Surrogacy

-chapter 36-

rated for language / adult themes

Early in the day Sakura played a very mean joke on Sasuke that he did not find very funny.

She was in the kitchen finding something to snack on and Sasuke had just returned from a very long mission, tired as can be, was sorting through his bag looking for something. She was sifting through what was in the fridge when the brilliant idea hit her: to play a prank on the man! She closed the fridge and spun around, tapping her index finger on her lips. "I can't be pregnant and not play this prank...!" She told herself even though her conscience told her it would be pretty mean, but she wanted some attention from him after he was gone for a while.

So she clutched her stomach dramatically and howled in pain, grinning on the inside, and clutching the kitchen island with her other hand. "S-Sasuke!" She cried out, her voice laced with agony and a tinge of drama but she knew he'd never notice over the agony. She could hear those footsteps make their way closer and closer to her and finally he was in view, his face contorted into panic.

"What's wrong?!" He asked hurriedly, stalling as he stared at her composure - holding her large nine month pregnant belly whilst holding onto the island with all of her might - he didn't know what to do! His face was blanched and she found it rather hard to keep the giggles down.

"I think it's the baby...!" Her eyes widened in fake horror and let out a small groan, looking to him for help. He looked so lost and dazed and confused and felt immediately bad but he rushed to her side nonetheless. She pursed her lips as a grin burst out and straightened her back, laughing her into her hand.

His eyebrow twitched and she laughed even harder. "What are you laughing about..?"

"Oh God, I'm sorry Sasuke! It was a joke! But your face was priiiceless!" She continued to laugh right in front of him, even laughing hard enough to bend forward. She felt so bad - but it felt so right!

Sasuke didn't find it as funny as she did, unfortunately. He merely stood up and promptly left the room, leaving her to laugh all on her own. She casually wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye with an undying grin. She knew he'd have to get over it sooner rather than later.

The entirety of the day consisted of Sakura trying to get his attention but he would not give her the time of day. She'd curl up on his lap whilst he was sitting on the couch starting up his report on his mission, but he wouldn't even glance down at her as he did so. She supposed he grew tired of sitting in the hot living room and sat on the porch that was protected by the overhang of the roof and she followed suit. She sat right beside him and stared at him sweetly but he continued just to scrawl down what he needed to say, again without even glancing at her or responding to her advances.

When the night time came around, she followed him all the way up to their bedroom and got changed into her pjs at the same time as him and dove into the bed carefully alongside him. She cuddled right up to his side and wrapped her arm around his torso while she rested her cheek on his chest, letting out a content sigh. She craned her neck upwards to look at him. "Looove yoou!"

She watched as he closed his eyes and his brows slightly twitched angrily like they did before. He didn't say anything but he still laid his arm around her shoulders like every night. She reached up and gently poked him in the cheek. "I'm sorry Sasuke, it's like a pregnant woman's initiation! I could have played it on anyone but you were the first one I saw when I got the idea."

"Well it was a stupid idea."

"I had to do it, you don't understand." She laughed and snuggled her cheek back onto his chest."I bet the baby laughed with me."

"Doubt it."

She lightly chuckled and could feel the weight of her eyelids become more apparent as sleep wanted to take its grip on her. She let out another content sigh and shimmied her body to a comfortable position with her large belly. It felt like a lead blanket was being carefully placed on her body until an ache rocked her body. Her eyes immediately widened and the lead blanket faded away. Soon enough another ache throbbed through her abdomen and through her limbs, causing her to choke up in disbelief. She sucked in a breath of air and tried to work out the aches in her head - they were obviously contractions. Contractions of labor. Labor.

She quickly sat up, blinking rapidly as she rubbed her belly cautiously. They were indeed the dreaded contractions. She looked over her shoulder and into the slight darkness of their bedroom where she could see Sasuke had cracked an eye open to glance at what she was doing, the tiniest hint of a scowl on his lips. She slowly licked her lips and looked back down to her enlarged abdomen that was dully throbbing from the contraction it had just endured. She began to carefully time the seconds and minutes that passed between the first and the second contraction and applied it to her prior knowledge. To make sure they weren't fake contractions, she slowly laid back down in the bed and tried to change positions but it did not ail the ache that remained after her first contraction, so she bit her lip. She then noted how the pain was in her lower back, where most real labor contractions started, and cursed to herself.

