Uchiha Sasuke could clearly remember the day when his life turned to hell. The day when his Calvary started. And no, he was not talking about that day when his weasel of an older brother decided to wipe out their entire clan. Though that was a very close guess.
Form what he could remember, it was the 26th of July, just three days after his 24th birthday. It was a seemingly normal day at first. He just came home from an ANBU mission and was expecting a warm welcome from his wife, the lovely Haruno Sakura. However, he found no one home and quickly concluded that maybe his wife had gone to the hospital. After all, a medic as talented as her might be always called by the hospital to help and use her renowned medical jutsus to save a life or two.
So, he took a shower and then proceeded to cook his dinner. Truth be told, he'd rather have Sakura cook because he had already been used to the delicious cuisines she had been dishing out since they married. But his cooking skills aren't shabby either. He did learn to take care of himself since he was eight years old.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Ah, that customary greeting. His wife had already arrived. He then hurried to finish the last batch of his tomatoes (which in Sasuke's world would be equal to snacks or desserts) and proceeded to greet Sakura home.
"Welcome home, Sakura." Sasuke greeted, kissing her on the forehead.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun, wouldn't you ask me how my day turned out?" Sakura asked, a little too excitedly, as they went to the living room. "Don't you want to know if I have some good news for you, hm?"
"You went to the hospital." Sasuke stated as-a-matter-of-factly, sitting on the couch.
Sakura looked surprised, but she initially recovered. "Oh Sasuke-kun! How did you know? I had my suspicions from the very start, but I just had to confirm it."
"Confirm what?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at his wife.
"Y-You know…" Now Sakura looked a little embarrassed. This is getting way too weird…
"No, I don't." Sasuke replied without missing a beat.
The pink-haired kunoichi looked at him intensely for a few seconds. "Sasuke-kun, I hate it when you play mind games with me. You knew I went to the hospital! Then you must know about the good news!"
"What good news?"
"I'm pregnant!"
Five... Four… Three… Two… One…
"You are what?"
Sasuke's Troubles
Sakura's pregnant, having mood swings and wants to have some pancakes…straight from the Tea Country! And in the middle of the night no less! What will Sasuke do? Remember, Sasuke-kun, she's pregnant! SasuSaku
Ya ya ya! Another fanfic! My creative juices are flowing! Time to celebrate, uh-huh! –dances like a moron- Ahem. Anyways, I was inspired when I downloaded Chapter 306 of Naruto and saw… Sasuke! He's got a new look! And he looks so hot! And funny-looking at the same time. –sheepishly grins- And he reminds me so much of Kimimaro in his new outfit! I just had to write a SasuSaku as a tribute to Sasuke's return!
This is my first SasuSaku fic and I hope I'm doing this right. Actually, NejiTen is my specialty. I'm kinda nervous as to how people would react to this and I hope that the characters are not that OOC. Oh, and this is also my fanfic gift for Mother's Day! Happy Belated Mother's Day, minna-san!
DISCLAIMER: Again, I am forced to spread the word that it is not I, but Masashi Kishimoto-san, that owns Naruto.
Sasuke could feel something –or someone- nudging him painfully in the ribs. He buried his face underneath his pillow, and tried to ignore it. Instead, the nudging continued, getting harder and harder.
After a few minutes, he felt something whacking him across the head.
He exhaled sharply, and then turned to the woman beside him. "What?"
Haruno Sakura stared at her husband innocently, crystal tears starting to form on her eyes. "Sasuke-kun… I'm hungry."
Sasuke glared at her, and then wordlessly got out of bed to go to the kitchen. Minutes passed and when Sasuke returned, he was carrying a bowl of hot, steamy soup and a glass of water. "Eat," he told Sakura, handing her the bowl.
The Uchiha Avenger watched as his wife took the spoon and tasted the soup. His forehead creased when he saw the look of dissatisfaction registering on Sakura's beautiful face. She turned to him, and as her mouth opened, Sasuke clumped it shut.
"Say no more," Sasuke muttered, quite irritated. "I'll get something else."
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chirped, brightening up. "I owe you one!"
"Hn."
For about an hour, Uchiha Sasuke went back and forth to the kitchen, getting all sorts of food from their refrigerator. He had tried everything, from sandwiches to the leftovers of the cake Sakura baked for him his last birthday to the salads she's used to eating when she's on a diet. Heck, he had even tried the dobe's favorite food- instant ramen.
