Greetings,

I got some really good feed back for Haitaka, so he's going to live. I never thought what is currently happening in the section I'm writing in would happen, but let's just say Haitaka is sticking around for a long time.

So, be happy, your one chapter away from Sakura giving birth! Also, I hear your cries for Deidara, so he's in the next chapter a bit.

I would just like to say thank you to the people who took the time to review! I really do appreciate your reviews and do know that I have read most of your fan fictions, those of you who signed, and if not, I usually end up checking to see if you have stories that I will like.

But until next opening notes, that is all the answering time I have. But do know that I am taking your comments into consideration when I read them.

That is all my notes for now. I will write some end notes, but until then...

From Leaf to Flower

ARC 1

Chapter 5

Complications

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or this would be where the story line would progress. I also didn't think up Ino's witty nickname for pregnant Sakura. I don't know who, but it wasn't my original idea. The idea about Sakura's hair belongs to Volleys-chan.

"The artistic world is limitless, it can be found anywhere- far from where [s]he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his[her] doorstep." -Paul Strand

Sakura sighed as she rushed about the village, checking up on things. The Tsuchikage and Haitaka had left. It had taken them a total of three days to draw up the papers and both she and Onoki had signed it.

Haitaka left with his former kage so he could inform his clan and prepare them to leave secretly in the night. She didn't know when they would be here, but she had become quiet busy.

Tenten had been commissioned by her to make the head protectors with their new symbol that Sai had designed and she was now checking on the progress.

She had already check up on the port, sending a few men off to go get supplies since they were beginning to run low on some things, like tile and marble. Then she had checked up on each of the greenhouses, there was about twenty within five miles of her home. So that took a while. After that she had checked on the kage's tower and began planning their monuments to commemorate different people including KIA ninjas, people she and the others agreed should be celebrated as heroes, and one for her. She had said no like twenty thousand times already, but they finally wore her down.

She was now heading to the hospital to check up on all ten members of the large building and to check on the vet section that Hana was given.

The day had already been long and exhausting, but she pushed forward. She needed to get this done.

"Sakura," Anko's voice called out to her as she appeared next to the busy rosette, "I had a couple of questions for you."

"Go ahead Anko," Sakura said as she nodded, but kept walking, "I'm listening."

"Alright," She grinned as she opened as scroll, "From what I have collected from the snakes, they say that there are several summon creatures without pacts around here. Starting off with some of the more prestigious ones like the phoenix and Underworld Keys."

"Keys?" Sakura asked, trying to ignore the dizzy feeling she was getting.

"Yeah," Anko said as she jumped about a bit, "The Underworld Keys are super special. It has been said that they hold the pact of at least twenty different summons and they only pledge their loyalty to one person every hundred years, but they are picky little suckers. I think it would just be best if they were a village treasure or something. I mean we can't know-"

"Anko-san," Sakura said, her world was really starting to spin, but she held on as best as she could.

"Yes, Sakura-sama?" Anko asked, a little annoyed that she was being interrupted.

"I think I will need you to catch me," Sakura said, her world dimming fast, "I'm about to pass out."

And with that, everything went black. She could hear Anko for a minute, but soon even the loud swearing of the snake mistress disappeared.

Sakura groaned as she slowly came to, opening her eyes and waiting for them to focus. She blinked a couple times as she tried to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered was talking with Anko before passing out.

That's right. She passed out.

She was about to get up, but something pushed her down, "Oh no you don't."

The voice was so familiar that it hurt. Sakura looked over to her side to see Tsunade, wringing a washcloth before setting it on Sakura's head.

"You are going to stay right there," Tsuande said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Shishou?" Sakura asked, her voice cracking from being so dry.

Tsunade smirked happily as she grabbed a glass of water with a bendy straw in it near Sakura's mouth.

"At least you aren't suffering from amnesia as well. Here, take a sip slowly."

Sakura did as she was told and took a large sip of water to wet her throat before speaking again, Tsunade putting the glass back where it had been.

"What are you doing here Shishou? Don't you need to be helping Naruto run Konoha?"

