Content warning: this chapter may contain some material that may be trigger to some people. Use your best discretion.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Small rivulets of sweat traced down from Shikamaru's armpits as he pressed the duplicate card key into the reader and punched in the numbers 2187. Weeks of careful watching came down to this. If he couldn't get in through this door, the operation was sunk.
The light on the keypad turned from red to green and there was an audible CLUNK of a lock releasing, a heavy one by the sound of it. Shikamaru tried the handle and the door opened. He quickly slipped inside and closed the door behind him, making sure that it locked. Dr. Amando Sanzu's private office was uninspired to the point that Shikamaru worried that he'd picked the wrong office. A picture on desk of Akebi Sanzu with her father made clear that he was indeed in the man's private office.
Shikamaru set a countdown timer on his watch to vibrate in ten minutes. The director of security had snuck out to Club 24K as was usual, leaving a momentary gap in which Shikamaru could get into Amando's office unseen. Even still, he could only disappear from his work station for so long without arousing suspicion. Move fast!
He scanned the room with his eyes; everything was immaculately organized – too clean and organized. There was no scent of a chain-smoker occupying the room. The desk looked like a set piece. No, this isn't where the magic happens. This is camouflage.
Shikamaru investigated the desk, noting a layer of dust covering the keyboard. Not used, maybe ever. He looked at the books on the shelf, all showing a similar layer of dust. When he looked at the carpet; however, he saw what he was looking for. Scuff marks!
He tried moving the shelf, but it was easily anchored to the wall behind it. Haven't you watched any spy films? There has to be a secret way to activate the door. Shikamaru went back to the desk, inspecting the picture frame and noting it was not covered in dust. He tried picking up the picture, but it, too was fixed in place. Shikamaru worked the picture frame until he found it easily turned face down on the desk.
There was the gentle grind of machinery, and the errant bookcase moved to the side, revealing a hidden elevator. He checked his watch, about six minutes to go. Shikamaru pulled the floorplan of the building in his head versus his mental map. There was an area of dead space not accounted for in the floorplans that went all the way through the basement.
You're running out of time. Go for it! He took the elevator down, descending for less than a minute, thankfully. As the elevator reached bottom, Shikamaru flattened himself against the side of the elevator wall as the doors opened. Peeking out slowly, he saw no person and no security cameras. Makes sense, it didn't show up on the floor plan or on any of the security feeds you watched. He doesn't want to be watched in here.
Shikamaru walked into a spacious, if cluttered, concrete room filled with a variety of computers, walls with x-ray light boxes, metal gurneys, surgical carts with various implements – bloody implements. Oh god, I'm going to be sick!
Shikamaru swallowed bile down as horrific realization of what he was seeing. Several gurneys were stained red and black. Most of them contained shackles, also stained pink and red. The room began spinning. It makes sense, the large incinerator in the basement – it's a crematorium! But… oh god! The thing was running non-stop. How the hell many people has he killed?!
His eyes focused on a door in back of the lab. A check of his watch revealed one minute to go. Shikamaru ran to the door, opened it, and reveals a long room with row upon row of metal cabinets any good morgue would have. Unlike any good morgue, the end of the room contained what looked like an operating room. Again, the operating table was stained tarry black and crimson, the green sheets stained brown from shit or blood, he wasn't sure.
Shikamaru's guts tightened as he noticed another feature along the back walls. Multiple glass and metal cylinders contained humanoid figures suspended in pinkish liquid. Some of the subjects were in early-stage fetal development, others were fully formed adolescents, and a handful were more like young adults. Multiple deformities plagued most of the figures, but several looked surgically altered with lifelike prosthetics where human limbs should be.
The room began spinning again, and it took all he had not throw up on himself. So intense was the nausea that the vibrating hum of his watch didn't register. Shikamaru didn't remember riding the elevator back up or running from the office to the nearby restroom. When he regained his sense of self, he was wrenching over the toilet. After the wave passed, he pressed his head against the side of the porcelain bowl. What the hell have I gotten myself into here! Shikamaru asked himself the question again and again as he struggled not to faint on the bathroom floor. The image of partially formed and deformed fetal and child remains made him dry-heave, but nothing else came up.
Shikamaru wondered how many children had been taken from orphanages or just snatched randomly. He remembered people selling children to fund Fatal Lust addiction. Even destitute parents might find themselves duped into giving up their children easily.
