Chapter Sixteen: Sunflowers and Babies

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The Frozen Yogurt shop wasn't too busy in the mid-afternoon. Students at the academy were still occupied by whatever coursework Iruka had laid out for them. It was still hours before the shift change at the hospital. And frankly, the hospital and the academy hours determined a great deal of the village's rush hour schedule.

"This was a great idea, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shoved his spoon into the large peanut butter and chocolate desert he'd poured for himself. Boruto next to him picked at his vanilla and blueberry swirl. "Last time I brought one back for Hinata —it melted and she wasn't too happy."

"Hmmm, she can't really eat a lot of dairy right now," Sakura reminded him gently. Hinata was back home nursing baby Himawari and couldn't join the excursion. "We can stop by the Yamanaka Flower shop and pick up some fresh flowers. I think my mom is working this afternoon. She'd love to see you."

"Okay, sure!" Naruto sat back and rubbed between his eyes. "Brain freeze! It's agony!"

Sarada looked back at Naruto and then her mom, slowly picking the strawberries off her Froyo — she preferred the fruit to the actual yogurt.

"He really is a moron," Itachi murmured hovering over their table.

"That's not nice," Sarada chided, staring at her uncle with a disapproving scowl.

"Yeah, that's not nice," Sakura added, knowing Itachi would hear and it wouldn't sound too strange to anyone overhearing. She reached across the table and sent a surge of healing chakra to the area of vasoconstriction from the frozen treat and relieved Naruto's pain. "You've been through much worse — literally have been tortured — yet it's frozen yogurt that causes your downfall?" She giggled. Naruto wasn't the smartest person, but he was her favorite person. "Next time, you can place your tongue at the roof of your mouth — it should help in case I'm not around."

"No need! You'll always have my back, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, smiling wide and obviously no longer in pain.

"Do you like your yogurt, Boruto?" Sakura asked.

The young boy nodded. "Yes, Sarada's Mama."

Sakura smiled. "Good. How do you like being a big brother?"

Boruto frowned. "She's loud. And Mommy is always busy now."

"Do you know what your Mommy's favorite flower is?" Sakura picked at her own frozen yogurt. She'd picked strawberry and vanilla swirl with a colorful array of sprinkles.

Boruto shook his head.

"Sunflowers," Naruto said. "Hinata's favorite flowers are sunflowers."

Boruto scowled. "Mommy's name means sunflowers."

"And they are bright and yellow," Sakura said. She reached across the table and tossed Boruto's bright, yellow hair. "They make her think of you!" The boy smiled big, obviously pleased with the idea — no one had to point out that Naruto's hair was bright yellow.

They finished up at the Froyo shop a few minutes later and enjoyed the autumn weather as they walked to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Her mother was behind the counter arranging a display of daisies when they opened the door, settling off the bell that chimed.

"Oh! Welcome! Sakura and Sarada— it's so good to see you!" Mebuki quickly moved away from the counter and threw her arms around her granddaughter. She looked up at Naruto and Boruto. "Hello boys! You are both looking handsome today."

"Thanks, Mrs Haruno," Naruto said, smiling wide.

"Oh, Sakura, before I forget, I just want to say that husband of yours is the sweetest! Did you know he arranged flowers to be delivered to me too? You have to read the note he wrote — you never told me he was so sweet! No wonder you always had such a crush on him," Mebuki gushed. She gave Sarada one last hug and then returned to the counter. She dug through her bag and pulled out a small card and handed it to Sakura.

"Dear Sofu and Sobo,

I would rather walk hand in hand with your daughter enjoying the azaleas and hydrangeas in your neighborhood and feasting on a family barbeque than whatever work I'm doing right now. Please, spend time with your grandchildren in my stead. My mother cannot hug them, so Sobo, it's up to you to hug them double.

Your son, Sasuke."

Sakura's eyes welled up with tears. "Damn pregnancy hormones," she complained, wiping them away with the back of hand.

"This shop has been really busy, Sakura!" Mebuki continued. "We're hiring Genin regularly to make the deliveries now. Ino and Sai are too busy to do it with their jobs in the upper echelons of our village defense."

"She talks as if she thinks she has an inkling of their line of work," Itachi mused. "Civilians never truly understand what it is we do, but I suppose that's a good thing. Not everyone should have nightmares."

"We need some sunflowers for my wife," Naruto said, He started looking over the selection of vases. He found a pale purple one. "And I'd like to use this vase — it reminds me of her eyes."

"Or you can get a bright blue one to match yours and Boruto's eyes," Sakura countered. She picked up a cerulean blue vase. "It's for Hinata — and blue and yellow are her favorite colors."

"I think the blue looks better with the yellow flowers," Mebuki agreed. "Sakura, honey — is it true that Shizune Kato has moved into your house?"

