Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I have no claim on any of his characters, only the plot of this story and my own OCs.

Trust

by chickypeg

Chapter 21: No One's Fault

Flashback:

His exotic wife was so breathtakingly beautiful beneath that blanket that barely covered her young, nubile body. Her skin glowed healthily.

Her eyes that opened twinkled with unhidden joy at the sight of him.

Her sweet mouth curved upward into the half smile of a sated woman.

A sated, happy woman.

Sakura's face was pale.

Her emerald green eyes that had once sparkled with happiness were dull with pain. The skin under them was dark, as if bruised and the corners of her pretty mouth were pinched, indicating stress.

Where was the cheerful female he had left behind barely two weeks ago?

Who was this broken doll in her place?

"Sakura..." Sasuke called her name softly.

She visibly cringed when he stepped toward her.

Her action caused him to come to a stop.

He had never wanted her to regard him frightfully ever again. Nothing had torn him apart as much as knowing that he had once shredded her feelings to the extent that she believed he could kill her without a second thought.

Sakura turned, ready to flee.

But in a lightning flash, Sasuke caught her arms in his hands, stopping her from turning tail and running as she had prepared to do.

Sakura struggled, trying to get out of her husband's hold, but he was so strong and she was so weakened right now!

"Let me go!" she sobbed.

"Stop it!" he growled, shaking her slightly.

And before she knew it, his arms were around her, holding her against his warm, lithe body.

Sakura was stunned at his reaction.

Why was he doing this?

Why was he hugging her?

"It's okay," he whispered. One arm wrapped around her waist, the hand of the other pressed to the back of her head, forcing her to lean her head against his shoulder, "it's not your fault."

Still stunned, the pink haired female took a full minute to say anything.

"You don't know what happened," she stated.

She wanted him to keep on holding her in his strong embrace, but she believed she had let him down, and that she did not deserve his comfort.

Or his love.

Maybe Sasuke sensed her feelings as he suddenly caught the side of her face and pulled it upright to look at his.

Still, she refused to meet his gaze.

She turned away, so ashamed of herself.

"Then tell me," he ordered.

She tried in vain to pull away again, but Sasuke held her fast. His grip on her was strong and hard, she was quite sure she would have bruises later.

Amidst her struggles, her husband took hold of her chin between his fingers and forced her now to look at him.

"Sakura."

He voiced her name softly, but there was something about his tone that made her want to break down and weep.

Which is exactly what she did.

Tears gathered in her eyes, large drops of salty water slid down her face.

"I was pregnant, and I lost our baby," was her broken admission.

Sasuke had figured out as much already, but hearing her say those words, listening to the pain, the sorrow, the grief, from his wife's own mouth, ravaged his heart.

"Sakura," he whispered her name.

"I failed you, Sasuke-kun," she whimpered.

"Don't say that! Don't you ever say that!" he hissed.

"I let you down!" she cried.

Sasuke drew back, and glared down at her.

"You didn't let me down, Sakura! I let you down."

Her eyes widened. For the first time, she saw naked pain in his eyes. It wasn't the sort of darkness that came over him when he had spoken about his family's massacre in the past.

This was something different.

This sort of hurt mirrored her own.

Sasuke turned his head away and closed his eyes briefly, as if trying to come to terms with his own inner turmoil. Then, he lifted his hand, showing her the pair of baby booties she had so lovingly knitted.

"Would you have told me what happened?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied, still reeling from shock of what he had just said. She lowered her head sadly and added, "as soon as I figured out how to."

"Tell me everything now," he instructed when he finally looked at her again, and on a softer tone, "please."

Flashback:

Sasuke frowned when his phone call did not connect to his wife.

He was aware that she would not have left him, and the only place she would go to was either her parents' or the Yamanaka's.

Ino spent most of her time with Sai, so Sakura wasn't likely to be there.

Hence, if she wasn't with Ino, she was with her parents.

