Cuts & Bruises

Chapter 11

"Whatever. Fuck you, then." Sasuke frowned as Naruto turned and walked away from them. He watched him walk back into the building before getting nudged. He turned to glare at Neji who was giving him his own glare.

"Way to go, Sasuke." Neji hissed out.

"Yeah," Kiba rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I feel kinda bad now. The poor kid's gonna get his heart broke."

Sasuke gave a scoff and crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever, we warned him, right?"

"You didn't have to be such an asshole about it." Neji shot back.

"You were a jerk."

"You guys didn't help either. Keeping quiet like that." He glared at the two of them as they gave him knowing looks. He rolled his eyes before sighing and uncrossing his arms. "Alright. I'll apologize tomorrow. Happy?"

Kiba smiled brightly at him. "Very."

Neji shrugged in response. "It's a start."

"See you guys tomorrow." He gave them a wave as he headed towards his bus.

The ride home was quick. As he walked from the bus stop, he couldn't help but to think about Naruto going on a date with Sakura. The problem being he knew Sakura's intentions and unfortunately the blonde was too naive to see it.

When he reached his house, he practically took the steps two at a time before entering his mom's room and closing the door. He pulled the chair to the side of his mom's bed and looked her over.

Her eyes were staring straight ahead as she was facing towards Sasuke. Not moving.

He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Mom, I don't know what to do. Naruto just asked this girl out, Sakura, the one who's obsessed with me. And I know she's just using him to get closer to me, and I tried telling him that but he just got mad at me." Tears of frustration pricked his eyes and he used the heel of his hand to press against his eyes. "I just don't know what to do, mom."

He felt a hand on his knee and he looked up, shocked to see his mom looking at him, a slight frown on her face. "It'll...be, okay." She managed to speak out. Her voice was low and raspy.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Mom?!"

Her frown very slowly turned into a smile and her fingers gently trailed over his skin. "Everyth...ing, will be...okay, Sas-" her voice trailed off and her eyes seemed to dim before his eyes. Her hand went limp and fell to the side of the bed, dangling back and forth.

Sasuke stood up do quickly, the chair fell backwards from the momentum. "Itachi!" He yelled loudly. He ran out of the room, screaming for his brother until he reached the kitchen where Itachi was glaring at him from in front of the stove.

"Why are you screaming like a maniac?" Itachi continued his glaring as he watched his little brother bend forward, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Mom!" He managed to gasp out.

Itachi rolled his eyes and turned back to the dinner he was making.

"Sh-she spoke to me! And she put her hand on her knee!" Sasuke managed to spit out as he finished composing himself. Itachi turned to face him, his eyes carefully studying his little brother, looking him up and down. "She IS getting better!"

There was silence between them as Sasuke stared at his older brother, expectantly. Itachi slowly narrowed his eyes. "I can't fucking believe you, Sasuke."

The hope and slight smile on Sasuke's face dropped and he gave his brother a look of disbelief. "W-what?"

"I can't believe you'd make something up like this." Itachi sucked his teeth and angrily began to stir whatever he was cooking for diiner. "Un-fucking-believeable."

Sasuke glared at the back of his brother's head. "You think I'm making this up?! Why would I do something like that, Itachi?"

Itachi slammed the spatula down at the counter and turned to face him. "Okay, you really want to do this? Let's do this."

Sasuke was taken back by the sharpness of Itachi's voice.

"All you've been doing for the past week is talking about some little thing about mom. Mom did this, mom did that. You started off with small things because we both know I wouldn't fall for a dramatic change. And when I wasn't giving you the attention you so desperately wanted, you made sure you got your little dramatic move. This is so childish and annoying, Sasuke." Itachi's glare turned almost sinister and Sasuke felt himself deflate mentally. He looked at his brother dejectdely.

"Lying just to get some damn attention, get the hell out of my face." With that being said. Itachi turned off the stove. He then walked out of the kitchen and past Sasuke, giving him a not so gentle shove with his shoulder, and walked out the front door.

Sasuke looked at the spot where his brother was standing just moments before. Soon, tears filled his vision. He never felt so empty. He grabbed at his hair as he fell to his knees, trying to hold back his cries. He took a few deep breaths before standing up, determined.

He walked to the stairs and took them two at a time before he reached his bedroom. He slammed the door closed and stomped his way over to his nightstand, pulling the drawer out roughly.

He grabbed for his razor and sat at the edge of his bed. Looking down at his wrist, he brought the blade to his skin. He firmly pressed down and dragged the blade, making a horizontal line. It instantly turned an angry red, blood rushing immediately. He felt almost an instant sense of emotional release. He made a few more cuts until he felt better.

He placed the razor back in his proper place before cleaning his arm. He then went downstairs to order something for dinner. He knew his brother wasn't going to come back tonight, he'd be lucky if Itachi was even home in the morning. He let out a sigh as he accepted that tonight would be just another lonely night.