Chapter Thirty-Five
"Fuji, it's not too late," long beads of sweat tickled down Naruto's back and armpits, threatening an inappropriate laugh he had to suppress.
"Are you fucking kidding me!" the Fuji railed Naruto for the suggestion. "Even if I could turn off the suicide vest, I'd be looking at life in prison at a best!" Shit, this is not going well!
"There has to be some way to get the vest off…" Sasuke started.
"NO, THERE ISN'T!" The man screamed. Fuji had the same deranged look Sasuke had when he was under the influence of the cursed seal at the Valley of the End – he wasn't lying. The vest had several triggering mechanisms that Naruto had seen with Byakugan: heart rate monitor, several trip circuits, and the dead man's switch. We can't take it off him without blowing the whole rig. We can't risk trying to block his chakra because that might trip the heart rate sensor. And we can't rely on him to keep his hand on the dead-man's switch until we can figure this out.
A strange peace came over Naruto as he realized there were no other options. "There is no reasoning with him," Naruto transmitted via the telepathic link with Ino. "If he drops the trigger, we all die."
"Agree, if we try taking him alive, we lose, but we can't just take him out!" Sasuke replied.
"Maybe we can," Naruto made peace with the danger of what he was about to do. "You and Hinata clear the hospital of any backup devices; I'll try and put him far away!"
"What the…" before Sasuke could complete the thought. Naruto lunged at Fuji and wrapped him in a bear hug. "Naruto!" Sasuke shout barely registered as Naruto displaced himself and Fuji away to Sunset Hill. Naruto barely had a chance to release his grip and start teleporting himself when the blast wave hit.
For a split second, Naruto thought he'd been fast enough. However, as he rematerialized at the base of the hill, the shockwave hit him like running into a brick wall. He remembered the sensation of flying through the air, a bright orange flash, and everything went dark. He must have blacked out because when he awoke, he was in the cavern where Nine-Tails resided. "You look gorgeous," the tailed-beast chuckled.
"Kurama? How… am I… here?" Naruto asked through the fog of confusion.
"You are unconscious on the ground at the base of Sunset Hill," Nine-Tails remained amused. "I figure it will be approximately five minutes before Hinata comes here, starts gushing over you being injured, and you two start sucking face!" He laughed throaty and deep.
"I'm happy you're happy, Nine-Tails," Naruto groaned. This isn't going to feel good when I regain consciousness.
"Far from being happy; I'll tell you something she won't." Nine-Tails shook his head.
"What?" Naruto creased his brow, not following what Kyuubi was getting at.
"Naruto, you both would be dead right now, if not for me."
"Tell me something I don't know," Naruto sighed.
"No, I really mean you came damn close to killing both you and Hinata just now. You remember there are now two of us, one in each of you?"
"Yeah…" The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck began to stand up at the implication.
"We are still linked, however, via our chakra," Nine-Tails explained.
"And?"
"If you and I were to die, the shock of the event would translate through our linked chakra to Hinata and my twin."
"You mean," Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat, "if I died, it would kill Hinata, too?!"
"Yes," Nine-Tails went from amused to somber, "Had I been a split second slower protecting you, you and her would be dead right now… And you may remember that failsafe I suggested using when we were about to be crushed by the Tenseigan Alter?"
"Yeah," Naruto sat up slowly.
"Same thing, it probably would have killed all four of us."
"Then why the hell did you suggest using it?!" Naruto spoke with indignance.
"Naruto, at that time, I sincerely believed we were all dead anyhow; it meant saving the world at our expense. And yes, I'm glad you were wise enough to not use it." Kurama dipped his head, "I'm sorry we withheld that fact from you and her at the time."
"Then starting right now, let's promise to forget that it even exists!" Naruto exclaimed, rising to his feet. "If it means killing us and taking Hinata with us; it's too dangerous to use under any circumstance, no matter how grave!"
"Given the threat we faced in the Land of Whirlpools, we need to start thinking of new ways to fight, then," Nine-Tails spoke with a low rumble in his voice.
"Naruto… Naruto…" Hinata's angelic voice came through the cavern distorted.
"Looks like our time is up for now," Kurama shook his head, "Don't let her gush too much over you!" Nine-Tails teased as he held out a fist.
