Such wonderful reviews from the last chapter. But if you were expecting a kickass chapter with Naruto and the team knocking the hell outta Yomi and his goons...guess again!
35.5: What To Expect When You're Expecting!
Anko was not in the best of moods at the moment. Why? Several reasons. The first and foremost being the massive stomach ache she was feeling. She lay in bed in her usual sleeping attire of a spaghetti strap tank top, and panties, sweating profusely even though she wasn't lying under the covers.
Her husband was already gone, as he had been for the past several days to aid the two teams that had been sent to Oni no Kuni...and she hated it!
Feeling nauseous, she rolled out of bed, her entire body tingle with soreness, and headed for the bathroom...and two steps later, she knew she wouldn't make it.
Clapping her hands over her mouth, she stumbled toward the kitchen sink and hurled for all she was worth. She turned on the tap to wash the the contents down the drain, and took the chance to wash her mouth out. She cursed herself and slid to the floor of the kitchen, her back against the counter. "Kami dammit, what's wrong with me?"
Suddenly, much to her displeasure, there was a loud knock at the door, which did nothing to still the pounding in her head. She whimpered in pain as the door opened, and sighed with relief when she realized that only one person would do that apart from Kakashi.
Kurenai Yuhi, her best friend, along with her student, Hinata Hyuuga, and one of the Uzumaki children..Ushio, that's her name, Anko thought tiredly.
"Anko-chan, I thought you were - " Kurenai said before trailing off as she took in the house, empty, or so it appeared to be, "Anko?"
"Kitchen," Anko rasped, her throat raw.
The sound of her voice was enough to get the three women moving double time, finding the Hatake matriarch on the floor. "What in the name of the Kage!?" Kurenai yelled, dashing forward so face that one would think it was a Shushin. "Anko, what's wrong?!"
Anko just grinned weakly, "Just a stomach bug, I guess?"
"You guess?" Kurenai asked skeptically, "I've never seen you sick a day in your life, not even after you've gotten drunk!"
Hinata knelt down beside the two women, "Should we get her to Shizune-san?" She asked, "With Kakashi-sama out of the village, Tsunade-sama's back in office, so Shizune's the only option right now."
Anko shook her head, "I hate doctors...I hate hospitals."
Ushio, a slip of a girl from the Uzumaki clan, just shook her head, "Anko-san, I don't think there's much of a choice...you look awful!"
Anko gave the girl a lighthearted glare, "Gee, thanks a lot, twerpette."
"She's right, Anko-chan," Kurenai said, ducking under her left arm, and hauling her to her feet, "Hinata-chan, see if you can find something for her to wear, or else we'll cause a scene, Ushio-chan, could you hurry over to the hospital and let them know we're bringing her in? I'd like Shizune-san to have a look at her right away. I think I have a pretty good idea what the problem is."
Anko rolled her eyes at the red-eyed woman, "Oh, yeah?" She smirked, "So what's the prognosis, Doc?"
"You're exhausted, feeling a bit of pain in your stomach, and I can see your feet beginning to swell just a little bit," Kurenai said as Hinata came back with a pair of sweats, and a light jacket, "And I'll bet anything that you just vomited. It's morning sickness, Anko-chan." She finished as she helped the woman dress, and smiled at the astonished look on her face while Hinata covered her mouth with her hands to hide a happy smile and blush.
"You mean I'm...I'm..."
"Pregnant," Kurenai said, smiling, "You're going to be a mother."
=x=
"This is so stupid," Anko growled as she laid down on the table, allowing Shizune to examine her, "I'm not pregnant, just sick!" She snapped, jumping a little as the medic passed her hands over her stomach, "I-I-I mean think about it! Me? A mom? That's the worst thing that could happen!"
Kurenai giggled at her friend, "Anko-chan, I don't know why you're so worried." She said, smiling as her friend glared at her, "Kakashi surely won't be upset about it. He is the last of his clan, after all. And you never know, with his implanted Sharingan, the little one has a chance of inheriting the Doujutsu."
