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Warnings: Contains adult language, themes, and suggestions. It is not suitable for anyone below the age of 16 per FFN guidelines.
July 16th, the tenth week
"Try it." Sasuke stood in front of the open gate with his arms crossed, face stony. He had been ignoring Naruto for a few days after what he thought was a fat joke. Naruto had at first tried to appease the Uchiha in any way possible, used clones to unpack, attempted to seduce him. Nothing worked. Sasuke continued to ignore him, giving him single worded answers and shrugging the blonde off. Sighing, Naruto dejectedly went up to the seal on the gate and placed his hand on it. The seal was warm and it felt like it fluttered under his touch. Sasuke watched as the barrier fell and walked through the gate.
Naruto watched Sasuke walk out and followed him, closing gates and resealing the compound, feeling Sasuke's bad mood starting to affect him. Jogging to catch up with the dark haired male, Naruto stopped and quickly got in step with Sasuke's pace. Slipping his hands in his pockets, Naruto watched the world as they walked past it. The streets were fairly empty, most of the villagers eating dinner and no one gave Sasuke and Naruto a second glance.
They walked in silence; Sasuke pointedly ignoring the blonde and Naruto trying to ignore the fact Sasuke was ignoring him. It took a few minutes but they finally reached Ichiraku's and stepped inside. Sakura was there along with Yamato, Iruka and Kakashi, much to Naruto and Sasuke's surprise. The blonde lit up like a firecracker and ran over to the old teacher.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto hugged said male and laughed as Iruka hugged the blonde back.
"Naruto, Sasuke, it's good to see you." Iruka laughed as Naruto pulled away and moved to sit back down. Sasuke had taken a seat with one in between him and Sakura, forcing Naruto to sit between Sasuke and the rest of their friends.
Sakura seemed to sense his foul mood and looked over curiously. "You okay, Sasuke?" She asked. Sasuke didn't even glance at her, just set his elbows down on the counter.
"Fine." Sasuke muttered quietly. Naruto's smile dampened and he looked down at the counter. Everyone noticed this and quieted.
"You two get into a fight?" Yamato asked. He leaned over the counter to look at the two. Yamato hadn't really spent much time with Sasuke since he came back but he knew enough to tell when Sasuke was just being himself and when the Uchiha was pissed. He wouldn't be Anbu if he couldn't figure that much out after the few times he'd seen Sasuke interact with people.
"I'm sure it's nothing that can't be fixed with some makeup sex." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. Iruka hit him on the shoulder with a whisper of his name. Naruto grinned squeamishly and glanced over at the white haired male. His expression said it that this was something that could not be settled with sex and silence settled into the group once more. Teuchi came over and took their orders, leaving them quickly to cook the ramen. Finally, Iruka grew tired of the silence and leaned over the counter to look at Naruto as he asked his question.
"So how do you two like the house, compared to the apartment?" Iruka smiled gently. Enjoying the start of the new conversation, Naruto grinned happily.
"It's great, we've got a ton of space and a really big bed, no neighbors to call a landlord on us for being too noisy." Naruto started to ramble, he would have continued if he hadn't seen Sasuke shift from the corner of his eye. "But we don't have a lot of stuff so the place feels kind of empty."
"Well I'm sure you'll figure out a way to make it feel more like home." Iruka smiled gently. Sasuke shifted again, readjusting his arms and Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, I don't think it'll be too hard, Iruka-sensei." Naruto smiled back. Before more conversation could be started, Teuchi came over with several bowls of steaming ramen. Everyone but Sasuke lit up in delight. Sasuke on the other hand stiffened when the ramen cook placed a bowl of steaming ramen in front of him. Naruto noticed this but before he could say anything the Uchiha was bolting out of the restaurant.
"Sasuke? Where are you going?" Sakura asked. She had seen the Uchiha leave in a rush. Standing up, Naruto turned to his friends.
"I'm going to go see what's wrong, see if I can get him to talk to me." Naruto pulled out money and set it on the counter. "We'll see you guys later." Sakura looked like she wanted to come with him but Kakashi grabbed her elbow as the blonde turned and chased after the Uchiha.
