Hi guys! I managed to finish it! I actually quite struggled with this chapter. Notes on that after the chapter is done. Reminder that there is an Author's Essay on my Tumblr for you to read (Emihkka). Happy reading!


The call of the void is loud.

words left unspoken

(Present Day)


Sasuke looked around the empty condo and sighed, he didn't know the first thing about decorating but his furniture was being delivered today, and though he had enjoyed staying in the hotel he knew that he would hear an earful if he didn't at least furnish the place. He sighed as he walked around, footsteps echoing off the walls in the empty space around him. Somehow he had managed to get the corner unit, which pleased him immensely. He had looked fairly hard for a place to live that had natural light flowing in, and though he was sure that buying a condo instead of a house would also get him an earful, he wasn't quite ready for the picket fence. Plus the building had a coffee shop, a rooftop garden and a sports center that included a pool. The monthly fees associated were astronomical, but not something he couldn't afford.

He looked at the watch that adorned his left wrist, only a few minutes before the delivery was scheduled to come in. Maybe he should hire an interior decorator after all, he really did not have the foggiest idea as to how he was going to place the furniture, although it was not important to him as long as he had a desk to work and a bed to sleep in for now. Modern and practical, that is how he wanted his new home to be. He could picture the disapproving stare from his father and almost feel the knowing eyes of his brother on his back but he would not be deterred. He didn't doubt that Itachi probably owned a traditional home not much different from the one they grew up in, and for the life of him Sasuke could not understand why such a large home was needed. It's not like Itachi had anyone to fill it with life other than himself.

Sasuke stopped in front of one of the floor length windows that led into the veranda on the side of the condo and opened it to take a peek outside. He had chosen the 15th floor of the building not because the highest floor was the most expensive, but because he wanted to feel the vertigo that staring over the edge brought him. He was leaning over the railing when he heard a whisper thin voice call his name. He closed his eyes tightly, willing the moment to pass. His name would never be called by that voice again and it was a betrayal to want to hear it as badly as he did.


It had been just under a year since he had started his tenure within Uchiha Corps, he was working his way up in the company. Having graduated at the top of his class from the Business Program he had attended in University he had decided to pursue a Master's Degree prior to setting foot in this branch. He knew that he might be setting himself up for failure, having chosen the most problematic branch to work in but if he wanted to make sure that the sacrifice he made in highschool was worth it then nothing but the best would suffice. He had worked too tirelessly and too hard the past 7 years to fail now. Naruto had joined a different department than him, and to Sasuke's surprise seemed to be thriving within the company. He would have never guessed that the idiot had it in him to apply himself as diligently as he had. Something had shifted within Naruto during their first few years in University and though the blonde had never told him what it was, Sasuke welcomed it with open arms.

Sasuke was on his way out of the building, he'd worked for almost 16 hours, but if he wanted to bring this branch back from the brink of bankruptcy he knew that he could not rest. His phone vibrated in his pocket and taking it out with a small furrow between his brows he looked at the name flashing on the screen. His father seldom called when it wasn't business related, Sasuke usually did dedicate a few hours in his busy week to call his mother, but most of the interaction he had with the patriarch of the Uchiha household was limited to work meetings. Confused and a little scared that something might have happened back home Sasuke answered. The walk home wasn't long and the air felt good in his face, speaking with his father could go in many different directions and he didn't want to brood inside his home if things didn't go well.

"Sasuke." Fugaku's gruff voice greeted him from the speaker. It had been some time since his voice had lost the bite that Sasuke remembered it having as a child, but this didn't mean that it had stopped commanding the respect and attention of anyone at the receiving end.

"Hello to you too Father." Sasuke greeted, he tried, and failed, to not roll his eyes, but managed to keep the sigh from leaving his lips in an act of defiance.

"How is work?" The elder Uchiha cleared his throat after asking the question and Sasuke tilted his head to the side, as if he was trying to make sure the phone was as close to his right ear as humanly possible.

"Is everything ok?" He asked his father. It was disconcerting enough that Fugaku had called, but now a troubled feeling settled deep in his stomach as the man attempted to make small talk with him.

"Yes," Fugaku began. "Why would there be anything wrong?" The question seemed genuine and Sasuke wondered for a moment if old age was finally making his old man senile.

"Is mother ok?" Sasuke pressed forward, making sure he covered all his bases. "Nii-sama too?"

