He flinched instinctively when her hand was suddenly close to his face, the speed with which she'd moved alarming and the angle alarming for a different reason -- and there it was, he was getting patted on the head like a wayward kid. He hadn't meant for the words to come out as they had and was about to say as much when Kushina dropped a piece of information that left him blinking in surprise.

It wasn't like Sasuke didn't know that his father cared, it just wasn't like Fugaku in the least to show any kind of concern. Even when Itachi was away on a mission their father carried on as usual, for all that he was relieved when his eldest returned.

"I don't ... think I do," he said after a moment of trying to work out the expression on her face. "My dad is never worried; Mom might sometimes, but Dad ..."