AN: Sorry for the late chapter! Naruto is learning how to not be a clone!cheater with this pregnancy! He doesn't like it. Reviews and Faves keep me going, thanks guys! :)))
The first couple of days without Sasuke hanging around him constantly were weird. It was really weird. He'd become accustomed to falling asleep to the sound of Sasuke reading whatever it was that he was always reading, which Naruto had only recently realized was books about pregnancy and childrearing. It was sweet. It made Naruto's chest ache, and he had started reading them himself, kind of like training himself, without cheating. No clones.
Sakura had implied that using up too much of his chakra could affect his son's growth. Son. His son. His and Sasuke's. Holy shit. Sometimes it still caught him off guard. Other times it felt like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Now that the whole village knew he was pregnant, he'd received a few different responses from the villagers who had, until immediately in the present, thought of him as their hero. Most people were just quietly avoiding him, avoiding his gaze as much as they could. Some people would actually twist their expressions into one of distaste, and that always made him feel so alone. He hadn't told anyone else about who the father was, so occasionally, he would hear murmurings about how he'd whored himself out to someone in order to gain more power. As if he needed anymore power. People were so weak minded. Something he'd known since before he'd known anything else.
It was okay, though, because it wasn't all bad. There was the occasional villager who would come up to him and offer him congratulations and offer him some advice on how to raise his baby. People who still viewed him the same. Sakura. Shikamaru (who said it was all too troublesome for him). Chouji (who had offered to pay for as much barbecue as he needed). Ino (who had stared at him with unnerving pale blue eyes and told him he better take care of his baby, but who had also sent him a bouquet of the most beautiful lilies the next day). Lee (who had gone on about the beauty of a new youthful life being brought into the world, good lord). Tenten (who had seemed especially excited, and who had offered her services as a babysitter immediately). And, of course, Sai (who had stated the Naruto's dick must be smaller that even he'd thought, if he was able to get pregnant).
His friends were all standing by his side, and Naruto was relieved. But only Sakura and Kakashi and Iruka and Kiba knew the father at any level of certainty. It wasn't like Naruto could hide it forever, though. Eventually he'd give birth to his son, and he would probably have dark hair and dark eyes that would one day bear the Sharingan. And there would be no hiding it. And Naruto didn't want to hide it. He didn't want Sasuke to feel as though he was ashamed of their son. He wasn't. He wanted to bear the child that would one day inherit Sasuke's good looks.
He also wasn't planning on cutting Sasuke out of his pregnancy or out of their child's life. That was the opposite of what he wanted. The reason he'd turned Sasuke down that day at the hospital was because he was so afraid of what it might mean if they started up a relationship and then broke up. What if one or the other of them wanted sole custody of the baby? What if it meant a messier life for their child than he was already going to have thanks to having a dude as his birth parent. It was just... too much. He was four months along now, and had to have serious thoughts about what was going to be the best not for himself, but for his son.
He was snapped out of his reverie immediately, though, by a jolt in his belly. Not like a little flutter that he was used to, but by a sudden cramping almost feeling. He panicked immediately and grabbed for the book Sasuke had left behind. He felt it again, and dropped the book. It would be much better to just go to the source. Sasuke had read all the books, and he'd be able to answer his questions. It was much better than beating down Sakura's door (which he wasn't entirely opposed to doing if Sasuke didn't have the answer he needed). But he just needed to calm down. It was about midnight, and freaking out wasn't going to help him. Who knew, maybe it was just a false labour or something. Or something. What if he had hurt his baby?
Grabbing his jacket (that didn't even zip up anymore), Naruto booked it out of the house, rushing down the stairs so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet, and jogged (waddled) towards Sasuke's place. Thankfully they lived pretty close to one another. And double thankfully, there were no drunk guys on the path there that were looking to cause him any problems.
The cramping feeling wasn't constant, it didn't even a hundred percent feel like a cramp.
It felt like... like... someone was poking him really, really hard.
When he climbed, breathlessly, to the top of Sasuke's stairs, he banged loudly on the door constantly until it was ripped open and a disheveled, angry, put out Sasuke opened it.
"Finally!" He exclaimed, throwing both of his hands in the air as he stomped one foot a little petulantly. "What took you so long?"
Sasuke blinked, surprised. His hair was sticking out every which way, and there were deep bags under his eyes. His lips were parted in an 'O' when he first saw Naruto, but turned down into a thin line at the exclamation.
