Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Brown Eggs and Green Ham, rao hyuga 18, uzamakisunspydr, I'm 4 Nick, Sasuke's Silver Fang, and Flamegirl5500. Thanks to everyone else who tagged this story as well. I hope you enjoy so please read and review.
Glossary:
aishiteru-romantic I love you
Fuuton: Kaze Rendan: wind barrage
haha: mom, but a little too personal for Naruto to use it for mother-in-law (which is gibo)
Kita: North
Toshihiro: wise, clever
Tora: tiger
Ren: love or lotus
Ones you probably know but I'll translate anyway
Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: multi shadow clone technique
dobe: dead last or last place
teme: bastard
baka: idiot
baachan or obaachan: grandma
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu.: grand fireball technique
kinjutsu: forbidden technique
All Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The Story is all mine.
Chapter 2: Waiting and Rebuilding
The next two months were filled with preparations for the baby's arrival. Naruto did what he could in between missions. He had several escort missions, ranging from merchants to dignitaries, and all had been strangely uneventful. They had found an apartment on the other side of the village which happened to be in the nicer side of town, not too far from Kurenai's apartment. It was a two bedroom apartment with plenty of space for their growing family. Naruto had them moved in an hour with his multi-shadow clone jutsu much to Sakura's relief. She thought it was kind of cute how the shadow clones rushed around getting everything set up in their new apartment almost to the point of tripping over each other. He also slept well into the next day because of all the energy the clones had used in such a short amount of time.
Sakura couldn't help but be proud of how he was handling becoming a father. She could tell he needed something to do to keep his mind off of his fears of being a father, but Sakura only saw his fear when she caught him trying to read one of the parenting books and he would have a look on his face that was a cross between confusion and fear.
Naruto had tried to keep his upcoming birthday a secret, hoping that no one would remember that the day of the festival was also his birthday. He didn't like going out on that day, even after all these years and all the respect that the villagers now had for him. Somehow all his friends managed not to have a mission on his birthday so they were all there to take them out for Bar-B-Q, or rather Choji picked his favorite place and everyone else didn't feel like arguing. Their party had grown a little since the last time they were all together at Naruto and Sakura's wedding. The original rookie nine were there, but now there was baby Kita and Shikamaru and Temari brought their little boy, Toshihiro. Ino had dragged her husband, Mitsuhiro, along who was still getting use to all the ninja lingo. All of team guy was there as was Sai.
The way their group had really grown meant they had to reserve the biggest room in the restaurant. Choji had the foresight to order ahead so that the chef was able to prepare for the large and hungry crowd of ninjas. All the girls sat at one end of the table so that they could pass around the two little babies.
Nara Toshihiro had just turned six months old and was an active, pudgy little boy. His brown hair stood straight up in a miniature mohawk. His black eyes showed a wide eyed curiosity at the attention he was getting from all the females. Tenten had him in her lap as Temari worked on getting his dinner ready.
"Don't tell me that stuff is edible," cringed the weapons mistress as Temari put a bib around his pudgy neck.
"It's just stew and rice cereal. It's his favorite isn't it little Toshi." Temari proceeded to scoop a spoonful into an awaiting little mouth. The girls giggled as Temari opened her mouth too prompting Toshihiro to do the same.
The guys just ignored the girls as they giggled at the faces Toshihiro was making during his meal. He attempted to grab the spoon and feed himself much to the annoyance of his mother.
"Not yet you don't. I don't want Tenten to be the one wearing your dinner."
"So, Shikamaru, getting any sleep yet?" asked Choji in between mouthfuls.
"Not yet. I keep asking Tsunade-sama to send me on at least one mission, but she wants me here until after the Chuunin exams next month. This whole waking up in the middle of the night is just too troublesome." Shikamaru had been assigned a genin team not long after Temari had moved to Konoha. He still went with her when she had official Sand/Leaf business, but they had only been back to Suna once since Toshihiro was born, and that was more to introduce the Kazekage to his nephew than a political trip.
