One of the things that Sasuke had learned during his short time under Orochimaru's instruction was that he had it pretty damn good with Kakashi. Not only were his teammates a lot easier on the eyes (the prettiest member of Orochimaru's party DIED...and the next runner up had TWO HEADS), but the silver-haired sensei also didn't admit an aurora that made one wonder not IF he was going to molest you, but WHEN. Upon coming back to Konoha and witnessing the astounding ease in which he was forgiven for his betrayal, Sasuke discovered something: he was proud to be one of the Copy-Nin's students. Even if he did have a large perverted streak, he at least kept it limited to reading a racy graphic novel in front of minors. Sasuke would never repeat what Orochimaru's limit was. Even he wasn't that heartless.

But regardless of his newfound appreciation for his Genin instructor, there were still some traits that Sasuke did not wish to adapt. For one, Sasuke firmly believed that when one's superior told them to meet them at a certain place at a certain time, then THEY SHOULD DAMN WELL DO IT. One could argue that Uchiha Sasuke was aware that while many members of Konoha's council had forgiven him, the Hokage still remembered nursing the injured members of the Rookie Nine back to health after the group had returned. But if anyone asked Sasuke, and if he by some rare pass of mood answered, he would say that he merely liked to keep some boundaries separating himself from Kakashi in his mannerisms. And really, was it that painful to show up on time?

Thus were Sasuke's beliefs. Yet despite those thoughts, as Sasuke nestled deeper into his teammate's neck, he found himself silently hoping that the ride wouldn't end any time soon. Another little rule that Sasuke would never have broken under any circumstances was indulging in anything that could damage his strong image. And being carried across Konoha in a bridal hold by his rival was definitely not something that would make him look tough if an enemy ninja suddenly decided to attack them. The part of Sasuke that wasn't busy committing the feeling of being held to memory huffed about him being lucky they were traveling by rooftops, and not walking around on the streets where anyone could see them. Since the moment he and Naruto had met with one awkward shove and an even more awkward landing, the blonde had shown an enormous talent for breaking Sasuke's rules. He had sworn never to have a remotely intimate relationship with anyone after his family's death. Naruto had become his best friend before the Uchiha heir had even noticed. His No-Showing-Emotion-in-Public-or-Otherwise rule? Naruto made him break it on a daily basis. Never-Acknowledge-Anyone-Under-Any-Circumstances rule? Gone. Do-Anything-for-Power-No-Matter-What? Well, he tried to keep that one going, but…No way in hell, teme!

Naruto's arms tightened around Sasuke again when they made a jump from one building to the next. He briefly wondered if Naruto had noticed that Sasuke wasn't loosening his hold when they landed on the next roof, or that he was pressing himself a little closer than what was absolutely necessary to keep from falling.

Probably not...

Still, Sasuke could pretend.

He could smell Naruto's scent, despite the air rushing past them as they moved forward. Looking up at Naruto, Sasuke had to admit that the other boy had amazing stamina. The alleged klutz didn't even seem phased by carrying his teammate's weight in addition to his own while traveling at what anyone who had seen Naruto balance capabilities would have called an alarmingly fast pace. One hand playing with the false fur lining the collar of Naruto's jacket, the part of Sasuke's mind that was still in denial blamed his poor judgment on the fact that he was still drowsy from taking an eight hour sleeping pill only six hours ago, while his eyes started to close. Under his normal state of mind, that stubborn part of his brain which refused to acknowledge what the rest of him had reluctantly accepted would never be stupid enough to relax in the dobe's arms.

Sasuke's eyes began to blink in long, slow downward sweeps that became increasingly difficult for him to re-open. Naruto, maybe trying to prove that he could remember something other then what flavor of ramen he had for breakfast, was taking them through a part of the village where the buildings were built close together and almost of the same height, so that the jumps wouldn't upset his stomach. There was still the sudden jolting sensation that came whenever they landed on a new surface, and the unnerving weightlessness when they were between buildings (he never noticed those when he was traveling on his own feet), but it was getting less surprising. Ignorable even.