"About a twenty percent chance," Shizune pointed out, "If Anko-san had had the Sharingan implant, then the chance would be about fifteen. For some reason, traits such as Kekkei Genkai are stronger when one parent carrying it is the father." She said, straightening up, and smiling, "Well, Anko-san, are you ready to hear the news?"
"No," Anko growled.
Shizune rolled her eyes, "Well, tough luck, Hatake-san, because you are three weeks along!"
Kurenai squealed, jumping up and embracing Hinata and Ushio, who were just as happy for the woman. Anko, on the other hand...
"This is horribile," she moaned, covering her face with her arms, "It's bad enough that some people still call me Orochimaru's little whore, but - "
"Anko," Shizune said, looking at her seriously, "Do you want to terminate the pregnancy?"
"WHAT?!" Kurenai and Hinata shrieked.
"No!" Ushio cried, "Anko-san, please, don't!"
"Shizune looked at the women, "It's her right." She said, frowning, "Right now, the fetus is barely begun to form, and it's at the easiest stage for termination if she doesn't think she can handle being a mother, yet."
"But everyone's blessed with a child is born," Ushio argued.
Anko sighed, and growled out, "No, I don't want to fucking terminate it...I just...don't want the baby to suffer like I did, and still do sometimes," she admitted, "I've been married to a Kage for a year, and I still get dirty looks...I don't even know how Kakashi can put up with being talked about behind his back like that?"
"Because of his own parents," Kurenai said, looking at her friend, "You know what happened to them, right?"
Anko sighed, shaking her head, "Who doesn't?"
Shizune smiled at her, "Then you should know how he deals with it, and he doesn't care." She smiled again and patted the woman on the stomach, "And he'll be ecstatic to hear the news when he gets home."
Anko placed her hand over her abdomen, still flat as a washboard, "Can...can you tell me what it is, yet?"
Shizune nodded, "While it's a little early, I can clearly sense a male presense in the womb." She said, drawing a smile from the woman, "But keep in mind, you need to be careful. This early in the pregnancy, its easy for a miscarriage to happen. So, don't stress out, eat healthier, and just follow whatever cravings you might have, provided they're safe." She went to one of the cabinets dotting the room, and plucked a bottle from the shelf, "Take one of these per day to help with the morning sickness, but no more than one, or else you might harm the baby."
Anko eyed the bottle with mixed feelings; while she wanted the vomiting to stop, she didn't want to harm her unborn child. "Thanks, but...I think I'll just suffer through it." She sighed, "No sense taking any chances."
Shizune nodded approvingly, "I agree, and I think I know of a better way to help. There's a tea shop in the village that sells a very good herbal blend that helps with nausea, you might try it."
Anko nodded gratefully and got up from the table.
"Kurenai, you're next," Shizune announced, smiling at the woman.
"Shizune!" Kurenai blushed.
Shizune giggled, "Don't play dumb with me, Kurenai-sempai, I know you're expecting as well!"
Anko turned a startled look to her friend, "When did this happen?!"
Hinata giggled while her sensei, blushed, "I'm only three months along, it's not like I - "
"Who's the father?" Anko asked suddenly.
Ushio gave her a look, "Who do you think?" The young Uzumaki woman asked.
=x=
"Nyachoo!" A certain Sarutobi sneezed loudly, loud enough that he woke up his laziest teammate, who had dozed off while waiting for him to make a move on the Shogi board.
Shikamaru groaned, "Geeze, Asuma-sensei, did you have to sneeze on the pieces?" He asked, "If I catcha cold because of you, I'll tell my kaa-san you just wanted me to take a few weeks off."
Asuma rolled his eyes, "Don't be such a drama queen, Shika-kun, that's Ino-chan's job."
"I heard that!" Ino yelled from across the training field.
Asuma grinned over at her, "You were meant to!"
Shikamaru snickered, "Troublesome blonde."
"SHIKA!"
=x=
Anko sighed incredulously as Kurenai began her examination, "And you didn't tell me you got married, why?"
