A/N: This chapter was a necessary evil. That's all I have to say.

Un-beta'd for the time being. Once it is beta'd, it might suffer a few changes, but not anything important to the plot itself.

Thank you to all of you who have reviewed and faved! I hope you all got my replies ;)

Chapter Three: The Thing

In spite of himself, Neji sniffed a bit, both hands squeezing possessively one of Sasuke's.

The last remaining Uchiha was lying on the hospital bed, sleeping heavily on his back with one hand over his stomach and his face turned to Neji, who was sitting on an old chair beside him, his pearly eyes glued to Sasuke's handsome and peaceful face. Neji had always enjoyed watching him sleep, even if it wasn't something he had ever admitted to him. Sasuke always looked either too mature, or too young during slumber, depending on how stressed out he was, or how happy he was, and there was always an odd stoicism about him that was beautiful to watch.

Around them, the 'beep' of the machines connected to Sasuke could be heard. The last rays of sun were still filtering through the window in front of him, on the other side of Sasuke's bed, a gentle wind making the white curtains sway gently.

Frowning at his own vulnerability, Neji sniffed once more and blinked the stinginess in his eyes away before letting his forehead fall to their joined hands. He could smell the distinct odor that was Sasuke, and it made him feel all the more hopeless.

He still couldn't believe the true nature of his friend's 'disease'. It seemed stupid, ridiculous, absurd and, most of all, impossible, but it was there, he had seen it with his own eyes. How he had managed to not notice it until then was a complete mystery to him, and he blamed himself.

How could he not have seen it coming? When he looked at the seal, at what it was doing inside his former lover's body, he should've realized what was happening, and maybe, just maybe, they could've avoided this before it had become too dangerous to interfere.

It was all his fault, even if the Hokage had told him that he had no way of even dreaming about the possibility of something like that happening.

He should've known something was about to happen when he saw that red chakra in Sasuke's chakra pathways. He had warned him, but of course, Sasuke and Naruto were both male, they wouldn't really worry about taking precaution all that much. Not of course, because it had been very rare for Neji and Sasuke to not wear protection during sex when they had been together, and the thought brought a pang of bitterness to Neji's heart. Naruto was different from him, and so were Sasuke's feelings for the blond Shinobi, so it wasn't like he couldn't blame him. Still, it hurt.

In a way, the fact that the seal had allowed a thing like that to happen to Sasuke (and while he had been with Naruto) was kind of heartbreaking, not that Neji appreciated the situation – quite the contrary, he was horrified and scared beyond himself for Sasuke's well-being – but he couldn't help the feeling of loss and revulsion that seemed to rotten him to the very core.

Was he a terrible person for feeling this way? For wishing he was on Naruto's place? For wishing that he could be the other side of Sasuke's predicament?

He felt horrible. There were no boundaries for his worry and his fear.

For three days, Sasuke had slept, and for the same amount of time, the Hokage, Sakura and Shizune had secretly examined him thoroughly, looking for answers. When things hadn't made sense, they called Neji to see for himself, and his new found clarity of mind had also allowed his eyes to perceive something he hadn't noticed before.

The four of them had then spent that whole day checking out the results, exchanging ideas, theories, and most of all, solutions.

However, all those hours seemed a waste, completely useless, because all the so called 'solutions' seemed worthless.

Neji wanted desperately to help Sasuke, to find a way to tell him that everything would be okay, but he didn't know how to.

The door slid open behind him, before a presence entered the room, sliding it back closed.

A few seconds of awkward silence settled between them, during which Neji didn't move from his position. Usually, he would've been concerned about being seen in such a compromising position, but he was feeling too emotional to care, and he expected the pink haired girl to understand him. After all, she loved Sasuke, too, even she had never had the chance to have him, like Neji had. In a way, he selfishly felt that he had more rights than she did.

"Naruto will be here soon, I think," Sakura whispered softly. "I'm not exactly throwing you out, but I don't think it's wise for him to see you here after the tantrum he threw the other day."

Neji heaved a small sigh. On the day he had brought his underling to the hospital, his conscious had nagged him and he had actually ended up going over Naruto's at the end of the day to tell him what had happened. Naruto had immediately vanished from his place wearing only green boxers and an orange t-shirt without saying a word, and Neji just knew that all hell would break lose.

As expected, when he got back to the hospital, he found Naruto promptly being his loud self and demanding to see Sasuke and know what the hell was wrong with him. When Sakura had appeared, he had then told both her and Neji that they had no right to keep stuff like that hidden from him. He had been positively pissed off about the fact that he had only been informed of Sasuke being in the hospital – and in an induced coma, of all things – at the end of the day.

Neji, obviously, knew this would happen, and Naruto's reaction was excusable. It was Tsunade who had managed to feed him some bullshit to calm him down before letting him see Sasuke.

Naruto had spent the whole night beside him, unmindful of his attire or his naked feet. The next morning, the Hokage had to force him to go home and get some rest so he could go back to work, claiming that Sasuke was fine, he just needed the rest. After much protesting, the blond had agreed, and left, but had still dropped by the hospital several times a day to check up on his boyfriend. He and Neji rarely crossed paths, but from what Sakura told him, Naruto was very worried and restless.

Even though it made Neji feel reassured that Sasuke had someone so devoted to him, it disgusted him, too.

He breathed in deeply through his nose, straightening up and looking at Sasuke without letting go of his hand.

"Has Tsunade-sama said anything, yet?" he asked, not looking at the young medic.