"Sakura…" He muttered, a bit tiredly. "Can you just tell me what you want? It's hard for me to know what food to get if I don't even know what you like. Is it sweet or sour? Bitter or spicy?"
Sakura clutched at the bedsheets. "Well, Sasuke-kun… Do you remember the time when we went to the Tea Country for an undercover mission?(1)" Sasuke nodded, and she continued, "Well, when we ate at one of the restaurants there, there was a pancake that caught my eye. You bought me that, remember? And when I tasted it, it was very delicious!"
Sasuke's face was starting to screw up, knowing where this is going.
"I just thought that maybe you could get me some of those pancakes," Sakura said, noticing the darkening look of her husband. "Sasuke-kun, is that alright with you?"
"Alright, I'll try to find an open store that sells pancakes at this time of night." Sasuke replied sarcastically.
"Oh, I forgot!" Sakura grinned that naughty grin of hers, almost making Sasuke shiver. "I want to have those exact pancakes from that pancake stand in the Tea Country!"
Sasuke stopped on his tracks. "Sakura, are you nuts? To get to the Tea Country, I'll have to travel for at least five hours!" he scolded her. (2)
But Sakura wouldn't have any of it. She pouted and childishly crossed her arms over her chest. "I. Want. Those. Pancakes. NOW."
"Sakura, what's the difference between the pancakes here and the pancakes there anyway?" Sasuke tried to reason. "If you want, I can just get the ingredients and I'll make it for you."
"Yeah right," Sakura snorted. "I tasted your cooking and it's bad. Very bad."
Sasuke's temper was rising, but he knew he had to be patient for his pregnant wife. "Can't you… Can't you just eat some tomatoes? I assure you, they're much more delicious than those panca-."
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out, throwing a tantrum. "You don't love me anymore! Is it because I'm getting too fat? Would you replace me for someone skinnier? Someone like… like... Like Ami? Sasuke-kun, I just want some pancakes from the Tea Country!"
Sasuke groaned loudly, knowing that it would be best to just give in. "Alright, fine! You win!"
"Yay!" Sakura got out of bed and embraced her husband.
DING DONG!
Sasuke had been ringing the doorbell for quite a few times and yet nobody's answering. He had tried again and this time, he encountered more favorable results.
"Alright already! Geez! Can't a Hokage get some decent sleep around here?" Sasuke smirked as he heard that familiar loud and obnoxious voice of the recently-proclaimed Hokage.
Uzumaki Naruto came out, still dressed in his pajamas and still wearing that silly frog cap on his head. He blinked and then rubbed his eyes. "Hey, it's just you teme. What do you want now? It's still 1:39 in the morning. If it's nothing important, I'll use my Hokage powers to have you arrested and jailed."
"Dobe," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I just need your permission to let me cross Konoha's bounds without getting into trouble. I need to get to Tea Country ASAP."
"Why?" Naruto asked, suspicion creeping in his voice.
"Don't worry, I won't come back to that bastard Orochimaru again. I'm doing this for Sakura." explained Sasuke at the apprehensive-looking blonde.
"Hey, what happened? Did something bad to her so you thought of escaping to Tea Country to avoid her wrath?" Naruto then chuckled at his statement, much to the raven-haired boy's annoyance.
"No, she's having these crazy food cravings," Sasuke said. "She wants me to get her some pancakes. Now."
"Ouch," Naruto gave the Uchiha a sympathizing look. "I hear you, buddy. Good thing I married Hinata-chan. When she was pregnant, she rarely had those proverbial mood swings and freaky longing for the most random of foods."
Sasuke gave him a halfhearted glare. "Sakura's a different story."
"Yeah! She's scary when she's mad, isn't she?" Naruto asked, though he knew what the answer would be. "Okay then, just wait for a while here, Sasuke. I'll write a written permit that'll let you pass Konoha's bounds."
Sasuke waited for Naruto and when he came back, he was wearing a goofy grin on his face and holding a piece of paper. "Here you are, teme! Fresh and new!"
"Thanks, dobe." Sasuke took the permission.
"And one last thing before you go, Sasuke-teme."
"What?"
"Don't call me dobe again!" Naruto crossed his arms haughtily. "Learn to respect your Hokage!"
It was nearing 2:00.
Shikamaru threw his head back and yawned. He never would've accepted this job if not for Ino, who insisted that he must earn some more money to support his family now that they've got a child. Konoha's top strategist sighed. It was a big, big mistake to marry an evil and troublesome woman but he still did it against his better judgment. And here they were calling him a genius. Yeah, right.
