It's been too long, I know. I'm sorry! Things have been hectic and up until this past weekend, I hadn't written much. The upside was this weekend, I finished a 17 page chapter draft and 5 pages of the next one. Thank you to yukino76, and SweetHunniiBunnii for reviewing the last chapter!
Note: I decided to keep the common name for Braxton Hicks contractions because even though it's a real world label in a fictional world, it's good information and I don't want to get reviews saying 'why didn't you just say Braxton Hicks contractions? You weirdo.'
I also wanted to make Sakura the godmother but that's not really a traditional thing in Japan, so I settled for guardian.
*IMPORTANT NOTICE!* As of 03/16/16, this chapter has NOT been EDITED because it already abides the FFN guidelines.
I am abiding by FFN ratings and removing-anything overtly dark or violent, and the scenes of complete and unrepentant smut that are considered MA, from this site. I do this in order to protect reviews linked to my stories and account that I want to keep from anyone with an email account, hate for my stories, and want my account banned for whatever their weak excuses may be.
Warnings: Contains adult language, themes, and suggestions. It is not suitable for anyone below the age of 16 per FFN guidelines.
December third, the thirtieth week,
Sasuke had set a pot down on the stovetop, intent on making a snack, and hit the handle of it with his rotund belly as he moved to reach for the cabinet. "Dammit!" The Uchiha cursed. The pot clattered to the ground, missing his feet by inches. Chasing after it, he tried to lean over and found that he couldn't. "Fuck me." He hissed. Looking around, the pregnant male leaned back, holding his weight with his hands as he tried to lower himself down within range to grab the pot.
"You okay, Sasuke?" Naruto called out. Grunting in discomfort, the dark haired male widened his stance and reached out, grabbing the pot by the handle. Setting it up on the counter, Sasuke pushed himself back up into a standing position, feeling the strain on his muscles.
"Fine." The Uchiha hissed. He was seething when his husband made an appearance in the doorway. "Dropped the pot." Sasuke explained angrily. Slamming the pot down on the counter, he scowled at it and reached for another pot, one that hadn't been on the ground.
"Why are you cooking?" His husband asked. The pregnant male shot the blonde a dark look as he filled the new pot with water. Naruto came up behind him, hands running up and down his sides comfortingly.
"I'm hungry." He muttered. Moving away from the sink, the blonde came with him, wrapping his arms around his stomach. Hindered by his parasite of a husband, Sasuke slowly inched his way to the cabinet, reaching for the handle as the blonde's hands spread across his seven and a half month pregnant middle.
"What are you making?" Naruto asked. The Uchiha could feel his husband's lips pressing kisses against his neck. Opening the cabinet, he pulled out a packet of ramen and held it in front of the blonde's face.
"Ramen." Sasuke set the package of dry noodles down and edged his way back to the stove, turning it on to boil the water.
"Isn't that going to make you nauseous?" Naruto asked. It was a legitimate question; it had been the main instigator of Sasuke's morning sickness during his first trimester. The blonde's hands continued to rub the Uchiha's stomach, fingers drumming a random tune.
"I'm craving it. Leave me alone." The dark haired male slapped one of the blonde's hands when it trailed too far south for his liking. Naruto chuckled into Sasuke's neck, kissing up the column of pale skin.
"Alright, okay." Naruto pulled his hands up but was still glued to the Uchiha's backside. "You know Sakura is going to kill me for letting you have my ramen." Sasuke kept his eyes trained on the water in the pot, waiting for it to boil.
"She doesn't have to know." He responded. Setting a hand over one of the tan hands, they twined their fingers together.
"Are you sure she won't be able to tell just by looking?" The blonde asked. Snorting, the Uchiha grabbed the pots handle, moving it just to do something with his other hand.
"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke muttered. The water wasn't boiling yet but the pregnant male was getting impatient. He was hungry.
"Teme." Naruto responded teasingly. "I know Sakura asks you this all the time but how are you feeling?" The blonde asked.
"Tired. Couldn't go back to sleep after the baby woke me." Sasuke answered. Turning his head, the Uchiha pressed his cheek into the soft hair. The blonde tightened his grip on his husband's hand and lifted his head, much to the Uchiha's irritation.
"Why didn't you wake me?" Naruto pulled away just enough to look the Uchiha in eye, looking concerned without pity. "I could have kept you company."
"You needed your sleep. We ran you hard last week." Sasuke explained. The water finally began boil and the pregnant male ripped open the packet of dry noodles, pulling out the seasoning packet before dumping the noodles into the water.
