*I DON'T OWN NARUTO!*


Sakura was beyond excited, she held Naruto's arm tightly as she continued to drag him down the hall. He did his best to keep up with her, but it was awkward running behind her. After a few seconds Sakura slowed her pace and loosened her grip on his arm. She turned her head and looked at Naruto, there was something about him that wasn't right.

"Are you feeling alright Naruto? You're acting kind of strange."

She let go of his arm completely so she could touch his cheek and that's when she noticed how Naruto's body relax. Sakura looked down at his arm and saw that it hung limply by his side.

"Naruto what's going on here?"

"It's nothing Sakura-chan, I'm fine," said Naruto.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto's pathetic attempt to lie to her.

"It's nothing huh, now how many times have I heard that one. Let me see your arm Naruto."

"No Sakura-chan honestly it's…"

"Now!" Demanded Sakura.

Naruto winced, he slowly lifted his right arm and showed it to Sakura. She grabbed his arm gently with one hand while her other hand slowly lifted his sleeve. Her eyes widened when she saw the condition his arm was in. It was hot to the touch and swollen. He also had a lot of bruising along his wrist and parts of his arm. She looked around the hallway and saw a bench not far from where they were.

"Come on Naruto let's go sit down."

They both made their way to the nearby bench that was far for the busy traffic of the hallway. They Sat down, and Sakura gently placed Naruto's arm on her lap so she could examine his injuries. She emitted warm green chakra into her palms and started healing his battered arm.

"What in the world did you do to yourself Naruto? I thought you went out to meditate, not train!"

"I was meditating, this right here is from last night Sakura-chan."

"You've had this since last night?! I don't remember you being hurt at all. When did you managed to do this behind my back?"

"It's from suppressing the Kyuubi Sakura-chan. I had to use the key on my arm in order to put him in its place. If I wouldn't of done that then…"

Sakura had a quick flashback from the night before. She remembered Naruto screaming and slamming his arm on the seal on his stomach. Sakura looked over at Naruto for a moment and noticed he was watching her work on his arm. She couldn't help but smile at him.

"You're something else Uzumaki Naruto you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You never think about yourself, you're always concerned with protecting others."

Sakura sighed as she looked at the aftermath of their night of passion.

"Did you know this was going to happen to your arm?"

"Yeah, but I really wasn't focusing on that, all my attention was on keeping you, and your mom safe..."

"...'

"So...uh...what's the damage?"

"Oh...well your wrist is broken, and you've torn a few muscles, but….something doesn't seem right."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen you heal so slow before."

"Oh, so he wants to play games I see."

"Games, wait is this about the Kyuubi?"

"Yup, it looks like he's refusing to heal me."

"What?! How could he do something like that, I mean he's a part of you, isn't he?"

"Well yeah."

"So isn't he just hurting himself?"

"Technically yes, but then again no, it's kind of confusing."

"I swear I don't understand the relationship you have with that fox," huffed Sakura.

"It's alright Sakura-chan. He won't be mad forever, besides I have you to heal me."

Sakura couldn't believe Naruto was taking this so well. It scared her to know that his rapid healing ability wasn't there, he was actually vulnerable. Sakura knew this had to stop, and there was only one way to do that. She gently grabbed Naruto's face and brought him closer to her. She stopped once his nose touched hers.

"I know you can hear me, so please listen."

"..."

"What you're doing isn't right, and it isn't fair to Naruto, or to me," said Sakura as she stared into Naruto's ocean blue eyes.

She looked closely for some sign of the creature inside him, but she saw none. Naruto in the other hand looked into Sakura's jade eyes as she spoke. Never in all his life had someone attempted to talk to the Kyuubi. In reality it was possible for others to talk to the fox demon, but no one had ever attempted to do so. Sakura's eyes began to swell up with tears, and Naruto cupped her face with his good hand.

"Please don't cry, the Kyuubi is just thick headed, and stubborn, just like me, but I know he heard you."

"You think so?"

"Of course, I'm sure he'll come around soon enough."

"I'm so sorry Naruto,"sobbed Sakura.

"For what?"

"For everything, if I had listened to you last night none of this would have happened."

"Sakura-chan don't."

