Fugaku rubbed his temple. "Give me another painkiller."

Hinata dug into her purse to relieve his headache. "That's the third one today."

"I know. Just give me the damn pill." Fugaku held his hand out, popping it dry.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked again.

"I'll be fine," Fugaku grumbled. "Just get me through this week."

"If it's your blood pressure, we shouldn't push it." Hinata continued in a low voice. At least she had the good sense to be gentle while ignoring his request.

"Shh." Fugaku rested his back. Maybe he could nap until they got there.

Hinata tripped over herself to get to the door to find what the crash from the director's office was. Fugaku laid out looking dazed. Hinata fell to her knees beside his head. "Director?" He didn't respond. Hinata called for Lee to call an ambulance while she tried to keep him looking at her. "Stay awake." Hinata lowered her head down to his chest. He was breathing.

Lee came in with the emergency line on the phone. "What's happening?"

"I think he's having a stroke." Hinata patted his face to keep him awake. "Director, can you hear me?" Fugaku's eyes fluttered, but he didn't respond. "His blood pressure was high. I should have made him go to the doctor."

"The ambulance is on the way. They want us to keep him awake and start CPR if he stops breathing." Lee kept the phone glued to his ear.

Hinata spent enough time in hospitals to last her the rest of her life. Pacing just to hear the click of her heels was becoming a bad habit that hurt her feet and did little to calm her anxiety. The doctor came out with a clipboard to update her.

This couldn't be worse timing, not that there was a good time for Fugaku to have a stroke. Luckily it was minor, and he should be fine, but he couldn't keep working like this. He was taking his medication, eating how he was meant to, and the only thing he wasn't constantly doing was lowering his stress.

And that felt like her fault.

Maybe if she pushed hard to get things off his plate. Maybe if she double-checked a department before something went wrong. Maybe if she monitored his meals closer. Maybe if she pushed back on Itachi harder before he ended up in the hospital.

Hinata dipped her head. She couldn't handle much more of this. Her heart couldn't take it. She was going to be in the hospital next.

"Hinata?" Hinata lifted her head to see Sasuke in front of her. She didn't even hear him come up to her.

Hinata felt her strength crumble into a miserable sob. Sasuke's arms circled her and rubbed her back. "You said he was okay."

Hinata tried to respond, but it just came out as a squeak. She didn't even know what she wanted to say. She didn't know what to do anymore. She held on to him desperately. This was his father. She should be comforting him.

Sasuke laid a kiss on her hair. "He's okay."

Fugaku might be okay, but she wasn't.

Itachi crossed his arms with a smug look on his face. "Well, isn't this a role reversal?"

"Don't give me shit." Was that the way his kids were going to react? My being little bastards? Why did he expect anything else?

Itachi shrugged. "I'm just returning the favor."

"Where did Hinata go?" Fugaku's eyes slid to the door.

"Sasuke is trying to calm her down." Itachi sat back, crossing his arms. "You scared her." Fugaku rested his head back. "You know we didn't think we would have this problem so soon."

Fugaku rubbed his face. "You're not supposed to be adding stress."

"Do you want me to tell her?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"You're still recovering too." Fugaku sighed.

"I'm not in the hospital bed right now." Itachi shrugged. "And Sasuke doesn't know yet."

Fugaku sighed. That was a whole other problem. He wanted to talk to Sasuke about this before it became a problem. Too late. "Give her a day to collect herself."

Sasuke blinked blearily at Hinata's alarm as she started to get out of bed. "Hinata, call out."

"I can't." Hinata let him pull her back into bed for a moment. "Things still need to still run without him."

"The company won't implode if you're not there." Sasuke pushed his face into her shoulder.

"Unfortunately, it might." Hinata wanted to stay here, curl up, and sleep the day away, but she had things to do. The press would want answers, and Itachi shouldn't be doing it. "You call out and meet me for a long lunch, okay?"

Sasuke groaned but let her go.

Hinata slipped out of the warm bed, missing it already.

Hinata blinked at her laptop as she realized she didn't read the last line for the third time. Alright. She needed a break and another coffee.

"You should've taken the day off," Itachi said from the door.

"Sasuke-san beat you to that lecture." Hinata got up around him to make a cup of coffee.

Itachi followed after to the coffee station. "We need to talk."

"About?" Hinata tapped her finger, waiting for the machine.

"Dad can't keep up being the director." Itachi leaned on the counter.

"Did you try to tell him that?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.

Itachi shrugged. "He told me."

Both eyebrows shot up into her bangs. "You shouldn't…"

"Not me." Itachi interrupted.

"Sasuke-san isn't…"

"Not him either." Itachi impatiently waited for her to finish her objections.

Hinata got a cup out of the cabinet. "Then who's supposed to succeed him?"

"You." Itachi watched the cup slip out of her hand, a shatter on the counter. "Well, that could have gone better."

