(A/N: For some reason, I believe I failed to mention that this fic is only twelve (12) chapters long, making this the second last chapter, and the next one, the last chapter. Unless, of course, there's popular demand for a continuation, because the ending is not satisfactory.

Thanks for over 100 reviews!

KageKitsune16: Naruto does as he pleases. I'm wondering what Sasuke's going to do about naming the baby too.

ManicReversed: Indeed.

Nicola DEE: I think you're going to be disappointed by Asuma's actions then. Naruto did more than kiss Hinata, so she's must estatic.

penguiin: Indeed, the plot does thicken.

viciouscallisto: I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

JadeTiger: I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Melrose Stormhaven: Here's the update!

Mata: I'm glad you're finding the fic interesting.

Yuen-chan: My feet are still in it. Just kidding, just kidding. Yay, warm stuff! I had miso soup today, and it was sooooo warm. . .Mmm. I was a happy person. lol

Suna no Gaara: I'm glad you're enjoying the fic, as well as my 'scientific' reasoning behind the mpreg in the story.

Mistress Ethereal: I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

And now, on with the fic!)

Chapter 11: Blue, Blue Sky

The desert sands swirled about them violently.

Asuma seemed nervous. They'd been walking for hours, and every so often, the brown kitsune-jin was looking back over his shoulder, as if to make sure no one was following them.

Sasuke wanted to ask where they were going. He knew of nowhere beyond Suna in the desert, though he supposed there had to be something on the other side of the wasteland. It would take them days to cross, though, and Asuma had brought nothing with them, no water, no food, no blankets, so Sasuke was left to wonder what his master was up to.

Another reason he knew they were not crossing the desert was that, in his condition, he was not supposed to do anything strenuous, and he supposed that roughing it in the desert could count as 'strenuous'.

The wind picked up more sand and blew it into his face, making him cough and sputter. Asuma stopped abruptly, and looked around, as if he were confused. Sasuke had the sinking feeling that they'd been walking around in circles.

Asuma swore and frowned, his eyes scanning the horizon. Sasuke regarded him coolly for a moment or two, then said, "We're lost, aren't we?"

Asuma nodded grimly, offered some cheap apology, and hurriedly said he was going to see if he couldn't find Suna again. Sasuke was to wait there, just in case some unlikely traveller happened by and he could hitch a ride back to Suna, and maybe then, get help and send them to find Asuma.

Sasuke, now, was by no means stupid. He'd been watching Asuma, and he'd noticed the jumpy behaviour of the kitsune-jin, and he was sure that it meant he was up to something. The wind had erased any and all of their footprints, and Sasuke had to question Asuma's motives for bringing him into the desert anyways.

He was sure that Asuma, having lived all his life in this place, had to know the area somewhat better than he did, even with all the shifting sands and such, and he had no doubt in his mind that Asuma knew his way back perfectly.

So, when the kitsune-jin told him to stay and wait, he knew that Asuma's only purpose was to get rid of him, in a way that could not incriminate him for murder, and no one would purchase a boy slave who was nearly five months pregnant.

He wasn't about to take being abandoned lying down.

"You know where you're going," he'd said, so coolly, so calmly that even in the desert, he still felt like ice.

Asuma shook his head. "No, I've got no idea, Sasuke, I'm sorry..."

"I'm going back with you. I'm not an idiot. You know your way back, and you'll leave me to die out here," he accused, his voice rough, adding to its icy tune, from lack of use.

Asuma grit his teeth. "I wouldn't do that to you, Sasuke. Believe me."

Sasuke snorted and regarded him with cool eyes. "I know that you've been talking of trying to sell me. You just can't do it, you can't get rid of me by yourself, so you're going to let nature do me in."

Asuma had slapped him at that point and cried, "You insolent little whore! Shut up and listen to your master!"

Sasuke stumbled back, unprepared for the force of the blow and he tripped on a dune and fell, landing hard on his rump.

The wind howled loudly, and he shut his eyes against it and the sand it held in its tresses. When he finally opened his eyes again, Asuma was gone, and his footprints had been washed away by the hungry wind.

He sat there for the longest time, letting it sink in that, he was alone, in the desert, without anything, and pregnant. Miserably, he had hauled himself to his feet and started to walk, tears stinging at his eyes, not because of the wind.

Great, just great. He was stuck, because he could not find his way to Suna without a guide - he had no doubt of that.

He scrubbed his forearm across his eyes and started to walk, feeling the heat waver up from the sand, which slid under his feet and made walking hard. The sun was rising higher into the clear blue sky, and it was getting warmer and warmer. He had nowhere to take shelter from the stinging rays, he had no place to escape to. He had no water to quench his suddenly rising thirst.

This was bad. He was going to die out here, wasn't he? There was little doubt about it.

