Chapter 21

The cave was filled with hundreds of small candles that casted an eerie glow around the people huddled inside it. Symbols of blood covered her bare arms and shoulders. Blazing blue eyes watched from his place perched on a cliff just above her.

"I don't like this Sakura."

She tilted her head up so she was able to make out his form. "Don't worry Naruto everything will be okay."

Naruto clenched his hands together to stop himself from jumping down to stop this ritual that rubbed him the wrong way. 'Sasuke where are you? What are you doing right now that could possibly put Sakura and your child in danger? C'mon teme…don't do anything stupid. Wait until I can find you…'

"Now I will start the Jutsu. It will be uncomfortable and could even cause some pain." Itachi's Sharingan locked with Naruto, "I thought I would warn you of that since your bodyguard may jump down and try to stop it if you scream."

Naruto moved his feet more towards the edge.

"He won't do anything of the sort. Will you Naruto?" Sakura asked her green eyes shaking with her hidden passion.

Naruto gulped as he forced himself to nod affirmative.

Itachi seemed pleased with the exchange and he began to make the intense hand signs. Naruto watched closely as his hands blurred. 'He's as fast as Kakashi Sensei…maybe even faster. This guy…he's something unreal. Could he really save the baby? But—what about Sakura?'

A shift in the wind occurred once his hands froze at the last sign. Naruto leaned over to get a better view. The blood that marked her skin began to glow a pale green. It gradually began to glow more and he noticed the sweat that began to build on her delicate skin.

He closed his eyes momentarily. 'Sakura you can do it. You're one of the strongest people I know. Don't give up…I'm here for you.'

A scream filled the cave causing him to open his eyes. He was about to jump down when Kisame grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.

"You can't interfere."

Naruto clenched his hands together as his eyes looked over the girl that had stolen his heart the first time his eyes made contact with hers. There was a slight glimmer of something on her neck that caught his eye from the candle light. At closer inspection he could tell it was a necklace of some kind.

'I never thought Sakura was one for jewelry…I'll have to look into it after this is finished.'

After a few more minutes of her screams echoing through the hall they came to an abrupt end. Itachi kneeled down beside her as she huffed for air.

"You have done well. The child will be protected now even if my foolish brother chooses poorly."

With effort she locked her eyes with Itachi's. "Thank you for everything you've done. I misjudged you from the very beginning. Does Sasuke know?"

Itachi shook his head, "And it's better if it stays that way. He needs a purpose in his life and I provide that purpose. The task you have now is to protect that child as it grows within your belly."

A swooping noise was heard as Naruto landed beside them.

"Sakura are you all right? You were screaming so loud that I wanted to do anything to make the pain stop."

Sakura smiled sweetly up at him. "Thanks Naruto but I'm okay, really." She gasped as a sharp pain ran through her back.

"There will be some lingering pain that comes up every now and then. The best thing you can do for now is rest and make sure to get plenty of sleep. If Sasuke contacts you make sure you don't mention what has taken place. If he knows then he could do something in order to put an end to it." Itachi explained as he straightened to his full height.

Sakura nodded her understanding as Naruto reached down and picked her up into his arms. Naruto's blue eyes locked with Itachi's Sharingan.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to her. Now you better get out of this village before Kakashi finds out that you're here. He'll make your life a living hell."

Itachi turned to Kisame who grinned wickedly. "We will meet again Naruto, count on it." Then with a rustling of the wind they were gone.

Naruto adjusted Sakura in his arms as he began to walk back to the village. "So Sakura, where did you get that necklace?"

She leaned her head against his shoulder, "I got it from Sasuke's house after he left the village. I've never taken it off since. When I was with him and Orochimaru I showed it to him. At first I thought he'd be furious but then…he said I could keep it. I've never been so happy in my life before."

Naruto listened carefully and intently to everything that his teammate told him. As they reached the village gates he picked up his speed a little. Sakura was weak and she needed to get home so she could be put in bed to rest.

Approaching her apartment he faltered slightly. Did Sakura have her key? Maybe it would be better if he took her to his place, that way he could watch over her. Sakura sensed his anxiety as his eyes moved from right to left.