"They're going to wake him up tomorrow," Sakura explained, her voice giving away her hesitation as she took a few steps towards the bed. "She wants to talk to him alone, explain things to him one on one, so as to not…overwhelm him, I suppose."

Neji nodded, just as Sakura came to a halt beside him.

"I'll drop by in the morning then, and wait for them to talk," he said firmly, one of his hands reaching out to brush one of Sasuke silky bangs away from his face. "He'll need the support."

When he ran the back of his fingers over Sasuke's cheek, the girl shifted uncomfortably, but he paid her no mind.

"What are we going to tell Naruto?" he asked, in barely a whisper. Sakura swallowed hard before replying.

"Tsunade-sama has told him that Sasuke-kun has caught a virus that has affected his chakra levels due to the intervention of the seal, thus the necessity for an induced coma," she muttered, seriously. "Apparently, Naruto has noticed the changes in the seal, because he said that he's been telling Sasuke-kun to check it out. However, if she didn't feel the need to tell him yet, then I don't think we should, either. It's up to Sasuke-kun to decide how he wants to deal with it, even if this concerns Naruto, as well."

She was right, and Neji made a noise with the back of his throat in agreement.

Another moment of silence stretched out before she felt the need to speak again.

"I wonder what he'll decide to do…" she said, clearly agitated, her voice quivering a bit with uncontained emotion. "I mean…this'll be a major blow to his pride, and yet…things don't look bright for him, no matter what he chooses to do."

Neji couldn't find the will to reply. In all honesty, he had a feeling he knew exactly what Sasuke would do, because the Uchiha wasn't someone to risk something without gaining something in return, or at least trying to.

The only thing Neji knew, at this point, was that he would be there for him, no matter what, to the very end, if needed, whether Sasuke liked it or not.

"Neji-san," Sakura said. The hand she placed on his shoulder was shaking violently, searching for reassurance, but not meaning to offer any. "No matter how we look at it, we have to…we need to be prepared to lose him, even if he ends up surviving all of this."

Neji huffed disdainfully.

"I will never be prepared for something like that," he said, with barely contained coldness, narrowing his eyes at Sasuke resolutely. "Losing him is not an option in my book."

She squeezed his shoulder tightly, and Neji heard her sob gently.

He couldn't deal with this, he wasn't up for having to take other people's emotional breakdowns when he had his own to deal with.

He promptly got up and she broke the contact. From the corner of his eye, he could see her rubbing her eyes frustratingly, but he did nothing to try and ease her mind.

Not really caring about her presence, or if she would, eventually, tell on him to Naruto, he leaned over Sasuke and planted a small, chase kiss on the corner of his mouth, the contact comforting in an almost innocent way, cruelly reminding him of exactly how much he missed those lips.

He then turned to her, who was looking at him with tears shining in her minty eyes as she bit her lip, a soft pink tainting her cheeks.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, nodding once in farewell, knowing he was acting a lot more confident and calm than he felt.

She nodded back, almost shyly, and he walked pass her to leave.

oOo

When Sasuke woke up, his whole body felt terribly heavy and his mouth was desert dry. He felt like he had slept for days, his head fuzzy and confused, but at the same time, there was a laziness about him that made it feel like he hadn't rested at all. But he was feeling a lot better than he was before being put to sleep.

There was a young nurse already in the room, and she smiled at him with a heavy blush in her cheeks before informing him that he had been sleeping for three days, that morning being the start of the fourth. When he asked her in a raspy voice if she knew what was wrong with him, she only shook her head from side to side, saying that the doctor hadn't left his information chart in the room, and that she only had orders to take care of him for the time being.

Sasuke wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the hospital and go home – he wanted to go back to his normal life as soon as possible.

After the nurse removed the needles and tubes that connected him to the machines around him, she helped him up, and that's when he noticed that there was small straw basket of tomatoes resting on his bedside table, with a note attached to it, written in Naruto's clumsy handwriting that said 'Get better soon, bastard!'

Sasuke couldn't help the small smile that formed in his lips. In a way, he was thankful that Naruto wasn't there to see him wake up, because he wasn't sure how well he'd handle getting back to consciousness with his lover's loud words of worry and excitement.

Not without a bit of annoyance, Sasuke noticed that the girl was helping him move from the bed to a wheel chair, and he knew he wasn't a fucking invalid, so why the hell did he need a damned wheel chair for? He just wanted to stretch his legs and warm up his sore muscles, but the nurse insisted that she had strict orders to not let him exert himself, and no matter how many times Sasuke told her that he was just fine, she didn't budge. It was only because he really wanted to take a shower – and she didn't look too keen on allowing him to have one on his terms – that he ended up sighing and sitting down on the damned thing.

To his immense exasperation, the girl wanted to help him bathe, too, but the nasty, angry look he gave her quickly made her change her mind, so she quietly stood outside while he showered. By the time he returned to his room, he was feeling refreshed, especially because he was wearing familiar sweat pants and a t-shirt instead of the hospital garments. He'd have to thank Naruto for that, too.

The girl helped him get back to a bed with new sheets, but since it was a hot day, he didn't want to get under the covers, so he just sat there with his back against not so comfortable pillows with his legs stretched out in front of him. At least she didn't connect him to any more machines.

As the nurse left to see about his lunch, Sasuke grabbed one tomato from the basket beside him and munched on it absently while looking out the window, noticing that, from the position of the sun in the bright blue sky, it was probably a bit after lunch time.

