Summary: We all often make mistakes. Nevertheless, it's best we take it in stride and use the acquired knowledge as experience for the future. Unfortunately, it's impossible to move on when you end up making the same mistake. Twice. SasuNaru.
CH08: Forlorn
Sasuke couldn't believe this—from the emergency numbers he punched into the kitchen's landlinephone, to the sight of Naruto's unconscious body being strapped to a stretcher, to the small search party he sent out looking for his older brother, Itachi. It all had to be some sick joke. This couldn't be his life he was watching from this shabby, run-down theatre—it had to be someone else's.
The ride in the ambulance killed his optimism as he produced a vice grip on Naruto's hand, barking questions at the cohesive team of paramedics. 'Is he going to be alright? Why did he faint? Is he breathing?' In the crowd of equipment and emergency medicines on the organized shelves, they maneuvered around the metal frame of the stretcher calling numbers and strange EMT language at each other—giving indefinite answers to Sasuke.
He was fine. He was talking to him—happy andglowinglike he always was. Then he was in his arms, eyes closed, body limp.
Sasuke panicked, calling out Naruto's name but his hoarse voice was only met with silence. Leaning down, he inwardly rejoiced when he realized that Naruto was still breathing. Immediately, Sasuke was on the phone with a dispatcher, begging for help. It led him here—his sweaty palms clutching Naruto's lifeless hand as a team of medical providers scrambled around him like the eggs he had cooked prior. He was permanently reminded that life changes without warning. It was one unconformable blip to the next, shadowing the small steps between, leaving you more confused and emptier than before. That was life, always rolling with the punches, regardless if you were ready to take them or not.
He didn't even waste time pulling a chair to Naruto's bedside as he watched them calculate Naruto's blood pressure and heart rate through the blazing monitor mounted to the wall. His grey eyes darted from Naruto's sleeping form to a hand scratching numbers on Naruto's chart.
"No signs obvious of signs of labor. BP 130 over 90."
"That's high," A neighboringnursesaid as she frantically fumbled with IV cords, her eyes searching for the prominent vein in Naruto's wrist. Effectively locating it, she smoothly inserted a flexible catheter's needle into Naruto's left wrist. An array of thoughts rebounded in his head as the doctors and their assistant nurses cut through Naruto's spring pajamas on the hospital bed, discarding them into the waste bin and replacing them with a teal patterned hospital gown.
He offered the caretakers Naruto's name and his own. They quickly verified their relation in case he wasn't legally allowed to be present during any procedure. Discovering he was the father of the child, they permitted him to remain alongside Naruto for moral support should he awake.
The female intern immediately paged security, ordering them to block off this portion of the floor specifically for Naruto's care. Presumably they recognized the surname Uchiha or Namikaze. It was hospital policy to keep patients' privacy, just that, private. Luring any media attention would be counterproductive. Their objective was to eliminate the possibility of current patients or guests snapping photos of the mayor's pregnant son. Damage control was the solution to the controversial popularity of the sitting mayor, Minato Namikaze.
Hallway barricades were placed in front of the hospital door, shutting down pieces of the maternity ward and using the small facilities to the ailing boy. They weren't aware if any lurking reporter discovered Naruto was checked into this particular hospital, but they didn't care. They were obligated to protect their patients from any wandering reporters looking for a story or new damning evidence to publish.
While the doctors were in the process of checking his vitals and examining his heart rate, Sasuke could hear the buzz of the hectic commotion in the hallways and the loud overhead speakers. OR doctors sprinted through the halls of the maternity ward, stethoscopes bouncing against their collarbones, dodging incoming carts of surgical tools. The earshot sound of rubber screeching on the tile and the frustrated clap of doors slamming against their hinges stirred his blood. His eyes deadset on Naruto's round waist and parted lips—on those covered blue eyes, the hairs on his body stood on end at the blood curdling screams that ricocheted off the eerily white walls combined with the faint undertone of someone crying. Death. People died here. Everyday.
