Sakura threw her cloak over herself. She had waited long enough. It had been seven long months. She was so pregnant that she was almost ready to burst, and Sasuke had only sent obscure messages about his whereabouts and that he had not found any sign of Hinata yet. But neither she nor Naruto received a response back from Sasuke about her or their child.

He had not sent any messages to Sakura at all. This hurt her immensely at the beginning, but then as she settled into her pregnancy, she spent all of her energy on preparing for the baby.

During the last months of her pregnancy, she started having strangely vivid dreams. About sleeping next to Sasuke and waking up in his arms. About traveling with him through the places that he wrote to Naruto about. Sometimes she dreamed of these places before the messages even came. The dreams seemed so real, that sometimes she woke up crying. And then there were the times she woke up with the feeling that some one had been watching her.

She stayed in the old section of the village despite the fact that it looked like her husband had abandoned her. She set up the nursery in the Uchiha home and she embroidered all of her clothes and her baby's clothes with the Uchiha symbol. Sasuke was her husband, and she was an Uchiha, despite all the whispers and stares from the rest of village about her poor pathetic state.

Now, Sakura was done with it all. She was leaving the village today, and she was going to find Sasuke.

She managed to intercept a message from Sasuke meant for Naruto, informing him that Sasuke was in the Land of Wind near one of Orochimaru's hideouts. It was not that far away. Sakura could make it there. It should only take a week at most. She was so far along in her pregnancy that she had been taken off of the hospital schedule already, and being that she had no neighbors, no one would miss her.

She knew she was putting herself at risk of being denounced as rogue, since she was leaving the village unsanctioned by the hokage to go after her husband, who technically was rogue himself. But it was a risk she was willing to take to make sure her child was born with a father.

So she packed her bag, and she put on her cloak. She walked out of the village gate disappearing into the woods the way she knew that Sasuke had a hundred times before.

It did take a week to get to the area of the Land of Wind, where Sasuke said he was staying. Sakura could only move so fast, and she kept herself bundled to conceal her large belly. So when the afternoons became too hot, she had to find a shady place to sit and rest. She stayed in motels along the way at night.

When she finally made it to her destination, she still had not come up with a plan of how to actually contact Sasuke. She could search for the hideout and hope that he was there. But he might leave if he was notified of her presence before she actually found him. And how was she even going to find the location of the hideout in the first place?

She sat in the room that she rented in the local inn for about an hour, mulling this over. Then she went back down stairs to see if she could find a map. That's when she ran into fate.

A very red haired woman with even redder eyes and brown framed glasses was yelling at the poor man at the front desk. "I'm her cousin! Her very closest friend! I'm not sure why you can't just let me in her room!"

The man looked at Karin skeptically. "You look nothing like her. Besides it's policy –no one but the guest is allowed in the room. "

He pointed to a sign. Karin scowled at him in response. "OOOOOH!"

Sakura moved from the stairs to the front desk and addressed the enraged woman. "Who are you looking for? Can I help?"

Sakura asked this, but she was almost certain that Karin was there looking for her.

She happened to be right. Karin turned and looked at Sakura, realizing that she was caught, and her mouth dropped open. Her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here? I knew I felt a noxious presence coming from this direction."

"I'm looking for Sasuke. And since I'm certain you can tell me where he is, I won't rearrange your face." Sakura replied, cracking her knuckles.

"Threatening me?" Karin asked, tauntingly. "Sasuke won't like that."

"I doubt Sasuke will care." Sakura retorted.

Rage flashed over Karin's face. She rammed her finger in Sakura's face. "SASUKE MAY HAVE MARRIED YOU! BUT HE'S BEEN WITH ME FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS!"

The red headed woman snarled. "if he doesn't care about anyone –it's you."

Sakura reached back and decked Karin in the nose.

"OWWW!" Karin grabbed her broken nose. The pain was unbearable, but that was not what shocked her most. Sakura's cloak had fallen open, and it revealed her very pregnant stomach.

The hotel manager yelled from behind the desk. "Both of you need to get out!"


Sakura stood outside of the inn with her bag in her hand. Now what? This was the only inn in the area. And that shit head, Karin, had just gotten her kicked out of it.

"You're coming with me." Karin told her with a nasally sounding voice. Her nose was still very broken.

Sakura turned on the woman and roared, "You looking for another fight?! I can hurt you more –if you want."

