Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
When he opened his eyes, Sasuke found himself standing by the iron colored ocean shores at a crisp, foggy morning.
Instead of sand, the shore was covered with dark grey, brown, and white pebbles. He looked down at his bare feet, and the shallow waves lapped at his skin. His feet submerged underneath the icy saltwater looked even paler than usual.
Splash-
His dark eyes widened as he noticed a pale, finely boned hand caressing his toes and ankles.
When he looked at the owner of the hand, he saw a beautiful heart shaped face, rose petal like skin, and bright eyes. Then his eyes trailed indifferently across the slender silhouette of her body that ended in a fish tail. She looked as if she was in her mid twenties.
He blinked-a tic that appears whenever he is facing something that he doesn't know what to do with.
The siren smiled charmingly and said, "So, the old hag was speaking the truth! Someone worthy stopped by!" Her voice was deep and melodious, "Such beautiful visitor! Such power too!" She licked her lips hungrily as her eyes lit up like a tiger's.
Sasuke frowned, as he looked down at the beautiful fish-woman who clawed at his pant leg. He tried to kick her grasp off, "I don't know what you are talking about."
But the fish woman wasn't deterred and she hung on his leg with a vice grip, "The spirit who delivers our passage to the mortal realm said that a very rare man was be nearby." Her beautiful eyes shone with fury, "I am not going to lose this chance!"
Then he noticed more delicate, feminine hands, and more fish women, each with a different kind of beauty, vying to grab him.
For some reason, Sasuke didn't feel any strength in his legs, and all he could do was keep himself from getting swept away by their strong arms and hands. Also, this strange place and the myriad of arms and fingers that held onto him made him feel dazed as in a trance.
When he just felt he was going to get drowned in the deep waters, he finally came to his senses and started fending off the hands and arms with an agility that surprised the women. He span quickly, detaching their grip on his legs, and stomped on their prying hands as if they were poisonous sea beatles. He might not have kusanagi, but he was far from helpless.
The women were surprised, but his resistance fueled an even greater hunger in them. So they charged at him with renewed passion.
Right when he was starting to feel his energy depleting, he felt his feet kick a scaly appendage, as if he kicked a big, plump fish. He didn't give much thought to the sensation at first, because he has been kicking and stomping at these sirens for some time now.
But right when he saw the sun coming out from the horizon, he saw a little body soaring from the mass of swirling fish tails and slimy bodies and flying towards him.
Then plop-the little siren flew and lied flat against his stunned face.
Everything seemed to have stopped when the little siren blinked her bright eyes as she wrapped her small chubby arms around his dark hair. Her small, chubby arms and tiny childlike stature made her look as if she was just three years old. She was undoubtedly the tiniest, youngest, and chubbiest fish in the group. His nose briefly detected a whiff of clear salt water.
Then she dropped into Sasuke's arms that were still like ice.
Sasuke was still unable to shake off his shock at this strange turn of events. Then he got to look at her equally stunned face curtained with long dark hair that came down over her tiny shoulders like undulating waves. Over her left ear, a tiny yellow starfish was buried in her pillow of dark hair. She also had a tail—a light purple colored tail that shone like opals under the sunlight. But her tail looked very small and plump, compared to the other sirens' sinuous, long curves.
Before Sasuke could register what was happening, the sea child turned around in his arms in a hop and faced her competitors. He reflexively adjusted his hold on her so she won't plummet into the stony shore.
Then she announced in a childlike voice, light and wispy, but playful like the sea breeze.
"This human is mine! I claimed him! So he's mine! So go away!" She swayed her arm at them, shooing them away.
'Who is claiming what?' Sasuke wanted to toss the little creature back into the waters.
He internally scoffed. The sea child looked at most five years old, while the other sirens were mature of age. It seemed highly unlikely that the sirens would even listen.
But he was pleasantly surprised. With begrudged murmurs, the sirens had no choice but to swim back into the watery depths.
When the competitors disappeared, the little fish girl looked up to him expectantly with her large glassy eyes. She was clasping her small plump hands as in prayer. Finding himself unable to toss her back, he started walking away from the shores with the child in his arms.
Soon they were hiking up lush hills and mountains. Sasuke didn't know where he was heading, but he felt compelled to move forward.
They didn't say anything, but the creature looked oddly comfortable in his arms, looking around in child like wonder.
He was relieved to learn that the creature was quiet in nature. His mind was actually in a state of turmoil; what was he going to tell Hinata? What would Fugaku think?