"Naruto I have my key with me. You can just take me home."

"But Sakura…I don't know if it's good for you to be home alone right now. You're going through so much and…I hate to leave you."

With a slightly trembling hand, from her exhaustion, she pinched his cheek.

"You dork you better take me home right now so I can be comfortable and sleep. In your messy apartment there's no way I'll be able to relax!" She mocked.

Naruto chuckled nervously, "hehehe, you're right Sakura; it is a mess right now. Okay then, I'll take you home and then come check on you once I see if Kakashi Sensei needs anything."

She leaned her head against his shoulder in relief. "Thank goodness, I really need to sleep. I don't know how much longer I can keep my eyes open."

With a hand sign she summoned her keys into her palm. "Here you go. Now if you don't mind I'm just going to rest my eyes," she mumbled, her words beginning to slur from her exhaustion.

Naruto continued the walk to her apartment. He wasn't surprised when he found Kakashi leaning against her door.

"Naruto what happened?" Kakashi asked in alarm as he scurried over to the two of them.

"I'll explain everything after I set her in bed." Naruto replied gloomily as he handed Kakashi the keys to open the door for him.

Once inside he set her on her bed and covered her with a blanket he found. Kakashi watched, arms folded the whole time.

"Now let's go somewhere private so we can talk about this." Kakashi said firmly as Naruto mutely nodded his head.

The training ground they chose was deserted. Kakashi leaned against one of the wooden posts as he listened to Naruto retail all that happened with Itachi and Kisame. Naruto felt a little guilty as he told Kakashi everything that had happened. He knew it wasn't his place but Kakashi was a part of their team and deserved to know what was going on.

"This is troubling." Kakashi finally spoke once Naruto was finished explaining.

"Right? I don't know Sensei…what could Sasuke be doing that could end up being so horrible that Sakura dies from it?"

Kakashi sighed deeply as the troubling news dampened his mood. "Well there is only one thing we can really do."

Naruto was pacing anxiously in front of his Sensei. "What? What?"

"It's simple; we head out and search for Sasuke ourselves."

A grin slowly spread across Naruto's face. "Brilliant! When do we start?"

"Now this is the part you aren't going to like. I say we wait a few months before we take off."

"Wait? But Kakashi Sensei! Sasuke will be long gone by that point! We need to act now before it's too late." Naruto yelled.

Kakashi closed his eyes as from the loudness of his students voice. "Naruto you aren't thinking. We can't just take off right now in search for him. There's Sakura to think about and besides, Sasuke has already been gone a long time, the trail has long gone cold. We have to wait until there are some murmurs of him appearing."

Naruto's eyes shot downwards as he realized his Sensei was right. The best course of action was to wait patiently until they were able to receive some type of information on Sasuke's whereabouts.

"So Sakura really allowed this Jutsu to take place huh? Well it makes sense why she'd want to protect the child more than anything else in this world. But there must be a reason why Itachi would offer such an option for her." Kakashi thought out loud as he tapped his chin.

Naurto groaned as he fell on his back, his eyes looked up at the blue sky as clouds washed over it like a painting on canvas.

"Do you really think we'll be able to save Sakura in time?" his voice was monotone as he voiced his question.

Kakashi lowered his hand as he watched the expressions play out on Naruto's face. 'How much he reminds me of the fourth…if only he were here to help. Things would go a lot differently.'

"We'll try with everything that we have in our power to save her Naruto. She still has a few months before the child will be born so I'm sure we'll be able to pull something out."

"Will you're mirror eye be able to save her this time? Will you be strong enough…will I be strong enough? I wasn't strong enough to save Sasuke…who's to say I'll have the power to save the one girl I love?"

Kakashi filled with dread as he watched all hope slowly fade from Naruto's eyes. His feet scrapped against rocks as he walked and sat down next to his student.

"Sometimes you have no choice but to have blind faith. You have never been one to give up, especially when someone you care about's life is on the line."

