"Sasuke. Go." Amira said strapping a pair of curved swords to her back.

"What?" Sasuke asked his brow furrowing.

"Amira?" Sakura echoed question evident in her tone.

"Take your wife and get her to safety." Hisame clarified handing Amira a pair of metal bracers that she strapped to her forearms. "We will dispatch the rest of those gathered here."

"This is my mission." Sasuke said his brow knit, his lips twisted into a scowl. "They must be eliminated. I will make them pay for what they have done!"

"Sasuke!" Sakura called out her blood chilling at the bloodlust in his eyes and his voice.

Amira reached out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt yanking him forward.

"Your wife is in labor on a fucking battlefield, Uchiha! Their lives are literally hanging in the balance right now. You do your duty to your family and to your village by getting them to safety and seeing to their needs, do you understand me!?" She snarled her temperature spiking again. "Let Hisame and I handle this for you. It is the least we can do for all of the suffering this incident has caused the two of you. I believe Itachi would agree with me. After all, he had one person in this world that he was willing to do anything for, even at the cost of his own heart, remember?"

Sasuke's dark eyes that were tinged with bloodlust softened just a bit and Sakura reached for his arm, clasping it tightly as she used it to tug herself up from the ground as best she could.

"Sasuke please. She won't wait much longer. Please take me, take us, away from this place. I'm begging you." Sakura was desperate, praying that what Itachi had said in her dream about her words reaching him through the madness in his blood would come to pass.

Sasuke turned to look down at her, his gaze reminding her of the look he'd given her on the battlefield after she and Obito had saved him from the sand dimension and his eyes softened further. He opened his mouth to speak when Amira suddenly leapt over Sakura and pushed her into Sasuke.

"My Lady!" Hisame exclaimed rushing forward.

"Amira, NO!" Sakura screamed in horror at the sight of a katana protruding from the princess's chest standing in the spot she had been only moments before the handle of the blade held by a mad looking Lord Sakamoto who released it and let lose a howl of rage at the realization that he had missed his target.

"My Lady!" Hisame cried again wrapping his arms around Amira and easing her to the forest floor. "Hang in there, I'll remove the blade."

Sasuke's eyes ignited again and he spun on his heel as the mad Lord charged again his gaze fixated on Sakura.

"I should have done this the moment I first laid eyes on you." Sasuke snarled his hand electrifying as he moved Sakura firmly behind his own body. Lord Sakamoto leapt at her with a dagger in his pudgy hand. Sasuke pulsed his sharringan freezing the man in place with his blade outstretched. The Lord's eyes widened as the chirping of birds sounded again and Sasuke's hand glowed with the potent power of his electric chakra. Without a moment of hesitation, Sasuke shoved his hand through the man's chest, destroying his thick black heart. "I will obliterate the stain of your filth from her memories. You will never haunt her dreams again." He pulled his hand free burning the flesh from his hands with his fire chakra allowing Lord Sakamoto's body to slip unceremoniously to the dirt below.

"Well spoken." Amira said standing to her feet shakily with Hisame's help, her wound somehow closing beneath her hand. "Now go! King Farid's destruction has always been my duty."

Sasuke nodded and looked down at Sakura. "Can you walk?"

She shook her head sweat beading on her brow. "I'm sorry. I can't." She whimpered as she slumped against him.

"Don't be. This isn't your fault. Come." He said lifting her against his chest.

In a flash they were shrouded in purple flames as his Susanoo took shape unfurling massive wings.

"I leave this to you. Come to The Leaf when you finish up." Sasuke said.

"Of course." Amira said unsheathing her swords flames bursting to life along the curved blades.

"We won't let you down." Hisame replied ribbons of water writhing and twisting like snakes around his arms.

Sasuke nodded and blasted into the air cradling his wife carefully. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and she began to cry.

Sasuke didn't ask why. He didn't bother whispering sweet but bold faced lies about how everything would go back to normal or that everything would be over soon. He simply held her while calculating where the nearest Orochimaru or Leaf safehouse was and the fastest and inconspicuous route there.