"It probably has something to do with their fight earlier, let them handle it." Kakashi soothed the pink haired ninja. Iruka sadly looked down at his bowl of ramen as Kakashi's other hand found Iruka's and grasped it tightly. "They'll be fine." Sakura dejectedly turned around in her seat and picked up her chopsticks, hoping that her friends were okay. Yamato stayed silent, he trusted Kakashi's senses and didn't even know everyone else well enough to know how to handle the situation. He had only gotten to know most of them, save Kakashi and Sasuke, when Tsunade asked him to help train Naruto. Kakashi he had known for years when said white haired male trained him and Sasuke when he was brought back to Konoha.
Naruto followed Sasuke down the street and into an alleyway. Once Sasuke reached a trashcan, he gripped the edges of it and stuck his head over it. At first the blonde didn't know what the Uchiha was doing but once he heard the retching sound, he realized what had happened. Slowly coming up behind the Uchiha, Naruto patted Sasuke's back and tucked strands of hair behind his ears. Sasuke continued to puke with no acknowledgment of the blonde's presence.
"I'm sorry Sasuke," Naruto whispered. "If I had known the smell of ramen would make you sick I wouldn't have asked you to go." Naruto sighed and watched Sasuke continue to empty his stomach contents into the trashcan.
"Shut up, Dobe." Sasuke croaked. He stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glared at the blonde. Brushing past the blonde, Sasuke walked back into the street with Naruto trailing after him. They had just been playing around and suddenly Sasuke had backed off, gotten mad and it couldn't just be because he was going to gain weight and Naruto had made a fat joke. How could Sasuke stay this mad for so long? It'd been a week!
"Sasuke," Naruto called out softly. He reached out to slip his hand into Sasuke's but Sasuke shook his hand and picked up his pace. Ignoring the blonde all over again. "Sasuke." The blonde tried again, he stressed his boyfriends name with a hushed seriousness.
Again, Sasuke ignored the blonde, heading straight for the Uchiha compound. People watched as they passed by, some chuckling at the scene others watching in fascination. Those that knew the relationship between the two could only imagine what Naruto had done to make the Uchiha mad. Growing annoyed, Naruto followed Sasuke back to the compound, watched the Uchiha unseal the compound, open the gate and walk through it. He didn't attempt to reseal the compound, just left it open for Naruto to close it.
Anger rose up in Naruto's stomach and he stomped his way inside the compound, resealed it and stood in front of the gate. Clenching his fists tightly, Naruto inhaled deeply and tried to calm himself down. Naruto didn't want to get angry; the other male was pregnant and going through a lot of hormonal changes. It wasn't the Uchiha's fault. He knew that if he let himself continue to be angry Kyuubi's chakra would leak and he'd get violent. That was something he didn't want to happen. Taking a deep breath, he set his head against the gate door and closed his eyes. Sasuke was still walking away and Naruto tried to calm down.
"It's the hormones, he's mad because of the hormones." Naruto whispered to himself. "He'll feel better in a while and he won't be mad at me anymore. The mood swing will pass and we can talk it out just like the books say." Naruto took another deep breath and opened his eyes. He turned around, slipped his hands into his pockets and started walking towards the house he and Sasuke had taken residence in. The anger was still there but it was dulled, stifled down by reason. As soon as he got to the house he could see Sasuke pulling out a tarp, a few bottles of ink and a brush from the entranceway.
"You doing okay?" Naruto asked. Again Sasuke ignored the blonde; he grabbed the ink and brush along with the tarp. With his hands full, he attempted to scoop up some scrolls but nearly dropped everything in his arms. "Here, let me get that." Naruto went over to the Uchiha and picked the scrolls, straightening up alongside his lover. Sasuke's expression was stony, unhappy. Naruto gave a soft smile and held them up. "Where do you want these?" He asked. Sasuke motioned to his hands.
"Give them to me." Sasuke muttered. He didn't say anything else so Naruto carefully set them down on top of the pile in the Uchiha's arm. Once the scrolls were securely in his arms, Sasuke turned away and stalked towards the living room.
"Your welcome!" Naruto called out after him. Sighing, he looked around the entrance way and bent down, picking up the opened boxes and moved them to a space where he could sort through it and dispense it's contents to their places in the house.
