AHHHH! (hugs everyone who reviewed) Thank-you! You all are so wonderful! I wish I could have put this out sooner, but since it's the last quarter of the year, the teachers decided they didn't give us enough homework the first three, so they're piling it all on now, meaning I don't have much time. – Not to mention I'm kind of irritated with Sasuke right now. Stupid jerk….
Anyhoo, that said, here's on to the reviews!
BTW, since I got so many wonderful reviewers, I'm grouping some together:
Cuito: Oh! Please don't die! That wont be good! Are you still alive? Yes, you're wonderfully patient! Thanks for waiting!
Only Secret: HA HA HA! If he didn't melt at least a little, this wouldn't be a SasuSaku. As for the mood swings, you're wait comes to an end!
Nixxie1430: I'm glad you like this story! Thanks for reviewing! Just out of curiosity, what is this 'type of story'? Are we referring to all SasuSakus? Maybe I should write another one…
LittleLetty: If you shoot me, then how will I continue? (insert nervous laugh) Hey look! It's continued now! Aw, I'm so flattered I'm on your author list! Thanks a unches!
S.O.S.1: Hee hee… that's my favorite type, but he needs to slowly get into that. It's not very Sasuke-ish to show it right out, so we must subtly work into it, but, if it helps any, there's no 'agnsty' in this chapter, but Sasuke gets closer. Besides, if it was all now, where would the climax be, hm? Don't worry, I've got it worked into the plot. I love it when he's like that too, so just wait! Thanks for reviewing!
TriGemeni: Yea, can you imagine how bad a parent Sasuke would be at the moment? Yea, I'm so proud I thought of that! I was thinking how to get the not-so-usual lecture to Sasuke so he would actually listen for once.
Paperpenman: I know, that's what inspired me to write them. Sasuke is usually so out of character it's not even Sasuke they're writing about. Yes, I'm going to have fun writing his reactions, especially with her cravings… (oops! No more hints for this chapter!)
WaFFleS: Thanks a lot for the compliment – yes, that's the point Kakashi was trying to make (among others). Sasuke will get better, I promise, but it's not going to mushy, that's just not Sasuke. That is what the whole fic is based on – Sakura's happiness and whether or not Sasuke will make her happy. Sasuke will get better (this is a SasuSaku after all), it's the process of getting there that makes it fun to read. Thanks again fro the compliments! I'm glad you like it, and I'm glad some of my purpose is being fulfilled! (insert smiley face that wont show up anymore)
Lady Misao: I'm glad you like it! I agree, I hate it when the good stories aren't finished (although I'm guilty of not finishing some, whether they're good or not) I promise I'll finish it, I just can't promise it'll be quick.
Ou-Yang-Jing – Ha ha, thank-you very much! I'm glad you like it so much! I'm glad you think they're in character, that's the main reason I wrote this – in protest to all those who can't seem to write them in character (insert smiley sticking tongue out) Thanks for reviewing!
El3ments: Thanks for the double reminder!
Lori012389 – Shy-Lil-Dreamer – the fan – Luv's-lyric – aikz – kaolla asakura – benjem – Princess Sakura Haruno – SerenityMelody – El3ments - ruth: I'm so glad you all liked it! SASUSAKU RULSE! Yaaaay! I hope you enjoy this chapter too and thanks so much for reviewing!
Okay, so I felt that I should warn you, There's a flashback scene in the middle that is totally different feel than the rest of the story, I wrote it at a different time – but the point is it might be kind of sudden – this would be my fault for listening to fighting music while writing it… heh…heh…
Also: I know I pride myself in keeping them in character, but this is mostly about Sakura being pregnant – so please keep in mind that for her to be in character, she needs to be out of character… get it? I just picture her as being the very… moody type when she's pregnant. And Sasuke is trying… sort-of… so… here it is!
9 Months of Happiness
.: Pregnancy Checklist :.