Even more disturbing was the more mature-looking humans with cybernetic components. Who knows what the hell else he's working on down there! Adrenaline began flooding Shikamaru's at the image of developing fetuses, some showing signs of life, in the metal cylinders. His chest tightened and he began sobbing, flashing back to the horrible night he'd been told that Temari had miscarried at six weeks.
Angry tears burned down the sides of his face. Amando was playing god without any thought as to the consequences. As painful as being told they'd lost the baby had been, Amando was sick if he thought he could bring his daughter back from the dead. The man was every bit as evil as Orochimaru had become. Worse, he's selling this tech and obviously creating something else nasty. He got off the floor, flushed the toilet, and walked to the sink. Shikamaru splashed his face with some cold water. He'd make an excuse to leave; he had much to tell Temari.
The woods around Hachiōji Manor were as Sakura remembered when she was a scared genin stranded on the road home from the Land of the Waves – dreary and twisted. Even years later, the trees showed few signs of life; several showed the scars of lightning strikes. The place still screamed, "Go away!" just as it had in that terrible storm almost eight years ago. A flood of memories hit Sakura: seeking shelter from an incredibly violent thunderstorm, Team Seven had taken refuge in the abandoned mansion only to discover they were in a case of from frying pain into the fire. There is nothing here now, not even ghosts!
"They're getting away!" one of the bounty hunters tracking them shouted as they neared the decrepit but still standing stone wall to the property.
Sakura ignored her pursuers, pounding the ground with both feet as she sprinted forward. Almost there! Hopefully everyone is just as scared of a haunted manor as you were when you realized what this place was! She vaulted over the stone wall, side by side with Sasuke. The ground barely registered as her feet continued to carry her closer to the main house.
As they passed an outbuilding, Sakura and Sasuke finally paused long enough to take cover around the building's corner. "Screw that! I ain't going in there!" a shaky voice called.
"You pussy, you telling me you're too fucking scared because of a ghost story!" the leader of the gang shouted, irate.
"You want them so bad; you go in after 'em," a third man said in dismissal, "No one has ever come out of there alive!"
A streak of Naruto's humor caused Sakura's lips to tighten then crack into a grin. "OH MY GOD!" she shrieked. "Get away!" she changed to a pleading tone before letting out a blood-curdling scream, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" She dragged her foot across the nearby dirt as she screamed.
"SAKURA!" Sasuke joined in the charade, running a short distance, but staying out of sight of the men, "Oh god! WHAT IS THAT! GET AWAY FROM MMMMEEEEE!" Sasuke discretely moved from his spot, careful to stay out of sight of the bounty hunters, and screamed as he ran crouched, "WAAAHHHHH!" To the untrained observer, it sounded like they were being dragged to hell.
"Fuck this! I'm outta here!" one of the bounty hunters yelped.
"Right behind, ya!"
"No reward is worth this shit!" The sound of the men running away was music to Sakura's ears
Sakura sank back on butt, leaning back against the abandoned out-building, and breathing a deep sigh of relief. As she did so, she nervously rubbed her lower stomach. In a few days, she'd be twelve weeks. To her surprise, her morning sickness never was worse than mild fatigue with a stomachache. End of first trimester, and I'm not even showing - smooth sailing thus far, almost too smooth.
Sakura bit her lip as she thought about the situation. Despite a complete lack of anything resembling proper prenatal management, everything was going textbook well. On occasion, she would use her medical jutsu to sense the baby and assess its status. However, even the mundane act of a medical jutsu made her heart race every time she used it – a baby drew chakra from its mother prior to birth. Even the slightest overuse of chakra during pregnancy could have catastrophic consequences.
"I think they left," Sasuke whispered. "All the same," he extended a hand, "I think we should get indoors and stay out of sight." Sakura took his hand and they entered the decrepit remains of what had once been an ornate mansion. "What is the story with this place?" He slid open a door to a common room with an old-school irori firepit sunk in the middle.
"Legend goes," Sakura entered the familiar room, "the lord of this manor was trying to force one of his maids to be his lover." There was still debris of spent instant ramen cups and charred wood from her last time here.
"Funny how often that seems to happen," Sasuke interjected.
"Anyhow," she continued, "the story goes she rebuffed his ass. In a fit of jealousy, he hid one of ten priceless ceremonial plates she was responsible for. When she couldn't produce it, he tried to blackmail here into spreading her legs."
