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Chapter 2: Hell Hath No Fury...

Tsunade pushed her pale blonde hair from her forehead and looked over at Sakura. The girl was bent over, her hands on her knees, panting. They had only been training for about twenty minutes. Tsunade was not particularly surprised that Sakura seemed worn out so soon. She didn't look well from the moment she arrived at the training field. She never coddled her pupil, but the girl had been like this for a couple of weeks.

"Sakura, I'm getting a little tired of this. You keep saying you're fine, but lately we never manage to get all the way through training. What is wrong with you?"

Sakura shook her head. She silently fought down the pervasive nausea that had become her constant companion. "I'm all right. I-I think I just picked up some sort of virus." She straightened up with an effort. "It'll work itself out."

Tsunade regarded her thoughtfully for some time, then gave a short nod. "That's it. You're coming in for a complete physical. There's no point in trying to be a hero and suffering through an illness if it can be remedied."

Sakura went cold with fear. "No, Tsunade-sensei! Really, it's all right. You don't-"

"That was an order, Sakura, not a suggestion. You're of no use like this. You haven't been able to focus and do your work properly for some time now." Tsunade frowned at her. "Other people depend on you. Now let's go!"

Sakura followed her numbly. She couldn't even concentrate on coming up with a good excuse. She decided to stop trying and just see how things turned out. Perhaps Tsunade was fond enough of her that she wouldn't be too angry. Somehow, she doubted it.

At the hospital she underwent a barrage of tests, gave samples, and had various parts of her body thumped, prodded, and listened to. After that she was given some vitamins and sent home to rest.

Later that evening Shizune placed a folder on Tsunade's desk. The Hokage glanced up. "Sakura's results?"

Shizuna nodded. She had looked over the report before she brought it in. Tsunade picked up the folder and opened it. "Anything out of the ordinary?" she asked, even as her eyes skimmed the first page.

Shizune hesitated, then said quietly. "You should check the HCG levels."

Tsunade stared up at her for a moment, then threw the top page of the report aside, her eyes frantically searching the next page. HCG levels! There shouldn't even be any. Human chorionic gonadotropin hormones were only produced by the placenta of a pregnant woman. But there it was. Tsunade's hands started shaking and she took a deep breath to calm herself. This wasn't good, but it wasn't the end of the world.

"How in the hell did that happen!" she exclaimed. "Yes, yes, I know!" she growled, as Shizune raised an eyebrow. "I just didn't expect Sakura to be the kind of girl who would let it happen. Well, that explains a few things." She closed the folder, setting it aside for later. She really didn't want to look at it anymore. "I suppose I'd better talk to her. Would you please have her come here, Shizune?"

Shizune gave a short bow. "Yes, Hokage-sama." She left, with Ton-ton scrambling on her trotters after her. Completely alone, Tsunade head sank into her hands.

"What have you done, child?" she whispered.

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Sakura walked silently into the office. She could barely move her legs, but she stood, erect and still, before Tsunade's desk. The Hokage had the report opened in front of her again and she looked up at the girl with a somber expression. Shizune stood silently at one corner of the desk with an unhappy look on her face.

"I'm not going to pussyfoot around with this, Sakura. The tests results indicate that you're pregnant. Does this come to you as any sort of surprise?"

Sakura mumbled something in a low voice.

"I'm sorry. Would you please repeat that?"

"I said, no, sensei."

Tsunade gave a slight nod. "I'm not going to lecture you about promiscuity or lack of judgment or anything like that at this point. I never dreamt I would have to, and now it's a bit too late." She glanced back down at the report. "If you like, I can offer you the option of an abor-"

"No!" Sakura wailed hoarsely. Tsunade's head snapped up in surprise. Sakura stared back at her, her green eyes wide with fear and defiance. Tsunade nodded calmly.

"All right. We'll start you on regular monthly checkups." Tsunade sat back in her chair. She suddenly felt very tired. Now came the really tricky part. "I feel obliged to ask this question. Who is the father?" She watched Sakura's face as the girl stared back at her, making no reply. Not too surprising. "Please understand, Sakura. I'm not planning on punishing anyone, but you're not the only person responsible. The other person needs to be made aware of this. I don't think you children fully realize all the implications of something like this."

Sakura lowered her eyes to the floor and said nothing. Tsunade frowned. "It's not Naruto, is it?"

"No, sensei."

"Well, that's a relief. He's hardly father material. Sakura, do I have to list all your friends' names? Shikamaru? Neji? Lee? Kiba? Am I getting close?"

Sakura only gave her head a slight shake. Tsunade drummed her fingers on her desk. "Sakura!" she said, her voice rising. "Do you even know who the father is?"

Almost against her will, Sakura slowly raised her eyes. Tsunade could plainly read the anxiety in them. "Who are you trying to protect?" she demanded.

Sakura's lips moved slightly, but she remained silent. Her hands were clenched at her sides, her knuckles white. Tsunade stared at the girl, her mind racing. She simply could not imagine any of the boys in Sakura's circle of friends doing something like this. Since she started her training with the Hokage, the boys all seemed a little bit in awe of her. A new thought occurred to her.

"Sakura, has Sasuke returned in secret? Have you been hiding him for some reason?"

The corner of the girl's mouth almost twitched in a smile. There was a time when she would have spent a lot of time fantasizing about that. Now it was sort of a bizarre notion. "No, sensei."