All the while, Sasuke unfolded the tarp out in the living room. He had pushed all the furniture and leftover boxes into the far corners of the room, all pushed against the walls. Naruto watched as he moved around the house, the items in the entry hallway slowly disappearing. Sasuke straightened the tarp out and picked up the scrolls, laying them out in front of the tarp. The tarp was already half covered in two half circles drawn in black ink. Naruto watched as Sasuke placed the ink next to the scrolls in an orderly fashion and opened one up. He dipped the brush in the ink and started to carefully paint on the tarp from where he had left off. Naruto finished what he was doing and quietly stepped behind Sasuke, watching him work from above. Sasuke kept working for about a minute before he dipped the brush back in the ink and left it there. He sat up and turned to Naruto, finally acknowledging him.
"Go away, I can't concentrate with you looking over my shoulder." Sasuke snapped. Naruto's interested expression turned sour very quickly. The blonde sadly looked away and sighed.
"Sorry, Sasuke, I was just curious." Naruto sadly muttered. He turned away and stepped off the tarp. "I'll leave you alone for a while." Sasuke didn't say anything, just continued to glare at the blonde as he walked away. When Naruto was out of sight, Sasuke turned back to the tarp and pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into the entranceway. A grim frown settled on his facial features and he picked back up the brush, continuing on perfecting the half painted circles.
Naruto tried to stay out of the living room for the rest of the night. He paced around the bedroom, tried to get a nap but was too fidgety, too agitated. By the time Naruto's stomach was rumbling, in need of food, it was almost ten at night. Not being able to handle the constant grumbling of his empty stomach anymore, Naruto ventured out of the bedroom, cautiously walking down the hall and peeking into the living room. Sasuke was working away, his shirt gone and the black seal prominent on the skin of his collarbone. He didn't look up from his work, just continued to paint squiggly lines with black ink on the tarp. Carefully, Naruto walked around the Uchiha and into the kitchen, Sasuke didn't even bother looking up.
As soon as the blonde was in the kitchen he looked for something to eat. Ramen was out of the question, the smell would probably make Sasuke sick again and he didn't want an even more pissed off Uchiha to deal with. Opening the refrigerator door, Naruto peered inside and spotted a loaf of bread, cheese and three ripe tomatoes. Immediately an idea popped into the blondes' head and he pulled all three ingredients out of the fridge. After retrieving a knife and two plates, Naruto started to make two tomato and cheese sandwiches.
The silence was unnerving, there was no comfort in it. Once he finished, he turned on the faucet and cleaned the knife. He dried it and set it back in its wooden block, replaced what tomato and cheese was left in the fridge. Picking up the plates with sandwiches on them, Naruto carried them into the living room. Sasuke was still working away at the seals, a grim look set on his face. Naruto sat down on the couch and set one of the plates down on the other side of the couch, the other in his lap.
"I made a sandwich for you Sasuke, tomato and cheese." Naruto called off softly. Sasuke didn't look up, didn't even react to what the blonde had said. Picking up his own sandwich, Naruto took a bite and leaned forward, resting his elbow on his leg as he rested his head in his hand. He watched Sasuke work, muscles in his back moving with every brushstroke, hand smoothly painting symbols onto the tarp in black ink. Sasuke was on his hands and knees, no shirt and Naruto watched the Uchiha's stomach, looking for any hint of a bulge under taught, pale skin.
"I'll get it later." Sasuke muttered. He leaned forward and dipped his pen into a container of ink before carefully returning to painting on the seal. Naruto's expression went from hopeful to a dejected look quickly, not that Sasuke saw.
"Okay." Naruto continued to eat his sandwich at a slow pace, hoping Sasuke would take a break before he finished his food but no such luck. The Uchiha was still working when Naruto had finished and just sat there for a few minutes. With his shoulders sagging, Naruto stood up and picked up both plates. "I'm going to leave your sandwich in the fridge for when you're finished." Naruto called softly. Sasuke continued to ignore him and so the blonde went into the kitchen, placed the sandwich in the fridge as he said he would and cleaned his plate in the sink before leaving it in there, not wanting to create any more noise that would further annoy his hormonal lover.
Once he finished, he walked back into the living room, giving Sasuke one last look and sighed softly. "I'm gonna get ready for bed, should I wait up for you?" He asked. Naruto knew what Sasuke was going to say but couldn't help but hope he was wrong.
