Naruto ran a lazy hand through his messy blonde hair as he walked up the porch steps to the front door of the Uzumaki residence. He had just gotten done relaying the report from his last mission to Lady Tsunade and was anxious to finally see his pink-haired wife.
Naruto and Sai had returned to Konoha earlier that morning, and he had stopped home hoping to find Sakura. Instead, he was met by a note on the front door informing him that in the case of his return in her absence, that she was sorry to miss him but she had a shift at the hospital and would be gone until later. Her clean scrawl also indicated that there was some lunch simmering on the stove for him to eat and that she loved him and was glad he got home safely.
Sakura's note did bring a smile to Naruto's face, especially when he pictured her writing it (he wondered how many other notes she had made the past couple of days to stick on the door in hopes of his arrival). But he still was disappointed that he would have to wait to be greeted by his wife, and that her warm kisses that would make up for the week and a half of his absence, and then some, would be postponed.
However, as he opened the door this time, the smell of whatever Sakura was cooking in the kitchen greeted him. A sign that she was home, and there would not be anymore notes. Shutting the door quietly, Naruto slipped off his shoes so he could tread soundlessly across the wood floor to the kitchen.
Pausing in the kitchen doorway, Naruto leaned against the frame watching the busy pinkette cook. These stollen moments where he was able to watch her without her knowing were some of his favorites. His blue eyes followed Sakura's movements about the kitchen, and he grinned when she struggled to reach a spice from the top shelf, even on her tip toes. Naruto had to bite his lip to contain the chuckle that threatened to give him away as he heard her disgruntled mumbles about the stupid shelf being too high.
Sakura paused, turning her head in the direction of the broom closet and then back towards the cupboard, and Naruto could tell she was debating whether to get a step stool, or just climb onto the counter. As much as Naruto was amused by his wife's childish antics for reaching the top shelf, he wasn't sure he could wait much longer for his welcome home.
Just as Sakura placed her hands onto the counter and began to shift her weight onto them to lift herself up, an arm reached around her and up to grab the spice jar, bringing it down and offering it to her with a chuckle.
"Sakura-chan, I don't think climbing on the counters is the best solution..."
Sakura's eyes widened a little, recognizing the amused voice, and she quickly forgot about the spice jar, turning around to find a grinning Naruto.
Naruto set the jar on the counter, also forgetting it, as he chuckled at the surprised look on Sakura's face for being caught in the act. Up to that point Naruto had been watching her from behind and hadn't seen her face, so for her guilty, surprised expression to be what greeted him, Naruto could hardly resist the urge to tease her. Of course, he refrained, knowing what his teasing usually resulted in. Even after being married for two years, Sakura's habit of giving Naruto a good smack for his less than diplomatic comments had not changed since their childhood. Though, they were much milder, he would admit.
Sakura's surprise quickly turned into a childish glare at Naruto's chuckle. But then, as if remembering something, the glare softened and she sighed shaking her head at her husband.
"Honestly Naruto, is a normal greeting too much to ask for?" Sakura chided playfully. "It's dangerous to sneak up on people like that... What if I had been-" Sakura tried to continue, seeing how long Naruto would let her scold him, before being silenced by his kiss.
Naruto knew Sakura would not mind his interruption of her lecture, especially when she eagerly reciprocated his kiss. One tan hand held underneath Sakura's chin to lift her mouth up to meet his, while his other arm wrapped naturally around her waist to close the gap between them. Naruto's hand fell away from her chin when he was sure Sakura knew of his intentions, and her arms were free to wrap around his neck to keep them close. The dominance of the kiss was initially won by Naruto since he initiated it, but he gave it up when he momentarily broke away from her mouth.
"I missed you Sakura-chan..." Naruto breathed resting his forehead against hers and glancing down into her green eyes.
"Naruto..." Sakura started as if about to tell him something, before changing her mind and giving him a a quick, sweet kiss instead. "I'm glad you're back..." she said, leaning up to show him that she had missed him too, and just how glad she was that he was home.
Naruto was slightly confused by Sakura's pause, though if any worry that something was wrong entered his head, it was quickly dissipated by Sakura's kiss. The one he had been waiting for since the minute he left for the mission.
After all the years of pursuing Sakura, his feelings towards her were always known. He had lost count of the dreams that he had of trying to kiss her, and was thrilled when he finally got the chance to in reality. He had no problem proving how much he loved Sakura when he kissed her, and of course the kiss was not one sided. But there was nothing that made him happier than when Sakura was the one to initiate the kiss, or take dominance of it. To know that after all the years, she was also pursuing him, wanting to kiss him as much as he did her, completed Naruto. And he lived for the feeling she gave him with kisses like the one right now.
