Blood Sucking Lawyers

Chapter 2

Sorry for the delay, but you all know how the update loops go. I'm so glad everyone enjoyed the first chapter. I know a lot of you expressed to me that you fell into the "i'm mad at Sasuke trap because he's a jerk, but I think he's supposed to be so I forgive you" trap, but this chapter gives a different perspective, and hopefully you all see that it's just me trying to stay in character. I'm not sure if i'm going to the the chapter swap point of view thing, but...oh shut up Harley. Just enjoy guys.

"So?" Naruto threw that morning's newspaper onto the kitchen table where Sasuke was drinking his coffee and checking his e-mail in front of the laptop he never failed to keep with him at all times. The corner of the paper landed on Sasuke's hand, and stopped him from typing- momentarily. "Who do I have to thank for this lovely bit of news being on my doorstep first thing when I wake up?" Sasuke glanced briefly at the headline that was splashed across the center of one of the many newspaper columns. He didn't bother to read the whole thing, but it was obvious from the title that their little secret was out, even if the public didn't know to what extent the secret went. God dammit. It had been exactly fourteen hours since the fund-raiser. Who the hell found this out so quickly? Did they have spies in his bedroom now? No matter, thought Sasuke. It would pass, as all press does, and he had plenty to deal with on his own without worrying about photographers. Although Sasuke had to admit that the picture of a glaring Naruto in one column was quite well done for how short the exchange had been.

"Hn. They seem to think it's my fault you look so angry, so...I think that would probably be your lawyer's fault, dear." Sasuke knew it wasn't true, but the anger on Naruto's face was evident when he walked into the room, and whether Naruto knew Sasuke was watching him approach was irrelevant, as he figured that another fight was starting. There were no more good mornings. If Naruto was going to be angry at him, then Sasuke was going to at least give him a legitimate reason to be. He wasn't going to sit here being yelled at when he had done absolutely nothing wrong. Sure, maybe last night hadn't exactly been a can of peaches, but he was innocent of anything that might have happened since they had woken up. Either way, it worked, and Naruto's face went just a tad more red in his anger.

"Bullshit, and you know it. I haven't even talked to Gaara yet, and I know I sure as fuck haven't said anything. This isn't on my end, so you figure out how to fix it."

Sasuke simply kept typing. He could practically feel the room heating up as Naruto directed his rising anger at Sasuke instead of the world in general. It was standard morning procedure. Naruto was incapable of waking up in a good mood, although Sasuke often still did even if the good mood didn't last long, and someone always had to be the cause of it. Sasuke had turned focusing Naruto's anger onto himself into an art form. Naruto was going to yell at him anyway, eventually, so he may as well spare the rest of the world his bad mood, and let him get it all out in the morning. It was really so much better than waiting to see what stupid reason Naruto had to be mad at him that day. So Sasuke just woke up, waited for the first sign of trouble, and went with it,. Got it out of the way. Sure Naruto usually ignored him the rest of the day, unless he wanted sex, but that was better than the anger. And really...how fucked up was that, Sasuke wondered.

"And how do you propose I fix the press, Naruto? If I could do that don't you think I would have a long time ago? Maybe I did do it. Don't you think that would make the most sense?" His voice was calm, and empty of emotion. He knew Naruto hated that too, but Sasuke rarely cared to scream anymore. There was already enough of that in the house.

"Yeah, I'd bet anything this is coming from your...wait...what? Seriously!?"

"Yeah. That would explain the 'let's blame Sasuke' train going through my kitchen right now. No, you loser! As if I don't have enough problems. As if I want our business out on the front page." Naruto had the decency to look ashamed at not having thought of that, but the feeling was fleeting. Sasuke lowered his voice to one more gentle. He didn't want to fight. Not really. It was fine a year ago, but now he was just tired. If a fight came looking for him he would take it, and he'd win, but he didn't actually want to fight. They never fought before, not really, and he didn't enjoy doing it now, but like hell he wasn't going to give as good as he got. Still, he took the lull in volume to bring the conversation back to something a bit more docile. "Don't think about it too much. There was probably just some jerk at the fundraiser with a big mouth, and a bigger camera. They would have found out either way, and I'd buck up a bit if you're too sensitive. It's going to get a lot worse before this is all done."

