For the Sasusaku day 12: Gravitation

Sasuke is soft with babies because I said so!

Sakura is prone to giving them surprises.

She's not a mysterious girl with a dark past and the death of her loved ones behind her like Sasuke and Kakashi, and she's definitely not, Lady Luck's favourite person with a knack for saving everyone in the last single minute like Naruto.

But she comes from a different world than her boys, moves in different circles. She's all sincere smiles and infinite love to give, she's also all girl defiance and anger controlled in the little space that is her tiny body.

Naruto still remembers the Saint Valentine's day she rejected him because she had a date with Ino. Apparently girls did that. They went hand in hand to the market, gifted each other flowers and fed each other ice cream by hand without worrying if it looked weird to the rest of the world.

"Valentine's day is also Galentine's day," she told them the next day after scolding both: Naruto and Sasuke for spying on her date with her best friend. "We girls like to go out from time to time. You know?"

And that was that.

Sasuke still can remember the day she cried during a sparring to trick him into loosing a Taijutsu-only training.

It was uncanny in the first place that Kakashi decided to put Sasuke against Sakura in a fight, but it was definitely weirder for Sakura to take any form of physical contact with Sasuke in a serious manner.

Therefore, when Sakura broke out crying after a well placed punch to her face, Sasuke reacted almost instinctively and approached her with his guard lowered to assess her wounds.

She, then proceeded to punch him so hard in the middle of his face that he went flying a few meters and got his nose broken. Kakashi declared her the winner.

"They taught us how to use men's weakness for girls as an advantage in Kunoichi training." She told him matter-of-factly after training. "You can't lower your guard around me just because I'm a girl, Sasuke-kun." Instructed the Kunoichi.

"And what are we supposed to do against girls, Sakura-Chan?" Asked Naruto, curious as ever by anything that had to do with the female gender.

"I don't know…" She stressed. "What did they taught you?" Sasuke doesn't remember any teacher schooling him about best friends and loved ones using his care for them against him.

Maybe they should have.

Sakura has proven time and time again to be quite the anomaly for them.

Hence, when Sakura gives them three cherry scented little pink cards decorated with a blue ribbon and the words ~ Please Joins Us to Celebrate! ~ In bold, golden letters.

They're obviously surprised but maybe, not so much.

"What is this, Sakura-Chan?" Asks Kakashi with a fake smile lightening his one squinted eye.

"My mom is pregnant and already passed her third trimester!" She annunciates with the happiest grin they've ever seen on her. "So we are throwing a baby shower to celebrate."

"A baby shower?" Asks Naruto confused.

Sasuke is equally confused, he's only accustomed to celebrate a baby after they are already born. But it was rare for him to be able to celebrate with the mothers of his clan when they were alive and now is even odder.

"Yes! It's foreign custom." She explains "we throw a party to celebrate and cheer up the mother, we play games and give her gifts. We are also supposed to know the baby's gender in the party but mom doesn't want to know until the she gives birth…"

"Ah! But Sakura-Chan! We don't have any gifts!" Exclaims the Jinchuriki agitated.

"Don't worry, you don't have to bring anything." Smiles Sakura, "and if you don't want to come bare handed then you can adhere yourself to my gift, the party is in a week anyway and I haven't bought anything yet…"

"Then we can buy her ramen!"

In a strange act of unprompted violence Sasuke hits him right on the middle of his head "She can't be eating that crap, idiot!" growls Sasuke "It can hurt the baby!"

"But what can we buy it!" Cries Naruto, holdings his head in pain "We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl!"

"It doesn't matter, Naruto. Mom and dad hate gender stereotypes, besides" explains Sakura "I wear red even though I'm a girl and everyone on Ino's team wears an earring, also Sasuke-kun wears purple sometimes," exemplifies the pinkette looking directly at her crush, "No one knows about weapons more than TenTen-san and Neji-San has the prettiest hair in the whole village."

"So that means…" Tries Naruto.

"It means gender equality or death, Naruto." She smiles creepily "Now, are you going to accompany me to buy my mom a present or not?"

"I will," volunteers Sasuke hiding his blush under the high collar of his shirt.

"Then Naruto and I will be buying her another gift" smirks Kakashi, directing a conspiratorial look towards Sasuke who in turn, glares at his teacher. Kakashi then hoists Naruto by the collar of his track jacket and takes him away against all of Naruto's complains.

They spend the whole afternoon in the market after her announcement, it's the longest time they've ever spent together alone outside of training or missions and Sakura doesn't even squeal or blush one single time.

It's actually really fun.

After the baby shower Sasuke starts to gravitate towards her house.

The first time it happens Sakura thinks it's cute and a noble gesture coming for a normally aloof Sasuke.

She comes back home from a date with Hinata and TenTen when the sight of Sasuke stocking her mom's shopping bags in the kitchen takes her by surprise.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura blushes red up to her ears and squirms under his cold gaze. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Oh, Sakura-Chan!" Welcomes Mebuki "your cute little teammate found me on the market and insisted on helping me home" Relates the pregnant woman holding her own cheek, smiling wide while recalling her encounter with Sasuke "I was about to invite him over for dinner so why…"

"I have to go." Interrupts her the prodigy "Take care, Haruno-San" He bows to the older woman, uncharacteristically polite "bye, Sakura."

The next time he actually invites himself over for dinner when Sakura comments on his father having to go away for the weekend.

"But he'll come back by Monday." Explains Sakura "So mom and will make do until then."

Sasuke waits until they finish every mission for the day to talk to her, he doesn't want Naruto or Kakashi to hear him and think they're invited too "I will accompany you to your house today" he says in a serious tone of voice, "it's not good for you and your mom to be alone."

Sakura of course accepts his offer, even when Sasuke didn't ask her anything.

In a weird turn of events Sasuke cooks them a healthy dinner and prepares green juice for her mom.

"The women of the clan used to gather around our house and talk about pregnancy and babies when anyone of them got pregnant." He explains late at night when Sakura's mom goes to sleep and leaves them to clean the table. "Father didn't like us boys to share those moments because it was for the women, but I sneaked away with them nevertheless."

Sasuke smiles nostalgic and sad all at the same time, as he usually does in the rare moments he talks about his past with Sakura.

"But why?"

"Because gender equality or death, Sakura."

After their talk is easier for Sasuke to visit Sakura's home or walk alongside her to the market. They both enjoy the experience of expecting the new life coming onto their lives even if is only Sakura who's getting a new sibling.

Naruto smiles sadly every time he sees his teammates walk together after training but allows them their little piece of heaven.

Kakashi always smirks when he sees Sasuke at the market and he's not buying weapons or vegetables and instead buys China Roses, Mimosas and Lilies for a calming pregnancy. But also buys Cosmos and Sakura branches in bloom, seemingly only on a whim.

He gravitates around Sakura and her family, attracted by the warmth and the kindness emanating from them, allows himself to enjoy Sakura's world as if it belonged to him.