Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, etc. Borrowing for the purposes of entertainment, procrastination, and basically, escapism.
Warning: Possible spoilers. I read up to Ch 218 of the manga by the time I finished this chapter. No actual spoilers, but just to be safe... Spoilers are actually hard to detect, if you think about it. ;;
Chapter 3: Suspicions
Haruno Sakura stumbled along the loosely peopled streets on her way home. It wasn't a particularly cold evening, but belatedly, the fact that she left her light jacket at the Nara residence registered in her mind. It wasn't that her mind was too full of thoughts, random or otherwise. In fact, the clarity of her head was quite remarkable, as compared to her state the past few days. A single thought was foremost in her mind, a stern command to self: go home and get your "slug and hug" calendar.
She nearly fell when her knee buckled as she stepped up the threshold of her childhood home. It was the idiot floor's fault—why couldn't it keep still even for a moment? Fumbling for her keys with one hand, she steadied herself with the other against the cold metal of the knob. She muttered a mild oath upon finding her pockets empty; she had left them inside her jacket. Instead, she knocked.
"Sakura-chan." Her mother answered the door. "Back so soon?"
"Just getting something," she replied.
"Are you feeling ill, child? You look pale."
"I'm fine," she said rather impatiently. She needed to see her "slug and hug" calendar that badly. "And I might stay with Ino tonight, so I won't be in my pad," she added in a more respectful tone.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, ma." Why did there have to be something wrong? "Her husband is working tonight. She just wants some company."
"Don't tell me the lad is involved in that mission!"
Wasn't that mission supposed to be classified, Sakura thought rather tartly. How come the whole neighborhood seemed to know about it? "Yes, ma." She turned away and made her way to her bedroom. "Not in the field, though."
"Thank heavens." Her mother sighed in relief. "I'd have worried about Ino-chan."
Sakura was contemplating just how silly it would look if she bolted from her own mother. Reserve won over desperation, and she continued her slow pace.
"Do you have any other friends involved in that mission?" her mother called after her.
Her heart jolted to a stop. When her breathing restarted, she continued her steady climb up the stairs. But like the model daughter that she was, she called out the answer behind her.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
That name again.
She had tried her best to submerge that name unto the unused portions of her mind, to relinquish space to more sensible, productive things. It was not quite fretting, but even without summoning his name in her head, even without a tangible precipitator, her body was taut with tension. Banishing his name did no good----she had been doing that for years---- because he was still in there, lurking as he was wont to.
At that particular moment, however, she wasn't even worrying about him (though the awareness of worry lingered somewhere peripheral in her consciousness). All she wanted was her calendar. It was that important.
Upon entering her room, she immediately went to her dressing table and sorted through the second left drawer. There, she saw the pink and green pocket calendar Lee-san had given her last year, the cute button eyes of the slug caricature on the cover staring up at her sympathetically. She grabbed it and began leafing through its pages quickly.
September 19, the date today. She scanned the page she was on, looked for red question marks... There. September 29. Fingers shaking, she began counting squares backwards. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen.
September 15.
She sighed, collapsed with a clatter on her wooden floor with enormous relief. Shikamaru was right. People either got lucky or not. In her case, it was quite a close shave.
Yes. She was sure now. She had thought she was going to have a nervous breakdown a while ago, when the realization of such a possibility came to her. But see, because of her cute calendar, she had been able to verify it: she wasn't pregnant. In fact, she couldn't be! Sure, she had unprotected sex with him, but see, she didn't ovulate that night. Yes, she had just consulted her calendar, had she not? She was scheduled to ovulate on the 15th; therefore, she wasn't fertile the night of the 12th and twenty-four hours thereafter. It was impossible.
Sakura licked her lips nervously. There was another statement of Shikamaru that stuck to her brain: "no such thing as surety in this thing," he had said. But she was sure she counted the days right! She always kept track of her periods because, like many kunoichi, she tended to skip menses occasionally.
