Fakers! Side Story 2

Thoughts in the wind

By

Hibiki

With his eyes closed, only the faint wafts of scents, the dwindling warmth of the setting sun, and the calming bubble of noise from the city reached him as he sat upon his small patio behind his and Ino's house. The breeze was not cold, but in the increasing shade made it grow more brisk with every gust that issued from between the tall building's that made up the busy heart of Konoha just north of their home. A dog barked in the distance, not one of the Inuzuka's intelligent breeds but a common civilian dog barking at a cat or perhaps just to bark. The growing evening was one of his favorite times of day, perfect to meditate and focus his thoughts. Even with his eyes closed he could see in his mind's eye the colors that made everything and everyone different was fading away into the grays of night. Though hot and humid the days were in the early spring of the fire country, the nights brought a seasonable cool that made walking at this time especially comfortable. Just the other day, Ino and himself had walked for hours in the evening, and while conversation was sparse the most enjoyable part had been the easy silence that had come with her next to him, her soft breathing and little hums as she took in the sights of the city she often had taken for granted when she hurried to and from their house to the T&I facility. Her bright sapphires glancing about and to him as he took in her growing beauty. The silence had not been awkward at all as they finally ended up at the head of his father, watching down at the city he would in just a matter of days become leader of. Soon, all too soon he realized, she would be restricted from moving about as such for fear of hurting the proof of his love for her.

Naruto's smile, both truly happy and yet scared beyond belief, broke through his newest failure to meditate. Ino, only a month into their marriage brought it to his attention that someone new would be meeting them in a few months time. His eyes opened to the last glimpses of the sun as it slid behind the faces of the Hokage. His eyes drifted onto the edifice of his father visage. It was now, more than ever, that he wished for his father's guidance. While it was true, Minato had only been a father an incredibly short time before he passed, he still had more experience than anyone Naruto outside of Iruka. Due to this he felt rather bad, as Iruka had brought him in and sat him down when the Umino family learned of the Uzumaki's pregnancy. While he learned a great deal on how he would need to react with Ino, Iruka often using Shizune as an example due to both her previous and her current pregnancies, it didn't give him the stability of a father's talk should, or so he felt. It was more like an older brother trying to fill in the shoes of their father than what he would have wanted. Deep down, and it pained him to realize it, he was still that little boy who wanted his dad to reassure him that everything was alright.

He worried, as any new(ish) father would, that he didn't have the knowledge on how to handle a baby of his own. Sure he had watched over Keiichi when the boy was very little. But he knew, that any time he was going to screw up or might, Shizune and Iruka would step in and take the boy back. Hotaru was a child not a baby when he adopted her, along with her hospitalization had left him little outside of taking care of her needs as they came. It was easy as he had done the same for himself when he was her age. Then the Haru triplets, teens and ninjas, were accountable for nearly most of their actions save few, to which their mother supplied responsibility. He had had safety nets for all of them. But Ino and his child, was wholly his and Ino's, there was no backup and his time in the wars and with Hotaru had tempered his full out impulsive behaviorism. While Chigusa and Inoichi were close, and Inoichi had done his best in Minato's stead, the fear of the unknown both worried him and excited him.

Everyone had said, this was natural and overall he accepted this, but at times like this, when his mind wandered, the thoughts would begin to pile up. He sighed and closed his eyes again. He needed clarity, for if not for his village then his own sanity.

Ino's first view of her husband was that of his shoulder's slumped and his hand running though his hair uneasily. She sighed as she realized he was letting his insecurities out again, but not in a good way. While she loved him dearly he had a few issues with letting people in, and by far tried to work through all of them either with sheer stubbornness or brute force. But it didn't work for everything. He could walk up to Madara and Obito and fight them openly and without hesitation, even get Obito to change his mind about the world, but if he didn't have a reference to go by he would flounder until something forced his hand. The countless dead and Neji during the fourth shinobi war, Hotaru just months after, and Sasuke mere weeks later. Their deaths were what galvanized and allowed him to do things he never would have thought to do before. What made him the man she loved, while also allowing him to be the man required to lead. However it made him uncertain in regard to many smaller aspects of life, leaving him thinking of any and all possibilities with little headway in solving the issues. Some of those issues waiting in the sidelines until he got his act together. However this one, she herself knew the answer for, and wasn't going to allow him to stew about this any longer. She wanted... no she NEEDED her husband back.