"Too sensitive?! I had enough of this shit back when we first started dating, and then when we had our first fight, again when we got married, again when we started looking into adopting, and now this. I've dealt with every bit of it with a closed mouth and a smile, so don't you tell me I'm being too sensitive, you ass!" Sasuke really didn't want to do this again. It was the same thing every freaking time. Accusation; made by Naruto exclaiming how Sasuke had failed him in some way. Reversal; made by Sasuke where he pointed out that he wasn't the sole commander of the universe or Naruto's pain, and that Naruto was sometimes responsible for some things. More Screaming. Placation; where Sasuke reasoned everything away with logic. Discord; where Naruto decided he was still angry anyway, and it was still somehow Sasuke's fault. It was always the same. Now was the part where Sasuke shut down so he wouldn't have to fight, again, with the love of his life over something that wasn't his fault, and where Naruto just kept yelling even though he no longer started fights with the intention of fixing the issue. He would scream until Sasuke either ran out of ideas on how to make him feel better, or until Sasuke got fed up and just ignored him. After last night Sasuke really had no motivation to bother with anything. He wasn't going to sit here and be the emotional punching bag for a man who didn't even care enough to talk to him about anything anymore. He didn't have the care to scream back the way he used to. He hadn't in a long time.

Sasuke didn't actually know anymore when 'a long time' was. All he knew was that sometime shortly after they had started the adoption process, which had been an amazing experience for them until things went sour, they had been on totally different pages. Literally sometimes. Sasuke hadn't really cared that Naruto's new found love for writing had taken him away from the business. Naruto was right about one thing: he just didn't have a head for numbers the way Sasuke did, and he had been taking a back seat in the driving mechanics of such a large business shortly after it got big. Naruto had made that choice himself. When Naruto had told him that he was effectively quitting, though he still technically kept his half of the ownership, stocks, and profits, Sasuke hadn't minded. Naruto showed up where he was needed, helped with the digital marketing from time to time, which it turned out he was good at, and did the important business meetings that required both of them. It hadn't been a big deal. In fact it had been a good choice. It gave them each their space to do what they enjoyed, yet still let them work together occasionally the way they had when they were younger and first getting started.

It hadn't lasted long, and they'd had this fight as many times as the others, but it was both their faults. Sasuke required more time at the office, and less at home. Naruto eventually stopped being at home, and began traveling once he got published. What little they had in common to begin with was gone, and it had all just blown up. They had fought every day of their lives, but it wasn't until a year ago that the fights had begun changing how they interacted. Nothing Sasuke did was good enough for Naruto. He was never home enough, never cared enough about Naruto's work, didn't talk enough to anyone, didn't care enough about anything, and apparently, somewhere along the way, Naruto thought that Sasuke was cold to him just to get him to shut up. He couldn't win. If he wasn't home it meant that he didn't care. If he was home then it was because he was obligated. If he ignored Naruto's work he was self-centered. If he was interested he was being nosy and disingenuous. He couldn't fucking win, and so Sasuke stopped bothering, and that had resulted in him being called a cold, emotionless, asshole. Sasuke didn't agree. Sure he was busy, but he had always been busy, had always liked being busy, had always had side projects back when they were running the place together. He wasn't cold; he was quiet, but again this was something Naruto knew about him. He could be loving, and talkative, and sweet if he wanted to, but honestly...why would he want to? Naruto was home even less than he was now, blew off whatever work things he had originally promised to keep up with, locked himself away when Sasuke was home, and all he did was scream. It was 'a long time' ago that Naruto had obviously given up trying to fix anything, so why should Sasuke bother?

He had tried. Special occasions were made more special, not that Naruto seemed to notice. Time had been taken from work for vacations, that Naruto didn't have time, or the care, to go on. Sasuke had tried talking, and had been yelled at. He was quiet and tried to listen, and had been either ignored or yelled at some more. Last night he had tried. He was angry when he got home, but he hadn't moped about, or screamed like he occasionally still would. Granted Sasuke wasn't exactly good with words, never had been, but he had tried, and years ago that would have been enough for Naruto to take over so they could fix things. Not anymore, but that didn't stop him from trying. He had gone into the bedroom hoping that they could have a normal conversation only for it to turn into one of Naruto's fights. They had made love, and Sasuke had tried to pull Naruto close, tried to keep him near him, tried to say...something, anything that made a difference anymore, and all he had gotten for it was being shot down, and told to go away. That had hurt. It wasn't the first time it had happened, and certainly he had been known to push Naruto away himself after a nasty tangle, but he had been trying last night, and it made no difference. In fact, Sasuke would bet a million bucks that Naruto hadn't even noticed what he was trying to do. Yeah. Sasuke would take that bet, win, and have another million available for him to worry about in the divorce.

