Shinjiro was sitting at the front desk one day when he felt the auras of Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura coming toward the inn. Just as he was debating whether to go out to meet them, he heard Sakura's voice.

"Ah, here it is. Hinata told me that she and Naruto had a really nice time staying here on the honeymoon that Shikamaru gave them as a wedding gift."

"I see." Sasuke replied, "It's a little farther removed from the village than I thought it would be."

Having heard them talking, Shinjiro came to the entrance, "Sakura-han, Sasuke-han, welcome! I wasn't expecting that the two of you would show up here." He said with a smile.

Sakura smiled, "Shinjiro-san! I forgot that this place was owned by your shishou!"

"Yes." Shinjiro said with a smile, "Although actually, he's my father-in-law now. Oyu-chan and I got married last year. We're actually going to have a baby soon."

"Oh! Really?" Sakura asked with interest, "Sasuke-kun and I just got married ourselves! Hinata recommended this place to us. Speaking of which, you were right, she is pregnant. But how did you realize that when they were only here for a week?"

"It doesn't take long after a baby is conceived for a new chakra signature to form within the mother's body." Shinjiro explained, "My Shinjitsugan can detect that. However, at that time, the spark is so faint that no other information can be derived."

"Oh..." Sakura said with amazement. "I wonder if the Byakugan can do that too?"

"In theory, but it's something that's a bit difficult to see." Shinjiro told her, "In the case of the Shinjitsugan, it's more of a sense that there's a second chakra signature present, separate from that of the mother. Unlike the Byakugan, the Shinjitsugan also has some passive abilities."

"Amazing..." Sakura said.

Shinjiro smiled a bit, "At any rate, it's fortunate that you're here. I have something that I believe I should give to you, Sasuke-han."

Sasuke looked confused, but he and Sakura nonetheless followed Shinjiro into the inn, where he led them into the living space at the back. "Where is Amai-san?" Sakura asked. She had noticed the tea shop that was now part of the resort, but had not been the last time she was here.

"Ah, Amai-san is catering an event for a friend who lives closer to the center of the village tonight." Shinjiro replied, "She took the twins with her. I don't think they'll be back until sometime tomorrow."

"That's too bad." Sakura replied, "I was hoping to be able to see them, since she was still pregnant when I last saw her. Unfortunately, we have to leave first thing in the morning."

"So this was the place that Amai planned to come to when she found out she was pregnant." Sasuke mused.

"Eh? You knew about that? I mean, you've met Amai-san?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Yeah. Shortly after Itachi died, I went to the Land of Medicine to find out the truth. I happened to meet her while I was there." Sasuke said.

"Speaking of Itachi-han, here's what I wanted to give you." Shinjiro said while opening a box. The inside of the box was filled with numerous scrolls."

"What are these?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"Mission reports." Shinjiro replied, "During the time that I was treating him, I insisted to Itachi-han that he should write proper mission reports as proof of his loyalty to Konoha. They were meant to be a failsafe after his death."

"A failsafe?" Sasuke asked.

"In the event that he was unable to survive against his illness long enough for you to gain the strength you would need to protect yourself from Shimura Danzo, the scrolls would serve to prove that he had been working on Konoha's behalf the entire time and serve as a deterrent against any plans to harm you that Danzo might've had." Shinjiro said, "The information is useless now, of course, and I understand that his reputation has already been restored by Naruto-han, but these still serve as further proof, and I certainly have no reason for keeping them here."

"There's so many..." Sakura mused.

"Yes." Shinjiro said with a nod, "This is seven years worth of mission reports. I began treating him when I was eleven-years-old."

"How did that even happen, anyway?" Sakura asked curiously. A hint of sadness clouded Shinjiro's eyes as he looked down.

"I was once a member of Bright Lightning... one of the youngest members, actually. I was never a combatant in the Coliseum; Oyashiro En used me when he was conducting business, because of the nature of my visual prowess. Still, when the others escaped, they took pity on me and brought me with them. The day before we were supposed to meet with ninja from Kirigakure regarding the mission that would be our end, Kirigakure sent ANBU to assassinate me, since I would be able to warn my comrades of their intentions. At that time, Itachi-han saved my life by protecting me from them, but before he had shown up, I suffered severe injuries and by the time I came to, my comrades were already..." Sakura gasped as Shinjiro closed his eyes and shook his head before looking up at Sasuke, "You have my thanks, Sasuke-han. You saved Chino-neesan and Fuushin-niisan from themselves."

"You knew about all of that?" Sasuke asked, but Shinjiro shook his head.

"Not until after the fact." He replied, "They didn't try to involve me because they knew that I wouldn't want any part of it, and because I already have my own family now. They came by and told me after the fact." He sighed, "If I had encountered the exploding humans myself, I probably would've recognized Chino-neesan's chakra, which is probably why they avoided Yugakure itself." A frustrated expression crossed his face, "I would've liked to have done something about Dark Lightning, but I'm not a skilled combatant. The Mayonaka Clan never was really known for combat prowess."

"So that's why you became a medical ninja?" Sakura guessed.

"Yes." Shinjiro said with a nod, "I am a bit discontented by Yugakure's excessive neutrality, but... There are also dangers involved with having a Kekkei Genkai. By using my abilities in medicine and exercising discretion in what I say to other people regarding the things that I can sense about them, I'm able to avoid at least some of that."

"It's weird how small the world can be sometimes..." Sakura remarked as she prepared to go to bed with Sasuke that night, "I mean, who would've thought that the people you recently helped turn over a new leaf would be friends of the doctor who treated your brother, who is also a friend of a widow that Hinata, Ino, and I escorted when she was pregnant after the war?"

