Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Beautiful Occurrence ❯ A Runaway Mom ( Chapter 5 )

Edited by Obscure Omen.

Disclaimer: Naruto is © to Kishimoto, a Japanese mangaka.

A SasuNaru story. A slow kind.

Its been quite a while since last I posted anything here. Why? Because it seems not many people read this and it did takes time to re-edit the chapter to post it here.

 

Chapter 5: A Runaway Mom

 

Naruto was on his way to a D-rank mission—the second mission he had received since he woke up in the hospital after the fight with Itachi. Between helping Tsunade with organizing the files in the archive and making daily visits to Kurenai-sensei's house, he had not had much time to do missions. And thank God for that! In his entire 18 years of life, he never would have thought that he would be thankful for not having any missions.

 

Genuinely he was glad now that Tsunade gave him the organizing job. That job, even though it was totally mind-numbing and could bore him to death one of these days, it was still the best excuse he had for avoiding daily missions without arousing any suspicions.

 

Sometimes he felt like kissing the old hag just to show her his gratitude, but he and everyone else knew that that would never happen—the image of Naruto kissing Tsunade itself was disturbing, and the real action might cause blindness. So, it went without saying that a hazardous action like that should be avoided.

 

And who would ever surmise he could learn so much from it—things that he really needed to know or risk dying. Seriously, this was no joke. If he had not read the book about pregnancy and stuff, he might have had a severe hemorrhage right now by doing something stupid like jumping from roof to roof. Yeah, something stupid like that, which was not considered stupid at all if he was not pregnant—that was a normally type of transportation for a shinobi like him.

 

And…. Jeng jeng jeng. Guess what? He also found the real reason why Sasuke did what he did that time. Realizing it, he had the decency to feel a little bit embarrassed for accusing Sasuke of… quite a few things. But just a little bit, though—he was still angry at that bastard for not telling him the real reason sooner, and it was natural to put the blame on him entirely. Because how the hell he was supposed to know that having intercourse could save someone's life? Did they teach that at the Academy? He didn't think so, because he couldn't imagine Iruka-sensei explaining something so explicit like that to kids. The man was a complete prude; he probably would die from embarrassment from his own speech.

 

Oh, speaking of Iruka-sensei, he was in the mission room when Naruto went to pick up his mission scroll for today's mission. He looked a little worried as Kotetsu passed Naruto the scroll. On the other hand, Kotetsu looked like he could barely contain his glee, which never was a good sign; something smelled fishy here. Curiosity piqued, he opened the scroll immediately.

 

He found nothing suspicious. It was just normal, D-class mission instructions that said he had to go meet an old lady who lived by the riverbed to help her with her daily chores. It did have some extra instructions, though, but the “mind your language, and please behave accordingly” instruction was hardly suspicious.

 

Naruto was well aware of his own way of speaking—which was very rude and loud—so that statement might have been Tsunade's way of warning him to behave. Huh, like he didn't know better. He could be polite and nice if he wanted to-tebbayo! Not one to be beaten in a challenge, he would make sure this mission would go smoothly and show that old hag (Tsunade) that he was an excellent shinobi that could take any mission thrown at him.

 

“Good morning! Anybody home? I am your helper for today,” Naruto said as soon as he reached the assignated house and grinned to himself—he had accomplished the first step of being polite: He'd given a good greeting. The next step was to introduce himself when the old lady showed up.

 

Nobody answered his greeting. This time Naruto tried to knock on the door. Who knew—maybe the old lady didn't hear him the first time. After five minutes, there was still no answer, and he began to think that he might have gotten the wrong house.

 

But in the scroll it says the house has a watermelon garden around it. The name tag is also right. The Kamajimas. This is definitely it.

 

Naruto tried to knock again when the door opened to reveal a very old woman in her late 80s. She had her grey hair in a neat bun and was using a stick for support. But that was not her most prominent feature. Her eyes took that prize. Her eyes were cloudy like there was a thin layer of grey clouded over them. She was blind! No wonder she took so much time just getting to the door.

