Sakura took deep steady breaths as she moved down the hospital corridors. Every nurse and doctor that passed her looked at her in surprise and awe as she clutched to her stomach. She could here the whispers of 'the baby's coming!' and 'it's time!' but at this point in time, she had no fucks to give.
Once she reached the maternal wing, she approached the desk. The woman, Mariko, looked up and gasped in surprise as she jumped up from her seat.
"Sakura-sama! Is it-"
"Yes."
"Do you want-"
"Of course I want a room."
"Do you need-"
"I can get myself there."
"I'll call-"
"Thank you."
Fastest conversation ever. With that, she turned and navigated her way to an empty room. As she got there, she sighed and waited.
It wasn't long before she heard rapid footsteps headed her way before there was a skidding noise.
"AHHH!"
Followed by a crash.
Poking her head outside, she found Naruto crumpled on the floor as well as a toppled potted plant and the rubbish bin that was placed beside it.
Her brow rose as did her lips, smirking at him as her emerald orbs danced with mirth, despite the contraction she felt earlier.
Naruto shook away his daze and groaned as he lifted himself up out of the spilt soil and garbage.
"Good job," she snickered.
The blond looked up at her in surprise before whining.
"Sakura-chaaaaan."
Sakura giggled before she groaned in pain as another contraction struck. Naruto grabbed the bag he'd been carrying off the ground and moved to her and eased her back into the room with such gentleness it caught her by surprise.
When she looked up at him, he smiled down at her sweetly, soothingly.
He wasn't just Sasuke's best friend. He was hers as well.
She grabbed his hand and held tightly.
"I'm scared, Naruto," she murmured.
"You don't have to worry, Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured as he helped her get onto the bed. "I'm here."
Her heart clenched with affection.
"Baka," she whispered as tears welled in her eyes.
It was the hormones, she swears. God forbid she ever admits to being reduced to a mushy sap.
"Is Hinata okay with you being here?" She wonders.
"Hinata-chan understand that I'm needed here more, especially when Teme hasn't made it back to the village yet," Naruto shrugged. "Besides, she already put Bolt down to sleep so she was just going to rest anyway."
"I'm really sorry I've pulled you away from your family, Naruto."
"Hey," he scolded. "Don't talk like that. You are family. You and Teme both. Hinata-chan understands, she sees her teammates the same way. Hell, all of us Rookies are family. You know this."
"Arigatou, Naruto," she smiled through her tears before quickly brushing them away.
Naruto smiled and kissed her forehead lovingly.
"I'm going to go get Baa-chan though I bet she's already on her way since the nurses are already buzzing about you being in labour."
He ruffled her hair before he walked out the door. The pinkette let out a puff of breath, mentally preparing herself. She's delivered so many babies, seen so many complications during birth that she knew what to do but she's never experienced it herself.
And that terrified her.
'I don't wanna do this alone,' she thought sadly. 'Where are you, Sasuke? What's taking you so long?'
"You worry too much, Sakura-chan."
Looking up, she spotted her scarecrow.
"Kakashi-sensei," she greeted, giving him a small smile.
"I came as soon as I heard. I know Ino will be here soon too. She was just on her way to gather your parents."
She couldn't fight the warmth spreading inside, numbing the pain for a moment. No, she wasn't alone.
Kakashi entered and stood by her bed, watching over her.
"I'm glad you're here, Kaka-sensei."
He squinted distastefully. "Don't call me 'sensei' anymore. I feel old enough as it is," he scowled but the typical eye crinkle gave away his hidden smile.
He placed a hand on her head, soothing her hair affectionately.
"You're like the daughter I never had, Sakura-chan."
"Aw, don't," Sakura hissed. "I don't want to cry- damn it, too late! Thanks a lot, Kakashi," she cried, wiping away the fresh wave of tears.
"My pleasure," he said smiling. "Naruto was right though. You don't have to be scared because your team's all here."
There was another knock and she looked over to see Yamato and Sai.
"Shouldn't you be with Ino?" She asked the ex-Root operative, considering her six month pregnant best friend.
