THE DICHOTOMY OF FAMILY AND GENETICS

Naruto never though much about her own family – her background never seemed important to her; a moments carelessness meant she got one whether she wanted one or not. All of a sudden, she finds herself missing what she had never had, and what she had never missed, before. SasuNaru (FemNaru), slight GaaSaku, ShikaIno, KakaRin, JiraTsu, MinaKushi, & YahiKonan.

CHAPTER III
~ TWENTY-SEVEN HOURS ~

It isn't easy growing up in world war three,
Never knowing what love could be.
Can we work it out? Can we be a family?
Let's play pretend,
And act like it comes naturally.

"I can't believe this; why am I even here? This is for people who want their kid!" Naruto muttered to herself as she pretended to burp a small pillow with a wailing face drawn on it in permanent marker.

"You aren't keeping yours?" Ino asked, clearly surprised.
"Nope; my social worker's arranged for this couple to adopt it, he keeps 'forgetting' the paperwork though..." Naruto frowned.

If Naruto had though Iruka was against using underhanded methods to get her to reconsider adoption before, she certainly wasn't now. Really, it seemed that everyone was determined to change her mind!

"Social worker?" Ino asked.
"Orphan" Naruto clarified.

She gave the pillow a half-hearted pat; out of the corner of her eye she could see Sasuke giving her an indecipherable gazed; damn it, she wasn't getting into this!
It was a trap!

"I thought of doing that too, but... He's mine. Not someone else's. Even if I did give him up, I'd still be his mother; giving him to someone else doesn't change the fact that he's my son" Ino commented, staring down at her own distended stomach with a soft smile.

Naruto gripped the pillow tighter; she didn't want to admit it but Ino was right. Giving the baby to someone else would not change the fact that she was a mother, in the clinical sort of sense. She'd carried it this long, and she would be the one to give birth to it; according the dictionary, she would be a female parent. She would be someone's mother; distant or not, she'd never be able to change that fact.

She would be a mother; she would give birth to a child. Whether she wanted it or not, she would have a family. A small, screaming, wet, human that shared her genetics; someone related to her (and Sasuke) by blood, who shared her unknown ancestry.

She'd had her family already, she had told herself, but she really hadn't, had she? She had always believed she didn't care about her parents – they abandoned her, so why should she care? But wasn't the way she placed her friends in those roles proof that she did?

Mikoto was the mother she never had: Sakura, Tayuya, Gaara, Itachi, and Obito were like siblings to her. Grumpy old Fugaku too; he'd always looked after her in his gruff manner, keeping boys away from her when she was younger - including his own son - like an overprotective father (Sasuke was a different kettle of fish altogether).

But that was it; they were like family, but the weren't the real thing. Over the past seven months, she'd been forced to look at her life in a lot more detail; her beliefs and choices had unexpectedly and unobtrusively followed into that category. The revelations felt like a rug had been pulled from her feet.

She wanted a family after all; she had a chance to have that family too, but every time her baby kicked her insides it was completely foreign. Thanks to Ino, Naruto could freely admit that she wanted her baby more than even she had thought – the thought of giving her up filled her with something she could only describe as refusal and horror.

She wanted her daughter, but she had no idea how on earth she was supposed to be a mother; she'd never had one after all. How could she give a baby a family when she didn't even know what it was besides the dictionary definition?

Her daughter gave her a particularly strong kick, and Naruto winced.

Sasuke watched Naruto as she listened to whatever Ino was saying to her; he couldn't lip read but he could guess from Naruto's reaction what the topic was. Shikamaru had already told him that he and Ino were keeping their son, and already inquired about theirs (he was certain it was a boy). When he'd explained their situation, the boy had muttered one word: Troublesome.

Sasuke couldn't help but think that the boy had summed up the situation perfectly. He also worried that the lazy boy's girlfriend had just added unnecessary fuel to a forest fire. When they were dismissed, Naruto stood by Ino in a daze, nodding along to whatever the girl said and absently exchanging phone numbers. Her distant manner remained as they walked back to the spot where Obito had dropped them off.

"Are you all right? I figured you'd be jumping for joy right now" he asked.

"I... I don't know; I fee like everything I believed in was just like a dream, or an escape; that place really... Some of the things Ino said made me think about things I didn't want to" she mumbled, not looking him in the eye as her hand encroached the front of her stomach.

For a brief moment Sasuke wanted to go find the blond girl and kiss her.

Whatever she had said had Naruto openly acknowledging her baby after months of disinterest. She'd allowed herself to humanise the baby, and his mother had dragged an innate subconscious interest from her, but the only time he'd seen Naruto make a gesture like that had been when the baby first kicked her.

She hadn't reacted to that out of interest, but surprise; she'd let him take an interest, but she hadn't really taken an interest herself. She'd poked her stomach in occasional irritation, but apart from the press on her bladder, that was as far as her contact with the baby had gone.

