Okay! This one is pretty long! Sorry for the late update! But I've been doing a LOT of socializing lately, and I don't feel all that great when I write while I have guests over. So sorry.

Ah! I got my Itachi cloak in the mail today X3 Ah. It came with NINJA SHOES XDDDD So that's got me excited. Unfortunately, he isn't in this one -sob- but he will be next time DUN DUN DUN D:

Ah ah ah ah, I love drama X3

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It was one thing to hang around the girls, and it was another to be fondled and cooed about and have giggles erupt all around me. I began to think this was all Sasuke's doing, as in an evil plot to get me all girly, not like I wasn't already. I've been crying so much lately, I think it got the best of me, and I haven't been able to smile for almost a week. And the worst part is, everyone noticed, and now they're trying their best to cheer me up.

Am I really that much of a burden?

The girls, albeit somewhat annoying, were crowded around me tightly, and my face flushed from embarrassment told them they were a bit too close for comfort. They thought it was cute, really, how I would squirm in my chair and blush crimson as they chattered mindlessly about me and Sasuke. A few of my close girlfriends would occasionally put a hand against my stomach, although I warned them that it would burn, it never did. I guess Kyuubi liked girls...But since he's trying to chew out Sasuke, I'd say he just liked the social outings.

You could call it a party, but it really wasn't. There were gifts, nothing more. Gifts for me, or really, my baby. I was so shy; I tried not to accept them. But these were the kunoichi of Konoha! They would never take no for an answer! And with gifts shoved in my face, I shied away from the crowd only to be pulled back in only moments later. These girls were ruthless!

I had wondered where Sasuke had wondered off to, and looking to the side, I noticed the group of boys hoarding over him. I was envious, really, to be with the guys and chat up a storm with Kiba, lean against the wall, looking bored with Shikamaru, eat a few snacks with Chouji, and maybe even play along with Lee's nice guy poses. But here I was, in this ocean of girls, feeling almost alone, as no one was really talking about anything.

And so this is what they call a baby shower...

"You don't seem at all happy."

The red headed boy burst through the swarm of females, wielding a similar thing in his arms. The baby wasn't much different from when I last saw him, but his hair had darkened considerably into a red tinted midnight. It was beautiful, really, and the tendrils pointed in all different directions, almost exactly the same as Gaara's. Thank god the boy wasn't an insomniac, or else they'd look like clones, with their dark raccoon rings.

"I'm not at all. You guessed right," I said quietly with a pitiful grin. He narrowed his eyes before grabbing my forearm and hauling me to my feet, his eyes almost menacing.

"Don't give me your fake smiles, you fool. You're coming with me."

He jerked me to a stand before pulling me cautiously toward the boys, and it was then that I grew truly embarrassed, my face entirely red. I faintly pulled away for a second, but Gaara's hands were fast, leaving me no time to escape. And tossing me forward, I stumbled into the mob of friends, falling haphazardly into Sasuke's arms. The group's conversation quieted immediately, and I choked noticeably as I stuttered out my apologies. And blushing an almost dangerously dark red, I attempted at running away. But arms took hold of me; a pair of arms that you could guess who they belonged to. Everyone smiled at me, and they weren't fake smiles,

They were entirely real.

"How's it going, man?" Kiba was always one to be exuberant about talking with me, and slapping me on the back, my pregnancy hadn't dimmed that in the least. I looked up at him nervously, as if I had done something wrong; a pitiful look that caught everyone's eyes.

"...What?" he asked me. I really didn't know how to answer, so I turned away into Sasuke's yielding arms, hiding my face in his clothed shoulder. Everyone was silent, and it almost seemed that the girls had amplified their noise. Shifting my head so my nose was buried in the dark cloth of Sasuke's shirt, I glanced over at their concerned faces.

"...Don't you think I'm strange? None of you have looked at me oddly yet, and I'm thinking you're just trying to hide it."

No one spoke, and now the same was with the girls just a bit away. Sasuke put his face in my hair, stroking it lightly. No one seemed to think badly of it, and it felt so weird to not have people at my throats.

I'd think atleast one of them would be hesitant to talk to me.

Atleast one.

But here I am, and no one has done such a think. It's like I'm the same Naruto, like my stomach hasn't swelled into the size of a watermelon or two, and I wasn't hugging my HUSBAND, I was hugging my best friend.

