A/N: Good thing the KIGO one shot I am writing is a Valentine’s Day treat, so I could write it in sections and still get to write an update for BOUND. Lol…
BOUND
Chapter 11
He stood straight despite the pain on his side and right thigh. He looked down at her bloody hands and then to the lifeless bodies of three men lying on the ground, all men were wearing masks over their faces and he knew who they work for. “You’re harder to kill than Orochimaru…that I give you credit Kabuto,” Sasuke whispered before he landed on his left knee when his body gave out, “I…need…help…”
XXX
Ino was smiling when she returned to her shop; she entered the second trimester of pregnancy without any problems. Well if she considered Sakura feeling all the symptoms for her a problem then it’s not without…but the most enjoyable part in that scenario was her actually taking care of Sakura. The pink haired woman almost got admitted at the hospital twice for dehydration due to severe morning sickness and lack of sleep 2 weeks before she entered her 16th week. And the problem brought the two women closer since Sakura have to ‘almost move in’ with Ino just for the shorter woman to get some decent sleep at night.
The worst complication Ino could think of right now is that, she’s getting too close with her friend, she maybe her co mother and she knew that she feels something more about the med nin, but she doesn’t want to let Sakura think that she’s using her pregnancy in getting her way on her…besides, she’s not even sure if Sakura’s sudden closeness to her was her being Sakura or if it was the effect of her child being half Sakura’s. Jeez…I’m falling hard and it’ll hurt if no once catches me. Ino said shaking her head.
“Ino, you’re back.” Inoichi said grinning at her daughter and cutting Ino’s musing short, “So how was the ultrasound?”
The blonde kunoichi smiled at her father, “It was great, Tsunade-sama let me hear the baby’s heart beat and I get to see her hands and feet.” Ino said stepping closer to her father, “And Tsunade-sama told me that the ‘quickening’ may start and I may feel uncomfortable, but she said it’s normal. The baby’s normal and healthy.” She said before she leaned forward and gave her father a kiss on his cheek.
“That’s good news,” he said then his eyes got worried, “And how’s Sakura? Did you talk to Hokage-sama and ask her to give Sakura maternity leave? Well until all the symptoms are taken care of!”
Inoichi was like a father to Sakura, just like Ino’s mom was like a mother to the pink haired woman ever since she lost both parents. Sakura’s mother through giving birth, and her father during the recent war at Konoha that was brought about by Orochimaru, so it was normal for Ino to see her parents fussing about Sakura, besides…Sakura’s their grandbaby’s daddy, Ino thought and she giggled which didn’t go unnoticed by Inoichi.
“Did I say something funny or you were imagining Sakura on your bed naked again?” Inoichi asked grinning at her daughter.
Ino’s eyes widened at her father’s suggestion, “Dad! How can you think something like that about your own daughter?” she asked in aghast,
Inoichi smiled, “Well…it’s not as if I said something that warrants giggling. If I were in your shoes, I’d be thinking the same. You know I did when I thought about your mom when she was still pregnant with you and then I would imagine her…”
“DAD! Too much information!!!” she said covering her ears with her palms, her face bright red from embarrassment.
The Yamanaka head smiled at his flustered daughter, “Okay, okay, so did you see Sakura and talked to the Hokage?” he asked again.
“I didn’t get the courage to ask the Hokage to give Sakura maternity leave. But I get to see Sakura and she was feeling okay. She said she lost the food she ate this morning, so I went out and bought her something healthy and would not trigger another bout of nausea and vomiting.”
Inoichi nodded his head, “You know Shikaku, Shikamaru’s dad…”
“I know who he is dad,” Ino said exasperatedly
“I’m just making sure!” he said pouting and when Ino rolled her eyes, Inoichi returned to speaking and dropped his pout, “Anyway as I was saying, Shikaku have this drug he concocted himself for nausea and vomiting.”
Ino’s eyes widened and she smiled, “Really?” Inoichi nodded, “Do you think he’ll give me some of it for Sakura?” she asked again with hopeful voice.
“Why not? It’s not as if his wife is pregnant again and he needs to use it.”
“He uses it?”
“Well, he was the one feeling all the bad things that are usually felt by pregnant women…of course I’m talking about his wife…”
“Oh so he’s like Sakura?” Ino asked.