 

Once again, Naruto greeted, “Good morning! I'm your helper for today. My name is—”

 

“Oh, you're here!” She pulled Naruto in. “I am sorry to make you wait. My hair didn't want to cooperate today—it took me a while to get it all in a bun. Hehe…Thank you, thank you. How nice of you to come here on such short notice. I thought I was going to be all alone today. I'm very thankful you could come. Saki-chan, my helper, had to accompany his little brother to the Academy, you know. That Sakae-kun is already six, and he is so excited about going to the Academy. He is such a sweet boy.” The old lady finished her sentence with a smile.

 

Naruto was impressed with how the old lady could speak so much in so little time without seeming to have to stop and catch a breath.

 

She sure talks a lot, this old granny. Hmmm, I think I'm forgetting something here. Oh, I have to introduce myself again.

 

“My name is—” Naruto tried again.

 

“Ah, silly me. You have to excuse me, young lady.”

 

Young lady?

 

“I'm getting old, and I tend to forget things, but still, how can I forget to introduce myself? Silly me, silly me.” She chuckled, trying to cover her mistake. “My name is Himeno. Come, come sit here. What's your name, young lady? Oh… I'm sooo grateful they sent me a girl. I specially requested for a girl, you know, but they said no girls were available. But I said back, not even one? They said back, not even one. There are not many kunoichi to begin with, they said. So I said to them, if they can't send me a girl, I don't want anyone.”

 

Naruto gulped nervously. What was the meaning of this? He could sense something was wrong here.

 

“Are you a man-hater or something, granny?”

 

Granny Himeno chuckled again before she continued, “No, no, not that. Never that. I once had a husband, you know. He was such a lovely man. So hardworking, and a very responsible father. I still miss him after all these years. The gardens are only here from all his hard work. I'm lucky to still have that as a remembrance. So, you see, I'm not a man-hater. Well, I'm not picky or sexist, either, you know, but I had have bad experiences with those male ninja.” She let out a tired sigh. “I couldn't stand them. The last time I hired them, they almost destroyed my precious garden.”

 

Naruto gulped again. Uh-oh, smelled like trouble. She really didn't want a boy to work with her if that angry look in her eyes was any indication. Then, should he just pretend? But surely the granny would know by his voice? Was this what that old hag meant when she said “please behave accordingly”? Damn that old hag. Naruto would get her back for this.

 

“Ah, sorry. I was carrying on again. You should stop me when I started to ramble. Don't be shy.” She patted Naruto on the head, hoping that the gesture would make the atmosphere friendlier. “So, what's your name, young girl? You have such soft hair…” she trailed off, still patting Naruto's head.

 

Making a fast decision, Naruto answered, “Maki. My name is Maki.”

 

Granny Himeno retracted her hand from Naruto's head, gesturing for him to stand up and follow her.

 

“You do have a girl's name. I thought you were a boy for a second there. Your voice is deeper than the voice of any girl I've ever met. It must be hard for you to find a boyfriend with that kind of voice.”

 

“Che, I don't need one ever,” Naruto answered with a small voice, careful not to be heard by the granny.

 

“Don't worry, Maki-chan. Even with that kind of voice, you still will find a boyfriend because you are such a nice girl.”

 

“How do you know that? We just met,” he questioned, confused by the granny's quick judgment of his character.

 

Granny Himeno chuckled again.

 

“I know because you listened patiently to my rambling just now. Not everyone would do that, you know. It's hard to have people listening to you nowadays.”

 

Naruto looked at the granny's face when she said that and saw a well-known expression etched there. Loneliness. He brushed the tip of the granny's finger with his own to show his understanding.

 

“So, what am I supposed to do today, Granny Himeno?” he said quite exuberantly, trying to lighten the mood.

 

“I haven't told you yet? Oh silly, silly me. Well, as you can see, I have a watermelon garden at my front yard.”

 

Naruto nodded his head before he realized that the granny couldn't see him, so he said, “Yes, I can see them. They are big and ripe. They must be really sweet.”

 

“Yes, yes, they are very sweet. But that is not what I called you here for. I want you to help me pluck the sunflowers in my backyard.”