"Sakura, the hideout we stayed in with my team is the closest safehouse. It'll take me about an hour to get us there. Can you hold out that long?" He asked.

"I think so. Just hurry." Sakura replied her grip on his neck tightening a little.

"How are you going into labor so soon?" Sasuke asked after she cried out in pain hoping to distract her as well as genuinely curious. According to his own calculations, she should have at least another six to eight weeks before her due date.

"I used my seal to force my body and our baby into the safe period right after I was captured. It was risky but the only way I could think of to make sure the baby was strong enough to survive what might be coming." Sakura replied between clenched teeth.

"I see." Sasuke said as he lowered them both to the ground his susanoo fading out except for a section that formed a small skeletal looking arm from the remains of his right arm down to blade like fingers.

He scooped her into his arms bridal style and took off across the forest floor moving nimbly through the undergrowth. Sakura clung to him tightly her head buried in the crook of his neck, her breathing changing to ragged pants as they went.

"Sakura, is something wrong with you or the baby?" He asked sensing her distress.

"Maybe. I don't know. I can't tell. I'm working so hard to keep her inside." Sakura gasped.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and ran faster. She needed him right now and he was not going to fail her again.

SxSxSxS

They arrived outside the familiar hidden door and Sasuke pulsed his chakra and slipped inside.

He was surprised to find the main generator was active it's low hum fuling the bright lights overhead. Sasuke has expected the hideout to be vacant but it looked as though it was still very much being used though he couldn't tell who by. It didn't really matter. No one from Orochimaru's organization would dare touch him or his family.

Sasuke made his way to the main laboratory/infirmary and laid Sakura down in the largest bed he could find. He scurried around to find a few pillows to prop behind her back and blankets to cover the bed. He returned to her bedside in time to help her out of the Chinese style dress she wore, scowling at the fact that the garment was the same shade of green as the putrid lord's hair. When she doubled over halfway through shimmying out of her pants, he immediately reached for her cupping her shoulder with his hand.

"Sakura! What's wrong?" He demanded his brow knit with concern as her hand glowed green and pressed against her swollen middle.

"I can't hold her back anymore." She whimpered.

"Then don't. We're safe here. Let her come." Sasuke replied sliding his hand across her shoulder and up her neck tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I can't do this by myself." Sakura protested her back suddenly arching before she fell back against the pillows Sasuke had collected for her.

"You're not alone. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Sasuke assured her stroking her from temple to jaw with his fingertips tilting her chin up so that he could see her gorgeous jade eyes. "Tell me what to do to help you Tsuma."

"I'm scared." Sakura admitted tears welling in her eyes.

"I know." Sasuke said leaning forward to press a kiss to her brow. "It's alright. You can do this, Sakura. You are not weak"

Sakura nodded and took a deep breath. The seal on her forehead glowed and the ribbons around her limbs began to recede until all that was left was an indigo diamond.

A mere second later and Sakura let out a scream that made Sasuke's hair stand on end.

"Sakura!" He exclaimed reaching for her outstretched hand.

"It hurts!" She cried her back arching again and screaming. "It hurts so much!"

"How can I help?" Sasuke demanded wincing at the intense pressure she was applying with her fingers to his hand.

"Shut up and let me think!" Sakura snarled her jaw clenching. "Ok, I need to calm down. This much pain doesn't seem normal but my pregnancy wasn't normal either because I sped things up." She muttered before crying out again. "My water hasn't broken, which isn't uncommon but it feels so wet..." Another cry of pain. "Damn! I can't even concentrate through all of this pain! My head is so fuzzy."

Sasuke was about to respond when he noticed the blood. So much blood soaking the sheets beneath his wife. He wasn't a medical ninja by any means but he knew damn well that losing that much blood in such a short amount of time was dangerous to one's health.

"Something is wrong." He said with a frown activating his sharringan and rinnigan.

He gasped in shock at both the incredibly potent chakra he could see radiating from his unborn child and the weakness of his own wife's chakra. It was bad. Very bad.

"You're losing too much blood and your chakra is dangerously depleted. We need to do something." Sasuke said glancing around as panic began to set in.