"What?" Hinata gaped at him as she scrambled to pick up the pieces. "Are you joking?"

Itachi slid some of the broken cup pieces toward her idly. "He put it in writing."

"What?" Sasuke blinked. He never really thought too hard about his father stepping down. He always assumed his father would have to be forced to retire. It never crossed his mind that Itachi wouldn't be taking his place. It's why he went into marketing. He wasn't needed.

Itachi crossed his arms, waiting for more of his reaction. Sasuke rubbed his temples. This was ridiculous. This was not what was supposed to happen.

"I think Sasuke-san should be appointed director, and we work around him." Hinata picked at her lunch.

"The board turned that down." Itachi countered. They already talked to the board. How long had they known about this? "Sasuke doesn't look good enough on paper yet."

"How do I look better?" Hinata was angry. "I've filled in for him, but how does an assistant look better than his own son? The press will claim the Uchiha family is losing its footing on the company."

"You will be an Uchiha. If you're worried about it, mom would gladly have you married by Monday." Itachi raised an eyebrow at her.

Hinata put her hands on her face to hide her frustration. "Your father should have talked to me about this."

"You would have said no." Itachi received a look that told him he was right. "And he meant to. He didn't think it would happen so soon. The plan was just meant to be an insurance policy. We hoped that in a few years, Sasuke would have moved up the ranks enough that it wouldn't be a problem."

"So Hinata gets punished because I got a master's degree?" Sasuke grumbled.

"In marketing." Hinata shot back. Sasuke's eyebrow shot up at her. "Sorry." She rubbed her face. "I have too much on my mind."

"You have too much on your plate." Sasuke waved a hand out at her to Itachi. "She can't keep being dad's solution to everything."

"I don't know how we can go much bigger than this." Itachi lamented, sipping his drink.

Hinata's phone buzzed, and she sighed. "I have to get back to the office. The press is demanding interviews, and the longer we take to announce this, the worse it will look."

"Is your driver nearby?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke looked at her untouched food. His hands tightened into fists and he grabbed his coat. "I'll drive her."

Hinata thumbed over the edge of her phone screen. Sasuke was angry. He had the right to be. She was angry. It was burning her up. She couldn't take much more of this. She just rushed the director to the hospital yesterday. She didn't have time to process her fear and panic. She still felt like she was going to break at any moment, and now she was going to have to put on a brave face for the press and tell them that everything was fine, and she was confident in taking the position when she didn't even believe it.

"You can't keep doing this." Sasuke started in on her.

Hinata wished he was mad about her taking his birthright as heir, not her work ethic. "I don't want to argue with you about it. I don't like it any more than you do."

"Hinata." Sasuke's hands tightened on the steering wheel. He took a breath and forced out a calmer tone. "What is it you want to do?"

Hinata shook her head. "What I want isn't relevant."

"The hell it's not?" Sasuke snapped back.

Hinata whipped her head to him. "I don't have a choice! The director already decided…"

"Is that how you look at everything?" Sasuke yelled back. "Do you only do everything because my father tells you to? What do YOU want?"

They were getting too heated. They really shouldn't be doing this now. Hinata looked away. "I will do what I have to do. It's never mattered what I want."

Sasuke slammed on the brakes. Hinata instinctively shot her hands out to catch herself looking at him ludicrously. Sasuke's eyes bored through her, and his jaw tightened as he took a moment to pull the car off to the side of the road.

Hinata blinked at him. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke parked the car and tossed his door open. "I can't take this anymore."

Hinata followed him out onto the sidewalk off the side of the highway. "What do you mean?"

"We need to talk now because I am not taking a step deeper without knowing." Sasuke rounded her side of the car up onto the sidewalk.

"Knowing what?" Hinata waved her hand out.

Sasuke ruffled his hair as he found words. "What is stopping you from just… leaving?"

What had gotten into him? "I don't know what you…?"

"You're pissed." Sasuke waved an arm at her. "Dad keeps pushing you further and further. You never stop working. Even on your days off, you're at events and dealing with my mother. What is stopping you from walking away? You don't need the money anymore. You could get a job anywhere. Why stay and let dad torture you with more and more ridiculous requests." Did he even know what that would mean? "You don't have to do it anymore. You can just quit."

Hinata gaped at him. What did she even say to that? "I can't just…"

"Why?" Sasuke barked.

Hinata glared at him. "You're not letting me answer."

"You're not telling me the truth!" Sasuke snapped back. "You can. Stop saying you can't."

Hinata rubbed her face. "We should talk about this once we calm down. We're not going to get anywhere by shouting at each other."

Sasuke shook his head. "I can't do this anymore."

"Sasuke-san! Do what?!" Hinata finally yelled back.

Sasuke's face flattened, and his lip twisted as he made a decision. "Give me the ring back."

Hinata blinked at him. "What?"

"Because I…" Sasuke fought frustrated tears. "I really can't do this anymore."

Hinata's heart dropped into her stomach.