Love Actually

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I also do not own Inuyasha and I highly doubt that I ever will. These two great Manga and Anime series belong strictly to their creators. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Prologue

Sakura Haruno couldn't help but frown as her eyes scanned her patient's medical results.

She forced herself to look away from the shocking report and instead diverted her attention to her patient, who happened to be sitting across from her desk right now. Her patient had her head down, and eyes were focused on the floor.

"Kagome…" Sakura began in a gentle tone.

Kagome winced when Sakura called her name and she wrung her hands in anxiety. She was still looking at the floor and did not respond when Sakura said her name. Her bangs were hiding her blue eyes but Sakura could see some tears dripping on to the floor. Sakura stood up and she made her way across to where Kagome was, and she kneeled down in front of the petite woman.

Sakura patted her shoulder reassuringly and tried to comfort her.

Kagome was a good friend of hers and Naruto, so Sakura had been rather surprised when she just turned up in Sakura's office one day asking Sakura to conduct some tests on her. Sakura had done what she was told; and seeing the results of those tests had made her frown. It was just so surprising for her.

Kagome didn't seem like the type of woman to do this kind of thing.

Kagome Higurashi was a petite woman with a small build. She was shorter than Sakura even though she was older than her; Kagome was roughly 25 this year. But Sakura could guess that men wouldn't care about a woman's height if she had the looks. And Kagome had the looks; she was a very beautiful woman. She had long raven black hair that reached to her waist, and her eyes were just…wow.

If a guy stared into them, they would be lost in those misty blue depths.

For a period of time, Sakura had been envious of Kagome's good looks and seemingly impossible grace, but all those feelings had disappeared now. After all, Sakura had managed to make Sasuke Uchiha fall in love with her enough to ask for her hand in marriage.

And only just recently, Sakura Haruno became Sakura Uchiha.

She was a happily married woman, at the age of 20 while Kagome was still single and not in any relationships, at least from what Sakura could tell. But Kagome must have been in a relationship, it must have been secret too, otherwise why would Kagome come into Sakura's office out of the blue one day asking her pink haired medical friend to conduct a pregnancy test for her?

And the results came back… positive.

Sakura stroked Kagome's back in a soothing fashion, trying to calm her friend down and she looked like a mother calming down a distressed child. Sakura tried to shush her friend, and even whispered softly "Kagome, calm down. It's okay. Everything's going to be all right…"

Kagome looked up slightly and her blue eyes met Sakura's. "I'm pregnant, aren't I Sakura?" her voice cracked as she asked this.

Sakura nodded slowly and Kagome looked down at the floor again, more tears coming out from her eyes. She smiled wryly as she whispered "I thought as much. I felt another aura coming from my body, and I missed my menstrual cycle for two months."

Sakura patted her friend's shoulder "It'll be all right Kagome. Naruto, Sasuke and I are going to be there for you."

"How far up am I Sakura?" asked Kagome. Sakura frowned and she tried to remember the results. "Hmm…You're about 2 ½ months pregnant. Kagome," said Sakura, and she eyed her friend carefully, before adding in a gentle tone "You know if you don't want to keep the child you can have an abortion. It's not too late for your case." Sakura's nose wrinkled as she said the word abortion.

She found the whole process totally cruel and all, but if Kagome wanted to have an abortion, then Sakura would be there to support her friend, not shoot her down.

Kagome shook her head and she placed her hand on her belly "No thank you Sakura. I'm actually very…happy… that I'm pregnant with his child……But I don't know how I am supposed to earn enough to support it and take care of it. I barely earn enough as it is and if I know I won't have the time to take care of it. I will have to work for the entire day just to have enough money to pay for all of its stuff."

Sakura's brow creased in worry for her friend, but she said "Sasuke, Naruto and I can lend you some money. You can slowly pay us back."

"No, please Sakura, you mustn't tell Naruto or Sasuke. Just do anything to keep them in the dark for now. I don't want to tell them so soon. If you did tell them then they would surely want to help me, Sasuke especially. And I could never ask that of you guys Sakura," Kagome said gently, her voice slight pleading.

"Then what about your child's father? You can get him to help you. You can get him to marry you and take responsibility for his actions," Sakura told Kagome, but her raven haired friend shook her head and smiled sadly. "The father doesn't know. And I'm not sure whether I should tell him. You see…we were drunk when we did it, and I left before he woke up. So I'm sure he doesn't remember that we ever did it, or he would have apologised or try to make it up to me."

"Then you should tell him Kagome," Sakura urged her friend.

