The next morning Shanan saw Kakashi off and she really didn't want him to leave. Him being at work and getting home late was one thing, she could go and visit him whenever she wanted then. But he was going to be two days travel away for the better part of a week and she always missed him and worried about him. Naruto was going with him at least, but she would still miss him.

"Can't you tell them you can't go?" Shanan asked him after trying not to cry.

Kakashi cupped her face in his hands and kissed her nose. "It'll go by fast, my love," he assured her. "You can always send word if there's an emergency."

"But, what if something bad happens? It's about to snow and it's way too cold for you to hurry back on the storm cloud," she said sadly.

"Sasuke's here," he reminded her. "Nothing bad will happen. Right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded at him. "Shanan, your appointment is soon."

Shanan glanced at Sasuke. He was right, she needed to let Kakashi be on his way. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to hug him tight, but her belly was in the way, so it wasn't the warmest or tightest hug. He pulled her in gently and held her for a minute before giving her a quick kiss. "I love you. Take it easy, alright?"

"I love you, too. I will."

"Try not to worry," Sasuke told him.

He gave him a nod and looked back at Shanan apologetically. "Don't let her do too much."

Sasuke nodded back and Kakashi waved once more before taking off to the village entrance.

Sasuke turned back to Shanan who already looked completely distressed. "Cheer up," he tried to encourage her as he smiled and put his arm around her. "Let's get to the hospital so that we can check on the baby."

Shanan looked at him appreciatively and smiled as they started walking.

By the time they reached the hospital they were holding hands, because Sasuke kept walking faster than she could, so she grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving her behind.

As they approached the front entrance Temari was walking out, which made Shanan really thankful to have Sasuke right there as he turned to look at her and squeeze her hand. It didn't hurt her as much anymore, not since she'd let that part of herself go, but the fact that he was there for her really meant a lot.

They didn't have to wait long to be sent to a room to wait for the doctor to come.

"So what all happens at these things?" Sasuke asked as he walked around the room anxiously.

"We just kinda talk about how I'm feeling and what to expect and then do some measurements to make sure the baby is growing on track. There really isn't much," she shrugged.

Just then the doctor opened the door and walked in. "Mrs. Hatake and, oh, Sasuke Uchiha, right? I'd heard you were good friends."

He tensed up a little, unsure of who she heard what from or what else she might say.

But she moved her focus right over to Shanan. "So, you're about thirty-four weeks…"

"Correct."

"Ok, so I've been going over your measurements for your last few appointments and you're definitely measuring several weeks ahead."

"Oh, really?" Shanan asked, confused.

The doctor looked down at her paperwork again and nodded. "You're measuring just about forty weeks, actually. Do you know if twins run in your family?"

Shanan felt like all the air had left her body as she stared through her and tears immediately ran down her face.

Sasuke hurried to Shanan and sat next to her as he grabbed her hand. By now he was well aware that she and Kakashi had had twins inside of the Kaitei and that they were devastated to wake up without them. It was still hard for both her and Kakashi to talk about, but early in her pregnancy, just a few days after he'd moved in, he'd come home to a distraught Shanan, crying on the couch.

He had just walked into the house and Shanan was sitting there, tears running down her face as she stared listlessly ahead. As soon as he saw her, his heart sank into his stomach. She'd only just shared the news of her pregnancy with him a week ago and now he was worried that something had happened.

"Shanan?..."

She didn't respond, but her brow furrowed slightly and her jaw clenched as she fought back the urge to sob uncontrollably, again.

As he approached her, he noticed the album that she was hugging to her body and could tell that it was one of Kakashi's, filled with some of his drawings.

He sat next to her and she looked away.

"Is everything alright… with the baby?"

"Yes," she told him without looking at him.

"So then something else is bothering you?" he asked tentatively.

She covered her mouth and tried to stifle a few sobs that had escaped as she shook her head.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel confused at her answers, but as she covered her mouth the album had fallen forward in her lap and he could see that Kakashi had written "The Twins" in calligraphy on the cover.

He moved closer to her and put his arm around her and she immediately turned to face him and buried her face into his shoulder as she sobbed.

