A/N: This would have been up two days ago but was having a problem and I couldn't sign in.

(Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews! I would like to point out that I have a poll up on my profile to see if anyone would be interested in an ItaSaku bdsm story. I do not plan on starting it unless I get at least 50 votes, so if you haven't voted, do so now before you get caught up in this chapter and forget.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just this story.

Mature content warning for language and graphic scenes.

Sakura: age 20

Sasuke: age 20

Itachi: age 26

Toshiro: age 2

Natsuki: age 2

Stating the Obvious

Chapter: 8

The twins were learning at an extremely fast pace. Sakura had more than once called them her little sponges. She had started them on a new learning program at a year old and already they were speaking in complete sentences, could recite the alphabet and even knew how to write their names. After they mastered all of that Sakura had started teaching the twins how to read, and like everything else they were picking it up very rapidly. The new task that she had decided to undertake that day was potty training. It was relatively easy for her to teach Suki the basics, but when it came to Shiro she was a little stumped as to how to proceed. So, here she was, standing in the bathroom with her two year old son trying to explain how the fixture worked while he stared at her like she was an idiot.

Sakura knelt down to her son's level. "Shiro, do you want to learn how to use the potty?" She was definitely not expecting what came out of his mouth.

He pointed at the fixture and stated very matter-of-factly. "Mother, that is a toilet."

Sakura stared wide-eyed at her little boy. "What?"

He gave her a look that said he was clear enough the first time and had no reason to repeat himself. He was way too much like his father.

Sakura shook her head. "Okay then, do you want to learn how to use the toilet?"

"Yes." He sounded as if it should be obvious.

Thankfully it didn't take long for the child to get the gist of things and Sakura was just thankful that diapers were now a thing of the past. It wasn't like she didn't have any help on the matter, she was just tired of dealing with the damn things at home when she would be dealing with them as soon as she went back to work at the hospital. Admittedly, it was easier to change a diaper on an infant than it was to change a cranky old retiree that wanted to regale her with stories about their better years, but a diaper is a diaper and for now she didn't have to deal with them. After giving Shiro his new underwear and helping him put them on, Sakura went to the kitchen to get everything ready for dinner. She was making shrimp and vegetable tempura with rice and grilled fish, something fairly simple after a stressful day. She was sure that when Itachi came home he would appreciate a good meal.

Itachi was currently on a mission, but would be home in time for dinner. Apparently a nuke-nin listed in the bingo book was spotted just outside Konaha's border, so they had sent Itachi to deal with him before he became a problem. She wasn't worried, though, Itachi always came back to her. Even though he was gone quite a bit she couldn't have asked for a better man to marry. While he was at home, and not away on missions, Itachi was a far better father than she ever could have hoped for. He would help with their tutoring, baths, and he would even help cook or clean the house when she was too tired to do it by herself. He was very supportive of anything she wanted to do and even said that he would stay in the village and teach the new anbu recruits so that she could go back to work at the hospital after the children were old enough.

Sakura was busy setting the table when she heard the front door slide open. The happy shouts from the twins told her that Itachi was back early, again. Ever since the twins were born he had made it a habit to finish his missions faster than normal. As she turned around to greet her husband she caught the scent of blood, a lot of it. She ran out of the kitchen and found her husband collapsed just inside the door. The twins were staring at their father not quite understanding what was going on, but smart enough to know that something was very wrong. Sakura told the children to go to their room and that she would have Uncle Sasuke come take them out to dinner. As she hoisted Itachi up she was glad that he was conscious enough to help her get him into their bedroom. When he was situated she called Sasuke and had him come pick up the kids for the night. He had asked why, but when she mentioned that Itachi was wounded he had agreed and stated that he'd be right over. Five minutes later she bid farewell to her children and went to work on Itachi. He had extensive wounds on his arms, legs, and abdomen. His anbu vest seemed to have protected his more vital organs.

"Kami, Itachi, what happened to you?"

"The target led us into a mine field. Apparently he was sent on a suicide mission to take out as many Konaha shinobi as possible." His voice was strained as he recalled the events.

Sakura's jaw dropped. "That's awful. Did your unit make it out?"

"Only myself and one other made it out alive, but that is not the worst of it."

Sakura's head snapped up and her eyes met his. "What do you mean?"

"Before blowing himself to bits he bragged of another attack under the guise of a mission. I sent a messenger bird to the Hokage insisting that she research every mission before accepting it. I do not wish for anyone else to die the way my teammates did."

Sakura stroked his hair like you might a frightened child. "I'm sure that she'll take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of the other shinobi, but right now the only thing you need to worry about is staying alive for your family."

Itachi's eyes closed and he seemed to relax at her words. "Alright."

Sakura's hands glowed steadily as she carefully removed the shrapnel from his body while closing the wounds at the same time to prevent more blood loss. She sent chakra to his bone marrow to speed up red cell production and was relieved when his color started to improve. No major blood vessels were damaged or he would have bled out long before he made it home. He was suffering from chakra exhaustion, blood loss, a few broken bones and lacerations over most of his body. It took several hours to heal the worst of the damage and bandage the minor wounds. Itachi was passed out cold and would stay that way through most of the next day. She called Sasuke and asked him to keep the kids for the weekend as well as explaining Itachi's condition. Sasuke didn't seem too worried since his brother was in Sakura's care and had agreed to watch the kids for as long as she needed. Now that her family was taken care of, Sakura decided to eat and then take a nice long shower to sooth her tense muscles. It had been a while since she had to do a healing of that caliber and she was completely wore out. When she finally crawled into bed and cuddled up next to her husband she could barely keep her eyes open. Itachi stirred when she got into bed but only enough to wrap an arm around her waist before going back to sleep.

I know, this chapter took me a long time to post but I had a major virus corrupt my network and I had to reset all the computers in the house. Everything is fine now, so the next chapter shouldn't take as long unless I get struck with a bad case of writers block. Oh, and just to let you know, the whole potty training session actually happened with my oldest son. It was so funny I just had to put it in my story. Remember: More reviews means faster uploading.

Ja!