While he could assume that was where she was, and leave her alone for the night, he felt so compelled to find her.

Something inside of him made him sense that he had to be with her right now.

It was as if they had some strange connection where their emotions could reach other, no matter how far apart they were.

Sasuke had heard rumors long ago that members of the Uchiha clan who had found true love experienced this type of connection. Being a small, male child, he had dismissed it, as things like 'love' and 'romance' were 'yucky' to a boy of five.

Perhaps he should have paid more attention as Sasuke's desire to see his wife grew to the point of where it was too unusual to ignore. Somewhere, like a sound in the distance, he could almost hear her crying.

Having not removed his sandals or satchel, he spun on his heel with his tattered cloak swishing around him, and made his way to the door.

As soon as he pulled it open, he was taken aback at the sight of his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki standing there.

One of the blonde's hands was lifted in a fist, as if about to knock.

"Bastard? You're home?"

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Sasuke demanded, immediately suspicious about why the newly wed man was not at his home with his own wife at this hour of the night.

Naruto lowered his hand and frowned.

"I know Sakura-chan's at her parents'. When I was passing by, I saw the lights on and wondered if she had come home."

"What happened?" Sasuke questioned.

His voice was quiet, but even his blue eyed friend could see glimmers concern on his poker face.

Naruto was unsure of what to say.

Didn't Sasuke know?

Had Sasuke even been aware that his wife had been pregnant?

Should he say it?

Wasn't it Sakura's place to do so?

"What makes you think something happened?" Naruto asked with false innocence.

"Naruto!" Sasuke growled impatiently, and caught his friend by the shirtfront. Pulling him closer, he snarled, "Tell me what happened to Sakura!"

Naruto was stunned at Sasuke's outburst.

The surviving Uchiha was often so cool, so quiet that one could rarely figure out what went on behind that dark gaze.

Even Naruto, subjected to his friend's anger and bitterness in the past hadn't expected such a reaction.

A part of him was glad because this meant that Sakura meant a whole lot more to Sasuke that Naruto had initially believed.

But in this situation, he didn't have time to dwell on such things.

"She's okay now," Naruto responded carefully. Calmly, he caught his friend's hand on his shirtfront, and pried it loose.

"But?" Sasuke prompted.

"I don't know if it's for me to say," Naruto replied.

Sasuke gave him a long, hard stare.

Finally, he spoke.

"Naruto, Sakura tends to hide how she feels, and if it's something bad, I know she won't tell me right away."

"Isn't it better then, that she tell you on her own time?"

For the first time, Sasuke hesitated in front of Naruto, furthering the blonde's shock.

Quietly, he answered, "If she doesn't tell me, I won't know how to support her if she's in pain. The longer she takes to talk, the more she'll be hurting alone. Would you allow that to happen to the woman you married?"

Naruto blinked at the sadness, the worry that laced Sasuke's tone.

He completely understood what the black haired man was saying, but still...

"Sasuke. Please, give her the chance to tell you first," Naruto requested in an oddly mature voice.

Sasuke frowned at him.

"Naruto-"

The blonde placed his hands on his friend's shoulders, "Please. It's only right that she be the one to tell you. If she doesn't, then come to me."

Sasuke looked at his friend long and hard again.

Naruto didn't flinch but met his gaze quite levelly.

"Is she going to die?" Sasuke questioned bluntly.

Naruto smiled, but somewhat sadly.

"No. She's fine health-wise, but I think she really needs you. Go to her. And please, look after her properly."

And so, Sasuke had gone to find his wife. As he had already figured, she was at her parents'.

He had rung them first to make sure, then went over.

Sure, he could have knocked on Sakura's window, but given that something bad had obviously occurred, he believed that he ought to do the right thing and at least come in through the front door.

The relief in Mebuki Haruno's eyes had been unmistakable when she greeted him at the door. He did not ask anything, but chose to go with Naruto's idea that Sakura be the one to inform on what exactly had happened.

