Itachi was suspicious of something. That Orochimaru was up to something, though he was uncertain of what. That snake was always up to something, but this time, he was sure it had to do with him, or even worse, his Sakura. It had started with this look he had seen in those yellow eyes when looking at his pregnant lover when they passed in the hall on the way to the kitchen.

Since then, since seeing the demented, disturbed look in Orochimaru's eyes, Itachi had strived to keep the sannin from his woman. It was a lot harder than it should have been. The snake somehow found a way to know exactly when they would be somewhere in the compound. The kitchen, the living room, in and out of their bedroom and bathroom. This was often, because with Sakura's pregnancy, she had to use the toilet every other half an hour.

Itachi was being patient about it, as he always was, and had decided to go to an expert on ultra-creepy snake man. He considered talking to Karin, but thought better of it. While she was well over him, that did not lower her level of annoyance. Sakura may have made friends with the kunoichi, but Itachi still could not stand the sight of her.

So, while Sakura was taking an afternoon nap, he went to see his younger brother in his room. It was the farthest from everyone else, just as Sakura's room had been, before she moved in with him. Now there was a cluster of rooms, and one person off on the edge of the compound's borders. If anyone was going to know about Orochimaru's sinister ways, it would be his one apprentice. Sasuke had much more of a right to know about the possible danger surrounding Sakura, and the next Uchiha.

He stood outside the shoji screen door, without even a chance to knock. Sasuke must have sensed his chakra signature while he walked down the hall, and before Itachi expected it, the shoji slid open for him to enter. The room was a little disorderly, at least for an Uchiha's taste, though Itachi could hardly blame him. Sasuke's upbringing had been an unconventional one, and he had never really had the chance to be completely brainwashed. Though, when it came to being organized, it was not such a bad thing.

Sasuke grunted, waltzing back into his room, then plopping himself down on a cushion by the table. He moved away a small stack of books on the tabletop, putting it on the floor instead. "What is going on? Why is Sakura not with you?" He asked, huffing and crossing his arm. While he could pretend he did not care too much, it was obvious he did.

"There are a few things I wish to discus with you. Sakura is still sleeping. I would rather her not know about this unless absolutely necessary." Itachi replied stonily, gracefully crossing his legs and slipping to the floor. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Itachi's usual emotionless attitude. He was somewhat used to it, even though he shared many of the same traits as his brother. He was simply not accustomed to other people acting how he often did.

Sasuke frowned. It was unlike Itachi to hide anything from Sakura, after they had been preparing themselves for nearly five months to have a child. They shared everything with each other, even if it was rather strange for someone like Itachi, who was somewhat secretive. This had been bewildering to see in the beginning, but after seeing them together for so long, it became natural. This was probably the main thing that had helped Sasuke move on.

Sasuke was not the sort of person to speak much at all, not that his brother was. He began to realize that with Sakura, he would not have been a different person, unlike Itachi, who was the opposite of who Sasuke had thought he was. It had been no more than a physical attraction, and even then, that had not been too strong. Sakura could never have been the person he could share his every thought process with, while Itachi had found that in her.

Sasuke exhaled silently. "Sure then. Tell me what is going on." He replied tiredly, glancing at the pot of cold tea sitting in the middle of his table. He would have to wait until Itachi left for a caffein boost, it appeared. Itachi noticed his younger brother's glance to the pot of tea, and he noted how it was no longer steaming.

With a high level of self-control, his hands flew through a series of seals, and he murmured the name to a mellow fire jutsu under his breath. The porcelain pot whistled, and steam came from the spout once more. Sasuke muttered to himself something about Itachi being a goddamned showoff. Itachi did not deny this much, and could only just barely perceive the thanks Sasuke also gave.

"Orochimaru is up to something." Itachi immediately came out with it. Sasuke was not the sort of person who could easily stand for riddles and subtle hints, and it was better to be blunt with him.

Sasuke blinked a few times. He did not see how this was something too strange; Orochimaru always had a new scheme to play out up his sleeve, and surely this would not be too different from all the times before. As especially evil Orochimaru was, the sannin was not too clever, and was the sort of person to use the same tricks over. He was not nearly smart enough to dupe both him and his brother.

The smirk that showed on his smug face was hardly perceptible, but it was enough for Itachi to notice. "Are you sure you are not just being paranoid, aniki? I highly doubt that Orochimaru can do much. He is weaker than me, if that is any indication."

Itachi shook his head though. "No. Normally, I would agree, and I would not even mention it, but this time is not the same. I believe he is targeting Sakura. I have enough faith in my abilities to protect her, but I cannot help but to feel anxious. This may sound odd, but I was hoping you could tell me what to expect from him."