"And I take it she didn't submit?" he surveyed the sunken hearth, checking its condition.
"Depending on the story," she swallowed, "he threw her down the well outside in a fit of rage." She turned her eyes toward a nearby courtyard, the dreaded well still sending chills down her spine. "Other versions have him beating her, repeatedly dunking her, raping her, and all end with her dead at the bottom of the well."
"That's some messed up shit," Sasuke rubbed the scraggly beard forming over his face.
"That's putting it mildly," she explained, again staring at the well with a shiver.
"Wel, we've got nothing but time," he broke the ice, "why don't you tell me the story about this place?"
Sakura stared at Sasuke and then to the well in the courtyard, "It happened in during a terrible thunderstorm…"
Naruto watched as Konohamaru, now dressed in a green jumpsuit complete with leg and arm weights went through taijutsu drills with Rock Lee. "Come on, kid, speed!" Lee encouraged as they worked a speed bag while marching in place.
Akane, meanwhile, was doing tumbling drills with Uncle Hiashi couching her through. She, too, wore the green jumpsuit, but Hiashi had opted for a set of black robes. Naruto chuckled at the sight, imagining it was his baby girl tumbling with her grandfather. Soon enough.
Happy thoughts receded as Naruto looked down at his notebook next to Sasuke's notebook. "What am I missing!" was scrawled across Naruto's current page. The question had been bugging him for almost two months now. Naruto chewed the back of his pen, wishing Shikamaru was here. Except he's not. You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one fills faster! As Hokage you'd have to figure shit out without him!
Naruto closed the notebook, sighed in frustration, and stood up. He only felt mildly ridiculous with his outfit – another green jumpsuit identical to Bushy Brow's. Naruto walked up to the speed bag.
"Finally decided to join us," Konohamaru teased. In the weeks since the assault, Konohamaru walked without canes and with only the mildest of limp. The boy continued with rapid punches on the speed bag, not slowing the pace of his hands, even if his legs dragged a bit.
"Let's see if my slow ass still has it," Naruto grinned as he traded places with Konohamaru. Naruto picked up the rhythm and cycled his knuckles on the back as he ran in place. Even Lee's eyes opened wide, impressed at how fast Naruto was moving on the back.
"Wow, big brother!" Konohamaru stood with his mouth hanging down, "How come you never did the Iron Shinobi Competition?!"
"Heh," Naruto laughed as he paused attacking the bag, "Jinchuriki are automatically disqualified due to the unfair advantage carrying a tailed-beast gives us."
"Too bad," Lee eyed him thoughtfully and rubbed his chin, "I would have loved to have gone toe to toe with you!"
"Believe me," Naruto huffed lightly, "you would definitely have given me a run for my money." He eyed the weights on his wrists and ankles. "Especially if you took me on without the weights."
Lee winked, "All part of my strategy!"
"There you go!" Akane managed a perfect somersault as Hiashi stood beside her.
"All right, let's hear it up!" Konohamaru, Lee, Hiashi, and Naruto all clapped.
"Impressive for one so small," a soft-spoken voice called from the training room's entrance. Everyone turned to see Captain Yamato clapping along.
"Captain," Naruto bowed, "To what do we owe the honor?"
The man's look turned semi-sullen, "Kakashi wants to see you in the Hokage's office as soon as possible."
Ah shit! Naruto had a strong feeling he knew what he was being called in for. "I'll be right back," he said apologetic to the group as he teleported behind the Hokage's chair, "Boo!"
"Dammit, Naruto!" Kakashi leapt up from the Hokage's chair.
"Hehehe," Naruto grinned, wanting to have a little fun before Kakashi ruined his day.
"You're starting to take after your mom a bit too much!" Kakashi said as he sat and gestured for Naruto to sit.
"I'll take that as a compliment; she ended up in that chair," Naruto smiled.
"Yes," Kakashi eyed the Hokage's chair, still clearly uncomfortable with how often Kushina was making him sit in it. "With any luck, you'll be sitting in it soon."
"Don't wish things along too fast Uncle," Naruto winked, playing innocent, "So what is up?"
Naruto could see a frown behind the mask, "Naruto, I need an update on the bombing at the Uchiha Compound."
And here is where we ruin each other's day. "I'm afraid we don't have much to go on," he sighed. "Someone snuck an explosive scientific-ninja tool in via a shadow clone disguised as Sasuke. We have no trace of whomever it was other than the device's fragments."