"No, you told me you weren't stable, you were very adamant when you told me you couldn't stay, but I didn't listen."

"..."

"I just had to be selfish..."

"Hey now, I could have walked away Sakura-chan, but I didn't, not because you persuaded me, but because I wanted to stay."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and despite…. the..um...unforeseen ending, it was well worth it."

Sakura softly chuckled.

"It was most definitely unforeseen, but yeah, aside from that...I enjoyed myself too."

The two of them shared some nervous laughter. They were able to see things from a different angle now, but it was still embarrassing. Sakura wiped held at tears away and got back to healing Naruto's battered arm.

"So...since we're kinda on the subject...what happened after I passed out?"

"So much for waiting to talk about it in a more private setting," sighed Sakura.

"Hey this is a pretty lonely bench you know, and quite honestly I can't wait any longer, I need to know."

"Well... my mom was pretty...surprised shall we say?"

"..."

"She stopped by because she had a lovely conversation with Kiba's mom, Tsume."

"What?"

"Tsume overheard Kiba arguing with Hinata and Shino, when she confronted him she saw his black eye, it was all downhill from there," sighed Sakura.

"Oh god no, did he tell her everything, did he? "

"I'm afraid so, Tsume really forced it out of him too, or so my mom says. Tsume called my mom with the news of my pregnancy, and my mom water no time in confronting me."

"This is just fucking unbelievable," sighed Naruto.

"Tell me about it."

"So...what did your mom say?"

"Well it took me awhile to calm her down, but I was able to get through to her in the end. She's on board with helping us with the baby,in the condition that we speak to her later."

"Really?"

"Yes, despite our constant head butting and arguing, we love each other,and for once she listened to me."

"So...she doesn't want to kill me then?"

"No, but I can't guarantee you getting off scot free when we talk to her. We'll both be at her mercy."

"That's...reassuring."

"Well it's better then her castraighting you."

"Note taken."

"There, all done," said Sakura as she admired her work. "I've done what I can for now, we'll head over to your place later so I can wrap your arm, give you some painkillers, and put a cold compresses on it."

"Thanks Sakura-chan. My arm feels better already," said Naruto as he pulled his jacket sleeve over his arm.

"Now remember, you don't have your rapid healing so your wrist is very still vulnerable and weak right now. It's going to hurt, and you'll essentially be a normal human, so you need to be incredibly careful at border patrol tonight. Make sure you tell Kakashi-sensei and everyone about it before you get started."

"Will do," said Naruto as he stood up from the bench. He offered Sakura some help with his good hand, which she gladly accepted, and she too rose from the bench.

"Well I guess we better be heading to my appointment. I don't want to keep Shizune-san waiting," said Sakura as she took Naruto's hand into hers.

Naruto nodded in agreement and together the two lovebirds made their way to the maternity clinic to meet their child.


Sakura opened the door to the maternity clinic where she made her way inside with Naruto right behind her. The waiting room was small and its only occupants were two young pregnant women. Sakura walked up to the front desk while Naruto found a empty seat in the waiting room. Sakura soon joined him with some paperwork and clipboard in hand.

"So what do you have to fill out?" Asked Naruto as he peered at the paperwork Sakura had on her lap.

"New patient information. I'm no different than anyone else," said Sakura as she looked over at the questionnaire she held.

Naruto looked at everything she had to fill out, he shuddered at the thought of paperwork, just like Tsunade he couldn't stand it. He leaned back in his chair while Sakura got busy filling out all her forms out. The two pregnant women eyed the young couple, Naruto frowned. He slowly leaned towards his girlfriend's ear and whispered.

"Is it just me, or are those ladies talking about us?"

"Yup, they're talking about us."

"..."

"We're the talk of the town it seems," whispered Sakura as she filled out her first sheet of questions.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I was getting a bunch of looks and glances when I was making my way to Hokage Tower. Pakkun told me what some of the villagers were talking about. Apparently my mom wasn't the only person Tsume told," sighed Sakura.

"Seriously? I can't believe that spineless mutt told his mom. Thanks to her big mouth all of fucking Konoha knows."

"Naruto I told you his mother forced him to tell her. It's not like he sought her out so he could tell her willingly."

"So you're defending him now?

"No, but I'm not going to blame everything on him either. What happened last night was no one's fault."