Sasuke finally let his eyes stay closed after one of the drawn out blinks. Renewing his hold on his rival, the Uchiha heir was surprised that he wasn't damaging the dobe's breathing yet. Between his forehead and arm, Naruto was almost in a headlock. He could always say later that he was planning to strangle him if the klutz managed to drop him, but for now...

He's so warm...

Sasuke was melting into his teammate's hold, knowing that it wasn't noticed... Especially when he was suddenly dumped onto an unsympathizing, cold stone bench outside the hospital entrance. Dark eyes snapped open in a glare; their owner picked himself up and prepared to murder the blond-haired idiot who had snapped him out of his peaceful daze. Unfortunately, when Sasuke looked around, he didn't see the blond anywhere near the bench. Instead, he heard the dobe's voice when he yelled, "OH, SHIT!" and then right afterward, "Don't curse in front of my son!"

Less then a second later the first voice's owner cried out in surprise rather than pain, and then Sasuke saw the bright orange form of his rival walking away form the sidewalk while rubbing his head; behind him, a woman tugging along a five year old as she walked away at a stiff, huffing pace. Sasuke was sure that he heard the little boy say, "Mommy, what's a sh..."

Naruto was rubbing his head as he walked back towards the hospital, muttering to himself about rude old ladies attacking him when he just wanted to know what time it was, when he looked up from the ground and noticed the raven-haired boy still standing next to the bench. Before Sasuke could make a comment about the incident with the woman on the street, the blond ran up to him while screeching at him in a way that would have put any fangirl to shame, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU STILL DOING OUT HERE! YOU'RE LATE!"

Sasuke silently thought that maybe the woman was right to hit the dobe. Honestly, who curses when small children are walking right by on their way to their first doctor's check up? However, while Sasuke was making the observation, Naruto grabbed onto his arm and hurriedly started dragging him towards the hospital building behind them. Again, he blamed the sleeping pill for keeping him from noticing that he was being grabbed while thinking.

Three steps inside the hospital, Sasuke decided that he had been indulging his newfound fondness for physical contact with the blonde a little too much for one morning, and jerked his hand free from the other ninja. Naruto started muttering loudly about arrogant, stuck-up bastards that couldn't find their own way around a hospital. Sasuke's hand shoved itself into his pocket to keep warm after losing the benefit of the other boy's. When had his dislike of physical contact changed? ...Never mind. He didn't want to know.

As the two male members of team seven walked down the hallway, stray nurses or hospital guests called out greetings to the Uchiha heir, which were ignored and, in turn, started another muttered rant from the blond-haired dobe. So Sasuke chose to ignore the blond as well while they walked; it wasn't his fault that the general population couldn't seem to figure out that he fucking didn't want anything to do with them. Actually, no one could figure it out...

"SASUKE-KUN!"

...Especially not his pink-haired teammate.

Both boys shouldn't have been surprised at the loud, overly sweet shout after hearing it nearly every day over the last three years. Yet even Naruto, who one would have expected to have a high tolerance for loud voices given his shameless tendency to scream every five minutes since the day he popped out of his mother's womb, had to flinch at the sound of a rabid fangirl's mating call.

Turning their heads in unison, Sasuke and Naruto stared at their pink-haired teammate, who was standing in front of a chair that she had previously been sitting in before spotting them. She was waving her arm in the air to catch their attention, as if the mating call hadn't been enough…

Sasuke paused, mentally went back over the label for Sakura's method of greeting, and, cringing, silently promised never to use that phrase again.

Attention moving away from the pink-haired girl still waving enthusiastically in his direction, Sasuke saw his sensei standing a few feet from Sakura, with his back pressed again the wall and his infamous orange book open in front of him. As the two boys came closer, their teacher raised his hand while saying a quick, "Yo!" without taking his eyes off the book's pages. It was a little odd seeing Kakashi without having to brace himself against the sound of the other members of his team shouting, but when he was about five feet away from where the two were waiting he was given an equally sufficient reason to flinch. Sakura lowered her hand and, for a moment, Sasuke thought that he was actually going to have a meeting with his team without a reason to glare at anyone… but then the kunoichi started coming towards him. Quickly. Her arms went out on either side of her a little as she got closer in a gesture that brought Sasuke's old phobia of touching back from the grave instantly.