Tsunade just waved her hand dismissively, "No, he has Jiraiya for that. It took a while, but that was what I've been trying to get Jiraiya to agree to. I wanted to start this village for a while, but I couldn't just leave Naruto alone with no advisor."

"So you were tricking Jiraiya into agreeing when I-" Sakura started, thinking back to that day she had told Tsunade.

"Yes," Tsunade said with a sigh, "It had taken me a couple more days to corner him and force him into signing that paper. I just had to make him believe I was interested in him to cloud his judgment."

"Oh," Sakura said as she tired to sit up, just to be pushed back down.

"Oh no you don't," Tsunade said with a sharp look on her face, "You aren't getting up anytime soon, missy."

"But Shishou," Sakura started to say.

"I'm not your Shishou anymore Sakura," Tsunade said as she shook her head.

Sakura's eyes widened in fear as she tried to sit up again, getting pushed down as she began to sputter out her worries.

"What do you mean! You're not doing this to punish me, are you, Shishou? I don't want-"

"Enough." Tsunade barked with slight agitation, "I'm not your Shishou anymore because you have nothing else to learn from me, not because I'm punishing you. Geez, Sakura, I wouldn't be here if I hated you. You ended you apprenticeship the moment you started to build this place from the ground up."

"But I still need to learn so much more," Sakura argued as she once again tried to sit up.

"The only thing you need to learn is to stay down," Tsunade said as she pushed her back down, "All you need is experience. I've taught you all I know."

That helped calm Sakura down as she took a breath, "Then what do I call you now?"

"… Well let's see, the baby will call me Grandma, so you can call me Kaa-chan… if you want." Tsunade said as she looked at Sakura hopefully.

Tsunade had become her guardian when her parents had died. Though at the time of her apprenticeship, they preferred to keep it professional, but that was done now and Sakura had the chance to have a closer relationship with the retired Hokage.

"I think that would be nice, Kaa-chan." Sakura said with a smile.

Tsunade's smirk came back as she sat down on the side of the bed so she could talk more with her daughter.

"So, first off, you aren't going to be going anywhere for a while," Tsunade said, her smirk disappearing as she looked at Sakura with a disapproving look, "You pushed yourself too hard. And right now you are at a stage where you can't do that. Not only that, but since you are small, it drains you more. So, until you go into labor and give birth, you are to stay in bed."

"But I have work to oversee and things I need to double check, and the Gashu clan will be here any day!"

"You are staying in bed." Tsunade said in that final tone, "You are not even allowed to shower or use the bathroom by yourself, this could happen again and next time Anko won't be there to catch you."

"Alright," Sakura said with a sigh, being stuck in a bed was going to be boring.

"Now, what is this about the… Gashu clan was it? How in the world did you manage to get a whole clan to move here?"

Sakura smiled a bit as she retold the whole story and ended with the words, "It ends up, Meishou Haitaka, the clan head, is the father of Deidara."

Tsunade blinked. Once. Twice.

"You actually made a peace pact with the current Tsuchikage and got one of the most prestigious clans that had managed to keep their names out of the bingo books?"

"That's right," Sakura said with a smirk, "Haitaka-san should be here at any time. He said it would only take a week or so to organize his people and about three days bring them here. That was about nine days ago."

"Then I will be the one who meets with him. I have some grievances to repay anyways." Tsunade said with an evil smirk.

Poor Haitaka would never know what hit him. And Sakura was stuck in bed instead of being able to warn him.

"Just be careful Kaa-chan. He's quite the looker for his age, he's definitely where Deidara got his looks from. And I use to think it might have been his mother too, until I met Haitaka-san."

"Pu-lease," Tsunade said as she waved a hand dismissively, "I have seen my share of men. I highly doubt he could even faze me."

"Alright," Sakura laughed, "If you say so."

Tsunade stood up and stretched a minute before turning around and looking at the rosette.

"I talked to Ino and she's allowing me to give you your next check up."

"That was going to be today, wasn't it?" Sakura asked.