She flipped back a page to look at the month of August. Her last menstrual period started on August 23. Counting that as the first day of her cycle, she should be menstruating again on September 29. See, her cycle lasted 35 days. The books usually use 28 days when explaining things, but the number of days in a woman's cycle varies for each individual. Regardless of length of cycle, however, a woman usually bled fourteen days after she released a seed. On a 28-day cycle, says her biology book, a woman releases a seed on day 14. For her, it was day 21, twenty-one days after her last menstrual period. Day 21 was on September 15. That's far too long after September 12. Therefore, she couldn't be pregnant. It was impossible.
Sakura was sweating profusely now. Who was she kidding? The human body didn't follow pompous schedules written on textbooks. That's why there's always the word "usually." For all she knew, she could have ovulated the very night she slept with Sasuke. That happened, too, said her book.
Her hand went to her mouth, and she clamped her teeth on it to keep from screaming as a full blown panic attack hit her.
What was she going to do? Haruno Sakura, pregnant out of wedlock. The perfect daughter disgracing her family. She would be able to hide this for only a short period of time. Indeed, in a village of ninjas could she hide it at all?. How would she hide a belly the size of a watermelon? Or a child for that matter. Where would she hide a bawling infant?
And it would be easy to put two and two together. Everybody knew she used to chase Uchiha Sasuke. Everybody knew Sasuke didn't give a damn. And now, everybody would know. They'd snicker behind their sleeves on how she cunningly tripped the hapless boy onto her bed----or how she had spent her lust on some lucky bastard.
But they didn't need to know it's Sasuke's child, right? They could demand forever the identity of the "son of a bitch who did this to her," and she could keep her silence for just as long.
But what then when that child was grown? What then when the child began to bear marks that would unmistakably name the sire? What then would the world do to what was clearly an Uchiha?
And Sasuke. What would he say? What would he do? He already told her he didn't want this. Clearly, he wouldn't want this child.
But he might be obliged to marry her by... by somebody! And he would hate her for it. He would hate her. She couldn't even think of facing him again. She couldn't...
She laughed. She laughed near-hysterically.
It was ridiculous how far her imagination had already ran away. There was no way of knowing, really, until she performed a pregnancy test. There was no use getting so worked up before then. Besides, she probably wasn't pregnant at all. What were the chances of getting pregnant anyway? 1 to 100?
With much effort, she forced herself to calm down.
"Very well," she decided. "I'd find out tomorrow."
But Shikamaru was surely wrong about one thing at least, she thought bitterly. People didn't have sex to make babies. She didn't. She was fairly sure Sasuke didn't either.
So there. Today, she'd go to a store and find a pregnancy test kit. Or tomorrow. Maybe she should do it tomorrow. Tomorrow would be better. That way, she could concentrate on staying sane tonight.
In spite of herself, Sakura gave herself a good cry first before she washed her face and made her way back to Nara Ino's home.
Plants have various means of spreading their seeds. Some rely on motile creatures; for example, burrs attach themselves on the fur of some passing beast. Some become tiny boats, sailing on to high adventures down streams, rivers, and even out on seas. Some simply let the wind carry their progeny to their fates, scattering them to the four corners of the earth.
Now, when the union of an offspring of the shadow-users and an offspring of the users of the spirit-replacement jutsu were released to their new paths in life, the place they sprouted in wasn't quite as random. In fact, the house formed an isosceles right triangle with the Nara ancestral home and Yamanaka one. Nara Shikamaru arranged it that way, partly in fairness to his wife, but mostly to keep considerable distance between himself and his mother without making her suspicious. Nobody really needed to know any of that, so even she who slumbered in the master bedroom of the modest young household had no clue of such deviousness afoot.
At least, she didn't say or do anything that indicated so. Nara Ino tended to be argumentative. She would have contradicted her childhood buddy for sheer enjoyment of a feisty little squabble, if she knew he had planned something for the sake of his idiosyncracies.