Only after the first bite did he realize that he was really hungry, so he picked up another tomato, and then another. The next thing he knew, half the basket had been consumed, and he was beginning to wonder where the hell his lunch was.

A middle aged woman brought a tray of insipid looking food. She offered to feed him, but he only quirked one eyebrow at her as if asking 'are you serious?', and she smiled and left him to it.

Immersed in solitude once more, Sasuke ate. He hated hospital food, but his stomach had become very demanding lately, it seemed, and, apparently, less picky than before, as well. Absently, he wondered if it had anything to do with the seal.

His memory was vague about the events that led him to the hospital in the first place. He remembered the conversation he had with Neji about how the chakra recipient was consuming most of his chakra, but after that, it was all a blurry mess in his exhausted mind, his last image being of Sakura looking down on him with surprise and horror in her eyes.

Once he finished his meal, Sasuke set the tray at the foot of his bed and sighed, placing his hand over his belly in a relaxed demeanor.

In the last few months he had felt something changing about him, but in the last couple of weeks, that change seemed to have been more noticeable, and by trying to ignore this he had put himself in a dangerous situation. If he had to be honest with himself, he had no idea what that 'something' was, but he felt it in his body, in his very being. Since it had not affected his life until then, he had brushed it aside, and yet, now he was probably in a messy situation. Even if it hurt his ego to admit, he had been reckless, and now he was immensely angry at himself.

Hopefully, Sakura had found a reasonable explanation for it, and a way to reverse it, somehow. If not…well, he would have to take matters in his own hands and force the priestess to fix him once and for all, and politics be damned.

He couldn't afford to live with that damned seal if it was going to turn his life upside down and become an obstacle to him.

When the door of his room slid opened again, Sasuke turned his head to see who had just arrived only to set his eyes on the imposing figure of Tsunade.

She was looking serious, as usual, as she closed the door behind her. Sasuke straightened up and twisted his body so that he was sitting with his legs dangling from the edge of the bed, noticing that the busty woman was clutching a file to her chest.

"Hokage-sama," he acknowledged simply, offering her a curt and polite nod. With one hand alone, she grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and placed it beside the bed so that it was facing Sasuke.

"Uchiha," she replied back, in her usual professional tone, sitting down. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better than I was feeling when I first got here, at least." he said, with a light shrug.

"You certainly look healthier."

"I just want to know when I'm allowed to leave."

The Hokage eyed him intensely from head to toe, her eyes narrowing.

"You will be able to leave whenever you want, if you wish to do so," she said seriously, crossing one leg over the other in a falsely casual way. "However, we need to talk."

There was a tension about her that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke, who shifted slightly in apprehension.

"Is my condition that serious?" he asked simply, keeping his cool, causing Tsunade's right eyebrow to twitch for some reason.

"Yes," she confirmed, with a curt nod. "Your condition is, indeed, quite serious."

She extended the file she had brought along with her to him, who accepted it without a word. They exchanged a brief look – Sasuke tried to decipher the woman's thoughts, but to no avail – before breathing in deeply and looking down.

He had already prepared himself mentally for the worse, so it wasn't like he was particularly nervous. It could be bad, but not irreversibly so. Even if there was no hope for him…well, he was a Shinobi, and his life was permanently at risk, so this was no different. However, there was no denying that he'd be very pissed if he had to die so young in a hospital bed instead of it happening while fighting some powerful opponent out there, like he was supposed to.

Deciding that it was no use speculating, he opened the file, finding a small sheet of papers along with what seemed to be x-rays and the pictures of an ultrasound.

There seemed to be something off about these two, but he didn't really bother looking at them before knowing exactly what was wrong.

His eyes quickly but effectively scanned the papers in his lap, trying to understand what exactly was being said in those many exams that had been performed on him. He found a complex and amateur drawing there as well, made in black ink, but for the life of him, he had no idea what it was.

Sasuke prided himself for being someone intelligent, someone who could easily pick up all kind of information presented to him, but he was seriously struggling to understand what was written there as he browsed through the contents of the file.

His eyes landed on the results of his blood and urine samples. Finally, something he could understand.

He easily noticed that nothing seemed to be normal about him, his various levels either too high or too low. That couldn't be good.

However, in both bottoms of the pages of his blood and urine test results, there was one odd, particular thing that upset him greatly and that, apparently, explained all the irregularities about him.

But that couldn't be right. Sure, there was an obvious malfunction in his hormonal system, but that was just ridiculous.

"What is this?" he inquired sternly, lifting up the results for the Hokage to see. "Am I so messed up to the point where the only logical explanation is a false accusation of pregnancy? Seriously?"

Tsunade didn't blink, crossing her arms over her chest. There was a flicker of emotion in her eyes, but it was soon concealed.

"During three days we have performed all kinds of tests on you, more than once," she said slowly, as if wanting Sasuke to retain her words. "The results were always the same. Sakura felt it from the moment she examined you with chakra when Neji brought you here, but she didn't think it was possible, so she came to me. I examined you myself, and felt it, as well. We genuinely thought we were both crazy. To be honest, I don't even know how your body actually adapted itself to the point where even your cells would accuse a pregnancy, but there is no doubt about it. Neji's seen it, too, with his Byakugan."

Sasuke blinked a few times, his mouth falling open.

"That is not possible," he said, his voice cracking with the sudden dryness in his throat. "I am a man, I can't bear children."

"It seems like it is possible, and you better believe it," Tsunade confirmed, with a certainly that made chills run down Sasuke's spine. "There is definitely something inside of you; something that is pretty much alive."

