Thank you to all my great reviewers! Here is Chapter 10!!! Almost done! Woo-Hoo!

xoxoxoxoxo

"Would you at least move in with me?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke through one half-open eye, as if he were terribly unimpressed.

"Teme," he said. "I'm perfectly happy here with Iruka."

"Actually," Iruka said – he and Sasuke had carefully choreographed this conversation ahead of time – "I think it's a good idea too."

"WHAT???" Naruto looked horrified. "Iruka-sensei, don't betray me…"

"Really, I don't know why you're so opposed to this idea. Look – you're four months pregnant already-"

Naruto still had not learned to discuss the topic of the pregnancy with grace, but it was becoming harder and harder to ignore. His belly was getting larger bit by bit, and was becoming impossible for Naruto to hide with his baggy t-shirts.

"And Sasuke is the father and you do need to start thinking about what you are going to do once the baby arrives."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, where are you going to live! What stuff do you need to get to take care of it! How are you going to arrange your life!"
Naruto huffed. "I've thought about that stuff!"
"Oh?" Sasuke said, "tell me!"

Naruto paused. His vision was of himself, and possibly Jiraya – and then a little Naruto – skipping through the forest together on a training journey. He could probably convert his backpack into a snuggly. "He – or she – can live with me, and I will take care of him. Or her."

"You have no money." Iruka pointed out, reasonably. "And no idea how to take care of a child."

"Oh, and the teme does?"

Sasuke didn't bother to answer. "I want you – you both," he stressed, "to live with me. Or else I will move in with you."

Naruto sulked.

"What's your problem with this, anyway?"

He refused to answer. His problem with it was that moving in with Sasuke reeked of… domesticity. And permanence. And Naruto, despite the pigtails and the boobs and the… other things, that might be missing, or temporarily out of place… did not want to spend the rest of his life wearing a cute little apron with the Uchiha symbol embroidered on the strap, waiting for his big strong fucking husband to come home from work and play with the kiddies.

"We could still get married, you know," Sasuke said, blandly – and Naruto threw him a dirty look, "but I'm not talking about that. I'm just saying – you know, there's plenty of room – and we can set up a nursery- and" –this was his trump card – "if I'm there to help take care of the baby, you can return to missions that much more quickly.."

Naruto hadn't thought of that. "Return to missions… more quickly?" He repeated hopefully.

"Haven't you thought of that?" Iruka said. "It's not like you can leave a shadow-clone at home to watch the kid while you work, at least not all the time. If you guys work together then it'll be a lot easier and…"

Naruto leaned back in his chair. "So we should start living together to prepare…" his voice trailed off. "Nah."

Sasuke stood up, slamming his hands on the table, but Iruka put one hand down, quietly, to calm him.

"Naruto, listen, I'm kicking you out."

"WHAAT?"

"You two need to work this out! God, I can't believe you're being so selfish!" His voice hushed. "Listen, Naruto, think about your own childhood. What did you yourself most want?"

Naruto looked shocked. His face blanked for a moment. "Friends..." he said, finally. "Friends, and… I guess… Family."

"So you do understand, then, that this is real. If you deprive your child of a parent – by refusing to let Sasuke get close – you will be doing a horrible thing."

He was stunned. But then he nodded slowly. "All right." He said. He looked at Sasuke. "Tomorrow, then? I'll move my things in."

xoxoxoxoxo

Sakura and Lee came over together, to help move Naruto's stuff. But it wasn't much, really – a bunch of scrolls, a bunch of ratty manga with dog-eared pages – dishes and pots and pans that the blonde seemed overly attached too, as he fretted over how they should be wrapped up.

"You know, I've got this stuff at my place, too," Sasuke suggested.

"No!" Naruto barked. "I want my dishes, ok?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. When Naruto had left the room for a moment, she mouthed 'hormones?"

Lee frowned. "You know, this stuff is all he has."

"So?" Sakura said.

"So, it's very important to him."

"Ah." She looked down at the cracked little dish she held in her hand more carefully. " Sasuke, maybe you should use this stuff at your house, too. Just to make him more comfortable."

Just at that moment Sasuke wasn't listening. He was half drifting, looking out the window, as he watched Naruto adding a box to the pile that was building up next to his apartment building.

xoxoxoxoxo

They made quite a procession, carting Naruto's things down the street and into the Uchiha district of town (it was still called the Uchiha district, although only one Uchiha was left). Sakura and Lee were both excited to be inside Sasuke's house, which it was rate to get invitations too, and as they kicked off their shoes they couldn't help but look all around, gazing into the foyer and trying to peer into the dark hallways.