She stirred from her light sleep, leaving the vague, sweet, little snippets of the imagined future in dreamland. These days, she was prone to sleeping lightly—and sleeping in, actually, to her husband's envy. She was also wont to suddenly worry about him irrationally, as if he hadn't already proven his expertise on survival time and time again. Besides, he was just here in the village that night, probably waiting for some crucial message from an envoy, probably discussing top secret plans. There was nothing to worry about...
Now Sakura... Well, Ino was worried about Sakura.
Sakura could actually be as feisty and violent as Ino—no doubt an effect of their extensive association during their formative years. Usually, Sakura was mature, collected, benevolent, and cheerful. It wasn't that Sakura didn't return that evening to finish her interrupted meal. It wasn't as if Sakura didn't come back with a beatific smile at least as wide as her forehead. It wasn't as if she didn't join in teasing Shikamaru outrageously, or in trying to feel the butterfly movements of the Naras' unborn child.
Call it intuition, Ino knew something was wrong with her best friend––she was a genjutsu specialist-in-training, wasn't she? She could very well use her intelligence to hide her emotions. Failing that, she could outmaneuver her, Ino, if she tried to confront her. Sakura tended to clamp shut to protect herself, Ino thought.
Instead of musing some more, Ino just sighed, pushed herself to her feet, and shuffled to the kitchen. Warm milk always helped her fall asleep again, but Shikamaru wasn't there to heat her some. Oh well, she thought, he lets her milk skin, anyway, that lazy bum. She hated the skin on top.
She prepared some for herself, warming a couple of mugs-full milk for good measure. Somehow, she suspected someone might join her soon.
For a few minutes, she stood before the stove, uncharacteristically patient, until she sighted the first bubbles gurgling to the surface of the milk. She poured herself some and left the saucepan covered, off the fire, ruefully thinking of the skin soon to creep on top. She sipped her milk as she took her time walking back to her bedroom. The milk was wonderfully warm as it passed from her throat, to her chest, and to her belly. She licked the creaminess off her lips with relish after each swallow, lulled to sleep like an infant.
A muffled moan shook her out of her drowsy state. It came from the guestroom, the future nursery, where Sakura was asleep. At first, Ino decided to ignore it, but when subsequent sounds came, she entered the room without knocking. Sakura was tangled in her sheets, face contorted into a grimace, wide forehead shiny with sweat. Ino decided to rouse her from her tortured sleep.
"Sakura," she said, shaking her firmly. "Wake up. It's just a dream."
The other woman grimaced again, groaned, then opened her eyes and sat up. As if to clear her head, she rubbed her hand down her face, ran it through the disheveled hair that flowed past her shoulder, gray and lifeless, the pink impossible to differentiate from Ino's blond.
"Bad dreams?" Ino asked kindly.
"Yeah." Sakura's voice was a little hoarse.
"Want to talk about it?"
She shook her head. "I don't even remember what I dreamed of." She sighed. "You can't sleep?"
"I woke up just now. It happens."
"Yeah? It'll be hard to get back to sleep, huh?"
"That happens, too. I still have milk in the kitchen, if you want. It's warm and that helps."
"That's nice." Sakura grinned.
The two of them were soon sitting in companionable silence at the dinning table for four, the lights in the house still dimmed down. Ino watched her friend cradle her cracked teddy bear mug, sipping milk once in while. It was the same mug she had shyly requested to use the first time she came to Ino's home as a little girl. Nostalgia was bittersweet; the memories of sleep-overs when they were little girls, the secret conferences in the middle of the night, made Ino smile to herself. Funny. In spite of herself, Ino didn't even regret the years of hostile rivalry over Uchiha Sasuke. Even during that time, they remained friends----their teenaged counterparts would surely beg to differ!---- in a weird sort of way. This recaptured closeness... came rarely.
Speaking of Sasuke...
"You're worried about him."
Sakura started, then looked away. "Yeah."
"I can only imagine."
"Ne, don't you worry about Shikamaru when he goes to missions?"
