Book Two: Unwanted Surprises

Chapter Three:
The Gossip Spreads

Ah. -STRETCHES- I can't believe how sweet you guys are. :D I truly appreciate each and every fan and I'm sorry it took so long to update this blasted thing. Oo;; Between school, finals, vacations, and computer troubles, I finally sat down and I was like 'I gotta type this now!'

Anyways... sorry for that long Author's Note. Please Enjoy. This Chapter might not move as fast as number two.

If you want me...
Come and find me.

Now that Temari looked down, she could really see that, despite the morning sickness, she really had put on some weight. Now she kicked herself for not knowing what was causing this in the first place. It was so obvious!

Yeah. It's obvious now that you know you're pregnant.

So far, her only company had been Shikamaru and his friend Chouji. He would come over every once in a while with little fruits baskets and chips, and other little morsels of food that Temari appreciated.

The only thing was, she hadn't gotten any sleep the past two nights, and hated to think of what she'd have to deal with when Gaara came to Konoha. Shikamaru and Chouji promised to keep her pregnancy a secret, and while she trusted them both, the gossip in Konoha would not be on hold for long. Somebody was bound to notice sooner or later.

She looked over at Shikamaru, who was currently staring out at the clouds. Again. He'd been doing this all morning, and she wanted to know if there was anything else going on in his head besides the usual 'Why can't I be a cloud?' muse. Temari let out an exasperated sigh.

When Shikamaru didn't respond to her, Temari sighed again, making sure it was louder and longer than the first. Her 'bodyguard' looked over at her with dull brown eyes. "Can I help you?"

Temari clapped her hands together and smiled, knowing full well that Tsunade had told him to basically wait on her hand and foot while she was in bed. Sometimes being a little unstable at times was useful. "Actually, I'm quite bored and parched. I was wondering if you'd bring me a book and maybe some tea?" She said in a disgustingly sweet voice. She wasn't that fond of tea, but if it gave him something else to do.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you'd also want me to run to the ramen shop and get you a bowl. And while I'm at it. . ." he had already stood up an was walking out the door, but continued on. "Let me go pick up a big bouquet of roses at Ino's flower shop. What a drag, clouds don't have to fetch books and tea for pregnant women." Temari thought his little rants were hilarious.

Shikamaru's head poked back into the room. "What kind of book?" he asked simply

"I'm kind of in the mood to catch up on my history. And some herbal tea would be delightful." she giggled as Shikamaru rolled his eyes at her, still mumbling about high maintenance women, the pregnant ones in particular.

Temari laid back onto her pillow. This was the proper way to have a sick day: make sure to have a comfy bed and a friend to bother while you relaxed in a bed. It sure did beat having to sit in the rare grass patches in Suna while she burned her eyes looking at the sky.

It also definitely beat out being stuck in a strange building with strange men with strange motives.

Temari looked over at the little clock on the night stand in her hospital room. Shikamaru had already been gone a good 8 minutes. She had to give him some time, though. He was a natural born sloth. Still, she couldn't help but be just a little frustrated with him.

Suddenly, Chouji came bounding in the room, startling her slightly. He was holding a basket filled with little things like apples, pears, peaches, and. . . chicken? He walked over and placed it gently in her lap.

"My mom said you need lots of protein and fruit so that the baby can grow big and strong like me." he grinned, and Temari resisted the urge to let out another giggle. She wasn't hungry, so she simply but politely put the fruit/chicken basket aside. "Can I feel your tummy? Can I?" he asked curiously. "Please?"

"Uh. . ." Temari didn't really know what to say to this. "I guess so, but I don't think you'll feel anything moving around in there." Temari's stomach had swollen a bit, so it was clear she had put on some weight, but she wasn't really that far into the pregnancy.

. . .And she hadn't even experienced the worst of it. .

"Yay!" Chouji carefully reached forward, setting his right hand in the middle of the abdomen. They both waited in anticipation. "I think it just kicked!" he yelled, jerking his hand away slightly.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "I didn't feel anything." she told him.

"Are you sure? I think it's gonna be a boy! That was a pretty strong kick!' Chouji didn't notice the anger vein pop up on Temari's forehead.

"Are you saying girls can't kick?" Temari inquired.

A little sweatdrop formed on the back of Chouji's head. Whoops. "No, what I mean is. . . um. . . gee you look pretty today." he hoped that would save the day.

"Nice try. And let me tell you something. Girls and women can kick ass just as much as men. Especially we hormonal pregnant ones, got that?" she put on an angry face, but she wasn't really mad.

"Scaring Chouji?" Shikamaru strolled in with a large hardback book and a cup of tea placed on top of it.

"Help." Chuoji managed to squeak.

Back at Tsunade's office, Naruto was sitting somewhat patiently as he waited for Tsunade to assign him another mission. She flipped through little files, trying to remember which one in particular she wanted to assign him. "Which one's the biggest pain in the butt. . ." she mused.

See, kiddies, drinking is bad. Drinking makes you forget.

