This Woman's Work
I own nothing.
Warning: This one-shot contains realistic descriptions of giving birth.
###
Sakura awoke as the moon was directly overhead, the feel of her husband's warm chest pressed to her back. She could hear the wind whistling through the cracks in the cabin's weathered logs, but thankfully the coals in the fireplace broke most of the chill. All was still, and she wondered what had roused her from the deep sleep induced by a full day's travel through the cold snows of the land of Iron. They had spent the past week offering medical services to the Samurai and helping to clean the graves of the soldiers lost during the war on the Vernal Equinox. The gesture seemed to have gone a long way in repairing the relationship between Sasuke and the local warriors, so much so that they even taught him some new sword fighting techniques.
In a way, Sakura was slightly disappointed to be ending their journey. She had loved this time spent alone with her husband. She remembered the years spent longing to catch a glimpse of his face, to reignite that spark of hope that he would return to them alive and well. Although she would fantasize about it, she never allowed herself to truly want more from him. The realist in her knew that the chances of him rejoining the ranks of Konoha shinobi were slim to none. To hope for anything more would only lead to heartbreak.
Yet here she lay, the feeling of Sasuke's steady heartbeat drumming against her shoulder as his breath gently blew through the loose hair strewn across her pillow. His hand rested protectively, as it had every night since the incident in wind country, on her now-swollen belly. She had gotten so much more than she could have ever hoped for. Part of her wished they could spend the rest of their lives traveling this way, mostly free from the interruptions of the shinobi world and judgmental eyes of those who thought they knew the last Uchiha more for the sins he committed than the man he had grown to be.
But a larger part of her was excited, even anxious, to be returning to her home. She and Sasuke would be surrounded by friends and colleagues, and their baby would be raised in the spirit of Fire. She would proudly wear the uchiwa crest on her back, and she would watch as her child grew alongside Naruto and Hinata's sweet boy. A small pang of regret echoed through her at the thought of the months she had already missed in young Boruto's life, but she was determined to become his favorite aunt upon their return.
Their baby was due, by Sakura's best calculations, in four short weeks. She knew most first-borns came after their due dates, and was looking forward to spending the time furnishing the nursery and catching up with friends before all sleep was lost. Tsunade-sama would safely deliver her baby (she could do it herself, if labor wasn't so laborious), and she could watch as another piece of Sasuke's broken heart was mended.
At least, that's what she was thinking before her abdomen tightened to the point of discomfort. Sasuke, ever vigilant, awoke at the sudden pulling of cramped muscles under his hand.
"The fuck?" He whispered, half sitting up in the small bed.
Eloquent, Sasuke.
"I think it's just a false contraction. It doesn't hurt. Go back to sleep, Grumps."
Sasuke raised a thin eyebrow before laying back down, pulling her closer to his stomach. Her stomach slowly relaxed, and Sakura smiled at the flops and flutters in her womb before closing her eyes to go back to sleep.
Stay in there, little one. You have a bit more growing to do. But not too much...
She grimaced as the mental image of a bowling ball popping out of a bamboo reed fluttered at the edge of her consciousness.
I can punch a hole through a mountain. I'm pretty sure you can handle birth. Every other person on this planet came from a woman who popped one out. Besides, she added as the felt fibers of sleep tickled her eyelids, Tsunade would never let anything happen to me or our baby.
"Stop worrying," Sasuke whispered, feeling her heartbeat speed up. "You still have time. If anyone can handle this, it's you."
She awoke again a few hours later, the familiar feeling of an overfilled bladder unwilling to let her rest any longer. Sakura pulled on her boots and made her way quietly to the outhouse behind the cabin. She sleepily finished her business and reached down to clean herself, only to find the paper and her hand covered in a dark, thick, clotting slime.
"Ew!" She exclaimed, still half-asleep. I'm too tired to deal with this shit...
Wait.
...Crap.
Her senses finally caught up with her, inciting a moment of both panic and strange relief. She quickly cleaned herself the best she could, padding her underwear with as much paper as would fit before running back into the cabin.
"Sasuke-kun!"
He sat up instantly, comically so, his activated sharingan shining in the dim pre-dawn light.
"We need to go."
"Who is it?" He barked, hopping out of bed and grabbing his katana leaning against the end of the bed. Sakura scrunched her nose.
"My mucus plug," she drawled sarcastically, watching his reddened eye turn to coal.
"Your... what?"
"You see when a woman is pregnant her cervix is closed up with a plug," she began sarcastically, holding her hand in a fist for emphasis.
Sasuke shook his head in an effort to clear the cobwebs and the image she hand just drawn up.
"Bottom line this for me, woman."
"I'm bleeding disgusting shit out of my vagina. It means labor is close. Maybe hours, maybe days."
"Thank you," he breathed.
Ichi... ni... san...
