Chapter 10

Kakashi pushed open the door to his small apartment, leaving it open so fresh air could mix with the stale air inside. Somehow, even the fresh smell of the late summer morning didn't shake the gloominess of the room though.

Kakashi had never been terribly picky about his living quarters. They were always sparsely decorated and clean. That's all he'd needed. Now, however, the distinct lack of color and sound was staggering. Everywhere he looked was pristine white or cool, earthy colors…no vibrant reds or pinks to be seen. It didn't smell like strawberries, only like old air and faintly of the oil he used on his weapons. The only sound was the gentle ticking of his alarm clock, though he desperately wanted to hear the sound of laughter or soft feminine moans. The one thing that he needed his apartment may or may not even be his at this point.

He sagged onto his couch and sighed. All the while they'd been traveling home, Tsunade had ignored any attempts from Sakura to clear up what would happen with their marriage once they got home. Kakashi hadn't dared ask, knowing she was furious with them over the mess they'd landed in. They'd both lost focus and could have jeopardized the mission with what they'd done. He had no doubt she was punishing them by making them wait.

"I thought you'd be happy to be back home Kakashi," Tsunade murmured from the doorway.

He turned and looked at her over the back of the couch and then sagged back into the soft couch. "Thrilled," he murmured back.

She wandered into the room, and around to the chair across from him. "I never thought you, of all people, would be a risk," she admitted. "After what happened with your father, I thought you were a stickler for the rules and sticking to a mission's guidelines."

"Like father, like son it would seem," he murmured.

"I hope you won't follow him in everything," she said seriously, clasping her hands together at her lips and leaning back into the chair.

"I'm not going to commit suicide," he said after a long silence. "What purpose would that serve?"

"Tell me what you do want to do then," she said finally.

"I want to buy a nice little house, live with Sakura and have lot of little ninja babies with her," he said with a soft smile. "I want to wake up and see her next to me every morning. I want to spend everyday loving her and being with her…that's what I want," he said, eyes closed and voice husky with emotion.

"Then why are you here?" Tsunade murmured softly.

"The marriage was void upon our return," he muttered.

"No, the marriage was to be annulled upon your return," she corrected him. "That is no longer possible."

"I don't understand," he said sitting up slowly, confusion clear in his dark eye.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "I copied this out before I came for you, just in case this came up between us. Why don't I read it to you," she said with a small smile. "If a marriage remains unconsummated it may be annulled, by the Hokage, within six months of the original certificate authorization, impotency being the likely grounds for the annulment." She paused and smirked at him. "You clearly do not have that problem." When Kakashi blushed and shifted slightly she smiled and continued. "Should the marriage be consummated within that same time period it is binding and may only be dissolved through divorce, upon the discretion of the Hokage." He blinked at her, understanding dawning. "Keep listening Kakashi," she murmured. "Last night Kakashi made love to me. It wasn't like the other times. He didn't just touch me or use his sharingan. He was really inside me this time. It was scary and wonderful and exciting. I don't know what it will mean for our return home, but I hope it will happen again…I hope it will be forever." Tsunade tossed the paper on the coffee table and sighed. "That was from Sakura's mission journal, as I'm sure you have figured out. So she freely admitted you were intimate with her. Is this true?"

Kakashi stared at the paper and nodded slowly. "Yes…several time," he admitted, blushing under the beautiful woman's patient gaze.

"Well then that's settled. I can't annul the marriage and if you even think of asking for a divorce…" she growled, letting the threat of punishment go unsaid. She stood. "So, I will put in the request for family quarters for the two of you. Congratulations," she said, wandering out the door, leaving him behind in stunned silence.

Sakura looked up from her kitchen table, where she'd been slumped in misery for a half an hour. Was someone knocking? The knock came again and she sighed. It was probably Ino wanting to hear all about the mission. Their names had been cleared the day Tsunade set out after them, so she had no doubt a lot of people would be stopping by.

Groaning softly to herself she stood and wandered to the door. "Who is it?" she called.

"Your husband…I hope," she heard Kakashi call through the door.

Heart pounding she opened the door to see him standing on her doorstep, mask loose around his neck and flowers in his hand. "Stay married to me," he murmured softly.