Whatever Ino had said to her had either been the right thing, or had simple come at the right time and with the right words. Maybe hearing what everyone else had secretly been trying to convey from someone in the exact same position had been a factor. He didn't really care, he just wanted to find that Ino girl and thank her for giving his girlfriend the wake-up call everyone else had been attempting for seven months.

"Obito's right isn't he? I'm really going to be a 'Mama' aren't I?"

She asked as if she didn't want to hear an answer she already knew herself; Sasuke answer her any way.
"Yup."

Naruto gave him a contemplative look, asking another silent question she didn't want an answer too: 'You want to be a dad don't you?'
This time Sasuke didn't answer; any more words would have ruined one of the most important moments he was likely to live through.

The door slammed angrily, and Naruto jerked awake; a trail of drool dripped from her chin, which she hastily wiped as she angled her head over the sofa to glare at whomever had disturbed her nap; a pink thundercloud was muttering to itself as it threw down its coat and gloves.

"Should I even ask?" Naruto asked, giving her flat-mate an alarmed look.
Sakura let out a largely suppressed howl of fury.

"She knew! She knew all this time!" Sakura raged, throwing herself into her favourite char with murder in her eyes.
"Who knew what?" Naruto asked, still confused; who was she supposed to cursing on Sakura's behalf?
"Tayuya!" Sakura spat.

Naruto was surprised; Sakura and Tayuya usually got along quite well. They had sisterly spats occasionally, of course, but Naruto had never seen her best-friend look so murderous, and especially not towards her older sister. What on earth had Tayuya done?

"She knew where our father was all this time! She knew he was alive!" Sakura roared, answering Naruto's question for her.
"What?" Naruto asked, suitably horrified.

Naruto wanted to severely box the darker pink-haired girl around the ears; Tayuya knew what finding their father had meant to Sakura! How could she have let her chase loose ends for months when she'd known where he was all along? How had she kept something like that a secret?

"My thoughts exactly! I don't understand how she could do that! Why would she do that Naruto? What possible reason could she have for something like that?" Sakura's tone was dropping in volume; she seemed to have gotten the majority of her raw anger out.

Now Naruto had to stitch up the gashes its source had caused.

"Maybe she doesn't like him?" Naruto suggested.
"I asked her that already; she doesn't have any problems with him at all! She knows why he's in jail, and she doesn't care! I don't understand it at all!" Sakura replied, a trace of betrayal laced into her more peaceful anger.

Naruto frowned; Sasori had helped his mother onto the next life at her request – in other words euthanasia. He'd been caught and even though people had witnessed her ask him to do it, he had been sentenced to Twenty years imprisonment and had his medical licence permanently revoked.

Naruto could see why Tayuya didn't mind his jail-status or criminal record all that much; it was such a misguided subject after all, and his reasons could hardly be murderous. That being said, Tayuya was never the type to care about such matters; her own revelation to the girl had only generated a few moments of surprise.

It wasn't new to her though; Naruto had seen plenty of kids with Tayuya's attitude that had carried far worse damage before the two sisters had arrived at the orphanage. She knew what a mask looked like, far more than she would have liked.

"Maybe she cares more than she's letting on Sakura; it might be something else she hasn't told you about" Naruto suggested, lowering her own voice in the hopes that Sakura would follow.

"Then she should be able to tell me; I'm her sister for crying out loud!" Sakura complained reverting back to her usual register, leaning back and staring at the ceiling in a manner that exuded frustration.

She settled her gaze back onto Naruto, giving her a scrutinising look.
"Since when did you get such an expert on family disputes?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Naruto snorted, doing her best to ignore the comment.

"I've been in care longer than you have Sakura; it wouldn't be the first time I've seen someone put up a tough face" she replied flopping back and shutting her eyes.
"That's bull and you know it; you've been unusually empathic even for you recently" Sakura stated; Naruto ignored her.

"Can I ask something?"
"You're going to ask it whatever I say; I guarantee no answers though" Naruto mumbled with a half smile – it seemed Sakura had forgotten her problems in exchange for her own.

Maybe she shouldn't have intervened after all.

"Why are you so adamant on giving the kid up for adoption? You know what it's like better than me, better than Gaara even – you just said as much! I don't see why you would willingly put a kid through that," Sakura told her quietly.

Naruto sighed; she didn't want to have this conversation.
"You know why" she replied.

"I know the reason you keep telling everyone including yourself because you don't want to admit the real reason"
"There is no real reason Sakura; I just don't want a kid. Plain and simple" Naruto informed her pointedly.
"Uh-huh, sure, if that's the case why were you so freaked out after going to that pre-natal class last week?"

Naruto didn't have an answer Sakura would be satisfied with; she really didn't like the way this conversation was going.
"Sasuke told me you were talking to the other girl Orochimaru tutors, and do you know what I think?"

Naruto made no attempt to reply.

"I think she's got you thinking about this whole thing; she said something that's made you recognise things you've been blocking out since-"
"I haven't been blocking anything out!" Naruto yelled, only realising the meaning behind her outburst after it had broken free; denial.

"Then why are you so mad? I'll ask again Naruto, and this time I want a straight answer; why do you want to give up your own kid like this?"

