Hello gang! Believe it or not, I don't write by the seat of my pants…I usually map out what I am going to write about and this upcoming "arc" (if that's what you want to call it) is going to be the last one for this fic…I'm only guessing at this point, but perhaps between 6-10 more chapters. It's been a real thrill writing for you and thank you for the wonderful feedback. I think, at publishing about a chapter a week, it has been around 9 months since the story started. Thank you all for continuing to support me! Now, back to what's important…the story.
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Sakura and Sasuke dropped the twins at their home and then decided to take a slight detour to the Uchiha property to check on the status of Sasuke's new home. When they got there, it was much different than Sasuke had expected.
"Uchiha-sama," said a man who was walking towards him.
Sasuke took his eyes off of the buildings and turned them instead towards this man. "You've made great strides," he noted. "I didn't expect nearly this much progress."
"I'm the foreman of this site," said the man. "The name is Joshi."
"It's good to meet you. As you've already guessed, I am Sasuke Uchiha. This is Sakura Haruno."
"It's a pleasure," said Joshi. He turned to face the construction site as well. "Believe it or not, it will only be a few more weeks. The external work is complete, so what you have here is, well…what you have."
"I'm very pleased," said Sasuke.
"Thank you, Uchiha-sama," said Joshi, bowing slightly to the man who had contracted him. Just then one of the workers popped his head out from one of the windows and beckoned for Joshi. "Excuse me, I must attend to this, but feel free to take a walk around."
"Thank you, I think I will," answered Sasuke.
Sasuke and Sakura entered the set of buildings through a door and started to walk around the compound.
"It's smaller than the original, but the overall look is about the same," noted Sakura.
"I did it on purpose," said Sasuke. "Even though I'm the last, I still have a connection to what we once were. I'm hoping to pass that along to the next generation."
"Ah, I see," noted Sakura, whose mind immediately shifted to the implication of the next generation and what getting to the next generation would mean. She didn't dare utter a word about it though…it was much too soon for that and she didn't want to tread where she wasn't wanted. Although she and Sasuke were close, and still getting closer, she knew that in this shinobi world, sometimes people do what they must, not what they want and there as always the possibility she wasn't in Sasuke's grand plan.
They stepped through a few more rooms before Sasuke stopped in an open doorway. "This is where I'll be," he mentioned.
"Your bedroom?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "It's just like my parent's bedroom when I was young. Now that I'm going to be the head of the household…"
"It makes sense for you to have the main suite," said Sakura.
Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand and led her through a few more rooms. Finally, they came to another door to the outside and they exited.
"So what do you think?" asked Sasuke.
"I think you'll be very happy here," said Sakura. "It's about time for you to have a place of your own to call home."
"Do you want to live here with me?" he asked softly.
"What?" asked Sakura. Her head suddenly turned so that she was looking directly at him, into his eyes.
"I asked if you wanted to come here to live with me," said Sasuke. "I know you love that little apartment of yours, but I thought…."
"Of course!" Sakura shouted and practically jumped on Sasuke to give him a huge bear hug.
"Hmsoudhgli," said Sasuke, whose voice was now being muffled by Sakura's hug.
She let go. "What did you say?"
"Nevermind," he said. He smiled at her over-the-top reaction. It was so Sakura.
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Sasuke and Sakura ended up back at Sakura's place with plenty of time to get ready for the dinner with Kakashi that evening. They had tried to guess what could be so urgent that it was worthy of a meal on their sensei…they agreed that it was probably something very important based on his tone and body language when he talked to them earlier.
When they both arrived at the restaurant, they immediately saw the table where Kakashi, Sai and Naruto were waiting for them.
"So this is a Team Kakashi thing then?" asked Sakura.
"It was important that we were all here together," said Kakashi.
Sakura and Sasuke sat down at the table and ordered their drinks and food. The normal team banter started, almost purposely pushing back the topic they had specifically come here to discuss. Finally, Sasuke put an end to it.
"So why are we here, Kakashi? I like hanging out with you all, but Sakura and I just got back from a very long, hard mission today and really want to…," Sasuke started.
"I'm getting married," said Naruto nervously, interrupting.
"Married?" repeated Sakura.
"Congratulations!" said Sai with genuine enthusiasm. He flashed his enormous smile, but it quickly fell when he noticed that no one else at the table was really smiling or happy. "What?" he finally questioned.
"But why are you…?" questioned Sakura, but she caught herself as it dawned on her what was really going on.
"You didn't," said Sasuke.
"He did," answered Kakashi flatly. "Lady Tsunade confirmed it last night."
"I'm so confused," said Sai aloud to himself.
"I don't care," said Sakura. "I think we should be happy for Naruto. It's little early…,"
"..and a little out of order…," added Kakashi.
"…but it's not like we're twelve anymore," said Sakura. "Congratulations, Naruto. Really, I mean it."
"Thanks, Sakura," Naruto acknowledged.
"If you need anything, just let us know. We'll be there for you," added Sasuke.
"I appreciate that," said Naruto.
"Can someone please explain…?" Sai started to ask.
"Hinata's pregnant," said Sakura. "Naruto's going to be a father."
"Ohhhh," said Sai. The look on his face was classic as the truth sunk in. "Ohhhh!" Everyone at the table giggled to themselves a little bit. It certainly lightened up the mood.
