Disclaimer: I've never owned Naruto! No suing!

I decided to update early since my updating days are all mixed up! ):


The next day Kaoru flew out of the compound just to get out of the line of fire, since from the start of breakfast Itachi and Fugaku had been butting heads with Mikoto unsuccessfully attempting to stop them and Chichi crying in upset from the anger and shouting.

Holy crap, now I know where all that anger was hiding, because Onii-san was too calm all the time. No one is that calm all the time. I'll go on a date with Naruto today to keep away, only I have to make sure we're not being spied upon.

She landed on Naruto's doorstep and folded her wings, only to be smacked in the face by Sasuke's scent. He's here? I guess Naruto's apartment would be the first place he'd crash before finding a place of his own. I can share that Naruto and I are dating with him, although my relationship with Kyu-san will mostly remain under wraps. I wonder how I'll be able to get him to not come after me when I have to deliver the kit. I shouldn't worry about that now, even if Tsunade-sama estimated that I'm around a month along, if I was human. At this rate I'll have to have her check on me every week to see how the kit is doing.

The door opened and Naruto greeted, "Hey Kaoru, are you gonna come in or just stand out there?"

She giggled and came in, seeing Sasuke sprawled on Naruto's bed. He looked up at her and waved.

"Did Otou-san kick you out, too?"

She shook her head. "I left because Otou-san and Onii-san are butting heads over an important issue."

"Really?" he questioned, genuinely curious. "I've never seen Aniki fight Otou-san over anything, even me. He must care about you if he's going that far. What's the issue?"

"Otou-san wants Onii-san to get married and to tie me down, so he's trying to kill two birds with one stone."

He sat bolt upright. "No."

"Yes."

"He's trying to arrange an engagement between you two? I never thought he would. Between us, maybe, but he has to be blind to not see that you and Onii-san are sharing a sibling bond, not a romantic one."

A furious snarl sounded and an instant later the Kyubi's tails were wrapped around Kaoru possessively. Naruto hugged her as well but couldn't articulate around the constant growling. She petted the furry appendages and crooned, "It's okay, Kyu-san. That's why Onii-san is fighting with Otou-san. I won't let it go the way Otou-san wants, unless Onii-san isn't planning on having any real kind of relationship with me, just faking it out so that Naruto and I can date at our pace."

The snarls were replaced by purrs, and Naruto sighed in relief. "I thought I was gonna explode from the rage Kyu-kun was emitting, he was gonna go on a rampage when Sasuke said that. He really likes you and would murder anyone who wanted to marry you besides me."

Sasuke smirked. "I knew something was going on between you guys, and here's the proof. And the purring is from the Kyubi, I thought it was from just you."

Naruto huffed. "He's the pervert, Sasuke! He can't keep our tails off her!"

There's a difference between perverseness and possessiveness. I am his mate, after all. The vixen that will bear his kit, which he knew from the start, but poor Naruto…he'll never know he's going to be a father. "Naruto, I came so we could go on a date, but we may be spied upon while we're out, so Otouto's gonna have to come with us."

The blonde pulled a disgusted face. "Sasuke, you might be my best friend, but you chaperoning our date? It'd be like asking you to watch us make out."

Sasuke got up (having had bought some clothes before leaving the compound) and looked to Kaoru. "If you're asking me something you normally wouldn't, it must be serious. Are we gonna have to lead Otou-san on that you don't think of Naruto as more than my friend? That I'm your real romantic interest?"

She nodded, even though Naruto and the Kyubi growled as one at that action, red chakra beginning to leak out around him. She sighed and explained, "Otouto won't kiss me, at least not for real, and siblings hug, don't they? Calm down, it's not like he's gonna fall in love with me, and if he does, I'll let you beat the crap out of him, okay?" And that's a massive "if".

Sasuke blanched. "I can't believe you said that with a smile, Onee-chan. I might be his match for now, but if the Kyubi goes crazy and gives him three more tails, he'll kill me."

"You think I'd let him kill you? Seriously maim or injure, yeah, but not kill."

Naruto grinned maliciously and neither of the Uchiha were sure that if it was him or the Kyubi who made that face. A shiver ran down both their spines and Kaoru shook herself to get it out of her system. Now that is scary. I don't think I wanna see that expression again on Naruto's face. It gives me the willies. Kyu-san might make that face, but for Naruto to do that to his best friend? That's cree-py. "All right, if that's the deal, I get dibs before we go outside."

She gasped as he grabbed her and kissed her fully on the mouth. She sighed and closed her eyes, putting her arms around his neck. I don't know how long I'll be able to stand going without this, but this is for us…and the kit. I wish… A single tear ran down her cheek and fell on his hand. He pulled away to see the silvery tear sliding down the back of it. He saw the look in her eyes and asked earnestly, "What's wrong, Kaoru?"

She sniffed and shook her head. "I'm just gonna miss you during this time."

"That shouldn't be enough to for you to cry over, come on. Where's that happy smile you're known for?"

Her affectionate grin had him grinning back. "There, that's my girl."

Sasuke sighed and stated tightly, "I'm getting nauseous. Either cut it out or I'm leaving."