Sasuke stopped ruminating only to realize that Naruto had yelled his way through almost all of those long pensive moments, and was now prattling on about the paparazzi that had nearly destroyed their wedding cake while trying to climb over a fence at the country club where they had gotten married. Sasuke sighed, packed up his laptop, and began gathering his things for work.

"Are you still on that? Is there even a point to still being on that?" Sasuke asked. They'd had that fight too, a million times, about how hard to sue the guy, but luckily for Sasuke it was actually a happy memory of one of their 'pointless fights'. It had ended with them in bed using a brand new cake, that Sasuke had immediately procured, in perverse ways to make up for the offense. In the past, when it was always inevitably brought up, Sasuke simply bought a new cake and took his blonde to bed. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Now all he said was, 'are you still on that?' Naruto gaped his mouth open and shut a few times, before crossing his arms and huffing, as though knowing he would get that reaction from Sasuke, and expecting different was a waste of time. Sasuke just rolled his eyes, slung his messenger bag strap over his shoulder, and headed for the door. No kiss, no hug, no goodbye. His retreat in no way stopped Naruto's ranting.

"The point I'm trying to make here, dear, is that I'm sick of these assholes making a mockery of my life, just because I happen to be stuck with you." Sasuke stopped in his tracks. Stuck with him? Is that how Naruto felt? He let the hurt disappear from his face before he turned around to answer.

"You're right, Naruto. I've been completely unfair to you. It's not my fault I was born into that particular family, and while it is my fault our business is so successful, that doesn't give them the right to stick their nose in your business. I'll call the paper later to have the pictures removed, but that's probably all I'll be able to do, and soon you won't have to be stuck with anything." Naruto looked like he had been snuck up on.

"Yeah. I bet. I've seen how Uchiha Sasuke deals with things. Try not to make them cry, bastard." Sasuke snapped. He couldn't help it. But he snapped in the other direction than most would have predicted. Instead of blowing up in anger, he imploded in despair. He had to. His shoulders slumped, his bag fell to the floor, and he took a seat on a nearby chair. He ran one long fingered hand through his hair, and then preceded to go through his bag, as if looking for something. He didn't look up as he spoke, and his voice was low, and soft, filled with hurt that even Naruto could hear.

"Have I been so cruel to you?" He asked, still looking through the bag.

"What kind of question is that?" Naruto asked, slightly confused at where the conversation had gone. Normally once Sasuke was headed for the door he didn't stop. No matter what Naruto said.

"I think it's a rather simple one. I know I'm not perfect, but I've tried to be good for you, when I could. I thought I was doing okay. Have I really treated you so badly that you feel there is no other option to get away from me other than ruining every second we have together, or by making me ruin every second we have together? Have I fucked up so horrifically as a husband that this is what it comes to? Me leaving you simply because I know you won't leave me, even though it's a fact that you want to? Even though it's fact that I don't want to? Because I honestly don't want to, but I am anyway. This is me... going for your benefit. That's what is happening. We're such shit for each other, and I treat you so horribly, and you scream so much, that now I'm leaving, and I need to know. Have I really been so cruel to you?" Naruto wasn't sure how to answer that. Sasuke hadn't really been cruel per se, but he was cold, and distant, and he had his priorities in all the wrong orders, but he'd also never laid so much as a finger on Naruto inappropriately, he'd never let something go if it was really important, aside from their relationship obviously, and Naruto hadn't really even ever wanted for anything. Not even love once upon a time. Naruto hadn't heard words like this from Sasuke in years. He was never this open and honest anymore, and Naruto would admit later that day, silently to only himself of course, that if he wasn't so fucking mad in that very second he might have been able to turn this conversation into the thing he had been looking for from Sasuke for so long. Now though, he was clouded by the fight, and couldn't see past any of the blood red rage in order to get to the pain.

"So, you admit that you are the one leaving me? I'm glad we got that all cleared up. I'll be sure to have Gaara put that one down as a note. Don't put words in my mouth like that either, you jerk." Sasuke's head snapped up, and then he let it fall again. He abandoned the useless search through his bag, and gathered his things once more. He knew it had been pointless to stay. It was his fault of course, again, always, by default. He didn't honestly know what he had hoped would come from this conversation, but it had hurt him enough already, and he had to go. He straitened himself and headed for the door once more.