"I don't want to fight." Karin cowered a bit, holding up her hands in front of her. "I want to help. You're carrying Sasuke's child aren't you?"

Sakura looked down at her stomach. "Yes. I'm his wife. Whose child would it be?"

"Then I'm going to take you to him." Karin said.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"We both love Sasuke." Karin replied, lowering her eyes to her feet. "Just like you, I'd do anything for him. And we both know the only things Sasuke really cares about are power and blood. That baby is an Uchiha, so I'm bound to protect it."

Sakura nodded, placing a hand on her stomach. She could feel her baby kicking, and she was starting to cramp a bit. To top it off, she had nowhere to go. There was no other choice but to trust this woman, who claimed she loved Sasuke too.

So she followed Karin away from the motel and into the surrounding woods. As they climbed the path that led deep into the mountainside, the cramping started to get worse. There had been a few practice contractions over the last week that she traveled, but the current contractions seemed to be stronger and more insistent.

By the time they reached the hideout, Sakura was ready to lie down. Karin led her down a corridor lit by candle light, and then she turned back to Sakura. She pointed to a room. "Sasuke should be inside there. Just walk in –he'll be sooo happy to see you."

Sakura was too exhausted and in too much pain to argue with the woman. She went to the door and opened it, stepping inside. It was a bedroom, but it was completely empty. She heard the door slam behind her. She turned and reached for the door knob. It was locked. She doubled over with the next contraction. She called. "Karin! The baby is coming! Please help!"

Karin yelled back through the door. "Just lie on the bed! I'll be back!"

Sakura moved to the bed and lay down. She could tell by the things in the room that this was likely Karin's room, not Sasuke's room. The next contraction came with even more force, and Sakura cried out in pain.

She gathered her thoughts. She had to breath through the contractions. She could not start pushing yet. Other women had delivered babies without help. It would be dangerous, but she had to do this. Her baby's life and her life depended on it.

Sakura started to breath through her contractions. They were coming closer and lasting longer.

Finally, the door opened again, and Karin came into the room, relocking the door behind her. She carried towels with her and a large tub. She went into her bathroom and started filling the tub.

"Sakura." Karin said, approaching the bed. "I'm going to have to check you to see where the baby is."

Sakura nodded, sweat dripping down the side of her face. She let Karin check the position of the baby.

"The head is crowning."

Karin pulled Sakura up and helped her to the tub. "You're going to have to push now."

Sakura and Karin worked together to usher the baby into the world. And soon, a pink little girl with black hair appeared in the tub of water. Karin picked the baby up, cut the umbilical cord, and began to wrap her in the towels. "She looks just like Sasuke."

Sakura was barely awake and still in the tub of bloody water. She said weakly, "I want to see my baby."

Karin looked at Sakura hesitantly, still rocking the squalling baby in her arms. She did not appear to want to give the baby back. But then, there was a loud knock on her door. "Shit!"

Quickly, Karin handed the baby to her mother. The crying settled down as the little one fell asleep against the warmth of her mother's breasts.

The knocking became more insistent. Karin went to the door and answered. It was Jugo. Karin looked over her shoulder at Sakura. If Jugo was here, that meant that Sasuke was back too.

"What is going on?" Jugo frowned at Karin. His bulky frame, filling the door way. "It sounded like someone was dying in there."

"Leave her." Sasuke said to Jugo, as he passed by. He barely looked in Karin's direction. "Just as long as she doesn't involve us in whatever scheme she is up to."

Sakura heard Sasuke's voice from inside of the room. She called weakly, "Sasuke!"

Sasuke stopped walking. He turned back to Karin's door, and paused for a second, not sure if he heard what he just heard.

Jugo growled at Karin. "Who is in there with you?"

Jugo pushed the door further open, shoving Karin back into the room. Karin whimpered and then scampered to the far corner of the room. Both Jugo and Sasuke entered the room to find Sakura in the tub holding her baby.

Sasuke looked at Karin with her large purple nose and her hands bloody from delivering Sakura's baby. Rage spread over his face like wild fire. He demanded. "What is this?!"

"She came here to find you and then the baby started to come –and I had to deliver her –it's a girl, Sasuke." Karin stammered out quickly, fearing for her life.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and his daughter again. He went over to the tub and then gently picked them both up. Without a word, Sasuke carried them out of Karin's room and out of the hide out.