Naruto returned the fist bump, "Believe it!"
His eyes opened to blue sky and the sight of Hinata crying over him, "NARUTO!"
"H-Hinata!" He winced as the fogginess of being unconscious faded, replaced by the sensation of his scalp throbbing and the inside of his head feeling like someone was chipping away with a spoon. His ears rang incessantly, drowning out other sound. The world was spinning, and the sickening sensation of bile climbing his throat suggested he might throw up. Kurama wasn't wrong; I came damn close to blowing the whole works!
"Naruto, don't move!" she commanded as she stared intently with her Byakugan. He lay frozen statue-still as ordered, despite his nausea. Dear god, am I really badly injured? Hinata summoned the aquamarine chakra of a healing jutsu to her hands, "Hold very still," she leaned over him, cradling his head in her hands.
As Hinata inspected him, there was the fuzzy tingling of her healing jutsu on his scalp and the acute awareness that Hinata's chest was right in his face as she worked. Damn, I hope she doesn't do this for all her patients! Naruto bit down his lip to stifle a laugh, but it did little for the erection he had building in his pants. Oh god, please don't notice!
After an awkward few moments, Hinata came up from him. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Naruto struggled to suppress laughter. "How do you feel?" she asked.
"Sore," he groaned. His head throbbed on par with any number of times he'd been injured and sent to the hospital. As some of the fog lifted, Naruto began feeling the sensation of having taken a solid kick to the chest and stomach.
"You're not bleeding inside your skull," she gently ran fingers through his spikes, "All the same, you have a concussion, and I'm taking you to the Hospital. At the very least, you're getting an MRI and staying overnight for observation."
"Ah dammit… it that really necessary?" Naruto asked. The thought of staying overnight in the hospital, without Hinata with him, was anything but desirable.
"You were significantly closer to a bomb blast than anyone I know who lived," Hinata scolded, "I'm not having you go home just to start bleeding internally because of something I missed! I can already tell we have Nine-Tails to thank for you being alive right now!"
In that moment, his stomach lost its battle with nausea. Naruto gingerly rolled to his side and vomited his guts up. Dammit, I hate being wrong all the time! "All right, point taken," he sighed as he spat out foul liquid. Hinata put her hands on him and teleported them to the hospital.
Sakura never considered wearing diapers again in her life after getting toilet trained. Nevertheless, the embarrassment of wearing protective underwear in her current state was still better than bleeding onto the protective pad on the bed or risking it seeping through a traditional pad on her underwear – not that she was bleeding much anymore. Now, it was much more akin to having a regular period. Incontinence and bleeding are a common thing for anyone who has had a live birth or miscarriage. Did you think you'd be an exception to the rule?
The minutes of uncertainty had stretched into several hours. Each tick of the clock left Sakura numb and paralyzed, wondering what fresh hell would await her at the next tick – what other things would go wrong. Sakura waited for Akemi to finish her exam and tell her something else was wrong. A piece of placenta we missed won't detach; we will need to do D and C surgery. Your uterus has an abnormality and it will stop you from having children. We have to do a hysterectomy! "Sakura," Lady Akemi took out the earbuds of her stethoscope as she deflated the blood pressure cuff on Sakura's arm, "I can't imagine how you are feeling emotionally, but how are you physically?" Her tone did not betray more bad news.
"Empty," her voice matched the words, "I feel nothing – not discomfort, not pain, hell, not even really cramping now!" Sakura wiped her tears, amazed she could still cry after crying so much throughout the past several hours.
"Sakura, it… it is normal to feel that," Lady Akemi spoke, "This never gets easier." She sighed and pulled up a chair at Sakura's bedside. "Even for someone who has seen a fair number of these."
The door burst open and Sasuke came in, looking disheveled and sweaty. "I'm sorry I couldn't get back sooner," he ran to her opposite side, swaying slightly as he did so. Sakura noted he tremors in both hands. "I had to help the teams clear the hospital…"
"It's all right," Akemi cut him off, "Please why don't you sit down before you fall down!" she gestured to a chair on the opposite side of the bed beside Sakura. He sat, deflating like a balloon with a hole. "I have some important things to discuss with you both, if you are ready, that is."
