Cuts & Bruises

Chapter 14

Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring. He groaned as his body screamed in pain. On shaky limbs, he got himself sitting up in his bed and with a heavy sigh, stood up and began to get ready for school.

After finishing getting dressed, he made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He saw Iruka and Kakashi talking over the stove as they were making breakfast. He leaned against the doorframe. "Morning guys, uh, where's the aspirin?"

"Morning Naruto, it's in the-" Iruka stared wide-eyed as he realized the condition that Naruto was in. "Oh my god." He put down the spatula he was using and made his way over to the blonde. "Naruto, what happened?"

"You didn't sneak out last night, did you?" Kakashi asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Iruka gave him a glare. "What did we say about that?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. I didn't sneak out. It happened when I was taking out the trash. He wanted payback for me breaking his phone back in the group home."

Both Kakashi and Iruka looked at each other in bewilderment before turning to him. "Why didn't you say something to us?!" Iruka practically shrieked.

Naruto grimaced and turned away from them. "That's the thing," with a sigh, he turned towards them, gaze on the floor, as he held out his bare arm to them. "And this isn't from the fight."

"Your soulmate?" Kakashi asked solemnly, staring at Naruto's arm.

Naruto nodded silently.

Iruka pulled Naruto to his chest, holding him tightly. "I'm so sorry, Naruto."

"It just sucks." Naruto muttered, staring at the wall as Iruka still held on to him. "She's in so much pain and I can't do anything but be helpless here, doing nothing."

"I know it's hard," Kakashi walked next to him, placing an arm on his back as he looked at Iruka with a sad smile. "But all you can really do is just be there. You'll meet her when the time is right, when she needs you the most."

Iruka nodded and pulled Naruto away from him, gently. "That's right. So until then, stay strong, alright?"

Naruto nodded before giving him a grateful smile. "Thanks guys, I really appericiate it."

"Now, let's eat breakfast and head on out to school, shall we?" Kakashi clapped his hands together as Iruka rolled his eyes and Naruto laughed.

Sasuke groaned as his alarm went off, signaling it was time for school. Pain ached throughout his whole body, including his face. He hissed as he tried to rub the sleep out of one his eyes, the ache turned into pain. "Shit." He muttered to himself as he sat up in bed. He walked over to his mirror and sucked his teeth at what he saw.

His face was slightly swollen and red, but what really caught his attention was the dark, large bruise around his eye. He groaned, this was worse than the one from the other day. A hood definitely wouldn't be enough to keep it hidden.

He quickly got dressed and ready for school as a plan formed in his head on a way to hide the bruise. He finished getting ready in record time and sneakily made his way to his mom's room.

The nurse wasn't there yet and his mom was fast asleep. He quietly stepped in and walked over to her dresser that held her jewelry and make-up. It was organized neatly but covered in a tiny layer of dust from unuse.

He narrowed his eyes as he carefully looked over the names of the make ups that were lined up. His eyes widened as he spotted what he was looking for. He picked up the bottle that read "Foundation" and opened it carefully.