I updated. You must all love me now.

Kbye ;3

- - -

I stared at Tsunade-sama, mouth hanging open in shock.

"Eh?" I was beyond intelligent words. That was the only thing I could think of to say that would be remotely coherent.

"You're pregnant, Kaien." she looked just as confused as I felt, staring at my stomach with a frown, "I don't know how, but you are. There's no mistaking it."

"But... but my womb was permanently damaged! I was infertile- you made the diagnosis yourself!" I exclaimed, and she sighed.

"I know. I can even feel the scarred tissue... but it's healed. As good as new." she shook her head, "Something that should never heal has been, and I don't know how..."

"Could it have been the Chiyu Te?" I asked quietly- I had pretty much forgotten about the old ability, the healing technique of the Uzumaki clan (see Chapter 15 of the prequel). I never thought that I needed to know about it since I was a good enough healer without knowing, so I never bothered researching it.

"Possibly, but from what I've researched something like this should be far out of it's range of abilities..." she looked at me, "Tell me, have you consumed anything or come into contact with anyone that could have healed it?"

I stopped, thinking, "I... don't think so..." then it hit me, "My blood."

"What?"

"My blood healed Gaara when he almost died before. Maybe that's what healed me!" the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, "I'm always cutting myself and sucking the wound, or maybe it just went through my veins?"

"Well, whatever it was, you're going to be a Mother." I froze at that, and looked up to see Tsunade and Naruto smiling down at me. My hands shook, and I gripped the toilet seat. It was finally sinking in, and I couldn't help but cry.

"K-Kaien! I thought that you wanted kids?!" Naruto exclaimed, dropping to his knees and grabbing my shoulders. "Why are you crying?!"

"I'm- I'm happy, baka..." I sniffled, giggling, "This is the one thing I wanted more than anything, but I always thought that I'd never have it..."

Without saying anything, my brother hugged me tightly. "You scared me then..." he chuckled thickly, and I could tell he was fighting not to cry, too, "Damnit, grown men shouldn't cry over stuff like this..."

"Why not?" I laughed, clutching his t-shirt, "You're going to be an uncle..."

He stood up abruptly, wiping his eyes, "Stop, you're making me cry." he mumbled, embarrassed, and I just laughed. I rested a hand over the spot where my baby was growing.

"This kid's going to be loved more than any other." I said firmly, "To make up for the loss of it's big sister."

- - -

"I'm beginning to see why people avoid pregnant women..." Naruto muttered. I bristled, throwing an empty bowl (from a yummy ice cream sundae) at him.

"What was that?! You trying to pick a fight, huh?!" I yelled, then pouted, "It's hard being pregnant, you know..."

"That's not what annoys me. Why the hell isn't Gaara here?!" Naruto exclaimed, remaining at a safe distance. He had learned not to come close to me unless he had food with him a few weeks ago when I had bitten his hand in my sleep. "It's his kid!"

I looked down, and couldn't help the feeling of loneliness in my chest. I  rested a hand over the steadily inflating bump, saddened. "Gaara doesn't know."

"WHAT." Naruto seemed stunned- so stunned that a word that should have sounded like a question came out like a regular sentence. He began to stride over to me, then stopped and scooted back again, thinking better of it. "What do you mean, 'Gaara doesn't know.'?! I thought you'd been writing letters to him?!"

"I have." I pouted at the accusatory tone, but didn't meet his eyes, "But if I tell him, he'll want me to come back to Suna, and I can't be sure that I won't be shunned by the villagers. I have a baby to think about now, and it's safest for me here, considering that."

He paused, then sighed, "When did you become so grown up?"

"I've always been more grown up than you, Naruto." I retorted haughtily, "You've just always been too stupid to see it."

"Hey!" my brother protested, then sighed, "Still, you can't just keep him in the dark, it's his kid too." he folded his arms, "What are you going to do, what for him to visit and then pop up all pregnant without giving him time to brace himself?"

"Brace himself, what's that supposed to mean?" I growled, "Are you saying I'm fat?!"

"N-no, no! Just that finding out that you're going to be a dad is a lot to take in in one go!" he defended quickly. I glared at him a moment longer, then sighed and stood up.

"You're right..." I mumbled, "But I can't tell him yet. He'll try and make me come back to Suna, and I can't go back yet. I'm not ready."

I grabbed my coat and started out the door, and Naruto called out to me, "Hey, where are you going? It's late!"

"i'm just going for a walk. I'll be back in a little while." I said, smiling slightly at the protective tone he was using, then glaring, "And tidy this place up a bit before I get back! It's a bomb site!"

"I swear, your mood swings are gonna give me whiplash..." he muttered, and I closed the door behind me.

