Chapter 8 - Confrontations

"Sasuke you have a visitor," Sasuke looked up from his book to see his elder brother standing at the door of his room with his usual clipboard in his hand.

"Brother if that is your attempt to make me feel better; I don't think announcing yourself as a guest will work. You look kind of pathetic honestly." Sasuke replied whilst sitting on his bed with a book in hand.

"No Sasuke, it is not like that," He said whilst scouring the room, Sasuke not exactly sure what he is looking for. "You actually have a visitor."

Sasuke was shocked, he hadn't had a visitor in months, He stood up but before he could take a step Itachi appeared in front of him. He quickly started fussing over his little brother, "Okay Sasuke, now I want you to be on your best behaviour, be polite, listen intently and please don't do anything stupid."

Sasuke was about to move past his elder brother, however, the older Uchiha stopped him before he could even take a step. Sasuke looked up, confused at his brother, nevertheless he returned to his bed and sat down, "If I have a visitor shouldn't I be going to the visitor's lounge?" he asked

"It's not that kind of visitor Sasuke," Itachi stated.

Sasuke, still confused as he watched his brother poke his head out of the room, "You can come in now," he said in a hushed tone.

That is when it happened, his ex-husband, the Naruto Uzumaki walked through the door, "Hello Sasuke."

Sasuke stood up in shock; he could not believe this would happen, he never would have thought that his ex-husband would come visit him in the hospital, especially after all the things he did to him both during and after their relationship. Regardless, the moment he saw the blonde, time stood still for the younger Uchiha.

As the two stared at each other Itachi could sense the awkwardness rise in the room, feeling immensely uncomfortable he decided to break the silence, "I guess I'll leave you two alone for a moment," he looked at his watched and gently tapped it acknowledging the time, "Ah, Naruto would you like anything to eat?" he asked politely.

Naruto smiled cheekily "I wouldn't say no to some Ichiraku ramen,"

Both of the Uchiha brothers smiled at this comment, 'Typical Naruto,' Itachi thought.

"Haha, I'll see what I can do." he looked to his brother, "Sasuke?" indicating that he was asking him the same question but Sasuke simply shook his head.

Itachi left the room instantly to go to the room next door which was connected to Sasuke's room through the one-way mirror so at least he could watch his brother's response and make sure Naruto is safe during his visit. He picked up his phone and called Ichiraku Ramen, "Yes hello, can I order a delivery please?"

After he ordered the lunch Itachi picked up his notebook and his pen and whispered to himself, "It's time Sasuke, I hope you're ready."

Meanwhile, in the patients' room, Sasuke and Naruto were still staring at each other, neither one could figure out what to say to each other, it almost seemed as if they were trying to take in each other's appearance and body language to get a sense of how to even attempt a conversation. Eventually, Naruto decided to initiate something, "How are you Sasuke?"

Sasuke blinked, still trying to take in the situation before replying, "Very well thank you. I trust you are doing well also?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke; blinking, he was clearly confused. This amused Itachi behind the glass, he had forgotten how animated his once brother-in-law's expression could be.

Naruto stood there for a few minutes unable to respond to Sasuke's sincere politeness, it was still too odd for him, even despite already encountering it at court.

Since Naruto was not speaking, Sasuke decided to interrupt the silence, "Please sit down Naruto. I'm sure we have a lot to get through," he said gesturing for Naruto to sit at the table next to his bed that was in front of the one-way mirror that Itachi was using to monitor the situation.

Naruto snapped out of his daze and quickly nodded before taking a seat at Sasuke's little table, Sasuke then joined him taking the remaining seat to the left of him.

"I'm surprised that you even want to talk openly about this Sasuke," Naruto said quite timidly

The black haired boy looked into the blonde's eyes, "I have heard so many versions of our lives together Naruto. I have heard tales of deceit and lies, of heartbreak and depression; I need to hear your version. I need to know if there was some part of me that was actually good to you ever, I need to know the truth." He took Naruto's hands in his own, "I am ready."

"Sasuke, I cannot tell you whether your feelings for me were ever real, I can only tell you what I experienced in our relationship, my version of the events. But know this; despite everything I did love you, that for me was real. Only you can know if you felt the same for me," Naruto replied calmly, "Are you sure you're ready to hear this?"

Sasuke took a deep breath before responding, he stared at Naruto right in the eyes and replied calmly and steady, "Yes."