(5 MONTHS later in the Uchiha household)
Though it was only six in the morning, the outside world was already full of life. The morning breeze was sweeping gently through the trees causing the sound of rushing leaves to break through the cracked window. The sounds of the birds chirping happily among the trees' branches also contributed to the liveliness of the world. The sun was just coming over the horizon in all it's blazing glory – but all of this was not the reason for the ninja to get out of bed at such an early hour in the morning.
It was only two seconds later that her companion sharing the bed opened his eyes in time to see her rush out of the room with a speed he wished she used in battle rather than the house. He sighed and turned his head to gaze at the clock - time for him to get up and train. He pushed himself into a sitting position and rubbed his face with his hands. He swung his feet over the bed and stretched slightly, relaxing his muscles for another restless sleep. He stood up from the bed and immediately felt a rush of liquid move in his body.
Sasuke took a tiny intake of breath. 'This is my own fault for drinking that stupid coffee last night.' Restraining his hands to hold himself like a child, he quickly jogged to the bathroom only to find the door closed. Irritated, he knocked on the door, or rather, he half knocked, half punched the door. "Sakura!" His voice was still raspy from sleep. "Open the dumb door!" There was a rustle of movement. Sasuke impatiently shifted feet, ignoring the overflowing sensation growing in his bowls. "Sakura!" More rustling, then a quiet, tired voice.
"Sas-" His name was interrupted by a slight gagging noise coming from the other side of the door.
"Sakura" He tried again, doing his utmost best to not snap at the pregnant girl, "Open the door and let me use the bathroom just for a minute." There was a pause as he waited to see if she was done gagging down whatever she had eaten the night before.
"Sasuke-kun," She got out his full name this time. He noted that her voice was tired and he could tell just by her strained voice she was trying to keep it all down. "There's another bathroom in the basement." There was an intake of breath, but nothing else.
"Sakura," Sasuke grit his teeth. "I wont last that long! Now I'm coming in!" Doing just as he threatened, he swung open the door (that wasn't locked, he hadn't opened it before giving her the benefit of privacy) and saw just what he had expected. Sakura was leaning over the toilet wrenching her poor stomach out. It had been this was for three days now. Sasuke knew this was part of pregnancy, but even he was beginning to worry – maybe just a little. But that's no matter now! He had to pee! So, as gently as he could in his rushed state, he moved Sakura and handed her the wastebasket incase she couldn't hold it. Sakura allowed him to move her and she remained crumpled in her position over the trash can until Sasuke had relieved himself. He made sure he was fully clothes before turning to Sakura and kneeling down to her level.
"Sakura, should I be concerned?" Sakura looked up at him with pitiful green eyes and shook her head. She opened her mouth to respond, but the worst happened.
Somehow Sasuke knew this was going to be a bad day.
"I'm SO sorry, Sasuke-kun!" They were once again in the bathroom. Sasuke had just stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist and Sakura was sitting on the toilet seat with another towel clenched in her hands. Sakura's stomach had finally settled down, much to Sasuke's dismay, and she was now standing by him holding the towel. "I'm sorry!" She'd been saying that for the past three minutes and it was driving him insane. His eyebrow twitched slightly and his lips were set in a line. Sakura immediately shut her mouth, saying no more, praying that Sasuke wouldn't explode. Sasuke for his part was trying to calm himself, remembering that he was trying to be better to Sakura. Besides, he reminded himself, she's the one carrying those extra 30 pounds or so.
So with that in mind, he accepted the towel from Sakura and dried his face before speaking. "Sakura," He saw her cringe in the corner of the room. "I know you didn't mean to." He was speaking slowly, thinking about his words and trying not to get angry. "I should expect this from the signs of pregnancy." It's true, after the first time she had her encounter with puking on her embarrassing mission, she hadn't been sick up until this week. "However, I will say that I can't wait till this stage is over."
"I'm sorry," She said, quieter this time.
"Stop." He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "We've cleaned up the throw up. I needed a shower anyway. Now," He moved passed her, giving her the towel he was using. "I'm going to train like I originally hoped."
Punching bag – his favorite training technique to build up strength. - a brilliant invention. Sasuke had always enjoyed his training time, not only for getting stronger, but also it gave him time to think.
