Child of the Leaf
Chapter Eleven
by operadeglace
"Gaara… I need your help."
The Kazekage's face held the same blank expression as Sakura plead with him.
"You saved my brother when no one else could… I am in your debt. What do you need from me?"
The pink haired kunoichi nods her head, crying.
"I'm pregnant, and I need you to raise my child here in Suna…"
Gaara closes his eyes and folds his arms over his chest as he sits behind his desk.
"I am not in any position to raise your child for you—"
"I met a man last time I was here… I think his name was Ryoukan? He was a medic-nin…"
"I know him well."
"He told me that he always wanted a son…"
"I see…"
Sakura shakes her head in her sleep.
Naruto holds her hand tightly as he sits by her side.
Pain.
Searing, white hot pain.
"You're doing fine, dear… Kizashi! Where are those towels!?"
"C-c-coming!"
"AGH!"
It felt like she was being impaled by giant shuriken.
Then… the world stopped around her, and all she could hear amid the yammering of her parents and the midwife was the sound of gentle crying.
Moments later, the elderly midwife tenderly handed a warm bundle to her.
Sakura looked tiredly down into what she thought was an angel.
He was so beautiful.
He had small wisps of blonde hair like his father, yet no whiskers, thankfully.
Her fingers sought to touch his features and he opened his eyes for the first time, looking straight at her.
"That's remarkable… he's staring at you. Usually newborns aren't able to do that."
The midwife says in awe, then continues to help Sakura's mother clean the blood from the kitchen tiles.
The baby's eyes were not murky and dull as she had seen countless times before at the hospital.
Green eyes that seemingly peered into her soul; eyes full of intelligence and life.
"What are you going to name him?"
"Shinachiku."
Sakura moaned as her eyes fluttered open.
Naruto jumped up while still holding her hand.
"Sakura-chan!" He cried out excitedly.
The pink haired woman turned her head slowly, scanning the room.
"What have I done..?"
Painful flashbacks of her crying as she watched Gaara and Shinachiku disappear into the distance past Konoha's front gates jabbed into her skull. Naruto was alarmed when the pale woman started to sob uncontrollably.
"Shin-achiku-u… wh-where is m-m-my son!? N-Naruto..!" She chokes out, grasping at his coat desperately.
Her pleas nearly melted his heart out of his chest as he calls out for their long lost child, trying to steady his childhood sweetheart as she convulses.
"Shinachiku! Shinachiku, get in here quick!"
—
"Shinachiku! Shinachiku, get in here quick!"
Bolt's ears perked up at the sound of his father's voice emanating from the room directly across the hall to the side of the waiting room.
To his surprise, the weird kid reading the magazine shot up and heeded the call, sprinting down the hallway and into the room.
"What the..?"
Bolt rises to his feet and cautiously follows the path of the strange teenager that his father had called 'Shinachiku'…
—
Shinachiku hurriedly opened the door and let himself into the hospital room, a frightened look on his face, only to find himself trapped in a confusing moment shared between his newly discovered parents…
They were hugging quite fiercely for two people who weren't married to each other.
His mother was weeping as her arms clung to the white-clothed back.
"I'm so sorry, Naruto… I-I didn't tell you because I… I just wanted to..."
"Shhh. Whatever your reasons were, it's in the past."
"Forgive me…"
"…for his abnormally large forehead?"
Shinachiku's eyes widened.
The conversation had taken an unexpected turn…
Suddenly, the pale, weakened Sakura had found enough strength to angrily grab the Hokage by his collar and shake him violently, his head looking like that of a rag doll's.
"SHANNARO! You just had to bring my forehead into this highly emotional moment!"
"I-was-j-us-t-try-ing-to-ch-ch-cheer-yo-u-up, Sa-Sa-kur-a-cha-an!"
"YOU FAILED!"
"I-m-g-get-ting-diz-zy…"
Sakura releases Naruto's collar and his head drops onto the mattress. Her eyes welled up with tears once again as she realized that Shinachiku had appeared at her bedside opposite of his father.
"Hello…" The boy says in a gentle voice. "Forgive me for interrupting… but, I've been wanting to meet you my entire life."
Sakura reaches over Naruto as he recovers from the wooziness she had caused him, grabbing the boy's shoulders and crushing him to her.
"My baby boy… my sweet, sweet angel…"
She immediately started to sweep her hands through his blonde hair and kiss his face repeatedly. Once Naruto had caught his breath, he leaned back in his chair with a goofy smile.
"Our son, Sakura-chan!" He says half with pride, and halfway in disbelief. "This is our son! We made this kid together… luckily he has his mother's good looks!"
"Poor dear, you do have my forehead, but, you are still quite handsome."
Shinachiku basked in the love which they were giving him.
"He must be a ninja, too! Look at the way he carries himself…" Naruto brags out loud, his grin looking as if it could extend past the confines of his face.
"I am a ninja, father." Shinachiku blushes as he calls Naruto 'father'.
"'Father'!? Hey, kid, we're gonna be spending a whole lotta time together from here on out, so you might as well just call me 'dad'."
The excitement and pride began to pile up inside of Naruto's heart. A child with his first love fulfilled many of his adolescent wishes and dreams.
Unfortunately, one thing commonly known about the Seventh Hokage was the fact that when he gets a little too excited, he was famous for speaking before he really thought about what came out of his mouth.
"Man, I love this kid already! If I had known about him earlier, I wouldn't have married Hinata!"
This was one such instance.
He hadn't meant it to be so harsh and blunt. It was a joke, after all.
Or was it..?
"I… really hate you, dad."
A fourth voice cuts into the small family reunion and chills Naruto to his core.
There, at the entrance of the small room, stood Bolt.
-End of Chapter 11.
—Story by ODG
1/7/15 I originally wrote this on tumblr, which will explain the short chapters, and multitude of chapters!
NaruSaku is reasonable and logical. NaruSaku lives...
UPDATE 1/10/15 OKAY! Important Rewrite of Chapter 11! I realized that I had forgotten that I previously planned for Sakura to really go to Suna not to actually terminate her pregnancy. She told Tsunade a lie (to get her off her back) and went to Suna to seek help from Gaara and set up a place for Shinachiku to go after she gave birth to him in Konoha (an extended absence would be highly suspicious). As a medic-nin, she values life no matter what state of mind she is in (my fault for rushing the chapter)!