Slightly unsure, Naruto took a breath before letting go of Sasuke's hands and unleashing everything, everything he had kept bottled up from his ex. He talked about the budding friendship he felt they had, how he didn't understand Sasuke's initial attraction to him but quickly fell in love with him and the fact he would do anything to make him happy. But then he also went into detail about the control Sasuke had over him when they were dating, how he couldn't make friends or choose a life for himself that he wanted, how he gave up his dreams to be with him and how dead he felt inside whilst they were together. He went into the specifics about his depression, his attempted suicide and the heartbreak he felt over Sasuke's betrayal but how in hindsight he really shouldn't have been surprised.

Sasuke meanwhile listened intently to Naruto's every word, he did not argue or try to divert the conversation, and he just sat there and took in the truth of their ugly relationship. He was initially happy to know that Naruto did once love him but every time the blonde mentioned a flaw that he had or a past mistake that he had done he felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into his seat. He felt humiliated but more so disappointed in himself.

The blonde finally got to the point about the album, Sasuke immediately sat up, determined to appear interested and alert in the conversation, "If you came here to see if I was planning to sue you for slander or try to prevent you from releasing your album. I won't Naruto, I said at court I deserve any type of punishment you choose to give me, because I know that a lot more should be done to me for what I did."

Naruto waved his hand in response, "Oh no, no, I know how you feel and I believed you when you told me at the trial, that is not why I am here."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, "Then why are you here? Was it just to tell me your truth, I mean I admit I agreed and had to hear it at some point but is that the only reason you came here? Is that why you came home?"

Meanwhile Itachi watched completely engrossed in the scene. The whole time he was taking notes on what Naruto said and how Sasuke reacted and although he seemed to be responding well, except for the hand touching that Sasuke attempted to initiate. Itachi did not approve of that but nevertheless Naruto did not respond positively which calmed him down, Naruto wasn't getting his younger brother's hopes up and that made him feel better. It was clear to him that his brother was still in love with Naruto and although he knew he couldn't change that, it did worry him.

Sasuke had, in the past, had moments of self-deterioration and reverting back to his beliefs of Naruto's undying love for him and he certainly was concerned that his brother might misinterpret this meeting between the two as a possible rekindling of their relationship. For Itachi knew that Naruto did not want to get back together with Sasuke. But did Sasuke know that? He couldn't be sure before this day.

Naruto sighed, sparking Itachi's attention once again, he said, "Actually Sasuke, the reason I am here is that I am struggling to finish the album. I have one song left and no matter what I do I cannot finish it. My band thinks that it is because I never really properly confronted you about our relationship-"

"You never got closure," Sasuke stated.

"Yes, exactly," Naruto looked down, "I'm sorry if I have deceived you."

Sasuke reached across the table and grabbed Naruto's hands which worried Itachi even more but decided not to act yet, after all in was just a gentle touch surely Sasuke's intentions were innocent, surely, "Honestly Naruto, I am just glad you are here."

He gave the blonde's hands a gentle squeeze but it was not like the way he used to hold his hand, it wasn't possessive like he was trying to desperately cling onto him, he wasn't making sure that he couldn't run away. It was soft. Naruto looked up and faced Sasuke, taking in for the first time since the trial, how his ex looked now. His hair was a bit longer; he still looked like he was taking care of himself and despite living in a hospital he had a healthy glow to his skin. His voice was also softer than it used to be, not quiet but it had a sense of humbleness, not ignorance and cockiness like he used to have before. He clearly wasn't the drunk he encountered ten months ago.

As Naruto stared he noticed something, as he was about to open his mouth to speak Itachi burst into the room with two steaming bowls of ramen, the two immediately broke apart in an attempt to hide the hand holding.

"Lunchtime," He said.

Itachi placed the bowls on the table, one for Naruto and one for Sasuke.

Sasuke looked up at his brother, "Itachi I said I was fine."

"Eat your lunch Sasuke," Itachi said with a sort of poker face smile, the one that couldn't give anything away. He left the room again and returned to his hole next door.

"That was odd timing," Naruto said

Sasuke knocked on the glass of the mirror, "Itachi is on the other side of this to make sure I'm okay, stuff like this helps him monitor my actions when I am alone. I hope you don't mind, I really should have told you before…"

Naruto waved his hand embarrassingly again, "Oh no, no, Itachi did mention that the conversation would be monitored but I didn't know to the extent of it but I felt like I did not have the right to ask."

