The Bad Boy and the Baby

Thank you to my darling lovely beta Zrina who took time off for me. I’m so grateful!!

And Itachi-darling Happy birthday….Naruto baked you a cake and I’ll give you your present later!!

Chapter 7:

Naruto whined softly and buried his face into the soft, pale chest in front of him. The arm around him shifted, curling around him in a more comfortable position. He didn’t want to wake up, but the nagging feeling inside of him refused to buzz off, making it plain that he couldn’t rest much longer….after all he did have work to do. The body next to him moved away, robbing him of the warmth he’d felt just minutes ago. Sasuke was going to get up; he did have missions to go on. Naruto whined some more…grabbing him around the waist and holding fast.

Sasuke groaned. Not again! “Naruto I have to get up! We both have work to do!” Sasuke reprimanded his pouting husband who still didn’t let go. For the past three months Naruto had become excessively whiny and had some desperate desire to cling to Sasuke every single morning. Sasuke reached out and yanked the blond into a hug, slowly trying to loosen the blond’s grip around his waist by lulling the blond into a false sense of security. When the leech refused to budge, Sasuke sighed exasperatedly. “Come on, dobe, I have to go…let…me…go…”

Naruto let go, huffing. “Fine! Go! Do what you like! I know you don’t want me, it’s because I’m getting fatter…” he bit his lip and turned away, his back to Sasuke.

Sasuke quelled the urge to shake the blond. Tsunade had warned him that this would happen. Apparently the mood swings came as a package with a pregnant Naruto. He took a deep breath. Why did they have to go through the same talk every morning though? Why did it always have to be about whether he loved or wanted the blond? Why couldn’t his husband have more interesting mood swings like lots of heat or something, so they could make love like bunnies?

“Naru-bunny, you know I want you. I’m in love with you, dobe…how can I not want you?” Sasuke was usually never this sentimental, but he could make an exception for Naruto. “I promise you that I will never…not want you. All right? And when I get back from my mission this evening, we can go anywhere you like. We’ll even go for ramen or to that ice cream place where you get ramen flavoured ice-cream…” Sasuke felt a bit sick at the thought, but now was the time to placate Naruto, so he could leave without having to face an upset blond when he returned. He crawled towards the blond and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, rocking him a bit.

Naruto nodded, looking for all the world like an innocent baby. Sasuke loved that look; it was one of those looks about Naruto which could bring out a surge of love and affection in him. The look gave way to a small bright smile which made Sasuke want to cuddle him all the more. Sasuke sometimes wished though that Naruto would go back to being that loud mouth he’d been when they’d met. The blond got up and went to the bathroom.

After he brushed his teeth, Naruto wandered into the kitchen to make himself a breakfast of lime juice and olives in strawberry sauce, with one cup of ramen. Unfortunately Sasuke refused to share with him, which hurt a lot. Though Sasuke did like the olives plain and stole them whenever possible. When he opened the refrigerator he found there weren’t any olives.

“BASTARD! THERE AREN’T ANY OLIVES HERE…DID YOU EAT THEM ALL? I KNOW YOU DID…YOU ALWAYS STEAL MY OLIVES!”

In the shower Sasuke winced, taking back the wish he’d just made. No the normal Naruto was fine. Now the whole neighbourhood would realise that he loved olives. He was glad he showering, Naruto got a little feral when his olives disappeared.

Naruto added strawberry sauce to his ramen instead. He really wanted to eat both badly. Somehow he craved it every day. He poked his stomach a bit. “I wonder if you’re going to be ok. You ask for the weirdest things. I hope you don’t grow to be like Jiraiya jii-san, he likes weird things too.” he said to his baby, as he found himself enjoying things he wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. Usually he hated his ramen to be adulterated with anything.

Suddenly it happened again. That small burst of chakra and the cramping pain; the morning sickness would follow. The blond shoved his chopsticks into his cup of noodles and staggered to his feet. Dragging himself to the bathroom, he made it just in time to hurl into the toilet as he collapsed, bending over it. Then a cool hand held his forehead and another one rubbed soothing circles on his back. He was done, but the cramps took a little longer to end. When they stopped, Sasuke helped him clean up and carried him to the kitchen. Placing his blond package on the chair, he proceeded to make him a proper breakfast, feeding him only one or two bites of the ramen and strawberry sauce. Naruto smiled at him gratefully.

