Better Than Before (A NARUSASU FANFIC)

CHAPTER 10: Back to Square One

Sunday passed in the blink of an eye. The sun rose once again, marking the beginning of a new week. Naruto slowly fluttered his eyes open, adjusting to the light. His head was aching due to all the booze had downed the day before yesterday. He felt sore in the throat, and his body pained with exhaustion.

He yawned loudly before scanning his surroundings.

'Where am I? Ah... it's the living room.'

He tried to sit up but failed due to the sedative that hadn't worn off yet. He gave up as he tried to remember what had happened earlier.

'Oh... another panic attack, huh. It's been a while since I had one. Heh... I thought I was over this, but I guess not.'

He mentally shrugged and slowly tried to sit up once again, succeeding this time.

'Thank Kami mom wasn't here - no!! Mom IS HERE! No, no, no... Shika must've given her a call. Now she'll ask me to go for therapy again... I don't want to argue with her again. It's tiring.'

He laid his head back on the armrest, shielded his eyes from the sun with his arm, and sighed. Naruto was so lost in his own world that he didn't notice a woman with red hair approaching him.

"Good morning, sunshine,"

Kushina spoke cheerfully as she stood just beside her son, towering over him.

"It's time to go to work. You don't want to slack off just after a week, right? Trust me, your pay will be cut if you do so, 'ttebane."

Kushina acted as if it were just any other day, and Naruto soon realized her efforts. However, one sentence caught him off guard.

"Work...?"

Naruto asked in his hoarse, morning voice.

"Yes!"

"What happened to Sunday?"

"Well, you slept through...hehe."

"NANIIIII??!"

Kushina chuckled, ruffled his hair, and went to the kitchen to make him breakfast. She decided that it was best to let Naruto take the initiative to talk about his condition.

Naruto, on the other hand, was disappointed of having wasted his precious Sunday.

Nonetheless, he got up and lazily strode to the bathroom, having no desire to face the day lying ahead. He closed the door behind him, removed his shirt, and stopped in front of the mirror to check upon himself.

He began with his eyes, which were red and puffy. Slowly, his gaze shifted to his lips, which had lost their moisture. He then scanned his face as a whole. It looked as if he had just emerged from an old, faded photograph. His vision trailed down to his body.

His once-tanned skin, which had lost its usual glow, was adorned with marks from his days of boxing. However, unbeknownst to all, there were a few self-inflicted scars that decorated the area near his abs from nearly a year ago.

He was reminded of those days when he had become addicted to slashing himself. His guilt had completely taken control of him. There were voices of devils that used to force him to bring pain to himself. He hated listening to them, so getting himself to bleed was his only option to drive them away. And nobody knew that he had overcome this phase all on his own.

He didn't do it anymore, but there had been a time when self-harm had been his only way of seeking repentance. That was also why he joined the underground boxing club — to harm himself in a socially acceptable way. However, he couldn't show his weak side to Sasuke, so he had omitted this little detail.