As far as he knew, she could only be pregnant.

But if she was, why did both Naruto and her mother seem so worried?

What if there was a serious complication and they were all terrified for her?

When the door to Sakura's room swung open, he realized that there was a whole lot more to what he suspected, given how sickly and pale the pink haired beauty seemed.

There had been strange reluctance, odd hesitancy about her. He might have expected it from her in their earlier days of marriage when she had been so unsure of him.

But not now.

Not when she was supposed to completely trust him, and he, totally in love with her.

When they had come home, he had gone straight to the kitchen to have a tomato before he wrung the story out of her about what was going on with her.

Then his eyes spotted it.

A pair of white socks.

Small enough for a baby.

Carefully knitted, and soft to the touch.

A baby?

Sasuke's eyes swung to meet his wife's stricken expression when she entered the kitchen to see him holding the tiny socks.

It was enough for him to realize that there wasn't exactly a complication, because there was no longer any baby.

Before she could open her mouth again, Sakura was lifted into her husband's firmly muscled arms. With his amazing speed, they disappeared from the kitchen and appeared in their bedroom.

Sasuke set her down very calmly on their bed. She leaned back on the soft mattress as he turned away and removed his traveling cloak. His manner was certainly a stark contrast to the inner turmoil that was apparent only when he spoke, when she could hear the emotions that thickened his tone.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura's voice trailed off.

"I shouldn't have left you alone. You shouldn't have been alone," he insisted as he tossed the cloak aside, finally showing some of his self-directed rage.

He was such a neat freak it was unbecoming of him to throw aside his clothing carelessly.

Sasuke now touched the doorknob.

And locked it.

She couldn't get away from him now and his questions.

Not that she wanted to, at least not anymore.

Seeing the naked pain on his face, practically feeling his self-directed anger as if it were her own, made the pink haired female realize that she did need to explain and she did need to make it clear that it wasn't his fault.

She had somehow come to the conclusion that after Sasuke left for that very long journey of self-redemption, he had come back stronger emotionally.

She had foolishly believed that nothing could truly hurt him.

Oh, she had hurt him when she had argued and claimed she didn't trust him.

But that was something she had thought he would get over. Eventually it hadn't mattered anymore because they had worked hard on their relationship. As such, she had admitted to completely trusting him, mending whatever wound she might have caused, while he confessed to loving her, erasing all the scars he had left on her heart.

Now, she realized that he could indeed be hurt, and that his pain ran very deeply.

Guilt and anger, because hadn't been there for her.

Grief because he had lost his child.

She recalled Kurenai saying that one of the most important things for her to do was to not push away those she loved.

Pushing away her husband now could easily break their relationship.

She had reassure him, to hold him, to comfort him.

And allow him to do the same for her.

In so doing, she also had accept what everyone had told her before – that it wasn't her fault.

That it wasn't anyone's fault.

Because she had to pull herself together and be strong not just for herself, but for him too if they were going to get through this.

Together.

But could she be strong, when she felt so weak?

"When did it happen? Tell me," Sasuke ordered once more. His prosthetic hand was in a fist, pressed against the door and his back was to her. She knew he was clenching his teeth and that his eyes were shut.

"Sasuke-kun."

He stiffened at her gentle tone.

"Anata...come here," she called him softly.

That sweet endearment must have eased something inside him because he lowered his hand and obediently turned away from the door. Head hung slightly so that she couldn't quite see his eyes, he walked over to her.

Stooping before her as she sat on the bed, he finally lifted his gaze to hers. His black bangs covered his rinnegan, but his normal black eye was revealed.

His mouth was set firmly, his eyebrow furrowed, and his nostrils slightly flared.

He was indeed upset.

Sakura cupped his handsome face in her small hands. Her eyes grew moist as she finally decided, "I'll start from the beginning,"

Sasuke nodded.

