Author's Note from samuraipanda85: First ever major time skip happening this chapter. We moved ahead a whole 3 weeks. So we are now a month into Naruto and Sakura's Five Year Mission.
It was Monday morning and Sakura was rip shit mad.
It wasn't because she was forced to go to work so early in the day. Ever since Dr. Crusher had learned of her pregnancy she had given Sakura plenty of leeway when it came to things like showing up on time. Just so that Sakura could get used to how her pregnancy was messing with her hormones. In this case it had cranked Sakura's already short temper up to an 11. It was bad enough that Sakura had woken up to discover that Naruto wasn't in bed with her to cuddle and bring her peanut butter fish sticks, but then he had the audacity to leave the top cabinet drawer open for Sakura to see.
'That Ass! How many times have I told him to clean up around here?!' Sakura thought. She had been so lenient with the adorable blond dumbass, but no more!
She stormed right out of the sliding door to see Naruto standing over the computer console.
"Naruto Uzumaki! You've got some nerve!" She shouted. The boy in question turned around with a look of horror on his face when he realized how pissed off Sakura was with him. About what, he didn't know.
"Sakura-chan, are you ok?" He tentatively asked, careful not to push her buttons.
"No I'm not! I'm bloated, I'm tired, I'm getting fat! Nobody loves me and it's all your fault! What have you got to say for yourself, dumbass!?" She shouted.
Naruto opened his mouth to try to reply, but he was immediately cut off by Sakura.
"NO EXCUSES!" She yelled as she aimed a chakra enhanced punch directly at Naruto's face.
Instead of just taking the abuse and being rocketed into the vacuum of space, Naruto caught Sakura's monster strength punch with his right hand. A miniature shockwave rang out as the unstoppable force met the immovable object.
Sakura just looked at her fist in confusion, then over to Naruto who was standing tall over her and not caved into the side of the wall.
"Did you just block my attack?" Sakura hissed like a lit stick of dynamite. Under normal circumstances Naruto would have already replaced himself with a Shadow Clone and legged it to the opposite side of the spaceship. But today was different, today he wasn't going to simply take her abuse. He looked at her with a serious expression, the kind he reserved to only his greatest opponents that he would not back down.
"Yes I did." He said firmly.
"Oh you did huh?" She replied back.
"Yes I did. What are you going to do about it?"
"What am I going to do about it?"
"Yes, what are you going to do about it?"
"I'll TELL you what I'm going to do about it!"
"So do it!" He raved.
She grabbed his shirt in both her iron clad grips and ripped his uniform in two, straight down the middle.
"Pants. Off. Now..." Sakura demanded in almost a feral like growl.
"Sakura-chan, we can't..."
'Woah... Never seen her like that before.' Kurama thought in fear.
'Neither have I, it's scaring me.' Naruto thought.
"Don't give me that bullshit. I said take them off..." Sakura demanded again in the same growl. Her eyes changing color from green to blue for the briefest of moments.
'The Hell was that?' Naruto asked in surprise and fear.
'Damned if I know. Your mother was never this menacing during mood swings. Best do what she says, lest we become heads on a pike.'
"No Sakura, we really can't." Naruto insisted, holding Sakura back at arm's length.
"Why...?"
"Because we're standing in the middle of the bridge."
Sakura stopped in her thoughts as she looked around and saw that Naruto was right. All eyes were on here as rage was slowly replaced with embarrassment, then horror, then shame.
Riker smirked at the couple like he was eager to see more. Data looked more interested in the fascinating flying patterns of a nearby fly. Worf nodded in approval at what he thought was a strong warrior pairing. And Picard looked like he was about to blow a gasket.
Naruto however beat him to the punch.
"Well someone is obviously suffering from pregnancy brain. I'll just escort Sakura-chan here back to our room so she can lie down." Naruto hastily explained before teleporting himself and Sakura back to their living quarters via Thunder God jutsu.
"Wait!" Picard barked but was too late. "Riker you have the bridge..." Picard growled as he made his way to the turbo lift. He entered it and firmly stated his destination and the doors closed.
As Picard descended to the lower decks, he was stewing in his thoughts. mostly about Sakura's actions. How dare someone come onto his bridge and act like that?! And an ensign of all people and HIS supposed body guard! Sakura had a lot of owning up to do, but he had to do it calmly. He took a few deep breaths to calm his temper to a minor simmer. The turbo lift halted and the doors opened.
