"Sorry!" Ino calls out as she runs toward Temari and Sakura who are standing in front of her shop. Catching her breath she attempts to explain herself as she joins them. "I had a last minute delivery. Forgive me?" She says while placing her hands apologetically above her head.
"You're lucky Sakura said we should wait. If it were just me I would've gone without you." Temari says coldly to Ino.
"Ahah…thanks." Ino lets out a nervous giggle. "Do you guys have any plans on what to buy her?" She asks as the trio makes their way down the main street.
"Hm…I'm not too sure…I mean; I haven't been to a baby shower before." Temari says out loud as she looks around the shop lined street.
"I'm thinking some clothes, something unisex since we don't know what gender the baby is yet…"Ino says with her index finger on her chin.
"What about you Sakura?" Temari asks curiously.
"Uh…actually, I think I'll just wait to see what options there are at the store." She says nervously.
"Oh, there's that new big department store; should we head there?" Ino says excitedly. The girls agree and they head further down the street.
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"We'll have it delivered to you in about five days or so." A man standing outside a carpentry shop says happily. "Congratulations on the baby!" His cheerful wife says with a beaming smile.
Hinata nods happily and Sasuke politely nods his head before they leave. "I'm glad we came to them to get the crib built, they're very good." Hinata says gleefully while swaying happily at Sasuke's side. "Yes, they're quite renowned in this village aren't they?" Sasuke says while looking at the horizon. "Mhmm." Hinata nods her head agreeably.
Oh…Hinata perks up as she see's Temari walking on the other side of the street. She notices Ino beside Temari and takes in a quick breath to call out to them. "Tema—"She stops when she realizes Sakura is with them, she stops in her tracks and Sasuke looks back at her. "Everything alright?"
Shaking her head she looks back at Sasuke and catches up to him. "Just saw some of the girl's is all." She says with an awkward smile. She links arms with Sasuke and he looks in the direction of Sakura, Temari, and Ino. Curious he looks down at Hinata. "I can always go home on my own." He says with his most uninterested voice.
"Ah, no it's fine. I want to spend time with you today." Hinata snuggles into his side and lightly grasps his arm as they continue to walk home "Especially since you're going back on a mission tomorrow." Hinata sighs. Her head perks up excitedly and she rushes ahead of Sasuke, making her way to a small stall on her left. Sasuke watches attentively as her glowing eyes scan the table full of small silk baby booties. She picks up a white pair and stares at Sasuke with a shine in her already pearlescent eyes. Making his way towards her, he nonchalantly scans the table. Tipping his head to the side and getting a better view he pulls out his hand from his pocket and picks up and pair of blue embroidered booties. "These two" He says whilst still looking down at the table. "Right away" The largely built female merchant says as she reaches for a small bag. Hinata beams with satisfaction as the woman takes the pair of booties from her hands and places it in a small bag. After placing the blue booties in the bag as well, the female merchant turns to Hinata. "Boy or girl?" her raspy voice asks. "Ah, it'll be a surprise." Hinata says with the glow of a mother. Sasuke hands her the amount needed and she blushes as his dark eyes finally meet with hers. "With parents as beautiful as you two, it will be a beautiful and healthy child." Hinata's face heats up with a flare of red; she nods her head politely at the comment. "Thank you."
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"This is adorable!" Ino squeals as she holds up an itty bitty baby sized sweater. "It looks similar to Hinata's old sweater!"
"I thought we were going to go for something unisex." Temari says as she quickly goes through a rack of onesies. "Is light green a universal color?" She asks aloud.
"Light green? Depends, let me see." Ino makes her way around the circular rack and meets Temari. "Hmm, I suppose so. If it's that color of green I wouldn't see why not. The design is a little masculine though don't you think?"
"Masculine? I don't think so; that sweater you were looking at earlier on the other hand sure seemed a little feminine."