"Mikoto is doing excellent, though she does miss you terribly. Itachi is… well, he's your brother," that was all the explanation that was needed when speaking about his older brother. Itachi would do as he wished and he would excel, no fanfare, no accolades, just achievements.

"Are you ok?" Sasuke pressed, trying to shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong from crawling up from his stomach where it had originally settled, up to his throat where it threatened to choke him.

"I am well Sasuke." Fugaku seemed annoyed now, as though Sasuke's concern wasn't needed, and truthfully, it probably wasn't. But something just didn't seem right. "How is work?" He repeated the question and deciding that though suspicious, the conversation seemed innocent enough he resolved to answer him.

"Work is going well, although I am not sure how anyone expected any of the future contractual agreements to be met with the incompetence some of the department heads in this particular branch have displayed." Sasuke scoffed and continued on his walk, wondering if there was something wrong with his most recent report and that was the reason that his father had decided to call.

"Well, that's good to hear," Fugaku's gruff voice now seemed hesitant. "Actually… there was something I wanted to talk to you about." He began. Sasuke stopped in his tracks and straightened, concern creasing his brow.

"Go on?" Sasuke prompted, wondering if he had somehow made a mistake at work and if he would need to grovel. It really was not the way that he pictured his day ending today.

"I… ran into Hinata." He began, Sasuke sighed audibly.

"I hate to interrupt you." His voice had hardened, but his resolve was strong. He had resolved to forget her when he left, and that applied to his dad as much as it applied to anyone else in his life. "I really do not want to talk about her."

"Sasuke. I must have this conversation with you." Fugaku insisted, there was urgency in his voice and Sasuke's heart began to pound against his ribcage, a bird begging to be released.

"Father." He tried to harden his voice but the fracture that her absence had left in his heart was audible in the inflection of that single word. "Please."

Fugaku sighed on the other side but relented. Sasuke was grateful, even if he would never give those words life.


Sasuke watched as the delivery people brought the furniture into the empty Condo. They had deferred to him the decisions in regards to where he wanted to place certain items, and though he was not necessarily sure where anything would end up, he did have a vague idea of where they should go. He tried his best to tell them in which room the different furnishings and boxes belonged though he was not entirely sure how it all would look once he finally put the place together. His mind was occupied, so giving half assed and distracted instructions he could only imagine how much more work he would have to do once they left. The conversation with Itachi had left him disconcerted, there was something about the way his brother's eyes flashed as he mentioned the kid he had seen him with that didn't sit quite well with him.

As he led the delivery men around to where the furniture they had with them was supposed to belong he tried to discover why the way his brother had reacted bothered him so. Was there something Itachi was hiding? Was there something significant about the kid that he missed? Sure he looked like he could be his younger brother, or even his nephew but Itachi would never be the one to hide the fact that he had a kid, even if it was out of wedlock. Sasuke hated to even think this, but Itachi would be the most obnoxious parent in the history of parents, he would have filled his home with parenting books and would have spammed him with pictures to commemorate every milestone that the child met. As his relationship with his father deteriorated, his relationship with Itachi seemed to do the same as well. They went from speaking almost weekly as he entered University, to only a call or two every few months, to texts on special occasions and holidays until he couldn't remember the last time he had heard from his brother until he barged into his office a few days ago.

He would admit fault lied with him, he had fallen out of touch. He wanted to blame his ego for this, but really, if he thought about it the truth was that he acted out of cowardice. Fear that that brief conversation he had with Temari all those years ago where she offhandedly mentioned Itachi and Hinata in the same sentence, before he cut her off, was exactly as he feared. He loved his brother, he truly did, but part of him wasn't ready to accept that perhaps what he had given up would end up in his hands.

He thanked the staff and tipped them generously, but then found himself shrouded by the silence of a still empty condo. He now had some furniture, but it lacked life. He padded towards the couch that had been set in the center of the living area without any actual direction as to what the final location of it would be and settled atop it. He sighed, laying down upon the cushions and putting one of his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. There had been little time for introspection in the past 14 years and Naruto would rightly argue that this was not just bad for himself but for those around him. Being unfair seemed to be a part of his personality that he couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he tried or how much he grew up. There had been a time, when he was much younger when he did try his best to be accommodating. Those days were long past, and although he wasn't a pretentious prick by any means, he was sure that a few people would disagree with his self assessment.

