Oh, you all have no idea how happy I was to get your reviews! Thanks you so much, so here is chapter 9!
Disclaimer: I don't own
Iruka took Sasuke straight to the council building when they reached the city. Both men were greeted with a surprised and pissed Tsunade.
"I see Naruto left the gills on you," The mermaid then look the Uchiha up and down from her position from behind her desk, "What are you doing back here?" The mermaid asked Sasuke after Iruka had dismissed himself, claiming to have other matters to attend to.
Sasuke sat up straight in his seat, "I have come to inform you, and Sakura's family, that she and I would like a divorce."
The blonde mermaid said nothing at first, only leaning back in her chair; studying the boy before her, "And where is Sakura at this moment if she didn't accompany you down here?
"She's back at the castle, locked away in a cell," he said bluntly.
"What?" Tsunade glared down at the raven, "And why, exactly, is she a prisoner in her own home?"
"She lied to me and she made her own brother serve a punishment to a crime she committed. She also threaten my life in front of my brother, the current king of our land, and because she is my wife and now apart of the human world since she cut all ties to her family, she has to abide by our laws. In breaking those laws, I find I have a right to condemn her to a suitable punishment," explained Sasuke.
They both sat back to allow all that Sasuke had said to sink in. Tsunade, finally breaking the silence, opened the draw in her desk, pulled out her unmarked bottle, and took a quick mouth full from it before turning her eyes back to the raven before her, "You know you're a complete fool for playing with Naruto and Sakura's hearts like this."
"I'll accept any punishment you're about to give me for what I've done, but at least allow me to see Naruto again," plead Sasuke.
"Believe that if it were my choice, I would banish you from our city and drag Sakura back here away from you, even if she fights against me the whole way. But," she sighed and rubbed her aching temples, "I will let you have your divorce and you will have to tell all of this to Naruto. Naruto and his family will decide if you should go unpunished or, if you should be punished, then they will condemn you to their choosing," She looked back up at Sasuke with tired frustrated eyes, "but you look so much like that man I doubt I should trust you."
The boy raised his eyebrow, "What man?"
The mermaid shrugged and leaned back in her chair once more, "Not that it should concern you, but there was a man that thought he could kill Naruto by dropping him in to the ocean from a cliff when he was still a baby," she placed a heavy look on the boy, "Same dark hair, same deep dark unreadable eyes, same pale complexion and you both have this royal complex about you."
Sasuke lowered his head in shame as he muttered out, "That man, I know now, was my father."
"Really now, that's understandable."
"But don't assume that I would treat anyone, let alone Naruto, that way," Sasuke stood from his seat to his full height, feeling like he was losing his courage to speak to Tsunade, "I am not my Father. I will never be him. I don't even wish to share the same name as him and live under the same roof he raised me under because I want to, somehow, stay down here with Naruto!"
The raven huffed back into his seat, waiting for what the blonde mermaid would say to his out burst, hoping against hope that she would see the depths he was willing to go for Naruto and allow him to see the merman or at least talk to him for a moment.
He was shocked out of his thoughts by the sound of, first a knock, and then the door opening behind them.
"Ah, Shizune," Tsunade acknowledged her ebony haired secretary, "what is it?"
"Well, Naruto is here for his first check up," the mermaid said, looking warily between Sasuke and her boss.
"Yes, tell him I'll be there in five minutes. Just let me finish with Sasuke here."
Shizune nodded and closed the door softly behind her.
"Well, this is your chance, boy. Talk to Naruto for a minute and let him know everything, understood?" Tsunade rose from her seat and swam up to the office door but turned a narrowed eye at the raven, "But know, if you lie to him or hurt him even more, I will personally make sure your kingdom will only get you back in various pieces."
Sasuke slowly nodded his head as the blonde mermaid opened her door and squealed instantly with happiness, "Oh, Naruto I'm glad you're here so early."
"We didn't want to be late for our first check up. I'm as excited as you are," Sasuke heard his blonde say from outside the office.
"And you've pack on a few pounds, that's good; at least I can assume the baby's healthy, right?"
'Baby?', thought Sasuke to himself, but shook away the thought and looked up as Tsunade said, "If you'll wait in here for me, I need to grab a few things before we start."
"Alright," Naruto then swam past Tsunade into her office and watched she closed the door behind her.