Briskly he made his way down the hall, not stopping to converse with the nameless ensign that saluted him as he walked by. Upon arriving at Ensign Uzumaki and Ensign Haruno's quarters he once again paused to steady himself before entering.
...smack...
He heard something, something muffled coming from the other side of the door.
'What is that?' Picard thought.
Unable to resist curiosity, he pressed his ear to the door.
SMACK!
He heard it again, but louder, and... something else being said.
"...oh God, Naruto..." SMACK!
'What the hell?! Is Naruto beating Sakura?!' Picard thought in fear.
Hastily, Picard opened the sliding doors and burst into the room.
"What's going on here?!" He shouted, fearing that he had stumbled upon a domestic dispute.
What he saw instead was much more disturbing for him.
Bent over the kitchen table with her butt sticking high up into the air was Sakura. Her hands clutching the counter as if to hold on for dear life. Naruto facing away from Picard and was standing over Sakura in such a commanding way that Picard had seldom seen expressed by Naruto via body language. It was clear by the positioning of Naruto's hands that he had finished taking another swipe at Sakura with his open palm. A dirty look was plastered on Sakura's face as if she was reveling in the pain that Naruto was inflicting on her.
Picard stood frozen, as if the slightest movement on his part would alert the two Ensign's to his presence.
'Oh my god...' Picard thought as he slowly back away out of the room before they noticed he was there.
Naruto was about to give Sakura another good spanking (she needed to be disciplined to control her urges more, which this round of naughty spankings was actually only reinforcing the problem rather than solving it, but Naruto had his urges too), when he noticed a third presence in their room. He quickly turned his head around to see none other than the Captain standing in his room in perfect view to see him and Sakura.
'Oh... Shit...' Kurama thought.
"N-Naruto... Why did you stop?" Sakura asked in a sultry tone.
Thinking on his feet, Naruto signaled Picard to keep quiet no matter what. In his eyes Picard could see that this was a life or death bro favor moment.
Naruto then tore a strip of fabric off from his sleeve and wrapped it around Sakura's head like a blindfold.
"Nothing Sakura-chan." He whispered in a husky voice that sent shivers down Sakura's backside. "Go wait for me in the bedroom. Keep the blindfold on." He rubbed her bottom affectionately, which was only a tiny bit awkward when he was under the gaze of his commanding officer and target he and Sakura were supposed to be guarding.
Picard stood as he watched Sakura feel her way into their bedroom and the automatic door closed.
"Naruto, my sincere apologies." Picard started. "I heard smacking and though that you... we're attacking her..." Picard said hesitantly and quietly.
"Heheh, yeah no. I would never harm Sakura-chan intentionally. At least not...ya know, in that way..." Naruto said trying to laugh the whole thing off, but it was clear that the cloud of awkwardness was too thick to be cut by his sharp wit this time.
"I understand. I, uh... Will give you two an hour to, uh, take care of things. After that, I want Sakura to report immediately to my ready room. Her conduct on the bridge was intolerable." Picard said sternly, yet quietly.
"Narutoooo? What's taking you so looong?" Sakura sang through the closed door.
Naruto was torn; he wanted to argue in Sakura's defense right then and there, but his façade could only last him as long as it took Sakura to enhance her hearing with chakra and discover that she had indeed made a spectacle of herself in front of their boss, again. In the end he silently nodded to Picard in agreement.
Picard nodded back and turned on a heel and left Naruto and Sakura to their own devices.
Sakura lay content on Naruto's lap, an hour of his kinky foreplay had drained her until she was so tired, yet soooooo satisfied.
Naruto stroked his fingers through her hair, it felt so silky smooth to him. He dreaded telling Sakura about her hearing but he knew the consequences would be worse for the both of them if she was late.
Naruto, being the clever fox that he was (Kurama snorted) Naruto pretended to check his PDA he kept on his bedside table as if he had just received a message.
"Sakura-chan...?" He whispered in a concerned tone.
"Mmmm?" Sakura hummed in a content tone.
"I just got a message from Picard. It says you need to report to his ready room immediately for a disciplinary hearing." He said, letting his disbelief and outrage slip into his words.
At that, Sakura's mind was brought back to her moment on the bridge earlier and a wave of utter embarrassment washed over her.
"Oh goooood..." Sakura groaned as she covered her face with her hands. "I still can't believe that happened. He's probably really pissed off."