"You can put Naruto's stuff in here," Sasuke said, opening a door. The room it lead into was small but bright, and Sakura could smell the faint odor of lemony cleaner on the wooden floor and furniture. It made her smile a little, to imagine Sasuke dusting the room so carefully.

"… but wait.." she said, thinking out loud. "Won't you two share a room?"

She and Lee both caught the quick look that passed between Sasuke and Naruto: defensive in Naruto's part, stoic on Sasuke's.

"I thought you might like a private place," Sasuke said, eventually, speaking just to Naruto.

After a moment the blonde laughed – a little artificially, Sakura thought. "Yeah, you know me! I'm totally messy, and this neat freak'll spazz out if he has to look at my crap everywhere. This way, he can just close the door."

Sakura giggled. "That makes sense." She looked at Lee. "Should we go?"

"Awww, no!" Naruto protested. "Come on, you helped me out, let's go get ramen together!"

But Sasuke didn't join in Naruto's pleading for them to stay. Lee and Sakura took the hint and withdrew politely.

xoxoxoxoxo

As they left the house, Sakura felt Lee envelope her hand in his. It still startled her a little when he did that. Though she still tried to tell herself that she liked the sensation of his large, strong hand, protecting hers; in fact, it felt awkward: awkward and a bit sweaty.

"Why do you think Sasuke likes Naruto so much?" She suddenly burst out, surprising herself, and certainly Lee, with the force of her statement.

"Does he?" Lee said, finally. "That's good. With those two, it's a little hard to tell. Honestly, I never saw it coming. Naruto's usually so cheerful, but he was almost acting pissed-off. And Sasuke-san's so reserved."

"Lee…" Sakura said, and then restrained herself from saying all the cruel things she was thinking of letting out. That she didn't really love Lee all that much. That she had only just settled for him because she had wanted to have a boyfriend. And that Naruto and Sasuke were both her best friends in equal parts but that she must be, in fact, a really bad person – because it tore her into pieces to see them together.

"When I look at them," Lee said, more to himself then to her. "I feel so glad for what we have. You know, the way they make each other crazy. I like our relationship, you know? It's quiet, but it's like we really appreciate each other."

I'm not one of those girls, Sakura thought, who can be happy with a quiet love. I still want a relationship that has fireworks: huge fights, dramatic break-ups and make-ups. I want ridiculous romantic gestures. I want to be so in love with another person that we act totally selfish, thinking only about each other.

"But why does he love Naruto?" She asked again.

Lee looked at her, and smiled, a little sadly. "Probably the same reason that everyone loves Naruto. He's special, right?"

"Yeah…" Sakura muttered. Naruto was special. And perhaps she understood. Naruto was pure, and maybe Sasuke wanted some of that purity to rub off.

"Maybe that's why we could never be together," she said. Lee looked at her in surprise. "I mean, I'm a really bad person, and Sasuke kind of is too. Maybe we both need someone good" she leaned on Lee's shoulder. "You know, to balance us out."

"Sakura-chan," Lee said – not fully understanding, but happy that she seemed to be in a warm mood nonetheless. "You're definitely my better half."

"Oh?" Sakura said, cheekily. "I won't argue with you now, but treat me to some cake at the café?"

xoxoxoxoxo

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, almost glaring, sitting across from each other at Sasuke's overly large kitchen table as they sipped the tea Sasuke had brewed.

It was going to be a battle of wills, Sasuke could tell.

He didn't like this way of battling with Naruto nearly as much as the purely physical way.

With Naruto unable to fight because of his pregnancy, they had lost their best, and most effective, means of communicating with each other. No matter what had happened between them in the past, they had always been able to reconnect – to understand each other's emotions – when their fists connected.

When Naruto couldn't fight, the only alternative was to stew.

Sasuke had already decided that Naruto's moving in would be a real moving-in – he wanted them to be living together, like a couple, instead of like a couple of roommates in school. He had decided to try and make that clear right away. Why was Naruto being so ridiculous anyway? They'd already been together – already they were having the kid. Platonic obviously wasn't in the picture, so why did the blonde keep trying to pretend like it was?

Naruto shifted in his chair uneasily. Sasuke had that dark, brooding look on his face. What was he brooding about? Itachi? The latest mission?

Then he caught the look in Sasuke's eye – brooding, determined and possessive… and quickly decided to distract Sasuke as quickly as possible.