He sat down, with the ground burning beneath him and the sky burning above him. At this rate, he was going to spontaneously combust, or something along those lines. He wiped away the sweat beading on his forehead.

He wasn't sure that he could entirely blame Asuma for trying to get rid of him thus. After all, there was a chance that the child inside of him would be born looking like its father, and not the mother, and Asuma would then have trouble, trying to explain why the child bore no resemblance to himself, or Sasuke for that matter.

And what good was a used slave? What use was a slave who had someone else's child, what good was he when he was swelling with each passing day, finding his movements restricted?

He stared miserably down at himself, feeling stupid and trapped. What could he do? This was all Naruto's stupid fault! It was his fault, and his stupid family's for. . .for. . .

He screamed and tore at his hair, frustrated, tears starting to roll down his flushed face. He threw him himself to the ground, beating it with his fist and sending up dust and sand into the air, making himself choke and cough.

"It isn't fair!" he wailed to the empty air, breaking down and throwing the tantrum that had been brewing inside for years. "Why is it always me who gets screwed over?! Why is it my life that is always living hell?! Why can't this happen to someone else?! What did I do?! What did I do to deserve this?! Why, why, why?!"

He sobbed, then curled to his side, his tears wetting the dusty ground, if only for a second or two before they evaporated.

He opened his eyes a bit, staring across the ground, which was uneven, marked with little rises and falls. He picked out different colours, all earthy hues, in the sand granules, and some of them even seemed to sparkle as the sunlight changed and moved.

Finally, he hauled himself back to his feet, well aware that lying there in the hot sun and crying was doing nothing more than dehydrating himself faster. He glanced up at the sky, which seemed to roll on forever above him, a perfect blue.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which meant no rain again today.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kakashi sighed and stacked all the papers on his desk as neatly as he could be bothered to, setting the pen down onto the desk, resting his aching hand. He felt like he'd been writing forever.

If there was one thing he hated about his job, it was the paperwork.

It had been a busy week, or at least, the paperwork stated so. There had been the massacre in the woods just North of Konoha, and Kakashi, though he hadn't even been there, had to read Genma's report on it, validate that the truth was told, and sign the necessary papers that said the truth had been told.

If that wasn't enough, the Yondaime had to recruit a whole new army, so here he was, sorting through the candidates, looking at resumes, and all that lovely crap. He had to conduct about two thousand interviews, within the next two weeks, and then, there was all the death certificates and papers he had to deal with surrounding deaths in the Special Forces. He could only be glad he didn't lead the army, because there had been more deaths there.

Then, their beloved king had decided a crack-down of enforcement was needed, to make sure that everyone toeing the line kept on the right side of it, and that just because they had lost a significant amount of man-power did not mean they were going to keel over and die.

Kakashi had another lovely little pile of papers, the criminal records and such of the criminals they'd hauled in during the past five days.

He slid all the finished papers into a file folder and marked it, then stood up, taking it with him, ready to take the Yondaime his weekly report.

He paused when he saw Naruto standing in the doorway, his arms cross, his face decidedly serious.

"Yo," greeted the older kitsune-jin, almost questioningly.

Naruto glanced at him, then turned his attention back to the wall. "I heard you lost a lot of men," he said, his voice sounding dull and tired.

Kakashi wondered what was wrong. "Yes," he replied, evenly. "The battle was a massacre on both sides."

Naruto pursed his lips, then pushed himself off the wall and walked toward his superior officer, saying, "Do you need any help with anything?"

Kakashi shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't need help - he was overwhelmed and he would have welcomed Naruto's extra help, but he simply couldn't. The prince was bound now, for a few weeks at least, in royal matters, such as legalizing his marriage, and consummating it.

"Too bad," the blond kitsune-jin said. "I can see your desk from here, and it's like a tornado hit it."

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto. . ," he started in a warning tone.

He really didn't have time for the prince's games right now. The prince shrugged and wandered into the office, sitting himself down at the Special Forces' officer's desk, helping himself to the pen, the ink and the paperwork.

Kakashi shook his head and walked away, too busy for the argument that would ensue if he continued to talk to the blond.

He left the Special Forces' headquarters, a dusty little building on Main Street, heading toward the palace, about a fifteen minute walk for a normal person - which translated to about five minutes for Kakashi, who went, by rooftop, running and jumping, until he finally landed on the sill of one of the castle windows and walked along the ledge until he came to the window of the Yondaime's office.

He was about to throw it open and hop in, as he usually did, but he paused, just beyond it, hearing voices from within. The Yondaime was speaking to someone, who Kakashi later placed as Jiraiya.

They were talking about. . .something? Someone.

He listened harder, careful to stay out of view of the window. If they found he'd been eavesdropping, well. . .the consequences might just be unpleasant.

". . .trying to send him back?"

". . .can't do that. . ."

"Who. . ."

"Five."

". . .pregnant?"