A strange sort of apathy took over Sasuke at that, and he stared at the Hokage as if he she had snakes coming out of her nose. He was a man, and there was no way a man could be…No, it wasn't possible. It couldn't be. His body wasn't made for something like that, it wasn't natural, it wasn't…

His rational mind didn't want to believe it – couldn't believe it – and yet, something inside of him acknowledged that the strangeness in him that he had been feeling lately was now more justified – his body acknowledged the situation. Even Neji had confirmed it, according to the Hokage.

All of a sudden, Sasuke's mind shut down and his brain became an echoing void.

"Sasuke…" Tsunade's voice had dropped a few octaves, becoming surprisingly gentle, as she leaned forward to place her hand over his wrist. "I know it's hard to process, and it seems absurd, but it is happening. I wish I could give you time to accommodate to the idea, but I'm afraid time isn't something we can afford. There are things you need to know so we can find the best way to deal with this."

Sasuke closed his mouth. Why was she talking like that? Why did she have to sound so condescending and…was that pity? Fear in her eyes? He hated it. He hated that she sounded so serious, so real. If he was dreaming, he wanted to wake up, wanted reality to crash down upon him in that very instant.

But he was lucid like he'd never been before, his mind so unforgivingly focused that there was no escaping the possibility that he might've been slightly out of it.

An unknown feeling rushed through him, something akin to shock, or panic, he wasn't sure. He knew he had to stay calm – he wanted to stay calm – and yet, his body wasn't obeying him.

Tsunade noticed his sudden deadly paleness and stood up quickly, removing the file and respective sheets of paper from his lap and setting them on the bed beside him.

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Sasuke muttered shakily, closing his eyes. Tsunade fetched a medium sized metallic basin from under his bedside table and promptly shoved it in front of him, just as he leaned forward and began dry heaving uselessly. There was the taste of something very sour in his mouth and he was salivating more than usual, but even though his stomach seemed to convulse, nothing was coming out.

Tsunade sighed and placed her hand over his bended head in a gesture meant to offer comfort. "You have to calm down," she said firmly. "Your nervous system is a mess, and you'll only end up causing unnecessary trouble for yourself."

Sasuke wanted to snap something harsh and rude at her, but instead ended up dry heaving a few more times, still not able to throw up properly, but spitting out the excess of saliva in his mouth nonetheless.

It took a while for him to calm down enough for his stomach to settle, but eventually, he managed to straighten up and inhale deeply through his nose, forcing his twitching muscles to relax and his heart to stop beating so damned wildly in his chest.

"Better?" the blond woman asked. At Sasuke's nod, she removed the basin and set it down on the floor before grabbing for the file and sitting down once again.

She waited patiently for him to wipe the sweat from his forehead and to steady his breathing while she browsed through the sheaf of papers.

Once he felt considerably steadier, he swallowed hard.

"How did something like this happen?" he inquired coldly, fists clenching over his thighs. "My body…there's no way a male body is ready to deal with something like this. I don't…" he shook his head from side to side, forcing himself to not allow his nerves to get the best out of him. "Please, explain it to me so I can understand."

Tsunade cleared her throat, making a face that indicated that she wasn't exactly looking forward to the conversation.

"First of all, I need to inform you that only the two of us, Sakura, Neji and Shizune know about this," she stated, in a low voice. "Secondly, there is no doubt that this was the seal's doing, but I can only offer you basic assumptions on the process since I have honestly never seen anything like this before, and am pretty stunned myself."

"Alright," Sasuke said, resolutely. "Assumptions or not, I want to know what you found out."

Tsunade seemed to be organizing her thoughts for a while before speaking. "My theory, based on Neji's reports throughout the last few months was that the chakra container was, in fact, a fake reproductive system. The only reason why it absorbed other people's chakra was just so the recipient could grow, forming itself and adapting itself to your body. I'm sure Neji has told you that you have several chakra strings attached not only to your own chakra channels, but also to some of your organs. Since there was nothing inside you before, of course the extra chakra the 'pouch' assimilated provided extra chakra for you at the time."

She scratched her forearm in an almost irritated gesture.

"Theoretically, its construction is very ingenious, and, even if it's in an absurd, unusual kind of way, it seems to be more than capable of sustaining life inside you like a real womb."

"I don't understand," Sasuke muttered, having a hard time processing the information provided. "How can it have created a reproductive system without any of you noticing it was one?"

"It doesn't look like one," Tsunade informed. "At all. We suspect that the breeding system was somehow very different from what we normally see in a woman, but we're not sure how the fetus was conceived, though. But if you look at the sketch Neji provided, you can have a basic notion of what it looks like now."

She searched for the drawing in between the sheaf of papers, and once she found it, she turned it to Sasuke.

"This is the artificial womb," She explained, pointing at the central, distorted liver like figure. "Neji couldn't see the fetus very clearly because the womb is made of chakra and makes it almost impossible even for him to see through it, since it's so bright, reason why the x-rays and ultrasounds were useless, in case you haven't noticed. Still, he spotted something here," she pointed at a tiny bean shaped element situated somewhere in the bottom of the recipient. "It's still very small; we're lucky to have found it at such an early stage. As you can see, these smaller strings are the chakra ones connected to your chakra pathways, sucking your personal chakra in order to sustain the womb. The thicker chakra channels are actually the ones connected to your organs to provide a most efficient connection to the fetus. This one, here, is connected to your digestive system, and that one is…"

"I get it," Sasuke interrupted, his eyes fixing unblinkingly on the distorted bean Neji drew, showing the tiny fetus lying within him. "I've been assimilating chakra from other people, don't tell me…"

"It's not possible to create solid life from chakra alone, Sasuke," Tsunade said, as if it was obvious, lowering the drawing. "The chakra you assimilated, as I have just told you, only served to aid in the formation, first of the reproductive system, and then, of the current womb." She bit her lip seriously. "The recipient still sucks chakra, though, which is to be expected. However, there seems to be a lot of Naruto's chakra sustaining the womb, probably because of its…uniqueness."

