Disclaimer: See last chapter.

AU, Spoilers, etc.

Echolalia
By: TF

Chapter 02: A Rude Awakening

Echolalia: n. an infant's repetition of the sounds made by others, a normal occurrence in childhood development. Also called echophrasia

Sakura groaned and rolled over as the sunlight that was streaming into her face hit her eyes. She had a headache that was trying to beat its way out of her skull, and her night hand been plagued by weird dreams of Naruto with spinning sharigan eyes and a curse seal on his stomach in the place of his normal spiral seal. With a sigh she buried her face further into her pillow, breathing in the only scent that was on it, hers, and stretching out to cover as much of the double bed as she could.

She sat up with a jerk when her hand hit something warm, solid, and muscled. A gasp escaped her lips as she sat up. Instantly she regretted the quick movement when her vision started to swim, distracting her from whatever was in her bed for a moment. When her head had stopped spinning she remembered why she had sat up so quickly and looked over to see what was in her bed.

Spiky blonde hair was the only visible part of whatever it was that stuck out from under the covers, but it was enough to identify the culprit sleeping in her bed. Naruto snorted, then curled up in a ball when Sakura angrily whipped the covers off of the bed. He did stir when she grabbed onto his ear, painfully dragging him out of the bed and into wakefulness.

"Oww, Sakura-chan. What's your problem?" Naruto groaned, rubbing his eyes and holding his head at the same time.

"What's my problem? Why are you in my bed?" Sakura shouted back, covering her own wince at the volume of her voice.

"I don't know! Just stop yelling at me so that we can figure things out," Naruto said, growling a little at Sakura as he screwed his eyes shut with pain.

"This is your fault for taking me to that bar," Sakura hissed, her green eyes narrowing into slits as she clenched her hands into fists.

"You didn't have to drink as much as you did," Naruto groaned, blinking as the pain receded again.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again," Sakura snapped, her hands moving to her temples to try to massage some of the pain away. "And get some pants on, I don't want to see that."

Naruto blinked and looked down before blushing. Sakura found his clothes in a pile near her feet and threw them at him, hitting him in the chest. When he was clothed again Naruto left the room, giving Sakura a little more time to compose and also dress herself.

Sakura was greeted by the smells of breakfast cooking as she left her bedroom, some of her anger dissipating when she reached the kitchen and saw Naruto actually cooking her a real breakfast instead of his usual Ramen.

"I'm sorry for screaming at you," Sakura said as she sat down at the kitchen table, holding her head in her hands as Naruto set down a glass of water and some asprin beside her elbows.

"I deserved it," Naruto replied, his back turned as he continued cooking a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"You didn't deserve to be yelled at, Naruto. This wasn't totally your fault, it was partially mine as well," Sakura said, washing down the pills with a gulp of water before supporting her head again in her hands.

"But I got you to go to the bar and drink, so it is my fault," Naruto's voice was the sad voice that he used whenever he knew he failed someone.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Naruto had his back to her because he couldn't deal with facing her and the idea of disappointing her, and she knew this because he had done the same thing after Sasuke had left. After a prolonged moment of silence there were a few small clinks as Naruto set the plates of breakfast down on the table. They started eating in strained silence, Sakura keeping an eye on Naruto as the boy finished off his meal even more rapidly than normal.

"I'm really sorry Sakura, I didn't ever mean for anything like this to happen. I know that you love Lee, and I never, ever, wanted to ruin what you have with him. I'm happy as your teammate, I am. Please don't change teams. Please," Naruto had hunched himself over as much as he could while sitting at the small table as he spoke.

"Naruto," Sakura sighed, placing her utensils on the table and getting up and going around to the other side of the table. "Naruto, this isn't all your fault. I won't change teams, and I'll talk to Lee. I don't hate you Naruto."

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders comfortingly until he relaxed and stopped curling up. Naruto finally looked up at her, then leaned back against her shoulder so that he could watch her face. Sakura closed her eyes and sighed before reopening them and running her hands through Naruto's loose locks.

"Look, I'll clear this up with Lee, even if he probably will want to talk to you," Sakura rolled her eyes at the sheepish grin that was starting to spread across Naruto's face at the subject of the 'conversations' between him and Lee. "And I'm not mad, just a little upset. It was both our faults. I just won't go drinking with you again."

