Dreamt

Chapter 15

AN: The ending has been a bit changed and streamlined, so this chapter is quite different from the original.

They came on foot. In plain dark clothes, no weapons save the gunbai across Madara's back. Two silhouettes under scorching sun slowly pacing the road. It could be seen as humility. For anyone who had any idea though, it was evidence of power. They didn't need any display. They just needed to be.

It wasn't easy to make that happen. There were so many points to negotiate. They had spent days and weeks before she returned to Konoha going through different scenarios. Various versions, guidelines depending on terms already agreed upon; multiple, branching conditions. They had tried to cover all possibilities before she left. She was carrying it all in her head when she came to Konoha. She was also given quite a large room for independent decisions. Nevertheless, she had to contact Madara on several occasions. She had a scroll full of sealed messenger hawks, and she always took pains sending letters in presence of either Tsunade or Kakashi so that they saw that nothing additional was being coded into the message.

But step by step, they achieved a consensus. Obito was the easiest point. He didn't protest against any conditions of recuperation, probation and house arrest that Konoha requested. Sakura had the impression that if they had requested his head, he wouldn't have protested either. The man seemed to be living and breathing only out of habit.

Luckily, Madara himself technically didn't perform any act of aggression against Konoha. Openly, he fought in only one battle during the war and during this battle he stopped the war. And the Hokage was diplomatic enough not to dig into the details of his involvement in the Mugen Tsukuyomi plan. Sakura was utterly grateful for it, as she couldn't imagine Madara obediently coming to receive a punishment.

The tailed beasts were more of an issue. Sakura knew that Madara didn't care too much about them, but they were also both aware that the beasts were their strongest bargaining chip. And the final form of this condition was to define the power balance between the Uchiha clan and Konoha. In the end, they were set free with Madara holding a summoning contract with each of them. This was a point where Naruto argued very strongly on the side of the beasts. Madara was actually happy to oblige, claiming he was correcting Hashirama's mistake of caging them on the first place. So they all went free, after swearing non-violence towards humans. The only exception turned out to be Matatabi, who wished to be sealed in Yugito Nii's baby-daughter (claiming that in absence of the mother, it was her task to take care of the child) and Shukaku who wanted to return into Gaara.

The matter of Black Zetsu was of course a complete novelty to Konoha and it required lots of explanation. Madara's intentions regarding him were very clear. The Hokage needed some time to make up his mind, but this was actually a win-win situation for both sides. So, with all the issues settled, what was left was the public spectacle to put the event into a correct perspective.

Sakura, all dolled up in the most formal black Uchiha kimono, was standing among the crowd in front of the main gate. She was feeling funny, somehow restless, and it took a good deal of concentration not to be fidgeting around. She really shouldn't be doing it during this political display that she herself had orchestrated.

They were coming.

Sakura felt a strange clenching in her chest. And then another one lower, in her belly, sharp as a muscle cramp. The unfamiliarity of the pain that travelled through her rattled in her suddenly empty mind, but she didn't even twitch. She stayed perfectly motionless, the very picture of decorum. She could already see features of Madara's face. Sakura clenched her fist. Another burst of pain came but it didn't surprise her as much as the first one did.

Letting out a long exhale, Sakura separated herself from the crowd and started towards the coming Uchihas. It took quite some effort to make her steps steady and even, as the pain in her abdomen was coming now in sharp bursts. She felt blood flowing away from her face and she did her best to keep her expression calm. Madara was looking forward. In the very last moment, when she was almost about to turn and take place by his side, he moved his gaze for a split of second. "Are you alright?" There was no sound, only movement of lips. If she wasn't just a meter away she wouldn't have noticed. She wanted to embrace him, hold on to him, hide inside his embrace, but it was no time and place for any of her wants. She nodded, closing her eyes, forcing herself to ignore yet another pang of pain. When she turned, she saw the whole power of Konoha waiting for them.

A couple of steps later and they were there. Kakashi, in full Hokage garb stepped forward, extended his hand to Madara. Even though he was surely prepared for it, Madara halted for a moment. 'He's remembering. He's done this, exactly this, already once before.' She wanted to give him some support, a bit of encouragement but with everyone staring at them, she couldn't. Finally, Madara grabbed Kakashi's hand. For Sakura's eyes it was a bit too fast, too strong. Maybe only for her eyes.

"Welcome back, friend. You have been missed." They stood there, holding hands. Kakashi so much younger, so much weaker, yet had the nerve to call Madara a long-gone friend. There was courage in these words. Courage of showing vulnerability, of accepting, of taking the first step. Sakura wondered if that was how the Shodai Hokage was - so unafraid to expose himself. Something Madara could never do, he always needed a friend to do it for him.