"Yeah, that kinda was a little over the top..." Naruto admitted.
Sakura elbowed Naruto in what she thought was his gut, but the high pitched squeal revealed that it was his nuts and her eyes widened in horrer as she flipped over to see Naruto holding onto his jewels.
"Oh my God! I'm sorry, sweetie! I didn't mean it!"
"Its fine...(cough), you're going through mood swings right? This is to be expected and I'm far too used to it by now." He replied while nursing his junk.
"Yea, but I meant to hit you in the gut, not your nuts!" Sakura screeched as she moved Naruto's hands away and held onto his area with her mystic palm jutsu. The warming effect of Sakura's Chakra was enough to dull the pain and relax the whimpering man.
"Oh man that feels good... Thanks Sakura." He sighed, his nuts now feeling as good as new, plus a little bit tingly.
Sakura pulled her hand away and kissed her man on the cheek. "I'm really, really sorry. But your boys are fine."
"All thanks to you." He smiled, never mind that she had endangered his boys in the first place, but Naruto was nothing if not forgiving.
"Now about your hearing thing, its bullshit."
"Well, I need to own up to my own actions regardless." Sakura sighed as she swung her bare legs off the bed and stood up.
"Let me come with you. I'm sure with both our testimonies they'll realize this was all a misunderstanding and we can sweep this under the rug."
"Naruto, the last thing I need is someone coming up with excuses. The only one in control of me is me and I need to be in better control of my emotions, especially if we were in an emergency situation like we were at that Khitomer settlement."
"Ok, then how about for moral support? I can just stand right beside you and not say a word. I swear." He said, wanting Sakura to know that this time would be different from all the other times he had spoken out of turn against a superior officer.
Sakura let out a sigh as she pulled up a thong she had replicated for Naruto's viewing pleasure. "My guess is he will want to speak with me alone. If that's the case, you wait on the bridge and don't say a word." Sakura commanded as she put on a rather lacy bra. Again, something she got for Naruto.
"Ok then..." He said dejected at having to stand on the sidelines. He stood up and changed into a uniform that didn't smell like Sakura. That was still a scent he wanted to keep to himself. Plus, he very much doubt Picard would approve of him smelling like sex while on duty.
Once they were both dressed, they made their way back to the bridge, were Riker was sitting in the captain's chair.
"Sakura, Captain Picard-"
"I know..." Sakura said softly and Riker nodded.
Sakura made her way to the door leading to the adjacent room as Naruto trailed behind her.
Sakura pressed a button the keypad next to the door that was the bell.
"Come!" Picard said within his room. The door opened and the two shinobi entered. Picard looked up from his pad to see a nervous Sakura and a rather irritated Naruto.
"Ensign Haruno. Take a seat." Picard said sternly.
Without saying a word, Sakura took a seat in front or the Captain's desk.
"Ensign Uzumaki. You do not need to be in here." Picard said.
"With respect sir, I want to be here." Naruto replied in his most respectful tone. He made sure to stand at attention as to not seem insubordinate.
"Very well, but what is said in here, remains in here. Understood?"
"Sir, yes sir." Naruto replied. He stood back in the corner near the door where he could observe both Sakura and Picard without interfering with their discussion.
Picard nodded and then turned his attention to the pink haired doctor.
"Miss Haruno..." Picard started, which made Sakura cringe a bit. "Your conduct on my bridge earlier was anything but professional. You are expected to keep control of your emotions at all times while on duty, regardless of your current medical situation. While we are all happy for you and Naruto, that is still no excuse for behavior and conduct like you have just displayed on my bridge! If that is something you cannot handle, the you won't BE on my bridge unless in a medical emergency! Is that understood?!" Picard shouted.
Sakura bit her lip, she was so embarrassed she could scream, but that wouldn't do anyone any good. She needed to maintain her composure.
"I understand completely, and again I deeply apologize for my behavior. I don't know what came over me but it won't happen again I assure you." She said in her most monotone voice.
"For the sake of your career, it better not." Picard stated seriously. "You will receive an official reprimand on your record and you will be taken off duty for the next 4 days, starting now. Dismissed."
Naruto felt like he wanted to protest, but one look from Sakura and he kept his mouth shut. Deep down they both knew this was a battle they needed to lose. Considering how easy Sakura had gotten off.