"It was fine, we got a lot done." He muttered. Starting a mental count, the pregnant male started to shuffle away from the stovetop in order to get a bowl. Naruto remained glued to his back, walking with him the entire way.
"Hn." Sasuke hummed. He reached up to open a cabinet, hitting the blonde's chin with his shoulder purposely. The blonde didn't seem to mind at all, shifting to give the dark haired male more room to maneuver.
"When is your appointment with Kusushi and Taji?" Naruto asked. They waddled back to the stovetop and Sasuke realized he could only stand having one human parasite attached to him. Pulling their intertwined hands away from his stomach, the Uchiha tried to push him away with one hand. Naruto seemed to realize what Sasuke was doing and dutifully stepped to the side, giving him room to breath.
"Soon, I'll be back late for testing the seals." Sasuke answered. There was a small amount of relief now that it Naruto had given him space as he leaned over to open a drawer, pulling out a pair of chopsticks.
"I'm sure Kakashi and Yamato won't mind too much. You got a lot done last week." The Uchiha glanced over to his husband. Naruto was grinning happily as he leaned against the counter, watching the dark haired male.
"We've barely started." Sasuke retorted. He looked away and shifted on his feet to try to find a comfortable position to stand. The Uchiha wasn't exaggerating, they'd ruled out over half of the base symbols but that still left about a hundred and fifty base symbols to try with hundreds of other symbols, each.
"It's more than what we would have had done if we had waited a week." Naruto raised his hand to set it under his chin. The three minutes were up and Sasuke turned off the stove, picking up the seasoning packet and opened it.
"You know, I could have gone to Ichiraku's and gotten fresh ramen for the both of us. Teuchi could have given you extra vegetables." Naruto sighed. He watched the Uchiha dump the packet and then stirred the noodles with his chopsticks.
"Would have taken too long." Sasuke explained. Pouring the noodles into the bowl, the Uchiha set the pot back down and picked up his bowl of delicious noodles with him to the table, intent on devouring it.
"Next time then, so Sakura won't have as much of a reason to yell at me." Naruto followed him, pulling out the chair for his husband who gave him a grateful look. Settling down, the pregnant male picked at the noodles for a brief second before attempting to hold as many noodles on his chopsticks as he could.
"It's better than craving ice cream and pickles." He sighed. Blowing on the steaming pasta, Sasuke watched Naruto grin back and heard someone knock on the front door. Before Naruto could get up, because there was no way Sasuke was going to, it opened and someone walked in.
"Hello, boys." Sakura called out. Sasuke paused with the chopsticks just in front of his mouth, his focus on the blonde's bright blue eyes that widened in shock. "I came by to make sure Sasuke remembers his appointment." The pink haired woman was quickly making her way through their home, most likely looking for them, he could hear her checking the hallway that led to their bedroom before moving into the living room. Naruto tried reaching for the bowl of ramen, which Sasuke immediately slapped away with his free hand as Sakura appeared in the doorway. "Are you eating ramen?"
"It's Naruto's." Sasuke muttered. He glanced to her as he stuffed the noodles into his mouth and ignored the way his husband gaped at him. The blonde glanced up to Sakura and then back to his husband and Sasuke looked to the pink haired woman.
"Hey! It is not." Naruto claimed. The Uchiha continued to slurp the noodles into his mouth, watching the two stare each other down. Sakura's stare was becoming more a glare the longer she refused to blink, her eyebrows lowering and scrunching the bridge of her nose as her frown deepened. "He's craving." The blonde explained. He pointed to Sasuke who was now chewing on the noodles and blinked in surprise at how easy his husband had turned on him.
"Traitor." The Uchiha hissed after swallowing.
"You started it." Naruto shot back. He stuck his tongue out at the pregnant male and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
"Do you always act like children or is it really just when I'm around?" Sakura asked. The dark haired male returned his focus to his ramen, lifting another clump of food out of his bowl.
"Just when you're around." Sasuke explained. He leaned forward and blew on the steaming noodles, waiting for it to be cool enough to eat.
"Fantastic, you're just going to start squabbling like kids every time I'm in the same room?" Sakura walked into the kitchen, leaning against the counter as she asked the question.
"Probably." Sasuke answered. He leaned forward to slurp the noodles into his mouth, enjoying the way the pink haired woman watched him with a look of slight disgust.
