Night, Day and Sunrise

As the moon inched above the treeline, Sasuke finally rose from his seat and went searching for the girls. They'd dissapeared in the direction of the stream to wash up nearly half an hour ago, and they still hadn't returned. Kurenai wasn't with them; she was still in mourning for Asuma, and she was due to have her child any day now.



This left him with Shino and Kiba for conversation, and neither was someone he'd have chosen to deal with on a friendly basis. Shino was just too odd, and Kiba was obnoxious. He was able to deal with Naruto's exuberant attitude, but Kiba and Akamaru were downright annoying. Besides, though they both were friends with Naruto, neither of them could understand how he and Sakura felt at the moment. Their teammate wasn't missing, nor their best friend and lover.



As he approached, he heard the murmur of voices and was comforted to know that the girls were alright, they'd just stopped to chat. The sooner they got to sleep, however, the sooner they could be on the road in the morning. But Sasuke halted when he finally got close enough to make out the words. He sincerely hoped he was misunderstanding the conversation, but he doubted it.



"How long have you known?"



Sakura ceased what she was doing, staring at the Hyuuga heir with large, frightened eyes. "What are you talking about?"



With a tiny movement, Hinata gestured to the hand Sakura was unconsciously holding against her lower abdomen. "I'd say you were just cramping, but your chakra flows are all wrong for that. The only other time I've seen chakra like that was with Kurenai. I'm the one who told her to go get tested, but you already know. So, when did you find out?"



The green-eyed kunoichi gave up all pretense then, sinking to the ground right where she stood. "This afternoon," her voice was barely above a whisper. "Not five minutes before Tsunade-shishou told me Naruto was... " she faltered, a single tear sliding down her cheek.



Without a second thought, Hinata knelt and embraced the weeping girl, though her own heart was breaking as she did so. "Naruto... he's the father, isn't he?"



Sasuke decided to save Sakura from having to try to explain their complicated relationship. Deliberately making noise, he approached the girls, pretending not to see them for a few seconds. Then, as if he misunderstood the reason for Sakura's distress, he knelt beside them, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "We'll get him back, Sakura," he vowed.



Pink hair tickled his skin as she shook her head. He tried to reassure her again, and she finally snapped at him. "That's not the point, teme! I'm pregnant!"



As she burst out into hysterical tears, Sasuke saw Kiba and Shino frozen on the edge of the clearing. So much for preserving her dignity. With a sigh, he stood. "Bed, Sakura."



"Damnit, Sasuke, I'm not a child. Stop ordering me around!"



Ignoring everyone else, he reached down, grabbed her wrists, and hauled her up after him, heading for their tent. "We'll discuss this once the mission is over." That seemed as good of an excuse as any for the members of Team Kurenai to get the hell out of their way and pretend that nothing was wrong.



Once alone in the safety of their tent, Sasuke double-checked the fastenings, then puled Sakura down on the bedding with him, holding her shaking form against him, stroking her back. "Shh."



The crying unnerved him; he only wanted for her to be happy, and she was desolved into tears. She was the strong one, despite all of his and Naruto's bravado. To see her like this, breaking - almost broken - was more disturbing than Naruto being gone. Yes, he'd seen her cry in the past, but that was different. Suddenly, he saw how fragile she really was, how close he'd come to shatterring her when he'd left. No wonder the dobe hated me.



After several minutes, the nagging doubt that had been building in his mind since he'd overheard Hinata's first comment finally spilled out. "Is it Naruto's?"



"How the hell should I know?" her voice cut like a knife. "Probably not, but there's a chance, and now he's gone, and he'll never know. And the baby..." she stopped, knowing she couldn't put her thoughts acurately into words.



Sasuke just held her then, as tightly as he dared. "We'll get Naruto back," he whispered into her hair. "I promise."



"But, what about the baby? Even if we get him back, things are going to change." Her voice was so forlorn he froze, unsure if he should kiss her or leave her alone.



"What things, exactly?"



The conversation had one benefit: she'd stopped crying, but now she was giving him that look, the one that questioned his mental development beyond the level of primate. "My child is not going to be a bastard."



"Then we'll get married." That seemed easy enough to solve, and he waited impatiently for the real problem.



"Where would that leave Naruto?"



