A/N: What happens to a kickass kunoichi when she has a baby?
Disclaimer: Story idea taken from real life, otherwise none of it's mine.
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Temari arrived a few minutes early at the cafe and found an outside table under a large tree. The fresh air was wonderful, after being cooped up for so long. Yoshino had harped on her that she shouldn't take the baby out for at least two weeks, and she found out quickly that when her mother-in-law put her foot down like that, even the threat of Temari's fan, (so helpful when it came to anyone else) only caused uncontrollable laughter from the older woman. She inhaled deeply and felt the sun on her face, glorious! Once she sat down, she adjusted Tsukiko's blanket and smiled at her three week old daughter. Large greenish blue eyes stared back at her. She picked up a rattle and shook it gently. Tsukiko made a gurgling noise.
An old woman passing by smiled into the carriage.
"Bishoujo," she whispered to Temari who smiled back.
Was it the pain pills that were making her soft? She only had a few day's worth left, so that was no big deal. But what if it was more than that, what if it was Motherhood? Before she had the opportunity to follow that troubling line of thinking to it's logical and equally troubling conclusion, the first of two friends arrived.
"Konnichiwa Temari! How're you feeling?" Tenten asked, careful not to hug Temari too tightly.
"Konnichiwa Tenten, like a cow hooked up to a milking machine," her exhausted friend sighed.
"I heard Shikamaru left on a mission yesterday, are you okay with that?"
Temari smirked, "who do you think put in the request? I was getting tired of having him underfoot like a gokiburi teishu (cockroach husband). I love him so much that I begged Tsunade-sama to send him on a mission."
"Anywhere exciting?"
"No, he's just delivering documents to Gaara. He took Chouji with him though, so I'll probably get a few extra days out of it. You know how Chouji likes to sample foreign cuisine."
Tsukiko began to cry, Temari leaned over and picked up the red faced baby.
"Speaking of feeding time," she said, pulling a blanket over her shoulder. "At home I'm not this discreet, but since we're in public, I figure why give the Icha Icha Pervs something to gawk at?"
The young women laughed when they saw Hatake Kakashi walking down the street, nose in his infamous book.
"Konnichiwa!" Haruno Sakura said as she took a seat, completing their little group. "What's so funny?"
"Your old Sensei and his choice of literature," Tenten said as Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Don't get me started," the pink haired medic smiled. "Hey, sorry I'm late," she noded to Temari. "It seems your mother-in-law's friend is now a grandmother for the second time."
"Any facial hair on this one?" Temari asked.
Sakura shook her head, "though with this one it would be more appropriate, it's a boy."
"What facial hair?" Tenten asked. "I don't get the joke."
Temari chuckled, "Miyako-san's son ran off and joined a travelling carnival, and then fell in love with and married the 'bearded lady'."
Before Tenten could do more than blink, a waiter showed up to take their orders. When he finally walked away, Tenten leaned across the table.
"You're kidding," she hissed.
"I wish," Sakura answered. "You should have seen it, Yasuno-san had it divided in three braids tied with tiny red ribbons."
Tenten buried her face in her hands shaking with silent laughter.
"Okay jou-chan, you're all done." Temari adjusted her top before pulling the blanket off of a barely awake Tsukiko.
"Oh, she's so beautiful!" Sakura sighed, "can I burp her?"
Temari regarded her friend like she was crazy, "are you sure? She's been known to ruin clothing."
Sakura nodded eagerly, arms outstretched.
"Alright," Temari shrugged handing Sakura first a burp cloth and then the baby. "I hope you don't like that shirt too much."
Sakura chuckled, "so tiny," she gushed as she began a soft rhythmic patting on the baby's back. "I can't wait to have my own!"
"What does Kiba say?" Tenten asked straightening up.
"He doesn't say anything," the medic shrugged sadly. "He won't even talk about it. I swear he must've trained Akamaru that the words 'baby', 'future', and even 'talk' for that matter are all code words for 'let's go for a walk'."
Tenten smiled sympathetically.
Sakura nuzzled the baby's cheek and inhaled the sweet powder smell. "You're so lucky Temari, you have this tiny little person that you and Shikamaru created out of your love. This is tangible proof of your feelings for eachother."
"You say that now because she's quiet," Temari replied. "There are plenty of ways to prove your love for eachother without having a baby."
"Hai," Sakura agreed. "But we've been together for over two years now. I feel like we're kind of stagnant. He stays at my place from time to time, goes home or for a walk with Akamaru if I want to talk about anything important...I want more. I want to seal the deal."
Temari shook her head, "you really want to know what it's like? Try staying up for hours at a time with little to no sleep and no supplements. Then try understanding someone whose only language is grunts and screams," she paused smirking. "Although that's actually what it's like talking to Kankuro now that I think about it."
The women laughed before Temari continued.
"It's exhausting, really. There's a different cry for everything; food, poopy diaper, gas, even boredom."
Sakura raised a skeptic eyebrow, "surely there's more to it," she said.
"Absolutely," the blonde agreed. "There's always more to it. There's sore nipples,and phantom pains, peeing through stitches, buckets of spit up and gallons of drool...and the diapers. Don't even get me started on the amount of," she searched for a word that wasn't too graphic, since their food was being placed in front of them. "Stuff that a person this size can expel."
Tenten laughed into her noodles.
Temari closed her eyes and shook her head," then there's the need to stay up all night just staring at her to make sure she's breathing. The wondering if she's getting enough to eat, the worrying that she might have some weird disease if her poop is slightly off-colored. The complete and utter fear that I'm screwing up in every imaginable way...but then there's the smiles, the coos, the way she sticks out her butt when she stretches. The absolute trust I see in her eyes when I'm nursing her."
Temari wiped a tear from her eye, "damn hormones," she laughed. "They're still out of whack."
Tenten smiled, reaching across the table and patted her friend's hand. It had to be the hormones, Temari was never this candid, not even in private..
"It's the single most terrifyingly wonderful mission I've ever been on," the new mom finished. "Definently not for the faint of heart."
Little Nara Tsukiko chose that moment to pull her knees up, arch her back and burp loudly spraying the cloth with spittle.
Sakura laughed as Temari stared at her daughter in awe.
"I told you there was more to it." the blonde stood and helped her friend wipe the goo off of her shoulder. "Seriously though, is there anything in the world cuter than baby butt?"
o-o-oOWARIo-o-o