Temari shot him a sharp look which he tried to ignore until he got a smack in the back of the head with a baby toy.
"Hey, just kidding."
"He actually gets up half the time to take care of little Toshi, believe it or not," she retorted.
Choji got a good laugh out of his best friends annoyed expression as Shikamaru mumbled, "Troublesome woman."
Lee had been trying to explain the springtime of youth to Sai through this whole scene although Sai was not really paying attention.
"So, Naruto, how's the new team getting along?" Shikamaru said changing the subject away from himself.
"Pretty good actually. Tora whined the whole time about having to go shopping with the Waterfall Princess, but they read each other really well in battle. Erika is downright dangerous with her genjutsu, but she needs to conserve her chakra better. Hey, isn't she related to Kurenai-sensei?"
"I think she's a cousin or something like that. I know she watches her kid every once in a while."
"Speaking of babysitting, where's your escort Sasuke?" Naruto teased the Uchiha.
"Hn. He wasn't a very good one. Must be new to ANBU because he was really easy to get past," he said coolly. He could see Sai out of the corner of his eye as he said this. They still didn't get along and he knew the ANBU commander would be talking to his agent later about the incident.
"How long before Baachan lets you out of 24/7 supervision, teme?"
"I have a meeting with her tomorrow. It's been a year, so I'd expect they are tired of trying to follow me by now."
"Good, I need some fresh blood to practice on," Naruto said with a taunting look.
Sasuke just shot him a death glare as Naruto knew that he'd hit his mark.
"Like you could touch me. You only get lucky once, dobe."
"Boys, cut it out!" Sakura shot them both a look as she held Kita in what was left of her lap.
"Don't they ever grow up?" Ino asked as she rolled her eyes.
"Not those two. I swear I'll be raising three instead of one once this baby is born."
"Sakura-chan," Naruto whined.
"Are you sure he's 22 today and not 12?" Kiba added.
"Like you act any better, dog boy," Naruto shot back.
"Who wants seconds?" Choji said in attempt to change the subject.
"I'll take some," Ino said to everyone's surprise. Everyone had to laugh at the once figure conscious kunoichi. The twins were causing cravings that she herself had never expected. She was still slender with only a baby bump, but her figure didn't show off how big her appetite was.
"Anything for you Sakura?" Choji asked.
"What are you implying, Choji?" she said as Naruto shook his head at Choji's ignorant question.
"Calm down Sakura-chan, he was just trying to be polite." He was sure she would have tried to hit him if she hadn't been holding Kita.
"What?" said a confused Choji.
The waitress brought seconds and everyone toasted Naruto on living to the old age of 22, even though he was still younger than half of them. It was a good time for all and by the end of the evening Naruto didn't mind that they had remembered his birthday. He really treasured the time he got to spend with his friends and it had been a rare blessing that their group had gotten bigger over the years and not smaller like so many ninjas experienced. Tsunade had once said that it was due to their talent and close bonds that had helped them to make it through so many trials as they had done.
Naruto and Sakura walked home with Sakura's arm in his. She was tired but happy. They had stayed out later than planned and it was already very dark and the village was quiet. The festival downtown had already ended and they had missed the fireworks, but that was one festival Naruto didn't enjoy so they didn't feel like they had missed anything. The new moon made the stars stand out that night and they saw a shooting star on the way home. Both Naruto and Sakura saw it and paused long enough to make a wish. Sakura's eyes were still closed when Naruto leaned down and gave her a long, passionate kiss on the mouth. They were in no hurry to be home and walked at a relaxed pace just enjoying each other's company.
"Aishiteru, Naruto. Happy Birthday," said Sakura as they walked arm in arm.
"Aishiteru, Sakura," he replied with a smile big enough that she could even see it in the dark.