A small frown showed on Sasuke's face, and his eyebrows knit together. He may not have been in love with Sakura, but he certainly did not want anything untoward to happen to her. She was his friend, and most importantly, she meant the world to his aniki. Itachi saw this, and was not surprised by it. For his otouto to react as he was did not come as a shock.

He simply wondered if they would come to the same conclusions about the conspiring sannin. They had both, at certain point in their lives as missing-nin, had to deal with the infamous Orochimaru working to steal their devilish eyes. It was safe to assume that once Itachi's child was born, he would hold the same traits of his father, with the Uchiha genes being dominant.

Realization struck on Sasuke's young face. "He is likely going after the Sharingan again, the bastard."

Itachi nodded his head in agreement. They had no reason to believe otherwise, after the sannin's actions in the past. When failing to get his slimy hands on Itachi's precious sharingan, he had sought after Sasuke's. He had failed again though, and he was finally getting his chance to receive his own, fresh pair of sharingan. It seemed like a foolish plan, to steal something from the child of Uchiha Itachi, after having been easily defeated once. This is what he could not trust.

"Yes, this does seem the most probable. He knows that it would be near impossible to get to the child through me, however. You may have been the one to kill Orochimaru, but once, long ago, we had faced off."

Sasuke was surprised by this. He had never known that Orochimaru had gotten close to his brother at one point, close enough to duel. It must have been a draw, or something to that effect, because there was no other reason to leave such scum alive. He looked curiously at his brother, wondering if he would be willing to share the details of this.

Itachi sighed. "You probably already know this, but at one point, Orochimaru was a member of Akatsuki." Sasuke nodded, indicating for him to continue. "The only reason he joined that organization was because he wanted my sharingan. He assumed that if he could observe me long enough, he would find a way to take them from me, then implant them into himself.

"I would not allow this, however, and had known from the beginning why he joined. For the most part, I tended to avoid him, not wanting to deal with dueling. He, though, had no intention in letting me go so easily. Orochimaru knew I was powerful; too much for anyone in Akatsuki to handle besides Madara. He tried to find a way around this.

"He nearly gave up entirely on getting a set of healthy Sharingan, until succumbing in desperation. Instead of even forming a proper plan, he decided to attack me when he thought I was not looking. He clearly did not know how sensitive Sharingan are, or he would not have dreamed of sneaking on me.

"While Sasori was his partner in Akatsuki, we had been assigned a simple espionage mission in Konoha, since we both knew the area. I had my back turned on him for one moment, and he struck. It had been fruitless, naturally, and I had quickly subdued him with my Sharingan, and so he had lost. After that day, Orochimaru left the organization to create oto. I never thought I would seriously have to deal with him again, after having so throughly defeated him."

Sasuke thought about this, then understood why Orochimaru had seemed so desperate to get him out of konoha at the chunin exams. In Konoha, he had been safe, both because of the people who were his comrades were there, and were willing to protect him, but also because when he still lived in konoha, it had been easy for Itachi to keep tabs on him. Itachi had always been on the look out for him, however unlikely. Orochimaru did not want to be stopped again, and before his sharingan had even reached their prime, he plucked him out of konoha.

"That is why you are worried. You have already kicked his ass once, and because it would be stupid of him to mess with you again, he must have some alternative to getting his hands of a pair of sharingan." Sasuke commented, making sense of why his brother had mentioned the story behind his battle with Orochimaru.

"In essence, yes." Itachi let out a breath of air he had not known he was holding in. "Though it is pointless to go after my child's eyes, Orochimaru still appears to be targeting Sakura. He must have a reason for it, I am certain. I simply cannot figure what that reason is."

Sasuke nodded, understanding. "And, because I practically lived with the bastard for three years, I would know how his sick, twisted mind works, at least better than most." He finished for Itachi. There was a short moment of silence, in which Sasuke thought. Then he spoke again.

"The three years I spent in hell with Orochimaru, I did little but train with him. He is a devious man, that much I learned from him then. I always knew he was after the sharingan, and from the beginning, I planned to use his weakness for my eyes against him. That was how I was able to kill that snake. If he is not trying to get a new pair of Sharingan, I honestly have no idea what he could be after."

That was exactly what Itachi had been afraid of. Not even Sasuke, the closest person to have gotten near Orochimaru knew what the sannin was up to. It made him sick to his stomach, because he had not the slightest clue of what to do, besides keep him away from his lover. Some reason or another, this alone was not satisfying.

"Very well. I suppose there is little more I can do than I already am." Itachi sighed, worry clear on his normally expressionless face. Sasuke really did wish he could do something to help, but there was nothing more he knew. Orochimaru was an allusive man, and had been hard to follow, even after having trained under him for several years.

Not wanting to leave Sakura alone any longer, Itachi got to his feet. "Please keep your eyes open. I do not want that man anywhere near Sakura." He softly told his otouto, closing the shoji screen again. Sasuke nodded his head before it shut to show his agreement, then turned to his tea. The pot was cold again.

