled brightly at him. “Yeah cool! Can I use your phone real quick?”
Sasuke handed him his phone and he watched as Naruto dialed a number and placed the phone to his ear.
“Iruka? It’s Naruto. I’m going to Sasuke’s house, is that okay?” There was a pause and Naruto looked to Sasuke and gave him a thumbs up. “Alright I’ll call you if it’s getting late.” He hung up the phone and handed it back to Sasuke. “Alright, let’s go!”
Sasuke guided the two of them to his bus and chose a seat closer to the front.
“Are you doing okay?” Naruto asked once the bus began to start.
“Huh?” Sasuke questioned.
“It’s just, you seemed out of it all day today. I was just wondering if you were okay.” He asked nervously.
“Yeah. I’ve just been thinking about a lot of stuff.” Sasuke brushed Naruto’s concern off.
Naruto studied the raven carefully before giving him a gentle push. He let out a small snicker. “You know, for someone who has two friends, you don’t know much about friendship, do you?”
Sasuke gave him a glare. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just sayin’” Naruto shrugged. “I had no friends but even I know that friends are supposed to make life easier. If you’re struggling with something, or need to get something off your mind, you can talk to your friends.”
Sasuke let out a sigh. “I know. I just don’t know if I’m ready to reveal what’s going on.”
Naruto nodded in understanding. “I get it. But just know, whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here to listen.”
The bus stopped and Sasuke stood up from his seat. “This is me.” He stepped out, Naruto following close behind. They walked off the bus and down the street.
“Here it is.” Sasuke said as he began to walk up the driveway.
Naruto paused and looked up at the giant house towering above him. “This is your house?! This is one step away from a mansion!” He realized Sasuke was already at the front door and he quickly ran up the driveway and caught up with him.
“I have to do something real quick, but feel free to make yourself at home.” Sasuke commented as he started up the steps.
He headed into his mother’s room. She was lying on her side, her eyes staring blankly at the wall across from her. Sasuke pulled up the chair and sat down. He gave her a small smile but there was no response.
“So, I woke up in a huge amount of pain this morning.” He started off with a sigh. “The rest of the day was kind of just a blur, though I did find out that Naruto and I are in similar situations with our soulmate.” He paused. “And that’s why I think I invited him over to our house today.”
His eyes widened as he saw the corner of her mouth twitching until she was smiling. He stood up quickly. “Mom?!” He didn’t expect her to say anything, and she didn’t, but he couldn’t help but to smile along with her.
Her smile didn’t last too long and Sasuke’s smiled soon faded with hers. With a sigh, he turned to leave, only to take a step back as he saw Naruto standing in the doorway, watching him. He glared at the blonde as he felt his cheeks heat up. “What are you doing?!”
Naruto looked at him then back to his mother. “I got bored. What happened to her?”
Sasuke looked down at his mom before walking out the door and heading to his room, assuming Naruto would follow.
As they both entered Sasuke’s room, he closed the bedroom door behind him and sat in the chair at his desk while Naruto made himself comfy on the bed.
“A few years ago, my father was in some legal trouble at his company. He started to get really paranoid, and acted sketchy. One morning, he was convinced that the Feds were going to get him, but he still went to work. Or at least we thought he was.
“Instead, the police came to our house to tell us that he parked his car off a main road and jumped off a bridge.” Sasuke looked down at his lap as he recalled what happened that day. “My mom instantly changed. I’m honestly convinced that if the police weren’t there, she would have killed herself too.
“They took her to the hospital and we didn’t see her for almost six months after that. But when she came back home, she was a completely different person. She didn’t walk on her own anymore, she didn’t eat and wouldn’t even talk unless it was to protest something she really didn’t want. At the rate she was going, she was trying to just die naturally.
“Ever since then, she’s just been lying comatose in bed practically.” He finished, looking up at Naruto and gave him a shrug.
“I’m sorry.” Naruto was unsure of what else to say.
“How did you end up in foster care?” Sasuke asked after the two were silent.
“Oh, well, first my mom and dad weren’t actual soulmates.” Naruto started off, Sasuke’s eyes widened in surprise. “I know my mom’s died when she was in high school but I’m not sure what happened to my dad’s.” He gave a light shrug.
“Either way, the two weren’t well together and it caused my dad to be angry. He’d beat me or my mom. Mostly my mom. But one day, things got too heated and he beat my mom pretty bad. And I hid from him. That’s when I heard a gunshot and then my mom’s voice stopped.
“I heard him walk around the whole house looking for me but he always failed to check the most obvious places. I was hiding on a shelf in the closet.
“Just as I heard him about to reach the room I was in, I heard the police come in and another gunshot. It took the police about five minutes to fnd me. He ended up just shooting himself rather than getting arrested.”
“Damn, that’s a lot to happen to you. I’m sorry.” Sasuke said once Naruto was finished.
“Hey, we all have our issues, am I right?” Naruto laughed and Sasuke smirked.
“Right. Want to help me start dinner?”
Naruto blinked owlishly at him. “You cook? I expected a chef service or something.”
Sasuke rolled his eyes before standing up. “Come on, let’s go.”
The two walked down to the kitchen where Sasuke gathered the ingredients to make tempura. They talked about mindless things, joking and laughing and making a mess.
Itachi came home just as Naruto was setting the table. He blinked once at the mysterious blonde. “Hello there, who might you be?”
Naruto paused in setting the table and looked up, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked Itachi over. He got over his shock and gave him a bright smile, holding out his hand. “I’m Naruto, practically Sasuke’s newest and best friend!”
Itachi smiled and took the blonde’s hand in a firm handshake. “Nice to meet you Naruto. I’m Itachi, Sasuke’s older brother.”
“Dinner’s ready! Oh, Itachi.” Sasuke came out of the kitchen and stopped when he saw Itachi. “I made tempura.”
“Hopefully you two didn’t make much of mess?” An eyebrow raised. He smirked as the two boys looked away and blushed. “Well, we’ll eat together and as I’m feeding mother, you two can clean up as well.”
Both boys groaned in protest but sat down to eat.
After dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, the two boys started their homework as they waited for Iruka and Kakashi to pick Naruto up.
It wasn’t long before the two arrived at their doorstep.
“Bye Sasuke, see you tomorrow!” Naruto waved as he followed his foster parents to their car.
“Bye!” Sasuke waved and watched as the three of them drove away.
“I’m surprised you had a friend over.” Itachi commented once Sasuke closed the door.
Sasuke looked down at the ground then smiled back up at his brother. “I was too, but I’m glad I did.” He started to head up the stairs. “Goodnight.”
“Night, Sasuke.”