"I was sleeping," he replied coolly. "Like a normal person. Why are you banging on my door at midnight?"
His eyes lowered a little and lingered on Naruto's belly, expression softening slightly, before he lifted them back up, expression hard again. Oh, so maybe he hadn't quite forgiven Naruto his outburst at the appointment, but it was what it was. There were more important things to do. To focus on. Squirt was in trouble.
"I was in bed, trying to sleep and- and Squirt! I don't know what's going on, but it was like a hard poke, and it was painful a little bit- well, not painful, but uncomfortable for a second- and it is happening maybe three times before I got here- I don't know what it is, and I didn't know where else to go!"
Sauske's eyes narrowed slightly, but he took no time to close the distance between them, resting his hand on Naruto's abdomen. The gentle touch didn't match the hardness in that gaze, and it maybe just caught Naruto a little off guard all of a sudden. He tensed slightly, but didn't pull back. Of course Sasuke would have to touch him to check on Squirt.
At Naruto's tensing, Sasuke tensed a little and glanced away. "I know you probably don't want me to touch you, but I need to. It's purely educational."
Naruto's eyes widened a tiny bit and he shook his head. "You can touch me whenever you want, you know that." He refuted quietly. "That's not- I mean- just because we're not- that's your baby in there."
Sasuke's gaze fell back towards Naruto's and his expression changed to something unreadable, and it made Naruto feel... "Ah! There it is again!"
Dark eyes widening a little, Sasuke stared at the belly a little longer before looking back up at Naruto. "You're so stupid," he said finally, but one side of his mouth was curved up a little as he moved his hand around a little. "He's kicking."
Naruto flushed a little and glanced down at his belly. "He's- already- isn't it too early for that? Or... wasn't he kicking before? I could feel his flutters, but man. That kid has some strong legs."
Sasuke chuckled a little, seeming to forget himself for a moment. His hand is still on Naruto's belly, just resting above the spot where Squirt had been kicking, and it's a gentle moment. It was like so many moments they'd had before Naruto had basically told Sasuke to screw off, but it wasn't like anything he'd ever thought he'd get to have again. He was so lucky.
But he couldn't give Sasuke any false hope. It wouldn't be fair. Because he had no intention of starting something serious with the older boy when he was pregnant. Maybe far, far into the future. But not at this point in time when their lives were still so uncertain.
"He's strong," Sasuke said in wonderment, and he lifted his gaze and for a moment their eyes met and it was intense. Naruto couldn't help the way his eyes flitted down to rest on Sasuke's plush, pink lips, before raising to meet his gaze again. Sasuke's brow lifted incrementally and he stepped a little closer. Naruto knew he should be stepping back. Things were getting heated again, just like they always did when the two of them were like this. But he couldn't move. It was like his stupid feet were stuck to the ground.
Tilting his own head down when Sasuke's free hand came up to cup his cheek, Naruto captured Sasuke's lips in a slow, lazy kiss. It was barely more than a brush of lips together, but it was enough to have him spiraling through layers of adoration and arousal. It wasn't something he could solely blame on the hormones, either. Sure they made him unbelievably horny, but even he ought to have had some kind of self control. He couldn't always let himself do whatever he wanted and to hell with the consequences. He was a parent now.
He was shocked back to reality when Sasuke's teeth grazed his bottom lip, leaving him gasping and arching forward. No. No, they couldn't-
"N-no," he murmured against those lips, taking a step back and reluctantly (and Sasuke would never know how reluctant it really was) breaking the kiss with a lift of his bandaged hand to his lips. "We shouldn't do that."
Sasuke's brows furrowed and his cheeks were flushed, and when Naruto glanced down (only for a second!) he could see where Sasuke's underwear was a little tented. Agh! He wanted to just- so bad- ugh.
"You're right," came the disgruntled reply. "We're not an item, right?"
Naruto swallowed hard but shook his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "No. But not for the reason you probably think..."
Sasuke raised a brow, tilting his head to the side a little. "Oh? It's not because you were just using me to ease your hormonal needs?"
Shock rippled through Naruto and he stared dumbly at Sasuke for a second before shaking his head furiously. "No! Of course not! It's not that I don't find you- or that I didn't like- I really did like- anyways, it's just because it's messy."
"Yes, Naruto. You fucking idiot. Sex is messy."
Naruto flushed and scowled a little. "I meant relationships. We're having a baby, and if we started something and then had a fight and Squirt was caught in the middle? I'd never forgive myself."