"Touche." Ino says and she heads over to Sakura. "You plan to burn a whole through the table?" Ino asks as she snaps Sakura out of her self induced trance at the display table filled with booties and socks, Sakura chuckles "Of course not. I just thought these were cute." She says as she points out a pair of blue embroidered booties. "Well that's not very universal; it's a pretty dark blue." Ino says as she crooks her neck to the side "Oh, how about this pink pair?" Ino says excitedly. "Ino! Think unisex!" Temari yells from the other side of the rack opposite them. Ino knocks the side of her head with a flat palm, "Right, right. It would just be so cute to see a little Hinata running around though you know?"
"It'd be much easier if they just found out the gender already." Temari sighs as she makes her way to another rack of baby clothes.
"I agree. This would be the perfect time to find out the gender right Sakura?" Ino asks as she bends down to look at more booties.
"Yeah." Sakura answers shortly as she looks at the wall displays. Sakura lets out a small peep as Ino surprisingly creeps up on her. "Hey, wouldn't you be able to do something and figure out what the gender is for us?" She says in a loudly.
"Ino; I believe that's called invasion of personal privacy or does it count as doctor patient confidentiality?" Temari asks Sakura.
Sakura thinks for a moment "Well…I'm not really Hinata's doctor so I wouldn't…"
"I know I know, but it's just so hard picking something out. Maybe I'll go look at some bibs." Ino sighs and leaves the display table.
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"Oi~!" A shrill voice calls out towards them as they near the gates to the Uchiha compound. Standing outside the gates with a hand waving in the air and a large bag in the other; Hanabi continues to call out to Sasuke and Hinata. "Hurry, I don't have all day."
"Geez." Hanabi says under her breath as she taps her foot impatiently. "What are you doing here?" Hinata asks curiously as her eyes drift to the bag in Hanabi's hand; placing the large bag out in front of her Hanabi smiles cutely at Sasuke. "A gift, from father." Hinata reaches out for the bag and the smile fades from Hanabi's face. "I threw your old rabbit in there too." She says while rolling her eyes. Hinata opens the bag and sees her old stuffed bunny lying on top of a wrapped bundle. "Well, I guess I should get going." Hanabi says whilst still standing in front of the couple. She takes a deep breath out and waits for the couple to invite her in, or more precisely for Sasuke to invite her in. "Come in for some tea." Hinata says as she looks up at her sister. With a pout and her nose in the air Hanabi reluctantly agrees. "I suppose I could." With a quick nod to the guards Sasuke leads the way. "So, what's that?" Hanabi says as she peers at the bag in Hinata's hand. Quickly Hanabi swipes the bag from her sister's hand. "Baby shoes?" She says as she examines the white pair of booties in the bag. "Cute!" She exclaims with a squeal. "These are adorable!"
"Come inside." Hinata calls out to her sister from the door. Hanabi rushes forward, handing the bag back to Hinata. Slipping off her shoes Hanabi walks hurriedly to the couch and with a loud sigh she makes herself comfortable. With her head laying flat against the couch she looks at the ceiling. "Something wrong?" Hinata asks as she sets the bags on the table. With a heavy sigh Hanabi doesn't answer. Hinata crooks her neck and goes through the gift bag Hanabi handed to her earlier. With a faint smile she picks up her old stuffed bunny and places it on the table. Reaching deeper into the bag she takes out a cloth wrapped package. Unwrapping the cloth, Hinata notices a familiar engraving in what seemed like a wooden box. Placing the wooden box on the table she runs her fingertips on the engraved area, tracing the etched symbol. Walking out of the corridor in a change of clothes Sasuke makes his way towards Hinata. Standing beside her he looks at the wooden box, with a crook of his neck he focuses on the etched symbol. Hinata's hand stills on top of the box and a tear glides downward, settling beside her fingertips. A surprised Sasuke turns his attention to Hinata. Her eyes cast downward; her shoulders tremble as she holds back another stream of tears.
"Hinata…"Sasuke says quietly under his breath as he places his hand over hers. Without words, she lightly grasps his hand. Hanabi remains quiet and continues looking up at the ceiling. With a shaky breath inward Hinata smiles and looks at Sasuke with reassuring yet wet eyes. "I'm fine." With her free hand she wipes away her tears and looks at the box again. Releasing her hand from Sasuke's she removes the lid of the box and reveals a piece of embroidered fabric. With a giggle she wipes away an oncoming tear from her right eye. "I forgot about this." She speaks softly under her breath as she carefully takes out the embroidered fabric.
