Part Ten: Secrets

I smiled as I walked outside of the base, smelling at the flowers. The weather was clear, the birds singing their songs, keeping me company. Violin was a few feet away, his small being crashing through bushes, scaring flocks of larks from their hiding places. My stomach had grown a tiny bit, making me smile as I thought of the new life that was sitting inside of me, waiting to come back into this huge world.

Violin ran back onto the path, barking and grumbling his tales of chasing birds to me. I smiled when his bark grew louder, as if he was getting to the climax of his story before it slowly faded down to a low grumble, as if he was bored or angry. He looked up at me, eyes shining, content radiating from his body. I grinned and ran my hand down the silky fur of his head. He grumbled and pressed against my hand, begging for more attention. I laughed, the sound hardy and truthful.

"Violin..." I sighed his name, looking at the vegetation and paths that had become all-too-familiar. "It's time, boy. We need to go."

The dog whined, prancing towards the base. I shook my head in amazement. He was only a few months old, not quite as far along as my pregnancy, which was moving into its fifth month, and yet he could find his own way home. Home. The word made me feel guilty. Where was my home? My true home?

I sighed as I snuck back into the base. The others were off on some mission, Leader having taken my place since I was too far along to risk my pregnancy. I smiled, trailing my fingertips across my stomach as I walked towards Katana's room. Violin grumbled and headed towards our room, which Deidara had kindly given us, choosing to then stay on a couch in Tobi's room. I knocked softly, heard the muffled 'come in' from the other side of the door. The door was slowly pushed open, causing me to laugh as I saw that Katana was laying in the middle of her bed, poking at her stomach.

"Katana," I said as I slowly entered the room, tugging at the loose shirt that I was wearing. "I have something I need to run by you, okay?"

She raised up on her elbows, gave me an arched eyebrow. "Go on?"

"I'm leaving. Tonight. For the better of my baby."

"Huh?"

"And I want you to go with me."

She sat up completely, looked at me as if I had grown another head in her presence. "But... Won't they... Won't they follow us? Find us?"

"Katana, I won't let-"

"Kill us?"

"Katana!"

"What?"

"I'm not going to let them. I've got a friend who will let us stay with him. No questions asked. Please, just go with me. That's all I'm asking. It'll be better for you. Better for your baby."

She bit her lip. "When are you leaving?"

I sighed and looked toward the door. "Tonight."

"Does anybody else know?" she asked, gripping my hands tightly.

"Just you and me."

She looked at me, fear shining in those gorgeous purple eyes. I slightly smiled and touched my fingertips to her chin before floating out of her room. I snuck away into Deidara's room, smiled as I saw Violin stretched over the pillows, a big no-no in Deidara's book. The dog looked at me and sighed, deciding that I wasn't going to threaten his pillow time. I sighed and shook my head, making my way toward the closet to grab my bag.

The baby kicked, making me smile and curse at the same time. I drug the bag out of the closet, throwing one of Deidara's favorite shirts in, just in case I'd need a memory along the way. My heart began to thud in pain as I threw the bag over my shoulder and called to Violin as I walked towards Katana's room. The dog followed obediently at my heels, sitting down as I knocked on Katana's door. She opened it wearing her own bag over her shoulder.

"Let's go."

~Itachi's P.O.V.~

I sighed into my cloak as the others milled around, talking about today's success of the mission. It wasn't a success in my book, although the mission itself went smoothly. Katara was five months pregnant. To the day. I ground my teeth together as my chest grew tight at the thought of her being pregnant. Carrying my child.

How could I have said those cruel things to her? I loved her. She was carrying proof of that. But those things... Her tears... Her smiles. Towards Deidara. My stomach began to churn in disgust as we all began walking again. We would be back to the base in roughly three days. I had been praying that Katara wouldn't go into labor while we were away. Nobody attacked the base.

That we would be able to talk things through when I got back.

I would apologize. Grovel, if need be. I sighed and looked at the ground, trying my best to push Deidara out of my head as I heard him bragging about my child's first kick. Katara's cravings, mood swings. Those things that I should be experiencing. I groaned inwardly and walked faster, calculating that I could be home a day and a half if we ran.

"Senpai," Tobi was saying, talking to Deidara like always. "Do you think that Katara would run away?"

"Tobi, why would she run away?" Deidara asked, growing annoyed with the questions game that Tobi loved to play so much. "She's being taken care of here."

Tobi's voice dropped into a whisper. "Because of Itachi!"

My eyes followed the two, who spoke in hushed tones ahead of me. Deidara had been basically running, Tobi forced to catch up, since we had begun to leave. I sighed as I realized he probably was anxious to return home and visit his roommate. I growled deep in my throat as I thought of my child calling him dad. It wasn't going to happen. My child would be mine. And mine alone.