 

“Sunflowers?”

 

“Yes, sunflowers. I can't let them wither away just like that. I can smell them from inside the house. If we don't pluck them today, it will be a waste.”

 

The blond boy could feel his manly pride crack a little. First, he had to pretend he was a girl. Now he had to do one of the least manly tasks imaginable. Picking sunflowers? What the hell?

 

Shit, whatever. He was already there, so he might as well do it. Damn that Tsunade.

 

“So, where do I begin?”

 

 

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Naruto swore his hair was beginning to smell like it was burning in the scorching heat when he heard the granny call him back into the house. He refused to wear the straw hat the granny offered him—he had to hold on to whatever pride he still had, and wearing the straw hat would not help.

 

A jug of iced tea was waiting for him at the table. Granny Himeno was calmly sipping a cup at one of the seats. She just smiled when she heard Naruto sighing in pleasure, drinking the cold tea.

 

“Thanks, Granny.” He was not only grateful for the tea; he was also amazed at how the granny could prepare the tea.

 

“Ahh, it's nothing. I always make tea. It is my favourite drink. I like to drink it with watermelon. Speaking of which, if you don't mind, can you take one of those watermelons and bring it in? They're ripe enough to eat, and they are very sweet—you should try some.”

 

Naruto happily obliged—watermelon was heavenly in this hot weather. To get to eat it was beyond ecstasy.

 

“Yeah, you were right, granny. This is sweet. Do you use sugar as fertilizer?”

 

Granny Himeno laughed heartily.

 

“You are funny, Mika-chan. That reminds me: My son tried to do that once. I didn't notice it until an army of ants surrounded our garden.”

 

“Hahaha, really? Where is he now? I'd like to meet this dumbass.”

 

Granny Himeno stiffened, her frame going rigid.

 

Oh no! I said something stupid, didn't I? I know I said something stupid. Shit, shit, shit.

 

“He's dead.”

Naruto stopped the self-blame when he heard it. Her voice was very low and full of grief, and Naruto almost didn't catch it the first time.

 

“Along with my three other sons.”

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

“Don't be. It's not your fault. You probably were not even born yet. It was all the Kyuubi's fault.”

 

The blond felt like something stabbed his heart.

 

“I lost everything that night. My husband and four sons. I tried to find out what happened later. You know what I heard?”

 

“What?” His voice was quivering. He could guess what she was going to say next.

 

“That damn thing was sealed in a baby boy. Not killed, but sealed! I saw him. Everybody knows him. A blue-eyed, blond boy. They should have killed the baby. He is a curse to us all.”

 

“Do—do you hate him that much? Even after all these years?” He started to tremble.

 

“Hate? No, Mika-chan. I don't hate him. Hate can't even begin to describe what I feel. I loathe him. What I wouldn't give to be given the chance to…” Granny Himeno trailed off. She had a faraway look in her eyes before she snapped out of her hatred.

“Ahh, sorry for telling you all these sad things, Mika-chan. I got over-emotional for a moment there.”

 

She received no reply.

 

“Mika-chan, Mika-chan? Where are you?”

 

Naruto was already gone—screw being polite; he needed to be away from the hatred.

 

 

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Naruto was at the abandoned training ground again, not at Kurenai-sensei's house as he was planning earlier. He needed some space to think clearly, because right now his head was clouded by painful emotions—he was hurt by what Granny Himeno had said, yet he had already anticipated that. Even though she said “he” was nice in the beginning, in the end “he” was loathed by her the entire time. The worst thing was that he couldn't do anything about it. If he was in Granny Himeno's shoes, he would loathe “him,” too.

 

This was a cruel twist of fate bestowed upon him, and he was powerless to change it. He sounded like Neji now, and for once, maybe Neji was right. People can't change fate; all one can do is accept.

 

Naruto yanked his hair. He knew that—he had accepted his fate long before this! But now, his condition was different. He was carrying a new life in him, and never in his life—if he could help it—would he let the same fate fall upon his child. Not in a million years—either that or over his dead body!

