"Fuck!" Sasuke hurried to turn the steering wheel of his car to avoid hitting the smaller vehicle in front of him. Gaara hit his arm against the car door. The raven could hear him cursing but paid no mind as he swerved into the next lane. He had to hurry, he—he had to be there! Sasuke pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal.
"Sasuke! It would do no good if we both ended up in the hospital too!" The redhead shouted, bracing himself against the dashboard. The Uchiha ignored him still, the speed of the SUV constantly climbing. "Uchiha, slow the fuck down! How would Naruto feel if we got put in the bed next to him?"
Without a word, the car slowed slightly, logic breaking through the ravens mind at last. Gaara breathed a sigh of relief, pulling out his constantly buzzing cell phone. "What's going on?"
"Gaara? Are you okay?" Neji's worried voice came from the other line. "I saw Sasuke drive by a couple minutes ago."
"I'm fine." He redhead rubbed at his arm. He glanced toward the Uchiha, who was completely absorbed in his driving, a crazed look in his eyes. He teeth were locked and his eyebrows seemed to be knotted together. "He on the other hand, may need some help. When will you get to the hospital? He'll need you."
The sound of brunette covering the mouthpiece and yelling orders at someone could be heard. "I have about 15 minutes left here. Then I'll be there in a heart beat." Neji was taking the day off from school to feel in for his uncle at the office building. Somewhere in background Gaara could make out crying, which had to be Hinata. "I'll be there shortly. Keep Sasuke together until I get there, please Gaara."
"I will." The redhead promised. They said their goodbyes as Sasuke pulled recklessly into Konoha's hospital parking lot. He parked across a handicap space and jumped out the car, making a run for the entrance. "Uchiha!" Gaara snapped and reached over to pull the keys from ignition. No need for the car to be stolen. He hurried from the vehicle and pressing the button to lock it behind himself. By the time he reached the front doors he could see the raven trying to break the 'up' button to the elevator. Gaara called for him again but now Sasuke had lost patience and was going up the stairs. "Sasuke!"
Fear had never been so prominent to Sasuke. He'd felt fear when Naruto had first told him about his pregnancy, he'd felt fear when he had to tell his father—he'd felt fear every time he looked into Naruto's eyes. All throughout his life Sasuke's greatest fear had been rejection. But all of that was nothing compared to what he was about to lose. How many times would he hurt Naruto... Sasuke gritted his teeth, running up the last step to the second floor. There were nurses and doctors running all over the place, he grabbed a man by the scrubs. "Naruto Uzumaki? Where is he?"
"The pregnant male?" The man asked, looking over who had snatched him. He recognized Sasuke Uchiha. "He's in the intensive care unit—down the hall, to the right, go through two sets of doors. That's to the waiting room, you won't be allowed inside the actual room with him, he's—"
The raven was done listening, pushing his way through the staff and down the hall. He shouldn't have left the blonde alone! Just that morning, he'd been with Naruto.
"You sure you don't want to go to school? They're giving seniors a lot of information on graduation today." Sasuke reminded the blonde, running a finger over his swollen stomach. Naruto shrugged from where he was laying on the couch. "Okay. I'll make sure to get two of everything for you."
"I don't know." The blonde looked at Sasuke. "I wanna stay here today. Just the thought of school makes my stomach churn, eh!" He laughed and placed his hands over the ravens. Said raven slightly flinched, still not completely confident with touching the males tummy. "One more month!"
"Yeah," Sasuke eyed the stomach. "I've never felt her kick. Does she a lot?" Naruto told him it was mostly at night whenever he was trying to sleep. "That's what my mother use to say about Itachi." He himself liked to move in the mornings. "I'm staying the night tonight."
Naruto laughed again and Sasuke smiled, hoping their kid would sound just like that.
Entering the waiting room was something Sasuke wished he'd avoided. There was a total of 3 people inside: Itachi, a tearful Tsunade and a man he didn't recognize with long white hair, and his arm around Tsunade's shoulders. Sasuke marched over to Itachi, "What can you tell me?"
"He's in the intensive care unit, they won't let anyone back to see him." Itachi answered, his face looked paler than ever, old. Sasuke turned toward the staff only door, determined to prove his brother wrong. The older raven grabbed his brother by the shoulders. "Listen for a moment! Sasuke, he's hurt pretty bad. If you barge in there causing a riot, that'll take attention away from him... think about what's best." Sasuke slumped in his brothers arms, covering his face and using him as support.