The both of them looked over at the door, which was almost knocked down. Gaara had violently entered, with Kankuro standing timidly behind him. Tsunade resisted the temptation to piss him off even further by asking 'Can I help you?' He was still foul-tempered.

"Gaara? What's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Why'd you break down the door?? Suna has to pay for that now, you know."

Gaara ignored him and stormed right up to the Hokage's desk. "Where is she?" he said as if he were giving a death sentence. "She needs to be in Suna with us. Temari will not stay here."

Tsunade stood up and tried to reason with the Kazekage. "Gaara, I realize that this isn't very pleasant for your family, but try to understand. Temari is unwillingly carrying a child of one of the greatest enemies of both Konoha and Suna. Not to mention, when she found out, she almost fell apart. She's recovering, but it's best she stay here where a more watchful eye can be placed on her."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "She can be supervised in Suna."

"Whoa, hold up! Your sister's pregnant? Dude, who's the daddy?" Naruto piped up inappropriately.

"While that may be," Tsunade continued, ignoring Naruto, "We have very skilled medics over here. She's also good friends with one of the residents, who has agreed to keep an eye on her and protect her."

This worried Gaara even more, if that was possible. The only one she was friends with was that unreliable Shikamaru character. He had no idea what she saw in him. . . He couldn't protect her! "She's coming home, now!"

Tsunade stood her ground and stared intensely. "I'll lead you to the hospital on one condition. You have to let Temari decide."

"Fine." Gaara agreed, positive that Temari would choose to come home to Suna in a heartbeat.

"So anyways, we looked it the trunk and found out it a just a little mouse bouncing around to get out and not a ghost!" Temari babbled to Shikamaru. She threw the book at his head that he fetched for her earlier. "Are you listening?!" she yelled at him.

But Shikamaru simply rubbed his head and pointed out the window. "Tsunade and Gaara are headed this way. Naruto's with them."

Sheets could be heard ruffling as Temari scrambled out of bed and over by the window. "You've got to be kidding me. . . " she breathed. Though she knew Gaara would find out much sooner than later.

They waited a bit, but Kankuro, Gaara, Naruto, and Tsunade were all in the hospital room. Tsunade's face was emotionless, Kankuro looked pretty scared, Gaara looked absolutely pissed off, and Naruto looked like he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Correction: He was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But he knew better than to speak up during Gaara's current mood.

"Kankuro told me the whole thing." Gaara spoke up, coldly. "Who's the father, Temari?" Gaara demanded. "I'll kill him. . ." he growled under his breath and glared out of the window. But Temari refused to inform Gaara. She couldn't take that risk of him leaving to find Itachi and getting killed. . . again.

"That's not important right now." Temari mumbled. "I'm alright, Gaara. Really." she nodded, but still looked very afraid of Gaara. He still hadn't learned to completely control his anger, though he had improved greatly over the past few months. The Kazekage would do anything to avenge his siblings.

"Remember what we came here for, Gaara-san." Tsunade spoke up carefully.

Glaring, but reluctantly turning toward Temari, he explained the little deal he made with the Hokage. "You can choose to stay here with your current. . . bodyguard." Though Gaara had no idea why she would have the preference of staying in Konoha with a lazy Chuunin. "Or you'll come back home to Suna." he seemed to linger on the word 'home' as if he was trying to convince his sister it truly was better over there.

Temari bit her lip and hesitated greatly before speaking. Everyone (save for Naruto) was waiting patiently for her answer. All eyes were focused on her and the pressure was immense. She knew Gaara would be deeply offended but. . .

"I'd like to stay here a little longer. I think I'm too far into the pregnancy to be traveling that great distance again." Though truthfully, Temari had her own personal reasons about why she would prefer to stay in Konoha. This was slightly true, and made for the best excuse in her opinion.

Gaara didn't say a word. Kankuro didn't dare speak, nor did anyone else in the room who had half a brain and a will to live. Even Naruto was silent. Slowly, Gaara turned around and did that eerie walk out of the room he used to do when he was Shukaku-possessed while Kankuro hesitantly walked behind him.

Just a moment later, Tsunade went with them.

And after all of these events were over, Naruto finally exploded with questions. "You're pregnant? And why are you in Konoha in the first place? Who the dad? Is it Shikamaru? I always knew you had a thing for him. . ."

Temari slapped Naruto upside the head before the blonde could continue. "For your information, Shikamaru is my bodyguard, Tsunade told me I was pregnant, and Itachi's the father—" Temari slapped her hands to her mouth upon informing him of that last little bit of information. "You can't tell anyone!" she grabbed his collar and shook violently. "Promise, promise, promise! I wasn't even supposed to tell you that!"

"I promise!" Naruto yelled, a hint of mercy in his tone. "On one condition." he said once he was free. "You have to tell me what happened. I mean. . . the Itachi? The Itachi Uchiha? Sasuke would kill you if he was here." Naruto shook his head.

"Why is that?" Temari asked him.

"Sasuke wanted to 'restore his clan'" Naruto used little air quotes to make his point. "If you know what I mean. Wink, wink."

"I see. . ." Temari looked down, pondering once again on Itachi's motives. Something she was trying to forget.