Sakura looked as Sasuke. His obsidian eyes were wide and lifeless as a doll's. "I don't think there will be a better time for this," Sakura's voice shook as she spoke.
"Well," Akemi shifted in her chair, bracing for the tasteless, "I suppose the hard things first: do you want the hospital to take responsibility for the… remains, or do you want us to release them to a funeral home?" She held up a hand, "I know, this most certainly wasn't planned for, but I need to know so I don't do something irreversible."
"Akemi," Sasuke spoke without affect, "I don't think either of us is in any condition to organize, much less be part of a funeral," he dipped his head.
"When you two are ready," she reached for a side table with a clipboard, "I'll need both of you to sign off that that is your decision." She handed them the clipboard, "Take your time if you need to discuss."
Sakura picked up the board and initialed that she'd leave handling of remains to the hospital and handed to Sasuke who did likewise. Both signed and Sakura handed it back to Akemi. My baby boy, I'm so sorry! "Well, now that the odious part is done," Akemi spoke, "I think you both could use some good news."
"Good news?" Sasuke asked sharp with acid, "How the hell is there any good news today!"
"Sasuke," Sakura looked on at him in pity, knowing this was his second child he'd lost, "please, let's hear her out." She turned back to Akemi, "Go on, please."
"I know this isn't much comfort," Akemi offered with a shake of her head, "but the miscarriage was a low complexity one: the placenta delivered whole. We don't need to worry about fragments remaining attached to her uterus nor do we need to consider D and C surgery." It was little comfort, but Sakura knew it was the best case scenario in a bad situation.
"Are we supposed to be happy at that?" Sasuke asked more confused than anything.
"Sasuke," medical-nin Sakura took over again, "it's common for women to need surgery if part of the placenta adheres to the uterine wall, and we don't have that," she explained. "No invasive surgery, no prolonged stay in a hospital. I'll be released tomorrow."
"And no real complications when you two decide to get pregnant again," Akemi explained. "I know it isn't much, but this is the best-case scenario for a tragedy like this."
"Akemi, had I…" Sasuke spoke.
"Sasuke," Akemi spoke motherly as ever, "had Sakura been here the whole time under my watchful eye, this still would have happened, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything. Now that we know, we can take precautions going forward."
Another knock at the door, Hinata stood, staring with wide eyes. "Sasuke, are you sure now is the time for this?"
"Please," he stood and nodded.
"Sasuke?" Sakura asked as he stood. Hokage Kushina Uzumaki walked into the room, dressed in her black and green field uniform and the Hokage's jacket.
"Sakura, I meant what I said," he took her hand, "about marrying you the second we got back." He squeezed. "I know this isn't the most opportune moment, but I brought the people necessary if you still want to go through with it."
Sakura really wasn't sure – everything was happening too fast. "You're right," she said in resignation, "I agree there is no sense in waiting." Sakura stared at Kushina, "Please, if you'd do the honors."
"Very well," Kushina nodded, "Sakura do you declare that you love Sasuke and of your own free will you wish to share with him all that you are, all that you have, and all that you shall ever be?"
"I do," she answered.
"Sasuke, do you declare that you love Sakura and of your own free will you wish to share with her all that you are, all that you have, and all that you ever shall be?"
"I object!" a strong male voice split the air. Sakura stared in horror at the door, seeing Itachi walking into the room with the two surviving heads of the branch Uchiha family. All three of the senior members of the Uchiha Clan wore jet black robes.
"Itachi, what is the meaning of this?" Kushina barked with indignance.
"Gentlemen, on your knees," Itachi ordered, and the two men dropped to both knees. Itachi soon knelt on one knee and dipped his head.
"What's going on?" Sakura asked.
"Gentlemen, I think you have something you wish to say to my brother and his future wife."
Both Lord Oda and Lord Nobunga bowed their heads, "Prince Sasuke, Lord Hokage, we offer our humblest apologies for the trouble we have caused." They called him "Prince?" Sakura stared incredulous at the display. Uchiha never apologize, even when wrong.
"Lord Oda, I believe you have something specific you wish to say to Lady Haruno!" Itachi's voice bit the air like an angry war hound.
