30 weeks
'Thank goodness,' Sakura's Inner sighs, as Sakura gets the first chance to finally sit down that day.
'Tell me about it,' Her outer hums in agreement.
Sipping her tea, she looks about Ichiraku's. A group of Genin were enjoying a meal with their sensei, a couple of chunins sat alone, and a large group of Jonin sat in the corner. None of them she knew personally, just through her battlefield experience. Everything in the village finally seemed back to normal, only a few buildings remained still crumbled from the war.
Looking down at her paperwork from Tsunade, Sakura sighs. She would most likely have to take some of the documents home to review, so much for the long night of sleep she had planned. She knew that Tsunade had Shikamaru come over to her house, and send her to bed while he stays up reviewing the paperwork. Shikamaru didn't mind, or at least he didn't voice it. Truth be told, Shikamaru had been the one to volunteer to review her papers, he knew with Sakura now 30 weeks pregnant that she needed all the rest she could get.
"Hey stranger," Sakura smiled up at Shikamaru, he undoubtedly already knew she had an enormous pile of paperwork that would take all night long.
"Hey yourself, don't give me that bull about Tsunade didn't send you to do my papers again," Sakura sighs, and Shikamaru nods his head. He didn't want people to get the wrong idea, and presume him to be the father. Truthfully, he'd spoken to Tsunade about her not getting enough sleep, and had been the one to volunteer with helping her out.
"So...Little Kaka's big huh?" Shikamaru motioned to her swollen stomach.
'Well duh, you keep pictures of your baby belly from every two weeks on the fridge!' Inner Sakura snorted to her outerself.
"Yeah, Tsunade says everything looks good so far...I'm glad it's been an easy going pregnancy so far, I just can't help but feel it's going to easy," Shikamaru's knuckles wrapped against the wooden table sharply, catching her attention quickly.
"Knock on wood. Listen, you've got Tsunade, and Shizune both there for you. You'll be fine," Sakura wrapped her on knuckles against the table gently with a yawn. It was only four p.m, she'd been getting exceptionally more fatigued week after week.
"I know, you know I'm some what of a worry wart some-yawn!" Shikamaru smiled at her as her sentence got cut off by her yawn, he supposed it was time he walked her home. She would complain about going to bed before the birds, and then pass out after a few moments of the warmth of her bed.
Seeming to read his mind, Sakura places a few coins where she'd been sitting at. At least she had begun to not be as moody...er as she was before her pregnancy. Sakura probably would've gave the Hatake a shorter life than intended if he'd been at home with her, instead of away on this mission. The hokage had mentioned she suspected one of two men to be the father to Sakura's child. She'd went through a good deal of paperwork to find teams that fit the timeframe Sakura had given her in the first appointment. Shaking his head, he felt sorry for Genma, and Raidou. Sakura had dated Raidou before the war, he was unsure of Genma, from what he could tell, Sakura was never more intimate than having a kiss with the men. Tsunade was naively thinking that her apprentice wouldn't ever in a million years see Hatake in a sexual light, and had immediately ruled him out. Raidou and Genma were going to get a something fierce of a chewing out, when they hadn't done anything out of line...'Jeez..I'd hate to have that sort of homecoming after a year...Just to get chewed out by Lady Tsunade.' He thought to himself, and gulped aloud at the thought.
"Hey!" Sakura and Shikamaru both turned their heads to see Lee, and Gai headed towards them at a fast pace.
"Hey? Where's the fire at you guys?" Shikamaru asks, cocking his head at the duo.
"Young Tenten's in labor! Lady Tsunade just admitted her into the hospital a bit ago, Tenten forgot her overnight bag when we were leaving," Sakura lets out a chirp of excitement at Gai's words.
Shikamaru nodded his head, watching the pair disappear in the direction of the hospital. Glancing at Sakura, he knew Sakura wanted to go wait for the arrival of Tenten's child with the rest of her comrades. He considered his options, take Sakura home, come back in the morning, go ahead to the hospital, or he could wait for Tenten's birth while he filled out paperwork...Or, take the risk of Sakura whalloping him over the head, and ultimately ruling out the option of waiting till the morning. He groaned internally, this wasn't how he planned the day out originaly. 'Great, what was I thinking when I offered to watch after Sakura?' Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck.
"Can we?" Shikamaru was drawn out of his thoughts to the pinkette, whom was cupping her huge belly. 'Tch...Better keep the huge part to myself, if I want to keep all of my teeth.'
Shikamaru was surprised that Sakura had even asked, he'd assumed she was calling the shots. Her own pregnancy was probably keeping her slightly wary of visiting the hospital, where she would undoubtedly discover the not so fun part of delivering a child. No doubt there would be screaming involved at least one point, or another during the birth of Tenten and his deceased comrade's child.
Neji would've made a good father, surprisingly enough, Lee and Tenten had become closer over the months. He suspected it was to help her during the grieving process of her teammate, and most recently lover. Neji had been a stubborn person in his younger years, constantly training, and always silently brooding. Everyone knew that even Neji had a heart under his cold, hard exterior. Tenten had failed a seduction mission once, and had nearly been raped in the process, if it hadn't been for Neji's quick reaction to protect his teammate...Who knows what the man could've done to Tenten. Although she hadn't been raped, she'd suffered a broken shoulder, cracked ribs, a punctured lung, and concussion. It was the first time Shikamaru had ever seen the young man cry, and was startled. He'd been with Kurenai, leaving her checkup on her own unborn child when he'd seen Neji.
"Sure, why not? It's not everday Neji Hyuga's child is born," He watched as Sakura let out a cry of joy.
Shikamaru claimed a seat in the hospital cafeteria, nursing a coffee as he did so. It was nearing two a.m in the morning, and he'd had all he could take of the agonizing cries from within Tenten's room. He was only halfway through the paperwork he needed to review, and sign before ten in the morning. Sakura had curled up in the waiting room on a couch with everyone else. Groaning, he rubbed his eyes tiredly. The last update on Tenten, the group had been informed that she was seven centimeters dilated, and progressing well.
"Shikamaru? Wake up!" Shikamaru woke with a very undignified snort, and lifted his head up only to find a document stuck to his face.
"Ugh...Choji?" Shikamaru asked, peeling the paper from his face.
"At least you got everything finished. Tenten just had her baby few minutes ago, a son," Choji watched his best friend with amusement.
"How's Tenten?" He managed to say, getting to his feet as he gathered the papers.
"Tired, rightfully so I'd say. She named him Neji, and he definitely takes after his father."
Sakura sat beside Tenten, cooing over the small bundle. Neji was the very spitting image of his late father, eyes, hair and all. Tenten was absolutely taken with her child, oblivious to Hinata, Ino, and Sakura at her side. The men had opted to go let Shikamaru know of the news, letting the women have privacy after taking a quick peek at the mother and child.