We'll be going on THREE YEARS of my journey with so many Naruto stories, beginning with this happy couple, when we reach the end of November. Though I have to admit that back then I was ravished internally with the intensity of ItaHana, but in terms of romance in general life, I haven't good times. :( Therefore I sometimes feel restrained when it comes to romantic chemistry, as well as the intimate acts themselves. Add in the fact that dark romance itself (but not between Itachi and his woman) is being subjected to controversial discussions when a pigheaded old prude - which happened to me when it came to writing for Kim Possible/Monkey Fist back then - tells you that it's a RAPE instead of something natural and special between two people. No matter how exciting it feels to you. That's why I proceed with more caution and struggling to hold onto myself when I continue to do what I do best.

Chapter Two

Diamond in the Rough

"I'm so tired!" She collapsed onto the lounge when they arrived back to the house. All she wanted to do now was close her eyes and dream away, but they had to put away the new gifts for the baby. She wished she could get Tsunade for this: for embarrassing her in front of all those men, including her brother, brother-in-law and father-in-law, and so on.

And of course, her husband who was chuckling when he took it in. "Well, look at it this way, love: she did you a useful favor. And at least I'll be there to help you," he drawled, eyes smoldering when they fell to her breasts, which had swelled more than they used to be, heavy with milk. She put both hands over them and turned her back, pouting. "Now, you're not mad at me, are you, my sweet one?" Itachi asked, sounding mock-hurt, as he trailed after her with a few of the gift packages beneath his arms.

Hanaru paused and turned back to him, sticking her lower lip at him. "You know I could never be mad at you for long, but you owe me one thing which is...exactly what you promised me," she said slyly, striding past him and going outside to get the other packages that were brought to be placed on the top of the porch steps.

The rain had stopped by this time, leaving everything smelling fresh, and the sun was peeking out of the clouds by only a fraction. I love the smell of fresh summer rain.

She stretched her back and groaned a little when her muscles relaxed and her back loosened its stiff posture. "Well, I think now that that's done, how about I go and make dinner?" she asked when she saw him taking a few packages into the room they set up for the baby.

"Now that you said it, I'm hungry as a wolf," Itachi said. "But don't overexert yourself."

Hanaru rolled her eyes, though he couldn't see her. Overprotective husband she had, but that was what she wanted in that man. Someone who loved her the way she was, respected her wishes, and whom she would stick with through thick and thin. Parent and child bonds were strong, but the one between husband and wife was body and soul for generations to come. She'd been with him when he suffered in his eyes as well as his body when he was on his final ANBU Black Ops mission. She'd feared his brother would lose his sight forever - until after the procedure, she learned that it was a cross-transplant. Which meant both of them made it, but her husband was discharged the day before the wedding.

No more secretive missions.

No more fearing something will happen to him.

No more being in his father's shadow.

But that meant no more him hunting down anyone from the Akatsuki, since there were a handful left. Except there was one the Leaf Village really wanted gone most of all, while Orochimaru was still on lockdown. Kabuto Yakushi was rumored to be on his own, but no one caught him yet. He was just like his master before him: slithering like a snake in and out of the midst. If she saw either of them, she would take the right hand herself, but not right now when she was like this.

The blanket, stuffed animals - her breast pump - and everything was put away in no time. Now she was making them both a nice, heavy but simple dinner of mushroom soup, a grilled vegetarian dish, finished with all kinds of dango for dessert. Sweets were her most crazed craving in her entire pregnancy; sometimes she would have those sweet balls IN miso soup! One time, her saiai caught her eating it, and she could have sworn his face turned green with disgust, but he didn't say a word if he knew what was good for him.

"Delicious," he told her when they were done eating. He gracefully slurped down the last of his soup and put it atop his plate. "As always."

"Thank you. Is there anything else I can get you, darling?"

Itachi smirked as he watched her stand up. "Well, there is something I should do for you, since you've made this fine meal. Hard work should always pay off." He stood up from his kneeling position behind the table, picking up his dishes and following her into the kitchen.

Hanaru grinned back at him, setting the dishes down into the sink, but before she could bend down to find the soap to squish in, he stopped her. "Let me do all of this for you. Why don't you go into the bedroom and wait for me?" he husked against her ear, breath hot on her skin and making her nerves tingle delightfully. Shuddering, she acquiesced and slipped away from him, waddling on her feet because that was what she did nowadays. Sometimes she was ready for this kid to pop out so that life was normal again. She wanted to go back to the field, though that still meant their child needed both parents in its life.

