The big day has finally arrived for Sakura and Lee! Let's hope everything goes smoothly...

Chichi - father

Hahaoya - mother

o.O.o

Chapter 15

The end of the first week of term two was near. It was Friday and Ino stared at the clock, waiting for Humanities to end. That class hadn't been the same since Sakura left and Ino couldn't even sit next to Choji because the teacher said so, so she sat with Naruto instead. He really was a sweet boy and she knew why Sasuke had fallen for him.

"Are you okay, Ino?" Naruto whispered, hoping that Zabuza wouldn't hear them over the sound of the video playing.

"I'm fine." She fidgeted in her seat. "Sakura's really close to her due date and I'm a bit skittish."

"I really hope everything goes well." The blonde boy smiled and Ino felt at ease. "It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

The video on Israel ended and Zabuza closed the program. "Based on the worksheets you filled out while watching the video, you're to write a paragraph explaining why the differences between Muslims and Jews started the war between Israel. I'm expecting you to mention Jewish displacement and their eventual return to Israel, as well as Jewish refugees in World War II. You can get started now."

Ino looked down at her worksheet which was mostly filled out, but she'd missed the last few questions. "Well it looks like I'm having fun tonight," she said sarcastically. "Why does school have to be so horrible?"

"It's better than the real world." Naruto shrugged and closed his books. Just before the bell rang, Ino felt her pocket vibrate. She ignored it and darted to the door as soon as the bell sounded, as she had dim sum today and couldn't wait to eat it.

She joined with Hinata and Tenten on their way to the tree where they sat now. Tenten was complaining about the tougher-than-usual workout in HPE and Hinata was still grumpy about being grounded. At least Neji was grounded too now, but that meant they spent more time together and drove each other crazy.

They sat down with the boys and Hinata and Tenten immediately gravitated towards their boyfriends. Ino stood uncertainly before sitting with Shino, as Choji was probably still deciding what drink to buy. She bit into her first dim sum and took out her phone to check the message. The phone dropped from her limp fingers and everyone stared.

"Hinata, Tenten, check your phones," she whispered, suddenly not hungry anymore. Her friends did as she said and gasped at the message on their screens.

"Sakura's gone into labour!" Hinata squeaked. "We have to get to the hospital!"

"Who has a car?" Tenten demanded.

"I do." Shikamaru yawned.

"My brother does," Sasuke offered.

"That's okay Sasuke." Ino smiled and turned to Shikamaru. "Can you drive?"

"Yeah, I'm seventeen."

"It's a good thing you finally got the motivation to actually do something. Shikamaru, you're taking the three of us to the hospital and back here before lunch finishes. We only need ten minutes or so to talk to Sakura."

Shikamaru stood slowly and waved for the girls to join him. "Come on, off to the hospital we go."

The boys watched the group of four rush off to the car-park, hoping that the birth was smooth and nothing bad would happen.

o.O.o

Sakura sat on the lounge room couch, gritting her teeth against the pain. Kizashi was in her room, frantically flipping through all her pregnancy books to find out what it meant when the contractions started becoming closer together four days before her due date. Everyone knew that Keiko wasn't due until Tuesday.

"Chichi, this shouldn't be happening!" she whimpered. "It's too soon! I can't be giving birth yet!"

"We have to make sure before we call the ambulance!" Kizashi shouted. Last week, Sakura had two contractions within one hour and she'd started panicking, thinking she was going into labour. When the contractions didn't continue, Mebuki was able to pry Kizashi's fingers from the phone.

"I think it's really happening!" She hunched over in the chair, crying out. Fear sent waves of cold throughout her body and she forced her mind to remember the prenatal classes. She took a deep breath and stood, hoping to ease some of the aching muscles in her shoulders and back. A powerful contraction forced her to her knees and she gasped, sweat breaking across her skin. "Chichi!"

Kizashi came barrelling out of the hallway. "I'm calling the ambulance." For a moment they both wished Mebuki was there with them, but she was at work. "I'm calling the ambulance and then your hahaoya and Lee."

"Hurry…" Sakura whimpered and sat on the floor, holding her belly close. Kizashi grabbed the phone and dialled the hospital.

