Kakashi blinked in disbelief when Iruka suddenly pushed him off the coach, and sat up with a gasp. "Naruto! Kakashi, where's Naruto? Is he still in the apartment?" Kakashi felt for the boy's chakra. The nice thing about it was that it was so bright, it was very difficult to miss. "No, he left. Why?" Iruka scrambled off the coach, swayed on his legs, and promptly fell back down. "Woah, take it easy there. Jeez, when's the last time you slept more than two hours straight, or ate something decent? You have to take better care of yourself."

Iruka grimaced. "I know, I just couldn't stop thinking about how I was going to tell you, and how much you'd hate me once you knew. That's not important right now. Since things worked out between us, Naruto probably thinks I don't need him around here anymore, and Sasuke's been such an ass to him, there's no telling what he'll do or where he'll go. Kakashi, we have to find Naruto before something bad happens! He's pregnant too!"

Kakashi nodded sharply in acknowledgement. "I'll take care of Naruto, but first I'm going to take care of you. You're going to eat a genuine meal, something light, then we're going to bed. My clone and Pakkun can handle Naruto." He couldn't make as many shadow clones as Naruto, and he didn't have the practice to hold them for as long as the blonde could, but he could maintain a single clone for at least twelve solid hours. That would be plenty of time for him to look after Iruka. The man obviously needed it, and Kakashi was NOT about to neglect the person carrying his child. The more he thought about it, the prouder and more possessive he felt about his Chuunin.

He quickly ran through the seals for a shadow clone, and then summoned his pack of nin dogs. It didn't take them long to pick up the trail. When they led his clone straight to Sai's apartment, and promptly lost the scent, Clone Kakashi knew immediately what must have happened. He could just picture the emo young artist and the blond Sannin soaring away on one of Sai's painted chakra eagles.

Shit. Tsunade was going to have both their asses for leaving Konoha. Probably Original Kakashi's and Iruka's asses too. Sasuke's ass was thoroughly doomed. Tsunade was most likely going to beat the shit out of the moody Sannin for letting Naruto out of his sight in his condition. Sigh. It was going to be a LONG night, for the clone. He just wished he could've spent it curled up with Iruka like his Original.

(I am a super page break. I can fly.)

Naruto tiredly watched the scenery far below rush past. For the first few hours there were trees, but they eventually thinned out. For a short while there was scrubland, brush, and grassy knolls. After that, there was a sand, and deep, rich orange colour. Naruto smiled at the colour. It had been ages since he last visited the Kazekage. He was looking forward to seeing his old friend again. He couldn't wait to tell him all about the latest gossip from Konoha. He was a little less enthusiastic about the thought of telling him about the baby, but he wanted to tell him. He needed an objective perspective. Gaara was a quiet man, like Sasuke. Maybe he could tell Naruto what to do about the moody bastard.

Sai watched his friend out of the corner of his eye. He'd gotten a bit better at recognising, feeling, and expressing emotions in the last few years, but he was still by no means normal. When Naruto had come to him shortly before midnight, and requested that Sai fly him to Suna, he'd been concerned. Naruto seemed upset, and a little lost. Sai had heard the rumours. Neji had seen the blond move in with Iruka. Several of the Genin 16 had spotted Sasuke wandering about the village looking even moodier than usual. Naruto and Sasuke had both been spotted entering the hospital with Tsunade.

Something was most definitely going on, but Naruto didn't seem to want to talk about it with him. That was fine by Sai. He probably wouldn't know what to say to his friend anyway. So, instead, he decided to help his friend by doing what little he was capable of. If Naruto thought Sabaku no Gaara could help him, then Sai would gladly fly him to Suna. It was the quickest, safest way to travel, and Suna was Konoha's closest ally. Naruto would be safe there, Sai would see to that. He just hoped there was nothing wrong with his friend's health. He seemed to be a bit less tan than usual, and his eyes were still sad.

