Summary: In which Boruto was overprotective, Sarada was stubborn and Uzumaki Chiharu was a bit eager to say hello to the world.

Pairing: Uchiha Sarada/Uzumaki Boruto

Rating: T

Genre: Romance

Word count: 2160

Note: Chiharu means "a thousand springs" in Japanese.

Sarada gritted her teeth, putting her hands on her hips in a gesture indicating clear annoyance as she glared at him. Any other shinobis would have cowered away when confronted with such a look (from the Hokage, no less), but he held his ground, seemingly unfazed - for he was Uzumaki Boruto and more importantly, her husband, and therefore practically immune to her temper by now.

"For the last time, Boruto, I'm pregnant, not made of glass," she growled. Her eyes narrowed to slits as he snorted.

"Of course I know that-"

"-do you? Because judging from the way you behave lately-"

"-I have not forgotten the incident last month!" he pressed on as if she hadn't said anything. "Which, I still think, was completely reckless of you, by the way."

The Uchiha sniffed. Last month, a group off assassins (and whoever had hired them) had gotten it into their heads that the Hachidaime was much less of a threat when she was six and a half month pregnant and was starting to look like she was smuggling a ball under her shirt. They had timed their attack for when her husband was away for a mission and she was all alone in their apartment, apparently defenseless.

Long story short, Sarada had made quick work of the assailants (and had demolished half of their home in the process, which explained why they were staying at her parents' house for the time being). Her advisor had insisted that she publicized the information about the attack. Not only would it make their enemies think twice about attacking Sarada, it would also reaffirm the image of a strong, capable leader even when she was in her most delicate period.

The incident had been something of a final straw for Boruto, who up until then had already been extremely protective of her. This was their first child after two miscarriages, so it was only natural for her husband to be more than a little apprehensive.

Since she was attacked, he had refused all missions and had, instead, became something of an unofficial assistant for her. He was also much jumpier than he had ever been, as proven by the one time when he had nearly blast a stray cat to pieces because he thought it was someone sneaking up to them.

Mitsuki found all of this greatly amusing. Sarada, not so much.

His protectiveness was grating on her last nerves. She had been patient, and had thought it rather funny in the beginning, because she understood the root cause of it. He was afraid of losing her and their baby.

But enough was enough, she decided. She had to put her foot down on this.

"Boruto, I am not going to miss the Kage summit. It only happens every two years and I have to be there."

"It's a three-day travel to Suna over difficult terrain and Kami knows what else. Send someone else," he insisted. "Come on, Sarada, you're not in any condition to-"

"I am in perfect condition to do whatever damn well I want!" she snapped, hands balling into fist. She was fast losing her temper and her husband was not making it any easier with his overprotectiveness.

Maybe you are being unreasonable, whispered a voice inside her head, which she quickly chased away. Sarada didn't think she was being unreasonable. She still had a month and a half to go before her baby was due. The pregnancy had been progressing smoothly ever since they found out, the baby growing at a healthy rate. There were no complications, no problems that could aggravated by her moving around - hell, she didn't even experience morning sickness!

As such, she was optimistic that attending the Kage summit in Suna for the next two weeks would be fine for her. They would take the train there instead of travelling on foot. There would be a medical team on hand at all times to make sure that nothing would go wrong, should anything happened.

Sarada had pointed all of this out to Boruto, but he was still not convinced.

"You are a medic yourself. You know that with pregnancies, anything could happen!" he argued, his voice rising. "Why are you…why are you being so careless about this? Are you willing to sacrifice the safety of our daughter just to attend some meeting?"

Sarada reeled back as if she had just been slapped. Regret crossed his features the moment he was aware of what he had just said. Immediately, he took a few steps towards her, sputtering, "I don't-I don't mean-"

"How could you?" she asked quietly, shying away from his touch, eyes full of hurt. She couldn't believe that he had accused her of that, of all things. "How could you say something like that?"

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it…I was just angry and it just came out…"

"But you think it, don't you? You think I don't care about our baby at all! You think I'm just trying to pull some stupid stunt to prove that I can!"

"Sarada…"

"I have thought of every possibility, have done everything I can to ensure that no harm would come to her," she said, voice low. "If I thought that something would happen, I would never have agreed to go in the first place. I thought that after all these years, you would have known me enough to understand. But maybe I was wrong."

"Please, I-"

She held up a hand to stop him. "Just listen to me. If you don't understand that, then understand this. I am not just any normal kunoichi. I am the Hokage. I have responsibilities not just to myself or to my family, but to the village as well. I can't desert them whenever I, or my husband, want."

Silence descended between them after her words. Sarada resolutely looked away, not trusting herself to look at him without crying. What he said had hurt, and even if she knew that he didn't mean them, didn't mean to hurt her, the fact remained that it had happened.

