When he awoke, he found Kakashi standing not three feet away. In his hands was a tray, upon which sat a cup of water and a bowl of thick, brown soup. Its savory smell wafted down to him, reminding him of his hunger. It also triggered five hard kicks to the side of his liver and what he thought was a punch to his rib. He groaned, didn't want to get up. He pulled the blanket closer around him and tried to move into a more comfortable position, but was found that he had a cramp in his left calve muscle. His slight grimace gave Kakashi a grin that could be seen through the cloth that covered the better percentage of his face. But Sasuke ignored him and closed his eyes in an effort to return to the peaceful, dreamless sleep he had been forced out of. He did not notice the sun light streaming down from the flaps in the tent's sides nor the sweet sound of morning birds fresh from a night of sleep.

"Time to wake up, Sasuke," he heard him get up and set the tray down, "we'll be heading out in an hour." He gave the boy a gentle shake and, with one graceful movement, pulled blanket from his weak grasp. "There we go. Eat up."

He had the decency to help right the now very pregnant Sasuke into a sitting position and set the tray at his side. Sasuke, a bit too eager, he realized, took up the bowl, Kakashi handing him a metal spoon. The soup was still warm. Sasuke couldn't help but eat it slowly, enjoying every bite. Kabuto had enforced a very strict diet, allowing him only four bowls of a thick, white, past-like broth every day.

"How is it?"

It was very good. But he was silent.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Two days ago. Truth be told, his hope had been that either he-preferably the babies-would be dead from starvation. Kakashi waited for a response, did not seem surprised when he received none. "I've sent a squad back to the village. They should have everything set up for you when we get back," he gave head, "Sakura will meet us half-way between here and the village. No new pains or anything?" He shook his head, set the empty bowl down on the tray and, with Kakashi's help, stood up. It felt painfully good to stretch.

"It'll be okay, Sasuke, everything will be okay. When we get home we'll figure out what to do."

"Just cut them out,"Sasuke said suddenly, "I don't want them-"

"There's more to it than that," his voice was calm but stern, almost soothing. Sasuke felt as though he was thirteen again, "Your body can't handle too much right now."

"You're just going to put me in prison anyways, "he shrugged, and "I don't really care, Kakashi. Do whatever you want, but just get these things out of me." He felt tears, hot as the soup, streamed down his cheeks, his breath catching in his sore throat. He began to shake. Kakash, doing his own best not to shake, in anger, in horror at his once student, helped him back onto the cot. The anxiety of the past months, perhaps even of the past decade, had caught up with him just as Kakashi had always feared it would. But in his mind's eye, he had never seen Sasuke with a large, round stomach, his shoulders thin as rails and his skin pale as freshly laid shets. Kakashi didn't say anything in comfort, it was too late for that, just kept his firm, steady hand on his thin shoulder and let him relieve himself. Soon Sasuke, looking far younger than his six-teen years, was sobbing, trembling uncontrollably.

He shouldn't be pregnant, Sasuke thought to himself. They were not his, they were Orochimaru's. He-HE-was not a woman, they were not his. This was all just to humiliate him, for revenge. What would Itachi, yes, dead and rotting, but still there, think? Or Sakura or Naruto? He would have to face them accompanied by this mound of moving, sickening flesh. They would patronize him, remind him how this was what he had wanted, before ignoring him altogether and throwing him away. He barely noticed how tight Kakashi's grip was on his shoulder, how the man's face was crumbing just a little more with each sharp breath he took. He didn't notice how his hands were placed holding his belly. But he felt the sharp kicks, the hard punches, as if angry to have their quiet disturbed.

XXX

He said not word to the other men in Kakashi's squad, nor did they say a word to him. His arms were bound but kept in the front, in case he would need to catch himself in a fall. But he was thankful for the heavy cloak he was given. It hid most of his large stomach from view, which, even in the heat and humidity, was welcomed more than anything. He ignored the pain circulating through-out his pelvis that peaked with every small waddling step he took, the heart-burn from the soup, the need to urinate. And he was very good at ignoring it all, until Kakashi stopped them for a short break. He was forced to eat a bit more of the soup, forced to sit down a rest, forced to empty his bladder in the relative privacy given to him by a tree. It was all enough to time to make him think about what was going to happen to him in the Village. He had been prepared for execution, for torture, for rape, for being drugged. But now he had the babies, Orochimaru's babies, his clones. They would be powerful; they could be molded into whatever anyone wanted.

Sasuke forced himself to stay calm as the medic of the group placed his hands on his belly, almost in a gentle massaging motion, to check the welfare of the babies. He was given another small sedative, this time to keep him calm he was told. They would make him keep the babies. Until full term. They would make him suffer through the pain of childbirth, Kabuto had been explicit about that, and give birth to those monsters. What if they made him raise them? What he was forced to stay alive, to raise them? To look at them? But Sasuke forced himself into calmness, allowed the drug to do its work.

XXX

He had smelled the water before they had reached the bank of the river. Across the fast, river was where they needed to be. A bridge, old and rotting as his brother's corpse, connected the two landmasses. Kakashi seemed to think nothing of it as they stepped onto the old wood; Sasuke thought nothing of it as he, in a show of strength he himself could barely comprehend, stole away from the group and leapt over the side of the bridge.

Hoped you all loved this chapter! Sorry for the wait, it's been really, really busy. Stay tuned for next time :D