From his peripheral vision, he caught a flicker of movement coming towards him. He stood up and flashed a flashlight upon the black silhouette. "Stop! Name yourself and state your business in entering the Northern Gates."
"Nara Shikamaru, this is Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke stepped into the light to allow Shikamaru get a clear view of him.
Shikamaru hopped off the Northern Watch-tower. "Uchiha? What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to the Tea Country. Here," Sasuke handed Shikamaru the permit. As the Nara genius carefully inspected it, he continued, "Like I told Naruto before, I'm not going to go back to Orochimaru, if that's what you were thinking."
"Hmp, it pays to be more careful." Shikamaru retorted coolly, giving back to Sasuke the permit.
The journey to the Tea Country is unusually dead silent. Not that Sasuke cared though. In fact, he quite enjoyed it. There were no hassles or any disturbances that might take him some time and Sasuke was glad at the thought that he may make it back to Konoha quicker than he had expected.
But then, the Plot No Jutsu just had to ruin everything for Sasuke.
He paused for a minute as he saw a man, lying in a pool of his own blood. The Uchiha Avenger approached the man cautiously, thinking carefully what his course of action will be.
Suddenly, the man's hand shot up and grabbed hold of Sasuke's shirt. "Young man! P-Please… Help me…"
Sasuke's instincts kicked in as he suddenly obtained a kunai from his kunai pouch and backed off. His eyes narrowed as the man tried to stand up.
"Please… Just… help me… P-Please help me get to Violet Town (3)…" The man cried out feebly, a hand reaching desperately in the air.
Two options were circling Sasuke's mind. A.) He can leave the man alone to die and rot in this forest and proceed to Tea Country. B.) Help the old man get to Violet Town which is almost 8 kilometers away from Tea Country.
Now, Sasuke could handle 8 kilometers more but he just can't afford to waste some time. He had to get back to Konoha with those pancakes as fast as possible because he knows that if he doesn't, Sakura would be cranky and would throw a fit all over again. Add to that the fact that he is heading an ANBU mission with Hyuuga Neji tomorrow. Excuse me, I mean tonight.
But, with a wife like Haruno Sakura, it's hard to be influenced into becoming a kind and helping person with a golden heart. Wait-what?
Anyway, the point is, with his wife being a medic, he had learned to value and respect life. Sasuke hates to admit it, but Naruto and Sakura taught him many things. Things that would seem insignificant and trivial in his point of view twelve years ago. A mini-angel Sasuke appeared on Sasuke's right side and patted him on the back.
Groaning, he came close to the bloody man and wrapped an arm around him to hold him up. Then, he noticed something… out of place…
With a loud thud, he dropped the man carelessly and sniffed the air. Uchiha Sasuke frowned, and then bent down. In one swift motion, he dipped a finger into the pool of blood and tasted it. Just as he had expected, it wasn't blood. He scowled scarily and turned to the man, glaring ever-so-darkly at him.
CUT!
The forest was then filled with lights, almost blinding Sasuke (and unconsciously reminding him of the creepy grins Lee and Gai were always giving everyone in sight). "The hell?"
A stout man came from behind the bushes, wildly flapping his arms at a dazed Sasuke. "No, no. no! You are doing it all wrong! You are the bad guy remember? You're not supposed to be helping him! You are supposed to use that kunai," The man pointed to the kunai still in Sasuke's hand. "and try to stab him in the back. And after that, our hero, Super Genki boy, would stop you and a glorious fight scene will emerge!"
Uchiha Sasuke, the Great ANBU Captain of the Sharingan Squad, cannot believe that he had just been tricked. He clenched and unclenched his fist. A homicidal aura started surrounding the whole area as a cold and chilly wind blew over him.
"Director!"
Sasuke watched, as another yahoo arrived, breathing heavily.
The stout man turned around, exasperated. "Bob! How man times do I have to tell you that you are not allowed to come here and disturb us?"
The man, Bob, just looked at the Director guy. "But dude, er, Director! I just came to tell you of the bad news! Mr. Boy Bawang(4) cannot make it! He's out sick and thus, can't make it to the shooting!"
"…Oh." The director turned to Sasuke, who is still glaring murderously at him. "Then, um, who are you?"
The only reply he got was Sasuke doing a Katon jutsu.
