Title: A New Era

Author: Shera

Disclaimer: At least the Lee/Sakura fans would be happy if I owned the rights lol -

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Chapter 11

Sakura couldn't help to feel that the paper gown was a little unnecessary every time it crinkled from her slight movements. She stared at the framed painting that hung on the wall across from where she sat. It was a little water color of a bird family with the two little chicks heads bobbing out of the nest. She supposed it was to give a calming effect to most women but she couldn't help notice how out of place it seemed on the white washed walls. To her it seemed like a very strained attempt to add some color into the otherwise dull room.

Her fingers started tapping her thighs so she moved them to her sides where they clenched and unclenched. What could be taking the nurse so long? They had completed the standard tests quite efficiently since Sakura knew exactly what they consisted of. Though her fingers were now still it was her foot that was wiggling impatiently now. She took a deep breath and counted backwards in her head, it seemed to work until her fingers started to move again. Thoughts of barreling out the door in her paper gown entertained her mind just before the door opened.

The portly nurse that had run her tests stood in the doorway grinning at her, "You aren't thinking about going into the hallway wearing that now are you?" Sakura decided it was better to sit quietly then to make some sort of sarcastic retort. This wasn't one of the specially trained ninja nurses that Sakura was used to dealing with. The only patients she saw on a regular basis were probably villagers. That also meant that she didn't report directly to Tsunade which would buy her some needed time.

Her fingers traced down Sakura's charts as Sakura resisted the urge to implode. She even hummed as she did so which made her shoulders tense at the noise. It was no wonder why she only treated civilians because none of them could throw her through a wall like Sakura was itching to do right about now.

"Well Mommy, everything checks out okay," she tucked the clipboard under her arm, "You can see me in another two weeks for a follow up."

'Yeah, let s just book that right now.'

Sakura just nodded dumbly as the nurse left. Her thoughts were scattered as her hands rested over her belly. She hadn't brought harm to the baby after all. A few tears dribbled down her cheeks before she thought to choke them back. Her hands fanned her face as waves of relief washed over her. Remembering to breathe she slowly redressed herself and left the examination room.

The florescent lighting in the hallway seemed brighter then when she first came in. Even the sky seemed a little bluer and the sun a little more distinct in the sky. She could smell the disinfectant that lingered in the air around her but somehow it didn't sting her senses like it normally did. Cheerfully she rounded the corner but was surprised when another body met hers.

Her vision was blurred by orange momentarily before she heard Naruto cursing under his breath. He blinked at her before a grin swept across his face, "I figured that I d find you here."

Naruto helped her to her feet, "You were looking for me?"

"Nope, sent to get you. Granny wants to see the both of us. Right now," he added with a slight edge.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair. If she wanted to send them on another mission Sakura would have to decline and explain why she couldn't take the mission in front of Naruto. Everyone would know sooner or later maybe it was better to deliver the news the same way one would remove a band aid. She cringed as her imagination gave her a picture of what her master's face would look like when she got the news. Maybe it was safer just to take a mission after all.

Somehow she found herself outside the Hokage's office and then inside shortly after Naruto rapped on the door. The office looked about the same as yesterday though the stack of paper on it had substantially grown since then. Their eyes met briefly over the desk's clutter before she and Naruto stepped forward.

The room was silent which was enough to cause alarm. Tsunade sat with her hands folded neatly on the desk. Sakura felt a bead of cold sweat roll down her neck as she pondered the reason for their summons. If this was solely about her condition there really wouldn't be a logical reason to bring Naruto into it so maybe this was about a mission after all. She stood a little straighter, accepting that she would have to tell both of these important people to her at the same time but Tsunade spoke first.

"While you were away there was a development." It was a simple statement that put both of them on edge. She stood up and led them out of her office. Sakura and Naruto traded a glance before following after. Their Hokage led them down several halls and passages and Sakura was sure that finding her way back would be difficult without her help later. They were several levels underground before she stopped in front of a bolted door with two elite ninjas standing guard.

She looked at them directly, "There are few that know about this but I thought you two should know about it before there was any action taken." The bolts were removed swiftly and the door opened to reveal a very dimly lit room with a chair in the center of it. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust before Sakura could see a person sitting in the chair.

His arms and legs were tied down with straps of leather and there was a crude mask of lead over his eyes. Even still they both knew who he was. Desires had spilt them apart and time had changed all of them but they knew all the same. As Sakura thought it, Naruto spoke the name she had cried her throat raw with.

"Sasuke..."

