Hello all i am back!!!! i don't think that was too bad of a wait, certainly longer than others, but midterms this week were a pain, as well as homework. but you can thank the little cold i have to make me work on this chapter and not be out and about!! but here is the next chapter and now i head to accounting class!!

Thanks for all the awesome reviews, alerts and faves!! they were amazing as usual!

Disclaimer: DNON

Enjoy the Chapter!!!

Chapter 11

HEARING ALWAYS HELPS

Sasuke sighed and pushed the paperwork and pen away from him and further across the desk. He eyed it almost distastefully. Thinking that paperwork would be a good distraction to his predicament between him and Sakura, it proved that indeed it wasn't. It had been three days since he had gone over to her apartment and tried to make his intentions known of him wanting to be in the child's life and to help out in any way he could.

Instead it had backfired on him. Instead of her sighing in relief she practically castrated him, figuratively speaking. He hadn't known of a women ever to talk to him like she had. It was...different and it was a good different or at least that's he thought. But going back to the matter at hand, she hadn't swooned and called him her knight, but instead practically shoved him out of the door with her words. He was trying to help, not get snapped at.

But his mother did have a point. She was under a lot of stress and him taking two weeks to gather up his courage to actually go and see her, was not a smart move on his part. He felt that he was basically making all the wrong moves with this girl, except the ones that had gotten her into bed with him it the first place, and that sounded slightly callous. He really was an asshole. He could now declare it and not be ashamed of how bad of a man he really was when it came to relationships.

He had been a playboy extraordinaire in his private school. Though he hadn't slept with all the girls, he had standards, he wouldn't deny he had fooled around with plenty of them. And the one or two relationships he had gotten into had ended badly. Either they were after only his body and future position or they were just too fake for him.

He could say that back then he had been naive to the real concept of what fake and real meant, but after learning the difference, he hadn't really had a long steady relationship. He wanted someone who was real. Not a fake doll and it irked him to no end that a lot of the women he knew or were acquainted with were indeed fake.

Leaning back in the comfortable leather chair he brought a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sakura was real, that much he knew, and that was something that drew him to her. But she was also defensive to a tee. She had her defense mechanisms down flat and that was what he had never really seen before. All women seemed to lower their defenses for him, or at least around him, but not her.

And he could partially blame himself. He was the one that had knocked her up. A puddle of guilt settled into his stomach. If he hadn't of been such a grouch or stuck up or whatever anyone wanted to call it the first day they had really met, then maybe her walls wouldn't be so unbreakable. Right now he would have to had an iron ball to even make even a dent in those walls.

Gathering more files in front of him, he again tried to drown himself into his paperwork and files that needed to be looked over a final time before they could be stored away and archived. What he wasn't expecting was a sudden amount of noise outside his office door. Groaning he got up out of the chair and walked towards the office door and opened it to see what the commotion was. His brow creased when he saw an almost violent looking blond pointing a finger at Shikamaru and shouting something he didn't understand.

The slight noise of the door opening caught Shikamaru's eyes and breathing out a large sigh he looked over and was about to say something before he was beaten to it by the blond, who had caught sight of the Uchiha as well. Her ice blue eyes narrowed further and her ranting began again.

"You!" she shrieked, pointing a finely manicured nail his way. Sasuke's eyebrows rose at her accusing finger and upon finally recognizing who the violent woman was. None other than Shikamaru's girlfriend and Sakura's friend and roommate. Oh dear lord. "How dare you!" she began fuming again, while Shikamaru tried to calm her down. Letting his eyes roam the vicinity, he saw that many of the workers were now paying attention to this squabble, and he really didn't want the fact that he was a father out in public just yet.

Without a word he motioned to Shikamaru to bring the blond into the office, so they could talk and not be interrupted or peeped upon. Shikamaru grabbed Ino's upper arm and with slight pressure made her move forward towards the office Sasuke had just stepped back into. After Ino had gotten into the room Shikamaru closed and locked the door, making extra sure they wouldn't be disturbed.

Turning around he saw that Sasuke had taken a spot leaning against the front of his desk, arms crossed and looking slightly annoyed. Ino was glaring a death glare at the Uchiha arms crossed as well and her posture let everyone know that she was less than pleased. Sighing he knew that this would be a conversation or rather a telling off match, and Ino would be doing the telling off. When Shikamaru got next to Ino, the words started.

"How dare you!" Ino howled all over again at him. "You come over after two friggin' weeks and expect that Sakura is just going to be all welcoming to you. You really are a conceited bastard!" Shikamaru looked at Sasuke and saw no expression.

