CHAPTER 6: HANGING BY A THREAD
"Uchiha Sasuke, this is your lawyer, Hozuki Suigetsu, I called to inform you that your father has put all of your inheritance and bank account on hold, until the day you get married."
Sasuke hung up on his lawyer and sped his way off to his parents' house. Why was his father being hard on him all of a sudden? He should be grateful he still has a son, and has not run away like a coward but yet here he is slowly trying to disown the only one he got left.
When he arrived at their house, he stormed in not bothering to acknowledge their maids who had greeted him on his way in. He only had one goal and that was to see his mother.
"Mother." He greeted her coldly. His mother swifty turned her head when she heard the familiar voice, she had missed her boys so much, and it had been months since the last time Sasuke visited, in her heart she had hoped that his eldest son would come visit her too.
"Sasuke, my baby! What brought you here?" She cooed as she cupped Sasuke's face just like when he was little and his mother would examine his face if he had scratches right after playing outside.
Sasuke missed her mother too, unlike his father, Sasuke has always seen his mother, Mikoto, as a saint. She was always the one who would come between her husband and her son. She was always ready to defend them with her life, she would literally take a bullet for her sons. However, when she found out that her eldest son, Itachi, had run away, she was never the same. She became depressed, had lost association with everything, even locking herself in their room, not even Fugaku was able to get through her. She used to have a beautiful garden that she had started way before her sons were born, now all that's left are unwanted weeds. She only became better when Sasuke returned from Kaminari no kuni after graduating from college. He stayed with his mother until she got better and moved out to an apartment that was closer to his father's company building, as what his father suggested.
"Mother, did you agree to this?" Sasuke asks his mother in a calmer tone.
"What do you mean, Sasuke?" His mother answers, confusion written all over her face.
"Father had my bank account on hold until I got married to someone he chose. He's crazy!" Sasuke snapped.
Mikoto went silent. She knew Fugaku's plans, and she was guilty that she wasn't able to stop him, because in her heart she felt like what Fugaku did was right, he was just trying to save her son from the shame after all.
"You knew…" Sasuke looked at his mother in disbelief.
"Sasuke, dear, I'm sure what your father did is for your own good." Mikoto reaches out to Sasuke for a hug but her son slightly pushed her away.
"Mother! I thought you wanted me to be happy? How can I be happy with someone I don't even fucking know?" A tear rolled down Mikoto's face when she heard her son curse at her. Sasuke suddenly felt guilty and was about to apologize but stopped himself when his mother turned away from him, he fucked up and he knows it.
"Sasuke…" Mikoto sobbed. "Do you know how hard it is for me to see my sons' names in a bad light? Do you know how many tears I cried every night praying that your brother would come back?... that both of you are safe wherever you are? How much I wanted to see both of you every single day but the only time I see your face is on the news for hooking up with indecent girls…" Mikoto was now glaring at Sasuke, a look he wasn't very familiar with. "How many times have I begged your father to still keep you as the heir of the Sharingan, even though he wanted to remove you for a long time?" Sasuke instantly felt guilty for lashing out on his mother, he wanted to apologize, but he couldn't even utter a word. He was shocked how much his mother had suppressed her feelings and was only able to say it now to his face. The next words that left his mother's mouth, however, stunned him even more.
"Please, just follow what your father says. Until you get your inheritance back, I will help you get out of this loveless marriage."
—-
"Ko-san, I don't think I can keep up with this." Hinata heavily sighed as she slump back to her seat. Ko only smiled at her predicament as he watched her make origami out of the scratch papers.
Hyuga Ko was Hinata's caretaker for many years, he was Hiashi's distant relative, who he took in when he was 12 years old after finding out that Ko's parents died in a vehicular accident. Ko didn't want to depend so much on Hiashi so he offered his loyalty in return for giving him a home. He then volunteered to be Hinata's caretaker when she turned 12. Sometimes he thinks of Hinata as her younger sister and that's why he was very protective of her, Hinata was grateful for that.
"Hime, there is something I need to tell you but you have to keep it between us…" Ko whispered as he looked around to see if there were other people that could hear.
"I like secrets." Hinata giggled.
"Your father's twin brother Hizashi has a son named Hyuga Neji, he may be able to help you with your dilemma. Hizahi gave up his position from the company, since he feels like he isn't a good candidate for it. He still receives his share of course. But it was your grandparents' decision that not only your father has the right to decide who gets to lead the company, so does Hizashi, even though he stepped down from the company, so it's either you or Hyuga Neji." Hinata gasped at the information she just heard, she suddenly felt her heart leap of joy, she just had to find Neji, a cousin she had never heard of in her entire life, and she will be free from all of this stress, but before she leaves, she also have to make sure, that his father still gets his share from the Hyuga Corp.
"Where can I find Neji?-"
A sudden ring on Ko's phone stopped Hinata from her query.
"It's your father…"
—
"Good afternoon. Father. You wanted to see me?" Hinata was startled when her father slammed a folder on his table. "What is the meaning of this?" He demanded pointing at the thing in front of him.
"W-w-what is, father?" Hinata stuttered.
"I asked for your credentials…" Oh no, the day Hinata dreaded for so long has finally arrived, but why is it too soon? She wasn't ready for this conversation yet.
"Father, I can explain."
"You lied to me, Hinata! I have always thought of you as a failure, and now you just proved to me that you are one. As the eldest child, not even once have you made me proud" Hinata looked at his father disheartened. How could a father say such rude things to her daughter? A tear slipped out of Hinata's eye, she wanted to get away from here, as far as possible.
"You… you… uh… ugh…" Hinata wasn't sure what was happening, she looked at his father as he clutched on his chest, choking on his words and slowly falling down, until Hinata realized that his father had a heart attack.
"Father!" Hinata yelped and quickly rushed to catch him.
—-
"Your father has a myocardial infarction, and he has to undergo a Coronary artery bypass surgery so we could increase his life expectancy. Hinata, I know what your company is going through right now, but this is the only intervention for your father." Tsunade explained as she rubbed Hinata's back to comfort her. She has not stopped crying ever since they arrived at the hospital. "We'll give you time to think about it, but I just want to let you know that this needs to be done as soon as possible." All Hinata could answer was a nod as Tsunade left her alone with Ko.
"This is all my fault, Ko. This is all my fault." She sobbed.
"Hinata-sama, please don't blame yourself, instead why don't we figure out what to do." Ko reassured her.
"How much does the procedure cost? Maybe if I could play on more events-"
"Hinata-sama, I'm sorry but I don't think that would be enough. I talked to a nurse a while ago and she said that the procedure would cost around 14 million Yen."
Hinata choked as he heard the amount, she thought about the money she had saved up for Hanabi's college, and that didn't even reach a million, where is she going to get that big of an amount?
And she suddenly remembered…
Uchiha Fugaku.
