Chapter 13:

Sasuke's Parents: Fugaku & Mikoto's Story

Lets take a step back by turning the clock back around 19 years. Its early in the morning on a school day. The sun rays beam onto Fugaku, plastering his clothes onto his skin. It was considerably more humid than usual. Due to this, he was getting a decent tan as of recently. In a beat of annoyance, he pulls his shirt from his body to separate his clothes from the sweat and give himself some air. The distance from his home to school is about a ten minute walk. Even though this could be considered a drag, one thing keeps his hopes high; Mikoto.

Mikoto lived right in the middle, between his home and school. It's their senior year and Fugaku didn't know how to feel about this. School is ingrained into you from a young age. When you no longer have to go to school, that means you're on your own to make your own decisions and make something of yourself. At least, that's what you're expected to do. Once he is about a block away, he can see a figure in the distance. The pavement blurred his vision from far away, but he recognized who it was anyway.

"Good morning, Mikoto." he says as he rushes over to her side.

"Hi, Fugaku." Mikoto replies, with her school bag in hand.

The two of them resume walking. They remain silent for a while. Fugaku didn't know what to say after the night before. All while Mikoto didn't know how to even start a conversation with the events of last night still fresh in her mind. He wasn't sure if he should hold her hand or apologize. This wasn't the first time, but this time was different. The air gets heavy and tense and weighs down on them.

Eventually Mikoto speaks up and says, "Listen Fugaku. I don't really know how to feel about last night."

Fugaku, who was trying to avoid eye contact, looks at her and replies, as if he was completely unaware, and says, "What about last night?"

"Well… you know. The thing… it broke."

"Ah, yes. I know what you mean."

They we're now pretty much adults, they knew that when they did "it", it needed to be safe, so they used protection. The night they were referring to was a completely different story. In the heat of the moment, his protection broke, leaving the two of them vulnerable to an accident. And this "accident" happened. All this was something that they didn't expect, not in the least. It was definitely a new occurrence.

"I don't think we have anything to worry about." Fugaku says. "Surely, since this was the first time that this has happened, we should be OK." The tone of his voice sounded more calm and collected than his heart really felt. In reality, he felt insecure about the whole mess.

"Oh, well good. I sure hope so." She says.

The two of them walk all the way to the school and head off into their classes. Arriving early, as usual, they go their separate ways. They had very different classes and very different interests. Thankfully, as it was their senior year in High school, classes were easy and ended earlier compared to the other grades. Fugaku looked most forward to his very last class of the day which was drama and art. Once its time, he steps inside the dark auditorium to his favorite class. It was composed of just around twenty students, of all shapes and sizes. Half of the class was drawing and sketching in their free time, while the other half was on the stage, preparing props and painting the background for Romeo and Juliet.

The teacher stands up from one of the theater seats, claps his hands flamboyantly, and says with a sarcastic tone, "OK class, gather up class. We're now going to start, class."

One by one the teacher points at the art students, giving them new things to paint and objectives. Some of which have to do with the upcoming stage play. Afterwards, he pulls out his script and reminds everyone in the drama class of their roles. Three were assigned to the stage, two for lighting, one for sound, and the rest were acting. Fugaku was thankful he got the lead role as Romeo. He wished in his heart of hearts that Mikoto could've been his Juliet in the play, but she was definitely not an actress. Not at all. Not by a long shot.

The scene was set. A half painted street that was supposed to be Mantua was behind them. Fugaku steps into the play as another student, playing the role of Balthasar is waiting.

Fugaku grabs his chest and says partly, "How now Balthasar – How fares my Juliet? For nothing can be ill, if she be well!"

The other student, as Balthasar, replies, "Then she is well, and nothing can be ill: Her body sleeps in Capel's monument. Her immortal part with angels lives... O, pardon me for bringing these ill news."

After wrapping up the scene, the teacher claps her hands again to get their attention and round up the actors.

"Students, before we continue, I believe we need to understand the context of this moment and what it means for the ending. Now, we all have seen this play many times and we all know the ending, right?" the teacher asks.

Everyone nods in agreement.

The teacher continues, "What are some of the major themes in Romeo in Juliet?"

One student raises their hand and says, "Love!"

Another student says, "Death!"

"Family and authority!" a third student says.

"All right answers." The teacher adds. "But you all are forgetting one important, major theme; youth. They were both teenagers. The two of them had so much to live for, but both consequently died for a love that lasted only five days. Was it worth it? If you look at it one way, you could say that they loved each other so much that it made sense to go through the lengths they did. On the other hand, had they never met they would have lived much longer lives and avoided every misfortune that fell upon them to begin with."

After the teachers lecture, they keep practicing, rehearsing, and getting ready for the play, which was about to premiere it's first showing in two weeks.

On the other side of the school, Mikoto is in her calculus class. Around her are three other students. The teacher handed them out assignments to complete, so they were spending their downtime doing so. Since the four of them were in the Math Club. Mikoto throws down her pencil to the table and takes a deep breath of relief. The three other students all gasp in awe at her performance.