The man's head remained bowed, "Lady Haruno, it was inappropriate and unnecessary of me to speak to you as I did during the inquiry. I did so out of pure malice without forethought."
"And!" Itachi pressed the man further.
"And I offer a full retraction and apology for any insinuation I may have made!"
"And I, on behalf of the Uchiha Clan," Itachi dropped to both knees now and bowed his head to almost touching the floor, "offer our clan's apology, and our condolences."
The mention of condolences almost set Sakura off, and she took real effort to stifle tears or the urge to tell him to get out. The words had gone from comforting to being an annoying reminder that she had had a loss so dramatic. Now, people telling her as such was anger-inducing. "Itachi, then why are you objecting to us being married." Her hands clenched into fists.
Itachi rose from his bow. "It is not often that a clan leader must order such a retraction of his family's actions," Itachi explained. "While I do not personally object to this union; I do object to be being performed here, in this manner." He gestured to the hospital room around them.
"Brother," Sasuke protested, "it's my life, and I'm not part the Clan."
"Brother," Itachi accented, "you are a prince in our family and still in the direct line of succession, and you have been denied that right for an unjust amount of time."
"I marrying an outsider, with or without your consent," Sasuke retorted, not quite a growl, "with or without our parent's consent!"
"Yes," Itachi rose to his feet, leaving Lords Oda and Nobunga still kneeling on the floor. "And that is why I object to you being married here and now."
"Itachi, what are you getting at?" Hinata interjected.
"Sakura, Sasuke," Itachi stopped at the foot of the hospital bed, "I know you are going through a lot, but I think it's time our clan accept outsiders as the Hyūga Clan has done." He paused nodding to Hinata, "I would be honored, as would the other clan elders," he paused to stare back at both men still cowering on the ground, "if you would allow our clan to host your marriage officially, and officially welcome Sakura as part of the family."
"Itachi, I swear to god if this is the clan elders making a mockery of us…"Sasuke growled.
"Brother," Itachi raised a hand, "there is no mockery, no judgement," Itachi began tearing up. "You are a prince in our clan, and we have served you with a terrible injustice, have been for a long time!" he shook his head, "And it has looked down on you, Sakura, despite doing more to protect its interests than most members of the clan." He bowed his head again, "Please, let me offer you this chance at making things right between all of us."
On one hand, Itachi's gesture was incredibly noble. On the other, Sakura truly wanted to tell him to take his nobility and shove it up his ass. He had taken something she and Sasuke had agreed to and was now throwing it out the window. "Itachi, may we have a moment? I think Sasuke and I need to talk." Sakura felt dizzy with the number of curveballs that had been thrown her way in the past twenty-four hours."
"Certainly," he bowed politely, "We will wait out in the hallway." Itachi took the two elders with him from the room. Sakura could hear knees popping as the men rose up and walked out.
"Sakura, I know you have a lot you may want to talk about without us," Hinata started.
"Go on," Sakura nodded.
"I know it won't undo anything that has happened, but you may wish to consider the approach Naruto and I have taken."
"I can still legally marry you two," Kushina offered, "and the two of you can still have a wedding separately."
"Sakura, I'm all for it," Sasuke moved one foot to another, "are you?"
"Sasuke, do you actually want a wedding at this time?" she asked, exhaustion and uncertainty creeping back into her voice.
"Maybe not right this instant," he bit his lower lip for a moment, "but Itachi is right. You deserve to be recognized by the clan. As resentful as I am towards my clan, I'm not sure that is a resentment worth maintaining. Madara Uchiha couldn't let things go, and we all know how things ended for him." He shook his head and looked down, "I don't want you to have to exist in the shadows like an illegitimate child that no one talks about."
Point taken. "Sasuke, I don't want to deprive you of your family," Sakura's eyes turned down. "But you need to know some things about my family."
"If you mean their rap sheet, I know, and I don't care!" he put a hand on her shoulder.
"You knew?" Sakura's eyes opened wide.
"I've known a long time; my father was head of the military police for a long time. He told me when we were only genin." He shrugged his shoulders, "So, if you worry that somehow disqualifies you, don't."
Are you going to be a coward about this? "Sasuke…" Do I deserve this after losing my baby?