When they finally reached his home in the forest, the sea creature pointed to a small stone well. The well was where Hinata would often wash her underwear.
The creature demanded, "Take me to that well." Her voice was light and wispy, but it was still a demand.
Sasuke grumbled and did as the siren bid. When he took her to the edge of the well, the siren suddenly pulled his arms away and dove into the dark circular depth.
Splash-
When he looked over the well, he heard the child's echoing voice, "Pull me up."
He realized that she meant that he has to pull up the bucket. When he pulled on the rope that connected to the trolley, he felt the bucket's weight. When he pulled her up, he saw the little girl inside the dark wooden bucket, her tiny pink hands gripping on the edge. Now that he looked at her, he had to admit that she had a very mysterious kind of allure in her innocent face.
Then the child handed him something. When he took it, he looked at his wide palm-a tiny starfish that was in the girl's hair.
When he raised his eyes and looked at her, she made a faint half smile.
She answered his unspoken question.
"So you could remember me."
He kept looking at her inquisitively. "What?"
Then his view started to blur. "Father."
"Father!"
That was when Sasuke's mind jolted from his sleep. He woke up on his familiar bed, his dark hair spiked up like a crow's nest.
In front of him was his son, Fugaku. He had his hands in his red pajama pockets, and his hair was also spiked up like his father's. He said simply, "Breakfast is ready."
"Ah, I see." Sasuke said in a matching, matter-of-fact tone. When he raised his blanket to get himself out of the bed, he looked up and was surprised to see Fugaku waiting for him.
Usually, whenever Fugaku succeeds in his mission to wake him up, he would saunter out of his room, trudge down the stairs, and sit down on his seat, waiting for breakfast. In Sasuke's eyes, it looked more like Fugaku slouching forward, his hair in a tumbled mess and his normally bright sharp eyes staring into the air.
Whenever he is done setting up the table, his next job is to wake up his father-his arguably least favorite part of his morning routine. His other friends seem to always love jumping on their dads in the morning and wrestling them out of their bed, but Fugaku just didn't have that kind of personality, nor did his dad.
So it surprised Sasuke that Fugaku was standing by the bedside, twiddling his thumbs behind his back as he swayed his right foot over the wood floor.
Sasuke frowned. But that was only the beginning of Fugaku's odd behavior..
Sasuke tried to nonchalantly eat his breakfast, but Fugaku was staring at him with intense scrutiny. They were both not morning people. This was odd. Usually Sasuke was the one who was relatively brighter and more alert. In mornings Fugaku would absentmindedly blink, his long lashes fluttering a little nervously. But this morning, he was staring at him as if he has this halo around his head as he ate his eggs.
Then came the incessant questions.
When Sasuke was using the bathroom, he heard a light knock.
"Father, mom wanted me to ask you if we needed more toilet paper."
"No."
A pause. But Sasuke could still feel his presence outside the door.
Some seconds passed. Then Fugaku tentatively asked, "Are you almost done?"
Sasuke's brows twitched slightly, but he kept his voice even. He didn't like being disturbed when doing anything, but he especially disliked it when he's in the bathroom.
Thinking his son needed to use the bathroom, he said,
"You could use the bathroom downstairs , Fugaku."
Another pause. Sasuke could still feel his son's presence beyond the door.
A light cough. Then Fugaku finally mustered his last remaining courage and bit the bullet.
"Father, do you want me to clean your arrows?"
Sasuke's eyes widened. Then he bowed his head and sighed. 'So that's what he wanted.' There was a reason his son was starting to look at him with starstruck eyes. Since the hunting expedition, Fugaku has been acting strangely, tagging along him where ever he went. He didn't suspect anything was off because he was distracted by work and Hinata's upcoming hospital appointment.
When Sasuke came out of the bathroom, Fugaku looked up at him with an expression of slight fear of rejection and anticipation. But he brushed pass and acted as if he wasn't there.
Fugaku soon realized that he would have to try even harder to push his father to teach him hunting. Asking things from his father was not something Fugaku was so comfortable with, but it wasn't like he had any other choice. There was something about Sasuke that made him hesitate to ask favors, even small ones. It was not like his father was rude or cold to him. It's just the way his dad accomplished things that annoyed him time to time. His father was the type of person who would accomplish things without breaking a sweat and consequently make others feel dumb and inadequate. Fugaku was known as the smartest and most talented boy in the village. And he had the pride to match. He wouldn't permit anyone, even his father, to hurt his pride.
