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.

Naruto had always been strong, if not for himself, then for his family. However, whenever he had one of his anxiety episodes, he felt as if he had lost his psychological battles, and he was ashamed of it. Ashamed that he wasn't strong enough to overcome his darkness. He might have been the ray of hope for others, but inside, he was devoid of warmth.

While looking at himself in the mirror, he brought his hands up to the new blue marks on the sides of his neck.

"These are pretty bad..."

He voiced his thoughts as his fingers caressed the bruises. They had formed as a result of Naruto's grasp when he had choked himself.

"I am sorry, Sai..."

He muttered quietly as the memories of his recent episode came rushing to him. Those memories brought along another set of voices that were threatening to get louder by the minute.

Naruto closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm himself. The whispers soon faded away, leaving the blond in a state of peace.

He opened his eyes as he let a tear roll down his face. He wiped it quickly and reached for a small orange kit in the cabinet below the sink.

'I should cover these up.'

He opened it and began concealing his bruises, hiding the scars of his suffering using creams like he had always done.

However, on the other side of the city, there was another boy who was in a similar situation.

Sasuke was left naked in the cell for the entire weekend. He wasn't let out until his father opened the door, holding another man roughly by his collar.

"Oh... I forgot you were here. Get out,"

These were the only words his father had spoken to him after that session.

And now, he was standing in front of his mirror, looking at his body with disgust. His eyes trailed over the new scars that had formed over his abused torso.

"It's already looking deformed..."

He bandaged the deeper wounds and applied a cooling cream to the other bruises. However, he also knew he would have to visit the hospital on his way to school, so he carried a few bucks with him.

He managed to bear the pain as he walked and turned towards a narrow alley until he arrived at a small clinic. The place was very well hidden, which made it convenient for him to go there without attracting too much attention. Even his father was unaware of this place.

"Excuse me, Dr. Umino!"

Sasuke knocked on the wooden door, calling out to the man he had always turned to for medical assistance.

The man in question rushed to the door and opened it for Sasuke. He smiled at the raven-haired boy and invited him inside. Sasuke entered a door on the right and seated himself on a small couch.

"So, how bad is it this time?"

Umino Iruka asked as he handed Sasuke a small cup of coffee.

"Pretty bad, probably like what happened last month."

"That bad?! Come here, let me have a look,"

Iruka almost panicked as he remembered how bad Sasuke's condition had been when he visited him last month.

He remembered how Sasuke's blood was seeping through his bandages. He even had to stitch up some of his cuts.

Sasuke slowly stood up and reluctantly removed his shirt. He was never comfortable exposing his insecurities to anybody, but he was used to showing them to Iruka. He had been a regular there for quite a while now.

"Holy shit, Sasuke... I'll have to take a quick x-ray."

'I don't understand how he is even walking... Why would a father do this to his own child?'

Iruka was shocked. He knew Sasuke was a victim of domestic violence, but today, he had come with terrible marks. He quickly took Sasuke to another room to get an X-ray done of his ribs and upper limbs.

"Your last three ribs are slightly cracked, my boy."

Iruka spoke as he examined Sasuke's reports. He tended to his bruises gently and then wrapped his torso tightly so that walking would not aggravate the pain.

He asked Sasuke to rest for the day, but Sasuke couldn't afford to skip school.

"I am sorry, but I really can't skip school. I have to study."

"I know, but it's just one day -"

"I know you mean well, doctor, but I really can't stay. Thank you, I will leave the fees on the table."

"You don't have to, Sasuke. I told you I won't take money from you."

"Hn."

Sasuke ended the conversation and walked out, of course leaving the money on the table. Iruka sighed as he looked at the raven-haired boy leaving.

'I wish I could help him more...'

* TIME SKIP * LUNCH BREAK~

As promised, Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to come, but more so than ever today. He needed a distraction from his shitty thoughts that forced him to pity himself. He was not someone who deserved to be heard; heck, he thought he wasn't even worth anybody's time anymore. However, he still wanted the raven to pay attention to him.

