Chapter 2

Naruto lifted the spoon to his nose and sniffed at the contents within it. Then he made an expression on his face that could roughly be translated into: "Ick." He didn't understand the weird cravings Sakura has been having with her pregnancy, and frankly, he didn't want to understand. All that was needed to know is when a pregnant woman demanded something to eat; she was going to get it.

The past five months since their marriage Naruto has played both the role of Hokage and that of a husband. Of course, he didn't fulfill all the requirements of a husband, but he did everything else. In less than three months time, he'll be playing the role of a father along with everything else. Naruto wouldn't have his life any other way. Although, he wished that he didn't have a sense of smell at the moment.

"Yosha!" he enthused. "Soup is ready!"

Sakura sat at the kitchen table and smiled at him. "About time, I'm starving."

Naruto bobbed his head as he poured the soup into a bowl for her. He then picked it up and brought it her. "Leek, banana, and beet soup." He placed it in front of her. "Just like you ordered."

"It smells so delicious!"

Naruto was sure glad she thought so. Good thing Kiba wasn't around. The other young man would end up dying if he ever caught whiff of this. That reminded Naruto that he owed Kiba and Hinata a visit soon. He had just been so swarmed with taking care of Sakura and with the duties of his office that visits, other than business, came quite rarely to him.

"How are things at the office?" Sakura questioned.

"Hmm?" Her voice brought him from his daze. "Bah, boring. It's taking all the man power we have to rebuild and reestablish this place. There's no money coming in as well. There are requests from various employers, but I need the strength here. I forward most of the requests to Suna. Gaara's been nice enough to help us out with it."

"What about the . . . mission?"

"No luck yet," the young Hokage replied to his wife. "However, they're having more fun than we are." He pointed to a stack of post cards on the counter. "I get one in everyday."

Sakura chuckled slightly. "Well, at least they get along alright."

Naruto smiled. "Yea, I think getting out of the village was best for both of them."

"Naruto, when they bring him in, I want to kill him."

Naruto stared at Sakura for a moment. He blinked some, trying to comprehend what she just said to him. "We'll see. Depends on when they bring him in. I mean, there's no way you can kill him while you're in labor."

"Watch me," she insisted.

"As much as I want to, we can't kill him right off the bat." He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. "I'm going to have Ibiki-san interrogate him. There might still be Sound Nin out there, attempting to rebuild. We can't have that." The young Hokage noticed Sakura staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just, the way you're talking," she replied. "Even though you're still Naruto, you sound so different. You really do sound like a Hokage." She smiled at him.

"Of course I do!" Naruto gloated. He grinned right back at her. His grin spread from ear to ear and had a foxy nature to it. His eyes looked Sakura up and down. The lump in his throat grew and he forced himself to swallow it so he could speak. "Sakura, can I…touch it?"

"Excuse you?" A pink brow raised on Sakura's forehead.

"You're belly," he said quickly, as if not to give Sakura the wrong idea.

"Oh!" She laughed, feeling pretty stupid. "Of course you can."

Naruto moved and placed his hands on Sakura's pregnant belly. His expression softened. "I don't feel it moving."

"That's because it's not awake right now," Sakura replied. "It will soon enough once it realizes it's being fed."

"You know what it is?"

"I want it to be a surprise," she insisted.

"So that means we'll have to pick out a name for a boy and a girl just to be sure right?" he questioned. Sakura bobbed her head in reply. "Have you thought of any yet?"

She shook her head. "I wanted to discuss it with you first."

Naruto smiled again. Nothing pleased him more than knowing he would have part in naming the baby. Many times he would wonder if he would make a good father. Especially to a baby that wasn't genetically his. He wondered how close Sakura would let him get close to her and her child. He wanted to be greatest father and the greatest husband ever. "Let's think of boy names first." He unconsciously laid his head on her stomach, as if to listen to the precious cargo. The action caused Sakura to blush, but she didn't push him away.

The young Hokage closed his eyes and thought carefully. "Shiro?" He looked up at his wife and noticed the blush. He pulled his head away from her, but left his hands on her belly. "For a boy?"

Sakura thought about it from a moment. "I like it. What about a girl?"

"Sayako?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Enn, I don't want any 'ko' names. How about, Kaede?"

Naruto smiled and gave a nod. "I like that name." He looked down at her belly. "You here that, kiddo, you have a name now no matter what you turn out. You should be thankful your parents are such creative geniuses"

Sakura laughed. "Naruto, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Haha, I don't know, just being silly I guess."

"And silly you are." She kissed his forehead. "Thank you so much, Naruto."

"Heh, as I said a million times before," he reminded her. "No problem." Naturally, Naruto blushed when her lips pressed against the skin of his forehead. It was a blessing though that he was able to share that much with her. "That crib I order should be in soon," he said as to change the subject . . . sort of.

Sakura nodded. "I guess will have to sleep in the same room soon," she said. "You know so when he cries at night the two of us don't end up getting up at the same time.

Now, that just made Naruto's day. "I'll move a futon into my room," he said. "And I'll give you the bed. We'll keep the crib in there for a while."

"Naruto! I can't kick you out of your bed!"

"You're not kicking it out if I give it to you," her husband replied. "Don't worry about it, my futon is very comfortable. Besides, like I'm going to force my wife to sleep on the floor when I can offer her a perfectly nice bed for her to rest in. Especially, when she's pregnant."

Naruto was certainly too good for her. And, he proved that with each passing day as he sacrificed more and more just for her benefit. It made Sakura feel so guilty to poor his heart, his very being out like he was for her, and her barely giving him anything in return. Still, he never complained about it. And, when ever Sakura brought up the subject, he'd playfully scold at her; telling her that he was the one fortunate to be given the chance he had right now. He claimed he couldn't be happier in life than what he was.

Sakura didn't know just how much of the truth he was stretching when he said things like that. It was hard to tell because of that foxy smile he'd always give her along with those innocent blue eyes of his.

It was the respect her gave her and her decision that made her swallow her heart often. Not once had he ever 'put the moves' on her while they were married. She never said that he couldn't, but it was aware to him that she wasn't at all ready for anyone to be that close to her right now, if ever again. His patience was godly, and she wondered exactly how he did it.

Her thoughts then drifted to the future. Mostly about her baby….their baby. She wondered what kind of questions the child would bring out once he was old enough to start realizing that Sakura and Naruto were not like other mommies and daddies and slept in the same bed together. Or, how touching each other was always avoided? At least touching in the since that a husband and wife would be comfortable sharing with one another. How would she answer those questions? How would she be able to explain it?

Sakura would just have to worry about that problem whenever it would occur. She chuckled to herself, realizing that was a very Naruto way of thinking. Apparently, the chuckled had managed to catch Naruto's ear and he tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Neh, Sakura-chyan? What's funny?"

"Enn?" She looked up at him. The young woman then shook her head and smiled at him. "Oh nothing, I was just thinking of something and it reminded me of the way you would think."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Well, it's not a bad thing," she assured him. "I would like some more soup, please, Naruto."

Naruto was instantly on his feet and gathered the empty bowl in his hands; so that he once again dote on his wife.