"Yes, it's better than a rotating cycle of volunteers. She's saving up for a house and is worried about my health with the boys," Sakura explained.

"Your father and I are happy to help too, you know," Mebuki said.

"I know mom, and I'm grateful. But for security reasons, when you guys babysit, you'll have to come to the house is all," Sakura explained.

"I understand," Mebuki said, a wan smile. "Lady Uchiha — you're a clan leader, my sweet girl." She started to collect a dozen sunflowers and baby's breath for Naruto's floral arrangement. "Oh! Go look in my bag, Sakura. I brought that diary you were asking about — my grandmother's?"

"Oh! Thanks!" Sakura found a short, thick journal with dark green cloth on its cover. "I just wanted to know a little about our heritage — you know? It's all Uchiha - Uchiha — Uchiha and a little bit of Haruno."

"You wanted to know about the Midori side of the family," Mebuki answered. "I'm flattered, Sakura."

"You should get Sarada some sunflowers," Itachi suggested. "She seems to like yellow too."

Oh boy, Sakura did not want her daughter to be boy crazy like her. She crouched next to her toddler. "Would you like some flowers, Sarada? Mommy would like to buy you some."

"Flowers for me?" Sarada asked.

Sakura nodded. "From me and Daddy."

Sarada smiled big and clasped her hands together eagerly in front of her. "Yes please!"

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The boys came late. It surprised Sakura, as she thought twins usually came early. But it wasn't until the Winter Solstice the longest night of the year — that her water broke. She had felt a surge of Sasuke's chakra in her wedding band and that seemed to cause it. Shizune had sent the nearby Anbu guards to retrieve Kakashi and Naruto.

Her two teammates were soon both at her house, Sarada was with her parents with an Anbu guard detail nearby. Shizune was preparing warm towels in the kitchen along with a couple of Naruto's clones.

"So we're the only ones that know you're descended from the Second Hokage?" Naruto asked. "So you're part Senju?"

"And part Hatake," Kakashi added. He leaned back against the wall behind him. They'd set up a pallet for Sakura on the floor — she didn't want to ruin her bedding with blood and amniotic fluid. The wooden floor would be much easier to clean. "So technically, your kids are adding to both the Uchiha, Senju, and Hatake clans."

"So the kids should call you Uncle Kakashi?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "It has a better ring to it than Daddy, don't you think?"

"I don't know. I think you'd be a great dad too, Kakashi." Sakura grimaced as another contract painfully swept through her womb. "I can just picture you and Yugao having a couple of little ones running around — they'll be best friends with mine and Naruto's kids, naturally."

"Naturally," Kakashi agreed with a laugh. "Yugao and I have only been together for a couple of months, Sakura. I wouldn't call that a life-time commitment."

"How many Anbu are outside right now?" Sakura asked.

"Ten," Kakashi answered. "Plus there's me, Naruto, and Shizune. You're in good hands, Sakura."

"That seems little overkill," Sakura murmured.

"Sorry, Sakura," Kakashi said, reaching for her hand. "But it's a matter of national security. Can you imagine someone catching wind of this? Shady rogue ninja steal children from prominent bloodlines all the time."

"I should at least tell my parents," Sakura argued. "It might help them understand why their granddaughter almost burned down their house."

"They think it's because of Sasuke's bloodline — it is partly. Let them keep on believing that," Kakashi said. "You don't know how they'll react if they learn their daughter is also part of an ancient bloodline that was dormant in your predecessors. It will likely cause feelings of bitterness or fear."

"I can't believe Sasuke asked you to be here, as if I wouldn't?" Sakura complained. Gaara's databanks hadn't had any Hatake blood on file until after Kakashi's sample. There were traces of his clan's DNA confirmed in her blood too.

"He probably figured you would ask, but wanted me to know he was okay with it too," Kakashi said. He patted Sakura's hand gently. "You sure are cranky, niece."

Sakura glared at him. "I'm not your niece. And this is not exactly a comfortable stroll in the park — labor is very painful."

Kakashi's lips pursed through his mask. "I don't doubt it."

Shizune entered the room, arms laden with supplies with Naruto trailing after her also carrying a basket full of more supplies. Shizune checked Sakura and determined the babies were imminently on their way.

"Kakashi you hold Sakura's right leg and hand and Naruto her left," Shizune instructed. It was a different arrangement with her two teammates than when it had been Sasuke who held Sakura from behind with Sarada's birth, but just as effective.

The first twin, Myoken was born with onyx hair and jade green eyes. Naruto set to work washing him off with the materials he'd brought. And Kakashi was told to sit behind Sakura, much as Sasuke had done with the previous birth. Kakashi's strong arms surrounded Sakura and his hands settled under her knees, holding her in a rocked back position. The side of his face was pressed against Sakura's and she could feel his breath against her heated flesh.

