Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.

Here's chapter 6, hope you enjoy—I decided not to skip as much time as I was originally planning to. :]

Chapter 6:

Sakura groaned as the second alarm went off in the morning. Sasuke had already left for work, and pretending he was still beside her seemed useless now that she had to head out. This is ridiculous… Sakura thought as she now mumbled out her thoughts. She looked in the mirror when she got up at her now full belly. Time had passed and every last customer continued to ask when she was due. What if I was just fat, those morons… she frowned, but her smile returned to her when the thought of Sasuke's meaningful compliments.

He had told her that carrying a new life into the world was the most beautiful work she could ever do. He told her that she had the prettiest smiles on her face when she watched him listening to the baby in her womb. Those precious moments were something Sakura held close to her heart.

oOoOo

I wonder what she's doing… Sasuke pondered as he folded various pieces of clothing for the warehouse. She looked so sad when he had to leave her. He had kissed her forehead and caressed her gentle face until she drifted back to sleep. Separating from her was becoming harder and harder now that the time of her "popping that baby out" as he often said was nearing.

"You always tend to space out with monotonous work," Neji observed teasingly. Sasuke smiled slightly.

"It's hard not to think about her," he explained simply. He looked down at the shirts, making sure they were in size order. He spotted a maternity blouse and was immediately thinking about Sakura all over again. Their first shopping trip together:

Sakura put her fists on her hips when she saw Sasuke reading on the couch. "Hello? Weren't you going to take me shopping?" She reminded him. Sasuke glanced up at her.

"Your stomach is still flat; do we have to go now?"

"Yes!" She threw her arms up. "What if I suddenly just—get filled up or whatever you call it? Am I gonna stretch out my clothes? Noooo, so c'mon…!" Her voice whined as she tugged on his upper arm. He rolled his eyes and put his book down.

"We're only going into the maternity section, nothing else—"

"What about baby clothes?" She frowned, resting her head on his shoulder and batting her eyelashes at him. Sasuke kissed her forehead.

"Whatever," he complied loosely.

When they got to the store, it was full—not to their surprise. It was the weekend after all.

"Oh this one's so cute!" Sakura held up a soft pink sweater. Sasuke laughed, "That's what you said about the other ones."

"Yeah, but the other ones didn't have a round neck-line," she argued with a playful wink.

"Ooohh, I see," he rolled his eyes. "So we've got five completely different tops and three bottoms for you?"

"Hey!" She shoved him with a smile. "You're so sarcastic! Yeah, I think I'm done." Sasuke nodded.

"All right; then we'll just look at baby-clothes and head for check-out," he smiled.

After picking out some gender neutral looking baby outfits, Sasuke and Sakura paid at the checkout and headed back home.

oOoOo

"SASUKE!" Neji finally broke through Sasuke's concentration, causing him to flinch.

"What?"

"Did I really have an entire conversation by myself? Never mind, what were you so intent on thinking about?"

"Nothing really," Sasuke mumbled. He heard his phone beep with the sound of a voicemail. "Was my phone ringing?" Neji nodded.

"Yeah that was the first reason I was trying to get your attention and you just grunted," he shrugged.

"My subconscious sucks," Sasuke complained as he began to listen to his voicemail.

"Hey Sasuke, this is Ino—from college? Yeah, long time no talk! I got your number from Sakura. Really, I'm calling you to tell you Sakura IS IN LABOR GET YOUR BUTT TO THE HOSPITAL! Bye."

Sasuke's eyes shot open. It was happening already?! "Call Dobe and tell him to cover for me!" Sasuke darted out of the warehouse before Neji could even utter an "okay". His heart pounded within his chest. It felt like this day would never come, and yet now that it was here, it didn't feel at all real. He felt like he was running on air—it must be his adrenaline. The hospital was so far from the warehouse—the bus was too. After running to the bus, Sasuke had to wait for it to arrive—impatiently.

The stop closest to the hospital was still far, and it felt like everyone decided to get off at his exact spot to crowd up the exit-way. Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. The second he was allowed a free way, he squeezed the crowd and ran.

Finally, after the longest run in his life, Sasuke stormed into the hospital, almost running right past the front desk. He went up to the girl behind the desk and wasted no time: "Is there a Haruno Sakura here?" He asked frantically while breathing out hard exhales.

"Let me see…" she checked painfully long. "Yes, she's on the second floor in room J—"

"2-J? Thanks!" Sasuke waved as he, again, dashed off, deeming the stairs to be faster than the occupied elevator. He raced up the stairs, his chest tight in anticipation. He didn't know when Sakura had arrived at the hospital; Iruka was even more strict about phone usage than Kakashi was—Ino and Sakura could only use their phones on lunch break, and considering Ino's frantic tone, Sakura probably had not just left for the hospital.

When he finally came up on the room 2-J, he caught his breath before asking a nearby nurse for entry into the room. He could hear Sakura's screams of excruciating pain as the nurse opened the door when Sasuke confirmed who he was.

Sasuke sat beside her and she reached out and grasped his hand—tight. Sasuke had never felt her vice-grip before, and quite frankly, he didn't think he wanted to ever again. If her body was hurting more than his hand right now, Sasuke couldn't imagine how loud Sakura really wanted to scream.

The doctors continued telling her to push to the point Sasuke knew Sakura was annoyed that she wasn't pushing hard enough. After what felt like an eternity, he could see it—the adorable little face of their first born screaming even louder than his mother. Sasuke's eyes widened in complete awe.

Once the baby was cleaned and wrapped up in a cozy blue blanket, it was placed in Sakura's loving arms. She held the baby close to her heart as an affectionate smile spread across her tired face. "Sasuke… look… it's out baby…" she almost started crying tears of joy.

"Yeah, it is…" Sasuke's voice, too, was shaky. He placed his hand on her cheek and kissed her soft lips. "You were really strong…"

"You think so?" She looked up from the baby and to her beloved. He nodded as he showed her the red nail-markings that were dug into his skin.

"I know so…" he smiled. Sakura laughed and puckered her lips slightly as Sasuke leaned in once again to meet her in a loving kiss.

When Sasuke pulled back, he smiled as Sakura's eyes danced.

"So what will we name out new son?" She giggled. Sasuke's eyes widened and a smile spread grew on his lips.

"It's a boy?" The attempt to hide his excitement was to no avail. "Gosh…I don't know… maybe Kotaro?"

"I like that name," Sakura smiled. "Here, hold him; he's your son too!" She held the bundle up to Sasuke.

He held the baby in his arms and looked down at the peaceful face. It was apparent that he had Sasuke's smaller eye shape—but that nose was unmistakably Sakura's. He was a perfect mix of the two—a truly beautiful baby.

"Isn't he cute?" Sakura whispered, leaning on Sasuke's arm.

"He's gorgeous—just like his mother," Sasuke whispered back, brushing his lips along her forehead.

The tranquil moment fell upon the new family: the father, the mother, and the little Kotaro Uchiha.

oOoOo

There's chapter 6! I apologize, I don't know much about baby birth to be honest and I had to look a million things up… so I hope this came out all right. Please R&R and arigatogozaimasu for reading and supporting, everyone. :]

InaGaTa