The chaos generated fear through Sasuke like an electrical charge to a cord. Just outside this door, people were helplessly losing their grip on the miracle of life simply because it was there turn to go. Just outside this door, patients were diagnosed with terminal conditions and given a time stamp on the amount time they had left to walk this earth. Just outside the door, surgeons were shaking their heads as they delivered their practiced monologues. Just outside the door—people died.
"What do you mean you couldn't save him?" A scratchy wail sliced through the routine hospital disorder.
He flinched, jumping inside his own skin. Today could be the day he could be crying because he was the one who lost a loved one—hollering because it was his fault.
Lost in some alternate paradise, Sasuke felt like he was forcefully shoved into the perils of reality's cage, unable to break free from the chains of delusion. Another paradise where he lived with Naruto, where having this child would be as easy as breathing—a dynasty of love and trust.
Easy? When it came to them, nothing ever was justeasy.
It was exactly what he called it—a paradise. 'Are paradises even real?' he asked himself. Aren't they usually just figments of your extensive imagination? Of your deepest desires and your greatest wishes? Everything you ever wanted but could never have?
A grainy, faded memory—of beauty that would infuriate the gods—Naruto's rosy cheeks, treasured smile, transparent blue irises clearer than the photic layer of the clearest tropic waters, the blondest shag of spiked hair—obscured his vision, forcing him to wonder if by the end of the day that's all he would have. His memories. His memories of a broken paradise.
That he would be the one screaming and asking why this was happening. Why all of this was happening to him.
A small motion inside his shaking palm startled him from the onset of depression.
Naruto groaned and shifted onto his side, his cloudy blue eyes fluttering open to a haze of confusion. "What's going on?" Naruto's mangled question reached the doctor as he examined his torso with the ultrasound, moving around the transducer over the gelled area.
"Naruto, you fainted in your home and your boyfriend told me you were experiencing pain and pressure in your abdomen at the time of your collapse. Is this true?"
Naruto nodded, still looking so confused and mentally dislocated, slightly lifting his head from the elevated pillow. Sasuke studied him, moving closer as the doctor looked at the colored Doppler monitor adjacent to the bed. There was clearly activity as the hues of emerald, violet, blues, sunshine yellows danced across the screen. His blue eyes flicked to the screen as he looked back at his boyfriend.
"We're still trying to find the source of your pain and the reason why you passed out," His voice raced, as the nurses moved alongside him, preparing for the worst.
Naruto nodded, breathing shallowly, feeling Sasuke charge all the positivity into crushing his fragile hands. "Sasuke, it hurts." He rubbed his palm and pulse oximeter mounted index finger over his waist that mimicked the shape and size of the moon. As he said whispered out the last word, his heart rate slightly spiked, despite being stable for the amount time he was unconscious.
Sasuke glanced at his Naruto's hand. Why was Naruto in such intense pain? They said there 'were no obvious signs of labor', which meant there were no contractions around the baby, so why was he complaining of pain?
"I-I'm scared…" Naruto painfully sobbed apparently beyond the realm of tears, his agony filtering through his throat as he referred to the contractions of pain in his stomach.
Sasuke could feel the oscillation of misery ping pong between them as a pang of terror fired into his system from the horrified blue eyes. Accounting for the oxygen around him, the blond took advantage of it, his lungs soaking it in generously as he mentally begged some unknown entity for mercy. Mercy for himself, Serenity, and Sasuke.
Another clap of pain welled in his lower uterine wall—like a tearing—as he wished for a sign of salvation that he could cling to—hope.
"Naruto, it's going to be okay. I'm here." Sasuke kissed the back of the panicking blond's weak hand and then pressed the soft and clammy hand into his cheek. Naruto unnoticeably calmed at knowing that Sasuke was near and that he wasn't leaving him even though it was a difficult time. He was the type of support Naruto needed. Promising to never leave him—making good on his promise. For better or for worse, like there was already a ring on his finger.
Naruto felt like smiling but the pain was piecing through his ability to do anything positive, including visually thanking Sasuke for never leaving his side and getting him and their daughter help.
So strong; his rock, everything he would ever need. Even if he was homeless, hungry, and helpless, as long as Sasuke by his side, his life would still be complete.