Kakashi turned to the people gathered before the gate.

"Village of the Land of Fire without the fire-wielding clan, Konohagakure no Sato without the one who gave it its name - we've been incomplete for far too long." Kakashi's words were resonating in Sakura in accord with the jabs of pain in her abdomen. "Out of this shortcoming, great tragedies arose. We have erred gravely against the Uchiha clan, as well as Uchiha clan against us. Today is a new beginning. Today Konoha takes the form it was always intended to have!"

There were cheers from the crowd. Sakura wondered how much of it was staged, how many of those applauding were actually shinobi following orders. The cheering gained momentum though when Naruto came up and embraced Madara. He startled, almost jerked away, stiffened as if preparing to attack. Ha, she should have warned Madara about her teammate's extroverted personality. Luckily, reluctantly but still, Madara in the end reciprocated the embrace.

The walk to the grounds allocated for the new Uchiha district was harrowing, but she made it. Being in motion was surprisingly helpful against the pain. The walk under the scrutinizing gazes of the villagers, that prevented them from any personal exchanges, she used to discreetly assess her condition. When she was waiting for Madara's arrival from the gates she was certain that those aches were inconsequential. Now she was becoming less convinced. The pains were coming remarkably regularly… But she wasn't planning on making a scene here. She could still endure and deal with it when all was done. This was the crowning of her efforts, the most joyful moment she could imagine – and Sakura wanted to rejoice.

"Mokuton!"

And now she was rewarded for her endurance - the sheer scale of what she was witnessing was amazing. Building after building kept popping out from the ground, spreading wide, forming… a compound from their dream. The original Uchiha compound.

The buildings looked reliable and stable; all the architectural elements seemed to be in place. Well, that was a huge improvement on Madara's side. Sakura remembered how at some point in the dream she demanded a kitchen table and chairs. And as long as the table took form rather quickly (and could even withstand their combined weights on a couple of interesting occasions), then the chairs required two weeks of trials and errors. Errors comprising of one of them landing on the floor among broken pieces. Apparently, there was a big difference between using a jutsu as a weapon and using it to create something lasting and functional. The power alone was not enough to create – one needed first to understand the blueprint of creation. And to build a house, Madara must have been practicing a lot while she was away.

They entered. Sakura and Madara knew the place already. For them it was peculiar, but on a very different level. For Obito and Sasuke though, it was completely new, probably even alien – they were born in the Uchiha district of Konoha, not much different from the rest of the village save for surrounding wall. Sakura wondered if they would like it – it being so unmodern and traditional. When she had asked Sasuke whether he wanted his home being rebuilt he denied so vehemently that he almost didn't sound like himself. Clearly there were too many horrible memories that he didn't want to awaken instead.

A sakura tree grew on the first courtyard - tall, with sweeping branches, heavy with still green fruit. Sakura came up to the tree, trailed with her fingers along the branch that was thicker than her wrist. 'A fruit on a tree that never bloomed… What a miracle to see it fully grown and not to wait decades for it to develop from a sapling.' Sakura looked through the leaves on Madara. 'What a miracle, I still can't believe it. I was here for so many months without him that I felt back the old Sakura, from before the war. This morning I was a regular me, now I am a wife of the mightiest man in the world and before this day ends I will hold his children in my arms - how is that not a miracle?'

And how is that not a greatest miracle of them all, that this man came to love me… Sakura gripped the branch of the cherry tree harder to prevent swaying. Under her skin the rough bark was warm and reassuring during the next contraction. 'But it did bloom. I saw it bloom when I dreamt.'

The sound of running broke Sakura out of her thoughts. Naruto, accompanied by two shadow clones, barged into the courtyard. His clones were carrying bunch of undescriptive bundles with various pieces hanging and flopping around. Some smaller things fell out already; they looked like dirty socks.

"Hey, Sasuke, I packed your stuff since you're moving out!" Sasuke threw him a look that said all about what he thought about Naruto's packing skills. Naruto grinned in response, completely unperturbed.

"Find houses that would suit you. The place is big enough." Madara headed forward with purposeful pace. Surely, he knew where was a house that would suit him already; he had built it himself. Sakura hurried after him, turning her head to see what the others would be doing. They went as they were standing – Obito on the left, Sasuke and Naruto on the right. Sakura made a mental note to find them afterwards, invite them to eat together or something. They were the clan, but a clan so small that they must all be family to each other. She couldn't leave them alone on opposite ends of this huge empty place.