Sasuke stared at him blankly for a moment before sighing heavily. "You're so dumb."
Naruto grinned a little lopsided grin at that and shrugged. "But sometimes I make sense."
Sasuke shook his head again and took another step back, running his fingers through unruly dark hair. "You're right. Sometimes. For now. But when the world returns to normal, I'll have a good reasoning for you."
Naruto laughed softly and rested a hand on his belly. "I'll have to look forward to that."
Sasuke looked a little uncomfortable for a moment (and that was a constipated look on his face, like the one he always had when he was experiencing emotion and didn't know how to convey it), and sighed again. "Look, dead-last. I don't think you should be living in that dinky little apartment anymore."
Looking up in surprise, Naruto's hand froze where he'd been caressing his stomach in soothing motions to try to get Squirt to calm down. "I can't- I don't really have a lot of choices. Besides, I've been living there my whole life. I don't want to move."
Shaking his head, Sasuke gestured to Naruto's growing belly. "I think it's in the baby's- Squirt... and we're not calling him that once he's born- best interest. More space, somewhere you're not alone. So that when you have these panicking moments in the middle of the night someone can help you."
Naruto's brows furrowed and he tilted his head again. "So, you're saying I should be institutionalized? Live in the hospital?"
Looking utterly gobfounded, Sasuke stared at Naruto blankly. "Jeez, you really are dimwitted. Not the hospital, moron, the Uchiha compound."
Dawning moved through Naruto like lightning and he jerked up a little. "You want me to live... here?"
Sasuke sniffed the air and turned his head away a little. It was his patented look of trying not to look vulnerable. Naruto would recognize it anywhere. "Well, not if you find the idea horrifying," Sasuke muttered. "But you wouldn't have to come waddling from your place to mine."
Naruto was intrigued by the idea. It was a good one. And this way Squirt, after he was born, would have all the room to play and just... be an Uchiha. The only thing that might pose a problem was if Naruto found it too hard to keep his dick in his pants when he was around Sasuke. Which was a legitimate concern. "As... friends?" He asked a little trepidatiously.
Lips turning down, Sasuke nodded and refused to look at Naruto. "As friends," he agreed. Although his tone when he said the words was all distaste. "For now."
Naruto shook his head and threw both hands up in the air in frustration. Sasuke just wasn't letting him go. He was secretly glad. "For now."
Sasuke relaxed a little and stepped back a little away from the door. "Come in. It's too late and dangerous for someone in your... condition to go running around the streets."
"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, offended. "I'm the strongest ninja in the world! I can protect myself."
"I'm more worried about what will happen to my son," Sasuke said coolly, turning around and walking fully into the large house.
Naruto rolled his eyes, but followed behind him nonetheless. What a prick. Leave it to Sasuke to have him an uncomfortable mess of emotion. Ever since they'd been kids- well, more kids than they were now- Sasuke had known just what to say to leave him dumbfounded and confused. That wasn't changing any time soon.
They moved down the halls and into one of the big bedrooms in the house. There was just one large bed in the corner of the room and a dresser with, Naruto felt warm in his chest, a picture of Team Seven on it. It was the same picture Naruto found himself looking at when times were bad. He was glad that Sasuke hadn't gotten rid of it after all of this time. Good. Yeah. Not confusing at all. Okay. Really confusing.
A hand was waving in front of his face, and Naruto shook his head quickly to come to full awareness. "What?" He asked a tad impatiently, trying really hard not to look as embarrassed as he felt that he'd just been staring at items in what had to be Sasuke's bedroom. It felt like an intrusion to see something so personal. It was also immaculately clean. How Sasuke had managed to spend so much time in Naruto's mess of a tiny apartment was beyond him.
"I was trying to tell you that this is the only bedroom in the house right now that's liveable. I've been meaning to declutter and dust my-" Sasuke swallowed and looked away for a minute before seeming to come back to his stoic self. "My parent's and Itachi's rooms. But they'll be ready soon. You can have this room and I guess I'll sleep in the living room for tonight."
Brows furrowing, Naruto shook his head and reached out to grab Sasuke by the wrist. "I don't sleep well in unknown places." Was what he managed to say, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot. He knew he was giving Sasuke mixed signals and that it probably wasn't fair, but he didn't know what to do. He was just... he was so confused about what he wanted, himself.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Sasuke asked slowly, eyeing Naruto maybe a little trepidatiously. Like he didn't know what to expect.