"That's why we want you to be their guardian, in case anything happens to us." Naruto told Sakura with a smile. As her jaw dropped, the irritated expression quickly forming into one of shock, the pregnant male kicked his husband under the table. "Ow! Hey!" The blonde looked accusingly at Sasuke but the pregnant male glared back at him.
"You need to learn how to keep your mouth shut." He growled. Naruto stuck his tongue out at his husband before looking back to Sakura.
"Me? What about Tsunade-sensei?" The pink haired woman asked. She looked between the two men with wide eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Wouldn't be fair for her to take the role of grandmother and guardian." Naruto answered with a grin. Sakura looked back to Sasuke, her jade green eyes still wide in surprise as the pregnant male nodded to her. He wanted to let her know that they weren't even close to joking.
"We were going to tell you together, when the time was right." Sasuke explained. The blonde's grin got wider when their old teammate looked back to him, her mouth dropping open as the certainty of what they were saying sunk in. Stirring the broth in his bowl, the Uchiha collected more noodles with his chopsticks and leaned forward to slurp them into his mouth.
"I just can't believe-have you really thought this through?" Sakura asked. She was looking at them both with concern and Sasuke rolled his eyes at the implication that they hadn't spent time discussing it.
"Of course we have!" Naruto took on an almost affronted expression. Sasuke began to chew, hoping the other two would recognize it as his agreement. "Iruka's going to be the second guardian." The blonde said smugly. The Uchiha swallowed and tapped his utensils against his bowl.
"If he accepts." Sasuke pointed out. Naruto looked to his husband, his grin stubbornly still on his face.
"Of course he's going to accept, why wouldn't he?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and looked back to Sakura who had gone silent as they bantered. The pink haired woman
"Are you okay, Sakura?" The Uchiha called out her name tentatively. She blinked, and then blinked again before she looked around and reached for a chair. Naruto hastily helped her pull out a chair and made sure the pink haired woman sunk into the chair safely.
"Yeah, just give me a minute. This is, it's a lot to take in." Sakura murmured. She was still in shock and Sasuke briefly wondered how she could have missed it, she was their friend, teammate, and had already done so much since finding out about their plans to have a baby. As the Uchiha opened his mouth to say something along that line of thought, there was another knock on the front door before he heard it open.
"Naruto? Sasuke?" Apricot's voice called out in a cautious tone. Sighing loudly, the dark haired male wanted to groan. They were really going to have to start locking the front door.
"What?" The pregnant male called out. He, along with Naruto and Sakura listened for any sound the young girl would make. There was the sound of the front door opening wider but there were no footsteps that indicated she was going to enter the house.
"Kakashi and Yamato are ready and waiting for you guys in the training field. They told me to come and get you." She called out loudly.
"The one time Kakashi decides to be on time." Naruto muttered with a drawn out sigh.
"Go on, get started without me." Sasuke waved his chopsticks at the blonde before sticking them back into the bowl of ramen. The blonde stood up and gave the pink haired woman another glance before leaning down towards his husband.
"Will do, love you." Naruto pressed his lips against Sasuke's head in a quick kiss before straightening and walking out the kitchen door.
"Love you too." The pregnant male called out after him. He picked up the last bit of noodles and slurped them into his mouth before resting his gaze on the medic-nin sitting across the table from him. Sakura was leaning back in her chair, legs crossed as she watched him eat. Her expression was muted; the slight crinkling of her skin around her eyes suggested she was trying to hold back a smile.
"I'll see you after your appointment!" Naruto yelled before he shut the front door with a loud bang. Now, the only sound was coming from him as he finished his noodles.
"You're okay with this, right?" Sasuke asked after swallowing. The pink haired woman finally smiled, uncrossed her legs and arms before leaning over the table.
"I wasn't expecting it, at all." She answered truthfully. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, still wondering how she was surprised. "But I'm honored, that you want me to be a guardian." Sakura explained. The pink haired woman smiled and reached over, laying her hand on top of Sasuke's.
"There's no one else we'd rather have." He answered. Sakura patted her hand on top of Sasuke's before pulling it away and smiled brightly.
"Thank you, it means a lot to me." She shifted in her seat, looking down at her hands for a brief moment and Sasuke stirred his chopsticks in the quickly cooling broth that remained in his bowl.
"Nervous about it?" The pregnant male asked. He watched Sakura shake her head and tap her fingers on the table.
"Well, it gives me plenty of time to practice for when I have my own kid." The pink haired woman shrugged her shoulders with a grin and Sasuke raised his eyebrows at her statement.