 

That was why he planned to leave this village to give birth to his child and go on from there. He didn't care if he died in the middle of the woods in his own pool of blood, because living in hatred was worse than death—he knew that all too well.

 

Naruto admitted that his situation might have changed over the years. Many people had begun to accept him for who he was—he had friends now, had people who loved him unconditionally, and had kickass instructors, too, although they were very perverted. But, would they accept a demon child born of a male demon holder? He didn't think so. They might try to kill his child at any chance they got, especially those of the older generations like Granny Himeno.

 

This plan was made up when he first decided to keep the baby. Even if he had not thought about this properly at that time, his instinct told him to do so. Or maybe the fox demon instinct. He wasn't sure. What he really sure of was that he definitely would leave this village. All in all, he had already picked where to go—it was a nice place to raise a demon child.

 

All he had to do now was say farewell to “his family”: Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and Tsunade-sama.

 

And do some more shopping. He needed a dress, damnit.

 

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Whoever said saying goodbye is hard was a freaking genius. How did they know that? Research? Books? Fortune cookies? He couldn't even know who to say his goodbye to first. Should he go to everybody one by one or just throw a party? Or invite them to his house? Or treat them to Ichiraku's? Or just meet them on the street, or… The options were endless.

 

Naruto thumped his head against the wall. Why did everything have to be so difficult for him recently? First he met Itachi, which in turn made him meet Sasuke, which incidentally made him pregnant, and consequently forced him to leave his beloved village. Why couldn't he just be an ordinary boy and grow up, meet a girl, fall in love, get married, have children, and die of old age? It might be a boring and mundane life, but he didn't need so much excitement in life, either.

 

Maybe he should try writing a book about his life or something—at least he could make money with that. Yeah, he could picture it now—Naruto: My Abnormal Life and Ramen. Or, How to Fuck Up Your Life Royally. That would be a nice catch-title; it would be a best-seller for sure.

 

Gahhhh! What am I thinking? Just pick a name already! Whatever! I'll just throw this kunai. Whosever name gets hit will be the one I go to first.

 

Ack, Iruka-sensei! So, Iruka-sensei's first, huh?

 

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Naruto found Iruka-sensei easily enough—he already familiar with the teacher's routine. After his nightly shift at the mission room ended, he would either go home or hang out for a while at Ichiraku's. Today, the famous teacher decided to go straight home, which was just perfect for Naruto, because he wanted to speak to his teacher alone.

 

“Eh, Naruto-kun, what are you doing here?”

 

“Ehehe, I just want to see you, sensei. You are so busy lately, you haven't treated me to Ichiraku's for a while now.”

 

“Heh. That's not because I'm busy; it's because I don't have enough money. You and your gigantic appetite left me penniless.”

 

“Maaaa, Iruka-sensei. You're stingy.”

 

Naruto made a face. Iruka just laughed at his silly expression and invited him in.

 

“So, why did you really come? Did you get into trouble again? Is it about the incident at the hospital that other day? How many times do I have to tell you not to play pra—”

 

“Iruka-sensei, you talk too much. I don't just come to you because I get into trouble, you know. Geez, have some faith in me, willya?”

 

“Hahaha. You're right.” Iruka patted Naruto's head.

“You come to me when you want a free meal. Oh, don't make that face. You know I'm right. Ok, ok. I'm sorry. How about some onigiri as an apology?”

 

Naruto gave a big grin. Lately he really craved onigiri, apart from his usual ramen supply, and Iruka-sensei made the best onigiri ever.

 

“You are the best, Iruka-sensei!”

 

“I know I am.”

 

“Huh, don't be so conceited, old man just because I praised you a little.”

 

Iruka bonked Naruto's head.

 

“Hey, what was that for?!”

 

“That was for calling me conceited, and—” Iruka flicked the boy's forehead. “—that was for calling me an old man. Now, if you want this—” Iruka waved the onigiri about. “—tell me about what you have done these last few weeks.”

 

So the teacher and student talked the night away until Iruka almost smashed his face into his plate because of his sleepiness. Even then Naruto was reluctant to go home, because he might never talk to Iruka-sensei like this again, but the older man looked really tired. With a soft “good night,” he left Iruka-sensei's house.