Later that same week the girls threw a baby shower for Sakura at the Nara residence. Shikamaru and Temari had moved in with his parents because they had plenty of rooms and Shikamaru had decided that house hunting was just too 'troublesome'. Naruto and the boys ended up at a local bar away from the oo-ing and ah-ing over all the baby items. It ended up feeling like the bachelor party Naruto never got because he and Sakura had been married so quickly.
The group of young shinobi had gathered around some tables at the far end of the bar. Their group consisted of Neji, Sai, Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Choji, Lee, and even Sasuke decided to come. Sasuke didn't hang out with the guys much, so he just took his drink and sat in a corner not too far from the rest of the group. It was now his habit to wear black pants with a short black kimono style jacket and he easily hid in the shadows. It still felt weird for him to be social after all he'd gone through. Tsunade had released him from his ANBU escort, but it would be another year before he would be allowed to leave the village.
Lee was the only one without a drink only because no one ever let him touch the stuff once they found out that his secret fighting weapon was alcohol. Choji had found the snacks that they kept at the bar and was working on finishing his first basket full of chips.
"So, Naruto, what do you think about all this baby stuff?" asked Shikamaru. He couldn't wait to hear the naïve answer of his friend.
"Hehe, I know enough to know I'm screwed. I've read through all the parenting books Sakura keeps bringing home from the library, but the more I read, the more I know I don't have a clue," Naruto said with complete honesty.
"I didn't know you knew how to read?" Sai teased.
"At least the only color in my face doesn't come from the pages of a book," Naruto fired back.
"Touché," said Kiba. "I still don't know what I'm doing; at least Hinata has a natural knack for being a mom. Akamaru does a better job at being a dad than I do. Speaking of which, we've got another litter of puppies on the way if anyone is interested in learning how to train nin-dogs." Everyone laughed at how Kiba still got more excited about puppies than he did about his own daughter, even though everyone knew he was turning her into a daddy's girl.
"Well, if Sakura can keep you from raising the kid on ramen, then you should be OK," teased Shikamaru with a smirk.
"Don't worry. Sakura may not be as good a cook as Hinata, but she's got me eating more than just ramen, dattebayo. I'm actually worried about this whole birth thing. I read that women get supper strong during labor and Sakura can be scary strong as it is. She's been so worn out the past few months it actually has been nice not to get any injuries," he admitted.
"Che, Temari was pissed at me during the whole thing. I'm glad they finally let me out of there. The whole thing is just too troublesome," said the shadow user.
Their laughter filled the bar at this last statement. Shikamaru just took a sip of his drink as if to drive home the point as to how serious he was about the experience.
"And I've never heard Hinata use that kind of language until the contractions started to get worse," chimed in Kiba.
"Hinata?" several of the guys were heard saying under their breath. Choji started laughing and then everyone except Naruto joined in. Naruto just started looking ill and hung his head as he imagined Sakura going berserk in the delivery room.
"Hey, guys, I think he's going to lose it," said Sai rather seriously. Sai gave a confused look at everyone when they all started laughing again at Naruto's temporary inner struggle.
"I'll be OK. It's just that you guys have never really seen how scary Sakura can be. I don't think I could take her being in labor if it's worse," he said as he tried to straighten up. They just kept laughing at his expense.
The waitress brought another round of drinks and Neji had to slap Lee's hand when he reached out for one.
"Don't make me tie you up," said Neji under his breath.
"But Neji-kun, just a sip?" Lee said hopefully.
"No."
"Naruto, you forget that I saw what she did to you after the last time Konohamaru did the 'Sexy no Jutsu' in front of her," remembered Sai as he ignored Lee and Neji. "I never told you, but once when we were watching you work on your Resen-shuriken, I tried to get her to admit her feelings for you and she just about demolished a tree with her bare hands and then threatened to do the same to me. Trust me; I've seen a pretty scary side of her."
"OK, then imagine her twice as mean and hormonal," suggested Naruto.
"Oh, I get it," said Sai after a moment of reflection.
They all laughed at him, this time Naruto even joined them.