Naruto came back to her side with the older twin wrapped in a blanket, held in his arms. "Good thing I didn't take a snapshot photo of this, little Myoken. Sasuke would definitely have a rage attack seeing Master Kakashi holding Sakura-chan like this!"

"Push, push, push!" Shizune shouted.

Sakura's second son was born, Takashi with platinum blond hair and onyx eyes.

Kakashi cut the cord and he and Sakura started in shock at the white haired baby with dark eyes. Kakashi quickly looked towards Shizune. "I swear, we're just friends."

Shizune laughed. "I know, Lord Sixth. A lot of babies have white hair. It's not unusual when one of the parents has blond or red hair— Sakura's strawberry blond gene did this." She took the boy and cleaned him herself while Sakura focused on delivering the afterbirth.

Sakura relaxed against Kakashi's solid form, feeling exhausted. Her Byakugou seal finally started to recover its normal function and she could feel her Mitotic regeneration automatically healing the damage the pregnancy and delivery had wrecked upon her body.

"You did good, Sakura." Kakashi hugged her from behind, moving his hands from under her legs and setting them gently on her shoulders while he scooted back on the pallet. He kept his legs sprawled on either side of her.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said. "Look at Myoken's left hand." He held up the tiny palm and there appeared a pale scar in the shape of the moon. "It looks like the Moon Seal Sasuke had from Hagoromo."

Shizune finished cleaning up Takashi and handed the newly wrapped baby to her. She and Kakashi both looked down at the pale-haired baby. Sakura slipped her pinky into Takashi's fist, but not before she noticed a scar in the appearance of the Sun Seal on his palm. She and Kakashi exchanged a glance.

Shizune rocked back on her heels. "So, the world didn't end. You did it, Sakura. Now, if you don't mind. I'm going to ask one of the Anbu to fetch Lady Tsunade from the hospital. She's been helping out since you've been on leave. And then I'm taking a shower."

Kakashi scooted off the pallet and arranged it so Sakura could lean back against it. "So Myoken has the Moon Seal and Takashi has the Sun Seal?" Kakashi finally said.

"How is this possible, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. He handed her the older boy.

Sakura held both her sons and leaned down to sniff their wispy dark and light colored baby hair. "Can I have some ice chips, Naruto?"

"Um, sure! I'll be right back!" Naruto raced out of the room.

"People are going to talk," Kakashi said. "I mean, we both know we've never done anything unprofessional, but his name is Takashi for goodness sake and his hair is snow white!"

Sakura chuckled. "No-one is going to talk. They'll just see a cute baby and move on with their lives. Besides, who ever heard of twins having two different fathers?"

Kakashi pulled down his mask, revealing to an exhausted Sakura his facial features. Sakura blinked at him surprised. He looked a lot like Lord Second. Takashi gazed up at Kakashi with an absent baby smile. Myoken ignored Kakashi completely and snuggled against Sakura's neck.

"Crap. People will talk," Sakura conceded. "But, no one really knows what your face looks like though, right?"

"No one that's alive," Kakashi said. He leaned down and sniffed Takashi's head too. "Maybe his hair will get darker by the time Sasuke returns home."

The sound of Itachi's ghostly laughter echoed in Sakura's ears. "Oh! I did not expect this! How in the world does this baby look like Kakashi?"

"Takashi has generic cute baby features," Sakura said. She smiled at Kakashi. "I guess the Hatake DNA in Tobirama's blood was pretty dominant."

Kakashi leaned down, hugged both Sakura, Myoken, and Takashi against him and kissed Sakura's forehead. "Thank you for sharing this moment with me." There were tears in his dark eyes.

Sakura stared at his exposed face. "I see why you wear the mask. You really do have an expressive face. I can read every one of your emotions."

"Yep." Kakashi started to slip his mask back in place. "Not exactly the best trait in a shinobi."

"You're very handsome," Sakura said, matter-of-factly.

Kakashi grinned at her. His smile was devastating, before he secured his mask to cover his lower face. "I know."

The door to the room burst open and Naruto rushed inside, cup full of ice chips. "I'm back!" He took Takashi from Sakura's arms and gave her the ice chips. He started making cooing noises at the baby. He looked over at Sakura and Kakashi and back at the baby. "This is too rich! Sasuke would be so pissed if people even speculated!"

Kakashi sat back against the wall. "I know. Good thing Sasuke is on his mission. I think when we write him, we just say the boy favors his mother."

"Good idea," Naruto said, still laughing. He held his stomach. "Oh man, I haven't laughed that hard in ages!"