"We're going to conduct a quick examination and then attempt to deliver the baby," The doctor lowly whispered to the nurse, trying to maintain a calm tone in the room for the sake of the pregnant boy.
Sasuke lacked knowledge of a woman's anatomy, leaving him even more clueless than the doctors. He wished to question Naruto further about how the pain felt and how intense it was on a scale from one to ten. He knew best; it was his body after all. If he could describe what he felt, there was a better chance the medical team could find out why he fainted, stop the pain, and achieve the ultimate goal of delivering their healthy baby girl. But before he could even shoot the question, Naruto's heaving steadily increased as slimy perspiration smeared across his forehead, more over his entire body. His body's alterations caused the informative observation to be more difficult. With one last struggling breath, Naruto's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell against the sheets, his heart rate skyrocketing through the roof.
A sequence of shrieking beeps burst through the room as they all quickly regarded the heart rate monitor, their feet gearing into motion.
"He's going into shock!" The nurse announced, pulling on a pair of latex gloves looking at the monitor of Naruto's dropping
The doctor pushed around Sasuke, severing their hold. He yanked out a pen flash light from his white doctor coat, examining Naruto's pupils. "Prep him for an emergency cesarean section—stat!" He shouted, as the nurses and the extra doctor raced around the room, pulling out various tools and cleaning off Naruto's stomach of the warm fluid.
Sasuke stood in shock, a different type of shock—an emotional state of shock. "What's wrong with him? Why is he going into shock?" Sasuke demanded, arrows of confusion pinning his eyes to Naruto's distressed but unconscious face, the grip on Naruto's hand increasing as his blood pressure deplete by the second.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to leave the room!"
…
Sitting in an empty waiting area, a viewing broadcasting breaking news on the flatscreen hanging on the kid-friendly wall, Sasuke was listlessly hunched, with his elbows planted into his knees. The flung magazines and the division of newspaper sections on the green diamond patterned cushion chairs shaped a skittish wavelength in the room.
Were the previous waiting room occupants scared shitless just like he was right now?
After Naruto was rushed to the operating room for the emergency procedure, Sasuke felt like the pressure from the situation was going to cause his head explode. Watching Naruto's unresponsive body being wheeled out of the room on a gurney suctioned a whole new hoard of helplessness from him.
Naruto said he was scared… and he couldn't help him.
It was completely out of his hands. He had to surrender his faith to trained doctors that weren't as emotionally invested as him. Even though they were certificated there was still room from error, that could cost him the love of his life and his first child.
Shuttering, he rubbed his hand over his unemotional face.
Feeling like he was entombed in some flaky, murky mirage, Sasuke pondered what his parents would say if they knew Naruto was on a hospital bed,dying. Would they blame him? Maybe. Would they hate him for causing this? Like they didn't already. Would they argue that they couldn't handle a pregnancy and definitely not parenthood? Absolutely.
They would curse his name and use Naruto's condition as justification to put a noose around their idea of a family—a new family, but he didn't care. More than anything he just wanted Naruto and his baby to pull through with their lives. Because if Naruto didn't make it…
Sasuke exhaled like a rabid beast, tossing his back against the chair, bleeding regret.
If Naruto never had never gotten pregnant—this would have never happened. Any of this.
It was an accident—it wasn't like he lied about a using a condom when they had sex. The condom just broke during their rigorous sack session. They weren't going bareback and hoping for the best. He may or may not have changed condoms before they went back at it—he didn't remember. And now, it was inconsequential. It was all already done. There was no use harping on something unchangeable.
Maybe if he had never coerced Naruto into the wilds of sex – he would be safe from the harm of a hospital, safe from the spears of hurtful words his own parents hurled his way, safe from pretending to be big and grown when in fact knew he was a child. But it was all subjective. Naruto could have said no and he could have not pressed the issue. They could have practiced a normal, romantically sexless life modeled after some of their abstinent peers.
Except, it didn't happen that way. The fire that hit their bed sheets was like fever, a maelstrom of flames they couldn't resist.
It started with touching, slight grinding—heavy petting, escalated to mutual masturbation, then progressed into oral sex and then finally the grand deed—after Naruto told him he was ready, practically begging for them to do it. Since that day in middle school, there was no looking back. It sort of became a part of them. A different way to say 'I love you.'
