Naruto sat where he was until Sasuke had fully retreated into his bedroom for a full ten minutes. His mind raced at the possibilities; Sakura, the future mother of his child, becoming friends with his sometimes best friend and recent lover. 'I can't...'he thought to himself. 'I can't do this to Sakura' he repeatedthis over and over in his mind, even as he opened the door to Sasuke's room. The other man was sleeping peacefully on his bed.
"Sasuke..." Naruto whispered, walking up and sitting on the edge of the bed. Unknowingly, he began to stroke the other man's cheek, watching the firm line of his mouth contort into a faint smile. Unable to resist, he leaned down and kissed him. Even in sleep Sasuke's body reacted, pulling Naruto beside him, deepening the kiss. More than anything at that moment, Naruto wanted nothing more than to just lay within the safety, and suprising normality, of Sasuke's arms. He would have too, if the sudden brutality of looking into Sasuke's onyx eyes didn't make the guilt drop like a stone in his belly.
Sitting up, Sasuke spoke first. "I talked to Sakura this morning. You shouldn't feel guilty about choosing Sakura. You guys are going to be married, not to mention you have a baby on the way."
Naruto grinned as Sasuke continued.
"So cheer up, and think of something to do that doesn't involve physical contact." Sasuke made sure to puncuate that with a grimace.
"Alright Sasuke! Let's go baby shopping! Plus I have to tell Baa-chan, man she's ancient..." Sasuke grinned seeing his friend's behavior return to normal. It was sometimes hard to remember that before anything they were friends, and he was glad to return to it now.
Finally at peace now that he accepted Naruto's fate to marry Sakura, he headed off scowling, feeling better than he had in days.
At the wedding gown boutique, Sakura was in a flurry. "Quick Ino! Which design do you like better?" Ino barely began to point at one before she continued. "What, no way! What about this one?" It was a long day at the boutique, even longer as people began to whisper about Sakura being in there.
At some point, someone's curiosity forced them to ask "Who are you marrying Sakura?"
Sakura beamed at the woman. "Uzumaki Naruto!" There was a simultaneous gasp from every woman in the shop. Everyone knew he was next in line for Hokage, and that he was a total babe, looking more and more like the fourth every day.
Walking out arm and arm with Ino, Sakura felt great. She had talked to Sasuke about the two men's affair, and had taken care of that. Now she had found her dress, and the date was set for two weeks in the future for her wedding. The only thing left, was the pregnancy test.
"Here we are," Ino whispered to Sakura.
"Yeah..." she whispered back, watching as Ino left to go back to the flowershop. Entering, she saw Tsunade was checking things in her usual military style. Sakura smiled at her old mentor who was also like Naruto's godmother.
"Sakura?" Tsunade questioned with a raise of her brow. "What is it you came for?"
Saukra blushed. "Uh...Hokage-sama, I would like..." Tsunade rolled her eyes and pushed Saukra into the nearest room. Jabbing a medical gown at her, she continued.
"Put this on, pee in this cup."
Sakura blanched. "But I didn't even tell you why..."
Tsunade cut her off with a flick of her wrist. "You're marrying Naruto in two weeks right?" Sakura nodded. "It's not too hard to guess what your 'predicament' might be."
Sakura blushed at Tsunade's bluntness, but put the gown on waiting was nigh torture; it took up to 20 minutes for Tsunade to come back with the results.
When she did return, Tsunade was grinding her fist into her forehead. Sakura smiled weakly; it must be hard for her to see such a young unmarried woman already pregnant. "Tsunade-sama..." Sakura began quietly. Tsunade sighed, but didn't remove her hand from her forehead.
"Sakura, you're not pregnant."
It took a few moments for it to sink in. "But... but I didn't get my period last month. I..."
Tsunade interrupted. "You know how it can be. You're a kunoichi. Plus, Naruto being in the hospital put stress on your body. Though unlikely, these things can happen." Sakura felt like she was about to cry. Tsunade, in a rare moment of kindness, sat and put her arm around Sakura.