Tsunade sat back in her chair, mystified. Who was left? Who else could she possibly be that close to? After a few moments, her eyes suddenly widened and she felt a sick, cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. This was replaced a moment later by a white-hot rage. She stood up from her desk and stepped around it to stand in front of Sakura. Her hands started to tremble and she put them behind her. "I could run a DNA test and find out who the father is myself. But I want you to tell me the truth." She almost couldn't bring herself to say it, but she went on. "It's Kakashi, isn't it?"

Sakura didn't even have to say anything. All she had to do was to meet Tsunade's stern gaze, and the Hokage strode over to her door, flinging it open. "Izumo! Kotetsu!" she bellowed. "Get in here! Now!"

The Hokage's two assistants scrambled into the room. They didn't have to have first hand experience with her fury to know that something was very wrong. They stood silently at attention, waiting for her orders.

"Go find Hatake Kakashi. Bring him here. Don't tell him why," she ordered, her voice clipped and angry.

The two chunin left immediately, giving each other a puzzled glance. Tsunade turned back and walked over to her window, staring, motionless, down at the village. She didn't say another word during the twenty minutes it took for her assistants to come back with Kakashi. Sakura didn't dare to even make a sound. She had never been so miserably afraid in her life.

She gave a little jump when she heard the door open. Kakashi entered first, followed by the two assistants. He glanced over at Sakura, a little surprised to see her there, but growing apprehensive at the sight of her staring at him with such anguish in her eyes. He had seen very little of her since he returned from his last mission, but he could tell something was wrong, and he thought he probably knew what it was.

Tsunade turned around. She stepped up to stand before the silver-haired jonin. "You two stay here," she ordered Isumo and Kotetsu. She looked back at Kakashi, her brown eyes burning. "I have just ascertained that Haruno Sakura is pregnant and you are the father."

Kakashi showed no reaction, simply meeting Tsunade's glare evenly with his ebony eye. The two chunin assistants stood wide-eyed behind him. He didn't bother to ask how Tsunade got the information. Strong men had crumbled before her will. But he wished Sakura had told him first.

"I hope you're not going to try to deny it," Tsunade went on, her voice low and dangerous.

Kakashi shook his head. "No."

"What gave you the right?" Tsunade hissed slowly at him through clenched teeth, her voice trembling. "Did you think just because this girl-this /child/-had once been entrusted to your care that you were somehow entitled to her body?"

Kakashi's brows furrowed. "Of course not, Hokage-sama. I-"

Tsunade slapped him hard across the face. His head whipped to one side and he staggered back a few steps. He stared back at her, shocked.

"I'm placing you under house arrest," Tsunade brusquely informed him. "There will be a twenty-four hour guard placed on your apartment." She glanced at Sakura, then back at him. "The two of you will have no contact at all. I haven't decided when or if you'll be able to see each other, so don't ask."

Kakashi started to open his mouth, his face still stinging. Tsunade raised a finger at him. "You so much as set a toe outside your door unless I specifically order you to, and your ass is mine!" She nodded curtly to her two assistants. "Get him out of here!"

Isumo and Kotetsu glanced at each other before stepping to either side of Kakashi. With a final glance at Sakura, Kakashi let himself be led towards the door.

"Wait!" Sakura cried. She turned to Tsunade, her eyes frantically pleading. "Please! Can we say good bye?"

Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment. "Fine. Make it quick."

The two chunin took a couple of steps away from Kakashi as Sakura approached him.

The girl threw Tsunade a defiant glance and stepped up to Kakashi, slipping her arms under his and around his back, pulling herself close. He put his arms around her and pressed his cheek against her hair.

"I'm sorry!" the girl whispered, knowing they could be heard, but not caring. "I didn't have time to tell you."

"It's all right," Kakashi whispered back.

"Are you angry?"

"Not at you, no."

"I love you!" Sakura's hushed voice was tinged with desperation. Her arms tightened around him. Tsunade would not allow them much more time.

"I love you, too." Kakashi hesitated, feeling Tsunade's gaze burning into him. He quickly pulled down the edge of his mask and, tilting Sakura's face to meet his, he kissed her. He could feel tears start to run down her face. Their lips parted and his slipped his mask back over his nose. He wished he could tell her not or worry or be afraid, but he wasn't sure she shouldn't. There were a lot of things he wished he could tell her, but there was no time.

He backed slowly out of Sakura's arms, his dark eye locked on hers. She started to move towards him again, but he shook his head almost imperceptively. They weren't going to put on any more of a performance for these people. Sakura understood and backed away, more tears falling from her cheeks to the floor. She silently mouthed "I love you", then pressed her lips together, determined not to break out sobbing. She would save that luxury for herself when she was alone.

By the tiny crease at the corner of his eyelid, she could tell that he had given her a smile. Then, with the two chunin following behind him out the door, he was gone.

"I want you to move into one of the guest rooms here," Tsunade informed Sakura. "Shizune, would you please go with her to her house and help her pack."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Shizune put Ton-ton in her basket and hurried over to Sakura, escorting the silent girl from the room.

Tsunade stood still, listening to the sound of retreating footsteps. She walked slowly around her desk and sank into her chair. She stared at the top of her desk for a few moments, then, propping her elbows on the desktop and putting her hands to her face, she began to cry.

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AN: I am working on the next chapters as fast as I can, but it has gotten awfully complicated!