But can't they see?

I'm not the same.

This pregnancy has left me emotional, so much to the point where I break down in tears.

This pregnancy has left me with this body, and it makes the people of Konoha laugh loudly at its down right outlandishness.

This pregnancy, I thought, would leave me with even more enemies than I already possessed.

...But I was wrong...?

"...It's not like we could hate you for something like this...I know you expect it from everyone, but that isn't how it works with us. Naruto..."

Kiba was the first to say anything, less act. And stepping closer to me, everyone else in the room did the same. Sasuke kissed the top of my head before gliding out of my arms to lean against the wall, watching as everyone surrounded me. I looked over at him for safety, reaching pointlessly out to him. He only smiled and closed his eyes for a brief moment before studying the look on my face when they hugged me. I was, first of all, taken aback. Not one of these people had ever hugged or comforted me, save my teammates and a scarce few that I can barely remember. But now they were all hugging me, at once, whispering little nothings into my ear while I stared on with wide eyes.

...Am I still in Konoha?

By now, we had left the home in Kyokai with nothing but dust. Sasuke believed it (In the words of a certain freeloader) too troublesome for me to have to walk all the way back. And Konoha was slowly easing up to me, be it having a baby, or having all my friends embrace me warmly. If Konoha got worst, they'd have to find a way to get me out of here in the least painful way, a village close enough for me to walk to without falling apart in my current state.

I don't think I would need that.

Now that I realized I have people that care about me, I know they can protect me, whatever it might be against.

...But just the feeling of needing them...

...It makes me sick...

It's like I've become dependent, on everyone. On my lover, my best friend...The village in general...And it's making me sick.

I remember a time, around 9 months ago, where I didn't NEED this. I didn't NEED this support to live, I didn't NEED this kind of attention to keep going. I remember a time where it was enough if someone said hello to me in the morning. It was enough if I knew there was a team waiting for me.

But here I was...

...And I feel so weak...

These tears in my eyes aren't from happiness...

They're from pain...

"...Naruto?" one of them called out to me, and I just rubbed my eyes with my fists, hoping that if I did, I'd never have to cry again. But that pleasure is too good for me, and so I let the tears go.

Damn it... Not again...

I don't want to cry.

I don't want to be weak.

I don't want to be like this the rest of my life.

Sasuke's serious and narrow eyes watched my every movement, every hiccup, every sob, and every tear that fell. Crying was something he had seen often, too often. And it was that feeling, the feeling that he was used to it, that made me cringe and scream loudly in my head.

You know as well as I do that I don't want to be like this.

So why let it keep happening to me?

It's like...

You enjoy seeing me in pain...

...Enjoy seeing me helpless...

So when I cry, you'll open your arms to me, like if I rush into them, I'll love you more.

...And now, as you watch me...

Do you enjoy it?

The group held me tighter as I began to tremble, my legs becoming unsteady. And Sasuke just watched me intently from the wall, his mouth curved up into a smirk.

What's that smile for, huh?

You really do like seeing me this way.

Realizing my trembling wasn't from distress, but from anger, I pushed their arms away roughly. I wouldn't let them see my eyes, the key point to my emotion, only my mouth, hung agape in a pant. The circle of space around me grew, like they could sense my anger through an aura.

If only it was that easy...

I was still trembling, and with nothing to support me, I jerked in my stand. A few hands twitched, ready to catch me if I fell, but stopped for my sanctity.

And stalking furiously up to him,

I slapped him for all my strength's worth.

It was really stupid of me, I know, but his eyes...

...His eyes just wouldn't stop laughing at me...

The party-goers gasped in surprise, some bringing hands over their mouths to hide their astonishment. Sasuke's head, be it turned to the side, held the same emotion, where as I was suppressing the urge to scream. Clenched teeth were painfully tight now, and with red eyes of the shocked fox demon within me, I hit him angrily in the shoulder before stumbling with jell-o legs out the open door to the backyard. The Uchiha mansion, be it big, had a similar backyard. And looking over at the old abandoned swing-set from Sasuke's childhood, the swing-set where we had kissed, the swing-set where we laughed, and the swing-set my child would play on, I choked on my breath before setting off into the almost endless sea of trees.

I hadn't stopped crying.

And that in itself was the whole reason I was running away.

Crying never solved anything.

Neither did running, but for now...

...It was all I had left to look forward to.