FicWad

Chapter 10: Drained

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Recap: He heard the door shut quietly in the front room and he walked towards it, frowning. "Sakura...are you back already?"

The kunoichi was leaning up against the door, a solemn, unreadable look on her face. He walked towards her, his frown growing. "Uh...are you hurt? What's wrong?"

Green eyes filled with tears as his hands gripped her shoulders.

"I'm pregnant."

---

Sakura hadn't been able to think straight as she'd walked slowly back to Kakashi's apartment, her head spinning from the shock of what Tsunade had just told her. Now she didn't know what she would do...how could Kakashi accept her when she was carrying someone else's child?

"You're...you're pregnant..." he repeated. Tears began to stream down her face when she saw that he was looking at the floor, unable to bring his eyes to hers.

The silence seemed to echo around them before a choked sob escaped her throat and he finally looked at her, a concerned frown on his face. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, her voice rough from the crying as she turned to leave. "I'll...I'll go."

A hand on her wrist stilled her and she squeezed her eyes shut as he spoke. "No...I won't let this change anything."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she turned back towards him. "But I...this changes everything, and there's really nothing we can do about it..."

"It doesn't change anything!" he said intensely, "I knew that this was a possibility when I made the decision to keep on doing this with you...but I did it anyway. I don't want things to go back to how they were when we were just friends."

"Kakashi..." Her voice was tender when she continued, beginning to cry again. "Hold me..."

----

The dim lighting of the Uchiha manor silhouetted Sakura's shapely figure as she walked towards Sasuke, who was sitting on his bed and watching her with a sick smirk.

"Why did you do it, Sasuke?"

"Do what?"

"You killed him...why? Why didn't you take me too?"

Her tears over another man infuriated him, and at the same time he knew that what he'd done was wrong. And he was going to do more terrible things...he should've died a long time ago. It was their fault for not killing him.

He stood and grabbed her arm, quickly throwing her down on the bed. He could see her now, her eyes wide in fear.

"Sasuke...no..."

"Sakura..."

"Stop it, Sasuke!"

Her porcelain skin drew him in, and Sasuke was unable to get away from her. He didn't have the will to stop - she had seduced him without trying, intoxicated him with her beauty and poise. And now he couldn't stop himself.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

"Sasuke?"

"This is your fault, Sakura...you were the one who tempted me. And now I can't do anything to help you."

"Sasuke, no, stop!"

Red fabric was torn from her body by his own hands and he smiled in delight. Despite himself, his arousal grew when she let out another scream for help, trying to stop him.

But there was no one around to here. Not even her dear Kakashi...Sasuke had taken care of that bastard.

"I loved him and you killed him!" she sobbed. She didn't see as Sasuke picked up the still-bloody knife and held it over her, ready to plunge it into her beautiful ivory skin. If she couldn't love him...

"Then go with him. Go ahead and leave your child."

When she screamed with her last breath, a baby started to cry.

----

The moonlight filtered in through the bathroom window as Sasuke staggered up and into the bathroom, switching on the glaring yellow light and squinting his eyes shut. Breath hissed out through his gritted teeth and he clenched the seal on his shoulder to find burning flesh where the mark stood out against his skin. His coal black eyes glared at him in the mirror.

He questioned himself. Did he want to do those things to Sakura?

The anger had eaten at him for all of the two days he'd been back in Konoha, causing him to find new parts of himself all the time. And the seal burned. Tsunade had said that it would take a while for the pain to subside, but he didn't know if it was supposed to be like this. Maybe he should go back and see her again...?

No. This had nothing to do with Orochimaru. This was a weakness in himself, and nothing more.

He had to defeat this weekend.

The seal seared again and a pained groan escaped his lips, his knees buckling. He heard Naruto calling from the other room and Sasuke forced himself to answer. "I'm in here..." He hoped the pain couldn't be heard in his voice.

The door swung open, and Naruto was immediately kneeling at the dark-haired man's side, concerned. "Sasuke...the seal is glowing again. You need to go see Tsunade."

"I'm fine!" Sasuke snapped, "She said it would do this...I'm sure it's nothing."

"Don't kid yourself." Naruto's voice was harsh. "You need to go see Tsunade or Sakura first thing tomorrow. I'll help you get back to the couch."

He kept his eyes close as he felt Naruto's arm on his shoulders to lift him up, and he cursed his weakness when his limbs wouldn't even carry him a few feet to the living room. Sasuke cracked an eye open to see a cold and steely look on Naruto's face. "I wish you would tell us these things," he said finally, depositing Sasuke on the couch."

