Disclaimer: This story utilises characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelisations, comics or short stories is intended by KuriQuinn in any way, shape or form. This fan-oriented story is written solely for the author's own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All plot and Original Characters except for those introduced in the canon books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn. (© KuriQuinn 2016- )

Author's Note : This isn't exactly new, but it was only posted on tumblr. Since tumblr is now doing stupid things and I'm worried I might lose my stuff because their system for flagging inappropriate content is complete shite, I'm backing up everything. Ao3 and Quotev will have my NSFW stuff, as well as the Dreamwidth account I've linked to tumblr. Everything else will be uploaded here, ao3 and wattpad. This takes place in the Samsara series.

Warning: You should probably read Penthesilea before reading this.

_____

綱手

Sakura screams, a low, feral wail that is almost unearthly. If Tsunade weren't looking at her, she would think it was coming from a wounded animal.

Her apprentice lies back on her pallet, red stain blossoming underneath her and seeping into the floor despite the rags and padding beneath her. sweat soaks through her hair and down her back, leaving dark stains on the pillow propped up behind her. Her fists are clenched, eyes huge with fright and pain as she stares up at them, pleading.

As another contraction wracks her body, the room fills with another low howl; her stomach shudders and quivers, the child inside fighting to come out, her body trying to expel it, but neither effort coming to fruition.

Tsunade exchanges a grim look with Shizune and Karin. "How long has she been like this?"

"An hour before we sent for you," Shizune said. "

"She wouldn't let us before, but she's in too much pain right now to stop us," Karin grumbles, as if this was a personal affront to her. "The hormones and adrenaline have completely altered her strength. Control isn't even a possibility right now. One moment she's strong as an ox, the next week as a kitten."

"If we don't help her, crushing someone's hand will the least of our problems," Shizune agrees. "She might accidentally crush the baby."

"She's ready to give birth, and the baby's ready to come out. Her contractions are about forty seconds apart," Karin says. "But she won't push."

"What?" Tsunade demands. She strides forward and crouches over her apprentice and heir. "What's this nonsense, Sakura. You need to push."

"I'm sorry...shishou...I can't..." Sakura shakes her head, a shot of determination lancing through her pained expression.

"Of course you can...go on, there's a good girl," Tsunade says, putting a hand on her forehead. "It will be alright, Sakura. Just push..."

"N...no!"

She has that same stubborn look as she did when she was a child, newly orphaned and demanding Tsunade train her. Even in the throws of agony, Tsunade knows there's no point arguing with her. It's up to her to make a decision.

"That baby is going to go into distress," she says. "Sakura, you know this."

"She's not hearing us," Karin points out. "Either she doesn't want to or she's in too much pain. If we she doesn't come to her senses, we'll have no choice but to knock her out and do a caesarean."

"Do you realise the amount of sophorific we would need to knock her out?" Shizune argues. "It would hurt the baby."

"It would kill the baby," Tsunade corrects grimly. "We have a decision to make, before the choice is between her and it."

"It's been so long," Karin shakes her head. "I'm surprised it's still alive in there. She's not going to last much longer..."

"You...none of you...understand..." Sakura gasps. "I...can't..."

"You can, Sakura, and you will," Tsunade says. "I'm giving you an order now—push!"

Sakura clamps her jaw shut, shaking her head and groaning as another contraction hits.

"Sakura!"

"Naruto!" she gasps as the contraction passes, panting. "Get...Naruto...! He'll...he...!"

She can't get the words out, but Tsunade is already motioning for Shizune to fetch the leader of the Uzumaki.

She can't quite hide her surprise, having not expected the two to have progressed to that kind of relationship. Betrothal aside, they have always had the relationship of siblings instead of lovers. He wasn't even one of the possibilities Tsunade considered when she began to suspect Sakura's pregnancy.

Even Kakashi seemed like the likelier choice, considering how protective he's been of her since he followed her and Naruto back here.

The man's obvious esteem for Sakura was one of the reasons Tsunade elected to trust his intentions when he was expelled from the Uchiha's forces by the increasingly mad Uchiha Sasuke.

To think, the boy once almost helped to bring us peace. His brother's death destroyed any chance of that. Uncle Tobirama was right—there's no clan that is as much a slave to their emotions as the Uchiha...

Shizune returns within ten minutes, Naruto in tow. He appears confused at why he's been summoned, but upon seeing Sakura lying back on her mat, writhing and gasping, he freezes.

He didn't know she was pregnant, apparently.

