Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

The first thing Naruto was aware of was that his whole body felt completely numb. He couldn't move an inch. Slowly, his eyes opened. Where was he? He was actually surprised to find that he could move his head. Glancing around the room, he saw that he was at Tsunade's place. Why am I here? he wondered.

As if he had called on her, Tsunade made her way into the room, and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him awake. "Oh Naruto," she heaved, plopping herself down onto a stool nearby. She seemed exhausted. "Thank goodness you're awake. I was beginning to worry." Quickly, she grabbed his wrist and checked his pulse. Next, she took his temperature. It wasn't until she was satisfied with his condition that she spoke again, and Naruto found that he didn't mind waiting.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

He pulled his eyes away from her face and looked up to the ceiling. "Weird," he answered.

"I gave you something to keep you calm, so you wouldn't wake in a panic." She paused. "Do you remember what happened?"

He thought for a moment. "No."

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked.

With a small sigh, Naruto thought back -way back into his past, to a time where he and Sasuke had kissed on the roof of his apartment building in the light of the full moon. Time had passed, Sasuke had had a party for his 18th birthday. At the party… they had gotten drunk. Naruto had changed into his sexy jutsu form. All the memories he had from after that time came seeping back slowly, until Naruto's eyes were wide with fright. His baby… was the baby alright? He turned to Tsunade and was about to ask as much - until she spoke before him.

"Your baby is fine Naruto," she told him firmly. "I just wanted you to know that before we discussed anything further. I don't need a hysterical teen mother on my hands after what I've already been put through today."

"Tsunade…" Naruto whispered, still trying to get over the fact that his baby was alright. Oh thank god, his baby was alright! He couldn't help but feel every tense bone in his body relax, as if a great weight had been lifted. "What happened?" he asked then. "Did they find the guy who pushed me?" Even saying it aloud made him shake with anger. He could have lost his baby!

Tsunade's expression hardened; she was angry about it as well. "No," she replied flatly. "Sasuke and Sakura heard your fall, but they were too late to prevent it. You were very lucky, you know. Any other mother would have lost the baby instantly. I suppose the Kyuubi protected you…. You did get quite banged up though, and you've been unconscious for three days."

"Three days?!" he demanded disbelievingly.

Don't worry, kid, the fox demon said to him then. That's my fault. If you wanted to be completely healed, and keep your… baby, then it had to be at least three days. Apparently the fox was still not yet used to saying the word "baby," but still, it was Naruto's turn to sigh with relief.

"So… they didn't see him?" he asked. "Sasuke and Sakura didn't see the guy that pushed me? He was standing right there at the top of the steps when I fell."

"Obviously," Tsunade answered, eying him darkly. "But both Sasuke and Sakura claim that there was not a soul out there - other than you of course. We wouldn't have known there was an attacker at all had said person not left a little something behind." Reaching over, the woman snatched up pen and paper from atop a desk nearby.

"What did they leave behind?" he asked.

The woman ignored his question and continued to scribble on the paper. Finally, with the completed drawing in hand, she held it out for him to see. Hastily she had sketched what appeared to be a symbol of some sort. It was a large teardrop encircled by flame. "This was burned into the wall just at the top of the stairs," she informed him. Naruto's mouth was hanging slightly open as he stared at her and at the symbol in shock.

"Does anyone know what the symbol means?" he asked quietly. His voice was tight and caught in his throat.

Tsunade shook her head and lowered the paper. "No. But we are trying our best." She hesitated before speaking again. "You haven't heard the worst of it yet, I'm afraid. I'm sorry Naruto, but we had to bring it up to most of Konoha; everyone in the village at least knows of Ayako by now. Questions were asked, people were… frantic, and restless. Things got a little out of hand. In the end, your secret was revealed."

Naruto could feel the blood draining from his face, and his hands began to shake. It was a while before he could speak again. "Why… how did people take it?" He was surprised to hear himself choked with tears. What would they think of his baby? What would they think of him? How could things possibly get any worse?

Tsunade sighed. "Not well, at first," she answered.

" 'At first?' " he quoted.