"I'm telling you I'm fine," he replied darkly, lying back and carefully avoiding the seal brushing up against anything. Naruto sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't know what's wrong with you...but you can tell me. I'm still your best friend, Sasuke, no matter what you say about it. And I don't plan on letting that worm bastard take over your body again, OK?"

"Go back to bed, Naruto."

The blonde sighed again. "Alright. But you're going to the hospital tomorrow, voluntarily or not."

Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement.

----

Kakashi scooped Sakura up as she collapsed into his arms, a new bout of sobs shaking her body. He did his best to sooth her as he carried her to the couch and deposited her there, brushing a lock of pink hair back from her face. "What am I going to do?" she choked out, her eyes half-closed and her eyebrows creased in sorrow. He shook his head.

"It's your decision...but I'm staying here." He paused, thinking about it for a minute. "I - I can't lose you."

Her hand warmed the side of his face and her eyes cleared slightly as she looked across at him. "I don't want to lose you either...I just thought you wouldn't want to be with me after you found out..." This particular phrase caused more tears. "No...if it was just..." -sniff- "Orochimaru..." -another sob- "...I would immediately have it aborted, but..." She shook her head. "This is Sasuke's baby, the Uchiha heir...I can't just get rid of it."

Kakashi nodded. She hadn't had to reiterate the fact that it was Sasuke's baby - he was already well aware of that and had had a nice time denying it - but she'd brought up a good point. "Sasuke will want the baby..." she continued, "But I couldn't just let it disappear out of my life if I didn't have it aborted...I couldn't just carry it for nine months and give birth to it and give it to Sasuke..."

"Hey, you don't have to think about what you're going to do with it yet," he said quickly, making sure she was listening by tipping her head up by the chin so that he could see her face. "Just...do you want to have it or not?"

She bit her lip, closing her eyes. "I...I don't know, damn it..."

Tears threatened and Kakashi hastily tried to think of something to say; he hadn't really ever had to comfort anyone before. "Well...I guess the appropriate thing to do right now would be to get you some warm milk or something and try to get you to stop crying."

She looked up at him, raising her eye brows and attempting to smile. "Warm milk?"

"Doesn't that make people feel better?"

Laughter bubbled out of her throat, but her feminine voice was rough from all the crying. "I guess...but some tea would be nice too."

He nodded, "Uh...alright, tea."

A million thoughts flew through his mind as he got up to boil some water, getting out some cups and tea packs. So she was pregnant...there was nothing he could do about it. Why worry about it? He would continue to support her...but...

Sasuke; Sasuke was a threat; Sasuke posed a huge problem. The dark-haired boy obviously still had feelings for Sakura from the death glares and lectures he'd been giving them copy nin ever since he'd found out about he and Sakura's relationship, and Kakashi couldn't just play it cool anymore. There was more to this battle now...Kakashi might have Sakura's love, but Sasuke had her child. And that was something that it was impossible to get rid of...while love was a different matter.

He wished there was a way to make sure her love wouldn't ever pass from him to another...but there simply wasn't.

Unless they got married.

He shook his head. They hadn't even told anyone about what was going on between the two of them; and they hadn't been together long enough to get married...but did they care for each other enough?

It was times like these that he realized exactly how clueless he was on these matters...and how much more he wished he knew.

When he sat back down with two steaming cups of tea, Sakura seemed to be much more calm and collected as she took one of the cups from him. "I thought about things while you were in the kitchen..." she began.

"Yes?"

"And I've decided that I can't abort the baby." Her green eyes were still red and puffy from all the crying she'd done, but they now shone with the strength that he always knew she possessed. "I wouldn't ever stop another woman from doing it if she was in the same situation...but I myself couldn't. It's mine, and I'm going to take responsibility for it."

Kakashi nodded, not really knowing what to say. He didn't have the license to have an opinion on this situation - he didn't truly play a part - and he didn't know what to say anyway. How could he tell any woman what to do with her body?

"And about Sasuke...I want to tell him tomorrow." She looked up at him. "And I want you to be there with me."

Kakashi frowned. "But it's not my place..."

The kunoichi shook her head, biting her lip and putting a hand over his. "What would you say if I wanted it to be your place?"

He couldn't believe what she was saying. "You mean..."

----

Sakura knew that she wanted this, but she hadn't ever dreamed that it would happen so soon...however, this situation definitely called for a quickening in her plans.

"Yes...I mean that if you don't plan on going anywhere..." It made her more nervous then she'd suspected to finish her line of thought. "I want you to be the one to help me through this..."

His eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets, and a sip of tea was returned to the cup as he coughed it back out. "Uh...Sakura, I'm not exactly the type of man who settles down..."

The smile disappeared from her face, and her eyes darted away from his and towards the fireplace. "Oh...well...I'm sorry for asking..."

"No, Sakura, I'm sorry, that was just the automatic response..."

She smiled half-heartedly. "No, it's alright...it's fine, really. I can do this on my own if you don't want to stay with me..."

She got up too quickly. Everything was going too fast...he couldn't keep track; he didn't know what to say. "Sakura, don't go..."

"I need time to think, talk to Hinata...or someone who understands, at least...I'm sorry..."

And she was gone.

----

The warmth of the soft blankets soothed Kakashi's troubled mind as he tried to get to sleep, alone for another night.

Sakura should have been with him.

But he'd screwed up.

Again.

The darkness of the room weighed heavily on him, and he yearned for someone else there with him...preferably a certain pink-haired kunoichi. And now she was probably talking to one of her real friends, one of her friends who would accept her into their home at this early hour of the night to talk about everything that she'd been through...

He knew he should've gone after her, but he hadn't known what he would've said. Now that he thought about it, he may have wanted to marry her...but it wouldn't have been good for her or her unborn child. He would just be hurting her when he continued to go on missions, and tearing the child's heart apart...said child wouldn't know who to choose; father that mommy loves that's never there, or real father who always wants to be with the two of them?

Sasuke was the ideal choice for Sakura. Sasuke could provide them with a home, a future, love...and what could Kakashi give them?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

And now he had no idea where Sakura was...there was no solving of this problem to be done tonight.

But he couldn't sleep anyway.

----

Hinata frowned when she heard a knock on the door at this hour of the morning...of course, she'd just gotten back from a date with Naruto, so she hadn't been rudely awakened, but it was still late enough that there shouldn't be any more visitors. She pulled on her pajamas quickly and then went to get it.

"Sakura?"

The pink-haired young woman was leaning on the doorway quietly, and had obviously been crying. "Sorry it's so late..."

"No, come in, it's fine," she said quickly, "I just got back anyway."

Sakura walked in and Hinata shut the door firmly behind her, instinctively locking the door. "Do you want to sit?"

Her friend nodded, collapsing on the couch. It seemed like she'd had a long time...and sleep would probably have done her good...but she opened her mouth and began to speak.

"We haven't talked for a long time."

"No," Hinata replied, sitting across from her, "So..."

"So I'm pregnant with Sasuke's baby."

Hinata gasped. Naruto had told her about Sakura's rape...but she hadn't seen her for a long time. She hadn't ever known where she was staying, and thought that the girl might want some time to recover...but she hadn't known that Sakura was pregnant. "How long have you known?"

"I just found out tonight," Sakura replied emotionlessly, "And...well, there's more news."

Hinata watched her expectantly.

"I've fallen in love with Hatake Kakashi."

The Hyuuga heir was speechless. "Kakashi...your old sensei? And you...and he returns the feelings?"

Sakura nodded and Hinata looked away from her. "Kami...what does he think of your pregnancy?"

"I told him I think we should get married...and he said no. He said he's 'not the type to settle down'."

"But I thought you said he loves you!"

"I guess he lied."

The purple-eyed woman frowned, shaking her head a moment before she spoke again. "I bet he was surprised...if he said he loves you, it probably means a lot. I can't think of any other woman he's been with for years, Sakura."

She sighed. "Well...I guess we'll just have to wait and see...I'll probably talk to him tomorrow...I'll be telling Sasuke, and I'll want the support. But will you go with me if Kakashi hasn't changed his mind?"

Hinata nodded. "I'm sure that you just didn't give him enough time...do you want to go back now?"

But Sakura was already asleep.

----

Sakura spent the night on the couch at Hinata's house, plagued with bad dreams. If she wasn't committed to Kakashi...she would probably end up with Sasuke. And even though he had been possessed by Orochimaru when he did those terrible things to her, she was still afraid of him.

It was the main reason she'd brought up commitment with Kakashi that night - she needed someone there to protect her, and her child as well. After the baby was born, she would want them to get to know Sasuke - they would be the Uchiha heir, of course - but she didn't think he was a fit father after all that he'd done.

Kakashi had been a mentor to her, Naruto, and Sasuke, and even though things had changed between them he still took great care of her. Sasuke was cold and distant where Kakashi was nurturing, in his own way. Even if he didn't often show it, he had a loving side that was clearly visible to those who knew him, and she thought he would make a wonderful father.