He had meant to barbecue the Director, the guy named Bob and the old man but decided against it, knowing that Sakura would not be pleased if she is to find out that her husband –the supposed-to-be-reformed Uchiha Sasuke- had just burned to a crisp three innocent (coughannoyingcough) civilians.
Anyway, he still had to buy Sakura those pancakes she had been craving about. He had little time. If he manages to make it back to Konoha, he still would have to rest even just an hour since he has an ANBU mission.
And Uchiha Sasuke never backs out in a mission.
Thrilled that he had arrived in the Tea Country in record time, Sasuke did not waste a minute in finding the pancake stand Sakura was talking about. He searched high and low but even after half an hour of searching, he still cannot locate the whereabouts of that mysterious pancake stand.
So, deciding that asking for information would be the best option, he approached a fat lady with unruly hair and tapped her on the shoulder, "Ma'am, excuse me. Do you know where-"
"Eeeek!" The woman suddenly cried out. "This guy's looking at my butt!"
Speechless and without any good comment to give to defend himself, Sasuke was forced to listen some more to the fat woman.
"Young man, stop checking me out!" The woman berated loudly, making the Uchiha genius' face a marriage of confusion and irritation. "I know that I am hot and sexy, but you don't have to go and undress me with your eyes!"
Sasuke's eyes widened as the woman smirked.
"Hey, I just noticed that you're handsome…" She said, her voice raspy. "Would you want to get to know me better? If you like, I can get us some room and-"
"No, thank you." Sasuke immediately replied, walking away. However, the woman had to be persistent.
"Wait a minute, handsome," The woman caught his wrist and forced him to look into her eyes. "You won't miss this opportunity to be with someone like me, would ya?"
Patience is definitely not one of Sasuke's virtues.
"I told you," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "It was that fat woman's fault."
The man before him nodded, "Right, and pigs fly. Now would you just tell me the reason why you threatened to send an innocent woman flying ten feet from the ground?"
"Hn."
"Is that all you're going to say?"
Sasuke smirked. "Heh. She was asking for it. Besides, nothing bad happened to her."
"Nothing bad happened because I came along and stopped you!" The man stated, angry that the Uchiha doesn't seem to be unnerved. "By your looks, you seem to be a ninja of Konoha. Why, I am appalled that you, who comes from a ninja village with a high respect for morality, would go on giving death threats to ordinary people without any good reason!"
The Uchiha genius shrugged.
"Wait…" The man looked at Sasuke closely, as if trying to remember something about him. "You look… oddly familiar…"
Sasuke's eye twitched, because he had noticed that the man resembled someone familiar too. However, he chose not to think about it too much. After returning back to Konoha, he promised Sakura and Naruto that he would not dwell in the past anymore.
"Ah! Now I know!" The man punched his fist as his eyes lit up in recognition. "You're that guy! That guy with Naruto and Sakura! What's your name again?" He tapped his chin, looking thoughtful.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke supplied, a little annoyed that the man remembered the dobe and Sakura, but not him.
"Oh right!" The man beamed, the conversation about the fat woman forgotten.
Something then clicked in Sasuke's mind. "Morino… Idate…?" He asked, trailing off uncertainly.
"That's me!" Idate pointed at himself smugly. "I knew I was unforgettable! Hey, wait… How's the lovely Sakura doing? Does she already have a boyfriend? I'm still not out of the running, am I?"
Looking daggers at the oblivious Idate, Sasuke replied in an icy tone, "Watch your mouth. You're talking about MY wife."
A moment of silence followed and then, Idate suddenly laughed. "Okay then! Sorry, Sasuke! Didn't mean to offend you!" Being a good observer though, Sasuke noticed the disappointment that registered on Idate's eyes before he laughed.
"Idate," Sasuke decided to cut down to the chase. "do you know of a pancake stand around here?"
"As a matter of fact, yeah." Idate nodded, and Sasuke felt like sighing in relief.
"So… Where is it?" Sasuke asked.
Idate shrugged casually, "Moved to Konoha."
"WHAT?" The look on the Uchiha's face was priceless. He slapped his forehead in sheer frustration while muttering multicolored words even Idate can't comprehend.
If only I didn't love Sakura so much… thought Sasuke as he moved as fast as he can to Konoha. He entered the Northern Gates and raced to the market place, where his instincts were telling him that the pancake stand should be.
At long last, he found it.
It was nothing remarkable, just a pancake stand with a bearded man in his late 30's manning it. Taking long strides, Sasuke went to the stand and noisily cleared his throat, "Excuse me, can I buy some of your pancakes?"