When the merman turned around to face what he had thought to be an empty office, saw that he was not alone and gasped at the person sitting in one of the office chairs.
"S…Sasuke…what are you doing here? Where's Sakura?" Naruto asked as he placed his hands on his stomach as he felt it drop suddenly.
The raven in question stood and swam slowly to Naruto, noticing quickly that the blonde's once flat toned stomach was now protruding forward slightly. It was easy to see when the merman wasn't wearing anything on his torso, "Sakura isn't here…look, Naruto, we need to talk."
Naruto then began to rub under his belly, hearing Sasuke say his name after so long still had its effect on him, "Talk about what?"
"I…me and Sakura are getting a divorce," Sasuke watched in amusement as his blonde's eyes widened but lost his mirth when those eyes narrowed dangerously.
"What the hell is your problem?!" Naruto, with a mighty thrust of his tail, rushed at Sasuke faster than the other boy could comprehend and had the taller man pinned on to the desk behind him, pushing his larger belly into Sasuke's abdomen, "How dare you! How dare you come down here and tell me this…this…" Naruto found that he was lost for words to portray his anger.
"I have more to tell, if you're willing to listen," coughed out Sasuke, his back really hurting form being shoved into he desk.
"God!" Naruto then, afraid the other man would see his eyes shining with tears, punched Sasuke square in the jaw as hard as he could, which was hard enough to leave a mark, "Why the hell are you doing this to me? Why?"
"Because," Sasuke grunted through the pain of Naruto's weight and his punch. He pushed the blonde up off him only to pull him back, once he was standing again, and press their lips together in a hasty kiss with Sasuke trying to pull them together and Naruto trying to push away. Finally they broke for Sasuke to finish his sentence, "Do you know what I gave up to be down here with you?"
"I don't want to know!" Naruto started to struggle in Sasuke's grasp, "When will you get it through your thick head that I don't want to here your lies just so you can hurt me again!"
"I gave it all up!" Naruto stopped struggling as Sasuke's voice rose over its normal volume, "My inheritance, my name, my marriage to Sakura, even my pride, just so I can come down here to tell you that I don't want any of it if I don't have you to share it with me. I..." Sasuke looked down at the floor, unable to look Naruto in the eyes, "I…want nothing more than to stay down here with you. Even if I have to beg and plead, I'll do any thing."
"…Why should I?"
"Because of what I just said and I…I love you. God, how many times do I have to tell you?"
Shaking his head at Sasuke, Naruto tired again to pull away, "How do I know you won't just leave me again? Will you leave once the baby is here?"
"What baby…" Sasuke then looked in between them as Naruto placed their hands on his belly. Sasuke could only stare.
"It's yours, by the way."
Gapping at his blonde, Sasuke moved his hand along the stomach, still in shock, "Does everyone else know about this?"
"Yep," Naruto smiled slightly as he looked down at his stomach, "but, they're all pretty mad at you."
"Because I'm the father or that I impregnated you while I was to marry Sakura?"
The merman laughed roughly, "All of the above. We all thought I would have to raise the child alone," he then looked at the still shocked Sasuke, enjoying both the look of shock on his face and the feel of his hands on his very sensitive stomach, "You know, when I found out I was pregnant, I was thinking of using the child as a way to bring you back. But I've decided now," Naruto finally pulled from Sasuke's reach, "You have to prove yourself to me before I even consider allowing you in to our child's life."
Before he could answer, Sasuke was interrupted by the office door opening and Tsunade entering with a small stack of papers and a vile of something, "Oh, am I interrupting something?" even as she asked this, though, she placed her tray of items on her desk and looked between the two boys.
Sasuke leaned forward and whispered to Naruto, "We'll talk more after this ok?"
Not given much of a choice, Naruto nodded his head and watched as Sasuke exited the room until the raven closed the door softly behind him.
"You've got it so bad for him," Tsunade pointed out as the blonde came towards her and sat on the examining table in the corner of her room.
"Do I show it that much?" Naruto sighed as he watched Tsunade nod at his question and then turned to the stack of papers and the vile, "What's that for?"
"Something I want you to sign and something I want you to give to Sasuke."
"What is it?"
Tsunade started working her magic, her hands glowing green, and began Naruto's check up, "The papers are forms for you and Sasuke to sign when you're ready, all marriage forms and-"
"What!?" Naruto exclaimed, receiving a light shove form Tsunade.
