The wet ground felt extremely rough on Sai's feet. He wasn't sure what he was thinking when he walked out the door and started making his way to Naruto's house. His mind was still in shock from his early realization and he knew it was because of that that he couldn't think straight. It was foolish of him to rush into things, especially since he had a baby to look after inside of him now. But nothing was going to stop him now. He needed to get this feeling off his chest and he needed to now before he broke into a fit of crying and insanity.
Sai's pace was just under a jog. After muttering a curse under his breath for forgetting to wear sandals out the door he sped up in order to hurry and get out of the way of the elements. He was going to hate himself later when blisters and cuts kept him from being mobile.
By the time Sai was close to Naruto's residence, he was soaked from head to toe. His bangs stuck to his face and his clothes felt like a second layer of skin. If he didn't hurry, he was sure he'd catch a cold. With another block to go, Sai practically ran to the door of the man he fought to get to. After only a few moments of catching his breath, the frantic artist began to rapidly knock on the door, praying for a response and hoping he was still there.
Sai felt the urge to cry after a minute with no answer. Yet another useless attempt at getting the two together was thrown out of the window. Just as Sai turned to walk home, the door opened to reveal a very tired-looking blonde in nothing but his boxers and a T-shirt.
"Why are you knocking at my door in the middle of a storm?" Naruto asked, not fully realizing who the intruder was until he wiped the grogginess from his eyes. Sai released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. Finally the door was open and Sai was lost for words, as if they had been stolen right from his mouth.
The two stared at one another, having no words to say or even any thoughts to think. After a few moments, a shiver ran through Sai's spine. He was cold. "Are you going to let me in?"
"Why are you out here at a time like this?" Naruto's voice was panicked. Sai looked everywhere but the blonde's face. He wasn't actually sure why he had decided to leave at that moment. It was the heat of the moment and for once in his life, Sai didn't think to think anything through.
"Naruto, I…" The words felt trapped in the painter's mouth. Sai lifted his head towards the sky and took a deep breath, then another when he felt that his nerves weren't going to return anytime soon.
"Sai, what are you trying to say to me?" Naruto asked in a soft tone. He knew that the other wasn't feeling up to par at that moment, so this was the best road to take instead of yelling.
"Look, Naruto, I know that we haven't been on the best of terms," Sai took a breath. He was still out of it from foolishly running all the way here, "but I also know that I have been making it difficult for us to make amends too." Naruto raised an eyebrow. To tell the truth, he hadn't understood a thing the other was trying to explain to him. All he knew was that Sai was trying to tell him something important.
"I want to get past that. I want to stop being so scared to progress," the painter explained while trying very hard not to stutter. He was freezing his ass off and he was a bit nervous, though he didn't want to admit it.
Thought Naruto didn't understand as well as he should have about the situation, he nodded and comforted his friend anyway. He might as well let the other get it off his chest. Stress wouldn't be good for Sai in his state.
"C'mon. Let's get you a shower and something dry to wear. You look like you're about to become an icicle." Naruto slowly readjusted himself and Sai so they could walk side to side to the bathroom. Once there, Naruto turned the water to a suitable temperature and then walked to his room to find something the teen could wear once he warmed up. Sai nodded his thanks before closing the door and stripping. He sighed quietly before stepping into the shower and letting the warm water provide him with heat. It felt good to finally get out of those wet clothes.
After a few minutes of mindlessly soaking in the heat of the water, Sai decided to get out. He dried and combed his hair, taking his sweet time, for the blonde still hadn't come back with his clothes yet. It wasn't long until he started to hear faint voices coming from the living room. One, he was sure, was Naruto's. The other, he wasn't too sure of, but it sounded very childish.
Time seemed to slow whenever you needed it to speed up and Sai was growing impatient of the blonde. He grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around his body like a woman would have only because he was slightly self-conscious about his protruding belly.
As soon as Sai opened the door, he could hear the conversation being carried out by Naruto and the other person.