“So can we go to a movie tonight?”

Sasuke smiled as he placed the food in front of the blond. “Sure. But no scary or violent movies okay? We don’t want our girl to become too aggressive.”

“Who says it’s going to be a girl? Anyway I wanted to watch The Ninjas of Hellwater.”

Sasuke shot him a stern look. “No scary or action movies, have we made that clear?” he chose to ignore the question. Sure he wanted to revive the clan with an heir, but he also wanted a little girl he could take care of and protect.

Naruto swore. “You’re so mean Sasuke! That rules out all the fun!” he stuck his tongue out at his husband. “Meano!”

“Either you listen or we go somewhere else. Anyway what are you doing today? I have escort duty; have to take some daimyo to his estate or something.”

“I’m going shopping with Mirai later on. I wish dad wasn’t so over-protective. I’m going to pick up some groceries, some of that fish you like so much. I thought I could give you a treat when you came back.” Naruto patted his stomach smiling up at his husband.

“Sounds okay, dobe. Now I’m going to finish my shower. Try not to interrupt me again...unless you have something else in mind.” He deepened his smirk and raised an eyebrow.

Naruto blushed. “B…baka-ecchi! Go away! You’re always thinking like that!”

Sasuke grinned and swooped down to place a soft kiss on the blond’s forehead. “Stupid baby.” When he walked out, Naruto allowed himself a small smile. He liked it when Sasuke was nice and un-bastard-ly.

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“Are you sure about this, Uchitake?” Orochimaru frowned a bit at the man.

Uchitake grinned, running a hand through his now brown locks. Orochimaru found himself swallowing; even with his hair dyed brown the man was beautiful. He had to clench his fists to restrain himself from jumping him.

“You always worry too much Orochimaru. And remember now, I’m Takeshi Ran. One slip of your tongue and my plans will be foiled. After three months of hard work if I lose because of you, I’ll make sure you never see daylight again, understand?” those black eyes narrowed.

“Yes Uchi…I mean Takeshi. I’ll leave now; we’re too close to Konoha for my comfort. If that Arashi asshole realises, then I’m doomed.” Orochimaru left, hurrying a little too fast. Uchitake smiled, this was going to be so easy. He turned to the boy standing beside him.

“Are you ready, Sakon?”

“I’ll leave now, Takeshi-sama.”

“Very good.”

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“So we bought the fish, now what? We should get you some lunch! You’re pregnant you know…at least the baby needs nourishment.” Mirai thwapped him on the head.

“Yeah okay, but you know what? I’m feeling tired. How about you come over to my house and we’ll buy the food…takeaway.” Naruto rubbed the spot where she’d hit him.

She looked at him for a long moment, before nodding. “Fine. Let me buy though. I’ll get some healthy stuff. Where do we eat? At Morino’s?”

“Yeah, why not? Idate still owes me a few free lunches after I helped him get that girl last month. But before that, I want to buy some paint. For the baby’s room.” Naruto caught a hold of her shoulders and steered her towards a paint shop.

“What? But you don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl and you can’t paint in your condition!” Mirai scowled a bit. “Always rushing ahead, you’re so predictable!”

“Yeah right, that’s why they call me the number one surprising ninja! Anyway, I want to break out of the pink and blue thing. I want to do a pale-ish green with buttercup yellow skirting and buttercup yellow teddies and buttercup yellow puppies outlined all over the walls!” Naruto had that dreamy look in his eyes.

Mirai snorted. “Calm down. Have you even bothered to ask Sasuke whether he’d like those colours?”

“Uh no, but why wouldn’t he?”

Mirai was about to reply when someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She whirled, kicking out forcing the man to jump back. The man grinned. “Good. How can you expect to convince me that you’re just a simple flower girl? After all, the wedding is over and you’re still here.”

