A/N: I don't have a single second free and I'm still bored. How weird is that? Anyway. My neighbour's cat is watching from outside my window and seems to be saying : "Write another chapter before I tear your favourite plushie to shreds." And since I find that cat to be very intimidating and since my favourite plushie is, well, my favourite plushie, I've decided (with a bit of persuasion) to write another chapter right now.
Here's a longer chapter. Enjoy!
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The Photograph: Chapter 3
by Queen of Pascalities
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Written while listening to:
Don't Wake Me Up – McFly
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"What are we going to do, Fugaku?"
Mikoto and her husband were sitting in their living room, while Sakura was sleeping in their son's bedroom on the second floor. They knew they couldn't throw Sakura out, even if they wanted to – which they didn't. Still, they didn't know if anyone was going to come looking for her, and if they should give her back or keep her. They didn't want Sakura to leave, but they didn't want problems with the police or government either. Plus, if Sakura wanted to keep her child – which hadn't even been discussed yet –, they would have to take care of the baby too.
"We should keep her. She said she'd been kicked out. I don't think anyone will want to find her. They probably believe she's dead by now."
"Yes, I know that, and I want her to stay, but can we afford raising two other children?"
"Of course we can, you know I inherited all of my family's mo-…"
"That's not what I meant? Do we have the energy? Do we have the time? You remember when I was pregnant, how you could never leave my side because I was always in need of something?"
"Unfortunately."
"It's going to be the same thing for her. And don't tell me she might give up her baby, if she's anything like her, she'll want to go through with her pregnancy."
"I know, you're right. Okay, let's look at it this way: We want her to stay, don't we?"
"Yes…?"
"And even if we didn't, we couldn't throw her out in her condition, could we?"
"No…"
"Plus, she has nowhere to go?"
"No, she doesn't. Fugaku, we've been over this-…"
"So, were keeping her."
Mikoto stared at her husband. He had made a point. Sakura had to stay. Of course Mikoto was happy to have her stay, but there were many things to take into consideration, especially where it involved their fourteen and eighteen-year-old sons. How would those two react? They didn't have any sister or female cousin, or even a very distant relative that happened to be a woman. Even their grandmothers were already deceased. Sure, they had friends that were girls, but this situation was going to be completely different.
Mikoto was pulled out of her thoughts by a shy voice coming from behind her.
"Um… Excuse me, Mikoto-san?"
Mikoto turned to the living room entrance, where Sakura was standing, still in the pyjamas she had lent her.
"Yes, what is it, Sakura?" She said softly.
"I-… I just wanted to talk to you. And to Mr. Uchiha-san, too."
"Oh. Okay. Is there something wrong?"
Sakura went to sit in a couch facing the Uchiha couple. She fidgeted with the hem of the night shirt and bit her lip. As kind as they had been to her, she still found them rather intimidating.
"Um… Listen, I wanted to thank you f-for letting me stay for the night. At least I'm not dead yet," she had a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, um… I-… I wanted to know if you… I-if you'd l-let me stay, er… a little longer. You see, I can't really go beck to the orphanage right now and I don't know if I'll make it into town, what with my baby and all. I just-… I'd like t-to stay here until… Well, until my baby is born…" her voice went so quiet at the end of her speech that Mikoto and Fugaku had to lean toward her to hear.
It took a few minutes for the Uchihas to process what she had said. Then, out of nowhere, Mikoto jumped from the couch and pulled Sakura into a tight hug, laughing and crying at the same time. It felt to her as though she had just found her long lost daughter.
"Of course you can stay, Sakura! We never wanted you to leave!"
"Really?" Sakura asked shyly.
"Yes, really!"
"Oh… Thank you! Thank you so much!"
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It was night again. Sakura was back in bed, comfortably curled up in the blankets. Mikoto had told her to sleep on her side and on her stomach while she still could, because in a matter of weeks, her belly wound be too heavy and she would have to sleep on her back. Sakura intended to take the best of her remaining side-sleeping nights, considering the bed where she was sleeping was the most comfortable she had ever experienced and it would be a pain to spend ten hours lying awkwardly on her back each night.
She had been ecstatic when the Uchihas had told her she could stay. She couldn't imagine being any luckier. Now she and her baby were in good hands. She sighed in contentment and tightened the covers around herself. She heard footsteps in the corridor outside her room. It was probably just one of the adults, she thought to herself.
She was about to fall into unconsciousness when the door of her bedroom was yanked open and the light was turned on. She sat up with a start, looking directly into a young boy's deep black eyes. Her heart thumped faster and faster in her chest. The boy was frozen in the middle of the room with a horrified look on his face.
"What the hell are you doing in my bed!?" He exclaimed after a few moments.