I sighed and tugged at the collar of the cloak. It was going to be a long three and a half days. Misery settled into my stomach, with disgust a close second. I had caught myself praying, knew that didn't work. I bit the inside of my cheek and blanked my mind.

I laughed at myself.

If only it was that easy.

~Katara's P.O.V.~

"Katana, quit blubbering already," I snapped as we basically ran down the road, protecting our wombs with our arms.

"But my baby is going to grow up without a father!" Katana wailed while in one of her hormone-swings. "What is that going to be like?"

I sighed and looked up at the sky, praying for guidance and the urge not to kill my friend as we walked to my previous village. Violin barked happily as he bounded around my legs, chased butterflies. We were going to get to the village by the end of the night. I would almost bet my life on it. I smiled sadly, softly rubbed my fingertips across my swollen tummy, wondering what it would be like for my child.

My heart let loose a painful ping at those two words.

Not our child.

Not his child.

My child.

"Our babies are the offspring of killers," Katana sniffled. "What the hell does that say about us? We slept with murderers!"

I glared at her as we took a short-cut through a few backyards. "Keep it up, Katana," I said icily, "and I'll become a murderer myself. Got it?"

She sniffled again and nodded. I smiled to myself as we cut over a fence. My breath caught in my throat as I realized where we were. The house still stood tall, the yellow color still the envy of the sunlight, even in the dark. The light in the kitchen was still blazing, the window allowing me to see Juro and his wife sitting at the table, enjoying a cup of tea. I saw Anko's head tilt back as she let out what I was guessing a heartful laugh. I looked over to Katana and smiled, motioning her to follow me.

The knock was quiet, as I didn't want to wake the child who slept within the yellow walls. I heard a soft sign before thudding footfalls came to stop at the door. Juro opened it, his eyes misting over as he saw me standing before him, swollen and grinning. He enveloped me in a hug, passed me to his wife, and pulled Katana into the house with a hardy hello.

Anko smiled, tears in her eyes. "Katara! It's been so long... Look at you! You're glowing... And you're... Pregnant?"

I smiled at her, patted her cheek. "Been that way for five months now."

She grinned, showing her smile lines that crinkled at the corner of her eyes. "It agrees with you."

Juro laughed at his wife, love showing in his eyes. I flinched, noticing the love disappearing from his eyes that was replaced by sadness. I sighed inwardly and gave him a sad smile. He nodded slightly before listening to his wife ramble on about the joys of pregnancy. He quickly retrieved a few glasses, filled them with juice, handed them out to all of us. I took mine with a thank you and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"So where are you two going to go now?" Anko asked, stirring something into her apple juice.

"I ah... I'm going to stay with the father," I said softly, thinking on my feet. "I realized how stupid I had been to walk away all those months ago. I need to see if he still ah, loves me as much as he used to."

Anko winked at me. "If he's a smart man, he'll hold onto such a great woman."

I smiled at her, squeezed her hand. "I really only stopped in to say hi. We won't have that long to walk now. I needed to see how you guys are... Uh, where's Eiko?"

"She's at a friend's house for a sleepover," Anko said on a sigh. "She would have loved to see you again."

I nodded sadly. "Then I'll just have to come back. Maybe with a little bundle of joy the next time around. I really am sorry, Anko, Juro, but we really need to get moving again. I'll come back and visit again. I promise."

They nodded, hugged us both. Gave us sorrowful goodbyes and watched us walk away. I smiled and rubbed a hand absently across my stomach, knowing that someday, my child would have a family to support her or him, drive them insane. A proper one, not like the one that I had been forced to grow up with. My child would grow up loved.

"Katara," Katana whispered as we walked down the road.

"Yes, my conscience?" I asked sarcasticly, trying to get the other woman to laugh.

"My baby... I think I want it to be raised by that family back there."

I whistled, the sound low and surprised. "I suppose you could do that."

"My thoughts exactly."

Violin ran between us, barking happily as he chased a squirrel a few feet ahead. He stopped, body vibrating, eyes alert. His bark, still in that adorable little puppy stage, sounded in almost a greeting. A shadow appeared before him, the body, obviously male, bent down to scratch the dog's ears. Something pulled low in my stomach, alarm bells going off in my head. Here were two heavily pregnant women, their only means of protection at the moment being a small, brown, yippy brown mutt.

"Well aren't you just the cutest thing," the figure said, scratching Violin's ears.

My heartbeat began to accelerate. My mouth and throat grew dry. It had been long. Too long. Five months too long. I smiled, tracing a fingertip along my bulging stomach, relieved to see a familiar form, to hear a familiar voice.

"Katara. It's about time."