Apologies for the delay, but Christmas is coming and I'm sure everyone is being swamped with present-buying and other various chores. Best wishes to you all and happy holidays!

Chichi - father

Hahaoya - mother

o.O.o

Chapter 7

Sakura froze over her toast, almonds pieces peppering the skin around her mouth. She lurched backwards drunkenly and raced around the kitchen bench to the sink, where she promptly threw up her food again. Kizashi rushed to her side, concern written on his face, but she waved him away.

"I'm okay chichi," she said softly, spitting into the sink.

"You're not okay. You're throwing up everything you eat! How do you expect me to be okay with that?!"

"Just… I'll be okay when the first trimester is over. The first is the worst." She washed out her mouth and straightened, smiling at her chichi. "I will be okay. I promise. Now I have to get to school. It's the last day before winter break and I want to enjoy my final day of school."

Kizashi hesitated and glanced down at Sakura's stomach, noting how he could now see a faint outline through her school blouse. "I love you sweetie." He enveloped her in his arms and she fell into his embrace, glad that Kizashi supported her pregnancy.

There was a knock on the front door and Kizashi answered, allowing Sakura to finish her breakfast. Lee came through the door with Gai in tow.

"Good morning Sakura!" chorused the chichi- and grandpa-to-be.

"Morning Lee. Morning Gai." She gulped down the final mouthful of her toast. "Just give me a second to brush my teeth."

Since learning of her pregnancy, Gai had taken to picking Sakura up on his way to drop Lee off at school. It was good of him and it meant that her parents were released from the stress of getting her to school. After today, they wouldn't have to worry about it for a while.

The last two months of school had been brutal. Sakura had to pay attention to her studies as well as dealing with her growing pregnancy. She could now see physical signs that the baby was growing inside her, as her stomach had begun to expand slightly since the baby's organs were beginning to form. It was easy to hide beneath her blouse but she was constantly worried that someone would notice and guess the cause. It hadn't happened, to her relief, and she'd been able to sit her final exams in peace. Granted, she'd run off to the bathroom once during her Humanities exam, and once during her Literacy presentation, but she was confident she'd passed each subject. Her results wouldn't be as high as they normally were, but she had an excuse.

She'd also created a clever way of teaching herself about pregnancy. One of her subjects was called Independent Learning Project (ILP) and students could do whatever they wanted in the class, as long as they had an end result. For her final term Sakura decided to do a presentation on the stages of pregnancy and child rearing, more to help herself than anyone else. It was the only subject that she achieved high marks on, as she worked incredibly hard to make the presentation as accurate as possible. Lee was in that class and had paid rapt attention, taking everything into account. He'd also received high marks, writing a journal on physical fitness.

Sakura pulled on a jumper, shouldered her school bag and joined Gai and Lee in the lounge room. Gai was chatting Kizashi's ear off but Kizashi didn't care. He merely hugged his daughter again and waved as she, Gai and Lee went outside to the car.

"We made it," Lee said, opening the car door and allowing Sakura to climb in first. "We have survived our final term of school."

Sakura still felt bad that Lee was leaving school and forfeiting his chance at an education, but she was secretly glad that he was sticking with her. It was selfish, she knew, but it was Lee's choice. He'd nailed the job at the gym and was starting on Monday, three days away. He was nervous because there was a lot riding on the job.

"Are you still able to make it to the ultrasound tomorrow?" Sakura asked.

"I would not miss it for the world," Lee said warmly. "I will be able to see our child for the first time!"

Guilt panged through Sakura as he said 'our child'. It was her fault that this was happening and she would continue to feel guilty until she could feel any romantic notions towards Lee. "Okay. Just checking."

When they pulled up outside the school gates, Lee got out first and held the door open for Sakura gallantly. Something fluttered in her stomach; not romance, but appreciation. Baby steps, she told herself, grinning at the irony.

"Enjoy your final day, my youthful children!" Gai shouted out the window. They waved as he drove off, heading for work.

"Let's dive into the hoard one last time," Sakura sighed, heading through the gates and ducking her head as snow peppered down. Lee walked beside her and they wound around groups of excited students, all eager for school to finish and the holidays to begin. Sakura stared at everyone she passed, wondering how many of them would notice next year that she and Lee were gone. Probably the minority, she thought savagely. The surge of anger always came as a surprise but it was a normal part of pregnancy.

Ino, Hinata and Tenten were already in the Art room, gossiping about their plans for the holidays. Hinata was spending Christmas with her entire extended family, which she wasn't happy about, but her family was big on those kinds of events. Ino was going skiing with her chichi and his friends, Chouza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara. By some odd twist of fate, they were the chichis' of Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara, which meant Ino had a week to spend with Choji and possibly ask him out. Tenten would be working, but she'd made plans to hang out with Hinata.