Sasuke nodded once, not really knowing what to say.

"These, are all assumptions," Tsunade said, once more. "Sakura, Shizune and myself all agree that the breeding process might have been nothing more than a highly complex system with the sole purpose of merging cells together, in this case, yours and Naruto's since he's…well, the person with whom you…copulate with."

Sasuke looked away, staring at some invisible spot on the wall of the room. He could've never have guessed that every time he and Naruto got involved they were both moving towards…this.

It wasn't Naruto's fault, and it wasn't that he topped more often than Sasuke did, it just so happened that Sasuke himself had this…thing going on.

He still couldn't believe that it was happening. He wasn't angry, he was just…shocked. He wanted to know about it, wanted to understand, to find a way for it all to make sense, and yet, he knew that it would make no difference in the end.

"How that happened is a mystery," the blond woman pressed on, golden eyes staring at him, but Sasuke didn't look at her. "The reproductive system might've changed your cells, in this case, the sperm inside your body, and turned it to eggs."

"Naruto and I rarely wear protection," Sasuke admitted, swallowing hard. "Still, how can his sperm have reached the reproductive system?"

"Sasuke, we have never seen anything like this, and this information is nothing but speculation," Tsunade repeated, huffing. "I'm sure only Haru knows how it really works. We are guessing that it was suctioned, and made its way up through the gaps in the tissues of your organs, which, in itself, is almost ridiculous because the chances of even a particle of sperm actually reaching an egg would be ridiculously low."

Sasuke closed his eyes. If he were to be honest with himself, he didn't really know what he was feeling. Never in a million years would he have dreamt of something like this happening to him, but now that it was happening, he felt…weird. The panic had vanished completely to give place to that overwhelming, and horribly scary, clarity.

What was going to happen to him? What was he going to do?

What would Naruto think of this?

"What are my options?" he inquired, at once, staring straight into his Hokage's eyes.

Tsunade pressed her lips together for a while.

"Well, I'm sure your common sense can give you that answer," she replied. "You either get rid of it, or try to keep it. Whichever one you chose will put you in severe danger."

Of course, Sasuke thought, almost feeling like laughing at himself for the stupidity of having asked such a question.

"I don't know what I'm dealing with, so I'm going to be blunt about it and prevent us both from wasting our time," the blond woman said, straight to the point, which Sasuke was thankful for. "The abortion is something I can try to do, but with the womb being so intricately connected to your body and your chakra pathways, I don't know how much damage cutting through it could cause. You could become severely injured for life, or even die."

He blinked at her, licking his dry lips.

"What if I want to keep it?"

The question seemed to take Tsunade by surprise ever so slightly, and she frowned at him in an almost reproachful way.

"Well..." she said, heaving a sigh. "I don't know if the fetus's growth will be processed in the same way as a normal baby's is, or if the process is more accelerated. Either way, your male body might not endure the experience, Sasuke. Unlike a woman's, it's not ready for the expansion of bones and other body changes that occur during a pregnancy. You might become crippled. Who knows if you or the fetus are able to survive such an experience? Also, my prediction is, the more it grows, the more chakra you will have to provide. It might come to a point where you can't even lift a finger without your life being in danger, not to mention that the actual birth would be much more dangerous than even the abortion itself."

Of course. It was all good news.

"Somehow I have a feeling that this is not all there id to it," Sasuke hissed, feeling suddenly on edge.

"Sasuke..." Tsunade's eyes became softer, giving him that look of pity that he hated. "This is just a guess, as this whole scenario is, but from the amount of Kyuubi's chakra in your body, I was forced to consider the fact that this...thing, might not be human. Even if it is, it can be...mutated, partially human with demon or animalistic features. I do think that this is thinking positive, because considering things, the being is almost one hundred percent sure to come out deficient. Also..."

"The good news just keep coming, don't they?" Sasuke snapped, not being able to control the sarcasm and bitterness in his voice. "It's all winning situations for me."

"I am sorry," the Hokage replied, shaking her head from side to side. "I wish I could offer you good news and a positive side to it. Maybe I'm just overdramatizing, and things can be fixed easily but it's all I can do to take precaution. No matter what you decide to do, it can either go well, or terribly bad. The situation is very serious."

"Yes, I am aware."´

Tsunade bit her lip, a worried looking splashed on her beautiful face. She seemed to be expecting some sort of reply from Sasuke, but all he could do was stare at her emotionlessly, waiting for her to continue.

"What I'm trying to say is, you have to think very carefully about this," she whispered, clutching the papers in her hands. "You must be very aware that the consequences might be dire. The only person who might be able actually do something about this is Haru. However, going to her, or not, is entirely up to you, and even with that simple action of hope, you have to keep in mind that nothing is for free in this world. I am going to help you as much as I possibly can."

Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose. He understood the Hokage's words all too well. He could leave the matters in Tsunade's hands and keep his pride, but it might get him killed, or he could go to the damned priestess and be indebted to her. Yes, because even though it was her fault that he was in this situation in the first place, she had played her game well, and would continue to do so until she got what she wanted.

But…what did he want to do? What could he tell Naruto? Was he willing to risk his life just to take it out? Did he want to risk his life by keeping it?

It was all a matter of living or dying, it seemed. It could go well…or not. Tsunade's assumptions made more sense than Sasuke wanted to admit, but at the same time, something inside of him clung to the hope that she was mistaken and that it would all work out. No one would create a perfect reproductive system and a womb capable of functioning inside a man for it to have drastic consequences in the end. From what he could see, and thinking back on the whole process, whoever invented this had studied everything minutely to make it perfect. Of course there could be flaws. Maybe it was something so unique that only someone highly knowledgeable of the seal's process could actually interfere in a safe way. Maybe only the performer of the seal could actually manipulate it.

"I have to tell you this, though," Tsunade said, in barely a whisper, filled with resentment. "I can tell you what I think the best course of action is, if you wish, but it's you who will have to decide. But keep in mind that, if you decide to keep it, you cannot stay in Konoha. You would have to quit the Shinobi life. Something like this is not normal, and you couldn't just live your life normally around here anymore. Also, even if you were to stay confined at home, the council would wonder about you for all the wrong reasons. Also…if indeed you manage to give birth to it, how will you justify it, especially if it's not human? Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Sasuke pressed his lips together, feeling at loss. He nodded, once, and felt Tsunade's hand over his wrist again, offering a firm comfort he hadn't noticed he needed.

What did he want to do? He wondered again.

The normal train of thought for any man would be to immediately want to get rid of it and pretend it had never existed.

Yes, he felt disgusted but in a way that had more to do with his male ego than with the fact that he had something living inside of him. He was a man, he wasn't supposed to be in the condition he was in. He didn't want to acknowledge it, and in that moment, he would rather drink his own piss than to touch his own belly – he doubted he'd be able to for the next few days. He would never look at himself in a mirror again as long as the seal – the thing – was in his body, he was sure.

He wasn't supposed to be in this situation. His life was at risk, the thing was draining him alive, incapacitating him to do what any normal person did in their daily lives. Women could go about their business normally for the first few months, couldn't they? Than why was this happening to him? Why did it have to be like this? Why did that fucking priestess have to take away everything he loved by doing this to him?

It would've been better if the seal's purpose had been to kill him after all.

After this absurd thought, his body shook suddenly and a wave of guilt coursed through him. What was he doing, thinking about something like that?

Sasuke placed his hand over Tsunade's, more to gain control over his feelings than to respond to the comfort.

In spite of his disdainful internal judgments, he knew he was being impulsive. Of course, he couldn't just accept something like that with a light heart, but the situation was grave, serious, and it was his life at risk, as well as the possible baby's, someone who's existence was still oblivious and could not be blamed upon.

More than anything, there was one thing bothering him, overpowering the sheer shock, confusion and slight disgust lying within him.

What if the fetus was human? Even if it wasn't, what if it had the chance to come out perfectly healthy, in its own way? Even at the cost of Sasuke's own life, could he really kill something that was his?

His blood. Naruto's blood. A mixture between him and Naruto. It could be human.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and he straightened his back brusquely in realization, startling the blond woman, who blinked at him confusedly.

It's mine. Whatever this is…it's mine. Ours.

His and Naruto's. Someone – or something – that would have Uchiha blood running through its veins. With Kyuubi chakra or not, it was sure to be special anyway, considering who the parents were.

Sasuke should hate Haru for what she had done to him, but at the same time…if she hadn't done it, would he ever have the chance of conceiving something like this with the person he cherished the most in the world?

Everything became clear for Sasuke then, and his eyes became huge as he looked at Tsunade's flabbergasted face.

He had to protect it at any cost. If there was a chance that it was human and that he could bring it to this world, no matter how small, he had to take it or he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Why had he even questioned himself about it in the first place?

He understood, within himself, just how absolutely impulsive and crazy his mind had become in a matter of seconds, deciding something like this so quickly, slapping him mentally to make him realize how obvious the solution was. He was crazy, he had to be, and yet, the peace that assaulted him just then was something he had never experienced before, and he knew that he wouldn't change his mind now that his decision was made, because he was stubborn and couldn't rest until he had accomplished his purposes.

Shit, he felt tired and emotionally worn out. He just wanted to go home and pass out on his bed. He didn't want to have to think about any of it anymore.

The female Hokage must've seen something in his eyes, because she bit her lip once more, looking dejected.

Sasuke heaved a deep sigh.

"Can I go home?" he asked in a tired drone, patting her hand almost condescendingly. "I really could use some time alone."

"Of course," she agreed, with a light nod. Sasuke could swear he saw her eyes water, but she leaned away, eyeing him in her usual stern and professional way, and he couldn't be sure. "You can walk to your apartment, but make sure you walk slowly so as to not exhaust yourself. And don't use chakra at all; at this point, you might…."

"Yes, I know," Sasuke groaned, rolling his eyes. "From the bright future ahead of me that you have just described, I understand the implications of my actions all too well, Hokage-sama."

"I'm being serious," Tsunade snapped, getting up from her chair imposingly. "You are an invalid now. Get as much sleep as you can. You have noticed that you're hungrier than usual, that's just a side effect of the low chakra in your body and the normal hunger caused by the fetus's necessity itself, so make sure you eat a lot."

"Yes."