"Of course, I do. Nowadays, I get worried even though he's just in the village. It's so silly!"
"I think it has something to do with the mood changes women undergo during pregnancy."
"Hmmm... Hey, did you know that they have telephone lines in the offices, even though we still need to go through the exotic stuff to pass information to each other? Sometimes, I'd call him there and discover he's been playing shoji against some foreigner, with the godaime and some diplomat betting on the game." Ino shook her head. "In the end, I usually worry for nothing. Geesh."
"People do usually worry for nothing. I guess, it's just how we are."
They were silent.
"So, any plans tomorrow?" Ino asked.
"Not really. I don't have a mission, like I said. The usual training in the morning, you know. Kurenai-sensei has a mission, so I won't be seeing her. I'd have to go for briefing late in the afternoon, though. What about you?"
"Well, we were supposed to meet up with Chouji, his wife, and his kids for lunch. Want to come?"
"Yeah. Maybe. But won't it be like a team 8 reunion or something?"
"With Chouji's three kids running around? Nah."
Sakura laughed. "They're cute."
"Sure they are. But that doesn't make them any less handful. Nobody expected Chouji to marry at age 19, and to a gorgeous civilian, too!"
"Yeah, I remember Iruka-sensei actually crying."
"Maybe it's because he was feeling the years." Ino chuckled evilly. "He finally married the ramen-lady at Ichiraku's last year, you know."
"We were there, dear. I think that ramen lady needed time to get over our insufferable sensei."
"Oh, how's Kakashi, anyhow? Still a bachelor? Even Asuma-sensei's married already."
"As far as I know, he still is. Who knows? Maybe he's got several wives under that mask of his. Or maybe he decided to elope with his Icha Icha books."
"Hmmm..."
Silence again.
Finally, Ino resolved to bring up a certain topic, something she thought was delicate.
"You know, Sakura," she began. "I've been wanting to talk to you about Chouji. I..."
Sakura shook her head. "Ino-pig no baka," she said quietly. "It's not Chouji's fault. You know how Sasuke gets obscure with his reasoning and expects people to get it? He probably used Chouji as a starting point for his arguments. That's all."
"You're a bad liar, Sakura."
She merely smiled. "I don't blame Chouji, if that's why you're worried about."
"Oh." Ino paused sheepishly. "I thought you two might get awkward and all that."
"Nonsense. It's not as if I'm his wife, you know."
"Oh, Sakura...."
"Come on! Why should Chouji get awkward. He didn't back out. Hokage-sama booted him out of the mission."
"Sakura-chan." Ino's expression was almost guilty. "My husband was relieved."
"It's only natural, Ino. They're best friends. He would be able to focus on his tactics better because it's less personal this way, right?"
"I guess so. He was also relieved because... Sasuke-kun was right about what he told the Hokage. Apparently, she didn't choose him because they were worried about his... condition. Now, he's ready, so... It's like that."
"I see," said Sakura simply. "Thank you for telling me that. If the Godaime thinks he's ready, then he probably is. I do trust his strength."
"And I trust Shika's genius," Ino smiled at her friend.
"That works out well, doesn't it?" Sakura grinned back.
Only later, only after they had parted, did Ino remember that she had neglected to ask her friend about why she suddenly left during supper, about what was bothering her. Ino had only assumed it was because of Sasuke. Maybe it was, but maybe it wasn't just worry over his safety.
One of the advantages of having grown up in team 8 was the resulting familiarity she had with the word "troublesome." Somewhere between age 17 and 19, she finally linked the word with her obsession over Uchiha Sasuke. Yes, she realized then, Sasuke issues, whatever kind they were, were always troublesome.
Sakura should take it from her: Uchiha Sasuke was bad for the health.
The mighty shinobi village had been steadily recuperating for the last ten years. It had been through hard times, but its people stood fast. The children of the Leaf that had grown to adulthood through those years had been wonderfully nurtured as saplings by the 3rd, bloomed under the adroit hands of the 5th, flourished in the soil the 1st and 2nd cultivated, were safe on the orchard the 4th and thousands of others died to protect.