"It just boils my blood that he hurt you."

"I know, but I'm fine now," said Sakura as she raised her arm slightly towards Naruto. "I was able to patch myself up this morning, see, not a scar in sight."

"That's great, but…"

"But you want to stay mad at him?"

"Yes...no….urgh...I don't…"

"Naruto…"

"I'm sorry, I can't help how I feel, and it doesn't help that I wasn't able to settle things right then and there because of…"

"Hinata.."

"Yeah…"

"Do you think what Kiba said is true?"

"What, you mean about her still liking me?"

"Yes…"

"Not a chance," chuckled Naruto.

"..."

"What? Don't tell me you think she does."

"I'm not sure what to believe Naruto."

"Seriously?"

"Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm jealous or anything, but I just can't help but feel bad for her, and Kiba. Its obvious that any feelings she may have left for you will take her nowhere. She needs to let you go so she can find someone who will love her back. Clearly Kiba does, she just can't see that."

"Because of me, I know, Shikamaru told me I should talk to her about, you know, her feelings. He said it would give her closure."

"He's right Naruto. Once this has all blown over you have to talk to her."

"Alright, Sakura-chan, I will."

"Good, now if you'll excuse me I need to finish filling these forms out."

"By all means go ahead," yawned Naruto. I'll be resting my eyes, let me know when you're done," said Naruto as he made himself as comfortable as he could in the plastic waiting room chair. He leaned towards Sakura and closed his eyes.

"Just resting your eyes huh?"

"Yup."

"Fine, but I swear Naruto you better not fall asleep."

"I won't Sakura-chan," yawned Naruto.

Sakura sighed as she continued the onslaught of questions. As she filled in her answers one of the pregnant women in the waiting room was called to the back room, and few minutes so was the other young lady, which meant that Sakura would be next. After a few more minutes she was done filling everything out. She approached the front desk and turned in her mounds of information to the receptionist, who reminded her that she would be called in shortly. Sakura sat back down next to Naruto. She couldn't help but giggle when she noticed he was drooling and lightly snoring. She gently nudged him in an attempt to wake him.

"Is it over?" Mumbled Naruto.

"My paperwork is, but I haven't been called in yet. I'm next though, so that's good."

"Awesome," yawned Naruto.

He stretched his arms out, that quick little power nap was what he needed.

"Oh and just to let you know I'll go in first, so you'll need to sit tight here.

"I have to wait out here alone?" Groaned Naruto.

"Yes, they'll call you once I get a room."

"Haruno Sakura, please come with me," said a young nurse.

"Yes ma'am. I'll see you in a bit okay," said Sakura.

She gave Naruto a quick peck on the lips before she disappeared behind the door. Naruto sighed, he was now all alone in the waiting room, and he had nothing to keep him entertained. He thought about going back to sleep, but what grogginess he did had was now long gone. There was material to read on a table in front of him, but it was aimed at women, then again beggars can't be choosers. Naruto reluctantly picked a magazine at random and flipped through its pages. Every few minutes he'd rest the magazine on his lap while he gently rotated his wrist. This whole no rapid healing business was not Naruto's cup of tea, and the thought of this prolonging annoyed him.

He calmed his thoughts hoping that the Kyuubi would say something, but he heard nothing. Just then the door to the back room opened and Naruto jumped in anticipation. It wasn't Sakura, nor one of this nurses, instead it was one of the young pregnant women he had seen earlier. She leaned on the front desk while she talked to the receptionist. The two women chuckled at a joke while the receptionist was setting up her next appointment.

Naruto looked the young lady over and noticed her huge belly. She rubbed it gently as she made small talk with the receptionist. Naruto couldn't help but picture Sakura like that. It was surreal knowing that she would be looking like that sooner than later. The young woman got her appointment, and said her goodbyes. Naruto quickly brought the magazine close to his face. He was doing his best to look interested in what he was reading. The young women paused in front of Naruto and giggled.

"Your girlfriend is very lucky to have someone like you. It isn't often that we women find a man who's in touch with his feelings and feminine side," giggled the young women.

She waved goodbye and left the clinic; Naruto blushed as she left. He quickly closed the magazine and read the cover.

