The clinical smell of disinfectant tickled Hinata's nose. She was surprised by how uncomfortable it made her, since she had never had any problems with it. She scanned the examination room, her eyes halting at the big chair in the middle, the machine next to it, gave her another unpleasant thrust in the gut.
Hinata took a deep breath before loosening her clenched fists, which clawed into the fabric of her seat, and locked up at the closed door.
"You can do this, Hinata," she spoke quietly. "Doing this without Naruto-kun might be hard but…" Her voice softened and she could feel her uneasiness rise again, what she tried to suppress with shaking her head.
"You can do this." She nodded, still not sure if these words of encouragement actually gave her confidence.
"Who are you talking to?" Hinata hadn't noticed how the door had been opened and Sakura entered the room. She looked at her dark-haired friend with knitted eyebrows and closed the door behind her, holding a colored file in her hand.
"Sakura-san." The sudden appearance of her friend led Hinata to rise her brows. "No one." She laughed sheepishly and sat up in her seat.
"How are you feeling?" Sakura observed her counterpart briefly.
"I'm fine," Hinata replied, when she actually wasn't feeling the slightest bit fine.
"Where is Naruto?" Sakura asked and sat down behind the desk. Hinata remained silent for a while before she answered.
"I told him about the examination last week but then he was called on a mission and he isn't back yet." Hinata lowered her head. "Naruto-kun is so busy, this probably isn't on his mind right now." Her own words made her gloomy. She wanted Naruto to be with her on her first pregnancy examination. The disappointment she had felt, when she had woken up to an empty bedside still lingered in her and no matter how much she tried to comfort herself, she came to the realization that she needed Naruto as her support.
She didn't blame him for eventually forgetting. He had a lot of things to do and even if he knew about the appointment, him not being in the village prevented him from coming either way.
"I see." Sakura folded her hands on the table. She had noticed Hinata's change of mood. She scanned the woman carefully and noticed how she mindlessly played with her fingers.
"He'll definitely be back soon and don't worry, you don't have to do this alone." She gave her an encouraging smile and patted her shoulder. "I'm here, aren't I?"
A certain ease spread in Hinata's body and the first time on this very day she was able to present a genuine smile. Sakura felt like medicine for her tension.
"Thank you."
Her previous relaxation blew out again when Hinata had to sit in that big, cushioned chair she had eyed so intensely earlier. It felt weird and awkward, overall just uncomfortable.
She didn't know what the exact reason was, but somehow she was scared. Even though Sakura had tried to be as tender as possible, and she was thankful for that, she had that sense tingling in the back of her head, that told her to leave this hospital right away. And that mixed with her general excitement of being pregnant, causing a strange and indefinable sensation, that grew with every second on this too big of a chair.
Today was the first day she had to face the real process of having a child and that frightened her. What if something was wrong with the baby? How would she be able to handle that?
Hinata tried to discard those questions with shaking her head. She shouldn't have thoughts like that.
"Everything will be okay." She repeated these words like a mantra in her head.
"Okay. So we have to make an ultrasound now, Hinata." Sakura descended the chair, so that Hinata could lay down. The doctor stroked her friends shoulder and squeezed it lightly, Sakura then sat down on a stool next to Hinata.
"Are you ready?" she asked, as she wheeled the machine towards them. Hinata drew in a deep breath and exhaled before she nodded at her friend, who smiled in an attempt to relieve her nervousness at least a little bit.
"Good." Sakura pushed a few buttons to set up the machine and eyed the monitor. Hinata watched her curiously, impressed about how professional she looked.
Of course she looks professional, she is a doctor after all, she thought, silently scolding herself, what was interrupted when Sakura turned towards her again.
"Please, bare your stomach now." She held a see-through bottle in her hand. Hinata unnecessarily nodded again and slowly pulled her shirt up, then she looked back at her friend, as if she was signaling her willingness for the procedure.
The women's heads jolted up when suddenly the door opened loudly and a heavy breathing figure stood in the frame.
"N-naruto-kun." Hinata was so surprised about his abrupt arrival that her old habit of stuttering appeared at the surface again, she sat up. Sakura however just stared at him in silent shock.
"I made it," he breathed in a hoarse voice, he had put his hands on his waist and rapidly drew air into his lungs. Hinata's wide eyes gaze didn't vanish when Sakura loosened from her stiffness and stood up to close the door behind the man, a slight smirk gracing the corner of her mouth.
"You remembered." Hinata was in the midst of awakening from her paralyzation.
"Of course I did." Naruto approached her with a smile. "You can't imagine how fast I ran here." His mien broke into a grin as he positioned the chair from the desk at her side and sat down, without interrupting their eye contact. He took her hand into his. "I'm sorry, for being so late."
And he was. He was incredibly sorry that he made Hinata feel lonely. He hadn't forgotten about this appointment for even a second and agonized over a method to be back at the village as fast as possible.
Hinata could immediately feel the lump in her through gaining in size and a certain wetness spreading on her eyes. She shook her head, since she couldn't response with words, and looked down, while squeezing his hand. She wanted to suppress the tears and sobs of relief her body tried to release.
Never mind her speechlessness she wouldn't be able to express how glad she was, that he was here.
Sensing her current emotional battle, Naruto tightened his grip as he eyed the trembling of her lower lip.
Hinata lifted her head again, encouraged by his close presence, and smiled. She was really glad he was there.
The woman shifted in her seat and laid down again, her fair eyes fixating his blue ones.
Still standing at the door, Sakura cleared her throat. She had lost the momentum to leave the room, so she had been watching her friends in silence. Despite her awkward staring, she was pleased with the brighter mood Naruto's attendance has caused.
"Now that we're all happy, I guess we can continue with the ultrasound," Sakura spoke. Naruto gaped at her, as if he had just realized that she was still there but she excused his behavior with the argumentation that no person would mind the doctor in this situation.
Sakura sat down on her stool as Hinata freed her stomach from her clothes again, still nervous but visibly more content than before.
The doctor applied the gel on the pregnant woman's stomach and Hinata winced at its sudden coldness. Sakura waited a little while, so that Hinata could get used to the gel before she placed the transducer on her abdomen.
Naruto watched this process with raised brows and a slightly agape mouth, realizing his complete ignorance about the proceeding.
They all observed the monitor with the image of Hinata's insides, Sakura with the sight of a professional and the couple with entranced suspense.
"Here it is." Sakura enlarged the image and shifted so that the couple had a better view.
And there it was. Standing out from the surrounding blackness. That sightly peanut shaped being, leaving his parents in a trans-like astonishment.
"Wow," Hinata breathed, mesmerized by the image.
"Yeah," Naruto responded just as voiceless.
It was weird. They had known for days that Hinata was pregnant. They knew there was another human being in her but actually seeing this being was overwhelmingly stunning. It was a whole different feeling.
Their eyes widened in amazement again when they heard muffled throbbing resounding from the machine.
"And this is your child's heartbeat," Sakura explained with a smile and fell silent, further words would be in vain anyway since the only thing her counterparts' ears absorbed were the rhythmical sounds of their child's heart.
As if the image hadn't been breathtaking enough, the sound of the heartbeat impressed them with pure awe once again.
The sound seemed like it had surrounded them, preventing anything else to reach them. It was fascinating how a simple sound could subdue a persons body to this extent.
Naruto and Hinata locked their gazes. They both broke into a pleasant smile, his hands still clasping hers. They had forgotten about Sakura's presence for anew and fell into an embrace, welcoming the reality that their family was a set of three now. The beauty of that thought seemed impossible.
The corners of Naruto's mouth rose so high that his cheeks started to hurt.
They were going to be parents. He was going to be a father.
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