'Instead of saying it, I'll show it.'
A different way to show they were willing to give up everything in exchange for nothing—putting down the cards and folding.
He was aware of Naruto's strange but ineffable ability to bare children before they had intercourse. The blond had decided to tell him the day after he drowned in a sea of pleasure and almost allowed him to push inside him… without protection. After he systematically categorized his brain, feeling the lubed head press into his ass, he fearfully pushed him off, pulling on every shred of clothing that he had discarded to the floor, stammering some recitation that he couldn't comprehend. Naked and confused, he watched Naruto speed from the room like the serial killer from Texas Chainsaw massacre was dashing behind him—killing utensil intact. Running his fingers through his dark hair, he fell against the bed wondering what the hell he did wrong. The next day afterschool, he was red, blushy and embarrassed as he muttered, 'I have something to tell you... P-promise me that you won't break up with me?' Watching Naruto's cute features mold into a worrisome perch of insecurity, he thought that there was a lurking doom of a secret between them. As priceless and as rare as the passing of Hayley's comet through the night sky, Naruto was worth any of his shortcomings. Coming to a concrete conclusion, he quickly agreed not to shed him because of any secret he shared. Breaking expectations, Naruto said something much more innocent, much more exhilarating, 'I-I can get p-pregnant. I know it sounds weird for a boy to say but it's the truth. That's why I freaked out yesterday. M'sorry.' He adorably bit his lip and crunched his perfect blond eyebrows, worried that Sasuke was repulsed by the uncovered secret.
Sasuke remembered grinning and coughing out a chuckle in the school parking lot. He wasn't disgusted or worried like Naruto initially thought he would be. On the contrary, the news had a paradoxical effect.
'Fucking awesome,' He said with a smile.
Ultimately, it was a non-issue for Sasuke. They would use protection until the day they both decided they wanted a child of their own—a family of their own.
It was just like dating a girl—something he had never done and would never do. But Naruto wasn't a girl; but he imagined that sexually active girls that weren't medicated with prescribed birth control feared getting pregnant too. Knowing that, he felt like Naruto's fear was legitimate. They were much too young for a child, considering they had plenty of time to reach that stage.
Plenty of time…
Time—wasn't something that was on his side.
His head was booming with things that he should have said to Naruto.
He might never see him alive again… And there were things he never said.
I love you and that'll never change regardless of time or hardships.
I will never leave you, nor forsake you.
Do you know you're the only one that I've ever wanted? Ever will want? Even if you don't want me anymore?
Will you make the happiest man on Earth and allow me the honor of marrying you?
You're the only one that would ever put up with me.
If I didn't have you, I don't where I would be.
His dim grey eyes lowered as he pulled his phone out the pocket of his dark grey sweat pants.
The thought hadn't occurred to him but he hadn't called their parents yet… and he wasn't going to.
There was only person he wanted to talk to and that person was out of his reach.
Since that faithful day in seventh grade, when entered his older brother's room only to find a spotless, expanse of space free of furniture or personal belongings and his brother, he had heard nothing from his brother. Not one text. Not one phone call. God forbid a personal visit.
Miraculously, that day, Naruto was there beside him to see the horrific situation—thank God—to comfort him and dispel all the negative thoughts climbing into his head.
Naruto deduced by the scrupulous cleanliness that Itachi wasn't forced to leave but simply relocated on his own. Feeling betrayed, he looked back into the room, realizing that Naruto was right.
Beginning an exhaustive search, he questioned every person he could possibly think of about his brother. All of Itachi's college friends, acquaintances, his own family members—aunts, uncles, their grandparents, even friends of the family. They had not spoken to him recently, nor did they have any information on Itachi's current whereabouts.
He called the only cellphone number for Itachi he had about a million times and only received an out of service automated message.
He reached dead end after dead end with no resolve. Then the day came where he extensively questioned his father. Initially, he denied knowing where Itachi went but then when he changed the round of questions, his answers changed as well.
Itachi's trail went cold after a few weeks.
