Good Girl: Rewrite

Chapter 36

Taki's scream echoed throughout the hospital and the Genin jumped at the frightening sound. Nora peered around the corner again, blonde hair falling into her wide brown eyes. The medical shinobi were dashing about the room, talking in hurried voices with terms Nora couldn't understand. Her heart pounded within her chest as she had to keep her spot outside of the room. She looked away, back pressed against the wall as she ran her hands through her blonde hair, beyond scared out of her mind.

Taki-sensei had collapsed at the market and Nora was so scared she hardly knew what to do. She called for her teacher but it seemed as if Taki was mentally gone, if unconscious. Scared out of her wits, she did her best to keep the clan leader upright while looking about, screaming for help. Sensei was supposed to stay home on bed rest as she was very much pregnant, but Nora didn't think anything of her taking a walk through the market. What could happen, right? Fate was gracious to the Genin and the eight tailed Jinchuuriki Killer Bee was nearby, the civilians clearing him a path, not wanting to be involved with either party. He knelt down and examined the situation quickly before carefully picking up the heavily pregnant woman, her face an ashy color now.

"Try to keep up," he had advised. She simply nodded and chased after his shadow, the drops of blood leading the way.

Tsakui Iwasura had arrived moments later and was allowed in the immediate room due to his status as her father. Ryu and Momi came dashing in after him, skidding to a stop beside their teammate. Her brother shoved his goggles further up into his messy orange hair and the blue haired girl was catching her breath.

"What-what happened, Nora?" asked Ryu. She could only shake her head, unsure herself.

"I-I don't know. I heard them say something about the babies being born, but we were just at the market and-and Taki-sensei j-just went white and fell!" she explained as best as she could. The other two looked at her, concern evident on everyone's features.

"But that can't be right, Taki-sensei's not due yet," pointed out Momi. "She should still have just under two months. Right?" The twins nodded in agreement. They were finishing up the baby room and the other preparations. The compound was finally restored now and everything was falling into place.

"I think that's the problem," muttered Ryu. The three glanced into the room again, flinching badly when Taki screamed again, to the point where Momi covered her ears, not wanting to hear the sound of their teacher in pain. There was movement and one of the medics approached the doorway, preparing to slide the door close. The team stepped forward, determined to be acknowledged.

"What's going on-"

"Is she alright-"

"What's wrong-"

The medic raised their hand to quiet them, tugging the door closed as he spoke. The voices inside the room only seemed to be getting louder as they moved with even more haste.

"Lady Iwasura is going into premature labor. We're delivering the twins now," he answered quickly. Ryu put his hand on the edge of the door, stopping it. He wasn't totally satisfied with that answer.

"Is Taki-sensei going to be okay?" he asked. The medic gave a hard breath.

"We're going to do our best." With that said, he forced the door shut which only allowed a small panel of glass for them to assess the situation for themselves. The Genin exchanged worried glances, unable to say anything for the moment.

They were going to do their best? What did that mean? Was Taki-sensei sick? They were delivering the twins now? Early? What if something happened? No one was ready yet!

Momi covered her mouth with a gasp as she took a step back, gold eyes wide. Ryu's hand brushed her arm as he stepped toward her, both siblings worried.

"You alright-"

"-What is it?" Her wide gaze looked between the two, slowly lowering her hands to show her expression of panic.

"Zetsu-san..." she whispered. The two stared blankly. Her hands fluttered as her panic grew. "Zetsu-san! He doesn't know! H-he doesn't know!"

"Well, I guess he'll just have to find out when he comes back, right?" guessed Ryu. "I mean, we can't contact him." Gold eyes flitted about as her mind pulled up into overdrive, trying to pick up any clues that she may have forgotten or overlooked.

"Konoha..." she muttered. Her hands were shaking as she tightened her bandana hitai-ate . Of course, Zetsu and Kisame were heading Konoha, to deliver their final piece of information. That's why Taki-sensei was so happy after Zetsu last visit. They were so close to having their peace. They wouldn't have to worry about some criminal mastermind coming after them or the babies. They would be able to sleep easy and Taki-sensei would finally be able to be content without having to fret over her loved ones.

Gold eyes flashed as she regarded the twins.

"I'm going to Konoha," she stated. Her determination was obvious, stance tense as if to argue their protests. Ryu looked over to his sister and they had a quiet moment of simple eye contact, a twin moment, Momi dubbed. Like they were reading each other's thoughts. They shared a nod and Ryu stepped forward.

