AN: Sorry about the wait, this chapter has been stumping me for months, and I only managed to finish it with the help of Donahermurphy tonight. So all thanks to her. Please remember to review, this story has a lot of follows, and although you clearly like it enough to follow it, I'd like to know why or know if you have any suggestions/commentary. Besides, if I'm doing something that needs improvement, this is the best way for me to know. This is the first chapter I've had a proofreader on, I normally don't have one. Reviewers catch issues I don't. Also, from now on, chapters are in chronological order.

Anything like this I took from chapter 127.

It was a good thing that Ino told Sasuke last. If she had been any earlier he would have still been on shift doing patrol duty. As it was, she caught him just as he was about to unlock his apartment and try his very best to forget the clusterfuck Tora had caused on the north side of the village. And shower, there was no way he was going to do anything without washing the mess Tora had caused to spill all over his clothes

"Sasuke!" Ino yelled, pushing through the desire to to make a comment on how cheerful he looked covered in so much yellow.

The ANBU twitched, suppressing the urge to jump like a cat with his tail stepped on at the sound of Ino's voice so close in his ear. He spun, noting the excited but jumpy posture she displayed. "What?" he replied, a slightly crazed look in his eyes as they met hers. "Please, not another batch of weird shit. It doesn't even have to be good, just not something that Genma's gonna bitch at me about later."

"Yoshino-san's having the baby." She blurted out, breathing heavily.

"Great." He said, before the news completely processed. And then it did, and his mind went blank and frozen before exploding into "Holy shit don't panic! This is great, this is wonderful, I need to get to the hospital, quick, quick, quick, quick…."

Thankfully Ino reminded him about the two gallons of paint covering every inch of his clothes or the maternity ward would have been redecorated.

An hour or two later he finally checked into the Maternity Ward as a visitor and took a seat next to Shikako. "Have I missed anything?" He asked in not quite a whisper.

"Nope. Mom's been in labor for the past two hours or so. Shika's in with here and Dad right now." She replied, nose firmly in her book, some adventure paperback he'd never heard of, and looking very much like it wasn't providing as much of a distraction as she'd hoped.

Sasuke frowned, pushing aside any Shikamaru-related apprehension in favor of leaning over in his seat and resting his cheek on his folded hands. "You alright?" He whispered. "You look like you want to run clear across town. She's gonna be alright, she had the two of you at once. This has got to be less complicated than that."

"I'm fine." She answered shortly, but not unkindly. "Being a sensor isn't as great as it sounds right now."

"You can't feel her pain can you?" He asked hesitantly, confused and feeling rather awkward as he said it.

Shikako shook her head. "No, but her chakra signature keeps flaring and stuff and it's like an itch I can't ignore."

Then Shikamaru stumbled out, looking as though he had just broken a rather disturbing genjutsu and grey as a corpse. "You can go in." He offered faintly as he sat down on Shikako's other side.

"Nope." She refused quietly,leaning her head back and placing her book open-faced atop her own. "I'm quite content not seeing that."

Inoichi chuckled and patted Shikako's head as he moved to take Shikamaru's place, joking that Shikaku had apparently needed reassurance of his own.

Sasuke made a face at that, wondering absentmindedly what exactly Shikaku may have needed someone to hold his hand for.

"Sounds like a story." Shikako commented, her voice muffled by the book and sounding very much like that was a story she did not wish to hear.

Sasuke cast a glance around, feeling not for the first time if Ino was sure he was supposed to have been invited for this, and noticed Tenten, looking even more awkward than he did, and sitting several seats away from Shikamaru. "That's strange. Now why they avoiding each other?" He stole a glance at Shikamaru and came upon his answer. "Oh, he's just not thinking about anything but Yoshino-san. How unfortunate for her." He realized sympathetically.

Then Shikamaru seemed to notice his presence, narrowing his eyes, and taking advantage of the book obscuring Shikako's vision as he signed "Why are you here?"

"Ino told me." Sasuke signed back shortly, scratching at the corner of his mouth and tapping the fingernails of his right thumb and little finger together.

Shikamaru cast a thoughtful glance at the girl, but Sasuke stole back his attention before he could say anything to Ino. "Before scolding her about inviting me, try paying attention to Tenten, she looks uninvited." He signed.

Shikamaru looked like he was grinding his teeth together at that before he hid the reaction and made his way over to the girl.

"Crisis averted." Sasuke thought with relief as he shifted his attention back to Shikako. "How are things?" He whispered.

"Worse."

He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, "Who would have been at mine?" Sasuke wondered, allowing himself the thought. "Father and Shisui, certainly. But who for Mom? Kushina, perhaps? Sakumo was dead by that time…." He trailed off, realizing that he had completely forgotten to tell Shikako what he had discovered from his mother's journals. He shoved it aside. "Not now. Later, when it's a little more private."

An increase in noise brought his attention to the nurses that were emptying out the room and Inoichi making his way back to them. Shikako removed the book from her head.

Inoichi was smiling. "They're just moving them to an overnight room." He said. "Then we can go and visit."

Shikamaru let out a very long sigh and sagged into the plastic hospital chair. "What a drag."

Ino rolled her eyes at him. "You didn't even do anything," she pointed out. "Come on, at least carry the flowers!"

He followed everyone over to Yoshino's hospital room and filed in with the rest, moving over to a spot by the wall. He checked the time and mentally cursed, he had an appointment with the ANBU Commander, Badger, an hour from now. He had meant to take a short nap beforehand, but this had taken precedence. And then Shikaku took an impossibly small swaddled bundle from Yoshino.

Shikaku cleared his throat. "I'm pleased to introduce the newest member of our family," he said. "Kinokawa Nara." He tilted the bundle towards us and Shikamaru stepped up to hold it.

"After my family,"Yoshino murmured quietly.

"Kino-chan, huh?" Shikamaru asked.

Yoshino caught his eye, and beckoned him over. "I'm glad you're here." She whispered. "I wondered if Ino would be able to find you, with you being on patrols."

Sasuke's mouth went dry. "I'm honored." He murmured, turning his sharingan on as he watched the goings on to immortalize them forever in his mind.

"You're family." Yoshino reassured him, so quietly that he questioned if his imagination hadn't supplied it. Except for that even in his wildest hopes, that wouldn't have been something to feature. "Even if Shikamaru refuses to acknowledge it."

Sasuke felt like he had been punched in the guts. "Thank you." He returned, equally as quiet. "I have to go. Congratulations, Yoshino-san."

"Aww," Ino cooed, leaning over my shoulder. "He's got his mom's eyes. Going to be such a heartbreaker when you grow up, aren't you?"

Shikako looked baffled about the statement, and Sasuke had to admit that he felt the same.

"Uh, congratulations." he stated. "I have to go. So. Congratulations." Sasuke offered, Sharingan still on as he watched Shikako hold the baby in her arms, something about the sight making him eternally grateful that he would remember it in perfect detail for as long as he lived.

"You're going to leave without holding him?" Shikako asked.

Sasuke looked at Shikaku, silently asking him for permission. Shikaku nodded and made a 'go ahead' motion with his hands. And then Shikako carefully passed the little bundle into his arms.

"It's a promotion to captain, you know." Shikaku tapped out on his shoulder. "Stay as long as you like." The Nara patriarch said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If you have a meeting, I'll make your excuse."