The Bad Boy and the Baby

Chapter 12:

A/N: Spoilers for chapter 368. Just the names of the Akatsuki people the anime hasn’t gotten around to yet!! Please enjoy…sorry for the delay! Thanks for all the reviews!!

Chapter 12:

Naruto pulled away and put his fingers against Ran’s lips as the man leaned in again. “No.” His heart almost broke at the hurt that welled up in the other man’s eyes. “Ran…no. I…I love Sasuke.”

“But…Naruto…”

“Ran…listen to me. He may be a bastard…but he’s my husband. I love him so much. He’s a good man and I’m glad I married him. I know he’s got something important to do now ok? I don’t want to get in his way. And Sasuke loves me! I know that…” Naruto scotched back a bit. “So please…you’re one of my closest friends and let’s keep it that way…”

Ran gave him a long look. “If this is how it’s to be, then so be it. I’m sorry…I’ve upset you.”

Naruto shook his head. “I’m sorry too…”

Ran didn’t bother going to the window but ‘poof-ed’ out. Naruto just attributed it to something he must have learned as a ninja. He didn’t move to switch on the light, though the apartment had gotten darker.

Sasuke slipped out the door still keeping his chakra to a trickle. His heart was pounding like a drum. He went downstairs to the lobby for a while. Naruto’s refusal of Ran made him feel horribly guilty. He’d almost run in and beaten the man to pulp when he’d seen him kissing Naruto, but he anted to assuage his curiosity by hearing or seeing what Naruto would do. He hadn’t expected Naruto to do that. He just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

Five minutes passed in this way, before Sasuke opened the door and walked in. the room was dark and he could make out Naruto sitting on the couch. The blond didn’t move, lost in his own world, his hair slightly mussed and that feminine face in a mask of blankness. Sasuke wondered how to react….he couldn’t let Naruto know that he’d heard…that he’d seen that man kis…

“Dobe…” it was the usual start. Naruto’s had jerked up following a sharp intake of breath. Sasuke sat down by him and brushed away a wet trail with his thumb. Naruto stiffened under his touch. Sasuke’s voice was soft. “Dobe…”

A fresh surge of tears welled up suddenly in those perfect blue eyes. Naruto glanced away. “Uh…it’s just these crazy hormones…just had a bout of depression.” Naruto shook his head. “This isn’t good for the baby,” he hiccoughed. Sasuke slipped an arm around the blond and pulled him close. Small sobs tore themselves out of the Kyuubi-container’s throat and Sasuke felt the hot tears wet his shirt. He rubbed soothingly on Naruto’s back, silently letting him finish crying. When the sobs stopped, he stretched out on the couch and let Naruto half-lie on top of him.

Slowly the sniffles turned into deep breaths of slumber. Instead of getting up, Sasuke lay there, watching his “wife” sleep. It had been a long time since he’d held Naruto like this. After a while, he squirmed out from under the blond and covered him with a blanket. Then he set about getting the dinner ready. Watching Naruto cry, hurt…it hurt a lot, but here wasn’t anything he could right now was there?

When dinner was ready, he went to wake his dobe up. His hands lightly grazed the blond’s belly. “Hello…I hope you’re ok in there. Daddy’s waiting to see you…” shaking his head at talking to the blond’s tummy, he softly shook the dobe awake. “Dinner is ready dobe. You should get some sleep after you finish.” Before the brunette could react, Naruto had pulled him down for a kiss. Sasuke returned it shortly, but left it at that.

Naruto sighed internally and let him go. Dinner went silently for the first few minutes, but then Naruto forced himself to bounce back and tried half a dozen methods to start conversations. All of which were answered in monosyllables. I took him a shorter while to give up tonight. The moment dinner ended, Naruto asked Sasuke to clean up and retired to the bedroom.

As he rinsed the dishes, Sasuke brooded about hat his next step should be. Ow he had an established rival for Naruto’s affections. He pondered over the probability of loosing Naruto to this Takeshi-san…he dismissed it with a snort. He contract bound them together to tightly for this to happen right? Here hadn’t been any loopholes right? Plus…Naruto loved him. And people didn’t jus “fall out” of love ne? No, Uchitake first, Naruto next. That was that.

Sasuke placed the dishes Ino the cupboards and slipped into his room. The fact that Naruto had cried niggled at him, but he let it be. There was no way this Takeshi meant anything to the blond! Later, once his work was done, he’d make Naruto so happy that he’d only laugh…Sasuke smiled to himself and let the slight feeling of hope take him over. It was only ruined when he’d gotten into the shower and come to a startling realization…he hadn’t cleaned up when he’d left Orochimaru’s.