She was going to hug him again...

Impulsively, Sasuke looked around himself in hopes of finding some way to escape his female teammate's clutches. True, it would have been normal for him to have just stepped aside, but the hallway they were standing in was incredibly narrow, and...

Slender arms clamped down around him. Sasuke frowned at himself for spending too much time thinking instead of acting. He heard Sakura murmuring uncomfortably close to his ear, "How are you feeling?"

He didn't answer her. He looked around, though it had not helped him in anyway to avoid Sakura's embrace, and found that the dobe was no longer standing next to him. Naruto was in the process of throwing open the Hokage's doors, next to where Kakashi was standing. When exactly had they gone to see the...?

"BAA-CHAN! I'm here!"

"Do you even know the definition of the word 'knocking,' brat?" the Hokage's voice snapped back at the blond, though Sasuke couldn't see her from where he was standing.

Naruto, grinning, started to open his mouth.

"Don't answer that, brat. Just send him in and sit down."

Naruto started to turn away from the door to follow instructions, though made sure to stick his tongue out childishly at the Hokage before doings so, but only managed one step before...

"And DON'T LEAVE yet. I want to talk to you afterward."

"Yes, baa-chan." When Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, he half expected to see the blond roll his eyes like an eight-year-old child. But he was disappointed. Naruto only gestured to the door and then promptly turned around to take a seat next to where Sakura had been standing before rushing at Sasuke.

A moment passed where Sasuke stared blankly at his pink-haired teammate, waiting for her to remember that she was still holding onto him and let go without having to exchange words. From past experiences with being held in a fangirl's arms, he already knew that using words would encourage Sakura to stall. Regardless, Konoha's brightest student needed to hear him clear his throat, glare, and take a step forward before she finally got the message to let go.

If she wasn't playing dumb, then even if she was his teammate, that was just sad.

"Don't look so pissed off, Sasuke," he heard Naruto saying after him. "It's not like she's going to give you a death sentience."

Inside the Hokage's office, Sasuke was about to close the door before going any further (just incase this was something personal that his rival should not overhear), but the Hokage's voice sounded, "That's okay, Sasuke. Hinata can close the door."

Sasuke stopped. Turning around, he first saw Tsunade sitting behind her desk while sipping from a steaming mug of some sort of, possibly alcoholic (well, likely alcoholic) liquid. Then across from her, standing with her hands together in one twitching mass, was the dobe's precious girlfriend. Sasuke felt himself glaring.

"Thank you Hinata, you've been very helpful with this...situation. You are excused." the Hokage was addressing the white-eyed girl while waving her hand as if to clear the air of her presence, like a bad smell. Or maybe that was just Sasuke's interpretation. "Uchiha, you better make yourself comfortable."

As Sasuke came toward the desk and Hinata went toward the door, they met each other half way. For a second, Hinata looked up at him and upon seeing him staring back at her, her face promptly changed colors. She murmured a quiet apology, stepping to the side and keeping her eyes on the floor to let Sasuke pass.

Sitting down, the Uchiha heir didn't see Hinata's eyes flick back over to his figure, or more specifically, to his stomach. Her face was still red. She hurried out through the door when she thought that Sasuke might have felt her eyes on him. It seemed like Tsunade was waiting for her to leave before she started speaking, anyway. But as she was closing the door, Hinata couldn't help trying to sneak another look at the Uchiha heir. She couldn't help it. The idea of him being...well…

Hinata shook herself to clear the thought out of her mind. It... It... There's nothing wrong with that! She told herself fervently, turning to go sit down next to Naruto. But still, the thought of Uchiha Sasuke, and someone...anyone getting together and doing…

"Are you alright, Hina?" Naruto's voice cut through her conflicting thoughts. She was definitely not against that sort of thing! She... She was just surprised, that's all! REALLY! Smiling at Naruto, she nodded her head.

"You look a little dizzy," Naruto said. The blond was sitting slumped far down in the hospital chair, his legs stretching out into the walking space. She was going to have to warn him when someone walked by, or he'd end up tripping the nurses...

As if sensing her thoughts, Naruto shifted around on his seat. He brought his legs up, turned to the side, and then tucked them under himself while leaning back against the armrest. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at the chair in frustration when he remembered that the armrests were barely padded at all, and started moving around again. Hinata couldn't help giggling at him.