"-And a magic boost that Sasuke will need to take immediately so he'll have enough magic for when the baby comes to go along with yours."
"But a marriage certificate?" Naruto whined and flinched away at the hands that were passing over a particularly ticklish spot.
"Just if you change your mind about that boy. Lay down please," when the merman did, Tsunade continued, "he did give up everything to be with you."
"I know, I know, he told me, but…I'm scared of…of everything that could go wrong. What if he does prove his love for me and I'm having the baby and his magic isn't enough? I might lose the baby!"
The mermaid looked down at the boy with a tired but understanding look, "I don't know Naruto, but let's worry about one thing at a time, ok?"
Taking a moment to think it over, Naruto finally nodded his head, reluctantly, and allowed Tsunade to finish the examination. The baby was very healthy, feeding off of the food Naruto nourished it with and taking little bits of the magic that had created the womb around it, enough to start to build the baby's features and create it own bit of magic, but not enough to cause the womb to collapse around it.
An hour later, when Naruto walked out of Tsunade's office, with instructions on how to continue to keep the baby healthy until the next check up, he saw Sasuke standing on the wall opposite the office door. Naruto gave him a weak smile, "So, are we going to talk now?"
Sasuke, pleased that the blonde was willing to talk to him, nodded and lead the merman down the hall and out of the council building. He lead them to a large cluster of coral just outside the city that was located in the center of a field full of short seaweed that acted as a natural park with underwater flowers and trees growing vastly in and around the area as well as a small patch of sponges that were fun for young merfolk to play on. The coral patch was very large, as big as many of the homes in the city for it was home to many of sea life within it; Sasuke had stumbled upon it a month ago when he was trying to avoid Sakura.
They both sat at the foot of the coral and waited for the other to say something.
"Naruto," Sasuke started, "I don't... really know what else to say to you that I haven't said already."
"Then why did you want to talk later?" the blonde questioned, now slightly irritated at the other man.
"Because I thought I would have something already put together, but... I didn't even know where to start," the raven confessed.
Sighing at Sasuke, Naruto turned to him with a scowl on his face, "Well I guess I'll fill you in on what's happened so far and what your role in the baby's life will be or lack there of."
Sasuke turned to fully face the blonde and gave him his undivided attention.
"Ok, so far I've been pregnant for about two weeks and a normal pregnancy lasts as long as five months and for the baby to be born both parents have to give some of their magic to the baby for the gills to open."
"But I don't have any magic," Sasuke began to say until he noticed the thing that Naruto was carrying being thrust into his hands. It was a small vile of blue liquid, "What's this?"
"That is a magic boost. Tsunade told me to give you so that you can retain your gills and have enough magic to give the baby. You actually do have magic in you, by the way; my magic and with that boost it will double the amount already in your body and will act as a safer alternative to a magic transfer," the blonde explained.
"Will I have enough magic, you think, by the time our child comes?"
Naruto was silent for a minute as he allowed the taste of the words to roll along his mind, 'Our child… sounds nice,' and nodded to Sasuke's question.
"But, what if…" Sasuke began but just couldn't phrase any questions about the worries he was feeling to the blonde, fearing of being hated again.
Naruto, almost understanding the reason for Sasuke's hesitation, shrugged to the raven, "What ever happens later is a hurdle we'll have to face later, but for now, let's just sit back and take each day one step at a time. If worse comes to worst, Tsunade will turn you into a merman and you'll be supplied with enough magic then. But for now," Naruto smiled wickedly at the ex-prince, "we need to get you back home. My father will want to rip you a new one when he sees you."
Sasuke paled at the thought of meeting Kyuubi again in these circumstances, but nodded, "Ok, we'll wait for everything to happen and have routine check-ups for us both, ok?"
Naruto continued to smile at Sasuke in a sort of affirmation to the raven's request, then they turned towards home; Naruto leading with Sasuke tailing back for good measure.
Of course, there was a large uproar at the mansion when its occupants saw Naruto return home with a raven that they really didn't wish to see so soon. Especially Kyuubi.