Well, to the untrained eye, she wasn't. She did take pains to hide it...though what the point of that is, I'll never know. It's not like we weren't going to notice her suddenly nursing a baby...

"Shizune filled me in on the way," he says quietly, staring at Sakura like she's something otherworldly. "I can't...I couldn't believe it. Why is this happening?"

Still, Tsunade's annoyance doesn't stop her from a snide comment. "For such a talented warrior, you're still a bit of an idiot. Generally, pregnancy is what happens when you have sex."

Something like calculation passes through his eyes, a look she's seen many a bewildered young man adopt upon finding out about their paramour's condition.

"Though I'm surprised she didn't tell you about her condition."

"Well, she didn't tell you either!"

"I already figured it out," Tsunade retorts dryly. "But what did you do that she decided not to tell you about your own child?"

Naruto gapes at her.

"I'm...not the father," he tells her slowly.

This time it's Tsunade who freezes. "What do you mean? She asked for you!"

"Not because I'm the father!"

"Then who is?!"

Naruto opens his mouth, but whether it's to answer or not, Tsunade never learns, because Sakura's anguished, weak voice interrupts. "Naruto."

Instantly he hurries to her side, kneeling close to her and holding a limp hand. "Hey, Sakura-chan, what's going on here?"

"Naruto...you have to...you have to," she attempts, obviously in crippling pain. "Don't let them hurt the baby. Don't let them...even when they see...not the baby's fault. I was...I was..."

"No one will hurt the baby," Naruto promises. "I won't let them. But hey, that means you too, okay?" He squeezes her hand. "And Shizune said Granny Tsunade and Karin-neechan might have to cut the baby out if you don't push."

"They can try!" Sakura snarls, suddenly furious. "I won't let them! I need...I need to wait..."

"You can't wait! If you wait any longer, you'll lose it! And we'll lose you!"

"I told them...I'm telling you..." Sakura wheezes. "I'm not...having this baby...until he...until he..."

Naruto's expression darkens here. "He's not coming, Sakura. Your baby—his baby is going to die before it's even born if you don't—"

"No!" Sakura shouts, voice shrill and panicked. "I can keep it...safe...protected...I have this!" She struggles to point at the seal on her forehead, which is beginning to flicker. She has been relying on it for hours now. "They can't hurt it in here...they can't..."

She trails off into wordless, anguished sobs.

"I don't understand why she thinks we would hurt it," Shizune says quietly.

"She's so strung out on hormones and adrenaline right now it's affecting her brain. She likely doesn't even know what she's saying anymore, but her protective instincts are overruling any rational judgement she can make."

"You have to do something," Naruto insists. "Is there anything that can be used to keep her mind off this? A genjutsu, maybe?"

"The amount of pain she's in, even a genjutsu cast by Uchiha MAdara wouldn't hold her right now," Tsunade shakes her head. "And do you really think she'll be more inclined or comfortable giving birth trapped in an illusion?"

Naruto is thoughtful. "It would depend on the illusion..."

This, coupled with his plea from earlier, causes something to click in Tsunade's head.

"You know," she accuses. "You know who the child's father is."

"Not...for sure," Naruto hesitates.

"Tell me," Tsunade commands. "I need to know, especially if he has a kekkei genkai that could be causing this."

Some clans have those; she recalls the legendary Kaguya clan, who upon birth rip their mothers open from the inside with their bones.

"She has her reasons for not telling you."

"Oh, I have no doubt. My apprentice may want to protect the son of a bitch, but I want to know why he's not here!"

"He...can't be here."

"Why?" Tsunade demands. A beat later, something occurs to her and her heart clenches at the worst possible scenario. "Unless...is he...dead?"

Thankfully (or perhaps not), Naruto shakes his head. "It's complicated—"

"She's haemorrhaging again!" Shizune cries, while Karin hurries forward and offers Sakura her arm, forcing her to bite down on it to activate her healing. But the pink-haired woman pulls away, murmurming wildly.

"I can't," she whispers, "I can't, I'm sorry, I...this isn't...this isn't how it's was supposed to...He's supposed to be here..." She cries, and it's not from the physical pain now. Tsunade recognises that look of anguish and heartbreak from her own face in the mirror after Dan died. "I need him here."

"You idiot!" Karin snaps. "Whoever he is isn't here, it's just us! Now if you cared about that baby, you'd stop trying to kill it!"

Tsunade knows it's only the other woman's panic causing her to lash out—she's rather fond of Sakura under normal circumstances—but she snaps, "Karin, that is not helping!"

"Wait," Naruto interrupts. He bites the inside of his lip, looking conflicted. "I have an idea what might help. But...I need your word she won't be punished. Her, or the baby."