"It isn't all about sex, how to get your man to commit," read Naruto.

His blush deepened and he tossed the magazine at the table in front of him, it landed softly on top of the rest of the reading material. He leaned back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling.

The sound of the back office door opening caught his attention

"Naruto, your girlfriend is ready for you, please follow me," said the nurse.

His legs were wobbly, but he forced them to obey. He followed the nurse through the door and into a small hallway that had several doors on each side.

"Haruno Sakura is in room 3," said the young women as she pointed down the hallway. "It's going to be on your left hand side."

"Thanks."

He stopped at room 3 and took a deep breath as he opened the door. He walked in to find Sakura wearing a hospital gown. She was sitting on an examining table, her long legs dangled and swung back and forth. She looked nervous but her face brighten when she saw Naruto looking at her.

"Hey you."

"So, what's the verdict?" Asked Naruto.

"Shizune had to step out real quick. All she had time to do was give me a quick physical."

Naruto grabbed a nearby chair and scooted it over towards the table Sakura was propped up on. He gently folded both his arms and looked at his girlfriend. He gave her a nervous smile, his heart was racing incredibly fast.

"How's your wrist feeling?" Asked Sakura.

"Better for the most part, but it still hurts."

"That must be new to you, huh?"

Before Naruto could answer Shizune walked into the room looking over Sakura's file. Naruto noticed she looked far better than the last time he had seen her. She had color in her cheeks and her skin looked warm and full of vigor. He had to admit her overall appearance had improved drastically. Shizune looked up from all the paperwork and smiled.

"Hello Naruto, thanks for joining us."

"Hey Shizune."

"Sorry for my little disappearance, but one of the main doctors called in sick and Tsunade-sama had me fill in. I normally don't work in the maternity clinic, but I know Tsunade-sama wanted me to do this since she couldn't."

"It's ok Shizune-san I understand," said Sakura.

"So Sakura what symptoms have you been having?" Asked Shizune as she sat down on a small chair with wheels.

"Just morning sickness really, but my breasts are a little tender in the mornings too."

"That's normal, so is dizziness, shortness of breath, and feeling exhausted for no reason. Best advice I can give you is to listen to what your body is telling you. If you're tired, sleep, if you're dizzy, and you noticed shortness of breath, relax and stop what you're doing. If you run into anything like abdominal pain, or bleeding then let me or Tsunade-sama know ASAP," said Shizune.

"Of course," replied Sakura.

"Now there's one other thing Tsunade- sama wanted me to let you both know. We don't know how long your pregnancy will be Sakura. The Kyuubi has been involved in only two other pregnancies, Uzumaki Mito's, and Uzumaki Kushina's. Now these two were the previous Jinchuriki of Konoha, and Naruto is the only male Uzumaki to carry the Kyuubi. We have no idea how this pregnancy will differ since the father is a Jinchuriki and not the other way around. The only difference we saw is that both former Jinchuriki's pregnancy's' were ten months instead of nine. This could be the same in your case, or it can be shorter, we just don't know. This factor added with your young age has lead Tsunade-sama to categorized you as high risk pregnancy."

"High risk, what does that mean?" Asked Naruto.

"It isn't anything to worry about Naruto," reassured Shizune. "All it means is that we will be keeping an eye on Sakura more than usual. She'll have to cut back on her physical activities, and if need be she may need more bed rest when she enters her last trimester. However it isn't anything to worry about."

"Well that's good to know," said Naruto.

"Alright then let's wrap this up," said Shizune as she put her paperwork down. "Lay back for me Sakura."

Sakura did as she was told and rested her body on the examining table. Naruto stood up and joined Sakura at her side. Shizune placed a white sheet across Sakura's stomach, pulled her gown up, and exposed her flat tummy.

"This is going to be cold so prepare yourself," warned Shizune as she squirted a blue gel over Sakura's lower abdomen. Naruto felt Sakura's body tense as the cool gel hit her body. Shizune pulled a large machine next to her and removed a wand like tool that was hanging off the side. She flipped the machine on and waited a few seconds. A small screen flicked on but all that could be seen was static. Shizune placed the wand softly on Sakura's stomach and moved it side to side as if she was looking for something. Naruto concentrated on Shizune's every move. Suddenly she smiled and pointed at the screen on the machine.