Closing his eyes Sasuke wondered how his life would have been different if he had made a different choice then. It was too late now to wonder the what ifs and could haves of 14 years ago, he had built a life, had managed many branches of Uchiha Corps into successful businesses and loathe as he was to admit it, he was not sure that stock trading would have been the complementary career choice to that of a master at bows. There was a freedom and an elegance that could be found with proper technique, he had witnessed that first hand, and part of him wondered if this lifestyle would have stifled that brilliant spark of mastery with its business suits and cocktail dresses and interminable meetings. This was one of those things he had refused to think about over the years, the sacrifice he made back then was just as much for his own benefit as it had been for hers, or so he told himself daily. He had moved on, that much was clear with the choices he had now been making, but part of him lingered. That part that lingered would sometimes whisper; those were easy to ignore. Other times it would scream, an itching in the back of his neck and head that demanded his attention. He drowned that mostly by working, but it was during moments of solitude, where there was nothing to distract him from the raging thoughts in his head that the pounding could not be ignored.


"Please Sasuke, we really should talk about this." Fugaku sounded almost desperate in the other line.

"Father," Sasuke sighed. "I have made it clear I do not want to speak about her." The words were acid on his tongue. He wanted to talk about her so much it burned a hole into his heart, but he had decided many years ago that it was best for him to never mention her name. "Please respect my wishes."

"Sasuke, listen to me!" The anger was palpable even though he was on the other side of the phone, a lifetime away.

"Enough!" The ice in his voice was biting, "If you don't stop trying to bring her up I will start ignoring your calls."

Silence greeted him from the end of the line, he could hear the tell-tale signs of his father trying to calm his breathing before the line went dead. Sasule was surprised that it had been Fugaku instead of himself to end the call and he stared at his phone silently, mouth agape and heart racing. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on told him that he had made a mistake, one he would one day come to regret.


Heartbreak was a funny thing, there was nothing that could be done to heal, and though everyone claimed that time heals all wounds he learned that this was not always the case. Sometimes time made them fester, letting resentment take hold. Sasuke never imagined that he would be the one that would allow such a feeling to take place, but it had. Much could be said about how he handled things in his youth and even more could be said about the ruthlessness of how he handled things in his adult life, not that he would heed any piece of advice if it was offered.

He approached the new kitchen and taking a glass from the opened box on the counter he filled it with water. He took a deep drink and let his onyx eyes roam around the half opened sea of boxes on the floor. Things were working out exactly how he wanted them to. Things were going to be ok, he had to believe that. It was an unspoken prayer he reminded himself of daily. Things would be ok, he would make it so.

He could hear his phone vibrating from where he had left it near the couch. He headed towards it and picked it up. The name made his lips curve into a small smile and bringing it to his ear he answered. Things would be different now, he was sure of that.


Hi everyone! I'm sorry this chapter is shorter than normal but I was really struggling with making sure I wasn't ooc. The more I struggled the less I could write and the more ooc he seemed to me. Which sucks because the next chapter also deals with Sasuke (RIP me), but I have started work on it already and I'm hoping it comes out ok. It should also be much longer than this one. Hopefully.

I was hoping to illustrate that things aren't what they seem in the surface and since we have only been seeing things from Hinata's and Itachi's perspective that we shouldn't be too hasty to judge the other side. There will be a chapter down the line that explains how everything went so terribly wrong in everyone's life so I promise it's not going to be "And here is a band aid explanation".

To that reviewer that asked me to post two chapters back to back after posting one about the past, I wish I could do that! But a few chapters dealt with the past consecutively so that would have been so many of them hahaa, plus I don't have all of them written. There are 2 more Chapter's regarding Hinata and her past with Haru, but after that we will mainly be living their present days with some sprinkles of the past to give context. So your suffering is almost over.

To all those that reviewed, I appreciate you all very much!

Much Love,

Emi


Chapter notes from pre-writing:

Sasuke in the present, with sprinkles of the past (college)

Sasuke gets a call from home, Fugaku tries to tell him about Haru, but Sasuke cuts him off, telling him he doesn't want to hear her name. This happens every time Fugaku tries to tell him about Haru until Sasuke starts ignoring his dad's calls.

Sasuke is setting up his apartment in this chapter but is still having a hard time believing what his brother had said, his gut feeling telling him something isn't right. A phone call happens at the end of the chapter because I am a shitty author and like cliffhangers.