Ino had picked up the habit of not telling Sakura so Sakura could not avoid her and her silly belly talking. Some of the things she had said to her belly were sort of disturbing.

"Yes it was," Tsunade said as she put a stethoscope into her ears, "I really have been wanting to do this."

Sakura sighed as she pulled back the covers so Tsunade didn't have to. She was wearing her nightgown. Ino must had dressed her after she had fainted.

Tsunade pulled up her nightgown and began the checkup, thoroughly enjoying listening to the heart beat. Sakura had wanted to listen, but Tsunade told her no. She had told her that was her punishment for pushing herself to hard.

Soon, Tsunade was done and was resting a hand on Sakura's tummy as the baby kicked.

"In less then two months, you're going to be a mommy." Tsunade said as she looked at Sakura in the eyes, "Does that scare you?"

"Greatly," Sakura said as she swallowed, "but I will do my best to raise the child."

Tsunade smiled as she pulled her hand away and tucked Sakura back under the sheets the way she knew the girl liked it, even going to the trouble of picking that darn stuffed bird off the floor and giving it to her. Apparently, it was her favorite with the fox and slug coming in second and third.

"Rest up Sakura," Tsunade said as she petted Sakura's wiry hair, "You're going to need it."

"Yes," Sakura said, her eyes getting heavy, "I will."

And with that Sakura was out. Tsunade withdrew her hand from the girl's hair and hoped Sakura never found out she had just put her under with her chakra. From what Naruto had told her, Sakurazilla was scary and should be avoided at all times. But that was before he met Hinatazilla.

Tsunade just chuckled as she left the room to finish preparations Sakura had started. If anything, Ino would be a good place to start.

Tsunade was impressed when she had received the news. True to his word, Haitaka had returned in exactly a week and three days. Sakura had been throwing small tantrums whenever she had to use the bathroom or wanted to sit up. Since she had pushed it the day before, Shizune continually told her 'no', like she would a small child.

Ino was helping Tsunade currently in Shizune's place since she knew what needed to be done, while Shizune was doing Ino's job since she knew how.

"Come Ino," Tsunade said as she stood up and straightened her clothes, which were nicer then her usual outfit thanks to Ino forcing them into her hands and making her promise to wear them, "I have to meet that father of the man who knocked up my daughter."

Ino felt bad for Haitaka.

Tsunade was worse then Sakura. Even when she was in Sakurazilla mode.

It didn't take long to get to the center of the square that they all had landed on, since it was right there. Tsunade marching up in an elegant kimono that was a pale green with a floral print on it, the bigger flowers colored purple as the smaller ones where sky blue. Her obi a golden color. The Kanji for 'Legendry Sucker' written on the fan that was attached to her obi currently.

"Haitaka-san," Ino greeted the leader, as so to point him out to Tsunade.

She back away a bit, a little nervous of how Tsunade was going to do this.

Haitaka jumped off the claybird that was carrying about twenty people, ordering one of the younger men to take charge and to get them to the proper homes, before advancing towards the two platinum blondes.

Ino winced, he didn't seen to recognize Tsunade. Tsunade smirked at that conclusion.

"Ino-san," Haitaka said with a bow, "It is good to see you again, hm. May I ask where Hanakage-sama is?"

"Um, yeah," Ino said as she nodded, "She'll want to see you so she knows what is happening. Follow me and I'll take you to her."

Ino knew it was so wrong to do this, but she didn't want the other members of his clan to freak when Tsunade started to attack him.

Tsunade on the other hand was grumbling to herself mentally as she had to admit that yes, Haitaka was a looker, and yes, Sakura was right about where Deidara got his pretty little looks. It was obvious by his hair color that he was older then his face showed, and he didn't even had a permanent genjutsu like she did up at all. Lucky.

"Is Hanakage-sama alright?" Haitaka asked, cocking his head to the side when they entered the kage's house and headed for her bedroom.

"Eh… you could say she's been better." Ino said as she tried not to tremble as Shizune started to yell.

"Darn it Sakura! Can't you just stay in bed!"