Within half a day, they reached Suna. Sai was a bit tired from the flight, but not much. His eagle was one of his most-used jutsus. He had plenty of practice with cross-country flights. They landed softly on top of the Kazekage's tower. Sai had visited Suna several times before, so the local shinobi recognised his eagle, and knew he was an ally. They were greeted by a courteous Jounin, who offered to take them to the nearest inn. Before Naruto could tell the man that he was there to see Gaara, the young Kazekage came into view, emerging from a small sand tornado.

"Naruto, I heard you were in town. What brings you to Suna?" Naruto pasted on a shaky smile to greet the redhead, and rubbed the back of his neck in sheer force of habit. "Yo, Gaara! I'm here to visit you. I know you're probably busy, being the Kazekage and all, so I'm sorry to bug you, but I was hoping you had time for a chat sometime soon." Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly. He could tell something was very wrong. "Baki, clear my schedule for tomorrow morning. I have an emergency meeting with a representative of Konoha. Kankurou, show these two gentlemen to my Guest Quarters. They'll be spending the night here."

Baki nodded his acknowledgement before vanishing. Kankurou stepped out from the shadows where he'd been sent by Gaara's sand as the Kazekage had arrived, and nodded as Baki had, before politely showing Sai and Naruto to the rooms they'd be staying in for the night. They weren't particularly lavish, nobody in Suna lived in the degree of luxury experienced by old, powerful clans such as Konoha's Uchihas and Hyuugas, but the beds were large and very comfortable. Besides, Naruto had always been uncomfortable in very formal settings. In expensive houses he always felt like a dog which had to keep remembering not to knock anything over with his tail. Like he was an accident waiting to happen.

The next morning Kankurou came to wake them up, but they were both already awake and dressed for the day. As an ex-Root member, Sai was used to being an early riser. Naruto just had trouble sleeping. He spent the whole night thinking about the conversation he wanted to have with Gaara. Sai elected to stay behind in the guest quarters, he didn't want to get in the way of the private conversation which he knew Naruto wanted to have with Gaara.

Gaara was waiting for the blonde not in his office, but in his kitchen. A light breakfast had been set out, as well as some tea. Naruto was relieved to see that it was all light savoury food, and the tea was soothing Jasmine. His morning sickness had kicked in not long after moving in with Iruka, probably because Iruka's own morning sickness had started weeks ago, and the sounds of him hurling into his toilet were usually all it took to trigger Naruto. He tried to put the memories out of his mind when his stomach gave a lazy flop. The last thing he needed was to throw up in the Kazekage's kitchen. It certainly wouldn't win him any favours for when he was Hokage someday.

Gaara watched his friend with a worried expression. The Sannin was being as quiet as he'd been back in Iron Country, and he was looking pale and tired. He had bags under his eyes. He looked nothing like his usual exuberant self. What worried him the most, however, was that Sasuke wasn't in Suna with him. He could remember their visit a few weeks back. They'd been on their way home from their tour of the Five Nations. Naruto had seemed particularly excited about something, back then. Sasuke had been his usual possessive self, but he'd also seemed slightly apprehensive. Just enough for a fellow emotion-suppressor to pick up on.

Watching Naruto now, looking miserable and a little unhealthy, and with Sasuke gone from his side… It was enough to make him seriously consider snapping the Uchiha's neck the next time he saw him. Neither young man said a word as they ate. Naruto ate slowly, so Gaara was finished a few minutes before him. He waited patiently in silence. He wasn't going to push or rush his friend. He looked like he'd been through quite enough already.

When Naruto was finished eating, he sat at Gaara's kitchen table, staring at his empty plate. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his lips. Where was he supposed to begin? What did he even want to say? How could Gaara help him when his life was so thoroughly messed up at the moment? He gritted his teeth. He couldn't just come out and say, 'Oh hey, Sasuke left me because I got pregnant'.

The bastard hadn't even had the decency to officially leave him yet, he was still keeping him hanging on a string while he 'thought things through'. And Tsunade might kill him for revealing his pregnancy. But, dammit, he really needed somebody to talk to. He couldn't keep it to himself anymore. It was too much for him to deal with on his own, and somehow he didn't think anybody except Gaara would be able to understand right now.