The next few weeks were abuzz with activity for both of us. I had ended up changing my mind about getting an apartment and bought a quaint little house instead. I rationalized that a house was a more significant commitment than an apartment, so the place I called home would feel more permanent. Sasuke was able to find some time to help me look for it, although he had to leave for a two-week mission after that first night. We still saw each other often, although his schedule was busy with missions or training with Sarada. I continued working on my second book and was always ahead of my deadlines, which allowed me more flexibility with my time. I went back to teaching at Konoha Academy, although I was down to two classes three days a week. Sasuke continued living in the boarding house until his divorce was completed, then moved into our home with me. He had also reconsidered the offer he got for a new arm and eventually had it reattached. He said it took some getting used to, but he got the hang of it. He was glad he did it because he could hug his daughter with both his hands.
Once he moved in, he officially introduced me to Sakura and Sarada since he had an amicable relationship with Sakura. He first decided to introduce me to Sakura since he wanted her to meet me formally before introducing me to his daughter. He invited her for dinner during one of the nights when Sarada had been out on a mission. She turned out to be really lovely. They talked about all the wonderful things their daughter was doing and how she saw her growth as a kunoichi. She also said that she was happy for him because he seemed to have changed a lot from before and was a lot more present for his daughter and was a lot more open and showed more emotion.
Because the meeting with Sakura went well, he invited both her and Sarada over for a BBQ. Sarada was also very welcoming to me. She said that she was glad that her dad seemed happier and spent more time in the village. She also told us about all the new things she was learning. For one of her more recent missions, she and Boruto went to save their friend, Mitzuki, from a group taken to Iwagakure. Our Tsuchikage had been experimenting with artificial soldiers because he had grown tired of seeing young people, including his only grandson, die in wars. He wanted the artificial soldiers to fight in their stead. They had kidnapped her friend because he was one of Oruchimaru's experiments that had managed to not disintegrate, which was the issue they had. I was surprised to hear of this because I hadn't noticed anything wrong during my press tour, but I wasn't looking for anything wrong either. After the dinner, Sasuke said that he was happy both Sarada and Sakura liked me since he was worried about them not accepting me.
We had set up one of the house rooms as Sarada was welcome to come anytime she wanted to. I noticed that she would often visit Boruto and Mitzuki in tow when I was at home. Boruto would always try to get me to talk about the next book I was working on. I would always tell him to be patient because I knew he was waiting for me to give him the pages I had promised. I decided to test the concept they had suggested and created a short comic book of one of my travel misadventures. I had a couple of copies printed for him to give to his friends. I was secretly using them as market research for my next project idea. They loved the comics and kept asking for more. I presented that idea to my agent, and she would look into getting me a deal for those too. I was to focus on completing my book first before working on the comics. My publishing company was also interested in that, so I signed a contract with them. I talked to Shikamaru, Temari, and Gaara about signing an agreement with Shikadai and Shinko to give them a percentage from the comic book sales when it eventually came out. They all agreed to this, but Shikamaru and Temari also suggested that I let Shikadai get involved with some of the work I did. They didn't want it didn't seem like I was giving him free money. I told them I could take him on as an assistant on days when he was not out on missions and could give him hands-on experience with publishing once my book was done so he could see the process. He could also get a chance to network with all the events I got invited to for the book tours. That's how I got myself, my first assistant.
Having an assistant proved to be particularly useful as I found myself feeling exhausted more often. I would have him drop my work off to the editors, replenish my art supplies, clean up my workspace and answer my calls, which I had forwarded to a phone I gave him when he was not on missions. I eventually managed to drag myself to the doctor after Sasuke had said that I looked tired all the time despite working the same pace I was before. I had many tests done and was told I would get a call back with the results.
"Hi, Shikadai! Did I have any messages?"
"Yes. Your agent called and said she had some suggestions for the last chapter you dropped off, so I set up an appointment for you tomorrow at noon. I'll go pick up the notes so you can go to the meeting with them. Your doctor also called and wanted you to call back since he wanted to talk to you about a few things".
"Thanks! Let me know if I get any other calls; otherwise, I don't need anything else for today, so you're free to go. You have the keys so just drop the notes off whenever you have time".
I quickly called my doctor back because I didn't like how the message sounded, and I needed to know. I debated whether to wait for Sasuke before calling but decided against it. If it was terrible news, I would have time to process it before passing it on. He was going to be out training with Sarada and would be back tomorrow.
"Hello, this is Kazue Senjurama. I'm calling back about my test results", I said into the phone.
"Oh, Hello, Miss Senjurama. Yes. I have your results right here. Don't worry, there's nothing bad going on with you. Looks like you are pregnant. I just wanted to set up an appointment so we can go over what your next steps are" it took me a moment to register what he had said.
"Umm…yeah…ok. Umm…When's the earliest I can come to it?"
"Well, I do have a spot the just opened up tomorrow at 10 am if you are available".
"Sure. Put me down for that one. Thank you"
I called Shikadai and told him to cancel my noon appointment and move it to the day after and that he didn't need to come in tomorrow. I then took the time to process the news. Sasuke and I hadn't really talked about kids. I had turned 29 a few weeks earlier, so it wasn't really a big deal. He was home more often, but my biggest concern for that was whether it would stay that way. I would hate for my child to grow up the way Sarada grew up, so I added that to the things I would need to talk to him about. I added Oruchimaru to the list of discussion topics. I did not want Oruchimaru anywhere near my child because the fact that our child would be both an Uchiha and a Senju would be a jackpot for him. Oruchimaru seemed to be obsessed with Sasuke. When Sasuke explained why it didn't make it any less creepy. I'd rather not have clones walking around. I was also financially secure enough that I knew I would be OK to raise a child on my own if Sasuke was against it. I decided to be happy for myself. I now had to figure out how to tell Sasuke the news. I fell back to my favorite coping mechanism, which was drawing what was troubling me, which gave me an idea. I spent all afternoon working on it.
I went to the doctor for my appointment, and he went through what I should be expecting the next few months since I was 6 to 7 weeks pregnant. I counted back to when that would be, and it turns out, that was probably the night we went to dinner at Naruto's place. I wondered if I could blame them for this because of the sake they gave us. I got an ultrasound done and was given a picture of whatever they saw in those things. I just saw lines and circles. I was also told to set the next one up and told them I would have my assistant take care of it since he was more aware of my next few weeks.
When I got back home, I took a shower then wore a pair of blue and white striped shorts and a yellow, low cut, sleeveless top. I always looked good in yellow, especially on sunny days. I took time to properly style my curly hair and applied light makeup since it was hot outside, and I would probably sweat it out. I then left a note for Sasuke since I knew he would be home in about 2 hours. 'MEET ME AT THE TOWER WHEN YOU GET THIS NOTE'. Since that was the place we first met, I figured I should tell him the news there. Either we can end where we began, or we can start a new chapter in our lives. I grabbed my picnic mat, sketching tools, and the ultrasound picture, then headed out.