"What can you tell me about the device fragments, Naruto? Give me something to chew on!"
"The device contained computer components manufactured by Kara Corps, but we couldn't trace them any further."
"Kara Corps?" Kakashi's flash of recognition hinted he was hiding something.
Hiding from me, why? "What is it, Uncle?"
"I can't tell you; it might put people in danger."
Playing that card, it means someone close to me. Sasuke and Sakura are not likely in any worse danger with the mention of the tech company. Shikamaru however, could be. His friend had left on a diplomatic assignment with Temari months ago and literally dropped off the face of the earth. It didn't take a genius to figure he was deep cover with Temari. Both had official cover; both were trained ANBU/KIB operatives. "So that is why you called me here?"
"Naruto," Kakashi shifted uncomfortable in the chair, "I know the investigation means a lot to you and Hinata, but I'm pulling you both off of it by the end of August."
"What?!" Naruto didn't hide his disappointment.
"I'm reassigning you both to the transition team for when the change of command happens. You both have far plenty field work experience and not nearly enough administrative and diplomatic experience."
"Uncle, what is this about?!" Naruto exclaimed, bordering on insubordinate.
"Certainly, you've been hounded by the tabloids," Kakashi said.
"Those rags aren't worth the paper they're printed on!" Naruto protested, annoyance seeping into this voice that Uncle Kakashi would bring them up.
"Nevertheless, the rumors they spread about you and Hinata about to annul your marriage, and people are believing it."
"People can believe whatever the hell they want!" Naruto shouted now, "That doesn't make a lie the truth, no matter how many tabloids pick it up!"
"Naruto," Kakashi raised his hands and softened his tone, "this could cost you a lot – your reputation, your standing with your wife's clan; hell, it might cost you your shot at the Hokage's chair."
"I don't care then," Naruto said without flinching, "If becoming Hokage comes with the cost of abandoning my friends, then it's a title I don't want!"
"You've dreamed of it your whole life!" Kakashi stood, almost scolding.
"A wise man once told me that people who break the rules are garbage, but people who abandon their friends are less than garbage!" Naruto threw his uncle's, his sensei's, words back at him.
Rather than shouting a reply, a thin smirk formed behind Kakashi's mask, barely noticeable, "They certainly are."
"You, asshole!" Naruto half-shouted, half-laughed, as humor and annoyance competed for his emotions. "You were testing me!"
"Glad to see fame and fortune hasn't gone to that big skull of yours!" Kakashi laughed.
"You Jerk! Why?!"
"Naruto," Kakashi sat again, "I have no doubt that one day you'll sit in this chair, probably a lot sooner than you think."
"Uncle, what are you getting at?"
"We know the Ōtsutsuki are here already, and there may be more coming." Kakashi held up a familiar set of bells, "It's not the first time I've tested you," he closed his hands around the bells, "and I'm sure it won't be the last." Kakashi looked down at the desk, "Being Hokage means being tested almost constantly from the trivial to the world-ending." He shook his head, "It's a burden where people will call you out for shit you have no control over, and you'll have to make decisions that people will pick apart."
"I know," Naruto nodded, "I've seen it since I was three and involved in the Hyūga Incident and its aftermath."
"It feels like it was only yesterday for me," Kakashi shook his head. "I still have a hard time seeing you as a man and not that little kid I grew up with."
"You grew with me," Naruto braced to ask the question he didn't want to know the answer to, "But you really are reassigning me and Hinata off the case at the end of August?"
"I'm afraid so, son," Kakashi nodded, "You should do your best to get everything ready for the transition to the follow on team."
"Kakashi, no one else is going to put their heart and soul into solving this!"
"Then I suggest you move quickly, and prove me right!"
Naruto teleported back to the training room at the Hyūga Compound. "Bro, you okay?" Konohamaru asked.
"Oh, swell," Naruto huffed, "I have to find whomever framed Sasuke and I have to do it in a little over a month, now."
"Hey, man, I have faith in you!" Lee flashed a thumbs-up in encouragement.
"Appreciate it, Lee, but I have no idea where to start; everything is a dead end!"
"Makes you wish you could go back in time, doesn't it?" Konohamaru said. "See who was there talk to people who were there."
Something about Konohamaru's statement tripped a circuit breaker in Naruto's brain, "Say that again."
"Say what again?" Konohamaru looked at him, cocking up an eyebrow.