"SO..." Naruto said, after he finally found a position that was remotely comfortable, "What's wrong with Sasuke-teme?"

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other over Naruto's head. The boy was trying to use the armrest as a pillow while the rest of his body curled to make itself smaller. All the same, his knees were jutting into Sakura's space. Her stutter came back with its full force as Hinata tried to answer him, "O-our ex-exam just g-got extended."

kkkkkkkkkkkkk

Sasuke took the seat directly across from the Hokage's desk, as he was instructed. While waiting for the blond woman to speak, he looked over the contents on the desk for a clue as to what he had been called in for. There was a folder laying in the center of the desk with something stamped on the side in dark red ink. Frowning a little, Sasuke leaned forward to get a better look at the word...

Uchiha.

The frown deepened.

Tsunade looked up from where she had been shuffling through the contents of her right hand drawer. Seeing that Sasuke was studying the folder, she straightened up in her chair and cleared her throat before asking the Uchiha heir in an authoritative voice, "Uchiha, do you know what that is?"

Sasuke gave her a blank look. Tsunade sighed, she was expecting that response. Sliding the file over to her side of the desk, she opened the folder to thumb through its contents for a specific document. While she did so, she explained to Sasuke, "This is a detailed record of your family's history since the time they settled in Konoha." Sasuke blinked at her with the same slight frown on his face as before, so she continued, "All of the clans possessing a bloodline ability have a file. I trust you know that in many parts of the world whole families are executed for possessing traits like the Sharingan." When she paused, she waited for Sasuke to indicate whether he had already known about the prejudice or not. (A/N: Think back to Haku, everyone!)

He nodded.

"The Fire Country was one of the first parts of the world to see the bloodline abilities as an advantage, and offer the clans possessing them shelter in Konoha. However, the First asked the clans to agree to certain terms in return." Tsunade found the paper she wanted and took it out. She glanced up at Sasuke's impassive face while she leaned across the desk to set the paper down in front of him. "As you can see," she said, gesturing for the Uchiha heir to look over the paper while she spoke, "All of the Uchiha clan heads since then have renewed the contract and accepted the terms."

Sasuke looked over the signatures written on the page, as he was expected to. He even saw his father's at the bottom, and the empty space under it where he would one day sign after his clan was revived. He tried to keep from showing confusion when he looked back up at his Hokage, not knowing why he was being shown the document. Even without his clan, Sasuke still couldn't claim to be anything more than the Uchiha heir until he was eighteen.

Maybe the council wanted to renew the terms ahead of time in case he planned to go running off with the next evil shinobi to bite his neck and offer to play school with him.

Tsunade cleared her throat again when she thought that the Sharingan user had finished looking over the document. "One of the terms of the agreement clearly states that the Hokage is to be informed if any... accuracies... happen that could affect the clan's future. Given your brother's past actions, this rule applies to you especially." Returning the document to the folder, Tsunade set the file to one side in case she was going to have to take something else out of it before the meeting was over. "In light of this," she said, attention focusing on the Uchiha, "is there anything you would like to tell me?"

Sasuke blinked. Was there supposed to be some kind of a hint in that last sentence? He sat silently for a moment, thinking about how strange it was that the one woman could go so long without blinking, though it did give him a chance to gawk at the dark shades of the bags under her eyes. Not that Uchihas' gawk, mind you...

"No."

Tsunade, who had started to lean ever so slightly forward, threw herself back into her seat. One of her hands came up and pressed into her temple for a moment, before she said in the same tone as before, "Uchiha, don't make this difficult."

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Despite what you may have come to believe growing up in this village, the majority of ninja villages are still convinced that people wielding bloodline abilities bring war. And if you fail to comply with the terms of the agreement, the council might decide to veto it." Her voice dropped an octave so that it was a little softer when she added, "The results of that probably wouldn't be good for you, or your future clan."

Whether it was appropriate to glare at one's superior or not, Sasuke knew he was doing it. If he didn't know better, he would say that the Hokage was threatening him about something. That being as unusual as it was, Sasuke probably wouldn't have been getting as easily irritated if he knew what it was that the woman was talking about.