"No! It's boring and there's nothing to do, just let me at least look over some paperwork!"

"You can't do that, you're suppose to be resting and recovering."

"I fainted, it's not like I died or had a miscarriage, just let me sort through my papers at my desk."

Haitaka didn't even understand what was going on when the older blond that had been walking with Ino-san and him started to curse under her breath and slam the door open to see Sakura trying to reach something on her desk as Shizune as trying to get her back into bed.

"Sakura-chan," Tsunade said in her dangerous low tone, "What are you doing?"

Sakura cursed under her breath as she looked over to her door to see a fuming Tsunade, a scared Ino, and a really confused Haitaka.

He was still in one piece, so Tsunade hadn't gotten her hands on him yet. Ino must have been in on it because she also looked guilty.

"Um… trying to get something to do?"

"Bed. Now." Tsunade growled, clenching her fist as she threatened the rosette without words.

Shizune almost fell over that was how fast Sakura got back into her bed.

"What's going on here, hm?"

Darn it, even his accent was cute, Tsunade noticed as she entered the room and walked towards Sakura, fluffing her pillow so she could at least sit up for a bit.

"A small complication, but that's all." Sakura said as she waved her hand dismissively.

Ino had disappeared by then, Haitaka not even knowing as he entered the room further.

"So how serious is not serious?" He asked, looking at Tsunade, who seemed to know what was going on, "I highly doubt it's nothing, hm."

"She pushed herself too hard and ended up collapsing yesterday. Luckily, Anko-san was there to catch her or she could have injured herself. So now she's bedridden till after the birth, but even then we might keep her there for observation."

"Bummer, hm." Haitaka said with a frown, "That's not good at all. But don't worry, my wife had the same problems, couldn't get up to do anything on her own. Not even bathe. We had nurses from our clan do that for her, hm. Actually, they were servants we used for Dei-chan when it came to bath time. Washed him and scrubbed him clean. He hated bath time because of how thorough they were, but they were good at teaching him to be clean and scentless."

"Well thank goodness they probably retired," Sakura said with a smile.

It would have been embarrassing to be washed by a bunch of women. Especially ones that use to wash Deidara when he was just a little boy.

Haitaka laughed as he shook his head, "They use to rough Deidara up on purpose so he would learn to clean himself well. When they washed my wife, they were gentle. But that's not the point."

"What is the point?" Sakura asked as little worried where this was going.

"Against what you believe, they still serve my household, but I don't need them anymore since my wife's passing, hm. They mostly just kept up the place and cooked, so when I told them about you and your large, understaffed place, they agreed to work for you."

"Do they still offer the bathing?" Tsunade asked, cutting into the conversation.

"Yes, I believe so. I don't ask, hm."

Points for Haitaka in Tsunade's book. He wasn't a pervert.

"I see. I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet," Tsunade said as she stuck out her hand to shake, "I'm Sakura's guardian, Senju Tsunade."

That poor man didn't even recognize the name. Sakura closed her eyes as he took her hand and shook it, giving his name as well.

"Meishou Haitaka."

It was Déjà vu all over again as he squirmed under her grip, trying to pull free, but this time, he hadn't licked her and she wasn't about to let go and feign innocence.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune yelped as she looked horrified at the whole thing.

"Not again," Haitaka gasped as he tried to pull his hand free.

"Sorry Haitaka-san," Sakura said, "I didn't think she'd pull something like this. Let me introduce you properly. This is my old shishou, the fifth Hokage."

"That explains A LOT, hm!" He said as her grip tightened.

"Now, I wanted to talk to the man who's son knocked up my daughter."

"I understand, hm," Haitaka managed to say as he felt his wrist crack from the pressure too, "How about you let go and we talk about this like to civilized shinobi?"

"I'd like that," Tsunade said as she gave one last squeeze before letting go, "How about I mend the hand of yours while we're at it."

'Don't say no, don't say no. don't say no.' Sakura chanted in her head as she watched him cradle the wrist.

