Itachi seemed in somewhat better spirits by the time they reached the hospital, though his breathing was now labored, and his steps were slow.

"I don't think Murasaki-san can take much more," he said, when he stopped at the entrance. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

"I'll make sure she recovers fully," Nadeshiko said. "We owe her very much."

"We do," Itachi said. "And… that—boy, he, um." The hard, harsh confidence of earlier seemed to be slipping away as much as his strength. "I want to ensure that he's taken care of, and…"

"I'm sure we'll find a way," Nadeshiko said.

"We've got everything under control, Itachi-san," Hashiki added, smiling.

"…well, all right. Go straight to Naruto-san, though, he should be with Akirame-san, I spoke to him before I left, and-"

Karai interrupted him with a hug around his middle. "I'm really glad we got to meet you, Uncle Itachi," she said, her head poised (somewhat awkwardly) on Murasaki's ample chest. "And I hope we can talk again soon! But just go already!"

Itachi sighed with mild embarrassment, and hugged her back. "I'm really glad I got to meet you too, Karai. You as well, Inou," he added, looking up from the hug. "The clan should be honored to have a genius like you in its ranks."

Inou blushed furiously. "I, uh—thanks," he replied.

"And Nadeshiko, before I go," he said, his voice suddenly getting very soft, "I just want you to know how proud of you I am. I always have been."

Nadeshiko closed her eyes. "Thank you, Uncle…"

Itachi's smile was warm, and he exhaled for a long time with his last hug to Karai.

And then he was gone.

Murasaki raised her head, her expression sleepy. Upon discovering Karai's hug, her own flavor of soft smile took root upon her face. "…I can assume that things went well?" she said.

"Very well," Nadeshiko replied.

"Oh, I'm so glad…" Murasaki said, before her knees gave out, and she fell on top of Karai.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Murasaki-san, you okay?" Karai managed to wriggle out from underneath her, and was soon offering her hand.

"…you'll have to excuse me, it's been so long since I've pushed myself like this…" Murasaki said, and laughed. "I think I'll need some rest."

"Up you get, Murasaki-san," Karai said, propping the much-taller woman up on her shoulder.

"Yes, let's get all of you inside," Hashiki said, cheerfully. "Erm, Itachi-san—I mean Murasaki-san—where's that Akirame-san you were talking about?"

"Oh, I know where he is," Karai said.

"He should be in the lobby with the others," Murasaki added, before her eyes widened slightly. "…how very odd, I think I could hear you just now…"

"Let's just get going," Inou said, leading the way with his flustered air still hanging about him.

They ended up finding the rest of their family first. Hajime was sitting with his mother against his shoulder, staring off at the way out with a mixture of anxiousness and misery. Upon seeing the group enter, he tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up.

"Oh my goodness-!" was all she could manage before she was standing and squeezing Inou.

"Mom, hey-"

"I can't believe you're back safely, I thought something was going to happen, oh Inou, Inou I'm sorry…" She rubbed her face into his shoulder; Inou, for a moment, looked to the ceiling with adolescent distaste, before dismissing it and hugging her back.

"Mom, it's okay, we're back, we're fine, and we've got Dad."

Ino pulled away at that, and upon seeing Sasuke's semi-conscious body in Hashiki's arms, all the blood went out of her face.

"…oh my goodness, what happened to him…?" she said, her voice barely rising above a whisper.

"...he got hurt, Mom. An' I think it was 'cos he was trying to protect us," Karai said, when no answer came.

Ino put a fist over her lips, a fresh tumble of tears coming out of her already-overcried eyes.

"We need to get him to a doctor. Yakata-kun too," Nadeshiko said, only a note of urgency in her voice, which had long since returned to its usual monotone. She moved forward from the group, nearer to the Emergency Room.

Ino, however, intercepted her. "Oh, Nadeshiko, your hair! What happened to it?"

Nadeshiko avoided looking at her. "It's… nothing, I suppose I'd have had to cut it soon anyways…"

"It was really cool, Mom, she cut her hair when that Riverman guy got a hold of it so she could save Yakata-kun!" Karai chirped, in addition.

This, of all things, made Ino laugh, though only once; it sounded more like a cough, or a hiccup. "Is that really what happened, Nadeshiko?" Her daughter nodded. "Well, then, after I give you a haircut, there's a story I'll have to tell you. But you get—everyone that help. Do you know where Sakura is?"

"We need to find Akirame-san, whoever that is," Hashiki said.

Ino blinked. "Right. Um… and who are you?"

"Senritsu Hashiki, ma'am," she replied. "Just helpin' where I can."