He knew that Orochimaru had every medical tool known to man in this room. Surely the solution to the problem was here somewhere but he had no idea where or how. He was so damn useless!

Sakura moaned and he turned to face her blood draining from his face as he noticed how pale she'd become.

"Sakura!" He exclaimed rushing to her side. "Tell me how to help you. Please!"

Sakura sighed and meet his gaze with her own jade orbs that were just beginning to dim.

"Use your sharringan." Sakura said softly before she cried out again.

Nodding in agreement and cursing himself a fool for not thinking of it himself, Sasuke activated his mangyko sharringan and entered his wife's mind. A flood of medical knowledge swamped his mind and he was overwhelmed with incredible wisdom his wife possessed.

Using the knowledge he gleaned from her mind, he immediately went to work. With a little trouble he managed to set up an IV and found the right blood type to get a transfusion going for her.

Hours passed as he encouraged, comforted and did his best to assist his wife. However it seemed that every minute his daughter came closer to entering the world, Sakura was a minute closer to leaving it. She was fading, her chakra waning at an alarming rate and all he could do was stand by and watch.

Somehow without him realizing it more than twenty four had passed while Sakura battled to bring their child into the world. Then she whimpered that it was nearly time for her to push, that the time for their baby to be born was at hand.

Just as Sasuke was about to look for some clamps needed for the baby's umbilical cord, he saw a spike of chakra and sensed the change in air pressure as someone entered the hideout.

In a flash he was at his wife's side with katana drawn as the chakra rushed towards the medical wing.

"Who the hell-!" Karin slid to a complete stop just inside the door her eyes wide. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

"Sakura-" Sasuke began but was interrupted by his wife's cry of pain that was thankfully stronger than they had been before the transfusions he'd administered.

"Sakura? I can't believe I didn't sense her. I swore I could sense another person but not her." Karin said walking towards the bed. "What's going on? Did she get- holy shit she's having a baby. Your baby. Right now?!" The redhead shrieked as she rounded to corner getting a full view of the pinkette.

"Yes. Help her, Karin." Sasuke ordered studying his old teammate.

"Help her?" Karin repeated cocking a brow.

"You said so yourself that you couldn't even sense her when you first entered the room. You know full well that losing that much chakra is fatal to a shinobi. At this rate she won't even survive the birthing process and you know it. Our daughter might not even draw her first breath." Sasuke said his body trembling as his hand curled around the clammy fingers of his wife.

Karin's eyes widened. "Daughter? You're having a girl?"

"Yes." Sakura wheezed offering her research colleague a weak but sincere smile. "Another headstrong female to drive Sasuke crazy. You know what they say about karma, right?" The smile left her lips to be replaced by a grimace and followed by a shriek of agony.

"Sakura!" Sasuke exclaimed turning to face her his thumb brushing over the top of her hand. He leaned his forehead against her temple. "You're alright, Tsuma. You can do this. Just keep breathing." He murmured pressing a kiss to her temple. "Keep fighting." He kissed away her tears blinking away the ones forming in his own eyes. "Stay with me Sakura."

Karin took a step back before she let out a groan of frustration. "For fucks sake!" She snarled yanking a hand through her hair. "Fine." She strode forward, rolled up her sleeve and offered her arm to the pinkette.

"What?" Sakura panted staring at the offered limb in obvious confusion.

"You need chakra, so take mine." Karin said moving her arm closer to Sakura's mouth.

"You want me to… bite you?" Sakura asked before she turned her head away. "I can't."

"Do it Sakura." Sasuke said firmly.

"Sasuke-"

"You promised me!" He snapped cutting her off his eyes fierce.

Sakura's jade eyes widened before she slowly nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry Sasuke."

"Don't apologize. Just do what you know you need to." Sasuke said his tone and eyes softening.

Sakura opened her mouth and bit down on Karin's arm gasping as she absorbed the redhead's potent power. After a few moments, she pulled away and cried out gripping Sasuke's hand tightly.

"Damn you took a lot." Karin muttered pulling her sleeve down again. "Alright, how close together are her contradictions? How long has she been in labor and why does it look like she's been through three bags of blood?" Sasuke blinked several times as he tried to think back and Karin groaned. "Useless man. I should know better than to ask you." She grumbled walking to a supplies cabinet and pulling out a set of gloves, clamps and a basin.

"Here. Make yourself useful and fill this with hot water." She said tossing the basin to Sasuke.

"Thank you Karin." Sakura breathed as the redhead approached her pulling on a pair of gloves. "I think it's been about twenty six hours of active labor though I'm not completely sure. I must be hemorrhaging due to the amount of blood he's administered but I haven't got the strength to find or stop the bleeding." She stopped and let out another cry of pain. "My contractions are about three minutes apart."

Karin's brow knit together as she laid her hands against Sakura's swollen abdomen and pressed lightly.

"Feels like the baby has fully dropped into position." She murmured before gently easing Sakura's legs apart and barely covered up her gag. "Yup, you're hemorrhaging alright." She shuddered and continued her exam. "It's time to push Sakura. The faster she gets out, the faster we can patch the hole in your middle."

Sakura nodded and reached for Sasuke when he returned with the basin of water.

"Go hold your wife's hand. She's about to start the hard part." Karin barked as she put the basin on a nearby table and moved to stand at the end of the bed. "Alright, on the next contraction, I need you to push but don't stop breathing on me ok?"

Sakura nodded and gripped Sasuke's hand. As the pain rose, she rose to the challenge and pushed with everything she had. Her cry of pain and determination echoing through the hideout loudly.

Sasuke could only watch in awe at the spectacle before him. His wife, wearing the look of a battle hardened warrior in action with sweat sliding down her face and fire in her eyes, fought to bring their child into the world. When tears of anguish ran down her cheeks and a sob escaped her lips, the woman whom had once hated his wife for having the gall to exist, immediately squeezed her leg.

"You've got this, pinky. Just a few more pushes and your little girl will be in your arms. Come on Sakura." Karin said in a soothing tone that Sasuke had never in his life heard from the redhead.

Sakura bared her teeth and held Sasuke's hand with a grip that was sure to crack bone and let out a shriek unlike anything Sasuke had ever heard.

"Yes! I see the head. Nearly there!" Karin exclaimed. "Three more pushes. That's all I need. She's almost here."

Sasuke pressed his forehead to Sakura's clammy temple as she gasped and whimpered. "You heard her. Just three more Sakura. Three pushes and then you can rest and hold our baby in your arms." He kissed her hair. "You can do it, Tsuma."

Sakura took in a ragged breath with tears streaming down her cheeks and then pushed.

Once.

"I've got the head!"

Twice.

"She's out! Sasuke get me the clamps! Now one more!"

Thrice.

A cry. A wet but loud, healthy cry.

"There's a good girl. Get those lungs going." Karin walked up and laid the wrinkled, pink skinned infant on Sakura's heaving chest. "She's a bit on the small side, but gorgeous, just like a doll. Great job Sakura."

Sasuke bent down and kissed his wife's sweat dampened forehead laying a hand gently on the infant's damp head.

"You did well." He murmured softly before kissing Sakura's cheek. "I am so proud of you." He kissed her trembling lips. "I love you. Thank you so much for this, for her." His eyes welled up with tears the slid down his face before he could stop them.

Sakura beamed at him and laid her hand over his on the baby's head."I love you Sasuke. She's beautiful." She whispered.

Sakura shifted the infant up higher on her chest and kissed her little forehead. Her eyes warmed with emotion that made Sasuke's heart swell and ache in his chest. Seeing Sakura so maternal began to awaken something within him as well.

"Hold her." Sakura said softly.

Sasuke's eyes widened and his heart shuddered in his chest. He was not gentle, he was not kind, he was in no way qualified to hold such precious, pure, fragile being in his arms.

"She's yours too." Sakura reminded him gently. "Please hold her."

Sasuke nodded and stooped down allowing Sakura to gently lay the infant in his arm, placing the tiny girl's head in the crook of his arm. As he slowly straightened to full height the babe's eyes opened revealing orbs as dark as night. A tiny Uchiha princess with the dark hair and eyes their bloodline was most well known for. A feeling he'd never experienced before crashed over him in a massive wave as those dark eyes studied him. This child was his. He would do anything to ensure her safety, even sacrifice his own heart.

Moving slowly, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to the baby's damp brow. The baby mewed and then let out a soft sigh nuzzling into his chest. It occurred to him then that the little girl didn't have a name. He and Sakura had never had a chance to discuss such things.

"Sakura what should we-" his words drifted off when he saw that his wife was unconscious.

"Let her be." Karin said her hands glowing green above Sakura's midsection. "She's absolutely exhausted and not just because of the birth either." The redhead's brow furrowed. "It's obvious that she's been straining herself significantly for a long time. I'm amazed she didn't pass out from the strain before now."

Sasuke's grip on his daughter tightened reflexively.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"We'll see." The redhead replied grimly.

The raven haired man tensed his eyes widening. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that this girl had a foot across the threshold of death's door before I got here. Dragging her back is not going to be an easy task." Karin said stepping away from his wife and grabbing a vial from a nearby drawer.

Sasuke paled and moved closer to his wife studying her pale face. She had suffered so much in such a short amount of time. In this moment, he hated that she hadn't taken him up on his offer to be a housewife. She would be safe and sound at home surrounded by her family and friends anxiously counting down the days for their baby to come instead of hiding in a snake's den on the verge of death because she'd pushed herself beyond her limits to protect the precious bundle in his arms. If he lost her…

"Don't worry. I won't let her die so easily." Karin said her back to him as she typed several commands into the massive computer mounted to the wall. "I won't fail you again. I promise." She sniffed and then suddenly turned around her glasses flashing. "Anyway! There are diapers in that drawer there and a bassinet in that far cabinet. Get that baby situated and then take a shower. You're filthy."

Sasuke blinked in surprise before he shuffled off to do what he was told. It seemed that something Naruto had once said while helping a new mother on a mission as a genin was true. Women got even crazier than normal when babies were involved.

SxSxSxS

Sakura stirred; blackness and fog fading from her mind and body. She felt tired, a bone tiredness that she couldn't remember feeling ever so intensely, not even lying in a pool of her own blood half dead from battle. Her limbs felt as heavy as they'd seemed trapped in Kaguya's damn gravity dimension, and her head throbbed hard in time with her heartbeat. What in the world had happened to her? More importantly, what was it that had dragged her into consciousness when it was obvious that she still desperately needed rest to recover from whatever had put her in this state?

A cry; the cry of an infant sounded again and her eyes snapped open, her heart rate immediately accelerating. A baby, her baby was crying.

With blurry vision she struggled to orient herself doing her best to ignore the pain filled memories of a desperate escape from a battlefield filtering through her mind's eye. Where was her little one? Her husband's face flashed before her and the memory of him holding their daughter snapped to the forefront of her mind. Sasuke was here. He had their baby.

"S-Sasuke." She rasped.

"I'm here." His low voice replied his face suddenly appearing in her line of vision. "Welcome back Tsuma." He bent his head and kissed her brow.

"Baby." Sakura whispered her heart still pounding while her still fuzzy mind struggled to focus. "Where is our baby?"

"Right here." Karin said carrying a tiny bundle wrapped in white blankets to her bedside. "Did her crying wake you? I'm sorry. I think she's hungry but she refuses to take a bottle."

Sakura's brain cleared further as she looked at the shrieking infant who's raven hair was already sticking up like her father's. She smiled warmly and slowly lifted her heavy limbs towards the tiny girl.

"I'll feed her." She said.

"Are you sure? You're still lookin' pretty weak there." Karin said with a cocked brow.

"I know that, but I'm what she needs right now. Sasuke can help me." Sakura replied.

"Fair enough." Karin said lowering the girl into her arms. "I'll go get dinner going."

"Thank you for everything Karin." Sakura said meeting the woman's gaze and hoping her sincerity would be conveyed. She was well aware that she likely would be dead without the redhead's intervention.

Karin blinked twice and then blushed muttering, "Don't mention it… ever." as she hurried out the door.

"We owe her big time." Sakura said pulling her gown open with trembling, shaky fingers to reveal a heavy breast.

Her daughter with the prodigious Uchiha blood running through her veins immediately pawed at her mother's breast and with a little guidance from her mother, latched on and began to suck greedily.

Sasuke nodded and sat down next to her supporting the arm that held their baby with his own.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Absolutely awful." Sakura replied in a no nonsense tone leaning against his arm. "But I'm alive, she's safe and you're here with me so I'm happy," she sighed and burrowed into his side. "I'm so very happy."

Sasuke sighed and kissed the top of her head. "Sentimental as always."

Sakura chuckled and sighed watching her baby nurse with rapt attention. The sensation was so odd, a mix of foreign yet natural that made her belly flutter with nerves and her heart swell with affection.

"Beautiful." She cooed as her baby's midnight eyes, so similar to the eyes she fell in love with as a child looked up at her.

"She is." Sasuke agreed stroking the babe's plump cheek. "What should we name her?"

Sakura sighed and looked at her husband. "What do you think, darling? I know it's traditional in your house for the patriarch to choose a name."

"I don't want to be bound by all of the same traditions my family followed." Sasuke replied. "I'd like her to have a unique name. Maybe with something that quietly memorializes Itachi."

Sakura smiled. She could tell from the very light blush on her husband's cheek that he already had something in mind.

"Tell me what you're thinking." She encouraged. "I promise to tell you if I don't like it."

"I was thinking maybe Sarata or Itada." He confessed. "But neither of those sound very good."

Sakura thought for a moment analyzing the characters he was attempting to combine. It was clear he was trying to find a way to combine the first character of their own names with a subtle hint of Itachi. After a few moments a word flew from her lips.

"Sarada." Sakura blurted.

Sasuke cocked a brow at that. "Sarada? Like salad?"

Sakura blushed and looked down. "My name is about as cliche as they come. I was trying to be creative." She muttered.

"Sarada Uchiha." Sasuke said aloud his eyes brightening. "Oil. The oil that will rekindle the light of the Uchiha." He beamed at the raven haired girl who had just finished feeding and was nodding off against her mother's breast. "Perfect."

Sakura blinked and then nodded with a smile on her lips as she shifted the infant to her shoulder tapping lightly to encourage any air bubbles out of the babe's tummy.

"May that flame burn bright and pure for generations to come." She murmured quietly.

Sasuke nodded and pressed a kiss to her temple and gently took his daughter into his arm. "Rest Tsuma. Karin said that you should be able to go home by the end of the week."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Go home?" She parroted. "What do you mean?"

"Our mission is over. Hisame and Amira finished off the remnants of the Anti- Shinobi uprising. Karin checked this morning." Sasuke said tucking the newly christened Sarada into a nearby bassinet. "We're returning to The Leaf."

Tears immediately welled in Sakura's eyes and she clapped her hand over her mouth to cover her sob. Sasuke immediately rushed to her side and reached out to cup her cheek.

"What's wrong?" He demanded sharply though his touch and eyes were gentle.

"Is it- is it really over?" Sakura asked softly. "Are we really going home?"

Back to their cozy house with their cats and koi pond. Back to the village where their nosy friends and loving family were waiting for them.

"Yes, Tsuma. It's over. Lord Sakamoto is dead and his organization is nothing but ashes. We're going home, all three of us." Sasuke assured her.

Sakura sobbed and wrapped her arms around her husband as relief poured over her. It was over. Finally. Now they could just be together as a family and enjoy life in peace for a while. In fact, she had every intention of throwing Kakashi into his own portrait on Hokage Mountain if he even thought about sending Sasuke on another out of village mission in the next six months. They needed time together as a family. She needed time to heal and fight off the new demons this latest mission had left with her and she wanted Sasuke by her side this time. They'd been robbed of enough time already.

Author's Notes: Hurrah! Sarada is here! I hope it met everyone's expectations. Thanks for all your support.