“Maybe,” Inoichi said smiling and doing a good imitation of ‘the thinker’, “Well, he told me before when I asked him why it happened,”
“So why?”
Inoichi grinned from ear to ear, “He said he loved his wife too much, he can’t bear to see her suffer so he prayed to Kami that he should give him all the bad symptoms and leave her wife be.”
Ino’s eyes widened when the reason her father gave her sunk in. “Ah…don’t you think Sakura felt the same way about me?” she asked her father shyly.
He smiled sincerely, “I’m not sure, only Sakura could answer that.”
The young Yamanaka nodded her head, then seconds passed in silence before it was broken by Ino, “Do you think you could watch the shop for me dad?”
Inoichi nod his head, “Want to see Sakura?”
Ino shook her head no, “I thought I should do something for Sakura.”
The Yamanaka head nodded in understanding, he patted his daughter’s shoulder and shove her lightly away from the counter, “I’m waiting for your mom to get back anyway, and she promised to show me how she do those hybriding whatever thing, so you go ahead and do whatever, but be sure to be very careful okay? You’re on your 4th month of pregnancy, and we don’t want anything to happen to little Ino Haruno!” he said causing his daughter to blush furiously.
“Dad!”
“Go on and stop dilly dallying!” he said before he waved his daughter out of the shop, Ino was outside when he remembered, “And tell Sakura your mom will prepare dinner tonight! She’s invited!!!”
“YES DAD!” he heard Ino shouting before silence fell, “My little girl is now a woman, a future mother and she’s absolutely in love.” He said loud enough to be heard by the hiding woman.
“I told you so!” Yamanaka Hanako said after stepping closer to her husband and laying her palm out towards Inoichi, “Pay up!”
Inoichi scratched his head but he took his wallet from his back pocket and took two 10,000 yen from it and give it to his wife, “I’m not betting with you ever again!” he said pouting.
Hanako smiled, “Really?” her smile widened when Inoichi nodded his head, “Want to bet on that?”
Inoichi frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “You’re on!” he said
Hanako grinned evilly and laid her palms out to Inoichi again.
“Oh come on! You tricked me!”
“Pay up!!!”
“But we don’t say how much…”
“The same,”
“Ow!” he said with his shoulders dropped, his face pouting more.
“Well…just pay up and drop that pout!”
XXX
Sakura has her head propped on her hand, she looked just a little out of sort today and that’s thanks to Ino. The blonde woman bought her something healthy and Sakura was thankful that she kept it. Her suffering the symptoms for Ino was a bit hard on her body. Sakura might be as strong as the Hokage, but unlike the blonde Konoha leader, she doesn’t have many muscles in her. She was slim, petite to some, but she was thankful that it was her suffering; she knows that after the second trimester, Ino will be feeling more uncomfortable since the baby will be bigger and she’ll be feeling a lot of abnormal things in her body. So sparing Ino these early abnormalities was a good enough incentive for her. She was smiling when the door to the office opened, “Shizune? What brought you here?” she asked.
Shizune smiled, “You look less…well less sick,” she said shrugging her shoulders.
“He-he-he, I just gotten food to stay down so I’m a bit okay,” she said then her eyes asked the silent question again: why are you here?
The older apprentice shook her head and puts a paper on top of the table, “Tsunade-sama wanted you to sign this maternity leave forms…”
“What? I’m not the one pregnant!” Sakura said in a disbelieving tone.
“We know, but you sure look like you need it.” Shizune said.
“I can’t!”
“Why not?”
“I need to save money for Ino and our baby.” She said ignoring the fact that she said the phrase our baby for the first time. Shizune smiled at the young woman.
“You don’t get paid here anyway Sakura, at least you could look after Ino…”
“But if I sign that, then I won’t be called for missions and that would mean I won’t be generating income, I can’t pay my apartment and save for the baby at the same time, and I can’t just let Ino pay all that.”
Shizune rolled her eyes, “You think we don’t know that?”
“So why ask me to sign if you knew I need the missions and the money!”
“The papers are just for the hospital duties Sakura. Besides, we have fewer class S and A missions at the moment because of the no-war treaty we’d sign with the other ninja villages, and we are sure you can handle yourself in B and C class missions if the need for you arise.”
“But at least I get to get some sort of stipend working here and free food too.”
