Chapter 1 ~Scars~

Sasuke POV

I waded through the hallways filled with students. I made my way outside where I sat alone instead of eating. I took out my textbook and notes and reviewed for the next exam. It went suddenly silent as the blonde slowly passed everyone outside. He was stopped by someone. "Hey you! Blondie. Why don't you wipe of those whiskers on the side of your face!" He laughed and so did the people around him.
"I can't. They're-" He stuttered.
"How about I help you!" He said and punch him in the face. The blonde stumbled backwards. I stood up but people crowded around them. I made my way to the front and saw the bully with his hand in a fist, and the blonde boy preparing himself to get hit. I ran forward. His fist hit my open hand.
"Bullying is not allowed on school grounds, nor is fighting." I said.
"Move it, Uchiha. Stop being the good guy. You're an emo. You're a loner. You're no better than him. You're good for nothing. Your-"
"You don't think I haven't been called those things?" His eyes widened. "I guess you're not used to being undermined."
"Fuck you, Uchiha." He punched me in the face leaving me on the ground. "I'll leave this for today, but the next time, I won't go easy." Everyone left and did what they were previously doing, as if nothing happened.
"Um... thank you. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." said a small voice from behind me. I wiped the blood that was dribbling from my nose.
"Sasuke Uchiha." I said. "And no problem." I said. I heard someone run up.
"Sa-su-ke-kuuuun!" I could know that voice from anywhere, not in a good way. It was annoying Sakura. "That was so cool! How you just stopped him with your hand!" She turned to Naruto. "And I'm happy your safe, Naruto." she said in a calm, soothing tone, as if he was a lamb or baby deer. She walked up to him. "Hey Naruto." She fiddled with her skirt.
"Huh?" He asked.
"I was wondering... if maybe you'd like to..." The bell for class rang. "Never mind." She smiled.
"Okay. Bye Sakura!" She waved and ran off to class. I gathered my stuff and walked through the stuffed halls once again. Class was boring as usual. When school was finally over I went out to the front and waited for the courtyard to clear up before I left. It was around 6 when the courtyard was finally clear. I closed the book I was reading and slipped it into my bag. I walked to the front of the school and headed home, until I saw Naruto. He was waiting alone on a bench.
"Hey Naruto." I said. He jumped from the sound of my voice and looked up at me.
"Oh... Hey Sasuke." I guess I wasn't the one he was hoping to see. I looked at his hands and saw there was a note.
"What's that?" I asked. He looked down.
"A love letter. Probably fake." He said. I looked behind me at the school mural and saw a group of people, laughing. I glared at them.
"You gonna head home, now?" I asked.
"Maybe I'll wait a while longer..." I took the note out of his hand. "Hey!" He said. I walked over to where the people stood.
"Here's your fucking letter." They stood there, shocked. One person had forgotten to put away their phone. I reached into my pocket for my wallet and grabbed out 12000 ryo and handed it to the girl.
"What's this for?" She asked, lowering her phone. I took her phone and threw it on the ground and stomped on it.
"That." I said and walked off. I grabbed Naruto hands and began heading home.
"Hey! Hey! Where are you taking me?" He said.
"Do you have anyone at home waiting for you?" I stopped and turned to him.
"No. I um... live alone." He looked down at the ground.
"Then you're staying that night. My brother is working late, so it'll be fine." I continued walking toward the train station, where I usually the last train or second to last train into the city, about 2 hours on foot to get to, and 30 minutes on the train. "You can decide if you want to go. I'm going to start heading out so I don't have to walk forever." At first I didn't hear him running after me, but then he did.
"What about your brother?" He asked.
"I don't give a shit on his opinion, or about anything he does." I said.
"Why not?"
"Because he-" I stopped. Why am I even telling this to him without even thinking? I stayed silent the rest of the way and bought two tickets.
"I can pay for myself!" He tried pushing forward, but I stopped him.
"Let's hurry." We reached the train just as the doors were closing. The old man sitting by the door pushed the emergency open door button and the door opened again. "Thanks, Ojii-san." He bowed with his head and we took our seat. I took out my phone and texted my brother, as he told me to do every day; Heading home. Bringing a friend. Not that you'd care. I closed it up and placed it in my bag.
"You never finished what you were saying. Why don't you give a shit about him?" I pulled out my book and began to read. He pulled it down and faced me. "Don't ignore me!" My eyes widened. No one ever did that, they would just go and do something else.
"Why do you care so much?" He shrugged.
"I guess I just do." I used my book to cover my face, hiding the blush that just came over my cheeks. "So you gonna tell me or not?" I shrugged.
"Maybe later."
"Better late than never." He smiled. I couldn't help it, he was just so cute at that moment, so I rubbed his head. "What was that for?" He asked, blushing. I jumped and grabbed my book, covering my face again.
"Nothing, dobe." I said. His face remained shocked for a second before smiling. "What's that smile for?"
"Nothing!" The train stopped 30 minutes later at our stop. I breathed in the city air. "So this is Tokyo! Awesome!" He said, gripping the railing and leaning over to see the cars passing under the bridge. He turned to me. "Why did you decide to go to Konoha Academy and not a school here?"
"The further away from my brother I am, the better." The city light illuminated the night sky, shadowing the stars from human eyes. "Stay close to me. You can get lost easily here with all the people out at night. And also the gang that walk around, you could get hurt."
"Okay!" I heard his stomach growl. "Hehe." He scratched the back of his head.
"You like anything in particular?" I asked.
"Ramen!" He said in a cheerful tone. I thought for a moment. I've seen a ramen place somewhere, but I forgot where. I walked around looking for it. Suddenly, I felt the feeling of loneliness and found Naruto was no longer behind me, or anywhere near me.
"Naruto? Naruto!" I called out. I retraced my steps and found him nowhere. I heard my phone ringing. I opened it up and picked up the call. "Hello?" I said, my voice slightly panicked.
"Sasuke? Is that you?" At first I didn't recognize the voice but then relaxed. It was Naruto. "Where are you!? I told you to stay near me!"
"When we were going through the huge crowd, I called out for you, but you couldn't hear me. When I was finally out, I couldn't find you, so I started looking for you and now I'm in an alley, because it was quiet, so I could call you." I sighed.
"Tell me your surroundings." I heard voices in the background appear, showing that he was walking out to look around. "Read the name of the building across the street."
"I can barely read it. It's a shady place. I think it says... The Hideout?" I gasped.
"I'll be right there." I ran and pushed my way through crowds and found the Dark Club, The Hideout. I saw the blonde boy being coaxed in by the long haired bouncer. I walked up. "Come on, Naruto." I said, my voice dark, trying not to get the attention of the bouncer. Naruto didn't budge. "Naruto, come on." I grabbed his hand and turned him to face me. His face was grim, bangs covering his eyes, tears flowing down his cheeks.
"Sasuke, brother! Come on in!" I glared at Itachi, the bouncer, my brother.
"What did you do to him?" I yelled.
"All I did was use the power of persuasion to coax him in, like I do with all of our customers." He said in a calm, soothing tone. "You should come in as well, you can drink away all your problems, remove all your scars, but only mental scars. Not the physical ones." He held out his hand. "Come on, brother. You know it's the right thing to do." I hit his hand away.
"Get the fuck away from us!" I yelled. I took Naruto's hand and ran towards the bright lights, indication the middle of the city. On the outskirts, I found a convenience store. "Stay here, I'll be right back." I didn't want to leave him outside, but I didn't want to drag him with me. I grabbed some instant ramen and drinks. I went to the cashier.
"Will that be all?" He asked with an unanimated tone. I saw some pocky and took a box placing it in front of him. I paid and he handed me my bag. I saw Naruto sitting on the bench near the store. He was looking down and swinging his feet. He looked so sad, yet so cute.
"Hey Naruto." I said, catching his attention. He looked up and I placed my hands on the side of his head. I pulled my hands away. "Just kidding!" I said, embarrassed. He smiled up at me.
"I don't see how that was supposed to cheer me up." He said, sarcastically.
"Um... you see... like... I was but then I didn't... so yeah." My face was red.
"Good enough reason." He stood up and we walked to my house.