"You know Naruto would ask you've if you met someone." Sasuke pointed out. She rolled her eyes, still grinning as the dark haired male moved to stand, picking up his bowl and taking it to the sink.
"Are you sure you're not the one who's curious?" Sakura asked. The Uchiha glanced back as he dumped the broth down the drain, attempting not to smirk.
"Is there someone?" He asked. Looking back to the sink, he started to rinse the bowl and chopsticks and listened to his friend turn around in her chair.
"You sound like my parents." Sakura told him. Her tone had taken on a note irritation but was still smiling when he turned around. "Ready? Let's get to the hospital and get this appointment over with." She took the lead and left the kitchen, letting the pregnant male follow her to the front door.
"Date?" The Uchiha teased. Sakura huffed as she pulled on her red winter jacket and pink scarf. Sasuke grabbed his own winter coat and slipped the dark blue cloth over his shoulders as his old teammate gave him the stink-eye.
"No, I'm meeting up with Ino for lunch to talk about her new flower shop." The pink haired woman explained. Scoffing, he slipped on his shoes and buttoned up his coat as Sakura did the same. "You've been spending too much time with your husband." Sakura had started messing with her scarf when Sasuke opened the front door, immediately regretting it when a blast of cold air hit him in the face.
"That's what happens when two people go on maternity leave, we spend all of our time together." He explained. The dark haired male is relieved to find that his gloves are in his pockets when he stuffs his hands into them. Sakura is too focused on getting her scarf straight and not walking into the door to respond right away. Once she's out of the house, Sasuke shuts the door before quickly shoves his hands into his gloves.
"And you're not sick of him yet?" She asks once she's got her scarf on the way she wanted it. The Uchiha shook his head as they stepped off the front porch and Sakura slipped her hands into her pockets.
"It's nice." He explains vaguely. Sakura burrows her face into her scarf when Sasuke glanced to her. "The last time we spent this much time together, we were genin doing missions together."
"And you were in isolation or on house arrest while Naruto was on duty or doing missions." Sakura voiced her thoughts as they made their way down the street. "He was still doing away missions when he got custody of you, Kakashi complained for months because he didn't want to babysit you all the time." The Uchiha exhaled loudly through his nose, the breath misting from his nostrils.
"He made sure I was aware of the fact, often." Sasuke muttered. Sakura laughed and the dark haired male watched as the hot air visibly rose around her face whenever she exhaled.
"That I do not doubt." She grinned before reaching up to readjust her scarf over her mouth. Barely three seconds had passed before she was stuffing her bare hand back into her pocket.
"Why didn't you buy yourself gloves when you bought mine?" He questioned. Sakura shrugged her shoulders as they turned onto the main street that would lead them to the gate.
"They didn't have any pink ones." Sakura's cheeks grew full, a sure sign that she was smiling. The Uchiha grinned back at her and held up one of his gloved hands, wiggling his fingers back and forth.
"Thank goodness there weren't two pairs of pink gloves." He grinned. Dropping his hand as Sakura burst out into laughter, Sasuke chuckled and set his hand on top of his protruding abdomen. The baby gave a small kick and he stopped walking, it always felt weird when he tried walking and the baby moved. His old teammate stopped when she realized the pregnant male wasn't walking next to her and tried to stifle her laughter.
"Hm, pink doesn't suit you." The pink haired woman replied once she could breathe again. Sasuke rolled his eyes and moved his hand to where he felt the baby kick. "Baby moved?" She asked. He nodded as the feeling lessened before stopping completely and he started walking again, Sakura immediately keeping pace with him.
"I feel like I'm going to fall over if I try walking." The Uchiha answered. Sakura made a humming noise but Sasuke could still see the exaggerated fullness of her cheeks, which meant she was still smiling.
Nothing had changed in the office Sakura had led him to, though he could have found his way to the room blindfolded if he wanted to. "Are you having increased irritability, agitation, or inexplicable sadness?" Kusushi asked. Sasuke glanced over to the mousy, brown haired male who was pushing his glasses up with his pointer finger. He knew it was a standard question to ask; Sakura had asked the same thing last week but in a less worded, more socially accepted kind of way. It went along the lines of 'Feeling unusually angry or sad recently?'. He wanted to roll his eyes at the technician but refrained, knowing he was in the middle of an irritation induced mood swing.
"No more so than usual." The Uchiha replied. Shifting in his chair, the pregnant male bit the inside of his cheek to keep his mouth shut before he made a scathing remark. Kusushi gave Sasuke a look of curiosity and the dark haired male was going regret his previous response before the technician got a word out.