"Ah… Well… thank you," Ino said, and waved them away with a hand. "On you go, then." She went back to sit next to Hajime, as everyone made their way to the Emergency Room, since Karai couldn't find him in the lobby, and Murasaki said something about Shusuke knowing the way.

("Mom, you wanna go be with Dad…?" Hajime offered, after a while.)

(She said nothing, only beginning to shiver, fearing everything that could have happened, and everything that had.)

Masao, as expected, was with Naruto, who was having bandages wound over the holes left in him from the Riverman's ice shards.

Murasaki was the one that called out to them first. "Naruto-sensei! Masao! I did well!"

Masao blinked a few times. "Murasaki? Is that you?"

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "…I was able to do exactly what Itachi-san needed of me, everyone's okay!"

Naruto leaned over slightly to get a better look, and leaped off the bed once he saw Sasuke, ripping the roll of bandages out of the nurse's hand; it fell to the floor and began rolling away.

"Oh, dang, is that Sasuke?! Is he okay?"

"He should be, if he gets treated," Hashiki replied.

Naruto seemed, then, to notice that she was holding him. "Uh… Senrin-san? What are you doing here, y'know?"

"It's Senritsu, actually," Hashiki replied, with a small chuckle, "and I've been helping these kids out."

"She totally saved us, Uncle Naruto! She got rid of the Riverman!" Karai said, setting Murasaki down where Naruto had previously been sitting, by Masao. "She's the Woman of the Woods, too, did you know?"

"…what the heck is she talking about?" Naruto said, his eyes thinning with confusion.

"Something I'm going to have to spend a long time explaining and picking apart with you later, I think," Hashiki said, bashfully. "I suppose this is a worthy reason to go public, though, helping the Uchiha clan…"

"…sure, just, uh, lemme know when you wanna do that!" Naruto said. "In the meantime, lemme see if I can get some help for Sasuke. Hey, you, yeah, treat this guy, not me, y'know!" he said to the nurse, who was trying to get the rolled-away bandage back near him. "I'll be fine by tomorrow, okay?"

The nurse's eyes dashed between the clearly-healthy Hokage and the clearly-injured Uchiha, and he quickly snipped the last strip of bandage, secured it with medical tape, and began directing Hashiki to a bed so he could start examining Sasuke.

"We have Yakata-kun too," Nadeshiko said. "My uncle thinks he should be kept asleep until we can find out how to… cure him. And I'd rather not have to knock him out again…"

"Sure, that—wait, your uncle?" Naruto said.

"Yeah, he, like… possessed Murasaki-san or something and used her body to defend us until Hashiki-san showed up," Inou said.

"…oh, yes, it's all true," Murasaki added, smiling pleasantly. "They needed help, and I was finally able to be of some use…"

Naruto and Masao exchanged looks of masked astonishment.

"…I'm gonna go see if I can find Sakura about this, y'know," Naruto said, cracking a smile. "Masao-kun, can you, uh, stay with everyone while I go see her about this sedative-thingy?"

"Yes, absolutely," Masao replied, waving his hand quickly—Go get her, now!—the clear message.

It wasn't very hard at all to find Sakura—he knew her emotional signature well enough that he didn't have to track her chakra—but she was extraordinarily preoccupied when Naruto got to where she was.

Sakura was tending to Karin, who was on her knees, half-standing, on a hospital bed. Karin's arms were wrapped around Ooda's shoulders and back, her head tucked into his chest. She was crying.

"Karin, hang in there, Karin, the baby's almost here, it's almost here, just hold on!" It almost sounded like Sakura was chanting a mantra. Her arms were covered in blood to the elbow, as were the front of her clothes.

Naruto ducked out, seeing this, his heart pounding. He swallowed, but stayed just outside the doorway, listening, waiting.

(And some part of him pleading, very suddenly and severely, for the safety of everyone involved.)

There were no beeping monitors, and none of the medical staff were really speaking but Sakura, but the oppressive worry coming out of that room, rising and falling with Karin's cries, was more than enough for him to track (however unwillingly).

He didn't know how much time was really passing, keeping his head bowed, his eyes closed, feeling nurses rush in and out with supplies, Sakura's insistent words that Karin stay with them.

(And every now and then, Ooda's murmurings would rise above things: "I'm sorry, Mom, I'm sorry, please, just hang on…")

"Where is that transfusion, damn it?!" Sakura snapped—when Karin made a wet noise in her throat, deep and choking. "Karin—Ooda, hold onto her!"

Naruto held his breath.

"Karin, just—just push, if you can, it's almost here, just—Karin, you can do it, it's almost over…!" Sakura seemed near to tears.

When it finally arrived, the baby wasn't crying, like it was supposed to.