The kiss wasn't lustful and messy like the ones saved for other times, but rather passionate and loving. Her kiss was slow and sometimes he could feel her soft eyelashes brush his cheek.
The unhurried length of the kiss allowed Sakura to appreciate Naruto and some of the things she missed most about him while he was away. The warmth of his body as he held her close, the way he held her and the sense of security it brought; the way he smelled, the contrast between the rough skin of his hands and the smoothness of his lips, cheeks and neck; the feeling of his heart beat against her chest, the way goosebumps sprinkled the back of his neck as she ran her hand through his hair; and the way he'd lift her up more just to be closer. She enjoyed it all and made sure to recapture it every time he came home.
Once she had, she would slowly pull away enough to brush her lips along the skin where the side of his neck met his collar bone, before tucking her head in the nook of Naruto's neck and taking in a last breath of his scent. After a moment she'd usually make a teasing or scolding remark about him being late, or messy from his mission, or something else to contrast the adoring kiss she'd just given him. Only to glance up lovingly as they separated to continue with normal life.
However, this time Sakura made no motion to move from the nook of his neck once her kiss was over, and rather slipped her arms around his middle to prevent him from separating as usual. It wasn't that Naruto minded keeping Sakura in his arms, and he tightened them around her frame a bit, but he couldn't help but notice the change in their customary routine. He tilted his head to glance down at her, but that only earned him a view of her pink locks, which told him nothing. He was about to ask her if something was wrong, fearing this extra moment was only a preparation for bad news, but his question was interrupted by Sakura.
"Hmm, I love you Naruto." Sakura sighed contently, giving Naruto just enough time to get the expression of mixed relief and surprise off his face before she untucked her head to glance up at him.
At least nothing was wrong, or at least Naruto assumed that her declaration of love meant that nothing was. However, there was something different in the way Sakura looked up at him this time. Something in her green eyes and the way she smiled made Naruto feel like she knew something that he didn't.
He must have had a confused or puzzled look on his face because Sakura raised a thin eyebrow questioningly after a moment. "What? You look like that's the first time i've ever said that..." She said pulling away from Naruto, turning her back to him to tend to whatever was on the stove and in danger of overcooking.
Naruto shook his head, more for his sake than hers since she couldn't see and moved to lean against the counter. "Nothing..." he replied unable to come up with a good excuse and deciding to just brush the matter off.
Sakura turned to glance at him for a moment, but when he just gave her his signature grin she turned back to the pot satisfied. "You should go shower and change before dinner..." she suggested, though they both knew that if he didn't then the suggestion would become a command.
Naruto chuckled a little and pushed off the counter. "Aright Sakura-chan... But first, what's for dinner?" he asked leaning over her shoulder to look at the contents of the pot as his stomach growled on cue.
Sakura rolled her eyes jokingly. "Always so worried about food..." she teased. "But since your stomach is obviously so concerned, I am making ramen." she smiled pleased with her meal choice.
Naruto blinked pleasantly surprised. Ramen had never been Sakura's favorite dish, or rather bowl, to make, but on occasion she would humble Naruto and make it for him. Though usually that was on his birthday, which was last month, so that wasn't the reason this time.
"Ah, this will be a quick shower then." Naruto grinned kissing Sakura's cheek and escaping off to the bathroom to shower before Sakura could scold him for wasting time.
Naruto's shower was indeed quick, but even so by the time he came out with a towel drying his hair Sakura had the table set and the ramen steaming in bowls, ready to be eaten. He glanced around the room for her, even back into the kitchen, but she was currently nowhere to be found. Their house was not that big, so there weren't many other rooms for her to be in. Therefore, through a process of elimination, Naruto began to look for her so they could eat.
He started by sticking his head into the little laundry room down the hall, but only found an empty basket which he deposited his towel into before continuing the search. Thinking he had perhaps just missed her and she was back in their bedroom he turned and started back toward the other side of the house, only to hear the sound of a door sliding shut behind him. Naruto turned to find Sakura emerging from the spare room and wondered what she had been doing in there. He became even more curious when she jumped a little, startled to look up and find Naruto there. However, she quickly recovered with a smile and walked over to him.
"Ready to eat?" She asked already knowing what Naruto's answer would be as she slipped past him in the hall and made her way towards the table.
Naruto glanced back at the spare room, tempted to peek in to see why she was in there... But then his stomach growled again and he followed after Sakura instead.