"Sakura, please," he took her hand, "I can't give you back anything we've lost…" Sasuke choked back tears. "But maybe, I can help you rebuild with whatever is left."
Despite the comforting words, everything was wrong. "Lord Hokage," Sakura could barely manage the words. She sank back onto the bed, onto her pillow – physical and emotional exhaustion winning out, "I think I need time before I decide on anything," she began to cry.
Lord Kushina quietly put the certificate she'd been filling out back into a folder she carried under her arm. "I will keep this safe," Kushina paused, considering her and Sasuke, "until you both feel ready."
"Sakura…" Sasuke's eyes opened wide. She could tell he was deeply hurt by her decision not to proceed.
"Sasuke, please," She whimpered, "I need to be alone for a while!"
She sobbed in earnest. Hinata offered a tissue, "Sasuke," Hinata spoke calm and low, "go for now. She's been through a lot and has a lot to unload. When she is ready, I'll send for you." He nodded, turned, and hurried from the room. Did I just end things with him? Did I ruin our chance for a future?!
"He offered me everything I've ever wanted…" Sakura sobbed into her hands, "… why am I pushing him away!"
"Sakura," Akemi spoke, gently patting Sakura on the head, "you've been through the greatest trauma an expectant mother can endure. Listen to your needs. If you aren't ready to move on, don't force things." Akemi, Hinata, and Kushina all embraced her.
The summer morning air atop Hokage Rock was normally a pleasant luxury Jiraiya could ill afford with his aging knees. Nevertheless, he made the climb as requested found Sasuke Uchiha as expected. "Hey, kid," he held out a corked bottle of sake, "heard you were sulking. I thought you might need some company."
"What are you sulking about?" Sasuke asked with disinterest. He wore the same outfit from yesterday, the stubble of beard indicated he hadn't shaved, and bloodshot pattern of his eyes confirmed he hadn't slept in at least twenty-four hours.
"I am now the father of five in less than three years," Jiraiya sighed, taking a seat beside Sasuke. Jiraiya produced two cups from his pocket and poured the strong rice wine.
"I'm not one for abetting my feelings with this stuff," Sasuke protested with acid in his voice.
"I didn't bring enough of us to get hammered," Jiraiya took a light sip. "Just enough to get you talking. I know it's a bit early to start day-drinking!" He kept his chuckle short, not wanting to offend Sasuke after such a loss.
"Talk," Sasuke seized the cup and downed it like a shot, "I'm all ears." He coughed.
"Easy on the sauce," Jiraiya refilled the cup, "This stuff aint cheap!"
"I bet," Sasuke sipped more controlled. "Naruto send you?"
"Actually, it was Sakura," he replied.
"Bullshit," Sasuke sipped again, eying Jiraiya cool as if measuring him.
"No shit," Jiraiya raised an index finger on his free hand as he drank with the other. "Sakura felt awful after you left the hospital, felt guilty for asking you to leave."
"She didn't exactly ask me to leave," Sasuke sipped, "She said she needed to be alone; I left when she said that."
"She gets out of the hospital this morning," Jiraiya nodded, "She'd appreciate it if you were there."
"She doesn't want me there, just like how she doesn't want to marry me!" Sasuke's voice strained, holding back tears.
"Sasuke, for a moment, stop blaming yourself and stop thinking the world has ended."
"How, Jiraiya!" Sasuke slammed the small cup into the rock, cutting his own hand. "How in the hell am I supposed to think the world hasn't ended! I've lost my baby; I've lost my wife!"
"For one, Sakura is alive. A lot of women died in childbirth in my day," Jiraiya didn't scold so much as explain. "And she cared enough to ask me to come try and reason with you, rather than let you sulk up here."
"I'm surprised she didn't send Naruto."
"He's still in the hospital under observation," Jiraiya explained, "he's having some serious after-effects from the concussion he took when the got clipped by the bomb blast."
"I should have gone with him!"
"You'd be dead right now; hell, my idiot grandson nearly got himself killed!" Jiraiya shook his head, "If he wasn't a jinchuriki, especially of Nine-Tails, I'd probably be consoling his parents." Jiraiya shrugged, "Hell, I'd be consoling your parents and your lady if you had gone!"