"Hey guys," Tenten greeted. "You pumped for the last day?"

"And the ultrasound tomorrow?" Hinata added. "You have to call and tell me the gender!"

"I hope it's a girl. I've always wanted a niece," Ino enthused.

"And if it's a boy?" Sakura sked slyly.

"Then I'll have a nephew!"

Now that they were past their initial shock, her friends were becoming really enthusiastic about the baby on the way. It warmed Sakura's heart to know that they were happy for her and she hoped that their support would last until after her child was born.

Laughing, she changed the topic easily. "I notice that it's the last day of term and none of you have asked out your crushes!"

"I'm letting Kiba ask me," Hinata said bluntly. "Thanks to some help from my dear brother, he knows I like him."

"I plan to ask out Choji when we're skiing."

"And I want to see if Neji has guts or not."

The bell rang before Sakura could reply and she and Lee headed straight for HPE. The teacher, Anko Mitarashi, came bounding into the gym excitedly, causing her class to back away nervously.

"Good morning!" she cried. "It's the last day! Are you excited? I'll bet you're excited! Since I'm feeling nice today, I think we'll have a game of dodgeball!"

Without being told, Sakura moved to the edge of the gym and sat cross-legged. Her parents, as a precaution, had informed the school of her condition, resulting in the teachers accepting her regular dashes to the bathroom and enabling her to sit out of any physical activity. Sakura told any student that asked that she had a bad stomach bug from eating foreign food while on autumn break. No one was the wiser.

She spent the entire class watching Lee throw balls at the other students. He was never hit, not once, and he pegged quite a few well-aimed balls in Sasuke's direction, which the Uchiha ducked easily. Most of the time.

The bell blared and Sakura and Lee went straight to Science, where Orochimaru spent the lesson teaching them how to make chemicals explode.

o.O.o

Hinata and Tenten sat together for Literacy with Kurenai Yuhi. The kind teacher had organised several games for the class to play, like Hangman and Celebrity Heads. Everyone had had quite a few laughs, especially when Shikamaru found out he was labelled John Lennon.

Kurenai was Hinata's favourite teacher, becoming the hahaoya-figure that the young girl lacked. She was also the only teacher to talk freely with Sakura's friends about the girl's pregnancy, offering tips and advice, as she herself had recently given birth. There was no woman in the world that Hinata loved more.

Choji waved at the pair, grinning. "Tenten! Come on up! I have a good name for you!"

The energetic girl bounded up to the board, sat down, and Choji wrote 'Jet Li' above her head. A chuckle ran around the entire room, Hinata grinning as Tenten began to ask her questions.

"Hey Hinata."

She turned and blushed as Kiba took the seat beside her. He was one of the sweetest boys she'd ever known, with a clear perspective on things and a calm personality. It didn't help that he was stupidly handsome and completely oblivious to the fact.

"Morning Kiba," she smiled, forcing herself to calm down. It wouldn't do any good to start stuttering like a fool.

"Uh, I'm working on this project during the holidays… it's a kennel for Akamaru." Akamaru was his dog. "I've seen your skills in our Manufacturing class and I'm wondering if you'd like to help me design it? I want it to be the best kennel Akamaru ever had!"

Foreseeing possibly hours in Kiba's company, Hinata bowed her head and smiled shyly. She'd known that Manufacturing classes were a good idea. "I'd be honoured. When are you starting?"

"I'm thinking the beginning of next week. What days are you free?"

"Pretty much every day, unless I'm with my friends."

"Great! I'll give you my number and you can tell me the days you're unavailable and we can work on the kennel when you're free." They took out their phones and traded numbers, Kiba grinning and Hinata's heart beating at a hundred miles per hour. She had Kiba's number! They were making progress and she suspected that the kennel was a cover for spending time together. It looked like he was taking the initiative like an old-fashioned gentleman.

"I guess we'll talk then," she said hesitantly, praying she didn't embarrass herself (but she probably would). Kiba grinned and tucked his phone in his pocket as he wandered back to sit with Naruto.

Tenten ran back and collapsed in her seat, laughing hysterically. "Oh, that Choji!" she cried with mirth. "He's funny!"

"You were Jet Li," Hinata agreed, beaming. "I think I might have a go."

Tenten gaped. "But you never have a go! Who are you and what have you done with Hinata?"

"It's me," Hinata giggled.

"Then what's up?"

The black-haired girl grinned. "Kiba as good as asked me out."

o.O.o

After a normal brunch, Sakura, Ino and Hinata went to Art while Lee and Tenten went to the gym for Outdoor Education. The three girls sat in their usual seats and cried with delight as the teacher, Kurenai, told the class to fetch a small square canvas and paint whatever they wanted.

"What are you going to paint?" Ino asked, squeezing some white paint onto a pallet.