"Nii-chan! Come on! You said you'd help me with my training!" From what Sai could tell, it was a younger male that Naruto was talking to.
"Look! It's raining and I've been very busy. As a matter of fact, I'm busy now!"
A growl-like noise came from the other. "What do you mean? How are you busy? There nothing here but you and a bunch of old ramen cups!" Sai had to agree with the boy. There was a lot of mess in this home. Sai found this to a good moment to interrupt seeing as the two were unexplainably silent.
"Um, Naruto?" Sai intervened with a raspy voice. The two turned to see Sai standing there with nothing but a towel and a hair-tie on. Konohamaru gaped at the man and asked very curiously, "Nii-chan? Who is this woman?"
Silence was the only thing left between the three once the words had left young one's mouth. Two faces filled with shock and the last with confusion. Having had enough of being called a girl, Sai walked over to the "confused" boy and was ready to slap him when Naruto grabbed his hand and stopped him.
"Sai! Don't." Naruto whispered in a harsh tone. Sai simply pulled his hand away from the deadly grip before taking a deep breath and asking where his clothes were. Konohamaru was in awe. Sai's voice was nothing like a woman's, and he didn't have any tits.
"Oh! Oh…ah…haha, I'm sorry!" Konohamaru said before attempting to make an exit. He would have gone unnoticed too if he would have stopped laughing nervously. Naruto shooed the Genin out as he walked into his room to find the artist his clothing.
"What took you so long?" Sai asked, though could guess why.
"I was talking to Konohamaru. He was bugging me about some training and crap," Naruto said as he pulled out a T-shirt and placed it on the bed. Sai grabbed the shirt and began to dress himself piece by piece. Once Naruto pulled out a pair of clean underwear and a pair of sweats, Sai placed them on his body and sat down on his bed. Surprisingly enough, this room wasn't as messy as the rest of the apartment.
"Well, since you're all set,"—Naruto took a glance out of the window—"and it's still raining, do you want to…I don't know…lay down or something?" Sai shrugged his shoulders simply because he was not in the mood to do anything else. For some strange reason, he wanted to snuggle with the blonde. Sai may not have been an expert on the norm, but he knew that snuggling was not something you did unless you were in a relationship. And he and Naruto were not in a relationship.
"Maybe we could…play a game." Naruto suggested. For once, it wasn't a stupid idea like many others in the past.
"What do you have in mind?" Sai replied after a moment of silence. Naruto placed a hand on his chin as he thought.What would be a nice game to play?He pondered this for the next two minutes. "I don't know. What do you like?"
Sai looked at him quizzically. "I've never really played any games before, except for survival ones."
Naruto was the one who gave the look this time. "You've never—" he cut himself off. He had to remember that Sai was practically born and raised a ROOT member. Having a normal life was something still very new to the artist.
"Never mind. So besides never playing a game that was supposed to be fun, what have you never done?"
Sai took a few minutes to think on the question. "There is a lot that I have not experienced. I've never snuck out, drank…seen a television, eaten a pomegranate…there are so many." Sai finally gave up. If he were to name all of things in the world he'd never done, his daughter would be at the age of two.
"Yeah, that is a lot." Naruto added. Sai looked at the blonde's face and could tell that he was disappointed at the answer he received. It hurt Sai that he wasn't able to satisfy Naruto's need, though he didn't know why.
"But I can name most of things that I have done since the pregnancy." Sai interjected. Naruto gazed in Sai's direction. "Go for it."
"Well, I have experienced confusion, pain, happiness, anger, awe, endless hunger, cramps, more confusion…and love." Naruto's interest sparked at the last two words. As if Sai knew the unasked question, Sai answered it with little hesitation.
"I learned to love the baby of course. I've also took notice of a love that always comes back to me no matter how much I try to throw it away."
"Who do you share that with?" Naruto asked, curiosity in his voice with a hint of jealousy and…hope?
