Cuts & Bruises

Chapter 13

Naruto walked out of the park but stopped and watched Sasuke walk away until he was out of sight. He smiled to himself as he turned to continue walking in the opposite direction towards his place.

His smile grew brighter as he shoved his hands in his pocket.

Despite the fact that he got confirmation that Sakura was using him to get to Sasuke, he felt great. He was glad that he was able to make up with Sasuke and was able to talk with him about his soulmate. And it was nice knowing he wasn't the only one who had concern for their soulmate.

He reached his home shortly and wasn't surprised to see that Iruka and Kakshi weren't home. School just got out, they should be home soon.

He unlocked the door and headed to his room upstairs where he placed his book bag on the floor by his bed. He threw himself onto the bed, crossing his arms underneath his head and shut his eyes.

A knock on his door, caused him to open his eyes and he realized he fell asleep. "Come in." He responded, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Iruka stepped in, a concerned look on his face. He closed the door and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hey Naruto, you weren't in your classes today."

"I know." Naruto looked away, guilty.

"Is everything okay?"

Naruto nodded and then smiled at Iruka. "I made up with Sasuke."

Iruka looked at him surprised. He uncrossed his arms and sat down on the edge of his bed. "You guys were fighting? What happened."

Naruto looked down at his lap. "I mean, we weren't really fighting but he was warning me that the girl I asked out had bad intentions and I didn't believe it. But she ended up showing her true colors and I could tell he didn't want to be right so we talked about it and things are good between us. Then we talked about our soulmates and how they're going through similar situations."

"Well I'm happy that worked out for you. It seems like Sasuke is a really good friend." Iruka smiled down at him.

Naruto smiled to himself before smiling back up at Iruka. "He is, even though I had to force him into a friendship."

Iruka chuckled before standing up and patting Naruto on the head. "Glad to hear everything worked out but no more skipping school, okay? Your education is important and I know friendship is too, but that's what your free time is for, okay?"

Naruto nodded. "No problem, Iruka. I'll make sure it won't happen again."

"Good. Dinner will be ready shortly, I'll call you down, okay?"

"Okay." Naruto watched Iruka walk out the door and lied back down.

"Oh," Iruka opened the door back and stuck his head in. "Don't you think that I forgot to get your homework for you. It's downstairs in the kitchen."

Naruto groaned loudly. "Thanks, I guess."

Iruka chuckled again and left, closing the door behind him.

Shortly after, Naruto was called down for dinner and the three of them enjoyed the meal together. As Kakashi and Iruka cleaned up, Naruto began to do his homework.

"Naruto, can you take out the trash? We're going to start getting ready for bed." Iruka asked the blonde who was on the couch in the living room.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna finish these last couple questions." Naruto responded.

"Thank you." Iruka walked away and up the stairs.

Naruto hurriedly finished his homework and went into the kitchen where two trash bags were sitting by the entryway. He picked them up and walked outside and behind the house where the garbage cans were placed.

"Hey there, blondie."

Naruto turned around, surprised at the voice. "Kyler? What are you doing here?" He felt himself panic and looked up at the window of Iruka and Kakashi's room.

Kyler shrugged. "Nice place you got here." He nodded up at the upstairs. "Seems like your foster parents are nice too." He gave Naruto a smirk. "They gonna shell out the money for my phone?"

Naruto glared. "No. I said I'll pay you back when I can. I don't have the money right now."

Kyler let out a sigh and shoved his hands in his pocket. "See, I don't have time to wait. I'm leaving in two weeks and need it now. But if you ain't got the money, you can just take the beating."

Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not scared of just you, Kyler. You're nothing without your goons."

Kyler shrugged in response. "If that's what you think."

"Yeah. It-" Naruto didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as a searing pain came from the back of his head. He fell to the ground and groaned in pain.

Kyler bent down, grabbing Naruto's chin and forcing him to look up at him. "You must really be some type of stupid to think I'd come alone." He pushed Naruto's head to the ground. "Do your worst but make sure he's still conscious."

The pain hit Naruto quick and hard. He curled into himself to avoid any blows to his face or stomach. They were relentless and he groaned in pain once they let up. He panted and looked up to see Kyler, Brandon and Lewis smirking down at him.

He cautiously stood up on shaky legs, the pain almost unbearable. "Happy now?" He spat out.

Kyler's smirk grew. "Eat shit, Naruto."

His fist came flying at his face, knocking him to the ground, losing consciousness.

When he came to, they were gone and he was alone in the back. He groaned and sat up. He lightly touched his eye and hissed at the pain, then he noticed something on his arm. His eyes widened and he quickly, as quickly as he could after getting beat up, went inside and into the bathroom.

He examined himself in the mirror, in disbelief at the giant black eye that was now on his face. "Damn." He looked down at his arm to also see a long and deep cut. He gently touched it and hissed at the lingering pain. "There is no way my wristband is going to cover this." He groaned out loud to himself.

The whole school will be able to see what happened to him and he was worried about the looks and judgemental comments that will be directed at him.

He sluggishly walked to his bed and threw himself onto it with a painful groan. If only he didn't promise Iruka that he wouldn't skip school. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, already dreading tomorrow.