“Oh, Uchiha-san. You should announce yourself before you grab someone. Even flower girls learn to defend themselves.” Mirai’s tone was frosty.

Itachi noticed a look the two gave each other when he voiced his concerns. How many secrets did the Uzumaki family have? Mirai could not be just another flower girl. “All right, my bad. I just returned from a mission and wondered if you’d like to join me for lunch.”

Mirai looked at him sceptically. Then she looked at Naruto. “I guess it would be okay if we joined you, but we must go somewhere with healthy food. Naruto needs proper nutrition.”

Itachi mentally groaned. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Naruto, but Mirai didn’t seem to realise that he’d been talking to her, not to his brother-in-law. Though she didn’t notice it, Naruto caught the look. He suddenly felt like an intruder; the way Itachi was looking at Mirai should have made it obvious long before. “Uh, no. I think I’ll go home; Sasuke will be getting back soon. I’ll have to kick his ass for leaving his laundry out for me to do! Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m a woman!” he caught the look Mirai shot him and scratched his head. “Not that women must do the laundry…eheheh…”

“You stereotypical asshole! Honestly doing the laundry doesn’t make you less of a man. And look at you, you look like a man pregnant or not! I can’t believe you sometimes.” Then she sobered up. “Are you sure? You’re in delicate condition after all. I don’t think I should leave you alone…”

Naruto glared at her, he’d caught the grateful look Itachi had sent him…well the flicker of a grateful look that Itachi had sent him. “What? You don’t think I can take care of myself? I can walk back home which is a few blocks away without coming to harm. I’m a shinobi after all and I’m only three months pregnant.”

Mirai held up her hands looking annoyed. She had a bad feeling about this, but if the brat was going to be like that then fine! “Fine. Come on, Uchiha-san. I want to get this meal over with.” Itachi and Naruto winced at the angry tone and words, but she spun around and walked of leaving Itachi behind to send Naruto an apologetic glance before he sauntered after her. Naruto felt bad for sending her off like that, but I was nice to be free of all the worried people around him.

He turned and started making his way home. Their apartment was in a slightly lonely area…a rich area, but then rich areas were always more lonely. Most people who lived there did their own thing, instead of mingling anywhere except clubs or parties. Sometimes Naruto wished they could have stayed somewhere closer to the middle class, at least he had friends there and they could visit him oftener.

He was at the entrance to his neighbourhood with a five minute walk to his home when it happened. Suddenly he felt too hot like he was burning up and before he could react, a chakra surge hit him. He stumbled, frantically looking an alley or trash can, he just couldn’t throw up on the pavement! He found an alley with a trashcan a few feet away and made his way up to it as fast as he could. He got there in time and emptied the snack he’d had with Mirai into it. He couldn’t stop dry heaving though everything he’ eaten was all ready out. The pain was horrible, coming in spasms, contracting and squeezing and the chakra bursts were bad. Naruto thought he was going to pass out, when a cool hand was placed on his forehead and another rubbed his back soothingly.

Naruto wondered if it was Sasuke. He turned and met the same deep obsidian eyes; only it was long brown hair that framed his face. Naruto found himself staring; god the man was so hot! Naruto blushed a little and looked away. “Uh…thank you…”

The man smiled and helped him up, clasping his hand in a firm grasp. “It’s all right. I’m glad I could help.” he moved to pick up the groceries Naruto had dropped, making sure the bags were still tied and nothing had dropped to the ground. He shot a look at Naruto and then at the bags. “Maybe I could carry these for you? No offense, but you look tired and I have a feeling you won’t be able to manage by yourself.”

Naruto mused over it. He wasn’t a weakling, actually he still had all his skills and was still good, except…except for these chakra surges. That’s why he had been confined to the village, because there was no knowing when or how they happened, they just did. Tsunade had said maybe it was because of the Kyuubi and that the surges were what transported the nutrients from the blood to the baby, so it would happen anytime that happened. And carrying those five heavy bags right now didn’t look too easy.

