Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.

So good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news first. I know that I was living in my car to begin with to just get some space from my parents, but now they've completely disowned me so I'm basically my boyfriend's complete responsibility. However, the good that comes out of this is that him and I and our good friend Nick are all going to move into an apartment together! We've been looking around and we have an appointment to go look at some of the units available at a complex tomorrow afternoon :) I'm hoping Blake likes it enough to sign a lease so we can get this show on the road. I'm so ready to have a place I can call "home" again. For the time being we're living at his parent's house. He sleeps in the basement and I sleep upstairs in the guest room, but that's exactly it. I can't stay there even when I could have the basement, because I've gotten locked out of the house several times, I'm living over the top of his five other siblings that are around my age, and it's just not ok with me. Besides if I live with Nick and Blake I'll be NEEDED not just wanted. I can cook and clean, which neither of them can do unless poked and prodded to do so. And I wouldn't mind cleaning for them since they're footing the rent, really. I know I have a job, but the security of it is shaky because I was hired under the premise I was temporary, and on top of that I don't make nearly as much as the two of them anyway.

In short, I hope to have some kind of residence relatively soon and I'll be sure to let you guys know how it works out!

"What's this one again?" Sakura asked frustrated, pointing to a katakana letter on her chart.

Sasuke got up from his desk and walked to the table where Sakura was sitting and explained them all again then gave her a practice sheet to write them out on. There was even a small reading section where she had to answer questions at the bottom.

When she was finally done, she slammed her face on the table then groaned, "Senseeeei"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got up once again and took the worksheet to look it over. He frowned then circled a few things and gave it back.

"You used some wrong particles. That statement isn't meant to be soft spoken and the other there's no possessive relationship requiring the use of 'no'."

Sakura just groaned again as she slid off the table and onto the floor and whined, "This is so hard!… It's not fair!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her childish behavior then told her to get some fresh air or something while he finished his own work. He had to read a book then write a report on it for a winter assignment before entering his classes. New Years was the day after tomorrow and he wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to get Sakura. He knew it had to be something meaningful, but he wasn't sure.

"Sakura!" he heard someone shout after a loud thud.

Sasuke immediately jumped up from his desk and rushed to the top of the stairs where he saw Sakura at the bottom. Shisui was already kneeling next to her and Sasuke was quickly bustling down the stairs. He looked over at Shisui with somewhat wide eyes before looking back at the pinkette lying on the ground.

"She just passed out at the bottom few steps and fell. Even though it wasn't from the top, I think she needs to go to a doctor."

Sasuke just nodded and picked Sakura up and piggy backed her. She became conscious again before he left the house, but Shisui had to tell him where the clinic was a few miles away. He offered to drive them, but Sasuke said that he could walk just fine and he'd call if they needed a ride home. It was in the middle of the afternoon when they walked outside. Even though Sakura wasn't ecstatic about going to the doctor, she liked how her breath was visibly touching the back of Sasuke's neck, and how when a bird perched on a nearby tree branch, the snow fell from it. It was the simple things that kept her from worrying too much about her current situation.

"Uchiha" a nurse called into the lobby causing a few heads to turn at the name.

Sasuke quickly ushered Sakura up with him and let her walk into the back room herself on her own two feet. She sat on the patient bed while Sasuke sat in a nearby chair. The nurse took a seat on a rolling stool and flipped through a few sheets on a clipboard while asking questions. Eventually she finished inquiring the status of the patient and took the insurance card and I.D. from Sasuke to photocopy into the hospital records before she left. She came back a few moments later to return the cards and told them it would be a few minutes before the doctor made his way around to their door.

"Sasuke… what's wrong with me?" Sakura hesitantly asked while she looked despondently at the palms of her hands.

Sasuke didn't move from his seat and just moved his eyes from the wall in front of him to his pink haired wife. He shrugged, unable to speak what was on his mind. He knew it had something to do with fatigue, however she slept more than she did anything else. So what could cause her to be so tired? He wasn't sure.

"Hello" the man in the lab coat greeted.

Sasuke shook hands with the man without standing up as he made his way over to stand in front of Sakura. He wasn't used to interacting with other doctors outside of Tsunade, so he kept silent and observed as he watched the man ask Sakura all the questions. Sasuke felt no compelling need to answer them for her. After the doctor had asked a few more detailed questions compared to what the nurse had asked, he said that he would need to take a very small blood sample to test for a few things and would present the narrowed down pool to them when he discovered what he was looking for. The fact that the man didn't even want to present any possible options made Sasuke that much more nervous. A nurse came in with a small metal tray with and IV insert and a few glass tubes with rubber tops to take the blood. Unflinching as the needle went under her skin, Sakura looked away as the blood was drawn from her vain.