 

That was Naruto's first goodbye.

 

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Meeting with Sakura was a surprise. Naruto was on a shopping trip to buy a dress. Yes, he needed a dress—this was for survival, he swore!—and then there she was, browsing the line next to him. At first, he was frantically trying to hide himself between and under the dresses, but Sakura spotted him anyway.

 

“Naruto? What are you doing here? Are you trying to peep on women again? I heard of what you did from Tsunade-sensei.”

 

Sakura advanced on him with a very scary face.

 

“Hahaha, Sakura-chan. I didn't see you there. How are you? I haven't seen you for so long.”

 

“Don't pull that crap on me; I just met you yesterday. Come!”

 

“Ouch, ouch, ouch. Sakura-chan, you are going to tear my ear!”

 

They were heading to a nearby dango stall with Sakura dragging Naruto by the ear away from the store.

 

What was that idiot thinking, hiding like that under women's dresses?

 

Like everybody else, she had heard the news about Naruto visiting the hospital to peep on pregnant women—she was so embarrassed for Naruto about that. You see, Sakura began to see Naruto as a sibling after all the things they had been through, and what kind of sibling wanted to see their own kin make a fool of themselves?

 

Okay, maybe Itachi. But he didn't count; he was a lunatic!

 

“Naruto,” Sakura said after they finally sat on the free stools at the back of the shop. “What was that just now? Are you really turning into a pervert?”

 

“No, Sakura-chan! I was just browsing the clothes. There's nothing wrong with that, right?” Naruto answered with a slight nervousness in his voice—Sakura was angry.

 

“You were hiding under the dresses, you idiot! How is that browsing, huh?” Sakura crackled her knuckles.

 

“Ahhh, Sakura-chan, I swear I just browsing! I wanted to by a dress for—for, err… Kurenai-sensei. Yes, Kurenai-sensei!”

 

“Really?” She looked at him with disbelief but decided to let it go—it was hard to stay angry with Naruto anyway.

 

“So, how have you been, Sakura-chan? Are you that busy? We haven't done any missions together for a while now. Where is that lazy sensei of ours, anyway? I haven't seen him lately.” Naruto bombarded Sakura with questions in an attempt to avoid answering her question just now—he really didn't want to confirm the lie he created so spontaneously.

 

“Well, I am quite busy. People get sick all the time; it makes me wonder if they do that purposely,” she mused.

 

“Nobody would pur—”

 

“And Kakashi-sensei? I heard from Tsunade-sensei that he is on a long mission. Tracking somebody, or something. I don't know. She couldn't tell me more. Looks like we have to postpone the mission.” She breathed out the last sentence with slight regret.

 

“The mission?”

 

“Sasuke, remember?”

 

“Oh, that bastard.”

 

Sakura looked at Naruto strangely with a little bit of concern. Did he forget? How could he forget when he was the one who was the most motivated to bring Sasuke back?

 

“Are you okay, Naruto? You are not sick, are you? If you are sick, you can come to me, you know. I can heal you. And don't call him that.”

 

“Nahhh. I'm okay. Don't worry about me. Ne, Sakura-chan, you still like that bas—I mean Sasuke. He is a jerk—you know that, right?”

 

“Well…” Sakura blushed. Obviously she still had a crush on that avenger boy.

 

“And here I thought you were with thick-brows.”

 

All the blood drained from Sakura's face, and she shivered at the cold accusation.

 

“Naruto!!!”

 

Naruto laughed—Sakura's reaction was priceless—which led to a verbal fight between the two. The banter of the two close friends could be heard within the stall until Sakura had to excuse herself.

 

That was Naruto's second goodbye.

 

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He had already packed what he needed for his journey the night before: food, bottled drinks, blankets, the dress, scrolls, and some other essential items. Now he was on his way to the Hokage Tower to ask the Hokage's permission for an absence. He was not planning to be a missing nin. That would be troublesome in a long run—Tsunade would send some people chasing after him if he went missing. Hiding and running was not his preferred way of living. Moreover, he needed to say his last goodbye to Tsunade.