"Have a good day, Naruto. I'll be home by seven."

Sasuke wondered if he should even bother checking for Naruto to be home at seven.

Naruto wondered if Sasuke's words were a warning. He hadn't said goodbye before work in a long time.

()

"How could you not tell us about this Sasuke? We need to know things like this if we are to take appropriate action." Sasuke sat at the head of the conference room table. On his right were three of his best attorneys, not that he needed all three of them, and on his left were half of his board of associates from the company. The person who directed this asinine question to him was a member of his board. Well, his and Naruto's technically.

"I was not aware that it was anyone's business but my and Naruto's, nor do I know what you mean by appropriate action, but if you don't explain it very quickly then I would recommend you dust off your resume. I might advise you to do that anyway." His words were sincere, and rough, but he stared at the table while he said it, rolling a pencil aimlessly back and forth. The members on his left suddenly got very nervous.

"What I mean to say, Sir, is that while we are all good friends of Naruto's, this company has been left largely in your hands for a significant amount of time now. If we had been notified of this sooner, then there may have been a...less messy way to keep the company safe from the legal backlash."

"I'm not entirely sure I know what you mean. This company is only half mine. The other half is Naruto's. Our divorce changes nothing."

"No offense, Sir, but that is an unrealistic statement."

"Oh, please tell me how I'm wrong. Enlighten me." Now Sasuke made an excessive gesture with his hand while leaning well over the table, hands under his chin to pantomime that he was listening very carefully. The way a child would. The board members all looked at each other fitfully. Sasuke Uchiha was a dangerous man when the mood struck him, and the mood he needed was usually in regards to Naruto in some way. The mistake had already been made that Naruto needed to have action taken against him, or at least it had been implied, and that was where Sasuke turned deadly. Ruined marriage and hostile actions aside, no one did anything, or said anything, about Naruto without some sort of repercussions. Sasuke's closest lawyer took over at that point, hoping to at least save the men their jobs.

"What I think they are trying to say Sasuke, is not that there is anything wrong with Naruto, or his half of the company, but that this is an unpredictable situation. There are many ways this could go. Naruto might decide to keep his half, he might choose to sell it to you, or he may decide to sell it to someone else when he realizes he no longer needs or wants it. There was never a prenuptial agreement."

"He can do what he wants with his half. I really don't care."

"I understand this is a tough time for you Sir, but it is our job to care when you don't. If you knew Naruto would sell his half to you that would be one thing, but you don't. I'm honestly not sure how well you both could work together should he keep his half. He would have to as part of the contract. You took over his responsibilities on a personal level, not legal. If he kept his shares then he would need to return on at least a partial level. Him selling to someone on the outside could be catastrophic." That part at least Sasuke seemed to understand. He looked over to Suigetsu.

"He can do that?" He asked his lawyer.

"He can do pretty much anything he wants, Sasuke. It's his."

"Then I guess this conversation is over because a change in our relationship status doesn't change any of that. It was always his. He earned it, and I'm not going to try and rip it away from him just because you all are worried about being replaced. I can do that to you anyway, with my half, that I earned." Silence reigned at the table. Suigetsu spoke again.

"Sasuke, as your lawyer I am required to get you through such a lengthy legal procedure with as little loss as possible. To do that I may need to fight for his half, and you may need to let me." Sasuke huffed.

"Ugh. Fine. You three," Sasuke waved his hand at the board members. "You can go now. I have nothing else to inform you of. I need to speak with these men alone." And just like that they were alone. "So...what are my options?" Right down to business, Suigetsu pulled out a thick folder.

"This is a list of all of Naruto's assets within the company. We'll get to personal property later, but for now this is the important thing. Do you have any idea what Naruto plans to do with his half?"

"No. We aren't exactly...speaking...well...speaking well, but honestly he has so little interest in it these days that he'll probably want to get rid of it. I can't see why he'd want to keep it. Little creep would probably sell it to someone else just to spite me, but honestly, I have no clue."

"Do you think he'd tell you if you asked."

"I don't know. I don't really feel like talking to him right now." Sasuke admitted.

"That bad, huh?"

"I asked for a divorce. No. I demanded one. Could it really get worse?"

"It's rougher for some than for others." Was all Suigetsu could say.