Be nice to her!
Unfortunately, lately he'd been thinking about what Kakashi had said to him, and sometimes others.
At least pretend you love her, jerk.
- Like Naruto. It's not that he listened to all of them, they were almost all the same. Make her happy, show some love! Sasuke snorted. Who were they to interfere with his life, huh? Sakura knew the terms, she knew him. Heck, she probably knew him better than anyone else other than Naruto. So she of all people should know what she was getting herself into. Think of it as a life lesson you would never get out of, that's more permanent. Don't be so naive. This was all her fault and her whining. Why should he worry about her? She needs to deal with her mistake of saying yes if she didn't want to deal with his personality? Yet…
Sasuke-kun.
When he thought about Sakura, he saw her with her short hair, blowing in the wind. She wore her usual sleeveless shirt with the black skirt and big belt. Sometimes her outfit changed, sometimes even her hair, but the first thing is saw that never, ever changed was her smile – until now.
Walk me home, Sasuke-kun?
It was always there, even if she didn't always show it. He didn't like to admit it, but her, Naruto and Kakashi had grown on him and he was used to their personalities, and to some extent, he even was beginning to like it. Which brings him back to the Sakura topic. Contrary to popular belief, he DID notice her lack of smiling, or the light that shinned in her eyes had dimmed somewhat. At first, he thought it wasn't his business, but he had started to miss it, miss the old Sakura. At a time when they were younger, he remembered once when the light had gone from her eye, and all three of them had noticed and were ready to do almost anything to bring it back – yes, even him.
Naruto was pacing around impatiently. Back and forth back and forth back and – "Idiot, stop. You're going to wear a hole in the bridge." Naruto only paused his pacing to glare up at Sasuke.
"But Sakura-chan is late! What if something happened to her?" Apparently, more imaginative thoughts were forming in his head as his pacing became faster and more frantic.
"Yo!"
"Sensei!" Naruto rushed to his teacher, his blue eyes pleading. "Sakura-chan isn't here yet! You actually beat her! Is she okay? Do you know where she is? What's wrong with my Sakura-chan?"
"I'm sorry." All three team members looked behind Kakashi and say their fourth and last member of Team 7, but she seemed different, less spunky. Naruto gave a loud 'whoop' and greeted Sakura with his usual 'Morning Sakura-chan!' She nodded her answer and he was happy. Kakashi looked down at her, scrutinizing her with his one eye.
"Are you okay?" Sakura snapped out of a daze and smiled up at Kakashi.
"I'm fine, sensei. I'm sorry for being late." She smiled, but Kakashi noticed that it didn't seem to reach her eyes - there was no sparkle in her green eyes. He frowned slightly but chose not to comment. Instead he stood up and announced their 'mission' for the day. "Mrs. Bailey lost her cat again."
"You're kidding!" Naruto groaned. "That's the third time in two weeks!" He lowered his voice down and pouted, "You think she'd get the hint that her dumb cat doesn't like her fat-"
"NARUTO!" Kakashi scolded, "Calm down, the more diligence you show in the smaller things the more you will be trusted with the bigger things. If you can't pull this off then how can you pull off bigger missions?" Naruto's response was to only stick out his tongue at his teacher and then turn to Sakura.
"This isn't fair, don't you think, Sakura-chan?" He stared at her expectantly. She didn't answer for a few seconds and when she did, you knew that she had been in another world.
"Yes, Naruto." She turned to Kakashi, "Can we go now?"
Sasuke found his own eyes narrowing at his teammate's response. Of course, he was grateful that she wasn't clinging to him – but it was still unnerving, and he wasn't the only one who noticed. Kakashi continued to frown as his female student walked before them and towards Mrs. Bailey's house. Naruto was following closely behind Sakura, his eyes narrowed, almost comically, as he tried to decipher why his precious Sakura-chan was acting like the ever-irritating Sasuke.
It was an unusual five minutes of silence. All three boys were worried about their unusually silent and distracted companion. They watched as she walked in a straight line, they had long passed the turn to Mrs. Bailey's house.