"Okay. I'm coming with you," he agreed. Caught off guard, her eyes rounded in surprise. She honestly expect some sort of debate or reasoning that she shouldn't do something so reckless. Tell her that she wasn't thinking her actions through. Mind fogged by their teacher's predicament and by her quiet wish to see her father again.

Kisame...

"R-really?" she asked. "You don't...don't think this is...foolish?" Nora shook her head.

"We should get word out to Zetsu and Kisame so they can get back here as soon as they can. Taki-sensei would appreciate it," reasoned the blonde. "Take Ryu with you and then I can stay here with Taki-sensei." Momi sniffed a little and nodded in confirmation.

"Okay then. We'll get going," finalized Ryu.

"Bring them back."

"We will," said Momi. "I promise."

Taki gave another scream and Nora turned quickly, nose to the glass, her brown eyes wide with fear. "Oh Taki-sensei...please be alright..."

They were contained in separate cells in the basement of the Hokage tower. It was dimly lit and cold oozed from the walls. The Lady Fifth was doing her best to make their stay as uncomfortable as possible. Zetsu sat on his thin mattress on the hard metal frame, legs crossed indian style, hands clasped together in his lap, eyes closed. The Akatsuki cloak was discarded and folded to act as a pillow or a blanket when the cold got to be aggravating. His striking skin tone was as ever alarming, the patrolling guards always spared him a glance, or a stare. Kisame received strange looks as well. He could catch anyone's eye with his blue skin, gill markings, sharp gold eyes, imposing figure, and immense chakra.

The ex-Mist nin sat with his back pressed to the wall, arms folded across his broad chest and gaze angled downward. There was no small talk spared between the two criminals. They were well aware of what the other was thinking. Zetsu, of Taki and their children-to-be, while Kisame's thoughts were preoccupied with Momi, the daughter that was hidden away from him by a bitter former one night stand. The shark man had explained the story to Zetsu. That he and Itachi had wandered into some town on the coast of Suna, concealed by a henge technique as otherwise they would stand out uncomfortably so. Kisame had been sitting at the bar when a lovely young woman had taken the seat beside him.

Instantly, he was taken by the woman. She had a fair frame and enticingly blonde hair, not to mention blue eyes that commanded attention. Kisame introduced himself with a fake name, Kenshi or something similar, and offered to buy her a drink to which she accepted with a smile. They chatted for quite some time, the alcoholic drinks a constant factor. Now, Zetsu already knew that Kisame was partial to sake and had an incredibly high tolerance. So while Kisame was fine no matter what number of drink they were on, the woman, Hitori Kazema, was reaching her limit. Not to the point of reckless and unintelligent, but enough to boost her courage. She took him by the hand, suggesting that they went to her place.

Everything would have been perfect if Kisame's focus hadn't wavered during their love making. To say that Hitori didn't react well to knowing the shark nin's true form would have been an understatement. She screamed and was violent, throwing whatever she could get her hands on. Devastated, Kisame tried to reason with her, to beg her to try and see past his physical differences but she refused to listen. She shouted hurtful and spiteful words at him, accusing him of using and raping her. When there was nothing else he could do to sway her decisions, he left. He sent a few informants to check on her every so often, but they never turned up new information.

So, he thought that was the end of it. Until that fateful realization when his faithful sword, Samehada, recognized another potential wielder. The blue haired girl that dared to fight the fearsome Hoshigaki.

There was the sound of running feet and the criminal's ears perked at such an odd activity in their portion of the building. Then there was the sound of chakra crashing and the heavy door was blown off its hinges, revealing the out-cold guard. On their feet instantly, defensive, they watched interested as the two Genin ran down the hall, checking each of the cells. Ryu was the first to reach Zetsu's cell, skidding to a stop as he almost ran past. Wheezing, he grabbed the bars and pulled himself up a step.

"Z-Zetsu!" he panted. He was covered in dust, scrapes and some fresh bruises were starting to show.

"Boy, what are you doing?" asked Zetsu, looking down at the wild haired boy. "Do you understand what kind of trouble you are going to be in?"

He shook his head, disregarding the danger. "I-it's Taki-sensei!" The two toned man froze for a moment before stepping forward and gripping the cold steel bars, looming over the younger shinobi.

"What do you mean-is everything all right?" Again, Ryu shook his head.

"She went into labor early, they wouldn't tell us anything but we think there's trouble. The twins were coming early and it wasn't time," he explained. "We left as-as soon as we could, three day's journey in just about two days..."