Naruto's grin was still weak, but it was still there when he gave Sakura a tight hug before getting up and clearing the dishes from the table. Sakura sat down again at the table as Naruto started cleaning up from breakfast and just watched the blonde move around the kitchen. He was much more industrious than he let on, especially when he was helping his precious people.

"I want to keep this quiet," Sakura said after a moment of thought. At Naruto's confused look she elaborated before Naruto became his normal loud self, "I don't want the whole village to know that I cheated on Lee, and that it was with you. I know you Naruto, I know that you won't harm anyone intentionally unless you're attacked, but the villagers are still suspicious, and I'd rather not have them blame you for something that was an accident."

"Thanks Sakura," Naruto said with relief, smiling brightly in the pink-haired girl's direction.

"It took both of us to make this mistake, I don't want everyone to be mad at you when they should be mad at the both of us," Sakura said absently.

After Naruto had left Sakura continued to sit at the table, her head cradled in her hands as her thoughts raced through her mind, How am I going to explain this to Lee?

Naruto was running through some basic exercises to warm up when a rising cloud of dust caught his attention. Kakashi also looked up from his warm ups when the cloud of dust hit the edge of the training field and dissipated until only the heavily breathing form of Rock Lee was left. When Lee's finger pointed to Naruto the blonde waved away Kakashi's offer to intervene, standing straight in front of the beating he was most likely going to receive.

"Uzumaki! You've done a wrong that deserves harsh consequences, and I will be the one to defend Sakura's honor! Fight me, Naruto!" Lee's voice echoed over the field as Kakashi took a seat in a nearby tree.

This silver-haired jounin wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he knew that for some reason or another Lee had set his mind to fighting Naruto again. Whenever Naruto angered Sakura, or played a prank on her, Lee would show up ready to beat Naruto into the ground for his indiscretion.

Lee charged with a roar as soon as Naruto started to sink into a defensive position, landing an uppercut on Naruto's jaw and sending the blonde boy flying. The blonde managed to flip and land on his feet, but in that same moment Lee was on him again, hitting him with a combo that flipped him up into the air, then sent him into the ground hard enough to leave a small crater. This time Naruto was ready for Lee's attack and caught the other boy off guard when he ducked through the attack and grabbed a hold of Lee's arm, giving him a close enough range to send a low-powered Rasengan into Lee's stomach before letting the other boy go as Lee was sent flying.

Lee crashed into the ground, then stood back up, ignoring the dirt clinging to his bright green uniform. There was a fire in his eyes as he looked across the field at the orange clad blonde before charging back into the fray, landing a few more good moves on Naruto before the blonde boy retaliated. This continued until Lee kicked Naruto into the air again, elevating the blonde boy high enough so that he could get a good hold on Naruto before pile driving the blond into the ground and darting away before he too impacted.

Lee was breathing heavily as he surveyed the pile of dirt and orange cloth that was left after his attack. With a sigh he started brushing himself off, waiting for Naruto to decide to get out of the hole he'd been buried in by Lee's attack. After a while the mound of dirt started to shake, sending small pebbles, then whole clods of dirt tumbling down its sides as Naruto clawed his way free.

"I deserved that, didn't I?" Naruto asked, wincing as a few cuts became apparent on his forearms.

"Yes," Lee was still glaring at Naruto, but the glare softened when he saw the blonde's resigned face.

"Look, Lee, it was an accident, one that won't happen again," Naruto said as he stood up, trying to brush some of the dirt off of his clothes.

"I know," Lee replied, sitting down next to Naruto when the blonde plopped onto the ground. "But that doesn't mean that I can allow you to get away with what you did without repercussions."

"Are you through beating some sense into me?" Naruto asked, smiling when Lee punched him in the arm.

"I think that I need to go find Sakura and assure her that I haven't killed you," Lee said with a wry smile.

"You just rushed out here to maul me, didn't you?" Naruto asked, shaking his head at the thumbs up he got in return.

"You bet! I'm not happy with you, but for now the power of youth has prevailed. Remember this Naruto, and don't let it happen again," Lee's voice was nearly inaudible at the end as he rushed back towards the Hokage Tower before Sakura started a hunt for both him and Naruto.

