2 Young 2 Be Mine

Itachi sat at the dinner table feeling even more guilty then before. He looked at his dad's empty seat and felt like crying. He loved his dad and the thought that he was the cause of his father's absence made him feel miserable. He couldn't help but wonder what his dad's initial reaction had been to the news.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two days before~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Fugaku sat at his desk of his home office. He had several things to go over and he didn't know where to start. Mikoto took care of the financial end of the business so he wasn't sure what he was looking at. His phone rang and glared at the interruption. He picked it up and put it to his ear. He wondered who would be bothering him at a time like this.



Mikoto was out doing the shopping, Sasuke was at Naruto's and Itachi was getting his permit. "Hello, Fugaku Uchiha speaking." He answered professionally. He furrowed his brow in confusion as the party on the other end gave their name. A Judge Chin Yon was offering congratulations to the new father in law and was asking if the official marriage license had been received. Now Fugaku was really lost.



"Are you sure you've got the right number?" He asked the man. Yes the man had it right. Mr. and Mrs. Fugaku Uchiha, parents to one Itachi Uchiha. "What's this about a marriage license?" He asked further. Oh yes, the marriage license that he and his wife Mikoto signed for Itachi to marry one Kisame Hoshigake.



Now Fugaku was speechless. What had been going on that he didn't know about? There was no way that he had signed any marriage license and definitely not consenting to letting his fifteen year old son marry another male. There had to be some major screw up. Without another word to the Judge, Fugaku hung up. He sat in his office trying to figure out why anyone would think that Itachi would be married to Kisame and why a Judge had called here to verify receipt of said documentation.



Mikoto returned from shopping to find Fugaku waiting for her in the kitchen. He had a stiff drink in his hand and a wondering look on his face. She set the bags on the counter and turned to him. "Fugaku, is something wrong?" She asked innocently. He searched her face for any signs that she had been up to something but all he saw was the usual sweet looking woman he had married.

"I received a phone call today." He said bating her. She smiled and set about taking care of the groceries. "Who was it dear?" She asked without hesitation. He closed his eyes and searched his mind for the right words. "A Judge Chin Yon called here to ask about a marriage license." He said watching her closely. Did he imagine it or did he see a flicker of guilt?



"A marriage license huh?" She asked thickly. He nodded and took another quick drink. "So I am assuming you know what marriage license he is referring to?" He asked putting her on the spot. She turned to look at him with the most guilty look he had ever seen. "Mikoto, what have you done?" He asked incredulously.



She began wringing her hands and trying to come up with something intelligent to say. This was going to be a lot harder than she had anticipated. "You left me no choice." She said settling on that even though she knew there was so much more she could say. He gave her an outright shocked look. "I left you no choice for what?" He asked hysterically.



"You were going to send Itachi to America even if he didn't want to go." She said in justification. Fugaku was getting angry now. He could feel the rage rising and he wanted to choke the life out of her. "What did you do?" He asked suspiciously. She gave him a blank stare.



"I did what I had to do." She said leaving it short and simple. Now he stepped towards her in a menacing manner. He had never hit her or hurt her but god he wanted to now. He had never been so humiliated before and to be made a fool of by his wife was too much. He leaned close to her face. "I will ask you one more time what you have done and you had better tell me, Mikoto." He said darkly.



She felt the cold hand of fear wrap around her heart and turn her blood to ice. "Itachi and Kisame are married. I slipped the marriage license into a stack of papers you were signing. I knew you would be too busy to notice. I figured if Kisame had custody of Itachi then when the time came you couldn't send Itachi away because you or I wouldn't have the right to do so." She said in a rush.

Fugaku stepped back several paces. He felt as if he had been kneed in the family jewels. His own wife had betrayed and deceived him. She had completely blind sided him. He didn't know her at all. He turned his back on her and she felt the need to tell him what he needed to know. It was high time that he quit living in his pretense of a perfect world.

"Itachi is gay. He is in love with Kisame. The two of them have been dating for a little while. I thought that if Kisame loved Itachi that he would be willing to do anything for him. You have to understand what your son is going through." She said desperately. Fugaku was reeling now. Itachi was gay? Since when did that happen? He was sure he knew his kids and there was no way.



"Itachi isn't gay and Kisame should know better than to touch a fifteen year old. Itachi is young and confused. He doesn't know what the hell he is. Kisame is an adult and he is confusing Itachi. He is feeding a lie. When they get home they will answer to me. I will not stand by and watch a man playing dirty little games with my fifteen year old son. To think of all that we have done for Kisame and he repays us with this? And I still don't know what to do about you." He said, anger now turned to outrage.



Mikoto was in tears now. She had married a man who was so cold and so tuned out to the world around him that he was willing to believe whatever his mind told him was right. A moment later Sasuke entered the kitchen, a look of pure rage on his own face. He looked Fugaku in the eye. He had heard everything that his dad had said and now he was sure he couldn't hold his tongue anymore.



"Father, you are wrong. Itachi is gay and he is in love with Kisame. Kisame doesn't mean him harm. He cares about Itachi and Itachi knows exactly what he wants and that is Kisame. You have never once listened to us when we talk. You hear what you want to hear and you see what you want to see. It isn't fair anymore. When we were little we were helpless to argue against you. Now we aren't.

I am gay father. I am into boys. I love a boy at school. I am not confused or misled. I am right where I should be. I am happy knowing who I am. If you try to suppress us, you will make us hate you. If you hate us for what we are that is up to you but you are my father and I love you but I won't be muzzled anymore and neither should mom or Itachi. We have opinions and feelings and this isn't a circus. You are not the ring leader. We are people and we are a family." Sasuke said with an edge to his voice.



The whole time Sasuke spoke Fugaku stayed silent. He wasn't sure what to say now. Mikoto had known for some time that Sasuke had followed Itachi's path in the love department. She had waited patiently for him to come out on his own and he had. She was proud of the way he had stood up to Fugaku.

Fugaku took a shuddering breath. A moment later tears rolled down his cheeks and he sat heavily onto a stool. Mikoto stood her ground even though she wanted to cuddle him. He had only ever cried in front of her once in their marriage and this would be the second. She had held him the first time but this time she stood strong and proud. He needed this. A hard slap of reality.



Sasuke kissed his mother's cheek and left the room. He knew this was now a moment in which Mikoto had something to say. She looked Fugaku up and down before she finally spoke. "Sasuke is right. You can't expect us to jump through hoops for you. It isn't going to happen. I know what I did was wrong but what you did was worse. You tried to get us all to do as you said. Sometimes you could simply ask us what we want. Maybe it isn't what you want but it is far better than making us all go against you." She said and turned to leave the room.



Fugaku rose from his seat. He was at her side in a moment. "Don't you love me anymore, Mikoto?" He asked. He looked like a little boy who had been punished. She turned and gave him a smile. "I love you, Fugaku and I always will. I think you need to take some time and think about what is more important to you, your pride or us." She said and walked out of the room. Fugaku leaned against the wall and thought for a moment that maybe she was right.



He went to his office and called his brother. He thought maybe some time away would help him put things into perspective. He needed to get right with all that had happened and figure out what he could do to make things better or at least good between himself and his family. He booked a flight to America and gave a small sigh as he went to pack. He had found that moment in all mens' lives where it came time to put up or shut up.