"Mr. Uzumaki... Your conduct was reasonable considering the circumstances, but teleporting yourself and Sakura back to your quarters to avoid disciplinary action is pretty childish. As such, you are relieved from duty for the remainder of today and you will be put on the 3rd shift at 0200 hours tomorrow morning." Picard stated seriously. "Your job will be assisting Mr. Data in purging the phaser capacitors."
Three years ago, perhaps up until Naruto joined ANBU, he would have responded to Picard's disciple with whining and excuses. Even now Kurama got to listen to Naruto whining that he didn't know a thing about purging phaser whatever. But this was an older more thoughtful Naruto who knew things could only get worse if he dared to talk back to Picard. Besides it was just another day off.
"Understood sir." Naruto said saluting before turning to leave the room when a thought occurred to him.
"Sir, permission to speak."
"Please."
"Sir I have a proposal to a safety measure I could use to help ensure your safety while Sakura and myself are away from you. I'm kind of embarrassed I didn't think of it sooner." Naruto said while subconsciously rubbing the back of his neck.
This peaked Picard's interest. "Does this involve shadow clones?"
"No actually. It involves my Flying Thunder God Technique." Naruto replied as he pulled out one of his father's special kunai.
That's when Picard realized what Naruto was talking about. "You want me to carry that blade on my person, correct?"
"Nope, not even that." Naruto said with a smile, enjoying the small fun he had in keeping Picard guessing. Picard however, was getting annoyed.
"Then out with it, ensign..." Picard said with minor annoyance.
"With your permission, I'd like to place one of my Thunder God seals on you, Captain." Naruto said, finally revealing his genius plan.
"And what will this do to me when you appear near me? You have shown that this Chakra you two use has a positive effect on our systems, as hard as that is to believe."
"Well fear not, the seal is designed so that I always teleport near you, never overlapping with you. Honestly the seals act little more than a beacon for me to follow. With a little tweaking I can modify the seal so that you'll be able to alert me whenever you need my presence. You'd just have to run some chakra through the seal and I'll get a little niggle in the back of my head telling me that you need my help. Then I teleport to your side and WAM, instant bodyguard." Naruto explained.
"Only one problem with that." Sakura said, earning a confused looked from Naruto.
"I don't know how to use Chakra..." Picard said monotonously.
So much for Naruto's flawless idea.
"Well me and Sakura-chan can teach you how to make chakra. It's how to use chakra for jutsus and stuff that is tricky." Naruto reassured. "You'd only need to make chakra flow through your seal and I'll instantly know if you need me."
"Perhaps another time, ensign. I have too much to do to learn a new trick for an old dog like myself to use."
"Fair enough. Still though, if you'd like I can place the seal on you now and you can just radio me over the comms if you need me."
"I can allow that"
Naruto smiled and approached the Captain. "Alright, where would you like it and what do you want it to look like?" He asked as he cracked his fingers to get them nice and limber.
Picard rolled up his sleeve to show his forearm. "Just below my elbow and..." He then looked over to a model ship he had sitting on a stand in a corner of the room. Naruto looked over and cocked an eyebrow.
"A bit tricky, but that's why I asked Sai for all those art lessons." Naruto said as he got to work. He made the required hand signs and began tracing the actual seal calligraphy over Picard's forearm, being sure to factor in a backwards distress seal used to warn Naruto if any chakra passed through Picard's forearm. He would need to know Picard's chakra signature in order to limit the number of different chakra signatures to activate it. But Naruto figured that they wouldn't encounter too many chakra users out in space for the time being.
After a minute the initial sealing was done and Naruto began working on the illusion seal on top of the other seals. He focused on the outline of the Ship in a Bottle in his head. Simpler than trying to go for a photo-realistic look, and a lot more stylish if Naruto did say so himself.
Finally, he was done and he took his hands off of Picard's forearm to revel his newly formed tattoo.
Picard looked at the image of his former command that was on his arm and smiled. "Remarkable work... Looks just like the Stargazer."
"Thank our old teammate Sai. Before he started giving me lessons I couldn't draw for crap." Naruto replied.
"It's true." Sakura chimed in for the sake of teasing Naruto. Having fond memories of their first few art lessons they had taken together with Sai as a form of team bonding. Naruto's drawings were nothing short of atrocious.
"What's the significance of that ship if you don't mind me asking?" Sakura asked.
"The USS Stargazer was the first ship I ever commanded." Picard stated fondly. "An old Constellation class."