After enduring the raven-haired boy's glare for too long, Tsunade started speaking again. "The council has been very clear about wanting to see the Uchiha clan restored, even if it is under unusual conditions. No one expects you to make sure your heir is legally born, though I'd say it would be preferred, I do have to ask you to tell me everything." Tsunade looked back at the blank stare, and chose to add on, "Normally, it wouldn't matter who your spouse was, but since you are the last of the Uchiha clan, I need to know who's genes are mixing in with the Sharingan."

Silence met the last statement. Sasuke sat staring, glare having temporarily been overridden by other emotions. Such as surprise, confusion...and what ever one was causing the incredible urge to take after his blond-haired teammate and yell "WHAT THE FUCK!" However, when Sasuke finally did speak it was a much more sensible, "I don't know what you are talking about." An understandable answer... though Sasuke noted the fact that his voice sounded like he was about to kill something and added, "Hokage-sama."

Silently cursing fate for making Hinata discover the stoic boy's secret at such an early hour in the morning, and whatever had driven a six-year-old girl to stab herself with a piece of jewelry in a very hard to treat place, Tsunade forced herself to sit up straighter. Her voice came out harsh when she said, "Males, even at your age, very rarely find themselves in your condition unexpectedly. And given your social tendencies, it is even more unlikely that you would find yourself in this condition without specific planning."

Before Tsunade had even finished her last sentence, Sasuke was asking, "What condition?"

The Hokage raised a yellow colored eyebrow. "The one that you are currently in, Sasuke."

The black-haired Genin stared.

"And will be in for the next eight months or so."

Still there was no recognition or understanding in the normally quick-thinking shinobi's face. Tsunade leaned a little closer to the boy, as if to see if the knowledge were written on his pale forehead (apparently, in all the time it took them to get here, neither could remember to bring Sasuke's hitai-ate). Changing tactics, she said quietly, "The one you were expecting."

Sasuke willed his face to return to its normal state. Of course, he heard the hint on the last word, and being the brilliant ninja he was, thought over what the blond woman had said since he came in. Inwardly he sent a silent congratulations to his blond-haired teammate. He always knew that someday, one of the people Naruto targeted for his obnoxious outlets would go insane. And in her break with sanity, the Hokage had apparently forgotten the differences between the male and female anatomy. Sasuke could only be thankful that he hadn't been the one to crack first. Not everyone is born with the Uchiha sense of patience, after all...

Still, sitting in a room with a crazy person was not a pastime that Sasuke enjoyed doing (not since his aniki went and threw a hissy fit that resulted in a very traumatized childhood, and the time Orochimaru asked him to play "hide the snake" during training). He was just about to get up, when the Hokage leaned even farther across the desk, saying, "You really have no idea what I'm talking about?"

Tsunade received no reaction other than a blink, as Sasuke wondered how one told their superior that they had been cruelly driven out of their mind and should check into a hotel with nice padded walls. The intent way she was staring at him suggested that she do this soon.

Sitting back down in her chair, Tsunade opened her right hand drawer and shifted through its contents, as she had done when Sasuke had first sat down. The boy watched her hand, frowning as it pulled out two new objects and set them on the desk between them. She gave Sasuke a moment to study the items, looking again for any sign of recognition or understanding on his face.

Nothing.

Clearing her throat, she tried to make her voice come out less frustrated than it had before, and picked up the first of the two items, which was another stamped file folder. "This," she said while turning the folder so that Sasuke could see the name written on the side, "is Hinata's exam. Right now, the exam is only half finished, but already the scoring is very high. Despite being just a little unsure of herself," Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He thought that he had seen a vein pop up in the Hokage's forehead for a second... "She is a very capable student. She's hardly ever wrong in her work, in fact..."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm getting there, Uchiha." Tsunade set down the file again and folded her hands in front of herself. "As you know, for the past month, Hinata has been working with samples taken from your body as a part of her exam. Last night she made a discovery during the urine examination." As she spoke, she watched the Uchiha heir's unchanging frown. Then Tsunade picked up the second item, a long plastic object that she doubted many males had ever actually looked at. She asked, "Do you know what this is?"

