Disclaimer: I do not own either works they belong to their respective creators, producers, designers, writers, etc. The only profit I gain from this is writing experience.

Full Summary: It was to be the final showdown, the battle that would free him from his blonde shadow. But when was anything straightforward with the dobe; yet he would not change what happened for anything in the world. When that cheerful little man said he was to meant to protect and marry Nature's daughter (as he did with Goldberry), Sasuke never expected to finally have the family, the children, he had dreamed of as a genin. But now he finds his family being taken from his grasp as they are pulled into the struggles of the free peoples against the Power in the East. WARNINGS: amnesia, OC's, character death (not a likable character), gender-bending.

Warnings for this Chapter:vague description of child birth.

A/N: As the warning above implies, as well as the title for the chapter, Sasuke's second baby's born! So...I have never had a baby thus it's not terribly realistic, but I figure since there aren't as many preservatives and the food is all natural during this time, that the labor would be easier than it might be in today's society, also...suspension of disbelief...? Please forgive my ineptitude at capturing one of the most painful experiences a human can endure and my lack of medical know how. Anyways, please enjoy and thank you to those who clicked favorite, alert, and reviewed! ~ depresedchildren

Key:

"Words" westron

"Words" another language being spoken (i.e. sidarian or Japanese)

Kusnagi a sign or title (i.e. Prancing Pony).

Chapitre Deux

The following months he submerged himself in work in the forge, if he caught up with his work he lied and said he had a little more to complete - which translated into him sharpening his Kusanagi. When an errand needed to be done and his wife was too tired, he would take Dawn with him and complete the task, or if the little girl was too much for her mother he would take her into the forge and show her the different weapons as well as teach her more westron and Japanese.

It was while he was sharpening his chokutō that the smith door opened and a tall grim looking man was shown into his forge. "Through here sir," his wife stated, "My husband Dû will help you." The door then closed behind them.

"Dû?" the man questioned, one of his elegant eyebrows was raised, "That is elvish," the man mused as he moved further into the smith. "Why does a human have a Sidarin name?" he questioned once he was in front of the Smith who was still methodically sharpening his sword.

"Hn."

He was not sure how he felt about this traveler. He eyed the man as he stood in front of him. The man was tall and lean. His eyes were grey and hard yet they held kindness and warmness in them. He also seemed highly intelligent, proud, and calculating, but then again, he could have misread the gleam in the traveler's eyes. Those grey eyes were also hard, as if the traveler had seen many battles and lived in some type of sorrow or guilt. It seemed like the traveler bore some weight upon his shoulders, but he still held himself up straight and tall.

The traveler's appearance was rough, he supposed, but that should be expected from a traveler. The man's leathers were worn, cracked in places, and caked with dirt. He wore a dark green wool cloak, equally dirty as his leathers, but the clasps were sliver and had an elvish design if the smith discerned it correctly. The traveler also wore white gold or silver ring upon his index finger that had the design of two snake, one eating the tail and the other wreathed by flower petals. The ring was finely crafted, and spoke of some family wealthy or nobility. He also wore a deep green stone, that shone like a jewel, around his neck.

But what stuck out most was his presence or even aura. Pride, honor, honesty, loyalty, bravery; these were a few of the adjectives he picked off of the man's presence. Something about him, despite his rugged and rather foul appearance, made the smith trust the traveler almost instantly. It was strange and completely unwanted. But he was almost reminded of his brother as he regarded the solemn, proud man. He knew he was also being judged by the man, that the traveler was deciding if he should trust this smith with his weapons.

"Perhaps I should be told your name before I explain mine's origin?" he asked after a pause where they both seized each other up, however during this pause the man seemed to be laughing with his eyes. It gave the impression that the man knew something he did not or perhaps thought of him as a young child whose behavior he found endearing. Again, he was reminded of his brother for a painful, cruel moment.

"I am called Strider by the Bree-folk," when Strider received a blank stare in response he smiled slightly and inclined his head, "I do not mind the name and I am not partial to giving out my real name."

