Hey, guys! Sorry I've been gone so long! Or maybe I wasn't? Honestly, I haven't been keeping track, all I know is that I have to update this week. Just a heads-up that while reading, if you guys find any grammar or spelling mistakes, please don't hesitate to tell me because I actually didn't really reread this chapter after writing it. Normally I do, but I'm honestly exhausted, it's practically the end of school, and I really want to get this chapter out to you guys. But really, if you guys find any mistakes, highlight it, and comment the mistake so I can go fix it, it would be a big help. 

!!! So just some announcements I want to make. This is important. I'll be leaving on vacation in around two weeks, and I'm going to Lebanon. For most of the time there, I won't have wifi, so don't be alarmed if there are no updates, I will not have given up on any of my books here. That's all, so here is chapter 22!

            Sakura yawned as the alarm clock started blaring from beside her. She threw an arm out from under the covers and groped around on her bedside table. The constant ringing was starting to annoy her, and as she finally felt the jagged corner of it, she brought her fist down quickly. She heard a giant crash and tried to retract her hand to see, but found that it was stuck. She reluctantly opened her eyes, and lifted her head from her pillow to see metal parts and wire everywhere and splintered wood. She had apparently managed to completely destroy her alarm clock, and in the process, get her fist stuck in the wood of the table. She sighed in frustration and yanked her arm roughly, managing to liberate her hand from the table. She blinked at blearily at the wreckage and decided to put off dealing with it until she was more awake. The thing was that ever since her arrival in Konoha, her strength would act up randomly and things like this would happen. Just the other day, she had accidentally dented a metal pot while helping Mikoto cook. It was getting a little out of hand, but she was going to see Tsunade today, so hopefully she would be able to help.

            She stood up and stretched, grimacing as her back popped in a gross but satisfying way. She walked across the room, shivering slightly as the cold wood came into contact with the bottom of her feet. Her room was pretty big, as expected of a large mansion like this one. She had a king size bed with white duvets and a mattress that felt like she was sleeping on a cloud. There was a large armoire in the corner, two tables on either side of the bed, and a large ornate mirror hanging on one wall. The walls were rather plain, the walls a cream color with only a light indication of a motif with flower imprints in a slightly darker shade of the wall's color itself. Her bag was still ling on the floor unpacked. She kept telling herself she would get to it, but she never really did. Somehow unpacking it seemed like it would make her move here permanent, and every time she thought to unpack, the image of Soraya and Akio popped into her head.

            She shook her head and looked at herself in the mirror. All she was wearing was a shirt, and it had apparently ridden up on her body up to below her bust, exposing her scar. She traced her finger along the ugly pink flesh, from below the middle of her ribcage to her left hip. As a child, Sakura had hated this scar, especially because it stretched as she grew, making it more noticeable. It had been something that had constantly reminded her that she was different. Now though, she didn't quite know how to feel about it. She had accepted that she was different, and now she knew that this scar she so hated was proof that her birth parents had loved her, had protected her with all they had, giving their lives for her. She was to find out who they were today, and now part of her wanted to know, wanted to know the people who had died for her.

            She pulled her shirt down, not wanting to walk out completely naked, and smelled the fabric. Yes, this shirt was Sasuke's. Her fist night there, Mikoto had simply gone to Sasuke's room and given it to her, leaving no room for protest. It was of course big on her, going to the middle of her thighs. The downside to the shirt was that every time she smelled it, her anger at Sasuke ebbed away a little, but then it would come back full force because his smell reminded her that he wasn't here. Oh yeah, Sasuke had disappeared. When they had arrived back home, Sakura fully intending to confront him, he wasn't anywhere to be found. Naruto had told her about how he did that when he was upset or distraught, but it still was a shock, and angered her even more that he was running away from his problems. So, she had decided not to go look for him. Of course, every time she smelled the stupid shirt, she got the urge to go find him. She needed to get out of it.

            She grabbed some clothes from the neat pile Mikoto had put on her other bedside table. She had apparently guessed Sakura's measurements and had her some training and combat clothes made. She was going to be putting them on for the first time, and she was kind of excited. She exited her room quietly, not knowing whether anyone had awoken yet. She had set her alarm pretty early because she wanted to take a shower, get ready, and walk around Konoha for a couple hours before her meeting with Tsunade. She tiptoed across the hallway towards the bathroom she and Sasuke shared on their side of the mansion. Apparently, each couple of members in the house had their own sort of quarters.

           As she approached, however, she heard heavy breathing and then retching. The door was slightly ajar, and with growing apprehension, she slowly pushed it open. Flashing golden eyes met her own, and sharp crystals rushed towards her, stopping just before they reached her face, the closest one centimeters away from her right eye. She was rooted to the spot, surprised by the suddenness of the action. Mina looked truly wild in that moment: crystals sprouted out of her cheeks, adorning her eyes, from her arms, and legs. Her eyes widened as she looked at her, and the crystals slowly retracted. She immediately grimaced though, and started vomiting in the toilet. Sakura hurried to hold her hair up, but Mina gestured frantically at the door. Not understanding at first, Sakura frowned, but then she understood, and closed the door.