"Stay with me. Please." Naruto said, his cheeks warm and not entirely looking at Sasuke. He hated being so vulnerable, but this was a step in the right direction, wasn't it? Sasuke wasn't yelling or cursing or... well, the worst one, running away. He was present.
"All right," Sasuke replied, his adam's apple bobbing a little as he swallowed hard and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "Force of habit," he replied at Naruto's raised brow.
Naruto shrugged slightly and moved into the room shrugging off his jacket. Not like it had done anything. The offensive orange of the jacket only proved to annoy Sasuke. It didn't even fit enough to zip beyond his hips. He felt so... so... fat. He deflated a little, shoulders slumping slightly and he kicked off his sandals and pants, sliding into the bed in just his boxers. The sheets were warm, like Sasuke had only recently gotten out of them (which was the truth) and Naruto inhaled deeply, calming a little at the scent of freshly drizzled rain. Sasuke's smell. He could sink into the bed and easily fall asleep, but he still had a question that had been nagging at him.
"Do you think I look fat?" He asked Sasuke.
Sasuke was just kicking off his slippers and shrugging off the shirt he'd pulled on when Naruto asked the question, and as he was meticulously folding the shirt and placing it on his dresser, back turned to Naruto, he didn't even pause to think over his answer. "No. I think you look fine."
A frown tugged Naruto's lips downwards a little. "So you don't think I'm ugly like this? Some fat, pregnant, ugly guy?"
He didn't even know why it mattered so much, but he wanted to hear that Sasuke didn't find him hideous in this form. It really was important to him.
Turning around quickly, there was a spark of something in Sasuke's disapproving gaze. "Don't ever say that again."
Naruto was a little taken aback. He hadn't expected Sasuke to get so defensive. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like I was feeling sorry for myself. It's just... people stare."
"You're a guy. A guy who is pregnant. Of course they're all going to stare," Sasuke said exasperatedly.
"I wish they wouldn't," Naruto said jutting his bottom lip out in something of a pout.
Soft footsteps sounded in the room as Sasuke stepped next to where Naruto was sitting in the bed. He reached down and touched Naruto's belly lightly. Almost reverently.
"You're pregnant and swollen with a child. My child. My ison/i. I think you look like the best thing I've ever seen."
Naruto flushed darker and reached down to tangle his fingers with Sasuke's, tugging him down a little. "Come to bed. I'm tired."
Sasuke nodded and averted his gaze, but not before Naruto saw how vulnerable he looked in that moment. Like he was being utterly and completely honest with him. Like he did find him attractive still, even with his gut swollen with their son.
"Sure," Sasuke said a little stiffly, disconnecting their hands and turning off the light before pulling back the covers and sliding next to Naruto in the bed.
They both lay there for a few moments in utter silence. Naruto on his side since being on his back made everything ache, and Sasuke on his back not moving other than the soft rise and fall of his chest. They weren't touching at all. Not a single part of them.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly, testing the waters to see if his friend was still awake.
"What do you want now, moron?" Came the edgey reply.
Naruto frowned a little. "You're too stiff. I- you can hold me. You know. If you want."
Sasuke froze and even his chest wasn't moving for a moment until he let out a deep sigh and turned his head to look at Naruto. "As friends?"
Naruto nodded and licked his lips a little nervously. "Always."
It was Sasuke's turn to nod and he rolled stiffly onto his side, one arm coming around Naruto to rest on his belly. The feeling of that arm hand (and it was almost too warm. Or was that just his body's reaction to being so close to Sasuke?) made him relax and he was able to close his eyes.
"Thanks, 'suke," he mumbled as he began to drift off.
"Always, scaredycat. Always." came the soft reply against the back of his head, breath brushing his hair aside.
Naruto knew they'd have to have a more comprehensive discussion in the morning about where they stood. It wasn't fair for him to lead Sasuke on like this, he honestly wasn't meaning to, but he kept making so many mistakes. All because of complicated feelings. But no matter what happened, they were still the most important person to each other, right?
Well- not anymore. Naruto lifted his hand sleepily to cover the one Sasuke had on his belly. Squirt would take that place right away. If he hadn't already.
That was just one more thing to think about in the morning. For now, though, Naruto let sleep envelope him in its dark warmth and he let out one last breathy sigh of contentment before consciousness left him.