"You have no idea what Sakura has gone through and for all the sudden you just come into her life, like everything was freaking perfect, makes me madder than hell! You weren't the one that attended all of her doctors' appointments, or were there for her when she was sick or had her mood swings. You have absolutely no right to that child." Ino fumed at the Uchiha and Shikamaru leaned a bit back from his angry girlfriend.

"Ino." Shikamaru said quietly.

"Don't shush me Shika." Sasuke let out a snort at the nickname. "and you" Ino pointed again at Sasuke. "Don't act all snooty. Who the hell do you think you are? Just because you are the damn Superintendent of the Department doesn't mean you can just waltz into Sakura's life. You forfeited any rights to that child when that night was over." Ino was still raging and Shikamaru wondered when it would end. "I really don't care how much money you have, or how much power, or whatever other shit you have, but you come near her again, and I swear that I will hurt you."

"Ino." Shikamaru whispered harshly.

"Don't Shikamaru, I want to hear what she has to say." Sasuke silenced the man and waited for the blond to continue and Ino just glared at him.

"You come near her again, without her permission and I swear, I will do something that will probably get me arrested, but I don't give a damn. You've already hurt her and by waiting two freaking weeks to visit her, was deplorable. You might be all high and mighty, but you need to learn some manners, because all I see is a despicable pig." Ino finished in a huff.

Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes. None of them spoke to each other only hard stares and apologetic glances were sent around the silent room. Shikamaru shuffled uneasily at Ino's side. He knew his girlfriend had a temper, but he had never seen it that bad. She had called essentially the most powerful man in Kyoto a pig. He knew Sasuke had a temper and an ego to go with it, and he had never heard Sasuke been spoken to so derrogatively to before.

"Well, I don't think I have ever been so insulted in my life." Sasuke began, "and though I will agree with some of your accusations, I believe this is for me and Sakura to work out. Though your actions are commendable, I believe your time here is done." Ino narrowed her gaze.

"You callous man. How you ever got Sakura into bed is beyond me. You two really must have been drunk, because that's the only way I could see her entertaining the likes of you. I have never met a man so...... cruel. You really top of the jerks list." Ino scowled and Sasuke was baffled.

Never, ever had a woman talked to him like she was. Not even Sakura. Sakura may have bitched him out, but he blamed part of that on her hormones and the stress of everything. Her roommate was another matter. Never would he have anticipated Ino coming into his office and bitching him out for something that really was none of her business. She may have lived with Sakura but that was the extent of it.

"Ino please." Shikamaru muttered next to his girlfriend, and finally the blond acknowledged him. She turned to him face now emotionless.

"Okay." she told him before turning back to Sasuke. "If you do have any sort of conscience. Leave Sakura alone. She doesn't need someone like you in her life." Ino puffed her cheeks a little before turning on her heel and left the office, after unlocking the door, quieter than when she had entered. Shikamaru looked at his girlfriend as she left before turning to Sasuke. Shikamaru opened his mouth to speak but Sasuke beat him to it.

"Go." was all Sasuke said, and giving his friend a concerned look Shikamaru nodded and left the office, planning on following his girlfriend.

Sasuke slumped his posture once the two were out. Never, not even from his father had he heard such a reprimand. That woman, who knew nothing about him, had just marched into his Department and his office and clearly told him how she felt about him, without even knowing him. Didn't that woman understand how hard it was on him as well. She was just thinking about Sakura. But he was having just as hard of a time as Sakura was, just in a different way. After nine months of wondering about some woman that he had slept with, he had finally found, only to find out that she had given birth to his child.

He wanted to yell after the blond how much everything had affected him as well. He wanted to reprimand her for not getting both sides of the story. There was more than what she was seeing. Ino saw her friend hurt and broken and in an not so ideal position. But did she see what position he was in? Sure he was probably in a better position than Sakura, in money terms, but he had a child to worry about now too. One he didn't even know about until after it was born. One that he was now trying to secure his place in, and the mother doing everything to keep him away. His head slumped down and his hand came up to rub his temples.

A bubble formed before immediately popping and a soft giggle sound followed it. Sakura looked at the small baby that was making himself a menace by just laying on his blanket in the middle of the living room floor. Sakura smiled lightly as she saw her little man entertaining herself before turning back to her laptop from her place on the couch. Going back to what she was doing before the baby had distracted her, another distraction came in the form of a knock on the door. Sakura sighed, knowing she would have to go and answer the door.

Setting her laptop down on the floor, she rose from the couch and went to answer the door. She almost expected Sasuke to be on the other side of the door, but instead she found a woman. Probably in her mid forties. She had ebony hair and twinkling dark blue eyes. She had never seen this woman before.

