Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Things Can Only Get Better, Right? ❯ Calm Before the Storm ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Baby Tracker: Week 6-8

Sakura sighed lightly as she leaned against the trunk of a tree. Kakashi stayed contently reading his favorite ecchi book as he sat down and Sasuke irritably waited in front of the bushes Naruto was behind. This was not exactly how he intended the trip to go. This was about the third time Naruto had them stop while he took care of himself. He didn’t know why the hell he had to go so much when they hadn’t even eaten a big breakfast before the departure. He imagined this trip was going to take a lot longer if Naruto kept stopping them every fifteen minutes.

Finally the blonde emerged, zipping himself up. “Sorry guys. When you got to go you gotta go” he declared with his usual boyish grin and charm. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and moved forward.

“Well I certainly hope you don’t gotta go any time soon otherwise we wont even make it out of Konoha territory” Sasuke declared bitterly.

“Be nice Sasuke. It’s not Naruto’s fault. Tsunade informed me of all the symptoms to expect from Naruto now that he’s pregnant. Frequent urination is just another side effect” she mentioned.

Naruto frowned lightly. “Geez, you make it sound like I’m on medication” he complained, moving ahead quickly.

Sakura quickly moved forward as well to walk side by side with Naruto. “So Naruto, what does it feel like?” she asked curiously. “I know I’ll know when I settle down but I really want to know if its all that special like the other ladies say it is” she mentioned.

Naruto wanted to puke at how sentimental Sakura was being. Why did girls always get so emotional about this sort of thing, when its not even their baby? “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not like you have to wait long right? You and lee have been dating for like what eight months now?” he retorted. Sakura faintly blushed and nodded. Naruto like snorted to himself. “I still can’t imagine you and Lee. Doesn’t it hurt? I mean he’s all energetic and restless. He probably has you up all night” Naruto teased. Kakashi and Sasuke both went pale at the image. Personally they didn’t want to think of Sakura, practically a little sister in the group, being so physical with Lee.

Sakura was beet red at the assumption. “Actually…we haven’t gotten that far” she mentioned, feeling mighty embarrassed now that Naruto already had a certain image in his head.

“Oh…” Naruto simply said before going quiet. This was definitely going to be an awkward trip.

It was only seven more hours of traveling before Kakashi ended up carrying Naruto on his back. They were all surprised he even lasted that long before tiring out, but then again Naruto was too stubborn to admit to anyone that they were going to fast or that he was just to tired. Sasuke wished rather badly that it was him that could carry Naruto but Kakashi wouldn’t stand for it knowing the surface of the situation. By the time night fell they had at least made it to the outskirts of the dessert and set up camp just before the trees disappeared.

Much to Naruto’s dislike he had to share his tent with Sasuke and Sakura shared with Kakashi. He sent up his sleeping bag, laying down with his back facing the Uchiha as he pretended to fall asleep instantly. It was an immature action but the only one he could think of to avoid talking to Sasuke further that night. But of course Sasuke would not stand for it.

“Naruto come on, stop being so bitter” Sasuke grumbled, as he lightly leaned over toward Naruto. He hesitated to touch him since he didn’t want Kyuubi lashing at him again. He was still recovering from the first time he tried to approach Naruto in this matter. “How do you expect us to get through this mission if you keep acting like a child?” he grumbled. “You’re about to be a mother, start acting like an adult” Sasuke chided.

Naruto sneered at the comment. “Shut up! I’m tired and I’m going to sleep” he hissed, leaving it at that. Sasuke growled lowly and turned around in his sleeping bag as well, his back to Naruto. He was going to hate this mission if Naruto was going to continue to act like a child. He sulked in his thoughts awhile longer before he actually drifted off to sleep. That left Naruto a bit more at ease as he stared off into space.

The blond sighed softly, cuddling his blanket a bit. He really missed being with Gaara. He was just about to doze off when he picked up a very faint scent in the air. His eyes opened instantly. It smelled…like ramen. Pork ramen…over an open fire perhaps? He could feel his mouth watering already at the thought. His nose tingled as the distance aroma wafted around him. Surely no one else could pick it up in the camp like Naruto could because the rowdy blond believed he was dying of hunger in that brief moment.

He couldn’t help himself any longer. Without warning he rose up out of his tent, making sure not to wake Sasuke as he slipped out. He had to find out where that smell was coming from and perhaps convince a local to share their delectable meal with him. Sure it was a stupid plan but Naruto often through plans to the wind to begin with.

Carefully, he snuck around through the woods, letting his nose be his guide. It hadn’t even occurred to him to make record of where he had been or where the camp was. The only thing that had his attention was the soft rumbling in his stomach, now providing for two. He caught sight of a faint glow in the distance and new it had to be another camp site. Eagerly he approached it, crouching I the bushes when he reached an opening. There was a large fire set in the middle, giving off enough light for the group. Naruto felt his mouth water all the more at the sight of the cup of noodles being made with boiled water from over the fire. He watched the steam rise from inside, causing his stomach to growl once more-this time louder than before.

Without think, Naruto gradually started to stand, thinking to approach the group of campers. But before he could manage the first step out of the bushes, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrashed lightly against the trunk of a tree. “Naruto what do you think you are doing?!” Sasuke hissed out, pressing Naruto hard against the rough bark. He imagined he only got away with this because Kyuubi was beginning to think Naruto was stupid as well. “You can’t just go up to strangers in the middle of the night!” he growled.

Naruto sneered at him, trying to pull away. “I’m hungry and they aren’t bad guys” Naruto complained.

“How would you know that? Come on Naruto use your common sense! Are you donating half of your brain to the baby too? We are ninja, we don’t unnecessarily associate ourselves with others just to get food” he threatened. Sasuke, jerked Naruto by the arm, pulling him back toward the camp. “You’re an idiot if you think I’d let you do something so reckless” he scolded.

Naruto hissed as Sasuke dragged him back toward their own camp. “Stop treating me like a kid! I know how to take care of myself and this baby!” Naruto argued.

“Oh really?” Sasuke retorted. “What would you have done if those people turned out to be ninja from sound or something? What if they attacked you? Could you really live with yourself knowing you let that baby die before its time?” Sasuke explained. Naruto pouted sternly but didn’t answer. Sasuke huffed, letting the situation go as he brought Naruto back to the tent. “I’m not going to sleep tonight, but feel free to rest while I watch you long and hard.”


“Naruto Uzumaki….Leaf Ninja…” Megami muttered softly as she flipped through a few more papers on record. Interesting. So this was the guy Gaara had an interest in. It took her two whole days to finally get a name out of the villagers of the one person Gaara was around with on more than one occasions. In fact two little village children were so kind enough to explain how nice this Naruto guy was and that he wanted to help everyone in the village when the plague was going around. Of course Megami had her doubts about the male.

She eyed his picture with distaste. “He looks stupid” she couldn’t help but grumble as she crossed one leg over the other in the office seat. Gaara was away in some town meeting of some kind and she had free range to peruse his office for files and records on the name Naruto Uzumaki. She couldn’t understand why Lord Gaara would have any interest in a younger, homely looking ninja like this. His records didn’t even say he was a chunin yet. She was severely disappointed. “And here I thought I actually needed to be worried” she chuckled lightly. “Gaara must be talking about someone else, this kid isn’t worth his time” she retorted with a smirk.

Her smirk suddenly disappeared as he heard someone approaching, quickly she shoved the file back into place and stood up, rushing away from Gaara’s desk. He was already skeptical about her, she didn’t need to give him another reason to suspect her. She was relieved she moved away when she did because Gaara came rushing into the room the next moment. “Lord Gaara, what is it? Are you in a hurry?” she asked, showing some concern.

Gaara didn’t even spare her a passing glance as he rushed over, grabbing something from his desk and dashed out just as quickly as he came in. She blinked in confusion.

“Naruto is coming back to Suna” Temari giggled as she stepped into the room. I got word of it a few days ago but I thought it might be fun to tell him at the last minute” she mentioned playfully.

Megami inwardly frowned. So the obstacle was coming to visit? What could she do about that? Even her theory of Gaara’s lack of care was dead wrong. The eagerness in him was clear sign enough that he must have really liked this Naruto guy. Perhaps she would see what the big deal was when he arrives. “Excuse me” she chirped before softly following after Gaara. Maybe the boy was more intelligent than he looked. Surely Gaara had better taste in men if it had to be a man that captured his heart. He imagine a truly brilliant, handsome and generous man to be the one to entice Gaara. But what she saw…

A short, goofy looking, and even pudgy child with the most stupid grin on his face standing before the Village of the Sand’s gates with a group of three. This was him?! Clearly she wasn’t the only one to notice Naruto’s odd appearance. For a ninja, it was crucial to stay in good health. She frowned slightly as she watched Gaara none the less race over and suddenly embrace Naruto like he had been missing for years.

Sasuke tightly clenched his fist as he watched the classic romance novel scene. Gaara was even so loving as to pin Naruto up a bit. Though Sasuke couldn’t help but grimace when he noticed Gaara’s falter in putting Naruto back down. As a keen ninja, he probably noticed Naruto had probably put on a few pounds.

“Gaara, I’ve missed you so much!” Naruto exclaimed, looking up at his lover with joy and excitement. He missed those kind jade eyes, warm red hair, and spicy scent of Gaara’s.

Gaara managed a small smile, obviously not big on putting on a show for the others that were around watching. “I’ve missed you too, but…” he hesitated, thinking that it was probably not the best thing to bring up right now. Maybe Naruto just ate a lot because he missed him so much. Of course he hoped it was a bad habit that could be repaired for Naruto’s well being of course.

Naruto smiled meekly and pulled back a bit. “Actually, Gaara…we need to talk…”

To Be Continued…

A/N: That’s right the worlds most dreaded words. Sorry about the wait everyone. Swamped with school and work. I’ll try to keep up with this still. Just have patience with me please. I hope you all enjoyed, even though it was shorter than I expected, but that’s because there is a lot I want to do with the next chapter. Hope to hear from you all soon!