Disclaimer: I haven't managed to obtain the rights to Naruto in the 24 hours since my last update. No, Naruto is still not mine. Please don't sue me. I earn little enough as it is.
Author's Notes: Wow, over 200 hits and 11 reviews in one day! That's awesome! Hugs I love you guys! I love the positive response I'm getting, especially for the pairing. If I haven't individually replied to your reviews – I will soon!
Here's the next chapter!
Chapter 3
Though Naruto had fully intended to sleep a little later than normal the following morning, nausea had him up at the crack of dawn with his face in the toilet bowl. There was absolutely nothing left in his stomach, yet he was loathe to leave his spot on the bathroom floor just in case it managed to find something stashed in a corner of his gut somewhere.
Finally, nearly half an hour later, ashen-faced, he staggered out of the bathroom and got himself a glass of water from the kitchen sink. He drank it in tiny sips and sat on the edge of his bed, shirtless, looking down at his belly. It still looked exactly the same as always. Well-toned, smooth-skinned, the only mark his Kyuubi Seal. Still flat. He even wondered if the previous day had been but a dream. However, the continued lurching of his stomach put paid to that idea.
He lay down on his bed, curled around a pillow, and dozed fitfully for the next hour or so, before deciding to get up and shower. The hot water made him feel better, less exhausted, and he changed into some clean clothes afterwards – all of which a blessing in and of itself after a mission, particularly when pregnant, it would seem.
The word made him pause again. Pregnant. Was it really real? He looked down at himself again. He looked no different. And apart from the tiredness and nausea, he felt no different. He lifted his shirt again and observed his belly in profile in the mirror. Yep. It was definitely still flat. He eyed it suspiciously. Then he sighed, pulling his shirt down and grabbing his jacket. He left his apartment without looking back, the door swinging shut behind him.
--
Naruto entered the hospital with a feeling of trepidation. He had been there many times before of course, though usually when one of his friends, or he himself, was gravely ill or wounded. It felt strange, therefore, to be walking in when he felt there was little physically wrong with him. In addition, he realised he had no idea where to go – the only parts of the hospital he had any knowledge of were the wards. The signs posted about, supposedly to aid direction, were of no help, as he had little idea what any of the medical jargon meant.
"Naruto?" The blonde turned. Standing behind him was Shikamaru. They smiled at each other with a hint of their old casual camaraderie, but Naruto sensed something strange, almost awkward between them. He didn't miss Shikamaru's glance at his stomach, covered by his favourite orange and black jacket, and he blushed slightly.
"Where are you meeting Tsunade-sama?" Shikamaru asked, joining Naruto in looking up at the sign.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders, looking put-out. "I dunno… none of this makes any sense to me…"
Shikamaru studied it, looked around, and then pointed in what seemed, to Naruto, to be a completely random direction. "We go that way, by the looks of things." He started walking off, but Naruto scrutinised the sign one more time without comprehension before following.
The long-haired Chuunin's interpretations turned out to be right however. Minutes later they were waiting in one of the examination rooms. It wasn't long before Tsunade arrived. She looked somewhat startled to see Shikamaru there, but she smiled at them both.
"I'm glad you told him, Naruto," she said. "It was the right thing to do."
Shikamaru didn't say anything, he still seemed awkward about the whole thing. Naruto wanted to offer him some quip, or a word of comfort, but found he had none – the whole thing was awkward for him too.
"Naruto, on the bed, please." Tsunade said, gesturing. Naruto did as he was told. The bed was similar to the ones he'd ended up having to spend time in on numerous occasions at the hospital. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't wonderful either. The Fifth turned to Shikamaru. "You can take a seat over there if you like." She nodded towards a functional-looking chair that was parked next to the bed. Without a word, Shikamaru sat down in it.
"Right, Naruto," The blonde Hokage said, "the first thing I want to do with you is an ultrasound. It doesn't hurt. But it is going to be cold."
Naruto looked nervous. "What does it do?"
Tsunade wheeled a machine over to the bed. It contained a monitor, with a paddle attached to it by a long cord, and a keyboard. "Basically, it takes pictures of your insides. You're going to see your baby with this."
Naruto's eyes widened, and he glanced at Shikamaru, who seemed more alert too, staring intently at the machine. "What do I have to do?" the blonde boy asked.
"Nothing, except take your jacket off and roll up your shirt. And pull the waistband of your pants down to your hips, I need access to your lower abdomen, where the baby is."
Blushing, Naruto did as he was told, and lay back on the bed. He was in a half-sitting position, so he was able to see the screen. Tsunade squirted a horribly cold gel that made the boy shudder onto his belly, just skirting the lower part of his Seal. She switched the machine on, and placed the paddle against his skin.
At once, a hazy black-and-white image popped up on the screen that changed as Tsunade moved the paddle back and forth along his abdomen. "I'm just looking for a good angle," she said, before pausing at a particular spot and adding with some satisfaction, "There."
Naruto wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at. There was a lot of graininess, and a hollow-looking black area, with a dot in the upper side of that. He didn't see anything that looked like a baby. Tsunade seemed to notice his confusion, for she smiled. "Over there," she said, pointing to the graininess, "That's your… well… your womb. That," she pointed at the black area, "That's what's known as the gestational sack. And that," she tapped the little dot "is your baby."
Naruto said the first thing that popped into his head. "It's… tiny!"