"Naruto..." The younger Uchiha mumbled. What could he do? He wanted to be back there, with his blonde and his daughter. Not knowing what was going on with them was literally tearing him apart. The waiting room door opened and in came Gaara, taking in the scene before him. He nodded once at Itachi and took a chair next to Tsunade, silently. "When can I see him?" Sasuke shouted toward the receptionist behind the counter, who hadn't said a word to any of their company.
She jumped at the aggression suddenly directed toward her. "S-sir, it all depends on when the patient is stabilized. The doctors will let us know what they can." She looked down at some papers, "Yes, we have our top people on the patient."
Instead of calming Sasuke, this just made him more anxious. He would have honestly lost his mind then and there if it weren't for the arms of his brother keeping him on his feet. Answers—he wanted answers! "Where are the police? Have they found who did this?"
Whoever had done this would pay immediately. Prison was not enough. If it were left in Sasuke's, he would probably kill the culprit. He would have to find away to get the villain alone, settle things with his fists before having his lawyers push for the death penalty. Especially if... if... Sasuke pulled at his own hair, unable to finish the thought. "The police are already searching for clues inside his apartment. They'll want to talk to you eventually. We will find whoever did this Sasuke, you have my word." Itachi's voice echoed his brothers fury.
Tsunade spoke, "Are we just expected to sit here and wait?" She wiped at her puffy eyes, directing her question at no one in particular. "How dare that brat make us wait." She sniffed. The man sitting next to her rubbed her shoulders, whispering soothing words into her ear. She leaned against him, not seeming able to support herself any longer.
The sight pained Sasuke. Whenever he happen to run into Tsunade she had always been a boisterous and tough woman, seeing her like this now wasn't anything good. He felt the older raven pulling him and found himself sitting in a chair shortly, between him and Gaara, who was working on his own silent tears.
Anger flared inside Sasuke's chest again, "Tell me something!" He demanded, trying to jump up from the chair. He was acting so unrefined, wild, insane. The receptionist paged one the nurses, speaking hurriedly and fearfully.
"The condition on patient Naruto Uzumaki is not stabilizing, but Dr. Chiyo and her team are inducing labor, trying to get the unborn child out before removing the bullets. It looks like the patient may be CTD but there's still hope there. GOK."
"Explain the terminology." Sasuke told the woman behind the counter. She hesitated, looking flustered and worried about what the raven might do. "What did she mean?"
"Sasuke..." Itachi was tired. He had originally gone to school to become a surgeon before being sucked into the family business, he understood each term. He licked his lips before speaking to his brother. "She said they're going to get the baby out, but Naruto isn't looking so good. She said to put our trust in God."
The younger Uchiha looked at his brother, not really seeing anything. Then he turned his head to the left, feeling a hand take his own. Gaara had taken hold of his hand, his face streaked with tears, eyeliner running down. But he wasn't shaking, the tears flowed on their own accord. Still, his hand held tight to Sasuke's as he looked at the ground. The raven returned the hold, feeling his dark eyes threatening to water up—but he refused to break down. If anything he should hold on for Naruto, grow some patience—start praying that everything would be okay and Naruto would be fine and Sasuke would get to hold his daughter shortly.
/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\
The waiting room had filled up. People Sasuke couldn't even recognize we're piled in, students that had barely spoken two words to his blonde were in there crying their eyes out. Funny how that happened, weren't these the same ones who had shunned him before? The newspaper wanted to speak with Fugaku, who had shown up, but he waved them away and threatened the violence of his lawyers if they dared try to talk to his youngest son. Mikoto was a mess, holding Sasuke's head against her chest and stroking his hair, telling her baby that she would help him. She was the first person to start actually praying. Hinata soon joined her, followed by many of the bandwagon passengers. Neji and Gaara had disappeared to the hall, probably not wanting to show any more weakness infront of Sasuke.
"I'm going to blow this place up, if I don't get some goddamn answers." The young Uchiha told the new receptionist, the other had gone on a break. Or more so she fled from his glare.
"Squad S, we have multiple guest in the waiting area. Can you give us any status on the Uzumaki patient?" She paged.
A monotone voice that sounded bored replied, "It's like he's slipping into a coma. We are working as fast as we can, we're having trouble with all the bleeding. We have to give him a blood transfusion which is going to complicate the c-section... Just let us work."
