(A/N: As ffnet is now eating everything, or so it seems, I'm uploading this in .wpd format, as that's what I use to type this thing anyways, and scene changes will now be marked by a horizontal rule, provided ffnet doesn't eat those too. =)

xX Thanks for nearly 70 reviews!

keelhaul lizzie: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. =)

bleedformee: Yes, the story is done, but there's this complicated matter of replying to the reviewers and proof-reading and stuff like that, and the added trials that throws at me, by not liking to upload my stuff anyways. It always crashes. -- Anyways, by posting the chapters one by one, you get more reviews! =D ::is a review whore, and freely admits it::

ManicReversed: Poor, poor Sasuke indeed, although I won't tell you if you're right or wrong with that guess. =)

Watermelon Gal: Naruto in Chinese? I could always turn on the Chinese subtitles on my DVD....not that I'd understand either the subtitles or the audio! =D

Bishiehuggler: Yay for brownies! ::stock piles it, as she doesn't need more food as she had too much on vacation:: Temari isn't ebil...just conniving. =3 Gaara does make another appearance, though not in Temari's presence. So, no beating of the Gaara. =( Woe is us.

Kaiyo No Hime: But making you wait is so much fun! =D

artemis347: Let's all pity Sasuke. =) And I'm not sure what this 'anti' that you speak of is, but I'm sure I'll finally figure it out sometime when I'm doing something completely unrelated to this fic. XD

Yuen-chan: Here's hoping you found something constructive to do while you waited for pokey old me. O.o;;;

And now, on with the fic!)

Chapter 6: The Simplicity Complex

"Well, darling," Naruto quipped, snuggling closer to the human boy in his bed, who looked paler than a ghost. "It may be time for you to finally see a doctor."

Sasuke only glared, which was intensified by how tired and ill he looked. It was eight o'clock and it was dark outside, signalling the end of summer in Konoha. The nights brought frost, and most of the plants had died off. The animals were hibernating, or going away to wherever they went, and nothing lived except the few leaves that clung miserably to the bare tree branches as they shook in the bitter wind and cold rain. The air had gotten very cold, and snow was almost imminent.

So, when the human boy had first started ailing, they'd thought it had been a flu, or something of that sort. The sickness had persisted for several weeks now, however, and Naruto was finally beginning to believe he'd achieved his goal.

Hinata had said Sasuke looked paler than normal; Tsunade had commented dryly on how morning sickness wasn't aptly named, and could occur at any point in the day, for Sasuke had been throwing up mostly in the evening, and refused to believe that it was a symptom of pregnancy.

Orochimaru had pointed out the mood swings the boy was prone to; Itachi had commented on the boy's newfound subduedness; Jiraiya had actually complained about all the food that the human boy was eating - then gagging back up, calling it a total waste; Yondaime had made several comments to Naruto on how the former whore seemed. .. changed; Kakashi had said it was easier to make the boy blush, and that he seemed almost shy.

Naruto had noticed most of these things, and in conjunction, found that the human was constantly tired, sore and achy, and just a tad out of it. Despite what people thought, Naruto was actually fairly observant.

Now, all he needed was the confirmation from Temari. Sasuke was loathe to go though, not wanting to hear the fateful news. Tomorrow wasn't a good day anyways. They were expecting the arrival of Haruno Sakura, and her party.

Naruto was more than jittery about her arrival. He didn't know her, and he wasn't sure he wanted to, let alone marry her. Besides, with his supposedly pregnant bedmate by his side, why should he ask for a girl he didn't know to be his queen?

None of his family members could provide him with that answer. Tsunade had stated that a child needed to be raised by a man and a woman, not two men. Jiraiya had claimed that women were better in bed, better for children, better in bed, and so on and so forth. The Yondaime said he couldn't go to the throne with a boy - a human boy - as his queen.

Naruto was sitting up, and while Sasuke was glad for the company, he was not happy about Naruto's jitters. Especially not right now, when he was sick and miserable, and jittery about his own fate. He was up nightly now, and normally, the blond refused to listen to him and conked out. Sasuke was then left to his own bitter company, worrying about what would happen to him if he was, or wasn't carrying the prince's child.