The doctor then came in almost an hour later with a file folder and sat on a stool then asked, "Would you like the bad news or good news first?"

Sasuke had no preference and looked over at Sakura, who just huffed, "Good news first, please."

"Congratulations on your conception."

Sakura nearly fell off the bed in confusion while Sasuke just twitched.

"What?" She asked shocked.

She and Sasuke had only been intimate once or twice back at the house when she was with him. How could that possibly have been enough to get her pregnant? She had been so stressed with moving and suddenly being married by legal contract out of nowhere, that she hadn't even bothered to check her cycle to realize she was several weeks late. She didn't even bother opening her mouth to ask how far along she was.

"Eight weeks" the doctor answered her, "And you have an important decision to make, so here comes the bad news. It's an ectopic pregnancy."

Sasuke felt his eyes widen. The shock of Sakura being pregnant was surprise enough, but to have to make a detrimental decision on something like this when they were so unprepared for it to begin with. Without knowing what to do, Sasuke just ran a hand over his face as he huffed.

"I would like to discuss this with my wife further before we make a decision. When can we come back?"

"How does three days sound? She's already eight weeks, so if you take too long, there's no turning back, and the process will become more risky and detrimental to her health."

Sasuke nodded as they headed out of the patient room and down a hall to the receptionists desk to pay the bill for the visit as well as pick up and appointment card to be there in three days.

Sakura knew enough Japanese to understand the doctor and the nurse just fine. She was fluent in spoken Japanese, but she was completely illiterate when it came to reading, so she couldn't read any of the pamphlets the doctor had given her, and Sasuke was glad she couldn't. Sakura tried for hours after they got back to read them, but in a bout of frustration she threw them across the room then sat on the floor with her arms crossed, angry, and facing the window.

"Sasuke?" she finally sighed.

"Hn."

Sasuke had been leaning against the cabinets, sitting on the floor as well. He couldn't focus on his book, he couldn't even think strait. The burden that was placed on his shoulders was plaguing his mind. All he had done was sit there in silent contemplation while watching Sakura attempt to read the pamphlets on pregnancy and other complications that went along with it.

"What's an ectopic pregnancy?"

Sasuke ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He knew it was only a matter of time before she asked, but he was hoping she would let it go just for tonight, so he could get his bearings.

"It means the baby isn't in your uterus, it's in your fallopian tubes."

Sakura looked down at her abdomen and put her hands on it and asked, "Is that why I'm like this?"

"Hn."

"Fallopian tubes make you tired?"

Sasuke just gave her a face of utter confusion as he asked, "Do you understand your own anatomy, Sakura?"

"I know that once a month I bleed."

"Do you know why?"

"So I don't have a baby."

"Because you don't have a baby."

"So now…"

"You aren't bleeding, because you do have one. Did Itachi never tell you about any of this?"

"No…"

Sasuke just huffed in agitation as he grabbed a pen off the desk near where he was and he walked over to her.

"Lye down" he told her as he plopped down next to her on the floor.

Sakura compliantly lied on her back and looked up at him as he lifted the hem of her shirt up a little and her shorts down just a fraction. Sakura blushed from the gesture and almost wanted to sit up and break away from it.

"I'm just trying to show you how your body works, calm down."

Sakura just took a deep breath as her cheeks continued to be stained crimson. Sasuke drew on her abdomen to show her where her uterus was, her fallopian tubes, her ovaries, how the eggs were released and carried. By the time he was finished there was an extensive diagram of her gynecological network and it's cycles. He gave her an entire female anatomy class in one fifteen minute sitting. He couldn't even fathom why a girl her age who was experiencing puberty would go so long without asking questions, and without being told any of the answers. After Sasuke was done he stood up and put the pen on the desk and was about to walk out of the room when Sakura dropped another bomb on him.

"What's going to happen to the baby if he's not where he's supposed to be?"

Sasuke couldn't even answer her like he wanted to. He had to cover his face with one of his hands to hide his tears as he walked out of the room. The last person he wanted to show weakness in front of was her. Most would consider it an ego issue, but Sasuke wanted Sakura to see him as her strong pillar, the person she could always lean on. Why would she lean on a pillar if it looked like it was breaking apart? And that's exactly what Sasuke felt like. He was crumbling. He stepped into some snow boots and put on a jacket before he went out into the dark streets and walked the sidewalks. He needed to be alone for a while.