"No, I'll come in a while." Sasuke muttered. Naruto looked down sadly and turned away. To busy wallowing in his own pity, Naruto didn't hear Sasuke set the brush in the ink and looked up. Instead of an angry or focused look, Sasuke watched the blonde disappear with a sad expression. With a deep sigh, Sasuke returned to his work, the blonde already in the bedroom and too far away to hear the sigh. Naruto changed into boxers and didn't bother wearing a shirt. He slipped under the covers, got comfortable and then waited for Sasuke to come in. Minutes passed, then an hour. The blonde was starting to grow tired, his eyes drooping and body becoming extremely relaxed.
Suddenly, the sound of someone walking into the bedroom stirred the blonde from his doze. Blinking away the sleep, Naruto watched as Sasuke pulled out a pair of boxers and quickly changed into them. Naruto watched tiredly and pulled down the cover for Sasuke to get in but instead Sasuke grabbed a pillow and turned to walk out of the room. The blonde watched for about half a second, figuring out what Sasuke was doing. Before Sasuke could reach the door Naruto was up and out of the bed, wrapping his arms around his lover, resting his forehead against the back of Sasuke's head.
"Whatever I did to make you this mad, I'm sorry." Naruto whispered. Sasuke didn't pull away from him and Naruto took this as a good sign. "Please don't be angry at me anymore." Sasuke didn't say anything for a moment and Naruto could feel the warmth emanating from Sasuke's back, the pulse of his heart under his hands.
"I'm not angry at you." The Uchiha finally replied cautiously.
"But why won't you talk to me or look at me? Why don't you want to sleep in the same bed as me?" Naruto asked. A small, sad smile made its way to the blonde's expression. He was finally getting Sasuke to talk to him.
"Because," Sasuke answered as he pulled Naruto off of him and turned around, throwing his pillow at Naruto's chest. "I don't feel like having sex! That's why!" Sasuke angrily cried out. The blonde watched in surprise as the Uchiha yelled at him, his smile fading quickly.
"I don't want you to jump me and coerce me into doing it. I've thrown up twice today, I have a headache and my back is sore from leaning over and painting that fucking seal." Sasuke looked away from the blonde, glaring at the floor as he continued.
"A lot of what we do leads to sex, Dobe and I didn't want to let you tease me and then not want to go all the way. You would get mad and then we'd both be frustrated." Sasuke trailed off from his suddenly rambling explanation. Shaking his head in irritation, the Uchiha turned away and started to walk out of the room. "I don't want to talk about this, I'm going to go sleep on the couch." Sasuke lamely finished. Naruto smiled softly and pulled Sasuke by the hand back into the bedroom.
"Dobe, stop. Let me go!" Sasuke growled. Naruto didn't listen and pulled the Uchiha over to the bed, turned around and took the Uchiha's hips before carefully pushing him down onto the bed. Sasuke attempted halfheartedly to get up but Naruto kneeled over him, gently smiling at his pregnant lover.
"We don't have to have sex." Naruto leaned down and planted a kiss on the Uchiha's forehead. He felt Sasuke flinch but he didn't have any resentment for Sasuke doing it. "If you didn't want to have sex all you had to do was tell me." Sasuke turned his head when Naruto pulled away from kissing his forehead, not wanting to look at the blonde. "If you ever feel like not having sex, no matter what the problem is, when it is, just tell me and I'll back off. I know you've been feeling terrible the past few weeks and I know I can come on a little strong." Sasuke snorted.
"A little?" The Uchiha asked with raised eyebrows. Naruto smiled and gently rubbed Sasuke's shoulders comfortingly.
"Yeah, a little." Naruto iterated with a chuckle. He was grinning at Sasuke's comment. "But seriously, if you say stop, I'll stop and it's not like you couldn't kick my ass if I even dared try to force you." Naruto watched as Sasuke looked back up at him, eyes staring intently.
"And I won't be mad when you say no, Teme. I get it and it's okay," Naruto paused and sat up on his knees. He curled his fingers into a 'C' and jerked it in front of his crotch. "My hand could use a little practice anyway." Naruto chuckled and looked for anything in Sasuke's expression that would tell him what the Uchiha was thinking. Sasuke's expression was seemingly blank but the tiniest downward slope of his eyebrows and the lightning fast quirk in Sasuke's lips gave away his brightening mood.
"You done?" Sasuke asked. Naruto grinned wider and leaned down, kissing Sasuke on the cheek.