One of the students gets up and says, almost annoyingly, "Wow! I don't know how you completed the equation that quickly Mikoto!"

"I don't know either, it just clicks in my head, I guess." Mikoto replies with an understated tone. She wasn't one to show off, normally. This was one of the things she was best at, and if that meant other students would get jealous, then so be it.

"We're going to totally ace this completion and this years South East Math Regional." Another student says.

The teacher, who was sitting at her desk reading a newspaper goes up to the four of them and says encouragingly, "You guys are going to be awesome! I'm sure there's nothing that can stump you all!"

The regional math contest was coming up soon, just one day before Romeo and Juliet was set to open. Mikoto made sure her math regional didn't interfere with Fugaku's performance. She wouldn't allow anything to get in between them. So the time passed and flew by. All with a lingering thought in both of their heads, it was about that night. They hadn't done it since then. And, to be honest, the two of them were so busy they didn't even have time for each other, romantically speaking.

It was on a Thursday evening, after school. The students start arriving at the auditorium at a rival school. A big sign was posted at the entrance, written in big words was:

South East Regional Math Contest

Fugaku looks from the front doors and sees all the kids and teens around him. He felt completely out of place, this definitely wasn't his crowd. Many of those surrounding him wore ugly thick glasses and had faces covered in oil and acne. While others we're big and bulging, like cement walls. He runs over to the stage and looks for Mikoto. After moving around from one end of the platform to the other, he finds her talking to a fellow participant behind the curtains.

He waves his hands and arms wildly and yells out, "Mikoto! It's me!"

This gets her attention and she ends her conversation with the student. She goes over to his side and hugs him.

"I'm so glad to see you here! I know this kind of thing isn't really your style." she says.

Fugaku, looking at some of the passersby, replies, "No kidding. Regardless of how I feel about this whole thing, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. So, tell me, how are you feeling?"

She finishes hugging him and puts her hand on her stomach. "To be honest, I've been having cramps and nausea all day. I don't know why." she says.

He puts his hand on her stomach, as if it would give her relief and replies, "It's probably just your nerves. Lord knows I get nervous when I'm on stage. At least I have a script that we have all studied for months now. You don't know what you'll get. That's one of the things I love about you, you're smart and capable. Never doubt that."

Mikoto is left speechless. She can feel tears swell up in her eyes and covers it with her hands.

Fugaku gets nervous and says frantically, "I'm sorry Mikoto. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'll just-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Mikoto kisses him in the mouth. He could see she had her eyes closed. He puts his hand on her cheek and can feel the heat from her body radiating. After a few seconds, they let go of their embrace.

She wipes the tear from her eye and says, "Thank you, Fugaku!"

He laughs and replies, "You're welcome."

Mikoto turns and walks back to her designated seating area behind the platform. Before she closes the curtains behind her she yells out.

"Fugaku!"

He scratches his head and replies, "Yes?"

"I love you!"

Immediately after saying this she closes the curtains behind herself, not even waiting for a response. Fugaku is stopped by these words. His heart ached, but not painfully. It was a good feeling that he's never felt before.

Under his breath, he says to himself, "I love you too."

Fugaku then sits at his appointed seat at the very front of the auditorium. Once the competition starts he made sure that he was Mikoto's biggest fan. Every time she made an answer, he clapped loudly and even whistled at her. All she could do was blush at his display of appreciation. After a few hours the event ends with Mikoto's team winning the competition by a landslide. Fugaku couldn't wait any longer. As soon as the other students began to disperse, he climbs up the platform to give her a big hug.

"You did so great! I knew you would!" He says to her, so loudly that it echoes.

"Aw, thank you! I wasn't too sure of myself." she replies.

"And one other thing."

"Huh?"

He kisses her on the forehead and says, "I love you too."

The following day is a big one for Fugaku. The auditorium at their school is full of parents, fellow alumni and kids. Though, one person stands out to him more than the rest; Mikoto. Fugaku's hands were shaking as the crowds voice got louder and louder as every new person entered to watch their performance. Fugaku was already dressed up as Romeo. He had got everything set up for himself extra early to ensure that nothing could go wrong. And if something did, it had nothing to do with him.

Mikoto arrived to the school and got to the stage area, behind the painted boards that appeared to be old scenes from the play. From the side of her eye, she can see a frantic Fugaku pacing back and forth. He was walking so fast that you could get dizzy if you looked at him.

"Fugaku!" she yells out from just outside his vision.

He turns around and immediately smiles. "Mikoto!" he yells out. "I already feel so much better seeing you here!"

They embrace each other. Mikoto can feel him shaking with nervousness and anxiousness. This was an important event for both of them. Something that he had rehearsed, studied and practiced for months to make sure he got every single beat down perfectly.

She presses both of her hands onto his and says, "Here, my warmth will give you strength." She kisses him on the cheek and adds, "You're going to be just fine, so break a leg! Remember that I'll be watching from the third row all the way on the right."

Her comfort brings him a peace that no one else could offer him. He felt relieved, as if the pressure that was building up inside him had just been let out to vent from a hole in his heart.

