Title: Curtain call (the final act)
Author: paws-bells
Beta-ed by: FallenTenshi, ItachixSakura Forever, MelissaRose85
Characters/Pairing: Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Itachi
Type: Continuous (InComplete)
Genre: Romance/Angst
Word Count: 7308
Theme: LJ Community, 50-shinobi theme #49, Curtain call (the final act)
Rating: M (Contains content suitable for mature teens and older)
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san.
Summary: Sequel to heart strings. It should be obvious by now that they were never meant to be together. Fate was doing everything possible to tear them apart, but one thing binds them closer together than never before. As long as hope never dies, life would continue to blossom.
Chapter Last Revised on: 29/04/08
Chapter 9
It was as if everything was thrown abruptly into fast forward the moment the three members of Team Seven arrived in Konoha.
Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke the moment they arrived at the west gate, but not before threatening to eat Naruto if he ever summoned the Toad King for something as undignified as this again.
There was no happy homecoming as Baa-chan went straight to Sakura immediately, and when she accessed the younger female's condition with chakra her face turned grim.
"Give her to me."
Kakashi obediently passed the burden that was his student to her female teacher. Tsunade took over the weight of the pregnant kunoichi easily, revealing to all her immense strength.
"Her fetuses are experiencing distress." Sakura blanched, and Tsunade directed her observations to her pink-haired apprentice. "I suspect that your placenta has partly covered your cervix, which is why you are bleeding so heavily. We are going to the hospital immediately. Kakashi, I want you to put a genjutsu over Sakura. Then you and Naruto follow me in as Jounin guards."
Both nin nodded immediately, understanding the brevity of the situation. This was life and death. Sakura-chan and her babies could very well die, and Naruto would have agreed to being lit on fire if it meant that he could be of any help to his best friend.
Kakashi cast the genjutsu flawlessly over the laboring kunoichi, and if they did not stop on the way to the hospital it would be nigh on impossible for anyone to detect Sakura's condition. The silver-haired nin nodded once when his illusion was firmly in place.
Without a word, the Hokage sprung into action, leaping high up among the trees and moving at an astonishingly rapid pace in the direction of the hospital, Kakashi and Naruto following closely behind.
"Shishou…" Sakura whispered quietly as she watched her teacher work hard to get her to the hospital, the fear in her voice apparent. "I don't want my babies to die…" The pink-haired female was so afraid for her children and felt completely weak and helpless. "Please, shishou, they come first no matter what."
Tsunade refused to look down upon Sakura. The older kunoichi knew exactly just what type of expression would be on her student's face and she simply refused to look at it.
Fear. Determination. Protectiveness. Resignation.
It would be like Dan and Nawaki all over again, and the blonde Hokage refused to let tragedy happen this time. Amber eyes looked resolutely forward.
"Sakura, you little fool," the blonde scoffed, so softly that their conversation was restricted to only the two of them. "Do you have so little faith in your own teacher?"
Sakura would have cried if not for the fact that she knew her teacher despised tears the most. Emerald eyes glimmered. She had never realized how desperately she had missed home until now. Missed her friends. Her family. Her teachers.
"Shishou…thank you."
"Conserve your strength," Tsunade remarked briskly instead. "You are going to need it later."
Encouraged, the younger kunoichi nodded and the rest of the journey was made in relative silence as the nin made quick time to the hospital.
Very soon, they arrived at Konoha's medical facility. Bursting through the doors, Tsunade shouted for Shizune to be brought to her and started rattling off a large amount of equipment and medical supplies to be brought into Operating Theatre Three. Kakashi and Naruto did as planned, creating distractions and enforcing the genjutsu as they followed their Hokage all the way to the operating room.
Naruto very much wanted to go in as well, but after a good hard glare from his amber-eyed superior as well as a sharp retort as to how he would only be hindering them if he went in, the dejected and worried young Jounin was left outside with his Team Leader, who by now had a familiar orange book in hand and was reading calmly at a corner, seemingly content to stay there as if nothing critical was going on behind the other side of the door that they were guarding.
Frustrated and feeling completely useless, seeing Kakashi-sensei behaving so nonchalantly and uncaringly sparked the blonde's already severely shortened temper.
"How can you still read that rubbish in this kind of situation?!" The Kyuubi Jinchuriki growled as he strode stiff-legged towards the older nin.
For awhile, it was as if Kakashi had not heard his angry demand, which was impossible because the blonde had been loud enough for anyone walking past that particular hallway to listen in on.
Then, the single black eye slid over to meet agitated blue ones.
"Because we have done all we can. The only thing we can do now is wait, Naruto."
With the exception of his squirrelly excuses for his tardy behaviors, Kakashi seldom, if ever, made no sense, and this time was no different.
Naruto felt his anger evaporate away, leaving nothing but worry and exhaustion behind.
Half an hour later, a frazzled looking Shizune barreled down the hallway and rushed into the operating room without even a second glance at the two nin waiting outside, and Naruto knew that Sakura's ordeal had barely began.
There really was nothing else to do but wait.
Damn it!
"Sakura, you are not dilating much at all." Tsunade observed with slight worry.
If the contractions had been coming periodically ever since the team had left from Ame, her cervix should have been at least four centimeters dilated already.
