Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.

I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to write! I also apologize that this isn't longer. I was hoping to put in a solid 5,000+ words :/

Anyway. Online school was ok. I got an A in health and a B in P.E. because my teacher is retarded and doesn't give instructions correctly. I've also had a few school assignments for the upcoming semester in the Fall. I'm going to be in a few honors classes and an AP class. Last semester I was just in all on level classes 0_0

Getting all A's puts you in scary places…

Either way I have to tell you that when the school year starts I can't make any promises on the updates of this story. I really do hope to finish it soon. It's so close to being done! SO CLOSE! I still have to chisel away a bit at the path, but the ending it going to be so epic guys it's just going to blow your mind!

I hope you all are enjoying your summer! CHEERS! ^(^0^)^

"Teme!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke while running after him down the sidewalk.

Sasuke pretended he didn't hear the fracas of the blond behind him, because he had 99 problems, and a blond nuisance wasn't going to be one.

Naruto grabbed onto Sasuke shoulder and spun him around while shouting, "Why didn't you turn around? I know you could hear me!"

Sasuke let out a "tch" then bushed Naruto's hand off and said, "I have important things to take care of. I can't have your deadweight dragging me behind."

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms, "This again? I think we already established we're on equal ground. I'm not dead weight."

"For what I'm doing, you are."

"How so?"

"I don't have the time nor the patience to explain it to you, I'll see you later at the festival tonight. Goodbye Naruto."

With that Sasuke sped walked away from the blond down an alley and used a teleportation jutsu to get closer to the mountains. He had to check the spot. It was driving him mad.

"Get the fuck up" Ino said as she crashed through the door of the bedroom where Sakura was exactly how Sasuke described her in a puddle of tears and clothing.

Sakura went wide-eyed at the apprehensive blond standing in her doorway.

"You're not even halfway through your second trimester yet, don't give me this shit. Get up forehead, we're going shopping."

Sakura scowled at Ino attitude, but she figured Sasuke had put her in a bad mood because no one else could've sent her over here.

As soon as they were both out Sakura's front door there was an awkward and uncomfortable silence. Sakura didn't quite know what to say to Ino, but she settled for fidgeting with her fingers instead.

"Stop looking so shameful" Ino grumbled, "You're pregnant inside the confines of marriage. No one slanders a woman who follows her values."

Sakura gave Ino a small smile, the first she'd had in a few days. Ino smiled back, and somehow Sakura's mood was instantly lifted.

"Oh god! It must be the hormones!" She inwardly cringed as she started playing with her hair now.

Ino put her hands on her hips and raised a brow at Sakura then said, "Seriously? You're a nervous wreck. Is there something else going on? Did Sasuke tell you something? Did he yell at you?"

"No…"

"Good… so what is it?"

Sakura took a glace away from Ino to her lower right before sorrowfully saying, "I think it's best I let someone else tell you first. He's planning on addressing everyone soon with a mission update."

Ino crossed her arms asking, "I seriously have to wait that long?"

"It's not that long…" Sakura replied as she walked through a store door that Ino held open for her.

"Enough" Ino said with an implied 'humph!', "No more Sasuke or doomsday crap. We're shopping. It's all about you now."

Sakura gave her friend a weary smile as Ino went to the first section of the maternity store that interested her, the lingerie section.

"I didn't tamper with it" Sasuke heard a voice call from over his shoulder.

He spun around with his kusanagi drawn and prepared but quickly re-sheathed it after seeing who it was, "Shikamaru" he said composed.

The brunette walked up to him then asked, "You got the feeling too didn't you?"

"Aa"

Shikamaru didn't like Sasuke's improper conversational replies, but there wasn't much he could do. Just as the two were standing there in silence trying to sense the disturbance a messenger hawk flew up to the two of them and perched itself on Sasuke's arm. Shikamaru took out the message from the canister.

"It's addressed to you" Shikamaru said as he took the hawk on his own arm then gave the note to Sasuke.

Sasuke unrolled the note then read it to himself.

I want a full status report on Sakura. How many weeks is she?