--

There was a choice to make. She hated making these choices…I disrupt the calm in her life. But she knew too much to keep silent and she couldn’t let Naruto get caught in the crossfire. And I didn’t look like that brat Sasuke was going to do anything either. And there was that Takeshi man to consider. She made up her mind. Though the path was familiar it made it hard for her to walk down it now.

Finally coming to the door, she knocked. The blond looked up at her, smile turning into a frown as he saw her expression. “Mirai, what can I do for you?”

“Hokage-sama, we need to talk.” Mirai help up her hand to form three white-blue balls o chakra that spread around the room. “That should keep people from eavesdropping.” She turned to Arashi who was gazing at her in open mouthed suspicion. “Please let me finish speaking before you ask any questions. We don’t have time for this.”

“Hokage-sama, war is heading towards Konoha from two sides. Most importantly, I’m sure you’ve heard of the group called ‘Akatsuki’. I know you all ready have reports on them. Well, the leader Pein wants the Kyuubi to complete his collection of bijuu. Gaara’s bijuu has been removed…I know you’ve heard of it and the Kazekage was only saved thanks to an old lady from his village. I think it’s safe to surmise that Pein wants your son…and your grandchild. If Naruto’s child is born, then Kyuubi’s power will be dispersed. Pein wants to kill the child, causing the dispersed chakra to strengthen Kyuubi and then extract it from Naruto. He’s in grave danger.” Mirai took a deep breath.

Arashi looked at her impassively for a while, before placing his hands palm down on his table. Taking a slow, deep breath, he made eye contact with her. His eyes hard. “Who are you? How can a simple flower girl know so much? And have such perfect chakra control?”

She sighed and sat down finally. “I am the daughter of Nagato and Konan ninja’s of the Hidden village of Rain. I was entrusted into the care of the owner of the flower shop, my mother didn’t have time for me and my father had better things to think about. But now that I have grown close o the Kyuubi, they want me to help them. Nagato is right now the Leader of the Akatsuki…Pein.”

Arashi raised an eyebrow. “So you’re telling me you’re the daughter of the biggest gang leader in the world now? How am I to believe you? And if that’s true, how can I believe you don’t want to help them?”

“Naruto is important to me. He’s one of the closest friends I have and I’m not about to give him up in order to please my ‘non-existent’ parents. And since I have a plan to thwart him, all you have to do is lend me your ear…” Mirai grinned.

The Hokage listened carefully until she was done and then nodded. “You really want to do this?”

“Yes. And to prove to you that I’m trustworthy, we’re going to do this chakra bind. I’ll be able to contact you at all times incase something comes up. If anything goes wrong, you’ll know.” Mirai waited till Arashi held out his hands. With a short burst of chakra the contract was sealed.

It was two hours later after the plan was finalised that Mirai stepped out. Lost in her own thoughts she walked right into Itachi. Sighing she smiled at him, this had become uncannily frequent these days. Ever since he’d returned from that mission, he’d started almost stalking her, turning up all the time and taking her to dinner. Mirai couldn’t help the slight flutter her heart did when she was with him nowadays. She decided that tonight she’d be nice. It couldn’t be all bad to show him that she did care…a bit.

“So, Mirai, dinner?”

“Sure. But I’ll pick today ok?”

Dinner went by pretty quickly. This time instead of taking her home… he led her to the lake that used to be near the old Konoha Uchiha complex. They sat there for a while, enjoying the quiet. Itachi felt calm and nice. He liked Mirai, the girl was different…it was unusual for him to court a girl for months and not make a move. The kunoichis in Konoha didn’t really hold his interest.

Holding his breath a little he reached for the soft hand that lay next to his. He let his hand cover hers, a little tense almost expecting her to attack. She stiffened a bit, but then her hand relaxed and turned, her palm meeting his. They let their fingers thread through each others.

“Mirai…” Itachi turned more fully towards her. “I think I really like you…”

For a moment she said nothing. Then she blinked and turned to him. He opened his mouth to say more, but she covered his lips with hers in a small kiss. They broke apart for a moment, but he kissed her again, his fingers in her hair. Mirai squelched the feeling that rose up in her. Just tonight she would be nice.