'Asking him to do things is just awkward,' Fugaku grumbled.
'But this time, it's different.' Fugaku's eyes shone with a fire of determination as he glared darts into Sasuke's back. 'I will learn to hunt, and I will succeed!'
That entire day, Fugaku followed him like a shadow and started bombarding him with more explicit questions.
He pursued his father who was working in the backyard. The mountain was buried with a thick layer of snow. The sky was grey, and he couldn't tell if the wind was blowing the snow or if the sky was still snowing.
"Dad, what did you do with the deer?"
Sasuke answered drily as he chopped firewood on a large tree stump. "It's an elk, Fugaku." He held up an axe that was the size and shape of a butcher's knife. Despite the axe's modest size, the thick firewood chopped neatly like pumpkin taffy sticks the candy merchant would sell.
Fugaku asked peeved, "So? what did you do with it?"
'Why does he always have to act as if everything's boring?'
Sasuke laid his axe down on the stump and wiped his roughened hands with a towel he hung around his neck. His dark eyes shone with a glint that looked familiar with the sharp edge of the axe. Then he poked him on his forehead, earning an indignant grunt.
In a monotonous voice, he remarked, "You're asking so many questions, Fugaku."
He stood up to his full height and looked down at him, "Sooner or later, you'll have to stop beating around the bush." He passed by to head back home, "Nobody is going to bring things to you on a silver platter."
That afternoon, Fugaku refused to come inside. He was huffing in rage as he shot arrows at one of the trees in the backyard. However, despite his rage, his arrows weren't cooperating. Like poorly performed harp strings, the arrows made squeaky sounds and littered around the tree. Out of frustration, he started stomping on the powdery white snow as if that was the source of his anger.
Hinata stood by the window, watching her son in pity. 'It must be so cold, and the poor thing is so frustrated and angry at himself. My poor baby…' She turned to her husband. Sasuke was sitting on the table, working on some business documents. He was wearing dark rimmed glasses, as he felt his sight deteriorating a little when he read tiny font.
Finally, she couldn't just stand back. She sat in front of him and touched his arm, "Anata, why don't you take Fugaku out? He's been asking you all day…"
Sasuke took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. His dark hair fell across his squinted eyes that slowly opened as he stared into the white screen. Then he fixed his glasses back on his high ridged nose and said stubbornly, "I'm not going until he tells me what he wants from me."
She furrowed her brows, "You know that he's doing his best… He wants to please you, but...he's scared of disappointing you."
'Just like how we were as children,' was the unspoken, the unspeakable.
"I don't understand," he pursed his lips, "I just want him to…"
He paused. Slight uncertainty appeared in his dark eyes like a rippling surface.
"It's as if he refuses to communicate with me, except through you, Hinata."
She suddenly felt as if something hot was bubbling in her throat. Maybe it was hormones. Yes, it has to be hormones, she told herself. She grabbed his right hand and pressed her cheek against round knuckles, "He does...He does love you. He does."
The following morning, when it was still a little dark, a small shadow crept outside of the second story window. The shadow was daring enough to skid down the roof, hang precariously on the eaves, and jump onto the thickest pile of snow he could find.
When the shadow leapt onto the snow, causing clouds of white snowflakes to fly, he made a clandestine grin.
But his shoulders flinched, when he heard a booming masculine voice behind him, "Fugaku."
When he slowly turned his face, he saw his father, in a long, dark cloak, his dark hair hidden in a woolen cap. He looked like a cold ice statue under the moonlight, freezing the air around him with the look of his eyes alone.
"Fa-father," Fugaku stammered. He was beyond scared. He honestly felt like peeing his pants. He just got caught trying to leave home, when it was still dark. 'How did he even know? I checked if he was asleep three times! Father's going to kill me.'
Sasuke looked down at his trembling son. Then he pushed back his hair that was blowing across his eyes and sighed.
Fugaku flinched when he saw his father approaching him in wide strides. When he was expecting a harsh grab of the back of his neck, dragging him back to the house, he instead felt nothing. When he courageously opened one eye and then the other, he turned and saw his father walking pass him.
Then he stood still. The strong cold wind fluttered his cape, revealing a giant arrow gripped in his hand.
Sasuke made a slight cough, "Follow me, Fugaku."
Fugaku stood still, his thoughts wracking around in his brain.