One of such flowers, a cherry blossom, stood confidently at the atrium of the Hokage's office, her mission accomplished. Same old Iruka-sensei beamed up at her, proud of how much she had grown, how she had found both "heaven" and "earth" through fierce determination, hard work, and persistence. Iruka-sensei didn't quite realize that, ultimately, she owed that change to him, not only because he was an excellent teacher at the academy. It was Naruto who inspired her----and tons of others—to change, to transcend, and it was Iruka who inspired Naruto. Also, Iruka-sensei didn't know that she didn't quite feel as confident as her poise suggested.
Or maybe he did.
See, Sakura, the young vulnerable woman, knew when to surrender to Sakura, the kunoichi, to keep emotions and scruples inside, much like how Inner Sakura knew when to keep her outbursts within the confines of the mind. Sakura could now understand how her fellow ninjas, deadly warriors in the field, could come home to their families and croon a tender lullaby to a babe, completely transformed.
It was the way of the shinobi.
Now that Sakura was home, she gradually transitioned to her usual self—the Sakura without arms, without the burden of leadership, without the high level genjutsu know-how----just her. Thus removed from her keen, combative frame, she looked at the calendar before her and remembered.
September 23rd.
Ten days. It had been ten days since he left.
No. It had been nine days since he left, ten days since that thing happened. She still had no answer. She still didn't know what to do.
Maybe she hadn't really forgotten about her problem the past few days. It was merely pushed aside effectively for the sake of survival. Sakura had to focus her attention and energy to almost a pinpoint all through out that mission. True, it wasn't quite as earthshaking as his mission, but she had been able to save lives. She was proud of how the Leaf's genjutsu was able to stop a lunatic from mass genocide, deterred him by an imaginary holocaust that decimated his cult members a dozen times over. Launching and sustaining such massive illusions were no joke. Life and death, not only their own, rested upon the two ninja's breath and heartbeat.
That she could take. The uncertainty of victory or defeat, of life or death... she was able to handle that. But this... the uncertainty of not knowing, not knowing what the next few days, weeks, entailed her. Not knowing a plain fact that could—no, would!----utterly devastate her life... She couldn't bear it.
How could she know?
How could she find out?
"Oi, Sakura. You okay?"
Sensei. He was worried about her. "I'm fine," she lied.
He scratched at his scar dubiously; he still looked the same, a little bit older, graver perhaps. "You're pale."
"I'm just tired, sensei," she smiled wanly. That was truth, at least. "Really."
"But then---"
"Then you better get some rest, Sakura," the Hokage interrupted Iruka. She was as beautiful as ever. Sakura would have liked to kiss her in gratitude. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Sakura smiled at the older woman. If they started vituperating her then.... If they tried to crack her... She wouldn't be able to hold. She wouldn't.
"Take care, Hokage-sama, Iruka-sensei," she said as she started off. "Don't work too hard."
When she disappeared, Iruka turned to the woman beside him.
"Hokage-sama."
"Iruka, one of these days, you'd wear your heart out looking after everybody." She smiled at him fondly. "She's stronger than that, you know. Our ninjas are stronger than that. She'll hold."
"I hope you're right."
Uzumaki Naurto was rather satisfied with himself. He had accomplished his mission earlier than expected, not only protecting the young heiress of a small daimyo, but also capturing the assassins trailing her and uncovering the conspiracy hatching in the very palace of the young woman. She had been very expressive with her thanks, absolutely refused to take no for an answer, that Naruto was forced to endure such scandalous hedonism for one whole day. He could have sworn he had tasted every single flavor of ramen that day; how all that ramen managed to fit his stomach was unexplainable but hardly surprising.
The people who knew him well wouldn't have been surprised either on finding one extremely hungry blond prowling about his tiny old pad for ramen----or anything remotely edible—only a few minutes ago. His stomach grumbled mutinously when his desperate search yielded nothing but a grubby satchel of rotting prunes. Even he knew enough to discard that; heck, he wanted to fill up his tummy, not spill out all the contents both ways.
