He had never assumed or pretended to remember the comfort that existed in a mother's warm embrace. It was one of those things he had accepted long ago to let go of. Letting go of those memories had not been a matter of choice, it was for his sanity, for his survival. If he clung to those memories he knew even as a child, he would never get back again.
Even so, it was surprising how after being with his mother all those memories came flooding back. The safety he had felt had been enough to let him fall asleep, even in the chaos of waking up as a small child in a hospital, he had felt the exhaustion. His mother told him he had been there "for a while," he refused to ask more when he saw how tears threatened to fall.
Waking up without the exhaustion and confusion allowed him to notice one thing he had not before, the beeping of a heart monitor. Honestly, he felt like an idiot once he identified the sound, how out of it was I?
"How are you feeling?" The surprise of hearing his father's voice, was not obvious, only in the way his heart beat faster. Sasuke was almost afraid of looking at his father, what would he see? His debate ended abruptly when his father approached him no doubt concerned the way the heart monitor was beating. "Are you okay? Just say the word and I will call for a nurse." Sasuke knew the voice, yet the tone was new. Uchiha Fugaku, sounded exhausted down to his very soul, and when Sasuke looked into his father's eyes he could see why. It was clear he had not slept in the time Sasuke had been sick, there was a deep concern etched in his features, and Sasuke wondered how long he been out for it to leave such permanent marks upon his father's face.
"I'm fine, you just scared me." He saw his father relax his shoulders, and heard the sigh that left his lips, "where is mother?"
"We take turns, I send her home once I get off work, and when it's time for me to go to work she comes here." He was about to ask about Itachi, he had not gotten the chance to ask his mother with the shock of his situation, but his father beat him to it, "Itachi comes back from his mission in the morning."
His father moved to sit by the window, where Sasuke assumed he had been sitting before he woke up. Sasuke could not help but stare, there was something about what his father said that bothered him, then it hit him, "but when do you sleep?"
"I find the time. Do not concern yourself with me." Fugaku's words were stern, yet Sasuke still managed to see the pleased smirk on his father's face.
When he and Sakura first started traveling together, she mentioned how the way he described his father reminded her of him, "the apple does not fall from the tree, eh Sasuke-kun?" She had joked about it, but once she made that connection, he placed himself in his father's shoes when he recalled him.
It gave him clarity, and a connection he never expected to find with his father. At this very moment, he realized that it also helped him read his father. Fugaku was clearly not just pleased that he was worried about his health, but relieved that Sasuke had enough energy to care. He was happy to see his son awake, he could see it in his eyes. "Your father was subtle in his affections, kind of like you," Sakura had said the last part red faced, and shy. Yet, she had been correct in her assessment of a man she never met.
Fighting the tears at the joy of this newfound understanding he asked, "how long was I sick?"
"Was?" Sasuke was taken aback by his father's anger seeping through, "you are sick, and little more than three weeks." If he really was the age he appeared to be, he would have thought the anger was directed at him. Sasuke knew better, he knew it was just the frustration of not being able to do anything seeping into the conversation.
"When will I get better?" He regretted the question the moment he said it, saw the way his father's shoulders slouched, and how he instantly closed himself. Sasuke had heard the expression you can cut the tension with a knife. There were few times in his life where those words were perfectly suitable for the situation.
As he watched his father silently debate with himself, he decided this was one of those situations where one could cut the tension with a knife. He could practically hear his father wish his mother were the one with him at the moment. That it was Mikoto being asked the tough questions, he knew because he had one of those moments not so long ago, when a random child from a small village asked him where babies come from. He had cursed the gods for it not being Sakura who was asked the question. Sakura was the more sensitive of the two, and Sasuke knew that his father was thinking the same thing he had then, where is my wife?
He pitied his father, he really did. However, now that he could read his father, he decided one more question was needed to test how well he knew him. He could feel the guilt on his conscious before asking, but a part of him had always had doubts, and this one question would finally rid him of them, besides part of him did want to know if he had travelled back in time only for it to end abruptly. "Am I going to die?" If he was dying, he had a right to know.
Fugaku paled at the question, and for the first time Sasuke watched tears fall from his father's eyes, "of course not. Konoha has some of the best doctor's in the world." His father's words, though spoken meekly, provided some much-needed comfort. Sasuke knew he broke his father's heart with that one question thus he was unsurprised by what his father said next, "now if you'll excuse me, I need some coffee, I will not be gone long." He didn't blame his father for feeling suffocated in the room, for the first time since ending up in the past, he was wide awake. Being wide awake was great for his senses, but it also highlighted that he was in a hospital bed and Sakura was not his medic or waiting on his bedside. He needed to talk to her, she always helped keep him grounded when he needed it.
A/N: I actually typed this up in my laptop, mainly cause I had it back for a few hours... its so weird to have to ask for my own laptop.. anyway I should have worked on my my main stories, but honestly I need more than two hours to properly work on them, when I write Unexpected, it tends to be in one sitting, for more than the time I have with my laptop today... I am aware that Fugaku seems out of character so I am defending this decision now by saying, when your child asks you am I going to die after not waking up for three weeks, you are not going to be your normal controlled self. On top of the whole I don't see Fugaku as the hard ass so many seem too.
I see Fugaku being awkward, but also because he leads the clan he has to be strict, I don't think he would be. You guys know how episode 95 of Boruto shows Sasuke not hesitating to give his 12 year old kid a piggyback ride? That's how I imagine Fugaku, not hesitating to do embarrassing things for the sake of his kids. I feel like it was his duties to his clan that made him be strict. A leader is never free to be themselves openly. For instance, he could have fought back against Itachi, but he didn't he accepted his fate, and I feel he refused to fight his own son, same with Mikoto. They would rather die in his hands then have to fight him. So I really think Fugaku is much sweeter than he is given credit for. Also yeah, I kind of love that man...
I also do not consider filler episodes as canon... and I don't watch boruto outside of that 1 episode...