A/n Had to make a few little edits to previous chapters so that the rest of the story makes sense, there are a lot of things I didn't plan on when I started writing lol. If you have any questions about any changes that you might have noticed and you're wondering why I made them feel free to drop me a PM.

topsyturvy-dream- If she was a bit stronger I don't think she would have baked cookies either lol I've implemented your idea for the next chapter! :)

Taku was sitting on the grass surrounded by half of the contents of his backpack, which seemed to be either scrolls or paper, not ninja tools like I had expected him to bring along for my training. With a pen in his hand and a frown on his face he was making notes on the papers in his hand. When he saw me running over he raised his hand to wave, nearly poking himself in the eye with his pen.

"You're late." he breezed, starting to pack his things away.

"Sorry." I replied with a weak smile.

"No problem." he said, a twinkle in his eye, "I don't mind waiting for a beautiful woman."

I immediately held up my hand, making the wedding band on my finger perfectly clear for him to see.

"Oh! Er...A beautiful married woman." he chuckled nervously. It was an honest mistake to make, we only knew each other's first name's after all. If he was aware of my surname I'm sure he never would have made such a comment.

Hinata had been doing a little training already, her byakugan was activated when she rushed over to join us. It was my first time seeing her bloodline ability although Sasuke had told me a little about it, I was so excited I completely forgot about the awkwardness with Taku.

"Hinata, that's so cool! Can you really see my chakra?"

"Yes!" she giggled at my awe of her unique ability.

Taku stood a few feet away from me, his face a picture of concentration, then calmly placed his hands to the ground and shouted, "Doton Doryōheki"

The ground rumbled and then a huge earth wall shot up between us. It looked like it could withstand even Sasuke and Yoichi's Katon Jutsu! Other ninja training on the grounds glanced over at the sight as well. I had to admit that it was pretty intimidating. Even though I had been practicing everyday since Sasuke helped me in the forest, I wasn't sure I could perform such an impressive Jutsu with my level of skill. Taku was kind and patient, though and talked me through it step by step. I had to focus my chakra to my hands, a great deal of it, which was proving to be harder than it sounded but with Hinata using her byakugan to advise me on where my chakra was focused I managed to do it.

"Doton Doryōheki" I spoke, pushing as much chakra to my hands as I could to unleash my very own earth wall. It sprung from the ground and I let out an excited squeal. Standing back to admire it, pride and happiness swirled through my body. Sure it was half the size of the one that Taku had made but for me it was a huge achievement!

"You did it, Emiko!" Hinata cheered, running over.

Taku started to clap, he was quite impressed at how quickly I had managed to do it. "Ready for another one?"

After four more hours I could proudly say that I knew two Doton Jutsu. Me and Hinata had said our goodbyes to Taku and were on our way to do some food shopping when I felt something, like I could sense Sasuke's presence. I just knew that he was nearby. I looked frantically around for him, certain I could spot him in the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked, noticing the anxious look on my face.

"I think Sasuke's back." I muttered. It was strange, it might have faint but I could definitely sense him.

Had he gone straight home or to the Hokage's office first? Just as I was wondering which direction to run he suddenly appeared behind me making me jump so much I almost fell over but Sasuke wouldn't allow that, he steadied me easily with one hand. The amused smirk on his face banished the idea I had of throwing myself into his arms, instead I frowned at him, waiting for an explanation that would explain his absence.

"Meet me at the hospital." he said quickly and disappeared again before my eyes, leaving me standing there staring in disbelief at the empty space he had just been standing in.

"A shadow clone?" Hinata sounded as confused as I looked.

Coming to my senses I shrieked, "The hospital!"

Hinata kindly offered to collect Yoichi from the academy and look after him, she said it would be good practice for when the baby came. I was very grateful for her offer because I definitely didn't want Yoichi to see the state I was in or visit his father in hospital, I still had no idea what had happened but he had sent a shadow clone to talk to me so he couldn't have been that badly injured, could he? Of course not! I remembered him joking before that the only two people capable of defeating him were me and Yoichi because there was no way he would be able to fight back against us. At that moment I really hoped that he had been right.

By the time I reached the hospital my heart was thumping in my chest and I was on the verge of tears. The lady sitting at the front desk told me which room he was in.

"Hey, don't worry! He's okay, he just needed some medical ninjutsu on his shoulder. " she smiled, handing me a tissue. I thanked her, dried my eyes and rushed off to find my husband.

He was sitting on one of the beds inside room twenty nine, topless, a medical ninja standing behind him with her hands on the back of his shoulder. Four other shinobi were also in the room receiving medical attention but they looked to be in a much worse state than Sasuke was. At least they were alive and I suspected that they owed that to Sasuke. When I entered the room he stopped looking so fed up and restless and started to smile. Forgetting the others in the room I rushed over to him, smoothed his hair out of his face and started to kiss him around his eyes, on his nose, his cheeks and then his lips.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry." he said softly. His words hit me in a strange way, provoking an unexpected anger. Instead of replying I peeked over his shoulder, getting a look at the wound that was slowly closing up thanks to the med-nin. I felt a little envious of her amazing abilities and full blown jealousy at another woman having her hands near my husband's naked back. She gave me a friendly smile and when I returned the gesture I noticed the beads of sweat on her forehead. Medical ninjutsu looked like it took a lot of concentration, probably more than the Doton Jutsu I had been learning barely half an hour earlier.

"Thank you." I said to her, pushing the jealousy aside. Being jealous had never used to be a part of who I was but when I met Sasuke I truly learned the meaning of obsession.

"No problem. Take a seat if you like, it won't take much longer." she replied sweetly, nodding towards the space next to Sasuke.

I sat by his side and watched as he took my hand in his, caressing it with his thumb like he had done so many times before. My eyes watched the soothing movement with fascination, even though there was nothing different about it, for me it felt different this time. My mind had gone into overdrive and was trying to decide what it really meant for him. Did it mean he was thinking something over or was it just a sign of affection?

"Hey." he said in possibly the quietest voice I had ever heard him use, "Are you okay?"

I looked deep into his eyes, searching the soul he laid bare for me whenever we exchanged such looks for any inclination that something was wrong between us. All I could see was love and the need to have my love in return.

"Why are you asking me if I'm okay? You're the one in the hospital." I teased, giving his hand a squeeze. My playfulness incited a spark in his eyes. He looked at my lips, planning on claiming them, when he quickly reminded himself that we were not alone in the room and changed his mind.

"Okay! All done." The Medical-nin announced. She gave Sasuke strict instructions not to do anything too strenuous that could risk reopening his wound and gave us some ointment to apply every day for a week. We thanked her and she went to see if the other Medical-nin in the room needed any help.

"You don't need to." Sasuke sighed. I had intervened when he had begun dressing himself.

"I want to." I smiled, gently guiding his arm into his shirt.