--

Naruto woke up and felt gloom settle on him. When he’d been close to Sasuke yesterday he’d smelled the sex on him. Naruto let the tears fall down his face. Sasuke didn’t love him…no, Sasuke was off boning someone. It seemed like he’d lost his friendship with Ran as well…life sucked. After crying himself dry, he stood up and took a deep breath. Time to make breakfast and cater to Sasuke who funnily enough was snoring deeply beside him. It wasn’t often that his husband slept like this. But Naruto was thankful, since it meant that Sasuke hadn’t heard him cry.

He hummed a tune to himself as he cooked. Planning his day, he wondered if Mirai would help him select a few things for his baby. He heard Sasuke come up behind him and turned to flash a bright smile. “Good morning. I’m feeling so much better. You slept late today…”

Sasuke couldn’t help but wonder if Naruto had smelt Orochimaru on him. He glanced at the blond to see him sniffing the air outside the window. The blond turned, his pony tails swinging as his eyes were lit up in excitement. “The Yamanaka’s are cooking fried fish…”

Sasuke frowned. If the Kyuubi-container could smell fish frying all the day down the lane in a ground floor house then he would probably have smelt Orochimaru on Sasuke last night. Then why didn’t the dobe say anything?

Naruto placed omelettes in front of Sasuke and then got a plate of it himself. It was really cold today. He pulled his orange sweater a little closer around him. They ate in silence, with Naruto just talking about a few things here and there. “Did you know your brother likes Mirai?”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He took his plate to the sink. “What do you mean?”

Naruto snorted. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed Sasuke. Itachi is head over heals in love with her. After all they’ve known each other for a really long time ne?” he rinsed the sinks. “I have a check up today…want to come?”

Sasuke shook his head. “I have to train.”

Naruto sighed. “All right. Have fun…I’ll be going out a bit.”

Sasuke turned at that. “Naruto, you’re heavily pregnant…and it’s cold. Don’t be stupid…just stay in and call Mirai or our father. If you want I’ll escort you to the Uzumaki mansion.”

Naruto shook his head. “I need air…I hate being cooped up in here and if anything happens, Konoha is full of ninja’s to help.”

“Naruto…” Sasuke sounded annoyed at his insistence.

Naruto’s blue eyes flashed with anger for a minute before the emotion morphed into pleading. Sasuke had almost missed it, and he wondered why Naruto seemed to be suppressing whatever it was that he was feeling.

Though the blue eyes seemed to plead, the voice that came out was firm. “Sasuke, I will be fine. Please don’t make me feel the need to sneak out by myself. I don’t want to keep things from you…”

Sasuke wondered whether Naruto was hinting at what he himself was doing. He cursed…he should have cleaned up last night…now he’d keep wondering if Naruto knew or was suspicious.

Naruto was in the shower when he left, so he didn’t even say goodbye. The wind whipped at him as he stepped out. It really was cold; Sasuke wished Naruto would call someone out with him on that walk he was planning to take…once all this was over, he would stay by Naruto’s side for as long as he could. But for now, he had to make his way back to Orochimaru…

Naruto stepped out of the shower and pulled on the huge maternity jeans and a nice white shirt below the huge orange sweater. He got out of the apartment heading to the clinic…he didn’t really want to meet his grandmother today…not when he was feeling this vulnerable.

He was half way there when he changed track and headed to another place he hadn’t been to in a while. It was the shrine where he’d gotten married. He took off his slippers and went in to sit by the shrine. On the way he’d picked up a small offering of onigiri and he placed it before the altar. He joined his hands in prayer and hen went to sit on the steps for a while. The huge bells hung over him and he tried to let the tranquillity of the place calm him down.

Would he and Sasuke ever get back to normal? Would he really be able to forgive Sasuke once the baby was born? Maybe not….o was their marriage ruined after all? What about Ran? Naruto wondered if they’d ever meet again. He couldn’t help but wish that Ran would understand and come back…as a friend. He could never leave Sasuke…he did love him a lot. But maybe…maybe if this marriage was doomed from the start? Maybe then…Ran? He felt tears prick his eyes again….

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t feel the water trickling down his legs…he stood up never feeling the sudden contraction coming on. It was very different from the chakra bursts…it hit him hard, a contraction laced with chakra. He cried out reaching to hold on to something. The ropes of the bell were what he caught, but they slipped and Naruto went flying forwards, the steps looming up at him.

Strong arms caught him. Naruto took a deep breath, before another one hit him. He looked into dark eyes, framed by silky brown hair. “Ran…baby…baa-chan…”

--

Itachi reached over to grab Mirai and pull her close to him. His hand met and empty bed. Sitting up suddenly, Itachi felt Mirai’s side of the bed carefully. It was cold, so she had been gone pretty long. Funny, he hadn’t expected her to be the kind of girl who just left like that. Shaking his head he got up and decided to take a shower. He felt better than he did in a long time, and the fact that Mirai had finally come to him filled him with happiness, that Uchiha’s dared not show.