"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say 'no', hm." Haitaka said as he continued to lie on the floor, "Technically, this is too close to my Kekkei Genkai and the fact that our bones are a little different because of the mouth there."

"It's nothing I'll get excited about," Tsunade said as she picked him up by the scruff of the shirt, "I'll just take you down stairs to give you a nice patch up. I am not taking no as an answer."

Haitaka finally understood his predicament. He just nodded weakly as he followed the woman to certain pain. She wasn't about to numb his hand like Sakura had.

Could things get anymore demeaning in this pregnancy?

First, she found out she was pregnant and then had to admit what she had been doing. Then, Ino wouldn't leave her alone with that darn camera, she still wasn't, and it was beginning to get on her list of things to not do to Sakura without a death wish. It only got better when she met Haitaka. She broke his hand because of the flirtatious stunt that he pulled just to basically find out that he probably taught Deidara that trick because, oh, he was his father. This part was probably one of the better humiliations, she passed out and had to lay in bed while others did things for her.

But of course, this one took the cake.

She was now being washed in a tub by several women that were now apart of her staff. They were washing her head to toe, lathering up her short hair, and basically having a field day with her, giggling about this and that.

"To imagine," One of the women said, her name was Aozora, "That all those years ago, that we would never have expected to wash Deidara's love when she got pregnant, un."

"Aozora-chan," Nikkoo, the head of the staff, laughed, "We were too busy trying to keep Dei-chan in the tub to be thinking this far ahead, hm."

All six of the older women laughed as they continued to wash Sakura, she feeling the heat rise to her face out of embarrassment.

Haitaka had introduced them all, they roughly being about five to ten years younger then he, but still old enough to be her mother. Nikkoo was about fifty-five, a few years older then even Haitaka.

There were only six of them, but all of them still seemed as jolly as a bunch of giddy school girls. There was Nikkoo, the head of the staff; Aozora, the cook; Kosame and Zaazaa, twin sisters who cleaned very well; Yuki, she sewed and did laundry; and Yuugure, who tended to the gardens and children.

Their ages ranged from forty –the twins- to fifty-five. But all seemed like they enjoyed their jobs.

"Hold still Sakura-chan," Yuki said when Sakura moved back when she was rubbed in a more sensitive spot.

"Sorry," Sakura said apologetically.

"No worries, your almost done, then we will get you nice and dry and back into bed, desu," Yuugure said as she also ran over a more sensitive spot, causing Sakura to squirm again.

"Well," Aozora said with a laugh, "Deidara's obviously got you trained, un."

Sakura's face heated up again as the women laughed at what was said.

Deidara was so going to get it if she ever came across him again. Not for just the pregnancy thing, but really making her that sensitive in his more favorite spots that people could figure it out.

A bucket of water was dumped over her head, rinsing her body of all soap.

"There we go," Yuki said, moving a graying strand of strawberry blond hair out of her light blue eyes, "I will prep your bed and bring in your nightgown, Sakura-chan, aru."

"Thank you," Sakura mumbled as she continued to stare at the bottom of the tub. It was filled with little water so that they could scrub her, but now, the others were rinsing her hair.

"No problem sweetie," Yuki said as she left the room.

That was the only thing Sakura really like about these women as of right now, they didn't call her Hanakage-sama or Sakura-sama, they called her Sakura-chan. It was comforting in a way.

"My," Aozora laughed again as she finished rinsing Sakura's short locks of pink hair, "I have never seen hair so pretty, un. Not even Dei-chan's hair could compare to yours."

She was talking about the duo color hair Sakura had. It was easier to see it now that it was wet. The deep red strands of hairs and the translucent white hairs that caused her hair to look pink. She just blushed a bit as she played with her hands.

"Such a pretty girl you are," Kosame laughed as she tossed a towel over Sakura, "No wonder Dei-chan fell for you, yeah."

Zaazaa smiled as she added, "And made you our shining star, Sakura-chan, yeah."

"I'm no one's star," Sakura said lowly, not thinking these different shades of graying blondes would hear her.