Sai shrugged. "When I went to help her go to your parents house, she threatened me to come here instead to be with you until she arrived."
"You're not one to give in to threats, Sai," Yamato wondered.
"She said no sex, didn't she?" Naruto questioned as he re-entered, followed by Tsunade.
"Don't answer that," Tsunade ordered as she passed the pale shinobi.
Sakura saw Sai nod to Naruto regardless and couldn't help but giggle.
"So Sakura, when did your water break?" Tsunade asked.
"About an hour ago."
"Contractions?"
"Fifteen minutes apart."
Tsunade nodded before using her hands to feel her stomach.
"They're in the correct position," she surmised. "So far so good."
Tsunade smiled down at her.
"I'll have your birthing suite ready for you when it's time," she said.
She left and Sakura looked to her teammates. Her family through everything but blood.
"What do you think it is?" Naruto asked.
"I'm not sure," Sakura stated.
"If you have a girl, maybe we could hook her and Bolt up when they get older."
Sakura laughed. "Don't tell Sasuke that. Can you imagine the look on his face?"
"What look?"
Her eyes snapped back to the door where said Uchiha stood.
"Sasuke," she breathed before he was right by her side.
One hand cupped her cheek while the other ran over her hair, smoothing it down.
"I'm here," he assured her.
One of her hands raised to rest upon his that cupped her cheek, leaning into it lovingly, gazing at him. She began to tear up again as she allowed her fears and worries to shine through her eyes which Sasuke was very in tune to.
"Don't leave," she pleaded.
He shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."
As the contractions occurred more often and closer together, Sasuke held onto her hand tightly, keeping her grounded and focused. Images flitted around in her mind as she thought of their child. What will they look like? Will they have pink hair? Onyx eyes? Jade? Girl or boy? Her creamy complexion or Sasuke's milky skin? Will they have her chakra control or Sasuke's Sharingan? What about both?
So many possibilities but one thought shone threw them all.
They'd find out soon enough.
When Sakura opened her eyes, it was to find herself surrounded by medical nin.
"S-Shishou?" She asked, voice raspy.
"Damn it, Sakura," Tsunade scolded, voice trembling. "I thought I'd lost you."
"W-What happened?"
"You bled out and your heart beat dropped. Once we got her out, we had to resuscitate you. But she's alive and-"
Sakura stared at her with wide eyes. "She?"
Tsunade nodded and finally smiled after the dreadfully long hour it took to stabilize her precious student.
"Would you like to see her?" Tsunade asked and gestured to someone.
Shizune approached, holding a wailing baby, something the new mother missed. Shizune handed the tightly wrapped pink bundle and Sakura stared at the baby in her arms as she settled immediately.
Partially closed eyes looked up at her, open enough for Sakura to make out the onyx orbs. A tuff of inky black hair atop her head and Sakura felt her heart swell with so much love, she couldn't contain the sobs.
"W-Where's Sasuke-kun?" She asked, never dropping her baby girl's intense gaze.
"When you flat lined, he needed to be forcibly removed. He also refused to take the baby if it had 'killed you' in his words."
Sakura raised her eyes, brows furrowed.
"Bring him in," she snapped.
Shizune disappeared and Sakura turned back to her baby girl.
"Have you thought of a name?" Tsunade asked.
Sakura tenderly traced her finger along the newborn's features, committing her to memory.
'My daughter. My blood. Mine.'
"No. Not yet."
It wasn't long before Sasuke swiftly entered the room to be by her side.
"Don't you ever do that to me again," he snapped.
So taken aback by his anger that she was stunned silent. She only snapped out of it when the baby let out a gurgle.
As one, the two new parents looked down at their bundle of joy.
"She...has your big forehead."
Sakura smacked Sasuke who was now scowling at her.
"She's beautiful," he added.
"We did good," Sakura agreed. "Do you have any idea about what you want to call her?"
"Sarada."
Sakura looked at Sasuke in surprise.
"Sarada?"