"How would you define your usual irritableness, agitation or sadness?" The man questioned. Sasuke was rolling his eyes before he even could think about not doing it. Looking to the two women sitting on the other side of his chair, he watched both Sakura and Taji give him small nods.
"I'm a male who's seven and a half months pregnant, I'm constantly tired, ache all over, and with the baby constantly moving I haven't been getting a full night's sleep." Sasuke found himself explaining. Even he knew he sounded irritated and snappish. "Sorry." The pregnant male stated without looking up from his round stomach.
"Any worries about your impending parenthood?" Taji asked the next question. Kusushi had sat back, fiddling with the ultrasound machine nervously and Sasuke might have felt just a little guilty for snapping at the man. Sakura would berate him later; the man was just trying to do his job.
"No more so than any other soon-to-be-parent. We're reading books, going to classes." The Uchiha attempted to sound calm and collected. He focused his attention on Sakura who gave him a nod at his attempt at peace.
"That's good." Taji murmured. The need to roll his eyes was still simmering under the surface of his emotions but Sasuke forced his eyes to remain on the wall just above Sakura's head.
"I couldn't sleep last night because the baby was moving." Sasuke explained. He looked to the sonographer, trying to gauge his reaction but it seemed that the man was harder to read when one could only see half of his face. Giving up, the Uchiha looked back to his stomach and gave it a glower.
"Start taking naps then." Sakura spoke up. "You don't need medication for sleep." The Uchiha turned his glower to the pink haired woman who just shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Can we get on with the ultrasound?" He grumbled.
"Of course." Kusushi answered. The brown haired man's fiddling with the ultrasound machine took on a deliberateness and Sasuke shifted on the awkwardly reclined seat, pulling up his shirt over his round belly.
"Do you not like naps?" Taji asked. The sonographer picked up the wand of the machine and was holding a bottle of gel. Kusushi held the bottle over Sasuke's offered stomach, squirting an ample amount of gel across the width of his belly.
"Why waste a perfectly good afternoon sleeping?" He replied. The only other man in the room placed the ultrasound wand on his stomach and smeared the gel as he looked to the screen.
"Because you weren't able to sleep during a perfectly good night." The older woman teased. The pregnant male bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from snorting. Kusushi wasn't that much older than Sasuke, which made it harder to be respectful to the man. "Have you been feeling any Braxton Hicks contractions?" Taji's question caught Sasuke off guard; he'd read about them but never thought that he'd ever feel them.
"No, can I even have them?" The Uchiha felt Kusushi move the wand across his pregnant belly slowly, taking his time with looking at the fetus. In his peripheral vision, Sasuke could see Sakura's head turned towards the obstetrician. She probably was in the same position as he did, not knowing if he could or even would experience the 'false labor'.
"It's entirely possible, prodromal labor is the tightening of uterus muscles and your chakra womb is meant to mimic a women's uterus." Taji explained. Sasuke frowned as he took a deep breath, trying not to get anxious at the thought of what it would feel like.
"How will I know the difference between Braxton Hicks contractions and actual labor?" He asked. The idea that he would go into labor and would mistake the contractions as Braxton Hicks scared him, a lot could go wrong if he didn't get to the hospital in time.
"Braxton Hicks contractions will only feel like mild cramps." Taji gave the Uchiha a reassuring smile before her expression turned serious. "But if you do start to go into labor early, you'll most likely have serious pain with your contractions. The baby will try to drop past your pubis bone looking for an exit and stretch the muscles and ligaments there."
"An exit that I don't have." The Uchiha sighed. Kusushi removed the wand from Sasuke's stomach but the dark haired male didn't want to divide his attention just yet. It was obvious that the farther down the baby pushed, the more invasive the surgery would be to get him or her out.
"Yes, we would need to get you to the hospital and preform an emergency cesarean." Taji responded. Sasuke nodded in understanding and contemplated the information carefully, wondering how he would explain it to Naruto.
"The chakra uterus will remain intact as long as the placenta is still attached, how will that affect me if I go into early labor?" Sasuke asked. The obstetrician's expression soured, the wrinkles of old age growing more pronounced as she no doubt prepared to give Sasuke bad news.
"It should move with the baby but the amniotic sack won't rupture until we cut into the chakra uterus. You will be," She paused, her gaze dropping to the Uchiha's pregnant stomach before she could look him in the eye again. "In an extreme amount of pain until you get an epidural or put under anesthesia." Sasuke nodded in understanding, trying to imagine the kind of pain he would feel.