Pausing around the doorway, she watched her handsome, vigorous husband with his back to her as he turned on the hot water and got to work. This kind of man a woman needed: someone who washed the dishes for her after she spent her time by the stove. And that long hair ever in its ponytail, his broad shoulders, slim hips and his ass accentuated by the pants...

Her hormones weren't what they used to be, not since they went crazy before the fifth month. Looking at her man's behind didn't stir them inopportune. Not even when her hand worked its magic on his manhood when he was aroused against wishes.

Though what about now? All she could tell was that she was excited due to the one thing on her mind. That first time they went at it exploded into a constant frenzy every time they ended up here at the end of each day. It began that way not only with the spring night a month before their wedding, nor with the morning after, but later that day when Itachi was assigned on that fateful mission which nearly cost him his life; he'd brought up the need to conceive their first child in case something happened to him. Desperate times they were. It was a good thing they weren't obligated based on it, and the troubles were all worth it.

Safely in the bedroom, Hanaru slipped out of her clothes and chose the silk slip that matched her skin color, which was her favorite one and also her husband's. It happened to expand for her bulging belly, thank the gods. She managed to get underneath the blankets and relaxed, waiting for her man to come and join her.

And there he was, coming in and removing his shirt - but when it rode upwards, she saw the scars on his abdomen, where the muscles were scarred permanently despite Tsunade's genius hands. Though it added to his earthly radiance instead of being a hideous imperfection.

"Brings back plenty of wonderful memories, my little koishii," he said, sliding underneath from the end, up and over her, the blanket covering them both. "All those times we went at each other like rabbits in the fields, starting right here, then out there in the bamboo grove..."

~o~

He turned her on, turned her into a wanton little minx in a matter of moments. But it was she who started it last night, so it was obvious who was to blame. He snickered to himself as he gently took the throbbing vein at the base of her neck between his teeth, causing her to hiss like a cat in heat. His other hand moved down to cup the underside of the breast there, feeling how aroused he was making her. She wasn't aware he was fully nude yet, but she would see again soon. Itachi now brought both hands over the front of her body and lowered them to rest over her abdomen, where they would soon create life together. He didn't need to ask if she wanted more; he took his time peeling away her sweet clothes which left some assets to the imagination whilst he took in the tasteful outlines of the important parts that defined her as female. Everything is all mine.

He turned her around so she faced him, the red-orange sun covering bared flesh with a warm, delicious hue of amber and shooting rays through the small forest of bamboo surrounding them. The smell of the array of candles, consisting of water flowers notably, reached their senses. Below his waist, Itachi tingled with desire for this woman he would give his life for as he would sacrifice himself for the entire village.

The couple shared another deep locking of the lips, gently nibbling each other's lips and twining tongues together, hands caressing muscles and sensitive areas, exploring more territory they might not have discovered the previous night. Until Itachi could wait no longer and took the initiative.

"Come, Hana-chan," he grunted, hoisting her up into his arms and carrying her into the wild so they could begin night one of conception.

~o~

"Which was my fault," Hanaru said when she looked deep into those onyx eyes which made her cheeks pink but burned them to a hundred degrees. His body slid down her again, his muscles smooth against her legs, and his entire head covered by the blanket.

She yelped when she felt his tongue swipe against the top outer line of her sex, causing that part to tingle like a network coming to life by a simple push of the button. Then onward to the sides until she was twitching uncontrollably and growling for more. "As you command, Lady Hanaru." That title for the lady of the household - and belongs to only him. Itachi then pressed a kiss on that spot without going further in, inhaling her subtle feminine musk as well as the strong perfume of her arriving syrup. "Mm-hmm." His humming was an aphrodisiac in itself. His nose and mouth gently nuzzled her blonde pubes.

"Right here, where we joined...and where our child will come."

"ITACHI!" She squirmed, causing her heavy breasts to sway side to side; she could hear the milk splashing in them. Darkly, he snickered and rested his mouth against her again.

He returned the phrase she gave him the very first time she treated him the way he was doing so to her: "Sing for me, my luscious Sensei." His tongue slipped out, breaking down her wall and taking her off-guard as he licked the bud protruding between her folds, sending her into electroshocks. Damned good ones! And then he slid his entire mouth, spreading her open, so he could take her all the way in to lick and drink down her source of pleasure. Grunting, Hanaru clenched the sheets beneath her, her knees turning into gel as her legs wobbled, closing onto his head between them.

She growled down at him, at what he was doing to her, which didn't endanger their baby. "You baka, I ought to get you for this. You're still so good even when we...haven't...done this much lately."