They were now in the operating theatre and Sakura had already been situated on the bed
It was going to be a long birthing process, and bluntly the blonde told her student just so. Even though exhausted by her journey Sakura nodded shakily, her eyes shining with determination and impatience, completely prepared to go through anything just to bring her two children safely into the world. The twins whom she had not even laid eyes upon yet. The twins whom she adored with every single beat of her heart.
But before Sakura surrendered herself willingly into the expert hands of her shishou, there was something else that she had to fulfill.
For Naruto.
For her teachers.
For her country.
"Shishou."
There was something in her voice that caught Tsunade's attention. The Hokage looked over to her disciple, narrowing amber eyes at the younger kunoichi.
"What is it?" she asked at last.
"There is something I need to tell you."
Sakura's child birthing ordeal lasted a horrific nineteen hours.
Together with Tsunade, Shizune was also present to bear witness to the pink-haired kunoichi's fierce struggle to bring life to her children.
To say that Shizune had been shocked when it was revealed that Sakura was the pregnant patient was certainly no understatement. Like the rest of the village, she had been kept completely in the dark regarding Sakura's condition and it was only because Tsunade was certain that she would need additional help birthing Sakura's twins that the Hokage had chosen to reveal the truth to the dark-haired female. No nurses had been allowed into Operating Theatre Three, and so it was up to the two highly accomplished medic-nin to do all the work by themselves.
Thankfully, Shizune had risen to the occasion magnificently. An annoyed glare at Tsunade promised that the younger Jounin was going to make life hell for her Hokage after all this excitement had died down though, but the busty blonde was only too relieved that Shizune would work now and leave her questions for later.
It was not like they had much of a choice, of course. Sakura was still bleeding, though it had already been greatly reduced by Tsunade's expertise, and while the pink-haired kunoichi wasn't in the worst condition that the blonde had ever seen in her entire career as a medic-nin, she wasn't exactly doing all that well either. Her strength and chakra supply was waning, she desperately needed nourishment so as to be strong enough to give birth naturally, and currently Tsunade felt that Sakura was just too stressed and that her contractions just wasn't dilating her cervix—much.
By then, it was almost five hours since they entered the birthing room. Almost seven hours' worth of agony for Sakura. At the rate they were going, her body was going to exhaust itself even before she could begin the actual delivery.
It was the placenta, and it was preventing dilation by partially covering the cervix.
And so Tsunade tried something that had never been done before. It was a completely risky procedure but the odd position of the placenta had to be corrected and Sakura had agreed to it immediately. Anything that might help was good enough for the kunoichi, and she trusted her shishou with her life—and those of her children.
Using healing chakra, the voluptuous blonde managed to dislodge the stuck placenta internally. The contractions received better results after that, and for the next seven hours or so they waited it out, and Sakura dilated about an average of one centimeter per hour.
Shizune was in charge of making sure that Sakura drank the high energy supplements in between violent bouts of contractions, as well as monitoring the babies' heartbeats and vital stats every half an hour. Tsunade checked the kunoichi's cervix periodically and made sure that no more complications would arise.
The pink-haired female was being surprisingly strong throughout the entire process and Tsunade was never prouder of her student than she was right now. Sakura didn't yell or scream or make a fuss as she grew more pained by the birthing; instead, she released her agony in small whimpers and deep pants because to do anything else would be a complete waste of precious energy and she was smart enough to know that.
And at a time when a female would desperately require the support of her mate the most, Sakura had been left all alone to go through the painful birthing process. But yet she was striving to do her best to bring her babies safely into this world, and slowly the truth became rather obvious even to Tsunade, who had been trying her utmost to avoid it the entire while.
Truly, no female on earth would care so selflessly for their offspring unless they were created with the man they loved.
Her student was genuinely in love with Uchiha Itachi.
It was then that Tsunade realized she had no choice but to start considering the completely ridiculous request that Sakura had proposed to her hours ago.
Seventeen hours into her labor, Sakura finally gave birth to her first child.
It was a boy.
It didn't matter that the little thing was wrinkly and bloodied and looked completely odd with what looked like a clump of black hair slicked to its head, but it was love at first sight when his mother set eyes on him. It was as if all the pain she had suffered to bring her little one to the world was nothing at all, and crouched down on all fours on the bedding to facilitate an easier birthing, Sakura nearly cried when Tsunade swaddled her baby up in a thick blanket and presented him for her to see.
He hadn't made a single sound since he came out from her womb, but already his unfocused eyes were open and darting curiously around and Tsunade was completely convinced that if he could move he would have wandered around and started touching things.
"One more," Tsunade announced firmly as she passed the boy into Shizune's care.
By now, Sakura was completely exhausted. Her breathing was rapid, her body was completely damp with perspiration, her limbs were straining desperately to support her body weight and the kunoichi wanted nothing more than to rest and recuperate. But her job was not done yet. Her baby had another sibling waiting to emerge from the protective cocoon of her womb, and suddenly Sakura could not wait to see her other child as well.
She did not have to wait as long as she had for her firstborn of course, but whereas the first had came out head first, its twin was breeched and therefore it took nearly two hours before Sakura felt the overwhelming relief in her emptied womb.
The relief that she had successfully birthed her children was simply overwhelming, and Sakura would have cried with tears of joy if she had any energy left to do so.