So he came up with a plan that the whole family, including Ruin, agreed with. Until Sasuke proved his loyalty to Naruto again, he would have to work as a servant of the house. He would be required to wake the house for breakfast every morning, serve them, and had to wait for everyone to finish before cleaning up after them. He had to do this for lunch and dinner as well and, in between the three meals, Sasuke had to answer to ever whim that he was requested of, no matter how utterly ridiculous.
Sasuke agreed to these terms, not caring that Kyuubi was cackling with mirth at the redundant tasks he had in store for the raven; all he wanted to do was prove his worth to his blonde.
And so the clock began ticking on the few weeks the raven had to win Naruto back before the baby was due. The first night was rough as Sasuke spent his first night ever in a ruddy run down shack in the back of the house that use to be the green house until Ruin decided that the plants needed to be moved out to the yard. It was dark, cold, and hard for him to work his gills in, and more than once he had to shake off some thing that he thought was on his arm.
So, true to the plan, Sasuke woke early in the morning, before the sun could shine its rays down on the ocean floor, and went to wake the family. He would have figured majority of the house occupants to be morning people but was proved sorely wrong when a half awake Ruin nearly ripped off his ear with her shouting of incompetent service and lack of manners. Kyuubi wasn't any better but instead of screaming his ear off, he really nearly tore it off with his bare hands as he made a grab at Sasuke. It was more of a reflex, because right after, he was back to snoring again. Naruto just didn't talk as he walked out of his room and Gaara…well; let's just say Sasuke will knock next time before he enters, if he ever found a need to do so again.
When everyone was seated for breakfast, he would pass out the plates and utensils to the seated persons. He had to wait until everyone was finished with they're breakfast and had cleaned up after them, then he himself was allowed to eat, which wasn't much seeing as he didn't like most of the items in their kitchen. All day, he was called to do all the weirdest tasks, most from Kyuubi; target practice, copying by hand texts from Kyuubi's library. Some from Ruin, mainly helping to trim the garden, cleaning of the rooms and laundry, which Sasuke thought would be unnecessary, seeing as the cloths were already underwater, so why clean them more? Well, it takes a hell of a long time to clean out the stains that pop up on one's garments and he had to be very careful not to wear out the clothing with his cleaning brush.
Even Tsunade and Iruka pulled Sasuke away from the family to have him grade and file papers in their offices. Sasuke even had a crash course in child care.
"To prepare him for when the little one comes," Iruka told anyone who asked.
Yes, it seemed everyone had something for Sasuke to do, that is to say, except for the one person he was trying to impress. Maybe he was over thinking it just a little, but Sasuke felt he only saw Naruto at meal time, but other wise, the blonde kept to himself and almost seemed to be avoiding Sasuke. But the raven didn't push this and continued with the routine of chores he had memorized and would continue to do them until he was; either, kicked out after the child was born or he was forgiven and allowed to live with his new family.
So four out of the five months went by with hardly any contact with Naruto except for the polite 'Good morning's or 'Good night's. Sasuke also picked up a new chore: helping Ruin decorate one of the guest rooms into a nursery for the newborn. This consisted of him looking at different colors on the wall to see which he thought would suit the room better. What Ruin would do was use her magic to change the color of the stone walls from their usual beige to blue, pink or yellow; even a light green graced the stone walls for a moment before they both shock their heads in distaste.
Then, one day in the middle of the second week in the fourth month, Ruin turned to Sasuke and said, "Alright Sasuke, why don't you take the rest of the day off?"
Startled from his previous work, which was reorganizing Kyuubi's huge library, Sasuke turned to the mermaid, "Really? I mean-…are you sure everyone else would be ok with that?"
Ruin smiled at the boy and nodded, "I have nothing more for you to do at the moment, Kyuubi is at the council office working on a case that is apparently so important he won't even tell me, Gaara is up on land again visiting his lover. So all that leaves is Naruto," at the blonde's name, Sasuke's heart fluttered and Ruin smiled at him all knowingly once more, "Why don't you go see what he's up to?"
Not sure how to thank her, Sasuke quickly bowed to Ruin, like he had done before when he had be dismissed, and rushed out of her room. Deja vu much?
Sasuke first went up to Naruto's room, but when he didn't find him there, he scratched his head in confusion. Where could his blonde have run off to? He then thought to ask Tsunade if she had seen Naruto that day. So the raven shot out of Naruto's bedroom window and swam hastily to the council hall.
