Mishap

Chapter One

-Clock-

Sakura took a sip of her tea, trying not to feel awkward as she awaited her friend's reactions to her news. She, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were all sitting outside at a small bistro, where they had met to have drinks as Sakura told them her big news. Currently they were all staring at her in shock, and she felt nervousness begin to creep in as she tried to make it seem less weird than it already was. Setting her glass down, she cleared her throat nervously.

"So…what do you guys think?" she asked, beginning to fidget underneath the table.

Hinata seemed to recover first. "Oh…w-well…I think it sounds like a great idea Sakura-chan. I mean…it makes sense, and you would be a very good-"

"I think it's stupid." Ino crossed her arms and frowned. "Why not just wait a while? There are plenty of great guys out there that I could hook you up with Forehead."

"Well I think it's a great idea!" Tenten exclaimed, hitting the table with her fist. "You are setting an example for women that we don't need a man in our lives to be happy! It's wonderful."

Ino cast a sideways glare at the brunette. "Tenten, you're engaged to Neji, you have no right to say that. And Hinata," she looked at the ex-Hyuuga. "You just go married to Naruto six months ago. And I'm dating Kiba, who is going to propose to me by the end of the week or get his dick chopped off, so none of us have room to talk about how great of an idea it is."

"So." Tenten crossed her arms stubbornly.

Sakura sighed. "Look, I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but the clock is ticking. Ninja don't usually live this long, and the fact that I even made it to twenty-five is a miracle. I am perfectly content with my life, but I want this you guys." She said, almost pleading. "I want it so bad, and I need to know that you'll support me."

"Of course we will Sakura-chan." Hinata smiled at her.

"Definitely." Tenten nodded. Everyone looked at Ino, who still appeared to be stubborn about the whole thing.

"…Fine, I guess I can support you." She rolled her eyes, pretending as if it was a hassle, though her smile blew her ruse.

"Thanks you guys!" Sakura smiled brightly. "I just know it's going to be great. All I have to do is-" she looked out onto the street and saw a blur of red coming their way. Her eyes widened, and she stood, looking over the crowd of civilians to see none other than Sabaku no Gaara walking down the street towards them, talking to Naruto. She looked back at them. "One second." She held up a finger before running off down the street.

"Gaara!" she called, throwing her arms around him in a fierce hug. Gaara blinked, feeling a weight pull him down slightly and then realized the one holding onto him had pink hair. He smiled slightly and helped her off, keeping his hands steady on her hips.

"Hello Sakura."

"I didn't know you were already in town!" she smiled up at him. "When did you arrive?"

"Just now actually." He said, seeming to brighten, if even a little. Naruto let out an exasperated sigh.

"God you guys just ditch me! What are you, dating?" he laughed as if it were the most hilarious joke in the world.

Sakura glared over at him, a light pink dusting her cheeks at the comment. "Shut up Naruto. Everyone ditches you when they get the chance. The only one who doesn't is Hinata, and that's only because she's completely devoted to you."

"And she spoke the unbreakable bond, so now even if she wants she can't get away from you." Gaara said with a small smirk.

"Why do you guys always pick on me?" the blonde whined. "All I did was make a joke."

Sakura looked up at Gaara. "He made a joke? I don't remember laughing at anything." She said, a mischievous look on her face.

"Nor do I." the redhead replied smugly, glancing over Sakura's head and then back down to her. "Well we were on our way to Sasuke's, and I can see that I am keeping you from your friends, since they all have their eyes set on us, and that blonde one looks like she's about to blow."

"Eh. Ino's always like that." She waved it off. "Are you doing anything later? I was thinking we could go out to dinner and catch up." She smiled slightly.

He sighed. "I wish. But tonight I actually have to meet with Tsunade and then Neji and I are going to train. But tomorrow night I can." He told her, trying to get the smile to resurface on her now downcast face.

"That's perfect!" she said, perking up once more. "My shift at the hospital ends at six, so do you want to just come and get me, and then we can pick a place to eat?"

"Sounds good." He nodded and then started back towards his destination with Naruto. "See you then Sakura." He waved.

"Yeah! Bye Sakura!" Naruto sniffed, hitting Gaara over the head, or attempting to, since his sand blocked the blow.

"Bye!" she waved, turning around and going back to the table with her friends. "Sorry guys." She smiled, sitting back down.