"What?" Tsunade asks, frowning at this request; it doesn't bode well.

"Your word, Lady Tsunade," Naruto says. It's one of the rare times when he addresses her with respect, his tone completely serious. She is so caught off-guard by it and so concerned for her disciple that she finds herself agreeing.

"You have it," she says, a little faintly.

"You can't react to what's about to happen," he goes on. "No matter what your first instinct might be."

Tsunade exchanges confused glances with Shizune and Karin as Naruto leaves the room. He pulls the door closed behind him, but by chance doesn't shut it fully, leaving a sliver of space through which they can still see him.

To Tsunade's astonishment, he forms the hand signs for Henge—not a technique he uses very often, except for that utterly perverted Sexy no jutsu that Jiraiya loved so much.

The technique, it turns out, is not the most surprising thing.

No, the big shock is who he turns into.

サクラ

Sakura moans, weakly curling onto her side to avoid the ministrations of her master and friends. Her lower lip is raw and bleeding where she fruitlessly clamped down on it, trying to muffle her screams.

Her clothes are stained with sweat and blood and other bodily fluids, the birth pangs coming faster and faster. They sweep over her as she fights to keep sense of everything around her. She thinks Naruto was here a moment ago, but might have dreamed him. Reality isn't solid right now, and she keeps slipping in and out of it from one second to the next.

One moment she knows she is surrounded by loved ones, and in the next they seem like strangers to her pain-addled brain.

She finds herself murmuring nonsense, begging for her mother who she knows—thinks, no, remembers—is dead. She wishes she was still here to be with her, someone she could call out to.

Because she won't call out the name she truly wants to; the name of the one who should be here by her side right now.

"Come on, now, Sakura," Shizune says gently, once again trying to make her sit up.

"No," Sakura insists, pushing her away.

"Sakura, please, you need to lie on you back and sit up, you need to push—"

"Leave me alone!"

"Sakura, if you don't cooperate, I really will knock you out," Karin growls at her.

"Try is," Sakura snarls back, pretty sure that even like this she can take the other woman in a fight. "If you dare—"

"Sakura."

Instantly everyone in the room freezes.

She can't help the way her head whips around to stare at the owner of the voice, utter disbelief temporarily blocking out the pain.

Uchiha Sasuke stands in the doorway, looking tense and uncomfortable, but gazing upon her in something like reproach.

A sob escapes her, as she struggles to pull herself into a sitting position.

"Sasuke-kun!" she gasps, anxious. "You're here, you—" She remembers here they are, and who is in the room with them. "No, you—you have to leave, you have to—you could be in danger!"

"He is permitted to be here for this," Tsunade says grimly, her expression unreadable.

Sakura doesn't have a chance to puzzle over this, as Sasuke crosses the room and leans in close to her.

"Sakura," he goes on, "you surprise me. You are so strong in battle. What are you doing now?"

"It's...it's a little different," she whimpers.

"This is nothing to you," he tells her pointedly. "You are Haruno Sakura, the heir of the Senju. You have never quaked in the face of pain or bloodshed or death. You have never given up on anything before, even me. And you're giving up on your life out of what...fear?"

"No!" she protests. "I just...I had to...see you! Had to apologise!" She reaches out and clings to his arm, shuddering because touching him again after so long makes the world shift. "I tried to tell you—I swear, I did, but then Itachi died, and you said—"

She trails off into an anguished sob, remembering that horrible day when he looked at her like she was nothing.

"I know what I said," he tells her quietly. "I know what I did. None of that matters right now, in this moment. What matters is the child."

"Our child," she murmurs dimly.

"Yes," he says, something like pain flashing across his eyes. "If you don't start to push, you could die. So could the child. Do you think I will ever be able to forgive myself if that happened?"

Sakura swallows, her mouth and throat too dry for the movement to offer comfort. Sasuke is already so burdened, so guilty over so many things, she can't put him through this too!

"Alright," she says. "Alright, we'll...let's do this."

He nods, slow and grave, and then looks up to the others in the room.

Sasuke helps her sit up, and after a signal from Tsunade, he gets up on the bed behind her, crawling in to bracket her back with his chest and legs. Sakura sighs, the familiar contours of his body giving her a strength she hasn't felt since her labour started. She feels Tsunde's warm hand around her blood-starved ones.

"Squeeze when it hurts too much," Tsunade tells her; she's the only one there who can withstand Sakura's strength.

"Alright, Sakura, take a deep breath and on the next contraction, push," Shizune tells her, while Karin crouches in front of her exposed lower half.