"Naruto." He sat up and turned back to her, his smile was true, but lessened by his thoughts. "You need to stop worrying over everything so much." His smile grew but only because he found it humorous that his wife could read him that well, even without her mind jutsus.

"I just wish I knew if I was going to be an alright father and leader. I thought I was ready but now with all of it before me, every hope and dream about to happen. I'm terrified I am going to screw it up and loose it all." She knew his fears, she had known them since their third week together, back during their fake relationship.

"You have all but been formally announced as the Seventh for months. Tsunade only signs things because it isn't all official yet. Everyone knows YOU are the one who is giving the missions and taking care of them all. And you know what? Outside of Shizune complaining that you are forcing her to stay home more than she wants, not a single one of them has an issue. As Hokage, it's all in your head."

"Shi-chan's complaining I'm keeping her home when she is at eight months pregnant?!"

"That isn't the important thing right now, Naruto." She chuckled ruefully as her husband's usual worrying mannerisms broke through the cloud of angst he had been forcing himself into. "You already mentioned that despite it being your dream job you were going to be a father first and a Hokage second. That doesn't scream bad parent to me, love."

"I meant it but... what if I'm no good at it. I don't want to let you or our child down, Hime. For years I thought I hated my parents, until I finally met them. I'm scared our child may grow up to hate me for something too."

"Have you ever thought, that maybe because of all of this worrying, you are going to be a great father to our baby? Not just this one, either." Naruto's head came up sharply. Clearly, Ino remarked in her head, he had not given much thought beyond this child in terms of their family. "I don't plan on stopping when we have this one, I want a big family. And you know why?"

"N-no." He looked alarmed but a smile was coming up on his face then, Ino's lips caressed his ear.

"Because I know my husband will love each and every one of our children to the fullest." His hands took one of hers, squeezing slightly.

"You'll be there for me? Even when I screw up?" She squeezed his hands back.

"Especially when you screw up. 'Cause I know you'd do the same for me. No one is perfect Naruto. You're not. I'm not. No one is. But I know we'll do just fine." She kissed him softly, letting her love for him move him past his worries. Apparently it worked too well as her body was pulled against his with a fervor.

"I love you." She was kissed again, this time with a fire that she knew all too well. 'I want you, Hime. To show you how much I love you." Nodding her acquiescence, Ino allowed her man to pull her to the bed.

"Mmmm ...Be gentle." Tsunade would remark that she glowed for days afterward.

Apparently her husband loved her VERY much.

AN:

No I am not dead. At least in the physical sense. The written word has escaped me lately. Just not inspired by the canon material lately for anything. That and I have been going through tonnes of Fanfiction looking for gems. It almost feels like most are stuck like me. Kinda worrisome.

To be honest I do not know where this came from. I was writing a few words in other stories from time to time when this thought popped in my head. It was to start as the hearing chapter in the sense series but then I thought about Ino and the Fakers!'s rendition of Naruto's reaction to an approaching pregnancy. It wouldn't ever be about love, Naruto has always had a surplus of love, but the jumping into the unknown that his canon self has that the Fakers! Version does not do had to be explained I felt. In a way show that this Naruto has grown up, just not all the way there.

Then I realized Ino would be too damn stubborn to allow Naruto to wallow in self angst long enough to get far in any sort of emo like behavior.

As for sex during pregnancy, there are a lot of beliefs. Most say so long as no risks are apparent then it is safe. Having done something like this before many years back, with a friend who was single due to her baby's daddy running out on her, and was sexually frustrated (and with many other reasons) to the point of being majorly stressed, which would have been bad for her baby, I helped her relax if you will. *Blush* I would agree, it was safe for her now almost nine year old. She was one of few who helped me figure out my tummy fixation. That all embarrassingly said, to each their own and would not recommend said activity unless so agreed by both parties and perhaps even a doctor's okay. Pregnancies just like menstruation changes relationships when one or both parties realize everything going on. Bah. I'm rambling again. Been a while I suppose.

Hope that despite it's small size and little angst flows it held up to be another small piece in the Fakers! Universe. With hopes that more happier extras pop up. Because I can only see happier perhaps more funnier ones when the mood strikes me to write in this story again.

~Hibiki