He continued to speak calmly, "We'll practice a little bit every morning. But let me know when you get tired of it."
Fugaku looked at him quizzically at first. Then his face slowly started to light up in understanding.
He could hardly contain his excitement when he ran up to his father's side, "I'll never tire that easily, father!"
"Hmph."
The sun was up, and the sunlight was not glaring into their eyes anymore. The sky still looked silvery grey, but the snow made it up with its radiant whiteness.
Both Sasuke and Fugaku were crouching behind a large heap of snow, their hands and feet digging onto the snow laden slope. They were eyeing a brown hare, sniffing its dark nose against some dried shrub.
Fugaku has already learned from trial, error, and his father's detachment that chasing like a rampant wolf will not get him the prey. But the hare was tauntingly close to his mediocre shooting range. He felt himself growing anxious.
Sasuke pulled the bow string till its length was taut and wide across his chest. All Fugaku could see was his father's jawline. He silenced his own breath.
Then his fingers trembled and let go.
The arrow flew with impressive speed for a beginner, but the rabbit swiftly dodged it as it pierced the thick snow.
"Ah!" Fugaku's eyes widened and he accidentally gasped in disappointment at the sight of the racing rabbit. Sasuke chuckled.
Sasuke glanced at Fugaku and saw a thin vein ticking at his jaw and the way his thighs were shaking as if cold. The little boy who was just nine years old was staring at the rabbit like a wolf cub.
Sasuke smirked and patted him affectionately at his thigh. Fugaku started at first and then grunted, unaccustomed to his taciturn father's affectionate gesture. Then the boy grunted again like an old man. Sasuke innerly chuckled. Hinata used to tease him about his grunts too, because he used to do that whenever he felt shy. He wondered if this was how Hinata felt.
To dispel his sense of shyness, Fugaku whispered , "Father, why don't you hunt more often?"
Sasuke didn't say anything as he focused on the hare. But Fugaku could sense that he wasn't too interested in the rabbit, and his thoughts were on his question.
When the hare sensed something and went off in the opposite direction, Fugaku let out a gasp of disappointment and slumped back on the snow. He couldn't close his mouth that gaped open in loss. He was so certain that this was going to be his day.
Sasuke discreetly half-smiled and stretched the bowstring wide across his wide chest, his eyes focused on a far distant point.
"To be a good hunter," his thumb and two front fingers secured the taut bowstring close to his chiseled lips, "you must plan what you're going to do after you finish hunting."
Fog rose from his mouth as he continued to speak, "What you do after hunting is more important than the hunting itself." His arms stretched the bow gracefully and then released his grip on his arrow. The arrow shot forth, and Fugaku's grey eyes followed its track, but it seemed his father shot an arrow in vain. He couldn't hear a gasp or a squeal. It was just quiet.
When Sasuke loosened his hold on his bow, Fugaku looked at him.
"You're confusing me, father."
Sasuke looked down at him with a neutral expression. Then he opened his lips, "I know you're not particularly proud about my work, Fugaku."
He then rested his warm hand on Fugaku's head. Fugaku's dark hair flattened under Sasuke's palm.
"It's okay to be ashamed of your parents at your age," he dropped his hand from his head, "I was like that too."
Fugaku looked at him as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. "You were?"
Sasuke nodded, but he didn't quite understand why he lied. Maybe, he wanted to bond with Fugaku so badly that he hid away the boy who used to crave his father's approval. His past memories didn't matter anymore. Fugaku mattered.
For a moment, Fugaku forgot that he was trying to catch game. He was more interested in knowing what kind of man his father was. "Father, why are you living as a tailor?"
Then he started to ask what he has been dying to ask but didn't have the courage to. "Can't you be a professional hunter? Or even…"
Fugaku was not one to openly tell others, even his parents, his secret dream. His mother was overly worried whenever he got into petty kids' fights, and his father was strict when it came to controlling his 'ocular abilities' as he put it. But now he felt as if he could ask.
"A shinobi?"
Sasuke looked at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. "..."
Then he sat down comfortably next to his son. Fugaku sat himself comfortably as well. He decided that he could try hunting some other time.
Sasuke raised his bow and started drawing stick figures on the snow. "Tailoring is thought to be a skill of luxury, but that's not always true. Hunters are tailors, fishermen are tailors."
"Fishermen?"
"Those who fish make nets. And they use razors to pick fine bones out."