Sakura does as she's told, trying to push. She bellows in pain, the sense of being torn in half growing stronger as the seconds pass. Although she bears down, doing her best to expel the infant from her womb, nothing changes.

The contraction passes, leaving her panting and gasping for air. She feels something cool and wet passing over her forehead and neck, and when the spots disappear from her eyes, she sees Sasuke's hand holding a cloth to her.

"You can do this," he insists. "You've performed feats even Uzumaki Mito couldn't dream of. You won't lose this. I know that Sa...that I wasn't there while you were going through this. And there are man things going on right now in the war that we have no control over. But this?" He reaches further and rests his hands delicately on her bloated belly, "This you can do. I have no doubt."

She's crying again, because for so many months she dreams of him returning, of saying these things to her.

"Alright," she sniffs. "Alright..."

"Ready to try again?" Shizune asks, and Sakura nods.

She cranes her neck to stare up at Sasuke, and tries to smile at him.

"I love you," she says. "From the day...you carried me off that battlefield. Maybe before...I think."

A myriad of expressions cross his face then—astonishment, pain, guilt—and then he smirks in that way of his.

"I know you do," he tells her, and she's struck with surprise with the sincerity in it. There's something about this that makes no sense, and she wants to ask—

But another contraction hits.

"Push!" Karin demands, and Sakura tries to comply, summoning as much of her strength as she dares. She just needs to get the baby out, where they can care for it—

"Stop!"

"Sakura, stop pushing, now!"

She does as she's bid, staring up at the two women who are staring at her in panic.

"What is it?" Tsunade demands, while Karin probes Sakura's thighs. Shizune watches her face for signs of pain, but it almost feels like she's beyond that now. Everything is pain, there is no relief.

Karin draws back, her hands coated with blood—much more than before, much more than is normal.

"Breach birth," the Uzumaki woman says, grim.

"The baby has to be turned," Shizune agrees. "We need you to sit up."

Sasuke makes a noise of confirmation and helps Sakura sit up even more. She whimpers, quiet at first and then ratcheting into a shriek as one of the women—Karin or Shizune, she doesn't know which—reaches a fingers inside of her and begins to rotate.

She doesn't know how long that goes on for—honestly, she might have passed out for a few seconds. But when she comes to, Tsunade is nodding in a business-like fashion.

"Alright," Tsunade says. "It's time, Sakura. The next contraction is it. As hard as you can, you push and don't stop. Do you understand?"

Sakura stares blankly at her teacher, too far gone to comprehend.

"Sakura?" Sasuke prompts, and she forces herself to concentrate.

"Ye...yes," she rasps.

"Get ready..." Karin orders. "And—" The contraction hits. "NOW!"

Sakura's body shudders and she screams in pain and terror and fear, the sound unearthly and inhuman even to her ears.

"Push!" Sasuke encourages, while Tsunade continues to hold her.

"A little more," Karin says. "The top of the head is out."

"I need to stop..." Sakura murmurs, trying to fall back against Sasuke but he keeps her in position. "I need..."

"You're doing well," he tells her tensely. "Shrug it off. It should be nothing for you to do that."

"You...you're right" she pants, gritting her teeth in the face of the next wave of pain.

"Ready?" Tsunade asks.

Sakura nods, unable to speak anymore.

Karin says, "Okay."

"Push," Sasuke orders.

Sakura pushes, and once again screams as the ripping, tearing white pain radiates throughout her entire being. She feels Tsunade's fingers snap within her own, but the older woman doesn't move or show any indication that she has even noticed.

She has the sense of wet and solid sliding from her, and then suddenly a foreign sensation of emptiness.

There's a startled cry from somewhere near her lower half, so unfamiliar and quiet, but instantly Sakura's head swivels toward it because she knows this sound! Something primal within her reacts to it, instantly wants to quiet it and stop whatever is causing the noise of distress.

"Give...give me..." Sakura tries, but words are still giving her trouble.

"The baby?" Sasuke says, both finishing her sentence and asking Karin, whose back is turned to her as she busies herself with cleaning off the wailing infant.

"Perfectly healthy," Karin tells him, thought she frowns at the bundle. "Her eyes are strange, though."

"Her?" Sakura breathes, falling back on Sasuke, her face slack and the sound of her pulse in her ears oddly slow.

Down below, Shizune murmurs to her that everything is alright as she massages Sakura's belly and uterus back into shape, while Tsunade bends before her to heal the damage.

But none of this means anything in the face of Karin finally coming over and laying a tiny, wriggling bundle in Sakura's arms.