"Understood." The pregnant male nodded. His contemplative mood must have been evident because Sakura shifted closer, giving him an almost pitiful look.
"I'll be taking time off from maternity ward duty once you start your thirty-fifth week just in case anything happens." Sakura reassured. She leaned forward, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezed as she looked to Kusushi. "How did the baby look?" Sasuke gratefully turned his head to the sonographer.
"Very healthy, would you like to see?" Kusushi held up the ultrasound wand as he directed the question to the pregnant male. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.
"I'd like another picture." He murmured. Kusushi nodded and reached around the ultrasound machine, straightening back up with a picture of the ultrasound in hand.
"Thought you might." The brown haired male responded. Sasuke took the picture from him and looked at it. Sakura handed him a paper towel and he used it to wipe off the excess gel from his stomach. Focusing on the picture, the pregnant male could easily see the baby's head, the nose and mouth easily defined in gray and black.
"Thank you." The Uchiha said quietly. He glanced up to see Kusushi smiling back at him as he cleaned the ultrasound wand with a wipe.
"I think we're good then. We'll see you back here in two weeks." Taji told the dark haired male as she stood up.
"Thank you, for the information." Sasuke bowed his head to the older woman. The obstetricians smiled back kindly as she set a hand down on his shoulder. She squeezed briefly before letting go, a classic technique for comforting someone and Sasuke let her do it. He crumpled the paper towels in one hand as he used the other to pull down his shirt.
"Don't forget to share it with Naruto." The obstetrician told him. He heard the tone of command in her voice as she opened the door.
"He'll be thrilled." Sasuke held up the ultrasound picture with a small, lopsided grin. Taji stepped out of the room as Sasuke moved to stand up and Sakura handed him his coat.
"See you in two weeks, Kusushi." Sakura told the brown haired male. He nodded as the pink haired woman shrugged on her coat, her scarf in hand and Sasuke unfolded his own coat. The woman opened the door, holding it open for Sasuke to follow her out and leaving the sonographer in the room. "What do you have planned for the rest of the day? And don't say you're going to work on the seals with everybody, you need a break."
"I'll be talking a couple clones with me to double check all the apartments and houses we leased." Sasuke muttered as they walked down the hallway. He looked directly ahead and pulled on his coat. Sasuke ignored the nurses who were walking in the opposite direction; their gazes focused on his stomach before he could finish buttoning up and hide it with the maternity jacket.
"Good, and remember to stay off your feet, you're only going to get bigger in the coming weeks." Sakura warned him. The Uchiha rolled his eyes at the statement, of course he was going to get bigger, all he had been doing over the past seven and a half months was getting bigger. They made it to the front doors of the hospital and stepped outside, a blast of cold air hitting them as they left behind the heated building.
"I'll be sure to sit down when I start working on the seals." The dark haired male told his childhood friend. Lifting up the collar of his coat, Sasuke smirked as Sakura glared at him. She wrapped her scarf around her neck and covered the lower half of her face with it before giving him a soft punch in the shoulder.
"I'm serious, Sasuke. Take it easy." Sakura told him. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the pregnant male gave his old teammate a nod as they moved away from the hospital.
"I will." The Uchiha told her. The pink haired woman nodded, happy with his answer.
"I'm going to borrow some of my husband's clones." Sasuke called out when he stepped into the training field. His breath came out in visible puffs in front of his face as he mentally tallied the amount of clones still in the field. There were barely fifty clones left, a lot had gotten done while he was at his doctor's appointment. Kyoko was sitting on the ground between Kakashi and Yamato, burnt grass and scorched earth surrounding where the redhead sat. The two older men had several containers of ink in varying states of emptiness, scrolls lying open around and a clone sitting in front of them. All of the clones turned their heads at the sound of Sasuke's voice, a smile forming on every clones' face that the pregnant male could see.
"I love it when you call me that." Naruto's voice called out. It came from the mass of clones huddled together in attempt to keep warm and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, wondering where the real blonde was.
"He says that every time." Apricot muttered in Yamato's direction. The Uchiha gave her a look as he came closer to the group, wishing they had set up closer to the wall so he could lean against it and take a quick nap.
"Doesn't mean it's not true." The clone sitting in front of Kakashi replied. He was sitting cross legged and using his crossed arms to hold up his shirt just enough for the white haired male to draw on his stomach. Sasuke stopped in front of the girl and eyed the group of huddled clones. Only one of the clones was wearing a coat and was on the outskirts of the group.