Month Six

Sakura did not feel comfortable in her skin, at least not as at peace with it as Itachi was. At first, she had been worried about where their child would have his room to grow, with so little extra room in their space. Surprisingly, one morning, when they had least suspected it, they had woken up to find a doorway into an added room to their quarters.

When they had found this little room, Sakura had promptly begun to nest, as she liked to call it. Though she could not be sure, with no ultrasound to confirm it, Sakura was positive that her child would be a son. So, going with this assumption, she had set up the appearing bedroom for a newborn boy. Itachi liked to help her, in most cases, he insisted he do everything, but Sakura wanted to be the one to plan the room's setup.

She spent most of her time there, in the rocking chair, cradling her abdomen as she did so. Often, she would fall asleep, then wake up to find herself in bed, Itachi's strong arms about her smaller form.

Yes, she was uncomfortable being naked, with how her body was awkwardly trying to stretch around the fetus growing in her womb. She protested to his teasing antics, and though her entire body was sore most of the time, Sakura did not want him to bathe her. She was not beautiful when she felt like a fat elephant. Itachi disagreed, and ignored her refusals.

He, for one, loved how she looked. Therefor, when he got the chance, he would gently pull her into the bathroom, then stand her up in the shower, and wash her entire body; from head to toe. It may have embarrassed her somewhat, but the curves of her growing womb and full breasts brought him a strange sense of pride. He had caused such changes in her, and to see it himself brought him more joy than anything.

The soap suds would slowly run down her rounded stomach, his hands touching widened hips and his eyes breathing in hormonally darkened nipples. These were the physical changes he saw in her pregnancy, but there was still that certain brightness in her eyes, warmth in her cheeks. Even though she had yet to give birth, mentally, she was a mother.

He had been told once that a woman becomes a mother when she discovers that she is with child, and that a man becomes a father when he holds that child for the first time. He was not sure how much of that was true, but he was certain of one thing. Sakura was already a mother of a child, though he had yet to be born.

Itachi was not certain what it felt like to be a father, so he was not sure when he would know how that changed, but it was obvious in Sakura. She did not think of anything but her child, which was normal for any mother. Itachi did think of his child very often, but there was still something he had to keep in mind. Orochimaru had yet to reveal what his ploy was. Therefor, he had to protect his nesting lover, more than anything else.

In privacy, he could be more relaxed with her, teasing her and subtly flirting, though half of the time she never picked up on it. Whenever they moved somewhere out in the compound though, he watched over her like a hawk watches its prey. Nothing was on his mind besides her protection. Sasuke found this to be a little extreme, but Itachi would rather be safe than anything else.

Month Seven

Karin, though showing absolutely no interest in having her own children, enjoyed helping Sakura prepare for the arrival of her child. It was rather unusual, after living the harsh life of a kunoichi, entering purgatory, and then going through such domestic ordeals. Cooking became the most difficult thing to do, and then Sakura had taken the time to help. After that, there was really nothing hard to deal with.

Until Sakura had decided to recruit her.

Karin could not understand why, in the seven hottest circles of hell, Sakura would want to sew clothes for her newborn. It could have been as simple as wanting little jumpsuits for the baby, but no, Sakura had to make it more complicated. Itachi had tried to explain the concept of nesting, but Karin still did not make sense of why she would chose to do everything instead of letting it happen on its own.

Not that she really complained too much. Sakura was happy with what she was doing, and from what Karin could tell, she would not be if she was not doing something for the child herself. Karin did not remember too much of her mother, or father, for that matter. She had been young when they died as honorable shinobi, and Karin had gone her own way after that, ignoring their warnings to never become a kunoichi.

Her parents were good, though she never regretted going against their will to train as a kunoichi. For some reason, Karin often saw her own mother in Sakura, and that was why she was so willing to assist. If it were not for that, Karin doubted she would have even considered getting close to those evil needles and thread.

She was not one for sewing, and she made this very clear to Sakura before helping, but so far, she had not done something too bad. Karin had carefully followed the patterns, and been sure not to get blood on the material. Eventually, she had discovered that sewing was not that bad, when it came to pastimes. That is, until she asked Sakura how she had learned to sew so well.

With a bright smile on her face, Sakura had told her, "I only started training to become a medic-nin when Tsunade returned to konoha. Before that, I was the one to stitch up everyone's wounds. I had to be good at it." There had been a sad expression on her face, as if she had felt useless, but Karin would not have any of that.

When Sakura had told her that, Karin kept imagining sewing closed someone's gut with baby blue thread, and it honestly grossed her out. She managed to not show her disgust too much, and eventually got over that again, thinking that at least Sakura had found a way to help her genin team, when she had never been able to. She refused to have a pity party for herself, but she wished Sakura would realize how fortunate she really was.