Everything else seems to vanish, every other sense suddenly muted.

She stares at the tiny, wrinkled pink face, the thin but strong that kicked beneath her heart, and those eyes. She might think there was something wrong, expect she knows those eyes intimately—they're the reason she's in this situation to begin with.

They are utterly black, reflecting Sakura's exhausted expression back at her.

Sakura gazes at the baby, suffused with joy and love that somehow overtake the pain that won't disappear. She never realised she could instantly love something so much. She thought Sasuke was it, but this creature in her arms...

"You did it," Sasuke says, sounding breathless; she thinks he might even be crying, and that makes her heart flutter.

"Not alone," she says. "We...knew you would come..."

Sasuke swallows at this, and gapes at the baby like he has no idea how to react properly. She never thought the great Uchiha Sasuke could look as stunned as Naruto, but then she's iterations of that look on his face before.

"This is what...he wanted," she tells him. "Your brother. Her. She's...she's our future..."

Sasuke nods wordlessly. In the background, Tsunade is watching them with a hard, speculative look on her face.

"Sarada," Sakura whispers a beat later, to herself and Sasuke. "We'll...call her...Sarada..."

She wants to tell him why, wants to explain the name she has been thinking about for the past few months, whether the baby was a boy or a girl.

But her tongue won't move anymore, and her eyelids begins to droop. The baby seems to get exponentially heavier then, and the world inexplicably darker.

"Grab the baby!"

"We're losing her!"

The last thing she is aware of is the sudden empty feeling in her arms, and the keening wail of her daughter.

ナルト

As Sakura's arms go slacken, and falls back into boneless unconsciousness, Tsunade, Karin and Shizune clamour around her. Naruto finds himself dragged away from her, baby deposited in his arms and a sharp, "Keep her neck supported!" barked at him by his cousin.

Then Tsunade is crouched in front of Sakura, working healing chakra into her, while Karin tries to force her to bite down on her arm to share strength. Shizune changes and tosses away sodden red bandages, sweat beading on her forehead—

"What can I do?" Naruto asks, though his words are nearly lost in the infants gasping wails. "Kurama's chakra, would it help—?"

"No," Tsunade says, not looking up. "Her body's being influenced by too many chakra signatures right now as it is, we can't afford the shock it might cause her. Besides, that energy is too strong for her right now, and your control isn't precise to begin with."

Naruto nods numbly for want of anything else.

"Just hold onto the baby," Tsunade says. "She may lose both parents before her first birthday, it would be nice if we could tell her she at least got to be held by both."

This time she does look up, frowning up at him. Irritation and annoyance slip through her worry briefly. Naruto knows it's going to be a long, unpleasant conversation when that issue is brought up again, but he doesn't have time to dwell.

Because he never thought of the possibility of Sakura actually dying, and from childbirth of all things.

His eyes are drawn back down to the baby—Sarada, she called her—a pink, still somewhat bloody, bawling creature in his arms. He is immediately struck by how much she resembles Sasukes. Not just her eyes, which are the same fathomless black irises as her father's, but her colouring and the shape of her face. Even as she bawls, the way her brows wrinkle together are immediately recognisable.

"Hang in there, kid," he tells her quietly, awkwardly rocking the baby and trying not to panic, because he knows nothing about babies!

"Still hemorrhaging!" Shizune cries, shrill.

"Sakura, don't you dare die on me, that would really piss me off," Tsunade snarls, still focussing her healing chakra into the body of her apprentice.

"I don't get it," Naruto says, now practically bouncing the baby; she isn't impressed, judging by the way her cries ratchet higher. "I've seen her take hits from a giant chakra monster and perform the most complicated healing techniques ever. All of that stuff and she pulled through. Why's she getting worse from this?"

"I'd think you of all people would understand how difficult childbirth is, considering what happened to Auntie Kushina," Karin reminds him.

"That was different," Naruto says weakly. "She was attacked while she was giving birth, it's not...it's not the same."

"Even in regular childbirth, a woman's body goes through immense strain," Tsunade says. "It doesn't help that Sakura has been pushing herself throughout this campaigns, organizing evacuations and retreats and healing people caught in that little bastard's assaults." A cold smile appears on her face. "Sometimes I wonder if the universe doesn't have a sense of humour..."

Naruto narrows his eyes at his family's oldest ally; she's never been a fan of the Uchiha, but she's always been much more committed to peace than old grudges. Still, sometimes he wonders...