Her labor was finally over, but she was painfully weak and completely wrung out by her ordeal. Faint from loss of blood and exhaustion, the kunoichi allowed herself to be guided to lie back onto the bed and felt her consciousness fading in and out in a most alarming manner.
"Congratulations, Sakura," the pink-haired female vaguely heard the words of her mentor. "It's another boy."
As if on cue, the little thing now cleaned and swaddled in a thick blanket let out a loud, displeased wail, the scratchy cry of her baby sounding like music to Sakura's ears. Unlike his elder brother, this one had no qualms vocally expressing his dislike for this loud and cold environment that he had been abruptly shoved into
Sakura found the energy to smile faintly.
Her job was done.
Now she could rest.
Sakura did not fight the tide of darkness that came after her in a vengeful wave this time, and within moments had fallen deeply unconscious.
Sakura?
Sakura!!
Naruto could not believe his ears.
He stared at baa-chan in a state of deep shock, his blue eyes glazed.
Tsunade had finally emerged from the operating theatre after nearly twenty four hours, and Naruto had went simply stir crazy just pacing outside, wondering just how long more Sakura would need to suffer to have her babies.
But never would he have thought that the end would be like this.
Beside him, Kakashi was the first to speak.
"What about the babies?" Even the silver-haired Jounin sounded odd. Off, in a way, but still so neutral that Naruto could not help but resent the man.
This was not supposed to happen!!
Tsunade's expression was blank, her eyes dull.
She was hurting too, but at the moment Naruto was completely convinced that no one would hurt as badly as he did at the moment. No one would ever hurt like he was hurting now. This was not supposed to happen, this was not supposed to happen, this was not supposed to happen—
"Stillborns."
Naruto did not know when he had started to cry, but the tears refused to stop as he stared desperately at baa-chan.
"Please tell me that you are joking!" His voice was hoarse, and it took a little while for him to realize that he was screaming. "You are the best medic-nin in the world, baa-chan!! Tell me that you are joking, tell me that Sakura-chan is alright and just resting in there! Tell me, damn it!!"
He wasn't even aware that he had moved, and Kakashi had to pry him off their blonde leader.
"Naruto, control yourself!" the older Jounin barked sharply.
Naruto turned upon his sensei immediately.
"Don't touch me!" He roared like a wounded animal. "Don't touch me…"
The tears refused to stop no matter how hard he tried, and in the end he sank onto the floor, rocking himself and keening with grief.
Sakura-chan.
He had failed to protect his sworn sister. And he had promised her too! He had promised…
Oh, Sakura-chan…
"She lost too much blood and energy." Tsunade's voice hitched slightly, the exhaustion in her own voice apparent to all that she had desperately tried everything she could. "I couldn't save her."
Naruto sobbed at Tsunade's defeated admittance.
This was not happening…
This was all the fault of Uchiha Itachi!!
For a brief moment, grief stricken blue eyes flashed a demonic crimson, and then Naruto growled in a completely animalistic way.
That bastard had defiled Sakura, had used her and made her pregnant and now she was lost forever to him.
In his mind's eye he could see clearly the cold gaze of the Mangekyo Sharingan wielder, the cruelty in his eyes.
Vile, Kyuubi-tainted killing intent started to leak out of the enraged blonde.
I. Will. Kill. Him!!
"No!"
Naruto had no idea that he had roared out his intention until he found himself severely restrained by baa-chan and Kakashi-sensei. He was almost gone by then, red chakra encircling his body, elongated teeth gnashing violently as he snapped his head back and forth, thrashing to be released so that he could exact his terrible revenge on the Uchiha bastard.
Then his Hokage cold cocked him mercilessly, and the force was enough to knock him out for the count.
All the overpowering rage and chakra disappeared in an instant, leaving behind nothing but tremendous hurt, grief and defeat.
Sakura-chan…I'm so sorry…
"I will take care of Naruto." Kakashi picked up the unconscious blonde easily and hefted the young man over his shoulder.
Tsunade nodded. Kakashi would make sure that Naruto would not go off by himself to look for Uchiha Itachi. It was no surprise really, that Naruto would react thusly. They had always been close as teammates, Sakura and Naruto, and even closer as sworn siblings.
This was such a mess.
"When are you holding the funeral?" the silver-haired Jounin asked quietly, his eye watchful as he observed his Hokage.
"In three days time." Her answer was immediate.
Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly, and then he nodded.
The tall Jounin waited for the blonde to start to walk away first but she did not budge from her position by the theatre's doors.
"Take Naruto and go," Tsunade urged. "I have…things to do here."
Kakashi nodded and started to move away.
Then he paused.
"…Things like what Shizune is doing inside the room now?" The Copy-nin asked neutrally, not looking his superior in the eye.
Tsunade stiffened.
Kakashi knew that he was not supposed to meddle with his Hokage's decision, but this was his student as well, and he had the right to know.
"She isn't dead, is she?" the Jounin asked almost inaudibly. Tsunade's reaction when asked about Sakura's funeral had been too quick and too unaffected to be properly matched to the grieving appearance that she had portrayed with such great authenticity earlier. A grieving person would have paused in anguish, or even just too dazed by the suddenness of the events to even think clearly, let respond so well and so quickly.