Then Fugaku heard something charging towards them. He quickly looked up. When he saw what it was, he quickly aimed his arrow-it was the hare that ran in the opposite direction.
But when the hare saw Fugaku and Sasuke, it quickly swerved to the left, its hind legs pushing forth in full speed.
While Fugaku was panicking, Sasuke calmly aimed his arrow as he continued to speak,
"To make use of your hunted prey, you must learn how to skin the beast. You have to learn how to separate the hide from the muscles to use fur. Then you have to cut out the spleen to cook and eat the meat without getting sick."
He released the arrow, and it hit the pine tree right in front of the hare, leading the hare to run in the opposite direction, "What is the best way to dry meat? Those are important questions."
Then he dropped his arrow and wrapped his arms around Fugaku, adjusting his posture, "You must also know how to use different tools and do proper maintenance of fur and meat. "
Under Sasuke's guidance, Fugaku shot the arrow, albeit a bit uncertain of himself, and to his surprise, the arrow went through the hare's throat in a single stroke. It was such a clean stroke that only a thin trickle of blood dyed the snow. Fugaku was at awe of the sight. It was savage but fascinating at the same time. Sasuke looked at his son's stunned face with an unreadable expression.
He didn't say anything and approached the dead hare, and Fugaku followed after.
Sasuke picked up the hare by its long ears and continued talking in a low, calm voice,
"If I just enjoyed the moment of hunting without caring what I will do later...I will be left with nothing, but carcasses that I killed for sport. I decided to no longer live that kind of life."
"I used to be a bad man." He pulled off the arrow blade from the hare's throat, "a very bad man."
He rose to his full height and opened a wide pouch to put the hare. Fugaku didn't know what to do as his father told him such private, heavy stories.
Sasuke didn't say anything as he finished depositing the prize and tied the knot.
Fugaku raised his face when he heard his father's voice,
"Then I met your mother."
Sasuke's lips spread into a subtle smile as if he remembered something special.
"At first, I thought she was a crazy woman."
Fugaku raised his eyebrows. His father regarded his mother, the most graceful and shyest woman in the village, as crazy? That was like saying his father, the most boring and passive aggressive man he knows, used to be a wild, blood crazed shinobi.
As Fugaku was wracking his mind over this mystery, Sasuke surprised him again.
"But she saved me."
He glanced at his son with a secretive smile lingering in his lips.
"She still does."
Fugaku looked at him as if his father was saying that his mother actually had eyes behind her back. His no nonsense father was not saying anything that made sense. His mother couldn't even leave alone a dying worm. She would pick the worm up with a twig and drop it into safe, moist soil. How could she possibly had saved father? If his father was as bad as he said, how was he able to listen to his quiet mother?
Fugaku could'nt hide the incredulity of his tone,
"A crazy woman?"
Sasuke chuckled. His intermittent laughter had a low, gentle cadence and a strangely dangerous edge. When he heard his father's strange laugh, Fugaku started to wonder if there was some truth to his father's word that he was an evil man.
Sasuke walked ahead, dragging the pouch on the snow, leaving a thin trail.
He smiled at him beyond his shoulder.
"No, she saves me everyday."
When they turned around, they saw a male villager running up to them. They were high up in the mountain, so the villager panted as he rested his rough hands on his knees and bent over.
"Mr. Uchiha!" "Fugaku!"
After he managed to take a breath, the villager yelled, "Ms. Hinata, she's in the hospital!"
Both Fugaku and Sasuke's faces turned pale.
In the hospital hallway, Hinata was being transported to the emergency care by several nurses, with the doctor grabbing the headrail of the mobile bed.
Gripping on her nylon blanket, Hinata moaned in pain. Her forehead was sweating profusely. "Ah…" Her fingers that gripped on her blanket felt lifeless and cold.
When she saw Hinata's lips turning purplish white, the doctor paled and urged the nurses to go faster, "Please try to breath, Mrs. Uchiha. Deep breathes!"
Then the doctor started when she saw a tall man who suddenly materialized behind one of the nurses.
When Hinata turned her gaze to her left, she saw a familiar face. Her eyes widened, "Sasuke…"
Sasuke chewed on his bottom lip as he looked down at her. He noticed red blood seeping the brown nylon blanket, and he reflexively gripped on the bed's handrail till his knuckles turned white.
Then she heard a familiar voice at the end of the hallway.
"Let me go!" Fugaku flailed in the arms of two male nurses who struggled to keep him from running after her, "I'm going to see mother!"