"Wanna watch TV?" he asked, hastily standing up and going over to Sasuke's set. "Wow, it looks like you've got a million channels…." He flipped the television on and began running through the options all at once. "We should watch a move tonight, which one is good? Do you have 'Return of the Nin-Dragon III? That one's totally a classic and…"

"Hey, Naruto," Sasuke said. Naruto turned to look at him. Sasuke's elbows were on the table and his hands folded under his chin. He looked totally calm. "Let's have sex tonight."

"What? Why? Geez, you perv!" Naruto spluttered. "What are you talking about."

Seduction mode on… Sasuke thought jokingly to himself. Casually he stood up, and walked towards Naruto. "Well, you're here, and I think that calls for a celebration?" Very lightly he let his lips brush over Naruto's own, and then slowly began to move in more deeply. He felt with satisfaction Naruto's mouth open, and the blonde's body soften a little bit against him. Naruto's cheeks were flushed. How cute, Sasuke thought, and brought his hand up to brush against them. This might actually be easier than he had been thinking…

WHAM! Naruto's push caught him off balance, and as he was pushed back a step or two he hit the back of his leg against the coffee table.

"What?" He shouted.

Naruto looked at him. He was breathing heavily, and he caught his breath. "Sorry," he said. "Mood swings. Pregnant woman's prerogative." He stalked back to the table and sat down. "Sasuke, may I ask what we are doing?"

Oh no, Sasuke thought, glumly. A talk. He couldn't believe Naruto wanted to have a talk – the same thing dumb girls wanted from him when they were asking why, oh why, he didn't want to go out with them, and other idiotic questions of that nature. Girls loved to talk about things. And Naruto was becoming one of them.

"Alright," He said, evenly. He sat back down across from Naruto.

Neither spoke.

"I am in love with you," Sasuke said. "I'm in love with you, and I want us to be together."

"Gee, Sasuke, that's very nice,' Naruto said, a touch sarcastically.

Sasuke shrugged.

"Are you just saying that," Naruto said eventually, "because I'm pregnant with your kid now, and it's become a responsibility?" He looked rather violent. "I hate that. I mean, we used to tell each other everything. I don't want to become just one more person you feel like you have to lie to."

Sasuke blinked. That wasn't quite the reaction he had been expecting Naruto to have.

"I'm not."

"Oh?" Said Naruto. "Then don't make up such ridiculous romantic bullcrap."

Man, Sasuke thought. He might look like a pregnant woman, but he still talked like a potty-mouthed kid. I've never really be honest with Naruto, he thought, irrelevantly. There are still lots of things from Sound that I wouldn't share…

Well, maybe he could share just one. But he had to pick carefully.

"You know," he said, slowly. "When I was in Sound, I had a lover."

"WHAT?" Naruto gaped, and then grinned, and then gaped again like the idiot he was. "No way! I always thought…"

"You always thought what?"

"Well, I mean, from the way you talked, I always thought you were… well… like me… when we, uh…"

"A virgin?"

Naruto blushed. "Well, yeah."

Sasuke shrugged. 'It's…" it's not a big deal, he had been about to say. But he stopped himself, because that would probably give Naruto the wrong idea. "I chose him because he looked like you," he began, just at the same moment that Naruto blurted out,

"So, what was she like?"

They looked at each other.

"He?" Naruto asked, cautiously.

It was a tense moment.

"Because he looked like me?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"Why?"

"…"

"I thought you were… uh…" Naruto flailed around. "straight?"

"Dumbass," Sasuke said. "Do you think I'd sleep with you just 'cause you became a girl?"

Naruto looked puzzled. Then he nodded slightly. "Yeah, I guess that's why I thought we did sleep together."

Sasuke took the plunge. "Then, does that mean you can't love me back?"

"What?" Naruto yipped. Then he shook his head. "Look, I dunno Sasuke. This is gonna take me a minute to wrap my head around." He stood up. "I'm getting kind of hungry, huh? Can I make some ramen?"

"It's your house now, too." Sasuke mumbled.

Somehow that just made Naruto blush brighter. Without answering, he went into the kitchen. Sasuke followed him.

"So," Naruto said, eventually. "Are you seriously… umm…" he almost whispered. "in love with me?"

Sasuke scowled. 'I'm not gonna repeat that, dobe."

"Oh," Naruto said. "Oh, uh, ok."