"You going to sleep in bed with me instead of on the couch?" Naruto asked. Sasuke continued to look up at the blonde with a blank expression and Naruto grew worried that for a moment the Uchiha was still going to be mad at him.
"If that keeps me from having to kicking your ass, I guess I'll have too." Sasuke said with a fake, bored look. Naruto, on the other hand, full out smiled and kissed the Uchiha on the lips softly. He rolled off the male below him and got back under the covers, watching as the Uchiha got up and picked up his pillow before getting back on the bed. Sasuke turned his back to the blonde and adjusted until he was comfortable. Naruto saw this and scooted closer, wrapping his arm around the Uchiha's waist. The Uchiha turned his head around and placed his hand on Naruto's, giving him a questioning look.
"You've been ignoring me almost a whole week, Sasuke, I just want to hold you because I missed you." Naruto muttered with a smile. "I don't like fighting with you." Sasuke turned around and shifted again, letting Naruto hold him.
"I ignored you for a few days, Usuratonkachi, it's not like I was leaving you." Sasuke closed his eyes and let Naruto's warmth woo him into sleep.
"Yeah well, it felt like you were." Naruto mumbled into Sasuke's hair.
"Drama queen." Sasuke responded slowly.
"Asshole." Naruto replied quietly. Sasuke didn't respond, already halfway to dreamland.
July 18th, still the tenth week
"Naruto, where are my pants?" Sasuke called out. Naruto, who was in the bathroom, poked his head out and blinked owlishly.
"There's a whole drawer full of them open, right in front of you." Naruto looked down at the drawer and then back at Sasuke who was holding a pair of pants in his hands. Both Naruto and Sasuke had slept in the guest bedroom for all of two days before finally deciding that it was just too annoying to walk down the hallway to go to the bathroom. Instead, they had moved all of their things, reluctantly on Sasuke's part, into the master bedroom of the house where a bathroom was connected to it.
"All these are starting to feel constricting, Dobe, where are the ones with the elastic bands?" Sasuke tossed the pants back into the drawer with an angry sigh.
"I think those are in the bottom drawer, I put those there 'cause you didn't need 'em when I unpacked them." Naruto watched Sasuke shut the drawer and move to a lower one. Disappearing back into the bathroom, Naruto listened to the Uchiha rummage through the bottom drawer. When the blonde heard the drawer close, he peered back into the bedroom with his toothbrush in his mouth. Naruto saw Sasuke start to pull on the pants and grinned. He could see the slight, almost unnoticeable bulge in Sasuke's stomach that made him uncomfortable in tighter pants.
"What?" Sasuke asked. He looked up and saw Naruto staring. Naruto smiled and shook his head, disappearing into the bathroom again. Sasuke rolled his eyes, knowing that Naruto was excited to finally see the baby bump.
"Nuffin." Naruto mumbled as he continued to brush his teeth. He tired to hide his smile but when Sasuke leaned against the doorway of the bathroom, Naruto looked over and grinned.
"Do you want to feel it again?" The Uchiha asked. Naruto shook his head and spit out the foam from the toothpaste. "Then stop looking at it." Sasuke walked out the bathroom and went to find a shirt.
"I wasn't!" The blonde denied. He cleaned his toothbrush under the stream of water and replaced it, turning off the faucet. "I'm just making sure you'll come back in one piece. You won't let me go see you in the third part of the exam."
Sasuke picked out a short-sleeved shirt and pulled it on. "Kyoko will be there and won't be able to leave. Her seal will break and all hell will break loose, you can't go." The Uchiha scratched the back of his head and walked out of the bedroom. Naruto heard him leave and quickly finished up, following his lover with only his boxers on. He found Sasuke folding up the tarp with the seals on it and grabbed the closest side of it, helping the Uchiha out.
"Yeah I know, but if someone hurts you I won't be able to kick their ass." Naruto grinned when Sasuke rolled his eyes. "So are you going to bring her here after the exam?" Naruto asked. Sasuke handed the tarp to Naruto and leaned down to pick up the bottom to fold it again.
"Mhm, it's not something we can put off any longer than we already have." Sasuke took the folded tarp from Naruto and walked over to the entranceway. "If anything goes wrong, I'm going to put you and her to sleep. We can't risk anything happening."