“That would be nice, thank you. I’m sorry for being a bother…”

The man bushed it off and they began to walk in silence. Naruto had no idea what to say or talk about, and he felt embarrassed that he was so weak. He looked up as the man cleared his throat. “Don’ worry about it, really. I can tell you’re not happy about this, but you’re not well, so it’s fine. I don’t know your name, do I?”

Naruto smiled one of those sunshine smiles. “I’m Uzumaki Naruto. I live in those apartments over there with my husband.”

“Husband?” the man asked with raised eyebrows. “Are you the Hokage’s son by any chance?”

“Yes, I am. And yeah, husband…his name is Uzumaki Sasuke; he comes from the Uchiha clan. Everyone knows that. You must be new. Are you moving here?”

“Yes, actually. I was looking for an apartment, too. Are there any available in this neighbourhood? It looks very pretty…”

“I think there are. You could call a real estate agent. They’ll have all the details but I think there are some flats in the other block.” They’d reached his home. He turned to the man and smiled. “Would you like to come in? I’ll make you some tea.”

“Thank you, that would be nice. But instead of tea, would you have some juice or water? I don’t want to be a bother, but it’s too hot for tea.” The man placed the groceries by the kitchen into which Naruto had gone and then sat on one of the cushions strewn on the futons in the living room.

Naruto brought him some lemon juice and sat down as well. “Oh, I forgot to ask! I still don’t know your name…”

The man grinned too, his beautiful face lighting up completely. “My name is Takeshi Ran.”

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The mission had gone without a hitch. Sasuke was making his way back to Konoha. It was still mid-afternoon luckily so he would be able to shower and change before he took Naruto out. Who knew, he might even get to molest his delectable ‘wife’. He loved referring to Naruto as his wife, though there was a possibility of the blond going Kyuubi on him if he ever did voice the thought. Konoha was two hours away, but thinking of Naruto made Sasuke want to hurry. It was nice to go home to someone who was waiting for you and really did seem to love you.

The past three months had been good. He and Naruto had bought a three bedroom apartment and set up their house. He’d never have thought it could be that nice. They even had a routine now, Naruto cooked for him (proper food thankfully) and in the first months they’d sparred or gone on missions together. Naruto was his sun, his happiness and light. He didn’t think he could go on without his wife by his side.

He tensed and leaped away as a kunai sailed towards him. He was alert now, his sharingan spinning wildly. High on the branches above was Kidoumaru. He had a headband with the musical symbol of the Sound gang on his forehead. Since when did they start using ninja forehead protectors? And why was Kidoumaru here?

The man smiled down at him. “Uchiha Sasuke long time no see…”

“Kidoumaru. The name is Uzumaki now.” Sasuke finally caught a glimpse of the man’s body and his eyes widened in shock. The man sported four arms! “What happened to you?”

The man laughed. “Power! That’s what happened to me,” Kidoumaru leered. “My master Orochimaru, the leader of the Otogakure, sent you a message. Catch!” He chucked the scroll at Sasuke. The raven caught it glaring at his former comrade. The now spider-like man ginned nastily. “Read it.”

Sasuke sighed and opened the scroll, making sure it wasn’t an exploding scroll. He read it, the colour in his face draining out. The scroll dropped to the ground as he stared into the air. It read:

Uchiha Sasuke,

I believe that you’ve been searching for Uchitake Aakui for a long time now. I send you this message as I have had encounters with him as well. I’ve also been watching you. At your current level you would never be able to stand a chance against him. Konoha could never help reach that level. On the other hand, I would love to help you beat him. Though lately I don’t think you want to find him anymore; you have been growing more content with that husband of yours. If you really want to avenge them, you must concentrate on your goal alone. But there will be a price to pay for all the help you receive from me.

Orochimaru (I was once a Sannin of Konoha…but I have found strength only outside its walls.)

Kidoumaru grinned at him. “You have one week to decide; your husband or your goal.” He left leaping away, leaving the silent Uchiha behind.

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A/N: Yeah so Uchitake and Orochimaru have finally put their plan into action. What will Sasuke decide? And what will Naruto do? Oh well guess away until the next chapter…birthday cake is available for everyone in any flavour you like!! 

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