'Did you have anything to do with Itachi leaving?' He grunted instead of flat out denying it.
He didn't give further reasoning on why he did what he did to his own son; all he did was critique him for questioning his methods.
Words that were glossed over and fine-tuned guided Sasuke to the conclusion that his own father, Fugaku, removed Itachi from his life—for an obscure reason. He even had the gull to call Itachi a bad influence on his future aspirations.
Sasuke mentally tripped out; Itachi was the perfect inspiration for a perfect future. Perfect grades, adequate social life, a stellar track record.
Without from his idol, his role model, he had lost a motive in life—a defined direction. Especially when he didn't know why? Why would he leave him—to deal with their hateful parents on his own—without saying anything? Did he not trust him enough to tell him why he needed to take off? Or was this some sick, twisted way of protecting him?
He had no idea.
All that was clear was that Itachi took a piece of him when he disappeared, resulting in a gaping void that felt impossible to fill. But Naruto… was there with everything he willingly offered. Pure love, security, and a shelter from the shrapnel showering his wounded soul. If he didn't have Naruto, he wouldn't survive the battering life clamored him with. He would have fallen to the wayside and become irrelevantly useless long ago without Naruto's love to ward away all weights of sorrow.
Even though he insisted Naruto give him some time and space, the stubborn blond did the exact opposite. He tenaciously smothered him with love, daily blandishing him even though he said he didn't want it—even though he knew he needed it. When Naruto found him mentally drifting, falling into the ditch of self-blame he gave tender hugs and kisses—causing his every filament to shimmer like a rising firework.
Naruto had healed him, grown to be a part of him. Like a native piece of Kudzu with mutualistic tendencies, wrapped comfortably on the base of a strong oak tree.
They were one…
And what would he do if Naruto wasn't around anymore?... His smile? His laugh?
What if Serenity didn't make it either?
How was he supposed to go on without Naruto?
There was no reason for him to continue on without his reason for living—existence.
He would be alone. For the rest of his life.
'You only fall in love for the first time once, Sasuke.'
There would never be anyone else for him. Naruto was made for him and him alone. He just knew it. Their love surpassed deep troughs, permeated through any barrier. Naruto was more than just a lover, than a friend, he was him.
How could you lose a piece of yourself and still remain whole?
'You don't,' Sasuke sadly whispered in his head.
A segued numbness passed over the grieved teen as he mentally stumbled at the call of his surname.
"Mr. Uchiha," A small nurse emerged from the confines of the door, temperately approaching Sasuke's bubble of sorrow. Remaining at a safe distance, she told him that she was operating on his boyfriend.
"How is he?" Sasuke eagerly asked, leaping from the chair to face the nurse. His grey eyes roved over her reduced attire. She was lacking the blue head covering and the pair of latex gloves usually worn in surgery.
Sweat trickled on the back of Sasuke's neck as he shivered. Was Naruto out of surgery? Was he okay?
What was happening?
"We're still working on him," she answered in an even, level tone that slightly liquefied his alarm. A sweet subtle tone that could probably make deadly news sound like dripping honey.
A dangerous aspect for Sasuke.
"What's wrong with him? Why did he go into shock?" Sasuke almost got tongue tied as he gazed deeply into her uncomfortable chocolate brown eyes.
"Naruto is placentally bleeding—due to the placenta's separation from his uterus. We have to stop the bleeding and deliver your daughter or they'll both die. Naruto's lost a large amount of blood—he'll probably need a blood transfusion," She sighed and continued. "The profuse blood loss is most likely because of his age. Deliveries for teenagers—typically people under the age of 20—are particularly risky."
Sasuke violently shook underneath his clothes like an autumn leaf…
Naruto was internally bleeding?
He figured his body couldn't handle a baby at this age. His body was still developing, making it especially difficult to support the growth of a child and the growth of his body… Fuck.
Sasuke inhaled and held his breath, feeling the spiraling hot air burn the tissue of his lungs. Anxiety trickled into his blood as he boiled the information into his head.
Was-was he going to die?
"How is he doing now?" He shakily asked, feeling the acid of dread corrupt his throat.