That made Sakura gasp. He had been doing research on the Federations Ships of the Line from its founding to now.
"But, they had so many propulsion problems! The warp cores were known to be super faulty." Sakura said in shock and Picard chuckled.
"That is true. My crew and I barely kept her running. But one day, you two will understand the significance of your first command." Picard said.
"Oh you don't have to worry about that. Sakura-chan and I have led our fair share of squads back in the Leaf." Naruto said.
"I read about the squads you commanded. It's easy to command a 5 to 10-man squad, but to lead a ship with over 400 crewmen who count on your every decision, that's something else entirely. Forget about commanding a ship with over a thousand crewmen and their families on a ship as big as the Enterprise."
This took Naruto and Sakura by surprise when they realized what Picard was saying.
"Woah, hold on, are you saying that you picture us commanding an entire ship like the Enterprise?" Naruto exclaimed. "But we're just Ensigns. Plus, we're your bodyguards for only 5 years."
"Well, that is if you two decide to continue your career in Starfleet. When you leave my ship, you will still be members of Starfleet and will be called upon if needed again. You will live among your people, living your daily lives like this all never happened. This is something the two of you can talk about at your leisure. And of course, if you wish for your friends and family to accompany you, then they may, so long as they swear complete secrecy about our existence until they develop Warp drive." Picard explained further.
"That's a lot to think about." Sakura said in awe. To be able to remain a part of Star Fleet after her and Naruto's tour of duty was up. And after only spending a month aboard the Enterprise.
"Yeah... I mean being on this ship is awesome, but I still have my dream of becoming Hokage." Naruto said.
Picard nodded. "Well, as I said, it's something to think about."
"Yes, thank you." Sakura replied while her thoughts were preoccupied with what could be.
An air of awkward silence filled the room. "Well, if that's everything, I think me and Sakura-chan will go start our punishments if that's alright with you." Naruto said.
"Very well then. Remember, Naruto. 0200 you need to be up and ready to work."
"I'll be there." He replied. "Um...where do I need to be exactly?"
"On the bridge. Since Data doesn't need sleep, he is in command of the ship during my off time."
"Data is the robot, right?" Naruto asked.
"Android, yes."
"Oh, that's not like, offensive to call him a robot is it?"
"Not to him. He has no emotions." Picard explained.
Both Naruto and Sakura snorted.
"Is something amusing to you two?" Picard inquired seriously.
"Oh its nothing (chuckles) it's just... Is Data a good painter by any chance?" Naruto asked while Sakura tried to stifle her own laughter.
"Exceptionally, why?"
"Oh nothing. I'm sure me and him will get along great." Naruto answered.
"Unless he calls you dickless." Sakura whispered so that only Naruto could hear her, which made them both burst into laughter.
"Okay, seriously. Leaving your captain out of a joke will make him wonder some things."
The two Ensigns continued to chuckle to themselves at the absurd coincidence of it all. It was too perfect.
Finally, Naruto managed to calm himself down enough to answer their Captain who was feeling more and more like a third wheel.
"Whew, sorry, it's just that we have a friend back home who is just like Data so much that's it's crazy. The guy we know is actually a human though."
"Well, then he is capable of emotion. Data isn't because he was programmed without emotions. Interestingly enough, He has achieved what any Human would dream of, and yet, he would gladly give it all up to be Human." Picard said.
Sakura then stopped laughing. "Well what did he achieve?"
"Near infinite knowledge, immortality to a point, he's damn near invincible and possibly the strongest one here."
"Heh, you know it's funny. Back in the day, our teachers back in the academy might have said that our friend Sai was exactly what every Shinobi should strive to be. And we know that he would give that up in an instant." Naruto said.
"But he's an idiot when it comes to social skills." Sakura added.
"And that is where him and Data differ. Data, for an android, is very sociable and can lighten up even the most awkward settings."
Suddenly, Sakura felt a brief sharp pain in her belly.
"OUCH!" Sakura yelped in pain.
"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto said quickly, his voice filled with worry.
"OW!" The same pain came and then went. "Keep getting these sharp pains in my... oh no..."
"Picard to sickbay! Medical emergency in my ready room." Picard sounded as Sakura began to panic.
"Oh no... It's not labor pains because it's too early for that! What the hell is it. OW! Dammit!" Sakura gasped.