Sakura smiled as she saw the intent of her statement finally dawn on the always-composed man before her. Apparently the potential of his wife going into labor broke that composure, if only a little.
"We need to go."
"Yep."
They had gathered their things and left the cottage before the sun began to rise, heading out in a more direct route to Konoha than originally planned. They were still days away however, even at top traveling speeds, and Sakura knew traveling too quickly could bring labor on even faster.
"Set the pace," Sasuke said, the edge of his voice flinty and strained as he followed directly behind his wife. Her footprints were much smaller in the snow than his.
There was nothing between their current position and Konoha. No cities, no towns, not even a homestead. There were miles of snow-covered plains that would eventually give way to thick forests bordered by caves to the East that signaled the transition into the land of Sound. Even the remnants of Otogakure were still a day's travel away. Sasuke wracked his brain for a solution. He could carry Sakura, but using only one arm would tire him to uselessness when the time actually came for her to give birth. Teleportation was out of the question due to it's unknown effect on the baby. Sakura refused to let him summon a hawk due to the no-fly laws of Iron. While he had no problem breaking the rules, Sakura refused to let him cause an international incident on her account. Sasuke was so lost in thought that he almost crashed into his wife's back when she stopped suddenly.
"I know you're nervous, Dear," she breathed slowly, a hand cradling her swollen stomach as the cramp escalated and diminished, "but I kind of need you to get your shit together."
Sasuke wasn't used to being useless, and it was pissing him off and making him nervous at the same time. Sakura needed neither of those emotions from him. As much as he would like to snap a retort, the pained look hiding beneath her smooth features gave him pause. Taking a deep breath, he evened his anxiety as best he could before speaking.
"I need to know how to help you," he clarified, instinctually rubbing soothing circles on her lower back as she rode out the last moments of the contraction. Sakura smiled as she straightened up, looking into his eyes.
"You already are," she breathed. The pace they were keeping, despite being much slower than normal, was accelerating her progression. Even if she were in labor for days (oh hell no) they wouldn't reach the hospital. "I'm in labor."
"No shit."
"Shut up, Uchiha. It could have been false labor."
"But it's not."
"No," she admitted shakily. "The contractions are real. They're getting longer, stronger, and closer together. Still not terrible though. At least I can talk through them."
"Can we do this on our own?" He asked, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. He saw the flicker of fear behind Sakura's green eyes.
"I know the basics. I know chakra. But I'm not an obstetrician. I know what my body will do, or what it's supposed to do, but if birth really is anything like I've seen..."
She took a long, shaky breath and tried to swallow her fear.
"There's a good chance I'll be in too much pain to have control over anything but basic instincts. My chakra will be mostly depleted as well."
Sasuke felt helpless. There was nothing he hated more than being helpless.
He knew his wife would survive. She was stronger than anyone he had ever met, in more ways than one. But this wasn't what she deserved. She deserved a doctor to help her- to let her focus on becoming a mother instead. She deserved a bed, and tea, and healthy food. She deserved a nursery and her friends nearby, as much as he was sure he would prefer solitude in those private moments. She had sacrificed so much for him. And now she would have to sacrifice this too.
I understand your need to karmically shit on me, Universe, but do you really have to mess with my wife?
"What will you need? For yourself, for the baby, everything."
Sakura reached up to place a warm hand on his cold cheek. She could see through his facade. It spoke of his love more than his words ever would. She suddenly knew that she could handle this.
"I'll need support- both walking and standing later on. I might need a place to lie down if my strength gives out toward the end. The baby will need to be kept warm. Things need to be as clean as possible."
Sasuke ran the list through his head, scanning the area for a possible place of shelter. There was only snow for miles. Looking East, he felt a sense of deja-vu.
"How long do we have?"
Sakura sucked in a breath as another contraction started. Her voice was even, but strained as she answered.
"A few hours, at least. But traveling will probably speed things up."
"I'll carry you. Oto is a few hours away. There's a hideout towards the western border that will be clean and well-stocked with medical supplies." He was already tying a sling over his left shoulder. He laced his arm under her shoulders and lifted her gently against his chest, slipping her legs through the sling.
"Oto," she grimaced, breathing through the height of a contraction. "Well that sucks."
Sasuke grinned, launching in the direction of a place he never thought he'd want to visit again.
Isn't it funny what you'll do for your family?
~break~
"Son of a BITCH!"
Sasuke winced as his wife writhed in his arms, her knuckles turning white as they tangled in his travel cloak. His legs were on fire, but he knew better than to say anything. It was nothing compared to what Sakura was going through.
He damn near whooped with relief as the familiar clearing came into view; an inconspicuous-looking set of rocks tucked back toward the western edge slowly morphed into an entrance.
"We're here, Saku," he whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Keep breathing."