"Listen. I kow this is difficult for you to take in, but you cannot keep this to yourself. Naruto needs to know." Sakura sniffed to keep back the tears.
"But, we're getting married."
Tsunade nodded. "And you still can." Looking Sakura square in the eye, Tsunade continued. "If Naruto really loves you, than you being pregnant or not should not affect his decision."
Saukra nodded wordlessly. Putting her clothes back on, she turned to leave. "Oh, and Sakura," Tsunade stated. "It will be worse if you hide it, trust me on this." With that thought, Sakura turned and left.
Shopping for baby clothes was fun for the two shinobi. It felt like they were back in school, with Sasuke still able to kick Naruto's ass in any contest of skill.
"Look at this Dobe, just your size." Sasuke said, holding up a pink newborn baby onesie. Naruto glared at him.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be the one wearing pink Teme" Naruto replied with a grin. The two argued and laughed over the various objects created for back home, Naruto turned in the direction of Sakura's house. "C'mon. Let's suprise her with all this baby stuff."
Sasuke grinned at him. "Not even married and she's got you on a leash."
Naruto growled and socked Sasuke. Sasuke karate chopped him in the back of the knees, bringing him down. Before they knew it, they had half of the villagers on Sakura's street outside.
"Naruto! Sasuke!" Sakura yelled, horrified. Grabbing both men by their collars, she dragged them into her house.
"What's wrong with you two!" she hissed out. Sasuke had a bruise forming under his eye and Naruto walked with a limp.
"We're fine, it doesn't even hurt." Naruto muttered. "Besides that, we brought you a present." Sakura looked down at the bag in his hand, handling it gently. "Since I don't know if it's a boy or girl, I decided to buy everything in blue and pink."
Sakura giggled. "You could have just bought nuetral."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "See, this is what you're procreating with Sakura. You better hope the baby gets your genes when it comes to brains."
Naruto glared at him. "What did you say?"
Sasuke smiled. "I called you stupid,baka." Within the next few seconds, Naruto had Sasuke grappled on the ground.
In the meantime, Sakura just stared at the baby clothes, ignoring the cursing and punching sounds coming from the other side of the living room. Glancing up, she couldn't help but notice how normal everything seemed. If you were to just walk in, you would never had guessed the two men giving each other black eyes were once lovers, or that the girl sitting watching was meant to marry one and was thought to be pregnant with his child. Sakura mused at the uncertainty and craziness of life, all from gazing at the two men of her past, present, but most of all, heart.
It took about ten minutes before Naruto and Sasuke stopped fighting. Sakura had already gotten up to eat in the kitchen and was writing wedding invitations. "I see you two are finally done."
Sasuke growled. "He's just mad because I'm right."
Naruto growled back. "If my head wasn't spinning I would knock you one." Admist a lot of groans of pain and cursing of the other's mother, Sasuke and Naruto declared they were going home.
"Thank you Naruto. Sasuke." Sakura said, going over to Sasuke and giving him a hug. With a wordless nod, Sasuke went to wait in the living room, giving them privacy.
"Your welcome." Naruto said with a grin, pulling her into a kiss. The kiss seemed longer and more passionate than it had at other times; it even caught Naruto off guard. "Well, I should be going. You need your sleep." Naruto said, rubbing her belly lightly. "Good night little one" he whispered.
The guilt began to creep into Sakura's heart, but finally hit home when they walked into the living room to find Sasuke already gone. 'This is unfair' Sakura thought to herself.'I used a child as leverage over Sasuke in the beginning, and I'm doing it now. Though she continued to tell herself that, she couldn't seem to tell Naruto the truth; so instead she kissed him good night and locked the door as he left, hoping that the action would lock out her shame as well.
TBC. Ok guys, I think there's only one more chapter left that I'm going to do! *Sigh. Please keep reviewing I would like to hear from more people and thank you to all those who just gave it a chance. *mwah