He sighed and rolled over, not wanting to listen to another second of Naruto's pitiful whimpering about his impending meeting with his fiancee. "Oh, shut up," he grumbled. "You're not the only one in the world with problems."

Naruto paused in his ceaseless ramble, and looked, almost shocked, at the dark-haired boy, who was curled up in his bed. "What do you mean by that?" he growled, wondering what on earth Sasuke was so...pissed off about.

Sasuke turned back over and glared, propping himself up on an elbow. "Oh, nothing, nothing at all," and the bitterness was evident in his voice. "Except, I feel like shit, and everyone thinks I'm pregnant. Do you know what that's doing to my psychology?"

"Who cares about your psychology!"

Sasuke sighed. "I figured. You don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Did...you ever think it might be strange for me? I'm a boy, boys don't get pregnant. And if I, by some ungodly power, can, why didn't it happen before? I've worked as a whore for so long. . .And what makes you think I'm fit to be a mother? I've spent every hour of my day thinking of no one but myself. I've done drugs. I might be sick - who knows? I don't even feel like a boy anymore. I feel...degraded...and...desexed. I'm not sure who I am. What I am."

Naruto listened intently to everything Sasuke was telling him, because it was rare that the boy actually talked, let alone talked about how he was feeling. "Why?" he murmured.

Sasuke gave him a tired, half smile. "Let's say I am pregnant. What does that make me? I've got...those parts...and then I've got the ability to carry a child, which is a female attribute. So, am I male or female?"

Naruto looked bemused. "I...don't know."

"Exactly," Sasuke sighed, looking at the ceiling. "It's very frustrating. Besides, what's in it for me? I mean, I get to lose my identity, blow up to outrageous proportions, suffer through every little ache and pain - and don't tell me there's not; Itachi's been complaining like's there's no tomorrow - and then go through the pain of labour. For what?"

Naruto smiled gently and petted Sasuke's dark locks. "You get to be the bearer of my heir."

Sasuke blew his breath out, seemingly exasperated. "Well, what if I miscarry? What if I die during labour? What if the baby's stillborn? What if -" Sasuke paused, almost wincing, then ploughed on. "What if you decide to take the kid away from me? What if you decide your wife is better suited to raise the child that will be king some day?"

Naruto just grinned. "You think too much. Relax and we'll see Temari soon. Then you'll have to deal with it. We'll deal with it when we cross those bridges."

Haruno Sakura sat in the parlour. Her eyes, emerald in their hue, darted about the room, noting every detail. The place had been owned by humans, built by humans. She could see it in their artwork, in the architecture, and even still faintly smell them there, in that room.

It was disgusting.

All her life, she had been taught that humans were the most wretched creatures on earth. Living in the North, where things were far more harsh than in the South, the humans were far worse off, and she came to believe that humans were their playthings, and their slaves. It had been the will of nature.

Of course, she only believed that until she walked into the room.

From all the attendants the prince had sent her, this one stood out. She was a human, that much was for sure, and even in maid's uniform, she was stunning. Her ebony hair was all neatly tucked up under her cap. Her uniform was pristine, and unrumpled. Her face was unblemished, her porcelain skin attributing her refined features. Her make-up was flawless and she kept her dark eyes downcast.

She was breathtaking.

It almost scared her, that a human could be that pretty. In her home land, all humans were ugly, marred by dirt and hard labour. It scared her that her new husband-to-be had a human associate, and a pretty one at that.

She finally snapped out of her stupor, realizing that she'd been asked if she wanted tea by one of the kitsune-jin girls. She stuttered a reply, one which she couldn't remember now, and tried to be more attune to the world, while still watching the human out of the corner of her eye.

She wondered where her two attendants, her ladies-in-waiting, had gotten to. They'd been separated upon entering the castle grounds, and she now suspected Ino and Tenten had been sent to make up the quarters she'd be staying in until she was married. It was not considered proper for a man and a woman to sleep together before marriage.