Momi glanced over at Ryu and saw him talking to Zetsu, explaining their situation. They had only a few moments before the guards would catch up with them and she eyed Kisame Hoshigaki's cell. Slowly, she edged closer and she could see him standing close to the bars, alerted by their not so subtle entrance. It was difficult to swallow, mouth suddenly dry as she moved closer toward the infamously powerful shinobi. Taking a deep breath, she took the last few strong strides and positioned herself before him.

Pulse pounding in her head, she forced herself to maintain eye contact with the equally gold eyes of her father. She no longer hid behind her long straight edged bangs, doing her best to come to terms with her appearance and to refuse to hide. Even though sometimes it was hard, like when the other Genin in Cloud regarded her oddly due to her being a foreigner with attention grabbing features. Taking another slow breath, she stepped onto the small ledge and gripped the bars, holding herself there.

"My name...is Momi," she stated, voice doing its best not to tremor. "And...and I am your daughter."

"I know," answered Kisame without any hesitation. He lowered himself onto one knee to be on a more equal level. She was covered in dust and new bruises as well. They had plowed through whatever obstacles stood in their way. Stumbling and falling from tree branches from exhaustion as they moved on, Momi half carrying Ryu when he spent himself dry defending them from some bandits, her own chakra seeming a bit more withstanding. She had been able to use her own water ability to keep them hydrated and providing them the upper hand when they were near a prominent source.

"I know you are," he continued. "There is no way I could ever deny it." Her shoulders shook with another breath, grip on the bars impossibly tight now.

"We have the same eyes."

"Yes."

"The same hair."

"Yes."

"We're good with water techniques."

"Yes."

Momi simply stared at the man, begging that her emotions wouldn't betray her because her vision was becoming blurry with unshed tears. The echoes of her mother shouting unkind things rang in her head and she closed her eyes, tears slipping free and she bowed her head. She was here, with her father, and in their way, forming some type of reconciliation with each other.

"A-and we're...not...monsters..." Her eyes snapped open in surprise when she felt his large hand cradle her cheek. She could feel the tough calloused palm from the years of being a fierce shinobi and she cherished the contact.

There was a shout and the shinobi guards had worked their way through the dozen small leveled, but irritatingly consistent genjutsu traps the Genin had left in their wake in order to buy them time. Ryu called out for her but the leaf nin were faster. She had barely drawn a kunai before she was pinned to the ground, the man's knee digging into her back and his hand to her head, leaving her with no leverage to wiggle free. She caught sight of Ryu fighting tooth and nail but the pair of guards managed to wrangle him to the ground in the end, kicking his knees from behind.

"You don't understand!" he shouted. The guard shoved his face closer to the ground, snuffing out his words. Breathing hard and with difficulty, the grown man crushing the air out of her, she felt her chakra start to rise. A white hot sensation that was simultaneously chilling, spreading throughout her frame with an impressive speed.

"Leave him alone!" she pleaded. "We're here to try and help our teacher!"

There was the sound of crashing metal and the guard was sent flying, freeing the girl. Blue hair shoved out of the way, she looked to see Kisame keeping the guard down with his foot on the barred door frame that previously kept him contained in his cell. Hurrying to her feet, she looked over to see Zetsu phasing through his own bars and the guards pinning Ryu quickly scrambled back to maintain a distance. After all, they were S-class criminals of the Akatsuki. Frightening in their own right.

"Tell the Hokage that we will return and collect the child-as we had formerly agreed," instructed Zetsu. "When that time comes, you may send word to us in Cloud."

Kisame stretched his arms over his head and let out a soft groan when his muscles cracked accordingly. He held his hand up and it only took a moment for his sword, Samehada to come crashing through the ceiling from wherever they had managed to store the temperamental weapon. He stored it across his back in its usual spot, as if it weighed nothing.

"Finally. I was getting tired of playing along," he commented. Momi regarded the two with wide eyes, mirroring Ryu's expression of shock.

"Y-you were just pretending?" asked Ryu. "Why?" Zetsu raised a brow as Kisame smirked.

"Of course we were playing along, did you see their containing methods? You two could have escaped," the darker side snarked.

"It's tiring, trying gain trust," huffed Kisame. "So much for playing nice."

"Let's go." He had to get to Taki, a feeling of dread was starting to gnaw his insides. His Taki. The young woman who had so much more strength than most gave her credit for. He needed to get to her. He needed to be at her side. He needed to be there to welcome his children into the world. He needed to be there to protect her. They've spent so long apart, with him disabling Madara's system, that he missed everything about his Taki being pregnant. Only snapshots. Her smile. The way she kept a constant hand on her belly, already protecting them. The glow she emitted, proud to be carrying children. His.

Proud to be his wife and the mother of his children.

