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—

"I'm here, Sakura…...I'm right here…..relax…..." Itachi kept the tone of his voice low and soothing as he mopped Sakura's forehead with a cool, damp rag.

Sakura made a noise in her throat and squeezed Itachi's free hand.

Sakura closed her eyes and Itachi's gaze flickered down worriedly to Sakura's mounded belly.

When the twins were born, it had been relatively easy.

Things had moved quickly…..

Sakura did well…..

The boys did well…...

Everything was fine.

Itachi didn't understand why this time was so different.

The boys were born in a matter of hours, but it had been an entire day since Itachi had brought his wife to the hospital and still…..

Nothing yet.

Sakura was getting exhausted and Itachi was getting worried.

The medical nins kept whispering advice to the couple when they came in to examine Sakura every few hours, but so far, their suggestions had been largely unhelpful.

Sakura let go of Itachi's hand after a minute and rolled over onto her side.

"I just want to go home and sleep." Sakura mumbled.

Itachi frowned at the tears of frustration that he saw rolling down his wife's cheeks.

Itachi reached out and gently began to knead deep circles into Sakura's lower back.

"If you relax, this can be over and we can go home." Itachi calmly replied.

"I am relaxed!" Sakura hissed. "I'm doing my best! What else do you want me to do, Itachi?!"

Itachi's frown deepened when he heard his wife start to sob quietly, covering her face with her hands while he continued to rub her back.

Tsunade had warned them that sometimes the process went faster the second time, but for Sakura, the opposite seemed to be true.

Itachi was worried that something may be wrong, but he was growing even more concerned about Sakura's mental state…

Emotions were important in any challenge.

If someone felt defeated in a battle, then they would most certainly lose…...

—

"When are mom and dad coming home?!" Itsuki demanded while Sasuke stood in the bathroom doorway, watching the twins brush their teeth and get ready for bed.

"Yeah, I want to meet our new brother!" Yuuto chimed in.

"They'll be back when they're back." Sasuke said firmly.

Sasuke had received a bit of training under Itachi and he had developed more parenting skills.

The house was orderly and the boys were clean.

Now, just like they did with Itachi, the twins obeyed their Uncle Sasuke.

Sasuke had been on standby for the last two weeks and within minutes of Itachi calling, Sasuke had arrived to look after his nephews while Itachi and Sakura went to have their next child.

Sasuke couldn't help but notice that it was almost exactly forty weeks since Itachi and Sakura had gone on their mission out of town…..

Yuuto shook Sasuke out of his thoughts.

"How long does it take for a baby to be born, Uncle Sasuke?" Yuuto asked curiously.

"That depends." Sasuke said, shrugging and dodging the question.

"If we don't like our new brother, Mom and Dad can take him back, right?" Itsuki asked nervously.

"Itsuki, who's told you that you're getting a brother?" Sasuke challenged.

Itsuki shrugged. "You're a boy, Dad's a boy, me and Yuuto are boys. We're a boy family. Why wouldn't we get a brother?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Well…..even if you do have a brother, no, you can't take him back to the hospital. When the new baby comes home, he's going to live here whether you like him or not."

Itsuki and Yuuto exchanged worried glances with each other.

Sasuke chuckled.

A little while later, while the twins lay sleeping peacefully in their beds, Sasuke wondered…

When he had been born, did Itachi ask their parents to send him back to the hospital?

—

"No…..no…...I can't….." Sakura whimpered weakly, gasping for breath.

"You've done it with two, I know you can do it with one. We're too close to give up. Come on, Sakura." Itachi whispered as he sat behind his wife, letting her lay back against his chest.

Itachi was gently but securely holding Sakura's legs while Shizune crouched at Sakura's feet.

"Go ahead and push again, Sakura." Shizune urged, glancing up in concern at the pinkette.

Sakura's fair skin was unnaturally pale and her eyelids fluttered from her exertion but as Itachi moved to prop her up more, Sakura curled forward and squeezed her husband's forearms for support as she silently bore down with the last of her strength.

"Good! That's good!" Shizune said.

The process was much quieter than the first time and the stark difference frightened Itachi.

When the boys were born, Sakura had screamed and sworn and flailed….

This time, Itachi was struggling to keep Sakura conscious.

Due to Sakura's exhaustion, her throat was dry and her screams had died out hours ago.

Itachi watched closely as Shizune moved forward and clearly pulled something from Sakura, just like she had pulled Itsuki and Yuuto as they had come wailing into the world…

But this time, there was no wail.

Sakura flopped back against Itachi and breathed heavily as she waited…..

Itachi waited too….

But there was only silence in the room.

Hot tears of fear and rage sprang to Sakura's bloodshot eyes and she mumbled hoarsely to Shizune, "I don't hear him."

"And you won't…..." Shizune's reply came cuttingly.

Itachi's eyes widened in horror, Sakura gasped as if the air had been stripped from her lungs.

"...Because you have a new baby girl." Shizune happily announced as she reached up and placed the squirming newborn in Sakura's arms.

Sakura's tired, green eyes widened in awe and she gasped again.

The pinkeye was filled with wonder and relief as she looked down at her little daughter, who was still quiet, but very much alive and alert, staring up at her mother with her father's onyx eyes.

Itachi's laid a hand down comfortingly on Sakura's shoulder as he looked at their newest little one and his heart lifted in his chest, overjoyed that Sakura and the baby were alright,

But Itachi was taken aback…..

A girl?

Itachi had a daughter?

Itachi didn't know what to do with a daughter.

There hadn't been a little girl born in the Uchiha family for a long time, but now…

"Look." Sakura giggled, startling Itachi out of his thoughts as she touched a couple sparse tufts of downy fluff on the tiny baby's head. "Her hair is pink!"

Itachi's eyes widened.

A Uchiha with pink hair?

Pink hair like Sakura…..

Itachi felt anxiety rise in his chest.

Itachi was well aware that if his daughter grew to be as beautiful as her mother, then there would be a lot of work ahead of him.