"My kaa-san always wanted a girl at some point. She told me she would have called me 'Sarada' if I had been a girl."
Her eyes softened as she watched him watch their little girl.
"Uchiha Sarada," she whispered to the baby. "It's perfect."
"She's perfect," Sasuke corrected.
Sasuke stared at Sarada, only a couple hours old as Sakura lay asleep on the bed. She had been exhausted and was quick to doze off so Sasuke took it upon himself to watch over both her and Sarada while she caught a couple hours of sleep.
Like Sakura, he traced her lips, cheeks, forehead and ears with a finger, touching so lightly as if she'd break in his arms. Sarada stared back, curious eyes watching the man above so different in appearance and aura to the woman before.
"Sarada," Sasuke whispered.
His finger moved to her tiny fingers which she instinctively gripped onto. Sasuke couldn't help the proud smirk that tugged at his lips.
"You're strong, just like your kaa-san."
From the bed, Sakura lazily opened her eyes to the tender scene and couldn't help the tired smile she wore.
"Sasuke-kun," she called softly.
Sasuke looked up from his seat, his eyes gentle as he stared at his wife before the narrowed.
"Go back to sleep, Sakura," he spoke. "You're still too weak."
Instead of getting angry, she smiled wider. It was a good thing she spoke Uchiha.
'I'm worried about you. You still don't look well.'
The pinkette ignored both his spoken and unspoken words and shifted to sit up properly.
"Is anyone still here?" She asked as she moved further to the right of the bed, patting the left for Sasuke to sit.
He stood and moved to join her, settling beside her after handing over Sarada. One arm wrapped around Sakura's shoulders while the other helped to cradle Sarada as Sakura leaned into him, resting her head in the crook of his neck.
"I sense the dobe and the rest of Team 7 but no one else."
Tsunade re-entered with the paperwork Sasuke had asked for.
"So you've decided on a name?" Tsunade asked.
The two parents nodded and filled out the birth certificate.
"Uchiha Sarada," Tsunade spoke, looking down at the child. "Precious."
"She is," Sakura agreed.
"Well, I'll take these to finalize everything else. Did you want me to send in those in the waiting room?"
Sakura nodded and Tsunade was gone again.
"Sasuke, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Sakura murmured.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.
"When Sarada was born, I heard you refused to hold her when you thought I was going to die."
"You did die," he interjected.
"That's not the point," Sakura frowned. "Sasuke, Sarada is now our top priority."
"I know that now," Sasuke spoke. "I saw you die and all I could think was that there would be another Uchiha with the blood of family on their hands."
"Sasuke, she was barely five minutes old!"
"It didn't matter to me at the time, alright?" Sasuke scowled. "But I hadn't seen her and so it was easy for me to hate her."
He looked down at the girl in question.
"But now...I could never hate her. Never," he assured.
"Then promise me, Sasuke," Sakura said, seriously. "If anything were to happen to me or anything happens in general, you will make sure Sarada is okay; that she will be your number one priority, above me, above Naruto, everyone."
"Sakura-"
"Promise. Me."
"I promise."
The suddenly dead serious atmosphere was dispersed by an excited blond followed by Kakashi, Sai and Yamato.
"Well!?" Naruto bounced excitedly.
Sakura relaxed as she was surrounded by loved ones.
"Everyone, we'd like you to meet our beautiful baby girl," Sakura glowed.
"Uchiha Sarada."
Sasuke fought off the memory that took hold of him after he emptied his stomach into the toilet bowl of Sarada's bathroom suite.
'Sakura was pregnant.'
The thought echoed in his mind.
'Pregnant.'
His hands clenched around the bowl, crushing it as his anger rose. Anger at himself. At this fucking Kuromaru.
'I swear on my life, Kuromaru. When I find you, you will be begging me to end your life,' he thought darkly.
"Tou-san?"
He heard Sarada call for him from her bed and he raised himself up from the floor. Washing out his mouth, he then splashed his face with water, then wiped it with a towel before heading back out to Sarada who was looking at him with both worry and resentment.
