Cinema [Yandere!Sasuke x Reader] AU

Scene 16

Maybe it's time to have family therapy. Kushina knows her family doesn't have the best dynamic, but it was good enough for her. All her boys are happy, well, at least on the outside. Never would she have thought to consider the internal burdens they hold.

Minato holds down the entire family, living off of his paycheck. Granted, it's a big paycheck, but it's still him doing all the work.

Naruto cares for his brother while also going to school and handling his own bills and stresses.

Sasuke. Well, he has that thing. That mental thing she doesn't like to think about. He's not doing much, but he's definitely trying his best to meet other people, even though his social skills are shot.

Kushina never dwells on the burdens other have. Despite her efforts to keep this family together, they seem to be tearing one another apart. Albeit slowly.

So, she set up an appointment with Dr. Iruka Umino, the same man who helped Sasuke through his trauma. He knows the family well, and happily accepts that they'll come in first thing in the morning.

...

Dr. Iruka Umino. Specialized in child and family therapy. He sits in an office large enough for a first family meeting. Typically he'd go to the family's home and scope out living conditions---which show obvious signs of abuse if you know what you're looking for---but knowing the Uzumaki family, he knows it's not the home that is the problem. Most likely:

Sasuke Uchiha.

Upon first meeting Sasuke, who was only seven or eight at the time, Iruka had difficulties connecting with the boy. He screamed, clawed, and bit the man. He cried for his mommy and threw all sorts of tantrums. His behavioral problems never went away. But instead, through therapy, once or twice, Sasuke confessed to just bottling up his tantrums. The boy held a lot of rage, and it never went away.

Iruka pushed aside his biases. He couldn't blame the whole unknown familial problem on one person, but deep down, he knows it centers around Sasuke.

As the family walks in, Iruka straightens up and greets them. "Have a seat, please! Anywhere is fine."

Minato shakes his hand, moving to the three-person sofa. Naruto follows, then Kushina. Lastly, Sasuke drags himself in. Seeing the only seat left is the lone chair, far away from his family, he takes it.

Iruka already spots a problem. The distance between Sasuke and his family, metaphorical and physical. Sasuke makes no effort to move closer to his family, and he looks comfortable yet unsettled in his aloneness.

The blank stare Sasuke always sports when in a meeting room quickly flashes across his face before Iruka greets him.

"Sasuke," he says, acknowledging the young man. "How are you? Haven't seen you in a while."

"I'm doing fine." Sasuke's body language says otherwise, and Iruka picks up on the lie. He doesn't delve deeper than that; however, seeing this session isn't strictly about him anymore. He looks to the rest of the family, comfortably sitting on the couch. Their body language expresses that they're uncomfortable but open.

"Mrs. Uzumaki," Iruka starts, taking out a notebook and a pen. "Can you give me a brief idea of what the problem is?"

Kushina pushes her hair back and smiles briefly. "Well, I think my boys might have... I don't know what to call it. But I think both of them need to talk it out, and I'm too emotional to be a proper facilitator and peacemaker." She laughs it off, but it's a sign to Iruka that she can't properly handle emotional-based conflict, especially when it comes to men.