She was at the peak of her orgasm, frustratingly, when he paused to answer her. There was the sound of a light smack, which meant he was licking his lips. "Well, my precious, know that this is important only because it shows how much we still have each other even if the little one comes in. And at least I will still be able to make you scream when I am finished with you."

And scream she did, making the walls shake and the glass windows to screech but not crack.

~o~

Next day was clear, with some white clouds, and the air was moist and humid. Hanaru said her brother and Hinata were going to come over because they had something to tell them before they would break it to anyone else. He had an idea and smirked.

About time you did it, Naruto. I just hope Hiashi Hyuuga didn't give you too much of a hard time...or if you thought to ask him beforehand.

"Alright, everything is ready!" Hanaru said happily as she set up the table for lunch. "Ichiraku ingredients on the stove, thanks to old man Teuchi's help last time I volunteered that day to aid him while his daughter was on leave, just like I am." Ayame went and got married, and in the final term of her pregnancy, she was lying in and not being on her feet due to them swelling, which Hanaru had suffered a fair few times.

"You're lucky, my dear, that Teuchi-san trusts you with his secret recipe to your brother's life sustenance," Itachi told her with a smirk as he stood over the stove, inhaling the lush aroma of pork and miso. Already, his stomach growled.

Hanaru scolded him when she saw him over there. "Itachi Uchiha, you'd better not go ahead and dig in before our guests come! Naruto will barrage your body!"

"Not at all, but I will up and take one of these instead of your brother's favorite." With that, he chose to pick up one of the tri-colored sticks she made by her hand since the morning broke, and she shrieked like the harpy she was during the entirety of the pregnancy, slapping his hand away. "Ow, that hurt!"

"As it should, you bad boy. You're not getting a treat until the real meal is over," she said with a sharp nod of finality and turned her back on him just as the door was knocked on, telling them the guests of the hour had finally arrived.

"NEE-CHAN! BROTHER-IN-LAW!"

"Naruto, you had better not squeeze me or the baby and kill both of us in that monstrous grip of yours," Hanaru warned as she did the honors before he could, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and drawing him into the house, with the beautiful pearl-eyed woman trailing after hm.

Hinata had never looked so radiant, that shine in her pure irises evident in his suspicions. "I haven't seen this place since you both moved in. It's just as I remembered, or have I really missed something?" she asked.

Itachi laughed. "No, nothing has changed, but we have finished setting up the baby's room."

"Glad to know, and that it won't be long now," Naruto hooted, running his hand over his sister's protruding abdomen, where his niece or nephew was sleeping in wait. Then he sniffed the air, eyes bulging. "Oi, my ramen! Hana-nee, you're the best!"

Now, isn't peace a fantastic way to live, though sometimes you needed the adrenaline? This Itachi hardly had time for, but here he had it because his koi, his aoibara, made him leave the Black Ops with the threat to his masculinity: his wife, their first child on the way, enjoying a meal in the middle of the day with his brother-in-law and his woman. And that was when, as soon as the noodles were gone and the sweets exchanged, Hinata extended her hand to show IT.

A brilliant natural diamond on a delicate, snowy band. That is a treasure pulled straight from the earth.

"We're getting married!" the Hyuuga heiress said, rubbing her eyes with both hands now and trying not to cry too much. "I never thought it would happen! And Father actually said yes...but he and Naruto had the talk while I had to wait outside." Her lower lip trembled, but she forced it to stop.

"I told you, otouto," Hanaru told him, slapping his back and making him wince a little, but it wasn't like the ones Sakura used to give him when they were Genin.

It was then that there was knocking on the door - rapid and desperate. "Oh, what could that be?" Hanaru snarled impatiently.

"I'll take care of it. You all stay here," Itachi said, standing up and stretching before walking out of the kitchen for the front door. When he opened it, there was none other than his wife's Chuunin - just brother and sister - but currently, they were his until she delivered.

"Whatever is the matter?" he asked, and Misaki Kimura was the one to pipe up.

"Lord Hokage said to tell you and Hanaru-sensei that...Orochimaru escaped from the correctional!"

So that flashback Hana-chan had was from the second chapter of "Bamboo Woods". :3 I don't know how I managed, but when I did that moment, I had a hormonal charge in a certain part that helped me make it the way it should!

(blushes tomato red) Maybe I shouldn't have brought up such a private thing.

Well, anyhoo: Orochimaru escaped prison. :O Now there will be hell to pay.