Hello all! Thanks to all who reviewed and faved etc. You're my inspiration! Anyway, here's another update, Kakashi's PoV, enjoy!
He woke to the wet sound of retching, splattering, and dismal groans. Great. Sasuke had finally hit morning sickness, and by the sound of it, she was going to be in the bathroom for most of the morning. Trying to ignore the sour scent in his sensitive nose, he wandered into the kitchen to put the kettle on. It was funny, how he already filled the kettle for two without even thinking, how there was hardly any more mess around the place than before. Sasuke seemed to fit into his life with hardly any adjustments...well, except that now, she'd probably be waking him every morning like this.
Then again, neither of them spent much time in the little apartment, so fitting in with each other – Sasuke preferred to go about the day as a man, and used the Uchiha home until night fell and she could come over unnoticed. Himself, he'd spent the last week out on the town most nights, staying out late or returning to various women's homes. Konoha's ladies seemed to be ridiculously easy to seduce, all excited by the thought of his power or drawn in by the mystery of his face. Mostly they were nameless, faceless civilians, and Yugao was always being sent off on anbu missions, so his reputation wasn't in jeopardy. Still, it wasn't enough. He wanted something tender, something real...yet at the same time, he just wanted to be alone again. He drank his tea too hot, letting it scald his tongue and throat.
It was terribly selfish of him, to want his child at the cost of its happiness. He had to do what was best for it, whatever that took, even if it made him hurt just to think about it. Anyway, a child's strongest link was with its mother, so at least it would have Sasuke...but then what of its adoptive mother? Would she be able to find it in her heart to truly love a child born in such strange circumstances? He was jolted from his thoughts by Sasuke dumping herself ungracefully across the table from him with a groan. "How are you feeling? Up to drinking some tea?" She nodded slightly a him, her lovely face pale and frowning, the skin almost translucent. She was still wearing her night clothes – a long crumpled t-shirt that rode up her thighs – and her hair was in a tangled mess tucked down the back of her top to keep it out of the way. It was unfair that she could look beautiful even when she wasn't trying, when she probably felt terrible. Other women would get very jealous.
"I've got a checkup with Sakura later. You coming?" She asked, hands clasping at her mug in an attempt to dispel the kitchen's coldness. The way she said it almost sounded like she actually wanted him there to comfort her, but he knew better – she just wanted protection from Sakura's new attitude. Still, he wanted to know what was going on with his child. "Yeah, sure. You'll be using your girl i.d. then?" She shrugged at him, letting the dull grey fabric slip from her shoulder. "Yup. We should practice it before we go though. Check we've got all the details." He nodded. It would take a while, but if they were going to do it, they might as well do it properly.
"Name?" "Mikota." Nod. "Status?" "Civilian, 17 years of age, resident of Konoha since the summer." He nodded again. "Interests?" "Art, meditation, walks." He gave her a moment to continue. "Oh, and playing Go." Her fingers clenched a little at the slip-up, then relaxed as she tried to keep the feminine posture. She still seemed to flirt the whole time, biting her lips in frustration, pouting, tossing her hair. They'd have to work on that before she went public, or she'd end up with a whole new fan-club. Though she'd probably be with him whenever she appeared as a woman, so it would probably be okay. "Do you want to practice in town for a bit?"
She nodded, then took a sip of her tea. Her face scrunched up and her hand went to cover her mouth. Dropping (and smashing) the mug, she fled to the bathroom. He sighed. Maybe town wasn't such a good idea after all.
#
"So, uh...Mikota. How has your pregnancy been going? Any concerns or questions?" Sakura's voice was strained, probably with the effort of keeping up a professional front. Though, considering the circumstances, she was doing rather well – Sasuke had marched into the hospital, demanded to know where Sakura could be found, refusing to tell the timid little receptionist who she was and whether she had an appointment. After some flouncing and some surprisingly effective Uchiha glares, she'd dashed off in the direction she'd been pointed in, dragging him along by his sleeve. Still, Sakura had been remarkably controlled when they'd appeared five minutes early and interrupted her consultation with another patient, simply telling them calmly to 'please wait outside' and that she'd be with them in a moment.
Still, he was sure she'd snap at some point, either that or Sasuke would. Until then, he would lounge by the window and pretend to read. "It's shit. I've thrown up four times already today, and I'm not even a month in! I've been stuck like this, because I can't control my chakra while I'm heaving, and my knees hurt from kneeling in front of that goddamn toilet, and I'm hungry as hell. Can I take something for it?" She looked almost pleading, all her frustration showing in her face. His chest felt tight at the sight of it, half from pity and half from amusement. To think that the great Uchiha genius would be beaten by a baby, of all things.
"Well, I can prescribe you something to help, but it's not always effective. Also, you'll need to keep your food intake up as much as possible, since you're so low in fat reserves, and you're going to be using much more energy. You might want to cut back a little on heavy training, but do some gentle exercise instead – walking or jogging if possible." For a moment, Sakura's face quivered on the edge of laughter, presumably at the thought of Sasuke going jogging. Actually, Kakashi thought she'd make quite a good jogger, but he knew better than to voice his opinion...especially as it was mainly based on how pretty her breasts would look, all bouncy and milk-laden. Though if she went jogging in public she'd be in danger of stalkers, and if she did it at his house...maybe jogging wouldn't be such a good idea.
"What about holding the henge, will anything help that?" Sakura shrugged slightly, then stiffened and visibly shifted back to 'medic mode'. "It might, if the nausea is the only problem. Then again, as the child's chakra network forms, you'll probably experience disruptions, and general draining of your chakra levels as it grows. It's not normally a problem, but in your case it might be hard to hold the jutsu all day." Sasuke pouted, somehow still looking dignified. "I know that. That's why I've got the Mikota identity. I only need to for a few hours at a time."
"Yes, that should be fine then. But you need to be very careful; if you're running too low on chakra, there's a good chance your body will automatically cut off the supply to the biggest drain, and you could miscarry or damage the baby." Her green eyes were unusually serious, and he saw worry flash briefly over Sasuke's face in response. If she knew how easy it was to read her now, she'd be stealing his masks in no time. He certainly wouldn't be the one to tell her though – he loved being able to see the human that sometimes flashed across the 'I don't care' face he'd known for so long. That, and it was a relief to know she wasn't thinking of aborting any more. She blinked and her face slid back to blankness. "I'll...I'll be careful."
"Good! Right, now I'm going to do a quick examination of your pelvic area. Umm...sensei? You might want to wait...outside though of course you can stay if you want, hospital protocol allows the father to remain present but. Well, this is a bit outside the norm so protocol doesn't really apply and, and..." She ran out of breath, blushing a little, the professional facade cracked at last. He really shouldn't stay. After all, their relationship wasn't actually close, so Sasuke wouldn't want him there. And he didn't want Sakura getting the wrong idea about the two of them.
He stood, and walked out, throwing a cheery eye-crinkle over his shoulder. "No problem! I need to check in on Shizune anyway." He'd been flirting with the Hokage's assistant for the last few days, maybe he'd take her out tonight. Sasuke would be fine.