In the years since they were married, and even much longer before that, they had said many things to one another that Sarada was not proud off. They fought just as much as they got along and considering their tempers, they had hurt each other many times without intending to.

As such, she understood what he was feeling now. Much as there was this small, vindictive part inside of her that urged her to let him have a taste of what she felt, Sarada couldn't bring herself to. She could not willingly hurt him like that, knowing exactly how it would make him feel. He was her husband, her best friend, not an enemy that she wanted revenge on.

"I am sorry," he whispered at last, and this time, she let him take her in his arms, her head burrowed into the crook of his neck. "I am so sorry about what I said to you. I know that you would never hurt our child. I was just being stupid and saying things without thinking.

"But I am worried, still. I couldn't help but think that…what if…what if there was something wrong. You have no little enemies, Sarada, and I as well. If they decide to attack…" he sucked in a shaking breath, "I wasn't there for you last time. Things could have turned out much differently…"

"But you will be with me this time," she murmured, looking up at him, "So will Mitsuki. The three of us can take on anything, remember?"

A hesitant smile grace his face. "Of course. The power of team 7. How silly of me to forget."

"I promise that I will be extremely careful. I know that you can't help worrying…I am the same. But please, have faith in me and in yourself. And please, be a little more optimistic. I'm supposed to be the one brooding and sulking all the time, not you," she said teasingly.

"Well, it's contagious. Maybe I ought to spend less time with you…"

She quirked an eyebrow. "Is that your way of saying you want to sleep on the couch tonight?"

"I know you won't be able to sleep without me."

Her only reply was a smile as she leaned up to kiss him.

In all her planning for the Kage summit, Sarada had clearly miscalculated some elements.

Like the fact that given that her daughter was an Uzumaki, she was bound to be unpredictable and impatient. Obviously, she wouldn't take too well to people predicting when she would be born and had decided to grace the world with her presence much sooner than expected.

"Fuck!"

Every pair of eyes in the room zeroed in on her with varying looks of bewilderment on their faces. Shinki, the sixth Kazekage, started carefully, "Lady Hokage, is something the matter?"

"Well, yes, there actually is," she grimaced when she realized her robes were sopping wet. "My water just broke."

For one second, it seemed as though the entire room had been frozen in time. No one moved or said anything, they didn't even dare to breath.

Then the enormity of her words sunk in and chaos broke out. In any other situation, Sarada would have fine it hilarious that people who governed entire villages could so easily lose their composure when confronted with a woman about to go into labor.

But her water had just broken and her baby was about to be born five weeks early and Sarada was finding it extremely hard to pay attention to anything else.

Within moments, Boruto had appeared right next to her, his voice full of panic as he asked, "Are you serious? It's not…it's only…"

"Yes, I am serious, Boruto," she answered, her voice oddly calm for someone whose mind was running with a thousand theories on why she was having a premature birth.

"Get the medic team and have them prepare a room for Lady Hokage, now!" Shinki ordered.

What followed next was a flurry of movement as she was transferred to a labor room in Suna maternity ward, changed into the ugly hospital gown that she had always detested and had a medic check up on her progress. Boruto was with her the whole time - holding her hands, assuring her that everything would be alright and telling her that she was doing very well.

What was left unaddressed between them, however, was the question of whether they were ready for this. In a few hours, they would officially become parents. Sarada felt like the last seven months had not been enough to prepare them for this new journey. They hadn't finished the nursery…scratch that, they hadn't even had a new nursery. They hadn't had a name picked out yet. They had yet to make plans for leave after their daughter was born, thinking that they still have some time to finalized the details.

In short, Sarada thought that they were about as unready as anyone could get.

"Boruto, what if…what if we are not ready to be parents?"

"How can you always voice the exact question on my mind?" he grinned weakly, looking just as worried as she was. "I don't know, Sarada, but we don't have any other choice, do we? She's about to be coming and if we are not ready, then it would be on her. We can't do that to our daughter."

"I don't think I have ever felt this nervous before, not even during my inauguration. Funny, I can command thousands of shinobis with ease and yet…I'm scared, Boruto," she winced as she felt a contraction gripped her body. They were occurring with increased frequency now.

"Me too, sweetheart, me too," he murmured. He leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"You are Uchiha Sarada and I am Uzumaki Boruto. We are a team, always have been," he smiled, his eyes shining with a confidence that hadn't been there before. "And as long as we are together, then there is nothing that we cannot do. Believe it!"

Not for the first time, Sarada was thankful that she had been fortunate enough to have this man as her husband.

Uzumaki Chihiro was born a spring baby, with pink hair and eyes the brightest of blue. She was the daughter of the eight Hokage and the man who, through thick and thin, stood by her side and watched over her from the shadow and in broad daylight.

"Wecome to our family, Chihiro. We love you so, so much."

End.