“We also know that, that’s why you will still get your monthly stipend but of course, no free food for three months…the most.” Shizune explained.
“So you’re forcing me to take three months maternity leave with stipend?” Sakura asked and Shizune nodded her head, “And I still get to go to missions?”
“B and C class only, but that’ll be just for three months, we’re sure all those symptoms will subside after the second trimester anyway, so until then…”
Sakura sighed, “That would be a lot to subtract from what I usually get monthly.” She dropped her hand, “Well…I haven’t been doing my job here lately anyway because of this pregnancy syndrome.” She said, “Alright, I’ll sign it.” Then she thought, “Maybe I should just find another apartment, something smaller and cheaper…” Sakura smiled, “Yeah that would be great.”
Sakura signed the three paged form and then she looked at Shizune upon handing the papers to her, “Does this mean I can go?”
“Yes,”
“Good…”
Sakura stood up and took her things in her locker, “So where are you heading.”
“I’m going to talk to my land lord, I haven’t paid this month yet, I might just use my deposit and then find a smaller place for me!” Sakura said cheerfully, “Got to go.”
XXX
Naruto is helping Sakura pack her things. The pink haired woman went to her landlord Ryota to tell him about her plan and the man agreed without question, he even offered to give back Sakura’s deposit since she’s almost not home most of the time and Ryota likes Sakura being in his building because there were less thugs that tried to vandalize his walls. He even offered to match the prize of the cheapest place she can find but Sakura declined, saying that he had been a good landlord to her and that he had been like a father to her too.
So with a heavy heart, Ryota agreed to let go of Sakura and even told Sakura that she could take with her the coffee table that she used as her dining table which Sakura accepted. And now, the two were busy packing everything Sakura owned plus the coffee table.
“I know this cheap place Sakura, it’s a studio type apartment with half bathroom and small kitchen. It has a single bed too but that’s it. No telephone, no cable, but you’ll only pay 500. You get your own electric meter and it’s separate from the other renters.”
Sakura looked at Naruto, “500?”
“Yes,”
“Well that’s…within my budget right now,” Sakura said cheerfully.
“I’ll warn you though; this building is much more beautiful.”
“Meaning?”
“The building is a little old for your taste, but it’s not run down, just old…the paint, the landlady, most of the renters, well…it’s just old.”
Sakura looked at Naruto with one eye brow raised, “And how did you know about this place?”
Naruto smiled, “Well Ero-senin took me there many times, when he has no money, he rents a unit there, he said it’s cheaper than renting a room in a hotel.”
The pink haired woman smiled and nodded, “He had a point.”
“Oh you should beware of the landlady, she’s a little on the loud side. And she’s almost always angry!” Naruto said wincing.
“That’s fine, it’s not as if I’ll be staying there the whole time I’m on leave. I got to help Ino now since I don’t have much things to do.”
“Well…that’s a blessing.” Naruto said grinning then he looked at the large box where he placed Sakura’s things, “I think I’m done here…”
“Great,”
XXX
Ino smiled upon leaving the temple. The blonde kunoichi offered incense to Kami, something she don’t usually do since their family was not that religious anyway, but after hearing her father’s story about Nara Shikaku, she thought that maybe if she pray hard to Kami, he’ll listen to her and help Sakura so that’s she could back to her old self. She even dared Kami to return the pregnancy sickness to her and spare Sakura from it. She’s not sure if she’ll be heard but she was happy and that for the first time, she actually did something good for Sakura.
She walked towards Ichiraku Ramen House to meet with Shikamaru, who she called asking if she could have the concoction his father made for nausea and vomiting and her friend agreed to take it from their house and give it to her complete with instructions. So her smile widened when she saw her friend there with Chouji eating.
“Hey Ino!” Chouji called out waving for her to join them.
“Hey,” Ino greeted as she sat beside Shikamaru who was opposite Chouji.
“Women are so troublesome!” Shikamaru said before taking a small bottle in his hidden vest pocket and handing it to Ino, “The complete instruction is inside, and I know you’re giving that to Sakura so she’ll understand.”
Ino nodded, “Thanks.”
Chouji looked at Ino, “You’re getting lovelier Ino. Maybe Sakura did make you feel good huh?”
The blonde kunoichi blushed, “She’s very helpful.” Ino answered.