"Hn," he gestured to a stool sitting opposite the furnace and motioned for him to bring it closer to where he sat sharpening his chokutō. "Then I will not tell you why my wife and I have elvish names."

Once Strider was seated, he set aside Kusanagi and nodded for the traveler to explain what he wished forged.

"You have many weapons I have never seen before," Strider commented, his eyes were locked onto a shuriken in the corner.

"Hn,"

Strider smiled marginally as he withdrew a long sword from one of his two scabbards. Immediately, black eyes narrowed in on the small fissure in the middle of the blade and then the many nicks running along the length of the blade. The blade its self was clean and well cared for but it had seen many battles and thus bore those scars.

He reached out his hand to have the sword set in his hands. He noted Strider was watching him closely. He felt that the traveler was judging his worth as well as whether he should trust the smith.

"I'll do what I can," he stated after he completed his inspection.

Strider nodded but did not get up to leave yet, "I saw the town's guards had new swords, did you make them?" black eyes flitted up from the sword in his hand to regard the man across from him, he gave a stiff nod and Strider nodded in return, "You are very skilled. Have you considered relocating to another town that might be more in need of your skill?"

"We enjoy Bree," he stated as he stood up to begin repairing the man's sword. It was clear that the man would wait until he was finished with his sword, and that the man would watch what he did. It was infuriating and reminded him all the more of his brother, he internally shook himself.

His brother was dead, had died twice. He was simply desperate for that not to be the case and saw Itachi in everyone…Itachi. I miss you brother. Most of his thoughts were in westron but that single Japanese sentence ran through is mind over and over, and sounded like the call of a little lost child, which perhaps he was? His blood boiled when he thought of all of the lies and what his brother had been forced to do, and in a type of self-preservation he made himself stop thinking of Konoha and the ninja world that set him against his brother, made him kill his only kin.

So with effort he stopped thinking of those things, or that world. Instead, the thought of his little Dawn: his beautiful, wonderful little girl. He thought of his client and what the man wanted done. However, he did not try to compare the man's infuriatingly calm demeanor and clear, knowing amusement to his brother. He also ignored that he felt he could trust this stranger, so much he hardly thought much of showing his back to the traveler. He was Uchiha Sasuke, he did not trust people right off the bat - that was the dobe's habit.

Strider made himself comfortable farther away from the furnace and lit his pipe. The part of Sasuke that remembered medical training from Kabuto – that slimy bastard – wanted to yell at the man to put the damn thing out, but he refrained. It would seem hypocritical to someone who did not know about the harmful effects of smoking when they were in a soot filled room with furnace smoke filling the air despite the open slats in the exterior walls to take out the smoke.

"That is a very interesting sword you were sharpening," the man commented again in an attempt to create a conversation while he waited for his sword.

"Hn" Sasuke could practically feel Strider's eyes boring holes into his back, sighing he decided to elaborate, "it is not a style from these lands, unlike how these swords bludgeon an opponent to death, this will cut through bone with enough momentum," he jerked his head toward the chokutō now gleaming in the corner as it reflected the light from the furnace.

"Does it have a name then?"

"Kusanagi" he whispered as he glared at the heart of the furnace. Would his sword trigger his spouse's memories like it had for him? What would happen when she did regain her memories? He shuddered to think.

"Hmm…" Strider seemed to want to say something more but he was holding back. "That sounds like no language of middle earth."

Sasuke glared harder into the fire, "My wife is a better communicator, you might favor her company more than mine," the sword was ready to be pulled from the fire and hammered to perfection. The hairline cracks seemed almost more noticeable while the jagged edges became accentuated by the weapon's red-hot glow.

"It is not often that I find myself in the company of a master swordsman, especially one which uses a different style than I," Strider leaned forward as he said this; his gray eyes were set on the red-hot sword.

"And what" his hammer fell and sparks flew, "makes you" he struck the sword again, "believe that?" Sasuke questioned as he continued to hammer the blade to eliminate the imperfections.