Sakura sucked in a heavy breath as her vision returned, releasing her cramped fingers from her husband's cloak.
"Was it just me, or did that one last forever?" She groaned in a whisper. Her spine locked in alarm as she heard an unfamiliar voice.
"Well butter my ass and call me toast. Would you look who it is..."
"Suigetsu."
Sasuke was almost relieved. Almost.
"She needs a bed. Now."
"Yeah she does..." the mist nin began, but quickly shut his mouth as he caught Sasuke's fearful glare. His eyes drifted to the bundle in his arms, catching on the pink hair poking out from underneath the pulled hood.
"Put me down, Sasuke-kun," she asked gently. He shot her a dubious look, but released the sling around her legs nonetheless. He eased her gently to the ground, holding her beneath the arms until she found her balance. Another contraction washed over her almost immediately, and she cried out as she leaned into his broad chest. She felt a crackling sensation in her core before warm liquid gushed down her legs. The event wasn't lost on the bemused mist nin.
"Did she just piss herself?"
"Suigetsu," Sasuke hissed, his voice barely audible but sharp as a knife. "You will lead us inside. You will find her a bed. You will leave us the fuck alone. And then I might forget about ripping your head from your shoulders and burning the rest."
Suigetsu swallowed thickly before turning and leading the couple inside. Sakura barely registered where they were walking, choosing instead to focus on the feel of Sasuke's steady arm around her waist. She forced her breaths slowly into her diaphragm, but the sharpness of the pain in her core forced her to stop, her knees buckling under the strain. A guttural scream bubbled up from her chest as Sasuke felt his mouth go dry.
This wasn't an enemy. This was a natural occurrence. He had no idea how to battle this.
"Put her in here," Suigetsu gestured to a room at the end of the branched hallway. "I'll get the crazy bitch. She might be able to help."
"I don't think that's..."
"YES! Get her now!" Sakura ordered through gritted teeth, feeling the sharp pain in her back and abdomen begin to subside. She watched as the swordsman retreated down the hall before turning to Sasuke with tears in her eyes.
"I can't do this anymore," she whispered shamefully. It had been 8 hours. She couldn't imagine the women who labored for days. She was at her wit's end. Sasuke bit his lower lip as he lead her into the exam room, unable to find words to comfort her. He had never seen the appeal of a pep talk, but he would have given anything in that moment to have Naruto feed him one of his famously inspirational lines. This tiny woman was breaking his heart. He helped her onto the gurney and began removing her boots, ignoring the familiar chakra presence coming toward them.
"You will, Sakura. It's almost over." It had to be, right? "You're going to push out this baby like you're the strongest woman in the world," because you are, "and then the pain will stop and we'll take our daughter home."
Karin waited in the shadow of the doorway as the Uchiha heir finished speaking in tones she never heard before. Soft, accepting, kind. She had heard of their marriage. She had hated him for putting such a final end to their chance at a relationship. But seeing him now- shoulders hunched, hands gripping her arms as his reddened eyes bored into hers- she knew that she never had a chance. His chakra was stressed out and murderous, but underneath it ebbed with a nervousness and protective compassion she had never seen in the Uchiha.
"Clothes off, Pinky," she spoke flatly, tossing a gown next to her on the bed. Sakura startled slightly, but Sasuke showed no sign of surprise at her arrival. Karin moved to the cabinets across the room, removing gloves, towels, and various instruments that might be of use. She noted with a bittersweet glance that the Uchiha's eyes had never left his wife.
Karin would help her. For Sasuke, if nothing else.
"Gladly!" Sakura managed a giggle, so tired from the day's events that she was starting to feel delirious. She would have stripped kilometers ago if she hadn't been so wrapped up in the Uchiha's arms. Everything felt as though it was restricting her, even her well-meaning husband's hands. Another contraction racked her midsection as she rolled to her right side, a sudden primal urge flowing like a drug through her veins. She hadn't even had time to slip the gown over her shoulders.
"So that's where we're at, huh," Karin spoke dryly, pushing her glasses onto the bridge of her nose.
"Have you done this before?" Sasuke spoke carefully. Karin picked up on the panicked undertones in his question nonetheless.
"Shut up, Sasuke-kun," she ordered. A slightly sadistic smile graced her features. She had never had power over him before. She had lost him to the pink-haired freak. The universe owed her a few good cracks at her former obsession, right? "Grab her leg. She's going to need to push soon."
Karin draped a cool damp cloth across Sakura's forehead as the medic-nin moaned her way through the pain.
"Listen to my voice Pinky," Karin spoke, laying out her instruments on a tray next to the bed. "If you feel the need to push, push. If you shit yourself, you're doing it right."