And so, Naruto and Gaara were now aware of the news. Let's see how long the little blonde can keep his mouth shut about it.

It was another night filled with nightmares, nightmares, and more nightmares for poor Temari. She tossed and turned, tried to keep her mind off of him by reading and thinking of anything else but him, but in every dream she came face to face with him, waking up at the last second before he could have what he wanted—again. Was it just her vivid imagination, or was the Uchiha controlling these dreams? Sharingan didn't do that, did it? Of course not!

Temari thought. Just one more time to try and sleep without dreaming of that creature. . .

And so, her head comfortably placed itself on the pillow and fell asleep to the soothing sound of the wind outside and Shikamaru's even breathing. Soon, she went into REM, which was the stage of sleeping where you could finally have dreams. . .

Temari found herself sitting below a large oak tree. Probably somewhere by the Akatsuki hideout, as one would guess. Instead of her usual outfit, or even the Akatsuki cloak which surprised even her, she was in a loose, flowy kimono with wisteria flowers as the pattern. The silk material was so comfortable, Temari gathered a little handful and caressed her cheek with it.

Slowly, she stood up. Which was a relief that she could actually move. This dream seemed to be an actual dream and not. . .

Not a nightmare.

But Temari was wary, and she looked around for the Uchiha. Once he showed up, it was certain things would go horribly wrong. Even the night was peaceful, and the stars were out, lighting the little wooded area.

Finally, something startled Temari enough to bring her guard up to its max. She quickly turned toward a little shrub planted by some saplings. And, yes, a figure emerged from the darkness. But something was wrong. In a good way.

This male was too short to be Itachi, and his eyes were brown. His hair was wore down, and not in the little pony tail at the nape of the neck Itachi had. For once, she was having some fortune. Shikamaru was definitely a sight for sore eyes in a dream after so many had revolved around Itachi.

"I've been looking for you everywhere. Your brother wants to know where you are." he let out a heavy sigh. "What a drag it was to search. I mean, all these bushes are prickly, and your brother is scary. I had to choose one."

Temari giggled. Especially when Shikamaru tripped and he had to rely on a girl to catch him, and he was one of the most sexist boys in Konoha. "Watch where you step." Temari smirked at him as he regained his balance and stood up. Now Temari noticed that she actually had to look up at him!

Their eyes locked. Is it a drag, now? She thought in her head, though something stopped her from saying it. Now was the perfect time to flirt, and she knew it! She moved her face slightly closer to his. "Well, Shikamaru? Is it a drag, now?"

While Shikamaru wasn't completely at a loss for words, he really didn't want to give answer, nor did he have time. Temari was right up in his face, and he knew she was about to kiss him.

Can anyone say 'Kodak Moment'?

It wasn't really a 'fireworks' kind of kiss, but both of them decided that it wasn't half bad either.

That is, until Temari got a funny feeling in the pit of her gut and opened her eyes to see who she was really kissing. With a gasp, she quickly separated her lips from Itachi Uchiha's. Unfortunately, he grabbed her wrists in time, bringing back more memories from the Akatsuki. "I'm surprised you didn't see right through that. I thought you were smarter than that, Temari."

There was another quality she disgusted. The way he said her name. "Why are you still taunting me? Haven't you had your fun?" she could finally struggle, squirm, kick, and scream at him, another relief.

"Oh no, Temari. I'm not even close to my share of fun. You should learn to enjoy my little visits. It would be a lot less painful on you." he told her, squeezing her wrists on the word 'painful'. "Though I do get a kick out of watching your pitiful attempts to resist me. Just wait until the baby is born. Our baby." the smirk grew wider.

Temari led his hands (which were still clinging to her wrists), up to her face as gently as she could so as not to arouse any suspicions. When they were mere centimeters away, Temari bit down. Hard.

Itachi let out a little grunt and jerked his hand away. Wench. He thought. She's still got a lot of fight in her. That should make things somewhat more enjoyable. "Still trying to defy me, I see. That will change soon enough."

"Don't count on it." Temari spat. "I'm not afraid of you, Uchiha."

"That will change, Temari. Take my warning, it will happen very soon." He waved a little goodbye. Almost as if he knew Temari was going to. . .

In a cold sweat, Temari sat straight up in her bed. Another frightening dream. They just wouldn't stop haunting her. However, she decided she was going to fight back with all her might. If the Uchiha wanted his way with her, he'd have to kill her. Something she knew he was not yet ready to do. Without another thought, she decided she didn't give a damn about the dreams any more.

As soon as Temari went back to sleep, no other dream haunted her that night.

Whoo! This was a LONG chapter and I stayed up super late trying to finish. Hope you enjoyed. Here's some previews for chapter four.

During this time, three males were up to something. Itachi Uchiha, Gaara, and. . . Naruto?

Temari's stomach was starting to turn into a watermelon. Not to mention the baby had what seemed like an amazing amount of stamina. The kicking, and flipping, and rolling was starting to get on her nerves!

Shikamaru refused to admit that he actually enjoyed being Temari's bodyguard.