"Hello, this is Kizashi Haruno. My daughter has just gone into labour and I need an ambulance sent to this address immediately." He gave the address and waited for confirmation before hanging up and dialling Mebuki's work number by memory. "Hey, it's Kizashi Haruno. I need to speak with my wife, Mebuki. It's urgent." He waited a moment. "Honey, Sakura's gone into labour and we're getting an ambulance. Go and get Lee. I'll call him." He hung up and dialled Lee's number, waiting for several moments before the other end was answered. "Lee, Sakura's gone into labour. Mebuki's picking you up. Sit tight."

Sakura cried out in alarm. "Chichi!"

Kizashi rushed to the lounge room and saw a mess of liquid pooling beneath her. "Blossom? What happened?"

"My water just broke!" She sucked in a breath of fear and Kizashi knelt beside her, rubbing her back gently.

"The ambulance is on its way," he assured her. "Your hahaoya and Lee will be at the hospital too. We'll be okay."

She breathed deeply and felt her muscles tremoring as the next contraction started. "Thanks chichi. I love y- ah!" She doubled over as the contraction hit full-force and Kizashi looked at the clock worriedly, wondering if his granddaughter would wait until the ambulance arrived.

o.O.o

Lee was panicking. He paced across his lounge room, peering out the window every few seconds, hoping for Mebuki to appear.

He hadn't heart from Sakura today. She'd been feeling off lately and he didn't want to stress her out, so he stayed home and did yoga. Gai was at work and the morning had been uneventful until the call from Kizashi. Sakura was in labour. She was going to give birth to their baby. The thought made him weak at the knees and he was filled with fear for his blossom. Please let her be okay…

Mebuki pulled into the driveway with a screech and Lee dived into the front seat without bothering to clip in his seatbelt. The car was on the road before his door was even closed and she shot off towards the hospital, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. It was a public hospital in the middle of the city and traffic was thick with workers going out for lunch. Lee's legs thumped against the bottom of the car impatiently as Mebuki zig-zagged her way through the traffic to the huge hospital.

"I'll drop you off and go find a spot," Mebuki snapped, jerking to a stop outside the hospital's front doors. Lee leapt outside without a glance and barrelled past a pair of middle-aged women, only to smack into the automatic doors and bounce off onto the floor. The two women rushed to help him.

"Are you okay?" one asked. "You're in a hurry!"

"I need to find Sakura…" he gasped, getting to his feet and darting through the doors. He ran into the reception desk, flushed and panting. "Please, I need to get to Sakura Haruno. She's giving birth."

The receptionist took one look at his panic and typed as fast as she could, eyes flying across the screen. "She's in room 7H on the fourth floor in the left wing; it's not hard to find." She smiled softly at him. "Good luck."

"Have you got the room?" Mebuki called, rushing through the door with handbag flying out behind her.

"Yes! Follow me!" He ran to the elevator and punched in the fourth floor, heart racing as it moved upwards irritatingly slowly. When the doors opened he turned left and ran through the corridors, counting up the numbers until he found 7H. He slammed the door open and saw Sakura lying on a hospital bed wearing a blue hospital gown. Kizashi stood at the bedside holding both her hands and his face was white.

"Honey!" Mebuki rushed to Kizashi and hugged him tight while Lee stood beside Sakura and grasped her hands.

"Are you alright?" he asked quickly.

"No." A thick sheen of sweat coated her skin and she squeezed his hands tight as another contraction hit. "I can't wait for some pain pills."

Mebuki glanced at her husband worriedly. "When did the contractions start? She was fine when I left this morning."

"Around an hour after you left. She thought they were normal until they started hurting more. We decided to wait until we were sure. Her water broke just after I hung up on Lee." He winced. "It'll be fun to get out of the carpet."

Lee kissed Sakura's forehead as she moaned in pain. "I wish I could take on your pain right now."

"I wouldn't give it to you. Ever." She took several deep breaths. "Are you ready to be a chichi?"

"As long as I am with you. We will get through this." He hated to see her in pain like this, but there was nothing he could do.

Someone knocked on the door and everyone turned to see a pretty young woman with jet-black hair wearing a nurse's uniform. "Good afternoon," she greeted. "My name is Shizune and I am your nurse for today. The midwife will be here shortly."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Sakura's breath hitched as another contraction hit. Shizune frowned in concern and stepped forward, taking out a clipboard that had been tucked under her arm. She checked Sakura's pulse and blood pressure and made a few notes on her clipboard.

"Once Midwife Tsunade comes we'll know if you can take something for the pain." Shizune touched Sakura's shoulder before leaving the room; probably to find the midwife.