"Sakura," Naruto tried, "We should've been to see the cat lady by now." Sakura's eyes widened when she realized her mistake.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I guess I'm just a little distracted." Sakura gave a weak smile and turned to walk back, "Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry, do you think I could go back since I'm so distracted? I don't want to slow down the –" She stopped when she noticed that Sasuke was walking closer to her. When he was only a few inches from her face, he suddenly reached out and roughly pushed on her shoulder. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he saw her wince and pull back.
"Why are you hurt?" He asked bluntly. More scratches were being shown now that they were all looking harder. She had a few on her face and multiple scratches on her arms and even a few bruises that seemed to have been healed by jitsu just a few hours ago. Kakashi kneeled down in front of her. She cast her eyes away, almost as if she was ashamed.
"Sakura," Kakashi asked, softly, "What happened?" She briefly looked at Kakashi. She opened her mouth to talk, but then looked at the other two boys. Naruto was hovered over her, his blue eyes shinning with worry and Sasuke was watching her carefully, a little farther than the other two. Sakura lowered her eyes and looked to the side and mumbled out, "It's stupid. Don't worry about it."
Kakashi closed his eyes in frustration. Why wouldn't she tell them? Naruto pushed Kakashi away and forced Sakura to look into his face. "Sakura-chan! Something hurt you, it's not stupid!" She looked into his eyes – his blue eyes that held so much pain and loneliness before – now they were filled with sorrow and worry for her. Sakura smiled lightly and pulled back from Naruto and started walking back towards the bridge.
"I said don't worry about it." She called over her shoulder; "I'll meet you tomorrow."
"Sasuke," Kakashi stood to his feet, watching Sakura with worry, "I want you to follow her and make sure she's okay."
Both boys' heads turned to him and asked "Why him/me!" Kakashi smiled at their reaction.
"Naruto, you can go next, but Sakura knows you and I care about her, but maybe a third party will help." He winked at Sasuke-kun. Sasuke snorted, but turned to go in the direction Sakura had gone, ignoring the threats from Naruto like 'If you make her cry I'll kill you!'
He found her sitting on the bridge. Her legs were dangling over the side and she stared sadly down at the calm water beneath her. She was still silent and thoughtful – and it was really beginning to irritate him. So Sasuke walked up to her and leaned on the railing beside her, not saying a word. He waited for her to comment, but she only looked at him with those sad eyes then looked back at the water. Sasuke grit his teeth, annoyed that he was the one starting the conversation. "You're annoying us. Tell me what's wrong." Sakura smiled, but still didn't looked at him.
"You were forced to come, weren't you?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"No one forces me to come do anything." The small smile remained on her face as she glanced at him, a vague glimmer of her old self-appearing.
"So you came to see if I was okay on your own? You were worried about me?" Sasuke scoffed. He should have seen that one coming. He chose to not answer and turned back to stare at the water. Was he worried? There was a stretch of silence and Sasuke was wondering if she was still awake. He was about to gently nudge her when she surprised him by speaking. "It's so dumb." She started. Sasuke let himself sit cross-legged beside her, sensing she was about to finally tell him. "All of you have lost a lot, so why am I so sad?" She let out a bitter laugh. "It's so stupid compared to your problems - that why I don't want you to worry about it. You have your own problems to worry about." Sasuke was slightly surprised. He never thought of it that way, but still, he only scoffed and said,
"You should take what comfort you can get." Sakura turned to stare at him with wide eyes. He continued. " You have people who care about you enough. You should take advantage of it instead of wasting it."
"What about you?" She asked softly.
"This isn't about me!" He snapped. "Now answer the question, why are you hurt?" Sakura smiled at him. It wasn't forced he noticed. She looked back down at the water and Sasuke was about to give up.