"There we go…! Come on, little one, gimme a nice good cry—can we get the incubator ready?" Sakura's voice was gentle with hope. "And where the hell is that transfusion?"

"Mom, it's here, you did it, Mom, it—Mom, no please, stay with me…"

But Karin's chakra was not fading, Naruto could feel—it was softening, relaxing. Weak, but not dying.

"Get that baby breathing; he's a month premature." Sakura seemed to have passed the baby off to another nurse, and her voice was getting back to its usual strength. "Let's get that placenta delivered. Relax, Karin, it's over, it's okay, your baby's okay."

Karin made some kind of moaning sound in reply.

"That'll—stop the bleeding, since it was a minor placental rupture, but if we need a transfusion—she's type AB, Sakura-sensei, but O will work just as well, and-"

"Ooda-kun, you relax too." Sakura was laughing—things really were okay. "Just keep your mom supported. We're almost done."

Naruto waited.

Then: "Oh, that's—a lot of blood. Someone get a bio cleanup kit and a pan for the placenta? And where is that—oh, there we go! Get an IV ready for that blood, would you?"

Naruto was glad he wasn't in the room. It was easier to feel that Karin was okay instead of having to manage it against whatever image he'd be getting if he were in there.

(And the baby, which still hadn't cried, was radiating healthy, electric-pink shock at the new coldness of the world.)

Sakura exhaled, loudly. "Let's get you laid down, Karin. You deserve a rest."

"And that transfusion, she-"

"We'll take care of it, Ooda-kun," Sakura replied. "You sit down, too. You've been a magnificent help."

Finally, someone coaxed a cry out of the baby—wet and weak, but there.

(The relief out of both Karin and her older son was enough to make Naruto sigh with them.)

"There we go!" Sakura said, hearing this. "He wrapped up all right, Kenji?" There was some sort of reply. "Karin, you want to hold your son?"

Karin seemed to have lapsed into sleep in exhaustion, or satisfaction, or both.

"Ooda-kun, I suppose you'll be the first, then," Sakura said, with a gentle chuckle. "We'll let your mom rest. I trust you know how to hold him."

"Yeah, 'course…"

Naruto waited only a little more, before finally entering.

He paused for effect, in the doorway. "Hey… did I miss something?"

Sakura was taking off her blood-shining rubber gloves and tossing them in a biohazard bin. "Naruto?"

"Did Karin-san just… have her baby or something…?" he continued, looking around.

"Literally only a few minutes ago," Sakura said. "You just missed it."

"Oh, man! Is everything okay?" There was still a fair amount of blood on the bed, though the soiled sheets were being cleared away, and Karin had a clean blanket put over her by Sakura's giant of a son, Kenji, who had apparently been assisting with things, while another nurse began prepping Karin's arm for an IV transfusion of blood.

"Yeah, there was just a… minor complication. But everything turned out all right," Sakura replied. "Ooda's got the baby, though."

Naruto grinned, waving at him. "Congrats on the new little brother, man. You did really good today."

Ooda, who was gently running a white finger around the edges of the baby's red, wrinkled face, smiled back sheepishly, keeping his face down. "Thanks…"

"So what are you doing up here, anyways? Any news?" Sakura continued.

"Yeah, serious news," Naruto replied. "Some of Sasuke's kids went out on their own an' managed to get him to the hospital!"

"What, Sasuke? You're joking. Which of his kids?"

"Nadeshiko, Inou, and Karai. An' that's not the half of it."

Sakura began moving out into the hallway. "What do you mean?"

Naruto followed her. "I don't even know how to explain it, but… Murasaki helped them, somehow? She and the kids were sayin' things about how Itachi… possessed her?"

"…you can't possibly believe that," Sakura said, and sighed. "Naruto, you know she's sick…"

Naruto shrugged, deciding not to tell her about his half-permission over her taking action. "I know, but the fact is, she got Sasuke back. You can talk to her about the whole… Itachi thing later, y'know. What's more important is that… well, Sasuke got hurt, and-"

"What? Oh, damn it, is he receiving attention?" Sakura began hurrying down the hall.

Naruto pulled on arm to get her to slow down. "Yeah, some nurses are helping him, but you gotta hear this part, y'know!"

"What part?"

"They got Yakata-kun back too. Nadeshiko-chan has him."

Sakura gasped at this. "Is Orochimaru still… inside him?"

"…I dunno, probably," Naruto replied, uneasily. "Nadeshiko-chan said—well she said Itachi said, but—that he should be kept asleep until we can figure out how to fix that, y'know. Can you help with that?"

"Absolutely," Sakura replied. "Where are they?"

"Emergency Room, I guess. Wanna go find 'em with me?"

