Cuts & Bruises

Chapter 7

"I don't know. She seemed nice to me." Naruto replied with a shrug. "Anyways, let me tell you about this great idea I had last night!"

Sasuke tuned out of their conversation, thinking about the past two days. He was happy that he wasn't in any pain but it raised some concern for his soulmate. He hoped everything was okay.

"What's on your mind?" Neji whispered to him.

"Just hope everything is okay with my soulmate." He kept his voice low, not wanting to involve Naruto and Kiba.

"I'm pretty sure it is. You would feel something if it wasn't."

"I'd hope so."

The two fell into silence and soon the bell rang for the next class to begin.

For the rest of the day, Sasuke felt himself going through the motions. Thankfully, Naruto didn't seem to pry into his business, instead filling the silence with his own voice talking about things that weren't really important.

At the end of the day, as he was saying his goodbyes to Neji, kiba and Naruto in the front of the school, Kakashi and Iruka appeared.

Neji and Kiba politely said their goodbyes, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone with the two teachers.

"You want a ride home, Sasuke?" Iruka asked the raven.

Sasuke looked over to Naruto who shrugged in response. He faced the brunette. "Yes please."

"No need to be so formal, Sasuke. We're people too." Kakashi laughed.

Naruto snickered as Sasuke's cheeks slightly slushed. "Yeah Sasuke, teachers are people too."

"Shut up." He hissed.

The car ride was quick and Sasuke thanked his teachers for the ride before saying goodbye.

He walked up the stairs and into his mother's room. He sat down in the chair and stared down at her.

She seemed to be looking up at the ceiling, not in her usual comatose state but a more so not really here look.

"Not much really happened today, mom." Sasuke started, grabbing her hand. "I'm more worried about my soulmate though. I haven't woken up in pain these past two days, and it's been a long time since this has happened. I'm getting worried. Neji said not to because if something did happen to her, I would've felt it. Kind of like you." He paused but didn't see any reaction. "But I'm really starting to like Naruto, I think we're going to be friends." He smiled to himself and then looked over at his mother.

His eyes widened.

She was smiling up at the ceiling.

Sasuke quickly stood up and hovered over her. "Mom?!"

She glanced at him briefly, the smile still on her face before it slowly started to disappear and was once again replaced by a void look.

Sasuke quickly scrambled down the stairs just as Itachi was finished setting up the table.

"Oh good, I was just about to call you down." Itachi said. "I made burgers."

"Itachi, guess what! Mom-"

Itachi cut him off with his hand. "Let me at least start my dinner before you start with this."

"But Itachi,-"

"Sasuke!" He gave his little brother a glare.

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut and sat down in his seat, waiting for his brother.

He watched impatiently as Itachi set up the food and began to eat. He refused to touch his plate.

With an impatient sigh, Itachi set down his burger. "What, Sasuke?"

"Mom smiled at me! She actually smiled!" Sasuke stated, practically flinging himself across the table,

Itachi closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Like I've told you before, Sasuke. It was just a-"

"No!" Sasuke slammed his fist on the table. "I was telling her my story and she smiled at me. She was staring at the ceiling and smiling and when I went to look down at her, she looked me in the eye!"

"Enough!" Itachi snapped, standing from his chair. "I'm fucking sick of hearing about this, Sasuke! She's not coming back from this! Doctor's have tried everything and nothing works! When the fuck are you going to grow up and accept the fact that that woman in her bed is not our mother? Huh?! Stop this fucking nonsense, Sasuke!"

Sasuke was taken aback at his brother's outburst. He didn't say anything as he left his unfinished plate on the table and slowly walked into his room.

Once he was on his bed, he allowed himself to let out tears he was holding back. He took out his razor from his nightstand. He stared at the metal object before making the first cut.

The physical pain was a relief from what he was feeling inside. He cut himself a few more times before placing it back in its place and cleaning up.

He decided to skip his homework that night and went straight to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.