A New Blossom

Universal Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own either Naruto nor the Harry Potter franchise. Sadly, I also don't profit from writing fanfiction, except for improving my English and style. I just play around a little with a few of the characters. (;

Warnings: established Kakashi/Fem!Harry, violence, gore, childbirth (mild descriptions)

THIS IS DEPICTING A SCENE FROM THE INVASION BY PEIN SO IF YOU ARE FAINT-HEARTED, YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET BACK TO THE LAST PAGE!

- 1 -

The day began as usual for the Hatake family. Not many knew of the famous Copy-Nin's wife, mostly due to her status as heiress to a massacred clan from foreign lands, which meant she officially continued to carry her maiden name even after their wedding, but she was an actual living, breathing human being. Many of Kakashi's acquaintances had thought her a figment of his imagination at best when he had begun to talk about his recently-acquired girlfriend (much to his ire), so he hadn't bothered to try convincing them of his current 'shackled and chained'-status.

Either way, the silver-haired Jōnin woke first, smiling slightly as he observed his sleeping wife. It was one of the reasons why he usually arrived late to morning appointments if possible. Her toned arms encircled his slender waist, while her head rested on his bare, muscled chest. One of his hands rested on the distinct extortion of her abdomen, the other absentmindedly running through her mesmerizing red hair.
Underneath his fingertips, Kakashi felt their child move lazily, most likely asleep as well. This thought caused a slightly panicked, but mostly amused upwards twitch of his masked lips.

A moment later, Hoshiko began to wake too. Her long eyelashes fluttered against her creamy skin before revealing semi-alert cinnamon-hazel eyes, liberally flecked with emerald green. It was rare for them to be presented with opportunities to wake together, especially now that war rose on the horizon.

Maybe it should have been an omen.

However, instead of suspecting any of the upcoming events, Hoshiko gently entwined their fingers over her huge belly, simply enjoying the chance to share this moment together with her husband. Kakashi was gone a lot, so the petite woman took what happiness she could get her hands on. "Good morning, husband," the redhead whispered against her Jōnin's now de-masked lips.

"Good morning to you too, koi (2). How is the pup?" he asked, following their new morning routine.

"Just as energetic as ever. I can't wait to greet him or her!" Hoshiko assured her husband, grinning playfully with a hint of seriousness. Her long-awaited pregnancy got increasingly harder to endure, especially around this time of the year, due to the hot, humid weather Fire Country was named after.
Kakashi chuckled in amusement and kissed her until she was slightly more awake.

They regretfully left the comfortable, warm bed for the kitchen and bath respectively. Hoshiko cooked breakfast and prepared a bento (3) for each of them as they had their busy jobs to look forward to. Today, the Hatake's wife was scheduled to help out in the Academy, holding a lecture about various poisons and the importance of simple first-aid in the field. This way, Umino-san hoped to entice more of his students into pursuing careers in the medical field (or at least further develop their weaponry skills). After all, they would need capable medics, especially during these upcoming hard times. All signs pointed to another war, unfortunately, and the compassionate teacher wanted to prepare his students for every possible eventuality.

At the moment though, the unlikely married couple enjoyed their breakfast together, exchanging smalltalk as they did, while guessing when Naruto would return from his training trip with the toads.

A few moments later, their dirty dishes began to clean themselves while Hoshiko dressed for teaching small children. Kakashi sighed resignedly, preparing himself for the day. It looked to be rather uneventful (if not to say boring).

How wrong he was.

xxxXxxx

When Hoshiko returned to the kitchen, nightclothes exchanged for a simple green kimono with colorful lilies painted on the cloth, the couple left their home together. Kakashi walked his petite wife to the Academy building. Despite her early arrival she was not the first one there. Umino Iruka-san greeted the Hatake couple politely. The legendary one-eyed shinobi gently kissed her before leaving in a swirl of leaves towards the Hokage Tower.

Hoshiko smiled at the brunette chūnin who sported a hilarious expression of incredulous astonishment. "How are you today, Umino-san?"

"Please, just call me Iruka, Black-san. I'm fine, thank you," the brunette replied with a small smile.

She grinned at him, a hint of mischief glinting in her unusual eyes. "Please do call me Hoshiko, Iruka-san. Why don't we get this show on the road?"

Already suspecting that the surprisingly demure, quiet exterior hid a mischievous prankster, the uniquely scarred chūnin politely led the way to his current classroom.

- 2 -

When the first attack wave hit Konoha, Iruka and Hoshiko were just quizzing the surprisingly attentive students about various points of the aforementioned woman's lecture on poisons. (Specifically the correct safety measures necessary to avoid injury to themselves when using different types of poisons.)
The sirens sounded, alerting everyone, from civilians to the Hokage, in Konoha of an invasion taking place. Usually this meant they were to seek shelter in the mountains surrounding Konoha, but it quickly became apparent that such a thing would be extremely foolish, considering the various fights in different areas of the village as well as the massive collateral damage and flying debris from damaged buildings.

Hoshiko quickly conjured up a dome-like structure in order to protect the Academy from attacks aimed at the building as well as the present children, acting mostly on instinct. Meanwhile all teachers gathered their students in safe(r) places so they at least had a chance at surviving the invasion, just in case the shield would be forcefully taken down or fall automatically when her strength left.

In the meantime, Hoshiko concentrated solely on the need to protect these children, although her fluctuating magic (due to the progressed pregnancy) demanded a high toll from the redhead, body and mind. She only hoped it would hold until the most dangerous part of this attack was over, so that they could actually risk the way to the shelters.
Sweat began to gather on her temple, slowly dribbling down her face, while she continuously channeled her magic into the intangible barrier, trusting Iruka-san to keep everyone as safe as possible while she determinedly protected the Academy from outside harm.
Unfortunately, the redhead knew she could not hold the shield-charm for much longer, her strength as well as magical reserves waning quickly.

Suddenly the marital bond, which had been established between Kakashi and her on their wedding day, resonated deeply within her. Even the frightened, yet awed kids could see the effect this unusual event had on her magic as it brightened so much so a golden sheen became visible around her and then dimmed quite a bit before balancing out once more, vanishing into invisibility. Although the golden hue of her inner power did not increase much, indicating the heavy hit on her focus, before it vanished once more.

Iruka-san worriedly sent her concerned glances every five seconds, whilst attempting to calm the panicking children.

A minute later, two at most, her unique eyes snapped up impossibly wide, a lone tear rolling down her cheek, a gasp escaping her pink lips as she felt the special bond snap irreparably. Hoshiko doggedly held on for as long as she could, somehow managing to warn Iruka-san through her tightly gritted teeth before her world faded into black nothingness.

xxxXxxx

Slowly, Hoshiko returned to consciousness. She noted the stabbing pain in her back and the dull ache in her left leg. Carefully, cautiously, the young woman opened her heavy eyelids. She was surrounded by rubble. Apparently Iruka-san had landed not too far from her, but most of the kids were okay. A few seemed injured, although it could have been worse. Much worse.

At least none seemed to have died from the strayed attack which hit the building before the redhead had blacked out.

Then, Hoshiko noticed the heavy mini-boulder lying on her crushed left leg. Her foot felt quashed, straight up to her knee. A small, hastily muffled scream escaped her only a moment later as she seized up and felt a rush of liquid trickle down. Blanching, the battle-hardened kunoichi quickly considered what to do in this unfortunate situation. She knew there was no way she would be able to lead anyone to the hidden shelters, much less fight to defend the barely-trained children.

In the distance, the sound of an ongoing fight could be heard.

Expectantly, the mildly traumatized kids looked for guidance to the injured, waylaid women. "Okay, I want all of you to go to the shelters. Whatever you do, don't stop until you're there. Don't look anywhere but at your goal. No matter what you may see. Understood?" Hoshiko ordered strictly, doing her best to ignore the ever growing pain in her back. Surprisingly, she managed to keep the strain out of her voice.

The assembled kids nodded a confirmation, too frightened to protest out loud.

Thank Merlin for small mercies, the young woman thought, relieved. "Good. Take whoever can't walk on their own and help them move there. Keep to the shadows as much as possible. Don't make yourselves a target. Just focus on getting to safety. Takashi and Horiko are your leaders for this mission. Now go!"

Thankfully none of the frightened students protested or asked if their original teacher or she was coming along. At least they knew enough about warfare that she had become a liability. Hoshiko did not desire a long discussion with traumatized civilians who threw a temper tantrum.

Slowly, Iruka-san managed to get himself free from his own hole in the wall, or rather what was left standing of it. He cautiously crawled over to her, knowing something was wrong since she would have accompanied the children otherwise.

"Iruka-san, there is a first-aid kit in my purse. Please take it out. Do you have any experience -" she took a deep breath to better endure the blinding pain from what the fierce redhead suspected were contractions " - with first aid?"

The brunette teacher nodded reluctantly, albeit listening to her orders without question. "Nothing much, just scratches or shallow cuts. The basics."

"No matter," Hoshiko dismissed with a wave reminiscent of her seemingly lazy husband, "I need you to leave the debris where it is right now, I've got a worse problem."

"What happened?" Iruka-san inquired immediately, worry for her ringing true in his voice.

"Kaka- My husband is dead," she barely gasped out, seizing up again as another contraction washed over her, "and I'm going into premature labor. My Mahou reserves are very, very low right now. Are you prone to fainting?"

"Not usually?" Iruka-san squeaked in response, sounding quite faint. He had stuck his whole, mainly unwounded arm into her small purse, nearly frantically rummaging through it until he found the items she had requested.

At this, Hoshiko stalled her inner panic-attack from breaking to the surface, feeling minimally better. "Good. I -" another contraction hit her like a sledgehammer " - want you to catch when it's time."

Fortunately, he must have heard the underlying note of hysteria in her voice though, because the Academy teacher nodded solemnly. At least, the brunette had calmed down somewhat.

Then he dutifully followed her panted instructions regarding to what he was supposed to do during her labor. Hoshiko had enough magical power left to clean, sterilize and soften the uneven ground she lay on. Following that, she conjured a blanket to keep her baby from accidentally getting hurt by the many sharp objects surrounding the two adults. Finally, the redhead sipped some Strength Solution, a bit of her emergency Blood Replenisher and a Pain Relief potion not harmful to pregnant women.

Until it kicked in she would just have to bear the pain like a big girl, gritting her teeth so as to not alert others to their location.

xxxXxx

Iruka worriedly glanced at his temporary colleague. Black Hoshiko was an enigma to most inhabitants of the village, as far as they were even aware she lived in Konoha, but the kindhearted woman had gained his sincere respect by her selfless actions today.
No matter what anyone may say, this woman was strong in her own right. He would gladly get to know her better, maybe befriend her even, but that had to wait for another day.

xxxXxxx

An eternity (fifteen minutes) later, Ebisu-san and Sarutobi Konohamaru-kun found Iruka-san whose hand was on the verge of being broken by a certain deceptively dainty woman.

"Konohamaru! Ebisu-san! Are you okay?" the scarred brunette asked concerned, ignoring his crushed bones with practiced ease.

Both males nodded. "Konohamaru-kun saved me. This is nothing bad. Do you need help here?" Ebisu-san replied calmly, quickly cataloging what his senses told him.

Hoshiko panted through the pain, but gave a short affirmation. "Kid should probably search for a medic. Neither of us has much experience in childbirth, much less premature labor," the young woman managed to get out through her teeth. Somehow, Iruka-san had found a ruler on which she could bite in case she needed to.

Konohamaru-kun agreed to search for the closest medic and ran off after gently lowering his injured sensei to the ground. The sunglasses-wearing men quickly relieved Iruka from having his poor hand squished so that the chūnin would be able to gather the right supplies for the birth.

In the meantime, the aforementioned brunette expertly sterilized one of his kunai, knowing they unfortunately didn't have anything else except shuriken which were even worse to cut umbilical chords with. Then he rummaged around to find some useable, dulled ninja wire, which he also washed with the alcohol.
Meanwhile Ebisu tried to reassure a silently crying Hoshiko, so that her risk of dying of blood loss sank to somewhat acceptable levels.

Instinctively, the young woman knew it was time to begin pushing, surprising both shinobi when she suddenly bore down. Her pained screams, which escaped from behind the wooden ruler, echoed loudly in their ears.

'Hatake is lucky to be dead already. I'm not quite certain what she would do to him now,' Iruka thought with a sweat-drop when Hoshiko began to cuss worse than any old fish-wife.

Konohamaru-kun returned in-between contractions, followed by a white-green snail. It talked, asking what exactly was wrong.

"Black-san is having her baby early and we can't move her because her left leg is crushed," the brunette chūnin summarized quickly, bluntly. He knew there was no room for beating around the bush. "We gave her something for pain relief, against the blood loss and for more strength. She just started pushing."

Somehow Hoshiko didn't really think it too absurd that a strange male (barely an acquaintance) stared at her vagina while a snail sort of acted like her midwife. Honestly, she really didn't care too much at the moment, so long as her baby was still okay.

"How far along are you?" the snail asked calmly, her voice soothing.

"Eight months, just about," the redhead managed to get out.

Initially, Konohamaru-kun had turned extremely green when he caught onto what was going on but nevertheless dutifully stood guard over the quartet.

xxxXxxx

None of them noticed time pass by. Just the strange green phenomenon broke their focus for a moment, albeit only shortly. The faint sound of the fighting had faded long ago. The snail ignored everything else in favor of saving both mother and unborn child.

