For @flashfictionfridayofficial and brought into focus by some comments in the Discord chat.
Fandom: Naruto
Iruka-centric, but future(?) Kakashi/Iruka
WC: 1095
Further Than Skin Deep
No one really understood how or why it started, or why it struck the way it did. After all, everyone has fears, and people who admitted to phobias weren't horror shows to look at. Not even those considered cowards by, well, most everyone.
Regardless, it was really inconvenient for Iruka right now. The bruising first manifested on his chest, where it could be hidden and ignored. Well, not ignored, truly, because he couldn't resist putting his hand over the spot. Poking at it. But he could ignore, put off, meditating upon the reason it may have appeared at all.