The wind picked up as they sat in silence. After a few minutes Naruto opened his mouth to speak, "Sensei…I won't give up. Just now I had a thought…what would the fourth Hokage do if he were here? Would he really lay here feeling sorry for himself or would he get out there and try to find ways to make himself stronger? He's my idol—and I want to be just like him, no more feeling sorry for myself. Its time to train some more; will you help me?"

Kakashi's eye was wide at the sudden burst of energy that propelled Naruto to his feet.

"Of course I'll help you. After all without me there to catch your messes you'd be in the hospital every day."

"Ah! Don't say that! I'm perfectly capable of doing my own training, and cleaning up after myself!"

"Right…just like you're capable of coming up with your own meals? I believe there was a time when all you ate was Ramen and I'd come by every week and bring you a basket of greens."

Naruto stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Just because I don't like veggies doesn't mean I don't know how to cook for myself!"

They continued to banter as they walked a little ways into the training grounds to start their very grueling training session.

Few months later...

"Your vitals look good, blood pressure is fine…yep it doesn't seem like there's anything to worry about." Tsunade grinned as she saw the relieved look overcome her pupil, "see? You had nothing to worry about Sakura."

Sakura rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry My Lady I just…this is all new to me."

"Well of course it's new to you! This is your first child; no one is expecting you to understand everything right away. All I'm saying is believe me next time I tell you that you have nothing to worry about."

"B-but the strange cravings…I never thought I'd crave for pickle flavored ramen before. I hate pickles!" Sakura exclaimed in dismay.

Tsunade laughed as she handed Sakura the charts for her to examine with her own eyes.

"Those are completely normal for a pregnant woman to have. They won't go away for a while but soon you'll be feeling back to your normal self."

"Yeah like when I have this baby." Sakura huffed in annoyance as she flipped to the second page, her eyes scanning the contents.

Tsunade couldn't help but stare at her pupil in amusement. "It's hard for me to believe you're five months along already. How is Naruto doing with all the mood swings?"

Sakura laughed despite the serious question. "Every time I walk past him he gets this slightly worried look cross his eyes. Kakashi Sensei does pretty well with my many moods but Naruto…he seems like he's always afraid, which I guess he has good reason to be."

"Do you think you'll be able to forget about Sasuke?"

Sakura's eyes stopped scanning and she slowly looked at Tsunade and away from the papers. 'Sasuke…he's been getting farther and farther away from me and the village. I have this sneaky feeling that Kakashi has something in mind though.'

"I love him Sensei, and that won't go away. It hasn't for a long time, so don't expect it to anytime soon."

Tsunade smiled sadly, "one can always hope Sakura. Now I better let Naruto in before he has a freak out attack." She moved towards the door and before she could open it, it slid open. Sakura's green eyes landed on her friend.

"Everything okay Grandma? Is the baby all right?"

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "Everything is fine Naruto. Now why don't you take Sakura out for lunch and then we'll see you in a few hours to talk about the gender of the child."

The two of them looked at Tsunade in awe. "Wait…we get to find out what sex the baby is?" Sakura spoke for them.

The Hokage nodded her head. "Of course you do. So I'll summon you once I have some free time to chat. For now I need to report to the Elders."

"Thank you for everything." Naruto thanked, his blue eyes shined with his thankfulness. Tsunade smiled at the two of them and then excused herself from the room.

"So…what do you think it will be?" Naruto asked as he turned towards Sakura.

"I…I honestly don't care what it is, haven't we had this talk before?"

"Well sure but I was seeing if you'd changed your mind."

Sakura stood up awkwardly, "Well a boy would be good I guess. Isn't that what Sasuke would want?"

Naruto frowned. "Who cares what Sasuke wants; I'm sure he'd be happy with a girl as well."

"But it'd probably be best to start the Uchiha clan off with a male heir." Sakura said thoughtfully as they both walked out of the examining room.

"A female heir is just as good. Look at Hinata, she's the heir of her clan and she'll do a great job! So if you have a girl she'll be just as good as a boy."

Sakura smiled at him as they reached the doors of the hospital.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura exclaimed as he stepped out from one of the hallways.