How are her behaviors? Any movements from the baby?
Is there any danger to her? Does she have a baby bump yet?
What does the doctor estimate the due date will be?
Do you have any baby cloths picked out? Are you prepared

to be a father Uchiha? I would come down there myself

and visit her, but my work prohibits me from leaving the

village as well as the fact that it would endanger the

masking of her identity. I also want you to send me

every single piece of intel and information you have

on what exactly is going on down there. I want details.

also make sure that Sakura is under minimal stress. Second

trimester is ruthless and notorious for miscarriages. Don't

emotionally disturb her beyond what her hormones do.

I've also sent a backup group to assist you. They'll be

there shortly, within a matter of hours to a day by the

time you receive this letter.

Write back immediately,

-Tsunade.

"Well this is annoying…" Sasuke muttered under his breath and then proceeded to hand the note to Shikamaru.

"Troublesome woman…" he muttered in agreement with Sasuke.

The raven haired man crossed his arms then asked, "What are we supposed to do about this?"

"What the letter says? That's all we can do right now. Besides she sent back up, so that definitely helps with security."

"Not completely…" Sasuke muttered in frustration while running his hand through his hair, "It won't do much against Impure World Resurrection."

Shikamaru's facial expression turned from it's normal uninterested appearance to one of severe intensity as he hissed, "You better tell me everything Uchiha."

"For the last time Sakura, you are notFAT!"

"But how come the size take says 'Small/Wide'?"

Ino smacked her forehead then said, "It's because of your baby bump! That goes away after you have your baby! Hence the name baby bump, not 'permanent bump' or 'I'm a fatty bump'…"

Sakura wasn't very comforted by Ino's sarcasm, but she knew that her hormones were starting to get the best of her and making her do and say things she wouldn't ordinarily consider. She decided on a few pieces of clothing. It feels like she just went shopping the other day for cloths that would normally fit her.

"You're missing something important!" Ino teased her.

"What?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Ino smirked before answering, "A maternity bikini."

"Isn't that called a swimsuit? And I believe those are one pieces, Ino, not bikinis."

"No they make bikinis" Ino said with a menacing grin as she drug her friend towards the swimsuit section of the maternity store and presented her with a rack of revealing bikinis.

"No one wants to see this" Sakura motioned to her baby bump, "In a bikini, all hanging out there."

Ino crossed her arms and scoffed, "No one really minds. Trust me. Pregnant women can still be attractive."

Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. She wasn't sure about all this. All she knew was that she was putting all her old cloths in a box when she got home to be stored somewhere for five months until she could wear them again.

"Fine…" Sakura grumbled as she swiped a lime green bikini out of Ino's hand and tossed it on her heap of clothing at the check out stand.

The bill didn't surprise Sakura, but she knew it was all taken care of. She paid for half of it out of her own mission money pocket simply because she didn't want Sasuke to pay for all of Ino's damage.

When the two girls arrived back at Sakura's house they proceeded to box away Sakura's old cloths that no longer fit her (for the short duration). They also cleaned up the place a bit and Ino pulled something surprising out of her purse.

"You'll need these" she handed the packets to Sakura.

The orange headed girl stared confused then smiled, "I probably will."

They were electrical outlet covers to keep children from sticking their hands in the sockets and electrocuting themselves.

"You might want to go ahead and childproof your house while bending over and crouching down isn't so much of a burden. Do it now and then you won't have to later. You also might want to consider making a baby's room."

"But we won't stay for very long after the baby's born, right?"

"With the 'new' threat you've been talking about. Who knows what Tsunade might do. Better to be prepared than sorry."

"But we don't even know the gender!"

"It's called neutral colors, forehead. No pinks or blues, anything else works just fine."

Sakura huffed in frustration. Ino was a panacea when it came to almost anything in terms of preparing. Although considering that Ino had a small child of her own back home, she would definitely know what was best to do at times like these.

"Do you think Sasuke would care if I started picking out paints and furniture for the baby's room?" Sakura asked playing with her fingers.

"Has Sasuke every cared about you doing interior decorating before?" Ino asked somewhat sardonically.