"…When the anesthesiologist administered him the anesthesia, he wasn't completely unconscious when they sliced him with the scalpel. We allocated more of the drug and he seems to be stable but honestly, things don't seem salvageable," the gas extinguished at the last of the statement as she diverted from his fretful, terror rimmed eyes, swiping her honey brown bangs to the side. Lifting her chin to the six foot tall man, she repressed the abnormal amount of guilt building around them. Usually, she felt bad when people were concerned about their loved ones but in this instance she felt like they had something to lose regardless of what happened—and it felt awful.
She wished there was more they could do; but as much knowledge and tact they had, they still weren't God.
Hopeless. Sasuke could only imagined what Naruto felt when they cut into him—while he was still awake. He must have been scared; he told Sasuke he was scared.
Biting his lip, he heard the nurse say, "Did Naruto ever complain about shortness of breath or pain in his lower abdomen during his pregnancy? Or anything of that nature?"
Sasuke shook his head slowly, feeling his knees turn into melted jelly.
"That's odd"—there was furrow in her brow—"because these occurrences are usually caused a tremendous amount of stress on the mother. Considering Naruto is a very young mother compared to the usual age a suggested mother should be, the stress almost eliminates any chance of a healthy delivery."
Stress… Naruto was probably secretly burdened about the adoption mandate Fugaku and Minato proposed and planned to enforce. Even though he feigned being carefree, he most likely spent the days meticulously articulating in his head what he would say after Serenity was born to convince them to change their mind.
He was probably feared that after she left his stomach, it would be the last time he would have her close.
Even though he had all these things on his mind, he never said anything to him.
'Knowing Naruto, he didn't want me to think that he was whining…'
If he didn't fucking survive, then it was on their fucking head, Sasuke thought bitterly biting into his tongue.
"Mr. Uchiha, placental abruption is the leading cause of infant and maternal mortality. It could be fatal… We've contacted both your parents' cells but we didn't receive a reply. You're legally the father of the baby so maybe you could give us a guide." She intertwined her fingers as she spoke, determination steaming from her jade eyes. "If they're both unable to be saved, who should we choose?"
With the completion of the sentence, Sasuke wished he could lay in a tomb—buried deep inside the fallow ground.
When did things come to this—deciding between the daughter he never met and the lover he had been with for almost 4 years?
Disturbed, Sasuke covered his face into his hand as his chest cavity caved from his heavy heart.
"Sir?"
Stumbling from the shock, he said, "N-Naruto, please save Naruto,"
She nodded when he interjected, "But please—don't let it come to that…I need them both, just please." He choked on his words between his pleas, his face rescinding the necessity he felt.
And even that might not even be enough, her eyes finished as they silently apologized.
She compassionately nodded, turning on her heel, her back disappearing behind the knobless doors.
Sasuke appeared to burst into a fit of tears as she strode away leaving him with nothing but his loneliness.
…
Operating a shutdown sequence, Sasuke reseated himself back in the chair, not allowing the dormant emotions to seep in through his skin.
He wished he could call Itachi and hear his voice, one last time. He wanted to tell him everything that was happening with Naruto and his daughter. He wanted to Itachi to give him that wise, breath-taking advice.
Sighing, Sasuke remembered how close he was to locating Itachi earlier this month. He had gotten his hands on the phone number of a redheaded man named Sasori that looked mysteriously familiarly, almost like Gaara. Not wasting a second, he called, beginning a vague conversation that abruptly ended with him refusing to reveal Itachi's whereabouts despite the price Sasuke offered for the information.
So close—but yet so fucking far away.
He lost Itachi—forever—and now he was going to lose his family too—forever.
Forever was a long time to live without someone.
This morning could have been the last of it—woke up with him in his arms, saw his smile, heard his laugh.
'Naruto, if it has to be this way—I'm right behind you. You won't be alone.' Sasuke promised, figuratively crossing his heart as he shut his eyes.
If Naruto died, he would still have to surrender his little girl—his sliver of Naruto.
He knew he would.
"How could this have happened?" A familiar feminine voice cried outside the visitor's longue.
Lifting his head, Sasuke was greeting by the two scowling faces, one wearing tears the other wearing a mask of hate.