Sasuke didn't even bother to turn to his brother for any comfort. He wanted to get out of there. He removed himself from his mother and walked out of the room, ignoring all the people who asked where he was going. He stormed down the hall, past Gaara and Neji, and down the flight of stairs. Sasuke went back to the first floor, found a bench and sat. He covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes tight. The last thing he wanted to do is cry, Naruto would hate it if the first thing he saw after recovering was Sasuke's crying face. But the raven truly couldn't help it. Four hours had gone by and it was all starting to feel unreal. It was hurting, everything had been so right eight hours ago, it had all be snatched away in a 24 second phone call.
The raven heard someone coming toward and was about to bite their head off when he saw it was the man who had come with Tsunade. He sat next to Sasuke, "Hey, bud. So, you're the guy who got my godson knocked up, eh?"
"You're his godfather?" Sasuke surveyed the old man. His white hair was long and spiky, his eyes dark, and he had red strips tattooed down his cheeks. "I've never heard of you. Are you Tsunade's husband?"
"Hehe, nope. She's hopelessly in love with me though." He answered. "Just call me Jiraiya, I was chosen by Naruto's father to watch over the brat. So, that makes me his godfather—I even named him too." He extended his hand to the raven, who gave it a weak shake.
"Why haven't you been in his life? He's never once mentioned a Jiraiya person." Sasuke questioned, looking over the man again. He looked decent enough, why wasn't he Naruto's full guardian? He cared enough to show up at the hospital but not house him?
"Well," Jiraiya started, leaning back. "After the accident with his parents, me and Tsunade both tried to get custody of the little man. But his aunt took him, she was actually blood related so we had to give in. You know she only wanted the money the state would give her. After finding out there was no check, she threw him back into the system and we tried again. But Tsunade was a heavy—heavier drinker, she couldn't pass any of the background checks. As for me, honestly I had some charges from when I was in high school, got caught peeping on girls a couple times." Jiraiya shook his head sadly. "I never thought such minor charges would prevent me from getting my godson! But the system declared me unfit. I battled them and fought, by the time I succeed in being cleared, he was living on his own.
"I told him he could come live with me down south, he could start new. He could get out of Konoha and forget everything that's ever happened here." Sasuke's heart squeezed when he heard this. "But you know what he told me? That brat said he wasn't going anywhere. He said if he packed up and moved away it would only make him that much more weak. He didn't want to forget about his parents, he said he liked Konoha despite it all. If you ask me, I think he wanted to prove something. So, I let him stay. I called him twice a month, every month to check in on him. He never told me about the conditions he lived in, Sasuke, he lied." Jiraiya frowned at himself. "I would have forced him to move in with me—he's still a kid, barely 18 now.
"After seeing how he was living, I'll never forgive myself for leaving him here. I left him here with all this pain and confusion, he was too young to be on his own. I sent him money over the years, but it's like he never got any of it. I don't know, but I could've prevent this whole thing." The old man was blaming himself, but if only he knew how guilty Sasuke was.
"You can't blame yourself. Naruto is a knucklehead—he takes on things even if it should be left alone. He's that kind of guy." The Uchiha placed a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder. The old man nodded in agreement.
"I just hope he comes out of this one. Then I can die in peace, bud." Jiraiya shut his eyes. "Now, on to you. I know you're tearing yourself apart in that head of yours. Sasuke, Naruto mentioned you to me before. Said you would make him go and live with me."
That was absolutely correct. Naruto refused to live with him and his family, but if it were brought to his attention that there was a safer and loving home somewhere with a family friend, Sasuke would have seen to it that Naruto was on the next train there. The raven would visit as much as possible, distance was no issue for him. If he could, he would buy a home next door to Jiraiya to make it easier. "That's true."
"Hehe, the kid knew it. I don't know why Naruto thinks he burdens people. It's really the opposite, he makes people better I think." The white haired man played with his fingers. "Well, in any case, I approve. You're welcome to the family." Jiraiya patted the raven on the back. For some odd reason, Sasuke blushed. He never thought there would come a time where he would get approval of Naruto's 'family'—Naruto was the one who was joining the Uchiha's. It caught him off guard, but it felt nice. "Let's get back up there, Sasuke."