There was a knock at the door and Lady Tsunade stood next to the Anbu guard that had brought her. The guard vanished and the Fifth Hokage entered, irritation written plainly across her pretty face. "No one told me you were delivering today!" She rushed over the Sakura, and did a quick appraisal before shifting her attention to the babies.

"Gaara has a technology that can analyze someone's blood and determine their lineage," Kakashi explained.

"Okay, good for him," Tsunade said. She held her hands out for the baby in Naruto's arms and he reluctantly handed over Takashi.

"It turns out that Tobirama is my great-great grandfather," Sakura said. "And since Hashirama and Tobirama's mother was a Hatake…well, I think that's why Takashi looks like he does."

"I wonder if that's part of the reason you were able to master the Byakugou seal," Tsunade mused.

"Why does that matter?" Naruto asked.

"It matters because your children with Hinata and Sakura's children with Sasuke will be coveted by nefarious individuals seeking power," Kakashi answered. "We don't know a lot about Kaguya Otsutsuki, but your children are descended from two of her offspring. And now Sakura and Sasuke are descended from two others. That's a lot of power concentrated into a few individuals. As such, I don't think it wise for either of you to leave the village — at least not until the children are old enough to fend for themselves."

"That's….really?" Naruto asked. "Like we can't leave—for years?"

"That unfortunately does mean Sasuke will continue to do a lot of the burden of long distance missions." Kakashi cast Sakura an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about that. It's probably okay for a few days at the Five Kage Summit — you'll both be expected to be there. I would just need to arrange a protective detail."

"We'll figure it out," Sakura said. "That's a few years from now."

"This needs to stay within this room," Tsunade added. "Well, Shizune too, but otherwise, no one can know that Sakura and these boys are descended from Tobirama. It's better if everyone just assumes they are of only half Uchiha and half from a clan-less kunoichi." She gave Sakura an apologetic look. "Sorry."

Sakura shrugged. "That's all I've known my whole life. I've found Tobirama's journal — it was in safe keeping in one of the Uchiha's houses. He kept secret his daughter."

Tsunade kissed the top of Takashi's head. "He was always a planner."

"Since I'll be in the village for the foreseeable future, I should have time to read more of his journal and the one Mom gave me from her grandmother," Sakura said, leaning back and patting Myoken. The dark haired boy was especially clingy. Maybe he was hungry and she needed to kick out the guys.

"I'm going to need to head back to the office," Kakashi said reluctantly. "I'll send a messenger to your parents, Sakura."

Sakura nodded. "Good. Mom wanted to stay overnight once the babies were here. Thank you, Kakashi." She smiled at her best friend and Master Tsunade. "Thank you both for sharing this moment with us."

Naruto chuckled and then reached over to gently touch Myoken's head. "It's strange. Some days, I still feel like the lonely, little orphan boy. And other days, I cannot believe how full of loving people my life is— especially now that I have my own family." He smiled at Sakura. "If our kids do get married, there's no one I'd rather join my family with than you and Sasuke."

"This is starting to sound a little too much like clan politics, betrothing your newborn infant," Kakashi warned.

"I wouldn't do that," Naruto promised. "It would just be neat is all." He gently rubbed Myoken's fine black hair. "And you, you're exactly as standoffish as your father. The only person he shows affection to, is your mom also."

Tsunade sat in Kakashi's abandoned spot on the floor and bounced Takashi gently in her arms. "He is a handsome little beast," she cooed.

"So my boys were born with the Sun and Moon seals. Naruto, your children — they don't have the Byukugan eyes like the rest of the Hyugas?" Sakura asked. She knew Boruto had the same colored eyes as Naruto, but she'd not actually seen Himawari awake.

"Neither have the Byakugan, but, they remind me of Toneri's eyes after he stole Hanabi's. Remember when he was trying to destroy the Earth?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't get to see him up close like you did," Sakura reminded him.

"Right. You spent most of your chakra keeping me alive — thanks again for that," Naruto said, a cheeky smile.

"Do you just keep bringing each other back from near death over and over?" Itachi asked. "That seems to be the running theme with your Team Seven."

"Our bonds are why we've been successful on our missions," Sakura said, speaking to both men. "Asura figured it out — strength comes from numbers and helping one another — not individual power."

"Anyways, Toneri Otsutsuki used the power of the Tenseigan- which is an evolved form of the Byakugan. I think it works kind of like the Rinnegan in that it attracts things— it is how the moon started to crash towards the Earth."

"Did you include this in your report to Kakashi Sensei after the Moon mission, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Uh, I may have left some things out," Naruto admitted.

"Sasuke is out risking his life meeting with an Otsutsuki. Don't you think it would have helped for him to know about the one you met on the Moon?" Sakura asked.

Naruto laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe I need to make an addendum to that mission report."

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