"Eventually they came to a… sort of understanding. But it took a lot of persuasion on our part- our, meaning Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, and myself. When your friends found out -the girls and the boys- such as Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Rock Lee, and Choji Akimichi, they were all more than willing to back you up - after they got over the initial shock, of course. Others such as Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, and Shikamaru Nara were all on the neutral side. We meant for only those few to know of your little secret, but you know how the saying goes; a secret that more than three people knows is no longer a secret. Somehow it just spilled out.

"The elders weren't too happy to hear it, I can tell you that much, but those old men were all always so fond of sweet little Ayako-chan, that they thought of her and her baby first, and not of Naruto, you understand? The villagers are much the same. They see Ayako, not the Kyuubi-container."

Naruto glanced down at the white sheets of the bed he was laying in - when had he sat up? Things were going to be much more complicated than they had been before now that everyone knew his true identity. He wished… he wished….

He didn't know what he wished for anymore.

Ah. No, he knew; he wished Sasuke were here.

"Where's Sakura and Sasuke and the others?" he asked quietly.

Again, she hesitated to answer. "Your friends were all very eager to find the one responsible for this, Naruto. Copies have been made of that symbol; it's been posted all around Konoha. Most of your friends are out searching for the guy who did this, asking questions and the like in neighboring towns and villages. Some even insisted on going beyond that, claiming that the attempted-assassin could have gotten pretty far away in three days time."

Suddenly, something came over Tsunade. She must have been reading his mind. Looking him straight in the eye, she laid a comforting hand on one of his, and said very quietly, "You have so many friends here, Naruto, who love you and who are willing to put out the efforts to help you. Some of them - like Sasuke - just… don't know how to show it."

Despite himself, hot tears spilled down Naruto's cheeks. He looked away from Tsunade and swallowed hard until he could get his emotions under control. "Damn. I hate how easy it is to make me cry when I'm a woman like this." He was surprised at himself for even admitting such a thing.

Tsunade's hand squeezed his gently. "It get's easier," she assured him.

"…I hope so."

"Until the guy who tried to kill you has been found, you are going to be put under constant watch." Tsunade grimaced as she pulled open the door. "Sorry Naruto."

Naruto was more disappointed than shocked to see Kakashi enter the room. He sighed deeply. This meant he would have to be around this pervert all the time now. Well, at least it was better than someone like Jiraiya- AKA "PervySage."

Kakashi gave a warm smile when he saw Naruto, and held up a hand in a kind of salute. "Yo," he greeted.

"Is that always the way you say hello?" Naruto demanded, already annoyed.

"Not always," the silver haired man replied casually.

Tsunade shut the door behind the man and pulled up a chair for him. Kakashi took the seat gratefully. "I've been standing out there for about two days now," he complained to Naruto. "Did you really have to wait that long to wake up?" The Kyuubi boy crossed his arms and frowned at him, which only made Kakashi laugh seeing as Naruto was only a cute little girl in his eyes.

"We know you well enough by now to suspect that you were probably sleeping half the time you were out there anyway," Tsunade informed him playfully. She quickly passed around hot cups of tea.

Kakashi's eyes twinkled at her words but he didn't argue. Instead he said, "I won't be the only one watching over you Naruto. You also have Iruka of course, and Tsunade herself from time to time - she is Hokage, you know, she can't watch you everyday. Then there's also Guy." Kakashi sighed and looked annoyed at this. "Don't worry, I'll be watching him to make sure he's doing a good job of watching you. Anyway, oh yes, and surprisingly, even Hiashi Hyuga has decided to be one of your babysitters." The man smirked at Naruto's dubious look.

Kakashi continued on anyway. "Little Hinata went into an absolute rage when she found out you had almost lost your baby. Her father had never seen her like that before in her life, and this was the most she could get him to do for you. It was quite shocking really, the way she handled it. I've never seen her like that before either."

"You forget that his daughter's wishes is not the only reason why Hiashi is doing this," Tsunade interrupted. "He was quite impressed with Naruto's fight against Neji those some years ago, and he has a sort of respect for the boy." She sighed. "For sake of sanity on all our parts, let's just say it's a clan-thing. Something about respect and all that. Paying you back for… well, something to do with you beating a Hyuga. Something about bravery and chivalry and competitiveness or… I don't really know. Hiashi knows. If you're curious, next time he's around you can ask him yourself."

