Against The Odds

Chapter 6

It was weeks after Tsunade's consultation and everything was going well. Going good as any pregnancy would with the daily morning sickness and nausea, mood swings, unusual cravings and constant fatigue.

 Everything was great. 

Naruto woke up, the faint rays of dull sunlight streaming from the curtains disrupted his sleep. Sitting up slowly, he yawned softly as not to wake up his sleeping partner. Turning towards him, the blond smile and leaned down to press a loving kiss on Sasuke's pale cheek before he got up to make breakfast. As Naruto stretched his arms above his head, he felt an intense wave of nausea and before he knew it, he was in the bathroom, throwing up violently into the toilet. He didn't register the rushing of  footsteps or the calming hand that was rubbing his spine. 

"Here." Sasuke handed a glass of water which the blond accepted graciously and drank, clearing the disgusting feeling in his mouth. The raven gently helped Naruto to his feet, flushed the toilet and led him back to bed. Fatigue hit him hard like a plane flying at mach 1 speed and all the whiskered man wanted to do was curl up under the covers and never get up. 

"I hate this..." Naruto whined, getting under the covers, his azure eyes puffy and teary. Sasuke smiled sympathetically. 

"I'll make you some ginger tea? Sounds good?" 

Naruto nodded and grinned cutely. "Thank you." 

His reply was a soft kiss. 

"You look tired." 

"AHH!" The blond turned around in surprise to see Gaara staring down at him with those intense sea-foam eyes. 

"Don't sneak up on me like that and obviously I'm tired." Naruto growled in irritation. Noticing the slight widening of Gaara's eyes, a surge of guilt built up in his chest and he sighed. 

"I'm sorry Gaara. I just feel constantly tired and crabby. I think I let my mood swings get the better of me." The blond apologised, halting his work. 

Naruto sheltered himself in the far corner of the university library where no students bothered to go. He was safe from any crowds and disturbances. Due to the pregnancy, Naruto had days where he had to skip classes and delay assignments which in hindsight, wasn't the best idea as now he had to race against the clock to finish them all. Luckily, due to the university's online lecture system, he could attend lectures without coming to class at all but the workload he was left with was still antagonising the blond. 

"It's fine. I understand." Gaara replied, sitting next to Naruto. He gazed at his friend, noticing how exhausted Naruto really was. Even his smiles looked like it took a lot of effort. It was quite concerning, especially knowing Naruto's delicate situation. The stress on both Naruto and the unborn baby is not healthy.

"Naruto... you need to relax. All this stress is not good. For you both." Gaara stated, looking into Naruto's tired eyes. The blond sighed and laid his head on the open face of his calculus book. 

"I know... but I can't ignore my education either Gaara. I don't want to fall behind but nothing seems to be going into my head whenever I study! I don't know what the hell to do!" Naruto exclaimed and with everything he was going through, the dam finally broke and he suddenly burst into tears. The red-head jumped back in surprise. Emotions weren't his forte but Naruto was his friend so he did the best he could to pacify him. 

"The stress is going to your head Naruto. Take the day off and relax. Nothing is going to come about by working under these conditions." Gaara patted the blond's back softly as his tears simmered down to quiet sniffles.