"The nicks and callouses on your hands, and the methodic manner you cleaned and sharpened the sword."

"That is part of my trade," he stated as his hammer rang again.

Strider was smiling at him. "It is also how you hold yourself. I can tell you and your wife are warriors, but also that you are a swordsman and she is not. Though I am curious what culture you come from that allows a woman to fight, I believe the Rohirrim once taught their women to wield swords but neither of you have their accent," the hammer fell with more force than he had meant to and he set it aside to calm himself down.

"Where we come from is none of your concern," Sasuke stated as he looked at the traveler over his shoulder. He turned back to his work and amended his mistake as he continued to speak. "We woke *clang* up one day *clang* in a forest *clang* with no memories," Sasuke thrust the blade into the barrel of water beside his hammer, it hissed loudly but he continued speaking over the noise as he turned to look at the travel worn stranger, "and we had to make a new life. If our past life comes through in our actions and behaviors, it is unintentional."

Strider stared at him for a moment, "Were you found by elves then?"

He scoffed and turned away from Strider to retrieve the still hot sword. Sasuke set it upon the anvil and hammered at it again, "No. *clang* A jolly little *clang* man with a *clang* yellow hat *clang* named us," again he set the sword into the water and it hissed once more as it continued to disperse its heat into the surrounding water.

He turned around with his arms crossed over his chest to catch the look of surprise which adorned Strider's face. It made him smirk at the other. Sasuke pulled the blade out of the water again, but as he was setting it down he felt a sudden wave of very malicious and familiar chakra.

The sword clattered to the ground as he turned around and raced out of the smith. His wife clutched at her protruding stomach and a fluid was puddled beneath her.

"Strider!" He called the man who had followed him in his rush out of the forge. Strider's eyes widened when he saw the puddle beneath the now in pain woman. "I need to get my wife…" the malicious energy was coiling around the woman Sasuke now held in his arms "Please," he forced the words out as he looked desperately down at his wife. "Watch Dawn and the shop. And I swear," his head snapped back up to fix Strider with a hard glare, "if anything happens to my daughter you will die slowly."

Strider took a step back when he saw the man's eyes flash read as he threatened him. Strider felt suffocated for a moment, as if there was a physical force closing its hand around his throat.

"Dû!" the woman in Sasuke's arms cried, her face was contorted in pain, "We have to leave the…nng" he could see she was fighting the entity inside of her, yet he also knew she did not know what she was fighting against.

Sasuke set her down into her chair and hurried to grab what he needed from their room and placed them in a bag: blankets, candles, a bucket of white paint, a canteen of water, and a small kit of medical supplies. He woke his daughter from her nap and picked her up along with one of her toys.

When he ran back down the steps he found Strider kneeling beside his grimacing wife. Strider was holding her hand as she squeezed hard enough to drain the color from the man's fingers. Sasuke quickly grabbed their cloaks from the hook by the door leading to the main street.

"Arad" he called his wife's attention as he moved closer and set his daughter down. She smiled feebly at him and reached out for Sasuke as she continued to fight with the will inside of her who was clawing at the chance to escape. He took over Strider's position and soon could not feel his hand.

"Dawn, this is Strider," Sasuke introduced the stranger to his daughter but his eyes were pulled away as he felt the energy surge inside of his wife. He licked his lips as his pulse quickened, "Your mother is going to give you a little sibling now, but you cannot come with us," he did his best to explain to the little girl. "Strider will watch you while your mother gives you a sibling," Sasuke dared not think of what would happen if they could not contain the entity writhing inside of her. As he had been speaking he managed to fasten the cloaks around them to ward of the early winter bite.