After his shower, Itachi dressed and then went out to see if he could locate Mirai. He went to all the places that she usually frequented, but she wasn’t anywhere to be found. Itachi frowned and then went to her apartment where he’d followed her, a number of times. He couldn’t shake this bad feeling that seemed to haunt him. The door was open. All her belongings were still there…at least in the living room.

Itachi went into her bedroom and opened the cupboards with dread. The few clothes that she had were gone…now that he was focusing Itachi felt a few chakra signatures in the room. To his horror he realized he recognised one of them…it was the same chakra he’d felt when he’d scouted the Akatsuki….

--

Deep in the forests, Mirai followed Kisame to a river with a huge boulder hiding a cave. She waited for Kisame to open, while calming her nerves. Kisame led her down the dark corridors all the way to a huge cave with a weird looking statue. She saw many Akatsuki members scattered around the statue. Then Kisame led her into one of the passages, to a door. He knocked thrice.

“She’s here.”

Mirai opened the door and cleared her throat. “Father…Mother…I’m here to join Akatsuki...”

--

Sasuke returned earlier than he was wont to do. He wondered if Naruto had cooked any lunch. He couldn’t detect any of Naruto’s chakra from the apartment though. Had that idiot gone for a walk anyway? The day had only gotten colder…Sasuke couldn’t help worrying a bit…

He was about to open he door, when a young ninja appeared, panting slightly, looking a bit scared. “Sasuke-sama…”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“You’ve become a father….Naruto-sama went into labour this morning, and he’s just delivered. Tsunade-sama asked me to find you!” the boy was gulping big breaths of air.

Sasuke stared at him before poofing to the clinic. A father…all ready…? He couldn’t help the mixed feelings that flowed through him…he was a father… he and Naruto were parents…finally. But then it was another person to protect from Uchitake…the pressure to find and kill Uchitake was building.

Appearing by the clinic, Sasuke made a dash for the reception. Just as he reached the desk, Tsunade appeared, looking angry. “Sasuke…come with me.”

Sasuke walked behind her, suddenly afraid. What if something had gone wrong? He took a seat in front of her, looking worried. “Is something wrong?”

“If you’re talking about the baby and Naruto, they’re fine.” Tsunade glared. “But there is something wrong. Something very wrong with the two of you. Tell why is it that you went to train when I specifically told you, we didn’t know when Naruto was going to deliver? Do you know how close you came to losing the baby? Do you know that Naruto didn’t turn up to see me today?”

Sasuke blinked at that. “What do you mean he didn’t show up?”

“He decided he didn’t want the check up to be today after all. The little idiot was at that shrine where you got married. He hadn’t even realised his water had broken! Since his contractions aren’t usual they were laced with an incredible amount of Kyuubi’s chakra. He was found by your neighbour Ran and brought here just in time!”

Sasuke felt his insides churn. Ran again…but he could talk to Tsunade later. First he wanted to see Naruto…but Tsunade didn’t look like she was going to let him go.

“Uchiha…you’re treatment of my grandson is terrible and even if Naruto’s not saying anything I can see something is bothering him. If you hurt him in any way, I promise I will kill you once and for all annulling the contract!” Tsunade grimaced. “You may go see him. He’s in the third ward. And by the way…you’ve had a daughter…”

Joy welled up in Sasuke as he raced to the ward. A daughter? He’d always wanted one. He made it to the door and opened it…only o see Ran handing the baby back to Naruto, smiling at it with a very paternal kind of affection. Sasuke felt a flood of rage at seeing the man holding his baby…and Naruto accepting it without any qualms. Ran patted the baby and kissed Naruto’s forehead before poofing out…Sasuke shut the door without entering, leaning against the wall to calm down before he went in. he hated Ran…

--

A/N: this writing is taking ages!! That’s it for today…now I’m off to bed. I have exams going on. Any way I hope you enjoy this. I’ll be finishing all my other stories only after I finish this one. I’m so sorry but that’s how it was to be right now!! Please review and tell me ho you liked it. Your reviews are the only things that keep me going with this!!

And tell me how you liked each bit? Do you have any idea what will happen next? With Sasuke x Naruto x Ran? Or Itachi and Mirai? Let me know!!

Thank you

Taka!!