Yard after yard, all similar, all familiar. With every step the uneasiness was falling off from Sakura, with every yard she was more home. Every step was a step away from watchful eyes, from the outside world where they had to hold a façade. Every step was slower, every breath was easier. Yard after yard, so deep that no one will find them, now one will hear them.

Sakura felt a sudden urged to touch him. She grabbed his hand and interlaced her fingers with his.

"I've missed you."

Madara smiled in response. That was the equivalent to "I've missed you too" as far as Sakura was concerned.

Another wave of pain swept over her, strong enough that Sakura had to grasp Madara's arm to steady herself. And then sudden warmth spread along her thighs, a liquid running down her legs. Out of all the thoughts that could spring into her mind, the most absurd one appeared: "Here goes my most formal kimono." And with those words she became a dead weight.

"What's wrong?!"

"Ha.." Sakura fought to catch her breath. "Aah, I'm so sorry, I guess that's how much time alone we will get…" Her legs were giving away slowly but steadily. Now she was hanging on Madara's arm with more than half of her weight. Madara shifted and supported her by both elbows, lowered her to the floor. If she wasn't supposed to be focusing on something else, she would find his concerned face really amusing. "It's alright, it seems that it's unavoidable now. The birth."

"Isn't it too early?!"

"It is… But they seem to be in a hurry…"

Confusion never lasted long with Madara. "What should I do?"

"I need to go to the hospital. But I don't think I can do any walking. Anymore."

"Anymore?"

Sakura managed a small laughter.

"Ano… I already did some walking around today…"

Something akin to pride flashed on Madara's face – he must have understood what she was doing all day long. "Should I carry you?"

"I think not…'" Sakura was breathing heavily. "I don't want to be bent in any way right now… I wish I could just teleport…"

"Then let's have it." Madara crossed his fingers in a Kage Bunshin seal. Five clones sped out of the yard, while the real Madara gently pulled her up to her feet. "Only to the gate. Will you manage that?"

Sakura nodded. When they reached the compound entrance, which took a while because Madara had basically half carried her all the way, Obito was already there. Sakura had to smile – only now did she realize the purpose of reaching the gate – neither of the Uchihas had an idea where the hospital was so she herself had to point out the direction.

Their arrival introduced a good deal of stampede, but somehow, she was able to get into the ward. Mostly because she knew exactly where to go, as all the personnel were too terrified of Madara to be of real help.

In the delivery room nurses were bustling around her, checking her pulse, untying her obi. Rush was spreading on the hallway already as two younger medics were sent in search of Tsunade. "Check the garden! By the pond!" Sakura managed to shout after them. Hopefully they heard because otherwise they would waste a lot of time looking for her shishou in places that one would associate with working, while at this time of a day, Sakura knew Tsunade could only be working on a bottle of sake.

"Now would be the right time to leave." An elderly nurse stood in front of Madara, blocking his way to Sakura. Madara was looking down at her with a mixture of astonishment and speedily increasing annoyance. He was not used to such treatment. "Please leave," the nurse reiterated. "This is no place for a man." Sakura could only observe the annoyance changing into anger.

"I want him to stay!" she shouted out from her corner of the room.

"Sakura-san, we'll call him back right after it's done."

"No, he's staying, all the way through!"

The nurse turned to her. "Sakura-san, this is your first birth. Please believe me, when it's over you will be grateful that he wasn't here."

"But…"

"Don't worry, Yamanaka Ino is on duty in the paediatric wing and we already called for her. She will be here any moment."

Normally Sakura would have given another go at a firm but still polite discussion. But now she was too much on the edge. She had been bottling up everything, contractions included, all day long. And she didn't feel like holding back anymore. "He stays," she spat out. "And if he goes out, I go with him. And I will give this damn birth in front of the hospital."

The nurse stepped away, shaking her head in disapproval, right in time to make space for a bigger player as the Godaime Hokage herself stormed into the room. She passed by Madara, not sparing him even half of a look and marched up to Sakura.

"What's going on here? Sakura, are you sure it's already? How frequent are the contractions?"

"Uhm, shishou, I am sure…" Sakura gestured at the clingy wet under-robe that the nurses were currently peeling off of her.

Tsunade pushed her finely manicured fingernail between her teeth. "A bit too early," she said finally. "Alright, lie down and let's see it."

Sakura didn't like it. She hated being treated as a patient, hated being undressed and helped around. She was even helped to get on the table, as if she was unable to do it on her own.

"I'll just take a look what's going on. Then you can do whatever you want…" Tsunade bent to examine her. And immediately straightened up, slamming her palm against the examination table. Sakura had enough clarity to internally smirk at the completely inappropriate conduct against the patient. "How long have you already been in labour?! What were you thinking, not coming here earlier? Seriously, Sakura, you are a doctor yourself!"