Sai disregarded his interpretation of the boy's tone and spoke. "I shared it with someone very special in my life." He looked into Naruto's eyes for a brief moment before continued. "I feel for you." Sai's voice faded into a whisper when he neared the end.
It took less than a minute for Naruto to register what Sai had confessed to him. Cerulean eyes widened. "Sai, is that true?"
Sai, not sure of how the blonde would react, sat waiting, even facing the wall in case the blonde felt to urge to hit him. It had happened many times before when he insulted Sakura or Naruto. They would simply knock his lights out and leave him until he came to.
The silence became entirely too overwhelming for the painter. He watched the wall as he stood and began to make his way to the other room when a gentle hand was laid on his wrist.
"Sai," Naruto whispered, he slowly pulled on the brunet's arm until the other was practically sitting in his lap.
"Naruto, you don't have to feel obligated—" The brunet never got to finish his sentence as Naruto's lips softly collided with his own. The feeling was so foreign to Sai. He wasn't even sure what to do next. Their lips remained glued to each other for a moment longer, before Naruto slowly took them apart.
"Naruto…" No thoughts of Sai's could reach his lips. He wanted to ask the blonde why and when, but again, no sound could come out of his mouth.
"You don't have to say anything. I want to learn to love you too, and not just for the baby's sake."
Sai felt like magic was just cast on his heart. His face only showed the emotion of mild shock, but his mind and heart were in heaven. Sai thought it would have been years before those words would have ever been uttered in his direction. But he quickly pulled himself down from his euphoria. He had to remember the key word "learn." That meant that the blonde wasn't quite there yet.
"Thank you." Sai muttered. He truly felt that the gods of this land wanted him to be happy after all that he had suffered. He just hoped the gods decided to stay on his side for a little bit longer.
The next morning, Naruto remembered at the last minute an important meeting that he needed to attend if he had any hopes of making it into the Jounin ranks. Sai on the other hand wasn't busy and decided to stick around Naruto's apartment and clean up this mess the jinchuuriki called home.
It had taken him hours to clean it all. But after the dishwashing, clothes washing, bathroom scrubbing and floor mopping, the place was finally clean. By that time, Sai was exhausted. Being pregnant and cleaning the dickless' apartment could really do that to you.
Sai settled for sitting on the blonde's couch, which had also been cleaned, and thinking of his baby girl. He wondered who she would take after the most. Would she have eyes like the ocean and hair like the night sky? Or would she have eyes as black as coal and hair as warm as the rays of the sun? So many ways their daughter could appear and yet Sai couldn't grasp any of them. He couldn't wait to find out.
Then again, a little more time wouldn't do any harm. Both he and Naruto still had to prepare things, like a crib and a changing table, the bassinette and diapers. They haven't even discussed when or where they'd set it all up. Would it be here, or at Sai's house? Or would they have to move into a bigger place altogether?
Sai push the thoughts from his head. Though the time grew close to start to worry about these things, it would do him no good to worry about it without Naruto here to discuss it with.
"Sai! Are you still here?" A voice called from the entrance. Sai assumed it was Naruto, after all, who else would come here calling for him and not Naruto? Sai answered "yes" as loud as he could while still using a decent indoor voice. Naruto yelled back an "ok" before walking in and admiring the now clean living space.
"Wow! Sai, did you do all this?" Naruto's gaze flew from one corner to another. The apartment looked so different now that the floor and countertops were visible. Everything was practically sparkling.
"Yeah, I was bored and this place was a…pigsty? Is that what people usually call it?" Naruto nodded dazedly before walking around and taking in more of his tidied apartment.
Sai couldn't help but smile at the astonished look on the jinchuuriki's face. He felt good that he was able to make his blonde happy, even if it was just a little. The artist pushed himself to his feet and over to the direction he was sure the blonde had gone in.
"Do you really like the way I cleaned the place?" Sai asked. Naruto nodded before he turned to face Sai, giving him a big grin and saying a simple set of words that made Sai's heart flutter.