"God, what are you sixteen?" Ino rolled her eyes, biting into her salad. "You're like a horny school girl."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura crossed her arms. "Gaara and I are just friends."

The blond gave her an incredulous look, "Uh huh. Let me reenact for you." She stood and pulled Tenten up with her. "Gaara!" she squealed in an overly high pitched voice and then jumped onto Tenten, wrapping her arms around the girl's neck and her legs around her waist as the brunette supported her with her hands. "I didn't know you were here. I've missed you so much! You're uber hot and uber sexy and we should hang out and do naughty things in the coat closet!"

Sakura gasped. "That is not what happened, and you know it!" she pointed at her friend. "We have never done anything like that." She crossed her arms once more.

"Oh really?" Ino snickered, opening her mouth about to explode with the need to tell secrets, until Hinata slapped her hands over Ino's mouth and dragged her back down to her seat.

"Yes Sakura, we know that didn't happen." She said softly. "But you are very touchy feely with Kazekage-sama."

"We're just good friends, that's all." She shrugged. "I don't really know when it happened, or how, but after the Great Ninja War and stuff we've just kind of…gotten closer." She meshed her fingers together as if to better illustrate her point. "And I like having him as a friend. He's very nice when he wants to be."

"When he wants to be, being the key word there." Tenten huffed. "He's always mean to me, and Neji always prefers to hang with Gaara instead of me when he's here."

"That's just because he doesn't like you." Sakura pointed out. "Or Ino. He can stand Hinata, but that's only because she's quiet, and not really all that annoying."

"Um…thanks?" the ebony haired woman said, not sure if that was a compliment or not.

"Well I think he's annoying." Ino said, mirroring Tenten's annoyance. "He's mean, and carries that 'I'm so much God damn better than everyone else' aura. Just cause' he's a Kage and was the commanding general of the ninja army doesn't mean he has the right to belittle people."

"But he doesn't say anything to belittle people." Hinata blinked, growing confused on the matter.

"He doesn't have to say it. It's his aura and his being that forces it upon poor unsuspecting and innocent souls!" Ino spouted.

Sakura snorted. "Please Pig, you do not have an innocent soul." She snickered, taking a sip of her tea.

"Well…" she trailed off. "Whatever, you know what I mean."

"No one ever knows what you mean." Tenten sighed drinking her tea as well.

"So, when are you going to do it?" Hinata asked.

Sakura began to put salad on her fork. "I have an appointment with Shishou tomorrow before work, just to make sure that I'll be able to do it successfully, and if that goes well, I should be expecting by the end of the week." She smiled.

"I still think you should wait." Tenten sighed.

Ino nodded. "There is something about having a baby with the one you love that is just…magical." She smiled and then went wide eyed.

They all looked at her. "Ino…are you…?" Sakura asked.

"What? Of course not." She laughed awkwardly, avoiding everyone's gaze.

"That's great!" the pink haired woman exclaimed, leaning over and throwing her arms around her best friend. "I'm so happy for you!" she sat back. "Does Kiba know?"

"Of course he doesn't know, I want him to propose to me without pressure." She said, trying to appear angry, but it was obvious that she was glad to have told someone.

"Well I'm sure he will." She reassured the blonde.

Hinata nodded. "Kiba-kun has always been pretty good about picking up on what you want. I bet he's just waiting for the perfect way to ask you." She smiled. "After all, Naruto-kun put my ring on my chopsticks at Ichiraku and proposed to me there."

"Yeah, but isn't that more him instead of you, since you were at a ramen stand?" Tenten arched a delicate brow.

"Well, yes, but if it is dear to Naruto-kun, it is dear to me, and it was completely by surprise, so that's what made it special." She explained.

Ino just shook her head. "Well I'm off to the academy for today's lesson. I'll see you guys later." She waved and set down some money for her half of the bill, leaving for the school.

Sakura did as well, paying for her food. "I have a shift at the hospital in about an hour, so I should probably head on home." She stood.

Tenten nodded. "Yeah Hinata and I were going to go dress shipping anyways. See you later Sakura." They waved and headed off as well after paying.

Sakura began to walk home then, thinking about all of the exciting things she had planned for tomorrow.