Sakura's heart beat even faster. She found she couldn't answer. She couldn't even muster a sound out of her mouth. Her mouth hung open but the air refused to come in. She stared at the boy for another few seconds, then everything went black. She only had time to hear the boy say:
"Whoa, no, don't fall-…" before she hit the floor with a loud thump.
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Sakura awoke in a bright white bed, under a bright white light, surrounded by bright white walls. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. She tried sitting up but hands pushed her down.
"No, don't get up. You're still weak."
Sakura looked to her left, where the person pushing her down stood. It was a nurse, dressed all in white. This place definitely had needed more colours. The door of the room slid open and Mikoto came in, followed by the young boy that had woken her.
"Oh, Sakura! You're awake!" The woman ran to her and hugged her tightly.
The boy remained standing awkwardly where he was, looking everywhere but at Sakura. He had a frown on his face and his arms were crossed. Mikoto let go of Sakura and turned to the boy.
"Sasuke, come here. Come on, don't be rude. You put her in this situation, the least you can do is come and talk to her."
The boy, Sasuke, as Mikoto called him, approached hesitantly, still refusing to look at the girl. When he was close enough, Mikoto spoke again.
"Sasuke, I'd like to introduce you to Sakura. Sakura, this is my youngest son, Sasuke."
"Um… N-nice meeting you, Sasuke," Sakura said shyly.
The boy's eyes shot to her and finally, he spoke.
"Hn. I don't want you sleeping in my room."
"Sasuke!" Mikoto exclaimed. "Be polite. Come on, apologize."
Sasuke sighed. He didn't want to apologize. It wasn't his fault if this girl had decided to faint, and she was the one to blame for being in his room when she shouldn't have. However, noticing his mother's glare, he consented.
"I'm sorry for making you faint," he said without much conviction.
"Aaaaand?" Mikoto asked.
"And for putting you in the hospital."
Sakura's mind went blank and her hand flew to her stomach. She was in the hospital. This wasn't good. Did it mean her baby was dead? She could still feel the small lump, though.
"Don't worry. He's okay," Mikoto said in a smooth voice.
Sasuke looked at his mother weirdly. What did she mean, "he's okay"? Who was okay? No one was there beside him, his mum and the pink-haired girl, and he was pretty sure she wasn't talking about him. The girl seemed to calm down, though, so she had probably understood better than he.
"Sasuke-kun? Go tell your dad that Sakura is awake. We'll leave soon."
Sasuke nodded and left the room, still looking suspiciously at the young girl.
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"Now, Sasuke-kun, I want you to be very nice to Sakura. She's going through pretty hard stuff."
"Stop talking to me like I'm a baby, mum."
"I'm doing no such thing."
"Are too. And why is that girl-…"
"Sakura."
"Why is Sakura, then, staying with us?"
"Because she has nowhere else to go."
"Will she be sleeping in my room?"
"No, honey, we'll move her to the guest room. Itachi is coming back soon, anyway, so we can't put her in his room."
"How long will she stay?"
"Long enough."
"Okay, and how long is long enough?"
"Since when did you ask so many questions?"
"Since there's a girl sleeping in my bed."
"She's not in your bed anymore."
"Well, she's been there."
"Oh, Sasuke."
"… Why doesn't she have anywhere to go?"
"You'll know someday."
"I want to know now."
"Sasuke, you told me not to talk to you as if you were a child, now stop acting like one."
"Hn."
"Better."
"…What's wrong with her stomach?"
"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with her stomach."
"Then why did she clutch it, back in the hospital?"
"I told you you'd know someday."
"But, mum-…"
"Stop it, Sasuke."
"Hn."
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Sasuke watched as the girl took off the coat his parents had given her. He had to know what was wrong with her and why his mum wouldn't tell him. The girl stretched on her tiptoes to hang the coat on one of the hook and her shirt rose on her stomach. As he had seen her touch it earlier, he stared at it intently, trying to get some clue.
Then he saw it. The roundness. The lump he hadn't seen in the hospital because of the covers. It was very small, but it was there, and it could only mean one thing. It could only mean what he was learning about in biology class at school.
The pink-haired girl – Sakura, as his mother had said – was pregnant.
And she was younger than him.
Now, there was something he hadn't expected at all.
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A/N: I think I broke my record of chapters in one week.
I was wrong, in the opening Author's Note of the second chapter. I do owe a few things to some people. First, I owe Kishimoto Masashi for this beautiful manga and anime. Second, I owe McFly for their incredibly awesome songs that I can't seem to stop listening to and that accompany me through this entire story. Then, I owe my mum for helping me with the pregnancy details, since I've never been pregnant. Thank you all!
And thanks to my readers, too, and to my reviewers, who reviewed without my asking it. You have no idea (well, maybe you do, but still) how good it makes me feel to know that you like my story.
Keep on reviewing!
Queen of Pascalities