Tsunade closed her eyes. She should have known that Kakashi would have seen through her act.
And maybe…it wouldn't hurt too, to have another person know the truth in this unusual circumstance.
"…no."
Before he could ask why, Tsunade continued to speak.
"I want your silence regarding this matter. No one else must know, not even Naruto." Kakashi looked up, and Tsunade was mildly taken aback by the almost fierce question in his eye. The Kakashi of the past would never ask why, but this Kakashi owed his students too much. Already, two of his students had betrayed and defected from Konoha before. If he wasn't careful the third would follow suit, and he would have let down his own sensei completely.
Minato-sensei would never forgive him if anything happened to his son.
Tsunade sighed. There was no going around this. Kakashi was not budging.
"If you really want to know, bring Naruto back first. Then track down Jiraiya. He should be around here somewhere. There is something that needs to be confirmed."
The funeral was a quiet affair.
As far as everyone was aware, the kunoichi had been killed in the line of active duty, and it was such a waste too, because she had so much potential to surpass her mentor.
Team Seven was now officially missing two members. Sasuke was still over in Kumo and completely unaware of what was going on back in Konoha, and Naruto was in no mood to inform his male teammate. Just thinking of the name Uchiha made Naruto unbelievably furious, and he did not know what he would do if Sasuke said something along the lines of how she deserved her fate.
No one deserved this!!
Especially not Sakura-chan.
Naruto stood stoically by the side with Kakashi as large numbers of friends, acquaintances and colleagues alike came up to offer their condolences to the puffy-eyed Uzumaki and their sensei. For once Kakashi was solemn, there was no orange book in sight and for that Naruto was thankful. He didn't know what he would have done if Kakashi-sensei had behaved as if nothing was wrong, but knew enough that it wouldn't have been a pretty sight nonetheless.
Sakura-chan was gone.
Gone. Gone. Gone.
And no one would ever know what a beautiful, strong person she was, how she had sacrificed herself to give life to her children—
The children that never survived.
The children that no one would ever know existed.
It was necessity, and baa-chan had decreed that the babies' existence could not be exposed to the public.
So no one would know that Naruto had became an uncle, if only momentarily. So no one would know that Sakura-chan had been a mother, such a beautiful, serene mama…
Naruto's thoughts broke off at that point.
There would be no funeral for the babies; they were born in secrecy and they would be cremated in secrecy.
"Naruto, control yourself." Kakashi's voice was grave as he looked at his crying student. "Sakura would not want to see you like this."
It was true.
Naruto could just imagine Sakura's reaction.
"Baka. You look like that pervert sensei of yours when he's deprived of research material."
Then she would cuff him affectionately on the head.
Naruto's tears flowed faster.
She would never hit him again.
Team Ten wandered by to offer their condolences.
Shikamaru and Chouji were oddly silent, having experienced the same type of grief that Naruto was feeling right now. Asuma-sensei.
Ino was in deep shock.
There wasn't anything much to say.
Nothing would ever be the same again, and Team Ten knew that as much as Team Seven did.
But they would show their support. This was what makes Leaf so strong, after all. Unity.
They came and went.
Team Eight had stopped by briefly awhile ago. They had left soon after as well, of course. They were now the only team among the original Rookie Nine that was completely intact.
Team Gai was out stationed on a month long border duty and was still not aware of what had just happened. Lee would grieve, Naruto was sure, but for now he was strangely glad that the Taijutsu master was not here. He didn't know if he could handle Lee's expressive grief, not when he himself was just as bad.
Naruto swallowed hard but the lump in his throat refused to go away.
This was not fair.
Why did Sakura have to die?
Why?
Anguished blue eyes turned cold and steely.
He wanted revenge.
Naruto had never truly understood Sasuke's overwhelming need to avenge his clan until now.
The feeling of utter loss and helplessness. The feeling of anguish and that nothing would ever be right again. The rage and anger at the failure of oneself...
And he never got to apologize to her.
It was very late by now, and the funeral parlor was already devoid of visitors.
Except for Tsunade, and a grim-looking Jiraiya.
The two Sannin had just walked through the door, and both felt immediately Naruto's fierce proclamation for revenge. It was impossible to miss it; the blonde's killing intent was so thick and malicious.
"Naruto." Tsunade's voice commanded attention in a way that told him that she had something important to say.
The blonde raised his head to look at his Hokage, blue eyes bright and slitted.
Tsunade was hardly affected by the blatant manifestation of the Kyuubi, and neither were Jiraiya and Kakashi.
"Tell me what to do," the golden-haired Jinchuriki hissed, eyes glittering with grief—and rage. It was one of the worst combinations for a shinobi to have, but in this instance it was perfectly alright.
The red clouds were shifting, finally revealing themselves, finally revealing more of their weaknesses.
And Naruto's rage would just help to bring it down once and for all.
They were on a mission in Suna when Zetsu appeared.
The Kusa nukenin wasted no time informing the Uchiha of what his extensive network of spies had uncovered a few hours ago.
"The kunoichi is dead."
Before Kisame could even wonder what on earth the plant man was talking about, Dark Zetsu took over.
"Your sons…stillborns."
The cold apathy was apparent in the hoarse, raspy voice of Zetsu's alter ego and for a long time no one spoke.
The shark man was stunned.