"There it is you two."

Naruto looked up at the screen, all he saw was static. He leaned over Sakura for a better look.

"That's your baby right there," said Shizune as she pointed to a small shape on the monitor.

Naruto blinked and looked at the object Shizune was pointing too.

"That's really it?" It's so small, it doesn't even look much like a baby."

"Well Sakura is only about 11 weeks pregnant Naruto so your little one is just starting to develop. Oh but here's something that you'll recognize right away," said Shizune.

She pointed at a small flickering spot on the screen that was pulsating.

"Do you see that?"

Naruto looked at the movement and tilted his head trying to figure out what he was looking at. Sakura on the other hand gasped and reached for the screen. Tears started to form in her eyes as she looked up at the small image that was their child.

"It's our baby's heart beating."

Naruto made a double take at the image before him.

"Not only can you see the heart beating, you can also hear it," said Shizune

The next thing Naruto heard was a muffled thumping sound that was fast and rhythmic. Sakura squeezed the fabric of his jacket sleeve as she began to cry softly. Naruto was shocked to say the least. He felt his own heart pound against his chest as he heard his child's heart beat echo in his ears. At that moment nothing mattered, not the pain in his wrist, not his grudge against Kiba, not even the threat that was looming over his own village. All that mattered was the sound of a little heartbeat, one that belonged to someone he had created with the women he loved. When Sakura had first told him she was pregnant he thought the gravity of it all had hit him, but clearly it had not. Now that he was listening to his unborn child's heartbeat with his own ears the realization of being someone's father hit him hard.

"Kakashi-sensei was right. The strongest man in the world can be brought to his knees when he learns he's going to be a father," whispered Naruto as tears of joy rolled down his whiskered face.


The sound of a beeping alarm clock abruptly woke up Naruto. He quickly sat up and turned it off. He quickly looked down at his girlfriend's sleeping form, his moving, and loud alarm, hadn't even fazed her, she was still sound asleep next to him. Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he slowly slipped out of bed. He was only wearing his pants since he knew he was going to have to wake up and get ready for his graveyard shift. He stood up and stretched while letting out a long drawn out yawn. He scratched his head and went to the bathroom. He flipped the light switch on and let his eyes get use to the sudden surge of light. He turned on the faucet in the sink and bent over it so he could wash his face. He splashed himself with cold water to help him wake up. He grabbed a clean towel and dried himself with his left hand. His right arm, and wrist was tightly bound with an elastic bandage courtesy of Sakura. Thanks to her the swelling had gone down quite a bit, and he was able to move it around a lot better now with less pain.

Naruto continued to get dressed as quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake Sakura. Once he was fully dressed he made sure he had his equipment stored for the night. He gently sat down on his bed and wrapped his fully loaded shuriken holster around his right leg. He strapped his spring loaded wire to his right arm. He played with it as he secured a new kunai in it. He flexed his arm and the kunai shot out from his sleeve. He caught it and moved his right arm and wrist around making sure he was comfortable with the spring wire staying on that arm. It worked fine, aside from a little pain, but he could deal with that easily. He got his knapsack and it filled it with a few energy bars just in case he got hungry, along with a few more kunai's, throwing knives, and smoke bombs. He closed his knapsack and secured it to his back pocket.

He went to the kitchen and pulled out some oshiruko Sakura had made for him earlier in the day. He pulled out some kagami mochi she had chopped up for him and placed it in his toaster oven. He heated up his soup and tossed in his toasted mochi. He wasn't planning on eating, but Sakura had insisted. She even went out of her way and made him one of his favorite dishes. He sat down and ate his food quietly. Part of him wished he could crawl back into bed with her but he knew he couldn't. He finished up his meal and placed his dishes in the sink. He went over to his bedroom and looked at Sakura. He grabbed a small piece of paper along with his forehead protector. He placed the paper safety inside his forehead protector and wrapped it around his head. He leaned over Sakura and kissed her cheek.

"I'll see you in the morning Sakura-chan, I love you both."

With that said he left, and despite his reluctance to leave Sakura, part of him couldn't help but be excited. He wasn't sure why, but for some odd reason he knew that border patrol wasn't going to be boring at all.