"He said some pretty nasty stuff this morning, and I'm still kind of pissed. So, for now, I don't want to talk to him."

"That's fine. That's what his lawyers are for."

"What should I do?"

"Honestly? Take him for every friggin' cent. Sasuke, I love that boy. We all do, but the truth is that he left this place high and dry a long time ago, and it isn't fair to the company for him to fuck around with something he hasn't cared about in years." Sasuke couldn't help but compare his own existence in life with Naruto the same way as Suigetsu had just described when in regards to the business he ran. "I don't begrudge him doing his own thing, and doing it successfully, but this place hasn't belonged to him for a good while now. Not where it matters."

"And where does it matter Sui? In the heart, or in the courtroom?"

"Unfortunately, the legal system doesn't really play by the 'should have' game. It plays by black and white laws, and right now those laws might cost you a bit. So yes, I say go for it all. Yours, his, everything in between. "

"And then what? I take all his money from writing because his stories happen to be about me? Even though I don't need it, or want it? Just because I can, or because he might do the same first? How does that help anyone? What does that solve? It doesn't even keep things neutral. I don't want some painful, long drawn out thing. I'm done with that, and I can tell he is too."

"No, but let's be real. Naruto has been getting all the profit with no work for a long time now."

"And I was fine with it. I still am. I just want what's mine, and what is my property inside the house. I don't care about the rest."

"Okay, as your legal representative I appreciate your feelings on that, but I can't let you repeat those words again. I know Gaara, Sasuke. I've worked against him, and with him, and you can be assured that he will be telling Naruto the same thing I'm telling you. 'Let go of nothing. Take everything. He could go for your half as well, and he'll get it if you keep saying you don't care."

"I never said I didn't care about my company."

"No, but if you don't care about one thing then they will think you don't care about anything, especially since Naruto keeps saying how much you 'don't care about anything'."

"Hn. Yeah. I bet he does. Fuck!" That was about enough to explain his thoughts. Just...fuck. That hadn't occurred to him. He thought they could just split everything in half and go about it, but this. Sasuke had no clue about how this half of the legal system worked. He knew Gaara though. He was ruthless for his normal clients, but had been friends with Naruto for years. Sasuke was...well...fucked.

"If I can make a suggestion?"

"Yeah. The only thing left to lose is my mind...oh no...wait...there it goes." Suigetsu ignored the pain driven sarcasm.

"Wait a bit. To file, I mean. Wait a bit, file for a legal separation instead, get some information from me and Gaara as this goes on to get a feel of what Naruto wants, and we can go from there. It won't hurt to buy us some time."

"I think it's a bit late for that." Sasuke scrunched his nose.

"It's just an idea. File for a separation, go to a few 'mandatory' counseling appointments, buy some time, and then we'll go ahead when we get a clearer view of the picture." Sasuke drug a hand down his face. God. He was exhausted.

"I'd really rather not drag this out. I don't think he'll want to either."

"Let me make a few calls."

"Yeah. Okay. Whatever. I gotta get out of here. This place is suffocating me." Then Sasuke loosened his tie until he could yank it over his head, and threw it on the floor. He undid the top two buttons of his dress shirt before grabbing his messenger bag lazily, and leaving the room without so much as a goodbye.

()

"Hello." The phone only needed to ring once for Naruto to know who was calling. He had put it off long enough he supposed.

"Is there something that you forgot to tell me at lunch last week?" Gaara's voice was was expressionless aside from the barest hint of curiosity.

"Ah, fuck. How did I know you would call me before I even had a chance to get to my phone to call you?" Naruto cursed.

"I heard only one ring, so you mustn't have been very far from it."

"Sue me, lawyer boy. I've had a rough morning."

"So I've heard. So, care to share?"

"I'm not so sure. How much do you know? Which one of his little minions called you? Unless the devil had the nerve to do it himself. Hah. Yeah, right. That might have taken him a couple of minutes."

"I got a call from Suigetsu."

"So, what did head minion have to say?"

"Head minion was quick to inform me that our best friend's were fucking their shit up again, only this time we'd be getting paid in more than just friendship to help them deal with it." Gaara's voice had a sharp edge to it now. Naruto had the decency to sound contrite.

"I know. I shouldn't have said that. I love Sui, and I'm sure Sasuke really would have called you himself if he was able to. I shouldn't have said that. I've just had a pretty shit day."