The little Leaf…was dead?
Crimson eyes remained blank as they stared unflinchingly into equally dispassionate golden orbs. If Zetsu was expecting any reaction from the Uchiha he was in for a disappointment.
So, all those whispers about how Madara's favored had gone soft, had become weak because of a woman were false after all. The raven-haired male wasn't even reacting to the news of the deaths of his offspring.
But what did he really expect? This was the same man who had promised his sons to their real leader just so that the immortal could experiment with his descendents.
Merciless, the whole lot of Uchihas.
"Pein wants you to know that Madara is very unhappy." Zetsu took over the reins of speech again. "You are expected to meet up with them soon."
An imperceptible nod.
"Is that all?"
His voice was cold and empty. Like always.
Wordlessly, Zetsu dematerialized into the surrounding landscape. His duty here was completed.
Without a moment's pause, Itachi continued to walk towards their next point of rendezvous. Iwa. They had an assignment to fulfill there, and the Uchiha did not intend to be late.
Kisame fell in silently behind his partner.
It was a long time before the tall Kiri-nin spoke.
"Don't you feel upset now that she's gone?" There was more curiosity in his tone than moral outrage.
There was no reply, and just when Kisame thought that Itachi was not planning to answer at all the younger male spoke.
"There is nothing to be upset about."
Even Kisame had been mildly taken aback by the Uchiha's cold, unconcerned tone.
It was true that the little Leaf may be highly accomplished and completely mesmerizing in her pure, giving character, but the blue-haired Kiri-nin had known that she was trouble from the very beginning. She was too headstrong, too loyal, and had too much conscience within her to be properly ruthless. It had been a mistake for Itachi to become so involved with someone like her, but Kisame had told himself that at least their offspring would be something to be reckoned with when he grew up. But lately he had been worried that Itachi was losing his edge because of his involvement with the little pink-haired kunoichi, though it was obvious now that the Uchiha's blatant carelessness was pointing to only one thing.
Kisame came to his own conclusion.
It must have been only a game for Itachi.
The Uchiha had always acted on his own whims, and now was no different. For a brief moment of time, he had been content to play house with the expectant kunoichi, providing for her, caring for her, experimenting with the duties of impending fatherhood. Then, it was as if he had known what was going to happen in the end, and he had cut her loose, purposefully severing all ties with the mother of his children as he sent her back to where she clearly belonged to.
And now, not even a week had passed since he had sent her off and already news had returned that she had failed to survive childbirth, and that the infants had died with her.
There had been no reaction whatsoever from Itachi at all.
Her babies were the most beautiful beings that she had ever laid eyes upon.
They were so very small though, both only a little over five pounds each and the first thing she had done when Shizune brought her sons to her was to hold them to her chest, inwardly marveling over this sense of complete euphoria and accomplishment that she was feeling right now. Then she looked them over meticulously, counting little toes and little fingers, running careful hands over their tiny bodies and faces anxiously to make sure that they were perfect and healthy in every way.
The stamp of Uchiha was imprinted on her babies in a manner that could not be mistaken. Both of them were exactly similar in appearance of course, with heads of wild pitch-black hair and dark eyes. Sakura was easily learning to differentiate between who was who as well; her firstborn was mostly quiet and watchful around his surroundings though she was rather certain that he can't see very much at the moment, and her second born was a little more vocal than his elder brother, whimpering and cooing softly to himself when his mama picked him up.
Her babies must have recognized her presence; they allowed their mother to fuss over them almost quietly and when she was done she could not help but burst into tears as she looked to Tsunade and a teary Shizune, huskily thanking them so much for all they had done to help her and her babies.
The blonde Hokage, who had helped bring over a thousand babies to this world in the entire span of her career, had never quite felt this sense of pride before as she looked upon the pink-haired kunoichi and her children. She hid it well though, and gruffly commanded her student to feed her hungry offspring already.
Sakura agreed, and one by one her two sons were nursed by their mother and they latched onto her breasts immediately, absorbing her milk with surprising speed and greed, much to the pained surprise of the pink-haired female. Then her eyes softened and she quietly bore through the pins and needles sensation as she breastfed them, the maternal glow around her so apparent that it was completely beautiful to watch.
The quiet, absorbed manner in which Sakura was interacting with her children made Tsunade's heart ache in a completely unexpected way. She had never been a mother before, definitely would never be one now, but that was alright. Already, she had as good as two grandchildren to spoil before her and the Hokage felt strangely moved. She closed her eyes and smiled slightly, in a completely breathtaking manner that would have Jiraiya staring at her like a goon if he was here right now.
"Sakura, your sons are very beautiful."
Tsunade was quietly sincere and the pink-haired female raised her head to look at the older woman from her maternity bed, and then her emerald eyes shone with such happiness.
"Thank you, shishou."
And because the situation was rapidly becoming extremely mushy as evidenced by how Shizune was trying her best to muffle her sniffles and not succeeding very well while she was at it, Tsunade quickly prodded her dark-haired disciple. Shizune stared at her Hokage questioningly with red-rimmed eyes.
"Now that Sakura has given me two grandchildren already, when are you going to start popping some out as well?"
Shizune promptly turned bright red, much to everyone's amusement.
"Tsunade-sama!!"