"Thanks, Sai. It means a lot though it seems so little." A hint of pink made its way up to the painter's face. Something about the way Naruto said his line made Sai's knees weak. Everything felt too surreal. Sai hurried to find something to distract both himself from Naruto and Naruto from distracting him.
"Naruto, we haven't discussed the baby lately."
Naruto's face brightened in realization. "Why haven't, have we?" Sai nodded as he turned to walk to Naruto's bed room to hold the discussion. Sai was tired and he might as well have been comfortable in a bed than standing or sitting upright in a chair.
Sai wasted no time in climbing into Naruto's bed. It was surprisingly comfortable and didn't make his spine hurt like other mattresses did. When he lay in the bed, he felt like he was sleeping on a cloud. No wonder it took then forever to wake the blonde whenever they (Sakura and Sai) came over to wake the knucklehead.
Naruto walked in the room and climbed into his bed next to Sai. He could feel the other tense for a millisecond, but he soon relaxed to the feeling of Naruto's chest on his back. It felt nice to have Sai trust him again. It made him feel like the protector he was supposed to be.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Naruto asked after a minute of pure silence. Sai shifted a little to make himself comfortable.
"What are we going to do once the baby is here? Where are we going to stay? Here or at my apartment? Do you think we'll need to find a bigger and safer place? What about necessities for the baby? When can we go get them?" Naruto chuckled at the other's worry. He was worried too of course, but he wasn't quite where Sai was.
"Um, well, I guess we'll have to find the safest place to house the little tyke. And about the things he's going to need, we'll just get them whenever you want to go." Naruto finished only to hear snickering from the other teen.
"What's so funny?" Naruto lifted his head to try and see the face Sai was making, but it was just out of his view.
"It's a girl."
Naruto gasped. "Really?" He went all of this time thinking he was going to have a son. But maybe having a girl wouldn't be that bad. He'd get to protect her from all of those perverts…like Konohamaru. "That'd be nice," he whispered out loud as he slowly faded in sleep. The fatigue from a long day's work finally caught up to him.
Sai smiled when he heard the soft snores coming from behind him. It was reassuring that Naruto would always be there. He knew in his heart that the dickless would man up one day. And he was sure that today was the day.
By the time morning had come, both Naruto and Sai were well rested. Sai was the first to wake due to the baby's restlessness. Sometimes the teen wondered if she was doing aerobics in there, but then he'd have to be stupid to think his belly could also house a television and a DVD player.
Sai shifted to face the blonde, his stomach against the other's. Naruto must have noticed for he woke as soon as the baby started to kick again. His eyes averted to the source of the disruption of his sleep and noticed the baby was moving inside Sai's stomach. His face must have been hilarious because Sai started to laugh at Naruto's reaction.
"Is that her?" Naruto asked in a hushed voice, as if afraid he would scare her if he spoke any louder. Sai nodded as he brought Naruto's hand in between them. She kicked as soon as Naruto's warmth joined the center of the two's stomachs. Sai saw the most the most precious scene in front of him at moment. Naruto was practically holding their child in his hand with the brightest and proudest grin plastered on his face. It was a sight to remember.
"I can't wait any longer," Naruto muttered. Sai nodded and whispered a yes. He couldn't wait to see her either.
"What do you mean?" Naruto exclaimed, slamming his hand on the Hokage's desk. This was unbelievable. And unbearable.
"You heard me correctly the first time. You are to go on a month long mission."
Naruto clinched his teeth together and began to softly growl. No way was he going to be separated from Sai when their connection was just beginning to grow strong.
"I won't." Naruto bit out. The response surprised everyone in the room, including the Hokage herself.
Tsunade stared at the blonde as if he had grown another head. "You don't have much of a choice," she replied, crossing her arms over her busty chest to signal this wasn't an argument. Clearly, Naruto didn't get the gesture, or simply chose to ignore it altogether.