 

As expected, Tsunade's face was grim when Naruto said he would be living. Of course Naruto didn't tell Tsunade the true reason why he wanted to leave—he could not tell her now or ever. Or anyone else, for that matter.

 

The Hokage didn't make a sound for almost five minutes, and Naruto almost thought she would say no. He was about to give her his ultimatum when he heard her speak.

 

“Tell me again: Why do you have to leave?”

 

“The Kyuubi. That thing needs to be in his natural habitat—otherwise it will go berserk. I don't want that to happen. So I need to go to some forest or something. You have to understand, Hokage-sama.”

 

That was half-truth, actually. The Kyuubi really like to be in its natural state, but he wouldn't go berserk from it. Well, Tsunade didn't need to know that.

 

He called me “Hokage-sama.” He must be desperate if he's doing that. How serious is this situation?

 

“And I don't want you to send anyone trailing after me, either. The Kyuubi will know, and it won't like it. You won't like it either if that demon decided to kill every human in its close proximity,” Naruto continued with a very serious face.

 

“You have planned all of this, haven't you? Even if I don't allow you to go, you will still go, right?”

 

“I—”

 

“And don't you think I will buy that crap about the Kyuubi needing some space. Do you think you can lie to me? I've known you long enough to sense it in you. Besides, you are a terrible liar, Naruto.”

 

“Old hag! I'm no—”

 

“Fine. If you want some space, I'll give you space. You must be pretty desperate to come and lie to me like that. Do whatever you must do. I give you my permission.”

 

They looked at each other for a moment, Tsunade trying to read Naruto's reason from the emotions flitting through the boy's eyes. She didn't come out with anything because then Naruto bowed in a thank-you gesture.

 

“But with one condition. You have to come back after a year.”

 

“That's not fair! I don't know ho—” Naruto tried to reason with her.

 

“I don't care. It must seem unfair to you, but you are the one who's being unfair here, Naruto. I don't want to lose another promising ninja.”

 

I don't want to lose you.

 

“But, Tsunade-sama, I—”

 

“Silence. Fine, I'll give you one and a half years, and that's final. If you are gone longer than that, I'll send people to track you down, understand?”

 

Naruto opened his mouth to argue again, but at one look at Tsunade's grief-stricken face, he decided against it. Instead, he nodded his head to show his understanding.

 

“Promise me you'll be back. No matter what happens, promise me you'll be back here to see me again. Promise me, Naruto.” There was a hint of fear in her voice.

 

Not to disappoint the disturbed Hokage, Naruto slowly nodded his head again.

 

“I want you to say it.”

 

“I promise.”

 

This time, Tsunade smiled. Naruto had promised her; she could be relieved now—that boy would surely come back.

 

Bowing his head once again—this time as a gesture of respect—he excused himself and left the Hokage's office before Tsunade suddenly decided to change her mind.

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He had been on this route before, so it took less time for him to reach his destination. It was almost afternoon when he finally arrived in front of the cave opening. The bandits' old headquarters looked abandoned, just as Naruto had thought. The spider-webs covering the cave's opening indicated that nobody had gone through it in some time.

 

The abandoned cave was quite cozy inside; it was big and tall enough that Naruto didn't have to bend all the time. There was stuff scattered around the cave floor that was left behind by the bandits: pots, blankets, a gasoline lamp, knives, cutlery… The list went on. In short, the cave had all a person needed for a small house.

 

Satisfied with the cave's condition, Naruto ventured outside to find a water source, and not surprisingly, he found a clear water source near the cave. You see, the cave was situated at the base of a mountain, which had a river flowing from the top. No wonder the bandits picked this cave as their headquarters. They even built a makeshift shower and cleaning deck at the riverbed.

 

Naruto couldn't be happier about his new home right now. He circled the place some more to memorize its outline whilst picking up small, dried sticks for firewood. It was getting darker, and even though it was hot during the day, night could be chilling.