"Divorce will do that to you. Not that this is any worse than what I've heard you two put each other through on a daily basis."

"Be fair. It isn't all me."

"No. That's why I said 'you two'."

"Okay. Let me have it. What am I dealing with here?"

"apparently everyone over there is shitting themselves over who your half of the company is going to." Naruto blew.

"And who the fuck is it going to exactly?!"

"Well. The board seems to think you're going to get sick of having it and sell your half to a major competitor. Suigetsu thinks nothing as he's smart and hasn't spoken to you yet, but his team is gung ho that you're going to keep your half, and go for Sasuke's as well."

"And Sasuke? What does he think?" Because Naruto knew that things didn't happen without Sasuke's imput, even if everyone thought one thing, if Sasuke thought another...

"He doesn't know. I got the impression, second hand of course, that he anticipates you keeping everything as is, and just being a silent, absent partner. That may have been wishful thinking on his part though, Sui's words, not mine."

"Why wishful?"

"Because it doesn't work that way Naruto. You and Sasuke have a private, un-witnessed, verbal agreement for things to be handled the way they are. That all goes away with a divorce. While Sasuke might be okay with continuing to do your job for you, the board won't, and they'll have grounds to take your half from you anyway, or at least buy you out. Either way that's a whole other civil suit hearing, and they could drag it out for years, and then your hands would be tied to do anything. I say wishful because, well, do you think you could stop what you're doing and just go back to that office? Knowing everything you do now? Work with him?"

"No. You're right. Though wishful isn't something I ever thought I would hear Sasuke try to be."

"It sounds like he wants this to go by pretty easily. He personally is not asking for anything other than his own half to be left untouched, and take from the house his personal property."

"That's all?" Naruto was slightly confused. Sasuke was ruthless. Naruto had planned to be ruthless. Why wasn't his good for nothing, soon to be ex-husband being ruthless?

"That's all I've been told at this point. Very unofficially. Nothing on paper yet, just me and Junior having a chat."

"So what do I do?"

"Well. Until we all sit down, all of us, not just you and him, sit down and write something up and decide where everything goes I can't tell you to do much at this point. I did however want to run an idea by you." Gaara was purposely edging the topic. Naruto felt a pit in his stomach.

"Oh god. What?"

"Counseling."

"Fuck that. I don't want to be married to him anyway. I'm relieved he finally dropped this on me. I should have thought of it first. We don't need counseling. We need an exorcist." Naruto didn't even need to think about it. He'd tried talking enough.

"Hear me out. We file for a trial separation. I'm not saying that's what it is, only that it will look that way on paper. You go to a few meetings, maybe five, and that will give us all an idea of what we're working with, not to mention buy you and me some time to dodge any legal loop holes in your contract with the company that they might try to exploit."

"Like the fact that I don't have one?" Naruto asked. Not his fault. He was an owner. Sasuke didn't have one either. At least that he knew of.

"For one example." Naruto sat in silence for a few moments.

"I've decided to move out."

"So soon?"

"I have no choice. He's leaving me. I'm leaving him, or, no...I'm not stopping him from leaving me. I can't live here, like this, anymore Gaara. He doesn't want me here anymore than I want to be here. So yeah. I'm going to start packing this weekend."

"I don't know why you guys don't just sit down and fix this. It would save us all a lot of hassle, and I'm not exactly hurting for money. I don't need yours too."

"This can't be fixed. I think...I think we both tried. A long time ago we both saw the problem, and tried, but what we had to offer to the problem wasn't enough. Neither of us care anymore, and we're just making it worse."

"I know it's been rough. Hey man, I've been there, seen it, and this isn't even the biggest and ugliest thing to hit my desk this week, but are you sure this is the right choice? Shouldn't you try to talk about it now that it's on the table?"

"I think he tried to this morning, but I was still just so angry from last night that I couldn't be receptive. Not after what he did at that dumb party."

"I see. Well. At least your being honest. How about this? I will set something up for you and Sasuke with a marriage psychologist for next Wednesday. You guys can see how it goes, you and me can talk about how it went, and then we can all get together and have a nice little pow wow over lunch next weekend?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"You always have a choice Naruto, but yes, this is the easiest way, if you want to walk away with all of your financial assets attached at the very least."

"Fine. Do it, but don't get angry at me when I remind you that this was all a waste of time, and it would have gone better and more quickly if I could have just sold my shares to him and took off for parts unknown, and don't in any way think that means I'm selling yet. It was just an example."

