Disclaimer: Same as before
"You want the good news or the bad news?" The medic shinobi offered to her patient.
"Hn." Sasuke frowned.
"Well, it isn't all bad anyways. Your eyes are really straining. I've told you before, the sharingan itself might not be so bad, but using the mangekyō sharingan seems to be putting a bit of strain on the blood vessels attached," Sakura flipped her hair behind her shoulder, "but, if we keep doing treatment, I should be able to heal them with no other issues."
Sasuke found himself at the hospital this morning, barely able to open his eyes. The white hospital room was too bright for the kekkai genkai user. When Sakura had hurried over to deliver a mission report to Naru Shikamaru, who told her that Sasuke couldn't be found this morning, she had immediately found him in his apartment, holding his head in pain. She had fussed for him to come to the hospital, where she had proper equipment to look into his eyes. Sasuke watched her as she placed her hands against his forehead, her healing hands beginning to mend his tired blood vessels.
"Now, I need you to keep them open, with the sharingan on. Try not to blink." Sakura began working. Sasuke stared hard at the top of her head to keep him from watching her face.
"I heard Naruto is heading to Suna soon. He'll want us to come with him." Sasuke said, trying to deter his thoughts away from the girl so close to him.
Sasuke and Sakura had gotten closer after the therapy sessions, however, Sasuke could not come to talk about that day he had left Konoha and when she had tried to stop her. He felt he had owed her, and he really didn't know what to do about it. He decided to approach things only if she would approach it. Thing was she didn't seem to have feelings for him in that way anymore. But, Sasuke had also noticed that she never really seemed to be one for a social life, only going out with the girls of the rookie teams. One time, when the Rokudaime crossed that line, telling Sakura that she needed, 'to get on with her life.', she had him unconscious for 24 hours, and the only reason she didn't get in trouble was because Hinata was there during it, and had told the ANBU guards it was the Hokage's fault.
"Sunagakure is nice this time of year. I think they usually hold a festival at this time. He'll probably go to reiterate the alliance with the Kazekage." She said forcefully, fully concentrating on his eyes.
"When was the last time you were in Suna?" Sasuke asked, suddenly blinking when she stepped back. Sakura checked around his pupils after he deactivated his eye trait, and sighed heavily.
"Too long ago." Was all the pink-haired kunoichi said, nodding in approval, "Any better?"
"Aa." He mused, blinking his eyes a few more times, "When that Akatsuki member…"
"Yeah. That long ago," Sakura trailed on, putting away her things.
"Gomen." Sasuke stated to her, deciding this was not something that she wanted to get into, especially those times that they were running after him.
"It's fine, I'm the one that should be sorry. Come on; let's go see what Naruto wants from us."
"Aa." He nodded, and followed her out toward the Hokage tower.
Naruto stood with his wife, hugging her tightly from behind. He had been softly tickling her sides, as Hinata tried to put some things away.
"Naruto-kun! We really shouldn't be doing that here!"
"Oy! Hinata-chan! I just can't get enough of you, especially in the early morning. Come on, we have time for something quick." She giggled slightly, as he turned her around and started to gently lay her back on his desk.
"Damnit, Sai! If you don't stop with…the…umm…" Sakura stopped, slightly exasperated, leaving Sasuke to bump into her, and Sai's eyes widening slightly. Kakashi, who had finally taken notice of the young adults halting at the door, looked in to see a rather nervous Hinata pushing Naruto away from her and running out of the office. Naruto looked over at the four, who watched him perk himself up.
"Don't look at me like that. You three wish you could…" pointing to the men.
"ENOUGH YOU IDIOT! You knew we were coming!" Sakura yelled out.
"I don't find anything wrong with it. I mean, it is his wife, he has every right…" Sai began.
"Stop right there." Sasuke pushed passed everyone else, not wanting to hear what his friend might be doing at his desk.
With everyone settled, Naruto explained that they would be going to Suna in the morning, but not just for a festival,
"Gaara has been getting reports about some man from Grass who has been targeting jinchūriki."
