Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A/N: I'm loving the way this story is unfolding, and I'm loving even more the reviews I'm getting.

Anyway, here's chapter 14! .

It was Sakura Haruno's turn to watch Naruto. At the moment, Naruto was sleeping, and Sakura was sitting in the kitchen of the Uchiha mansion, drinking coffee. Sasuke had given his permission for them to use the mansion freely, so that Naruto would not have to be moved at this point in his pregnancy. Sakura had a headache, and for the thousandth time that day she wondered, why had Sasuke left? He had informed Kakashi-sensei of something, something important, she was sure, but the silver haired man wouldn't speak a word about it. Sakura sighed heavily, and took another big gulp.

She was glad Naruto was sleeping. Not because she didn't like talking with him, but for another reason.

Naruto had become... somewhat like an empty shell in the days of Sasuke's absence. It had been two weeks already, with no word from the Uchiha who had so abruptly left, promising a short return. Naruto was five months pregnant now, and with twins, according to Tsunade. Despite the woman being so busy, she had watched over Naruto herself for three full days before handing the boy back into the oh-so capable hands of Sakura.

Sakura did not know how to handle this. She had been the one watching him for a week and a half already, only a week and a half,f but already she wanted to kill Sasuke for what he'd done. She knew that whatever it was he had to do must have seemed gravely important at the time, but didn't he realize how much strain this was putting on Naruto? Naruto missed Sasuke. He missed Sasuke so much that it pained Sakura's heart so deeply.

It hurt to watch Naruto. Everyday without any news, he wasted away a little more. He was obedient enough; he took his medicine without a fight, and ate when prompted, but he hardly slept, and whenever he did it was only because he had cried himself into exhaustion. Whenever Naruto cried was the only time he ever showed any emotion at all anymore; otherwise he'd just be sitting around, staring off into space, or at the floor most of the time. Sakura desperately wished that she could do something for the boy, but she hardly knew what.

She sighed again, and stood to get a refill.

Sakura had been surprised, but relieved, earlier that day when Naruto had suggested taking a nap. He had been sleeping for about three hours already, and Sakura had been checking up on him every thirty minutes or so. It was about time to check up on him again, she thought.

Sakura took her coffee with her as she crossed the huge mansion. Thankfully, Naruto's room was not so far away from the kitchen, and it was on the first floor so as to save him the pains of walking up and down stairs everyday. When she came to his room, the door was slightly open, as she had left it, and she pushed lightly against it. The door swung open a few inches, creaking loudly, but the sleeping Naruto did not stir.

Suddenly Sakura sensed that something was wrong. With a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, an idea - more like a suspicion - slowly formed in her mind. She crossed the short distance to the bed, and threw back the sheets. In Naruto's place was a large stuffed dummy with a big belly and black crosses for eyes, it's tongue lolling out of it's mouth. Sakura's coffee cup fell to the floor with a splash and a clatter. By the time the first drop hit the floor, Sakura Haruno was already long gone.

Naruto was five months pregnant, and stressed as hell. He had brought no food, no money, and he didn't have his medicine either. But still, he was determined. After a while of thinking long and hard about it, his Naruto way of thinking had finally overcome his female way of thinking. Sadness had turned into anger, anger had turned into determination. And even though Naruto loved Sasuke very much, even though Naruto would do anything for Sasuke, he had every intention of skinning Sasuke alive the first chance he got.

That pigheaded Uchiha knew very well that he could not just run off and leave Naruto. That boy had known that he could not simply abandon him, at least not until the babies were born. But then, on the very day that they learned that Naruto was not having one, but two babies, and just after Sasuke had gotten done thrashing about on the floor in the midst of a seizure, suddenly that stupid ass decided to just jump up and leave!

The whole concept absolutely disgusted Naruto. And it was that disgust that had led him to this conclusion. He would find that bastard if it was the last thing he'd ever do! And if Sasuke weren't already dead by then, he'd kill him himself. Then he'd drag the body back to Konoha, and he'd hang it up somewhere nice and noticeable for the whole village to see. Then he'd take over the Uchiha mansion, and he'd have the babies his damn self. If Sasuke didn't want to be a responsible father for their babies, that was just fine with him! Naruto never wanted to see him again anyway.

The only problem was... actually, the only problems were, well... Naruto was five months pregnant, stressed as hell, with no food, no money, and no medicine. He wasn't very far past the walls of Konoha yet, and he was already exhausted. He wondered how long it would take Sakura to realize that he was gone. He had atually been there the first two times she had come to check up on him, but he had been far from sleep. It had taken a full hour and a half of lying there in bed like that for him to come to the conclusion that he would have to hunt down the Uchiha himself. The first thing he was going to do when he saw Sasuke was cut off his balls and hang them on a tree!

Naruto was determined, and he would find Sasuke.

Tsunade was up to her ears in papers to read, missions to assign, and complaints from locals. Everybody was going crazy these days! Ever since the attempted murder on "Ayako-chan's" life, Konoha had become total chaos. Tsunade didn't have enough time on her hands; there simply were not enough hours in the day for her to do her job and be human at the same time. Her life had been taken over by the role of Hokage. She hardly had time to sleep; she got maybe an hour or so every other night, which was bad enough. Also, she could never remember to eat; in the past month or however long it had been - she seemed to have lost track of time, as well - Tsunade had become accustomed to the feel of hunger. Sometimes, someone would think of her and bring her something to eat, but she was so busy that she never really saw who they were or ever even thanked them for it.

Then, one day, word reached her that Sasuke Uchiha had left the village, leaving behind a very pregnant and very unhappy Naruto Uzumaki. Tsunade did not have time for this, but Naruto's nerves were already practically shot from the pregnancy, and with this added on top of that, he was bound to break. Tsunade took three days, three full days, out of her schedule to watch over him, to care for him, to make sure that he was eating and sleeping well, and taking his medicine when he should, but then she was forced to come back to work. In those three days, the world had shrieked at her for her absence, and she had had no desire whatsoever to return to that world of chaos.