She swallowed hard and began, "I started suspecting I was pregnant just a few days after you left. Women can get signs as early as two or three weeks, but we often mistake the sleepiness for working too hard or random moodiness for the onset of menstruation."

Sakura smiled sadly now, "My period was due for the following week. Missing it is a very strong sign that a woman is carrying a child. But when my breasts started to feel strange, I realized that something was off, so I didn't even wait for it come. I went straight to shishou and she ran a blood test."

Sasuke continued to listen in stony silence. Sakura lifted a hand and began to gently stroke his thick black hair while her other hand moved to rest on his shoulder.

"I had already taken a home pregnancy tests. There are some that can give you early predictions, and it was 99.99% accurate."

The only indication that the underlying sorrow in Sakura voice affected him was the way in which his hands that were resting on the bed on either side of her, suddenly fisted into the sheets.

Sakura realized this when she felt the sheet shift slightly on either side of her.

She didn't look away from her husband and managed to continue, "The next day, the blood test showed positive."

She broke off in the sob she couldn't hold back.

"Sakura," Sasuke whispered and reached a hand up to cup her face, stroking his sword-calloused thumb over her cheek to brush away one salty tear.

She used both her hands to hold his hand against her cheek before he moved it away. She pressed her face more into his palm, needing his touch.

"She confirmed the next day that I was three weeks along. I even began taking prenatal vitamins."

Shutting her eyes now, she swallowed hard and continued, "It was a week later, Sasuke-kun. I was exactly a month along."

She reopened her eyes now and forced herself not to cry, "I made a pair of baby booties to surprise you with. Mom taught me how."

Sasuke's mouth twisted slightly, almost as if he was about to smile, but grieved too much to lift the corners of his mouth upward.

"Naruto had just come back from his honeymoon with Hinata and wanted to visit. He was earlier than expected, and thank God because I started to bleed. I knew I shouldn't have been bleeding when I was pregnant. I knew I was losing our baby."

The tears came again.

Sasuke was suddenly beside her and had her in his arms, soothing her.

"The medical term we use for this is 'spontaneous abortion' and it happens very early in pregnancies," she sobbed, "some women don't even realize they were pregnant and mistake the miscarriage as a heavy period, but I knew what was happening."

She sniffed and burrowed against her husband, wanting more of his warm touch.

"Naruto and Hinata took me to the hospital, and Tsunade and Shizume took care of me."

Sakura lifted her eyes to his, her chin pressed against his chest, her face stained with tears.

"It isn't unusual, and I know it because I've treated women for these sort of miscarriages before. But it doesn't mean that it won't hurt. It wasn't simply a ball of cells attached to my uterus. At its stage it would have already started developing. Our baby already had a heart," she whispered the last sentence painfully.

Sasuke lowered his head to hers and gently kissed the tear that was following the path of the previous ones down her cheek. Then, he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here," he apologized, and gritted his teeth, "I should have been here."

Sakura shook her head, "There was nothing you could do."

"I should have been the one to take you to the hospital, not Naruto," he growled when he reopened his eyes and pulled back.

"If I had been here..."

"If you had been here, Sasuke-kun. Who would you have blamed? Me, instead of yourself?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke stared at her as if he wanted to hit her.

She hadn't seen such fury in his expression in such a long time. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her flat onto her back, pinning her there with his hands and the rage reflected in his eyes.

"Don't ever, ever accuse me of something so vile!" he snarled.

Sakura was numb to his anger.

"I'm not accusing you, Sasuke-kun. I'm asking you," she pointed out. Her words were toneless, her eyes dull once more.

"The only person's who's blaming you, is you! There's no way you're at fault!" he snapped.

"Then how could you be anymore at fault?"

Her words made him frown, as he understood that she really hadn't been accusing him of anything, merely trying to make a point – that he most certainly was not to blame, and that what he was telling her about herself - that she was blaming herself for no reason, was the same thing he was doing to himself.