". . .keep quiet. . ."

There the conversation stopped, almost abruptly, and there was the sound of a closing door and Kakashi waited, for a moment or two, before making his grand appearance into the Yondaime's study. Inside, he was troubled, but outwardly he put on his trademark grin, letting his eyes curve up and waved happily to his king.

If the Yondaime had noticed that he'd been outside during the aforementioned conversation, he said nothing.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

It was dark and late when Kakashi returned to the Special Forces building, and everyone had gone home. Except Naruto, who was still sitting at his desk, pouring over the paperwork, the single solitary light burning from his desktop lamp.

Kakashi frowned. "Naruto," he said, announcing his presence to the young kitsune-jin, who merely held up a finger, asking him to wait a moment or two.

"It's late," he stated, glancing at the clock and ignoring the prince's request. "Shouldn't you be at home?"

Naruto shrugged and set the pen down, finally, sighing. He sat back, resting his hands above his head. "I haven't done anything lately, Kakashi. I'm dying to be busy, to have something to do."

Kakashi glared. "You do have something to do," he growled. "You have someone waiting for you in bed."

Naruto sighed again, almost wistfully, waving his hand in a carefree manner. "Ah, I wish she would. But she's probably asleep by now."

Kakashi looked almost dumbfounded. "You mean to say that. . ."

Naruto laughed bitterly, rocking back in his chair. "Ha! Consummated the marriage?! By Kyuubi, no, not even close! She's as cold as the Northern winds, that one! I have yet to lay a hand on her without getting slapped."

"Ah. . .I see," Kakashi said slowly.

He really did not see, for he'd never had problems with women, but perhaps that was because he had known all the wrong types of females - those who were sleazy, underdressed, loved attention, those who worked in bars, and so on and so forth. To him, it seemed strange that there was a woman out there who did not like to be touched, to be told she was beautiful and given attention to.

Naruto had taken up the pen again, and was scratching at the report file he was doing, almost angrily. "She's such an uptight priss," he hissed through gritted teeth, eyes narrowing in contempt. "I can't understand her some days. At least with Sasuke, I could. . ."

The blond trailed off, looking almost as though he were daydreaming, then shook his head violently, as if to rid himself of overly pleasing thoughts. Kakashi shook his head as well, watching Naruto push true feelings away.

Speaking of Sasuke, Kakashi suddenly recalled the conversation he had 'accidentally' overheard and his head snapped up, his visible grey eye resting on Naruto's form, outlined harshly by the light, with the dark pressing hard at him from all sides.

There was some sort of metaphor in that image, he thought to himself, but shook off the idea and ploughed ahead, saying, "Naruto?"

The blond tilted his head to him a little bit, but did not look at him, or anything otherwise. Kakashi continued. "I overheard your father talking to your grandfather today."

"Yes," the blond replied, his voice almost venomous. Whatever he'd been thinking before had put him in a sour mood. "They do that from time to time, as family members should."

Kakashi ignored the boy's bitterness and went on, as though he were oblivious to the sting. "I do believe they were talking about Sasuke."

Naruto stiffened visibly, stopping and dropping the pen, as if it had burned him. He slowly turned his gaze to look at Kakashi, an expression of horror and anger swirling there. Kakashi nearly grinned, but instead, lowered his gaze and nodded.

"What makes you think that?" the blond asked, his voice hollow, and choked somehow, as if there was too much emotion there to convey any at all.

"What they said led me to believe that Asuma is attempting to get rid of him, because he's with child."

Kakashi glanced up, just in time to see Naruto act like a fish out of water. His mouth was agape for a second or two, and then, he opened and shut it, as if trying to form words, but his vocal chords had stopped working.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and shredded a paper - probably an important one, Kakashi later mused - between his hands, growling, "Temari."

He was up and gone like a flash of lightening, the double doors of the building flapping and banging in the wind, the cold night air swirling in. Kakashi stared, then sighed, realizing he'd been left alone with the paperwork once more.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Far away, in the desert night, a coyote howled to the moon. Sasuke shivered again, wrapping his arms about himself tighter. He was either going to burn to death, or freeze to death, neither of which were pleasant options.

The wind howled along the dunes, now turned cold, and huge difference from the daytime.

He paused, identifying a different sound in the desert night. It sounded like. . .voices.

And there were, as people came running over a dune, sand sliding down under the pressure of their feet. They were talking in a strange dialect, something that he couldn't understand, and he could only stare at them confusedly.

One of them tugged him to his feet and the others - there were five or so - seemed to scrutinize him, and he cringed, trying to shrink up into himself, and hide away from their eyes. He felt so shy, and he couldn't get away from them. They'd circled around him, and now -

One of them had his grubby little paw on his stomach, and he felt the utter need to get away, to get that hand off, to protect. He started yelling, not caring how ragged his voice already was, not caring how dry his throat was, not caring that they didn't understand him at all.

