Against The Odds

Chapter 26

Onxy eyes trailed all across Naruto's body, taking in every essence of the blond like a man deprived of oxygen. God... it has only been a week and a half and the raven missed Naruto, so dearly even he couldn't put it in words. His hawk eyes scanned over Naruto's face, seeing the dark eye bags, paler than usual skin, fatigue lines and messy blond hair...

Sasuke exhaled. He felt guilty. Guilty about all the emotional agony and stress he put his pregnant lover through. Even though it wasn't his fault, he felt responsible. Naruto was his to take care and right now... he felt he was doing a pretty shitty job at it. He glanced down at the protruding bump, a small smile fluttering across his face. He missed that the most... missed their baby.

He missed the feeling of his baby bump, placing his hand on the stretched skin and rubbing the area where their baby resided. He missed leaning down and whispering sweet nothings to them and hearing the slight guttural movements as if their unborn child was responding to his words. He missed the late night cravings Naruto had, the foot and back massages he moaned for and even the unexpected mood swings. He missed everything.

"Hey... how are you feeling?" Sasuke asked, taking a step closer towards his partner. He wanted to take him into his arms, relish in the feeling of having his body close to him and feel the warmth of his skin but he resisted. Now wasn't the time for that. He didn't know if Naruto even wanted that.

He wasn't going to do anything to fuck this up...

*Flashback*

He clutched the phone in his hands with disbelief. Naruto's name kept flashing, his tan face and golden smile filling his screen. The raven felt frozen in place. His mind couldn't register what was happening as he let the phone keep ringing.

'Naruto's calling... Oh my god.' Fear settled within him. What if it was over? What if this was Naruto's final way of saying everything was done between them? That what happened can't be fixed...

'No. No. Naruto wouldn't be so cruel to break things of via phone. He's more courteous than that...' Sasuke thought rationally, not letting his fears get the better of him.

The ringing stopped. Sasuke's eyes widened and muttered out a spew of furious curses. 'Fuck! God dammit! Fucking hell what's wrong with me!? Now Naruto's not going to ca-'

The phone rang again and without hesitation Sasuke swiped, answering the call. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, the raven spoke.

"Naruto?" His voice showed his disbelief, like he has been waiting this whole time for Naruto to reach out and he still couldn't fathom how his wish came through.

"H-Hey teme... Is this a good time to talk?" Naruto's shaky voice spoke from the other side. Sasuke gulped, getting on his feet and he nodded slowly.

"Sasuke?" Naruto called out again. Sasuke growled mentally at his stupidity. Of course Naruto would not see his nodding.

"Yeah... Yeah of course. What is it love?" He clutched the phone tighter, leaning against the window sill. His anxiety rose with every second that passed, Naruto keeping silent on the other side. The blond didn't really know what to say or how to say it. There was unspoken tension between them, issues that needed to be addressed but confronting them head on... was terrifying and the blond didn't know how to take that first step.

'Stop it! You are not a coward Naruto Uzumaki! Take some initiative and don't back down now!' Naruto hyped himself up. Sasuke remained silent, unaware of the blond's struggle. He didn't say anything... just patiently waited for his dobe to speak.