"The point is, Sakura has been using inordinate amounts of her strength reserves in the past months, not just helping and healing people, but concealing her condition," Tsunade finishes. "Unless we can stop the bleeding long enough for me to replenish it...the heart can't beat without blood. The rest of her systems will shut down soon, too."

"Can't you just use your chakra to make her heart beat?" Naruto asks.

Tsunade stills, then glances up sharply; the other women do as well.

"You know, use chakra to stand in for her blood until the new stuff takes," Naruto continues, raising an eyebrow. "That's what Sakura did when...when we..." He trails off, realising he's about to divulge something of the utmost secrecy. "I mean, she told me she could do that. I thought she learned that from me."

"She didn't learn that from me," Tsunade practically growls, shooting her apprentice a livid look. And yet, a beat later, the seal on her forehead grows, stretching ribbons across her face and down her neck and arms. "But she did show it to me once. I forbade her from ever doing it again because of how dangerous it is."

Suddenly Sakura's healing of Uchiha Itachi seems a lot more impressive.

The baby wails even harder, and Naruto can't watch Tsunade use Sakura's technique, desperately trying to quiet the child. He doesn't want to risk leaving the room, in case he is needed or misses something, but at the same time he knows her sounds are causing more tension from the others.

Thinking as quickly as he can, he balances her in one arm while reaching for a nearby basin of clean water. He does his best to clean his hand, and then places the tip of his pinky in the baby's mouth. She quiets instantly, gumming and sucking on the digit out of instinct.

Poor kid, Naruto thinks.

There is a sudden collective exhale, and as he looks up, he sees Tsunade and the others have finally calm. Sakura is

"The bleeding stopped," Shizune murmurs wearily.

"Heartrate and chakra are becoming more stable," Karin agrees, trying to sound clinical, but the relief in her voice is evident.

"I'm too old for this shit," Tsunade grumbles as she gets to her feet. The seal in her forehead is gone. She jabs a finger at Naruto. "As soon as she's strong enough, the three of us are sitting down and you're explaining exactly what circumstances required her to use that technique. And how the hell she became involved in such a way with Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto opens his mouth to protest, but Tsunade keeps going, addressing the other two women as well. "Obviously it goes without saying that no one in this room heard about or knows the truth of the child's parentage. Peace is already practically unattainable, I don't want that Sharingan wielding lunatic discovering we have his child and trying harder to wipe us all out."

"It's going to be obvious at some point," Karin says, peering across the room at the baby. "Anyone who's ever seen him close up will be able to tell just by looking at her."

"Luckily, most people who have been that close to him are in the ground, or in this room," Tsunade dismisses. "Besides, Naruto is apparently a master at secret arrangements—" Her voice is complete sarcasm at this juncture, "—Figure it out. Now that I understand why Hatake stayed by her side for so long, have him in on it. Furthermore..."

Tsunade falters then, stumbling backward.

"Shishou!" Shizune gasps, hurrying forward to catch her. She begins to fret. "She's exhausted herself."

"Funny how she was going off on Sakura for the exact same thing not an hour ago," Naruto snorts, and then frowns as the baby pulls away from his finger. Evidently she has realised that there is no food forthcoming.

"Don't you start," Shizune scolds, carrying the ailing leader of the Senju out of the room.

香燐

Karin does a last examination of Sakura's vitals as the other two women leave the room, frowning at the sharp decrease in the Senju leader's chakra levels. It's not the only thing that is concerning.

"The old bat isn't much longer for the world," she tells her cousin once the others are out of earshot.

"Could you at least pretend to be respectful?" Naruto chides.

"You realise the irony of that coming from you, right?" They frown at each other, but Naruto's gaze continues to be drawn to his unconscious friend and Karin sighs. She holds out her arms. "Pass me the kid. I need to weigh her and do all her vaccinations."

"Can't we wait until Sakura wakes up?"

"No," Karin snaps. "This baby is more important than any of us thought. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she's strong enough to survive." When Naruto continues to falter, Karin's gentles her tone a bit. "You know how important Sakura is to me. Besides, even if she wasn't...can't you feel it?"

She gazes down at the infant, and closes her eyes, focussing on the vibrant, alluring chakra that already thrums through the tiny body.

"She's so warm and bright," she whispers. "It's different from you, it's...dazzling. It's just like..." She trails off and stares meaningfully at her cousin, who continues to wear the face of their traditional enemy and (apparently) Sakura's secret lover. "I know I only met him the one time, but I will never forget what his chakra felt like."

She spent the entirety of that meeting, up until the moment when that bastard Danzō ruined everything, daydreaming about tracking down Uchiha Sasuke and dragging him into a corner to have her way with him.