"Can I help you?" Sakura asked pressing herself up against the door she held open.

"Yes, you can tell me if this is where Haruno Sakura lives." the woman asked kindly.

"Yes, I'm Sakura." Sakura informed the older woman and the woman smiled a bright smile.

"Well I'm glad I got the right address then." the woman bantered lightly.

"Um, who are you?" Sakura asked pressing a little closer to the door. The woman smiled again.

"Oh, I apologize. I'm Uchiha Mikoto. I'm Sasuke's mother." mother! Sakura's mind yelped. This was Sasuke's mother?! "I'm sorry I just showed up, but I had no other way of contacting you. I thought maybe we could talk......and I could see my grandson." the woman noted.

The word 'grandmother' shocked Sakura. Her parents were gone. The closest thing to a grandparent she thought Dai would have would be Eri. She completely forgot about the fact that Sasuke's parents might still be very much alive, and apparently they were!

"O....of course." Sakura stammered slightly but widening the door to let the other woman in. "Dais just on the floor." Sakura let the woman know as she was closing the door. She heard the older woman practically squeal upon seeing the chubby baby.

After closing the door Sakura turned around to see the Uchiha woman squatting down and picking the baby up. The baby let out a noise of excitement at seeing someone new. Sakura just crossed her arms and let her eyes take in how Dai and the woman got along. She could see how happy the older woman was just seeing her grandchild. It was still weird for Sakura to know that her child had grandparents that weren't her own parents.

"He's an adorable baby." Mikoto's words broke through Sakura's thoughts.

"Mm hm." Sakura sounded. "He got your families looks." Sakura put in a little unsteadily.

"That he does, but he has some of you as well." Mikoto told her,

"Look, I don't mean to be unwelcoming or anything." Sakura started. "but why exactly are you here?" Mikoto gave her a soft look, still holding the baby in her arms.

"You must see me as very selfish right now, wanting to be near my first grandchild," Mikot began. "but I am actually here to talk to you. I know that this whole ordeal has not been easy for you. I know what it is like to be an expecting mother." Mikoto's eyes grew softer, if that was possible and Sakura looked at her with an unknown emotion in her eyes. "I'm sure you have had a hard time while being pregnant. It was hard even with a husband, but you've had no one, and know Sasukes come into the mix."
"Please, Mikoto, you don't need to defend your son to me." Sakura said raising a hand and waving it slightly.

"I'm not defending him, Sakura." Mikoto told her. "Though I can say that I am not proud of my son's actions towards you last fall, I do know that right now he is going through a hard time as well. Sasuke is a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"Then what are you doing here?" Sakura snapped a little. "That's my son!" she spoke her tone going higher and pointing towards the child. "If Sasuke had never of found out, you wouldn't be here and you certainly wouldn't be here because of your son's actions. I'm sure your intentions for being here are honorable, but they are far from harmless. I would appreciate if you would leave." Sakura said motioning towards the door. Mikoto just looked at her.

"Sasuke was right. You are trying to push everyone out of your life right now. You are defensive to a tee right now, and though I am sure none of my words can make a difference, I hope that you will give Sasuke a chance. He is hurting right now. He wishes he had known so he could have been there for you through all those months. He apparently even searched for you after that night. He wanted to make things right. Maybe before you close off everyone who wants to help you, you should take a look at them too. This," Mikoto waved an arm around in the air, still keeping a strong hold on the child. " situation is not ideal, and far from what I would have wanted for my son. But he is trying. Let him help, he has more to offer you than just money." Mikoto became silent and carefully laid the child back down on the blue blanket covering part of the floor, after laying a soft kiss to his soft head.

Standing tall again, Mikoto gave her a look and Sakura couldn't place it. The Uchiha woman walked past Sakura only laying a hand on Sakura's shoulder and giving it a soft squeeze. The older woman opened and closed the door herself just leaving Sakura to ponder in the words that had been spoken.

Walking to the blanket and baby on the floor, Sakura sat down cross legged and gently picked up her baby boy, letting the baby's chubby legs rest on her own knees. He gave a short squeal and a toothless grin, and Sakura's heart melted. It was no longer just about her, but her son as well.

well hope that was a good chapter and this chapter along with the next one are going to really get the ball rolling with the next parts!!! meaning fluff will start to appear again!!!

Update: well i work most of tomorrow so i will probably start writing maybe later tonight or most likely Saturday with the next chapter. next week is a calmer week though i do have an accounting test next week, ugh. but yeah things are looking pretty smooth right now in life, just have to get over this cold!

so please review and let me know what you think!

please review

yoyo