Her due date wasn't for about another week and a half - so she didn't get anything ready for the baby! No hospital bag, no baby bag, no nothing! She told herself she wouldn't be nervous for this moment but now her medical knowledge was draining from her head. Should she stay at home for a little while longer or does she go straight for the hospital?!

"Hey S-Sasuke?" She glanced back over her shoulder to look at the father of this baby and watched as he irritably cracked open a single eye at her with a raised brow.

"What?" He questioned with a half annoyed tone. He didn't like to be bothered while he slept, especially since she already had him in a bad mood.

"Well, I just got my first contraction." Even though she sounded confident and sure when she said it, she could see the anger and denial in his face as he scoffed at her words.

"That's not going to work on me twice." He stated simply with a snarl and pulled the blankets closer, for when she was moving around they had been tugged off his side. Sakura huffed and gripped the blankets in her hands and yanked them right off his body, earning a very pissed off Sasuke.

"I'm serious!" She whined and carefully placed her feet on the cool hardwood, feeling nice cooling shivers course through her body. "My first contraction ended a few minutes ago, I'm counting as we speak!"

She whirled back around in time to see him roll his eyes at her and tug the blanket back from her side of the bed. "I'm serious as well, Sakura, I'm tired from my mission, I don't want to play your games anymore."

"The baby is awake and moving around right now! I'm serious! This baby is ready to come out, and the due date is in a week and a half. Not much more I can say other than get the hell out of that bed and get a hospital bag ready for the baby." The other eye Sasuke kept closed opened and he stared at her cautiously, not knowing if he should believe her or not. "If you don't believe me come feel for yourself, and make it snappy, I want to hurry to the hospital. You don't have to take me though, this baby wont be born for a little while and I know you're tired."

He got up form the bed cautiously and paced over to her side, carefully placing his hands on her large belly to feel his little baby move around. "I'm not going to just let you go to the hospital by yourself."

"We'll be there for a while, Sasuke, you wont see the baby for possibly a whole day! Wouldn't you want your sleep before seeing your little baby?"

"No." He crossed his arms over his chest. "What do I need to pack?"

She sighed in defeat and thought for a moment. "Lots of blankets to swaddle the baby in, a few diapers, an outfit for the baby, a little cap, booties... That's about it I believe." He gave her a half nod before he left out of their room and into their baby's nursery. She stretched and made way for her dresser where she began to sort through what she wanted to wear. It had to be comfortable, yet something that was easy to get in and out of. She decided on a yellow sun dress and began to pack her own hospital bag which consisted of her white fluffy slippers and her fuzzy pink house robe.

When Sasuke returned she smiled because she could see the slight fright he allowed himself to show. It went well the the cute little patterned baby bag he held in his right hand. "Are you fit to walk?" He casually took her own hospital bag from her hands and gave her a serious look.

"Both of my legs are functioning, so yes, I'm fit to walk. Also, you may want to change out of your nightwear." She laughed when he looked somewhat embarrassed that that had totally slipped his mind. He set the bags down onto their bed and changed out of his pjs. "So are we ready?" He gave her a nod and she slowly made her way over to his side and wrapped her arms around his much larger arm.

When they arrived at the hospital Haru was just signing out and when she saw her dearest friend her blue eyes widened with shock. "Sakura!" She screeched loudly, her voice echoing through the entree way of the hospital. It turned heads of the doctors, nurses, and patients alike. There was a strict code to how loud your voice could be at a certain time and this wasn't the time for being loud. Haru never cared much for the rules. She threw her pen to the desk and dashed over to her side, her cautious hands hovering over the large pregnant belly. "Is it time?!"

Sakura gave her a slight nod. "Yep, I got my first contraction about ten minutes ago and I can feel the beginning of one now. I'm only here early to take some extra steps to ensure the birth will go accordingly."

"Oooohhh!" The woman squealed, and got down on her knees, looking right at the large bump in pure amazement. With a nod of permission, Haru placed her hands on it and gasped rather loudly when the tiny one moved underneath her hands. "Aw, aw, aw! It's moving so much! It wants to meet you, Sakura!"

Sakura didn't quite like it when people referred to the baby as an 'it', it just made her want to reveal the gender more and more. "So, Haru, Ino told me you two were taking bets on what the gender would be but she didn't tell me which you two picked."

"Yeah, hehe, I bet on a girl. Ino bet on a boy, Naruto bet on a girl with pink hair. Tsunade bet on a girl-"

"When were you talking to Tsunade about this?"

"She came in for a patient about two weeks ago that needed her assistance, Ino was here visiting me on my break, and she just walked up to us and asked us what we thought it would be..."