"No, I can't go. Not now. I just started to earn Sai's trust and I'm not going to let another mission ruin that. I want to be here for the rest of his pregnancy." Naruto's eyes showed his determination and stubbornness in one glance. He wasn't going to budge and that was the end of it.
"And here I though you would want to go. It has to do with Sasuke."
Naruto faltered at hearing that name. "Sasuke?" He almost whispered. Tsunade nodded. Her expression was serious, showing that she wasn't playing a mind game with the boy.
"Naruto…" Chouji's voice from behind trailed off. Naruto inwardly growled at the name of that teme, his first friend and source of most of his heartaches. He shouldn't have had a problem making this decision, but it was so damn hard to just give up on both.
His mind told him to go after the bastard. But his heart told him to stay and take care of both his mate and unborn kit.
What should I do? He suddenly wished he hadn't asked himself this because that damned fox heard it and started to laugh.
What do you think you should do? Stay here. Your mate has already suffered much. He doesn't need you to leave him once again, especially for that snake whore.
Naruto couldn't help but see the light in the fox's words and for once agreed with the damned demon.
"I still can't leave. I have to stay here with Sai and my daughter. I was stupid for leaving them before, and I won't leave them again. " Naruto's determined gaze returned. He wouldn't leave. Not even to fulfill his long term promise to Sakura and himself. He had new priorities and they came first.
With a heavy sigh, Tsunade leaned back in her chair and waved her hand as an informal way of dismissing the blonde. "Fine, do as you please. I'll just have Lee take your place." She sounded unwilling, but it was clear to Naruto that his message really got to her.
"Thank you, baa-chan." Naruto said as he turned to walk out of the office. Shizune turned to stare at the Hokage, unsure as to why she let the blonde go that easy. Were he any other ninja, she would have forced him out the village in a matter of seconds.
"I guess he just reminds me too much of Nawaki. Whether that is a good or bad thing, I'm not sure."
Shizune's eyes softened when she saw a sad smile on her master's face.
I hope he does well. For Tsunade-sama.
Sai decided that he would spend the day with Sakura, Hinata, Hanabi and a reluctant Neji at the mall. The girls wanted to go clothes shopping for themselves and the baby. Hanabi begged to go, which forced Neji to follow since he was responsible for Hanabi that day.
"AWW!" Sakura squealed as she picked up a little baby shirt that said, "Daddy's little girl." Neji rolled his eyes as the girls all crowded around to admire the shirt. Sai simply ignored them as he stood around. Why bother saying anything if they would only insist on buying it anyway? Besides, he would take anything that was free.
"You look well."
Neji turned to face Sai after the other finished his statement. He knew the other was being sarcastic and had half a mind to throw something nasty back his way. "I'm not in the best of moods, no. But I have no choice but to deal with it," he muttered at the other male in the group. Sai raised an eyebrow before asking for greater detail.
"Hiashi-oji-san is still forcing me to marry some woman I have no knowledge of. I don't want to. My heart belongs to someone else." Neji looked down as he spoke, not looking like the proud Hyuuga he was known to be. Neji seemed pained and it almost pained Sai to see him that way.
"Who is this person that your heart belongs to?" Sai asked. Neji turned to face Sai, then he turned away to conceal an uncharacteristic blush.
"Shikamaru."
Sai wasn't surprised. The pale-eyed man practically drooled every time Mr. Deer walked into the room. Sai smiled at the nervous Hyuuga before laying a hand on his shoulder. Neji turned to look at the man who was touching him.
"Don't worry. I can guarantee you that everything will work out." Sai spoke from personal experience. His situation with Naruto might not have been quite the same, but he knew that when you hoped hard enough, things could happen.
"I hope so…" The pearl-eyed man wished. Sai nodded before turning to walk towards the ravaging women. One look at the shopping cart and Sai was happy that he wasn't the one paying for all of this. It would have cost anyone a fortune.
"Come on Neji, let's stop them before they break themselves." Neji agreed and walked over to Sai and the shopaholics. Neji watched them throw almost everything in the carts and was glad he wasn't the cashier.