"Sakura had stumbled upon some very important information regarding the Akatsuki when she was in Ame. She passed this to me in the birthing room." Tsunade looked hard at a distraught Naruto as she produced the sealed scroll. "Within it contains details regarding the very origin of Akatsuki, as well as its true leader."
There was a stunned pause.
"Jiraiya has already confirmed some of the information in here, and we have decided to assume that the intelligence has not been compromised."
"Why should I trust you, Sakura?"
The Godaime Hokage looked at her pale-faced student as she accepted the highly secured scroll from the laboring female.
The look of hurt on Sakura's face was obvious, but the kunoichi forged on bravely.
"Because Konoha is still my home." Her face was earnest and completely without guile, and she was trying her best to convince her teacher that she was not lying. "Because all my precious people are still here and you know that I won't do anything to hurt any one of you."
When the busty blonde did not seem to answer, Sakura continued speaking, her voice imploring.
"Please shishou; this information will help Naruto in the long run." The pink-haired female pleaded for her sensei's trust. "I'm risking everything to tell you this."
The Hokage frowned ferociously, not liking what she was hearing.
"What do you mean?"
Sakura trembled as another wave of contractions hit her. She bit her lip and tried not to whimper out from the pained pressure in her womb. It was a couple of minutes later before she was recovered enough to speak.
"They…knew from the beginning that Naruto would come after me." The pink-haired kunoichi gasped. "They planned to use me to lure Naruto into their trap but yet they chose to let me return to Konoha now. Why do you think they changed their mind?"
Tsunade frowned. This could be yet another elaborate trap that Akatsuki was planning, to have them lower their guards…
But the fear on Sakura's face was so genuine that Tsunade knew immediately that wasn't the case.
"Shishou…" her voice was filled with overwhelming worry. "They want my babies."
Before the Fifth could say a thing Sakura continued to speak.
"Uchiha Madara wants to use my babies for experimentation, to find out more about the Mangekyo's abilities."
The Hokage clearly believed that her disciple had gone insane.
"Uchiha…Madara?"
But her emerald eyes were clear and not glittering with madness as they regarded Tsunade.
"He is the true leader of Akatsuki. We have all seen him before. Tobi, the masked nin."
Tsunade glanced sharply at her student. For a long moment, neither spoke.
Uchiha Madara? This was completely ludicrous! Uchiha Madara should not still be alive right now! He had lived during the Shodaime's reign; if he was alive still he would have been over a century and a half in age!
"He is immortal. The secret of the Mangekyo…"
Hard amber met imploring emerald.
"This is rubbish," Tsunade snapped. But before Sakura could wilt in defeat the blonde continued to speak. "What you are saying is so preposterous that no one would have believed it to be the truth."
Then Tsunade sighed loudly.
"But that's why I should believe you."
Sakura's eyes lit up with hope, but Tsunade was not done yet. She looked hard at her disciple. "If you are lying about this…"
Sakura shook her head immediately.
"Please, just read the scroll. Everything is in there and-oh!" She grimaced as yet another merciless wave of contractions inundated her.
Immediately, Tsunade tucked the scroll safely into her clothes and went to check on Sakura's condition.
"We will talk about this later. Now we have your babies to deliver. And just where the hell is that Shizune?"
The Hokage fired up healing chakra into her hands and started to check on her student's vital stats.
"Shishou, thank you."
Sakura's gratitude was genuine, and Tsunade glared halfheartedly at her.
"Shut up. You are irritating me with all the 'thank yous'."
Sakura's breath hitched. She missed her teacher so much.
"But I have one last thing to ask of you."
"What is it?" By now, the busty Hokage had returned her attention to the twins nestled impatiently within her student's belly.
"Hokage-sama." The way Sakura addressed her teacher was so formal that Tsunade immediately raised her head to look at the younger kunoichi. Sakura could only smile shakily at the way the blonde was starting to frown.
"Please let me die."
Naruto's hands shook as he re-rolled the scroll that he had just read.
In it was Sakura-chan's familiar handwriting, and its contents clearly depicted the insanity of one twisted man as he willingly instigated unneeded violence and atrocities just for the chance to see Konoha burn to the ground.
Never mind that he had once belonged to Leaf as well, but what he had done was simply unforgivable.
Uchiha Madara.
He had been the one to send the Kyuubi to Konoha.
He was the reason why Naruto had become a Jinchuriki.
He was the reason why Naruto's own father had to seal the Nine Tails into his navel.
He was the reason why Naruto had been an orphan his entire life.
He even had an entire clan, everything that Naruto would kill to have but he had willingly wiped out the lives of all his kin just for the sake of power.
Unforgivable.
For someone like him who had to work so hard to earn his precious people one by one, what this Madara had done was simply unforgivable.
And now, he had been the indirect cause behind Sakura's death.
A dark shadow covered the blonde's eyes as he handed the scroll back to Tsunade.
The Godaime Hokage, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and himself were currently in the Hokage's office.
"Naruto, tone it down," Jiraiya advised. "You are still in the Hokage's tower and you know that ANBU don't take kindly to such a degree of killing intent anywhere near Tsunade."
Said busty blonde rolled her eyes. "I can take on the brat anytime." Amber eyes were focused on the still form of Naruto. "Look, brat-"
"I want to crush him."