After a round of laughter, the guys decided to talk about something a little less scary than hormonal woman and talked about missions, something all of them could relate to since only three of them were married.
"Is it just me, or have the missions been really easy lately?" noted Choji in between mouthfuls.
"My Genin are still only doing D ranked missions, so I haven't noticed personally, but I have been hearing the same from all over the village," added Shikamaru.
"How about you Sai, any excitement in ANBU you can share?" asked Naruto.
"No, nothing exciting," was all he replied.
"I wonder if something is up, something big," thought Shino out loud.
Lee went into one of his "springtime of youth" speeches about taking the opportunity to train more and everyone just rolled their eyes.
The only one who didn't join in their conversation was Sasuke, mostly because he wasn't allowed a mission yet as punishment for leaving the village 9 years ago. He sat silently in his corner surveying his friends. His stare wasn't as cold as in years past, more of a lonely look now settled in his eyes. He was deep in thought as the rest of the gang compared experiences in the world beyond the walls of the village. He failed to notice a set of blue eyes watching him as he sat there in silence. Naruto knew his friend well and had a feeling what was going on in his mind. Naruto knew well enough to talk to Sasuke after they left, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't do much more than act annoyed in front of their other friends.
After several hours of male bonding, the guys parted ways going back to their respective homes for the evening. Shikamaru and Kiba walked towards the Nara residence to meet the ladies after their party. Naruto said he'd be there shortly and turned to follow Sasuke. He knew he couldn't let Sakura take care of all those baby gifts by herself, so he made a couple of clones to start carrying home gifts just in case this took longer than expected. It didn't take long to find Sasuke who had gone to the old Uchiha side of town.
"Want to talk about it," Naruto said as he walked up beside Sasuke who was just looking at the old, dilapidated and damaged buildings that hadn't been repaired at all since his family was killed and Pain's attack had left not a building standing. Sasuke just stood in silence as his friend stood beside him, Naruto patiently waited for Sasuke to break the silence when he was ready. They stood there in silence for several minutes.
"I have memories buried among all this. Times with my family, my brother," Sasuke started quietly, "then hatred and revenge. Tsunade-sama gave me an option about what I want to do with this land, since it still belongs to me. I almost want to just torch it all and start over."
"Then why don't you," Naruto said.
Sasuke made a series of quick hand signs. Naruto seemed to know what he was thinking and began a series of hand signs of his own.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."
"Collaboration Jutsu, Fuuton: Kaze Rendan."
Sasuke's grand fireball was joined by Naruto's wind attack and it didn't take long before what was left of the Uchiha compound went up in flames. The two friends stood there and watched the flames lick the sky as Sasuke's past went up in smoke, marking a new beginning that was long overdue. Naruto waited with him until the flames turned to smoldering ashes. He patted Sasuke on the shoulder and turned to go pick up Sakura. He knew she would understand why he was running late, but he still needed to hurry back before her mood swings got the better of her. No one was there to witness a single, hot tear as it fell from Sasuke's eye.
The next day Naruto was called into Tsunade's office. He had a feeling it had to do with the Uchiha compound burning down, but decided to play dumb just in case. He found Sasuke waiting for him outside her office and his presence confirmed the suspicion as to why he had been summoned.
"Naruto, Sasuke, enter!" came the angry voice of the Hokage from her office. The two young men entered obediently, stopping before her desk in ordinary military fashion.
"I hear you two had some fun last night," started the Hokage as she continued to look down at some papers on her desk. She raised her head up to look at them and they knew that if looks could kill… "My ANBU tells me that the Uchiha compound's fire was arson. Now I wonder who would have the guts to do something like that when you, Sasuke, live just down the road and would have noticed if something was going on. And you, Naruto, I hear that you just happened to have clones helping Sakura last night when you were nowhere to be found at the same hour as when the fire started!"
"Tsunade-sama, I can explain," started Naruto. You could tell he was nervous because he didn't call her baachan.