Before either man had stood up, Fugaku Uchiha had stepped out of the elevator and was coming toward them, the Konoha Sheriff on his heels. Fugaku had a heavy frown on his face.
Sasuke stood as the duo arrived, while Jiraiya took the hint to leave. He nodded to Sasuke before starting up the stairs. "Any news about Naruto or the baby?" Sasuke asked his father, ignoring the cop.
"They've began cutting into Naruto, the transfusion worked." Fugaku answered.
Sheriff Jashin stopped Sasuke from running up the stairs. "I need to get some answers from you first, son." The younger raven demanded what kind of answers he would possibly need from him. "Well, first, do you recognize this object? It was recovered from the scene of the crime." Jashin held up a plastic bag, and inside the bag was Sasuke's purple lighter. The raven patted his jeans, he hadn't had it in longest time but he couldn't exactly remember when he'd missed it.
"It's mine but I lost it some time ago." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, seeing where this was going. He was now a suspect—at least a person of interest. There was no way in hell he would try to kill Naruto, let alone their daughter.
"Mmhm, son, where were you this morning at around 10am?" Sheriff Jashin asked, hands on his hips.
"I don't think you can ask those kinds of questions until we have a lawyer present, Jashin. But Sasuke was at school, you can check all the cameras and attendance records you want. Come Sasuke, we have to check on Naruto-kun now." Fugaku put his arm out to lead his youngest son to the elevator. Sasuke started to walk but then turned back to the sheriff. Something was off.
"Sheriff Jashin, what happen to your standard pistol?" All this pain was making him strangely alert. The younger raven knew that the Konoha police force all used one type of gun, it was part of their regulation. He knew that because he'd once aspired to become part of it. Two pairs of Uchiha eyes turn to Jashin's belt, eyeing the gun at his hip. "That's a different model isn't it? It's close to the standard, but it's handle is missing the emblem. Why are you trying to copy it? What happen to yours?" Sasuke frowned, his thoughts racing.
His lighter. The sheriffs gun. Naruto. "Now that I think about it... I remember when my lighter went missing." Sasuke turned to completely face the sheriff. His eyes held a dark glare, the guilty look on the sheriffs face only fueled it. "The day I beat the shit out of your son. Hidan Jashin. He's always had a problem with Naruto!" He did it, didn't he? "I'll kill him! I will literally murder that stupid piece of shit—!" Sasuke started to charge the frozen sheriff, being held back by his father.
It was when they were wresting, Hidan had stolen the lighter and used it to smoke Naruto out of his house. Then as soon as Naruto was out in the open and vunerable, Hidan had shot him using his own fathers pistol. Then his father had covered for him by replacing the gun and hoping no one would notice it was gone. All with the hope that the lighter would trace the crime back to Sasuke, banking on no one noticing the difference in the guns. But they should've banked on the Uchiha's having a wide variety of interests. The question was why Hidan had done it, why? "Something is wrong with him. He must be obsessed!" Sasuke yelled at the sheriff.
Sasuke had heard rumors of the captain of the football team having violent tendencies. Hidan had never crossed him so he wrote it off as him being a big bully. But with Naruto being one of the only openly gay students and pregnant, Hidan had to have focused just on the blonde. Obsessed with what a target Naruto had become. Insane enough to lash out to this extent. "I'll slit his throat in his sleep!" Sasuke nearly broke free of his fathers desperate grasp. "He will pay!"
Rage. Sasuke could feel every fiber of his body pushing him to strangle the white haired teen. To watch the life slowly drain away and be flooded with the sweet experience that was revenge.
"Sasuke! Go upstairs I'll handle this. Go!" Fugaku used most of his strength to hurl his son toward the stairs. "We will have our revenge. The Jashin family should know better than to harm not one, but two Uchiha's."
Sasuke threw one last menacing glance at the sheriff before starting up the stairs. His phone buzzed twice in his pocket. It was a message from Neji, 'HURRY' it read.
Sasuke's heart raced with possible meanings for that one simple word. Breaking into the waiting room, the people inside ushered him forward and through the staff only door. He glanced at his brother, who nodded at him. On the other side a man with short red hair who strangely resembled Gaara was waiting for him. "The father? Come this way, your child is almost here. I'm Dr. Sasori." He was the doctor who had spoken earlier. Sasori had blood splattered on his white coat, which worried Sasuke but the raven could only focus on one thing.
Kizuna Uchiha.