"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto asked frantically, hoping for some instructions from her. Some insight on what to do.
Within what seemed like seconds, Dr. Crusher came in with a few nurses.
"What's the problem?" Crusher asked.
"I'm having intense short bursts of abdominal pain... I hope it's not the baby..." Sakura said in a panic as she tried to stay calm.
Crusher used her tricorder to scan Sakura's belly. What she found made her go numb.
"Well, the baby is fine so it's not that." Crusher stated, to which both Naruto and Sakura let out a sigh of relief.
"It's something potentially worse." Crusher stated.
"What is it? What's wrong with Sakura-chan?!" Naruto asked, desperation in his voice.
"She has a ruptured appendix." Crusher stated as she inoculated Sakura with a sedative hypo spray.
"A what!?" Naruto nearly shouted. Everything needed to slow down and start making sense.
"Her appendix ruptured. It's a minor organ off of the large intestine that can become infected and if bad enough can rupture and can cause major life threatening issues if we don't get her to surgery now." Crusher explained.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Naruto shouted as he scooped up Sakura into a princess carry and gunned it for the door.
"No! Wait!" Crusher called, causing Naruto to stop. "If you jostle her around too much, the infectious fluid will spread faster! Set her on the gurney." Crusher ordered.
Naruto felt like everything had stopped as he slowly looked down at the fear stricken Sakura.
"I'll be fine, Naruto. If I can survive everything we've been up against all these years, a little ruptured appendix isn't going to do anything." Sakura said in a soothing voice, it just killed Naruto that she was the one trying to calm him down in this situation.
Naruto nodded. Carefully he walked over to the gurney as quickly as his feet would allow. Careful not to bounce Sakura too much like she was the Holy Grail filled to the brim with waters from the Fountain of Youth.
He set her in the gurney as softly as he could and he looked on with a feeling of dread as he saw Sakura smiling weakly at him.
"I'll be okay. I've been through worse than this." Sakura said softly.
Naruto took her hand in his own and squeezed it tight. "So have I, and I know you'd still be worried sick if it was me." Naruto said. He couldn't help but fantasize that if the tables were indeed turn he knew that Sakura as a doctor would know what to do. He however, was clueless in this situation. What was there for him to do that didn't require brute force?
"You're right, I would. But, I'm telling you to not worry. back home, my mortality rate would be 80% at this point." Sakura pointed out, which made Naruto turn white as a sheet. "But here..."
"It's about 5%." Crusher interjected.
Naruto breathed a shaky sigh of relief. "Holy shit..." He whispered as he looked down at the floor.
"Now let's go." Crusher ordered and moved out of Picard's ready room and then to the turbo lift.
Naruto kept squeezing Sakura's hand as tight as he could, determined to keep her company as long as he could.
"Deck 12." Crusher ordered as the turbo lift doors closed.
Naruto took deep breaths as the lift zoomed them to their destination, his other hand steadying himself on the gurney. That's when he felt a soothing sensation coming from his right hand. He looked down to see that it was Sakura, whose thumb was gently tracing circles around the back of Naruto's hand. They were on their way to the emergency room to save Sakura's life, and she was trying to calm HIM down?
"Please try to relax Naruto. Everything is okay..." Sakura said, tired from the sedative that was kicking in.
"Sakura-chan..." He said softly, ashamed of himself.
He was brought out of his thoughts then the turbo lift doors opened and everyone piled out.
"Take her to med lab 3." Crusher ordered. "Naruto, remain here."
"But..."
"It's alright." Crusher assured. Then something came to her mind that she wanted to let them know a while ago. "Would you like to know the sex of your child? It's been long enough for the fetus to develop that we can determine the sex."
"This isn't the time!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Just relax okay? The procedure will take no more than 10 minutes. Go sit in the waiting room and make yourself a cup of coffee. I'll be right back." Crusher stated softly before walking away, but not before stopping to say one last thing. "It's a girl, by the way." Crusher stated and then continued on her way to med lab 3.
Naruto was left there in the waiting room with nothing but Picard and the knowledge that his firstborn would be a girl.
"A-a girl?"
'Guess my initial scent was off.' Kurama thought.
Naruto slumped into the nearest chair.
"A girl..." He repeated.
"Is something wrong, Naruto?" Picard asked.
The whiskered blond didn't answer Picard for at least 10 seconds.
"It just now sunk in that Sakura-chan is pregnant." Naruto said, his tone barely above a whisper.