"I said the situation makes you wish you could go back in time and see who was there and talk to everyone who was there… You're not thinking of going back in time somehow, are you?!"
Naruto snapped his fingers. The two cases have to be related! "Maybe we don't have to go back in time; maybe we can bring the past to us!"
Naruto ran to his gym bag and grabbed his phone. He dialed the familiar number. "Hello?"
"Grandpa, can you and Granny Tsunade come to the Hyūga Compound, please?"
"Naruto, they're inducing Tsunade tomorrow!"
"Please! A serious miscarriage of justice is happening, and I need to crack this, fast!"
"Are you all right with taking the twins a night early in that case?" Jiraiya asked. Hinata and he had volunteered to watch Mito and Hiruzen while Tsunade gave birth and recovered with the new triplets.
"Yes, please, just hurry!"
"All right, be there in thirty minutes!" Jiraiya ended the call.
"What's up?" Konohamaru asked.
"He's having a eureka moment," Lee explained.
"Eureka!" Akane squealed with glee only a small child could have. Naruto's lips curled upward. The thought of being a father on accident had always nagged at him after getting back from Mount Myoboku. Now, he found himself wanting to see his own baby girl, sooner rather than later. Wait your turn, and figure this shit out first!
Naruto dialed the next number, "Hello," the shell of a man's voice greeted him.
"Itachi, I need you and your mom to come to the Hyūga Compound, now!"
"The Hyūga Compound? Naruto, what's going on?" his voice came thick in confusion.
"There is something that can prove your brother's innocence, but I need help figuring it out!" Naruto changed his voice to pleading, "Please!"
A long pause followed, "All right, I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Itachi… bring Izumi as well," he added.
"Naruto, what's going on?"
"Just a hunch that the clue we need has been staring us in the face."
"All right, I'll be there!" He ended the call.
Naruto dialed the phone for Hinata. Strangely, it went to voicemail. He was about to dial again when a text came through his phone:
TENTEN IS IN LABOR, CANT TALK. CALL YOU WHEN DONE.
"Damn," Naruto huffed. "Looks like I'm on my own." Isn't that going to be your reality, Lord Hokage? Isn't part of your uncle's little lesson? He turned back to the group, "Akane, I need you to come with me; we're going to see Mito and Hiruzen!"
"YAH!" she clapped, blissfully unaware of the gravity of the meeting to come.
A half hour later, Naruto sat beside Hiashi in the clan leader's office – behind what was Hinata's desk. Jiraiya sat with Tsunade on a couch brought in from another room. Mikoto Izuma, and Itachi Uchiha sat opposite them in office chairs. Naruto gripped the oak desk, praying this meeting bore fruit. "So, kiddo," Jiraiya asked, "what was so important that you had to call us here tonight?"
"I suppose scheduling a play date for our team of rugrats," Naruto gestured to Akane, Mito, Hiruzen, and Sato, "would seem a bit excessive." Naruto hoped some levity would lighten the air.
"Naruto," Tsunade chimed in, irked, "I'm being induced tomorrow! I'm achy, I'm bitchy, and I need to pee every five minutes!" Judging by the glowing red in her eyes, tomorrow wasn't going to be fun, "Get to the goddamn point!" I really hope Hinata doesn't get like this when our time comes! Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Everyone here was involved in either the murder of Yukio Hyūga or the attempted murder of Fugaku Uchiha. Whomever framed Sasuke for the later of the two is somehow linked to the former, and I'm more than certain that Sasuke poking around somehow was the catalyst for the bombing."
"We know the theory," Jiraiya said, "but we need facts to back that up." He turned his hands up to the ceiling.
"Grandpa, you were around to blackmail old man Hattori; did he ever mention his 'Little Crow?'" Naruto asked, hoping Hattori hadn't been so tight lipped in his prime
Jiraiya's rusty cogs turned, but he recalled nothing. "No, I can't say I remember him using that term at all."
"Nor can I," Hiashi chimed in.
"Don't look at me; Yukio's murder happened only a few days after I got back to the village."
"But you understand the reference, right?" Naruto asked.
"It would seem he had relations with a member of the Uchiha Clan, someone he didn't hold in high regard if he called her that," Tsunade said crisply. "That still doesn't narrow things down enough."
"Naruto, we've been down this road," Itachi chimed in, "it went nowhere."
"You have, but has your mom?" Naruto asked.