The man looked up, but said nothing.
Annoyed, Sasuke asked again, "Mister, I would like to buy some of your pancakes."
The man sighed and then pointed to a sign.
"Closed. Out of ingredients. Come back tomorrow." There was also a shameless smiley face at the end of the last word.
Sasuke could feel his face boiling in anger.
"I'm back."
Sakura appeared on the doorway and embraced her husband lovingly. "Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad you're back home."
Sasuke didn't reply. Instead, he shoved a big see-through lunchbox to his wife. (5)
"Pancakes!" Sakura looked extremely delighted, and Sasuke inwardly smiled. "I knew you can do it! I never had a doubt!
"Hn."
The truth is, after he had found out that the pancake stand was closed, he controlled the desire to go out and rip the man's body limb to limb. But being the genius that he is, he had thought of a brilliant plan.
As quickly as he could, he went straight to Naruto and Hinata's house. With Naruto in his office, Hinata was left all alone and Sasuke took this chance to ask a favor from the Hyuuga heiress. He asked her to make some pancakes, about 20 to 30, so that Sakura would not hunger after some more of those damn pancakes. Knowing Sakura, she'll quickly get tired of eating the pancakes and will ask for something else.
Thank Kami-sama that Naruto married a good cook.
"Oh, I'll take these with me on my way to Ino's house!" Sakura happily exclaimed, putting the lunchbox inside her bag.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to eat it now?"
"Iie," Sakura shook her head, giggling softly. "I'm kinda full. You see, when I was waiting for you to come back, my stomach was already rumbling and I finally decided that I can't wait for you anymore. So, I took your advice and just ate some tomatoes!"
It was then and there that Sasuke realized that he had had enough, and promptly fell over.
"Sasuke-kun! Hey, are you alright?"
Yamanaka Ino turned to her bestfriend and grinned widely, "See? I told you Sasuke could not bear to see you miserable!"
"Well," Sakura tucked a strand of her hair over her ear. "it does make me feel guilty, knowing that I had just tricked him into buying me these pancakes."
"Yeah, yeah," Ino was waving a hand in the air dismissively as she ate her share of the pancakes. "We're the ones doing the here work around here, having to carry our babies in our womb for 9 months. Plus the fact that laboring is excruciatingly painful. If you ask me, if we're going through a tough time, why can't they too?"
"Point taken." Hyuuga Tenten agreed, sipping her tea
"Hey," Sakura looked around the room. "Where's Hinata-chan?"
"Went to a Hyuuga meeting," Tenten explained. "She's discussing something important with the Hyuuga elders. Probably involving the things she is required to carry out before officially becoming the Hyuuga Head."
"I see." Sakura nodded her head.
"You know Sakura-chan, I don't remember Hinata-chan or I getting that big when we were pregnant." Ino observed, eyeing Sakura's stomach.
"Yeah, even I noticed that." Sakura laughed, as the two other kunoichis exchanged looks.
"Didn't it ever occur to you that… Well, I don't know. That maybe you're having twins?" suggested Tenten cautiously, making Sakura and Ino drop their pancakes.
"T-Twins?" Sakura repeated.
The bun-haired girl scratched her head. "Uhm, yeah. That's just my opinion though…" Tenten trailed off when she saw her pink-haired friend smiling.
"Twins eh?" Sakura patted her abdomen affectionately.
"Well now, I guess that you have even more of a reason to make Sasuke-kun suffer now that you've got twins." Ino was smiling slyly, a mischievous twinkle on her eyes.
"You want me to go where and bring home what?"
"Oh please, Sasuke-kun! Just buy me some fishballs from Suna! Remember, I've got two ones inside here!"
(1) I know you guys remember Tea Country as the place where we first met Morino Idate. Just pretend that they had another mission there but the difference was that they were undercover.
(2) Just guessing here, folks. No need to go on screaming, "The journey to Tea Country isn't for five hours, you stupid idiot!"
(3) Violet Town is a made-up town I used for the sake of this story.
(4) The name "Boy Bawang" is originally derived from a popular snack here in the Philippines. If you want to literally translate it, it can be called "Boy Garlic." Weird, huh? o.O;
(5) Eh, sorry. I'm not really good with describing things. Basically, it's just a big container of food, similar to a lunchbox, and it's transparent so you can see the food. Did that help?
Now that you're done, please do me a favor by clicking that little "Submit Review" button and leaving a nice review or constructive criticism for me. Thanks! MWAH!