"And I'm guessing whoever guesses right gets a share of the pooled money?" Knowing Tsunade she loved her gambling. Haru nodded and Sakura sighed with a slight chuckle. "Well Haru, I really need to get to a hospital room, my back is killing me. Can you quickly call the obstetrician? The one that I like."

"Yeah of course! I'll do that right now, I guess you can just head over to the delivery wing." Haru rushed back over to her large desk and picked up the phone with a gleeful smile. As Sasuke and Sakura paced down the hallway Haru got the obstetrician on the phone.

Said obstetrician found the couple in the hallway and ushered them into a calm white delivery room with a nice view of the city and some flowers in a clear vase. "You can get comfortable, Sakura, I'll be back in a few minutes to check your dilation." The male doctor stated before promptly leaving the room.

Sasuke didn't care if it was a male doctor until he asked this question. "How does he check your dilation?"

Sakura's face flushed a deep red when maybe she should have asked for the crappier female obstetrician to save her the problems that would arise with Sasuke and a male doctor. "Well, they have to basically, ahem... Stick their gloved fingers inside so they can.. Feel around and check."

Sasuke looked absolutely startled and horrified! He was normally a very pale man but she could see the blood leave his face again yet his brows instantly furrowed and his eyes looked full of burning hate. "What?!" He burst out, clenching his fists, looking all embarrassed. "And you chose him?"

"B-because the other obstetrician isn't as experienced as him, Sasuke, it's not like that. You want your baby to be delivered safely, right? By someone who has delivered many babies before, right? That would be him!" Sasuke stayed silent, brooding in his little hospital chair, his nasty glare directed at the door where that damned doctor would be walking in. "If you do anything, I swear!"

When Sakura reminded herself to calm down and after forcing the Uchiha to promise not to pull anything, the doctor strode in. "We've missed you here at the hospital, Sakura." He said calmly as he pulled a light blue latex glove on his fingers, seemingly unaware of Sasuke's horrid stare. "We had a patient in that needed even Lady Tsunade's help!"

Sakura readied herself on the bed and a light laugh. "Really? What did he manage to do?" She didn't pay any mind to Sasuke, as his body went frigid in his hospital chair and his heated glare switched between them. She gripped the guardrail on the hospital bed tightly as the obstetrician began to do his job.

"Impaled by a tree branch doing Gods know what, right through the chest, narrowly missing his heart and the subclavian vein. It was quite a messy procedure... Hmm, well I'd say you're about five centimeters dilated. Minimum five hours until you reach the last stage of labor." He pulled his hand away from Sakura and carefully pulled the gloves off his hands and tossed them into the small trashcan near the entrance to the room. "I'm going to have a nurse come by and hook you up to the fetal monitor as soon as one is available. We've got a woman from Ame that traveled here a few months back just to have our doctors deliver her sextuplets."

Sakura snorted with amazement. "Oh wow, that's amazing!" The obstetrician nodded and said his goodbye's and Sakura glanced over at Sasuke. "See, it could be as bad as sextuplets." He merely stared at her, his face unchanging. "You're mad at me... For what now?" He still just sat there with his arms crossed. "...Did you think I enjoyed that, Sasuke?"

"Well-"

"It hurt like hell." He glanced down at her hand that left a few dents in the railing from her clenching it so tightly. "Exactly! It hurts a lot! That didn't come from enjoyment. It's not like when you do-"

"Sakura!" A nurse burst through the door with a large grin decorating her lips, her scrubs a flashy red. "I couldn't wait to get out of that surgery room when doctor Oshiro asked for a nurse. That woman is nuts. She insisted to be awake for the C-Section so she could make sure they all lived. It's a nice gesture and everything, but far too bloody for sensitive eyes."

"Oh Kame, you always cheer me up." Sakura sat up in her bed as Kame set some folded linens on her lap.

"I know." She laughed and began pushing buttons on a machine near the bed. "Those are some regulated robes, you don't have to wear them but the outer robe is the heated one that is demanded by every patient, and since these beds aren't the heated ones I thought you'd wear it."

Sakura snickered as she unfolded the clothing. "Of course I'm going to wear it. Anytime I can be pampered with heated clothing then I'm all for it." She stood up carefully and took the bag from Sasuke's feet, digging through it until she found the spare dress she stuffed in there. She drew the half-closed blinds shut and pulled her yellow dress off her body and pulled her loose white one on, then pulled the robe over her shoulders with a sigh. She sat back on the bed just in time, Kame holding up the little elastic belts to strap them onto her pregnant belly.