But his struggle abated when he saw his mother craning her neck to see him and forcing a smile on her ghost-white face.
"Fugaku, don't worry…" her voice was shaking like a thin tree branch tossed by the wind. Her last word came out as a sigh. "Baby…"
Suddenly, the sight of her son, who has now grown into a handsome little man, struggling in the adults' arms to see his mama made her want to cry. She felt as if her throat was on fire. Suddenly, before her, she could see baby Fugaku sitting on the playmat in his light blue jammies. The pale child with a tuft of dark hair was crawling around her bare feet, tugging on the edge of her dress. What would she not do to touch his dimpled knees, hold his ankles, and kiss his plump feet. And playfully bite his little grubby toes. But now she was bleeding on a remote, cold hospital bed, while her baby was sitting on the mat, clueless about his mother's whereabouts, yet waiting for mama.
Hinata looked up to him, "Sasuke...pl-please be with Fu-Fugaku…"
"Don't worry about us." He helped the nurses to transport Hinata faster. He cursed, 'why is the hallway so damn long?' He spoke to her in a tone harsher than he expected, "Just worry about yourself."
When she finally entered the emergency room, he had to take several steps back and take a deep inhale to drive down his impulse to break down the door.
As they waited for the child, Fugaku and Sasuke sat on some of the guests' chairs.
Sasuke struck a conversation as he sipped on a canned coffee. "Your birth was a hard one, Fugaku." He spoke as in introspect as he looked down at his hands that clasped his luke warm drink.
Fugaku turned his head sharply to his father. His grip on his aluminium soda can tightened.
"Your mother...almost…"
Fugaku frowned as he felt his chest tighten and his heart palpitate like a band drum. He felt his throat drying, but he didn't really want his soda.
But what his father said next was unexpected.
"Ate up all the cinnamon rolls in the land of Waterfall."
Sasuke sipped on his coffee again. "Her cravings were impressive. I was worried if you were going to come out as diabetic."
Fugaku stared at him and then huffed and tried to down his soda in a gulp. But he choked and started to cough erratically.
Unbeknowst to Fugaku, Sasuke was looking down at him with a warm smile on his face.
Then his eyes turned serious as he thought, 'I am the father. But I almost hated my son.'
He remembered the night Fugaku was born. Due to a stupid doctor's severe lack of preparation, combined with Hinata's hereditary difficulties in labor like spinal complications, her health was in deep peril, and so was the baby's.
Sasuke grabbed the doctor's collar and yelled at his face,
"I don't care about having this child. We could always have more children. Save Hinata or it'll be your life."
Biting down on her bleeding lip to contain her screams, Hinata begged with tears in her eyes, "Husband, please…" She was holding onto Sasuke's arm with a vice grip and she was about to faint any second.
Sasuke looked down at Hinata with concern in his eyes. Then his eyes sharpened murderously at the doctor, "Again, you heard what I said. Pull the thing out, do what you must. It's Hinata that I want."
"Sasuke, no!" she screamed and the labor continued for the rest of the night.
When he looked down at his son who was falling asleep on his chair, he made a sad smile. He was bobbing his head up and down, as he struggled to sit up straight. Sasuke rested his arm around Fugaku, leading him to rest his head on his shoulder. Soon Fugaku was snoring.
Sasuke looked at his son. He could count his individual lashes.
'I almost had you killed. But now I can't imagine my life without you.'
Then he heard the door swing open.
A surgeon in a jade green uniform came out and plucked her mask from her face,
"Mr. Uchiha!"
Fugaku's eyes opened and he abruptly stood up on his feet. Sasuke stood up as well. Their eyes instinctively narrowed to the sight of blood on the surgeon's apron and latex gloves.
"Both the patient and the baby are safe. Ms. Hinata is resting right now. She is very exhausted."
Relief washed over Fugaku and Sasuke's faces. But when the tension quickly faded, Fugaku felt his knees buckling. Before he hit the floor, Sasuke quickly caught him. The boy glanced at the adult and made a sheepish smile.
The nurse ushered Fugaku and Sasuke into Hinata's hospital room.
When Fugaku walked in, his eyes zoned into a simple crib that was next to Hinata's bed.
He couldn't help but raise his voice and rush to the small crib. "WOAH!"
He started hopping in excitement. Sasuke smiled and watched.
"Woah!" He gripped Hinata's bed rail and stared at the cribl, "woah, woah, woah, woah!"