 

He started a fire at the middle of the cave, throwing sticks on one by one so the fire got bigger. When the fire was big enough to warm up the whole cave, he started to clean up the place. He let out a huge grin when he finished cleaning. Now he had a comfortable, warm home to call his own: He had a space to sleep, a small kitchen, and a roof to cover his head.

 

This was a sweet beginning for Naruto.

 

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Naruto's life quickly fell into a routine. Every morning after he woke up, before anything else, he would go out to train. After the sun got slightly higher and the morning fog vanished, he would go to the river to take a bath and do some washing as well. While he was bathing, he also put up a trap to catch fish; the trap looked like an open basket, which he placed against the river's current.

 

Finished with that, he would scout around the forest for food by hunting or searching for wild fruit. This way, he also could keep an eye on wild animals—which, to this day, never appeared near him. He had a suspicion that it might have something to do with the Kyuubi. Wild animals—especially predators—could sense the stronger predator and, by nature, would always keep themselves at a safe distance. For once, Naruto was thankful he had the Kyuubi sealed in him.

 

In a short time, Naruto had gotten to know the forest quite well. He knew where to hunt his rabbits or wild chickens and where to find the sweetest fruit. He also discovered the most efficient way to catch fish without breaking a sweat. All in all, he lived like a caveman.

 

However, as his pregnancy progressed, his stomach became larger, and at one point, he found out that it was impossible for him to go hunting anymore. Since he brought some food from Konoha, he could survive on that, but that only lasted for a week.

 

Naruto knew the day to leave the cave—today—had had to come no matter how much he dreaded it. Today he needed to go to the Field village's town to get some supplies. Going to the village was not what he dreaded so much. In fact he felt a little happy to be with humans once more after spending almost two months alone.

 

The thing he dreaded was that he had to be in disguise, and since he had a very big stomach at the moment, the most appropriate disguise was to be a pregnant woman. Actually, Naruto had already predicted this, which was why he bought a dress. Yes, he didn't buy that dress for Kurenai-sensei but for himself.

 

Oiroke-no-jutsu could do the trick, but he didn't want to risk anything. He wanted to keep as low a profile as possible—even the smallest of blunders would ruin his plan. Moreover, he might have a lot of chakra to pull off the jutsu, but he didn't have lot of energy; he got tired really easily nowadays.

 

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At the town, the people on the road were staring at him. Naruto pretended that he didn't notice it—at least the stares were not of hatred. The villagers' stares were shocked stares. How could they not stare? Naruto was a one ugly, flat-chested, pregnant woman—like a cross-dresser gone wrong. Yet nobody dared to say anything; they just smiled when Naruto caught their eyes.

 

Pleased that the villagers didn't have any ill-intentions toward him, he made his way to the nearest grocery store. Quickly picking out what he needed, he paid the grocer and left as quickly as his heavy body would allow—which was not very quick at all. Finding an empty hallway on his way out of the town, he created three clones and commanded them to bring the goods back to the cave.

 

Creating those three clones almost left him breathless. He leaned on the walls nearby and stayed still for a while to catch his breath when he noticed somebody coming over to him.

 

“Are you alright? You look exhausted. Come, I can give you a drink. My stall is just nearby.”

 

Naruto looked up to see a girl stretching out her hand to him, waiting for him to accept her invitation.

 

“Thanks.”

 

When they reached the stall, the girl served him a glass of iced tea. It was bliss to Naruto, because it had been so long since he had drink something flavoured—a caveman didn't have flavoured drinks; they only had spring water.

 

“I have never seen you before. What's your name? I'm Kagura.”

 

My name?

 

“Maki. My name is Maki.”

 

“Mika-chan, then. How far long are you?”

 

“Huh?”

 

The girl named Kagura chuckled.

 

“I mean your pregnancy. How many months? I'm already three months along. I bet you couldn't guess.”

 

“You are pregnant, too? I'm about three months, too. Yeah, I can't really tell you are pregnant. You are so small!”

 

“Yeah, and you are so big! I guess different people have different signs, eh?”

 

“Yeah, maybe, I guess. I don't really know. This is a whole new thing for me.”

