They reached Water by the end of the day.
"Holy shit" Karin said, her mouth agape as Sasuke's bird flew over the dense forest. She had traded places with Hinata after lunch, because Sasuke didn't want to use his bloodline limit to track Ishoo's progress. By now, Karin didn't have to use any chakra to sense the girl, the energy was so thick. Kiba was probably able to smell her by now, but he hadn't commented on anything.
Water had never been especially lush, even before the war. Now, it was covered in green, the forest so thick they couldn't see the floor.
She raised her head and saw Sasuke's tense figure staring up ahead. She cautiously touched his arm.
"Sasuke… she's going to be fine" she said in a quiet voice.
Sasuke didn't answer her. She didn't know. Hell, he didn't know, couldn't know, the extent of the pain his children had gone through last time; all he remembered were those eyes, all pupil, all bottomless, silent, dark pain, and that had been the least of it; the worst part they had gone through alone.
And now his daughter had decided to shoulder it even more alone, to try to keep her other half awake. So they – he and Naruto – wouldn't worry so much, because they would be safer separate; so if something happened to Ishoo's body, she would be able to just merge with Amachi, and they would survive.
Naruto was inhumanely used to physical pain, so he had quickly agreed to the idea, even though he felt for the twins. But Sasuke hated to see his family hurt too much to go down without a fight.
'"Isn't there a way to avoid this?" he had asked Tsunade; the five of them were sitting in their living room, at his request.
"There is medicine to avoid cycles, but with the intensity of Ishoo-chan's energy, I think surgery would be more effective." She had said.
Ishoo had been sitting between him and Naruto, and she sighed.
"No surgery."
She rose and sat on his lap, cradling his face in her hands.
"Papa, this body exists for this. It's just doing what it's supposed to." She said to him.
He had scowled, and looked away.
"Tch, look at me, Papa." She had smiled, "This is my duty. I'm happy to do it."
"But the pain" he tried to interrupt.
"Hn, the pain goes away, dattebayo. It hurts less than being separate does," and she and Amachi both looked at him "and it doesn't matter. Only freedom matters, remember? This" she put his hand on her tummy, "gives a way for life to flow free. It's a good thing. It's a pain in the whole body, but hey, as far as I know, with all the plants and flowers, we might even get some honey out of it. You can make me pancakes, or something" she gave him a huge grin, and he hugged her.
"Wouldn't you rather have dango with all that honey?" He had asked, trying to bury his fear.
"Ewwww, no dango. But you can make me kuzumochi even if it's not new year's" she grinned again.
"Sasuke's making kuzumochi? Now that's entertainment" Naruto had said, laughing, until three fists hit his head at the same time.'
"We're trying to have a moment here, baka!"'
But even though they had agreed, Sasuke still worried.
"Ne, son?" Naruto asked after work. They were enjoying a bit of breeze and an aniseed popsicle in the only place the wind really reached in Konoha, the top of Hokage Mountain. They were, as usual, on top of the Yondaime's head.
"Hn?" Amachi answered.
"How is it like?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I mean… I know I never asked before, but… what is it like? For you to be…" he motioned his hands apart.
"Broken?"
"Yeah." Naruto had never really thought about it, accepting that it would be more or less like having a permanent clone. However, he had become curious since he learned that it hurt them. It never hurt him when his clones were up.
"Hn." The boy got up and motioned for him to stay sitting. He then moved and sat behind him, back to back.
"You know that nee-chan and me are the same person, right? Like you and a clone" He asked, and Naruto nodded.
"Ok. When we're together in the same body, it's like the way me and you are sitting now. The body is like an open door; one of my minds is always standing at one side of life, and the other at the other side. We're stuck together like this. And when the one in the front needs, the other can look over the shoulder and help out with thinking, or moving, or stuff like that. I can even turn around sometimes, if it's really important or I have permission. I don't do it often because the body gets a bit unstable if I do it, and it doesn't really matter because both minds are me anyway. The one facing the front never sees the back, though, so I don't, you know, eh…"
"Give up on life?" Naruto asked in a serious voice.