"It's not finished?" Sasuke says as he notices a needle and thread still pinned in the fabric. With a small sniffle Hinata places the fabric on the table. "I never had time to finish it." She turns her head in the direction of Hanabi. "I thought he threw this out. Did you know this was in here?" Hinata says with a shaky voice. Hanabi sighs and looks at Hinata. "I guess he couldn't throw it out afterall." Hanabi stands up and flattens out wrinkles on the front of her pants. "It does looks like hers." Hanabi hesitates and places a stray hair behind her ear. "I'll get going now; I just remembered I still have some things to take care of." With her nose in the air once again she makes her way to the door. "Hanabi." Hinata's sad eyes follow her sister as she exits the home. With a loud exhale Hinata looks back at the fabric. "My mother taught me embroidery…Hanabi never had the chance to learn from her... I really thought he had thrown it out…Father never liked me spending my time on such 'useless things'…"
"And this?" Sasuke asks as he takes outs a small leather bound book from the bottom of the box. Hinata's eyes widen at the sight of the brown leather book. "This too, I thought all of this was thrown away." Hinata takes hold of the book and unties the ribbon wrapping it. She opens the book and flips through the pages, her smile beaming more and more with each page turned. "My flowers." Hinata says with a whisper.
"Flowers?" Sasuke closes in and looks over her shoulder. Hinata continues to turn the pages filled with pressed flowers. Sasuke closes the lid of the wooden box and he hears Hinata let out a child-like giggle. Curious Sasuke looks up at her. "Here, look." Hinata shows Sasuke a page of her book with a large grin. "I made this when all of our teams were made. See, a violet and an orchid, well a cattleya orchid." Hinata says excitedly to a confused Sasuke. "Ah right, the violet represents Kiba-kun, it means loyalty and devotion. The orchid represents Shino-kun since it exudes a mature charm type of feeling. Ah, here too…" Hinata says aloud as she turns the page. She shows Sasuke another page filled with pressed ivy leaves. "This page represents Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. The meaning of ivy is a continuous friendship." Hinata smiles to herself in satisfaction. Sasuke sits down and places his elbow on the table resting his head in his palm. He watches Hinata flip through the pages, smiling to herself. Slowly he sees her face turn solemn. "What's wrong?" he asks calmly. Slightly flustered Hinata flips the page quickly and avoids answering. Curious Sasuke gets up and approaches her, taking the book out of her hands he turns back two pages. A pressed yellow flower with its meaning written underneath it catches his eye. "Secret love" He reads aloud. Without a doubt he quickly understands who the flower represents. It had to be yellow too. A red flower he's never seen before catches his eye on the next page and he reads the meaning aloud. "Pride and determination" Once again he gets a hunch as to who this represents. He looks up at Hinata and she nervously shifts her gaze. Closing the book, he puts it down on the table and takes a step towards her. "Pride and determination, I'm guessing that one's for me." He speaks in his sultry voice. Slowly and carefully his tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Running his palm flat against the side of her head he leans in and brings his lips closer to hers. "In your eyes are those the two words that define me most?" His voice filled with a harsh hiss, his body nears her; his heat exuding onto her. "I-I suppose, back then…" Hinata clears her throat and takes a step back. Escaping from his pace, her eyes meet his and she quickly fixes her composure. "I didn't know you well back then; so yes." Sasuke lets out a scoff and smiles crookedly. Smoothing his hair back, his straightens his posture and turns around. "Tea?"
"Please." Hinata says cutely as she takes a seat at the table.
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"Agh!" Ino exclaims as she takes a seat at the usual booth at the barbeque restaurant. "Well that took longer than expected." She says while sluggishly moving over for Temari.
"Tell me about it. At least we all found something." Temari said pushing the exhausted Ino along the booth. "I could use a stiff drink; I don't think I want to enter a store for a while after today." Sakura chuckles as she takes a seat across the girls. "It wasn't that bad."