At any rate, she was left with these strangers, in a strange place, and what was worse, there was a human in their midst. She was handed a cup of warm tea, and she took it, almost gratefully, warming her cold hands on the hot mug.

It was a bitter night, with the winds howling, and the first snowfall of the southern season occurring. In the North, when she'd left, they'd had their first five centimetres of snow, covering the ground. She'd heard later that the first blizzard had occurred just a day and half after her departure.

Behind her, the fire roared, and the blankets nestled about her feet were woven of the best quality, and the wicked winter night couldn't have been more forgotten.

There was a space of five minutes or so, where she was left in the room, with none but the human servant. The silence had been ill, as if the human was silently trying to will her away. In order to break that angry quiet, she spoke.

"Human," she growled, narrowing her eyes and allowing the human to see that she wasn't in favour of the other either.

The girl said nothing, keeping her eyes downcast. Sakura gripped the edge of her chair, digging her nails into it. "What's your name?"

The human girl said nothing, but shook her head in a negative sign, indicating she wouldn't speak. Sakura felt her temper flare up. How dare a human - a human, the lowest of all things - defy her!

"Tell me your name!" she snarled, standing up and crossing the floor.

She grabbed the girl by her chin, forcing her to look up, and digging into the porcelain skin hard enough to leave marks. Still, the girl, with trained discipline, wouldn't look her in the eye. Slowly, she murmured, "My name is of no importance to you."

The statement was supposed to be condoling, something to lower herself and humble the human before the kitsune-jin, but it sounded impervious and rude. The blush-haired kitsune-jin gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, then, without better thought, slapped the girl's cheek.

"I don't stand for insolence," she growled, then hastily returned to her seat, straightening her skirts, as the door opened and the servant girls returned, this time with the prince amongst them. The human girl remained on the floor, a hand pressed to her cheek, eyes downcast.

Sakura turned her attention away from her, and to her husband-to-be. She smiled politely, and he smiled back, and she grew nervous, because the prince of Konoha wasn't at all like she had pictured him.

The Naruto of her mind had been tall and gracious, with fine features, and a noble face. This creature in front of her now shattered that daydreaming illusion. The Naruto of reality was short, and his face was still that of a child's, helped none by his large eyes and wild hair.

He had knelt down in front of her and taken her hand, and she could feel the nervous sweat that clung to his palm like a second skin. "My dear lady," he murmured, pressing his lips to the back of her hand.

She pulled away as if she'd been stung. She had been well versed in the operations of meeting her fiancé, and this was not one of them. Perhaps their Southern cousins did not have the same rituals as in the North? She giggled nervously, and her eyes darted about the room, searching desperately for her handmaids.

She glanced back down at the prince, and saw that he was waiting for a response. She blinked a couple of times, trying to think of something to say to him. She had known her lines in and out, and now, the script had been thrown out the window.

A sudden commotion amongst the servant girls drew his attention away, and she was no longer required to answer. The prince was to the other side of the room in a flash, and Sakura could only stare in disgust and horror.

The kitsune-jins maids were trying to support the damned human, who looked like she was going to faint. They clamoured a bit, unsure of what to do with this thing, who was swaying on her feet.

One of them seemed a little more competent, and she held command of the room, though she was soft-spoken and quiet. Sakura realized belatedly that the head maid must have been a Hyuuga, for her white eyes could have belonged to no other.

The little group of maids dispersed a bit, some of them wandering to cater to the kitsune-jin lady in their midst, while the Hyuuga girl and the prince fussed over the human. Sakura could only curl her nose as she watched her husband-to-be take the weight of the human against himself, allowing the kitsune-jin maid to dash out of the room, probably to get smelling salts.

Sakura absently found that someone was filling her teacup, but she could not draw her eyes away from the scene before her, even as the prince began practically undressing the human girl. She'd heard that the Uzumaki family could be quite lewd, and she believed it now.

Fortunately, as she later discovered, this was no display of lust or carnal love, but rather, the human had her corset fastened too tightly, and couldn't breathe. Naruto had recognized this and untied the thing as quickly as he could, and the poor thing inhaled deeply.