"This isn't how I wanted to spend New Years Eve" Sasuke grumbled, "But we have to make a decision. Do you know what an abortion is?"

Sakura instinctively grabbed her abdomen and looked crestfallenly at Sasuke. At that point he felt like he really didn't need to clarify. He talked with Sakura about the process, the repercussions, and why it needed to be done. Sakura understood that if she didn't the baby would just keep growing and eventually burst her fallopian tube and die while making her incredibly ill and injured. It was a lose-lose situation. Screw yourself over because of your pride not to kill your unborn child, or possibly spare your own life by sacrificing theirs.

"It's not an easy decision, Sakura. I've thought long and hard about this. If there were a way a to keep it, I would. Money is no object."

Sakura just crawled around the kotatsu table to where Sasuke was sitting and laid her head on his lap as she cried, "It's not fair…" over and over while her salty tears soaked the table's quilt and his lap.

Itachi was standing in the doorway as he watched. He wanted to give them some indication that he was right there, but he knew that wouldn't be the best course of action due to the situation. Sakura was currently emotionally unstable, and Itachi didn't have any idea why, but he knew he would eventually find out. Sasuke had a way of dealing with things first and making sure the mess is cleaned up before coming clean about creating it in the first place.

"Right this way" a nurse guided them to a room in the back, "The doctor will be in to start the procedure shortly."

The same woman set down a hospital gown on the bed then told her, "Please take off everything, but you may keep your bra on, and put on this gown. When the doctor comes in he'll ask you to put your feet in the stirrups. I promise it won't be painful."

The nurse was trying to be comforting, sensing Sakura's discomfort. However the pinkette didn't feel the least bit placated by her words.

"Yeah right," she grumbled under her breath, "Maybe not physically painful..."

Sasuke just gave her a weary glance before he turned around so she could change into the hospital gown. Sakura then sat on the examination table and turned crimson red.

"This is humiliating" she whimpered, raising one hand to cover her face.

When she looked at the stirrups the realization hit her that she was going to have to spread her legs for another man. Even though it was strictly medical and professional, it didn't take away the embarrassment. Eventually Sakura heard a tap on the door and the doctor came in with two nurses behind him, rolling a tray of supplies and medical equipment. They gently placed her legs in the stirrups and began. Sasuke pulled up a chair next to Sakura and pulled the stray hairs from her face as he kept her looking into his eyes. He couldn't stop her from crying and it made him feel horrible, but he could at least keep part of her attention. When the procedure was done the doctor checked all of her vitals and ordered follow-up bloodwork to be done in a few weeks to make sure her hormones returned to normal and it was successful. When they walked out of the clinic they started on their few mile trudge to the rail station to head home. But in the middle of the station plaza, Sakura collapsed onto the snow. Sasuke bent down to see what was the matter when he saw the way her back was shaking. She was sobbing.

"Sakura," he chastised her softly, "This isn't the place for that."

"Happy New Years" he heard her softly cry into the snow.

After those words left her mouth, fireworks shot up into the city's sky. Sasuke wished that Sakura would pick her face up out of the snow to see them. However, he knew he wasn't going to convince her to stop, so he pulled her to the side away from the crowded square to let her cry it out a little as he held her close and watched the sparkling sky. The fireworks faded into the night sky as Sakura's tears froze to her cheeks. People passing by gave a few questioning looks, but Sasuke knew their judgmental assumptions didn't mean anything to her, or him for that matter. When Sakura finally did look up, she saw a blond girl standing directly in front of her.

The girl stared long and hard into her eyes before saying, "Stop that. You're much too beautiful to be crying. It doesn't suit you. Next time I see you, you better be smiling."

The strange girl pulled a handkerchief out of her purse and handed it to Sakura, "I'm not sure how well it will work on frozen tears, but you're welcome to try."

Sakura bowed and took the cloth with both hands before bringing it up to her face. The girl looked at Sasuke and bowed slightly before being on her way. He was stunned a little that someone passing by would bother to show any concern beyond a look, but her charity didn't go unnoticed by Sakura. The pinkette was grateful to cry into a nice warm cloth instead of her cold hands.

"Any idea when she'll come out?" Shisui asked as he knocked on her and Sasuke's bedroom door.

The raven-haired boy hadn't explained the situation to anyone. They were all clueless as to why Sakura had kept herself locked in the room for the past three days. He just shrugged then walked off down the stairs to the living room.

