Karui sat on the chair aimed towards her long-time teammates and looked at them sternly.
"I think I might be pregnant." She told them.
Samui widened her eyes and Omoi frowned.
"Is it mine?" Omoi asked.
"Of course not!" Karui exclaimed, throwing a paper ball at him, then she blushed and looked away. "It's Ch-Choji's."
Samui rested her chin on a hand. "Are you sure?"
"Of course! What kind of girl do you think I am?"
"No, not that." Samui rolled her eyes. "I mean, are you sure you're pregnant?"
"Yeah, Karui's boobs are way bigger: you're probably a 34C instead of an A now, Karui" Omoi stated pointing at her with his lollipop.
"I was never an A!" Karui complained. Why she had told them anyway? It wasn't like they were helpful advisors at matters like that...
"Karui, you didn't answer me." Samui spoke.
"Home pregnancy test." Karui sighed.
"They aren't a 100% trustable." The leader reminded her. "You really seem pregnant at all to me... Except that your breasts really do seem bigger."
Karui chuckled. "Thanks, I guess. But after I took a blood test: it's really happening, I'm having a baby."
"I wonder..." Started Omoi, looking straight at the paper ball Karui had thrown at him. "What this paper was before it turned into a paper? Maybe it was a tree that lived by a river? Did the river cry when it lost its tree?"
The other two eyed him.
"What, you're into poetry now?" Karui mocked.
"No. I could never! If I were a poet, people would feel so touched by my words that the whole world cry for ages, and I would cause a great depression..."
"Shut up!" Another paper ball hit Omoi's head. "We're talking about my life now, Omoi, don't go talking crazy stuff."
Samui looked at Karui closely. "So, what you're going to do?"
"I don't know."
"Have you told him yet?"
"No."
"Why not?" Omoi chimed in, putting the paper ball down.
"Well, I... didn't get the chance." Karui said.
"I see." Samui got up, grabbed Karui's phone, typed something and placed it on her ear.
Karui didn't understand what she was doing till the blond said: "Oh, hey, Choji-kun! Karui has something to te..."
She was interrupted by the younger woman taking the phone out of her hand abruptly.
"Samui! I can't tell him I'm pregnant over the phone!"
They went back to their places.
"No, that's actually not true." Karui confessed. "The thing is... I don't know if I wanna tell him."
That surprised Samui. "And why is that? You seemed so in love with him."
"I am in love with him. The problem is that Choji is the kind of guy who will propose to me if he ever find out I'm pregnant."
"And... You don't wanna marry him?" Omoi guessed.
"I DO! But I can't!" Karui exclaimed, hitting her head on the table.
Samui and Omoi looked at each other.
"Is it me or someone replaced our badass teammate for a chick flick heroine?" Samui asked him.
"I think I know why: Karui is probably considering that he's from Konoha, what implies she will have to move out if they get married and Karui won't be able to go to missions if she's there so she probably will have to retire from being a kunoichi." Omoi explained.
"Exactly." Karui said without raising her head.
"So why doesn't he marry into your family and move in here?" Samui suggested.
"I could never do that to him! His family is full of traditions and stuff, it would kill him leave all that behind."
"I see... Yup, I don't how to help you." Samui gave up. "I don't know how is the protocol to shinobis living outside their countries..."
"Wait..." Omoi spoke slowly, once again staring at the paper ball.
"No, Omoi, we don't care if this came from the river tree or the mountain tree, IT'S JUST PAPER!" The redhead shouted.
"It's not that. I just remembered: isn't your boy toy's friend married to a woman from another village?" He commented. "You could ask for her advice. She probably can help you out better than we can."
Karui straightened up her back. "That's right! Temari-san probably... But, wait, I can't just pop up at her house and..."
And once again, Samui grabbed Karui's phone.
xxxxx
Temari opened up the door to Karui.
"Karui-san, welcome. You came really fast."
Karui walked in the house. "Hm, I have something I really need to ask."