Naruto flinched, but quietly replied all the same.
"I don't know."

Sakura's frown told her she'd have to do better than that.

"I don't... I don't know how to be a good... I don't how to be someone's family Sakura; how do I do that? I've never had one, so what am I supposed to relate this to? I'd rather she gets a decent family from strangers than a half-baked one from me!"

She'd said it; completely blurted it out. Instead of snorting as someone else would have, Sakura mulled her words over; she at least had an inkling of understanding after all.

"Naruto think about what you just said" Sakura instructed, fixing her gaze on her best friend.

Naruto didn't understand the directive; she knew what she had said! She was the one who had said it!
What did her words have to do with anything?

"If you can say that, then you have nothing to be worrying about" Sakura informed her, rising from her seat and heading over to the small kitchenette.

Naruto sat contemplating Sakura's words for a long time.

"Happy Birthday" Sasuke said quietly, handing her his gift wrapped box.

The party was long over, and any other person would have enjoyed it but Naruto appreciated Sasuke's quiet congratulation more than the noisy party Sakura had created from nowhere; her birthday wasn't really her birthday after all.

It was the day Iruka had found her on the steps of the children's home with nothing but a blanket, her necklace, a small toy fox, and a note with her name on in a shipping box for salt Ramen. She had been a few weeks, maybe even a month old; the 10th of October was not her birthday.

The only thing she really celebrated today was the fact her parents had bothered to give her a name. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Sakura's sentiments, or anyone else's, but it was hard for her to enjoy them when she'd really rather the day hurry up and end.

Sasuke knew she didn't really celebrate in her own mind, so he kept his own short, simple, and private.

Opening up the shiny orange paper, she opened the box and pulled out a pair of tiny white-gold pendants on a thin chain of the same material; one was the preferred Kanji for her name, and the other smaller characters for the Ramen affiliation her name held.

Naruto wanted to go up to Iruka and rub the present in his face; Sasuke was a serious person, but he knew her better than anyone else. She leaned up and kissed him with a little more fervour than she usually doled out.

She knew some women still enjoyed sex when they were pregnant, but she certainly didn't, and pitied her poor boyfriend. He really deserved a medal for putting up with her; they'd gone from having a fairly active relationship to nothing seemingly overnight. He probably had blue balls by now.

"Thanks; Put it on? I feel lazy..." Naruto asked, holding up the pendants.
"Since when is that new?" he asked, rolling his eyes but taking the necklace all the same.

Once it was fastened, Naruto flopped back onto her human pillow; Sasuke was busy staring at the TV, watching some sort of animal documentary on birds of prey, but Naruto's view was slightly marred by the bulge of her belly, and she couldn't help but stare at it as she mulled things over yet again.

Ino and Sakura's words had changed her attitude towards her baby drastically; she hadn't actually spoken the new desire to keep it, but she was certain Sasuke knew. The main thing holding her back was her insecurities of motherhood; she'd never experienced it with anything but her name, so how was she supposed to replicate it?

Ino had already had her son. Mujiro was a cute, loud little kid with dark hair an eggshell eyes; Ino had spent weeks looking through books of baby names, only to be hit by inspiration on a trip to the zoo in front of a badger exhibit. Well, more like he had decided to break her waters in the middle of the crowd. Shikamaru called the boy troublesome a lot, but it was easy to see the love in his words; it seemed almost a term of endearment for Mujiro and his mother.

She realised that if she was going to be a good mother, the first thing to do would be to at least give the poor girl a name; that was all well and good progress, but with exactly 31 days left till her due date (10th November), she didn't have much time to come up with something.

She angled her head over the bump, examining the TV screen in the hopes inspiration would hit her like it had Ino, hopefully without the breaking waters; the image of a hawk tearing into raw rabbit flesh was not very inspiring. Disgusting and nauseating, but not inspiring.

"Takako maybe...? Ew, no. I'll just think of dead rabbit consumption" Naruto mumbled to herself, giving the chick on the television a disgusted look.
"What?" Sasuke asked; he didn't seem to have heard her.

She hadn't really been intending for him to hear her, it had been an internal musing unconsciously vocalised, but it would have been better if he had. She'd have to directly say it out loud now. She wasn't altogether certain she could... No - if she was thinking of her daughter's name, there was no reason for her to be so wary any more was there?

"I... I was thinking maybe Takako – 'Hawk child' - for the runt..." she gestured to the bulge with one of her hands, just to make sure he was keeping up with her.

"...but I'll just see a baby hawk choking back a dead rabbit with that" she said, turning bright red and not daring to look him in the eye – she couldn't really, sprawled against him as she was, but she still felt nervous.

She felt him stiffened beneath her as he took in her implications, before the arm around her tightened – though not uncomfortably so.

"Hiro" he said.
"'Son'? Sasuke I think you're a little confused; it's not a boy"
"No, 'Fire', and 'clear' or 'bright'" he replied quietly, eyes on the TV but mind elsewhere.
"So 'Bright Fire'?" Naruto asked, looking backwards and up.