 

“Oh my God, you, too? This is my first, too, you know. This is just my luck. I've wanted to go to the delivery class for a while now, but the midwife won't hold that class for just one person. Do you want to go with me? Please, please. I'll treat to anything you want after that.”

 

Anything, she says?

 

“Ramen?”

 

“Of course. My stall is a ramen stall, after all. Haven't you noticed?”

 

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The class went smoothly. The midwife was a nice old lady, and she patiently showed both soon-to-be young mothers how to breathe correctly during the delivery. Naruto felt silly doing something like this, but he was glad he came—at least he knew how to do that “push-push” thingy now. And Kagura was a nice pregnancy buddy, too.

 

After the class, they went back to the stall (while she was absent, Kagura's assistant had taken over), and Naruto got to eat as much ramen as he could. Kagura was just too happy to see Naruto eating like that—it showed that somebody liked her cooking. The new friends chatted the day away while Naruto inhaled his ramen.

 

When he got back to the cave, it was already starting to get dark. But Naruto didn't care; he was one satisfied pregnant man: He was full from the ramen, and he got some baby clothes from Kagura, too—she received too many from the villagers when they threw her a baby shower. He slept soundly that night, blissfully unaware of changes that were happening to his body.

 

The next morning, he went to the river as usual to take a bath, put up the fish trap, and wash clothes—he still managed to do all that, even though it was a bit difficult. He was scrubbing his body when he saw it. Unable to control his shock, Naruto screamed his lungs out and promptly fainted—butt-naked!

 

He was woken up by the sound of something bristling, which sounded very familiar. Naruto recalled that he always heard this sound when he faced the demon fox, and, as he thought, it was the Kyuubi. Usually when he was facing the demon fox, he always felt a little bit frightened, but not this time. Instead of being afraid, he was angry.

 

“What's the big idea, stupid fox? What's the meaning of this? You told me I was pregnant before; now you want me to be a woman? What is the t—thing under my—my belly? Where the hell that h—hole come from, huh?”

 

“That is where babies come from,” the Kyuubi answered nonchalantly.

 

“You mean, I have a v—va…v—va…” Naruto couldn't say the word.

 

“Vagina. Yes. How else can you give birth? From your mouth? I know you are stupid, but I did not know you were this stupid.” Kyuubi huffed, apparently put-out by Naruto's stupidity.

 

Naruto didn't know what to say. He knew he needed “something” to give birth, and he was thinking of cutting open his stomach to get the baby out. Looked like the Kyuubi already had its own way. The only thing was that the Kyuubi's way had shattered his manly pride completely—first he got pregnant, now he had a vagina? What kind of man would that make him?

 

He looked down in defeat. There was nothing he could do now to save his manly pride. He was officially a half-man now.

 

`Anything for you, baby,' he mused while rubbing his swollen stomach.

 

“Hey, Kyuubi,” Naruto started, finally calm enough to ask the Kyuubi what he always wanted to ask. “How come I'm already this big when I'm only three months pregnant? Are you not telling me something? Don't tell me this baby is some kind of giant!”

 

“Stupid brat. Of course it's big; you will deliver in two months. That's normal.”

 

“Two months? But it's supposed to be nine mo—”

 

“I told you not to compare me with humans! I'm different; the baby will be different. Get it right this time.”

 

“Different? How different? Hey, Kyuubi, answer me. Hey, don't go! Hey!!”

 

But the Kyuubi already was retreating further into its cage. Holding a conversation with a human was not its favourite pastime, even if the human was his holder.

 

With a brush of one of the Kyuubi's tails, Naruto was sent back to consciousness just to find that the sun was already high, and he was naked on the riverbed. However he couldn't pay attention at his state of nudity, because he was more concerned with the news he had just heard from Kyuubi.

 

How different? How different?!! Damn that Kyuubi, always explaining things halfway like that!

 

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Yo! Still reading this? Thank you!

Sorry for the lateness—it is really cold here. My fingers are almost frozen.

 

Okay, next chapter:

 

Chapter 6 : Two fuzzy ears, four soft paws and… nine tails!