But he obviously didn't.

Maybe if she could convince him, he would commit to her...but she didn't know if it would be possible. Maybe he'd been alone for too long.

Could she change him?

She prayed that she could.

----

The morning came all too soon for Sasuke. He'd slept on and off through the night, waking up all too often because of the pain in his shoulder from the seal...and to add to that, he'd continued to have dreams about murdering Sakura, and doing those terrible things to his own friends...and a baby.

The baby was a mystery to him. He hadn't even thought of asking Sakura if she knew if she was pregnant - but now it was apparent that he should've asked sooner, and it weighed heavily on his mind. That's why he told Naruto that he wanted to see Sakura instead of Tsunade, so that he could talk to her as well - try to apologize and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, Sakura herself was waking up at Hinata's house, her eyes burning from the crying done the night before. Kakashi's rejection stung when she remembered why she was there, and her heart fluttered in a slight panic when the fact that she was pregnant dawned on her.

She couldn't help but think of it as an invasion of her body...which it really was. The child was unwanted, and now Sakura would be stuck with it for nine long months...and then years and years after that. The thought of being alone scared her to death - and Sasuke was not an option. After all of the things he'd done to her, she didn't know if she would ever be comfortable with him again, even if she'd loved him for all that time. Kakashi was the one she wanted with her...and he had said that he didn't want to stay with her.

Hinata had gone off on a mission that morning, leaving a note for Sakura to go and talk to the Hatake himself. Sakura smiled vaguely; Hinata had been shocked, but had accepted she and her ex-sensei's relationship...maybe the rest of the village would take it just as well.

Sakura decided that she would go home first, just for a change of clothes and a hot shower. She needed to wind down before she faced Kakashi or Sasuke, and she didn't want to have all of yesterday's weight on her when she did it. She had to be strong...for herself and for her baby. She had to continue to tell herself that this baby was something she could love and trust...that it wouldn't come out of her body with fangs and serpentine eyes.

Steam filled the room quickly, and she slowly unzipped her shirt and dropped it on the floor, followed by her tights and undergarments. She briefly remembered Kakashi taking off her shirt the night before...unzipping it while she was preoccupied with his kiss. She really hoped that he'd just been surprised the night before...and that he hadn't really rejected her.

The hot water seemed to wash away her fears, and she sighed tiredly. It was times like these that she just wanted to fastforward past the hard stuff and into the future...where she'd already talked to Sasuke and made up with Kakashi. She wished she could foresee how things would go with Kakashi, but that was impossible...and she just had to talk to him.

The quiet of the house echoed around Sakura when she got out of the shower and put on a fresh pink tanktop and some black capris. After her parents had died she'd lived there alone, and hadn't stopped since. She hoped that Kakashi would be living there with her soon.

A noise in the kitchen surprised her and she frowned as she walked into the kitchen, concerned.

"Kakashi!"

The copy nin looked up from his Icha Icha book and pocketed it quickly as he took a sip of coffee. His mask hid most of his face, but dark circles hung below his eyes, revealing to Sakura that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Neither had she.

"Oh...would you like some coffee? I took the liberty of making some."

She almost smiled at his nonchalant attitude, but didn't move from where she stood. "How'd you get in here?"

He shrugged. "A good ninja knows how to pick a lock, Sakura. But a good ninja also sets up some sort of trap at their living place...I'm surprised you didn't have anything set up."

"I haven't been staying here recently, and I didn't think of it when I got back this morning," she replied, then walked into the kitchen and poured herself some coffee before sitting down at the table with him. "Why are you here?"

"I think you misunderstood me last night."

"Did I? Well...maybe it's karma."

He chuckled, his eyes crinkling up in mirth. "I guess so...because I didn't really mean to say no. I've thought about settling down with you...a lot more than I ever thought I would. And if you really want me then..." Her heart did a little jig in her chest as he looked her straight in the eye. "Do you want to marry me?"

It was far from romantic; but then again, this was Kakashi, and he'd never been one for fluff. Sakura was ecstatic anyway. "Of course!" she said, flinging herself around the table and into his arms. He automatically closed his arms around her, embracing her lovingly and kissing her forehead, then moving down to her lips.

His kiss was warm and romantic that morning, promising much, much more. And she was willing to take it, letting him slip his tongue into her mouth and his hands over her arms with familiarity. Sasuke could wait.

----

Sasuke wasn't surprised when Naruto let himself into Sakura's house, simply knocking on the door and opening it a few seconds later.