She could see the faint smile in the corner of his mouth as he nodded, and Naruto wondered just how hard it was for him to keep from doing a happy dance. She grinned a wide grin she hadn't truly shown for almost nine months: "I like it, but that's still a boy's name you idiot!" she informed him pointedly.

Sasuke twitched in irritation, and Naruto laughed.
"What makes you so sure it's a girl?" he asked after a few moments.

Naruto considered it; she ad no answer really. It was just the way everyone (except Itachi) said it was a boy because she was so whale-like, or because it had such a strong kick - it made her absolutely certain it was a girl; if the kid had her genes, then she'd probably pretend to be a boy just to annoy them.

"Dunno; just do" Naruto replied with a yawn.

Naruto rolled onto her side, curling up a slight, as Sasuke rolled his eyes and pulled her a little closer.

"Naruto! pay attention!"

Naruto used her best puppy-eyed look on her tutor, but it failed miserably; it quickly changed to a glare instead.
"I'm sorry Closet Perv, but I'm starving! Can't we stop this for ten minuets?" Naruto begged; Ebisu let out a frustrated sigh.

"You had lunch an hour ago! How can you still be hungry?" he asked in disbelievingly.
"Because I'm eating for two! Stupid Closet Perv!" Naruto snapped back, ignoring his protests and rising from her seat in search of food; specifically, tofu.

The school had ultimately decided they didn't want her back at all – not that she was all that surprised with Shimura heading the troops – but since she was still technically supposed to be in school, they had kindly sent Ebisu along to teach her instead.

As she dropped some of the ready-chopped tofu (it had proved more convenient than chopping it every time she was hungry) into the deep fryer, the small human inside her let loose a certifiable artillery on her guts.

Letting out a breath of surprise, her hand went to her side instantly and she glared down at the bulge.
"Stop that; I'm eating all right?" she growled, retrieving the tofu.

The bulge responded with another shower of missiles on her insides, and Naruto very nearly fell on her face from the experience, grabbing hold of the counter top in surprise and for support.

What on earth was up with the kid today? She's been jumping back and forth like a jack-in-the-box all night previous and all day today! She'd thought the little tyke was just being more active than usual (which was saying something), but this was taking the cake!

This was no mere stretch of the legs; a sick worry smothered her when the thought that something could be going badly wrong entered her mind. What if she was strangling on the cord-whatsit? That happened, didn't it?

Naruto bit her lip as she sat back down, placing the plate of food on her lap instead of her belly as she usually did; she shouldn't worry like that but she'd already had one miscarriage, and that fact made the possibility of another all too real.

She should think positively, but it wouldn't hurt to call Tsunade would it? Just to be safe? Or was she just being paranoid? God where was Sasuke when she needed him? He knew all the technical stuff better than she did! Oh yeah, School. Tch.

Stupid School; she knew there was a reason it had irritated her so much. Sakura and Gaara were a no go either, Mikoto and Fugaku would be at work, she seemed to scare Itachi and Obito, and god knows what Tayuya was doing.

That meant the only person who was free to go with her to the hospital (since there was no way she could get there by herself when she could barley waddle) was the Closet Pervert...

Damn, shit, crap and buggery!

The trip to the hospital was not a happy one; Ebisu was irritated that his lesson had been tossed aside in favour of a hospital, and he had no car; walking to the bus stop had been no small feat, and Naruto's feet felt like burning lead blocks.

"What date did the third inter-continental war start?"

And then there was the mobile education; Naruto had not anticipated that. It didn't help that the sprog had stopped moving since she had started moving around – a dull ache had replaced the movement, and while it wasn't too uncomfortable, it was distracting.

"Uh... 1066?" Naruto replied, spouting the first date that came to mind as the man gave her a helping hand onto the bus – that tiny step was no joke when you couldn't even see your own feet.

"That's the Battle of Whirlpool" he corrected, sitting down beside her on one of the seats; Naruto could feel the disapproval from the old women sitting behind her and fought the urge to snap at them.

Sitting down had done her no favours – the ache was less of an ache and more of sharp pain now. She knew something wasn't right!

"Then 1746?" Naruto tried again.
"The Battle of Kanabi Bridge; Try a looking a little closer to the modern age" Ebisu bristled.

Naruto frowned in concentration; she hated world history at the best of times, but without a textbook it was even worse! Pain stabbed the lower half of her body and she winced.

"194- Ow! - 1945?" she asked.
"...Oh fine; I'll let you have that, since that was when the war ended at Battle of Iron Country. I doubt you'll get any closer with your memory" he sighed, before moving off onto the Earth Country depression that led to the rise of their crazy ring leader and the war itself.

Naruto wasn't really paying attention, she never paid attention to world history even in school, so what hope did Ebisu have? Besides, the pain was really getting uncomfortable. She racked her brains, trying to remember all the possible complications that Tsunade had mentioned over the past few months; she couldn't remember anything that involved movement or pain specifically.

Another stab shot through her spine and she bent over as far as her swollen stomach would allow reflexively. Ebisu's eyes widened.