Sakura shrugged and muttered, "Not really…"

"There ya go" Ino said as she headed to the door, "We can go shopping for baby supplies and furniture tomorrow. I'll share everything you might want to know along the way. However let's just take this one step at a time girl. We need to find you a Kimono for the fall festival tonight."

Sakura nodded and hopped off the floor walking towards the door, "We should've gotten it while we were out before."

"Whatever. More exercise."

"I didn't hear you incorrectly, right?" Shikamaru asked in utter disbelief, "I didn't think that's what we were up against."

"Why else would I put a barrier around my house like I did, even though it was a dead giveaway of location? Why else did I put a tracker on Sakura?"

"You what?" Shikamaru interrupted him, "You seriously put a tracker on her? As much as I'd like to call that preparedness I think it borders on over the top."

"You know what happened last time. Don't give me that crap."

"Back to the point, Uchiha. What the hell's going on?"

Sasuke huffed before asking, "You aren't going to wait for my mission update to everyone else, are you?"

"What do you think?"

Sasuke scowled before telling Shikamaru the current situation while writing a reply to Tsunade's note and sending it flying it with the hawk.

"Pink is too monotone on you. It looks awful with your hair, especially if it's a different shade."

"Thanks…" Sakura said agitated while she stormed back into the dressing room for what seemed the umpteenth time.

"I'm only trying to help" Ino stated as she picked up a different dress and handed it over the stall door to Sakura.

When Sakura came out Ino nodded while smiling enthusiastically. It was a white with black roses outline in red and purple. It was a beautiful design and it didn't clash with her hair. The two bagged it and headed home in order to prepare for the festival.

"Christ!" Ino yelled from the living room when Sakura was half way up the stairs.

Sakura came running back down thinking that someone had broken into the house and considering that Ino could handle more than a standard thug it made her paranoid as she ran into the room. Ino was sitting in a pile of shopping bags looking at three men sitting on the sofa.

"Sensei…" Sakura muttered, "Please announce yourself next time…"

"Yo" Kakashi greeted finally as he stood up to help the blond off the floor.

Yamato stood up and said, "We're the back-up Tsunade sent because she's become quite paranoid about the situation down here.

"Look at you!" Sai stood up with his almost fiendish smile, "Ugly and fat."

Sakura started to roll up a sleeve of her shirt when Kakashi rested his hand on her arm saying, "Don't worry we got him bad earlier." Smiling behind his mask.

Sakura wiped some of the nervous sweat from earlier off of her brow as she ran upstairs and put her dress on the bed before running back downstairs. She poured them all some tea or water and sat at the table in the living room on the floor.

"You're in grave danger" Said Yamato with a too serious tone that he tended to have in dire situations.

Ino raised a brow at her and asked, "We… knew that already?"

Kakashi shook his head and added, "There was a threat, but now there's sincere danger. It's now not a matter of 'if' but 'when'."

Sakura looked down into her teacup and said, "Actually… there is something, well, someone, already here."

Kakashi's visible eye widened in an almost urging way for her to continue, but the door opened and then slammed.

"Okairi, goshujin." Sakura said still staring into her cup knowing Sasuke was probably already leaning in the doorway staring at the back of her head.

"How kind of Tsunade to give me a 30 minute notice" he growled indignantly.

"What are you talking about?" Sai asked, "She sent the Hawk three days ago."

"Right behind you goons. You don't think it gets here instantly do you?"

"Well if we aren't welcome to stay here then we'll just go somewhere else." Kakashi frowned as he made his way over to his former student to leave.

Sasuke looked him in the eye and said, "Stay as long as you like to visit, but you can't sleep here. Find another place."

Sakura gasped as Sasuke's apparent rudeness and leapt up and grabbed his arm as he was leaving and said, "How can you treat Kaka-sensei this way? He's come so far. I understand making Sai and Yamato find somewhere else, but Kakashi deserves our utmost respect and we owe him so much! Why can't he sleep here?"

Sasuke scowled at his wife. It was times like these where even though she made sense, she got on his nerves the most. He clenched his fists in frustration before looking over at Sai and Yamato standing off to the side wondering why they were still here.