"W-what? I don't understand," she gasped. "I thought the marriage was annulled." She blinked as he shoved a crumpled piece of paper into her hands. "What's this?"

"Read it," he demanded softly.

She blinked at him again and nodded, opening the paper up and skimming over the words. "This looks like something out of a law book," she whispered.

"It is. It's Konoha law," he confirmed. "We are still legally married Sakura."

She felt her eyes tear and her vision blurred. "Is this good?" she asked, her voice hoarse with unshed tears.

"This is good," he murmured reaching out for her.

Excitement and love flooded through her and suddenly she found herself clutched to him, sobbing in relief. "I thought it was all over," she sobbed.

"Me too," he admitted softly, tightening his hold around her and gently pressing her back into her house away from the curious stares they were starting to get. He kicked the door shut behind him. "So we don't have to get a divorce then?"

"No!" she gasped in horror. "I said it before. I don't care what others think. I love you and I'm not letting you go," she said, tightening her grip around his neck as proof.

He leaned in a kissed her gently. "I love you Sakura."

"You don't just want me for my body?" she teased, sniffing a little.

"Well that's very nice too," he hedged. He grinned as she snorted in mock offense. "Speaking of your lovely body…" he murmured softly.

She pulled back and grinned. Seeing the wicked twinkle in his eyes, she took his hand and pulled him towards her bedroom. "It's been a whole week," she murmured slyly.

"Are you worried I'm out of practice?" he teased. He laughed when she shrugged lightly and threw a teasing look over her shoulder as she unzipped her tunic and let it fall. "Very well, I see I have something to prove." She squealed and laughed as he lunged for her. But as the minutes ticked by, the laughter he'd wanted to hear so badly in his apartment, turned into soft, feminine moans of pleasure; they were far more satisfying, in his opinion.

Sakura opened her eyes in the soft morning light, wondering why she was awake so early for the second time in a week. What was so wrong with sleeping until noon?

The reason for the early wake up call became apparent the moment she sat up. Nausea swept through her, clenching hard in her belly. Gasping softly she scrambled from the warmth of her bed and barely made it into her bathroom before gagging. Having not eaten anything the night before, the experience was less than pleasant.

After choking up some bile and leaning against the seat for a minute, she realized someone was behind her. "I'm sorry. I don't know what happen," she murmured, sitting up and wiping her mouth.

Kakashi wetted a cloth and handed it to her. "It's okay. It happens sometimes. Maybe nerves finally getting to you?"

She wiped her face with the cloth and nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes this happens after long, stressful missions. I'm sure it's nothing." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, another spasm attacked her stomach and she turned to choke up more bile into the toilet. "Or maybe it is something," she gasped after a moment.

Kakashi had squatted down behind her and pulled her hair back. "Maybe we should get you to a medic and get something for this?"

She nodded and let him help clean her up and dress her in a soft pair of pants and a t-shirt. After he'd tossed on his own clothing, he led her gently down the street, stopping often so she could breathe and fight down wave after wave of nausea. Kakashi didn't often worry, but this had him worried. What could be wrong with her? Just when everything was finally going so well.

It was Hinata, walking down the road with Neji that solved the puzzle. "Sakura! You're home finally," she said in soft excitement. "We got home two days ago," she said with a small smile.

"Good morning Hinata," Sakura murmured weakly. They'd grown close over the last few years, as Hinata often worked at the hospital, offering her superb chakra control up to help heal patients.

"You don't look very well Sakura," Neji murmured with a frown.

"We're going to the hospital now. Sakura is ill," Kakashi said, hoping they could get moving again. Interruptions seemed to be a permanent problem in his life lately.

"Oh," Hinata murmured with a frown. "Let me take a look at her quickly. I'm guessing nausea from the paleness of your face?" Hinata said. When Sakura nodded weakly, Hinata smiled in sympathy and activated her pale eyes. She immediately noted the gentle swirl in Sakura's lower abdomen. "Neji, look at this. Is that what I think it is?" she asked softly.

Neji leaned forward, his own eyes puffed with chakra and nodded. "Yes. Definitely. Congratulations in order…I think," he murmured.