The cold evening breeze was incredibly pleasant since it was so hot inside that flat. It was also nice to be able to appreciate a clean, fresh breeze- the further along I got in my pregnancy, the longer I was stuck indoors each day. It was August, and the baby was due late November to early December. I was six months along, and didn't get much excercise, so I didn't make it far before I had to sit down. I chose a nice spot against a wall that ran along the sidewalk, and sat down the ground. I prodded my stomach, "I can't even cross my legs because of you."

I sighed deeply and leaned my head back to rest it against the wall, enjoying the breeze that ran across my body and through my hair. My train of thought wandered back to my conversation with Naruto, and I frowned. Was I doing the wrong thing by keeping it from Gaara? I mean, not only would he try and persuade me to come back to Suna, but when I refused he would be even more worried with me away from him.

Unless...

Unless he wouldn't want the baby? We'd never talked about kids before. It never really came up. After I lost the first child, he'd never really brought it up. I never even asked him how he felt about losing our baby- it was too painful to think about.

"Oi, pregnant women shouldn't be sitting in the street so late." I blinked at the voice that pulled me out of my reverie. Sasuke sat down a few feet away from me, out of my reach- he had also felt my pregnancy wrath a few times.

"Sasuke?" I tilted my head to one side, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, baka. Look at you, you're freezing." he sighed, pulling off his ANBU cloak and wrapping it around me. "You have another person to think about, now. Look after yourself better."

I scowled, "I look after myself and my baby just fine." I said, then sighed and smiled, "Thanks."

"So what's wrong?" he asked, and I sighed again.

"Do you think I'm doing the wrong thing by not telling Gaara?" I asked, and he rested his elbows on his knees.

"Yes, I do." I sweatdropped at his blunt reply, and looked over at him, about to snap a retort back at him, until I saw his face. "If I was in Gaara's position, I'd want to know. It's better than finding out when the baby's already born, then at least there's some time to mentally prepare yourself for looking after a child."

Something in his expression was wistful, and my annoyance was forgotten. I smiled, and scooted closer to playfully punch his shoulder. "You really want to be a Dad, don't you?" he flinched and turned slightly red, embarrassed. I grinned, slyly, "I always thought that your ambitions of restoring your clan were just you being perverted, but I guess not."

"U-urusei.." he muttered, and I smiled. I liked hanging out with Sasuke- he was mature and honest, and a good listener to boot. Some girl would be lucky to have him one day. Except there was a problem with that.

"Ne, Sasuke, do you think that Naruto'll ever come clean with me about where it is he sneaks off to every night?" I asked, and he flushed redder, then cleared his throat.

"I don't know." he mumbled, "I think he's scared you won't accept it."

"So you didn't even tll him that I know already?!" I exclaimed, irritated, "Baka, you said you would!"

"I know, I know! But I couldn't." the raven mumbled, "I felt like I was betraying his trust, he asked me not to tell you."

"Please, I knew that you two liked each other before even you two did." I said haughtily. A vein throbbed on my temple, "And what makes him think that I wouldn't accept my brother being gay?! Have I ever at any point seemed homophobic?"

"It's different though, between an outsider and a family member. Maybe he feels like he's let you down." Sasuke's expression turned dark, "I know that the council is expecting him to hook up with some girl to provide a prodigeous child..."

"Well, you're goona have to surrogate anyway." I said, "If you want to restore your clan, that is."

"It's too early days for that." he said finally, and I squinted at him.

"It's a good thing I know you well, Sasuke, because I know you're serious about my brother." I folded my arms, "Although, I may be pregnant, but I'll still kick your ass into next month if you break his heart."

"I don't plan on it." Sasuke replied stoically, but his eyes were serious. I smiled.

"In a way, I'm kinda glad." I headbutted his shoulder and laughed, "Now I have a gay best friend, every girl's dream."

"Why do you say such embarrassing things? Jeez, Kaien..." he muttered awkwardly in reply. We sat in silence for a while, me slowly beginning to lean on him more and more, tired- it was late and walking with a baby takes a lot out of you. My eyes started to close, and he sighed. "You can't sleep here, baka."

"Then carry me home, Sasuke-nii." I said, hoping to wear him down with cuteness. He was a sucker for the Uzumaki puppy dog eyes.

"What? No way!" He replied irately, "Get yourself home, lazy."

I sighed and moved to lay down on the sidewalk, "I guess I'll sleep here then..." I said, and he sighed, grunted in annoyance, then picked me up. I chuckled- he and my brother were both way too easy to manipulate. I flung my arms loosely around his neck, and smiled. "Thank you Sasuke!" I mumbled, sleepily.

"It's fine." he replied gruffly, and I giggled. There was something about Sasuke's presence that was warm and comforting, like being with a sensible version of Naruto.

"Sasuke, I'm glad you came back." I said, and he seemed to understand what I was talking about. His chest rumbled as he spoke.

"Me too."

- - -

Yeah. No Gaara here. Sumimasen, he'll be reappearing next chapter.

KREHHHH.

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