"Come on, Dobe." The Uchiha lifted his hand and motioned for his husband to come closer. Almost immediately, the Naruto in the coat pulled away from the group and slowly jogged over to the pregnant male.
"Hey, I think it's going to start snowing soon." He murmured. The blonde leaned in for a kiss, wrapping an arm around the Uchiha's waist and pulling him close. He let himself be kissed; the pregnant male felt his baby bump press against the blonde through their coats and gave his husband a look of scrutiny.
"It won't snow inside the compound until the barrier is down." Sasuke pointed out. He watched as a clone reached out and grabbed Kyoko's hand, the clone was still for a second before it jerked as Kyuubi's chakra enveloped him. Kakashi was quick with the kunai, stabbing it in the knee before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke could feel the blonde wince as the memory of the stab came and saw the quickly recovered grin appear.
"Which is going to happen in less than a month." Naruto replied cheerily. Sasuke sighed as he watched another clone sit down in front of Kakashi and the clone in front of Yamato leaned towards Apricot.
"That soon?" The brown haired man asked. Naruto grinned and tried to pull his husband a little closer to him. Growing irritated with the random surge of clinginess, the pregnant male set his arm over broad shoulders and reached up to tug on blonde hair.
"Not if we don't make sure all these houses and apartments are ready for people to move into." Sasuke set his other hand on top of Naruto's as he tried to pull him towards the street. The blonde seemed to take the movement as something else entirely as he refused to be moved and gave his full attention to the Uchiha.
"Are you cold?" Naruto questioned. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the question and then looked down at where the blonde was holding their bodies together.
"Are you?" He shot back. The blonde shrugged his shoulders with a grin, reaching up to fiddle with the collar of Sasuke's coat. Kakashi was the one to interrupt, scoffing loudly. The white haired man didn't bother looking up, focused on a clone's stomach as he drew a design with black ink.
"He'll use any excuse to get close to you, you know that." He explained. Sasuke sighed as he felt his husband's cold fingers tapped against the back of his neck. The pregnant male watched as the clone in front of Yamato turned around and latched a hand onto Kyoko's shoulder before disappearing immediately.
"Sasuke, you should stay here and rest, I can have my clones go check out the homes." Naruto murmured. The pregnant male frowned and reached up to swat Naruto's hand away.
"How do I know you'll make sure everything is ready?" He asked.
"You can trust me." The blonde pressed his forehead to Sasuke's, grinning as he stared into the dark haired male's eyes. "Besides, you checked them ages ago. All they'll need to do is double check none of the pipes have frozen." Raising an eyebrow, the Uchiha stared right back for a second before leaning in and gave his husband a quick kiss.
"Fine, but at least five clones should go." The Uchiha relented. Naruto's grin widened and he wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulders. Turning his attention to the group of his clones, the blonde pulled his husband closer to the group.
"Hey, who wants to go check out houses!" He yelled. The original blonde sat down, letting go of Sasuke so the dark haired male could maneuver himself to the ground.
"That's not fair! We've been freezing here this whole time!" One of Naruto's clones cried out. Sasuke used his husband's shoulder to get on his knees as the original blonde watched his clones revolt.
"Yeah, you can't make us go running around without shirts on!" Another clone added. Sasuke grunted as he sat, feeling the cold ground through the cloth of his pants. He watched as his husband opened his mouth to retort but stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Just make new ones with your coat on." The Uchiha muttered. Naruto looked over to him and sighed before raising his hands into the hand signs.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" The original Naruto called out. Half a dozen clones popped up around them and five of them immediately jogged off and out of the field. The sixth clone sat down on the other side of Sasuke and leaned against him, nuzzling his face into the Uchiha's shoulder.
The dark haired male raised his hand to set his hand on the clone's head, running his fingers through the cold blonde hair. The other blonde leaned onto his free shoulder, an arm wrapping around his pregnant stomach. Stuck between the two blondes, Sasuke looked between them and then up at Kakashi and Yamato. "What's the sixth clone for?" He asked.
"For you to lean against." The Naruto on his right side mumbled. There was some fumbling as the original Naruto hit the clone a few times. The clone grumbled into Sasuke's shoulder before he finally moved, scooting until he was back to back with him. Naruto set his hand back over Sasuke's stomach and burrowed his face into the dark haired male's neck.
"You two are so cute." Kakashi called out. With a sharp glance, Sasuke raised his middle finger at him.