"Of course it is," Tsunade said. "It's barely the length of your fingernail. Your pinky fingernail!" She smiled, "In fact, we can barely even see it at this stage – that dot is mostly the yolk sac."
Naruto blinked. "Um… yolk?"
"It's the nourishment for the baby before the placenta forms." Tsunade said. Naruto still wasn't sure what that meant, but let it slide. "And what we should be able to see…" the Fifth adjusted the view slightly, and zoomed on the image, "Yes, it's only just visible… you see that tiny bit that pulses slightly?"
Naruto peered at it, brow furrowed. He could only just make it out. "Yeah… what is that?"
"It's –" Tsunade began.
"The heart," came Shikamaru's voice from next to the bed. Naruto had almost forgotten he was there. "That's… that's the baby's heart." Naruto looked over at him. He had a strange expression on his face, one of wonderment, almost-rapture. The blonde looked back at the monitor, and what he was seeing began to sink in.
"My baby…" He murmured. "That's really inside me…" Even telling himself didn't make it seem real. He felt like he was in some strange state of limbo. He looked at the tiny dot on the screen and memorised every hazy detail of it until Tsunade printed out a picture for him so she could switch off the screen and get him to wipe all the goo off himself.
While Naruto cleaned himself up and fixed his clothing, Shikamaru held onto the print-out. Eventually, Naruto heard his voice. "So it's really real. You… you really are pregnant…"
Naruto paused in putting on his jacket. "Yeah…" he said thoughtfully. "It… I can't really believe it yet… even having seen it." He looked over at the picture in Shikamaru's hands, and rested a hand on his abdomen. The brunette looked over at him, and slowly, hesitantly, reached out his own hand, placing it over Naruto's.
"I believe it…" he said softly. Naruto froze at the other's touch, the strangeness of the intimacy, at the same time welcoming it.
Tsunade came back in, and the two startled away from each other, both blushing slightly. The Fifth looked at them knowingly, and turned to Naruto. "Right then… I want to do some sensing on you." She said. "I want to see exactly how this is possible. I want to make sure you're healthy and at no risk as well."
Naruto felt sinews of anxiety beginning to thread through him. What if something was wrong? Even so, he lay back again and allowed the Hokage to place her hands over him. She closed her eyes, and her hands glowed with green Chakra as she sensed deep into his body. It was in actual fact a remarkably soothing experience. Much like Sakura's sensing had done for him before, he felt himself relax, and the nagging, lingering nausea seemed to vanish.
Several long minutes later, Tsunade stopped and removed her hands. Naruto looked at her questioningly, still worried. She smiled at him. "It's as I predicted. Your body has automatically retained the womb part of your female transformation. It is using your Chakra to sustain it. In some cases, I'd be worried about that, but you have remarkable Chakra reserves – you shouldn't have a problem for the remainder of your pregnancy… as long as you take it easy and don't overexert your Chakra. Don't attempt any massive jutsu… hell, I'd even avoid doing Kage Bunshin if I were you."
Naruto nodded. It made him feel slightly powerless, but he knew it was only for a few months. He could do this.
"I want you to come see me every week." Tsunade continued. "I'll want to make sure everything is running smoothly. As I said yesterday, male pregnancies are very rare, and also quite dangerous. Bear in mind that your body is not designed to carry a child, and as your pregnancy progresses, things might get extremely uncomfortable."
Naruto nodded. "I'll be fine, Tsunade-baachan," he said, forcing a grin. "I'll take care of myself!"
"I'll make sure he does," Shikamaru added from his chair. Naruto shot him a shocked, yet grateful, look.
Tsunade smiled. "Another thing, Naruto, you need to start gaining weight. I noticed you've actually lost weight since your last physical two months ago. You need to make sure you eat correctly." She paused, and looked thoughtful, "Have you been throwing up a lot?"
Naruto nodded, "Is that because of the baby?"
"Yes, it's quite a common complaint, actually," Tsunade said. "The best thing for it is to make sure you don't go hungry, and avoid greasy foods. If it's bad in the mornings, eat some dry crackers before you get out of bed. If it gets really bad, come see me."
"Alright." Naruto said. He was feeling slightly overwhelmed. The Fifth smiled at him, and ruffled his hair. "You'll be fine." She said.
Tsunade kept them for a while longer, mostly giving advice, and setting up appointments for the upcoming weeks. By the time they left, it was past noon. Shikamaru and Naruto walked together, in silence, for a while, before they had to part ways. "You'll be alright?" Shikamaru asked.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I want to see if I can eat something, then I want to sleep."
His companion looked as though he wanted to say something, but then he simply held out his hand. In it was the picture.
Naruto smiled. "You keep it," he said. "I'll get others. Besides… take it as thanks… for coming with me today."
Shikamaru slipped the picture back into his pocket. "You don't need to thank me… you'd do the same thing if the roles were reversed."
Naruto grinned. "Since when do you have a sexy jutsu?"
The other gave a wry smile, "You know what I mean."
They smiled brightly at each other, and in that moment regained much of the easy-going friendliness that had been so much a part of their relationship until that night a month before. Shikamaru gently reached out his hand and touched Naruto's abdomen. The blonde simply stood there. He didn't really want to admit to himself that he enjoyed the touch.
"I'll come see you tomorrow?" Shikamaru said.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Naruto replied.
--
I've tried to research it better than I have my other fics… I hope I'm not making any more stupid physiological mistakes! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review! Once again, any advice on how to improve is much appreciated!