There was no hatred, no anger, no fury in his voice. Just cold blankness. Even the earlier killing intent had been abruptly tamed and controlled. The three older nin exchanged glances.
"I want to make him pay." The blonde lifted his head, and the cheerful Naruto was gone. Once happy, sapphire blue eyes were now injected with cold, hard steel. "I want to destroy Akatsuki. I don't care if he is immortal; I want Uchiha Madara to go to hell. I want all of them to go to hell. I want them all to pay."
The calm, concentrated rage in his voice was like nothing they had ever seen on Naruto before, and it gave them chills to see him like this.
Tsunade considered Naruto calmly. Motivation as raw and as desperate as this was good and all, but she was starting to wonder if it had been such a good idea at all to keep the truth from the blonde Jinchuriki.
But it was too late to contemplate this now, and not letting Naruto know had been a necessity in itself anyway. The blue-eyed blonde simply could not act to save his life, and the Akatsuki intelligence was sure to sniff out a rat and report back the oddity if it was so, and Sakura's supposed death would have been discovered as a cover up and everything would have been blown straight to hell.
So Tsunade kept her mouth firmly shut. Grief like Naruto had exhibited over Sakura's 'death' could never be faked after all, and the Hokage quickly made the unwavering decision to tell Naruto the truth only when this entire fiasco with the Akatsuki was over. After all, it wasn't just Sakura that they had to protect now; there was also the safety of her offspring to consider as well. Still, the busty blonde was aware that Naruto would definitely blow up on her when he realized the truth, but was sure that when he finally calmed down enough to think about it would have grudgingly agreed with her decisions in the end.
Naruto was a lot smarter than he looked—he was going to be the Rokudaime one day, after all.
Tsunade nodded grimly, and tried not to feel guilty over the way that she was basically manipulating the blonde brat whom she had always regarded like a brother.
Gomen ne, Naruto.
"Very well. We will help you get your revenge." Amber eyes stared unflinchingly into hard blue ones. "From now on, our goal will be to bring down the Akatsuki, and to ensure that it would never rise again."
Naruto jerked his head down curtly.
"We still need to be careful though." Kakashi added his own input. "More of Akatsuki's organizational structure may have been revealed to us now, but their abilities and strength are nothing to sneeze at."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. The Gama Sennin still remembered how he had underestimated Pein and his Rinnegan, and had almost paid dearly for it.
Naruto was hardly daunted. His eyes were hard.
"Then we will hunt them down one by one." The hidden aspect to his ANBU training was now very evident in his viciousness. "Run them over with our strength, and pick them apart until there is nothing left, not even carcasses and bones."
Before the rest could reply to Naruto's newfound streak of brutal ruthlessness, he continued speaking.
"We have done it before. Hidan and Kakuzu. Sasori and Deidara. We will do it again." Blue eyes looked to his superiors for approval, and all three nin would never know it, but they all breathed a secret sigh of relief when they saw the flash of vulnerable humanity that flashed past the blonde's eyes for a brief instance.
Having a bloodthirsty, mentally warped Naruto running around would definitely not be good for the health of everyone concerned.
"I'm so tired of being chased after by them," the blonde whispered. Then his eyes hardened again. "I want to fight back now."
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya, and after a long moment the shaggy-haired male nodded once.
Naruto had learned all that Jiraiya had to teach. If he wasn't ready now he was never going to be ready.
"Being offensive may be a good idea…" Tsunade allowed cautiously at last. "But what we need now is more information regarding Uchiha Madara. Anybody who could control the Kyuubi as easily as he had is definitely a force to be reckoned with. The historical texts doesn't mention much about him other than for his aiding the Shodaime in the formation of Konoha as well as his subsequent defeat to the First in the Valley of the End. We need to know more."
Surprising enough, Naruto knew just where this was heading.
"Sasuke will have to be informed about what is going on." The blonde muttered.
Kakashi nodded.
"We will need access to the Uchiha vaults. Sasuke would know where they are, and he has to give us the permission to use it since he is technically the head of the Uchiha clan."
Naruto grimaced. He really doubted that Sasuke enjoyed very much being a one-man clan, and now that he understood so much better his teammate's overwhelming thirst for revenge Naruto realized that they could both work together to get what they both so desperately needed—vengeance. There would be all the more reason for the last Uchiha to join forces with them now and it won't be difficult to convince him. They share common prey now. Just one whiff regarding the whereabouts of Uchiha Itachi as well as Madara and Naruto was convinced that the other male would be raring to go.
Naruto's eyes darkened.
It begins now.
It was going to begin soon.
Crimson eyes stared blankly across the horizon, the sunrise at dawn painting the skies in magnificent shades of reds and pinks.
The winds of change were shifting again, and he could feel it.
And this time, it was highly possible that Madame Fate would not be smiling down upon him again.
He closed his eyes briefly, and opened them again.
Ice bled into formerly emotionless Sharingan.
It didn't matter.
Whatever it was, he would be ready.
:tsuzuku:
Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:
As promised, the midweek update. I will try to maintain two updates per week, and chapter 10 will probably be up sometime this weekend as well, if all goes to plan.