So one hour and thirteen minutes past noon of September 23rd, Naruto could be found strolling to the Dorobo supermart, whistling as he went. He could, of course, be on his way to Ichiruka's instead, but he had valiantly decided to instead buy instant ramen and wait out the three minutes. See, he was saving money for.... something. Now, if a certain somebody happened to meet him accidentally, and happened to be hungry, and happened to want to eat out with him, well, who was he to complain?
Eagerly, he scanned everyone that passed his way. Being a head or more taller than most, he had an excellent view of various heads. It should be easy to spot her. He couldn't possibly miss her, if she happened to pass by. If.
He stifled a sigh as he entered the supermarket without a single glimpse of that certain head he was dying to see
It's like fishing, he reminded himself. He needed to be patient.
In spite of himself, he picked up a basket and went straight for the ready-made food section. He chose his 28 packets of instant ramen with the fine discernment of a connoisseur. He also bought eggs, milk, bananas, and packed seaweed salad. He continued walking through the store, toting his grocery in his basket.
Well, after all that, he still didn't find what he was searching for. He finally decided to give aisle 16 a try. It was the only one he hadn't explored. He habitually skipped that aisle since he was neither a woman nor an infant and therefore did not need those diaper things sold there.
Sure enough, he wasn't disappointed. He grinned upon at least seeing a certain head of interest and decided to surprise the owner of the said head.
Slowly, he inched closer and closer to the motionless form of the young woman. She had probably just returned from a mission like he did, for her uniform was soiled with a mixture of blood and mud, her hitai-ate headband askew. Obviously, she wasn't thinking much like a kunoichi at the moment. Naruto wasn't even seriously creeping!
Three centimeters from the spattering of pale, stubby hair at her nape...
"Boo."
SMACK!
"WHAT THE HELL! I WASN'T THAT SCAR---"
He was cut off when Sakura dropped the package of Jello she used as a weapon and collapsed against him. Through the stars dancing across his eyes (the darned woman could pack quite a punch), he frowned at her pink head resting on his chest.
"Sakura-chan?"
"Shut up for a second."
"Uh.... Sakura-chan, is there something wrong? Is it about---"
"Dare say his name and I'll kill you."
Naruto wasn't really going to mention anybody's name. Her statement, however, gave away a great deal. She could only be referring to two people, saying "his" with such vehemence. Since, they weren't waiting for a certain silver-haired sensei at the crack of dawn, he settled for the other person. Now, Naruto didn't think she would seriously kill him if he mentioned their old team mate's name, but she did attack him with her grocery, so he didn't bother to take any risks. Vaguely, he wondered what Sasuke did or said to her this time. That bastard always found some way to upset her, even without trying, and he never got socked for anything!
"Ne, Naruto."
"Yeah?"
"Remember what I told you when we were 15?"
Through their years as team 7, Sakura had told him a great deal of things, some of them he didn't think he needed to hear. He was half-tempted to ask if she really expected him to remember everything; the smarting of his temple warned him not to. Based on the current situation, Naruto thought back on a certain day of heartbreak, back in the days of fiery youth and flaming love, as Gai-sensei would say.
"It was Valentine's Day. We had our second date. Somebody gave me chocolates wrapped in pink and black paper and you burst out crying when you saw it. Then you started laughing. I thought you'd gone nuts. Then you promised that someday you'll sit me down and explain things to me," he said cautiously, hoping he picked the correct memory. "Especially about girls and how their brain works?"
"Well, that day isn't today, Naruto." She smiled at him wanly. "Sorry."
Naruto's brows furrowed. What did Sasuke do this time? "Sakura-chan, if there's something you want to---"
"I'll be fine."