Naruto nodded. He was quite curious. He had never actually met Hiashi before, but he knew of him through Neji and Hinata, and some of the other villagers as well. He couldn't imagine why the man would volunteer to watch out for him, especially after Naruto had beaten the crap out of someone in the guy's own family. At least, that was how Naruto saw it anyway. Who knows. Maybe Hiashi just had a soft spot for girls. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. The man did have two daughters of his own, after all.

"You've worked Sasuke up into quite a frenzy you know," Kakashi informed him, smiling. "He didn't know whether he should stay here to protect you himself, or go out and kill that guy who'd pushed you. In the end he decided to leave your responsibility in our capable hands." He gave a laugh that sounded an awful lot like a giggle.

Naruto sighed and hung his head. Great, he thought not-so-enthusiastically.

"You know, Sasuke thinks he's on to something," Kakashi continued, his one visible eye sparkling. "He thinks he recognizes that symbol the guy left behind."

"But he's not sure," Tsunade interrupted. "So it's best not to get our hopes up. That way, if we fail, it doesn't feel so much like failure."

And that was the end of that conversation.

Mostly after that, the three sat around drinking their tea, enjoying the peace and quiet for however so long it would last. Naruto couldn't help but feel content at having these two around, even if one was an old hag and the other a perv. They were still both what you could consider his mentors after all. He was glad for their presence.

For the moment, even if it was for just a moment, Naruto could sit and drink tea and not worry that everyone in Konoha knew his secret. He would have plenty of time to worry about all that later. For now, it was nice to just relax.

Who better to barge in on Naruto's peace of mind than Guy, with of course his student Lee not too far behind? The two had come crashing into the room shortly after he, Tsunade, and Kakashi had settled down to drink their tea. Kakashi rolled his eyes and made an excuse to leave, curtly interrupting Lee and Guy's big spiel on "protecting the mother" and "vanquishing evil" and all that. Even if the two were annoying, Naruto couldn't hold down a smile. It was almost like old times for a moment; the two barging in to make a scene and Kakashi-sensei getting annoyed and leaving. Naruto was glad to see them both. Old friends were always welcome, of course.

"Ayako-chan," Lee sighed, sweeping to bow politely at his -her- feet, "you are as beautiful as ever!" Naruto sighed. This was the way Lee always acted whenever he was around "Ayako."

"Please, Lee, just call me Naruto," he replied in a pained voice.

Lee grinned up at him and stood. "You should have told me before who you really were, Naruto," he said plopping himself down at the edge of Naruto's bed. "It would have saved me a lot of embarrassment. I'm glad to see that you are doing well."

"As am I!" Guy declared, proudly pointing a thumb in his own direction. A bit more seriously he said, "According to Tsunade it's a very lucky thing that you didn't lose the baby."

Naruto nodded. "It is a lucky thing," he agreed. Then, he turned to Lee. "Have you found the guy yet? The one who pushed me?"

Lee, as dramatic as ever, dropped flat on the floor in what was supposed to be some sort of low bow. "I am so sorry Ayako-chan, but we have not yet been able to locate or even find out the identity of your attempted-killer. Please, I beg of your forgiveness!"

"Get off the floor Lee," Naruto sighed.

"There's something that troubles me about this guy we're looking for," Guy said to the other two then, rubbing his chin as if deep in thought. "If he wanted you dead why didn't he just kill you? Why did he bother sneaking up from behind and pushing you down some steps? This must not have been a very smart killer, unless he wasn't actually meaning to kill you."

Naruto looked at him darkly, and placed a protective arm on his stomach. "That's one thing I'm worried about too," he said. "I know - don't ask me how, I just do! - but I know that the guy who shoved me wasn't trying to kill me, he was trying to kill the baby inside me."

Tsunade, who had been entering and exiting the room since the two visitors arrived, cleaning and such, stopped what she was doing when she heard Naruto's words. "What makes you think that Naruto?" she asked.