"It seems your worry wasn't wrong... Are you all right?"
"Do I bloody look all right? Something's wrong, I know it!" Naruto hissed, her voice whimpering towards the end of her sentence as anther stab spiked.

This time she let out an audible wince, attracting the attention of some of the other passengers. A red-eyed woman, seated opposite with a three year old of her own spoke up.

"Excuse me, I don't me to pry but how far along are you? Is your due date soon?" she asked politely, sounding concerned.
"November... About ten, eleven day- Ow, Ow!" Naruto winced in reply.
"You don't think...?" Ebisu asked the woman his eyes bulging a fraction.
"It's probably just the early stages, but yes, I think so"

Naruto, who had been listening to the conversation, was not completely oblivious to their words but...

"But she was just kick-boxing! I thought contractions were more... worser!" she protested.

Naruto sincerely hoped the woman was wrong; she had no desire to give birth on a moving public transportation vehicle.
The woman smiled at her.

"Contractions are the tightening of muscles in the uterus, and that can be slow; the little one probably didn't find that all too comfortable, even if you couldn't feel them" she explained.
"B-But that means they started yesterday! I didn't even notice until about an hour ago!" Naruto panicked.

Oh god, she was going to give birth on a bus! On a bloody bus! She couldn't give birth on a bus! It was unsanitary! There were no buses on doctors! Sasuke and Sakura were at school! Oh god, Sasuke was at school!

"Closet Perv, I don't wanna give birth on a bus!" Naruto whimpered.
Closet Perv wasn't listening; he was busy talking to the old bus driver, perhaps hoping to get the man to step on the gas.

"I wouldn't worry; if they started that long ago there's a chance they'll last even longer," the woman said soothingly.
"Longer?"

Sasuke pressed the lift button one. Then once again. Then several more times. Then he gave up and dashed back down the hallway towards the stairs instead. Several nurses gave him an angry look as he ran past but he could care less; He did hear Sakura receive a reprimand some distance behind him though.

He had been in the middle of physics when Dr. Onoki (the principal of his school) had appeared at the doorway and he had been told to gather his things. Confusion had reigned until Sakura had burst past the man and dragged him from the room yelling about buses and babies.

His first thought had been the hope to god that Naruto had not given birth on a bus; Sakura had assured him that she hadn't, but was in the hospital for that reason. Apparently she'd noticed something off during her tutoring session with Ebisu, and conned him into going with her to make sure everything was all right.

It had been nothing more than an increase in activity, but on the bus she'd started getting pains; one of the passengers had told her what was going on. If he wasn't so worried, and Naruto not in such a state, he would have contemplated killing her when he did find her; how did someone not notice they were having contractions? Surely any kind of pain this late in the game was a sure-fire indicator that labour was in progress?

He reached the maternity ward of the hospital after trawling up twelve flights of stairs (who thought up that bright idea?), but allowed himself to slow his pace if only to let Sakura's disgruntled expression catch up. He remembered feeling terrified the first time he'd set foot in this ward; that had been a little under nine months ago, and the feeling hadn't changed.

He was about to ask Sakura where they were supposed to start looking when a loud scream from one of the closed rooms caused the question to die in the back of his throat. It wasn't Naruto. It wasn't Naruto. It wasn't Naruto. He told himself those words over and over but he still felt like running for the hills; this was what he secretly called the nine months of hell was all for.

It didn't sound all that tremendous, or amazing; it sounded painful.
"Sasuke! Wake up!"

Sakura's voice jolted him from his musings, and he didn't even bother to scowl as he followed her down the hall to the receptionist's desk. The moment Sakura said the words 'red-haired girl' the nurse at the desk pointed down the hall.

"Third door on the right, and I hope you do better than that man with the creepy little sunglasses" the paste-green haired girl said quickly, turning towards a ringing phone.

Finding the room was not difficult, and upon entering, Sasuke began to wonder what he had been worrying about; Naruto was standing at the window in the same dungarees (left unfastened) she had been wearing that morning, answering the random questions directed at her by Ebisu – that guy really too his job too seriously.

Then her face twisted, and she leaned her forehead onto the glass of the window, gripping the wooden framework with notable whiteness in her knuckles. More surprising was the hiss that escaped her lips for a few lingering moments before the pain seemed to pass. She sighed and stood back from the window, flopping onto the bed with disgruntlement. Sakura, growing tired of his freezing, barged past and went round to greet the girl and get a proper explanation on what had happened.

After a few moments, Sasuke recovered himself and followed her inside, closing the door behind him. Naruto glared at him out of the corner of her vision, and Sasuke wondered what had done to earn the look.

"This is all your fault!" she growled, pointing at her bulge and earning a snicker from Sakura; Sasuke was glad Ebisu took that moment to silently declare the tutoring lesson over, he didn't want him to see him being chewed out by Naruto's hormones.

"How so?" Sasuke asked, re-closing the door after Ebisu, and dropping his school bag onto the floor next to Sakura's.
"You forgot the bloody condom is how!" Naruto crowed loudly.

