That was such an encouraging response! Thank you very much to everyone, I'm inspired now more than ever to update faster, and so, I bring you this new installment of Jiko. By the way, there was someone who had asked in one of their reviews what Jiko meant. I used Google translate ( yeah...I know...) and I had wanted to name the story 'Accidents' but Jiko (the Japanese word for Accidents) just sounded better so I used it. Anyways, on with the story! This chapter is short but the next one will be much longer, I promise!

Jiko Chapter 8- The Miracle of Life Part I

For a long while Naruto was just silent. He didn't mutter a word or make any sound. His body didn't move, his eyes didn't twitch. He just held her arms and looked at her with the same expression he had been watching her with before.

She felt his arm relax its hold on her; one moved up to rest on her shoulder. His eyes softened, his brows furrowed, his lips crooked into an unreadable expression. Hinata could feel him shaking against her a little. She wasn't sure at all what he was thinking and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know yet.

She sniffed and wiped her eye, preparing herself for the worst. In her meek voice she said with a weak stutter. "Naruto-k-kun..."

His blue eyes were fixed on her stomach and then the hand on her shoulder was gone and he was moving down. Hinata let out a scared gasp when she saw that he had moved to the floor so that his face was leveled with her middle. Instinctively, she wrapped a protective hand around herself and shivered.

She felt his large, warm hands move over her small, cold ones to pull them out of the way and watched as they moved-hesitantly- to feel the skin of her stomach.

Naruto touched it gently, moving it away once before slowly setting them fully against her. Hinata could feel his warm breath against her belly hitch and then sigh.

She was too afraid to say anything. He didn't look upset but...he didn't seem happy either. For the first time Naruto was unreadable to her. She couldn't tell what he was thinking or even guess.

But then she felt it. A warm cheek. She looked down and found Naruto had pressed an ear firmly against her stomach. His fingers fell to her hips and he looked up into her lavender eyes.

Naruto's golden hair was bright mixed with the sun peeking through the covers of his windows as a subtle smile crept onto that beautiful face of his.

"We're having a baby...?" his brows were furrowed; eyes glassy with his own tears and the delicate upturn on his lips had cracked into a full smile.

Hinata Hyuuga knew, as she answered his question with a silent nod, that everything was going to be alright.

Because that was when his lips fell onto her stomach in a sweet kiss.

"The hymen must be torn in order for the sperm to have been able to travel into the vaginal passage and inseminate an egg..." Sakura was plaything through the notes she'd taken, suddenly remembering how Hinata had explained that she and Naruto had come close several times.

"Are you a virgin?" Sakura had asked, "In the technical sense I mean. Many girls who haven't had sex have already torn their hymens, whether it be in training or in other sexual encounters with their partners."

"O-Oh..." Hinata looked up, staring blankly at the ceiling of Naruto's apartment, "I-I'm not s-sure if it happened with Naruto-kun but I-I'm sure i-it could have h-happened training with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun. Th-They are pr-pretty rough with me when I ask th-them."

Sakura nodded in understanding, "Is there any way you know for sure? Most girl have an idea when they visit the hospital."

Hinata shook her head, "The H-Hyuuga Clan has th-their own medical h-headquarters b-but our doctors don't d-discuss anything l-like that with u-us. It's d-discouraged and considered unimportant."

Sakura tapped her pen along her writing pad. "A woman and her partner must have engaged in some sort of intimate sexual activity. While it is not impossible for a woman to become pregnant without first having sex, it requires special circumstances that can only be confirmed with further examination."

She found herself groaning. Man, she'd had enough of confirming this, and researching that. Honestly, she had no doubt it the two of them somehow managed to...well...whatever. Babies were complicated and annoying and that is exactly why she didn't study fetal development.

"How far have you two gotten?"

Hinata blushed her ever present blush and shyly answered, so quietly that she had to really make an effort to listen, "f-far..."

"Hun, I need a real answer. Specifics, please."

"...W-We've b-been n-naked and k-kissing. A-And o-other stuff..."

Sakura raised a curious brow, "Other stuff?"

Hinata nodded shyly, "Y-Yeah...I m-mean...Naruto-ku-kun and I have d-done...e-everything but...I-Intercourse...if th-that's an appropriate t-term...?"

Hinata was about three months along. If they really wanted to know then the three of them had to discuss their past encounters and that was not something she felt completely comfortable doing considering they were her friends and one of them was Naruto.

It was times like these when she really hated being a medic.

Neji Hyuuga had spent the last four hours searching desperately for his baby cousin. He had dragged Tenten along and harassed half of Konoha's market place- all to obey the orders of his uncle. More than anything, he wanted Hinata away from Naruto. After that-well, who really cared? As far as he was concerned he had already planned to take the longest, hottest bath he had ever had in his entire life. He felt, at least, justified to that.

It seemed now though, that bath of his would have to wait yet another hour.

Because halfway to Naruto's apartment he ran into a certain Uchiha who had not so graciously, requested he spar with him.

"You see," Sasuke's voice held a hint of menace in it, "I've never fought a Hyuuga before."

"You sparred with Hinata-sama many times when you returned, Uchiha Sasuke." Neji hissed through grit teeth, "Now if you please excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

He smirked and crossed his arms together, "A girl as weak and useless as her doesn't qualify as a real match."