"Oh? Is that so? We can talk in the living room. I would should you the way but I really need to visit the loo first. Can you find the way? You can! Good!" Temari hurried to the bathroom leaving an amused Karui behind.
It had been a few weeks - well, eight weeks and a half, if Karui calculations were right - since she last had been to Konoha and seen Temari. The Suna kunoichi's pregnancy wasn't at such developed state then.
That means that in less than two months I will be like that. Karui thought to herself when she found the living room.
She sat on the sofa and waited, feeling a bit uncomfortable: it was the first time she ever went to the Nara's without Choji. Her chest tightened. She really wanted to see him now.
Temari got there with tea, distracting Karui from her mournful thoughts.
The blonde sat on the sofa beside her.
"So, Temari-san, how are you doing?"
She placed a hand over her belly and smiled. "Well, the good part is that there's just 5 months to go now till I can sit straight with my legs closed."
Karui chuckled. "R-really?"
"It's so unfair, this pregnancy thing... Do you remember Ino, Choji and Shikamaru's teammate?"
"The blondie with kids-sized blouse?"
"Precisely."
"What about her?"
"She's already on her seventh month and she's still strutting around the village acting like she's oh-so-happy and feminine and I... I still have to go to the bathroom eight times per night. And don't even let me get started with the back pain and the short breath. I thought I could handle it since I'm trained kunoichi, but, man, I was wrong."
"Oh" Karui said, feeling a cold sweat drop run down her neck.
"But there's good things about being with child, isn't?"
Temari tilted her head. "Oh, no. You're pregnant too, aren't ya?"
Karui's cheeks burned. "H-how do you know?"
"The only type woman that cares about pregnancy problems are the pregnant ones." Temari explained with a casual gesture. She smiled at Karui's. "So, that's what you wanted to talk about? How did Choji react when you told him?"
Karui sank deeper on the sofa. "I didn't tell Choji. And that's what I wanna talk about."
"I see.. Are you afraid of his reaction?" Temari was watching the other young woman pretty closely now.
"Not really. I know how he will react." Karui smiled sadly. "The thing is I don't know how to react to his reaction."
"I get it now... Choji would definitely propose and the thought of leaving your life and your village behind scares the heck out of you." Temari spoke, nodding to herself.
"That's it! Good, I knew you would understand!"
"No." Temari denied. "It's not like I understand... I deduced. When I decided to marry Shikamaru and move to Konoha, I felt no fear. It all seemed just right and this place always felt like a second home to me. But then again, we planned all this, unlike you... Sorry."
"It's okay." Karui sighed. "I'm lost! Why did I have to get pregnant now? Is there a spell upon the InoShikaCho that makes all the clans to conceive an heir at the same time?!"
"Oh, my God." Said a masculine voice behind their heads.
Karui and Temari turned around to see a very shocked Shikamaru by the living room door. A nonverbal conversation seemed be going on between Shikamaru and Temari, then at impressive speed he turned around and prepared to run at the same time she shouted:
"STAY!"
Shikamaru froze and faced them, slowly.
"Since you tried to run, I suppose you guessed we would ask you to keep it a secret." Temari spoke, crossing her arms tightly and narrowing her eyes.
"How am I supposedly to lie about my best friend about such a big thing?!" Shikamaru argued.
"It's not 'lying' is 'not telling'."
"He has the right to know! Besides, you know what they say: bros before h..."
Temari interrupted him by raising her index finger. "Shikamaru, dare to complete this sentence and I'll be an early widow. Besides, it's not your call, is Karui-san's."
Shikamaru smirked and rose his hands in gesture of surrender.
"I guess so..." He turned to his guest and leaned on the door frame. "So, why won't you tell him?"
Karui sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. How many times she had went through that conversation those days?
"It seems Karui-san, knowing he'll propose when she tells, is unsure of what to answer." Temari kindly answered in her place.
"And...?"