She felt so guilty for being pregnant, because she didn't think that it was fair to the twins. And then she felt guilty for feeling guilty, because she didn't think it was fair to this baby. She felt like such a horrible mother.

"Can I see them?" Sasuke asked her once she'd calmed down a bit. Only Naruto had really ever told him about them and he had never known how to ask. "I'd like to see what they looked like. Tell me about them," he said as he took the album from her.

She sat and wiped her cheeks as she considered it. She really only ever talked about them with Kakashi. Most people just didn't know what to say about it all, so neither of them discussed them outside of their marriage much. "They were perfect, Sasuke."

He set the album in his lap and opened it slowly. "They were six months old when you guys woke up?" he asked before reading the dedication out loud.

"Untouchable memories seem to keep haunting me

Of a love so true

That once turned all my gray skies blue

But you disappeared

Now my eyes are filled with tears

And I'm wishing you were here with me…"

Sasuke stared at the words for a moment and choked back a few tears. "I didn't know Kakashi was a poet."

Shanan smiled softly at him. "No. That's a lyric from his favorite song. I've been singing it to him our whole lives and I still sing it to him all the time. He used to sing it to the twins before we put them to bed, because he really wanted it to be their favorite too." Her eyes let a few tears escape and she looked down quickly.

Sasuke looked at her sadly and turned to the next page. On either side was a newborn baby. One with white hair and the other with darker shaded in hair. He could tell just from Kakashi's drawing that these were their babies and he knew instantly that he'd love and miss them just as much as they did if he'd ever met them.

His heart broke with each page turn and though he tried hard to fight them, he couldn't help but cry silently for his sensei and the girl he loved. The fact that Kakashi had even been able to draw them… He could only assume how difficult it had been for him, but he had a pretty good idea and knew he must have cried the whole time. The pictures of them smiling made him especially sad, but not as sad as the pictures of either Shanan or Kakashi holding them. They all had the pair with tears in their eyes as they smiled down at the two infants. Kakashi was excellent at capturing both joy and anguish simultaneously on the same face.

Once he reached the last page, the two of them sitting up and reaching out with the biggest smiles on their faces, his chin quivered and he closed the album and covered his face to try and compose himself.

"I'm so sorry, Shanan," he said through genuine tears as he pulled her into another hug so that they could both cry into one another.

"Can you give us a minute?" he asked the doctor.

"Sure. I'll be right outside," she said as she stood up.

Once the door closed again Sasuke wrapped her up in his arms, she was shaking now as she cried into him. "Shanan, it's alright," he whispered.

She took a minute and then tried to stop crying as she spoke. "What if they're the same? And what if they're not?"

The chances of them being the same were slim, but at this point, Sasuke couldn't dismiss the notion completely.

"And what about their names?" she asked as the tears returned. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel right now, we were just expecting one baby."

"I know," he told her softly as he rubbed her back. "You... you know your babies, Shanan. You'll know immediately if they're the same. And... if they are, then those were the babies you were always meant to have and you should give them the same names. If not, then your new babies will be just as perfect and just as loved, even if you're confused about it at first, and you can use different names. But you'll know. You don't have to worry and you don't have to feel bad."

Shanan held onto Sasuke while she tried to even out her breathing and stop crying. She liked his advice and she thought that Kakashi would agree. "Thank you, Sasuke," she said as she wiped her face and sat up to look at him.

Sasuke nodded with tears in his eyes. "You're welcome. I just know how much you guys still love and think about the children you had together and… Yukiho and Hiroshi will always be a part of you and Kakashi, no matter what happens."

"You're right. We've talked about them a lot together since I got pregnant. We've cried a lot, but we are still excited about this baby, or, babies." Shanan laughed a little as she looked down at her belly. "Kakashi will probably cry when he hears the news, but hopefully he won't get his hopes up, I don't want his heart to break if they're not them."

Sasuke smirked and shook his head. "It won't. He's gonna handle it well no matter what. I know that much for certain."

She gave him a satisfied nod and then wiped the last of her tears. "Alright, can you call her back in here?"