Now he saw it, and his stomach twisted unplesantly. He'd been concentrating so much on his goals, he hadn't thought about how life would change - his and everyone else's, too - when those goals were actually accomplished. Getting married hadn't seemed like a big deal not five seconds ago, but now he realized exactly what he was signing up for. Normally when Sakura was upset, he had Naruto there to share the fire; now he was on his own, and he saw that was how it would always be once they were married.



And they would get married. If he wanted to refound his clan, his children needed to be legitimate, and he wouldn't leave Sakura to raise children with the stigma of bastard hanging over her and them all. Oh, sure, that might not be as big a deal these days as it used to be, but there would always be those who disaproved about such things. Not marrying her would make things far more difficult for her and the child, not to mention the legal ramifications. How could his children be the new Uchiha Clan if they didn't bear the name?



Children. Shit, he'd be a Father. He knew that's how it worked, but he hadn't really let the implications of that title catch up with him till now. Staying up through the night to coax a screaming infant to bed, getting up early to see them off to school, worrying when they don't come home on time, praying that none of them turn into psychopaths like his brother. Nevermind what his own father had or hadn't been, he knew the kind he wanted to be. Even now, he was already worried about the child and Sakura more than he'd ever worried for anyone before, himself included. Naruto included



Suddenly, the thought of just him and Sakura in his house, his bed, seemed inordinately lonely.



He was going to loose his freedom, his right to take what partners he chose. Even if they agreed upon it between the three of them, Naruto would always be the third wheel - literally - legally bound to be nothing more than a friend. Unable to participate in the public side of the relationship, which he and Sakura would have. And if anyone ever caught so much as a glimpse of Naruto with either of them, they'd all be shamed before the whole village. It was one thing to be a trio of single people (odd, but acceptable), but a married couple with an extra partner was something else entirely. It was anathema; obscene. And Naruto, fragile, gentle, loving Naruto, was about to get his heart crushed.



Sasuke knew how he would feel in that situation: he'd rather be left for dead than rescued only to find that his lovers were expecting a child and were engaged. Naruto wasn't suicidal, thank goodness, but he was so very emotionally vulnerable, and they were going to hurt him. There was no other choice, they had to.



"Damnit!" he hissed between clenched teeth. Sakura seemed somewhat relieved that he was just as confused and upset as she. What, did she think I was trying to exclude Naruto on purpose? Ok, yeah, I was horny, but he was gone so much, it didn't make sense to be celibate when he wasn't there.



"When will you know whose child it is?"



The body in his arms went still for a minute, as Sakura did when she was thinking carefully, then shrugged. "It depends on the method. The surest test wouldn't be safe for several months, but if the baby has the father's bloodtype, it will probably have his chakra element, too. And that I'll be able to sense within the next few weeks; Hinata might see it sooner."



Nodding slowly, he calculated the odds, and both loved the result and hated it at the same time. "It's probably mine, isn't it?"



He felt her head moving in affirmation more than he saw it, and sighed. Naruto always used a condom. Always. More than once, Sasuke remembered receiving glares from the blonde when he neglected to do so (which was ninety-nine point nine percent of the time), and on one notable occasion, Naruto had actually taken him aside to talk about it. He hadn't said much in response, but now he wished he had followed his friend's advice. Yes, he wanted Sakura to have his children, but not yet. Not like this. They weren't ready for them, nor were they ready to move on alone, without Naruto. Not permenetly.



"We'll get him back," he heard himself vowing again, "and we'll figure all this out then, with all three of us." He was pretty sure he knew what Naruto was going to say, but he wanted to be sure, and he wanted to leave the way open for Konoha's Number One Loudest Ninja to stay with them as long as he needed - forever, if he wanted.



His mind continued to race through, out, and around all these topics and more. He was on his fifth repetition of trying to decide which room was safest for the baby when Sakura finally fell asleep. Adjusting her weight to ease the pressure against his collarbone, he was sure he wouldn't be following her any time soon, but shock does funny things to the system. Though it had given him an adrenaline rush, helping him think through the situation clearly and quickly, when that chemical processed out of his system, his crash was sudden and complete. He didn't even have time to register it; one second he was worrying about powers of attorney, and the next he was out.



But he still dreamed, odd, uncomfortable visions just shy of nightmares, though he didn't remember even one of them when he awoke, except that they all featured losing Naruto or Sakura - or both.



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Sorry for the long wait, but between computers crashing, classes of doom, and having to do a complete overhaul of my other story, posting new chapters kind of fell by the wayside. Thanks, everyone, for you patience, and I promise, it will be rewarded.

Have a great day and good reading!



Crimson Iris