"Mom and I were attacked last night." She said suddenly. Sasuke waited and listened. "We were both sleeping, dad wasn't there because he's on a mission. I don't know why," Her eyes scrunched up, fighting tears. "but he just attacked us for no reason! I don't think he was from here, I think it was a missing nin. He got to mom first, I tried to fight him, but he was so strong!" The tears were coming now. "Mom's not a fighter. She couldn't defend herself, but she still tried when she realized I wasn't going to win. I finally stabbed him in the stomach, but he ran away before I could stop him, besides, mom was so hurt!" She shut her eyes, willing it all to go away. The tears were still coming and she no longer cared. "I'm so weak! I couldn't protect her!" Sasuke closed his eyes and fought with himself. Should he comfort her or not? Should he chastise her for being so weak? No, that would only make it worse – besides, she did drive him away.
"What about your mother?" He asked, his voice less gruff than usual.
"She's in the hospital. I wasn't hurt as bad as my mom so I was healed first, but that's why I was late. Hokage-sama is taking care of my mom now. I didn't want to see her, I feel so ashamed – oh!" She looked up at Sasuke, suddenly fearful of something. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun! I know you don't like it when I talk about my parents when you…" She trailed off beginning to stand up. Sasuke realized that this was probably why she was reluctant to tell them in the first place. He sighed and stood up with her.
"Sakura," His voice was so commanding that she had to look at him in the face. "I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention." His words were slow for emphasis. "If you ever withhold something like that again I will personally wring it out of your neck. I don't care if it's about your parents. You have them, and you should enjoy them and worry about them." 'And I want to protect your innocence.' He was shocked by that thought. He kicked himself inside. He was becoming too attached.
"SAKURA-CHAAAAAN!" Both looked to see Naruto and Kakashi coming towards them. Naruto enveloped Sakura in a big hug and didn't let her go. "I'm sorry," He whispered in her ear.
"You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Kakashi smiled innocently though his mask.
"Naruto wasn't sure you'd actually get her to talk, so we came to make sure that you didn't make her more upset." Sakura laughed at the antics, still in Naruto's hug.
"You can always talk to us, Sakura-chan!" Sasuke watched the three of them, more specifically, Sakura. She was smiling again, though not quite in full force, but some of her had returned, but he suddenly felt an anger that raced through him at the thought of someone hurting Sakura, and he wasn't there to stop it. The anger was familiar and somehow he knew that he wasn't the only one feeling it. He noticed Kakashi give him a wink then a firm solemn nod. They were going to make this man pay.
It was night out. You could hear a rumbling in the distance, signaling the coming of danger. The man jumped to another branch and stopped to wince, one hand covering his bleeding stomach, the other supporting himself on the tree trunk. He narrowed his eyes. No one was going to help him – he had failed in his mission. Wrong house and got hurt in the process of attacking the wrong house. Too bad he attacked one with feisty girls. He winced again as he held his stomach.
Drip
The rain was coming now. He cursed his luck. In his condition it was going to be hard to jump from tree to tree – on the other hand, he sighed with relief – his tracks would be washed away. With that thought, he jumped from the branch to the ground. His lips curled up into a smirk. He was going to get away!
Wait! No, he sensed something. The rain was coming harder now, dulling his senses. He pulled out a kunai. There! The bushes were rustling. He had the little intruder now – he threw it. He watched a squirrel jump from the bushes and race across the path. He let out a nervous chuckle, watching the squirrel circle up and around the tree. "You're getting paranoid, old boy."
"With good reason." The man whirled around, behind him was a man standing as cool as possible. His silver hair was soaking wet and lying limp on his head. One eye glared at him with such an intensity, he knew he couldn't make it in his condition.Tthe only thing to do was – he whirled around ready to run for it, away from the more experienced ninja.
"Going somewhere?" Now in front of him was a blonde haired kid. His blonde head was down, hiding his face, but slowly he lifted it up, revealing angry blue eyes with a hint of red swirling on the outside. He had a kunai in hand, ready to throw at a moments notice, and somehow the man knew he wouldn't get away once it was thrown. He had to make a break for it.