"Me?" she balked, seemingly as if she'd been accused of an affair.
"Lady Uchiha," Naruto spoke up, "think back to around the time Sasuke and I were born. Was there anyone cast out of the clan, ostracized, or the like – especially a single mom? Did you husband make any particularly harsh call that someone might want to kill him or the entire clan for it?"
Mikoto's eyes opened wide, twin singularities of black holes trying to pull back the layers of time. Sudden, she blinked, "Oh my god! Ema!"
"So, there was someone?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know; it was so long ago…"
"Mikoto, please, your son's life may depend on what you tell us. What do you remember?"
"She…she and her twin sister Sango came begging my husband to let Ema back into the clan's house. She'd married outside the clan! This was just a day before Yukio's murder!"
"Why didn't Fugaku take her back in?" Jiraiya asked.
"She was pregnant," abject horror washed over Mikoto's face as she covered her mouth with a hand. She began sobbig as she continued, "Her husband died during the war and clearly wasn't the father. She refused the name the father, and Fugaku threw her out of the house and family!"
A flash of familiarity hit Naruto, "Sango, where do I know that name?" Naruto asked.
"My father's attendant!" Itachi exclaimed, face lighting up like a holiday tree. "My god! She'd have access to our comings and goings; hell, she'd had access to most of the materials related to the murder investigation!"
Naruto rifled through a series of papers spread on the desk, "That makes no sense, there is no mention of an Ema Uchiha or other family name giving birth in that timeframe. It says Sango gave birth…" he reviewed the record, "… about nine months later to a Fuji Uchiha."
"Merow" the black cat named Luna suddenly trapesed across the desk, knocking a notebook off the desk.
"LUNA!" Naruto protested as she jumped off the desk.
"I got it son," Jiraiya stood from the couch and bent down to collect the notebook. It had fallen open on the ground. As Jiraiya flipped the book over, he froze. "Wait a minute," he stood upright, clutching the open page, "You said Sango and Ema were twin, identical?" He stared at Mikoto.
"Yes," Mikoto nodded.
"What was her married name? Ema's married name."
"K- something…Kim… Kimura!" Mikoto spoke with a flash of realization.
"Naruto, I think we have your link," he handed what has been Sasuke's case notes. Highlighted was an entry about a search for Ema Kimura and instead running across her son Fuji Kimura.
"I'll be damned," Naruto said, "She gave birth under the name Sango Uchiha!"
"Why?" Hiashi asked.
"Maybe to throw off Hattori," Naruto said. "If he didn't know she was carrying his baby at the time, he'd have no reason to kill her. All the other maids were pregnant when they died!"
"And she knew the risk of what happened to maids he knocked up!" Tsunade added.
"How much does anyone want to bet," Naruto started, "Yukio confronted him about philandering in his frail health…" Naruto saw the events playing out in his head, "… and he thought Yukio was threatening to expose him!"
"The bastard murdered Yukio in a panicked whim," Hiashi's hands clenched, the skin of his knuckles turning white. "So much suffering because my dad couldn't keep it in his pants!"
"Why didn't he attack the Hyūga Clan, too?" Itachi asked. "I'll admit, it was cruel of father to throw them out, but Hattori clearly knocked her up if not outright raped her!"
"Security here has been tight," Hiashi answered, "especially since the attack at your home."
Naruto spoke up, "Ema or Fuji would have been able to disguise themselves as Sasuke and use that to bluff their way into the clan's succession ceremony!"
Itachi stood, "We need to pick up Sango, and figure out her part. She may be complicit beyond what we thought!"
Naruto's phone buzzed before they could formulate a plan. He extracted the phone from his pocket and recognized one of the burner phones he'd given Sasuke and Sakura. Oh shit, for him to call can't be good! He pressed the button to accept the call, "Hello?"
"Naruto, I need you to come right now! Bring Hinata with you!" Sasuke's voice cracked with panic.
"What happened?"
"Something is wrong with Sakura. I don't know, but she begged me to call you have you bring Hinata. She's borderline hysterical!"
"Shit," Naruto eyed the rest of the crowed, "All right, be there shortly!" Naruto ended the call. "Itachi, get whomever you need and confront Sango! Find out what is going on!"
"Where are you going?" Mikoto asked.