"The one you had me try to get intel on last month? He was no man that was really of much interest, seemed all talk." Sasuke asked.
"Hai, seems to be the same guy. However, said man seems to be a representative from Grass who might be seeking an alliance with Sunagakure. If all goes well, which DUH I'll be there, we might get in on this too. Hinata-chan will come with us also, and you guys will be more then welcome to participate in the festival, but I'll especially want Sasuke and Sakura there for that meeting. So, since they are coming, I'd figured you two would also want to come? Just Team 7 again, well, and my wife!"
"Sure, sounds good, Hokage-san." Kakashi stated.
"Ah. I think I would enjoy going on this trip too." Sai exclaimed, a genuine smile popping up on his face.
"It's settled. See you guys in the morning. Oh, Sakura-chan?"
"Hai?"
"Call Hinata-chan back, would you?" Naruto raised his eyes suggestively, with Sakura only rolling her eyes at her so called 'Hokage'.
The next morning and afternoon went by smoothly. Naruto, Sai and Hinata carried on conversations between the three of them, with Sakura and Sasuke joining in when they deemed necessary. Kakashi went on, reading his book. Sakura was also reading while they trekked, however it wasn't books she was reading,
"Sakura, really? Working on medical scrolls while you are on a mission?" Naruto asked, wrapping his arm around Hinata's shoulders, smiling at her.
"Tsunade-sama just gave them to me yesterday. I've been working on some projects with her."
"Do, pray tell, are they about, Ugly?" Sai asked, looking over her shoulder.
"Something about kekkei genkai limits and pregnant mothers. It's pretty fascinating."
"That is interesting Sakura. What have you learned?" Hinata politely asked, tangling her hand into Naruto's available one.
"Well, it pertains to mothers that don't have the bloodline that get pregnant. So, if you were to get pregnant, we wouldn't really be worried too much about it, since it's already there. We are looking at mothers who don't have the abilities. Supposedly, the fetus's chakra can deliver the abilities directly to the mother, almost as a safety measure. It protects the mother, but nothing else is really known."
"So, like, let's say Tenten-chan and Neji-nii-san get pregnant. Tenten can get the byakugan?" Hinata asked.
"Hai, but it isn't permanent. It goes away it seems once the baby is born." Sakura closed the scroll, walking more towards Hinata to continue talking more on the fascinating project.
"Well, if Tenten and Neji would hurry there asses and get pregnant, we would be able to see now would we?" Naruto laughed, moving forward away from Hinata and Sakura to join up with Sasuke and Sai.
"Well of course, since dickless here wouldn't be able to have one." Sai said.
"WHAT!?"
"Well, you would need a penis in order to procreate. But I guess there is more scientific…" Sai started when suddenly Naruto slammed him down to the ground.
"BAKA!" Hinata tried to hide her blushing face, while Sasuke stopped Naruto from killing the emotionless ninja.
"You're embarrassing your wife, dobe, keep going, and ignore him." Sasuke smartly said, grabbing Naruto's arm that was about to punch Sai back to the ground.
Huffing, Naruto went on to join up with his sensei, which didn't seem to even acknowledge the entire talk. Kakashi finally looked over at Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke, finally deciding to break into the conversation,
"Well, just think. Whenever Sasuke gets his head out of his ass, Sakura would be able to do more research on the wonderful woman who Sasuke decides to impregnate."
"Pfft. Sasuke-teme doesn't even look at woman." Naruto said, wrapping arms up behind his head, deciding to keep out of the conversation.
Sasuke kept walking, ignoring the heavy glare from his old sensei. Looking over however at the girls, he couldn't help but sense that this conversation was too heavy on all of them right now. It wasn't really time to worry about children, when other necessary things needed to be taken care of in Kohoha.
Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari met them all once they arrived. Handshakes were passed between the men and hugs between the women were exchanged, as Gaara led them to an inn.