"Sakura glad to hear everything is going well. Naruto…can't I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure thing! I'll be right back Sakura!" Naruto said as he followed Kakashi down the hallway.

"He's made a small mistake, not huge but its enough to leave a trail."

Naruto's blood ran cold for an instant and then burned with anticipation. "We know where to start to find Sasuke? So the waiting has finally paid off?"

"Yes Naruto, it's finally paid off. We leave in the hour, take Sakura home and make sure she has everything she needs. The Hokage has already approved of this mission so we don't have to worry about explaining things to her."

"All right! I'll take her home and meet you at the village gates."

Kakashi saluted and then popped away in a puff of smoke. Naruto ran back to Sakura's side.

"C'mon Sakura we need to get you home. I have a mission that needs to get started right away."

"What kind of mission is it?"

Naruto fidgeted with his hands slightly. Leave it to Sakura's curiosity to make things hard for him.

"Uh…well you see, it's sort of a secret mission. I'm not really allowed to talk about it much." He tried to fib.

"Are you going to track after Sasuke?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks; they were only a few feet away from her front door. "How'd you guess?"

Sakura shrugged her small shoulders. "Just a gut feeling I have. Come inside, there's something I want to give you."

Naruto followed her into her small apartment. She moved into the small kitchen area and began to open drawers.

"Just take this, don't ask any questions of how I came across it or anything. I'm just giving you this so you can find him."

In his stomach he had a bad feeling about whatever Sakura was going to give him. 'Why wouldn't she want me asking how she got it? Could it be so bad that she doesn't want anyone to know she has it? And why would Sakura have such a thing?'

His face dropped in disbelief as she handed him a small pebble. "A rock? You don't want me to ask how you got a rock?"

"It's not just any rock dummy! It will start to glow once you come in contact with Sasuke's chakra. It works from long distances so you'll know in advance when you'll be facing him. And…be careful Naruto. Sasuke isn't the same person he used to be. Whatever he's chosen to do has slowly changed him, I can't promise he won't kill you."

Naruto beamed at her, "Don't worry Sakura, everything will be fine! I better go now otherwise Kakashi Sensei might leave me behind!"

Sakura watched as her best friend bolted out her front door.

"Be careful…"

She bit her lip as her thoughts turned to the pebble that she had handed him. 'If they knew I had casted a spell on it in order to track Sasuke they would wonder how I was able to do such a thing.' She lifted her hands so she could look at them. 'From what Orochimaru did to me…I've been able to do things that I normally haven't been able to. I can't let anyone know…it has to be a secret I take to my grave.'

The blood that covered his hands and arms didn't cause him to blink. All he could do was stare straight ahead at his destination. He had come this far and killed so many all in order to get to the place he was at now.

"Now it's time to end this." His voice was cold and crisp as he spoke to the dead bodies that scattered around him. He began his slow trek towards the grand building.

"Whoever stands in my way will die; regardless of what happens to my soul I will finish this."

A/N: Oh I do hope you guys all review! This story is the one that generates the most reviews so I will put more effort into updating it! My Bleach one for my last chapter only got five reviews :( That made me sad. This one at least gets like 8 to ten, of course I'd love more so please, please, please! Review! I know its sometimes a pain but I really do love to know what you guys thought of it. Sorry its taken me a few months again to update. Last night at about 10:30 I logged on and read all my reviews and felt terrible! So I knocked the rest of this chapter out in likes...five hours. So I'm sure there's errors in here and stuff but I thought you guys all deserved a chapter! Sorry about the time change and stuff in the middle of the chapters. Its just grueling to go through the whole pregnancy months and stuff but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

Oh! And one reviewer asked questions and I promise most, if not all, will be answered :D I'm going to try to have the next chapter out by the end of the month but if I don't then it will be followed shortly after. I'm in school again and am in an english class so I'll see how much time I have to knock out more chapters. :D

Thank you guys for sticking with me for so long! Perhaps there will be a sequel...hmmm...all depends on how this story ends and how many of you request one. ;) All right! now if you'd be so kind please push the review button and tell me what you thought!