Minato and Kushina.
"I swear if Naruto doesn't survive… I'm holding you responsible, you impudent little punk," Minato thundered wrathfully, jabbing his finger at Sasuke.
Sniffles resounded at the ledge of Sasuke's arm rest as the red haired woman scrabbled closer to the boy tilting onto his old chucks.
"This is all your fault! If I had kept my son away from you, none of this would haveeverhappened. But you're a cockroach—you always come crawling back…" Transparent liquid dispensed from her distort sapphire eyes as she sobbed, shaking with a deep-seated fit of rage.
Mustering enough restraint to not scream back, Sasuke peered down at the slender woman that called herself Naruto's mother.
Heated, she uplifted her elbow above her waist and curved her palm, throwing immense force behind the motion, aiming for the zone of Sasuke's chin.
With a spark of agility, payment he received from honing his football skills, Sasuke intercepted her hand, strangling it in his merciless grip. Crunching the bones in his large hands, Sasuke slunk closer, sacrificing his exploration of patience—"If you try to put your hands on me again—" Minato obstructed any further harm from the stout Uchiha.
Kushina winced, waggling her wrist around in a circular motion, squeezing the cramp out of the fingers Sasuke nearly crushed in his grip.
She was partially fortunate that Sasuke didn't break a finger but partially even angrier that he had the gull to put his put his hands on her in such a manner. Did he think he was mature? Didn't he have any respect for his elders?
She heavily panted. "No fucking respect," She said hidden securely by Minato's back.
Minato sewed a safety net around his wife as he courageous faced his son's dangerously despondent lover. His capillaries swelled with distaste as he leered as Sasuke's blank face shrouded with a shade of pitiless red ire. Enflamed grey eyes blazed at the equally passionate fuming man as they stalled the pending exchange of words.
"We both know that if Naruto wasn't pregnant, he wouldn't be here," he snarled at the boy leveled at his height. "I might lose my son because of your silly mistake."
Sasuke effectively shook his head as he heard a riled Kushina mumble a chant of agreement.
Observing the print of absoluteness registered on their faces—he realized that they were seriously claiming that this was solely his burden to carry.
They stressed him to the point of illness but he caused this.
His vision dwindled to a tiny speck as his puzzled brain crafted a jamboree of the long-lasting miracle that Naruto survived this long under their care.
Did they even love him at all?
"Stop acting like you care." Sasuke scrunched his face with a staggering amount of repudiation as he glared Minato right in the eye. "You're both so fucking disgusting…"
Stepping backward away from the couple, frightened that he might catch their lethal airborne disease of hypocrisy—Sasuke removed himself from the room before he too became ill.
…
Sasuke relaxed into chair bounded outside a vacant hospital room in the hallway of the maternity ward of the hospital, devastated.
The birth resentment Minato and Kushina bred… Did they expect him to apologize for culminating the vertices of truth in a simple sentence?
Most likely.
The absence of his parents, Fugaku and Mikoto also triggered something foul in his broken spirit?
Was Naruto and the birth of their child so trivial that they didn't feel compelled to show?
Sasuke's bang covered forehead found his sweaty hand as he swallowed a barrel of his hopes and dreams. Nothing was happening the way he wanted—nothing.
He hadn't heard anything from the operating room since the nurse had given him a periodical update and he had to admit, he was terribly worried.
Did they finish the operation? Were they cleaning up a deceased c—
"Mr. Uchiha?" a silky voice called from a set of double doors.
The previous nurse that he spoke to hasted toward him sporting disposal scrubs, obviously bearing the brunt of life-altering news.
As she reached him, Sasuke battled to balance to his feet once last time—this time for the final outcome.
"How did everything go? Is Naruto okay?"
She inhaled with a grave face as she pulled down the facemask ominously, her lips strangely turning. Sasuke heart leapt out of his ribcages, plotting a diabolical escape to a much more pleasant land. A land where it didn't suffer anymore.