"Postpartum?" Itachi asked as he sat down on the sofa next to Sasuke, who was reading a book.

Sasuke quirked a brow at his older brother then groaned, "I should have known you would figure it out."

"Now do you understand the method behind my madness? Having you two marry?"

"There's no way you could have known."

"No, but the direction you two were headed, it was bound to land there."

Sasuke was at least thankful that what had transpired wasn't frowned upon considering they were a married couple, however young they might be. But he wasn't happy of the pressure and stress it was giving both of them.

"Mother would've liked a grandchild."

Sasuke turned and glared at his brother, "Are you trying to make me feel like shit?"

Itachi shook his head then answered, "I'm just hoping you'll think ahead next time."

"I used a condom."

"Well I hope this proves how inefficient that was, and the worst part is who had to suffer for it."

Sasuke stormed out of the room and went into his and Sakura's room upstairs. He didn't bother saying anything to her as he shuffled through the dresser drawers for a fresh pair of boxers and pajamas pants. She didn't even acknowledge him when he walked in. She was too busy looking out the window at the clouded-over sky. She was hoping to see stars, but it became evident that none would be visible through the sheet of gray looming over their neighborhood. Silently, Sasuke slipped into his futon and tried to sleep, but he was quietly waiting for Sakura to come down from the windowsill. It wasn't until midnight that she came down, but she just sat on her futon, she didn't even lye down for several minutes. When she finally did rest her head on her pillow, it was accompanied by a symphony of tears. Sasuke felt a pang in his chest as he listened to her quiet sobs. After a few minutes he sat up and moved over a foot to where Sakura was lying beside him and gently rested his hand on her cheeks until her sobbing subsided. When she had finally quelled down to whimpers here and there, Sasuke laid down beside her and fell asleep despite having no blankets to keep him warm.

When Sasuke awoke that morning he not only found the futon half under him empty, but the quilt from his own was draped over him. When he sat up he saw that Sakura was back at the window. He just sighed as he slowly rose to his feet and walked over to her.

"What's so interesting outside?"

"Anything that doesn't remind me of her is good enough for me."

"Her?" Sasuke asked confused.

"Her. Sayuri."

After a name was thrown out, Sasuke got the gist of what Sakura was aiming at.

"You named her?"

"Of course. I have to put a name to the face I'll never see."

That got Sasuke right where it hurt. It didn't just knock the proverbial wind out of him, but it also increased his guilt. He wasn't sure how he was going to shake all of this off if Sakura kept piling it on like this.

"I'm making breakfast, anything you want?"

When he didn't get an answer from the pinkette he just huffed, "Rice and Miso it is..."

Sasuke went down to the kitchen and he thought Sakura might come down a few moments later, but she didn't. He huffed and walked back up the stairs. He hated seeing her so depressed, even though he understood why. It was even worse when understanding why. It made him feel helpless to help her. He approached her once again from where she hadn't moved.

"You have to eat something."

"No, I don't."

The raven-haired man clenched his jaw at Sakura's stubbornness. Sasuke usually didn't care too much when she was being stubborn, but she was already becoming as thin as a rail. When he finally got a good look at her face in the bright sunlight he saw just how hollow her features had become from lack of nourishment.

"Please," He softly grunted, "You look like you're withering away."

"Maybe it's because I am."

"Don't talk like that. Just because you feel like your withering on the inside doesn't mean you have to do that to the outside of your body as well."

"So you only care about my body? You don't care about my feelings?"

"Of course I care about all of you. But what feelings are there going to be if you starve yourself to death?"

Sakura knew he had a point even though she was being her stubborn self. She slowly removed herself from her perch by the window and went downstairs to the kitchen. She sat at the table and looked at the food in front of her. None of it looked particularly appetizing, especially since it was just plain miso soup and rice. She hadn't eaten for so long that she didn't feel hungry. However Sakura knew she needed to eat something for Sasuke's sake and to calm his nerves. She felt guilty after she started to realize how much stress she was causing him. School started for him in a few days, and hers was in a little less than a week. Luckily since she was a transfer student she didn't have any assignments due like he did, but she still needed to take the JLPT to be accepted to the school, and she'd been severely neglecting her learning the past few days.

"Sasuke…" she whispered, "Do you think we could pick up the kanji where we left off?"

Sasuke looked up a little pleasantly surprised at her conversation topic. It was the first subject that wasn't inherently depressing or purposely meant to guilt-trip him. Sasuke nodded as he sipped his miso soup and watched her intently. She seemed to be a little better already.

To Be Continued...

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