PHASE 1: My New Moon- Chapter 2

It had been approximately two weeks since Naruto's last encounter with Sasuke, and now was a month along his pregnancy. The blonde teen had been pulling on his smile, which was a strained one, whenever he came out of his apartment to face each day. For someone who did not know or had not known of the blonde, he could conclude that the said blonde was simply happy and nothing did bother him. However, those people Naruto was acquainted with could tell the difference between the real smile and the faked one. Naruto's friends and comrades did not notice anything at first glance until they had talked to him. They noted that Naruto had trouble in focusing on some things lately and was a tad bit lonely despite the smiles they were given by him. They had thought it was because Sasuke had left for a long solo mission, which they believed up to the moment, but not the current Hokage.

Tsunade did not have the opportunity to ask Naruto about the child's father he was carrying, seeing that the news of being with a child was a big shock to the blonde that it left her telling the teen to get some rest and come back to the hospital at 9:00 in the morning. Naruto did not appear at the hospital, however, and never did on the following day. Tsunade, worried of Naruto's wellbeing, was about to call her assistant, Shizune, and ordered to get Naruto to force him for a checkup when a knock resounded from the other side of the door to her office.

Sitting on a new swivel chair behind the new desk since the old one was obliterated upon strong impact against the far right wall, which was now repaired, a week prior was Tsunade in her usual glory. She had finished stamping the documents that had the inscriptions of loan, debt bills, contracts, and some promotion letters, which she denied without any hesitation, some time ago and was currently relaxing, stretching her back and arms before leaning forward and intertwined her fingers. She was thinking of what to do with Naruto when she heard a knock. Leaning back and placing her arms onto the armrests of the swivel chair, she informed the person outside her office to enter.

There was a click of a knob that had been turned followed by a creaking sound of the left side of the double doors being pried open ever so slowly. And then, a head with bright, spiky, short, and yellow hair peek in. It surprised Tsunade to see the main object of her concern emerged in warily and closed the door behind.

Naruto took a few steps ahead before stopping in front of the Hokage.

Glancing from head to midsection, Tsunade noted the calm atmosphere around Naruto, whose face devoid of any emotions, leaving a blank expression that one could use when observing a target from afar.

"What is it?" asked Tsunade, breaking the silence that would gradually morphed into tension.

Naruto opened his mouth and took in air through it before he said, "I need a mission." in monotone, but a trace of strain in it could be hear with someone that had a strong sense of hearing.

Tsunade might not hear the crack in Naruto's voice, but she could feel it. With that noted, she said, "You're with a child, Naruto, you should rest yourself. I can tell by the looks of it that you've seen better days."

"Which is why I need one now. I'm not handicapped or anything and I can still do simple things. If can't get one now, I think I'm goin' crazy." Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes briefly whilst rubbing his temple with his dominant hand.

Tsunade furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes. "Whatever you mean?" she had a vague idea of what was going on with Naruto, but did not push the matter. Rather, she wanted the teen to open up on his own with her, which he did.

"Granny..." Naruto trailed off as he looked at Tsunade pleadingly. "C-can I trust you with...with something?"

Smiling for Naruto was trying to share some of his burden, Tsunade pushed off a little from the backrest of her chair and said, "Of course." to reassure.

"See here..." Naruto scratched the back of his head with his left hand; a mannerism he had that would kick in whenever he was hesitant, struggling or desperate, and scrunched up his nose, trying to stay calm. "It's a long story...or perhaps a complicated one... But to be frank..." at that moment, Naruto's voice became a whisper that Tsunade did not catch the whole thing.

"Excuse me? Could you repeat that?" asked Tsunade, straining her ears.

"... I- I said t-that... Sas-Sasuke... He... He..."

Fed up with the hesitation and stuttering, Tsunade yelled to Naruto to get on with it, and in turn, Naruto spilled it out.