Sasuke shook his head.

She said, "It's a pregnancy test that Hinata tested your samples with last night."

A black eyebrow rose. The Uchiha heir looked as if he might have wanted to say something, but Tsunade, after many encounter's with the only resident of Konoha that seemed to be born without the ability to keep his lips together, was well trained in the art of cramming words together and shooting them out before other people could speak. "After I was told about this, I went over her notes myself to make sure that there was no mistake. Sure enough, there wasn't one. This test is totally accurate." It was with no small amount of relief that Tsunade watched the dark eyes across from her grow larger, even if it was only by the smallest fraction. "Congratulations, Sasuke, you're going to be someone's mommy."

Tsunade couldn't help smiling; the way the muscles in the boy's face went lax almost made him look like a little boy when he first sees his mother wielding a paddle.

...There was no sound or movement to indicate a response. Even the steady stream of sounds from civilians on the street outside seemed to stop. Birds out in the trees stopped. The sound of someone periodically scraping their chair legs against the tile floor in the hospital hallway and cursing it fluently, stopped.

After a moment, Tsunade motioned for them to get back to business. "Anyway, I'm still going to have to ask you to tell me the father's name, and if you will at least think about having the baby born legally."

Sasuke was still staring at the white plastic contraption that Tsunade had set back down on the desk. Or more specifically, he was looking at the part of it that was currently colored blue. Deadpanning, he said, "There must have been something wrong with the test."

"No, Sasuke," Tsunade suppressed a sigh. It really was hoping for too much for the antisocial boy to accept the news with grace, she thought, conveniently forgetting how she had nearly screeched at the shy Hyuuga girl when she had been told the news earlier that morning. "We tested your urine several times and all the results came out exactly the same." Sasuke opened his mouth with another argument, but the Hokage predicted it and cut him off before the words could come out. "And we also tested it on Naruto's samples to make sure that it wasn't just confusion at a male specimen, and the results were negative."

Sasuke was given a moment to digest.

"Now, if you wouldn't mind, the name of your spouse, please."

Sasuke still stared at her, and for a moment Tsunade wondered if she was going to have to call someone in with smelling salts (or maybe just Naruto, to yell at him), when the boy started shaking his head.

"Sasuke, just answer the question."

"I'm not a girl."

"That doesn't matter, Sasuke." Tsunade felt her sympathy growing a little brittle. Low amounts of sleep can do that to a person. "There are ways that male shinobi can conceive. Which reminds me, we'll have to get you in touch with the J.I.S.S.P.A-"

"What?"

Tsunade shot the Uchiha heir a look at the uncharacteristic interruption, but answered his question, "The Jutsu Induced Same Sex Pregnancy Association." Sasuke stared at her, both eyebrows now raised so that his pale forehead was visibly wrinkled. It made him looked like a child again. Fighting off the urge to smile at him, she said, "Did you think you were the only one to ever abuse a jutsu?"

Sasuke didn't say anything back, not that she expected him to, given his infamous lack of a sense of humor.

"Since male pregnancies aren't usually covered in medical training, most of our hospital staff will not know how to treat you. The J.I.S.S.P.A will be able to teach you how to take care of yourself so you won't be too surprised when the time comes." Tsunade paused for a moment. "...Which reminds me of another thing... I took the liberty of assigning Sakura to join Hinata in studying you. Since homosexuality is becoming more acceptable among shinobi, I think that it would probably be best if future medic-nins learn how it works, don't you agree?"

Sasuke got a sinking feeling as he muttered more to himself than the Hokage, "Sakura's going to..."

"Sakura and Hinata," the blond-haired women corrected him, picking up and commanding the sentence despite not being meant to hear it, "are going to be studying you for the next eight months to a year. Try to cooperate with them like a good boy, will you?"

The woman's smile was hearable in the last part of her sentence. Not that Sasuke was really listening to the woman as intently as before. He was currently wondering if maybe he had fallen asleep again, and if the Hokage was going to suddenly develop a pair of angry Hyuuga eyes. They were already halfway to the part of the dream where he woke up; he had already lost the ability to move properly...