Unfortunately, the revelation of the thing's skin also brought Sakura more revelation than she had wanted. The human was no girl. The human was a boy, the prettiest damn boy she had ever seen, and that frightened her more.

If her husband had a boy that pretty in his grasp, what chance did she have. She knew she wasn't anything above average in the kitsune-jin world, but she had noble blood, and wore riches and jewels to disguise her blandness.

But, if Naruto had taken a boy, a human boy into his home, did that not cancel out any attraction he might have held to a female of any species?

She couldn't decide and distractedly sipped her tea.

Later, when she returned to her room, she was swarmed by her ladies-in-waiting, who had been patiently waiting for the princess-to-be to return.

Ino clasped her hand excitedly and dragged her toward the bed, eagerly asking her to tell all about her future husband. Sakura was less than enthusiastic to tell what she had seen, for she was still thinking, and still sorely disappointed in Konoha's prince.

"Was he handsome?"

"Was he tall?"

"Did he have dark hair?"

"What colour were his eyes?"

"Was he nice?"

Both Tenten and Ino were clamouring over her now, but stopped a moment or two later, seeing that they were getting no answers from the future princess. They shared a glance, then Ino looked at Sakura and said, almost softly, "Should you like us to go?"

The pink-haired girl nodded, still looking at the floor. Ino and Tenten shared another look, then left without another word. Once outside their charge's chambers, they began whispering to each other, pondering what had happened to make her so down and out.

Sasuke headed down the hall, treading softly, not wishing anyone to hear him now. He'd left the prince sleeping safely in his chambers, after enduring a rant about how beautiful and wonderful Sakura was.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, though he wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't as if he liked the kitsune-jin or anything.

And with that in mind, he was going to see the only other human he knew of in the castle, his brother. The thought was still strange to him, after having been separated from anything akin to himself for so long, and he found himself half excited by the idea of still having family, but half nervous as well.

The two times he'd seen his elder Uchiha, he'd been out of it, once nearly having been raped and the second, having been sound asleep. Now, he was wide awake, his mind wandering and wondering.

He was trying hard to reign it in, because he was now torn over certain issues. It would be a relief to be rid of Naruto, and his constant advances, but he didn't really want to be sold into slavery, as he'd been told he would be. He was glad that Sakura would have to endure Naruto, and not himself, but he found himself entertaining the idea that he might miss the blond kitsune-
jin. Last but not least, he was fond of the idea of bidding farewell to all this ridiculous pregnancy notion. On the other hand, of course, he couldn't help but think of what it might be like to have kin again, and he certainly was in favour of that.

He had wandered aimlessly for a while now, until he'd worked up the courage to ask a passing maid where he could find Uchiha Itachi, and she had told him to find 'Orochimaru-sama's' chambers, and when he'd looked stupefied, she'd told him where - exasperated, of course.

It was a little after midnight when he found himself standing in front of the door to the chambers that housed his brother, and he pondered whether or not to knock, because it was late. He shifted on the cold stones, the coldness seeping up through his feet, and freezing him entirely.

The thought that there might be carpeting in the room made up his mind and he set his fist to the door, then stood back and waited. With each passing second, his nervousness grew and he was contemplating running away as fast as he could when the door opened.

He shifted in sheer terror when he saw Orochimaru - the general, and he remembered quite clearly in his mind now that he had met him. The snake-like man glared at him, golden eyes narrowed.

Sasuke shifted, feeling much like a small child. "May I help you?" the older asked, sarcasm positively dripping from his venomous voice.

Sasuke directed his gaze to the floor, unable to stand that gaze any longer. He mumbled something, that only the stones and himself would later know. Orochimaru hissed. "Look brat, it's late. Run along. I'm not going to play games with you."

Sasuke's head snapped up at that, his eyes narrowed in anger. "I want to see my brother," he said, a little too loudly for his liking, the walls making his announcement resound. He winced.

Orochimaru stared at him for a second, then said, as if in recognition, "You're the whore the prince dragged in, aren't you?"