"Got it." When Sasuke returned to the living room, Naruto held his arms open, a grin on his face. The Uchiha walked right into the blonde's arms and slipped his own hands around the other's hips. He turned his head to the bed and stared at the picture frame on the dresser, Naruto rubbed his back soothingly and glanced over to the photo. It had been in the photo album Naruto and Sakura had found, after gathering his courage, Sasuke dared to flip through it and had nearly burst into tears when he had seen that photo.
"He'd be proud of you," Naruto whispered soothingly. The picture was of Sasuke and Itachi when they were younger, sitting in their garden, Sasuke sitting in Itachi's lap as his older brother held his hands. Both of them were smiling without a care in the world, it was the only picture where Itachi looked completely happy. "He loved you." Sasuke was silent for a few moments, just staring at that photo, wondering what his brother would think if he knew that Sasuke was carrying Naruto's child.
"I wish you could come." Sasuke muttered as he pushed the thoughts of his brother away. Naruto pat his back comfortingly and kissed the top of Sasuke's head.
"You'll just have to tell me everything when you get back with your chuunin vest." Naruto patted Sasuke's back and gave his pregnant lover a smile. Sasuke rolled his eyes and smirked.
"And for that," Sasuke turned in the direction of the kitchen, smirking at the blonde who was staring up at him with wide eyes in fear. Sasuke could imagine the brief moment of trepidation when he had hesitated in his sentence, the blonde probably thinking he had done something wrong, again. "I'm going to make you some ramen." The look of terror from Naruto's expression fled the second Sasuke mentioned ramen.
"Did I mention you're the best boyfriend ever?" Naruto grinned and headed back to the bedroom. "I'm gonna go finish getting dressed." Sasuke shook his head and smiled, he got into the kitchen and pulled out a pot and poured some water in it. Setting the pot on the stove, he turned said stove on before picking a stray package of instant ramen from the counter. Sasuke read the label, decided beef was good enough and opened it. Now all he had to was wait for the water to boil.
All was quiet in the house, Naruto getting dressed and he was in the kitchen. Somehow, it felt really right to Sasuke. Bringing his hand up to his stomach, Sasuke looked down and felt the small bump that was barely protruding out from his figure. Smiling down at his stomach, Sasuke ran his fingers over the expansion of his stomach. He heard the water start to bubble and in reaction to it he grabbed the container of ramen and ripped it open. Pouring the noodles into the bubbling water, Sasuke reached for a timer and set it for three minutes and he returned to feeling his stomach, standing over the cooking noodles.
The timer went off after three minutes and Sasuke grabbed the sauce packet and opened it. Dry contents slipped into the boiling water and Sasuke stirred them together. The smell of ramen cooking made it's way to Sasuke's nose and suddenly his stomach flipped. Turning off the stove, Sasuke made a quick getaway from the smell but his stomach was already revolting. He dashed into the hallway, pushed past Naruto and found the hallway bathroom quickly.
"It happened again?" Naruto asked. The only answer the blonde received was Sasuke retching into the toilet bowl. He could hear Naruto come into the bathroom, feel his the blonde's fingers running through his hair.
"I'll be fine, go get your ramen." Sasuke shooed the other man away. "Make me some toast while you're in there." Naruto gave a small smile, kissed the side of Sasuke's forehead and left the bathroom. Sasuke coughed and felt his stomach seize up again. The puking was getting easier to handle but he still wished he could just be done with it. Once he finished, he flushed the toilet and washed his hands and mouth. The smell of ramen wafted through the hallway as Sasuke made his way back to the kitchen and he grimaced as his stomach fluttered again. In the kitchen, Naruto was buttering some bread, half of the ramen already gone from the pot.
"Dobe, you should have gotten a bowl." Sasuke told the blonde as he moved to pick up the pot. Naruto glanced over and smiled.
"It's one less thing to wash, Teme." Naruto picked up the plate of toast, placed several pills next to the toast and held it out for Sasuke to take. "Here, leave that be, I'll get it." Sasuke rolled his eyes and took the plate of toast and pills instead of the pot. Naruto took the pot and followed Sasuke to the table, they both sat down and Sasuke grimaced. He could smell the ramen and his stomach slid sideways. The blonde noticed this and quickly started to down the ramen.