After that was done and Kame left the room, Sakura moved over in the bed and patted beside her, wanting Sasuke by her side. He shook his head. "I'll fall asleep if I lie down."

"It's not in anyone's best interest to deny a pregnant woman of what she wants." She smiled sweetly and that alone coerced him to get into the hospital bed with her. "I want to be close to you right now."

Once he finished getting into the large bed, she cuddled up to his side like she always did every night. "Your heartbeat is abnormal. Why?" She peered up at him with big curious eyes, and since Kame turned the lights off for them, she could only see the moonlight bouncing off his eyes.

It was a great accomplishment to get an answer out of him. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for now. "Nothing."

"Are you nervous? Is that it?" She didn't get a 'no' so she assumed she was right like she always was. "I'm not even that nervous, Sasuke, and I'm the one pushing out a baby in the near future. If I'm not nervous about it then there's nothing for you to worry about."

"I'm not just about the delivery because I know you can do it."

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing."

"If you tell me what you're nervous about, I'll tell you what I'm nervous about."

"You're nervous about something?" She nodded.

"Many things are on my mind, many of which have nothing to do with the delivery."

He sighed. "I don't think I'm suited for this."

"For what?" She questioned, propping herself up on her elbow to get a better look at his face, shocked by this. "For being a father?" He nodded. "Sasuke! What the heck makes you think like that?"

His face twisted up slightly, as if he was mocking her question. "Everything. The Elders made mistakes many years ago at the trial."

She scoffed. "Like what, ban you from having children? Castrate you?"

"If not for Naruto's speech they would have had me executed. You know that. Somebody that would have been executed because of international crimes shouldn't be allowed to have children."

"Don't you dare think like that! If they thought that you weren't going to reproduce then they're all idiots! As far as your future fathering is concerned I'm not the least bit worried. Because of what happened back then isn't going to affect whatever happens now. You're not going to kill this baby, kidnap it, extort it, are you?" He shook his head. "Then there you go. And I know you're going to love this baby with all your heart, I know it. No parent can be perfect at parenting, so please don't worry about it."

He sighed and slightly nodded. "I don't think the baby will like me."

"Pssh, that's what I'm worried about, not you. This baby will adore you." She laughed and snuggled back to his chest. "Whenever you come back from a mission, or when you're within earshot the baby starts to move because they recognize you and your voice. You're the only one that's going to be able to teach them their jutsu's, and help them with their Sharingan. I wont be able to do any of that."

"You'll be the nice parent."

"Pff, you're nice when you absolutely have to be. Besides, there's always a 'nice parent' and a not so 'nice parent.' They can't have two and not the other, it doesn't work like that. My dad was always the nice parent, I guess he was my 'favorite' parent when I was smaller."

Sasuke smiled fondly when he thought of his parents. "My mother was the nice parent." He remembered how he'd always talk to his mother and once his father entered the room silence would fall upon them. Mikoto would always laugh when that happened.

A low, almost inaudible beeping filled the room and his onyx eyes darted from the ceiling until they fell upon the monitor, where the usual stagnant green line was beginning to show some activity. "What does that mean?"

"Ah, it's just showing another contraction coming on." Her voice sounded strained as she spoke, slowly arching her back into she found a more comfortable position. "They get worse every time they come around."

He wished he could take some of the discomfort she was currently feeling, but Sakura put on a tough face and bore through it silently, gripping onto his hand as she did so. She was so much stronger than he used to believe. When he could feel her grip on his hand become less and less powerful, he turned the lighting on the machine to the low setting so it didn't bounce off the walls of the room and keep her up. "I think you should get some rest Sakura."

"Yeah..." She whispered and re-attached herself to his lean side, finding her exact place where she rests her head and finally let her eyelids flutter shut. "I love you."

Normally he barely said those three words because he always thought they were over-used, and to say them if he really truly ever meant it. As he gently kissed the top of her head he realized he couldn't possibly love her more than he already did. "I love you too."

omg. Finally Sakura's in labor! So the majority of the people think that this baby will be a girl, and a handful of people believe it will be a boy. Next chapter will be the big reveal! Sorry for any errors, it's hard for me to spot them when I'm reading my own writing.

THANKS SO MUCH for alllllllll of the reviewers, followers, and faves! Can we reach 300 reviews before the story ends?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto