"I'm Just Carrying it For a Friend" Chapter 1

"Please enlighten me one more time on why I had to come with you to your husband's graduation ceremony?" Sakura Haruno groaned for the fifteenth time since she and her best friend Ino Yamanaka had come to the large meeting hall that was filled with everyone in elegant dresses and sharp suits.

"Sakura, you know that Sai doesn't have any family. He took my surname for crying outloud! Me and the baby are the only blood that he has, so of course you're going to be here as well."

"Ino, you don't even know if I'm pregnant yet." The pinkette gave her an annoyed look.

"But you said so yourself that you have been feeling sick and sluggish lately! That's close enough for me!"

"Ino, I am a doctor." Sakura rolled her eyes. "You remember that, right?"

"Of course I do!" She beamed in reply. "Why else did you think I chose you as my surrogate?"

Sakura put her hands on her hips and glared at the girl next to her. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because we've been best friends since we were in diapers?"

Ino giggled and wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulder. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!"

Sakura shook her head and began to join in with Ino's laughter. Ever since she had gotten the procedure to implant the embryos inside her, Ino had been clinging to Sakura's side for practically 24/7. Her and her husband had been trying for a baby for a little over two years with no luck, when the doctor finally suggested that they try a surrogate. Sakura volunteered, knowing how badly Ino wanted a baby.

It was the best gift that Ino could ever ask for, especially because it was coming from Sakura. It only made sense for her to give up nine months of her life to let Ino obtain a child of her own. It was a small sacrifice on her part.

After all, Sakura had been single for years, and she wasn't actively looking to settle down just yet. She didn't have to worry over a relationship keeping her from doing this for her best friend.

"Attention, the ceremony will be starting shortly. Please be seated soon." A woman in a dark maroon dress with black hair and kind eyes got everyone's attention from her place on the platform that the uniformed graduates and some of the other important people from the department would be occupying very soon.

"Ugh. I hope I can look that good when I'm her age." Ino said as she led Sakura to their seats.

"Who was that?"

"She's the Chief's wife, and she's also one of the DA's assistants. Her name is Mikoto Uchiha." Ino's eyes glittered as she spoke about the woman. "She's so nice, too! All of the wives in the PD get together and have wine and pampering time once a month, which she pays for. She gives us all advice on how to deal with children and shift changes, and most importantly, how to design our homes around curtains that block out sunlight."

Sakura gave Ino a small smile, pretending like she understood the great importance of the things she listed. She understood the shift work frustrations and the annoyance of sunlight when working nights, but the children thing... She just wasn't sure if that was going to be for her in the future.

"It's starting." Ino squealed as the stage lights brightened and uniformed men came out in an organized fashion to their seats. Everyone was roaring with applause, whistles, and shouts for their loved ones.

"Good evening." A man had made his way to the podium and adressed the massive audience. "It is an honor and privilege to be able to stand before you for this occasion."

"That's the Chief." Ino whispered. "His name is Fugaku Uchiha. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather were all chiefs before him. Now, his oldest son is his second in command, waiting to follow in his father's footsteps."

Sakura looked at the older man in amazement. The Uchiha family seemed like they were very accomplished, and from the two members that she had seen on the platform, very good looking. If the parents were enough to turn a few heads in their early 50s, it made Sakura wonder what their children looked like.

"Now, I am going to announce the names of the graduates you see standing before you." The Chief finished with his introduction, and began to list off the names of the graduates. When he finally reached Sai's name, which was the last one announced, Ino cheered as loud as possible for her husband. Sakura jumped at the sound of her voice, having zoned out, trying to concentrate on anything but the boring ceremony and her aching feet.

"Fuck." Sakura hissed at Ino as she clutched her chest. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you."

"Relax, Sakura." Ino smiled. "You really need to get more into this."

Sakura sighed. Maybe you need to be a little less into this. Wasn't this supposed to be a classy event? People were cheering like it was a major league sport.

"I present to you this year's Konoha Police Academy graduating officers. These men will definitely do our department proud."

"Finally." Sakura said when the crowd began to scatter to different areas of the room. There was still the big fancy dinner left to be served, and Sakura was ready to devour everything in sight. She slipped away from Ino, who was too busy waving for her husband to notice where she was, and made her way to the appetizer section.

Sakura eagerly scanned her eyes over the many extravagant looking foods before her. She reached out to grab the last remaining piece of tomato brochette, but wasn't fast enough. She glared to the hand and up the arm to the face of the person that had stolen her desired target.

She started to open her mouth to scold them for taking her food when she noticed that he was a uniformed officer. He was very good looking, which is probably why Sakura couldn't help but stare- err, analyze the specimen before her. He had black, spiky hair, and onyx eyes that sucked her attention in even further. A nice specimen, indeed.

"Is there a problem?" He looked over at her, slightly annoyed because she was staring at him with her mouth open like he was some sort of alien.

"S-sorry." Sakura felt her cheeks slightly redden. "I was just going to eat that, but you got to it first." She glanced at the piece of toast in his hand, then quickly looked away.

He looked down at the brochette, and hesitated for a moment before handing it to her.

"What are you-?"

"Don't worry about it. They'll bring more out soon. I've already had six, anyway."

Sakura looked over at the empty tray that the bread had been on before. Her eyes widened when she noticed that there were only enough room for seven of them.

"Are you going to take it, or do germs bother you?"

The pinkette scoffed and took the food from the officer. "As if. I happen to be a doctor at Konoha General." To enforce her point, she took a bite right where he had bitten into it before they began their conversation.

He chuckled as he watched her with amusement. "Is that so? What department?"

"Emergency room." She answered with her mouth full, which caused her to mentally kick herself. This was most likely not an attractive sight for the man to see.

"Excuse me, would you like something to drink?" A man that was expertly carrying a tray of wine glasses interrupted the two.

"Merlot." The man casually answered.

Sakura looked at the list of wines that were on the tray. She opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a loud and obnoxious "You're getting water, right?"

Sakura groaned and stuffed the rest of the bruschetta in her mouth and nodded in defeat.

"Good girl." Ino smiled sweetly to her. "Look, I found Sai!"

The man that Sakura was with handed her a glass of water, while he casually drank his wine.

"I wasn't aware that he was even lost to begin with." Sakura glared down at her glass, really craving a good blush wine, which Ino ordered for herself.

"I didn't know that you knew Sasuke." Sai spoke as the man nodded in hello at him.

"I don't. We were just talking is all."

Ino put a hand on her hip and gave Sakura an annoyed look. "You were about to drink."

Sakura rolled her eyes, getting ready for yet another rant of "You're not just consuming things for you anymore" for the millionth time.

Sai put his hand on Ino's shoulder."Why don't I introduce you to some more of my classmates?"

He quickly led Ino away, to which Sakura mouthed a quiet "thank you".

"So are you an alcoholic or something?" Sasuke had remained standing next to Sakura, amused by the anger that his classmate's wife was showing to the woman.

"No, no." Sakura shook her head and sipped on her water. "It's nothing like that."

"You know, the first stage of recovery is acceptance." He smirked.

"Very funny." Sakura replied, and began to take interest in the food tables again.

"Would you like to try some deviled eggs?" An overly eager waiter stuck out a tray filled with freshly made eggs. Sakura's stomach turned when she looked down at the smashed yolk and whatever it was mixed with it.

She quickly covered her mouth and shook her head, trying to remain as lady-like as possible with out making it evident that she was about to bring back the brochette Sasuke gave up to her moments before.

"Hey, lady. You feelin' okay?" The waiter gave her a curious look as he placed the tray on the long table with the other dishes.

"She's probably sickened by the amount of cologne that you decided to put on in stead of showering." Sasuke smirked.

"EH?! What did you say, teme?!"

"Man, stupid and deaf." He clicked his tongue. "What a lame combination."

"Why you little-"

The waiter was about to take a swing at Sasuke, but stopped himself quickly when he saw the Chief walking over.

"Are you two quite done?" He looked annoyed with the two young men.

"Oi, Ojiisan!" The waiter whined. "Sasuke started it."

The Chief pinched the bridge of his nose, then turned to Sasuke. "You really need to stop instigating fights. You're supposed to bring peace, not disrupt it by pushing buttons like you tend to do."

Sasuke sighed. "It's not my fault the dobe is loud and annoying like a yappy little dog."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

"That's enough." The Chief glared between the two young men. "Sasuke, your mother and brother are waiting for us at our table. Dinner will be served soon."

"Yeah, better hope that I don't spit in yours." The waiter glared at Sasuke.

The Chief and Sasuke both gave identical glares at his words, causing the blonde man to fidget and sweat.

"I-I mean, congratulations."

The Chief began to walk away, when Sasuke remembered the woman that he had taken interest in. She seemed to have disappeared, which slightly disappointed him.

Oh well, it's not like he was interested enough to be concerned. She was just something to keep him entertained until someone from his family retrieved him to eat.

Sakura groaned. She had barely made it into the bathroom before losing the contents of her stomach. It was a good thing that the waiter was so distracting. She didn't want to have to explain the whole "I think it's morning sickness, but I'm not really sure" thing that she had going on in her head.

But really... She was sure.

She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror of the bathroom as she ran some water in the sink to wash her mouth out.

Her mind wondered to what it was going to be like for the next nine months. Sure, she knew what it was going to be like from a textbook standard, but this was going to be something completely unique.

Genetically, the child wasn't hers, but she knew it was going to effect her life greatly.