It wasn't like this before. It really wasn't like this before.

A sudden and bizarre change had overtaken Naruto, something that would take nine months to fix.

Hinata's first pregnancy had transformed Naruto into a lunatic.

From the way he was acting, you'd think he was the one going to give birth.

Of course, his first reaction was to pass out and then cry bucketloads of tears in joy. Then he'd wrapped up Hinata in a hug, only to let go immediately, because he was afraid of "crushing the baby."

Actually, that part was really sweet. He was the kind of loving father that Hinata always knew he'd be.

It was what happened in the following weeks that was odd.

Naruto frowned, taking in the sweat beaded on her forehead in concern. "Hinata, are you sure you're okay?"

It was the fifth time he'd asked her that in the past five minutes. Something was winding him up.

She sighed. "Yes, Naruto-kun, I'm fine, it's just the heat."

He placed the back of his hand on her forehead, eyes filled with nervousness and a little bit of fear. "Do you have a fever? I mean, you've never sweated like this before – "

"Yes, I have." She leaned back on the couch, propping up her legs in a resting position. "It's summer, Naruto-kun. People do sweat during the summer."

"Oh...oh, right." Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Then...then I'll get you some water! It's important to keep yourself and the baby hydrated, ya know!"

She simply smiled at him. He really was the kind of loving father that Hinata always knew he'd be.

He'd hurried into the kitchen, returning with the promised water.

Except that it wasn't simply a small glass of water. He'd gotten an entire five jugs, balanced precariously in his arms.

And he made her drink all of it. Because it was "important to keep yourself and the baby hydrated."

He was pretty nervous and high-strung these days, far more so than her. It was kind of funny, actually, although incidents like these were slightly annoying.

Yes, he was definitely very nervous and high-strung these days. That was why he was walking around the house all the time with some book that he'd borrowed from Sai, something about pregnancy or parenting or whatever.

Hinata, once again, thought it was sweet. All day long, he'd be absorbed in that book, muttering about vitamin supplements and healthy eating.

He was taking her health quite seriously. Hinata felt moved when he got her some iron tablets from Sakura because he'd read in the book that it was important to get enough minerals for the duration of the pregnancy. It was truly something to behold, coming from a guy who thought that ramen was the most nutritious food on the planet. He still thought that, but a few words from Sakura about "high sodium levels" was enough to prevent him from feeding her tons of it during her pregnancy, something which she was grateful for from the bottom of her heart. She loved ramen too, but Sakura was right. The high sodium levels would not be good for her or the baby.

Naruto's motto during her pregnancy seemed to be, "If it's healthy, make sure Hinata eats tons of it." And that was where the problems started.

It was sweet that he was getting her all those vitamins and minerals, concerned at the prospect of her getting anemia or becoming malnourished.

It was funny, although slightly annoying, when he made her drink five jugs of water because he was concerned at the prospect of her becoming dehydrated.

But it crossed the line from sweet, funny, and slightly annoying to absolute madness when he roped Guy-sensei into his nutritional health plan.

"HINATA!" Guy-sensei yelled far too loudly, making her grimace (pregnancy was making her a tad more sensitive than usual). "YOU CAN'T GIVE UP. IT'S UNYOUTHFUL TO GIVE UP. NOW, ON THE COUNT OF THREE."

Hinata shot a glare at Naruto, standing off in the corner and grinning at her like he had no idea what was wrong.

...He probably didn't, Hinata conceded grudgingly. Still, why did he think it was okay to torture her like this in the name of proper nutrition?

"ONE. TWO. THREE."

Guy-sensei fixed her with one of those disturbing grins that Neji nii-san used to complain about. She sighed and began slowly munching on the twentieth carrot for that day.

There were twenty more remaining in the basket that Guy-sensei had carried along with him. Naruto gave her a thumbs-up and an encouraging smile. She sighed again.

It was going to be a long, long day.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said when Guy-sensei finally left, which took a long time, and only after feeding her ten apples, five lemons, and an entire jug of water. Hinata thanked the heavens that at least the fruits were extra-small. "I understand that you're concerned about me and all, but really, you're going overboard here."

He stared at her cluelessly. "Why do you think that? I'm just worried about yours and Boruto's health, ya know?"

"But I don't need to eat fifty-five fruits and vegetables every single day. I don't understand why you thought Guy-sensei was the best person to ask for help."

She patted her belly, which was only partially swollen because of the baby and mostly swollen because of Guy-sensei's diet torture, and calmly met his gaze, wordlessly asking for an explanation.

Naruto's eye switched a little.

Ah. So he did understand.

She smiled at him, despite her her earlier annoyance. Only a few months into their relationship, and she had found that this was the best way to get Naruto to open up. He was nervous and high-strung lately, and she knew that something was...bothering him. Otherwise he wouldn't have roped in Guy-sensei for his nutritional meal plan.

It worked.

His lip wobbled and his eyes kept twitching.

"You've been acting strange lately," she prodded. "Could you tell me what's wrong?"

And then he word-puked.

Hinata knew that Naruto bore a great resemblance to his mother, Kushina, both in looks and personality. Kakashi-sensei had shared a funny anecdote with her the other day, about something his sensei, the Yondaime, had told him a long time ago, about how Naruto's mother had reacted when she found out that she was pregnant.

She should have suspected that Naruto would act the same way.

"I'm just so worried, ya know?" Naruto yelled, throwing his hands up into the air. "This is the first time we're going to be parents! I just want to get everything right, ya know! I know that you're supposed to feed kids a lot when they're hungry and I always think that Boruto might be hungry right now, and that means we have to feed him something healthy before he gets addicted to something like hamburgers!"

Hinata blinked, but Naruto was on a roll.

"Plus I just get the feeling that Boruto is going to be a really naughty kid, and he'll say that he hates the Hokage, and that he'll pull all sorts of pranks to get attention, and...and..."

...It was official.

Hinata's pregnancy had made Naruto lose his mind.

"Naruto-kun! Just calm down. How could you possibly know all of these things about the baby before he's even born?"

He finally stopped and took a deep breath.

"Because I'm his dad," he said, as though this was obvious.

Ah.

Naruto really was the kind of loving father Hinata knew he'd be.

"Well, don't worry, Naruto-kun. Boruto will be fine," Hinata replied.

"You sure?"

Sky blue eyes peered up at her nervously.

"Yes, because...I'm his mother."

A/N: I've always thought it would be funny if Naruto could accurately predict his kids' personalities before they were born, just like Kushina, ha ha. :)

Thanks for the reviews, RamenIsLife, Jove21, GBAboy313, johnnycatalina, and Minako K. :)

GBAboy313 - whoa, I see that you're quite upset about this, ha ha. Poor Kishi, he gets way too much hate from the fans... :) But seriously, I get your frustration, but in my opinion, it does make sense that Naruto took that long to figure out that Hinata loved him in a romantic sense. He's not the sharpest tool in the box, and I can easily see an orphan like him, not exposed to much affection as a kid, not being able to distinguish all the different kinds of love. Plus, there's a relevant passage related to this in the novelization of the Last movie, and I read a good essay or two about it. I can link them if you want. :)

Last day of NH Week tomorrow! Stay tuned. :)