And before he could move, a third figure fell only a few inches before him. He stepped back in fear and the ninja lifted himself up from his crouching position. "We're not done with you yet." The newest ninja glared at the man who shrunk back even farther when he only saw red eyes glaring holes through his own brown eyes. The red-eyed ninja's lips curled up into a smirk. "She really did a number on you, didn't she?" The ninja licked his lips, letting the sadistic grin take over. "You messed with the wrong team."
He would pay for taking away Sakura's spark.
He knew. He knew he was the one causing it to go out this time, he noticed more and was missing it more (whether or not he admitted it) right before Kakashi had come to visit him in the hospital. Protect her Happiness
He tried.
Now, keep in mind, though Sasuke tried, her certainly wasn't the greatest in the kindness department, and sometimes not even in the patience department, but he still tried, well, most of the time, and he was slowly in time getting better. He was keeping this in mind as he was walking into the house. There was an improvement since Kakashi's speech; of course, some of it may be due to her mood swings as of late. He had heard about these and many other problems due to pregnancy from people, and fortunately, all he had been confronted with so far was just the puking, but since they were now almost six months into the pregnancy, he wasn't sure he'd be so lucky.
She'll need support. Kakashi's advice rang through his head. Annoyed, he waved his hand in front of his face as though to make the thoughts disappear. "I know," He growled to himself and walked into the house. "Stop telling me what to do."
"Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke-kun nodded his acknowledgement and slipped off his sandals before walking further into the house. He suddenly stopped and put his hands in his pockets. Sakura dried her wet hands in her apron and smiled at him. They were in the kitchen now and Sasuke raised an eyebrow and nodded his head her direction.
"When did you get that?" Sakura looked down at the apron she was wearing, then looked up and smiled at him. "Oh, I've always had it! I just felt like being in the mood to wear it today!" Her smile faded slightly and her eyebrows moved together. "Is that a problem Sasuke-kun? Do you have a problem with what I wear around the house now?" Sasuke resisted the urge to respond to her childishness, so instead he shook his head no. Instantly, her face broke into a grin and she waved a spoon in the air. "Alright, then!" Sasuke sighed, letting his shoulders droop and silently added mood swings onto the list. "Now," Sakura continued, still waving the spoon around, "Eat!" Sasuke moved closer to the 'food' on the table. When he was four feet away, he almost scrunched up his nose. It was soup – at least he thought so. There were multiple green things, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, and any kind of bean you could thing of. To top it all off, all of this was dropped in what looked like plain water.
"Sakura," He said slowly, as to not offend her and increase his growing headache. "What is this?"
"Oh!" She said, still cheerfully. "I'm in a healthy mood! Besides, I was in the mood for vegetables, so I decided to put them all in! Besides, I'm supposed to drink lots of water, so I got the brilliant idea of combining it all together!" Sasuke paused, examining the creation. Finally he pointed to a green leaf.
"Is that lettuce?" She nodded and he pointed to a round, green food. "And that's a pickle?" She nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. He moved his finger to green thing he couldn't quite figure out. It looked slimy and it appeared to be clinging for dear life to the bowl. "What's that?" He asked.
"Spinach! Doesn't it look so good?" She squealed and looked at him expectantly. 'Add cravings to the list.' Sasuke was busy staring at the bowl trying to decide if it was safe to eat or not when suddenly he heard a small whimper. Sasuke's head shot up. She stood there, her face scrunched up and tears were welling up in her eyes.
Now, remember, normally, Sasuke would just openly say it looked inedible and just throw it in the garbage, but no, he restrained himself to try to be sympathetic and go with the flow – but he could only hold in so much. So he sighed and asked, not bothering to hide his agitation, "What now?" The waterfall was unleashed. She let the spoon clatter to the floor as she went into an all out bawl, whimpering out her explanation.
"You… don't… like i-i-i-i-it!" Sasuke lifted his head up to the ceiling and silently prayed for it all to end. Too tired and too annoyed to do much else, he shouted,
"I'll eat it so shut-up!" Sakura immediately turned off the waterfall and looked at him.