When we got there, I was exhausted. It was 10 now. "I'll make the ramen." I said. I went in the kitchen and filled the bowls with hot water. When the three minutes are up, we started to eat. "I got some homework to do, so you can watch TV if you want." I handed him the remote and grabbed my bag. He lay down on the couch while I sat at the table in front of him. I started tapping my pencil on the table. My mind wandered back to the scene in front of The Hideout. What was Naruto crying about? What had Itachi told him? I heard the TV turn off.
"Sasuke."
"I have to finish my homework, dobe. Can it wait?" I turned to him.
"Itachi told me stuff that only I should know. How could have found out stuff like that?"
"I don't know. There's stuff that I never told him, and he knows it."
"Like your scars?" It seems he was holding that in for a while. "Sorry... I..." I took off my tie and removed my shirt. On my back, arms and stomach were scars. His hands reached out and touch my arms.
"Five years ago, when I was 12, Itachi raped me." I said quietly.
"You don't need to force yourself!" He said, surprised.
"I'm choosing to tell you, otherwise, I wouldn't be, dumbass." I felt his hand trace up my arms and down my chest. He's the only one I've shown my scars, and probably the only one that will ever see my scars. Then he removed his shirt too.
"Years of bullying." I expected to see maybe bruises or multiple scars, but instead there was only one, running down from his collar bone to the bottom of his ribs. "They wanted to fight me in a dark alley, I was pretty innocent then, didn't know the dangers. Someone from one of the apartment complexes and found me bleeding out. Got me to the hospital right on time. Never fought against anyone since then." The scars on my wrists are from cutting myself, but the others are from the crash, when my parents died. I leaned my head on the couch.

"Some scars never heal." I whispered.