The meal was good and the company was even better. Now that the truth was known by the entire team, Naruto went into a few details about what the plans were most likely going to be. Because she was a Hyuga, Hinata's father – who was the first person told after their meeting with Tsunade - insisted on a wedding to make everything as official as possible. Naruto admitted that he and Hinata had stayed up very late into the night last night talking everything over and they had absolutely no problem getting married…in fact, they both welcomed it. It was just happening a little earlier than they had originally planned. The reaction by everyone who had been told up until the dinner with Team Kakashi had been initial shock, but in the end they were all very supportive. Naruto and Hinata knew that they had all the support they would need to prepare and raise this baby.
After the dinner, Sasuke took Naruto aside and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready for this?" he questioned.
"Yeah, I think I am," said Naruto smiling and looking straight into his eyes. "I love her…a lot."
"Well, I just hope that if it ever happens to Sakura and me, we can be just as happy as you and Hinata seem to be," said Sasuke.
"Just one word of advice, teme," said Naruto.
"Hm?" asked Sasuke.
"Get married first. Telling her parents will be much easier," said Naruto.
"Was it rough with Hiashi?" asked Sasuke.
"You have no idea," said Naruto.
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The wedding planning happened extremely quickly. Hiashi was not happy with his daughter pregnant out of wedlock, so it was a good thing Naruto and Hinata both wanted to get married. The fact that Hinata was a Hyuga made a world of difference because not only did they already have a place to get married (the compound), but all of the details like food and music could be quickly arranged within the clan itself.
Naruto didn't care very much about the details of the wedding so he went along with just about anything the Hyugas could come up with. The only thing he asked for was at least a few weeks notice so that proper notification and invites could be sent to his friends outside of Konoha. Hiashi reluctantly complied with Naruto's request; it was a small price for Naruto's complete cooperation.
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Team Kakashi met in their usual place to train a few days before the wedding.
"Are you getting nervous, Naruto?" Sai asked his teammate.
"Not really," Naruto replied. "She's definitely the one, and now she is even carrying my child. It's perfect, really. There's nothing to be nervous about."
"Well, I'd be nervous," answered Sakura. The three younger Team Kakashi shinobi looked at her. "What? It's a big step, don't you think?"
"Kind of," said Naruto. "It will be different actually living with her."
"Dobe, at least I'm going to live with Sakura before I marry her. Who knows? Maybe there is something about her that will drive me absolutely crazy and I'll have to call the whole thing off," said Sasuke, jokingly.
It didn't matter – Sakura gave him a good punch in the shoulder anyway.
"Ow!" he exclaimed with a smile on his face. Naruto and Sai started laughing.
"Who says I want to get married?" Sakura questioned.
"Yeah, right," said Naruto. "You've loved Sa…" Then Sakura elbowed him in the side. Oof! She turned pink and grimaced as Naruto grabbed his side.
"Ok, ok," said Naruto with a smile. "I give up. No more picking on Sakura."
"Are you doing anything before the wedding?" asked Sasuke to Naruto.
"Like what?" Naruto questioned. "Like a bachelor party? No, that's not for me. Well…"
He paused to think for a moment.
"What are you doing tonight?" he specifically asked Sasuke.
"Uh, nothing, I guess," Sasuke replied.
"Dinner and cards tonight at my place," Naruto said. "Tell the rest of rest of the guys if you see them."
"Your place is a little small, isn't it?" asked Sakura.
"I've already started moving my stuff to the Hyuga compound," answered Naruto. "And Sasuke has been staying with you. It's small, but it's empty. Sai, are you coming?"
"Yes, I'll be there," he answered.
"Kakashi?" Naruto said to is silent sensei who was off to the side reading a book the entire time this conversation was going on.
"Huh, what?" he said looking up.
"Dinner and cards at my place tonight," repeated Naruto.
"Sure!" said Kakashi flashing his closed-eye smile.
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When Naruto heard another knock on the front door to his soon-to-be ex-home, he opened it to see how many more guests would be arriving. The apartment was mostly empty just as he said, but he hadn't planned this gathering out very well and the number of friends who had dropped by had definitely exceeded his expectations.
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed when he saw who was there.
"Hello Naruto," Iruka replied. "Word has it that you are having a gathering here tonight to celebrate your upcoming wedding."
"Hai, that's right!" said Naruto. "Come in, dinner is almost ready."
Naruto allowed Iruka to enter and he quickly found an open seat over by Kakashi in the corner. There were a couple of tables brought in and set up for the games and, in the small kitchen, stood Teuchi cooking.
"Hey Naruto!" shouted Chouji from across the room. "How'd you get the guy from Ichiraku to come to your place and cook for us?"
Teuchi didn't give Naruto a chance to reply. "After all he's done for us? It was the least I could do. He's getting married for goodness sakes."
Knock-knock
"Naruto, I don't think we could fit another person in here comfortably," noted Shikamaru.
"C'mon Shikamaru, I'm sure it'll be ok. Just one more," said Naruto who went to open the door.
He opened he door and froze.
"Good evening, Naruto," said the woman at the door.
"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"
"I heard there's a pretty mean card game going on here tonight," she said, not waiting to be invited in to enter the room.
"B-But, Granny…," said Naruto. "This is for men only."
"You mean you would actually ask your Hokage to leave your celebration? I merely wanted to join with your other friends in wishing you and Hinata…"
"Fine," Naruto interrupted flatly. He knew it was an argument he wasn't going to win anyway, so why waste his breath.
The ramen was awesome, the camaraderie was awesome, and as usual, by the end of the night, Shikamaru the strategist was a bit richer while bad-luck Tsunade was a bit poorer.
Once they had called it a night and started to funnel out the door, Tsunade turned to face Naruto, "I guess your marriage will be a happy one. I'm actually glad I lost tonight…it's a good omen! Congratulations!"
Naruto flashed his winning smile at her as a thank you.