Mebuki wrapped her hand around Sakura's wrist, as both her hands were being held by Lee. "How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm scared," Sakura whispered, trying to put on a brave face. Lee brushed his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I am here beside you, no matter what. You and our daughter will both be fine." Lee smiled and she tried to smile, but another contraction rippled through her body and she grimaced instead.

The contraction ended and Shizune knocked on the door again. "Excuse me Miss Haruno, you have some friends who have come to see you."

"Can they come in?" Sakura asked, not moving from her reclined position. Shizune nodded and left the room, her place taken by Ino, Hinata and Tenten. The three frantic girls rushed to her side, eyes wide with fear.

"Lee texted and we got here as fast as we could!" Tenten panted. "Are you okay? Is it painful?"

"No I'm not okay and yes it's painful." She managed a weak smile. "I'm so glad you're here."

"When's she coming?" Hinata asked, her hands resting lightly on Sakura's belly. She gasped as Keiko kicked beneath her palms.

"I don't know. It really depends on how eager the little one is to see the world."

The three girls pushed Lee aside and enveloped Sakura in a group hug. She blinked at the suddenness of it but returned the hug. Lee watched them nervously, hoping a contraction wouldn't start while the girls were there.

"You're so brave," Hinata murmured. "We're here for you no matter what. Well, um, I'm not until chichi un-grounds me."

"Thanks guys. It really means a lot to me."

Lee watched the four girls interact and felt a sudden stab of impatience. He just wanted this to be over and for Sakura to feel better but birth took time and rushing it was bad. When Sakura doubled over with another contraction the girls stepped away to give her room. Tenten looked at Lee.

"You holding up okay?" she asked.

"I wish it was over," he confessed. "I do not like standing around while Sakura is hurting."

"Just stay calm for her. We support you." She hugged Lee and he glanced over her head at Sakura, who had Ino and Hinata holding her hands.

A few more minutes passed and Shizune returned with a woman who was most likely the midwife. She was middle-aged with short blonde hair and a stern expression. Her eyebrow raised as she saw how many people were in the room.

"I'm afraid that only family members can stay from now on," the midwife explained. "Friends need to go." She saw their school uniforms. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

Ino glanced at the other two. "Yeah, we should be getting back. Hopefully lunch won't have finished."

"You ran off during lunch?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Yeah… Shikamaru drove us. Call us when you've got news. Good luck." Ino dragged her friends from the room and they waved as the door closed behind them.

"We love you!" Tenten shouted through the door. The midwife turned to Lee and her eyebrow rose even more.

"Please let him stay," Mebuki said hastily. "He's the chichi."

"I am not leaving," Lee declared.

"The chichi may stay." The midwife's eyebrow dropped and she smiled warmly as she pulled on some rubber gloves. "Shizune, could you please get me the sonogram?" She moved to Sakura's side and Mebuki stepped back. "My name is Tsunade and I am your midwife. You have nothing to worry about; I've delivered lots of babies before and I'm sure everything will go fine." She smiled again as Shizune brought the machine over. "I'm going to perform an ultrasound to see what's going on in there, so I need you to lift up your dress for me, okay honey?"

"Okay." Sakura bit her lip and lifted up her dress to expose her belly, averting her gaze. It was the second time in a month she'd exposed her most private part to a stranger. The first was two weeks ago when she went to the doctors for an examination to see how the birth canal was looking. She still felt insanely awkward about it.

Tsunade went to squirt some of the ultrasound gel on Sakura's stomach but a contraction rippled. Once it was past, Tsunade put the gel on and ran the scanner over Sakura's belly. It was stark cold against her heated skin. Tsunade smiled after a moment of looking at the sonogram screen. "Everything looks great! She's in the right position and the umbilical cord isn't tangled. As far as I can tell right now, you'll have a smooth birth."

Sakura sighed in relief. "Let's hope so."

"When was your due date?"

"Tuesday; four days from now."

Tsunade nodded. "She's a good size. Shizune…" As she removed the scanner, Shizune moved the equipment back and cleaned Sakura's stomach with a paper towel. "Now I need to check your opening to see when you're right to push." Sakura held her breath as Tsunade lowered her head to examine her most private spot. Lee kissed her hand but it did nothing to alleviate her awkwardness.

"How's it looking?" Mebuki asked anxiously.

