Saisaku (the colour pink ) complete

Sasuke's discovery

Chapter 4

Two months passed. Sakura was now twelve weeks pregnant and the kunoichi found that despite the fact that her reputation had been marred by one mistake, she was actually pretty excited. She was no longer as worried nor scared as when she first found out about the baby. However, it was getting harder and harder to hide the swell of her stomach and she could feel the curious eyes of civilians wherever she went, but the kunoichi was ready to face whatever came her way. Sai too, it seemed, was looking forward to being father.

Surprisingly, the ex-root member was taking the situation far better than Sakura expected. One day, she saw him exiting the library with a stack of books on pregnancy and parenting, which she later found scattered all over his apartment: Guide to Pregnancy; So You're Having A Kid?; Child-rearing for Bakas; Fatherhood 101; Pregnancy: What To Do and Not Do. Later on, she was told that he went to Tsunade and requested that she refrain from sending Sakura to missions until at least a month after the child arrived. Her shishou, of course, agreed; as a medic, she knew the risks of missions to the fetus' development. Besides, Sakura was like a daughter to her, so she didn't want anything to happen to her; plus, Sakura promised that she could be the child's grandmother, so this was officially her first grandchild.

In addition, Sai had become an almost-perfect gentleman. Once though, he made the mistake of saying that she was "getting fatter and fatter everyday." It wasn't meant as an insult, simply an observation of her swelling stomach. Nevertheless, he was thrown across Team Kakashi's training field and his existence ignored for a whole week. Taking pity on him, Kakashi finally told him that pregnant women were more prone to anger, especially when it came to physical looks. Sakura finally forgave him when he showed up at her doorstep bearing gifts to appease her anger: food she'd been craving and maternity clothes. Heeding Kakashi's advice, Sai never attempted commenting on her weight again, at least for the time being.

Sakura also appreciated the fact that besides that one time when he proposed to her in front of Ino, Sai never brought up marriage again. Although it was never discussed, the proposal never left Sakura's mind.

One night, after telling her baby all about her day and singing to it as she did every night, she had a sudden thought.

"Hey baby? Do you want mommy to marry your daddy? Would you like that? Would you like it if I marry your daddy?" It was a foolish question; what child didn't want that? She sighed. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt to give him a shot right?" She rubbed her stomach, affectionately. "He's been taking really good care of me; bringing me fruits every change he gets, waiting for me whenever I had the late-night shifts at the hospital. You know, I never felt so... taken care of before. When I was with Sasuke, he never did anything like what your daddy's doing for me."

Unlike Sasuke, who was protective to the point of putting her in a cage, Sai was also protective but gave her freedom when he knew she needed it. He wasn't too keen on Sakura working late-night shifts but knowing her love and dedication to her career as a medic, he simply made sure that she wasn't working too late and that she was safe on her way home. Most of all, he was there for her. Always.
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It was another normal day in Konoha. Villagers went about their normal, everyday business. For others, however, this day was a first for a new experience. That morning, Sakura dressed in a red maternity top, pink skirt, and her everyday black boots. She stuffed a messenger bag with a few kunais and shurikens just in case, as well as her wallet. At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, a knock came on her apartment door. She opened it to see Sai with a wide smile on his face. He waved "Hello."

"Ohayou, Sakura-san," he said. "Ready to go?"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at his enthusiasm. "Is it just me or are you excited?"