"Stop that, Dobe, you're going to choke." Sasuke picked up his toast and took a bite out of it.
"It's making you sick, I'm trying to finish it so you won't have to smell it anymore." Naruto said after he swallowed about half of the noodles.
"Usuratonkachi, you're being stupid." Sasuke gave the blonde an annoyed look and watched as Naruto wolfed down the rest in seconds.
"Too late, it's gone." Naruto beamed and stood up, taking the pot with him. "And I'm not being stupid." Sasuke took another bite out of his toast and raised an eyebrow at the blonde.
"You're right, you're being ridiculous." Sasuke watched the blonde set the pot in the sink and turned around, smirking.
"You are such an asshole." Naruto turned back around and turned on the water to clean the pot. Sasuke smirked and finished his toast. Taking the pills into his hand, he tossed them into his mouth and swallowed them dry. Getting up, he took his plate and tried to nudge Naruto aside. "No, I got it. You go get ready or you're going to be late." The blonde looked over and watched Sasuke walk out of the kitchen, a smile on his face. Naruto finished washing the dishes and set them aside. He walked back into the living room to see Sasuke adjusting his pouch.
"Ok now, no killing, I know you're way stronger than any of them there but killing isn't nice." Naruto saw Sasuke's eyes roll. "And don't get hurt, no matter how easy you go on them." Naruto smiled and followed Sasuke to the front door.
"Got it." Sasuke leaned down to pull on is shoes. When he got up, Naruto pulled him into a deep kiss. Both of their eyes closed and Naruto pulled the Uchiha closer. When they broke apart Sasuke stepped out, his face slightly flushed.
"You're going to have to open the barrier later in the afternoon so we can get in without any trouble." Sasuke watched Naruto leaned against the doorframe and nod.
"Right. Bye, Teme!" Naruto waved as Sasuke turned away. Within minutes Sasuke was at the gate of the compound. He opened the gate and glanced at the bustling street before undoing the barrier. Everyone was heading for the arena where the third exam would take place. A lot of people looked over to him, knowing exactly who he was and that he would soon be participating in the main event of the day. Sasuke shut the doors and put the barrier back up, quickly slipping into the crowd. He walked leisurely, enjoying the sounds of a busy street and the good weather the summer was bringing.
Another reason why he was taking his time was because he wanted to prepare for what would happen today. Everything was in its last stages, the chuunin exams and Kyoko's seal. After it was over he and Naruto could go back to just hiding the fact that he was pregnant. If everything went according to the plan he had, it would be easy, way too easy. The likelihood of that happening seemed slim to none but Sasuke could always hope.
As he got closer to the arena, Sasuke parted from the crowds, moving to a side entrance that all the genin participating in the exam would meet. The sounds of the busy street quieted, a lone voice calling out his name in the distance. Turning around, it didn't take Sasuke long to see Sakura in the distance, waving as she walked closer with Shikamaru and Sai following close behind. Stopping in his tracks, Sasuke waited for them to catch up. Shikamaru looked bored while Sakura was practically beaming. He didn't bother looking at Sai, as far as he was concerned the male didn't exist.
"Big day today, huh?" Sakura sighed and stretched her arms out before letting them slap against her sides. "So where's Naruto? He's not going to miss the big day is he?" Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.
"That would be a shame." Sai commented lightly. His voice irritated Sasuke and he narrowed his eyes, refusing to look at Sai.
"I thought I'd let him sleep in today, he'll be here later." Sasuke glanced over at Shikamaru only to find the jonin staring at him, emotionless. His first unconscious thought was to look away but he fought it, staring right back at the other male.
"He better be, I'm saving a seat for him." Sakura rocked on her feet and looked from Sasuke to Shikamaru. By then, Sasuke had realized his mistake and broke eye contact with the other male, looking over to Sakura with a forced calm.
"I'm sure he'll appreciate that." Sasuke nodded to her and then glanced at Shikamaru. "I have to go." Sasuke quickly looked away from the other male and made his getaway. With the extended eye contact, Sasuke had practically explained to the genius that Naruto was not coming and he was lying about it. There was nothing he could do now; he could only hope that Shikamaru would not act on the information. He was being overly paranoid, maybe the lazy ninja would think it was jitters or lack of sleep or something, nothing had to be wrong necessarily with extended eye contact.