Sasuke went terribly red, then nodded, now unable to look the general in the eye again. He was not proud of his background.

The general stepped aside, granting the younger Uchiha access to the room. Sasuke looked at him, hesitating on taking the offer for a moment, then padded quickly, yet quietly into the room.

The door squealed on its hinges, and shut with a soft click, trapping Sasuke inside. The only way to go now was forward.

Orochimaru watched the hesitant boy, nearly shaking his head at how stupid and unsure the creature seemed to be. Could this really be the brother of the great Uchiha Itachi, who had nearly single-handedly murdered the assassins sent to destroy his family?

Growing testy and annoyed again, he swept by Sasuke, motioning for him to follow. "This way," he growled, annoyance clear in his voice.

He could almost hear Itachi now. The Uchiha had been nothing but a bitch for the past few weeks and it was slowly starting to grate on his nerves. He was sorely tempted to finally give up the ornament that warmed his bed and slit his throat himself - if he hadn't known Itachi was in the same murderous mood, he might have.

"Be quiet," he added as an after thought, remembering how Itachi might have been sleeping, like a normal person at this time, and he wasn't a pleasant person to wake up.

Behind him, though he couldn't see him, Sasuke nodded, keeping his eyes downcast, trying to force the nervousness building inside him the same way - down. He didn't know his brother, and he wasn't really sure he would want to see the results of their family curse.

Vaguely, he recalled his brother, always thinner than himself, and to see him like that seemed grotesque and odd.

He nearly walked right into Orochimaru, who had paused outside a closed door, and was currently rapping lightly on the door. "Itachi," he was saying, and his voice seemed to shake Sasuke from his thoughtful stupor. "Are you asleep?"

"I was," came the grumbled reply.

Sasuke glanced up at the general, and saw him sigh, though whether in relief or annoyance, he would never know. The general opened the door, and stepped inside, and the younger followed him stupidly into that most private of chambers.

Uchiha Itachi was perched atop the bed, glaring at the general, though he didn't appear to be angry - merely annoyed. He was half-wrapped in the heavy covers of the bed, and his hair had been pulled out of its usual ponytail to become tangled as he slept.

Greedily, Sasuke let his eyes rake over his brother's form, half afraid, half waiting to see the tell-
tale signs that would let him know whether or not the curse was a myth, or a truth.

He could make out nothing, and half of him was relieved. The other half of him, he was surprised to find out, was somewhat disappointed. He couldn't place why, though, and it bothered him.

Itachi was completely ignoring him at the moment, favouring talking - or rather, berating Orochimaru for waking him up at such an unholy hour of the night. Orochimaru merely rolled his eyes, and looked exasperated.

Itachi turned on Sasuke suddenly, his eyes red and tainted with the trait of their bloodline. Sasuke felt fear flood his veins, even against his will. It was hard not to - that was the given gift of the bloodline, to instill fear with a mere glance.

"Why are you here?"

The question held no gentleness, no curiosity, just plain annoyance, which was probably all Itachi could muster after being woken shortly after midnight. Sasuke said nothing in reply and bowed his head, unable to look his older brother in the eye.

"He's here to see you," Orochimaru explained, vaguely, with a bit of a shrug. He didn't know anything beyond that, and he wasn't going to guess.

Itachi muttered something and slithered out of bed, landing heavily on the floor, and partially stomped his way toward the younger boy, his bad mood hanging over him like a cloud. Sasuke could do nothing, but stand there terrified, and absolutely positive that the older was going to pull a knife or strangle him, or something.

"Itachi," came the chiding voice of Orochimaru and both brothers looked at the gold-eyed general.

The older Uchiha sniffed indignantly and looked away, eyes narrowed and fixed on the wall. Orochimaru continued to look at the human in the most chiding way possible, even though Itachi was pointedly keeping him out of his line of vision.

"You know you're not supposed to do that," he pressed, waiting for the human to cave and apologize.

He was only hurting something precious in the end.

"Whatever," Itachi snapped.