"Is that even a question?" Sakura said, and jerked her head sideways.

Sakura entered the Emergency Room with a great, wide scowl, pushing the doors in her way apart with both hands. "Okay, where's Sasuke's family?"

"Somewhere over here," Naruto said, gesturing towards the general swirl of chakra and emotion that belonged to them. Sakura sped ahead of him and towards them, as if she could feel what he felt, and was beginning to check up on Yakata when he finally caught up with her.

"How did you knock him out, initially?" she was asking.

"Uh, Sakura?"

"A sleeper hold," Nadeshiko replied. "I don't know when he'll wake up again, however."

"Sa-akura."

"That's fine. If you'll come with me, we can get him restrained in an isolated room and then give him some sedatives."

Naruto tapped Sakura's shoulder, finally. "Sakura, hey."

She looked back at him. "Yes?"

"What about, uh, Sasuke, y'know?"

Sasuke, presently, was laid out on a recently-emptied bed, and being tended to by Naruto's former nurse.

"Is he dying?" Sakura asked the nurse.

"Uh—no, ma'am, I mean, he's got several fractures, and-"

"If he's not dying, then he's not a priority for me," Sakura replied, both to him and to Naruto. "Nadeshiko-chan, please come with me."

Naruto shot an apologetic look at Sasuke before he followed the two women out, though he wasn't sure if Sasuke even saw it.

(And he didn't. Sasuke had his eyes closed, and kept them closed.)

(It was the closest to being alone that he could manage.)

Sakura and Nadeshiko came to rest in the west wing of the hospital, near the psychiatric ward, where it was quiet and, most importantly, there were straps pre-installed on the beds. Sakura pulled away a stray nurse as she went, ordering medicines and sending him back away.

"Lay him down, now, gently," Sakura said, as Nadeshiko neared the bed. "Get his arms and legs spread. I'll restrain him."

Nadeshiko was incredibly delicate in her actions, handling the boy like he was made of spun sugar. "Don't hurt him, please." Her voice was barely above a whisper, as she began positioning his arms.

"I won't, don't worry," Sakura replied, and she tightened the strap.

Midway through securing his left leg, Yakata began to wake up.

"Get your hands off me, you filthy woman…"

It still wasn't really him.

"Ma'am, the medicine you sent for." The nurse was at the door, with a tray; a hypodermic needle and a tiny bottle of clear medicine were positioned on it.

"Right on time," Sakura said. She went to a drawer and got out a pair of rubber gloves.

"Release me at once."

Sakura began dabbing at his arm with an alcohol-soaked ball of cotton.

Nadeshiko looked on, a sentinel-like neutrality on her face. The boy's eyes whipped to her, burning with yellow fury.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to take my time in killing you," he told her.

Nadeshiko said nothing.

But Sakura said, as she was preparing the needle, "The only way you'll be released is if you leave this boy's body immediately."

"I'm never leaving. This body is mine."

"No, it isn't," Nadeshiko said.

He was laughing as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"That should keep him knocked-out for a few hours." Sakura put the needle back on the tray. "I'll send out orders to have the medicine refreshed so he's kept under until we can… cure him. And if worst comes to worst, we can always put him in a medicated coma…"

"I understand. May I stay with him?" Nadeshiko said.

"Now? Well… yes, if you want to, but-"

But Nadeshiko had already taken a chair near the door, and placed it at his bedside. "Please let my mother know where I am. Thank you."

(The worry in her dark eyes was almost liquid.)

"…of course, Nadeshiko-chan. You need anything, just press the call button," Sakura said. Nadeshiko nodded, and Sakura left her.

Naruto had been watching from the door, and began walking with her back to the ER. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Yakata-kun? Physically, he should be."

"But, uh, the Orochimaru situation, y'know…"

Sakura stared at the floor as she walked. "We could get Torture and Interrogation to do a mind-dive. See if Yakata's consciousness can still be saved, try and pull it forward…"

"At least try an' talk to him," Naruto added, as her voice faded off.

"Yes. The only way Yakata-kun can regain control of his body is if he fights off Orochimaru himself. It's a battle of wills, that's what Karin told me," Sakura said.

"So he's gotta want to fight. We'll have to help an' encourage him in any way we can, then," Naruto said.

"Mm." Sakura inhaled, deeply. "And if that doesn't work… well, we'll see what other options we have. I'll see if I can get a Hyuuga staff member to track and isolate Orochimaru's chakra, in the meantime; keep it from spreading, at least, so he'll have a better chance…"

"Whatever it takes," Naruto said. "We'll be able to help him, y'know. I know it."

Sakura managed a smile.

(If Naruto believed, then at least part of the battle was won.)