New chapter!

Here's the info, readers. I have lost vision in my right eye. I have been in and out of the hospital for weeks doing tests to figure out what's wrong. I have taken an MRI and it showed that I have inflammation of the optic nerve and my brain. I have more hospital work to be done, plus IV drips and medication. Nothing will be updated until I am better, and for that I am sorry. This chapter is shorter than normal for that reason. It's hard to type because seeing is difficult, but I wanted to move the story on a little more for you all. I hope this is enough for a while.

Please forgive any typos. Typing, as you read above, is hard at the moment, and i am still looking for a beta. None of the ones I have contacted have contacted me back. Oh well...

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own. I can't afford to own, especially not now. Damn bills...

Naruto's key's jingled in the lock of his apartment door. They hardly ever worked. He'd get his key halfway into the doorknob lock, then they'd get stuck and Naruto would have to slam his body against the door while he tried to force the key in. Naruto gripped the key and pulled it out of the lock. He shoved it back in as hard as he could and finally managed to open his door. He looked to his key as he sat down to remove his shoes. It was curved and bent from the force. He sighed and made a mental note to get it replaced. This always happened a few months after the last keys would break.

Sakura looked around the small apartment with a look of slight disgust on her face. Her nose wrinkled and her eyes narrowed.

"You need to clean up in here," she sniffed.

Naruto shrugged. He lived alone; he never felt the need to clean up. It didn't bother him any that his place was a total pigsty. He looked at the various junk littering his floor: old bowls, dirty laundry, scrolls that had not been re-rolled, and something in the corner made of paper that vaguely resembled a paper sculptured crocodile. Naruto didn't want to touch it. Sai had given it to him and he wasn't sure what it would do to him, if anything at all.

Sakura used her index finger and thumb to pick up a dirty sock from the floor. Her face curled into a look of utter disgust and moved the offending article of clothing farther away from herself, then dropped in like a hot potato.

"Do I need to call a maid for you?" She asked. "Every time I come here, it just gets more and more filthy."

"Did you come here to criticize my place, or show me something?" Naruto grumped.

"I did come to share something, regardless of my statements a few minutes before," she replied. "I think it's big, and I never expected it."

Sakura took out a large folder from her own pack and laid it down on a clean part of Naruto's kitchen table. She took out the top paper and tapped it gently on the table to shake it out.

"I'll read it to you," she said calmly.

June 1st: Mrs. Uchiha came in today without an appointment complaining of stomach issues. Gave a routine exam, and did not find that it was related to her pregnancy. This second pregnancy is more high risk than her first, but no evidence shown from tests suggests that there is any major problem. I have put her on mandatory bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.

July 21st: Mrs. Uchiha's labor began three weeks earlier than predicted. The contractions are still spaced rather far apart, but leaving her like this with the issues this pregnancy has given her would be very unprofessional for me. I have sent her son out to spend the night with family friends. I see no need to scare the poor boy with his mother's labor pains.

July 22nd: Second day of labor. Mrs. Uchiha's health seems to be fading, and the labor, in most healthy cases, should have ended by now. I fear the baby is turned in the wrong position, but since this is a home birth, I have no access to any of my equipment.

July 23rd: Turned the baby into the correct birthing position, only to find that the umbilical cord has wrapped itself around the baby's throat. Trying to untangle it without causing any further damage.

July 23rd, cont: The baby was born this evening perfectly healthy, despite the problems given with the birth. Baby is Male, twenty inches long, and seven pounds. All signs point to the fact that he is healthy.

"God," Naruto sighed. "I didn't know his mother was having issues with him."

"He turned out alright in the end, didn't he?" Sakura said.

"I suppose," Naruto mumbled. "What else does it say?"

Sakura flipped through the large stack of papers. He thumb rubbed up against the edges of the paper, as if she were afraid to read further.

"I found a note in here from an ANBU," she said distantly. "It was written a couple hours after the Uchiha massacre. I'm not sure I want to read it, it seems very personal."

"You read it!" Naruto said outraged. "How come you get to know and I don't?"

"I never said I wouldn't tell you!" Sakura yelled. "All I said was that this is very sensitive information!"

"What did that ANBU write that was so upsetting to you?"

Sakura picked up the paper, smoothed it out, and told him.

"Did you know that when Itachi killed the clan, his mother was pregnant?" Sakura said slowly.

"I… no, I didn't know."

"No one did until the report came out," Sakura said. "This pregnancy was even more high risk than Sasuke's."

"So the ANBU found her dead body, analyzed it, and found out she was pregnant?" Naruto asked.

"Not quite," Sakura said. "This is where it gets strange. In the autopsy, they found that Mrs. Uchiha had pregnancy hormones in her system, but they couldn't find any evidence of a pregnancy. They analyzed proteins found in her body to get the info. One report said that it looked like she'd been ripped open and the fetus torn out."

"Gross," Naruto shuddered.

"According to the report, the child would have been female. The method used to remove the baby showed considerable medical talent. They found preserving fluid near her corpse. It's almost like someone was wandering around looking for her dead body, removed the baby, and preserved it."

Naruto looked into Sakura's eyes and gulped.

"I only know of one sick fuck that would even think of doing that," Naruto mumbled. "My only question is how he managed to get into the Uchiha compound long enough to do it."

"Are you thinking of who I think you are?" Sakura asked.

"Most likely," Naruto said. "Orochimaru."

"If it was Orochimaru that did it, then there's a chance that the baby would still be able to be re-implanted. She could still be born. It'd require some highly dangerous surgery, but it could still be possible."

"Maybe that's why Sasuke was so willing to go to him," Naruto said.

"Are you saying he was blackmailed?" Sakura asked.

"If he wanted power as bad as he said he did, he could've just stayed here," Naruto said. "Konoha has many skilled teachers. But Orochimaru might have blackmailed him. He could have promised that if he went to him, he'd let Sasuke's sister be born. That's something that Konoha never could have promised him."

"And you and I know that Sasuke would have been very tempted to have some connection to family again," Sakura said. "A sibling that isn't a missing-nin or a murderer…"

"We have to do something," Naruto said. "I don't know how long we have. I only know that time is running out."

"You want to put the re-build on hold?" Sakura asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Tomorrow, we'll go to Granny Tsunade and ask her to send us off on a mission to rescue Sasuke," Naruto said. "And his sister, too. Maybe Granny Tsunade can do something to bring her back."

"What makes you think that would work?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing much," Naruto grinned. "Just being hopeful."