He glanced at Sasuke and took a step toward the younger boy, then seemingly changed his mind and made his way back to the bed, sneering at Orochimaru as he went. Never one to stand for an insult, Orochimaru remedied the situation by quickly slapping Itachi's rear end as hard as he possibly could.

The elder Uchiha yelped in surprise and literally dove into the bed, then glared at him, while the younger could only stare in horror at such an act. Orochimaru smirked slyly at the human occupying his bed and said, "Your dear brother came to see how you were fairing, darling."

The serpentine man glanced toward the younger human. "Didn't you?"

Sasuke swallowed nervously and nodded numbly. His brother's eyes were back on him now, and he couldn't bear to look, in fear that he get caught in that blood trap again.

"You did?"

Itachi sounded unimpressed. Again, Sasuke nodded.

Orochimaru turned to Itachi and grinned widely. The human just looked at him blankly. "Go on. Show him."

Sasuke glanced up from under his bangs, watching, and slightly wondering, though he was pretty sure he understood what was going on. He felt strangely excited.

Itachi said nothing, at all, and made no movement. Orochimaru rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed. "Do I have to do everything for you?" he asked, in a mocking sort of exasperation.

Itachi pulled away from him, almost instantly. "I don't want to show him," he grumbled, sounding like he was sulking.

"Show him," Orochimaru hissed in Itachi's ear, slithering up to the human, placing a hand on the human's abdomen, causing him to squirm in discomfort.

"Fine," he all but hissed, struggling out of his master's grasp, then tugging his nightshirt over his head.

Orochimaru grinned. "There's a good boy..."

Sasuke glanced from left to right, his head still lowered. He was still too scared to move, so he stood there, stupidly, feeling very out of place.

There was the sound of fabric hitting carpet - Itachi's shirt, he supposed - and his brother's voice calling to him, "Come here."

Sasuke scuttled across the floor, still not looking up lest what he should see scare the living daylights out of him, or something along those lines and end up killing him. He heard someone sigh in annoyance, and the elder Uchiha said, "Hurry up."

Sasuke clambered onto the bed, still keeping his gaze downcast. A hand reached out and grabbed his chin, dragging his head up. He stared at Itachi, who's eyes had faded to black. "It helps when you watch where you're going," he said, almost bored, though there was some vague hint of humour in his voice.

That was lost, however, when the younger brother stared at the older a second too long. Itachi huffed, crossed his arms and looked away. "Well, would you look already? I'm cold."

Sasuke blinked, then seemed to remember his reasons for seeing his only living relative in the first place.

And his gaze plunged down.

He wasn't sure whether to be sick, or to laugh, or to be rather amazed.

Uchiha Itachi was pregnant.

It wasn't pronounced yet, as Sasuke had been led to believe by the others around him, but then, he supposed his brother was hiding it as well as he could, as he didn't seem exactly comfortable with it. He could only wonder what would happen when it couldn't be hidden any more - he supposed the other would just have to live with it.

Hesitantly, he glanced up at his brother, who's face was set in a scowl, and his gaze was still turned away, then reached out and touched the bump. Itachi jerked his head to look at him, startled by the action.

Sasuke wondered what had possessed him to touch the older boy, even as he lightly rubbed what was his nephew or niece, pausing to press against his brother's navel, which was starting to turn out.

A wave of shock and horror crashed down upon the younger boy, and he clapped his hand to his mouth, sitting back, eyes wide. The older males looked at him blankly.

"Oh...god," he said, his voice shaking terribly.

Like lightening, he was on his feet, dashing out of the room, and heading for Naruto's chambers as fast as he could. His heart was tripping and he felt dizzy and sick, and he was probably going to faint, but adrenaline kept him going, at least until he was safe inside Naruto's room.

He collapsed to the floor, breathing hard, still shaking, his head still spinning with the new information his mind had just absorbed. Unsteadily, he got to his feet and tottered into the bathroom.

He vomited before he reached his goal and collapsed onto his knees, then altogether, stretching out across the floor in a dead faint.

[A/N: Okay, not much happened there. R&R anyways? =D]