When he reached the hall, Sasuke quickly swam up through the halls to Tsunade's office. He knocked on the door when he reached there and waited outside for a response. When he heard an annoyed 'Come in', he quickly composed himself and calmly walked in the office to find Tsunade sitting at her desk, a huge pile of papers surrounding her.
"What do you want, brat? There's no filing that needs to be done today," Said the blonde, not looking up from the papers she was trying to fill out.
Sasuke swam closer to her desk, "I know, but I was wondering if you've seen Naruto today?"
Tsunade looked up from her work for a minute and rose an eyebrow at the young man, "And what if I did?"
"Then I would really like to know where he is, please Tsunade," plead Sasuke, who's pride was taking a nose dive for rock bottom.
The older mermaid studied him for a moment, still skeptical of trusting him, but eventually sighed at the raven, "I'm not sure where Naruto is, but he did tell me he wanted to go find some where to think. Does that help at all?"
The raven nodded, "Yes, thank you," and he left the mermaid with her paperwork to find his blonde.
The park was quiet today, not many were out other than a few old couples and one mother and her son playing in the sponge patch. Sasuke quickly swam towards the outcrop of coral, hoping to see Naruto there. When he finally arrived, he didn't see Naruto at first glance, but after looking around and finally looking up, he saw that familiar orange tail swaying with the current. Up he swam and there, on top of the coral, asleep, was his blonde.
And Sasuke, who enjoyed watching the boy sleep, carefully lifted the merman's sleeping form from the coral and swam with the current back towards the mansion. In through the blonde's bedroom window Sasuke carried them both and laid Naruto on his hammock. Sasuke brushed a strand of hair from the sleeping boys face, but found that he could not pull his hand away. So instead, his hand traveled lower, to gently caress his marked cheeks. Traveling to tantalizing lips that Sasuke wished to cover with his own but didn't push his luck.
As his one hand finished its journey by gently cupping the blonde's neck and running his thumb over the other's cheek, Sasuke's other hand took to ghosting over Naruto's obviously protruding stomach. The raven gasped slightly and looked down at the blonde's stomach when he felt a surge of power come from the tanned skin to his hand, pulling it down on to the belly. Either this or the gasp is accused of waking the blonde.
Sasuke watched as eyelids fluttered and dazed blue eyes looked around before finally locking softly on him. The raven, though scared Naruto would tell him to leave, kept his hands where they were.
"Hn…Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice husky from sleep.
"Hey, Dobe, have a nice nap?" Sasuke replied teasingly.
Naruto scrunched his nose up at the raven, "Shut up," then he tried sitting up, but found Sasuke's hands on his neck and belly, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing bad, I assure you."
The blonde raised a questionable eyebrow at Sasuke, but didn't have anything to say for his mind was still trying to catch up, "I thought I was in the park?"
"You were, but I found you after talking with Tsunade and I carried you home. I've got the day off," Sasuke explained.
"Hmm," Naruto hummed as he placed his hands on his swelling stomach, only to have them covered by Sasuke's larger one, "So?"
"I've noticed you avoiding me and I want to know if it's me or if you have something on your mind that you're not telling me," Sasuke looked down at the now squirming blonde.
He hesitated for a moment,"...What if you don't have enough magic to give to the baby? What will we do when the baby's coming and we can't save it in time," Naruto looked up to the raven, "I'm so worried, Sasuke."
"Don't worry, it's not good for you or the baby, everything will be fine."
"But what if it's not enough? What then, Sasuke?" Naruto's voice echoing his worst fears.
"Then," Sasuke took a deep breath, "I'll get a magic transfer and live my life as a merman, with you and our child."
The thing about magic transfers isn't too complicated. It's almost like a blood transfusion, you either get blood that your body recognizes or you don't. If a merperson were to get a magic transfer, they would need to already have magic to dominate the foreign magic and blend it in with the rest. If a normal, non-magic, human were to get a magic transfer, the magic would alter the body it is housed in to accommodate the magic, in this case, the human would turn into a merperson. If the case were a magical human, one who knew how to hone his own magic, and they had to have a magic transfer, it would be the same as with a merperson, just without the need to transform into one.
So, if a non magic human were to get a magic transfer from a merperson, they would most likely become one. The body would take the magic in, combine it with the DNA of the host, making the magic unique to the person, but also making they're previous life very difficult.