He carefully shifted his wife into his arms so that he was carrying her bridal style. He began to move toward the door but paused and looked at the man seriously whom Sasuke had just met, "I do not know you, but I can tell you are of good character," he glared at the wall behind the man before he refocused on the now alarmed traveler, "If neither of us should come back…" he heard Strider take a deep inhale but he nodded ever so slightly to the words spoken lowly to him. "Find Tom Bombadil or take her wherever you will deem safest for her," without another word Sasuke ran back through the forge to the door at the back of it. He yanked it open and jumped up onto the village wall before he vanished into the woods.

There was always the chance the Kyuubi would break free, even if they were merged or whatever the dobe did with the fox, Kurama, or whatever its name is. There was always the chance that his Sharingan would not be enough to subdue the chakra entity and then he would have to seal the thing into the child his wife…rival died to birth.

"You can do it dobe," he whispered as the foul chakra roiled inside of the blonde he carried tightly to his chest. This blonde had given him a daughter, the most wonderful and beautiful creature ever created and now made up his whole world. This blonde was suffering through a pain she never should have been able to go through to begin with, at least, until coming here. But in the end she would give him another child to hold dearly and become part of his world.

Sasuke was leagues from the village in a dense forest. He found a large enough clearing and began to form the array he would need to help keep the demon at bay. He watched helpless between the paint drying and his wife/old friend - the thorn that had been in his side since he defected - writhing in agony as she fought against the demon. Perhaps…?

He activated his sharingan and looked into glazed yellow eyes. Sasuke found himself in front of the demon's cage. The monster could barely be contained within its cell.

"Uchiha" it hissed at him and its rage grew. It snapped at the bars of its prison, the seal had changed from the last time he had done this.

He subdued the demon enough to withdraw from the other's mind and continue setting up the sealing array. Sasuke lit the candles where they were needed and then set the calmer blonde in the center of the array where she was wrapped in the cloak.

"I'm sorry Na- Arad, I can't help you through this, I have to…" she grimaced at him but nodded. She seemed much better now that the demon had been forced back. She was laid in the center of the array. The blankets were arranged to catch the child and she was propped against a rock he had moved to be in the middle of the array.

It was several hours until he felt himself beginning to struggle against the demon while he continued to feed his chakra into the seal.

When she went into labor with Dawn it was much the same story as what happened in their home. The demon's energy began to roil inside of her and it was threatening to break free, but her subconscious told her what seal they could use to suppress the demon. Sasuke's subconscious told him what signs to use with the seal and in these last few months Sasuke marveled at what their amnesic states were still able to do. But then, if either one of them had had their memories they would have never been in that or this situation.

She began to push with each contraction, and her breathing became more and more labored. "Arad, remember to keep breathing," he reminded after a long contraction during which she held her breath and gritted through the pain.

"Tell me that when you have to give birth naturally!" she then made a high pitched whine before she went back to her breathing.

Sasuke concentrated on the seal versus the blonde who was now beginning to curse him for putting her into this situation. The words made him flinch, because if the blonde did have her memories she would be cursing him and possibly trying to kill him for what he had done to her.

He began to pant as he struggled to maintain the seal, so that the labor would be easier for the jinchūriki.

The stars and moon now shed light upon them as the two fought against the Kyuubi, while one of them also focused on presenting a new life to the world. After an exceptionally long contraction he could see the baby crowning.

"Arad, the baby's head is showing!"

She gave a breathy, joyful laugh at this and continued her struggle.

"The shoulders are clear, you should be able to" Sasuke did not finish his sentence as she reached over her stomach to help the child leave her body fully. She smiled briefly before it faltered as another contraction hit her.

He was at a loss as to what to do. The baby had yet to cry and would freeze to death soon, but his wife was still in labor, and the Kyuubi was not relenting in the least.

Licking his lips, he dropped the seal and rushed to retrieve the child who he freed from the umbilical cord. Sasuke summoned a clone who took the baby and made it cry, thus giving it oxygen. He was outside the seal and resumed the array but he had to fight against the demon's malicious will harder than he had before. The clone cleaned and swaddled the baby. It did a brief scan of the newborn child and it seemed healthy.