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And well, Sakura finally gives birth. It wasn't as smooth sailing as one would have expected, and I hope you guys had thoroughly enjoyed your dose of drama. You cannot believe the amount of research that I had to look into so as to properly write an authentic childbirth process, and then I'm still not completely certain if I had done it any justice at all. Any experienced mothers out there; you are definitely welcome to correct anything that I had written wrongly.
Also, special thanks go to my good friend, Anariel Tindomerel, for her additional informative explanation regarding the birthing process. And in case you were wondering, Anariel has never given birth before. She is a first year Vet Science student, and well, the biological concept is rather similar, after all.
…Besides, we are all animals no matter how much we try to deny it.
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Alright, and without further ado, Childbirth 101 begins now! Of course, I will not be explaining everything; that would take forever. I will attempt to do my best to share some of what I had learnt via the ever resourceful internet, and mostly about the interesting little tidbits that I had made use of to make this chapter as realistic as I possibly could.
Here we go!
As a rule of thumb, dilation of the cervix occurs on the average of a centimeter an hour. Theoretically, that is. The situation will definitely not be the same for different woman. For those who are clueless about what this means (like I originally was), dilation is the opening of the cervix during childbirth, of course, to facilitate the passage of a baby from the uterus through the vagina. The cervix needs to dilate from zero (not dilated at all) to ten centimeters (fully dilated) before pushing can begin and the baby is delivered. This is because the average diameter of a full-term baby's head is around ten centimeters in length, and the head is definitely the widest part of the baby.
Fetuses experiencing distress are not necessarily abnormal, especially during labor. In fact, the process of childbirth itself is very stressful for the soon-to-be-born baby as well, and the term 'fetal distress' can also be used to describe a situation where the fetus is beginning show signs of exhaustion, decrease in natal movement/heart rate, etc. In Sakura's case, it was partially caused by the fact that she was having multiple births, not to mention placenta abruption/placenta praevia. Obviously, that is not a good sign for a successful birthing.
According to Wikipedia, placenta abruption/placenta praevia is a complication of pregnancy, wherein the placenta lining has separated from the uterus of the mother and is covering the cervix, be it partially or fully. This can be fatal to both mother and baby, and can result in massive hemorrhage, bringing the mother into shock and multiple organ failure, and also resulting in brain damage or even death of the unborn infant due to the insufficient oxygen in the blood passed from mother to baby before the end of labor. In normal cases, Caesarean section is immediately performed to save mother and child, but as you can see I had Tsunade perform something completely unorthodox instead; shift the placenta back temporarily until childbirth occurs naturally. Of course, that is not a medically possible feat in the real world. Once again, I literally pulled that out of my butt, but of course, this is just one of the many wonders of fanfiction, eh?
High energy supplements are normally given to a mother during the early stages of labor to keep her energy up, as well as to prevent dehydration and ketosis, which is the breakdown of body fat into energy in place of carbohydrates, a process that normally occurs during starvation. Since Sakura had a long birth ahead of her, it made sense that she should be fed and hydrated and as often as possible so as not to lose energy that would be needed for labor.
There are different positions that a pregnant woman can adopt during childbirth to facilitate an easier and less painful delivery. Contrary to popular belief, lying on the back during childbirth is actually the most ineffective and uncomfortable position for a laboring mother. Doctors and midwives prefer it because it provides the best eye space and control on the baby but it doesn't provide much movement as mother is pushing against gravity, not to mention that the pressure of the baby's head on the back and tailbone can be excruciating for her as well. Therefore, I had Sakura take up a more unorthodox method of giving birth: on her hands and knees. Theoretically, it is supposed to facilitate an easier pushing by going with gravity, not to mention that back pain is tremendously reduced in this position.
A breech condition is most common in twin birthing, most of the time occurring in the case of a second born twin, i.e. if the first twin is born head down, the second may most likely be breeched. For those who are not aware of what this means, a breech birth refers of the position of the baby in the uterus such that it will be delivered buttocks first as opposed to the normal head first condition, according to Wikipedia. Sakura's labor began prematurely, as was the norm for most multiple birthing, therefore it's inevitable that one of her babies were breeched, seeing that they had no time to turn into the head-first position, as was what should happen in the case of a full-term baby.
All those scenes on television of a screaming/crying and/or cursing laboring mother aren't very accurate in real life. Those were just acting. Childbirth classes would advice that yelling and kicking up a fuss in an effort to express pain is a huge waste of energy, and may make pushing less effective in the long run. Whimpers, small groans, growls and deep breaths are encouraged to conserve strength better, and that was precisely what Sakura had done.
Well, these are all the little facts that I think I had used for this chapter. Yes, I'm positively insane, I'm aware. I nearly pulled out all my hair trying to sort out the overload in information, but I finally feel that it's worth it now, to have the chapter as authentic as possible. Sakura is a highly trained medic-nin, she should be aware of all the best and most effective methods when it comes to childbirth and in my defense I have no intention of writing blindly about something I have no prior knowledge of only for the characters and plot to…flop, I suppose, due to a certain inattention to detail.
Yes, I know I'm very anal…and why on earth am I explaining myself again?
Moving on.
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The cute, wittle Uchiha babies. There will be more about them in the next few chapters. Anyone willing to guess their names? The clue for those who are interested: They will be named after their parents, one for each.
Have fun guessing!
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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic, thank you.
--paws