"I will let you have time to yourself, but you will have to let me know what you really want to do in the next couple of days," she said, looking down at him over her large breasts as if he was an irresponsible child. "We'll figure something out, Sasuke, but we have to work fast."

"I understand."

"Take off your shirt, I'm going to have to do a little checkup before I can let you go."

She set the papers on the chair and Sasuke automatically removed his t-shirt, keeping his eyes averted from his own body, immediately placing his hands on the bed on either side of his thighs.

In silence, he waited for Tsunade to place her now chakra covered hands over his abdomen, feeling his body pulling violently, sucking her energy like a leech. The woman didn't protest in spite of the focused look on her face.

"The fetus feels healthy, for the time being," she said, almost casually. "It has been growing normally, but it's only been three days, so it's normal that we can't really see a difference."

Sasuke all but nodded, his eyes fixed on the basket of tomatoes.

"Your chakra reserves are low, as predicted, but not frighteningly so, like when you first got here," she proceeded. "I forgot to mention something, though. Kamui's punch has, apparently, dislocated the womb slightly, so that it's now settled a little above the area where a normal womb should be, just underneath the stomach. You might feel nauseous often, and any kind of brusque movements might cause you to throw up. This added to the fetus presence…well, you might go through a hard time."

"I understand," Sasuke repeated, offering a curt nod.

She checked his blood pressure, his pulse, and other things that Sasuke considered completely useless, and yet, he understood her concern and the need for such precautions. She left the room for a few minutes to fetch him something and came back with several flasks of pills containing all sorts of vitamins and stuff that was supposed to help his immune system. Almost on auto pilot, Sasuke listened to her, retaining the information with that blissful apathy he was very thankful for.

She helped him sign out of the hospital, getting him his things and filling his head with advices on what foods he should consume to give him more energy. He was given a paper bag with his belongings. She asked him if he wanted to see Sakura, but Sasuke knew all too well the emotional chaos the girl was probably in, and didn't really want to deal with it, even if he was focused on talking to her the day after. Tsunade then escorted him outside the hospital, where they both found Neji sitting on the single step at the entrance. The Hyuuga immediately got up as soon as he saw them. Sasuke was immensely relieved by Neji's neutral, impassive expression as he looked at him. Neji took the bag from his arms without saying a word.

"If you do everything exactly the way I told you, you should be fine," Tsunade said, offering Sasuke a small, forced smile. "If you need something, just let me know. I expect to see you the day after tomorrow, in my office, and we'll talk and do a few more check-ups, alright?"

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, Hokage-sama," Sasuke said, bowing politely but carefully to her, Neji imitating him silently. When he straightened up, he looked into Tsunade's expressive and intense eyes with seriousness. "I only have a favor to ask before leaving."

She raised one eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fire away."

"Please, do not say a word about this to Naruto."

Neji's head turned to him at the speed of light, but she seemed to be expecting this, because she merely shrugged, even if her face showed a clear disapproval.

"He thinks you have a virus," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Just tell him you need rest and say you're having food poisoning if you do end up throwing up too much. I don't like the idea of keeping something like this away from him, but considering the…seriousness of your situation, I understand where you're coming from. Telling him or not is none of my business, though, so I give you my word."

"Thank you."

He bowed once more, shoved his hands inside his pockets and turned around, walking away with Neji quickly trailing behind him.

However, Tsunade's voice made itself be heard behind him, strict but not without a bit of sadness.

"I know you care deeply about him," she called out. "So I trust that, whatever you decide to do, you'll do it thinking about him, too. This is not just about you, Uchiha."

Sasuke felt himself tense, his teeth burying themselves in his lower lip, a wave of remorse washing through him. Still, he kept on walking, because he knew that Tsunade didn't need an answer to her request.

Sasuke walked slowly, his sandaled feet seeming too heavy for him to carry around, for some reason, and only now did he fully understand how his body had changed and how much everything was going to change for him from now on.

The sun shone brightly and it was warm over his head. Around him, the streets were the same, busy with people walking about, working, and chatting. The air smelled of flowers, wood and all sorts of food, welcoming, familiar, but, more than anything, normal.

The world hadn't changed, and no-one seemed to look at him differently, and yet, Sasuke felt like he was being pressured, stalked by an invisible force that looked down upon him.

He knew that his body looked the same – the fetus was still too small to offer any kind of change, but it seemed to weight a thousand pounds inside him and have the size of a basketball as far as he was concerned. These were all things that plagued his mind, and he knew it was him being paranoid, but could anyone blame him? He didn't feel like himself at all; it was like his soul was trapped in the existence of another person altogether.

"You have made your decision," Neji noted perceptively beside him, finally opening his mouth to speak, and by the unpleased, resentful note in his voice, Sasuke knew he knew exactly what his decision was. "Do you want to die?" the Hyuuga asked, in an almost inaudible hiss.

In spite of himself, Sasuke found himself smiling.

"Living or dying..." he whispered, solemnly. "It's all a matter of choosing how either one goes, Neji, and since it's none of your business, you have to respect whatever decision I choose to make."

Neji's uneasiness was palpable, even if the kept his imperturbable stance, but Sasuke heard him holding the paper bag closer to his chest.

"Aren't you even going to give me the right to give you some advice?" he pressed on, almost stubbornly.

"No." Sasuke answered, hoping to put a stop to the useless conversation. Neji might be aware of his situation, and he was sure his captain was worried sick, but still, it was none of his business, and Sasuke had too much in his mind already to put himself through the task of trying to make him understand his view on the matter.