"I SAID SASUKE WAS THE ONE WHO KNOCKED ME, SAYING HE LOVED ME AND I DO LOVE HIM, TOO, BUT NOW HE HATES ME!" Naruto exclaimed in one breath, leaving him breathless, and complete silence followed his outburst with the Hokage looking dumbfounded.

"... What did you just said...?"

Naruto flushed red, feeling embarrassed of his outburst. Not able to take the small humiliation that scratched his ego, he politely apologized to the Hokage, turned his back in one swift motion before walking out stiffly. It was when the door finally closed that Tsunade did register what Naruto had told her, and she cursed under her breath, believing that she had just ruined her chance to get Naruto to trust her with his predicament by making him feel ashamed of his sexual orientation.

Naruto walked briskly away from the Hokage Tower in fast and long strides to wherever his feet would bring him. He balled his fists and gritted his teeth, cursing his hormones for the mood swings that was subtle, yet he knew when he was not acting like himself. He felt like he was going nuts if he did not do any low ranked missions that would take his mind off a certain young man, and confronting the Hokage took a lot of positive outlook he had in order to do it, only to be ashamed in the end. It was unusual for one to feel in love with the same gender in their village after all, and thinking back, Naruto only realized the depth of his real problem.

Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, was the only known jinchuuriki to ever give birth to a child with a tailed beast sealed within her. Because of her being a vessel to one of the tailed beasts, it took her ten months before her due date, and during labour the seal weakened; an opportunity for the enemy who then unleashed the kyuubi upon the village.

The thought of someone out there who might have similar goal like the man from a long time ago made Naruto panic. His brain was working too fast; thinking of what ifs and possible solutions, and whatnot, made him feel dizzy that coupled with a fast beating heart. Naruto's pace faltered to a stop as he tried to even out his breath. He was only a month pregnant, which was a crucial first stage of his pregnancy. He remembered the doctor that had first check on him during the annual ninja checkups that the embryo's hold on his womb was not strong enough and one small mistake would kill his child. Furthermore, Naruto was also in danger. Instead of ten months like his mother, he will carry his child for eleven to twelve months because the child's growth within him was hindered by the kyuubi that was out of his cage.

Kyuubi's chakra, which was prominent inside Naruto's system, can hinder the fetus's growth in the womb because of the negative chakra that was mixed in while Naruto's was not only regulating the fox's but also supplying his child put a great toll in the blonde's health. So, panicking is not good, Naruto thought. However, he could not stop worrying, which only took up a notch upon realizing the danger that was not far away from him. He attempted to think of anything saved for those he was trying to clear off his mind to no avail as he kept drifting on the matter.

Fortunately though, Naruto happened to stop in front of Ichiraku's Ramen and Sai, who was passing by, saw him.

"Naruto." Sai called as a waved a hand close to Naruto's pale face, making the latter jerked back in reality. "Fancy meeting you here. It's been awhile since we hang out, hasn't it?" he smiled.

"No shit." Naruto sighed in exhaustion that did not went unnoticed by Sai.

"Anything wrong? Perhaps ramen could help?"

Naruto was glad of the distraction that was Sai and happily said, "Would yah treat me a bowl or two?"

"Of course." replied Sai with a smile and beckoned for Naruto in the Ramen stand and sit before he followed suit.

"Old man!" Naruto exclaimed as he called the attention of the man who was drying strings of cooked noodles.

"Oh, hello Naruto! And Sai, too! What would you like?"

"A regular size miso ramen."

"Me, too" Sai added.

It did not take long and two bowls of regular miso ramen was brought forth for each of the teen to enjoy for lunch. With a custom 'itadakimasu' Naruto dug in first with gusto while Sai was a second later in his leisure pace. However, Naruto had not even taken his third bite when the familiar feeling in his stomach made itself known. At first he thought it was the same as before; feeling nauseas but not throwing and continued on, but no. He was wrong. The food he had eaten was rising up and was threatening to be spat out. Without much of a choice, Naruto bolted up and out, leaving a surprise and confuse Sai.

"What's wrong with him?" was the thought that left Sai's lips before shrugging it off and finished his meal.