"What did you do to deserve that?"

Kakashi's drawl brought Naruto's attention to his former teacher as the silver-haired shinobi stood over him. Naruto blinked up at Kakashi as he was helped to his feet, still brushing the dirt from his screamingly orange canvas jacket and pants.

"Eh, I don't want to talk about it," Naruto said, wincing as he tried to get all of the dirt out of his scrapes and cuts as they healed.

"As long this doesn't get in the way of missions," Kakashi said before walking off, his nose buried in his newest Icha Icha Paradise book. Apparently having Jiraiya visiting Konoha frequently was doing wonders for Kakashi's collection of books.

"Don't worry, it won't get in the way," Naruto replied.

He watched Kakashi's back move steadily away and figured that with the beating he had just received, even if it hadn't been too bad and he had deserved it, practice was over, and he could go home and try to train again in the afternoon.

Sakura sighed as she flopped down into a chair in Tsunade's office, a headache starting to build between her eyes. She wasn't feeling good, and hadn't been for the last week. Her balance had been off, her chakra wrong, her sleep cycle wrong, she'd been hungrier than normal and a host of other small things that were starting to drive her nuts.

"Sakura, I'm surprised to see you looking under the weather. Have you and Lee been, you know?" Tsunade leered as she leaned forward, shaking her finger at her student as she winked.

"Lee and I haven't been doing that," Sakura growled, rolling her eyes at the Hokage's blatant perversion.

"Are you sure? You're looking tired," Tsunade said, still leering at the pink-haired girl sitting in front of her.

"I'm feeling tired, and somewhat…off," Sakura's voice trailed off as she tried to come up with the right word to describe everything that had just been feeling wrong with her body.

"Off how?" Tsunade asked, losing the teasing tone that she had been using earlier.

"I've been sleeping more, eating more. My balance and chakra are a little off, but those may be intertwined. My sense of smell has gotten better, oddly enough," Sakura said, frowning at the last thing that she had said.

Tsunade frowned along with her and ordered Sakura to lie down on the floor. As Sakura stayed still Tsunade ran her hands slowly down the length of her student's body, keeping her palms about an inch from the girl the whole time as she used her chakra to check Sakura's. The blonde woman paused around Sakura's stomach before continuing on, but the pause was long enough for Sakura to become suspicious.

"What's the problem with my stomach?" Sakura asked as she sat up, her hand hovering protectively around her stomach.

"Sakura-chan, there's nothing wrong with your stomach," Tsunade said, smiling gently as her student started to panic a little.

"Then why are you calling me Sakura-chan?" Sakura asked suspiciously, her hand still hovering protectively.

"Because, Sakura, you're going to have a child," Tsunade said, smiling even as Sakura's face went sheet white.

The pink-haired girl allowed herself to be helped back into her chair as she tried to wrap her mind around this new information. Tsunade was still smiling at her in that gentle way that was making her want to puke as she spoke quietly, even though Sakura wasn't even hearing her.

"H-How long?" Sakura asked shakily, looking up with wide emerald eyes. "How old is the fetus? How old is my baby?"

"About three weeks," Tsunade said, noting the way Sakura paled even further. "What happened three weeks ago?"

"Nothing," Sakura said too quickly, blinking a few times before she unsteadily got to her feet. "I have something I need to take care of."

"I'll see you later this afternoon, Sakura, and we can discuss this further," Tsunade said, her eyes watching as her student stumbled out of her office in a daze. "We'll definitely be discussing this further."

Sakura blinked when she found herself looking over the training field that Kakashi and Naruto normally practiced in, not surprised to find Lee's team there as well. Gai and Kakashi occasionally practiced together, leaving Gai's three and Naruto to train together as they chose.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura blinked and looked up as Lee and Naruto stopped training and headed in her direction. Naruto hung back, allowing Lee to get there first so that the green-clad boy could sweep his pink-haired girlfriend into a hug. She was still pale when she was returned to the ground, but a little of her color had returned during the hug.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong? You're pale," Lee asked, stepping back to get a better look at the girl he was holding by the shoulders.

"I'm fine Lee, I just need to talk to you and Naruto alone," Sakura said, smiling weakly as she looked into Lee's eyes.

"What do you need to talk to us about?" Lee asked, his large brows furrowing into a frown.

"I'd rather not talk about it here," Sakura said, her eyes noting the curious Tenten who had moved her and Neji's sparring a little closer so that they could eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Where would you like to talk about it?" Lee asked.

"Come get some ice cream with me, both of you," Sakura said, smiling at both Lee and Naruto. "We'll talk about it there."

"We'll be back in a little bit," Naruto called to the rest of their group as Lee and Sakura started ahead without him. He waved, then jogged to catch up with the two who were rapidly disappearing into the crowded Konoha streets.

"What did you need to talk to us about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he handed ice creams to both Lee and Sakura before starting to eat his own.

"You both know that I haven't been feeling the best lately," Sakura said, taking a deep breath as both boys nodded. "Well, Tsunade did a quick check-up today and found something interesting. I'm three weeks pregnant."

Both Lee's and Naruto's eyes widened before the time frame registered in the blonde's brain and he fainted clean away, toppling backwards, his ice cream rolling away from his lax hand. Lee and Sakura both sweatdropped before pulling their friend back onto the bench.

"You're sure?" Lee asked, taking one of Sakura's hands in his own.

"Positive. Tsunade wouldn't lie about something like this."

Lee thought about it for a moment, then looked over at Naruto's unconscious form, "Then I bow out. Naruto wins. I would like to give the two of you my best wishes."

Sakura's eyebrows shot up at Lee's statement and she was suddenly panicking, "Lee! Lee, don't just leave me like this!"

"But Sakura-chan, I have to. You and Naruto are going to have a child, and I can't stay in the middle of something like that," Lee said, the bangs of his bowl cut almost falling into his face and obscuring his eyes, but not quite.

"Lee, I'm not leaving you. Naruto and I will deal with this, but I'm not going to marry him. We'll deal with this, but that doesn't mean that I want to just end my relationship with you," Sakura said, her voice raising and cracking.

"But Sakura-chan," Lee was trying to protest even as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"No, Lee. I'm not leaving you. I'm not going to leave you just because something unexpected became of an accident," Sakura said, leaning forward so that she could cup Lee's face in her hands. "Believe me, I'm not going to be leaving you."

"Sakura-chan," Lee's eyes watered some more before he burst into even more tears and leaned forward to hug Sakura tightly around the middle so that he could bawl on her.

"Ouch. Why did I wake up to a melodrama?" Naruto asked, rubbing his head as he sat up and saw Lee crying on Sakura.

"You are a part of this. I'm pregnant Naruto, and I'm sure that you've figured out that its yours by now," Sakura whispered, her eyes on a few people who were lingering a little close due to Lee's dramatics.

Naruto's eyes widened and he paled, but he didn't faint again, only swallowed hard before asking, "So what has Lee crying so hard?"

"Lee thought that I would leave him so that we could get married because of this," Sakura whispered, patting Lee's head awkwardly.

"We couldn't, the village would freak, and Lee would beat me senseless along with the help of Neji and Tenten," Naruto whispered back, eyeing the villagers as well.

"We'll have to talk to Tsunade, but I'm sure that there are ways to keep this quiet," Sakura said, still patting Lee's head as he let go of her and sat up to wipe off his face.

"I can take the baby, Sakura-chan. No one would have to know it was yours. I could move to Suna or something, then you'd be free to go about your life with Lee," Naruto said after a moment of staring between the three of them.

"Naruto, we'll deal with this when the time comes," Sakura said, reaching out to pat him awkwardly on the head as well.

"But, Sakura-chan," Naruto protested.

"No buts, Naruto. We'll deal with that when the time comes. I'm not going to abandon Lee, and I'm not going to abandon this child either. We'll talk about Suna when the time comes, but for now, we're doing just fine," Sakura said calmly, looking at the two wide-eyed boys sitting in front of her. "We'll talk to Tsunade about it, and everything will be okay."

TBC

A/N: Whoo, another chapter done, this time while on vacation in Florida (it's rained most of the time). The clichè goes on and on. Thanks to those who reviewed the first chapter!