"One more thing, Sasuke," Tsunade was saying. "Homosexual pregnancies are legal in Konoha, but because a portion of the population is still a little squeamish about the idea, I'm going to have to ask you to keep this to yourself as much as you can. I know that this must be a little difficult for someone who is as... looked upon as you, but if you wouldn't mind keeping it down to telling only the people that absolutely need to know, it would be better for everyone."

Sasuke was wondering if maybe the Hokage needed to close her eyes before they could change color, or if maybe his self-conscious was trying to get him to lower his guard by dragging the dream out. There was no way that this could be real. Honestly, Sasuke had never even had se...

Oh.

...crap…

Not noticing the Uchiha's lack of coherent thought, Tsunade went on, "Naruto will need to be informed."

"WHAT!" Body suddenly forgetting that it was supposed to have lost the ability to move, Sasuke shot up into a standing position, hand holding his weight as he leaned over the Hokage's desk.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm expecting that response out of him, too."

Sasuke stared at her again, though after the first five seconds his eyes returned to their normal size. Right... She had forgotten about the sense of humor disability. "Your team will want an explanation for the sudden draw back to D level missions. Don't even try to argue about that, I can't allow you to go on anything more dangerous in your condition. And I think that we both know that Naruto, especially, will want a reason why." Sasuke didn't relax at the explanation, and Tsunade raised a curious eyebrow. Using her more understanding voice again, she tried to offer him a little comfort. "I've already spoken to Kakashi and Sakura while we were waiting for you. Neither of them seemed to have a problem with the news." Of course, that was after they had gotten over the shock, and demanded to see all five of the Uchiha's pregnancy tests. "They" being mainly Sakura.

Sasuke didn't seem to calm down though, and Tsunade became a little worried at the obvious anxiety the stoic boy was showing. She had never thought that Naruto gave off the impression of being homophobic before, but for some reason Sasuke's skin was paling to the translucent gray-white belonging to a melting ice cub at the mention of his name.

She said the boy's name out loud to try and shake Sasuke from his daze, but eventually had to get up and guide him back into his chair. Casting a weary glance to the clock on her wall, Tsunade sighed and went to her office door. She opened it just enough to ask Shizune to cancel her appointments until noon, then went back towards Sasuke. She hadn't gotten a single answer out of the boy in almost and hour, and had a feeling that getting him to speak at all was going to take awhile now.

kkkkkkkk

The Hokage's door was closed for two hours before it was finally thrown open, banging loudly against the wall from the force. Immediately, Sakura was on her feet, looking at Sasuke and saying his name to get his attention. But the dark haired boy didn't even look at her, despite the fact that he walked within inches of her as he turned to go down the hall. He didn't even stop to glare at Naruto when the blond started to shout at him for being so mean to his teammate.

His fists were both driven deep into the pockets of his shorts, clenched hard enough for the muscles on his arms to visibly tense. He wasn't stomping exactly, but there was a certain harshness to his movements that suggested that anyone who was unfortunate enough to find themselves in front of him would find a kunai in their throat and their vision filled with a pair of glaring red eyes before hearing him tell them to move.

After he reached the end of the hall, Sasuke turned and disappeared in the direction of the stairs without as much as a word... Sakura stared after him, one finger strangling more than playing with a loose string at the slit of her dress. It took her a minute to realize that she was holding her breath, and then another to remember why. There was supposed to have been an idiot stubborn enough to have tackled the Uchiha heir from behind by now. Someone stupid, loud and blond was supposed to have started a brawl in the hallway the moment Sasuke failed to say "dobe." That was a scene the rest of their team had come to expect. So why hadn't...?

She turned away from the hallway, finally taking her eyes off of where Sasuke had last been standing, and saw that Naruto was sitting sideways in his seat with his legs folded under him. He was glaring down the hallway after their raven-haired teammate, teeth digging into his lower lip. Naruto really did look like he wanted to yell... Sakura wondered why he was restraining himself, until she noticed that there were two small hands fisted in his jacket, one his collar and the other in his sleeve.

