Written for Day 12 of Sakura Month: Moment You Loved Her
Sakura was roused from her haze - not quite deep enough to be dozing, but she was worn out, her mind wandering and hardly alert - by the sound of some sort of commotion in the corridor outside. She had a feeling she knew the cause, and hummed softly as she shifted herself carefully a little higher in the bed, looking down at the tiny bundle resting in the crook of her arm.
There was a bassinet nearby, but Sakura had waved off the nurse's attempt to relocate her daughter, at least for now.
"Really, jounin-san, I don't think-"
That wasn't going to accomplish anything, Sakura thought wryly just as a familiar dark head poked through the door. "Sakura! My beloved!"
Sakura smiled tiredly at him and lifted one hand just enough for a welcoming wave. Lee came a little closer but not all the way through the door, and Sakura laughed quietly and beckoned him inside. Lee's grin was a little wobbly as he obeyed, steps light and quick.
"Hello, darling." Sakura greeted, and folded back a corner of the soft pink blanket their daughter was swaddled in. "Meet our little one."
Lee wavered and collapsed to his knees barely a few steps away, and crossed most of the remaining distance without rising again, eyes overflowing with tears. "Oh. . . Sakura. . ."
Sakura smiled at him from the bed, shaking her head slightly. She was exhausted and she ached all through, but there was a warm glow she knew came partly from her body's natural bounceback reaction to childbirth and partly from just the sight of her daughter.
And maybe a little from seeing her husband's clearly overwhelming delight.
"Come here." Sakura beckoned again; Lee was still a pace or so away from the side of her bed, and she certainly wasn't rising to cross the distance. Lee inched closer, his wide eyes fixed on the baby, flicking up to Sakura's face from time to time. "Take her." Sakura encouraged, nudging the little bundle a bit closer to her father.
Lee stiffened, his shoulders coming up a little. He didn't make a move to do as Sakura said, nor even raise his hands.
"Lee." Sakura said firmly.
"She is so tiny!" Lee burst out, his worried eyes rising to meet Sakura's. "I- I do not wish to hurt her and-"
"Lee." Sakura repeated, a fond smile tugging at her lips. "Take her, honey. You won't hurt her." she promised, reaching up and stroking Lee's face with one hand. "You would never hurt either of us." she soothed. Not that Sakura was anything like so fragile as many of her colleagues assumed, of course, but Lee was . . . a force of nature. "Go on."
Lee tentatively stretched out his arms and Sakura gently placed their daughter in the cradle of them. He sniffled loudly, shifting until his side was almost pressed against the bed, and brought the baby up a little higher. "She is . . . so perfect." he said softly, voice wavering but far softer than the overcome wailing one might have expected from him.
Sakura's smile lingered as she watched great tears drip off Lee's face and onto their daughter's blanket, sinking back into the pillows propped at her back. She winced a bit at the throb of aching and torn muscles in her midsection, but restrained the impulse to fix them with a bit of chakra. It would be . . . unwise, so soon after her daughter's birth. Soon, though, she promised herself.
"I think so too." Sakura murmured, watching her turn over in her father's arms, ruffling her downy hair, a few shades darker than Sakura's own, against the blanket. "Do you still like the name we thought for her?" she asked as Lee continued to cry on the baby. Sakura had refused to confirm their daughter's name until Lee was there as well, though they had spoken extensively about names and finally chosen a few weeks ago.
Lee looked up with a sniff, meeting her eyes, and Sakura reached out to him again. He pressed his cheek into her hand. "I love you." he said quietly, and Sakura's smile widened as she stroked his face.
"I love you, too." Sakura replied. "We did a good thing." she added, gesturing gently towards their daughter.
Lee nodded, a wet laugh catching in his throat as he followed the gesture to gaze adoringly at the tiny bundle again. "Hanae. . . I think it is perfect. She is perfect." He swallowed thickly and looked up at Sakura. "Beloved?"
"Hanae." Sakura sighed, satisfied, and nodded. "I think it is . . . just right for her." she agreed, closing her eyes.
She was so tired, and now Lee was here and had met their daughter properly. . .
"Rest, my beloved." Lee said softly, kissing her hand with a soft sound. There was another, identical sound a moment later, and Sakura opened her eyes to see him kissing Hanae's brow. She smiled and closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "You have worked very hard today. I am . . . in awe."
Sakura laughed softly, reaching out for Lee and blindly finding his shoulder. "Stay?" she asked, and Lee made an affirmative sound. "Wake me. . . Or nurse will help. . . If she needs anything." she said vaguely, already drifting.
"Go to sleep." Lee urged, squeezing her hand in his briefly. "We shall be right here when you wake again."