Picard put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Sakura is going to be fine. Beverly is one of the top doctors in the Federation."
Naruto nodded, he already knew that of course. Sakura had said about as much in her long evening talks about her new job as Dr. Crusher's number 2 ever since they had joined Star Fleet.
"I know, I guess I'm just...extra nervous now about Sakura's safety, ya know. I can't explain it. Like I've always cared about her. But now it's like, 100x more worrying."
"You're afraid that now that you have her, you're afraid to lose her and the child you two have made." Picard deduced.
"...Yeah...yeah that's gotta be it..." Naruto said simply. He didn't respond again and Picard just let him have his silence for a bit. Somehow he knew instinctively that Naruto wasn't finished. And a minute later he was proven right.
"...I never had a family growing up." Naruto admitted. "I was an orphan. I still am I guess."
'What the hell am I, Kit? Yea I mean, we haven't seen eye to eye until recently, But I've always been here.' Kurama protested.
'Let's not go there, huh?' Naruto thought. It was true he had come to view Kurama as a friend. It was hard to classify their relationship. Kurama was more than a pet, but Naruto couldn't quite think of him as a brother.
"No you're not." Picard stated. "Once you became part of the crew of the Enterprise, you became part of her family, you and Sakura both." Picard reasoned.
Naruto smiled at being told he was a part of someone's family.
"Yeah, it's exactly like it is with the guys back home. All my friends and teammates I've come to think of as family. Team 7 especially. But I've never really gotten to enjoy having family members that look like me, ya know?" Naruto said as he thought of all the fun times he had with the guys, the wacky adventures they had gone on.
"Like I look at Sakura-chan and her family. You see a few people with her hair color or her eyes. People that act like her in tiny little ways. And I'm jealous." He admitted.
"Hearing from Crusher that me and Sakura-chan are going to have a baby girl. It made me realize that in a few months I'm going to be a daddy to a little girl that's half me..." Naruto rambled on while fantasizing about the future.
"I wonder what she'll look like... Will she have blonde hair and green eyes or pink hair and blue eyes? Which would be better? I'd definitely want her to have Sakura-chan's forehead. It would be the cutest thing... Would she have my whiskers? Would she be a bit of a brat like I was? Smart like Sakura-chan? She'd be nice though right?" He wondered fondly.
Picard chuckled. "Okay, okay. Well, as soon as Sakura is out, we have holographic projectors that can create an image of the newborn once it reaches full maturity."
Naruto smiled and began to relax. Not long after that, Crusher emerged through the waiting room doors with a smile on her face.
"The operation was a complete success. Sakura and the baby are in good health." Crusher said happily, much to Naruto's joy.
"Oh thank God, that is such a relief." Naruto sighed, his chest felt a thousand times lighter.
"She is resting comfortably now. I can wake her if you want." Crusher said.
"No that's ok. If I could just stand beside her, that would be enough..." Naruto said hesitantly in case he was denied.
"Sure. I have a chair set up by her bedside." Crusher stated with a warm smile.
Naruto muttered a thank you and wandered his way into Sakura's room. There he saw her resting peacefully amongst the clean white sheets. Her Bob cut hair sprayed across the pillow as if to highlight her head which looked as peaceful as Naruto had ever seen it. He could tell she was in a deep sleep by her light snoring which he always found so cute.
Naruto walked over to her bedside and casually parted a stray lock of her pink hair away from her charming forehead he loved so much. There, right on her diamond seal, he planted a quick peck on her forehead. His lips felt her warmth and he knew that she was ok.
'You know, I used to hate you humans...' Kurama started. 'But seeing what other humans are capable in terms of technology and medical science by fixing what would have been a near fatal incident, I have restored faith in your kind.'
'I thought that was me who restored your faith? With my unshakable convictions and never give up attitude.'
'That was only a small part of it. Which begs the question; How are their humans on two different homeworlds?' Kurama thought.
'What does it matter? Maybe our planet's ecosystems were so similar that they produced similar species to best adapt and thrive?' Naruto thought.
Kurama paused in astonishment that the infamous idiot could put together such an intelligent sounding statement.
'Wow... That's... Actually a reasonable theory. Shocker coming from you, no offense.'
'Hey, I listen every now and again. What's more shocking is that you care about insulting my intelligence. That's usually free game for you.'