Sakura couldn't be sure if Naruto had noticed that the Hyuuga girl had one very strong dislike in her personality that he clashed with. Sakura herself hadn't noticed until she actually sat down and thought about how long she actually expected her teammate's relationship to last. Hyuuga Hinata hated fighting. Even when they were at the Academy, she had seemed to shy away from Iruka when asked to perform attack maneuvers, then she had opted to become a medic-nin at the first chance she had... And sweet Yondaime, was it really that hard to believe? Her family had resorted to using seals to keep a semblance of peace going! It was one of the only things that Sakura had been able to think of as a future reason for the two to break up, though as she walked towards the couple, she thought to herself that it was a miracle that Naruto hadn't burst out yelling yet.

Maybe Hinata could change that part of him...

Sakura stopped in front of the couple. She could tell that she was going to have to remind Naruto that the Hokage had asked to see him earlier so he could find out about the situation with Sasuke. Maybe afterward, she could go after their depressed teammate herself. If she were suddenly in his position, she knew that she would go running off to find Ino to talk about it. So maybe Sasuke...

"Naruto?" she said when she was standing in front of the blond.

The blue eyed boy's reaction, despite seeing years of ones exactly like it, surprised her. At the sound of his name, Naruto jumped up, physically airborne for at least three seconds before he hit the ground and took off running without so much as looking back. The alleged klutz didn't even seem phased with the fact that he almost crashed into his female teammate, or that she was yelling after him on reflex that that was no way to act around a lady. Or that he was now stripped of his jacket.

Turning around to face Hinata, still sitting in her chair and staring wide eyed at her boyfriend as he turned the corner after Sasuke. She was still holding onto his jacket. It must have been unzipped at some point over the last two hours; there was no way that Naruto would have remembered to do something that simple during his maneuver. Hinata and Sakura stared at one another after the sound of Naruto's pounding footsteps disappeared.

...Well…change comes slowly, right?

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A/N:

Hi everyone! Did you guys know that HET fan girls read this story? After seven chapters of hearing feedback only supporting NaruSasu, I had given up hope of this story attracting NaruHin fans, and then all the sudden WOOSH! Sasuke and Naruto cuddle, and al the sudden I get reviews from people rooting for Hinata!

:clears throat: The last chapter received seven reviews. That is the most reviews given to a chapter, save for chapter seven (KibaShino kiss and NejiHina kiss, apparently people liked one or the other ), and chapter one (people kept telling me to fix my spelling -.-;) To celebrate, guess what I'm doing? REPLYING!

minn yun: First, it's always nice to see another die-hard NejiHina fan. I'm glad that you like my story so much. Second:claps hands over ears: SPOLIERS! I've missed an episode or two in the series because of incorrect labeling on downloading sites. Otherwise, I probably would have had Naruto make some sort of comment about it in chapter four, if only to have Sasuke go "Wha?" Though, now I'm going to have to try and track down that fairy princess episode. :giggles: Did Hinata see Naruto before he ran off?

RuByMoOn17 I did!

Unerasable Sin: Yo! I usually email you with a response to your reviews anyway, but I'll respond here too, just because, okay? It was my pleasure reading your work, and I'm so happy that you decided to post your drabbles even without the SasuNaru done yet. Though the Sasuke story you sent me recently should be posted separately, if you ask me. It was beautifully written…though it made me kinda want to cry :sniff:

hopeless-flame: Heh, when I first saw your name I thought you were going to flame me (that's never happened yet, so I'm getting a little antsy every time I get mail from You like my Neji so far? SQUEE! I'll try and make him show up again as soon as possible.

starfire0639:That was my first shot at something openly boyboy-ish, even if it was only one sided. I'm glad that you found it cute, I was worried that it would seem all wrong coming from Sasuke. This chapter wasn't as cute, but I hope that the meeting with Tsunade was at least entertaining.

bobangk :read praise and blushes: …I think I can make this response short by saying: I think I love you, please don't stop reviewing me. I was overjoyed to see you mention Iruka's part in the dream, as I already told you.

Cyndi1: You're avid support of the NaruSasu pairing makes me proud! Though, I can't let Hinata go out of the picture yet. I like to torture Sassy-chan a little too much for that. :evil laughter:

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'd hug you all, but I kind of don't know where you live, and people tend to look at me strangely when they see me embracing my computer screen.