"I'm thinking of an outer drawing of the kennel me and Kiba are making," Hinata answered, running a pencil lightly over the canvas. "You?"

Ino held up her phone, where an image of snowy mountains was visible. "This. It's like the mountain I'll be skiing down on Christmas."

Sakura stared at the canvas in front of her, barely bigger than both her palms put together. What would she paint? She wanted to do something for Lee, but she didn't know what…

Then she had it. Smiling, she fetched the green paint and used impressionism to create her vision.

o.O.o

Sakura managed to finish her painting before class finished and put it in the rack to dry. When the bell blared she gathered her books and went to her Humanities class, meeting up with Lee on the way.

"How was class?" she asked. "I'll bet you didn't do much since it's snowing."

Lee grabbed her books, lightning fast, and placed them on his own, walking as if the weight in his arms hadn't doubled. "We did yoga," he said in a small voice, blushing.

"Yoga?" She stifled a giggle. "And was it fun?"

"No… It was too slow…"

This time she didn't bother to hide it and laughed out loud, holding her stomach as her chortles echoed along the corridor. Sasuke, walking not far behind them, smiled slightly.

"Oh Lee," she gasped, "you're hilarious!" And he honestly was. No one made her laugh as much as he did because he was just adorable.

She sobered immediately. Did she just think Lee was… adorable? Maybe they were getting somewhere.

"Are you alright?" Lee asked quietly, noting her sudden quiet.

"Yeah, just felt a bit sick," she lied. He nodded and moved aside so she could enter the classroom first, following behind her. Lee took his usual seat and waited expectantly for Sakura to move beside him. She touched his shoulder gently and moved to the back of the room, stopping in front of Naruto, who looked at her with his usual smile gracing his features.

"Hey Naruto. How are you?"

"I'm good," the blonde said warmly. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Any plans for the holidays?"

"Um… well Sasuke invited me to join his family for Christmas." He blushed and his face fell, as he probably thought of his own deceased parents.

Sakura smiled gently and reached back, patting his hand. "You're a lucky boy. I hope you have a good one."

"Thanks!" he brightened considerably.

She turned to go, then glanced back. "And Naruto, I'm not annoyed with you for dating Sasuke. I'm glad you're happy."

Blushing, he held out his hand. "I guess I've kinda been avoiding you…"

She shook his outstretched hand and smiled. "You don't have to."

Sasuke walked up behind her, smiling at the scene. "Well I'm glad you two are okay now. Naruto's been agonising over the whole situation for months."

"No need to be so dramatic," Sakura chuckled, "and the same goes for you, Sasuke."

The raven raised his hands in mock-offence. "Sure thing. I've already apologised, remember?"

She was saved from replying by the bell, after which she scurried back to her seat as Zabuza swept into the room, bringing his pleasure along in waves. As today was the last time he'd be teaching for the year, it was no wonder why he was happy. Either that or he'd gotten lucky. Everyone knew about the nineteen-year-old boy their thirty-year-old teacher was seeing; his name was Haku and he was often seen with Zabuza outside of school. Not a good example to set for students.

Zabuza set up his laptop and called over his shoulder, "we're watching a movie this lesson! So shut up and pay attention!"

The movie in question: The Count of Monte Cristo. Even though they only watched forty minutes of the movie, it was enough to pique Sakura's interest and she filed the movie away for a later viewing.

o.O.o

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Lunch was quiet, with the group discussing her pregnancy and their plans for taking care of the baby. In Literacy, the teacher, Kakashi Hatake, let them talk among themselves for the forty-five minutes, while the Numeracy teacher, Iruka Umino, performed the traditional Japanese tea ceremony to wish his class well until he saw them next year.

When school ended, Sakura packed up all her books and protested as Lee shouldered her bulging schoolbag along with his own. Since it was clear that he wouldn't hand it back over, she shrugged and made him wait at his locker while she fetched something from the Art room. That something was the painting, which, as it was now dry, she wrapped in newspaper so Lee wouldn't see the contents.

"What is it?" he asked curiously, glancing at the package in her hands.

"It's something I made," she grinned, "but it's a surprise for everyone, so don't ask!"

They made their way outside and stared as snow fell heavily. Everything seemed eerily quiet and uncomfortably chilly and Sakura let out an involuntary shiver. Lee, seeing her cold, unwrapped his hoodie from around his waist and draped it over her shoulders kindly. She huddled into it, smiling up at him gratefully. He really was thoughtful, but he had to be cold himself. If she needed two jumpers then so would he. Then again… he was a boy and boys had this weird thing where they weren't bothered by cold.

They wandered through the school car-park, their heads ducked against the falling snow, and spotted Gai's car parked nearby. As they reached the waving man, Sakura turned back and watched the school gates for a second. This would be the last time she'd see these gates for a while, she realised. After today she wasn't coming back.