"Neji. Hello. I would like to ask you something," Sai said.

"Of course," Neji allowed Naruto's old teammate. In the beginning Sai and Naruto hadn't got along, but over time Sai had proved his worth and become a real friend to Naruto. In fact, most of Naruto's relationships began that way, Neji's included. It meant Naruto never wasted his time on unworthy people.

"I would like to do something nice for Naruto to celebrate his pregnancy."

"Naruto would like that."

"I thought so. I can't do what Kakashi or Sakura did for him, but if you can get him out of the apartment for a day, there's something I can do..."

Sai shared his idea and it was wonderful, so they arranged a time to set the plan in motion.

xxx

This morning Neji had decided they needed to go shopping for baby things. The birth was still ages away, but Neji had deemed it necessary that they start today. The thing was though, that he didn't seem to be able to make any decisions, and they'd had to check every single shop that might have anything remotely baby related. By mid-afternoon, Naruto was completely over it.

"Neji, my feet hurt. I wanna go home."

"Alright," Neji finally agreed, scooping him up.

"Hey, I can walk," he protested.

Neji gave him a soft smile.

"I know, but you don't have to."

He didn't protest anymore after that.

On the way home, Neji took him to his favourite dumpling shop. It was unlike Neji to refuse him anything, so it was strange that they didn't go straight home, but Neji did know that Naruto had cravings for them now, and made sure to buy him as many as he wanted.

When they finally arrived home and stepped inside, Naruto immediately knew someone was already in the apartment, and he could smell paint as well. He gave Neji a curious look, but Neji just smiled.

"Go on…"

Naruto made his way to the room they intended to use as a nursery, and what he saw took his breath away. The walls were covered in paintings. It was the forest, the creatures that lived there, but best of all was all the people they knew and loved. And standing in the middle of the room was Sai.

"Sai… Did you do all this? It's amazing!"

Sai gave him a shy smile.

"You really like it?"

"Are you kidding?! I love it! Thank you so much!"

He couldn't help himself then and threw his arms around Sai to show his appreciation. Sai just kind of stood there stiffly, letting himself be hugged, until Naruto let go and turned to Neji.

"Neji, look!"

"I see," he smiled.

"You knew about this…" Naruto surmised. "It's why you were acting weird."

"I wasn't acting weird."

"Yes, you were. Oh wow, look! Everyone is here!"

"Yes, I hope I haven't forgotten anyone," Sai said, rubbing his neck. "But the good thing about it is that I can always add people."

Naruto took a moment then to have a closer look. He and Neji were there of course, along with Sakura, Sai himself and Kakashi sensei. There was Iruka sensei and Captain Yamato, everyone from Team Guy and all their other friends, even the ones that had passed. All the people in the paintings were smiling, some at each other and some looking out of the picture like they were smiling right at you. Naruto loved the thought of their baby always being surrounded by his family and friends.

Then a lone figure further back in the forest caught his eye. He wasn't smiling, but he didn't look unhappy either. It was Sasuke.

Sai saw him looking and stepped closer.

"I wasn't sure," he said. "I can paint over him if you want me to."

Do I? Do I want Sasuke here with my baby? Sasuke had broken his heart, but he had also been one of the best friends Naruto had ever had. And all things considered, though he'd chosen the wrong path, he'd done it because his heart had been broken too. In the end, Sasuke was just a little boy who had seen his whole family murdered and didn't know how to deal with it. And for better or worse, he had been a huge part of Naruto's life.

"No," he decided. "Leave him there."

Heaven forbid the worst happen and our baby loses us, I wouldn't want him to follow the path Sasuke did. This could be an important lesson.

The thought brought a lump to his throat and tears to his eyes, and he didn't have to say anything, Neji was just there wrapping him up.

"We have so many wonderful people in our lives," Neji reminded.

"I've done the wrong thing," Sai worried.

"No, not at all," Naruto sniffed, turning to him. "Pregnancy. Crazy hormones is all. I love it, Sai. I promise. Thank you."

And this time when Sai smiled, it was real.