"Fine" he hissed, "But he sleeps on the couch."

"No1" Sakura shouted stamping her foot after he broke free of her hands and was walking away, "He sleeps in the extra guest room, because that's what it's for!"

Sasuke turned around with his sharingan flaring growling, "You're testing my patience. I'm the authority of this household."

Kakashi was appalled at Sasuke's behavior and lifted up his headband brandishing his own sharingan at his pupil, "You apologize to her this instant. She's done nothing wrong, and further more what the hell are you getting angry for?"

"You'll do well to remember whose house you're standing in Kakashi, I can choose to be hospitable or not."

"Sasuke! Stop acting like some maniac who-"

Sakura was cut off mid rant by Sasuke yelling, "Quiet!" which struck her face with fear and caused her ring to send a shock up her arm and seal her lips.

Sakura pulled at her mouth making noises but her lips wouldn't part and she looked at Kakashi with pleading eyes.

Kakashi looked horrified at Sakura and Ino did as well. No one knew what was happening or what Sasuke did to Sakura, but to hold that kind of power over your significant other was inexplicably terrifying and might as well be called slavery.

"What are you doing? !" Kakashi yelled at Sasuke, "What kind of sealing jutsu is that supposed to be!"

Sasuke ignored his teacher and kept walking up the stairs. He wasn't satisfied with the current situations and unexpected guests made it worse.

"Sakura, make the guest bedroom. Yamato and Sai sleep on the futon in the living room. No exceptions, and no one else." Sasuke said before making a turn a disappearing down the upstairs hallway.

Tears streamed down Sakura's face, as she was still unable to speak. Kakashi slowly walked over and cupped her face with his hands frowning. He couldn't find the source of the seal and he was thinking hard trying to trace her chakra signals.

"You do it" he looked over at Ino, "You're better at this."

Ino's family had the special ability of interrogational chakra which means that she can either invade Sakura's chakra stream to find the source, or invade her memories if she knew about it. The first was easier so Ino took Sakura's hands in her in order to focus, and instantly found the problem.

"It's the ring…" she said in disbelief holding Sakura's left hand up with her wedding band on it.

Kakashi scowled as he hissed, "This is low, even for him."

Sakura bashfully took her hand away and crossed her arms looking dishearteningly at the floor. What other options did she have but to go talk to Sasuke? It was the only way to get her voice back. She bowed to Kakashi, Sai, Yamato, and Ino before rushing up the stairs down the hallway towards Sasuke's room. The door to their bedroom slowly creaked open and Sasuke spun around and was surprised to see Sakura standing there in the doorway.

"Didn't I tell you to go get a guest room ready for Kakashi?" he asked her, "Isn't that what you wanted?"

Tears silently streamed down Sakura's eyes as she still stood there stark silent and unmoving. Sasuke gave her a weary look and realized that his snap at her had instinctively caused the ring to react to his command.

"Release" he said monotonously as Sakura regained control over her voice box.

Sakura grabbed her throat and realized she now had the ability to talk, but found no words to speak. She was terrified. It was apparent to her that he had told her about the ring, but that he would only use it in dire situations. Since when was arguing with each other a dire situation? She realized now that this power he had over her made her completely subservient to him. While she would have normally obeyed him and done things his way on her own volition, she found the idea as grotesque as slavery. He had enslaved her. She no longer felt like she was on equal grounds with him. With one word, one statement, one command, he could control every fiber of her being.

"I'm sorry" he broke the silence, "I shouldn't have done that."

Sakura didn't bother to reply, instead she just ran out of the room as fast as she could down the hallway and out of the front door. Sasuke initially thought that she was just going to run downstairs and hide with her friends or something, but when he heard the front door slam he could feel the adrenalin in his blood pumping. She ran out into the open unprotected and it was a moment like this that Madara would absolutely leap at. Sasuke grabbed his kusanagi from where it was leaning against the dresser and ran after her.

To Be Continued…

Again, I apologize for the long wait and for it not being as long as it normally is or longer, because of the long wait. I'll try to do at least two more chapters before the school year begins. Have a happy summer :)