The next day when her shift ended, Sakura was exhausted from the four surgeries she'd had to perform that day. It soon faded as she exited the hospital and she saw Gaara waiting for her. She smiled as she walked up to him. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hey." He replied back, beginning to walk with her as they headed towards the area of the village where most of the restaurants were located.

"So where do you want to eat?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Doesn't matter to me. You pick." He sighed, looking up into the sky that was turning a deep orange.

"Okay." She picked a quaint little place that was pretty casual. They ordered their drinks, and then began to look at the menu. "How was your day?" she asked, setting her menu down once she knew what she wanted.

"Pretty uneventful." He shrugged, glancing over the types of meats and steaks they offered. "And you? Tough day at the hospital?"

"I had to perform four surgeries today, but it wasn't too bad." She said, thanking the waiter as he set down their drinks. "A little tiring, but I'll be fine once I eat." They ordered their food then, and once the waiter was gone, Sakura rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "So…there's something I want to tell you…"she said.

Sensing her demeanor, Gaara shifted slightly in his seat. "Is everything ok?" he asked hesitantly, his nervousness apparent in his voice, which was something she didn't experience often with him.

"No, there's nothing wrong." She lowered her hand and gave him a reassuring smile. "I just don't know how to say it."

"Look if this is about what happened at that celebration party three years ago I can explain."

She blinked, becoming confused. "What do you mean? What happened at the celebration party?"

His eyes widened slightly but he quickly controlled his reaction. "Nothing. Nothing happened." He said, looking up when the waiter brought out their meals. He sighed with relief that the conversation had been avoided, but he needed to get back on what Sakura wanted to talk about. "So you were saying? About something you wanted to tell me?" he asked, picking up his water and taking a long drink.

"I'm having a baby." She said, point blank. There really wasn't any other way to tell him, and she might as well get it over with now, instead of later.

He choked on the liquid and spit it out onto the table, nothing but pure shock on his face. "What? You're pregnant?" he said a bit loudly, though he looked horrified.

"Not yet." She held up a hand to assuage him. "But I'm going to be."

"Who?" he demanded, now appearing angry. What in the world was going on? He didn't know Sakura had a boyfriend and she most certainly had never mentioned one. And he knew her pretty darn well. "I don't understand. I didn't even know you were dating. Why didn't you mention this in one of your letters? You sent me one like a week ago. Is it that sudden?"

"No, no, no." she shook her head. "I'm not dating. You see, I had an appointment with Shishou the other day, and she told me that I am perfectly healthy and fertile. So I'm going to find a donor, and have their sperm implanted in me." She gestured to her stomach. "That way I can just have a child of my own, and not have to deal with having someone else in my life. It makes things far less complicated."

"A donor?" he looked worried. "But don't you want…to know the father of your baby?"

"I thought about that, but it only complicates things. I don't want him to feel obligated to be in my child's life just because he helped create it, and it's not like we would have any sort of relationship, so that would just be confusing to my baby. This way I just bypass all that complicated stuff and get the prize!" she smiled, excited now that she was talking about it.

He blinked. "Aren't you supposed to have a baby to consummate love or something?" Now he was really confused. He was pretty bad at the whole knowledge on relationships, but now everything he thought he knew was turned upside down.

"Well, yes." She admitted. "Normally people have kids with each other because they love one another, but, seeing as how I'm twenty-five and have absolutely no hope of finding anyone I want to spend the rest of my life with, this is the easier option. Besides, the life of a ninja can be a short one, and I want to have a baby before my window is gone."

Gaara couldn't help but feel a slight stab in his chest from her words, but chose to ignore the feelings, as he usually did when he and Sakura talked about matters of the heart. "So…who are you going pick?" he questioned. Needing to do something with his hands, he picked up his utensils and began cutting into his steak.

"I don't know." She sighed, beginning to twirl some pasta onto her fork. "I didn't want to pick someone until I was sure that it would be okay if I had a baby. I don't want anything to go wrong." She told him. "I was going to go and look at the registry of donors tomorrow…and see if I found someone."

"But why wouldn't you pick someone you know?" he glanced off and then a sharp snap made both them look back to his plate that was now broken in half from the force of the knife cutting into it. "Damnit," he cursed, looking irritated.

The waiter hurried over with another plate and helped him move the food from the broken one to the new one and then clean up the mess. When he was gone Sakura continued. "Well, everyone I know here already has a special someone, or is someone I don't want to risk my child looking like." She shuddered as the image of Rock Lee crossed his mind.