She hovered in the doorway as Naruto ran up to him and asked hundreds of rhetorical questions. Sakura was lost as to what to do. Years ago Naruto and her decided that it was pointless to search for their missing teammate when he so obviously didn't want to be found. It took a while to convince Naruto to stop going out without her but it took even longer for her to stop secretly hoping he'd return on his own.

Her shock turned to fury rather quickly. How darn he? She had found happiness in the life she had created for herself. What she had been, or rather what he left her to be, what he had believed her to be, was no longer. She had seen to that. Her shoulders trembled slightly from her own frustration. Tsunade gave her a few moments to collect herself before gently placing a hand on her shoulder and urging her inside.

Even with Naruto's babbling his head lifted slightly at the sound of her footsteps. Though he was blindfolded there wasn't a doubt in his mind that it was Sakura standing in front of him. It had been many years since their last encounter but he was sure that there had been changes with her just as Naruto's voice had changed since the last time he heard it. They had been his best friends at one point so who better to sentence him then these two?

"Hush, Naruto," her voice was quiet and he surprisingly fell silent at her command. She studied Sasuke with her medical eyes and noticed his paler color and the way his skin seemed tight around his bones. To her it seemed that his thirst for power had overruled his sense to eat. Her heart hurt a little to see him in such a state but her head kept her together enough to prevent herself from listening to it.

"You sound well, Sakura," his voice sounded hoarse even though he smirked after speaking.

Her throat felt tight at the sound of her name rolling off his lips, "What are you doing here, Sasuake?" she asked crisply without adding the politeness she usually demonstrated. Naruto took a step back from the pair trying to comprehend what was happening in front of him.

"Now is that anyway to speak to an old friend?"

"You're more fiend then friend if you ask me." It was getting harder to hold herself back and once she got started it would take both Naruto and Tsunade to hold her back and maybe even the guards standing watch.

A slow smile spread across the part of his face that was uncovered, "I take it you won't be throwing me a welcome home party then?"

"No but I'll be more then happy to throw your funeral." Naruto gapped at her. Hadn't she wanted this just as much as he had? He knew she had cried for several nights after he failed the first time to bring him back. Maybe she was only putting on a brave face for his sake or to mask her own confused feelings. He would have to try to stop this before it escalated any further.

"C'mon, Sasuke. You can't ask a married woman to throw a party for you."

He jerked as much as the restraints would allow to turn his head in Naruto's direction, "What?"

"Yeah, she and good ol' Bushy Brows got hitched," he said with a grin.

There was a pause before Sasuke's quiet chuckling reached her ears, "Really?" He became more serious, "Are you playing around with me, Naruto? She couldn't of been so desperate to settle herself with such a complete loser."

His words rattled in her head briefly but it was Naruto that spoke, "Are you kidding? Those two are lovey dovey all the time."

"Love," Sasuke muttered, "sounds more like a pathetic excuse to me."

Who was he to question her motives? Sakura stood firm, "It was for love."

"How can you boast love when you once said that you loved me?" he said with ice in his voice.

She placed her warm hands over his nearly frozen ones and leaned in close enough so that her lips almost brushed his ear, "If not love then how do you explain his child growing in my belly?"

The reactions around all varied; Naruto's eyes bulged out of his head, Tsundade's eyebrows went up, and as for Sasuke he sat still enough that it didn't look like he was breathing. Sakura felt herself pull away but the chill remained on her finger tips.

Sasuke was the first to recover from her little announcement, "You would be the one to let his kind infect you with his seed. That child, as you put it, will grow to be a disgrace to ninja worldwide. If I were you I'd have a little 'accident' to prevent that from happening."

In a moment both of the guards were holding Naruto back and Tsunade had a vice grip around Sakura to prevent them from killing Sasuke. Sakura's urge to tear limbs from torso decreased as Tsunade's soft murmurs started to make sense in her head. She was still trembling when her master's arms slowly released her, "Go home."

Reluctantly she took the order and left though she could still hear Naruto's various and even creative death threats echoing down the hall. Her even steps turned into a jog and then into a full out run as she desperately searched for the exit. The passages looked the same to her as she tried to recall the way they came in. This encounter had stirred something in her that she thought had been put to rest. Just like in these tunnels she was trapped with her thoughts of back then.

Lee's crutch made a solid wood sound as he walked through the village. Last week he had been permitted to walk without it but he became overzealous and was now back to using the crutch only after two days without it. The slight set back didn't phase him too much because under his other arm were a few of his favorite board games and he was going in the direction of Sakura's house.

