A Written Word: Eternity

Chapter 7!!!

Nearly a year had passed and Uta's students were doing incredibly well. Granted, they usually complained about how hard the training was, especially when the missions they got were so lack luster, but their skills were increasing rapidly. Hikari was probably the most skilled of her students, having a good balance between her ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. Nobue was excellent at infiltration and had begun learning some basics in medical ninjutsu. And Jiro had potential to be one of the best sensory ninja's she had ever met that didn't have a kekkei genkai. Overall, her team was impressive. So naturally when it came time for sensei's to nominate their teams for the chuunin exam, Uta had been one of the first to step forward and recommend her team.

She smiled as she sat up in her tree, listening to her students train while she worked on her new novel. Her first novel as Katsu Noboru had sold extremely well and her publishers were eager for her next work. Uta grinned as she looked at her notebook. Kakashi had been away for about a month with a mission, and Uta had naturally used the time to fantasize about all the thing she would do with him when he got back, which led to the four notebooks of drafts already written at home.

"Uta-sensei! Can I get some help with this?" Uta glanced over at her group and nearly choked on her laughter. Jiro and Nobue were both stuck together in a massive glob of what looked like jelly and Hikari was trying to pry them out with a stick. "What on earth is that?" Hikari turned towards Uta, blinking tears of frustration and embarrassment, "It's the jutsu I've been working on! I wanted to make a jutsu that would work as a trap that could be set up like proximity paper bombs, but have it leave the people caught by it alive, so that they could be interrogated. But the thing is...I don't know how to undo it, and I can't get them out!" Nobue looked bored as he stared at the pink substance he was trapped in, "It has a very organic feel, much like living tissue, if I could move my hands I could try to get us out with a charka scalpel..." Hikari whirled around and pointed a finger at him, "Well your hands are stuck, and I can't create chakra scalpels, so stop giving me useless suggestions!" Nobue leveled a blank stare at her, "I wasn't the one that launched a jutsu at my teammates without knowing how to undo it, so I would reconsider who you point a finger at and call useless." Hikari lets out a frustrated shriek, "Why you! I'm gunna draw all over your face for that!" She began climbing the firm jelly blob toward Nobue. Jiro tried to wriggle around to face the other two, to no avail, "C'mon guys, let's not fight. It won't help our situation. Plus, if you think about it, we should really all just be laughing right now instead of yelling." Hikari didn't pause in her climb, "I'll draw on you too if you keep up that innocent 'nice guy' act!"

Uta giggled, "Alright, no need to get huffy, I'll take a look."

She slid from her tree branch and landed softly in the grass. But as she stood up a wave of dizziness and nausea hit her and sent her staggering a few steps. She shook her head and the dizziness cleared, but the nausea stuck around and she placed her hand over her mouth. Her actions hadn't gone unnoticed by her students. Jiro's voice caught her attention, "Uta-sensei...? Are you ok?" Uta swallowed the ball of nausea and smiled, "Oh, yeah, it seems like I just got up a little fast." She made her way over to her students, struggling to supress the nausea building in her gut. She placed her hands on the jelly blob and pushed her chakra into it a bit. Uta had to admit that it was a well made trap jutsu. She could feel trace amounts of Hikari's chakra pulsing through the substance, pushing her own chakra back a bit. "What signs did you use to make this jutsu?" "Tiger, snake, and rat." "So this is an earth based technique?" Hikari nodded. Uta made some handsigns, "Then that's a simple enough fix. Just use a lightning release technique." A small current of lightning formed in Uta's palms and she pressed it to the jelly, which began to melt away under her touch.

Once the boys were free Uta stepped back a few paces and flopped down. Her dizziness was back, and her nausea was making her feel weak. Hikari knelt beside her, "Uta-sensei, are you sure you're ok." Uta tried to smile and reassure her student, but her stomach clenched and she hunched over with a dry heave. She felt cool hands on her forehead and on her stomach. Nobue made her lean back against a tree and she could feel him using his chakra to assess her. She tried to brush his hands away, "Nobue, I'm fine. Probably just a bit of indigestion." Jiro joined his teammates by Uta, "But sensei, you've never had issues with indigestion." Uta jutted her lip out and tried to relax. Once her students decided on something, even she couldn't talk them out of it.

Nobue stayed quiet for a few moments as his hand moved over Uta's stomach. But when he reached her lower abdomen his eyes widened. He pulled his hands away and a blush spread on his cheeks. Hikari and Jiro leaned forward, "What is it Nobue?!" Nobue shook his head and blushed more. Uta placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's ok Nobue, what did you find?" Nobue looked at the ground and fidgeted, "Uhm...sensei...when was the last time you got a check up?"

"After our last mission, just like you. Nobue...what did you find?" Nobue shifted and looked anywhere but the three people around him, "I don't think I'm the right person..." Hikari grabbed his shoulder's and shook him, "What is it Nobue?! Is sensei dying or something!?" Nobue threw his hands up and shook his head frantically, "No she's not dying! She's! She's... She's pregnant!"

Silence filled the clearing. Jiro was the first to break the silence. He grabbed Uta's hands, "Congratulations sensei!" Uta blinked a few times in disbelief, "Are you certain Nobue?" Nobue shifted again and nodded, "Yeah, but...I'm not an actual medical ninja, so... I could be wrong..." Uta pulled one of her hands away from Jiro and placed it on her abdomen, staring down in wonder.

Her? Pregnant? She was going to be a mother? Kakashi was going to be a father?! She felt happy and panicked all at once. She jumped to her feet, "Thank you Nobue. You three can keep training if you want, but official training is done for today! Play nice!" She took off towards town.

Within just a few minutes she spotted the person she was looking for, the pink hair unmistakable. Sakura had no idea what hit her when Uta nearly tackled her into an empty building. Sakura took a moment to straighten up and rounded on Uta to ask her what the heck she thought she was doing, but her words died in her throat when she took in Uta's panicky appearance. "Uta-sensei?! What's wrong?"

Uta wiped her brow and locked eyes with Sakura, "I'm pregnant."