Sasuke had wondered when this conversation would be held, though he wondered if there was any point in having it now; he took the time to point this out to her too.

"You're a bit late to be bringing this up now" he said, taking a seat beside her on the edge of the bed.
He noted that it was a bit comfier than the usual hospital bed.

Glancing around he noted that the room was a bit more above-par compared to other hospital rooms; he'd say it was one of the higher end private rooms, but he knew his parents – who had bullied Naruto into letting them cover the hospital fees – had not arranged for such a room. How did Naruto get a room like this?

"So you admit it!" Naruto cried triumphantly, jerking his thoughts back to the room's occupant.
"I didn't say that, besides what kind of pills were you talking? I bet you didn't look at the use by date!" he retorted.

"Of course I checked the use-by date! I didn't make the damn things, so don't pin thi- Ow, Ow! Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow!" she ended the sentence with a low hiss and a grit of her teeth.

"How long have you been feeling them?" Sakura asked.
"Uh, about two hours now? Not very long..." Naruto hissed out waiting for the pain to pass, bending forward and fisting her hands into the blankets she was sitting on.

"That's all? Ebisu said you'd been having them longer" Sakura frowned.
"The little brat was moving since last night, but I wasn't having contractions till I got on the bus" Naruto grimaced, wrinkling her eyes closed.

Sasuke's hand crept over one of the slightly smaller ones fisting the sheets; Naruto gratefully entwined their fingers, even if the action didn't do anything to stop the physical discomfort.

It was going to be a long day.

His parents arrived later in the day, along with Gaara and his brothers. Tsunade allowed them all into the room for half an hour before insisting that they leave – hospital rules stated only one birthing partner was to be present. Two at a very wide stretch.

So it was at nine pm that Sasuke was once again left alone with Naruto; Sakura had wanted to stay as well, but Naruto had bullied her into getting a good night's sleep. Sasuke knew from the amount of time this was taking that stubbornness had been one of the genes passed on by both of himself and Naruto – if stubbornness could be passed on as a gene – and he didn't like it.

Naruto was no longer moving around; she had retreated to the bed around five pm, but there didn't seem to be any further progress. Oh sure, Naruto was yelling more, and guzzling on the gas from some nozzle-dispenser, but the gaps between the contractions had barley decreased.

Considering the amount of time this had all been in progress, he would have thought that they would have a squalling infant in their lives. Births were always so fast on TV; he had never thought it could take this long.

He didn't know what was worse; waiting for the whole thing to be over with, or watching Naruto deal with the whole thing and not being able to do anything about it. He glanced towards the redhead; she was lying back with the gas nozzle in her mouth as she endured another tear of pain, sweating buckets.

He didn't really know what he was supposed to do in this situation; anything he said would go over the top of her head – she drifted in and out of awareness, but he couldn't really do anything to speed up the process either. He felt rather useless, and for some reason a little guilty.

Naruto was right - he had forgotten the condom. He done the adding up of the dates, and finally found the guilty night that had caused all the trouble; Naruto and Sakura had organised a trip over the border into earth country to see a concert - it was one of his favourite bands, so he had been eager to go.

Sakura had booked a couple of cheap hotel rooms for an overnight stay, and tickets didn't come by easily - the only reason Naruto had gotten her hands on them was because of her luck with gambling. Since it was a short visit, he hadn't really been expecting anything, so he hadn't even thought to pack them before he dashed out the door.

It was stupid, but he felt like all the pain she was experiencing was all his fault; the knowledge that this was a normal part of the circle of life was not very reassuring, but he began to ritually repeat the knowledge every time one of the spasms screwed across her face. Circle of life. Normal. Circle of life. Normal. Circle of life. Normal.

The pain from one such spasm passed and she gave him a wan grin; Sasuke felt his gut twist. How could she still grin through all of this? All this pain? Was it even worth it? He wasn't so sure any more; Tsunade had mentioned that Naruto's frame would probably play a factor during the pregnancy, but what about labour?

She looked too pale and too tired; women on TV had always looked red faced, not pale. Or at least, not that pale. Tsunade had come in to check a few times since he had arrived, and her slight frown had slowly been deepening with each visit. It was even deeper now.

"How are you feeling brat?"

Speak of the devil.

"Do you have to ask old bat?" Naruto groaned, rising her head from the pillow in an attempt to glare at the woman.

Tsunade sighed as she closed the door behind her, crossing the room to the bed. She glanced over some of the monitors and charts before turning to Naruto; Sasuke pointed looked away when she checked under the sheets (he did not want to see the specifics of checking that dileywhatsit.) she then turned with a serious face towards the two of them.

"I'm not going to lie all right? I'm not happy with how long this is taking; first pregnancies are usually longer, but you're premature by almost two weeks, you are not making a lot of progress, and your body isn't really built for a long labour. You've been at this stage for about 22 hours now, if your guess on the start is right, and you're barley four centimetres dilated" she began, leaning against the side of the bed.

"22? But I didn't even notice it for most of the night... surely that doesn't count?" Naruto frowned wearily.