            She then dropped to her side, and held back Mina's wild black curls as she threw up. It was ugly, but thankfully, it soon seemed to be over. Mina sat back panting, sweat causing her oversized gray long-sleeve shirt (that Sakura presumed to be Itachi's) stick to her chest.

            "Thank you," she breathed.

            "Yeah..." Sakura said, shaky herself.

            Just as she was about to ask if she was okay, Mina's hand, subconsciously it seemed, went to her stomach, and something clicked in Sakura's brain.

            "Mina... you're pregnant," she stated, not even questioning it.

            Mina stiffened and looked at her scared.

            "Don't tell anyone!" she said immediately.

            Well this was odd.

            "I won't, it's not my place, but why?" she asked, confused.

            Mina looked away, and stood up, pulling at her now dirty shirt.

            "Let me wash up and I'll tell you," she muttered.

            Sakura nodded, and watched as Mina took her shirt off, exposing a small baby bump. As she cleaned off her shirt and washed her face, Sakura couldn't stop from asking, "How far along are you?"

            Mina stopped in her motion momentarily and said, "Around three months I think. I haven't exactly gone to the hospital..."

            Sakura refrained from asking why and instead said, "Back in my village, I was a doctor. If provided with the equipment I could check for you. No one would know."

            Mina looked at her hopefully, and Sakura smiled reassuringly.

            "I'll see if I can pull some strings," Mina said, looking eager now.

            Once Mina had cleaned up and changed into another shirt, they moved into Sakura's room to be more comfortable. Mina sat down gingerly on the bed, tucking her legs beneath her while Sakura closed the door quietly. She went to sit down as well, leaning her back against the headboard. Mina fiddled with a pillow, and hugged it to her chest.

            "I found out about a month ago," she started. "When we were on the battlefield. I had already missed my period twice so it was no mystery what the cause was, and we hadn't had—well, anyway, I haven't told anyone; even Itachi doesn't know."

            "Why not? Aren't you happy?" Sakura asked.

            "Of course, I am!" Mina said immediately, clenching the pillow tight. "It's my and Itachi's child, I couldn't be happier!"

            "Would he be happy?" Sakura asked.

            "Yes," Mina said positively.

            "Then why haven't you told him?" Sakura asked, tone soft as she talked to the distraught woman.

            Mina averted her eyes, and picked at the covers.

            "It's just that it's not the right time," she said, pained.

            "How do you mean?" Sakura furrowed her brows.

            "We're in the middle of a war, Sakura! Where either me or Itachi could die at any moment. Having a child in the middle of a war is too inconvenient and unfair. Plus, if I say that I'm pregnant, they won't let me go out on the battlefield, and I won't be with Itachi. I don't want to just stay at home, wondering if he's okay, who has his back. If he dies alone out there, and I'm just sitting here, I don't know what I would do!"

            Tears started to drip down her face, and Sakura's heart clenched in sympathy. It was true, was wasn't exactly the ideal time to have a child, but it also wasn't right to put her child in jeopardy by continuing to fight while with child, and not tell Itachi. She was sure Mina knew this, so there had to be another reason.

            "You know you won't be able to hide it forever," Sakura said.

            "Mm..." she muttered.

            It seemed she hadn't really thought this through.

            "There's something else, some other reason," Sakura said, scanning Mina's face. "What is it?"

            Mina's golden eyes stared at her, visibly debating whether to tell her or not, which meant Sakura was spot on. The pregnant woman sighed and wrung her hands anxiously.

            "I'm scared," she said, her voice cracking. "Of being a mother."

            "Why? I'm sure you would make a great mother!" Sakura said, thinking back to how sweet and accommodating Mina had been.

            "But I've never had one, I wouldn't know how to be one!" She said, straining not to yell.

            Sakura kept quiet, sensing more to the story.

            "There's a reason Itachi and I didn't find each other until much later... I'm a Kekkai Genkai, which basically means that I don't categorize as any race of supernatural because of genetic mutations. We're pretty rare, so sometimes we're hunted down." She bent her knees and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on the pillow trapped between her chest and legs. "I was taken by Normies when I was little from my home village—not that I remember any of this—and made me into a weapon. My 'master' as he made us call him collected Kekkai Genkai, and used us in arena fights. He got money if we won, and if we lost... well, it wasn't pretty."

            She shifted on the bed so that her back was to the pinkette, and lifted her shirt. Sakura gasped in horror as dozens of long scars stared back at her, pink strips of flesh crisscrossing all across her back, the pain from each one etched clearly into the stretches of skin. Mina dropped her shirt and turned back to her, looking at her sadly.

            "Ugly, right?" she said, smiling wryly.

            Sakura was speechless. How could anyone, any human being do that? Suddenly, Mina's behavior back when Itachi had mentioned that she lived among Normies became very clear to her.