"But you aren't. With me."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. His back was to Sasuke as he filled Sasuke's kettle with water, and then put it on the stove to boil. Sasuke watched that back with so much intensity that he imagined he could see the shoulder blades underneath Naruto's t-shirt; and the vertebrae at the base of his neck.

"You're my best friend," Naruto said, finally, with determination. "Of course I love you."

He paused.

"I'm not... uh... in love with you. But I guess I could be. The… uhh.." Sasuke saw the red creeping up the back of his neck, "the sex wasn't that bad. I think I like fooling around."

Sasuke didn't reply. Naruto felt himself growing angry. "What?" He yelled, whirling around. "What more do you want?"

"No," Sasuke sighed. "I guess that's good. I'm glad."

"Then why are you sighing, jerk?'

Then suddenly Naruto got it. Sasuke was sighing because he was in love with Naruto – that's what he was saying. He was sighing because he was in love with Naruto and Naruto didn't love him back – at least not quite as much.

When the kettle began to whistle it startled Naruto so much that he almost knocked it over with his elbow. As it was Sasuke leapt halfway from his seat when it looked like the hot water might splash.

"I don't know," Naruto said, finally. He couldn't bring himself to reject Sasuke – he had a hard time rejecting anybody anyway, and this was Sasuke – "but I think, um, we can try? No, uh..." he blushed again, and looked dangerous, "No getting married, or anything. But we'll just try, like exclusive dating."

"Ok," said Sasuke, trying to keep a straight face at that ridiculous comment, and at the same time feeling elated for the first time in days.

"Good."

"Good."

He was in love with the densest guy in the world…

xoxoxoxoxo

"Well," Tsunade said, taking the thermometer from Naruto's mouth and recording its measurement on a clipboard. "I'm sort of surprised to say this, but you're as healthy as a horse."

"Great," Naruto said. "Do you want me to pee in a cup now, or can I go home?"

Tsunade looked at her eighteen-year old 'baby brother' – now six months pregnant, and struggling to make a black t-shirt stretch over his taut belly. He really needed to switch to maternity clothing, but she had a feeling that mentioning such a thing to him would be too much of a blow to his pride. Before she could reply, a knock at the door caught her attention.

"Sorry I'm late," Sasuke said, stiffly.

Tsunade looked at him with mild surprise.

"I said he could…uh…" Naruto stuttered. "I asked if he wanted to come to the appointment. You said we might do an ultrasound today."

Tsunade nodded. "You missed it, Sasuke, but we have the photographs."

She handed them the envelope. Naruto ripped it open in the same way a five-year old would open his birthday presents, leaving scraps of paper on the floor.

"Awww…" He groaned. "What is this? It looks like some kind of little alien, baba." He glared at Sasuke. "Are you sure all that Uchiha inbreeding hasn't predisposed us to genetic freaks?"

"Give me that," Sasuke said, impatiently, snatching the pictures from Naruto's hand. "Dobe. You're holding it upside down. That's the head."

"Aww…" Naruto said. "I see. Two legs after all. Is it a boy or a girl, baba? Wait, wait!" He threw his hands over his ears. "Don't tell me! I'd rather find out later!"

Tsunade moved to leave the two of them alone in the consulting room for a moment. Naruto was hyper, and didn't seem to be regarding the ultrasound photos with too much seriousness… but she saw the way that Sasuke gripped the edges of the shot he was holding – delicately, so as not to injure it, but his knuckles were white and his hands almost shaking. He glanced at Naruto, just for a second, with a look so open: pride, and excitement, and even love… that the Hokage suddenly felt she was intruding on something intensely private.

She slipped out the door.

Xoxoxoxoxo

How much work had it taken to get Naruto back into bed? And now, here they were, his own little family of three. Naruto was lying on his side, and Sasuke lay beside him, the tousled blankets pushed to the bottom of the bed.

… even with the belly, Naruto was sexy.

In fact, it was sort of extra sexy, when Sasuke looked at the belly and ran his hands over it, to think that there was a child inside that was his. And Naruto's.

He glanced up to see the blonde girl glaring in a way that, if he hadn't been so aroused, he probably would have recognized as a danger sign.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, eventually… "What are you doing down there?"

Abruptly he pulled himself forward, so that his head was level with Naruto's.

"What?" He asked, a little challengingly.

Naruto looked away. 'It's just… uh…" He avoided eye contact. "It just seems a little pervy when you focus on the parasite like that."

Sasuke bit back a laugh. "The parasite?"

"Well. Yeah.. because, you know, it's living off of me. And stuff."