"Really?" He nodded, glad for the quiet. He inwardly gulped as he sat down, never taking his eyes off the 'soup', almost as though expecting it to jump out at any second and eat him. He scrunched up his face. Was this really worth hearing her not whine? He looked up at her again, his hesitancy was causing her to be on the verge of crying again. He could just feel his headache increasing by the whimper. With a sigh he reached for the spoon.
"WA-A-A-A-A-A-IT!" Sasuke clenched the spoon in his fist, holding back a yell. He leaned back in the chair, just too tired to deal with this anymore. He looked at her with weary eyes, waiting for an explanation. "I'm not hungry for this anymore." She said simply. "Hang on, I'll make some ramen-"
"No," Sasuke stood up. "I'll make the ramen, you go upstairs and rest." Sakura grinned up at him, and though his reasons were completely wrong, she was still touched.
"Thanks Sasuke-kun!" He nodded and impatiently pointed to the stairs.
"Go rest." 'Go somewhere else' Sakura giggled and made her way up the stair as she was told. Sasuke sighed and reached for the instant ramen, grateful for the quiet.
A week and a half had gone by now, and Sasuke was very quickly loosing his patience. He found himself trying to get out of the house more than usual. Sometimes he even found that he had to run to another room to calm himself down. Really, he was trying. Granted, he had a short fuse and had to run almost every five minutes, but it was well intentioned. Of course, there are times he didn't leave in time and they would get into fights, but with Sakura's mood swings, she would often forget and move on to something else.
This morning was another one of those 'low on patience' days. Sasuke was calming eating his breakfast when Sakura raced into the room screeching something about Naruto on a mission – something he really wasn't in the mood for. "Sakura," He growled, angry that his nice calm breakfast morning was interrupted by a screeching female voice – particularly one he'd had to listen too all night. "I don't care." He replied bluntly. He waited for a burst of tears, but Sakura only shrugged and handed him a long list of what appeared to be food.
"You wasted the food yesterday so now you have to buy new food!" She explained, " And make sure to get lots of ice cream!" Ice cream was her fad now. Sasuke snorted something and mumbled under his breath. It was an excuse to leave, he reasoned with himself, and with that in mind, he calmly, with as much dignity as he could muster, quickly finished his breakfast and raced out the door, with the list in his pocket.
"Sasuke-kun?" It was night now, and Sasuke was reading up on some ancient techniques in bed. Sakura was beside him in deep thought until she broke the silence. "Sasuke-kun?" She tried again. Sasuke for his part was hesitant, but more willing to have a conversation with her. The last week had been less dramatic, her mood swings and cravings had lessened and as bad as they were, they only seemed to last two weeks. So, with eyes still glued to his book, Sasuke nodded his head to show he was listening. "I saw Ino and Shikamaru today."
"So?" Sasuke failed to see the relevance in the statement. Why was she interrupted his book for this?
"They were on a date." She continued, hoping he'd catch the drift.
"So?" He had an idea, but he was hoping this wasn't what she was going on about.
"A date, Sasuke-kun. A DATE. You know, what people do when they're married or dating? When the guy takes the girl out for a good time?"
"No." Blunt. He wasn't going to get her hopes up. He just wasn't the dating kind of guy. Unfortunately, this wasn't the answer Sakura was looking for.
"Is that it?" She sniffed slightly and got up from the bed. "Is it because I'm not as skinny as Ino?"
Sasuke sighed deeply and closed his book. Oh no… he rolled his eyes and looked to the Heavens, praying for the patience – a habit he'd picked up these few weeks.
"Are you ashamed of me?" Her eyes were tearing up now. "Is that why you don't love me?" Her tears were slowly evaporating from the angry heat emitting from her face. "Because I'm FAT!"
'And there's the self-esteem.' "No. Don't start tonight Sakura. I'm going on a long mission tomorrow and I don't want to argue with you. You know I don't do dates, so stop it." That ended the conversation. He was very thankful her rational thinking had returned as she plopped back down on the bed examining her stomach.
"Sasuke-kun." She asked, quiet this time.
"Hn?" He asked irritably. He gave up on his book.
"Will you get me some pickles?"