Sasuke couldn't blame her. He hated himself too.
He sat back in his chair by her bedside and grasped her hand.
"You're right," he spoke. "I wasn't there for you or your mother when you needed me most and I'll never forgive myself for that. But I swear to you, as an Uchiha, as a father and a husband, that I will hunt down the ones responsible."
Sarada stared back intensely, nodding.
"I'll save your mother and the baby and we'll finally be a family."
"Babies."
"What?" Sasuke wondered.
"Babies. Kaa-san is pregnant with twins."
Someone just fucking kill him now.
"I'm sorry," he finally said.
"You can make it better by saving kaa-san and my baby sisters or brothers," Sarada stated.
"That's not enough."
"It will be for me."
There was silence for a moment before she spoke up again.
"Tou-san?"
Sasuke inclined his head to show he was listening.
"You're worried about kaa-san, right?"
Sasuke frowned. "Of course I am."
"Why don't you act like it?" She asked. "Even now, you're calm and quiet."
Sasuke stared at her before he sighed.
"The day you were born, your mother made me promise her something."
Her curiosity piqued, she look at him with interest. "What was it?"
"If anything were to happen to her, to make sure you were okay first and foremost. Even above herself."
"Sounds like kaa-san," Sarada whispered.
She felt a hand on her cheek and she looked up to see her father wiping away the tears she hadn't realised she had started to shed.
"I want you to know," Sasuke spoke, voice firm and hard. "Despite my calm appearance, on the inside, I am boiling with rage and...and fear. My blood is screaming for Kuromaru's. With no leads or clues, I have no choice but to wait until we find something and as minutes go by with me not doing anything, my temper rises."
Sarada stared at her father in surprise. "But you-"
"I am a monster, Sarada," Sasuke admitted. "Regardless of the good I have tried to do, I know inside I haven't changed. I hide it from you, Sarada, because I wouldn't be able to handle it if you thought of me a monster like many others."
"You're wrong, tou-san," Sarada stated.
Sasuke blinked at her. "Excuse me?"
"You're not a monster. You might have done some bad things but everyone does. You're different now. You don't want to kill just anyone, only the guy who hurt me and kaa-san. Kaa-san said it's normal to hate someone who hurt you or the ones you love. It makes us human. It makes you human."
Sasuke could only stare at his daughter.
"Sakura-chan's right."
Sasuke turned to the blond Hokage that entered with two cups of coffee, offering the other to Sasuke who accepted it with a nod of thanks.
"It's only human to want to kill the man who hurt your family. I'd be the same if it had been Hinata. Hell, I'm the same right now."
"You're not alone, Sasuke," Tsunade added as she entered, followed by Kakashi and Shizune.
"Someone has taken our Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke.
Kakashi nodded.
"And there will be hell to pay."
"Believe it."
"Are you alright?"
Her brain hurt and she was both emotionally and mentally spent.
'How much more?' She wondered weakly.
"You have so many important memories, Outer," Inner explained. "It's going to take time."
'You know we don't have time. Karin said Kuromaru grows bored with his friends and will be back to fuck my brain to goo.'
"I know, I know. We just need to keep going. Are you ready for the next one?"
'Yeah.'
"What memory? We've covered all memories of Naruto and Sasuke's medical examinations, every memory of Sarada and your training."
Sakura stared up at the roof of her cell as she prepared herself. A tear slipped down the side of her face from her lying position.
'Every fight, every death that I've seen and been a part of. Without them, I wouldn't be the Sakura I am today. '
Outer nodded within her mind.
"It will be painful."
'Do it.'
I'm so sorry everyone!
I didn't mean to take so long but my laptop is getting its screen fixed coz I have serious anger issues.
Just ask my laptop, it'll tell you.
Yeeeaaaaaahhhhhh
I didn't have time to post this before I had it fixed, not to mention I've just moved out of home.
Yay me.
Independence for the win!
But yeah, I'm also busy with my acting course.
If I become a famous actress(or voice actor. That shit would be GREAT) I'll let you all know.
Keep it real
-Me 3