However, he was surprised when he found Sakura sitting on the couch with tousled hair, Kakashi standing in the kitchen and trying to look like he'd actually been doing something in there. Sasuke - and Naruto - had other ideas about where the couple had been just before they'd come in.

"Wha...what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, the anxiety evident in her voice. Naruto looked over at her, a blush painting his face.

"Uh...Sasuke..." Sasuke looked over at him questioningly. "Sasuke needed to talk to you about...uh...something and the seal was acting up and I thought he should see Tsunade and -"

"I get it, Naruto," Sakura said. The blonde's embarrassment had actually made her a little more comfortable with the situation, and Sasuke thankfully hadn't said anything. "Sasuke, do you want to sit down at the table? I'll take a look at the seal...and Naruto, you can have some coffee if you want it."

Kakashi watched her walk over to Sasuke at the table and then removed himself to go and sit down in the living room with his book. He would go be with Sakura as soon as she decided to tell Sasuke about her pregnancy and how she wanted things to go...even if he wasn't sure that it would be better if he were there. But if it made her comfortable...

"So what's wrong with it?" she asked, standing behind him and moving his shirt over so that she could see the seal. He shrugged.

"It was burning last night...I don't know what was going on. Naruto was the one that insisted I see you..."

"The pain was so bad that he couldn't even walk," Naruto interrupted, glaring at the Uchiha, "And his skin was on fire where that thing is...it seriously burned to touch it. And it was glowing again."

Sakura frowned. "Well, it shouldn't be glowing...I'll try and find out what's going on."

Everyone watched as she closed her eyes and her brow creased in concentration, her finger pressed firmly on the seal. Sasuke winced as the seal flared up again, and Sakura shuddered, opening her eyes.

"Something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"No...he's still in there," she replied, "You should be fine. I don't know why it's acting up...come to me immediately next time you start having pain from it. There might be something different...uh, don't go yet. Please go sit down..."

Sasuke could sense her getting more and more uncomfortable as she walked in and sat next to Kakashi before them, facing Sasuke. His anger flared when Kakashi's hand crept its way over to Sakura's, covering hers completely. "What's this all about?" Sasuke asked, sitting down across from the couple. Naruto sat next to him, a look of concern on his face.

"Well...yesterday..." she swallowed, looking over at Kakashi one last time before breaking the news."I found out yesterday that I'm pregnant."

Pregnant?

The words echoed in Sasuke's head. She was pregnant...with his child? So why was she still with Kakashi!

"And I've decided that I want to have the baby and...and raise it with..."

Sasuke cleared his throat, knowing what she was about to say. "You want to raise it with Kakashi! Don't I have any say in this!"

Sakura fell silent and Sasuke had to ignore the glares coming from the other two men in the room. Kakashi finally spoke, voicing the opinion of the rest of Team 7.

"Seeing as you raped her, I don't think you do have a say in what she does with her child."

Sakura looked up at him. "Sasuke, I want you to spend time with it...but I don't want it growing up with you. What if the seal broke and you hurt it? The truth is...I don't...I don't trust you anymore...I'm sorry..."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment there was a knock on the door. Kakashi got up to go get it, leaving his three ex-students in the living room. Naruto watched the sparks fly in Sasuke's eyes as the Uchiha watched Sakura.

Kakashi returned with a frown on his face. Sakura was the first to speak.

"Who was it?"

"It was one of Tsunade's students...she wants to see you. And I've been summoned for a mission." He looked up at Sakura, worry in his eyes. "I'll be gone for a month."

Sasuke smiled. He had to find a way into Sakura and his child's life, and Kakashi would've been a hindrance.

"You were saying?"

A month was all he needed.

----

A/N: Ooh...Sasuke is turning evil, huh? Maybe. You know, I really don't want him to be evil, because I really am a Sasuke fan, but it might just have to work out that way. There has to be a bad guy somewhere! Or maybe there won't be...I haven't really decided yet. And I want to keep you guessing anyway. Hehehehehe...

I feel like the end was a little rushed...but otherwise I'm very happy with it!

Sorry I haven't updated for so long...school just started, and I've had a lot of trouble getting inspired lately anyway. To top that all off, I now have a boyfriend who I do stuff with a lot over the weekend, so I'm pretty much booked...but I had time to update today!

Ya'll completely spoiled me with reviews this last chapter...I got a lot of them because of that cliffie. So review more or I'll be sad! Because I really AM a review hog...can't help it.

Hope you liked the new chapter, and thanks for all the reviews! Hope you still love me enough to update after that horrible cliffie I left last time, lol!

--Kat