"Shut up." Sasuke snapped at the white haired male. Kakashi waved his own paintbrush back at the Uchiha before returning to painting on a clone's stomach. Leaning back, the clone moved with him, just enough to let Sasuke recline comfortably. They all sat in relative silence; Kakashi and Yamato drawing and Apricot sitting between them, practicing the hand signs for the fireball technique that Sasuke had taught her. Every few minutes, a clone would reach for the red headed girl and would either pop out of existence by itself or would start to burn red with Kyuubi's chakra.
"How have you been keeping the ink from freezing?" Sasuke asked after a few minutes of relative silence. Apricot's head jerked upwards at the sound of his voice and her hands faltered in making the correct sign.
"I've been practicing the fireball technique, keeps them heated for an hour or so." The redheaded girl fidgeted in her spot as another clone shifted close enough to touch her knee. It stayed still for a few seconds before being engulfed in Kyuubi's chakra. Yamato was kick to take a kunai to the clones' thigh.
"They're boiling hot right after she does it, gives us a five minute break at least." Yamato explained once the clone's smoke cloud dissipated.
"She could use a little practice aiming too." Kakashi added. Apricot stuck her tongue out at the white haired male and went back to making the hand signals.
"I've gotten better." The young girl muttered. There was a small vibration coming from the blonde parasite attached to his side and Sasuke looked down to see Naruto attempting to hide a smile.
"After nearly burning my eyebrows off." The brunet male muttered. That had Sasuke's husband quietly giggling into the pregnant male's neck. Apricot blew a raspberry at Yamato in retaliation. Nudging the blonde with his elbow, Naruto managed to settle down and the group slipped into another period of quiet. Sasuke watched as clone after clone went through the process of touching Apricot and either disappearing by themselves or by weapon when Kyuubi's chakra engulfed them.
Some of them barely lasted a second while others patiently waited for two or three before being engulfed by chakra. Sasuke relaxed, leaning back and counting the seconds for each one. He watched as another clone reached out to touch Apricot, setting his hand on her elbow as she continued to practice the hand signs. One second, then another, and another passed and as Sasuke continued to count, he leaned forward and started to grin. As Sasuke mentally tallied the sixth second, the clone's facial expression changed and he could see the Kyuubi's chakra start to engulf the clone. Kakashi was the one to strike the clone with a well-placed shuriken to the shoulder.
"Did you see that?" Apricot cried out. She turned around, looking between all four men in excitement. Sasuke could feel the blonde lift his head to watch the young redhead bounce in excitement.
"How long did that clone last for?" Naruto asked. Sasuke watched as everyone eyes landed on him, as if they knew he had been counting.
"Nearly seven seconds." Sasuke answered. He didn't think Kyoko could get any happier but her expression took on an almost manic look as she whipped her head to Yamato and then Kakashi.
"That's the longest one yet!" Kyoko called out. She leaned forward onto her hands before shuffling onto her knees and then her feet. "Seven seconds!" The redhead cried out excitedly.
"Who knew someone could get so excited about seven seconds?" Kakashi muttered. He pointedly looked to Yamato, the brown haired male grinned back, holding back his laughter. Naruto didn't have the older man's restraint, the blonde snorted before burying his face back into Sasuke's neck. The clone behind Sasuke couldn't even do that and laughed out loud, causing Apricot to look back to the Uchiha.
"What? Why wouldn't I be excited about it lasting seven seconds?" The redhead asked. She looked at him and Naruto, confused by their reaction. She just didn't seem to get the innuendo that Kakashi was insinuating.
"She's obviously never seen anything better than seven seconds." One of Naruto's clones in the group responded with another giggle. Sasuke rolled his eyes and tried to jab the clone in the side with his elbow only to have his husband grab his wrist, stopping him.
"Get your mind out of the gutter." Sasuke shoved the original blonde away. Almost immediately he missed the warmth as Naruto fell onto his side and Apricot turned to look at Yamato.
"I'm missing something, aren't I?" She asked. That only made Naruto and his clones burst into laughter and giggles. Yamato tried explaining but gave up when he couldn't stop smiling. Apricot sat back down, face red and looking disgruntled, knowing she was missing out on the joke. Sasuke sighed as his husband reattached himself to the Uchiha's side and he watched the redheaded girl shrug off the laughter. It was good to know that she had thick enough skin to know they were laughing at a joke rather than at her.
The hope and dream is to start consistently updating, I will for sure be updating April 16th but after that I'm not sure.