They curled back a bit, and they huddled, discussing something amongst themselves. They glared at him with their wicked beady eyes and he realized the fault of that movement, for they were probably his only chance at being rescued, and now, he'd bungled it and they would either kill him, or leave him there to die.

He did the only sensible thing he could do. He covered his face with his hands and started to cry. He felt so pathetic for doing it, but he couldn't control the tears, because he was just so sick and tired of everything, and he just wanted to lie down and go to sleep and not have to worry about what was going to happen to him tomorrow.

The little band of men, kitsune-jins, he thought, seeing their ears twitch in the moonlight, moved back to surround him, and they were trying to shush him, he could tell, even though he didn't understand their speech. One of them put his arm about his shoulders, gently, and started to walk, slowly, and stupidly, blindly, Sasuke started to follow.

The strange men had a small camp set up about three sand dunes away from where he'd been resting, and they had a fire and food and a horse and wagon. Sasuke had never been so happy to see fire, to see a dirty, worn-out horse, to see the pile of wood on wheels they called a cart.

They left him near the fire, with a blanket draped about his shoulders, and a slice or two of bread, with something like potatoes, and maybe a mushy substance that was meat or something, and some water, while they went and huddled by themselves, talking in their strange language, probably discussing what they should do with the human.

Sasuke didn't care. He was safe for the moment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Temari nearly jumped out of her skin as the door to her office slammed open, into the wall, knocking some of the mortar loose. She turned about, slowly, fearing what she would see there.

Blue eyes snapped with rage and glared daggers at her. "You," Naruto sputtered, taking a step forward into the room.

Temari decided her best bet was to act confused. "Is there something wrong, Naruto?"

He'd charged across the floor now, and grabbed her by the front of her garb, shoving his face into hers, so that they were nose to nose. His breath scalded across her skin.

"You lying, cheating bitch!" he yelled, and she closed her eyes and turned her head to the side.

"My lord, what's wrong?"

He decked her. He didn't care if she was a woman, he didn't care at all. She had lied to him, lied to him about something important! "Why the hell did you do that?!" he cried, frustration seeping into his tone.

She held her cheek, which was already starting to swell, feeling the counter crunch into the small of her back as she stumbled backwards. "Do...do what?" she asked, her voice trembling in fear.

It wasn't because Naruto scared her, not he himself, but what he could do to her, if he felt so inclined. All her medical knowledge would be worthless if he decided to dismiss her, because none would hire a doctor dismissed by the royal family.

"Why did you lie about Sasuke?! Why?!"

She turned her head away, looking at the floor. So, he did know, he knew the truth. She bit her lip, silencing herself before she could blurt anything to make this situation worse. "I...I.," she stuttered, searching herself for an excusable reason.

"I...wanted him for myself," she said finally, and never turned to look at Naruto. If he knew that much of the truth, he might as well know the whole truth.

Naruto clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, growling, but he said nothing, and finally, he turned away and left, just as quickly as he came.

Temari sighed, and sat on the cold ground in the dark, thinking deeply.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura stumbled stupidly from her slumber into the world of consciousness, as the sounds of a whirling tornado of rage reached her.

She sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning, watching as things were hurled about the room in a fit of anger, the dresser drawers were yanked open, then slammed shut with so great of force that they echoed.

And finally, the blond tornado hurled himself onto the bed, growling and clenching his fists, unable to extinguish all the rage at being wronged that existed inside him.

Sakura stared at Naruto, never having seen him so. . .distressed, so angry. It scared her. And in a way, it comforted her, because it made her feel she was closer to him, because he was allowing her to see him like this, and not like the normal happy, hyper person he usually was in her presence. It made him seem real to her, for the very first time.

"Naruto," she asked, hesitantly laying a hand on her husband's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He relaxed himself, his face, his hands and opened his eyes and looked at her. "It's Sasuke," he said with a sigh.

There was a name she had wished never to hear again. "What about him?" she asked, and bitterness must have sounded in her voice, because she could taste it on her tongue.

"He's. . ."

How to say this? The situation was awkward, and it was rightfully so. How to tell his wife that his male bed-slave was carrying his child?

"He's not come back, has he?" the woman asked, and he shook his head, closing his eyes.

"Though he should," he mumbled.

"Whatever for?" Sakura spat, indicating she did not like the idea of the human ever returning.

Naruto stared at the ceiling, trying keep his face blank, his voice level. How would she react to this? Badly, no doubt. She'd be angry with him, which was really the last thing he needed, for all he needed right then was an excuse to be angry with her, a reason to ignore her, and be cross with her, and put all his anger toward her. It was too easy to redirect his rage to her.

"He's with child," he said, finally, his voice sounding hollow, even to him. "My child."

- - - - - - - - - -

A/N: R&R? Please?