"Not that bad?" Temari shakes her head disagreeably. "I beg to differ." She says as she quickly raises her hand to gain the attention of an passing waitress. "Sake and lots of it!" She yells out loud.
"Honestly, a whole days worth and all I got was this?" Ino reaches into her bag and takes out a bundle of burp cloths, swaddle blankets and a small teddy bear.
"Yo." A familiar voice calls out to the girls. Chouji strides down the aisle with Shikamaru following behind him. At the sight of her husband Temari cutely lays her upper body flat onto the table, bag still in hand, and releases a loud sigh.
"Tough day?" Shikamaru says with a playful grin as he makes his way towards her. Temari raises the bag upward and motions for Shikamaru. Taking the bag he looks inside and chuckles. "An alphabet book…baby clothes…" Uninterested Shikamaru hands the bag back to Temari. "That much and you're exhausted?" Chouji exclaims in shock.
"There was a lot of…variety…" Sakura says with an awkward smile. "So, just coming in for some dinner?" She quickly changes the subject and moves over, motioning the two to sit down. With a sigh Chouji and Shikamaru sit down. "Yup, had a long day today; barbeque should fix that though." Chouji happily says as if opens up the menu. "Did you order yet?"
Sakura adjusts herself "Ah, just…"
"Sake! Here you go, sorry for the wait." The happy go lucky waitress interrupts the conversation with her boisterous voice. "Ah, I see more have come to join; I'll go get some more glasses."
"Could we all have a round of water as well please?" Ino mumbles as she sits herself upright, leaning against the back of the booth.
"Right away!" The waitress takes her leave with a hop in her step. Without a word Temari helps herself out to a shot of Sake. Ino chuckles "It's a good thing you showed up Shikamaru you'll need to carry her home tonight."
"Shopping really took the life out of you all today didn't it?" Shikamaru said while looking at a pooped out Temari. "Too many options, too many kids, all the crying...At this point I don't think we're having any kids." Temari says as she fills up another shot glass of Sake.
"Ah right, I suppose Naruto hasn't gotten a hold of you yet?" Shikamaru turns his attention to Sakura.
"Naruto?" She crooks her head to the side. Scratching his head Shikamaru looks to the ceiling. "Considering the time he should still be in his office…He was asking for you earlier."
Noticing Sakura's fidgety hands Ino leans into the table. "Go. You hung out with us all day; plus it isn't fair that only we get to see our men anyway." Ino says with a sly smirk.
Sakura blushes, her grip tightens on her plastic bags handle. "Then…If you don't mind…" She gets up quickly out of her seat, nods her head thankfully and takes her leave. Making her way out of the restaurant, she sees a familiar silhouette walk down the bustling lit street. She closes in on him and gently grasps the swaying hand at his side.
"Oh…" Naruto shifts in surprise and soon relaxes when he notices its Sakura. She smiles sweetly and tightens her grip on his hand; he reciprocates and shines a large grin at her. "You surprised me." He says with a chuckle. Sakura notices a small bag in his opposite hand. "What did you buy?"
Naruto chuckles and shyly hides the bag. "Oh, nothing that's important." Sakura pouts and redirects her eyes forward. "It must be urgent for you to send out a kage bunshin to go get it for you…" Naruto's grip on her hand loosens slightly. "What makes you say that?"
"I do hope you are back working in the office like you should be." Sakura says sternly. "Ah Sakura-chan…you've caught me."
Sakura sticks out her hand "Give it to me I'll bring it to you." With a large grin Naruto hands over the bag and poofs into thin air. Sakura chuckles to herself. Using a kage bunshin in such a way…only you would…
Sakura looks into the small bag Naruto handed over to her, inside a small pair of white baby booties nestled along with a variety packaged snacks are placed messily in the bag.