"Hmm?" Naruto was still turning his face away form him. Gently he leaned down and kissed Naruto's cheek. Then he bit his ear, very lightly. Then he turned into it, nuzzling.

"Eww!" The surprise feeling of Sasuke's tongue on his ear caused Naruto to turn his face towards the Uchiha, surprised.

"There we go," Sasuke said, smoothly, leaning down and kissing Naruto deeply. His hand was on Naruto's waist. When they broke for air, he moved his hand down, slightly, tracing the belly.

"I'm allowed to think your belly is sexy." He said.

"damn… fetish…" Naruto mumbled.

"It's not." Sasuke said. "It's my kid in there. I'm allowed to think that that's pretty exciting."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "You mean you want to have sex in front of the parasite?" He shuddered. "That's just.. uh… ah… ah… hey, Sasuke, stop it…"

Sasuke nipped his collarbone. "Yeah, our kid is definitely going to end up scarred."

Naruto started to smile, and then he caught himself.

"You're not supposed to act angry during sex," Sasuke teased.

Naruto started to laugh.

"What?" Sasuke was slightly surprised.

"It's just…" Naruto giggled, almost gasping for air, "It's just still a little weird to hear you say things like that."

"Ah.." Sasuke said, and sucked on Naruto's collarbone a little bit, hoping to leave a visible hickey.

"Hey, stop it!" Naruto realized what he was trying to do, and with more agility than Sasuke was used to expecting from a pregnant woman, managed to reverse their positions so much that he was able to get a lock on Sasuke's neck, which he kissed; a little sloppily, Sasuke thought irrelevantly, but it felt so good when Naruto took the initiative.

Pleased with himself, the blonde looked up into Sasuke's eyes. "That'll definitely leave a mark."

"Good," Sasuke said, unconcerned.

"Good!" Naruto repeated. "Why… you…"

And they tumbled back on the bed again, half-wrestling, half-kissing. It was that kind of playful lovemaking that Sasuke had never before imagined. It just seemed right with Naruto, a natural outgrowth of his playful personality that could go from goofy to intense and back in a moment. Nothing else felt so good.

xoxoxoxoxo

Later in the night, he sat on the side of the bed, watching the blonde's calm sleep. He was curled around his belly, almost, the body protecting the baby and the bed protecting the body, and Sasuke looking over them all…

Except he hadn't, had he? He must have been mad, in those early days when the pregnancy hadn't yet seemed real, to have done what he had done. He told himself it was to protect Naruto. But what if it had really been something he had done for himself.

Sasuke shook his head, driving the bad thoughts away. What was done was done, and Naruto would never know. Somehow that seemed like the most important thing.

In the meantime…

In the meantime, he had used his entire life – his future – as bet. Bet the future on the future: bet that Naruto and the baby would be safer and happier eventually if he could get rid of Itachi now, once and for all. So they wouldn't have to spend every night waiting, and wondering when he would come back to finish them.

All the Uchihas.

He knew little of Itachi – he had been too young, in the days when they were brothers – to understand what had motivated Itachi, really. Power. But there was also something about the Uchiha, a cursed clan that shouldn't be allowed to continue. Itachi had believed that: it hadn't been only about a measuring-stick for his power.

If another Uchiha was coming into the world, surely Itachi would come.

Sasuke was counting on it, and he was waiting.

xoxoxoxo

Let us tell the story of a Konoha ninja.

This ninja shall remain nameless. He is a jounin. He is, in fact, an Anbu. He is strong and his strength is Konoha's strength.

But the very strong know also when they are beaten.

This is why the jounin, who had been around since the days when the Uchiha clan still lived, did not speak: even when he recognized the footsteps and the way of moving of an enemy, a very old enemy he had hoped never to see again.

Uchiha Itachi.

The murderer, definitely. He was wearing a mask, and the markings of a Suna nin, but there were no Suna nin who matched his description. The jounin could recognize Itachi's form even from a distance, even though the last time he had seen Itachi had been many years ago. The memory of Itachi was burned into him that strongly. It was Itachi, disguised, who was now walking quietly through the Konoha shopping district, passing among the shoppers who did not even recognize him.

But no one else in the market appeared to have recognized Itachi. And the Anbu considered. He did not know why Itachi had returned, and he did not want to know. He was not on duty. And he had a life, and a family, to protect. He only hoped the criminal would complete whatever business he was there for and then go away, as quickly as possible.

He turned his back and hurried home.