"There are only three rooms available with the festival this week, but it's one of the best." Gaara said, watching as Naruto took Hinata's hand.
"No problem, Gaara-san. I'm sure we will be fine."
"I see no reason why we can't share rooms. It's really up to Sakura who she stays with." Kakashi said, turning himself toward said girl. Sai, Sasuke and Kakashi eagerly looked over at her, who now had her face down.
"It doesn't really matter, each of you I've been camping with before."
"Well, Sakura-chan. If you really want, we can share a room together." Hinata chimed in, smiling innocently. Naruto on the other hand,
"Well, I mean sure, if that's what Sakura-chan wants but I don't see why she couldn't stay with Kakashi-sensei or something."
"Why would she want to stay with old Scarecrow? You just want to perform coitus with your wife," Sai mused over, "I'm sure me and Ugly would be just fine."
"Hey now, Sakura is like a daughter to me. I'm married, and she's my student."
"You're also as bad as pervy sage was…" Naruto mused. Sakura sighed heavily, looking at the three men bicker. As much as she was glad to have so many of them thinking what's best for her, she couldn't stand it. She looked over noticing Sasuke resting himself against the wall, eyes closed, as if he was strained.
Damn, it must be his eyes…she thought. She remembered it's been over 24 hours since his last treatment, and realized that she would need to stay with him anyways, for his therapy.
"I'll just stay with Sasuke. I've been doing treatment on his eyes, so I can get that done easier if I stay with him. If that's ok with you, Sasuke-kun?"
The boy's looked over at the raven-haired man. Sasuke sighed, realizing that she was right and that it probably was for the best.
"It's fine." He stated.
"Then it's settled then. Sakura and Sasuke will stay together in one room, Kakashi and Sai, and Naruto and Hinata. I'll lead you to your rooms." Gaara stated, helping out Hinata with anything that she had.
Since it was late, everyone had decided it was good to just get some rest for the following morning. Temari said she would come and get the girls early, and Naruto was to meet Gaara for breakfast. Sakura opened up two scrolls on her bed as she fiddled with some of things in her bag. Sasuke mused over how she was entranced with the information out in front of him, and he asked, however nervously,
"Is someone pregnant?"
Sakura looked over at him, making a face as if she really shouldn't have this conversation. Since however, Sasuke would probably have children eventually, it seemed only fair that he should get some of the information that the medics had uncovered.
"Well, it's not really my place to say who, but Naruto kind of hinted toward it earlier."
"Tenten?"
"Yeah, she came in one day, freaking out after a sparring session that she was having with her team. Her eyes seemed milky, different. I started to do some work, and then she said that my perfume was really strong and threw up all over my medic coat." Sakura heard Sasuke snort and threw him a glance. She had been sitting cross legged now but eyed Sasuke who was lying down, closing his eyes hard.
"They are hurting?"
"Strained."
"Want me start the therapy?" She asked, getting up from her bed and going toward his. He nodded and opened his eyes, sitting up so she could sit beside him,
"Remember, keep your eyes open, sharigan activated, and don't try to blink." Sakura reached forward and closed her eyes, pumping chakra into the veins. Sasuke decided to ask more about the work,
"So, what exactly seems to be happening?"
"You're eyes?"
"No, your work." Sasuke tried hard not to look around, not standing how her face was always the only one that he could view during the therapy.
"Oh! Yes, anyways, it seems that the kekkei genkai, if passed to the embryo, starts to develop in the chakra even at that level. If the mother is in a stressful situation, or is in danger, it can suddenly activate, but only seems to last about 3-5 minutes. I'm not sure though if it can go longer."
"So, if I were to have a kid?"
"I'm thinking the same thing could happen," She flexed her fingers closer to his temple, starting to massage the area around his eyes, "However, from what Tsunade has found, it doesn't necessarily mean in can happen. Usually, clan members marry other members of their clans, so there isn't even a guarantee that the child will get the bloodline limit if one carrier doesn't have it."