"Like Lee?" The thought actually made him somewhat laugh, imagining what Sakura and Lee's kid would look like. "Such…huge eyebrows."

"It's gross." She frowned, shoving some pasta into her mouth. "And it would be kind of weird."

"And energetic." He sighed.

"This way, I know the good traits my child will get." She nodded. "And everyone in the registry is a civilian, so I won't have to worry about any weird kekkei genkai popping up or anything like that."

Gaara looked a bit worried. "You don't want your child to be powerful?"

"I want my child to be whatever they want to be." She said. "Whether they choose the life of a ninja or not. You don't have to be born powerful to become so." She crossed her arms and glared lightly at him. "I wasn't, if you recall."

He sighed. "You know that's not what I meant, but I find it hard to believe you would want your child to take on the life of a civilian."

"I want them to be happy." She said, getting more pasta on her fork to eat. "I don't want them to feel like they have to become a ninja just to make me happy. I mean, my parents were civilians, but they let me do what made me happy. So I'm going to do the same with my child."

"So…there's no one that you'd prefer out of people you know? I mean, just out of curiosity, since I want to help you in any way I can with this. I mean, who am I to judge, after all I didn't have the most conventional childhood." Gaara stuffed his mouth before he could say anything more.

"I don't know." She groaned, placing her hand against her forehead and rubbing her temple. "It all seemed a lot simpler if I just don't have to interact with the guy."

Gaara just sighed and continued to eat. He didn't really know what to say. This was horrible. Sakura was going to have some other man's baby just because she wanted one? If she wanted a baby that badly he would gladly help her in the process. But would she even want him to? She hadn't really ever voiced feelings other than friendship towards him, and she'd said there was no one she really was considering out of the people she knew. Did that include him?

He knew she was not aware of how he felt for her, but how could she? He was extremely skilled in hiding the fact he was attracted to her. And if he offered, he really didn't want to feel the rejection of being turned down. And she said she didn't want her baby to have any kekkei genkai like traits, and his said would definitely make a strong child.

Taking his silence negatively, she looked down at her food and picked up her fork. "You think it's stupid." She said, sullenly eating her food.

"Sakura you know better than to put words in my mouth." He said lowly, his tone warning her. "I said I am not one to judge. I don't exactly have a picture perfect knowledge on how things work between people."

"But you don't think it's a good idea, do you?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I don't really know what to think, so I can honestly tell you that I don't know."

"I just…" she said softly, sounding kind of pained. "I'm tired of waiting around to find someone. I look at all of my friends, and they have someone…they're happy. Even Sasuke has himself a baby mama. I don't want to sit there and watch them all raise their kids, and move on with their lives, and be left alone."

God he just wanted to yell. What was he? Off the radar? He didn't have anyone, nor did he have kids that were alive or on the way. "Well…if that's what you want to do." He said, trying his best not to sound condemning.

They finished eating their dinner in silence, mostly because neither could think of anything to say. When it was over, Gaara paid for their meals, and then walked Sakura back to her apartment, like he always did. They stopped in front of her building, and she Sakura looked up at him. "Gaara…I know you have trouble understanding some things…but…it means a lot to me…that you're trying to understand why I'm doing this." She smiled a bit hesitantly. "Everyone else…hasn't been as supportive."

Cause' it's absolutely ludicrous, he thought to himself. "Well…" he smiled slightly. "I'd like to keep the relationships I can at least manage to hold onto."

Her smile widened, and she hugged him suddenly. "Thank you." She said softly, laying her head against his chest. "You are one of my best friends Gaara."

"Thanks," he rested his head on her and hugged her back. "You know you are mine too. Way above Naruto that's for sure." He smirked.

She chuckled. "You are definitely above Naruto for me." She pulled away from him slightly and placed her hand on his cheek. "Thanks for having dinner with me. Goodnight." She stood up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek then, before she could lose her nerve, and quickly turned and walked away towards her apartment, wanting to hide the dark blush that was covering her cheeks.

He stared after her, slightly wide eyed. He wanted to ask her what this meant, but she was already gone. "Damnit." He cursed aloud, grimacing. Why were women so damn complicated? Was that a friendly kiss? Or something more? "Ah!" he yelled, glaring at the ground as his sand picked up and he disappeared from the air.