"Would you really?" Naruto looked up in to Sasuke's unwavering eyes and dawned, possibly, the brightest smile his face could hold as he watch Sasuke nod 'yes' with a smile also on his face.
The raven suddenly felt his body being pulled forward in to Naruto's chest in a hasty hug, and the raven, once joy replaced shock, took his hands from their places on Naruto's neck and stomach, wrapped his arms around the blonde's back and pulled them as close together as possible with Naruto's belly pushing in to his chest.
"So does this mean I'm forgiven?" Sasuke asked, his voice slightly muffled, but audible.
Naruto chuckled lightly, slightly giddy for some reason, "Almost, you've still got a ways to go."
And Sasuke, for once, allowed himself to be a patient man.
As the last weeks began to fall behind them, the family became more lenient with the chores that they gave Sasuke, even Kyuubi, allowing the raven to spend more time with his blonde.
During the second to last week, Sasuke even took Naruto out on their first date. Mainly just to the park for a small picnic, but Naruto thought it was very thoughtful none the less.
As his days filled with growing love for Naruto and growing anxiety for the baby, Sasuke began to worry again about the magic boost and whether or not it was working as Tsunade had said. He still had his gills and the water pressure wasn't killing him so he assumed that either the magic was working or he was slowly becoming a merman himself.
The final month of Naruto's pregnancy had begun. Sasuke was now back on slightly good terms with the family, so much so that Kyuubi didn't threaten to rip him a new one every five minutes.
He was even relieved of his servant duties so he could officially spend his time making sure Naruto was comfortable and unstressed.
So now he and Naruto were visiting Tsunade for their biweekly check up.
"The baby is doing perfectly, Naruto. It is now fully developed and will be due any day now. Do you have everything ready for it?" Tsunade inquired.
Naruto beamed up at the other blonde, "Yep, we've gotten the nursery all ready for 'em!"
Sasuke thought back to the days he, still a "servant", spent with Naruto, Ruin and Raven, picking out different baby outfits, the baby carrier that could strap on to the parent for the child to be set in; only until the child learned to swim and walk on his own, baby formula that had to be quickly and carefully put into the tightly sealed bottles. They even found a color for the nursery: Orange.
"Have you thought of a name yet?" Asked Tsunade, as she beckoned for Sasuke to sit where Naruto had just been sitting. Sasuke now came to the biweekly check ups to check on where his magic levels were.
The two boys looked at each other for a minute and Naruto answered, "Well, we haven't really thought on it too much."
Tsunade just smiled at the two and watched as the younger swam out of the room to go check with Shizune, the secretary. They had some how become quite good friends during Naruto's trips to the office.
The older mermaid's eyes then turned to Sasuke as he waited for her to check his magic level. Her hands began to glow green as she traced along his arms and torso, down to his abdomen, her face etching into a deep frown the whole way.
"You haven't collected enough, in a sense you have about 80% of your magic collected. Most of that will have to go to the baby while Naruto's birthing. If you give too much, you may lose your gills and your ability to with stand the water pressure," Tsunade pointed out sternly, "I think you should go with the magic transfer."
Sasuke shook his head, "I'm still not sure if Naruto wants me in the baby's life. So I want to hold off on it till we all are certain that the baby won't be safe unless I do get a transfer. I have Naruto's magic in me to act as my own for the baby, I'll give it all to make sure the baby is safe, even if I don't survive."
Tsunade fumed, "I'm not talking about the baby right now, I'm talking about you living. And, if I can help it, I want to make sure all three of you get out of this alive."
"It's my body and I'll do with it as I please and I want to wait," Sasuke answered, stubbornly.
Knowing that the boy was making a mistake that would gravely affect his, Naruto, and the baby's live, Tsunade said nothing. She only gave the boy one last pleading look that clashed in to his determined one. With nothing more to say, she dismissed Sasuke. And, as she watched his retreating figure exit her door way, she made a mental note to have the tools and staff ready to perform the transfer.
If the Uchiha wanted to be stubborn, she'll let him get just close enough to the edge before she yanks him back and takes matters in to her own hands. Hopefully nothing will go wrong before then.
One chapter left and maybe an epilogue (if I get enough reviews)
Well, I hope you liked this chapter for the series is almost over.
Sad, no?
-WMDYW