"Not really, but the length of time between the contractions is still worrying me given how long it has been since they really started; if there isn't any progress in the next couple of hours, then we may have to induce the labour ourselves; this beginning to get risky for both of you" She continued, grim expression etched onto her skin.

Exhaustion clouded the emotions splashing across Naruto's face.

"How is she?" Sakura asked from the other end of the phone.

It was 3am. After almost another three hours, there still had been little to no progress – Tsunade had been in to check and left grumbling to herself about six centimetres and kick-starts three hours ago, and hadn't been to check up on her again yet. Sasuke had concerned himself with the necessaries of the pregnancy itself, but it had never occurred to him to do the same for the labour.

He had no clue what she was talking about; Naruto seemed to but when he had asked she'd told him he was better off not knowing. Sasuke was torn between believing her, and asking Tsunade for some clarification.

"I don't know; pale, really pale, but I don't know to be honest. Tsunade is worried about it taking so long though. She said the might have to-"

He saw the doctor herself heading towards the room his girlfriend was in with a mint-green haired nurse. Or was it midwife? It didn't really matter; the presence of another member of the medical staff sounded al sorts of alarms to him.

"Sorry Sakura; Tsunade just came back, I have to go"
"All right; tell her Gaara's cleaning. That'll cheer her up" Sakura laughed wearily.

It cheered him up – Gaara was something of a racoon with his eating habits (he never seemed to stop eating sometimes) but cleaning was another matter. He only cleaned when he was stressed or worried – it was as if he thought hoovering was the solution to all the world's problems

Sasuke promised to pass on the message before hanging up and heading back to the small room. Upon entering, Tsunade introduced the midwife by the name Fuu, before giving his irate girlfriend another exam, mumbling words like 'taking too long', before turning her professional eye towards both of them.

"I've already told you that this is taking much longer than I like, and while I had hoped otherwise, were going to have to induce labour – if that doesn't convince your muscles to start contacting a bit more, we'll have to take you in for a caesarean" she stated.

Naruto turned several sages of green, but that may have just been the baby in her belly jostling her stomach. Either way, the notion wasn't a good one – Sasuke had read about caesarean births being fatal, or only being used in emergencies when a baby's heartbeat couldn't be heard...

"There's nothing wrong with the sproglet, the heartbeat is strong, she just refuses to move; I'm worried about Naruto. This has already taken a lot out of her, and the longer we wait for her to reach ten centimetres naturally, the more pressure on her body there will be"

Sasuke nodded in time with Naruto; it was like the woman could read his mind, even if the news wasn't any better than his imagination had been.

"We're going to break the amniotic sac; with any luck it will encourage the contractions to come on with a little more speed" the green haired midwife informed Naruto.

"Amni-whosit?" Naruto asked; she seemed to be more coherent than she had been a few moments ago.
Sasuke presumed that was because the contractions had faded for the moment.

"We're going to break your waters for you since, since they aren't breaking as quickly as they should naturally" Tsunade clarified.

Naruto looked a bit alarmed and Sasuke couldn't help but mirror the look himself; didn't the waters break close to the hard part, the actual birth itself? But he thought that took longer! No, wait, they were doing that because it was taking too long! He didn't particularly like the sound of any of it, but Sasuke felt rather useless and confused about the whole thing; taking the safe road, he nodded along with Naruto.

"Remember when I said I was going to kill you at that pre-natal class?" Naruto growled at her boyfriend through gritted teeth; Sasuke had the good sense to look paler than usual as he nodded.

"I lied; I'm going to castrate you with a blunt spoon first!" she hissed, fumbling for the gas dispensing nozzle once again.

Tsunade had warned her that the experience would be more painful than it would be naturally, and Naruto quickly discovered she had not been joking; she swore particularly colourfully when the green-haired nurse pushed down on her stomach to help kick-start the process itself.

Sasuke had almost had a conniption fit until Tsunade had explained why the girl was man-handling the blonde, but he had calmed down once it was over and the two had left the room. Naruto had grumbled for a long time until a contraction appeared again.

After that, they had startedcoming in thick and fast. Sasuke's hand hadn't left her own for some time know (though he did seem nervous about looking her in the eye) and she was grateful for that now.

His horrible attempts at jokes gave her something to distract her a little; it was a comfort.

After two more hours of waiting 5am arrived; Tsunade and Fuu re-entered, and Naruto couldn't help but think that it was about time; the midwife gave her one brief exam before relief crossed her face. Naruto saw said relief, and for some reason, felt a little bit of fear.

"Finally; Naruto, I want you to start pushing on the next contraction – you've finally got to ten centimetres" she smiled; Naruto didn't really notice.

Ah, that was why she felt a smidgen of fear; she'd have to push the little brat out. How did she do that again? Shizune had never really explained that part too well... She felt Tsunade pushing her legs apart, then the contraction; she a small half hearted attempt at pushing, certain she had broken Sasuke's hand hand the process. After one taste of the tearing sensation, she decided she preferred the contractions. She hadn't even been trying and it had been hellish!