Oooh, he's gonna get it for ruining the moment. Kaoru pranced over and cooed, "Oh, is Sasuke-chan feeling left out?"

He was about to protest when she kissed him on the cheek then rubbed hers against it. "You're just so cute when you feel awkward, Darling."

Both boys turned red at her flirtatious tone, Sasuke with embarrassment while Naruto was struggling not to snatch her away and kiss her senseless. She giggled and teased, "You'll have to get used to it, because from now on I'm acting this way with you and it'll progress. It's gonna be so fun to see Otou-san's face when he sees I'm infatuated with you instead of Onii-san!"

"If this backfires terribly, you're finding someone else for this little playacting. I've already been ruined enough for finding a girlfriend."

Naruto snickered then pointed out, "Hey, but if the girls around Konohagakure no Sato see you're dating an actual girl, then they'll at least think you're bi."

"For the last time, I don't like boys."

Kaoru hid her smirk, took Sasuke's hand and pulled him out of the apartment, Naruto following them as if he was the chaperone.


"That was terrible."

"Aw, come on, it was not, Darling!"

"Yes it was and you know it! I've never been so embarrassed since my pants fell down in class and I found I was wearing pink briefs."

"I was there, remember?"

"You were? Now the memory is twice as traumatizing! Let go of my hand, you've been clutching it all day."

"Just because we're not within sight range of the street doesn't mean no one's spying on us!"

"Is there?"

"In fact, yes, in five locations around us, which is why I'm whispering."

Sasuke glanced around and found nothing. "You're lying just to humiliate me further."

Kaoru shook her head. "Nope, I'm not. I can smell them."

"You never told me you could smell someone that well."

"To me, a scent isn't just the body's odor: it's the chakra, the blood, which is different for each person. Over time I've figured out who each person is by their scent. Well, that and the sound of their heartbeat, which also is different for each person." And what I can't tell anyone is that I can hear the kit's heartbeat. It's very quick and soft, but I can still hear it. It's a wonder I didn't notice before. It's too bad that I can't reveal this to anyone but Tsunade-sama, which totally sucks, because I don't know if I should do anything differently or if my body'll take care of it, but since the kit hasn't died yet, I'm sure I can just do things normally. Her free hand brushed her hip before she caught herself. Damn it, don't slip up so early or else you'll give it away and it'll all be out in the open, at least that you're carrying. Whose baby it is won't be revealed at all, because I'm sure that the normal methods of finding out can't be executed and I won't think of probing with chakra by anyone else but Tsunade-sama as friendly or else Kabuto would've found out I was carrying the kit when he'd tried to do so back at Orochimaru's hideout.

Sasuke waved his hand in front of her eyes. "Hey, you're spacing out, Kaoru. Something on your mind that's bugging you?"

She realized that it must've shown on her face that she'd been lost in thought and corrected herself. "Sorry, just got distracted for a second."

"A pretty long second."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "I've seen you do it plenty of times when you think no one's watching."

"You never miss anything, do you?"

"Nope."

"Speaking of noticing things, when I was younger I noticed that you and Aniki sneaked out at night, often, almost daily. Was there a reason behind this?"

So he's more perceptive than I thought. At least he hasn't figured out me and Onii-san are secretly ANBU. "Sibling bonding time, that's why we know each other so well."

"Could we do that?"

"Nope, this is our sibling bonding time."

"You cheapskate."

"Yeah, I am." Also, I hate the fact that I can't even tell Onii-san he's gonna be an uncle. Oka-san would be over the moon that she's gonna be a grandma, and Imouto would love to have a new playmate—

"You're spacing out again."

"I've been doing that lately, I hope it doesn't become a bad habit. How often have you seen me do so?"

"When you couldn't speak was one thing, but when you can, you still have the tendency to not voice your thoughts at length."

"Everyone does that." It's just that I'm worried about how much pain I'll go through when I have to give the kit up. It is mine after all and I love its father very much.

"I don't care if the engagement lasts two months or two years! I'm not marrying Kaoru! It feels worse than if you'd told me to marry Imouto when she'd grown up!"

Kaoru winced when she heard Itachi's voice. They're still at it? You'd think they'd give it a rest.

Itachi stormed out of the house, only to catch sight of the pair and their obviously joined hands. In that instant he saw through Kaoru's plan and was in on it. "Otou-san, I think you should see this."

Fugaku walked out and came to the conclusion his three older children wanted him to come to. "This is who you didn't want me to find out you were dating? I forbid it!"

"Otou-san, we're in the same clan," Kaoru countered.

"Sasuke is too young!"

"No he's not, he's turning sixteen in July."

"You and he are not suitable for each other!"

"I like him, so why not?"

"I've been planning on marrying you to Itachi from the beginning!"

Oh…damn it all. Okay Kaoru, calm down, we don't know what he'll do to enforce this.

"I won't accept this relationship, so if you two don't marry within the day, I'll banish Sasuke from the clan indefinitely."

Crap. This is serious. Oh well, sham over, even if it did its job and drew the attention to the wrong person.


There you go! Itachi and Kaoru will marry! What'll happen the next chapter? Any guesses what kind of monkey wrench I'll throw in this time?

Please review!