Lost and Found

TWELVE

"You sure you're prepared?" Sakura asked as she held her fist up the knock on the door.

"I'm sure" he said.

"How sure?"

"Just knock on the door Sakura" he said annoyed.

She rapped on the door three times and it took only a moment for Hinata to open the door, Naruto was right behind her. Once he laid eyes on Sasuke he rushed past both of them and enveloped his friend in a bear hug, nearly knocking him over.

"Get off of me you idiot" Sasuke told him as she struggled to keep upright. Naruto released him and laughed, "When did you get back?"

Sakura and Hinata greeted each other in a quick embrace. "Would you like to come inside?" she asked them softly as she stepped inside the house.

"Thank you Hinata" Sakura said, "Come on guys, let's talk inside."

Naruto draped his arm across Sasuke's shoulders and guided him inside while mindlessly babbling in his ear without taking a breath. Sasuke seemed annoyed on the outside but Sakura knew he missed his friend deep down.

"We apologize for the mess. We are still getting settled in."

There were stacks of boxes scattered throughout each room they walked through. Some were opened and sifted through while others remained sealed by tape. One could easily tell which boxes belonged to whom by the handwriting. Hinata's boxes vastly outnumbered Naruto's.

"Yeah welcome to our new home guys!" Naruto said excitedly. He walked them throughout the house showing them each room and telling them what they had planned for each of them. This was his first real home. It was going to be shared with the love of his life and he would create a family and memories here. He wasn't alone anymore.

"So what made you come back to the village Sasuke?" Naruto asked again as they leaned on the balcony's railing. They were outside talking while the women were inside.

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Sasuke didn't snap at Naruto like he had at Kakashi nor it didn't have his usual stoic tone behind it, it was softer. Naruto took this que and didn't press. He learned how to read Sasuke. He knew when to instigate and when to leave things alone; this was one of those times.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just happy to see you, you know? I know Sakura is too."

Sasuke smirked, he knew all too well that Sakura was happy he had returned. He quickly hid it before responding, "It's nice to come back once in awhile, but it's short lived."

"You're already planning to leave again?" Naruto asked sadly.

Sasuke nodded, "That's actually why we are here. Come on, let's go inside to talk."

Naruto was confused by the 'we' part of his sentence but guided them back into the house. The women were in the living room talking over tea. There were two small couches facing one another separated by a small coffee table.

"Sakura. What's Sasuke talking about? He said you guys were here to talk to us about something." Hinata moved over on the couch to allow some room for Naruto. Sakura did the same for Sasuke on the other.

"Don't look so freaked out Naruto" Sakura teased her friend. He was the kind to react before knowing all the details.

"Well it must've been bad if Sasuke came back.." he trailed off softly. He brow was furrowed in concern. His mind was immediately taken back to his confrontation with Sakura over her health a few months back.

Sasuke slid his arm behind Sakura's back to hold her waist. A gesture of comfort and reassurance. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and he nodded slightly.

"Well this isn't what we originally came here to talk about." she started, "Only two other people know and it was out of necessity. This isn't something we want people to have knowledge of." Sakura leveled her eyes at Naruto and he nodded his head, a silent agreement.

Naruto and Hinata moved to the edge of their seats, eager to hear what Sakura was about to say. Sakura hesitated, unsure if she could get the words out. She looked to Sasuke and he nodded again. He understood what she was thinking without any words.

"Let's start with why we originally came here" Sasuke started. "Sakura has received permission to travel with me for a few years. We will be leaving the village and won't return until Sakura's Clinic is completed."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked between his two friends. "When did this happen? When are you leaving?"

"Well Naruto it kind of happened a few months back and we plan to leave tomorrow, but that brings us to the next thing we want to tell you" she said quietly. "We uh- the reason I'm leaving with Sasuke is- that we- a few weeks ago we had a miscarriage."

Hinata covered her mouth while Naruto looked at them perplexed. "What do you mean? What is that?" he asked gently. While he may not have known what had happened he could tell it wasn't good.

"Sakura was pregnant. We lost the baby" Sasuke answered. His throat was tight, emotions threatening to bubble up but he kept them at bay. That was something he had always been able to do, shove down his emotions.

Hinata gently took Naruto's hand to comfort him as well as herself. "We are so sorry" she said softly. Naruto was still in shock as he tried to process the million questions buzzing around his head about the whole situation.

"You guys- you were gonna have a little baby" he said, his voice small. His big blue eyes were glossed over, fighting to keep his emotions at bay.

"Yeah" Sakura confirmed. "That's why I'm leaving Naruto. Sasuke wasn't here, we don't want to be apart from each other. Especially now."

"Then why can't you just come back to the village Sasuke?"

"Because I'm not ready. I never thought this would be possible for me" he said as he pulled her closer to him, "but I still have things to do. This is the only way."

"I understand" Naruto said. "I'm happy for you guys, I really am." He smiled at his two friends. He was happy that they found the love in each other that he found in Hinata. "But keep in touch. I don't want to have to get updates from Kakashi all the time."

"I'll write to you. I promise" Sakura told him.

"And Sasuke" Naruto addressed him directly, "you better take care of her out there. You got it?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes but nodded his head, "That's the plan. Idiot." He mumbled the last part under his breath. Old habits die hard.

"Well we better get going. It's pretty late, sorry to keep you both up for so long."

"Don't worry about it, not one bit" Hinata said as they all stood from their seats. The Uzumaki's walked the couple to the door, once they passed through the threshold Naruto called after them, "Be safe guys! I can't wait until you get back!"

Sasuke hid his smirk while Sakura thanked them both, waving as they walked down the sidewalk.