Sasuke would have slapped her into next week if he hadn't had more important things to worry about. He knew birth wasn't pretty. He didn't hold any romantic notions towards what was arguably the most disgusting, if not impressive, bodily function. But he'd be damned if this crazy bitch was going to insult his wife when she had suffered so much.
To his surprise, a loud chuckle shook his wife's body as she dissolved into giggles.
"Haha, thanks," she gasped between laughs, "I just might do that."
She was a doctor. Bodily functions didn't scare her, nor was she embarrassed by them, especially in her current state. The Daimyo himself could walk in, and she wouldn't give a damn. If there's anything she learned from Naruto, it was that poop is funny. She didn't have time to glace at her husband's reaction, however, as another spasm wracked through her. She suddenly understood the tales of wild abandon and primal instincts in birth, and instead of fighting the pain- because what else would a doctor do?- she allowed her body to take over.
Sasuke watched in awe and horror as his wife bore down, teeth grinding and moans erupting from depths he had never seen or heard from a human being. Her round stomach had begun to flatten under her swollen breasts as the baby slipped lower and lower. He would have given anything to take the pain onto himself, but he wasn't sure that he could bear it, even if such a thing were possible. He had never respected Sakura more than he did in that moment.
Sakura screamed as fire erupted between her thighs.
"What the hell-" Sasuke breathed.
"That would be a head," Karin smiled, "You should probably wash your hands if you want to catch your baby."
Sasuke didn't have time to make a snarky comment about obeying orders. He scrubbed his hands as his wife gasped, filling her lungs for another push.
"Take it easy Pinky, unless you want to pee your pants every time you sneeze for the rest of your life. Steady."
Karin moved to the side of the bed, throwing a towel at Sasuke's chest.
"Watch out, they're slippery."
"Ughhhhhh, can I push NOW!?" Sakura ground out, knuckles white against her thighs. She didn't wait for an answer. Instincts took over, and she bore down one last time.
Suddenly, it was over.
The pain was gone, as was the pressure in her stomach. Her legs felt like jelly. Looking toward the edge of the bed, she held her breath at the sight of the tiny bundle cradled in her husband's arm, a round head covered in jet black hair visible in his large hand. His eyes were wide with wonder, and brimming with tears. It seems she wasn't the only one battling hormones.
"She's here," he whispered, allowing Karin to rub some color into the tiny limbs and stomach of the infant in his hand. He was awestruck as her tiny mouth opened, followed by a gurgling scream a few seconds later. His eyes drifted to his wife on the bed, hair a bird's nest and pale face speckled with broken blood vessels from the work she had just done, and he couldn't help but think he had never seen someone so beautifully amazing in his life. Reaching slowly, he placed the tiny baby girl on Sakura's chest, wrapping the towel around both of them.
The next minutes were a blur, filled with fawning over fingers and toes and deep breaths of relief. The placenta came a few minutes later, after which Karin left the new family to bond for a while.
"Kami save her, she looks like her dad."
Sasuke grinned at his wife's comment. She could have looked like Naruto and he still would have thought she was perfect.
"Well, then, Papa," Sakura breathed, too busy staring at the tiny slate blue eyes looking up at her to notice her husband's beaming smile, "What shall we name this beautiful girl?"
Sasuke shook his head gently, sitting next to his wife in order to have a better view of this daughter's eyes.
"I thought you had a list," he admonished, brushing a lock of hair from his wife's eyes.
"I did," she whispered, watching the baby's eyes slowly drift closed. "But none of them seem to fit anymore."
Sasuke watched the the infant doze on her mother's chest, still attempting to come to grips with the sudden feelings of protectiveness, fear, love, and elation overwhelming his senses. An unbidden memory made itself known as he attempted to rationalize his spiraling emotions- a long-forgotten vision of Itachi dancing uncharacteristically in the sitting room one night. Sasuke had been very young, perhaps only 4 or 5 years old, lying sick on the futon while his dear nii-san tried to cheer him up. He was pretending to dance with a beautiful maiden, making up nonsensical songs in an attempt to make his brother forget about the pain of the fever that had taken over his small form.
"You are so beautiful, dear Sarada,
I shall marry you and make you my moon and my stars
Although your name may be silly,
It sounds beautiful on my lips
Sweet Sarada, my heart is yours!"
Sasuke had giggled at his normally serious big brother, dancing around with a broom for his amusement. He had been sick, but happy, and had never felt safer.
"Sarada," he whispered, watching in amazement as the tiny child's eyes opened to look directly at her father. She cooed and rooted for the breast, latching on instinctively as her small fist closed around Sasuke's nearby finger. If he didn't know any better, he'd say she had her mother's strength.
"She seems content with that," Sakura smiled. "Send a hawk to Konoha. Tell Kakashi-sama the Uchihas will be returning home in a few days."
"I will," Sasuke agreed, "but only when she decides to let go of my finger."
He certainly wasn't going to make her.