"Sasuke and Sakura need my help," Naruto opted not to tell them that he was requesting Hinata. "I'll call when I get back!" Naruto teleported to Hinata's location. Hinata, Hanabi, and Akemi stood near the foot of a hospital bed while Neji stood close to his wife.
"AHHH!" Tenten screamed as a contraction hit.
"Naruto!" Hinata turned her attention from their pregnant friend.
"Hinata! I need you to come with me; it's urgent! Something is wrong with Sakura! Sasuke called in a panic, begging for help!"
Hinata froze with her pale Byakugan wide at his statement – for Sasuke to beg was a serious thing. "Mom, are you and Hanabi all right to proceed?"
"Go, see to your friend; Hanabi and I got this!" Akemi answered.
Hinata grabbed her medical kit, and Naruto took her by the hand. He teleported them both, wondering what fresh hell awaited when they arrived.
Sasuke washed up best as he could with nothing but a bucket of water from the cursed well. While certainly not as nice as having running water, it was still better than washing up in a stream that animals may or may not have pissed in. He was finishing and half-dressed when he heard a dreadful sound, "S-Sasuke!" Sakura's voice was sharp with alarm.
He ran from their makeshift washroom and into the common room in the abandoned manor. Sakura shivered like she'd seen a ghost. "Sakura, what's wrong?!"
"S..S..Sasuke!" tears streamed down from her eyes, "I need you to look, down there!" She pulled back the blanket to show her exposed womanhood. She spread her folds and Sasuke saw what she was talking about. A silvery band of tissue was protruding where it very clearly shouldn't be. "Sasuke, what do you see?" she sobbed.
A stone hit his stomach. Clearly, this was serious, but he didn't know how serious. "Sakura, there is something silvery protruding…"
"Oh god!" she covered her mouth, again sobbing in earnest. "Sasuke!" she choked, "I need you to call Naruto, having him bring Hinata!"
"Call Naruto?!" his mind ran down the short list of serious medical issues that would cause her to make such a call.
"Please, hurry!" she continued to sob.
Sasuke ran to his belongings, found one of the burner phones, turned it on. Naruto had preset his cellphone in the phone. Sasuke dialed and brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?" Naruto's boyish voice greeted.
"Naruto, I need you to come right now! Bring Hinata with you!" Sasuke's heart began racing and his bladder constricted
"What happened?"
Goddammit, stop asking stupid questions! "Something is wrong with Sakura. I don't know, but she begged me to call you have you bring Hinata. She's borderline hysterical!"
"Shit," Naruto eyed the rest of the crowed, "All right, be there shortly!" Naruto ended the call.
Seconds stretch out, agonizingly long, as Sasuke could only stand and watch Sakura crying. Finally, Naruto and Hinata teleported into the room. "Sasuke, what the hell is going on!" Naruto eyed the disheveled mess in a panic.
"Oh my god, Sakura!" Hinata raced to her friend's side and knelt down beside her.
"H-Hinata?!" Sasuke spoke, hearing his own voice out of focus as the room began spinning. He knew what the answer was, but he didn't dare think or say it in the vain hope if he didn't then it wasn't real.
"Sakura," Hinata spoke through choked tears, "I'm so sorry!" Sakura's crying intensified.
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked, blissfully ignorant.
"Sakura…" Hinata's voice dropped, low and dead, "… has miscarried." She turned a sympathetic look to Sakura, "Do you know how long you were?"
"Almost seventeen weeks!" she sobbed.
Sasuke's knees gave out, and for once he was glad to have Naruto catch him as he fainted.
Author's notes: Hello everyone, and thank you for reading. I have a few points to clarify about this chapter:
1) Sakura's miscarriage was planned from the start. It was going to happen even before my wife and I had our miscarriage.
2) it will be better explained in the next chapter, but this was not Sarada that Sakura lost. Rest assured, she will make an appearance before this story ends.
3) I know this may be an unusual subject to include in fanfiction. Part of this is me grieving. However, I also wish to call attention to the fact that roughly 20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, and they can happen after first trimester, even with healthy pregnancies. This is a common occurrence, but it is seriously taboo in many circles. Much like what happened to Sakura, everything can be textbook perfect one day, and the next, a switch flips, and there is no explanation as to why.
Thank you all again for reading, and thank you for letting me have this small soapbox. Next chapter or two will conclude the framed for murder arc. Stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you all then.
Version history: updated 2/13/2024 to correct several grammatical errors not caught on revision. My apologies for releasing unpolished.