"I might have a child without the sharingan?"
"It's possible, but I don't really see you just having one. Child that is. It's a fifty-fifty chance. You're bound to have at least one, but…" She stopped her treatment, averting her eyes away from Sasuke, "I don't really see that coming anytime soon, unless…"
"No. I'm just curious."
"Of course. Gomen." She said politely. Sasuke sighed.
They never once talked about it. However, Naruto had mentioned to Sasuke before that Sakura had never dated, and never accepted, any other man's proposals. Sasuke knew he also had never talked nor asked about her feelings either.
He just wasn't ready yet. And for Sakura, she seemed willing to accept that.
"You're annoying. Go to bed." Sasuke smirked, as she smiled.
"Good night, Sasuke-kun."
"Aa.
He very rarely slept anymore. On occasion in Konoha, six hours of resting was enough for Sasuke, however, in other places, Sasuke barely ever slept. He mused as he usually did, however not as hard as he would of over five years ago. Instead, Sasuke mused tonight over him becoming an active body guard for Naruto, the progress of his therapy, and Sakura's medical scrolls. The filtered moonlight shined in on the opposite bed, where he heard the slight rustle of Sakura shifting, and falling back to sleep. Sasuke decided that maybe he should also shift and try to just close his eyes, when he heard frantic footsteps suddenly running down the hall of the inn.
Sasuke, always prepared, grabbed a kunai he always slept with and bolted out of bed to open the door. Just as he reached the handle, it flew open, an orange and blonde blur rushing right into him,
"Teme!"
"WHAT!?" Sakura sat up at Sasuke's outburst and leapt out of bed.
"What's wrong?"
"Sakura-chan! Quick, it's Hinata-chan!"
Sasuke rubbed his shoulder as he watched Sakura grabing a robe and ran down the hall toward there friend's room. He followed behind Naruto who was in a state of panic,
"She looks so pail, Sasuke. She's been getting sick, she's sweating. She keeps complaining that her stomach hurts. I offered her water, a back rub, but it's like she just keeps feeling bad."
"Hn. I'm sure Sakura will take care of her just fine. No need to panic."
"Why are we in the hall?" Sai asked, looking out as Kakashi poked his still masked face to also look at the commotion. Sasuke looked over and told them, since Naruto was now starting to pace. Kakashi, however, after telling the other two what was going on, seemed a bit smug about it, and approached Naruto,
"Don't worry, Naruto. Sakura is the apprentice of the legendary sannin Tsunade. I'm sure she'll have her just right here in no time."
Naruto stood, only looking at the door, which Sakura had slammed shut so she could work, instead of Naruto bothering her. After about fifteen minutes, Sakura opened the door, where Naruto came rushing in. The boys and the medic stood by the door however watching the Hokage fret over his wife.
"Is she going to…?" Sasuke started, but Sakura shushed him. Sasuke, not used to this sort of behavior only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
Hinata hugged Naruto as he approached. Naruto shook silently, still not understanding what was going on.
"Hinata is everything…"
"Everything will be just fine, Naruto-kun." He looked at her, bringing his eyebrows together in confusion.
"Well, then what's wrong?"
"Err, N-Naruto-kun…I…I'm…expecting." She stuttered, being happy and nervous at her news.
Naruto, still looking confused, glanced at her tired and pale face. In her eyes, however, was one of the strangest showings of happiness he had seen. Gratitude, joy, love, had shown in her eyes. He thought for a moment, and just couldn't take it any longer,
"What are we expecting?" Naruto finally blurted out.
"Naruto-kun! I'm pregnant!" She smiled brightly, tears showing in her soft lavender eyes.
"I'm WHAT!?" and with his outburst, Naruto fainted, falling off the bed and onto the floor.
"Well, I guess he is not so dickless after all." Sai congratulated, smiling warmly.
A/N: Got this up a bit earlier since I'll be busy Saturday. I do hope you enjoy.