Neji 'tsked'.

"What are you going to do about it?" he asked, sounding angry, his energy changing to one of distress. "You don't plan on telling Naruto, which, let me tell you, is absolutely crazy, because he's going to notice, sooner or later. Besides, if something happens to you, he'll be…"

"For now, I'm going home, to rest, just like the Hokage told me to do, which means this conversation ends here." Sasuke interrupted steadily, throwing a cool, challenging look in Neji's direction that told him exactly how serious he was. However, he immediately regretted having looked into Neji's eyes, because what he saw there, made his heart sink – he looked both absolutely devastated and hopeless at the same time.

Another surge of guilt struck him and he turned his face away, refusing to feel for other people. This situation was about him, his child, and Naruto, not about others, and least of all, not about Neji, even though he did see, in a way, how this was affecting him, as well – they had been lovers and were now co-workers, comrades and, most of all, friends.

Clenching his fists inside his pockets, he forced himself to calm down his own selfishness. It was about other people, too, it seemed. Yet another hassle to make his life a living hell.

Why had things changed so dramatically in such a short time?

"I just..." Sasuke hissed, annoyed at himself for having the need to justify himself. "If there is a chance, no matter how small, that this living thing is human, then...I can't not want to try and have it, Neji."

Neji moved quickly, then, grabbing for the Uchiha's forearm with his hand, the other still holding the bag tightly, stopping him from taking another step. Sasuke turned to him, not really wanting to look into Neji's eyes and see those things again.

"Look at me," the older man demanded furiously, shaking his arm empathically, and Sasuke, more out of respect for him that from willingness, obeyed. "Naruto wouldn't want you to waste your life."

Sasuke looked at him intensely, the action making Neji's eyebrows quirk upwards in surprise.

"I would gladly waste it if it meant that he'd be happy, eventually, and that I had managed to bring something of ours into this world," the raven said, with such conviction that it amazed even him.

Neji gaped.

"Sasuke..."

"In fact..." the Uchiha continued, unable to hold the sudden flow of words coming straight from his heart in the most disgusting of ways. "I would throw everything I have, all my dreams, all my needs, everything just to...if there is a child inside me, Neji, I'll do whatever it takes...for Naruto, and for me."

The stared at each other without blinking for what seemed like hours, Sasuke's breathing a little raged from the strong rush of emotions coursing through him.

"You are out of your mind." Neji ended up saying, disbelievingly. Sasuke sighed.

"I can't stay here."

"You want to go to the priestess?"

"She's the only one who can help me," Sasuke replied, shaking Neji's hand away from his arm. "She knows how to make it right, I can just tell."

"That's what she wants," the long haired one reminded, horrified. "This is what she's been waiting for since..."

"I know," Sasuke cut in, through gritted teeth. "But I have no choice. If she can give me life, I'll do what I have to do."

Neji swallowed hard, shaking his head from side to side in defeat. He closed his eyes firmly, breathing in and out through his nose before opening them again, a new, firmer resolve in those clever, intelligent orbs of his.

"The price of a life is high, Sasuke," he then said, in a calmer, more mature tone. "Let alone two. By going to her you will lose everything. You'll lose Naruto, your job, your home, your life. Is that what you want?"

Sasuke lifted his head up to look at the bright blue sky that was still not as blue as his lover's eyes.

"Will I lose that much?" he asked, almost absent-mindedly, smirking slightly in spite of the sudden pain in his chest. "The world, life itself is all about equivalent exchanges. You can't have something without giving up something else. I only have two hands to grab hold of what is important to me, and then everything else I try to keep just…falls off of them. You have to give up something to gain something else, that's how it works." He looked at his friend, smirk turning to a small, burdened smile. "What do you expect me to do, Captain? Just wait for my imminent death? If my fate is to die, then at least I'll die fighting for something that's mine."

Neji pressed his lips together, his shoulders tense and his back very straight. He looked at his underling for a few seconds, and Sasuke knew he was reading him, like he always did, which was fine – it would save him the trouble of wasting more unnecessary words. After a while, he lifted his chin up in the proud, obnoxious way he always did when he had to boss Sasuke and his team around.

"Fine," he said. "But you can't do this on your own, Sasuke, you know you can't. I'm going to help you. All of us, who know about this…we'll make it work, somehow."

Sasuke all but nodded. Knowing Neji the way he did, he knew there was no way he could refuse, because his captain would make sure he kept his promise, even if he had to force him to accept his presence and his help.

Sasuke was aware that his condition was now fragile. Neji was right, there was no way he could pull this off on his own will and stubbornness alone, but then again, there was only so much Neji could do. But he could think about it all later, once he had stopped wearing his heart on his sleeve. His emotions were far too on edge at the moment, and they would be for a while, at least until he came to term with himself and with the task ahead of him, and until he saw Naruto again.

He wanted to see him so badly it hurt, and at the same time, he feared his own reaction to the other's presence. How could he involve Naruto in this mess without hurting him, worrying him, or worse, giving him hope?

He couldn't tell him. Not now, at least. He had to think about what needed to be done, first, and then he would decide what course of action to take.

Without the need for any more talking, Sasuke resumed his steady but slow pace as he made his way to his apartment, looking forward to the blissful oblivion of sleep in sheets that smelled of home, and of Naruto.

TBC…

If you're planning on killing me after this chapter, I can tell you that you haven't see the worst of it yet. The next chapter will be coming out soon, because I have already started to write it ;)

Don't forget to review!