title: cold tea
pairing / characters: Fugaku & Mikoto - because Sasuke's parents are too sophisticated for portmanteaus - a splash of Itachi, and a smattering of Sasuke-kun.

for: Rebellia – after more than four months of waiting. DDD:

summary: Their beginning is auspicious—they meet at three, are seated at Table Five, and eat seven small courses, all in a row.

notes: I am pleased to bring you the piece that Rebellia suggested I do…twenty chapters ago. Meant to revolve exclusively around Uchiha!parents as a couple, but, well…things happen?

warnings: Liberties taken with canon. Meant to be sort of disconnected.

disclaimer: nope nope nope. not mine.

Their beginning is auspicious—they meet at three, are seated at Table Five, and eat seven small courses, all in a row.

It is a good marriage, into a good clan and her family is content. The man before her is strong—all angles and sharp edges, with dark slanted eyes, an aristocratic nose, thin lips set in a permanent frown. She views him with a half-sense of detachment—a collection of separate parts that come together to make up an apparently remarkable man, if the stories are to be believed.

(He is cold, but she brushes the fact aside—wishing otherwise is frivolous, and she has never been that)

Their tea is bitter, so she takes small sips, and does not complain.

-

"He will be strong."

It is not a supposition, but a fact. Fugaku knows this. The Uchiha blood runs steady in the veins of this one, hot and full of the fire the clan is known for. His grip is strong, his eyes clear, and his face, an almost-replica of the perfect symmetry of his parents' combined features. This last observation, he thinks, is a trivial one, but he cannot help but smile at the thought of the man he is going to be.

"He will be strong," Fugaku repeats, a mantra he will regret.

Mikoto turns away to nurse her first.

-

When Sasuke comes, there is time for softness.

Fugaku is on a mission, specifically requested by the Hokage. He will be angry when he returns, she thinks, and the thought is an impish one. She shifts the precious bundle, so Sasuke is more visible, and smiles.

He has her eyes.

Her eyes, her mouth, her skin—her legacy is imprinted on every piece of this child, and Mikoto is content. Itachi is all hard lines, is such a serious child, and does he ever smile? Certainly not at the Academy, they say,and certainly not at home, she thinks.

Itachi is his father's son, solemn and sure, and already so grown, and she wonders what to do to make him stop, and breathe, and live.

He will graduate in Spring.

-

"He never looks at me the way he does Itachi."

"What do you mean?"

"He's so…different with him. Itachi is someone he is proud to have as an Uchiha. I'm not sure he feels quite the same about me."

"That's ridiculous. What happened to your spirit? You were never like this before."

"These walls, they…"

"…Mikoto?"

"…"

"Mikoto?"

"…Oh, I-I'm sorry. Sasuke will be coming home, soon. Thank you for the tea."

-

The silence is deafening.

They are locked in a Cold War, and Mikoto knows there will be no winners, only survivors. During the day, she cannot help but try to alleviate the ever-growing tension, though her efforts are always rebuffed with little more than a pointed look.

At night, her sleep is fitful.

"Goodbye, Sasuke," she says, almost mechanically, handing him his bento.

"Is everything all right, mother?"

"…"

"Mother?"

"You'll be late if you don't hurry. You'd better go. Be careful."

She will not lie.

-

It's almost painless, the way he cuts her once, twice.

(Itachi is merciful in small ways, and she is thankful for that, if nothing else.)

Fugaku falls beside her, face frozen in disbelief, and she is numb. She wants to curse him, wants to hate him. This is his monster.

This is her son.

The light glows dim, and she stares into the eyes of their own shared blood. The apathy there is a testament to her failure.

-

(and then,

and then,

after the end, but before the beginning)

"Next time."

"What?"

"Perhaps we'll get it right."

I'm working on the PeinKonan as we speak. Expect an update this weekend - an extra-long oneshot that should cover three of my less specific SasuSaku requests.

Thanks for your patience guys. )