Her mouth turned into a bashful smile as she said the only words Sasuke ever needed to hear. "The cesarean section was a success. We managed to save Naruto and deliver your beautiful baby girl. She's healthy, and did I say she's beautiful?" She heartily chuckled, absorbing the relief seizing Sasuke's tense form. His imperiling nightmares deflated as he felt his shins wobble with a new founded appreciation—gratefulness for everything he had.
A new appreciation for Naruto.
"T-Thank you."
She nodded with a winning smile. "You can see both of them, now."
Sasuke blissfully debated which part of his family to see first. His daughter? Or his boyfriend?
"Have you decided on a name yet?" She cocked her head to the side, interested on what the couple chose for their only child.
For the first time in what felt like centuries, Sasuke smiled, his eyes grazing the clean hospital tiles. "We agreed on Serenity, Serenity Uchiha."
Lighting up, the nurse glimpsed up at the tall Uchiha in awe.
"C-can I see him?" Sasuke asked, deciding to pay a visit to his sweet love before his made his first visit to the new addition to his life.
"Of course," She said leading him to Naruto.
…
Sasuke approached the bedside, the screeching of his chair overpowering the repetitious bleep of Naruto's heart monitor. Glancing at the respirator attached to Naruto's mouth and the endless amount of indiscernible tubes and cords that propelled his heart into deliberating frenzy of confusion, Sasuke stroked the cool array of skin that was once scorching hot during the course of his pregnancy. His stony gray eyes looked on at Naruto's motionless body, his pale, colorless skin and the weight of rising and falling chest.
His life's result was contingent on Naruto's survival… everything. Whether he lived or died.
The touch of Naruto's skin temporarily assured him until he quickly viewed his life through a microscope—without Naruto.
Suddenly, his body crippled into a travesty of a destructive wrecking ball destroy all confidence of emotional insurance,
Mulling everything over, strand by strand, he didn't know how long he sat by Naruto's side just watching observing.
A small muffled noise ceased Sasuke's attention, recovering from his quiet stupor. Silently stirring, he witnessed Naruto weakly pull off the oxygen mask, his lively but exhausted ultramarine eyes bilaterally glancing at his startled, glum appearance. He didn't know if Naruto should be removing equipment so quickly after being operated on. For Godsakes, he had just been sliced open on a table. Contrarily, his dim vibrancy fooled one into believing he didn't just teeter between the brink of life and death. Almost captured by the clutches of death.
His lips curved upwards, as he delivered a comely smile. "Sasuke," his innocent voice groggily called—finally blowing Sasuke up to smithereens.
Sasuke used his heels to pull the chair closer. With no warning, he tucked his head into Naruto's neck, his other hand aimlessly ambling for Naruto's.
Sasuke's shoulders vibrated mournfully as he choked, "I thought…you were g-going to leave me."
Naruto's smile slowly receded as he leaned into the tender, shape of Sasuke's gorgeous face. He lifted his hospital bracelet branded hand and combed his stiff fingers through Sasuke's hair. "I would never leave you…" His whisper roused an emotional contusion on the guard Sasuke had developed out of necessity as a survival tool, leaving him feeling battered like a boxer in a ring.
Naruto rested his temple on the top Sasuke's head as he the other male nuzzled him lovingly—shocking himself into the reality that, yes, he was alive—here with him.
Sasuke lamented and a sob pierced the shell he had built in this time span. Trying to be strong, trying to last long…
Salty tears dampened Naruto's hospital gown and his bare neck as he closed his eyes and embraced his fallen loved one.
'He's real…'
Soaking in Naruto's musky scent, his smooth unblemished skin, the tickle of his blond hairs, the pulse of his heart in sync with his own—"I-I was so..s-scared."
Sasuke squeezed the places set between Naruto's fingers until he felt the sensation in his hand shrink into a pinnacle of numbness.
Accepting Sasuke in his entirety, Naruto devotedly stroked his hair in an attempt to mold him back to a state of comprehensive being.
He didn't ask about Serenity immediately despite being excited about his new baby girl—he had to tend to his first real baby, Sasuke Uchiha.
And that was all he cared about.
…
"Love is like the wind, you can't see it, but you can feel it all over."
_Anonymous.
…
Aw, Poor Suke / 3
NKY.
-Leave me something, please (: