A/N: Slowly recovering.


Fugaku didn't walk around the bed to go comfort his distraught wife. He didn't reach out to her to try and take away her pain. He didn't do anything.

He only watched her break down, sobbing.

After what seemed like an eternity, Mikoto was finally able to pull herself back together and built herself back up. Angrily wiping away her tears, as if angry at herself for letting them run or even for producing them, she composed herself.

She met the steady, unapologetic gaze of her husband. Taking a shuddering breath, she couldn't decide if she would've been more angry if he had even tried to appear the least bit guilty. Because if he really had been guilty of his actions, he never would've even had the affair, let along entertained it for the last six years.

Just that thought made her blood boil.

She had been made a fool, and now she was going to return the favor.

"How could you?" she seethed lowly, her hard glare leveled on his face. "For thirty-one years, I've loved and remained loyal to you. I've given you two sons, neither of which you've ever even appreciated!"

That stung.

Of course Fugaku loved both sons he'd had with Mikoto, he just didn't know how to show it. He's never been an affection man, he'd always been aloof and strict, cold and stern. It didn't surprise anyone more than himself, his actions towards Sakura.

He may not seem like a man capable of love, but he did love his first two sons. And for Mikoto to even suggest that he didn't, made something in him twist with anger.

Narrowing his eyes at his first wife, he showed his disdain for the accusation.

But she ignored it and continued on with her tirade. "Did you ever love them? Because I'm starting to think you never did. They never could live up to the impossible expectations you bore down on them. Itachi was beyond smart and capable but he wasn't moldable or obedient enough for you. Sasuke may not ever match his brother in sheers smarts but he's the most hard-working person I know. But that didn't matter to you, you didn't care. He was never good enough!"

Fugaku clenched his fists as the anger at his wife's words built up.

"Do you know what you've done to either of them? You ran one of them out of his own home because you couldn't concede even one inch! You just had to have it your way. The only reason he came back was because he thought he had a child somewhere out there. He wanted the support of his family. If not for that, I don't think he ever would've come back, and that would've been all your fault."

Mikoto was spitting mad now, finally able to speak the thoughts she'd had locked up all these years. But now she was using them as weapons to hurt her husband. She wanted to put him in his place.

"And your other son? You broke down his self-confidence. He's always been insecure because all he ever wanted was your approval but he saw that he was never good enough in your eyes. You didn't even have to say it. One look into your eyes and he just knew he didn't measure up. Not like his aniki, no, he'll never be as good as his aniki. Itachi might've been his idol, but you were his kami. Just even a shred of respect for all the effort he put into everything he did would've had him over the moon with happiness. But you never gave it to him, because he was never good enough for you!"

She was only just getting started and she was planning to lay all the blame at his feet.

"And now? Now that he's a a full-grown man who never got your recognition of his effort as a little boy, he's insecure in his own person. He makes rash decisions he doesn't think through because to him, it doesn't matter. Either way, he'll have to face the consequences and the knowledge that he'll always fail in your eyes, so what would it matter if he spent a hundred hours thinking it over or just a split-second?"

Fugaku opened his mouth to say something, he didn't know what, but it didn't matter because he was silenced before he could even decide what he was going to say.

"No," Mikoto snapped, "I've held my tongue for this long. You will wait until I'm done."

Fugaku's jaw clicked shut and resumed its clenched state.

Satisfied that she had put him in his place in this aspect, Mikoto continued, "Sasuke has his own family now, if it can even be called that. He loves his son with all his life, no one can ever doubt that, but no love is spared for his wife. True, it may have been us who'd forced him to take responsibility of his actions, maybe even at the sacrifice of his own happiness and freedom, but he never gave his wife a second chance."

The tears slowly started again, but for a different reason this time. She was crying for her son, not for herself, and she was okay with that.

"He never gave her a second chance to prove that her love and affections for him were real. He never gave the mother of his son the chance to show him that he could be happy with her. Instead, he's obstinate in his opinion of her. She'll never be good enough for him. She'll never be able to satisfy him. She'll never be the woman he's loved since his high school years, even if that woman barely even gave a glance in his direction."

The acknowledgment of who that woman was and how she played a role in all of this remained unspoken for now.

"Why? Because you never gave him a second chance to prove himself! He doesn't know how to give someone else a second chance because he's never been given one by the person who counted the most." Her throat choked up with emotion. "It is only now after I've forced him to stop drinking and forced him to get professional help that he's starting to see that things could be different, that he could be happy with his wife, that he could move on from his unhealthy, unrequited love-obsession."

The intense anger that flowed through her veins gave her enough fuel to finally take a jab at the other woman.

"I don't even know what's so special about her anyways. What's so appealing about her that makes not just one man, but two stray from their marriages? It's obvious she has many other suitors." Four others, she had counted, her other son and nephew included. "But what makes her so irresistible that she's able to entice a stone-cold man like yourself to indulge in her?"

Mikoto watched as her husband's jaw clenched even tighter as she defamed his other wife.

"Itachi's told me all about her and her violent past. A gang member who was known for her brute strength," she spat out like she was disgusted, "how uncouth of her. She even almost killed someone before she left her gang. How could you even be with someone like that? She shouldn't even be allowed to raise a child with a past like that!"

She immediately regretted those last words right after they left her mouth. Because as a mother, herself, she would never want her children taken away because of a past mistake. But the words had already escaped her mouth and were out in the open.

Fugaku couldn't take it anymore. "Hold your tongue!" he bellowed. "You don't know a thing about her. How dare you say something like that!"

He hadn't known about her yakuza past but it hadn't come up because it wasn't really something you wanted other people to know and because she was completely reformed, there hadn't been a reason for her to bring it up. Why rehash the past when it doesn't affect you anymore?

"She's changed," Fugaku started, trying to reign his temper back in. "She's a completely different person and has been for long enough that I never would've expected it because she'd walked away from that life out of her own vocation. She's not itching to get back into it, she's closed that chapter in her life."

"She clearly hasn't changed if she's been whoring herself out to married men! She didn't even stay loyal when married to you. She's been sleeping with your nephew this whole time!"

Mikoto felt dirty for saying those words but she really couldn't stop herself at this point. She flinched back when Fugaku punched the wall beside him. No matter how intense of a man he was, she's never seen him lash out physically like that in the almost thirty-five years she's known him. She'd also never seen him painting or even sketching in that same amount of time, but he had picked up the pen and brush for her.

Her jealousy and rage consumed her.

But even then, she watched warily as Fugaku's shoulders moved with his labored breaths, his fist still clenched against the wall. Mikoto was surprised that his fist hadn't gone through the wall with how loud of a sound it had made.

"Do. Not. Talk. About. Her. Like. That," he muttered dangerously as he peered up at his first wife through his bangs that cast a shadow over his darkened eyes. "If you are going to attack someone, attack me. I made the first move. I didn't stop her when she reciprocated it. I didn't tell her I was married."

Mikoto took a step back, the hurt clear on her face. Even now he was protecting the other woman. The intruder. The mistake.

"I do not regret anything I've done with her. I do not regret the son I've had with her. I do not regret the love I feel for her," Fugaku freely admitted. He didn't stop even when the tears formed back in Mikoto's eyes. "If you are going to blame someone, blame me. I take full responsibility for everything."

Mikoto was on the verge of another breakdown, hearing the words coming from his mouth was enough to make her go crazy with grief.

"Why," she uttered, her voice thick with tears. "Why did you do it? Just tell me why. Didn't you ever love me, or did I just never measure up like the sons I've given you?"

Some of Fugaku's rage fizzled out when he saw the look of pure despair on Mikoto's face. Running a rough hand over his face, he shifted his weight away from the wall and straightened up. "I did love you, I still do."

Mikoto couldn't help but brighten up a little at that. "Then why did you do this to me. How could you do this to me, if you loved me?"

"Would," he started, peeking through his fingers at her, "would you believe me if I said, 'I don't know'?"

For both their sake, Mikoto could only shake her head sadly. She needed an answer. They both needed an answer.

Taking a deep steadying breath, Fugaku dropped his hand from his face and looked to the floor to gather his thoughts. "I think it happened because I saw in her the woman I would've wanted to pick for myself."

Silence.

"Mikoto, our marriage was arranged by our fathers but I've never begrudged you for that. I never did and I never will. To me, it was just one more thing for me to give up in my life. One more thing for me to sacrifice. I might've just been numb to not having my own free will by that point." Fugaku shut his eyes tightly when he saw the tears gathering in Mikoto's eyes once again. "I don't regret it. I've come to love you in my own way, and both sons you've given me."

Opening his eyes back up, he continued, "I would've been completely content and happy with living out the rest of my life with you and not knowing anything else. I'm not good with my emotions. My art was my outlet, but I gave that up to take up the family business so Madara could keep his. I was willing to give everything up to keep my otouto happy. I'd do it all over, if I had to."

Now Mikoto was crying for him. She knew of the backstory but she never realized just how deep down it went. By the time she met him, he'd already become the misunderstood, emotionally-stilted person he was today. But now she understood why.

"I think if I ever had a choice, I would've chosen someone like Sakura to spend the rest of my life with. She was everything I didn't know I wanted and needed. She completed me."

A stab of pain spread through Mikoto's chest. She couldn't take it anymore. She just couldn't take it, seeing that preciously smitten look on his face while he thought of another woman. She was pretty sure he didn't even know he was making such a face or that he even had the ability to. It hurt too much. So even though she now understood why, she still wanted to hurt him out of spite and she had every right to do so as the wronged party.

With her head bowed, her hands balled into tight fists, and her tears once again angry, she spoke quietly but clearly. "I want you to tell everyone. I want you to call everyone over and I want you to tell them everything. Anyone who might or might not be involved, I want them here to hear the ugly truth. And then I want you to end it."

When she finally looked up, she only saw defiantly resigned despair in his eyes.


You know that bad feeling Sakura's been having? Well it's quadrupled and quintupled since, times a gazillion.

Why?

Well, to start off, she got an ominous message from Fugaku today at work saying her presence was required at his house tomorrow morning.

She'd gone into work today for a half-day to make up for her week off while Rei had his half-day at school. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been expecting and waiting for something to give, for something to break. It was clear as day, the reason why she was being summoned. She'd have to be way too ignorant to not know why.

The second reason, and more painful reason, was Rei's tears. And the fact that she was the one to cause them.

Coming to a decision on what she was going to do, and remembering Madara's ultimatum, Sakura had sat her baby down on her lap after cleaning up after dinner and told him with a shaking voice, "Rei-baby, there's something Mommy needs to tell you."

Rei was a smart boy and had picked up on his mommy's distress quickly. He didn't say anything beyond furrowing his eyebrows.

Clearing her throat once to try and strengthen her voice, she continued, running her fingers softly through his bangs to try and soften the blow, "You might need to say goodbye to all of your little friends soon."

Rei's eyebrows furrowed even further before he understood. Angry and betrayed tears pooled in his big, bright onyx eyes before he wretched himself out of his mommy's arms, they suddenly didn't feel so safe anymore.

With an indignant and horrified "NO!", Rei escaped to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Sakura broke down crying on the couch. All alone.


A/N: Would you guys believe me if I said I didn't know exactly why Fugaku had his affair with Sakura until I wrote this chapter? I just threw them together and made it happen without figuring out why they went together because their pairing held the most shock factor. I always had "reveal why" in the outline for this chapter, but I never decided what the reason was until I actually typed it out. Oops.

Another "oops" moment, I realized that I've been remiss in my little cultural fun facts. For those who didn't know, Japan starts their school year in April, unlike most countries that start in August/September. They have trimesters, their summer break is in August, the hottest month of the year, then they have winter break in December, and a break between school years, which is called Golden Week, if I'm not mistaken, equivalent to spring break. Some schools also have half-days on Saturday and most, if not all, have remedial classes during summer and winter break for those who didn't do so well on their end-of-term exams. Everyone also has (shit-ton of) homework assigned for each break in the school year. This is knowledge I've gleamed from years of reading school-based mangas, if I got it wrong, then...my bad.

Thanks for reading and please review!

Updated – 10/15/2016