Something in the last comment moved Sasuke. "I can't help but feel like I'm a blight on everything I touch." His voice cracked as tears overflowed the dam.
"You know," Jiraiya poured himself another helping and corked the bottle, "there was a time when I felt much the same."
"Ha!" Sasuke laughed, almost mocking, "when the hell was that! You are Jiraiya the Sannin! The Pervy Sage…"
"The man who let three orphans grow up alone when they needed a parent the most," Jiraiya cut him off with a correcting scalpel, "the man who let those orphans become twisted and essentially killed two of them. I'm the man who ran away and let his two teammates helplessly struggle after being damaged by war." Yeah, some hero I was! Jiraiya turned even more sullen. "You know how many people are no longer alive because of me, Sasuke?" His voice reverted to a blade, "Do you know how many people's lives I destroyed because I was part of it and then selfishly chose to walk away?!"
Sasuke's jaw tightened, and he nodded an understanding. "So you see, you can spend the rest of your life regretting your decisions or indecisions," Jiraiya sipped the last of his sake, "And end up like me before Naruto's daughter came back in time."
"What?!" Sasuke gaped in shock.
"Yeah, he never told you about his daughter?"
"He did, but what do you mean about '…before Naruto's daughter came back in time'?"
"She slipped a photo from the future into Minato's pocket, he found it after the Chunin Exams," Jiraiya stored the cups and bottle into his robes, "Where she came from, it was just a photo of Naruto, Hinata, Himawari, and her brother, Boruto." Jiraiya almost dared not speak, fearful he might screw up the future. Nevertheless, he continued, "As the years progressed, new faces ended up in the photo – Lords Fourth and Fifth; Tsunade, myself, and our children; as well as many others we still can't identify."
"What are you trying to tell me?" Sasuke said.
"The future expanded because of the decisions made in this time. Where Himawari came from, I was never a father, likely never married Tsunade in whatever time Himawari came from!" He stared crossly at Sasuke, "Hell, who knows if you and Sakura even ended up together!" He shrugged, "The point is, the future is what you make it. Do you want to lose Sakura?"
"No," Sasuke answered sullen.
"Do you love her?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied annoyed.
"Did she make good use of Make Out Tactics?"
"You are such a perv!" Sasuke shouted.
"It got you to stop moping!" Jiraiya laughed.
"You're an asshole!" Sasuke glowered.
"Guity as charged!" Jiraiya slapped his back. "Now come on, let's see Sakura!" By the time they'd gotten to the hospital, she'd already been discharged, leaving a message for them to meet her at her at the Haruno's home if they wanted breakfast. He dragged Sasuke along against half-hearted protests.
As they reached the store, Mrs. Haruno greeted them, "Hello, Sasuke, Jiraiya."
"Lady Haruno… I…" Sasuke stumbled to find words.
"Don't talk, she waved a metal spatula at him, "don't say a goddamn thing! I just spent the past the past few hours consoling my daughter about how this wasn't her fault! I know it wasn't yours! So, for now, just shut up and join us for breakfast!" She grabbed Sasuke by the sleeve and dragged him toward the stairway to the apartments upstairs, "Jiraiya, will you be joining us?"
"I can't," he raised hands in surrender, "I have to go and check on my family; I'll let you attend to yours." Jiraiya turned and left, a slight smile on his face as Lady Haruno took her future son-in-law up for breakfast.
Author's notes: Hi everyone, thank you as always for reading. I apologize this came out almost a full week late. My work schedule has become insane lately, and I had to put my beloved cat of 15 years, Stitch, to sleep this past week.
I promise this chapter is the last of the miscarriage stuff. I thank you all for bearing with me in the aftermath of my own loss. The irony is not lost on me that it would happen right as i reached that point in this story. I hope that means things will look up as the couples start having children relatively soon. Next chapter will be more lighthearted and pick back up with Shikamaru and Temari's situation. It will get a bit dark, but we're getting ready to transition from act II to Act III. I will be making the story quite a bit more light-hearted soon.
In the meantime, I do have a favor to ask. I posted a poll to my FFN profile asking for input for where I should go with all of this after the story eventually finishes (I could easily have another year to finish at this rate). Please vote, it helps tremendously.
Otherwise, stay health, stay safe, and I'll see you next chapter.