"And what?" The Kumo kunoichi asked.
"That's all?" Shikamaru sneered. "You don't know what to answer to the proposal he might do and that's why you're depriving Choji of his right to know he'll be a father? That's pretty selfish of you, Karui-san."
"W-well I... d-don't wanna break his heart!" Karui stuttered.
"Choji is a man! He will survive if you say no!" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "But you don't if he will still like you if you say no, isn't that right? You're afraid he'll find another girl who'll say yes. That's why you can't tell him. You don't wanna marry him but you also don't want him marrying someone else. As I said, that's really selfish of you."
Karui just stared at him, mortified.
"Shikamaru! That was a bit too..." Temari started.
"Right." Karui completed. "That's right. I'm being so selfish, but..."
"Hey, Shikamaru, did you get that screwdriver for me?" Said Choji, walking in the place. "Oh, hi, love! You're here!"
There was an awkward silence for a moment then Temari said:
"Man, we really need to put a bell on our front door!"
Choji frowned. "What do you mean? What were you guys talking about?"
More awkward silence.
"Screwdriver!"
"Toilet!"
Announced Shikamaru and Temari respectively and then they fled from the living room, leaving a very shocked Karui and a clueless Choji behind.
Choji studied his girlfriend for a while and sighed, closing his eyes as he did. Then, reopening them, he smiled softly at her.
"Good you're here. I just heard of a new place that serves three types of tempura. Wanna go grab a bite?"
Because Karui still wasn't able to use her voice properly, she just nodded. He took her hand and guided her out of the Nara's and through the streets of Konoha. She could tell he was talking to her, but she couldn't pay attention properly. Shikamaru's word still echoed on her head. She really was being selfish. Karui was depriving him from his right to know just because she was being a coward.
Who do you think you are, Karui? She thought to herself.
"..., Karui?" Choji was asking.
"Hm? Oh, yes!" She said with a fake smile.
Choji eyes her skeptically. "I asked 'How was your week, Karui?' and your answer is 'yes'? What's wrong, Karui? You're giving me the face of someone whose pork ran away."
As she did not answer, Choji went on:
"Is this all about the baby or did something else happened?"
"Huh?" She gasped. They suddenly stop their walking.
"I know about it already. We're going to be parents, aren't we?"
"H-how do you know?"
"You didn't turn off the phone when Samui-san called me. I was listening the whole time."
"The whole time?"
"Well, I hung up after you said something about paper and rivers or mountains… I started to think I was invading your personal space and thought that I've heard enough." He answered.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Karui sobbed, hugging him tightly.
"It's okay." He comforted, petting her head. "I don't have any wishes of imposing on you and I know you're genuinely conflicted. I would never use the pregnancy as a way to hold you."
If her nerves weren't so frazzled, Karui would have smiled at the thought that, an outsider, hearing that conversation would think Choji was the one with child.
"Besides, I'm with you in whatever you wanna do. I want to have an active participation on the pregnancy and raising our kid, but we don't need to get married until you figured out what you wanna do. Like Kin and Gyo."
Karui looked up, confused. "Our goldfishes?"
"Yes. We are raising them together but separately and we are doing a very good job, don't you think?"
Karui chuckled and he gave a comforting smile.
"It's okay. We're going to be fine."
"Yes." She agreed.
"Now... Food it is, let's go." He took her hand again and they restarted their walk. Karui was walking a little slower so she was a few steps behind him.
Looking at his back, she was overwhelmed by her love for him. She wished she could drown herself in his kindness, his adorable simplemindedness , his easygoing presence that always soothed her soul.
She wanted him forever. There was no way she would let another girl have him. No freaking way.
And for that she was willing to do whatever it would take. Even leaving the life she knew so far behind.
"Choji?" She called, pressing his hand tighter.
"Yes?" He answered looking at her over his shoulder.
"Will you marry me?" She asked unhesitatingly.
He smiled. "Yes."