“Well she should, who would have thought that it was her who fathered your baby?” Shikamaru said smirking, “Oh, you should see Rock Lee when he learned that Sakura is the father of your baby.”
“I’ll pass…I don’t think I need the mental image right now.” Ino said laughing softly.
“You’re right,” Shikamaru
“But I think it was the funniest face I’ve ever seen my entire life!” Chouji chirped in and laughed loud.
“Well I better go see Sakura and give her this,” Ino said then invite her at our house for dinner! She added mentally.
“Oh she might not be in her apartment,” Shikamaru said.
“I know, she’s at the hospital…” Ino watch Shikamaru shook his head no,
“I think she was granted 3 months maternity leave, she went home and the last I heard, she and Naruto were packing her things.”
“Packing?” Ino
“Well…my source said she was looking for a cheaper place now and found one. She’ll be going to Shizuko’s building I think to rent.”
“What? But that’s a very old building! Plus that landlady is too loud, I wonder why she was named Shizuko,” Ino said turning around to head to the said bulding bt was stopped mid way.
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders, “They’re stopping over at Naruto’s place first before going to Shizuko to pay.” Shikamaru said to the retreating form of their friend.
Chouji looked at Shikamaru, “You think Ino will ask Sakura to move her things with her?”
“You mean if Ino will ask Sakura to move in with her,” Shikamaru said before shrugging his shoulders once again and going back to eating.
XXX
Ino was just in time to see Sakura and Naruto went down the stairs from Naruto’s place. She smiled at the pink haired woman who saw her waved at her to join them. She walked faster and stood beside the shorter woman, “I heard from Shika,” the blonde said then she took Sakura’s hand, “Don’t go there,”
“Why? It’s the cheapest place…”
“There are lots of bed bugs there, plus the building is too old Sakura.” Ino said, “And it’s too far from my apartment.” She added
“Well it’s what Sakura-chan can afford right now.” Naruto pouted, “I told her I’ll loan her money but she’s too stubborn to accept help.” The blonde fox ninja said huffing.
“I’m going to have problems paying them off when these are all taken care off. I’ll only be on leave for three months!” Sakura said smiling then she looked at Ino, “So is that why you’re here?”
Ino shook her head no, “Well one of the reasons, can you hear me out first Sakura please?”
Sakura sighed, “Okay,”
“I don’t like you to rent there Sakura,” Ino said pouting
“Don’t use that pout on me Ino…”
The blonde kunoichi did not relent, “I want to be near you most of the time, and you promised to help me,” Ino added
“Which I will still be doing, where I live doesn’t matter.” Sakura
“But I want to spend some time with you in your apartment too, are you going to let me stay in that old, bug infested building?” Ino asked innocently.
“We can always just stay in your apartment, if you want to do that spend some time thing.” Sakura said smiling.
“That will be the best solution right?” Ino grinned when Sakura nodded, “So why don’t you just move in my apartment while you’re on leave then we won’t have that problem anymore!” Ino said.
Sakura looked wide eyed at Ino, is Ino asking me to move in with her?...get a grip, she was just being nice and you’re not moving in, you’ll move your things in her apartment and sleep in her guest room! Sakura’s inner thought shouted, “But I don’t want to burden you that much and…”
Ino pouted more, “It’ll be more burden for me if you stay in that place!” the taller woman was about to use her ammunition on Sakura as a last resort when the three heard a loud ‘blag’ sound on the top floor, which was Naruto’s.
The three hurriedly went up the stairs and went in. The three looked around and their eyes widened at the sight inside Naruto’s bedroom.
“Sasuke!” Three voices called out
“Hello…” the Uchiha survivor greeted, his face was pale and he was bleeding on Naruto’s bed, “I…I don’t know anyone to ask for help…I can’t come to the Hokage…I…need your help…Sakura…” he said before he fainted on Naruto’s bed.
“Oh my…” Sakura said and then looked at Ino who was frowning.
-End Chapter 11-
A/N: Will Sakura help Sasuke or not? Quickening is the baby’s movement inside the mother’s womb. I think they could be felt as early as 16th week, but when I look at the internet, it says 18th week for primigravidas, 18-24 weeks, and earlier (probably that’s where the 16th comes in) for multiparas.