She hugged him and bended over to tiredly pick up her fallen grocery on the floor. Naruto kept his thinking look trained on her as she started to walk away. Belatedly, he remembered that Sasuke managed to wiggle his way into that big mission. Maybe, Sakura was upset about that. That stuck-up idiot couldn't have gotten himself killed, right? Che. Who the hell cares about that Sasuke anyway? Always causing trouble... Naruto had other concerns at the moment.
"Sakura," he called after her. "Is---?"
"Naruto, I SWEAR I'll knife you in broad daylight if you finish that sentence!" she snarled before bolting toward the nearest cashier.
"Hey!" squeaked Naruto, almost in panic, as she pounded away. "I just wanted to ask you if Neji's around! He was with you in your mission today, wasn't he? Hey!"
She ignored him. Naruto just sighed and continued to think. He thought back on how the pink-haired chuunin's shoulder seemed to sag, on how tired her slender frame looked. She was probably just worried about Sasuke, though. And for good reason, too! Sasuke was, no doubt, a good ninja, Naruto thought, but he certainly had a few loose screws in his head. Naruto nodded to himself sagely. Sakura and Sasuke were both lunatics. Naruto wasn't smart enough to figure the two out, so he's staying out. So there.
"Searching for me, were you?" a voice spoke behind him, just as he was about to go to the cashier.
Naruto nearly dropped his basket.
"Hyuuga Neji!" he greeted without losing a beat and turned to beam his usual squinty-eyed smile at the Hyuuga. "Why would I be searching for you?"
"It's what one usually assumes when one hears another screaming ones name."
"Ahahahaha!" Naruto scratched his head. "I was just... Er, why are you looking at me like that?"
As a matter of fact, Hyuga Neji's stare was even more disturbing with two black brows facing off above his white eyes. Naruto tried his best not to squirm. He was jounin, for crying out loud! He had lead teams of fellow jounins in top secret missions before, had Neji himself as a subordinate several times. Neji was---
"What did I say about monkey business, Naruto?"
Naruto's train of thoughts ended there, the iciness of Neji's voice filling him with that weird nervousness again.
"Wh-what are you talking about, Neji?" Naruto was seriously and earnestly puzzled, especially at the strange smile the other man was wearing.
"Don't play games." Neji's smile turned decidedly feral. "What are you doing in this part of the store?"
"That's none of your damn business!" Naruto burst out, finally losing his temper. "What the hell is---"
"It's certainly is my damn business, if you're starting to use those!" Neji thundered back.
Glaring, Naruto looked at what the other ninja was pointing at.
Fast results, it says. Guaranteed!
Naruto's jaw dropped.
Pregnancy kits. Boxes and boxes of pregnancy tests.
Shit. No wonder Neji was ready to kill him.
Dignity be damned, Naruto thought in panic. He bolted to save his skin.
"I didn't do anything!" he yelled behind him desperately. "I swear, I didn't!"
Neji, of course, didn't believe him and gave chase. As did the angry shopkeeper, who thought he was being robbed.
June 18, 2004 (2:00pm)
AN: Thanks to my Alphareader MidnightCrow and Seiyo for beta-reading.
Thanks for Ch 2's comments. . animEvivvErz, you're right about Sakura not wanting the sex. What she wants is a bit more elusive, intangible. I am honored that you consider this fic a fave. cherripixie, The Teen Witch0043, and rogue solus, I'm definitely continuing. I was actually influenced by my Alphareader on ShikaIno, Neptune47. I only started loving them after I wrote this chapter. They're fun to write. XD Oh, yes. The reproduction was meant to prod her out of latency. He he. (sweatdrop) And a weak attempt at foreshadowing. Eek.mikki05, I used to pull my hair out waiting for fic updates (er... I still check on the fics I love that haven't been updated for years), too. Setting a date helps me not procrastinate. Especially when I'm dead tired from life. Harhar. Fan reader. (blushes) Hao'sAnjul, I'm sorry about that. Baka me.
Till next time. Thanks for reading. Feel free to file comments and complaints using that little button down there.
Next chapter's release: 092604