Chapter Nineteen:

28 October: I'm Pregnant

Sasuke ran his fingers through Hinata's hair. She was asleep next to him on the futon. It was barely Monday morning, the sunrise nowhere in sight, and he had spent the entire night trying to keep her calm. She had been so worried about Naruto last night that Sasuke had held her long hair back several times as she threw up in the girls' bathroom. It was true Naruto should have come back last night, but Sasuke didn't think it was anything to get sick over.

Sasuke sighed. Regardless, he didn't like seeing her like this. Hinata was supposed to be full of shy smiles and a hidden fiery temper, not this pale, sickly woman before him. What was Naruto thinking? The two obviously had something going on, the kiss he had reluctantly witnessed had been proof enough of that. So why hadn't Naruto, at the very least, called her? This wasn't the way to treat a lady! Perhaps it was time to remind his friend of that.

Looking down at Hinata, Sasuke ran his hand through her hair one more time and then leaned down, kissing her brow. "Don't worry," he whispered, his lips brushing against her skin, "I'll take care of you, even if it's from the shadows."

Hinata awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. Groaning, she searched for it in the covers. By the time she found it it had stopped ringing. She looked at the screen. Temari. She had been trying to get ahold of her for over a week now, but the two friends kept missing each other. Normally, Hinata would just text people, but Temari was known for looking at texts when she was busy, make a note to reply later, and then never reply. It was easier to just call her.

Hinata pushed the callback button and got off of the futon, making a note that Sasuke wasn't in the room. He must have gone to class. The phone rang through to Temari's voicemail. Hinata hung up, debating what to do. With Sasuke gone, the room was safe from eavesdropping, unlike her room where Sakura was sure to be listening. It really wasn't something she wanted to say in a text, but she didn't really have much of a choice. It had been too long without Temari knowing. With a sigh, Hinata sat back down and text I'm pregnant to her best friend. She didn't have to wait long for Temari to call her.

"Hey," Hinata answered softly.

"You're fucking with me, right?"

"No. I'm really pregnant."

"How far?"

"Nine weeks."

Temari didn't say anything for a moment. Hinata knew exactly what she was doing, counting backwards.

"Don't tell me it's…" Temari drifted off.

"Yeah, it's his. Don't kill him."

"Hinata, I'm gonna kill you! Oh my god, this is so fucked up!"

Hinata sighed, ignoring her friend's meaningless threat. "Anyways, my clothes are starting to get tight. I could really use some girl time."

"Only if you promise to fill me in on what's been going on."

"Promise. Are you free this Friday?"

"For you? Of course! How about I pick you up Thursday, we can go to a Halloween party a friend of mine's having near my school, and then you can just crash at my apartment?"

Hinata smiled. "A party in the city, huh?"

"Yeah, it'll be so much better than that fiasco of a party that your school had last year."

"It wasn't that bad."

"If I remember correctly, the entire soccer team got piss drunk—including your baby daddy—stripped, and paraded around, signing sea shanties until the cops came and everyone scrammed."

"And if I remember correct," Hinata mimicked, "You took one of those soccer boys home."

"Touché." Temari sighed. "Too bad he transferred to an Ivy League school that summer."

Hinata frowned, remembering how madly in love Temari had been. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm the one who broke it off."

"Do you guys still talk?"

Temari was quiet for a moment. "Yeah."

"You still love him, don't you?"

"I'm not good at long distance. I need to be physical, so I just would've ended up cheating on him."

"Doesn't mean you don't still love him."

"Doesn't matter. Anyways, I have to go. Gah! I can't believe you're pregnant. Seriously, girl. Right, bye!" Temari hung up before Hinata could reply.

Hinata locked her phone and looked around the room. Naruto didn't come back last night. She was worried. Though, probably not as worried as Sasuke thought she was after he had mistaken her morning sickness. She knew Naruto could take care of himself and he said he'd come back. Naruto might, at times, be a complete idiot and act without much thought, but he always kept his word. He would come back. He had to. Right?