"Nonsense!" "Absurd!" "Sakura-baka!" Four voices yelled out, the twins saying the same thing.

She blinked as she looked up at the aging women, still all beautiful even in their older age. Hues of blue eyes glaring at her as they pulled her up and began to dry her.

"Believe it or not, but we knew Deidara. He was a stubborn boy who preferred to stay away from people, hm." Nikkoo started.

"He only liked three people, his father, his mother, and Tsuchikage- his grand godfather." Aozora said.

"Though he loved his clan as a whole. He never liked anyone individually, yeah." Zaazaa said.

"Girls scared him, boys picked on him, and adults looked down on him." Kosame finished, "He must love you very much. That makes you our shining star, our hope for the future, our next clan head, yeah."

"Clan head?" Sakura yelped, trying to get free of the towels, "I can't be a clan head."

"Haitaka isn't as young as he once was, despite his good stature and current health, hm. He will need to pass it down before your child is old enough and if Dei-chan doesn't return to us, then you'd be next." Nikkoo said before adding, "But I believe that little Dei-chan will be looking for you when he can't find you, hm. That and Haitaka has a good ten years still left as head going for him."

Sakura could only hope that Nikkoo was right.

Soon, she was dressed again and placed back in bed. She sighed as she played with the stuffed bird. From what she had seen, all of Deidara's family had the same basic color of hair and eyes. That easily scratched out the idea of her child having her eyes or her hair, not like she was even sure her rare hair color was even passable that way.

The baby kicked again, but she paid little mind to it other then leaking some of her chakra from her hand onto her belly, to soothe the child with familiarity. It worked and soon the kicker stopped.

"My flower, my soul," Sakura said aloud to herself.

That was what she was planning on naming the child. If it was a girl, she had decided to name her after a flower; if it was a boy, she would name him soul.

"Dei-kun," She whispered as she looked out her window from her spot in bed, "Please, return to me one day."

There was that same prayer to kami. For her child to be her sunshine and moonlight, and for her moon to return to her. That was all she even wanted.

But instead, she gained a village, a home, a family, and a clan. More gifts then she knew what to do with, but she decided to treasure them instead of sulk after the one she wasn't yet given.

If Nikkoo and the other women were correct, Deidara would be looking for her when he couldn't find her. That's all she could hope for.

That is the end. Of this chapter anyways.

So, yes, bad Hana-chan, I added more OCs, but they are like the ensemble in a musical. They have names, but that's pretty much it. They don't come in a lot of times with more then a couple lines or funny things that make you laugh, like they talk about Deidara... a lot.

Here's a little treat for you that comes from the next ARC:

"I can see why Sakura-chan chose him, he definitely has the energy to survive her, yeah." Zaazaa laughed.

"I know, did you see the size of his-" Kosame started but was interrupted.

"Ahem," Sakura said, clearing her throat and trying not to blush, "Please refrain from such discussions. I would rather not hear about it in my own kitchen."

"Aw, Sakura-chan," The ladies whined as they could no longer talk about their favorite topic: Deidara.

As I said, they are just ones that offer funny input and add to the comedy. This story is about Sakura building a village, so there will be times when OCs become apart of the 'more then one line' section to the 'main character, but not as main as Sakura or Deidara or Tsunade or Ino' kind of thing.

If I used words you didn't know, please mention it to me in the review.

Haitaka- Sparrow Hawk

Gashu- Artist

Meishou- Craft Master

Hana- flower

By the way. I love reviews. But I usually take a long time writing one, so I don't do it often.

But for those who do want to review, please, could you add a bit of critique in it? I know people love the usual "I love it please update" but I ask of you to add just a little bit more. More means perhaps telling me your favorite part, telling me what you think might happen, pulling out something I wrote and adding to the idea.

Like I mentioned Sasuke. He's married to Karin. Is he going to have children too? Are Sakura's and his children going to be rivals or friends?

Things like that.

So please, critique me, it will not discourage me from writing. If I make grammar errors, please, point them out.

Thanks.

Unknown Artist of Hanagakure