"I know what you mean." Sasuke said with a nod, "A while back, I met a man who had encountered my brother while he was in the Akatsuki. He and his older brother had been targeting Itachi and Kisame, but when they ultimately failed, Itachi spared his life without Kisame realizing it. He went on to marry a woman who had once encountered Sasori and Deidara and somehow got along with them because she was a ceramic artist, and oddly enough, his younger brothers were playing with paper shuriken."

"You're kidding." Sakura said in amazement, "I wonder if all these things are merely coincidence or simply the result of people connecting with others?"

"Chakra connects all of us to each other. It connects our hearts. That was what the Sage of Six Paths taught to his students of Ninshu." Sasuke replied, his gaze thoughtful, "In the past, I rejected that notion, but Naruto taught me that it really is the right way."

Sakura smiled softly before leaning up to kiss Sasuke, but she stopped short at the sound of a blood-curdling scream. "That sounded like Oyu-san!" She exclaimed. Without a word, Sasuke grabbed his sword and opened the balcony to the window to their room, jumping out of it to go investigate with Sakura immediately following him. What they found when they arrived in the women's bath where the scream had come from shocked them.

Shinjiro's wife, Oyu, was being held captive by a group of men, two of them gripping her arms as another held a kunai to her neck. Sakura's eyes were instantly drawn to the bleeding wound in the young woman's swollen abdomen.

"Please, let her go!" Shinjiro pleaded, "Our child...!"

The man holding the kunai sneered at Shinjiro. "Thanks to you, not a single inn in Yugakure will let us stay. So you're going to pay for sticking your nose in our business."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and crouched. In an instant, he activated his Rinnegan and switched places with Oyu, quickly drawing his sword and attacking the group of men. Sakura has anticipated this the instant that she saw him crouch and caught the injured mother-to-be, gently lying her back on the ground. "Shinjiro-san, lend me a hand!" She urged, "We're going to have to perform an emergency Caesarean in order to save the baby!"

Shinjiro nodded and quickly rushed to Sakura's side as she began to work. "What do you need me to do?"

"For now, just keep an eye on them with your Shinjitsugan." Sakura told him. Shinjiro nodded, watching carefully and attempting to comfort his wife as Sakura quickly made the incision using a chakra scalpel. "How far along was she?" She asked Shinjiro as she worked.

"The baby was due in two weeks." Shinjiro answered.

"Good. That increases the chances of survival." Sakura replied. As quickly and carefully as she could, the pink-haired kunoichi lifted the infant from within Oyu and severed the umbilical cord. When the child made no sound and took no breaths, Sakura quickly pressed a pair of fingers against the baby girl's neck before her eyes widened in horror. "There's no pulse!" She exclaimed.

"There's still chakra though!" Shinjiro exclaimed, "I can see it! There's still time."

Sakura nodded and looked over at Sasuke, who had already finished subduing the assailants, "Sasuke-kun! We have to resuscitate the baby! I need you to use Raiton to shock her! It needs to be a very small jolt!"

Sasuke nodded and swiftly moved beside Sakura, who gently laid the unmoving infant on the ground so that Sasuke could do as she had instructed. Following what Sakura told him, Sasuke summoned a small charge of lightning into his palm and pressed it to the baby's chest. The baby girl jolted, and then began to cry, causing all of them to sigh with relief. Sakura carefully scooped the wailing child into her arms and looked at Shinjiro, "Can you heal Oyu-san while I finish up with the baby?"

Shinjiro nodded, his relief obvious. "Of course."

A while later, Oyu was lying on the ground, being supported by her husband as she held their newborn baby girl in her arms. Shinjiro's eyes glistened with tears as he looked up at the Uchiha Couple, "Sakura-han, Sasuke-han, thank you. You saved them both."

"Think nothing of it." Sakura said with a wave of her hands, "We would never turn our backs on a situation like this."

"Besides, you did a lot for my brother." Sasuke agreed.

"By the way, what are you going to name her?" Sakura asked curiously.

Shinjiro shared a look with his wife, and then smiled up at them, "With your permission, Sakura-han, we would like to name her Haru, after the maiden name of the woman who saved her from dying in the womb."

Sakura's eyes widened in shock, "But... I don't think I did anything that you couldn't have done... and besides, Sasuke-kun played a part as well."

"I know." Shinjiro said with a nod, "That's why we want you both to be her godparents. As for your first statement, no, I couldn't have saved them. In that moment, my hands would not have been steady enough to do what needed to be done, and I never would've thought about having Sasuke-han resuscitate Haru using Raiton."

Sasuke placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder, giving her a gentle smile. She smiled back and then looked at the young couple, "We would be honored."

"Thank you." Shinjiro said before turning back to his wife and child and stroking Oyu's hair, "Otousan and I will bring them inside to rest and handle the cleanup out here. You two should go ahead and get some rest of your own."

"Thanks. I need to clean up myself, actually." Sakura said, "Delivering babies is always messy, but not usually this messy, and I usually have something covering my clothes." Shinjiro chuckled awkwardly, feeling sorry for Sakura for the ordeal of having to get all of that blood out of her clothing.

When Sakura had finished cleaning herself up in the bathroom, she came back into the bedroom of hers and Sasuke's room, where he was already waiting for her. "Hey, Sasuke-kun?" She began while sitting down beside him on the futons.

"Yeah?" Sasuke said as he looked up at her.

"Do you... want to have a baby?"

Sasuke's visible eye widened incrementally, but then he smiled softly at his wife.