"I can't tell him…" Kagome's voice trailed off and she looked away, sighing softly. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows "Why not?" she asked. A light blush appeared on Kagome's cheeks and she mumbled out "Our age difference is a little far apart."

"Does age really matter to you Kagome? Don't you love him?" Sakura asked in confusion, shaking her head.

Kagome's blue eyes became alert and she snapped out of her trance. "Excuse me?" she asked. Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes and repeated her question. "Don't you love him? Your child's father?" A tranquil smile lit on Kagome's face and a light blush appeared on her cheeks. "…Yes I love him…Very much so," she replied in a gentle tone, the sad smile back in place.

"And does he love you?" Sakura asked.

Kagome was silent for a moment as she contemplated on her answer. She was dead certain that she fell in love with him when she was a young woman, and that her feelings for him were still as strong as ever even after so many years.

But whether he loved her?

Even though he didn't ever profess his feelings to her, ever told her that he loved her, all the little things that he did for her meant all the world to Kagome. She searched through her memories about the times she spent with him and she remembered the happy twinkle in his eyes every time he laid his eyes on her. She remembered how gently and sweetly he behaved with her, how he would say her name lovingly with an emotion that Kagome identified as lust.

She remembered the times he kissed her and held her, how he would flirt with her despite them being surrounded by their friends.

She remembered the times he celebrated her birthday and the holidays with her, giving her presents and flowers. And she treasured the moment when he said that he would protect her forever. So yes, Kagome was certain that he loved her as much as she loved him.

"He does love me," she replied with a fond smile.

"If you love him and he loves you, then what's stopping you?" Sakura asked in an impatient tone. The sad smile was still on Kagome's face as she spoke "He's always so distant to everyone, including me. And I've known him for a very long time, ever since I was little. I think he doesn't believe that he deserves a happy ending, no matter how much I try and convince him. He's got so much guilt and regret building in him that I know one day he's going to crack."

Kagome looked at her friend and smiled wryly "He's got so much baggage in his heart already and I don't want to add anymore burdens to him. I don't want to force him to make a choice about me and our child. And…he's already taken…" Kagome's eyes were distant as she said this.

Sakura placed her hand on Kagome's shoulder and she looked at her friend, pain filled in her green eyes.

She knew that Kagome was the kind of woman that always put the feelings of her friends over her own, but Sakura didn't know that Kagome would readily raise her own child and not want to burden the father even though she loved him. That she would raise her child herself and not come between the child's father and the woman that Sakura believed was his wife.

"Sakura, could you promise me something? As a friend?" Kagome's soft voice rang out.

Sakura immediately nodded "Ask me anything you want Kagome," she told the raven haired beauty. She was determined to do everything she could do to help her long time friend. "Could you keep this meeting today a secret? I don't want the whole of Konoha to find out so soon," she said with a sigh.

Sakura rolled her eyes "Well they're going to find out soon Kagome. After a few more months you're going to swell up like a watermelon," she said with a weak smile. Kagome placed her hand on her stomach and she smiled slightly "I know I am going to get big in a matter of months. But if keeping quiet about it for a while means a few more months of peace before the whole of Konoha starts shooting their mouths off about exactly how I got pregnant and who was the man who did it with me, then I'm keeping quiet forever," she added wryly.

"Kagome, you know that some people in Konoha won't accept the idea of an unwed mother," Sakura said as gently as she could, and she could already imagine the people belittling her raven haired friend; always talking behind her back and pointing fingers at her.

Her blood boiled at the thought.

"Well, they're going to have to kiss my ass because I don't really give a damn about what they think," Kagome said with a shrug and Sakura looked at her friend, her green eyes wide in surprise.

Kagome never swore.

Even if she was angry or even when she was sad, she never swore. She would just cry her heart out and afterwards feel better. So hearing Kagome swear now was rather unusual for Sakura. Kagome seemed to notice her friend's surprise because she responded calmly "Mood swings…"

"Ah…" replied Sakura, as if that explained everything.

End Prologue

Jumpingbeans480: I know I shouldn't be creating new stories and that I should be fousing on my current ones like 'Tale of A Miko Kunoichi' and 'A New Leaf' but this is an exception.

My BFF 'Dreams of the future' challenged me to write a SasuSaku fic and I just had to do it for her, but writing Naruto fanfics without Kagome didn't seem right to me. It seemed weird and boring. So I added a little twist of my own. The pairing is still SasuSaku and Kagome/? and just reading the above makes you wonder who the father is already right?

I bet some of you can already guess and I bet some of you haven't figured it out yet. But don't worry, the father will be revealed in time. I hope you have some happy reading!

Please review!