It had been a long while since he had seen her last. Mostly because she was studying very hard to be a medic and he wasn't allowed to do any serious training till he was fully recovered. The solution to this dilemma was to say he was just in the neighborhood and would she mind joining him in a game? At least that was his plan till he arrived at her house and no one answered his knock.

He stood on the steps and shifted the weight of the boxes before trying the door again. This time he did hear some movement from the inside. The door creaked open to reveal confused green eyes behind it, "Hi Lee, what s up?"

He smiled warmly at her. Somehow she got prettier every time he saw her, "I thought you might want to play a board game with me."

She noticed the boxes under his arm for the first time, "Oh, sure," she pulled the door open wider so he could wobble in. He hesitated in the dark living room while she went for the light switch. The room was different from the last time he had seen it. More lived in seemed the most appropriate way to put it as he noticed empty instant ramen containers in the wastebasket.

Gingerly he put the boxes down on the table, "So, how have you been?"

"Fine," she said shortly as she found cushions for his leg to rest on.

"Where are your parents?" he groped for small talk of any kind.

"Out," she replied while clearing space on the couch.

He winced at her short answers. They felt like little slaps to him, "I can leave if you wish."

"No, it's fine. The place is a little messy that's all," she covered the couch with cushions but still kept her back to him.

"Sakura?"

Her fingers clenched into a pillow, "Maybe you should leave after all."

Slowly he put a hand on her back and felt her twitch at the contact, "I will if that is what you want." They both stood silently in the room for a few moments before she decided to break it.

"Ask me how long it's been, Lee," she turned to him with dark eyes. He remained silent as she talked more to herself then him, "It's been fifteen months, two weeks, and four days since Naruto left. I know because I've kept track. Sasuke's been gone even longer." There was nothing but accusation and anger in her tone. "We're teammates but as soon as someone stronger came around they both left like like-" she refused to finish the sentence out loud.

'like I'm a waste of their time.'

Lee felt his heart crush at the sight of her face. He couldn't imagine not having the support of his teammates, even Neji's when he felt like giving it but to be left with no one? How long had she been thinking this? He was at a lost how to comfort her.

"They just need some time," he tried.

She shot him a dirty look, "Like the way you need just enough time to heal before you run off too?" He gapped at her accusation though it probably wasn't too far off the mark.

Now it was his turn to get irritated at her, "It hurts me to hear you say that, after all I am still here and I have no intention of leaving." To empathize his point he sat on the couch and made himself unmovable.

They glared at each other; her with her hands on her hips and his across his chest. It seemed to Lee that her mood wouldn't change until Sakura started to laugh a little to herself. Somehow a scowl on Lee's face looked ridiculous to her. He sat dumbfounded as she pulled one of the boxes open and started setting up pieces for the board game.

"Rock, paper, scissors to see who goes first?" she asked more like her usual self.

"Yes." They went through the motions and Sakura beat Lee with paper and got to roll the dice first.

What he had said proved true even after his leg had completely mended. He didn't leave the village while Naruto was still absent. Somehow he felt that it was his responsibility to make her see leaving wasn't the solution. Also that she hadn't been what drove them away. Reluctantly she started to believe him.

Sakura was glad to see light at the end of the tunnel that led to a more familiar part of Hokage tower. She charged through the halls with barely an apology to anyone she crashed into on the way out. The sun was fading over the horizon line when she finally reached the streets. Without any hesitation she took the street that led to her apartment. She fumbled with her keys and didn't bother to check whether the door was locked or not. It swung open with Lee standing on the other side of it.

"Ah, I thought I heard you. Come with me right now." He didn't seem phased by her clammy hands as he dragged her up the stairs to the equipment room, "It is still a mess but I thought we should get started soon."

Sakura looked at him confused till he flipped the lights on. Her weights had been moved to one side of the room and Lee's punching bag was no where in sight. Instead in the center of the room was the most perfect white crib Sakura had ever seen. "I realize that I am not much of a carpenter but I think it came out all right." Her eyes landed on the instruction sheets that still lingered on the floor. Lee noticed her silence and panicked, "Of course if you do not approve we can get something else."

She pulled him towards her and sobbed loudly into his chest, "I love you so much. Don't you ever forget that!"

He wrapped his arms around her, "I will not forget, Sakura."

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(A/N) Okay, I'm guilty of hating Sasuke so I tried to keep him in character but my bias opinion may have driven certain things but I really tried I promise!

Oh and the secret to my writing is lots and lots of kool-aid! Ha ha I wish I was kidding...

-She-chan