Dinner went as it usually did, for the most part. Sakura asked about Naruto's mission and he relayed the details, before he in turn asked about her week. Beyond that random conversation took place between mouths of ramen. Every now and then Sakura would fail to respond to something Naruto asked or said and he would look over to find her clearly thinking about something else.
Naruto was not sure what to think of Sakura's distracted behavior, and would start to worry again until receiving a spare smile from her for no apparent reason. He was bewildered to say the least. Something was different about Sakura. Her smiles seemed to carry a hidden meaning, she hadn't scolded him for the foolish things he told her he had done on the mission, and she cooked ramen. That alone was enough to raise a flag.
At one point Naruto decided to chance a couple questions.
"Sakura, is everything okay?" He asked as casually as possible.
Sakura looked up a little confused and nodded. "Yeah fine, why?"
"No reason. You just never make ramen... And, well, you made ramen." The latter part being the truth. "Today isn't some kind of anniversary or anything right, because I am going to be honest with you, I forgot about it if it is..." Naruto said out front, rubbing the bag of his head.
Sakura just blinked before laughing lightly. "No, it's not an anniversary or birthday, so don't worry about that." she assured him, picking up her bowl before coming around to get his.
Naruto of course had been done for a while now, but was waiting for Sakura to finish before leaving the table. He smiled glad that he hadn't forgotten anything, before realizing that that meant he had still not solved the mystery of Sakura's behavior. This revelation left him even more unsettled and he frowned to himself as he watched Sakura in the kitchen from his seat at the table.
She was being too nice, Naruto decided, which usually meant bad news for him. The last time she was in this kind of mood it was to cushion the news that she would be gone for a month to help a smaller village in an alliance with Konoha set up a hospital. And before that it was to soften him up so he wouldn't be as angry with her when she told him that she had accidentally shrunk one of his favorite orange jackets when they first got married. Whatever the bad news was this time, Naruto wanted Sakura just to tell him and get it over with.
Getting up from the table he walked into the kitchen to help Sakura with the dishes. Usually she would have already enlisted him to be the dryer, but this time Naruto had to volunteer himself for the job. He watched Sakura suspiciously out of the corner of his eye as she scrubbed a bowl, and nearly dropped the one he had been drying when she suddenly smiled in the strange way she had been since he got home for no apparent reason.
Alright, who was she thinking about? Naruto wondered to himself as he sullenly turned back to focus on the next wet bowl. Who had she been spending time with while he was gone? Was it one of those doctors at the hospital? He had never liked them.
As awful as Naruto felt for thinking Sakura was cheating on him, his insecurities from being kept in the dark started to get the best of him as he created her sinister plot in his head. Sakura was feeling guilty for her infidelity, and that's why she was being so nice. Her extra acts of tenderness towards him were an attempt to appease her conscious and make up for what she had done. But even then, she couldn't help but smile when thinking about whoever she was seeing on the sidelines...
Just as Naruto was really going to get carried away and enter into ideas he would regret even imagining, a soft hand closed around his and brought him back from his thoughts.
"Naruto!" Sakura said warningly, taking the bowl from him with her other hand. "You've dried this one enough, if you aren't careful you're going to break it." She said releasing his hand and moving to put the dried bowls in the cabinet.
She turned back to him with a concerned and questioning look in her eyes that made Naruto feel like the guilty one for even thinking Sakura would do anything behind his back with another guy.
"Sorry Sakura-chan..." he said giving her an apologetic look.
She shook her head and waved the matter off. "It's fine, you just looked a little angry at the bowl... If you don't like the pattern that much we can go pick out a new set..." she added teasingly, which put all Naruto's previous notions to bed.
"Nah, I like these ones just fine." He replied returning the smile to assure her he wasn't angry with anything.
"Good, because they were a wedding gift from my parents..." Sakura laughed, leaning up to give Naruto a quick kiss. "Now come on, let's go to the living room, the dishes are done." She said running a hand absent mindedly through his hair as she moved past him towards the couch.
Naruto shivered in delight at the sensation of her hand in his hair, and he did not hesitate to follow her. Sakura took her usual spot in the corner of the couch, and Naruto sat on the opposite side. Sakura glanced at the amount of distance Naruto had left between them, and moved her hands out of her lap with a knowing smile. Naruto just grinned at her and shifted on the couch so that when he sprawled out his head was pillowed on her lap. Sakura chuckled a little and leaned down, planting another short, but sweet kiss on his lips, before beginning to play with his hair.
Naruto loved the way it felt, and Sakura loved the ability to make him shudder at random intervals of pleasure from such a simple act. Although his hair had a mind of its own and flipped out randomly in places, the gold locks were still soft to the touch and ran easily though her fingers. Or at least they usually did if Naruto had decided to brush his hair that day.
