This is the moment you were all waiting for. I'd like to thank my friend for helping me name the babies. Such a clever idea, but I suppose that's expected from a girl named Nara. I kid you not, that's her actual name.

Twins Timeline: sleep; pregnancy i; pregnancy ii; pregnancy iii; birth

LOZ AU: Triforce

xi: Birth

"Naruto, holy shit!"

The Hokage-in-training jumps on his seat, wide blue eyes shooting towards the door as it slams against the wall and the younger ninja lowers his foot to the ground after literally kicking it open. "Konohamaru, what the fuck?" Naruto frowns at his longtime friend and waves a hand at the person sitting across from him. "Gaara's here, watch your fucking mouth!"

The Kazekage lifts a brow, the lack of an actual eyebrow making it seem imperceptible, and to their side, Shikamaru crouches down to pick up the files he had dropped. "You don't understand! I'm freaking out!"

"Do you always barge into other people's offices like that or what?" Naruto huffs indignantly and throws himself back on his chair as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Konohamaru shoots a glance in the direction of the one man in the corner, still swooping up documents, eyes urgent. "But it's impor–"

"Is it really?" The blond asks rhetorically. "The last time you waltzed in like this, it was just an excuse to–"

"Naruto." Gaara cuts in, noticing the way the jounin keeps looking Shikamaru's way. "Let him talk."

Breathing in deeply, Naruto complies, waving at the younger man with his restored hand, and Konohamaru drops the bomb before he can be stopped once again. "Sakura's in labor!"

The room grows silent and a stack of paper falls from Nara's hand. Several seconds pass in which each one sports a look of pure astonishment and bewilderment on their faces, until Naruto stands up abruptly and knocks his chair back, successfully snapping everyone out of their reverie. "Holy shit!"

Tsunade returned from her trip when Sakura was nearing the end of her eighth month of pregnancy. Of course, her mentor would be the one to deliver the babies, and at the time they heard about it, it seemed like a good idea. Who better than the Sannin herself to bring the children of her own apprentice to this world?

Now, however, they would much rather have just a regular medic do it.

Naruto paces around the short hallway, cursing Tsunade to hell and back for not letting them – for not letting even Shikamaru – inside the room after the contractions became more frequent. Gaara does not remember ever seeing the strategist as nervous as he is right now, kicking his legs in place and wringing his hands between his knees, sitting hunched in a thinly padded bench outside the hospital room.

The Kazekage wonders if it would be best to drag him away until it is all over. It feels like they have been sitting there for hours, and every time they hear Sakura make any particular loud noise, both of them seem ready to kick the door down and force their way inside. Thinking of it now, it is a surprise that Tsunade did not ask some ANBU – or even Kakashi, really – to keep watch outside the door and stop any attempt these two made. He cannot help but feel sympathetic for Shikamaru, though. It is his wife in there, giving birth to their first kids. It is an experience of a lifetime, and even if she gets pregnant again in the future, it will never replace this moment he is currently missing.

Sakura cries out, her dying voice giving way to the first shrill cry. Naruto bumps his fist in the air and grabs Gaara by the shoulder, shaking him in excitement, and Shikamaru runs his hands down his face, sighing in relief. His legs never cease their moving, though, and they wait for the next cry to come. Tsunade shouts orders they do not quite understand, but Sakura's enraged obscenity that follows is loud and clear in his hears. Despite himself, her husband smiles and presses his closed fists to his mouth in a sign of anxiety.

The second cry comes few minutes later and soon it all goes quiet. Shikamaru glances at the wrist watch that he, for some odd reason, decided to wear that day. It is just two minutes past midnight. The twins are, essentially, born on different days and he cannot help but chuckle.

The door opens and Naruto bolts for it, but Tsunade quickly intercepts him as the nurses scurry away from the room. "I ask Konohamaru to summon Shikamaru only, and he brings me the whole package." She smiles nonetheless, and cocks her head back towards the door after making quick eye contact with the new father, standing in the way of an overly eager blonde to keep him outside.

Shikamaru goes inside, only dimly aware of the door being closed behind him. His steps are quiet, shy even, and silently he walks to his wife lying in bed, eyes closed. Her face is still flushed, covered by a thin sheet of sweat that he pats away with a rather wrinkled handkerchief he takes out of his pocket. She stirs, eyelashes fluttering open to reveal tired green irises that shine brighter than the sun itself ever could. Her smile is just a spent slight curve of her lips, but it is enough for him. He dips his head down and places soft, loving kisses over her face, his palm cupping the curve of her jaw, and he finally allows himself to look down at the bundles in her arms.

"Are they healthy?" He whispers as his gaze roams over the sleeping figures of his two kids, all tan skinned with tuffs of thin, dark hair on top of their heads.

She nods, her body now pressed to his side as he wraps an arm around her shoulder and brings her closer. "They came a bit earlier than expected, but everything's fine."

"Which one was born first?"

"Shikasuma was," Sakura looks to the child cradled on her left arm.

Her husband touches his fingers tentatively on the head of the second baby, "So this is Shikaku."

"Do you want to hold him?" Laughing quietly at his hesitance, she adds. "There's no secret. Just hold him gently, but firmly, and support his head."

And so he does. Looking closer now, he can see all the little veins and arteries on his son's cheeks, the pink of his nose, the wrinkles of his tiny hands, and all the baby fat on his chubby arms. Shikaku is heavy for a newborn, and he wonders for a moment how Sakura managed to carry two babies inside of her for so long. Shikamaru looks down at her, she is smiling, eyes crinkled with tears caught in her lashes, her index finger caught in the oh so small fist of their son. He presses his forehead to hers, just barely managing to keep his own tears to himself.

They are then joined by their friends, and Naruto surprisingly keeps quiet and silent, at least for the first few seconds. "So, what are their names? You wouldn't tell us for anything in this world!"

"Shikasuma and Shikaku," replies Sakura, never once opening her eyes as she nuzzles her husband's nose with her own momentarily.

Tsunade smiles softly, instantly realizing they paid homage to the two most important men in Shikamaru's life. "Beautiful names for beautiful boys."

Gaara does not comment, only stands there in his usual fashion, crossed arms and a little smile on his lips. It takes Naruto a split second longer to understand what makes the names so wonderful, and he grins brightly, his own heart soaring at the sight of the new family. "Kurenai's going to be very happy."

There is a sad little curve on Shikamaru's mouth and Sakura lifts her hand to his face, brushing her thumb over his lips as if she can wipe the frown away, and it disappears. "We hope so." He twists his head around to kiss her palm and smiles against her skin. "They're going to be so strong, like the men before them."

Naruto folds his arms and his grin softens to a gentle smile. Sakura is happy, finally happy, and she has made a family of her own, with a husband that truly loves and respects her and two kids born out of love. Shikamaru asks to hold his other son then and kisses her temple before he does so, lips lingering on her flesh for long seconds, and Naruto quietly suggests his two other companions that they wait outside to give them some privacy.