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Hinata glows as she arranges the booties on top of her vanity, opening the first drawer to her vanity she places her small book of pressed flowers into it. Sasuke notices her smiling to herself once more as he exits the en suite bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist and a smaller one around his neck. Placing a gentle hand on her stomach, Hinata looks over at the embroidered fabric splayed on her side of the bed. Her smile soon fades as she realizes her day with Sasuke was coming to an end. He'd be back in the grind of missions starting tomorrow and once again she'd be home alone. She watches him through the mirror. His back covered in droplets of water from the tips of his very wet hair, he rummages through his drawers looking for a change of underwear. Hinata sighs internally and runs her fingers through her hair. A part of her couldn't wait to get her pre baby body back. She wanted to feel fit again, at least sexier than she feels now. She clenched her teeth, promising herself to get back into shape after the baby. Many other women would tell her to take the comfortable route after giving birth. You're married, eternally loved and a mother you don't need to get back into shape For one reason or another she could hear it being said in Ino's voice. The sound of something soft hitting the surface of the bed knocks her out of her thoughts and Hinata looks at the bed. Sasuke had thrown her large body pillow into the center of the bed; at this point he was sweetly fluffing it for her. A funny sight to behold, so funny in fact Hinata couldn't hold back her laughter.
"Pft…" Hinata covers her mouth shifting in her seat as her eyes round out into the shape of rainbows on her face. Uchiha Sasuke, the last Uchiha and pillow fluffer; not to mention he was in nothing but his boxer briefs and still had the wet towel around his neck. Looking up from the fully fluffed pillow Sasuke notices Hinata's turned head and shifted body; her trembling shoulders make him question if she was crying or laughing. She contains her laughter and composes herself, looking back at him with a red face and a smile.
"I can't…" Hinata mumbles to herself as she chuckles at him. She shuts her eyes and wipes a tear from her eye. "Ah!" She squeals as she feels a heavy wetness on top of her head. Cringing instinctively she raises her hands to take off the wet towel that had suddenly landed on her but before she could it's rubbed into her scalp and water sloppily drips down her head and face. She exclaims loudly her disgust at the insane amount of water expelling from the towel. Sasuke chuckles deeply as he finally raises the towel, revealing a disheveled and soaked Hinata. The towel slaps against Sasuke's skin as he whips it over his bare shoulder; leaning inward his palms gently comb back Hinata's hair revealing her face. She pouts cutely at him and rubs off the excess drops of water on her face. His hand gently caresses the back of her head and he kisses her on the forehead. She shuts her eyes and hums at the sensation of his soft lips. He smiles against her skin and lets out a small chuckle. "Eager, are we?" the rasp in his voice tingles her insides and she opens her eyes. Her hands lay palm flat on his chiseled stomach. When did I do this? She questions her hormone filled self. Her mind and body were not at all in sync and she quickly lifted her hands off of him. Taking a step forward Sasuke bends lower, his hands grasping her long hair in a lose ponytail like bundle behind her head. He kisses her gently, smiling in between each peck playfully. His hands release her hair and his forearms rest lightly on her shoulders and he gets on his knees. Hinata gasps for air, her head tilting back naturally as his lips continue to cover her every inch. His hands slowly trailing her front, his heated palms skim the very first layer of her skin. Squirming for but a second, her whole body jolts at the feel of his wet tongue tracing her collarbone. She lets out a whimper that causes Sasuke to smile against her skin once more, this time skimming her skin with his teeth.
"Sasuke…" His name barely escaping her lips she forces her hands on him. Holding his shoulders tightly, her nails embed themselves into him firmly. With hooded eyes she manages to take a much needed deep breath. Without any words exchanged between them Sasuke rises to his feet and sits on the edge of the bed, his gaze still set on Hinata. Following suit, Hinata makes her way to Sasuke and quickly finds her hands on the back of his head, his hot breath radiates to her exposed cleavage. Shifting herself the thin straps of her nightgown slip off her shoulders. Sasuke closes in on her swollen breasts and takes a deep breath as soon as her voluptuousness grazes his cheek.
"Hina…" He growls as he places his hands up her sides, fingertips hastily entering her nightgown and pulling it downward revealing her. With her head tilted back he suckles her hungrily, her body tightens as his tongue laps around her nipple with precise movements. She balls up his damp hair in her fists and brings him closer to her. His head shoots back and he looks up at her; his mouth hanging agape and gasping for air, his lips wet and his eyes on fire.