Don't Scare Me Like That Again
Lee practically dragged Neji to the hospital as fast as he could.
"Ow Lee! I'm fine! We don't need to rush to the hospital. In fact, at this rate you're pulling me, you're going to break my good arm too!" Neji said, trying to get Lee to slow down his pace.
"Oh I'm sorry Neji! Here, let me carry you the rest of the way!" Lee said attempting to scoop Neji up and carry him bridal style.
"Stop Lee! I can walk fine on my own. Besides, the hospital is just up ahead." Neji said pointing to where they are.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Lee grabbed Neji and fast walked him towards the building. Lee swung open the main hospital doors and saw 2 familiar faces standing nearby.
"SAKURA! INO! Help! Neji has been injured!" everyone within earshot turned to see who was making a ruckus.
"Quiet down Lee, you're causing a scene!" Neji hissed at him just as Sakura and Ino approached them.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked
"Oh it was horrible my dear Sakura! I accidently kicked Neji and now his arm may be broken!" Lee cried dramatically
"Ok, calm down Lee and tell me how this happened." Sakura said, by this point Temari and Tenten had fianlly caught up with the guys.
"Well, I was doing some target training and I had them help out. I guess I was so into it I didn't realize Lee was coming from behind with a kick, but Neji did and he blocked it with his arm. Lee kicked Neji in the arm, he fell backwards from the impact and fell into me." Temari explained
"He what! He fell into you? Are you alright?" Ino exclaimed, both her and Sakura approached her to give her a look over.
Temari held her hands up and stepped back. "Hey I'm fine! I'm not the patient here, Neji is."
Ino sighed, "Temari, I thought I told you to go easy on the training, you know it can put strain on the baby if you go too hard." She then turned to face Lee. "And you, how dare you kick a pregnant woman?"
Tears started dramatically falling from Lee's eyes. "I'm so so sorry! This was all my fault! I was reckless! I not only hurt my teammate, I endangered the life of a pregnant friend and her unborn child!"
Suddenly a punch flew out of nowhere and knocked Lee out. "Sorry, I think it's easier to deal with the situation this way." Tenten shook out her hand. "For his sake I think I should mention that he didn't know I was pregnant when I asked them to train with me. Anyways, Lee is the least of our worries at the moment. We should get Neji's arm checkout first."
"Right. Neji, let's go get that X-rayed." Sakura directed before turning to Temari. "You should go get yourself check out too, just in case. You can go look for Shizune; she should be in her office."
Temari sighed, "Fine. What are we going to do with him though?" She motioned to Lee who was still unconscious on the ground.
"Eh, I'll take care of him." Tenten picked Lee off the ground and gave him a few hard shakes. "Wake up Lee!" he stirred slightly before Tenten decided to just simply drag him out of the hospital by his leg.
Temari walked up the stairs and knocked on Shizune's office door and sure enough, she was there.
"Temari! What can I do for you today? Are you alright?" Shizune stood up from her desk and walked over to Temari. Temari explained to Shizune what happened.
"So everything feels fine? No aches or discomforts?" Shizune asked
"Well nothing out of the ordinary."
"Ok, that's good at least." Shizune looked over Temari to see if there was any noticeable damage and didn't find any. "We should still check the baby out just as a precaution." She led Temari out of her office and into an exam room.
Temari laid on the bed while Shizune performed various tests on her. She still found it annoying that people kept acting like she was a porcelain doll whenever she even moves. Doesn't she have the right to her own body? Come on! Temari let out a frustrated sigh.
"Did I hurt you?" Shizune asked when she heard Temari's sigh.
"No, I'm just…I don't know…tired of feeling weak. It seems like everyone immediately acts like I'm going to break when they find out I'm pregnant and I don't want that. I know I'm carrying a child and I have to be careful, but really? It is that big of difference from my usual self? I'm just carrying extra weight for a while. I can handle myself as it is, I don't need to be set on a pedestal and paraded around." Temari said, letting out her frustration.
Shizune sat down next to her, "I see. Is that why you haven't really told many people you are pregnant?"
"Well yeah, kind of. I just don't want everyone to think it's a big deal."
Shizune grabbed one of Temari's hands and placed it on her belly. "You feel this? This is your child growing in there. You have one of the biggest miracles of life happing inside you. This is something we humans still don't fully understand how it happens, but it does, and it's magical. Of course everyone thinks it's a big deal even I you don't. Especially in the world we live in today, just years after the last Great War. We lost many lives, so to many people, any new life created is a sign that we're moving on from the past. So whether you like it or not, people will treat you delicately. I know that goes against everything you are, you like that tough edge you had. But you have to remember, it's not just about you anymore, so it's ok to soften the edge a bit. It's ok to open up yourself and let other in. It's ok to accept help when it's offered."
Temari took in every word Shizune had just said to her, "Thank you. And I'm sorry for being so stubborn and pushing it too hard with the training."
"Oh you don't have to apologize to me, it's your child you should be apologizing to. You really do need to lighten up on the intensive training and you're going to have to lighten it even more in the upcoming months. That being said, it doesn't look like you received any permanent damage today, consider yourself lucky." Shizune got up from beside Temari and started heading for the door. "Hang in there for a moment; I'm gonna go get the ultrasound machine."
Temari laid there in silence, thinking back to all that Shizune at told her. She really did need to stop treating her baby as just a bump on her belly. She tilted her head and looked at her stomach. Even laying down she could tell there's a definite bulge protruding outwards. Temari placed both her hands on the belly and started talking "Hey little guy, this is your mother speaking. Look, I'm sorry if I ever neglected you and your safety, I really didn't mean to. But I just want you to know that I truly do love you. I'm still new to this becoming a mother thing so forgive me for the screw ups I make along the way." Temari rubbed her bump and she swore she felt something move. It freaked her out because she didn't know what was happening. But she didn't have much time to ponder on that thought as the door to her room busted open unexpectedly.
"Temari! I heard what happened, are you ok?! Is the baby ok?" Shikamaru ran quickly over to her side
"Sorry, he got in before I could tell him to calm down." Shizune said pulling in the ultrasound machine and closing the door.
"Oh my god, please tell me you're ok. Tenten only gave me the gist of what happened. If there's anything wrong with you or our baby, I swear I'm gonna hang that guy by the neck of that awful green jumpsuit he wears-"
"Calm down Shikamaru! I'm fine!"
"As I was going to say before you busted in, she and the baby are fine. Now, we are about to do an ultrasound so if you want to stay for that, you are free to do so." Shizune said while setting up the machine.
Shikamaru and Temari watched in silence before Shikamaru whispered to Temari "Please don't scare me like that again."
Temari smirked, "I make no such promises. But I'll try."
"Ok here's the heartbeat! Look, it's your baby. Look at how much it's grown." Shizune said
The couple stared at the screen in awe. The baby did seem a lot bigger and more prominent since the last time they saw it. Their baby, it's really there. This was the life they created, the life that's growing, the life that Temari unfortunately, almost put in danger. Temari couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. "He…er…or she is beautiful." Shikamaru muttered under his breath. But it didn't go unheard by the ladies.
"Oh! That's right, you guys don't know the gender yet. Would you guys like to know?" Shizune asked
Shikamaru and Temari looked at each other and nodded. "Yes we would." Temari said confidently
"Congratulations, it's a…"
That's all for now! So just a heads up, now that classes are starting for me again, the updates might become less frequent, but I'll try to make them as close to a week as possible. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next update!