Hinata laughed, "Fugaku, would you like to see the baby?"
"Yes, mom!" He jumped, "yes, yes, yes!"
She gave him a warm smile and drew away the pink blanket.
Fugaku walked up to the crib and carefully looked in.
He softly murmured, "wow…"
The baby still had redness in her face and tiny hands, but she had very defined features. Her eyes were still closed, but the rest of her features showed both Hinata and Sasuke's characteristics. She had round cheeks, and her nose was tiny but was very distinctly pretty. Her rosy sliver of a lip moved, smiling and then frowning and then smirking.
Hinata smiled and put her arms around Fugaku's waist and pulled him to her side, "Isn't she beautiful, Fugaku? She's your little sister."
"She's…" Fugaku was at loss for words, "so tiny."
She smiled and hugged him tightly to her chest. She stroked his hair as he rested himself by her side. Fugaku was emotionally exhausted as well. They remained in each other's embrace in comfortable silence. Sasuke sat in a rocking chair next to the bed.
She spoke softly, "Have you heard of birth dreams, Fugaku?"
Fugaku looked up to her,
"Birth dreams?"
Hinata placed her cheek on Fugaku's smooth forehead, "When mama had Fugaku… she had a dream."
Fugaku closed his eyes and laid his head on Hinata's breasts,
"But people dream all the time, mama."
She closed her eyes and smiled and hugged Fugaku,
"But this one was special. And mothers know when they are having birth dreams. They have this sixth sense."
His eyelids felt heavier by the second, but he still asked, "How do you know it is a birth dream?"
Hinata stroked the back of Fugaku's head, smoothing down his dark hair. She spoke in a soft, languid tone as if she was telling him a story.
"Fugaku, before babies are born, they signal to their parents what kind of babies they are. They could appear as animals like a bird or a tiger, or things like trees or fruit. Or flowers."
She buried her lips into his hair,
"And when mamas have those dreams...they realize that they are having a baby."
The baby lying in the crib was waving her hands slowly. Her eyes were still closed, but her lips slightly opened like a spray rose bud.
Fugaku murmured, half- asleep, "What dream did you have when I was in your tummy?"
"I was wandering in a very dense forest...It was so vivid that I was afraid that I was lost. Then I saw a big black bear beneath the hills. It was very big bear."
Fugaku felt more awake, and he turned his wide eyes to his mother.
Hinata smiled down at him like an angel.
"Then the bear suddenly charged towards me and I tried to run away."
She smiled when she saw that she piqued her little son's interest.
"But the bear was so fast and it got right behind me. I felt I could hear its breath."
He rested his dimpled chin on her left chest, "What did the bear do?"
Hinata's eyes gleamed meaningfully, "It sank its teeth into my right thigh."
Fugaku's eyebrows raised as if he was listening to a heroic tale.
"Then what happened?"
She smiled widely and raised both of her hands, "I woke up!"
Fugaku's jaw dropped. Then his brows creased as he looked at her with slight disappointment.
Soon, Fugaku was fast asleep in his mother's arms. He was lying next to her side on the hospital bed. His dark hair scattered over his smooth marble brow as he softly snored. Hinata kept petting his soft head as she admired her son's profile.
When Hinata was about to fall asleep, that was when Sasuke asked, "Hinata."
Her eyes widened as she asked softly, "Yes?"
Sasuke's eyes darted to the side,
"Could...fathers…"
He hesitated. Then he said,
"Never mind, Hinata."
But he wanted to ask,
'Could fathers have birth dreams too?"
In a few minutes, Hinata was fast asleep with her son in her arms.
Sasuke slowly rose from his rocking chair, so he won't wake up his wife and son.
He slowly walked over to the crib and looked at his daughter's face.
The little baby wasn't asleep, but her eyes were closed. She moved her hands in the air as if she was looking for something to touch.
Sasuke gazed into her face and reached out his hand. The little girl's hand touched his long finger. He marveled how the little girl's entire hand could hardly match up to his single finger.
The baby squinted at the new sensation, and then she plopped her hand by her side.
Sasuke lost the warmth of the little girl's hand.
He chuckled,
"Now that I'm yours, are you not paying any attention to me?"
And he continued to stand up and gaze down at the little girl. The moon was bright that night.
A/N: You've waited for long! Thank you! Finally, the princess has arrived! I have her name in mind, but if you have any suggestions, let me know!