Disclaimer:

- I do not own Naruto, but I do own Toshio, Masaki, Anju, and Hideo.

Chapter 1

Stronger

Konoha, late summer:

'Thank you.' Sakura sat up in bed, breathing heavily. The nightmare of Sasuke only plagued her once a week now. She didn't want to remember his voice, his words, and especially him leaving.

It had been six years since then, and Sakura (18) had become stronger. Harder. She no longer cried at the smallest things, or sulked over not being strong enough. No, she had left that all behind. In the course of six years, Sakura had surpassed her mentor, Tsunade, in the medical field. Sakura was now the most respected and knowledgeable medical kunoichi. Not only had she excelled with medicine, but Sakura had also greatly improved her other skills as well. She, along with Neji and Shikamaru, had earned captain in the ranks of ANBU.

TenTen, Lee, Choji, and Kiba had become ANBU as well. TenTen and Lee were on Neji's team, which worked perfectly seeing how Neji and TenTen had been dating for two years now. They planned on marrying in the spring. Choji was on Shikamaru's team, and Kiba on Sakura's.

Sakura couldn't afford to loose sleep. Not only did she have regular ANBU missions, she also worked every spare minute in the hospital.

"No way am I going to loose sleep to that bastard," she grumbled, lying back down. Tomorrow, Sakura had an appointment with Hinata, and Sakura was curious as to why the young Hyuuga would need to see a medic. She hadn't looked the least bit ill when Sakura had seen her yesterday. Thinking of the possibilities Sakura once again drifted off to sleep.

"Sakura-senpai, Hyuuga Hinata is here for her appointment," reported Anju as she stood in front of Sakura's desk. Sakura looked up at Anju, a lovely girl of sixteen. She had strawberry colored hair and sky blue eyes. Anju was rumored to be quiet and shy, but Sakura knew just how feisty and brave Anju could be.

"Thank you Anju-chan. Please get her comfortable in room twelve and I'll be in shortly."

Anju nodded and went to escort the beautiful Hyuuga heiress to room twelve. Sakura let out a sigh, and looked out the window in her office. She wanted so much to be outside, eating ramen with Naruto, trading insults with Ino, or training with Neji. As much as she loved her job, Sakura knew it would always be this way. As head of the medical council, free time was no longer possible.

Glancing at the clock, Sakura stood and headed towards room twelve. She turned the door handle and entered quietly. Hinata sat facing the window, but turned when she felt Sakura lye a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

Sakura was immediately concerned by what she saw. Never had she seen Hinata look so…tired.

"Hinata-chan, tell me what's been going on?"

Hinata blushed. She and Naruto had been dating for two years. They were ridiculously happy, and Sakura supported them one hundred percent.

"I..I think I'm sick Sakura-chan," she whispered.

"Alright," Sakura replied, checking her forehead for any sign of a fever. "You don't have a fever, so tell me the symptoms you've been having." Sakura checked her blood pressure and pulse as Hinata explained.

"Well, when I wake up, I feel really awful. I've thrown up qui..quite a bit in the last couple of days in the mornings, but I think it's getting worse." She sounded terrified.

Sakura's heart picked up pace. "So you've been throwing up, but only in the morning, right?" Hinata nodded. "Tell me, have you had any weird food cravings?"

Hinata thought deeply, oblivious to Sakura's assumption. "Well, now that you mention it, I usually dislike pork ramen, but I recently find myself eating it wherever I go."

Sakura sighed heavily and put her fingers to her temples, leaking chakra in to calm the ache. How was she going to tell Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress, that she was pregnant? Before she decided to worry Hinata, Sakura placed a hand on Hinata's flat stomach, using her chakra to find a heartbeat.

There. Three strong beats, one Hinata's, was coming from within. She was certain now, but that still didn't make it any easier to tell Hinata what was happening.

Away in her own thoughts, Sakura didn't realize how worried Hinata had become. "Sakura-chan?"

"Hinata, you're pregnant," it came out as a whisper, but Hinata heard every word clearly. The room was silent except for the soft sounds of their breathing. Tears began falling from Hinata's eyes.

"Hinata? Hinata, don't worry. We'll figure something…"

"Sakura…..thank you," Hinata cried softly. "Even though I wasn't expecting this, I am very happy. I can't wait to tell Naruto! Do you think," she looked to Sakura with pleading eyes, "that you could spare the time to come with me?"

The request surprised Sakura. Things were obviously tense within the Hyuuga household. Surely now the Hyuuga clan leader, Hiashi, would allow them to marry. He had been against their union from the start, resulting in denying Naruto's attempts for proposal several times. Things were definitely about to change.

"Of course I can spare the time Hinata-chan. All there is to do recently is paperwork," Sakura teased. She walked casually to the door and opened it, catching Anju's attention. "Anju, I am going out for a few hours, so please only send for me if necessary."

Anju nodded her understanding and came into the room. "Um…Hinata-sama? If you'd like, I used to make my mother a special tea to ease her morning sickness. Would you like the recipe?"

Hinata blushed and nodded. "Thank you Anju-chan! I would like that very much."

Sakura heard nothing else as she left for her office. She entered, closing the door to remove her uniform. The medic uniform she wore was customized but simple. She unzipped the white skirt that stopped at her knees. It was split to her hip in two pieces, designed for fighting. Next, she un-buttoned the white, sleeveless shirt that displayed the sign for medical ninja in the upper right corner. Whenever Sakura slipped off her uniform she always felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Sakura knew she only had hours before she once again wore the uniform…and the weight.

Sakura looked in the mirror, studying her regular clothes she wore under her uniform. The red sleeveless shirt stopped short two inches below her chest, leaving her flat and toned midriff bare, and bore the Haruno symbol on the back. Her black spandex shorts stopped mid-thigh, and were partially covered by a red skirt, same red as her top, that also split to the hip in four even pieces. The clothes fit her extremely well, and complimented her silky bubblegum locks that just barely swept her shoulders.

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata voiced through the door, grasping Sakura from her thoughts. Hinata was outside her office, waiting.

Sakura turned and smiled, "Sorry to keep you waiting Hinata-chan. I'm ready."

End of chapter 1