"Shishou, but I'm here now and yelling won't change much, will it?"

"Tsk, impertinent girl…" But Sakura knew better than to be injured by her master's words. That what was glimmering in Tsunade's eyes was a real, authentic concern. "Alright child, it seems you're up to your task now."

Sakura climbed off the table, slowly walked up to the middle of the room and knelt down with effort. Her body was now giving her hints loud and clear enough. She wanted to plant her palms on the floor for support, but right then Madara moved from near wall where he was standing.

"Lean on me."

Sakura wound her arms around him. Not exactly the context she imagined reuniting with him in after their separation, but still she couldn't be more grateful for his embrace.

And it was also unsettling – to be putting their intimacy on such a display. Not how she wanted it to play out, and definitely not how he would want the others to perceive their relationship. Sakura could bet that he would never even touch her in public, and here he had to embrace her, in front of the room full of people.

Contractions were coming one after another now; she was barely finding time and strength to breathe properly in between of them. The effort was comparable to the one during the fight with Sasori's Hundred Puppets. And as back then, once she dealt with one adversary, another one was coming.

Sakura hung on to Madara with all her weight. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. And with all her strength, pushed one more time. Somehow, with every contraction she was thinking she had just given her all and there was nothing more to give. And then another one was coming, and another and each time she was discovering that there was still something in her left.

But with this one, something went different, looser, and she felt body of the newborn slipping out of her. She opened her eyes, straightened up in Madara's arms. When she wiggled out of his grip she noticed he was looking completely petrified, staring down behind her shoulder. Sakura turned and looked as well. Almost on the floor, Tsunade was holding a tiny, bloodied scrap of life. Red, wiggling and crying, her son was living his first moments. Tsunade placed him in Sakura's arms.

The girl in her womb was not willing to wait though. Sakura's eyes watered up.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I cannot stay with you now, my little one… O-kaa-san needs to help your sister out." She stroked boy's cheeks with tip of her finger. "You understand, don't you? You're a big brother in the end, my tiny, little one."

She stretched her arms with the baby towards Madara. He edged away, shaking his head. "It's ok, you can hold him."

Madara was looking as if he did not understand what she was saying. He was afraid to hold it. Him. His son. His son? His? Did he really make it happen? Made him happen? 'He is so small, how should I hold him, I'll drop him! What if I drop him?' Something akin to panic was rising in Madara's mind. 'I don't know how. What if something happens to him?'

Shizune leaned towards him, gently bent his left arm, and then right one, guided the baby into his embrace. Madara closed his hand around his small body. 'Gods, how is it possible?'

Sakura was watching. If she wasn't full of every other emotion already right now, she would be giddy seeing Madara freaked out by his own baby. She didn't manage to hold back the laughter – it came out mixed with tears. 'See, it wasn't that difficult. Not difficult at all. Just stopping the war, negotiating peace, a couple of months of carrying and a couple of hours of labour. And that's it! Now he has what he was missing for decades. What he died not having – someone to live for.'

She couldn't stop watching – it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. 'I don't even want to blink…' Madara was cradling the newborn. His limbs, his focus, all entwined, curving, centering around the child. No better place to leave the little one than in his own father's arms. And now she had to go on…

Another slice of pain went through her; Sakura dug her both hands into the floor as if in a mockery of a summoning gesture.'I wish I could just summon her here. Knows neither patience nor mercy, my little girl…'

Madara lifted his gaze to her. He wanted to hold her, to be her support during the second birth, as he was during the first one, but his arms were occupied with the newborn. Probably the first time in his life he was faced with a need to choose between two important people and he just couldn't.

Even through the pain, Sakura had to smile. 'Poor one, he looks so confused. Like a shepherd dog trying to gather sheep that are running away all the different directions…'

"Madara, it's fine, just take care of him." She put her hand on one of his, holding the baby. "I'll manage just fine."

Madara shook his head. Could it be that love doesn't get divided, but multiplies? That there is suddenly more of it?

He shifted the boy more to his left, held him close to his chest. With his right arm, he grabbed Sakura so she was leaning against his side.

"It can still last hours… Will you manage like that?"

"I think I'm not the one who should be worrying that it will last…"

Sakura laughed. He was right.

AN: Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think. I am especially curious if those who read the story before, would find the streamlining (i.e. combining the return scene with the birth) a change for the better?

This change has rendered the past chapter 16 (the "Breakfast on the floor" chapter) no more fitting into the plot - unfortunately, as I liked it a lot. I posted it as a separate omake-oneshot story.