Month Eight

Itachi was unbelievably proud, seeing his little lover, so heavy with his child. That miraculous, beautiful child, to be born in a world that was already dead. He was a selfish person, and he did not deny it. Itachi had wanted to keep her to himself, and not share her beauty with anyone else. It may have been wrong of him to be so egocentric, but something about what that blond terrorist said bothered him.

He had said it straight out; Deidara wanted to sculpt Sakura.

The suffocating anger had surrounded him, crushing whoever was close. Itachi did not want anyone else to be allowed to look at her, at least not as he did. Sakura already was a piece of art, if you asked his professional opinion, and it was unnecessary for her to be recreated, when her gloriousness would outshine whatever that terrorist sculpted. But, no. Sakura had to butt in as well.

She had thought it an honor, completely ignoring the menacing aura rolling off him in thick waves. As an afterthought, Itachi had wondered how Sakura could disregard what could have been the strongest murderous intent she ever felt.

So, much to his displeasure, Sakura had decided to let Deidara sculpt her, not even bothering to ask why he wanted to make a figurine of her to begin with. Naturally, as the protective alpha-male, Itachi had confronted the blond, set on killing him if dissatisfied with what he was told. Unfortunately, the terrorist would likely reappear by the next morning, with no harm done to his person. It would be pointless, with the end-result of Deidara still being there, but gratifying, all the same.

Deidara had been frank in his first answer. "I am an artist, yeah. It is what we do."

This had not been good enough for Itachi, who had demanded a better response. Without his even realizing it, his dark eyes had bled into the crimson of the Sharingan, his three tomoe swirling around dangerously. Deidara had flinched, then fumbled for something else to tell the possessive Uchiha.

"I have never sculpted a pregnant woman. I think it would be different, yeah."

This was an even worse answer, at least according to Itachi. The three tomoe spun even faster, forming into three blades, becoming the Mangekyo Sharingan. Deidara was not sure what he had even done to piss off the Uchiha, but he was tempted to run off and forget even sculpting Sakura. Then he remembered.

"Sakura wants me to, yeah."

Shock, and thankfully, remembrance flashed across the furious Uchiha's face. He blinked a few times, knowing then that Deidara was right. Itachi did not want to upset Sakura, when this made her feel so proud, especially when she thought she was like a drunk, waddling duck. He should have been happy for her, not angry with the artist who wanted to capture her beauty, even if that was impossible.

He sighed, his eyes smoldering back into its usual dark charcoal. Deidara let out a quiet breath of relief. "Fine, you may do as you wish."

Month Nine

Sakura sighed, rubbing her abdomen with slow, caring motions. She had an unbelievable amount of energy, but Itachi insisted that it was better she not use it all up. He was certain that it was best she saved it for when she went into labor. That was fine, she supposed. Her body was too sore with the extra weight to move around all that much anyway.

She was past the point of caring what everyone thought about her rounded form, and almost blatantly showed off her pregnancy. It did not matter too much if she was about as graceful as an elephant. She was not taking dance lessons, and her kunoichi abilities had yet to really apply to where she was. Sakura was fine with being useless. It took a lot of work to make a baby, after all.

She was nearing the thirty-seventh week in her pregnancy, and though pain was not something she was yet to become accustomed to, after nearly nine months, it was not the same. It felt similar to how cramps during a menstrual cycle used to be, and she was not certain what it meant. She mentioned it to Itachi, who had forced her to rest, and take a longer nap.

Sakura had not objected, and agreed easily to curling up in bed for an hour. She had laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, while Itachi had taken to sitting in the prepared baby-room. He liked reading in there, which she thought was cute, though she was determined to never tell him as much. He might not have appreciated it anyway, and she did not want to deal with an especially grumpy Itachi.

Smiling, she recalled the time she had asked what he thought about naming their child. His answer had been quick and decided. Kazuki. Shining one; victory. Sakura liked it very much, because it seemed to fit well. She had agreed to his choice wholeheartedly, glad that he had put some thought into it. Sakura wanted him to be as much involved with Kazuki's upbringing as she was.

A soft, satisfied sigh escaped through her lips, and she reached for a glass of water that was sitting on a bed-stand. She froze at the sudden feel of liquid rushing out from between her legs. Either she had recently lost control of her bladder, or... She tore the blankets off, and saw that it was not urine.

"Itachi, get in here! I am going into labor!"

AN: I am so evil! I left a cliffhanger for you guys!

I am sorry, because my updating of this fic has been slow. Writer's block is the devil's best friend, I swear. Updating is difficult for me, because my brother moved back in, and he is a facebook freak. He likes to hog the computer more than I do, and that takes a lot. Please do not give up on this fic, I promise I will continue updating! A review would be nice too... ^^