Reaching up a little, Naruto played with the ends of Sakura's now long pink hair that hung over her shoulder and threatened to tickle his face. Every now and then he would catch a hair or two and accidentally pull them in a way that caused Sakura a few shivers of her own, which earned a satisfied grin from Naruto when he happened to catch such a moment. He was well aware of the satisfaction Sakura got out of seeing him shiver, so it was only natural that the feeling was reciprocated.
However, after a little while Naruto found himself becoming increasingly comfortable there in Sakura's lap and increasingly sleepy. He hadn't even realized that his eyes were closed until Sakura let out a deep breath, possibly a content sigh, that stirred him. Upon opening his eyes, his blue orbs met green ones that were focussed on him intently, but with a faraway look in them. Try as he might to read the distant expression, Naruto found no explanation or hint as to what Sakura was thinking. Giving up, Naruto reached a hand up to brush her cheek and bring her out of her day dream instead. The feel of his coarse fingers against Sakura's cheek revived her and the sharpness returned to her jade eyes. Realizing that Naruto had become aware of her watching him, she smiled innocently.
Naruto smiled a little, but raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Okay Sakura-chan, what's on your mind? You've been acting strange since I got home..." He pointed out, wanting to get to the bottom of things since he had her attention now. A smile still played on his mouth, but it was dulled by the serious look in his eyes as he looked up at her.
Sakura's cheeks flushed a little under his stare, unaware that her odd behavior had been so noticeable to him. Obviously it had Naruto concerned, because she rarely found such seriousness in his blue eyes when not out on a mission, and sometimes not even then.
"Well... I just..." Sakura started hesitantly, absent mindedly glancing in the direction of the spare room as she thought of how to approach the subject.
"Come on Sakura, you know you can tell me anything." Naruto said earnestly, though her pause concerned him.
Whatever was occupying her thoughts, Sakura had clearly not planned on sharing with Naruto at this moment. Or, at least had not yet thought up a way how. The seconds seemed to pass slowly as Naruto waited for the silence to be broken, and took a deep breath to retain the patience that seemed to be escaping him.
Sakura's eyes finally fell back on Naruto after a minute and she smiled softly.
"Naruto... What are you doing the first week or so of July?" She asked simply, brushing a few strands of hair from his eyes.
Naruto crinkled his eyebrows thinking for a moment that she was trying to change the subject. "I don't know Sakura-chan, that's in like nine months..." He replied not giving it much thought.
Sakura laughed cryptically and the strange smile returned. "Well, more like eight now, but you are on the right track..."
"The right track? Sakura why does it matter how many months it is, or what I am doing... I don't see what that has anything to do with why you are being so-" Naruto started as he looked back up at Sakura again, only to fall silent mid sentence seeing the expression on her face.
And in that instant he understood why it mattered how long it was and what he would be doing. He understood why she was in such an oddly good mood. And he now understood the meaning behind all of Sakura's knowing smiles and her random instances of smiling.
"Sakura-chan..." Naruto was finally able to utter as he glanced up into Sakura's shining eyes, being swallowed by the extent of her happiness. "You really are..." he said in a state of disbelief.
Sakura nodded and laughed a little. "July 2nd, I found out a week ago..."
Naruto sat up from his spot in her lap and just stared ahead for a moment, taking it all in. July 2nd... He was going to be a dad. Sakura was going to have a baby. They were going to be parents... Responsible for someone else. Naruto had known that eventually they both wanted to had kids, and the topic had come up a few times, but it never seemed like eventually would ever become now, or rather in eight months as Sakura pointed out.
Sakura began to become a little worried when Naruto didn't say anything else for a few moments, and she reached out a hand to him. "Naruto... This is good, right?" she asked unsurely now.
Naruto shook his head before looking at her. "Are you kidding Sakura? This is great! More than great! I don't even know what to say..." Naruto replied with possibly the largest grin that had ever crossed his features.
Before Sakura even had time to respond with relief, Naruto had closed the gap between them and had pulled her into a loving kiss of pure excitement and bliss. Sakura laughed a little into it as she returned the kiss happily, now feeling lighter after sharing the news with him.
Naruto pulled back a little and let a hand make its way from around Sakura's waist, to rest on her stomach. Sakura seemed to practically glow as he looked from her, down to where his hand rested. It was hard for Naruto to believe that a new little life was forming in Sakura's currently flat stomach, but he still moved his hand gently over the area as Sakura placed her hand over his, and gave it a little squeeze.
The Uzumaki family had begun to grow, and in that moment the two parents to be could not have been happier.