"Naruto, come on, you can do better than that! You don't want to have a caesarean do you?" Fuu chided.

That was the one where they cut you up wasn't it? That appealed even less than labour. In fear of butchery, the moment She felt the next contraction rip and tear through her she instinctively began to react; she still didn't really understood the pushing concept – what was she supposed to push with? - but Tsunade and Fuu were encouraging, so she guessed she was doing it right.

She was aware of Sasuke hovering beside her – had it been any other time and pain hadn't clouded her mind, she would have laughed at him. She could hear encouraging words from the other two occupants, and Sasuke's fingers crushed her own silently. She tried again, and shifted on the bed as something – she assumed the baby - seemed to mover further down inside her.

Shit that was horrible; it was painful and agony and sheer exhaustion all rolled into one, and she felt like she was going to crap on the bed! Or had she already? She couldn't tell – the tormenting torture was too busy occupying her mind to know. More prompting from Tsunade and the green haired girl wiping her forehead. Sasuke, she didn't really know – he seemed to have turned into a statue of some kind.

Stupid bloody spineless scardey-cat...

Another tearing sensation, and she pushed again; oh sweet fire and water and every other damn country! That was the smartest one yet! She could feel something still tearing through her even though the contraction was all done! She couldn't keep this up. She couldn't! So what if she was biologically engineered to cope with this? She felt like she was being torn apart.

"I can't..." she mumbled, shaking her head weakly.
"Don't say that Naruto; just a couple more pushes! The baby's already crowning" Fuu objected encouragingly.

Crowning? Didn't that mean they could see the head? That would be the thing that kept tearing then. Naruto shook her head; she couldn't do it. It was impossible. She couldn't push a baby out of her own body; it was physically impossible! All this pain was a sure fire indicator of that! It was like fitting an elephant through a mouse hole! So what if she was biologically engineered for this? It was still impossible!

Sasuke's face crossed into her line of vision, brushing her sweat drenched fringe from her eyes as the scrunched and twisted in reaction to another searing tear ripped through her. She didn't try to push that time, instead shaking her head wearily. Sasuke took her head in his hands and forced her to look at him, albeit with weary exhaustion. She was glad to see he looked as out of his depth as she felt discomfort.

"She's your family remember? Real family, and she isn't getting out unless you push or let them butcher you" He kissed her forehead, brushing her fringe from her eyes again; he was probably unheard by the other two women, but his words had dragged some life back into her.

She'd completely forgotten that; on the next crash of chronic tearing, she forced her own will onto it – get out, get out, get out. The reminder had given lease to a previously unnoticed source of energy, and she obeyed the instructions of the two doctors as a fresh, more intense tearing bit into her. She persevered though; no way was she letting those scalpels near her stomach.

Something was forced out – she was certain of that; the stinging pain was enough for her to let out an almost scream instead of trying to keep the complaining noise under wraps. Fuu began looking around frantically for something on top of a stack of wheely-trays behind her.

Tsunade pushed her legs further apart and she felt Sasuke tighten his grip on her fingers; she couldn't see since her eyes were crumpled closed again, but she was certain his face was close to her own by the feel of warm breath on her neck.

"One more push Naruto; just one more for the body all right? Just one"

One more? That hadn't been enough? How much more of this did she have to put up with? She felt the same pressure once again and followed up on it. It topped the others by far; if prizes could be given to contractions for sheer pain induction, this would have stole the first place ribbon by miles. Unlike the others, it seemed to wane though, as if the entire agonizing process was coming to an end.

She let out a final loud hiss of unbearable discomfort before she felt something being removed. Then it was all over, and she fell back onto the pillows wearily; all she wanted to do was sleep. A loud wailing rang out behind Sasuke's voice as she slipped into black exhaustion. The last thing she saw was the clock on the wall - it was exactly 6am.

After twenty seven hours of hell, Naruto passed into unconsciousness.

And thus the reason this story has an M rating without a lemon. I improvised a lot for this and read wikipedia back to front and upside down. I've been asking my mother about the cravings and stuff, but there wasn't a bat's chance in hell I was asking her about those details. Thought the pushing on the stomach thing, I admit, I did hear about. But nothing else! That would just be so weird and wrong and... urgh.

I didn't take biology - if any part of that is bull crap, humor me or tell me how to achieve the same effect within the laws of humanity. For some reason I want to defend my OOC Fugaku from chapter one; The Uchiha were family loyal, I mean, how much more family-loyal could you get? Fugaku and Mikoto were conspiring mutiny, Itachi killed them all for Ssasuke... you get the point.

My AU translation of that is that Fugaku and Mikoto would be totally against something like abortion, and would probably view people who put kids into adoption if there was even the slight possibility of looking after it themselves as the scum of the earth. They wouldn't see adoptive parents as a proper replacement for real parents either, even if they think of naruto as almost their own kid in this.

That's also why Fugaku wont let go of the 'Sai Thing', but you'll find out about that next chapter.
:D Ha! Clifhanger! If you liked, you know the drill...

Nat.
xxx