Kurenai just shrugged, "We didn't want to make a big deal out of it," she said, smiling, "What with Asuma being a former member of the Twelve Shinobi Guardians, and my reputation as a Genjutsu master, we figured it would be for the best if we kept it all quiet. Plus, he's a Sarutobi, so the village would have put up one hell of a fuss about our wedding if we hadn't just registered the marriage."
That made sense. Both of them had enemies inside and outside the village, and would probably use one or the other against them somehow. Though, if Kurenai ever got herself in trouble, there was probably nothing that could stop Asuma from getting her back, and heaven help whoever got in his way.
"So, what's it gonna be?" She asked the Genjutsu mistress, "Boy or girl?"
"A girl," Kurenai blushed happily, placing her hand over her stomach, "Mirai will be her name."
Hinata smiled in envy, "It's so amazing that you're both about to be mothers...I wish..." she looked down sadly, remembering that the one man she loved, had loved another, and was now gone forever...
Ushio patted her shoulder, "Hinata-san, you shouldn't dwell on the past like that. Naruto-san wouldn't want you wallowing like this."
Hinata sighed, "I don't know how Tayuya-san does it," she admitted, "She was closer to him than even Sakura-san was, and she acts so...brave..."
Ushio and Kurenai sighed, "It wasn't like that at first," Ushio admitted, "She was a terrible mess. Ranmaru-kun even asked us for help when she would barely eat anything, and then she started having nightmares about what happened to him."
Kurenai nodded, "I did a bit of therapy with her to help her get over it...she never did completely, but she got better after few sessions." She said, sighing, "But when I viewed her memories through a Genjutsu to help her move through it...even I thought getting over something like that was a horrible thing to go through." She said, looking at Hinata, "He died right in front of her."
Hinata shivered, "Poor Tayuya-san..." she said in sympathy for her friend.
=|AN: If only they knew|=
Tayuya shivered slightly, as if someone was talking about her. She sighed and rolled back over into the warmth of Naruto's shoulder, falling a back asleep.
=x=
Anko and Kurenai, followed by the two younger women, walked through the shopping district as Kurenai couched Anko in what she would need in the coming days. One thing they would need, definitely, was a larger apartment. The one she and Kakashi lived in at the moment was a simple one bedroom, one bathroom, and a small kitchen combo.
"You could always open up the old compound," Kurenai said, pointing toward the the northern part of the village, "I know it was damaged during the Kyuubi attack, but I'm sure we could salvage a few things..."
Anko sighed, "I don't really know about that, Nai-chan. Kakashi...well, he still hasn't quite got over his Tou-san."
"That's the problem with us," Kurenai, gesturing to herself, and Anko, "Anyone who lived through the third war is always living in the past."
"We lost a lot of clans," Anko said, nodding, "But you might be right, that land does belong to...our clan, so I suppose I could..."
"Excellent," Kurenai smiled, "I'll ask Tsunade-sama to have a few teams over there in a couple of hours, meantime, let's go have a look!"
Hinata timidly interupted, "A-Actually, Sensei, I need to head home for training. Otou-san is still having trouble with the elders, and without the seal to hinder anymore of us, they are getting up in arms."
Kurenai looked back at her pupil, "Is everything alright?"
Hinata nodded, "Yes, it's just with Neji-niisan gone on mission, the elders are always bolder, and...well, Nii-san makes them nervous."
Anko laughed at that, "He ought to, he's the strongest in the Hyuuga clan."
Hinata nodded and excused herself, leaving Ushio behind. The young Uzumaki smiled at the pair, "I'll just head home and see if Tou-san can help out with anything. He loves building projects."
"That'd be great," Anko smiled at her, "Thanks, Shio-chan...and say 'Hi' Saiga for me!"
"ANKO-SAN!" Ushio blushed, and hurried away, blushing furiously.
Anko giggled, "Heehee, too easy."
Me: Another short side chapter for a look into the lives of the Leaf Village, and what's more, Anko is expecting! Boy is Kakashi in for a headache!
Kurama: I'll say! Just wait until those mood swings hit and whoa-ho-ho-hoooo nelly!
Me: Got that right. Don't forget to review!
Anko: Or I'll chop off your balls!
Me: Anko!