"It doesn't change the fact that I wasn't here with you, that I don't believe that if I was here things might have been different," he argued.

Sakura shook her head.

"No one really understands why it happens the first time. Most women go on to get pregnant again and have a lot of healthy babies. Shishou had been checking me out for a while now, she says it's likely we'll be more lucky next time. This is just 'one of those things.'"

"That's a cold way of putting it," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura smiled sadly.

"That's the medical way of putting it," she corrected.

Sasuke grunted and moved to flop down beside her.

He was silent for a long moment as he stared up at the ceiling fan above them. Any slight gust of wind moved its panels around, clockwise and counterclockwise. Idly, he wondered if they had left the window partially open for the wind to come in.

Sakura remained quiet as well, but he could almost feel that deep void of numbing emotional pain she was experiencing.

He tensed, not liking that she had been coming home to this empty house, pregnant and vulnerable.

If Naruto hadn't come along, what would have happened to her?

"You shouldn't have gone through that alone," he repeated.

"It's only been one day," she informed him.

He turned his head to face hers. She was curled up in a fetal position to his left, green eyes observing him quietly.

"One day?" he repeated.

She nodded briefly, confirming it.

Sasuke's expression remained blank, but he lifted his prosthetic hand to stroke her cheek tenderly, she saw the way he grimaced.

At least whatever emotional bond they shared had brought him home sooner than expected to be with her.

"You're still bleeding?"

Again, she nodded.

"Are you in pain?" his words were calm, almost gentle but there was concern in that black Uchiha eye of his.

"A little," she admitted. There was some cramping, but not bad.

She had lost most of the blood when she miscarried, but she was still passing the last remnants of it.

"Is there anything I can do?" Sasuke wanted to know.

Sakura clasped his hand in her own and kissed the back of it. She pressed it lovingly, almost gratefully as her eyes moistened.

"You're here. That's more than enough."

Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed. Beside him, his wife was huddled in a ball under the blankets, sleeping peacefully.

She had cried herself to sleep in his arms, weeping like a child.

He had not shed any tears of his own, but he had grieved in his own way with her. She had spoken occasionally, murmuring against his chest all these little fantasies she had of what kind of baby they might have had.

Flashback:

Sasuke cupped his face in his good hand while propping his head using his elbow. His other arm was wrapped around his wife's waist as her tears leaked into the cotton shirt he was wearing. She cuddled closer to him and spoke, "I thought we might have a boy, someone like Itachi who would look after his siblings, only he would have a bright future."

Sasuke inhaled sharply, as that was something he could envision too.

Any child of his who was anything like Itachi would have made him proud.

"He was going to grow up to be great like his papa, and he was going to marry Hinata and Naruto's daughter."

Sasuke couldn't help it, his mouth twitched into a faint, but sad smile.

"I didn't know the idiot got his wife pregnant already, and with a girl too."

"Of course not, it was all just apart of my fantasies," she said.

"I see."

"I hadn't thought of baby names names as yet...I wanted you to be home to discuss it first."

Sasuke shut his eyes and hugged his wife closer.

Silence ensued.

Sakura broke it when she asked haltingly, "Sasuke-kun? How could it not be my fault? Is there something wrong with my body?"

While she had assured him that he was to blame, that no one was to blame, she couldn't quite accept that she somehow shouldn't be either.

Sasuke shifted slightly so that he could look down at her. He let out a heavy breath.

"Sakura. You're a medic, you tell me."

"But it's different-"

"Tell me what you tell your patients who miscarry their much-wanted babies."

Sakura bit her lip, then said, "That it was 'just one of those things.' That sometimes the problem is that the egg was faulty due to irregular chromosome alignment. It's also more common than they might think because many women come in for advice on what to do about an unusually heavy period, only to find out they had been pregnant and lost the baby before they themselves knew. It's so frequent that some medical professionals say it's probably a normal part of human reproduction."

Sakura swallowed hard, "But it's still so hard,"

"It is," Sasuke agreed, his eyes reflecting her own pain, "it happened to you too so you know what it's like, but you also have an outsider's perspective. The perspective that it isn't your fault. That it's no one's fault."

He shut his eyes when he said this, knowing he had accept as well that it wasn't his fault either. Both himself and his wife had to learn to live with that.

Sakura nodded and buried her head into his neck. She asked quietly, "You're hurting a lot too, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll get through this – together, won't we?"

"Yes. Together," he agreed, and brushed his mouth against hers lightly.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice whispered.

It was quite late at night now and only the dim glow of the partial moon provided any light. It was cast upon his beautiful wife who was reminiscent of a sorrowful dryad as she lifted her pale face with tear stains to look at him.

She rubbed one eye tiredly while trying to view at him at the same time.

Sasuke shifted to take his original position beside her. His hand touched her the soft skin of her upper arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked, flicking dark eyes over the sleepy ones on him.

She nodded and managed to produce a tiny smile.

She wasn't quite happy, still saddened, but his being home was a relief to her and did cheer her up.

"I'm better now, Sasuke-kun," she assured him. Lifting a hand, she touched his lightly bristled cheek. He had come from an obviously difficult mission, judging by the condition of his clothing.

And then he had to worm such a tragic story from his wife and comfort her while being in pain himself.

"You should take a bath now," she suggested.

Sasuke frowned.

"Do I smell?"

Sakura chuckled a little.

Yes, having him home did indeed cheer her up.

"No, but you do need one, don't you?" she pointed out and rubbed his cheek to remind him of the beard that had already started growing.

Sasuke sighed and lowered his head to hers.

She blushed when he pressed his forehead against hers and shut his eyes. Her skin was warm, which was good.

A normal temperature.

She had cried so much he had wondered if she had made herself sick, but she seemed alright.

"Fine," he agreed and pulled back, but paused to narrow his eyes at her, "go back to sleep."

She smiled and nodded. When he got up from the bed, she huddled herself under the blanket again and slowly closed her eyes to the image of him stripping off his shirt and grabbing a towel to head to the bathroom with.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said her husband's name.

He was sitting at the dinner table with his hands clasped under his chin while leaning on his elbows. His eyes were narrowed as if he was thinking very hard and seriously about a difficult matter.

Shaken out of his thoughts by his new wife's voice, he forced a grin at her.

"Oh, sorry Hinata!" he apologized.

Hinata frowned. She had been in the process of clearing away their breakfast dishes, ever mindful of her husband's odd quietness.

"What's the matter?" she asked, worried now because his behaviour was rare and unusual.

Naruto leaned against the chair's backrest and looked at her for so long that she blushed.

"N-Naruto-kun?" she stammered.

"Hinata, I don't want kids right away anymore," he stated.

She blinked, shocked at his words.

"What?"

Naruto looked away from her and to the large doors that led out to the balcony that was across the room.

"I know I told you differently before, but...there's a lot going right now. Too much."

Too much work with Konoha, too much work with the other villages. They were all still rebuilding after the war and they were trying to do it together. Kakashi had tried not to get Naruto overly involved with issues outside the village as he was also the ANBU Captain, but this was now unavoidable.

All the villages loved and respected him.

To create stronger bonds, Naruto was instrumental because everyone trusted him. In other words, he was a diplomat.

With Shikamaru and Temari taking further steps in their relationship, the blonde now had to make a few trips to Suna to sort out political matters with Gaara.

Then, Chouji decided he wanted to get married to Karui recently.

While Karui was not a close relative of the Raikage, she still had a very high status in her village. Also, the people of Kumo wanted Chouji to marry into their village instead of the other way around. Naruto and Kakashi were aware that there was no real reason for Karui not to marry into Konoha instead.

Truthfully, Kumo's villagers were hard headed.

They were a fussy lot, sometimes seemingly hard to get along with but once one got past the strong front they put out, they were actually very soft-hearted people.

It wouldn't take long to convince them that the child of Karui and Chouji would form a fantastic shinobi team with Ino and Shikamaru's children, but they still had to consider diplomacy and the villages' politics.

Plus, Killer Bee probably nagged the Raikage to get Naruto to work on the issue so they could hang out more.

As such, Naruto was useful. Likable, stupid but straightforward.

And a hero.

Either way, all these things required Naruto's presence and time away from the village. The blonde saw first hand what had happened to Sakura when her husband was away.

For Hinata...

"Is this about Sakura?" Hinata, ever perceptive of her husband, asked.

Naruto sighed and looked at her with almost tormented eyes.

"I won't ever forget the way she screamed my name, Hinata. It broke me."

Hinata nodded.

Sakura was like a sister to him, although he had once believed his feelings to be more than that. Hearing her call his name from beyond the front door of her home, hearing the horror, the pain and the anguish had hurt him.

He wished he could do more for her, he wished he could have saved her from that pain, wished he had gotten her to the hospital before she lost her baby!

He wished she hadn't been alone!

She shouldn't have been alone!

Naruto did not blame Sasuke, as he was quite sure that his best friend wouldn't have let his pink haired wife by herself had he known she had been pregnant in the first place. He would forced her to stay with her parents if he couldn't be with her.

But who expected a perfectly healthy woman to miscarry anyway, and a medic on top of that?

'It's no one's fault...'

Naruto remembered Sakura's words and shut his eyes.

Hinata was still next to him with the breakfast dishes in her hands. They knew for sure she wasn't pregnant because 'that' happened today.

Naruto knew a thing or two about menstruation, thanks to Jiraiya's desire to teach him a little about women's bodies when he was younger.

Yeah, the old pervert was very much into teaching his young protege about biology – specifically the biology of women.

Unfortunately, the young teen had been freaked out by what he had learned.

Now, the knowledge came in handy as he had Hinata. He felt sorry for her, but obviously she didn't feel sorry for herself because it was a normal part of nature.

He also understood that this meant she had not gotten pregnant yet, much to his relief.

Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her to him and buried his face against her soft tummy. He inhaled her sweet, feminine scent.

Hinata, still holding those plates in her hands, murmured, "Naruto-kun?"

"I do want kids with you, Hinata, but let's wait a little while when things settle down...when I can be here for you."

Hinata smiled, understanding. She did want to have children right away, but having witnessed what Sakura went through, she couldn't help but concur. She wanted Naruto at her side, with her every step of the way as much as possible.

"Yes," she agreed.

His cheek brushed her stomach as he turned blue eyes up to hers.

"Hey, how long again before we can do it again though?"

Hinata's entire face went red.

Before today, they had been making love non-stop. Her husband's lust, his desire for her had been insatiable.

He had fueled her passion, making her want him as much as he wanted her.

"A-A few days," she stammered.

Naruto sighed with disappointment.

"I see," then he flicked her a look, "you'll get some of that stuff that prevents babies, won't you?"

"I will," she promised, and made a mental check to get some birth control pills.

A/N: Thank you for reading. I don't really feel like writing about Naruto and Hinata lately, but maybe at some point in the future I'll do a little flashback about their honeymoon.

*I'm trying to keep the story canon, although there's some stuff from the novels I haven't included (because I haven't actually read the novels. I only know bits and pieces from tumblr and wikipedia). I didn't really like the future Sasuke and Sakura have, even if they are together. I may twist it slightly this story.

*About Asuma and Kurenai - their relationship is the same as in the manga in this story. What I included in the last chapter was a little scenario I imagined might have happened between them. Maybe I will write a little more on them if Kurenai makes another appearance, otherwise I don't really have any plans for them because it's so tragic :(

Thanks for following, favouriting and reviewing. I appreciate all the kind words, thank you :)

Happy Reading!