They then watched for the next hour as the blonde in the middle of the array continued to push through contractions. Sasuke watched as the child began to crown and he informed his wife as he had before, and before long the blonde was able to help coax the child out. Collapsing boneless against the rock behind her, the blonde gave a contented smile. The demon was still prepared to pounce and escape, thus it was up to the blonde to weakly take care of the child she had just brought into the world. It cried and she cleaned it as best as her numb fingers could. Within a few more seconds the baby was swaddled and pressed to her chest with the cloak wrapped around both of them.

"This one is a girl, and that one?" he asked as he looked fondly at the child in his wife's arms.

"A girl," she stated, "You're not mad that I continue to give you daughters?" she asked softly with a slight frown marring her features. Sasuke doubted, even if she was out of her amnesic state, that she would know anything about genetics and that it was the father that "chose" the sex of the child.

"You've given me three children; that is more than I had ever hoped to have. I literally could not care less what gender they were," she smiled again and he felt the corners of his mouth lifting as well. "What will they be named?"

"I'm not sure. I'd like to keep Dusk for a boy, and I am not fond of naming one of our children Twilight," Sasuke hummed in response to his wife's words, he agreed.

"Perhaps we will need to come up with a new naming scheme?" he offered softly despite knowing these would be their last children.

She hummed and her eyelids fluttered but she fought against her fatigue.

"Rest," Ssauke stated while he widened his stance and forced more of his chakra into holding back the demon. With a few hours-worth of recovery he could let down the seal and the blonde would be strong enough to hold back the demon.

His teeth chattered as wind from the north tore through the clearing. Sasuke saw his wife become drowsier, and noted that she wrapped the wool cloak more tightly around her and one of their newborns. His clone still held the other newborn and it was cradling the well swaddled the child against its chest.

"Make a sling and warp the child around me inside of the cloak," he ordered his clone, for Sasuke knew that the enfant would die from cold if it was not next to his heat source. He gritted his teeth again as the demon continued to rage while its host was recovering. "Make fires too, around me and as close to them as possible," Sasuke commanded to the clone again. Before long the tasks were accomplished and he released the clone.

With warmth around him and his child wrapped securely to his body heat, he prepared to continue his battle of wills against the Kyuubi.

The moon was beginning to set by the time that he felt the demon's force of attack diminishing. He almost sighed in relief, but he did not drop his arms from their position, nor did he divert his attention away from the array. Normally, five or more ninja would be contributing to the seal but he was alone in this endeavor. e was He

Sasuke was fortunate that he naturally had large chakra reserves but he was also oddly thankful that Orochimaru had done so many experiments on him to further increase his chakra reserves. However Sasuke still felt his chakra reservoir dwindling down close to nothing.

"Na-Arada" he barely managed to say the name as he continued to pump his chakra into then array, "I…" Sasuke faltered and gave a grunt as he felt the demon fight back against him. She was woken by his call and she looked at him with concern from her position against the rock. "I can't hold it back anymore, it will be on you," Sasuke panted out; his vision was beginning to spot out from his chakra exhaustion. She nodded her head gravely and closed her eyes in a meditative state.

He then fell to his knees before he tipped backwards with his arms wrapped securely around the child tied to his chest. His vision completely blacked out.

A Suivre

A/N: As I said, I haven't gone through labor, I don't know how it is, also, please let me know if it should be rated M. I don't think that was terribly graphic or anything, and there isn't really any bad language so far... I get panicky about ratings and it originally was rated M but then I figured why was it so when there was nothing graphic in it?

Also... just learned who Tobi/Madara is and I totally called it - like a hundred or two hundred chapters ago! I almost wanted to call up my ex just to say "told ya so!"

Also... My mother and I are watching the extended trilogy as per winter tradition, and I kept making her pause it so we could discuss the discrepancies between the books and the movie - and to gripe about all the shit they added that they didn't need to. Love it, they did fantastic with casting, but they could have had Tom Bombidil and the Borrow Downs so Frodo doesn't look like such a sniveling, pathetic, little boy.