He had Kiba and Shikamaru, and he loved them both equally. But there was something different about Sasuke. Naruto knew that they were already more than what some would label as friends, despite only knowing him for a mere 7 days. However, he wanted to strengthen this 'brotherly' bond and not lose it anytime soon.

And so, here he was, waiting for Sasuke, his newest connection, his emotional support, his biggest distraction, and his novel goal.

However, the entire hour passed, but Sasuke didn't turn up.

'Is he busy? But he promised me... Wait. Did he forget?! No, Sasuke isn't forgetful. So, is he again ignoring me? But why...?'

Naruto was scared. He contemplated many possibilities as to why Sasuke didn't show up. He began overthinking until he came to the conclusion that coming to a conclusion without giving Sasuke a chance to explain was not fair.

Naruto stood up and went to the next lesson, waiting for the classes to end because Sasuke had strictly warned Naruto that they were not supposed to be friends during the lessons.

* TIME SKIP * AFTER SCHOOL, NEAR THE SCHOOL GATES~

Naruto was once again waiting for the Uchiha, who was running late.

Sasuke had already seen Naruto waiting near the gate from the main corridor, which was why he didn't dare go outside. However, upon seeing that the blond wouldn't even budge from his place, Sasuke decided to confront him head-on.

Sasuke knew what this was going to be about. He was aware that he had broken their promise, and it had been completely intentional. Sasuke had his own reasons for avoiding Naruto.

'Let's end this once and for all... I don't want to suffer anymore. *sigh* Here goes nothing...'

Sasuke pretended to ignore Naruto and walked past him when Naruto shouted from behind.

"Sasuke!"

'Ah... there it is, the voice that I missed so much.'

Sasuke thought as he turned around to face him. His mind was filled with admiration for the blond, but the words that escaped his lips were spiteful. How ironic.

"What?"

"Why didn't you come for lunch? I was waiting, dattebayo..."

Naruto's voice sounded sad, and Sasuke hated that he was the reason Naruto sounded like this. But he had already made his decision.

'Losing hope hurts more than never having one. Sorry, Naruto.'

"I just didn't want to eat with you, so what?"

"What...?"

Naruto's eyes widened when he listened to Sasuke expressing so bluntly.

"Did I do something? Are you mad at me?"

Naruto asked curiously, holding onto the last thread of hope that maybe he could still fix things between them.

'I don't deserve you, dobe, you need better people around you. I'll only bring you more trouble...'

Sasuke thought before replying,

"You didn't do anything wrong. I just didn't like spending time with you."

With this, Naruto was deeply hurt. He couldn't understand why Sasuke was suddenly taking everything back to square one.

"Are you serious? Wh- Why?"

Naruto's voice cracked, and Sasuke could clearly see the pain in his godly cerulean eyes.

"You're annoying."

Naruto was left stunned and broken. He didn't know what to say to that anymore.

"OK... I'll stop bothering you from now."

Naruto almost whispered the sentence, but Sasuke heard it.

"Thank you, sensei."

With that, Sasuke turned around and walked away. He didn't want to say any more hurtful things to Naruto.

'I'm sorry, Naruto, but I don't know what else to do. I thought I could be a little selfish. I thought I could keep wanting you. With you, I thought I could be saved. I found hope in you. I thought I was allowed to feel this, but yesterday was an eye-opener. But even if I could keep dreaming of this, I know you will never want someone like me, at least not in the way I want you to. And knowing this hurts me. I don't want to be hurt anymore. I know I'm pathetic, and you deserve better. Thank you, Naruto. You were the best thing that ever happened to me.'

A/N: So... this right here is another trash chapter, but I do hope you liked it. I was having a writers block in between, so please bear with me this time. (ToT)I also thank you all for reading it 🙇🏻‍♀️Please like, share, and vote if you like the story (^∧^)See you all in the next chapter!!Author sound out ~ ✌🏻