There weren't words to express how much he loved her.

Nora's head lolled to the side, caught in the space between sleep and reality. It was late now and Ryu and Momi were long gone. She still wasn't allowed inside the room and she could still hear Taki-sensei crying out which made her stomach flip with nerves. There was a sudden snap of the door opening and she flinched awake, stumbling into something resembling a defensive position. After blinking a few times, the medic came into focus.

"Wh...what's going on?" she managed. The medic sighed and removed his gloves that were red with blood which only promoted her fears. After putting the gloves away in his pocket he stepped to the side and motioned for her to come inside.

"You may come in now. Lady Iwasura is resting and doing her best to recover," he said. Blonde brows furrowed at his choice of words.

"Doing her best? What do you mean by that?" she demanded. Sighing, he closed the door quietly so that her voice wouldn't travel into the room.

"Lady Iwasura has been through an enormous ordeal," he explained. "She was to stay on strict bed rest to prevent something like this from occurring. As you can tell, Lady Iwasura is a rather petite woman and this twin pregnancy was a very heavy ordeal for her to go through. She was already at risk, due to her mother's history-"

"Her mother's history?" interrupted Nora. "What do you mean? What kind of history?"

"Her mother died due to a miscarriage of her second child, which genetically puts Lady Iwasura at risk. Did you not know?" he asked kindly. She shook her head. She hadn't even thought about Taki's mother, especially after being parent-less for so long, she just didn't dwell on it. Stupid. She should've found out. She should've asked. What else didn't she know? Taki-sensei couldn't...couldn't die...what would she do? This Genin girl from Suna with a stubborn attitude. Her chest started to heave with strained breaths.

"This put her at a risk for a similar reoccurrence. Fortunately, it seems as if her Iwasura genetics are working to help her recover, rather than have her body fail. This is good news for her, but it is depending on her own personal strength. So, I believe having you visit would do her some good," he said. Numb, she nodded, mind starting to reel with the touch-and-go of the situation. Before she could open the door, she turned back to the medic.

"Wait-what about the babies?" she asked, almost too scared for the answer. He nodded.

"They have been taken away to another room. Our primary concerns are Lady Iwasura and the first born, Toshiro. Though the second born, Yusuke, seems to be the healthiest so far." She nodded and opened the door partway, slipping into the room quietly.

Tsakui Iwasura stood at the bedside of his daughter, and pushing some of the loose strands away from her face. Nora felt a pang in her heart that made her gaze sway with burning tears. She couldn't imagine what he had to be going through. He saw his wife die at the hand of a pregnancy complication and now he was back in the medical room, with his daughter this time, praying that fate would not take away his only child as well. Nora wasn't one for praying as it never seemed to help her out in the past, but she was hoping that Taki could pull through. If that was close enough to praying maybe it could help.

Taki looked over at the doorway and gave a tired smile when she saw the blonde girl. Her giant belly was not as it was before and she was covered with blankets, dressed in a patient gown. It didn't look right. Taki-sensei was meant to be dressed in her Iwasura clothes, or even the Akatsuki training gear she wore when they first met. The pale green gown made her look fragile. Sick.

Nora hated it.

"Hello Nora," she greeted softly. A whimper broke free and she moved quickly to clasp her hands over her mouth to smother the noise. Taki only smile, opening her arms and Nora dropped her stubborn act and rushed into the hug, being very careful not to hurt her teacher. Tears burned as they raced down her cheeks. She hated crying, always making a point to never do so in front of her brother and Momi. There was just something about Taki-sensei that made her want to drop her guard completely. Taki shushed her quietly, holding her securely despite the pain she was undergoing.

"D-don't die, Taki-sensei!" she begged, voice muffled by her hiding her face in Taki's shoulder. "Please-please don't die!"

"D-don't worry, Nora...I'm...I'm not going anywhere..." she reassured. "I'm right here..."

REVIEW! Yes, again, I'm gone forever and I'm so sorry and trust me, I haven't forgotten Zetsu x Taki! They're constantly in the back of my mind and I have good news!

One more chapter! Then Epilogue! The end is near!

I've got to say again, how fantastic you readers have been, especially those of you who have stuck with me since the beginning (in '09) and it has been a long time I know. Your kind words have always helped me continue, and if I was ever having a rough time I would re-read your thoughts and I would pick back up again. So, I must say:

Thank you. Thank you all so very much for your support. After years of work, we're going to finally have our conclusion.

I hope you enjoyed!

p.s: I listened to "Hoppipolla" by Sigur Ros. It's a very pretty song if anyone wants to check it out.