My Lover's Keeper

26. The Past

Uzumaki Kurama was, to put it shortly, a genius.
At age eight he had already graduated high school; the youngest high school graduate in all of Konoha. He had a bright future ahead of him, until the event that changed his life completely.

The year his parents passed away was the year he was supposed to start college. Except he never did, the foster parents didn't care much about the education or the well being of any of the kids in their custody.
Kurama's potential was wasted on house chores and looking after the rest of the foster children.

He was the only one of the bunch not legally required to go to school, therefore they used him any way they wanted. He was a cook, a cleaner, a babysitter.... He was whatever they wanted him to be.

He wasn't even the oldest child but they threw all the responsibilities on his childish shoulders, so when he didn't obey them he was punished even harder than the rest of the kids.

They wanted him to be an example, that being smart doesn't exclude you from the system and their plan worked just fine.

Kurama remembered the first and last time they ever hurt his baby brother.

Naruto was a toddler. He wasn't feeling well and he asked for their actual mom. It was the first time since the accident that Naruto had ever mentioned their parents.

"I want my mommy" Naruto held on the his small brown teddy bear, the only momento he had of his parents.

"She isn't coming" the woman said as she ate from her plate. Her husband and her plates were filled with a different kind of food than the one the kids were offered.

They were offered oatmeal; stale, cold and tasteless. Whereas their supposed parents were eating hot herring soba, with multiple appetizing side dishes.

Kurama would have talked to Naruto to eat up but talking in the dinner table was not allowed.
"Kaasan" Naruto called again. Kushina had always looked after him. She would make him the most delicious soup and she'd hold him right in her arms and hum her lullaby.

"Naruto-..." Kurama started but his foster father interrupted with a cough to not defy the rules. The redhead bit his lip.

"Your mother isn't coming back. You parents have abandoned all of you. They don't want you anymore. That's why you're here, now eat up" the woman said in the coldest tone. He was the youngest, so she tried to tolerate that behavior a second more.

"Liar" Naruto looked at her with teary eyes. He knew why his parents weren't coming back, Kurama told him before. He just misses them a lot, why was it such a sin? Why were they not allowed to go visit their graves?

"What did you say, boy?" The man got up from his seat and so did Kurama getting Naruto behind him.

"He's sick, he's not thinking straight...please" Kurama saw the anger rise in their eyes, he wasn't helping the situation one bit with his defiance.

He was dragged away by his hair as he struggled to get to his brother, their foster dad's grip tightened and few hair ripped from his scalp as he pleaded for her to not hurt him.

His eyes widened in horror as she tore the teddy bear in half then raised her hand. The sound echoed in the dining room and in the silent house.
"Get up!" She yelled at the child who laid motionless on the wooden floor. "I said get up!" She nudged him with her foot.