            "I hate them. They took everything from me: my childhood, my parents, any chance I had of growing up normally. I nearly gave up on Itachi ever coming to find me. I keep trying to tell myself that not all of them are bad just like not all supernaturals are good, but their laughing faces as I crushed my opponents haunt me." Shadows danced in her eyes as she gritted her teeth. "Pathetic, right?" she said, bitterness evident in her voice.

            Sakura grabbed Mina's hand, indignation coursing through her.

            "It's not pathetic at all!" she said vehemently, causing Mina to look up in surprise. "I hated everyone in the village I was in because they didn't understand me, treated me like an animal. The only reason I changed my mind was because I saw proof, proof that there were nice people. Shizune, my adoptive mother, was the first to be kind to me, even though now I know she was a supernatural, but even beyond her, there were people who stood by me. Soraya and Akio... they were able to sway the village to my side. All people have the potential to be good or bad, that's what I learned from the people around me.

           "It's not pathetic at all to feel that way because that was your experiences, and sometimes even logic can't override emotions, and that's okay. One day, I'm going to introduce you to Soraya and Akio so that you'll have new experiences and can change your mind, but for now, your past experiences shouldn't hold you back. You say they took everything from you, but right now you're continuing to let them take things from you even though you're no longer within their physical grasp! You're not letting yourself enjoy the fact that you're going to be a mother! You're going to have a child with the man you love! And yet you won't let yourself be happy with that, and are depriving Itachi of the knowledge that he's going to be a father! You say you don't know how to be a mother, but does anyone? Having a kid will always be a new experience to anyone, but you're not alone: you have Itachi, Mikoto, Fugaku, and even Sasuke-kun. Yeah, maybe it's not the right time, but there's no guarantee it will ever be. So, take what you have! Don't hold yourself back!"

            Sakura hadn't meant to be so emotional or yell at Mina, but it had all just spilled out of her mouth; maybe it was because she knew all too well how she felt. She too had even started crying as she had spoken, all her emotions from back then rushing back. Mina was staring at her, tears spilling down her face. Then, she suddenly started laughing. Sakura blinked in surprise, but for some reason started laughing with her.

            "You're right," Mina said between laughs. "You're absolutely right... God, I'm an idiot. I just have to be happy... I was telling Sasuke the same thing and yet I was doing the same thing."

            Mina looked at her, eyes shining as she grinned at her.

            "Thank you, Sakura," she said.

            "Glad I could help," Sakura said, shrugging. "I'm sorry for yelling at you though."

            "It's fine, I needed it," she said, wiping away her tears. "I'm going to go tell Itachi right now!"

            "Eh?" Sakura said.

            "Come on!" Mina said, tugging on Sakura's arm.

            "Wha—with me?" she asked incredulously as she was dragged out of her room.

            "It's thanks to you that this is happening, so yes!" She said as she ran down the hallway, Sakura in tow.

            Mina kicked open the door of what Sakura presumed to be their room, making Itachi jump up in bed.

            "Mina, what the hell?" he said, looking around sleepily. His hair was loose and sticking up on one side. Aw, his bed hair was cute!

            Mina launched herself at him as his eyes widened, and he somehow managed to catch her clumsily.

            "Itachi, I have something to tell you!" she yelled practically in a now wide awake Itachi's face.

            Sakura stood off to the side as she watched Itachi chuckle at his mate's weirdness.

            "What is it?" he asked, smiling.

            A tired looking Mikoto and irritated Fugaku came in just then, both of them in robes just as Mina grinned down at him hands on the back of his neck and said softly now, "I'm pregnant."

            Fugaku's face, which had been contorted in anger a moment ago, clearly ready to yell at Mina for waking up the whole household early in the morning, went slack. Mikoto started crying happily, and Itachi—well, Itachi was staring up at Mina as if she was goddess.

            "Are you serious?" he whispered, placing his hands one her hips.

            "Yes. I've known for a while, and I'm sorry I didn't tell y—" she started, but was silenced as Itachi leaned up and captured her lips in his. Mina stiffened in surprise before burying her hands in his messy bed hair, and responding in kind. Sakura looked away embarrassedly to see Mikoto watching on with sparkling eyes while Fugaku still seemed to be in shock.

            They separated finally, and Itachi leaned down to hug Mina's stomach as she caressed the top of his head. She turned slightly to glance at Sakura and mouthed, 'Thank you'. Sakura smiled, and nodded, watching the happy family. It felt nice being able to help someone be happy. Even in the worst of situations, it was important to look for the good moments, and this was one of the good moments. 

So? What did you guys think? I know this chapter probably wasn't exactly what you were expecting, but this is part of Sakura integrating the Uchiha family. What are your opinions on the events of this chapter? How about Mina? Gender of the baby? 

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I will hopefully be back soon in the week before I leave for vacation, but we'll see if getting ready to travel for two months is too hectic or not. I'll try my best to give you guys as much content as possible before I have no wifi, so stay tuned, and hopefully stay with this story even if I disappear for a couple months. So I will see ya next time! Ja ne!