"Fair enough. I'll call you in a day or two."

"Yeah. Fine. Have a good day." Goodbyes said, both men hung up.

Naruto hung the phone up, and let his head fall back so he could huff at the ceiling. What the fuck was all this shit already? He hadn't even known for more than a few hours that his marriage was ending and already the media was down his throat, at his door step, at his studio, but now he was being forced into pointless shrink sessions to maybe, hopefully, get a leg up in a legal proceeding that he didn't want anything from other than his pajamas, guitar, and pet uramastyx?

What was Sasuke playing at? Wishful thinking? Sasuke was hardly wishful, and even less idealistic. He was angry, obviously, and ruthless, and just what was he playing at? Hoping they can be equals in a company they weren't equal at? There was the chance that Sasuke just didn't want the exchange they had to change. It had worked quite well for everyone involved all things considered. Sasuke got to do what he was good at, and Naruto got his money and got to tinker with the web geeks every once in a while. It made absolutely no sense. It almost seemed like Sasuke cared. If Naruto was honest he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on. No contract in a company he hadn't been a part of in a long time. Sasuke could go for it, and get it pretty easily. He was sure of that even without any legal training.

It just made no sense. First that weird cuddle thing Sasuke tried to do the night before, but then dropping the divorce bomb, and then this morning he was his normal icy self, but then had opened up in a way Naruto hadn't seen in...long enough to matter. His husband wasted no time in calling his lawyers, so Naruto knew this wasn't all a big bluff, but he said he didn't want anything from it. It was confusing, and suddenly it hit him. Maybe Sasuke was confused too. He had that whole big spiel this morning about not wanting to go, but having no choice, and...maybe he hadn't been lying. Something about that made his heart hurt. He'd been waiting for such a break through for so long now, and here it was. Sasuke had handed it to him, and he had spit on it. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, but it wasn't proud. Now he just needed to decide if it made a difference.

No. It didn't.

Too little. Too late.

()

As Sasuke had predicted Naruto was nowhere to be seen when he got home. He was probably at his studio, avoiding him after that morning's confrontation. Naruto had seemed shocked by his earlier admissions, but as usual, had ignored Sasuke's last attempt to resolve the situation. He wondered if Naruto knew that was what it was. The last attempt. He had made it pretty clear, he thought. It wasn't his fault. Naruto had forced his hand, and Sasuke had been lying. He didn't want a divorce. Despite everything he was just as in love with his husband as he had been when they were married. He just couldn't live in this stagnant pool of misery anymore. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. Being nice hadn't changed anything, being nasty hadn't, doing nothing hadn't. Divorce was the last thing he wanted, but if it was the thing that finally made a difference he was going to do it. Maybe it would fix them, and that would make him happy, but it probably wouldn't. That wouldn't make him happy, but at least there would be some sort of resolution and closure for them.

Sasuke made himself a cup of coffee. He drank so much of it at this point that the caffeine made no difference, and so he didn't have to worry about it keeping him awake. The empty bed might though if Naruto chose tonight to finally leave the bedroom. Setting the cup down on the counter so that he could turn on the tv, Sasuke found a small note stuck to it.

Wednesday, 3:00 pm

245 Hop Trapper Way

Dr. Kora Kilgari

Suck it up so we can get this over with.

-N

Suigetsu had told him that Gaara had convinced Naruto to agree to the trial separation idea. With any luck this simply meant that Naruto wasn't as cutthroat as his board thought, and just wanted the clean break that he had predicted. He wasn't in any way deluded into thinking that Naruto was going for actual counseling.

Sasuke had no way of knowing how such things would go. It would probably make it worse, right? Talking about feelings, and bringing up the past. Wouldn't it just make them more angry? He debated how much work he would actually put into these meetings, but decided that it wouldn't be very much. He would love nothing more than to reconcile with Naruto, but he knew that Naruto would not feel the same, and Sasuke was not going to open himself up to more hurt. Maybe he had been too rough on Naruto. The man had to be screaming for a reason right? Maybe Sasuke had driven him away just as he said he had. Maybe they had both been trying to do the same thing at different times, and just brought out the worst in each other. He had no idea anymore. Who had done what, and when, and who's fault this or that was.

He sighed and began to shut the house down for the night. He finished his coffee, locked the doors, but left the light on in case Naruto came home. He went to bed, and didn't bother to wait up.