"Yeah. 'Cause I get hurt a lot, and most of the times I'm alone on this side; having a good family, like you and Chichi, and people the babalawo is very rare. Sometimes it's just a bit too tempting to let go, 'cause instead of not knowing what's on the other side for real, like ordinary people, I do know, but have to keep pretending I don't, or else I wouldn't be able to stay sane." Amachi picked up a tiny piece of gravel and rolled it on his fingers.
"Anyway, that's what it feels when it's all normal and stuff. This time, though, the gods needed to break me in two."
"Why you?" Naruto asked, and turned around to see his son.
Amachi gave him a smug smirk. "Because I'm fucking awesome, that's why. The babalawo said that the gods told him no other ibeji could survive it, let alone do the job 'cause nee-chan's body is so unstable. It's like you and Chichi with the sage and all the mess from long ago, except I'm even more awesome cause I can do my job alone if I have to, but you two can't do shit without each other."
"Hey!" Naruto elbowed him in the ribs, and started punching his arm. "Can a man have some respect here? I'll tell your mother about this, dattebayo!"
"I said I can do it alone, not that I prefer to, Oyaji, cut it out!" the boy snickered, trying to get away. "Seriously, I'll tell Chichi you said he's my mother" Naruto stopped mid-punch, and huffed.
"So, it was like this, when the gods broke me and nee-chan apart, they broke almost all the way, but it's still one soul. That's what makes it possible for me to get together sometimes when one of the bodies is asleep and safe, and in those times it hurts less. When both bodies are awake, I have to take a step back and stay right on top of the threshold on each body, 'cause the door is still open, but the other me isn't there to keep it open, so to speak, and the door can only be opened from the other side, not this side. It gets worse when the bodies are farther apart, but it's always… cold. On the other hand, it's damn handy, especially when I want to see stuff without people knowing" he wiggled his eyebrows.
Naruto sat still for a while, then turned on his son with a frown.
"Hey! You mentioned me, Sasuke and Monifa. But you didn't mention Ashi." He pointed a finger at the dark boy, who sighed.
"That baka is different. And I can't be going there." Amachi said the last in a warning tone.
Naruto wondered, but didn't ask anymore. It was already dark, anyway, and the next day he had promised to visit Sakura, so they went home.
Sasuke was on watch when Ishoo jumped up from her sleepbag, and began running back. He jumped off the branch he was currently crouched on and tried to follow, but the Ookami tackled him before he could reach her. All he saw was her take two more steps, and disappear with a loud bang.
"Sasuke!" Kiba and the two girls came upon him a couple of minutes later. The enormous wolf gave them a low warning growl, and didn't move from his position, lying on top of the man on the ground.
"Kiba, get this damn beast off of me!" Sasuke motioned with his only free arm, trying to breathe something that wasn't dirt or fur.
Kiba pleaded with the wolf in all the codes and signs his family knew, with no success. The wolf grumbled something, but didn't budge.
"Ookami says we are to wait here" Kiba translated, and waited for more grumbles from the beast. His eyes widened. "Ishoo-chan will be back in a moment" he finished.
The wolf nuzzled at Sasuke's hair, barked once, and whined.
"He says if you don't do anything stupid, he'll let you go. But you have to stay here; she's too fast for you to do anything." Kiba said.
Amachi was already waking Naruto up when Sai got to the Hokage's house.
"Get dressed and go with Sai now" the boy said, already going out the shoji to the garden.
"What happened?" Naruto asked while jumping on a pair of pants.
"Sakura's baby" Sai said.
It was pitch black at the gate when they came out of the house, and suddenly the darkness slipped into the ground, under Amachi's bare feet.
"What did you do?" Sai asked.
"Called nee-chan." The boy answered. Naruto and Sai nodded and ran.
"Tsunade-sama, please do something!" Lee begged, as Sakura screamed in pain, Tsunade's glowing palm deep inside her.
Shizune kindly pulled him away to the hallway.
"Lee-san, the baby is stuck in the birth canal. We're trying everything we can." She said.