"What?" Sasuke stared at her and spoke in a flat tone. Apparently, her new fad was pickles – something he knew she disliked before. Surely she didn't expect him to go get it now?
"I want pickles. Before you leave, will you buy me some pickles?" The only answer she got was an annoyed 'hmph' and Sasuke laying himself down on the bed and reaching to turn off the light.
The room was now dark and though Sasuke-kun was beside her, she still felt lonely. She knew he was annoyed with her, but she was still gratefully for how much he was putting up with. It was more than she ever expected of him, and she was certainly pleased. That in mind, she smiled as she laid herself down beside her husband and whispered a soft, "Good night." In his ear before shutting her tired eyes.
It was only the next morning and Sasuke was pleased to find Sakura almost back to normal. Of course, she still wanted her pickles, but there was no more mood swings and she no longer complained about her growing stomach. The only thing that seemed different was that she appeared to be running to the bathroom more often than usual, but he shrugged it off as a usual pregnancy reaction and continued on with his schedule before he was to leave for his mission.
It wasn't until the fourth time he saw her wince as she got food ready for his trip did he really begin to question her health. While he carefully packed his kunai and weapons, he also watched her bite her lip occasionally and even occasionally hiss out some jumbled words. Sasuke finished packing his weapons and stepped over to his wife, examining her carefully. "Sakura," She turned to him with a smile on her face. Yes, he thought, typical Sakura, always trying to smile. "What's wrong with you?" His voice was harsh and demanding, but Sakura didn't mind. She only continued to smile and him before turning back to making his food.
"Nothing is Sasuke-kun, the baby just keeps pressing on my bladder, that's all." Sakura grinned and held up her finished work. "Here you are, Sasuke-kun, I hope you enjoy your food!" Sasuke watched her face, almost searching for something or waiting for her to do something, but Sakura was determined to keep the smile on her face. Sasuke pulled his gaze back and picked up his pack.
"I'm leaving early, I need to speak to Tsunade about something."
"Be careful, Sasuke!" She followed him out the door, but before he could leave the gate to their house he stopped and turned.
"Sakura, if it continues, go tell the idiot." That said he turned and disappeared into the trees. Sakura smiled and placed a hand on her stomach, suddenly; she felt a whole lot better.
It was a gorgeous day! The sky was the perfect blue, the sun was shinning, but not blazing away baking everything it touched. It was a perfect 70 degrees and the children were out frolicking in the streets. Birds were flying about, happy that summer was here, although it was almost over and there weren't too many days to enjoy like this in august. Most people were out and about enjoying the gorgeous whether either training or talking with friends – and I'd like to point out the important pronoun 'most'.
"I'm so bored!" Sakura groaned. She sat on her porch with her elbows resting on her knees and her head supported by her hands. "Bored. Bored, bored, bored." She mumbled. Sighing, she let herself fall back. "I need to do something." She was ordered to be off for the next week or so from work, apparently, her moods were irritating the patients (and injuring some), but now she was fine! She absent-mindedly stuck out her tongue at a passing squirrel. "Everyone is doing something but me! Ino is working, Naruto and most of the other guys are on stupid missions - Hey!" She suddenly shot up from her laying down position. "I haven't done a mission in a while, and I'm off from work! I'm sure the Hokage has something for me to do!" She looked down and her tummy and gently rubbed it. "Do you think you're up for some action?" She felt the being in her stomach move slightly. "Me too. This is boring just sitting her." She pushed herself up and almost skipped to the road.
"I'm WHAT!" She glared at the Hokage, hoping against hope that she hadn't said what she thought had been said. Tsunade stared Sakura straight in her fierce green eyes and repeated her previous statement.
"You're forbidden to participate in missions until further notice."
I hope I presented them right. I know that I pride myself on keeping people in character, but Sakura had to be in kind of, NOT in character, you know? I tried to make Sasuke as funny, but himself as possible, did I succeed?
I added that last little bit just to give you a taste of what's coming next – so hope you enjoyed and come back!
Feedback appreciated!