"Good luck, Sasuke!" Sakura called out. He waved back at them without looking back. A jonin stood at the entrance Sasuke needed to enter, he gave Sasuke a glance over before standing aside. Sasuke walked past him, to busy thinking to himself that he shouldn't be focused on Shikamaru, there wasn't much the other man could do. Even if Shikamaru went to the compound it would be locked, Naruto knew to take the barrier down later.
The hallway led to a flight of stairs and Sasuke had no choice but to climb them, he shook thoughts of Shikamaru, the tournament was more important. At the top of the stairs, Sasuke saw the light of day at the end of another tunnel. He walked towards it and found himself outside again, in the middle of the arena. A proctor stood to the side, motioning for him to climb another set of stairs that would lead to the waiting area he and the rest of the contestants would watch opponents battle on the field.
The stands only seemed half full, people talking to each other to give the stadium a low thrum of sound around it. Sasuke made it to the top of the stairs and the first thing he saw was nine people looking back at him, Kyoko standing by the rail. Kyoko was the first to turn away from Sasuke, looking back out at the stadium with a half scared look. Sasuke glared down the rest of the kids easily and made his way over to the red head. Her red hair was braided with the spiked strap in it like always; with her green shirt and brown khaki's, Kyoko was barefoot.
Sasuke stood right next to the younger, shorter girl. He leaned against the rail so he was looking out at the stadium from her height and waited for Kyoko to speak first. "You never came and got me." Kyoko muttered quietly. The waiting area was decently sized but neither of them wanted their conversation to be listened in on.
"I wasn't able to finish it until last night, we'll go to the compound as soon as this is over." Sasuke responded. He looked over the growing crowds instead of at her.
"Naruto will be there won't he? Isn't that risky?" She asked quietly. Sasuke straightened up and rested his hands on the railing, feeling a few stares come to rest on him. All of the genin were jumpy and the tournament hadn't even started yet.
"I'll do what I did during the second exam, it won't be a problem." Sasuke muttered. Movement caught his eye and he glanced over at the stairs. The last team of genin had arrived and it seemed not a moment too soon. The stadium was quickly filling; the dull roar of chatter had risen tremendously over the past few minutes. He turned back to the arena, glancing over at the redhead. She was staring at the last genin to arrive and Sasuke could feel the nervousness coming off her in waves. Sasuke saw Kyoko raise her hand to her braid and he looked away.
"Stop that." Sasuke muttered quickly. The latest arrivals walked past them and took up residence in the corner of the waiting area; they gave everyone a glance over and then turned to each other.
"Stop what?" Kyoko nervously whispered. Her hand had already trailed down her braid and she reached up to run her hand through it again.
"Touching your hair, it's a tell that you're nervous." Sasuke turned back to the rail and watched as the redhead immediately put her hand down, eyes slightly wide in surprise.
"Sorry." Kyoko whispered and tried to act calmly. She leaned back over the railing and looked out at the crowds. "There sure are a lot of people here." She muttered louder.
"It's the Chuunin exams, everyone comes to see us." A genin from the mist snidely commented as he overheard her talking. Kyoko turned around at the other ninja, scared.
"Uh, I, I-" Kyoko stuttered. She stared at the ninja and then turned around suddenly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed quietly.
"They're going to try and get under your skin now, you gave away your nervousness and then confirmed it by doing nothing." Sasuke murmured quietly. Kyoko still held a shocked expression when she turned around again. The redhead's mouth bobbed open and closed like a fish as she stared out into the stadium. Sasuke glanced behind his back, glaring at the few who stared back.
He turned back to the stadium. By now the rows were full of people, the Hokage and several other Kages in their box far above the crowds. Below, Anko was walking towards the middle of the stadium followed by several proctors, some that Sasuke recognized. Still, Kyoko's hand twitched, Sasuke saw this and tried to not let it bother him. It was her first time in a situation like this, he was having a little bit of a mood swing but it was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.
"You'll be fine, you've gotten this far without anything happening." Sasuke watched as Anko waved her hand, recognizing the crowd and waiting for them to quiet down. He hoped that was all it would take to console the redhead.
"That's what I'm worried about." Kyoko whispered. Sasuke didn't have time to ask her what that meant because Anko was already starting to speak to the crowd and the other contestants were stepping forward to hear what she was going to say.