"Can't you do anything? Open her belly or something?" He exclaimed in desperation.
Shizune sighed. "We can't push the baby back inside the womb without killing him. Tsunade-sama is trying to push open the birth canal, but she can't put much more chakra into it because Sakura's body or the baby's might rip apart."
Lee fell to his knees in shock.
"Lee… we need to know who to prioritize if it comes to it." She knelt next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We have to know who to save."
"What?" Lee felt his stomach churn. He looked at Shizune uncomprehendingly.
"You're their legal representative; you have to choose which one will live, Lee."
Shizune was interrupted by a loud crash, and then Tsunade was flying through the doors of the delivery room, crashing into them.
Lee watched in a trance as the doors swiveled.
The door opened.
His honorary niece appeared, covered in glass and bloody cuts, shoving her arm inside his screaming wife.
The door shut.
More screams. Wet crunching noises.
The door opened.
The girl was now with her back to the door, pushing Sakura up the bed with one hand, and pulling something out with the other, screaming for her to shut up and close her eyes.
The door closed.
He heard a horribly wet, meaty wrenching noise. Blood seeped into the hallway.
The door opened.
Sakura's feet twitched while Ishoo held something deflated in her arms. The something began taking form with strange popping noises.
The door closed.
Lee felt a knot in his throat as he heard a loud, angry newborn scream. His head touched the floor as he sobbed.
"Yeah, yeah, right, I can hear your loud mouth, hold your horses, Hayao" he heard the girl say.
The door opened.
He saw the girl's bare, mangled feet and heard a loud slap, in his dizziness he was unable to lift his head from the floor. "Come on, Sakura-chan, hold your baby a sec while I fix you up" she said.
The door closed.
More wet noises.
"I-Ishoo-chan" he heard his wife's broken whisper in between the baby's cries.
"Be back later", the girl said.
The door opened.
A huge flash of light blinked for a split second.
Naruto and Sai were running through the hospital gates when the light blinded them, as it turned the night into day.
Sasuke was trying to stare down the Ookami at their camp, when the light reached them. The three adults blinked blindly, and Ishoo fell on the ground, cussing the sky blue while holding her ankles. The girl had left them less than four minutes ago.
Hinata recovered first, and jumped for the medical bag when she saw the blood covering the girl.
"Godsdamnit I'mma gonna eviscerate the sonofabitching caddywhomping bristlefucking dingleberry that put up that shitty glass in the windows! Who the fuck uses cheap sharding glass in a freaking ninja village's hospital!" Ishoo snarled, as Hinata tried to hold her down. Sasuke blinked his way over and held her up in his lap.
"Keep her down with your hands here and here, Sasuke. Ishoo-chan, keep quiet while I try to get the shards out. Karin, as soon as you can see, come help me here; there's a lot of it on both feet, I'll need you to stitch this foot when I get to the other one" Hinata said, moving Sasuke's hands in position. "Koibito, make yourself useful and heat up some water, please."
Ishoo stopped cursing and started laughing.
"Hahahahaha! Hinata-chan called Kiba-sensei koibito!"
Kiba blushed, and frowned.
"Dammit, Hinata-chan" he mumbled.
"Hey, at least Naruto isn't here, your honor is still half-intact" Karin teased, watching Sasuke's face go almost gray as his sight recovered and he saw her clean up the girl's bloody foot for stitching. "Ne, Sasuke?" she added, trying to distract him.
"What did you do?" Sasuke asked his daughter quietly, looking down at her.
"Sakura-chan's baby wanted to be born early and got stuck inside her; he was almost dead so I had to crash in through the window. It's okay now. Don't worry."
A/N: As ridiculous, cornier than a soap opera, as it seems, the whole asking the father who to save in a complicated birth, mother or child, issue does still exist in some countries today, and was actually a common practice until something around 30 years ago even in reasonably developed countries. My father actually had to choose when I was born, and he chose my mother (and yet here I am out of sheer stubbornness). The old hag is still alive too; my family has a tradition in producing sturdy women.