Sasuke stood up and went to the door to tell the doctor that Shanan was ready for her and they both came back to sit near Shanan.

"Um, so what does it mean if I'm measuring ahead?" Shanan asked shakily.

"It just means that you'll most likely have them a bit early. Honestly, between now and forty weeks is common."

Shanan looked at Sasuke a bit worried.

"If you do go early, then we can send word to Kakashi quickly. You know he'll come back as fast as he can without stopping. He won't miss out, ok?"

Shanan nodded once again, he was really good at putting her mind at ease.

After her appointment, they went home and Shanan continued to worry about Kakashi being gone when she could possibly go into labor.

Things were pretty uneventful, though. They did their normal routine and then she slept on the couch all night with Sasuke since she hated sleeping alone. It wasn't the most comfortable for him, but he dealt with it for her.

It wasn't until they were halfway through the week when Shanan suddenly felt a really strong contraction and Sasuke had to try and keep his composure.

"I'm just gonna write Kakashi a note and send one of my snakes directly to him," he told her a bit frantically. He really thought she'd be fine until Kakashi was home.

Shanan was doubled over, breathing through the pain as Sasuke grabbed her bag and then her hand, which she immediately squeezed. Once the pain had subsided, they left for the hospital and only had to stop once for another strong contraction. They were there for thirty minutes before she was sent home and labeled as false labor and she didn't have any more pain until about twenty hours later.

This time she couldn't move and she certainly couldn't walk to the hospital, it was too far. Sasuke tried to send a message to the hospital via one of his snake summons, but after an hour, nobody had come. The snake had most likely just scared whoever had seen it, since they wouldn't know to expect it like Kakashi would. He couldn't leave her alone. He wasn't sure what to do.

"Sasuke..." she said breathlessly. "You're gonna have to help me and do what I tell you to, ok?"

"But..."

"I was trained in the Kaitei to help deliver Naruto. I assisted with Ino's birth. I remember what to do. But you're going to have to do it for me."

There was no arguing, now wasn't the time. He wasn't very well versed in medical ninjutsu, but he was used to learning new things from Shanan after working on their Sharingan techniques so much. "What do we need to do?" he asked her.

"Please go and put a few clean blankets on my bed. And then come and help me into my room," she told him.

He was in and out in just a few minutes before he took her hand and helped her walk slowly to her bed.

She continued to instruct him on what supplies he needed for both her and the babies. He unpacked much of what she'd had in the bag and just about had everything ready before Shanan told him it was time.

She was in a lot of pain and she was crying, but she was mostly sad that Kakashi hadn't made it back in time.

Sasuke knelt next to her and grabbed her hand. "Shanan, you're gonna be fine, I promise. Kakashi can't be too far away, ok? What do we do now?" He tried to keep his voice even and confident for her as he stood back up.

She had tears running down her face as she breathed through pain and sobs. "I have to start pushing when I have another contraction. I can feel one of them right there. I can't keep them in anymore," she cried.

Sasuke looked at her sympathetically as he leaned down and kissed her head quickly.

"I just... need you to make sure you have some... small blankets by you and you have to go between my legs..." She was trying to fight through one last contraction. "Don't pull... just guide... ok?"

"Alright," he said as he grabbed the blankets she had in her bag.

"Sasuke, please hurry," she said with her eyes closed as she continued to do the breathing exercises Kakashi had taught her so long ago. Even now, he was helping her.

He pushed his sleeves up and sat on the bed ready for her to push. He had never been more nervous or afraid of failure as he was right now.

Shanan took some deep breaths. "Get ready... I'm about to push through this next contraction," she said as it hit her hard.

She pushed baby number one out in two pushes. Sasuke was shaking as he did what she had told him and helped guide the baby out safely.

"It's a girl," he said shakily. It almost didn't feel like he was the one speaking or that he was even there, but he was speaking and he was the only one there.

He cut the cord and did everything Shanan had instructed him to do as she breathed and waited for her next contraction and bundled her up. She looked just like Shanan, with white hair like Kakashi, just like in the pictures he'd seen. He stared at her for a moment before handing her to Shanan, who started crying very happy tears as she looked at her.