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered. Kakashi stiffened at her side.

"You're not sick Sakura…well I'm sure you feel sick," Hinata amended gently. "You're about six or seven weeks pregnant from the size of the disruption to your chakra."

"It's at about that time that the baby's own chakra begins to mingle with the mother's and throws her body out of whack for a bit," Neji murmured in explanation. "It'll even out in a few weeks and you'll feel fine," he said with a shrug. "Ten Ten went through the same thing with our son," he said with a gentle smile.

Sakura blinked at them and then at Kakashi. "But what about the potion I took?"

Kakashi rubbed his head and sighed. "They don't always work," he admitted. "It may have been a bad batch." He had to admit, he was faintly pleased that the batch hadn't been an effective one.

Hinata watched the exchange and blushed. It would take their friends a while to adjust to the fact that they were now a couple. For so long they'd been teacher and student. Lovers was hard to assimilate in for most. "Well it would appear you two need to work this out. Why don't you go rest at home and I'll have a medicine sent over to you? Ten Ten said it worked well for her," Hinata said softly.

"Alright, thank you," Sakura said after a moment, still trying to come to grips with this new knowledge. She was pregnant with Kakashi's child? As she watched the two Hyuuga continue down the road, she started to wonder how Kakashi felt about this. She had taken a potion after all, so they had believed it was safe to indulge without other precautions. Would he be mad?

She looked up at him hesitantly, only to find him smiling down at her through his dark mask. "You're not angry?" she asked in surprise.

He shook his head. "No, not at all. I can't be angry about something like this. I'm a bit shocked at the suddenness, but not angry. I do want children with you after all…lots of them."

She sighed in relief and leaned into him a bit as they walked. "I'm glad you feel that way…though I suppose you told me it would be okay when we had a chat about this at the compound." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, pulling her close to his side.

"What are some names you like?" she asked after a few minutes.

"I would like to name one of my sons Obito and one of my daughters Rin," he said softly after a moment of silence. His teammates had been dead since he was very young, but he had never forgotten them. Obito, more importantly, was partly responsible for the man he'd become, and not just because of the gift of his left eye. He'd helped him realized, that while rules were important, so was the well being and happiness of your teammates.

She knew vaguely how important Obito and Rin had been to Kakashi and nodded. "Those are both lovely names. I'd be proud to give them to my children." She walked silently for a moment and then sighed. "I hope that our Obito doesn't necessarily follow his namesake though. I hear he was a lot like Naruto. I don't know if I could deal with raising another Naruto."

Kakashi laughed and shook his head. In a way the three had all raised each other, so the statement wasn't that far off the mark. "Neither could I. One is enough. Heaven help us all when he finally spawns more of his kind."

Sakura glanced back to where the Hyuuga pair had disappeared. "If Hinata has her way finally, that could be sooner then we care for," she murmured, with a small smile. Now that her life was evening out and she had her own family started, she couldn't help but want that for her remaining friends. "They'd make a cute couple," she said mostly to herself.

"Hmm?" Kakashi murmured softly. Seeing the look on his lovely wife's face made him feel rather sorry for the hyperactive blonde man. He vaguely wondered if he should warn Naruto. Nah, this would be far more entertaining to watch if he didn't interfere. Laughing softly to himself, he settled his arm around his wife's shoulders and led her towards her apartment. He doubted life with Sakura would ever get boring.

End…except for the Naruto/Hinata fic now brewing in my head… :)

Whew! 96 pages! Can you believe it! And I actually finished it, somewhat. I have a really hard time finishing stuff, because I get bored, but I liked this fic. Sorry there wasn't more smut. I had a few scenes in mind, but they just didn't fit. Maybe I'll throw this couple into the sequel fic with Hinata and Naruto to compensate or make a one shot interlude between the couple for your entertainment. Let me know. I like plots, but I have no problem with mindless smut either. :) Send me an e-mail if you want to be updated or have ideas and suggestions for me. You can find me at other sites with a little more smut in my stuff. I hope this one wasn't too strong for this site! Anyway, that's all. I hope you enjoyed spending time with me in the land of Naruto. I look forward to delighting your brains...and other applicable body parts...at a future time. I love you all. :)