"I told you not to ask!" he exclaimed. "It's like Guy said, if this dude wanted to kill me then he just would have done it - he wouldn't have just pushed me down a flight of steps. Trust me Tsunade, this guy is no joke. I felt his presence just before he pushed me. I didn't have time to scream but… this was evil if I've ever felt anything evil in my life. This guy… he's got some serious problems. If he had wanted me dead, he could have had me dead in a heartbeat, but instead he chose to push me. He wanted the baby dead, not me."

Tsunade nodded, and when she spoke she was talking to Guy. "What he says makes sense."

Guy nodded as well. "I agree. Hm…. That means we need to be a lot more careful, even after the baby is born. Let's hope it doesn't take that long to find this guy, but what if he's an assassin working for somebody else? What if it's his job to kill the baby? …And why? Hm…. This leaves us with a lot to think about. Come on, Lee. It's time to get back to work."

"Hai, Guy-sensei!" Lee answered enthusiastically, hopping up from the bed and following his teacher out the door. At the last moment he turned around and waved bye to Naruto, who waved shortly back.

Moments afterward, Sasuke Uchiha appeared quietly in the doorway. He leaned against the doorframe, refusing to look at anything but Naruto. He seemed… tired, to put it lightly. There were dark rings around his eyes, and he seemed a bit thinner than usual, as if he hadn't eaten anything in a while, and he looked about ready to fall over right where he stood. Tsunade took one glance at him and left the room.

Sasuke sighed and made his way over to the bed. Stumbled over to the bed, actually. When he finally sat, Naruto had the strongest urge to put his arms around the boy to comfort him. The Uchiha rubbed his hands through his hair and muttered something about a headache. Naruto acted on the spot, crawling over to rub his hands through Sasuke's hair and over his scalp. Using a bit of his own chakra to massage Sasuke's shoulders and neck, he knew that this should at least get rid of the headache, if anything.

"How are you?" Sasuke asked quietly. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment - the effects of the massage must have already been kicking in.

"I feel fine," Naruto answered honestly. "But you look like a wreck." It was about that time when Tsunade brought in two platefuls of steaming food. "You look nearly starved to death," she told the Uchiha as she handed them both their meals. "And Naruto, you should be pretty hungry by now as well. And don't even complain that it's not ramen. Those noodles aren't good for your health to be eating all the time."

Naruto smiled up at her, just thankful that she had brought them food at all. He didn't care that it wasn't ramen, he hadn't even eaten ramen in a while.

Sasuke and Naruto were left alone again, and they ate in silence. When finally both plates were empty, Naruto spoke. "Sasuke, I…." Before he could even finish his sentence - and he forgot what it had been he was going to ask anyway - Sasuke swept him up into a light hold. Naruto instantly felt tears welling up into his eyes. When was the last time Sasuke had held him like this? The smell of the Uchiha boy filled his senses, leaving him too weak to even hug back.

After a moment or two, Sasuke released him, and they sat talking quietly about unimportant things. It was as if Naruto himself were sitting there, un-pregnant and not in woman-form. It was as if Sasuke truly trusted him. But even as they talked, Naruto could see deep worry in the other boy's eyes. Finally, he had to ask. "Why- why are you losing so much sleep over this Sasuke?"

Sasuke took a moment to answer. For a while, the Uchiha just sat there, staring silently at Naruto, until finally he answered. "I was worried… about the baby. Someone somewhere out there, is trying to hurt you… Naruto." It was the first time he had admitted that it was really Naruto there, and not just Ayako. "They want to kill your- our baby. And whatever they want to do with you can't be much better…. You don't know what it was like seeing you bleeding down at the bottom of those stairs. For a while I thought… I thought maybe…."

"You thought I had lost the baby," Naruto finished for him. Sasuke nodded, and rested his head in his hands. He looked so tired. As daring as possible, Naruto slipped his arms around the Uchiha. He tried to make Sasuke rest against him, and the other boy was too tired to even fight back. "If you don't sleep, you'll never be able to keep your strength up," Naruto told him quietly. "If you don't keep your strength up, then what can you possibly do about the guy once you find him?"

After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke nodded again. "You're right."

All was quiet for a long time. Tsunade came in once to collect their dirty dishes, and smirked at seeing the two sound asleep in each other's arms on the bed. Somehow, she had known that things would eventually turn out this way, in the end. Those boys were destined to be together.