Come What May

[Counting Stars]

Lately I been, I been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby I been, I been prayin' hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars

~Counting Stars by OneRepublic


Warning/Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Naruto and slight language


The week crawled by for Sakura, her days becoming increasingly slow. She found herself looking at the calendar in the nurses' office wistfully- repeatedly counting down the days until she would see Naruto. She would trace patterns gently on her growing stomach- wondering what it was going to be like raising her child with her husband.

"Sakura I know you don't want to hear this," Ino began. The two met for lunch at a local restaurant. "But you need to be prepared…just in case Naruto isn't the same as he was before he left."

"I know that. I've already done the research about what could happen to a soldier when they get back from war. I was told that Naruto has post-traumatic stress disorder," Sakura explained. "I just…I just want to see his face. Even if he is different, we'll get through it."

Ino leaned over and patted her friend's arm. "I'll be here if you need me. You know that right?"

A smile tugged at Sakura's lips. "Of course."

Ino grinned back, leaning back in her chair. "So, will your parents be coming down anytime soon to visit you and Naruto?"

Sakura shrugged, grateful for the change in topic. "Maybe; I think they'll be down when I have the baby." Sakura's parents lived in the upper suburbs of Konoha and rarely came down to the city. They preferred to stay away from the busily crowds that littered the city. "Besides, you know how it gets when my mom comes down. Things can get ugly quick even if I don't mean them too."

"True, true…" Ino sighed. "Oh yeah! I've been meaning to ask you- what do you think you'll name your kid?"

"Well I wanted to talk it over with Naruto first," Sakura replied. "I really like the name Kiyoko for a girl and Leo for a boy," she then let out a short laugh. "Though, I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto wanted to name our son Minato."

"Minato…is that his father's name?"

Sakura nodded. "And his mother's name is Kushina. Both are good names, I just wanted to think of some others."

"If you had a daughter you could name her Ino!"

"Sorry, I already told Scarlett that I wouldn't be naming my children after my friends."

"Aw!" Ino whined. "Come on please!"

Sakura laughed, "No!"

"What about as a middle name?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and to appease her friend she said: "I'll give it some consideration."

Ino grinned and decided it was better than nothing.


Today was finally the day- he would finally be able to see his wife. He had waited for what felt like years for this day and it had finally came. He tried his best to look somewhat presentable for his wife- ironing the white shirt and pants he was given, combing his hair. After he finished getting dressed, he walked out of his room and down a few hallways. The building was huge, filled with single and double rooms for patients (he was lucky enough to get a single- Shikamaru on the other hand was forced into a double), work out rooms, doctors' offices- anything a recovering soldier could ever need.

He finally arrived at the door he wanted and gave it three short taps.

"Who is it?" A voiced shouted for the other side.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Come in!"

Naruto opened the door of the office and found an irritated Tsunade with piles of paper work around her. "You wanted to see me?"

Tsunade gestured for him to take a seat before replying: "Yes. As you know your wife will be here in about an hour. I just wanted to ask you how you are feeling. Do you feel like you're about to have an attack- do you feel stressed?"

Naruto pondered on her question, before shaking his head. "No I feel fine. I just really want to see her."

"Understandable," She replied, writing a few things on his file.

Naruto talked to Tsunade until they got a call from the front desk announcing Sakura's arrival. He felt himself getting jittery as he walked to the room where he would see his wife.

"Alright Uzumaki, it's noon and visiting hours end at six so you have a while. Come to my office after she leaves, okay?"

"Will do."

He took a deep breath before opening the door to the room. He spotted her staring out the window with her back towards him- her pink hair braided and draped over her shoulder.

"Sakura…" She turned to him, a smile adorning her face. In his eyes she looked the same, but only for a second. He then noticed how huge her stomach had become. "Are you…?"

Sakura's smile grew as she tried to walk over to him a quickly as possible. He soon found his arms around her enlarged waist and her arms around his neck- her face buried in his shoulder.

"I missed you so much," She whispered, taking in his scent.

Naruto dropped his forehead onto her head, her soft hair brushing against his cheek. "I missed you too. Every second I was there I missed you."

He held her for a long time. He didn't know how long, but he really didn't care. He was slightly disappointed when she pulled away, but he was distracted by her stomach again.

"As you can see we're expecting a child," She grinned, unshed tears in the corners in her eyes. "I don't know the gender because I wanted to be surprised."

Naruto wasn't quite sure what to say. He was happy- extremely happy- but he was afraid to reach out and touch her stomach. He held his hand out to do so, but stop short- unsure how delicate her stomach would be.

Sakura looked at him confused for a moment, before taking his hand and placing it on her stomach. "You can touch my stomach, it's fine!"

Naruto looked at her unsurely for a second before looking back at the growing child- running his fingers along her stomach cautiously. He was surprised when he felt pressure on his hand. "He kicked!"

Sakura laughed at his surprised expression. "I know, I felt it. And we don't know the gender yet! It could be a girl!"

Naruto pouted. "I don't want to call my child an "it" though!"

"Well in a few more weeks you won't have to."

Naruto took his hand off her stomach to look back at the green eyes he missed so much. "Have you thought of a name?"

"A few," She replied. "I wanted to wait till you were here to help me pick one."

"Did…did you really think I'd come home?"

Sakura sighed. "I honestly didn't know what to think. All I know is that there was no body for me to bury, so to me you were alive somewhere." She placed her arms around her stomach protectively. "I also had to hold onto the thought that my child would have a father. I didn't want her…or him to look at pictures and wonder why they didn't have a father like other kids. I didn't want to imagine raising a child by myself…"

Naruto brushed his thumb across her face to wipe away a stray tear. He brought her close to him and kissed her forehead, her cheek, and then her lips. "I'm here now and we'll raise our child together, I promise."

They spent the rest of the day together- not wanting to be apart. Naruto took her to the food court for lunch before giving her a tour the facility. He introduced her to a few friends he had made, including Shikamaru who still hobbled around on crutches. Last, he introduced her to Tsunade.

"Thank you so much for helping my husband," Sakura smiled, shaking the blond woman's hand. "It means so much to me that he's in a place close to home where he can get better."

"It's no problem at all," Tsunade replied. "He's one of the most cooperative patients I've had in a while!"

"Really? Whenever he has to get a checkup, I'm always told he was a pain in the doctor's butt."

"Sakura!" Naruto whined.

Sakura giggled. "What? It's true."

Naruto tried to usher Sakura out quickly before the two could talk about him further, but he couldn't stop Tsunade from giving his wife her business card after Sakura mentioned she was curious about a nursing position at Solider House so she could drop one or both of her other jobs.

"Email me your resume and we can continue talking from there," Tsunade instructed before Naruto took Sakura by the hand and pulled her out of the office.

"What's the matter? Don't want me to tell your doctor embarrassing stories?" Sakura smirked.

Naruto pouted, "Maybe…"

They went back to his room and cuddled on his bed- talking about anything and everything. Sakura didn't push him to talk about his experiences behind enemy lines and let him babble on about his base and the funny things that had happened before "things went to shit". She laid beside him and listened, throwing in a comment every once and a while, but for the most part let him talk. She didn't mind- she missed hearing the sound of his voice. She knew he would eventually ask about anything she did while he was away, but until then she listened to his stories.


[Author's Corner]

~First chapter of my college career! I really did think I could post a chapter before I moved in but...that didn't happen...but I think I've figured out a pretty good schedule so I have time to write!

~I honestly have no clue what to name this child so if you have a good one just throw it in a review. I thought about Minato or Kushina, but both are is done so many times so I'm going with something original.

~Well, off to class! Have a good day!