You know...before he went on a crazy rampage to try to kill us all, she tells herself, but there's a tiny part of her that doesn't even think that would have been a deterrent. She hasn't been able to stop thinking about him since that day, but now...knowing that he belongs to Sakura, and they created this child...

It will get easier, she tells herself.

Her ability to sense chakra is both a gift and a curse sometimes, influencing how she interacts with other people. It's why she never had a true friend growing up until her mother introduced her to her cousin. And through him, she met Sakura, who befriended her despite her static personality.

And that's why it must get easier.

"I'll bring her back soon," Karin tells Naruto. "Knowing Sakura, she'll be awake soon, and she'll want to know the baby is alright. Besides, you have some explaining to do."

She nods at his current guise.

"Right," he says, and takes one last look at the baby. Lightly, he traces her hairline, which is still stained with some of her mother's blood, then carefully passes her over to Karin.

She shivers as the baby's chakra washes over her.

Sarada mewls in protest as she's forced to relinquish Naruto's pinky-finger, and Karin hurries to the other room to find something to feed her with. Sakura may be unconscious for another hour or more, and the infant will need sustenance.

Naruto dispels the Henge and goes to sit beside Sakura, waiting for her to wake up. His usually bright and warm chakra seems disturbed, and a hint of melancholy hangs over him. Karin shakes her head in empathy; Naruto's always had a soft spot for Sakura, and she thinks he was hoping that one day their friendship might become something more. It's usually the way arranged marriages are supposed to work, too.

But remembering Sakura's total bliss at the sight of Sasuke—even if it wasn't really him—it's obvious that will never happen.

She leaves the room, bringing the baby to the next room to clean her properly and give her the right inoculations. Karin handles her as carefully as possible, hardly daring to breathe all the while. She's never been the type to long for motherhood—she'll die before she inflicts her abilities on an innocent child the way her mother did to her—but holding the little one, she comes close.

Once all of the tests are done and she's procured some formula for the baby—it will do until Sakura's able to feed her—Sarada returns to the delivery room.

"The baby's with Karin," she hears Naruto say quietly; Sakura is awake. "She's be back here in a minute."

"Right..." Sakura says, voice weak and rasping. But there's a sudden violent flare in Sakura's chakra, and then an overwhelming sensation of loss and pain.

"Sas...Sasuke-kun..." she whispers. "He was...he wasn't..."

"Sakura-chan...I'm sorry," Naruto tells her. "I didn't want to...I hate seeing you in pain. But you weren't going to push. You could have lost the baby, or...or we could have lost you."

"I...I know."

But the pain doesn't leave her voice.

That, more than anything else, motivates Karin to move. She strides through the door, trying to look unbothered by any of the emotions that run high in the room.

"Congratulations," she tells Sakura as she hands her friend the baby. "She's healthier than you are right now."

Sakura's face lights up with a joy no one hasn't seen in the past months, and once she holds the infant, begins counting fingers and toes, touching the tip of the finger to the baby's nose and eyebrows, fingers the wavy hair and soft skin.

"She's perfect," she whispers, and Karin tries to snort in contempt and walk out, to pretend she is unaffected, but finds she's unable to move.

"No argument there," Naruto agrees, happy to see his friend happy once more. But he still seems troubled. A beat later, in an injured tone, he says, "I wish you had told me."

"I couldn't..."

"After everything?" he challenges. "All this time, you've trusted me with trying to save the life of our enemy." Karin frowns in confusion at this, but a warning look from Naruto tells her he'll explain it later. "I kept secret what I knew about you and Sasuke once I found out, even though I...And after all this time I've been trying to keep Tsunade from losing her patience and attacking the Uchiha forces instead of evacuating. And you couldn't—"

"I was scared," Sakura interrupts, and though her voice is small is stops his growing irritation in its tracks. "I...I wanted to, but then...I thought about just leaving...and then there were so many people who needed help, and between the evacuations and the fighting and everything. And then Hinata and her family arrived, with their complications, and I know that she was Sasuke's betrothed and if they found out that I...and you've been spending so much time with her, I thought...I know you wouldn't want to keep secrets from her, so I just...it was never the right time. And by the time it was, I thought you would be angry at me for keeping it quiet for so long."

Naruto processes all of this, and then exhales with effort.

"I'm not angry," he tells eventually. "A bit hurt, but not angry."

"He's telling the truth," Karin says. "I'd tell you if he was lying."

Naruto glares. "Why are you still here, Karin?"

"I delivered that baby, it's my responsibility to observe her and make sure she's doing alright," Karin retorts, even though that's not really something she has to do. "Sakura doesn't mind."

"No," the green-eyed woman says, offering Karin a tired smile. She no doubt suspects why Karin isn't able to tear herself away just yet. Then she returns her attention to Naruto. "I'll...I'll make it up to you."

"Heh. You'd better."

"And...thank you. For not being angry."

"Yeah, well, I don't believe in grudges," Naruto dismisses, stretching his arms in a show of casual disinterest. "If anything else, this war taught me how stupid that is."

"I don't know what I would do without you, and not just today," Sakura goes on sincerely, and then swallows heavily. "It's enough that my child's father hates me. I don't know what I would do if her godfather did, too."

Naruto blinks at her, uncertain if he has heard right.

"Are you insane?!" Karin demands. "He can barely keep a toad alive, and you want to give him responsibility over your child?"

"Well, I'm hoping her godmother will also pitch in," Sakura suggests, giving Karin a significant look.

It's her turn to stare.

"What?" she asks in toneless disbelief.

"I don't know if we should take any of this seriously," Naruto says nervously. "You lost a lot of blood, and you're sort of loopy, so—"

"Who better than the man who stood in for her father—literally—and the woman who delivered her?" Sakura counters. "I've seen some more questionable choices in the past."

"If you're talking about Ero-sennin..." Naruto begins, defensive, and then snorts. "Okay, then you'd be right. But this...I mean...godfather...that's just..." He whistles, like he can't really understand it, and then suddenly grins. "Oh, the cranky bastard is going to lose it when he finds out! His face will go all red and his eye will twitch—it will be hilarious!"

Sakura goes quiet, gazing sadly upon Sarada.

"Idiot!" Karin cries, and reaches out to smack him upside the head.

"Ow!" But he looks suitably chastised, and the mood shifts once more. Naruto leans close to Sakura.

"He doesn't hate you," he insists.

"You didn't hear the things he said," Sakura replies, tears gathering in her eyes. She holds the baby a little tighter, like she needs a physical anchor.

"I can imagine. But it doesn't matter, because it's going to be alright. We'll get through to him."

"But at what cost?" she wonders.

"I'll pay it," Naruto insists. "Listen, I'm going to bring him back to you. That's my promise of a lifetime, okay? And Karin's even here to witness it, so you know it's official and everything. If I don't do anything else before I die, I'll bring Sasuke back to you. To you both."

"To all of us?" she whispers.

"To all of us."

"Good," she sniffs, unable to wipe her face with the baby in her arms. There's a beat, and she nods, attempting a businesslike expression. "You should go. I...need some time with Sarada. Besides, I'm sure she's hungry."

"I'll get him out of your hair," Karin offers. If she focusses on Naruto's chakra, she can ignore the incredible pull of little Sarada's.

"I'm going to go tell Kakashi the good news. I bet he's going to be pissed that he wasn't here!"

"It's Gai's fault. He hasn't left him alone since he got here."

"Though...if you have to feed her, does that mean I get to see your breasts?" Naruto asks. "I mean, seeing as how technically we're still officially betrothed and all, I should get to anyhow, but—"

"I will turn you into a stain," Sakura promises him, while Karin hisses "Idiot!" again and begins to shove him from the room.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto grumbles, allowing her to drag him to his feet, but without true malic. He sticks his tongue out at Sakura. "You know what, he's welcome to you when we get him back. You two deserve each other. Besides, what do I want with a bruiser who could probably punch a goddess if she was in the right mood?"

"Oh, is that it?" Sakura asks in weary amusement. "Good to know it's not my bastard child."

"Well, she comes by that honestly."

Sakura laughs softly and nuzzles the baby. Sarada squirms in her blankest, scrunching up her face.

As promised, Karin drags Naruto to the door and makes a show of kicking him out, but she pauses at the door to glance back. Sakura has already secured the infant to her breast and is watching her feed, a smile on her face and tears streaming down her face.

She and Naruto leave the new mother alone to bond with her child. Once out of hearing, Karin scowls. "That son of a bitch."

"It's not his fault," Naruto says wearily.

"A lot of it is."

To which he has no reply. Instead, he leans heavily against the wall, and Karin is shocked to see that Naruto is also crying now, although it seems more out of anger and frustration than anything else.

"Bastard," he growls, fists clenched. "He should be here for this!"

終わり

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I hope you enjoyed the story! Comments and constructive criticism are much appreciated, and very motivating—and if you enjoy my writing, want updates or just to chat, I'm on Tumblr and Twitter (KuriQuinn).

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