Disclaimer: Naruto rightfully belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Anything you recognize is not mine.

Yamafuji (Wild Wisteria): beautiful birth

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm sorry." The smell of flowers in the house almost over powered the stench of copper in the air. Almost. It seemed as if the Uchiha prodigy was going to die tonight. She turned around and watched the house in the distance burst into black flames. "Itachi!" she screamed in the tall grass on the hill. All she wanted to do was sit down and cry, but she couldn't. She had to get to Konoha. With that thought, she ran into the forest.

Their home was in the Fire Country, carefully concealed in a valley surrounded by trees-close enough to Konoha for emergencies, but far away enough to keep intruding eyes out. She didn't know how Sasuke found them, it had been two years since Itachi 'mysteriously' disappeared from the Akatsuki; most thought he was dead, but select few had known he had gone into hiding, retiring his life of a ninja and became a doctor.

After an hour of running, she finally saw the large fire kanji of Konoha. She leaned against a tree, taking deep breaths.

"Who's there?"

Izumo.

"Izumo? Is that you?" She moved into the light of the moon. He stared at her.

"B-but you're dead. Is that really you?"

"Yes, it really is-" She screamed in pain, clutching at her swollen stomach. Izumo rushed over to help her. "The b-baby! It's too soon, I've still got a month left-" She let out another scream. "T-tsunade! I need her! Please, Izumo." Without another thought, Izumo hooked his arm under her knees and sped to the Hokage Tower.

Screams could be heard through the delivery room.

"Just a bit more! You're already crowning!" Tsunade shouted at her former pupil. A cry filled the room and the mother slumped back in relief, but her rest was short before another contraption hit her. Her recent memory of Itachi discussing the baby with her filled her mind.

"But what if I have twins?" she asked him.

"Then I'll make another crib or buy one from town," he replied lacing his pale hands with her dirt covered ones.

"Almost there!" Tsunade reassured her.

"What if we don't have enough room in the house?"

"Then I'll add another section," he responded tucking a wisp of her hair behind her ear. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

The two boys were expected considering the size of her belly, but the third was not. By that time, her face was already pale with exhaustion. She grabbed Shikamaru's shirt. "S-shikamaru," her face was covered in sweat, hair sticking to her face, "I'm not...going to...make it..." His eyes widened in surprise.

"W-what do you mean? You always make it, you have to! We haven't seen you in two years and if you think we're going to let you go again, then you must be out of your mind!"

"Shikamaru..." she beckoned for him to come closer. With shaking hands, she touched the center of his forehead. "For my children..."

"What if you...die? Or I die?" He gripped her hands tighter.

"That won't happen, you're strong and Sasuke would have a hard time even finding trails of us."

"I'm afraid." He enveloped her in his hands, the bump keeping them apart.

"Fear is what makes us human. It is alright to be afraid. I'll keep you and our children safe-I promise."

At last, she gave life to her final legacy.

"Hiroyuki," she said at her first son, "Masayoshi," she said at her second son and to the smallest of her children, she whispered, "Umeko."

Her last moments were spent next to the three bassinets and surrounded by her old friends.

"How troublesome," she muttered, taking the words right out of Shikamaru's mouth. Her eyelids fluttered before her body went limp. Sakura immediately started shaking her body. 'Koi, wait for me.'

"Ino? Ino!" Sakura yelled frantically, green chakra already shooting out of her hands. "Ino-pig, this isn't funny! Wake up already! Don't die on me! You still haven't gotten me back for Sasuke-kun yet. You can't die already!"

Hiroyuki: widespread happiness

Masayoshi: flourishing goodness

Umeko: plum blossom

koi: love

A/N For those who didn't get it, when Ino touched Shikamaru's forehead, she was transferring memories into his head. Wasurengusa is Japanese for forget-me-not's; in hanakotoba (Japanese flower arrangement) it means everlasting/true love