Eventually, the lights dim down and the stage is the only thing that is in plain view. The play goes on for a few minutes, without a hitch. Beat by beat, point after point, scene after scene. After some minutes, Juliet is up at a painted board with flowers just below it and a small railing surrounding her.

The female student playing Juliet points out to the air says, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father..."

While the student is saying her lines, Fugaku starts looking at the crowd to check and see for Mikoto. He see's her seated where she said she would be. His heart races at the thought of her being proud of his performance. He put his heart and soul into it. Once the girl stops speaking her lines, this is the cue for him to do his aside, allowing him another chance to look at the audience.

"Shall I hear more..." he says. But when he looks at Mikoto again she see's a teacher whispering something into her ear. Whatever the teacher said to her causes he to being whimpering and step away from her seat and exit out the back door in a hurry.

He breathes heavily as he says, "...Or shall I speak at this?"

Then Juliet goes on speaking her lines. Even though he was still acting and playing his role, Fugaku couldn't put his heart completely into it. The girl he loved just walked out on his perform, and for what reason? He didn't know. He had felt angry at Mikoto and at the teacher for whatever she said.

Once the performance was over, the sea of people surrounded him. His goal was to go to Mikoto and see what would happen, but he was delayed by new doting and adoring fans of his. Students patted him on the back, gave him the thumbs up. Adults cheered him on and told him he did a great job. All this went in one ear and out the other. He wanted out, he needed to find Mikoto. He wanted to tell her off. He was so supportive and always there for her when she needed him, why couldn't she do the same?

He clenched his fist as he ran off to the school office. He found the teacher who had spoken to Mikoto.

"Teach! What happened to Mikoto? Where is she?" He asks angrily.

"Oh, Mikoto? She received an urgent call from her mother. I felt it was necessary that I send her home."

"Why is that?"

"I think you should ask her."

He immediately runs out the side door and heads back home. His mind was full of things he wanted to tell her, yell at her. He felt as if she had left him all alone in his moment of need and desperation. Fugaku just wanted to tell her off and send her on her merry way. About half way to Mikotos house, he sees her sitting next to a tree staring at the river flow.

Fugaku bit his lip. His mind continued to burn with insults. She abandoned him to stare at some water? What gull! She had some guts to do that! He steps with all the weight of his body, down onto the floor, kicking small rocks over and crushing leaves on the grass that just happened to be in his way.

As soon as he's behind her, he screams out, "Mikoto!"

This doesn't get the reaction he was expecting. She seemed to not even notice his presence at all. This pisses him off even more so he pulls her by the shoulders and forces her to turn around. The pull makes her tears land on the ground from her cheeks.

"Mikoto… why are you crying?" he says, now a little bit worried from her disposition. She, still in limbo, says nothing. He goes on, "Mikoto! Why did you leave during the play? Do you not love me anymore? What's going on?"

Through the tears and through her pain, she wipes her face clear with her sleeves.

"Fugaku..." she says weakly.

"Yes?"

"I-I-I..."

"Yes?!" His patience starts to wear thin.

She finally summons up enough energy and mutters out, "I'm pregnant."

Fugaku immediately lets go of her shoulders and holds onto himself in a daze. He felt as if the world had ended around him. Like a man on a boat in the middle of the ocean without a map, lost at sea.

"You're pregnant?" he asks with a shaken, weak voice.

"Mhm." is all she could reply.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, giving them time to let everything sink in.

"Fugaku?" she asks after regaining her composure.

"Yes?"

"What now? What do we do now?"

"Well..." he didn't know exactly how to reply to that question.

"Are you going to leave me? Leave me all alone to take care of our future child?"

At that moment, Fugaku felt he knew the answer. After seeing Mikoto there, her tears, her feelings put on display, determination filled his heart.

"Tell me, Fugaku..." he says with his new found resolution, "...if we have this baby, do you promise to take care of it with me forever and ever."

"Yes! I promise you I will." she replies.

Fugaku puts his hand on her stomach and kisses her cheek. He says, "So then, would you marry me?"

Mikotos frown turns into a bright, familiar smile. With a sparkle in her eye and a heart full of happiness she says, "Yes! I'd love to be your bride!"

Almost nineteen years later, Mikoto and Fugaku are sitting at the dinner table, patiently waiting for their son to return home. Fugaku, grabs onto the table to give him support as he stands up. He goes to the coffee maker and pours a cup of coffee for both himself and Mikoto.

"Thank you!" She says cheerily.

"Of course, honey." Fugaku replies.

After taking a few sips of coffee, Mikoto wonders, "I hope they get home soon."

"Don't worry, I know they will." He replies with a sense of security in his voice. "Don't you remember how we were when we were kids?"

"That's true. In a lot of ways, Sasuke is more prepared for the outside world then we were then."

"Absolutely, plus he always has Hinata to help him. So we have nothing to worry about."

Fugaku finishes his coffee and sets the mug on the table. He grabs a picture that was hanging on the wall. It was a family picture of Fugaku hugging Mikoto from behind while she held onto Sasuke as a baby in her arms.

He looks at her and warmly says, "We never had anything to worry about, as long as I have you and Sasuke has Hinata."