Sasuke nodded and the two started to eat their meals quietly. Naruto, however, got impatient rather quickly and scoffed the entire meal in a few mouthfuls. As he set his bowl down he started to look around the room in order to distract himself when his eyes came across Sasuke's easel in the opposite corner of the room. It was covered, along with what was assumedly canvas' laid against the wall.

Naruto stared at them, Sasuke had never shown any interest in art or any other creative outlets whilst they knew each other so this was a complete shock to him. "You paint?" he asked.

Sasuke stopped eating his dinner to look in the direction that Naruto was facing, "Oh yeah, you've never seen me paint before have you?"

"You painted when we were together?" Naruto asked shocked.

"Oh goodness no, not really. I, uh, doodled in a notebook when I was at school and work but no one ever saw them. Before that, I hadn't painted properly since…I was a child I guess," Sasuke replied, a bit uncomfortable.

"Why did you stop?" Naruto asked carefully.

"Why do you think?" Sasuke looked at Naruto unamused, "It was considered unacceptable for a Uchiha to paint, even the women in the clan do not paint. It certainly wasn't acceptable for the son who was expected to take over the family business."

Itachi from behind the glass shifted uncomfortably, mimicking his brother's actions unintentionally.

"Why didn't Itachi inherit in the first place? Isn't it usually the first born to do that?" Naruto asked

Sasuke eyes bolted to Naruto, "Don't tell me you forgot how angry my parents were when they found out that Itachi wanted to direct his studies more towards psychiatry?" Naruto thought about it, he did remember something about Sasuke's parents arguing and saying how disappointed they were. After that Sasuke seemed like he was the golden child to them. Looking back, he remembered that Sasuke had an emotionless look on his face, almost as if it didn't affect him. Naruto had no idea what Sasuke was thinking.

"After that it was my 'destiny' to inherit the hospital." When Sasuke said 'destiny' he said it with a lot of venom, "Didn't matter though. It turns out I would fuck up far worse than my brother so he ended up having the hospital anyway. It turns out your parents can't be as picky if both of their children are considered to be disappointments. It only made sense after that that Itachi should have had the hospital so when I fucked up they didn't dispute it, at least I can say I know Itachi is doing his job unlike I was when I was in charge." Naruto whimpered at the end, knowing that Sasuke was referring to the affair, but he didn't want to go into any more detail about it so he decided to change the topic back to Sasuke's painting.

"So you stopped painting when you were a child?" Naruto asked timidly.

Sasuke paused a bit, in an effort to calm down before he spoke again, "I guess that was the reason I was so hateful and discouraging towards your music. I was resentful about how I wasn't allowed to pursue art and that made me despise it, and take it out on you. You didn't deserve that Naruto, I'm sorry.

A while after I entered rehab I decided 'well I've already messed things up with my family, what would they care if I did what I want now. They didn't care when I was drinking myself into a stupor,' and I was right, it turns out the majority of the Uchiha clan are not big on forgiveness and for once I'm glad about that. They leave me alone and can finally paint again."

Naruto, not wanting to go into more detail about the family he once considered his own, looked back at the easel and Sasuke could instantly tell what the blonde was thinking, "Would you like to see them?"

Naruto blushed lightly, "Maybe just a little," he scratched his head slightly embarrassed.

'Kami, he is so cute,' Sasuke thought.

He stood up from his chair, leaving his half eaten ramen on the table, and gestured for Naruto to follow him. They walked over to the art corner and Sasuke started to unveil his artwork, showing Naruto one by one. There was a mixture of the realistic and abstract pieces, some were landscape paintings, which Sasuke told Naruto that they were taken from memory; there was also portraits of Itachi, Kakashi and Iruka, and some of the canvas' were just splashed of colour and shapes.

"Heh…these ones were done when I went through some pretty bad days. For some reason though I can't get rid of them." Sasuke said.

"These are amazing Sasuke, truly," he said intrigued, "Is there any more?"

"Uh yeah, a few sketch pads, every now and then I like to change my medium. Some paint, some pencil, I've even got a few pastel pieces around somewhere," Sasuke said standing up to look through his bookshelf to see if he could find any of his old sketchpads, whereas Naruto was back to staring at the covered easel again.

"Hey Sasuke, What's under here?"