Sasuke was led to a large glass window. Inside, Naruto's bare stomach was visible, his mouth covered by a mask. His arms had several wires attached, he was starting to look like a robotic spider. "I can't get any closer?" Sasuke begged, his heart felt like it was being ripped from his very chest. This was pain—so close to everything he wanted but still on the other side of a wall. Naruto's eyes were shut and his hair was damped a bit from blood and sweat. More than anything, Sasuke wanted to see into those blue eyes.
"No, it would be too dangerous for him and the infant. But the c-section seems to be a success so you can see the infant shortly." For the first time Sasuke actually noticed the elderly looking woman who was operating over his blondes stomach. She was breathing slightly heavy and her forehead dotted with perspiration. But her eyes were intent and focused, giving the baby all of the attention it needed. "Don't worry, Chiyo-sama is the best in the field. They're in good, capable hands."
What felt like forever went by before the miracle happened. It was the single most important thing that would ever happen in Sasuke's life. Chiyo lifted a small pale body from Naruto's stomach, one that was kicking almost defiantly but not crying. Like she was irritated that she'd been pulled from the comfort of her blonde fathers womb a month early. Sasuke nearly jumped through the glass window.
"You can see her in the next room." Sasori told the raven. The Uchiha stumbled to the room next door, being led to a plush chair and sitting down. It was like another smaller waiting room. 17 minutes went by and Sasuke sat there alone, waiting for his children. His heart was thumping in his chest, and he kept having to swallow. What was she going to look like? Like him or like Naruto? Was she going to hate him? All these questions he couldn't answer. Sasuke started to tapped his foot against the tiled floor, anxious.
Soon enough a dark haired nurse strolled in carrying a bundle of pink blankets, smile on her face. Sasuke wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans as the bundle was extended toward him. Kizuna had to be the most pleasantly warm thing Sasuke had ever held. He pulled her into his arms and pushed the blanket down to peer into her face.
"Kizuna..." She had her eyes open, looking around as if still pouting. Her eyes were dark, her mouth opened into a little 'o' shape. His daughter continued to look around at her surroundings, not wanting to nap apparently. Kizuna had gotten a full head of straight red hair, which Sasuke suspected came from Naruto's side of the gene pool. Still, she was pale which she got from his. "Hi there, Kizuna-chan." Sasuke kissed her little hand and she looked at him directly with all the force an Uchiha infant should have. He laughed, totally absorbed with everything she did. "You're so beautiful baby. I love you." And he really did. With the sound of his voice she seemed to be lulled to sleep, shutting her beautiful little eyes.
"Is she... perfectly fine? She's not hurt?" Sasuke looked up at the nurse for the first time, who was crying from watching Sasuke and Kizuna.
She nodded. "Yes, she received no injuries from the accident. She's a wonderful, healthy baby girl." The nurse wiped her eyes, smearing her make up, still smiling.
"And Naruto? How is he doing?" Sasuke swallowed thickly as the nurses tears of joys turned to ones of dread. "Please, just tell me. I can't take not knowing." With the security of his child, Sasuke was able to look at the nurse without flinching from fear.
"Dr. Chiyo is still working with him, Mr. Uchiha. The outlook is not good." She admitted. "When we brought him into the hospital, he was losing the baby. Mr. Uzumaki begged us to save her, whether or not he died in the process. So, we shifted to making sure the baby made it, but it took a large toll on his body. But we will not give up on him."
Sasuke nodded, tears rising to his eyes and he pulled Kizuna closer. That sounded just like that idiot. "Thank you for being honest—" Sasuke looked at her name tag. "—Ms. Shizune. I appreciate the hard work you all put into getting my little girl here."
"You're very welcome, Mr. Uchiha." Shizune turned and went back to the operating room.
The raven pecked his daughter on the forehead, hearing her small, soft whine for the first time. He easily put his cheek on her head, shushing her cries as they waited for their blonde to recover.
Kizuna means border. She's the border between Sasuke and Naruto, get it? Where they meet.
Well, I'm sure you all want to know if Naruto is going to live or die. I'll be honest, I don't really like definite endings, I rather finish with the unknown and let readers decide. But the epilogue will contain Naruto's fate as it was predetermined.
Technically this is the end of my fic. The last true chapter. My epilogue won't be very long, so please review and we can wrap this up.
I'm also now taking requests. Only by PM.