Neji growled and ignored Tenten's reminder that they had no time. "I feel I must warn you that if I hear you so much at mutter one more insulting thing about my cousin, it'll be the end of the Uchiha name."

Sasuke was unperturbed as he leaned in closer to one of the few Konoha shinobi that stood a chance against him. "I'm sorry, can you please repeat that? I was lost in the memory of me kicking you petty cousin's ass two years ago."

Tenten squealed as he moved faster than she could detect with her eyes and suddenly had the Uchiha pinned. "Neji!"

They were off, kicking, punching, and hitting each other with their doujutsu. Neji had his bloodline activated (which seemingly was unfair considering Sasuke had yet to gain that privilege). As the concrete beneath their feet cracked and the people who'd been out and about screamed in terror at the sudden disturbance, Sasuke mused over the fact that Neji Hyuuga's all sensing Byakugan failed to witness the sigh of relief and subtle turn of his head he looked toward Naruto Uzumaki's apartment one last time.

Naruto watch Hinata hold baby Asuma close as she stuck her lips to his chubby cheeks and blew little kisses. The toddler jumped and squealed in her arms, thrashing with delight as she tickled him. It was a pretty awesome moment to witness.

"Naruto-kun" she called between her fit of giggles, "C-Can you hold him f-for one second? I have to use th-the lady's room."

He didn't know why but he found it cute that she called it that. "Yeah, no problem."

She smiled and handed him the baby. He wasn't sure exactly what was the right way to hold one considering his lack in experience in the matter so in the end, he found himself hooking his hand under the kid's armpits with his body dangling beneath.

Hinata ruffled the boy's hair one last time before disappearing into Kurenai's bedroom. The mother had gone back to the kitchen to wash their used cups so Naruto was now left alone with her child.

The kid had stopped laughing the second he lost sight of Hinata and had simply stared at him, his feet and hands occasionally kicking. His eyes were so big and glassy. His cheeks were rosy with youth. He wouldn't be lying if he said that this baby was probably the cutest little thing he'd seen.

Naruto tilted his head and brought the baby close to his face, flashing him his goofy grin in a successful effort to make him smile. Immidiatley the room was filled with child-like laughter and giggles as Baby Asuma mused the funny guy in front of him. Naruto could help but chuckle when he felt small fingers touching his face.

Meanwhile, Uzumaki Naruto mused how in a matter of fifteen minutes his entire life had changed forever. His days as the orphaned son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina were over. He would have a family of his own now.

I'm gonna be a dad now.

It wasn't as hard a thought he'd picture wrapping his mind around as it would have been for most men. Solitude did those kind of things to a person. But he was always a craver of attention, of love. Hinata gave him both. Now he had something precious only he could protect. Someone to return the favor to. A baby. A real, human being. His child.

Naruto was so fascinated by the entire notion- the fact that they had created something was astounding. He couldn't seem to keep his hands off Hinata's protruding 'tummy' as she called it.

His girlfriend covered her mouth with her hand to suppress the giggles as he showered her with millions of his little kisses, his hand still feeling around her stomach.

"I love you" he would whisper between kisses, "I love you so much"

"I-I love you t-too."

"Babe!" he grabbed a hold of her hips and looked up at her from the floor, "You thought I'd be angry at you over this?" He sounded so surprised, so shocked, "You thought I'd leave you?!"

Hinata couldn't help the sob that erupted from her lips as she nodded, "W-W-We d-didn't have s-sex so I thought-"

"Baby." He was kissing her lips now to silence her, "I don't care! Shit happens sometimes!"

Hinata looked so genuinely confused that he just kissed again and said, "Hun, I have a nine tailed demon fox inside of me, you being pregnant without us actually having sex before is nothing, you didn't have to try and get in pants to prove it!"

She laughed immidiatley, little tears spilling down her cheeks. She wrapped her hands around his neck. The relief she felt from this little encounter couldn't be explained with words.

His lips were on hers again before they parted, "Baby, you know how long I've spent my life alone? You know how badly I've wanted a family?"

Hinata was still crying despite the joy she was feeling "B-But you're only twenty one a-and you're about to be H-Hokage...! I didn't w-want to get in your w-way-"

Naruto was silent as he watched her with a small smile on his face. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I'm gonna be a father Hinata, that's something to be proud of." His eyes fell to her stomach, "This may have happened sooner than I wanted but...I'm happy."

Hinata suddenly felt very, very, very stupid. All this time she spent worrying over what Naruto would say. She didn't even know her own boyfriend enough to realize that he was the kind of man who saw goodness in everything. There was no need for logic. Sasuke was right.

Naruto may be an idiot but he'd never abandon his own kin. Trust me on that one.

His face cracked into a grin and he laughed, "Holy shit Hun, we're gonna be parents!"

Hinata watched him move down and place an attentive ear to her stomach, she wondered if she had ever loved the man in front of her as much as she did right now.

Sorry for the short chapter, I really just wanted to limit it to Naruto's reaction. Next chapter Sakura meets with the two and we get a full explanation on how the pregnancy came to be, and expect many unstable Hyuuga reactions soon *wink wink* so look forward to that! I love each and every one of ya with a burning passion!