"You're only three centimetres, honey." Tsunade stepped back and Sakura lowered her legs. "I'll be coming back every hour to check on you. Do you need anything for the pain?"

"Please," she begged as another contraction hit. "Will it… will it… hurt her?"

"No. Shizune will give you a needle and I'll be back in an hour." She looked at the other three. "You should get comfortable. I don't think your girl will be making an appearance for ten hours at least."

"Okay." Mebuki nodded and smiled. Tsunade threw her gloves in the bin and left the room, taking Shizune's clipboard with her.

o.O.o

The next twelve hours were intense. Sakura only got snatches of broken sleep in between the contractions and hourly check-ups. Lee hadn't left her side and pulled a chair up beside the bed so he could sit comfortably. Kizashi and Mebuki had gone to the hospital cafeteria during the second hour to get some food and caffeine. Lee gratefully accepted the food but refused caffeine, as he didn't want to get hyper.

Her parents were dozing off in a set of armchairs on the other side of the room when Tsunade and Shizune reappeared for the next ultrasound. By that time it was one o'clock in the morning and Sakura just wanted to get it over with. She'd been in labour for almost twelve hours already.

Tsunade bent down to check her dilation. She stood up and went to a compartment underneath the sonogram machine, where she and Shizune pulled out scrubs, masks and plastic gloves. Everyone stirred as the nurse and midwife got dressed.

"You're at nine centimetres," Tsunade said, tying on her mask. "I need all of you to get dressed in scrubs quickly." Her parents and Lee hurried to get changed and Shizune wrapped several bands around Sakura's arms that were attached to tubes. The machines at the head of the bed whirred to life, displaying her heart rate, blood pressure, contractions and breathing. She pressed a sticker on Sakura's belly that would measure her baby's heart rate roo. Sakura laid back and closed her eyes, her shallow breaths easing as Lee gripped both her hands tight.

"I believe in you, blossom," he said behind the mask. "You can do this."

Shizune saw the spike in Sakura's heart rate as a contraction took hold. "Push!" she ordered. Sakura did as she was told, grunting with the effort. It felt like she was trying to empty her bowels and it wasn't coming out.

This went on for twenty minutes. Sweat and anxiety filled the room as Sakura pushed until she was nearing complete exhaustion. It had been a taxing day and she was suddenly regretting ever thinking she could do this. Then Lee squeezed her hands and she found the resolve to keep pushing. Mebuki and Kizashi stood to the side, ready to follow orders in case something went wrong.

"You're strong enough to get that baby out!" Mebuki shouted suddenly.

"Just a little more," Lee begged, wincing as she nearly broke his hand when she started to push. Tsunade waited between her legs with a warm towel, ready to catch the baby when it came out. She checked the clock and prayed that the little girl would make an appearance soon, otherwise they'd have to rush Sakura in for an emergency C-section and who knows what would happen then. Nothing seemed to be wrong and Tsunade hoped that the baby was just being stubborn. Still, it didn't hurt to check.

"Shizune, bring the sonogram machine over," she ordered. "I might have to take a look." Just as Shizune went to get the machine, Tsunade saw the baby's head appear. "Wait! It's coming! I can see the head."

Shizune returned to her position and noted the rise in heart rate. "Contraction," she called. Sakura held onto Lee's hands like a lifeline and pushed.

"You're almost there," Tsunade said. "I can see the head. Keep on pushing."

"Contraction."

Sakura cried out as she pushed harder than before with strength she never knew she had. Lee was yelling with her and the contraction ended, leaving her breathless.

"You're almost there blossom," Mebuki whispered, kissing Sakura's sweat-soaked forehead. Kizashi brushed some damp locks of hair away and she looked up at her parents, mouthing 'I love you'.

"One more push."

"Contraction."

She heaved again, giving everything she had into this final stand. One moment her insides were tensed up and the next they released, the pain and pressure immediately disappearing. She panted and slumped back against the pillows, feeling everything rush out of her.

Tsunade caught the newborn in the towel and wrapped it around the baby loosely. "That's it. You did very well." She smiled at the exhausted girl. "The birth was perfectly smooth and your baby is…"

There was a very long pause as everyone stared at the newborn. It twitched and opened its mouth, the most beautiful sound exiting its blood-speckled lips.

"… perfectly healthy. Miss Haruno, I'd like to introduce you to your daughter."