"Silence, I'm not finished with you yet!" snapped the angry Sannin. Naruto froze in mid sentence and lowered his head a little. "Now I don't know what got into the two of you, but I want to know why you didn't let me in on your little fire show before it happened. You could have caught the entire village on fire because of your recklessness! I don't need two of my Jounin going off on their own doing stupid stuff that could get out of hand!"
Tsunade was now standing up behind her desk with one hand firmly on it glaring at the two before her. Naruto and Sasuke were starting to feel like Genin again because of the tongue lashing they were receiving. They just stood there in silence waiting for it to end wondering what she was going to do to them as punishment.
"Well?!" shouted Tsunade as she waited for one of them to answer her. Naruto looked like he was going to say something, but Sasuke held up his hand.
"Lady Tsunade, the fault is mine. I was searching for a solution as to what I should do with the property and on a whim I decided to burn it down and start over. Naruto had nothing to do with it," said the last of the Uchiha.
"Oh? And Naruto had nothing to do with the whirl wind that just happened to kick up and make the flames that much stronger?" Tsunade asked rhetorically. She was much calmer by now, but she still looked like she could jump over the desk and hit both of them at any time.
"Tsunade-sama, I was helping out a friend. You know how I am…" started Naruto before she shot him a death glare that stopped him in mid sentence.
Tsunade slowly sat down in her chair again and took a deep breath. She thought for a couple of minutes over what to do with these two idiots before her.
"Sasuke, as punishment I'm going to put you in charge of cleaning up that mess and getting something built in its place. I'll have the head architect draw up some plans so that we can begin reconstruction as soon as possible. I also want you in teach kunai target practice for the next year at the academy. Naruto, I'm going to have you help him with the clean up. After that, I'm putting you in charge of all the mission reports until further notice, got it!?" said a decisive Hokage. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Now I'm not upset because of what you burned. Everyone knows what an eye sore that part of town was, but the next time you two idiots try something like that again, I want to know beforehand so that we don't end up with a bigger mess than the one you two are going to clean up, got it!"
"Hai, Tsunade-sama," they said in unison.
She dismissed them with a wave of her hand that also signified that she didn't want to hear another word from them. Naruto and Sasuke left Tsunade's office and waited until the door was shut behind them before they looked at each other. The both let out a sigh of relief thinking that she could have easily killed them. Naruto let out nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head with his left hand.
"Well teme, looks like you won't be doing any missions for the next week," started Sasuke.
"Yea, now you're stuck with me hanging around too, dattebayo," Naruto answered. "The worst part is all that paperwork. Yuck!"
Sasuke laughed under his breath at his friend's reaction and just shook his head. Everyone knew that Tsunade hated paperwork and she had just found the perfect excuse to dump a bunch of it all on Naruto.
"Just wait until you have to teach kunai practice. Hope they don't turn you into a target, hehe," he said as Sasuke just rolled his eyes. He really hated the idea of teaching kids. "Well, shall we get started boss?" Naruto said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Might as well, baka," replied Sasuke. They walked off together toward what was the start of a very long and dirty week for the both of them.
Sakura walked down the busy street with a basket in hand. Naruto had told her what had happened last night and they had planned on her meeting them for lunch at Sasuke's property. She had just shaken her head when she heard how the fire started. She had a feeling they would get a tongue lashing and she was right. They had also guessed right that Tsunade wanted them to clean up their mess, so they had planned ahead accordingly. Of course the two men had planned on cleaning it up and rebuilding, but they figured it would at least be between missions and baby preparations. It didn't take long for Sakura to walk from their apartment to Sasuke's, but she did have to take a couple of breaks to sit and rest a bit.
Sakura found them shirtless and covered with ash and sweat when she arrived. Naruto had called a small army of shadow clones to help speed up their efforts, but the original was helping Sasuke haul some larger pieces of wood over to a trash pile that they had started. She stopped at the edge of the compound and watched them work for a while. She couldn't help but notice how handsome her husband looked as he worked and thought it was ironic how it would have been Sasuke a twelve year old version of her would have drooled over. Now it was the tall blonde who grabbed her full attention. Sasuke was the first to notice her arrival and he poked Naruto to get his attention.
"Hey dobe, you have an audience," Sasuke said with a hint of teasing in his voice.
"Huh? Oh hey babe," Naruto called to Sakura once he noticed who Sasuke was referring to. He dispensed his shadow clones and they disappeared in puffs of smoke. He walked over to where he had set his stuff down and wiped off his face and hands on a rag before walking over to Sakura.
"If I had known how good you looked covered in ash and sweat I would have had you do this sooner," she teased before giving him a kiss on the lips. "But, you will defiantly need a shower before I let you touch me."
"Ah come on, how about a hug now?" Naruto said as he tried to get his arms around her. She gave him a quick jab to the stomach which kept him from getting ash and sweat all over her. He gave her a half hearted dirty look and rubbed the sore spot on his stomach. It still hurt even if it wasn't one of her full strength punches.
Sasuke just chuckled at his two friends as he wiped his hands off before joining them. Sakura proceeded to set up a blanket on a grassy patch by an old shade tree so that they could have their bento lunch before the boys got back to work. Once Naruto and Sasuke sat down she handed them their bento boxes and chop sticks and they proceeded to eat and enjoy each other's company in the shade.
"Sweet! I see haha brought over some of her pickles this morning." Naruto said when he opened his bento.
"Yes and you know she'll kill you if you call her that in person. Who do you think drilled me on manners when I was little," Sakura replied with hands on her hips.
"Hai, hai. Sorry. I forget how violet all the Haruno women are."
Sasuke just grunted, glad he wasn't in his friend's shoes.
"So, how is the cleanup coming?" she asked.
"It's not as bad as it could be. The fire was pretty thorough in doing its part, so it is mostly a matter of getting the large beams out of the way before we sweep up all of the ash," her husband replied.
"It will still take us several long days to get it all cleaned up, even with Naruto's shadow clones," added Sasuke.
"So Sasuke, any idea what you want to do here?" Sakura asked before taking her last bite of shumi.
"They are letting me move out of the half-way house by next summer, so I'll need to get something built by then."
"And…"
"Tsunade has the head architect working on something. I haven't seen the final plans yet." Sasuke seemed distracted and turned to look at the distant horizon away from his friends' gaze.
"Oh," Sakura said. She read his body language enough to know that it wasn't a topic open for discussion, yet. Naruto just looked at her with a single eyebrow raised, but he decided not to ask any questions. Well at least not just yet. "Well, if you two don't mind, I'm just going to stay here and watch for a little bit. I already got the nursery set up with mom's help this morning, so there isn't really anything for me to do at home," Sakura said as she looked in Naruto's direction.
"Fine with me. Just don't distract the stamina freak here and we should be fine," Sasuke cut in with a smirk as the tension her simple question had caused a moment ago was now gone from his carved features.
"Sasuke!" Naruto gave a low growl at his friends joke. "It's fine with me if I have an audience and I won't be distracted either, dattebayo," replied Naruto as he gave a wink and a smile to Sakura.
Sakura just laughed at their immaturity. It was good to see them acting a little bit like they use to back when they were still team 7. It was a sign of healing for all of them.
It didn't take long for the guys to finish their bento then it was back to work. Sakura had thrown in a couple of homemade soldier pills for Naruto just in case he needed them later. He was still the only one who would eat them, even though she had tried to improve the flavor over the years. She knew he would need them if he decided to use shadow clones in large numbers. She put their lunches back into the basket and decided to lean against the tree and watch her husband and former teammate work until she fell asleep.
Naruto couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked as she slept. 'Man, I can't believe how lucky I am to have her in my life,' he thought to himself with a sigh. 'Yosh! Back to work. The faster we get this done, the sooner I can get back to missions, dattebayo.'
"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he said with his hands in the sign of kinjutsu calling forth his small army. "OK, time to get this mess cleaned up!" The area was filled with activity as they worked to get the area ready for construction. Sasuke and the original Naruto took charge of the cleanup effort and they were finished with the majority of the work in only a matter of days.
The head architect brought over plans for Sasuke to inspect and approve later on that week. Aside from the main house, there would be a new shopping district. Sasuke decided to donate the rest of his land back to Konoha for the shopping district instead of worrying about renting it out to venders. Sasuke and Tsunade as well as the council had decided a while ago that they didn't want that part of town to be cut off from the rest of the village any more. The rebuilding of this part of town was part of Sasuke's agreement to amend for past actions. His new house was to be built in the traditional style. He wanted to have enough room for a training yard as well. Only Naruto and Sakura could tell that he was enjoying this project. He was as serious as ever, but he really put his all into getting it right the first time. Maybe one day it would not just be him here in this house…
Naruto and Sakura were in bed after what had been a very long day of cleanup for him. He had returned home late and had practically passed out at dinner. He was now sound asleep in bed, but Sakura couldn't get comfortable and lay there staring at the wall. She had too much on her mind and it refused to turn off. Sakura finally gave in and swung her feet down to the floor and pushed her body into a sitting position. She got up being careful not to awaken Naruto and she went to the living room. She could hear him mumbling something in his sleep about nindo and turned to see him roll over to where she once was. 'He looks so peaceful. Wish I could sleep like that. Actually, I wish I could sleep,' thought the very pregnant kunoichi.
She silently opened the sliding glass door that lead to a balcony off of their living room and sat on the couch as she looked out at the night sky. There was no moon that night and the stars twinkled in the heavens as she gazed out of the window. She recalled a night like this that seemed so long ago. Naruto was training and she had felt so alone and useless back then as she looked out at the stars. Now she wasn't alone, but only alone in her thoughts.
She could feel the baby moving about. It was that time of night when the baby did most of its moving and she had learned that if she hadn't gotten to sleep before this time in the night, it was near impossible with all the activity going on inside her swollen abdomen. She could feel a little stretch of the baby's leg and her tummy almost danced with the movement within. She rubbed her belly hoping that the baby would calm down soon so she could try and go back to bed.
"Well, little one. It won't be long before we meet," she whispered to her unborn child. The baby seemed to kick in response.
"Sakura, are you alright," Naruto asked as he rubbed his eyes and joined her on the couch. She hadn't even felt his presence behind her. She hated the fact that he could sneak up on her like this. He sat next to her on the couch and ran his hand up and down her back.
"I didn't mean to wake you. My mind just wouldn't shut off and then the baby started kicking so I came out here to watch the stars," she answered as he gave her a hug on the shoulders and a kiss to her forehead.
"Now, you need to let mommy sleep. Who else will keep me in line if you make her sleep all day," he said as he rubbed her swollen abdomen. Sakura couldn't help but look at him with a face of love as he talked almost baby talk to their child. She gave him a peck on the cheek that caught him off guard.
"What was that for?" he inquired.
"It's just that you are so sweet. There is no one else I would rather share this moment with then you," she replied.
"Come here," he said as he pulled her back into his arms as he leaned back onto the couch. They just sat there in each other's arms as they both looked out into the night sky.
"I haven't seen a night this clear in a long time," Naruto said with a yawn.
"Hmm," Sakura murmured as she closed her eyes and laid her head against his shoulder.
Naruto yawned again as they sat there for a while. It wasn't long before he realized that Sakura had fallen asleep. He knew that they would be sore if they fell asleep on the couch; he adjusted her so he could pick her up and carry her back to bed. Even pregnant, she felt light in his arms as he carried her into their room. He carefully laid her on her side of the bed. He then crawled into bed next to her and it wasn't long before he joined her in his dreams.