"Sasuke…" she said as she looked up at him. "This is Yukiho. It's… it's really her," she said as she kissed her tiny forehead.

Sasuke smiled as he let a few tears fall. He had really hoped that it would be. Not just for Shanan, but for Kakashi too. He leaned down and gave her another quick kiss on her head and didn't care how sweaty and gross she was.

"You should get ready again," she said calmly. "I can feel the next one coming."

Sasuke got back into place and three minutes later, baby two was out and Sasuke was hopeful as he stared at another tiny, familiar face.

"It's a boy," he said as he repeated the procedures and brought him over to Shanan. This one looked like Kakashi, but with Shanan's dark brown hair.

Shanan touched his face. "Hello again, Hiroshi," she said through more happy tears as Sasuke helped her hold both babies comfortably.

Just as Sasuke was starting to clean everything up, somebody knocked on the door. It was Shanan's doctor and a couple of her assistants.

"We finally got your message, that snake was very persistent," she said as she walked in.

Sasuke looked at her a bit impatiently, but showed them to Shanan's room where they checked Shanan and the babies and finished cleaning up.

"Well, if you're the one that helped her deliver these babies then you did an amazing job," she said to Sasuke before looking back at Shanan. "I think we're done, but if you need anything we now know to watch out for snakes," she said with a chuckle.

Sasuke sat next to Shanan. "You were really brave," he said as he leaned over so that he could see the twins better.

"Sasuke… thank you, so much," she said as she looked at him. "Do you wanna hold them?"

He'd been smiling down at them and she could tell that he wanted to. He nodded gently at her, but he was also a bit nervous. He'd never held a baby except just now when he was helping her.

She let him take the one closest to him, which was Hiroshi and watched him cry happy tears, which truly warmed her heart. She really was thankful for him. "Sasuke," she whispered. He looked up at her and she leaned in and pulled him closer to her so she could kiss his cheek. They were both crying as they'd had quite an emotional day and the babies were just so tiny and perfect. Sasuke still couldn't get over how amazing Shanan was and all he could think about was how he now had two very new people that he was going to look out for for the rest of his life.

After about two hours Kakashi finally arrived home and ran into the bedroom where Shanan and Sasuke were still sitting on the bed. The babies had been fed and were both asleep. Sasuke stood up and put Yukiho, who he was now having a turn holding, into Kakashi's arms. "Here's Yukiho, Shanan has Hiroshi," Sasuke said gently. "Congratulations, Kakashi Sensei." He went back to kiss Shanan on the top of her head again and left them alone as he went to his room.

Kakashi hadn't expected to come home to, not just twins, but their twins. Yuki and Hiro. And it really was them. He was immediately overwhelmed as tears fell silently down his cheeks. He kept looking back and forth from Shanan to the twins. He didn't know what to say, but never in a million years did he think he'd ever get to see them or hold them again.

"Get over here, my love," Shanan said as she laughed a little. She knew he'd be shocked and she loved the look on his face.

Kakashi sat next to her and pulled her face close with his free hand and kissed her deeply. Tears still flowing. "It's really them, but… how?" he asked gently.

Shanan smiled at him and gently passed Hiroshi to his other arm so that he could hold both babies. "Because. We were always meant to have them."

Kakashi couldn't stop the constant flow of tears, but he didn't even try to. All he wanted to do was kiss their tiny foreheads and stare at their perfect little sleeping faces. He'd drawn them well, but seeing them in pencil was nowhere near the same as seeing them in real life. "You didn't make it to the hospital?" he finally asked.

Shanan shook her head. "No, it all happened so fast. I walked Sasuke through it and he did an amazing job," she said as she choked up. She really could never thank him enough. "He already really loves them. Kinda like you and Naruto."

Kakashi smiled at the thought. "I'm glad he agreed to protect you." He really did appreciate the fact that Shanan could count on Sasuke when he couldn't be there and he knew that the twins would be able to from now on as well. He could tell that Sasuke did already adore them as much as he adored their mother.