'I hate to say it, but I think Sakura is mellowing me out...' Kurama said with slight embarrassment.
'Seriously. I never thought the day would come that you would serve her drinks like that. And people says she's got me whipped.' Naruto smirked as he continued to rub circles in Sakura's hand just as she had done for him not a half an hour ago.
'I honestly don't know what it is. When she's around me, I feel powerless to her charms. I can see how you fell for her so quickly.'
'She's just so cute and sweet.' Naruto thought.
'Like a cherry blossom tree you could rest beneath.' Kurama summarized.
Both Naruto and Kurama froze as they realized what they just did.
'Did we just start thinking of poetry?'
'I mean it didn't rhyme so it doesn't count right?'
'It kinda did at the ends.'
'Sweet and beneath don't rhyme.'
'Yes they do! I take back what I said earlier. You are dumb.'
'Well I still get to bang Sakura. The most you'll ever be to her is a pet.' Naruto smirked.
'Fuck you! Who was it who asked me to be in a threesome with her not that long ago?'
'Not me and not ever! So suck on that!'
"Naruto..." Naruto heard outside of his mind.
Instantly both the man and the beast's attention was focused on their lady love.
"Sakura-chan, I'm here." Naruto said immediately to reassure Sakura.
"You're crushing my hand..." Sakura deadpanned.
Naruto looked down and noticed that he was indeed still gripping Sakura's hand like her life depended on it and was in fact hurting her. He quickly loosened his grip.
"Ohmygod, I'm so sorry Sakura-chan! I didn't mean to hurt you!"
Sakura lifted up her and flexed her fingers, cracking with every movement like she would pop her joints. "Eh... No harm done. Just kinda surprised me is all."
"You scared me Sakura-chan." Naruto admitted. "I can't recall the last time I've ever been so scared."
"Well, had we been at home instead of on a highly advanced ship with equally advanced medical technology, I probably would have come out of that a lot worse than I am." Sakura said softly. "But, I'm okay. I was asleep the whole time and didn't feel a thing."
"Yeah but... It happened so quickly. I didn't know what to do. If this had happened anywhere else..." He rambled on again.
"Naruto, would you stop it, please?" Sakura pleaded. "Tell you what. If it makes you feel better, I'll teach you some medical ninjutsu so you won't have to worry so much."
'You had better take it Kit. That is an offer I simply won't let you-'
"Please do. I would at least feel better knowing I can do something." Naruto responded.
'You do realize that you just offered to train the legendary academic dead last in the most intellectually demanding branch of ninjutsu right?' Inner commented.
'Wait for it.' Sakura replied.
"In return, I want you to teach me the Rasenshuriken and help me make my own elemental version of it." Sakura added.
This perked Naruto's eyes up. "Are you sure Sakura? The Rasenshuriken is the most advanced and power form of chakra control ever created."
"And who was it that always had the better Chakra Control on our team?" She smirked.
'She's got you there, Kit. Plus, who had the worst chakra control?' Kurama smiled at his little jab at his host.
'Shut up.'
"Right, good point. Still though, we may need for you to use your Hundred Hand seal every time we train to help you master it before we finish guarding Picard." Naruto warned.
"Well... Knowing how hard you worked to get it, I wouldn't have expected any less for me..." Sakura sighed.
Naruto quickly caught himself. "Oh but you'll get it so much quicker than I did I bet. I'll be there to help you step by step and like you said you were always a natural at chakra control. It'll be a breeze for you."
"Well, I'm not going to hold my breath on that, but we'll see. After the baby is born, we'll start." Sakura said, reminding Naruto of what Crusher told him.
Naruto nodded and patted Sakura on the belly. In just a few short months, his daughter would be born. Naruto's very own flesh and blood.
Sakura's belly had swollen up a little. It was hard to notice, but there was a slight bump in her abdomen. Sakura laid her hand on Naruto's as he rubbed her belly.
"I wonder what our child will look like..." Sakura said softly and happily.
"I don't know. But Dr. Crusher said it would be a girl. I hope she has your cute forehead." Naruto replied as he continued to trace circles with his palm.
"A-a girl...?" Sakura cheerfully said as she looked down at her soon to be baby girl. She smiled softly as she took Naruto's hand from her belly and hugged it against her cheek. "We're going to have a baby girl! I'm so happy, Naruto."
"Me too Sakura-chan, me too." He smiled her favorite smile.