She had, in the end, left the poor pregnant boy in the hands of Sakura Haruno. Tsunade knew the girl quite well, and she knew that Sakura was more than capable of handling Naruto. Even with her busy schedule, Tsunade had asked for a full day-to-day report on how Naruto was doing. The boy had been, in fact, quite upset, to say the least. In the two weeks since Sasuke's departure, and with no word from the Uchiha, Naruto had begun to waste away. Tsunade worried - that is, in the time she had free to worry. So much strain on Naruto could push him into premature labor.

However, she was sure that Sakura could handle him.

It was one day, while musing the situation, that word reached her that Naruto Uzumaki had also fled Konoha. "That idiot!" Tsunade swore.

She immediately sent for every available ninja in the village.

Sakura had assigned herself a search team, and even though she had not formally gained the Hokage's consent, she was sure that Tsunade would approve. Once word had spread - and word spread quickly in the village of Konoha - she gained quite a considerably large team, and had had to split it into groups of three. With Sakura was Hinata and Tenten. Together, they explored to the north of Konoha. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were searching to the south, Kiba, Rock Lee, and even Might Guy - surprisingly - were to the east, and finally to the west were Neji, Kakashi, and Iruka. Sakura had been astonished at such a turnout, but she would accept any help she could get. Also, with Kakashi and Guy's help, they were able to order that no one be let out of Konoha. They had considered first consulting with the Hokage before giving such a command, but Kakashi claimed that they didn't have the time. It would take at least a full 24 hours to gain an audience with Tsunade, and even longer to send word to her that she needed to send out such an order and why.

Though Kakashi and others who had been her mentors at one point or another in the past were with them, Guy, Kakashi, and Iruka all allowed Sakura to take charge of the situation. They were her team now. She was the one who had been watching over Naruto at the time of his escape, he was her responsibility; it was her job to find him.

Sakura hoped that Tsunade-sama would not be too vexed with her later for giving orders without the Hokage's permission, but for now, it was her own personal mission to find Naruto and bring him home. Otherwise, he might not survive. Sakura did not know how long he had been gone by the time she had realized it, but she was sure, however, that he was already hours ahead of her, and that gave him the advantage despite being pregnant as he was. Her team didn't have much time...

"This is it?" Tsunade demanded angrily, glaring at the few who had come to her office. "Where are Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy with his student Rock Lee, and Iruka Umino? Where on earth is Sakura? I know that there were more of you in Konoha, now where are they?"

One of the Jonin took a step closer to her desk. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama, for being the bearer of bad news, but I've heard tell that Sakura Haruno was gathering a small team just outside of Konoha about an hour or so ago. Those you speak of went with her."

Tsunade, taken aback by the news, took a moment to consider it. Sakura would do something like that wouldn't she? the Hokage mused. Of course, I was the one who had assigned her to watch over Naruto. She'd almost see it as a direct order from the Hokage to look for him wouldn't she? The woman smirked. "Alright, well I see that's been taken care of for me. The rest of you, I want you to scour the entire village for any sign of Naruto Uzumaki. Some of you may know of him as Ayako. Blonde, pretty, and pregnant, you know who I'm talking about." Grunts and nods of agreement went around; they had each heard of the Kyuubi boy's peculiar condition.

Just then there came a knock at the door, and a young man rushed inside. He bowed awkwardly to Tsunade, and spoke. "Ah... Hokage-sama, something has happened that I thought you might want to be informed of. Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy have given strict orders not to let anyone out of Konoha. Some of the villagers are getting quite upset."

Tsunade looked gravely at the young boy for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. Finally she nodded and said, "Thank you." The tone of her voice left no room to doubt that it was a dismissal. The boy left.

It was only after he had left that Tsunade smirked in amusement. She had been about to give that very order herself. "Clever girl," she commented. Then she turned back to the ninja standing before her, and her voice took on a commanding tone. "You have your orders. Go!"

Naruto was just about to enter the next village when they found him, and he was almost glad for it anyway. Naruto had never been so exhausted in his life - or at least, so it seemed. His legs wouldn't move, his back hurt, and his feet already had a dozen blisters on them. Naruto remembered a time when he could have crossed the continent in just a few days and not once get as tired as this. Now it felt as though he were running with no chakra, no strength or energy left of any kind. He almost just wanted to lay down and die. Weariness had finally overcome the sense of determination to find Sasuke. The Uchiha was in perfect condition, and here Naruto was an absolute wreck. There was no way he stood a chance at finding him.

He was just about to lay down in the middle of the road and cry when suddenly Kakashi-sensei was there. It wasn't long before the others showed up as well. Sakura was the angriest. "Naruto Uzumaki," she said in a voice of steel. "Exactly what do you think you are doing?" Naruto took note of the fact that she was not being as hard on him as she normally might be. He wondered if he looked as hopeless as he felt.

On the verge of tears already, Naruto gave a heavy sigh. "I just wanted to find Sasuke," he told her. His eyes filled, and he silently cursed himself. He did not want to cry. She had seen him cry enough already, and it was so embarrassing. Damn that Uchiha for knocking him up and then leaving him. Damn him.

Naruto's whole body was shaking, despite his efforts to get his emotions under control. He cleared his throat, but the tears spilled over, and he whimpered. If Sasuke could see him now, he would laugh. That was when Sakura took him into her arms. "It'll be alright, Naruto," she said quietly. "I'm sure that Sasuke will come home to you soon."

And since in Sakura's shoulder he could hide his face, Naruto silently let the tears fall.