Hoshiko was eternally grateful for pain relief potions and her proficiency at brewing them. Without them, she would have given in to sweet, sweet oblivion ages ago. Iruka-san continually encouraged the petite woman to keep going, while Ebisu-san chivalrously allowed her to break his hand while she screamed mindlessly in pain.

Some minutes later, after the green haze cleared, they heard loud cheers coming from far away. Around this time, they were found by an exhausted Tsunade-sama who actually looked her age for once, proving how much the fight had cost her. The legendary medic took over for her summons' clone, gently helping the baby along in order to preserve some of Hoshiko's slowly dwindling energy.

Five very stretched minutes afterward, loud infantile wailing blocked any other noise, loudly ringing in their ears. Hoshiko gladly collapsed against Iruka-san who had assisted Tsunade-sama in cutting the umbilical chord of the newborn. Konohamaru-kun bounced up and down in celebration, but didn't dare to turn around, especially with the all-penetrating scent of blood all around them. Ebisu-san smiled tiredly, while Iruka-san grinned crookedly.
The red-haired kunoichi was crying, her emotions all over the place.

Tsuande-sama quickly checked the newborn over, deeming the child healthy enough. Then she gently cleaned it before handing it over to the exhausted mother with a small, genuine smile. The blonde Hokage knew about the marriage of the legendary Copy-Nin to this strange Kekkei Genkai-carrying kunoichi from foreign lands. She had laughed long and hard about his hilarious story when Kakashi-kun told her no one believed him about being in an actual, serious relationship with someone.

"Your daughter is quite healthy, but make sure she gets her shots whenever possible. You did wonderfully," the Senju heiress declared almost giddily.

Hoshiko gratefully accepted her tiny, wailing daughter from the Slug Princess who had dressed the newborn in the recently-bought clothes (which her purse had also coughed up). The small baby calmed instantly as she felt her mother's soothing embrace.
Although her skin was red and wrinkly and she closely resembled a fur-less rodent, the red-haired kunoichi thought her daughter perfectly beautiful just like this. On top of her little head sat a light fuzz of hair, already defying gravity to the best of her ability like a certain Jōnin's.
The new mother shakily reached out, carefully tracing her baby's features. One small fist captured her wandering finger, evoking an exhausted smile from the still crying, tired woman.

"Kiku," Hoshiko breathed out, almost inaudibly, while she memorized the newborn's features. She never wanted to forget this moment, engraving it into her mind. "You're my sweet little flower, aren't you?"

In the meantime, the white snail healed her leg so it wasn't in immediate danger anymore, although the redhead barely noticed thanks to her distraction. She had eyes solely for the living, breathing miracle cradled in her shaking arms.

Tsunade-sama grinned at the young mother, having gotten to know the woman through Kakashi. "Congratulations, Hoshi-chan. It's a beautiful name for a pretty girl."

Iruka-san and Ebisu-san readily nodded in agreement, both men smiling at the little bundle.

"Why a flower though?" Konohamaru-kun asked curiously, also peering at the sleeping child. His curiosity shining through, keeping the exhaustion at bay for now.

After hearing his question, the sole redhead present smiled wistfully at her unexpected helpers. "It's tradition. All girls are named after flowers in my family. I was named after the stars and the amaryllis flower, my mother lilies and my aunt petunias," Hoshiko explained tiredly, although mainly happy. Then she finally gave into the temptation to rest, knowing the worst was over for now.

- 3 -

Not too long afterward, the young woman woke again, this time in a medical tent. Next to her cot stood a small bassinet. A familiar silver-haired man sat by her bedside, tenderly holding their new baby girl. Hoshiko choked on her breath, not quite able to believe her eyes. His head snapped up and he gave her a huge smile, gently wiping away the rebellious tears escaping her composure.

"What...?" she whispered, feeling quite incredulous and as if she had been trapped in a dream.

"That green light - it brought everyone back," he explained bluntly, sensing this wasn't the time for one of his laid-back, lazy responses.

Hoshiko reached shaking hands out, needing to touch, to confirm, that he was real. Kakashi gently sat down next to her, relishing in the skin-to-skin contact with his wife. A spark ignited between, thrumming with life, as their bond reestablished itself. Their souls were singing with love and happiness once again whereas there had been a deep sea of loneliness and sadness before.

Both felt as if they drowned in their feelings for each other, letting the world around them fade away. However, a quiet whimper originating from between the reunited couple burst their bubble of love and silence. Hoshiko smiled at their tiny daughter as she accepted her for her long-deserved feeding. Gingerly Kakashi climbed properly on the cot behind her, already carefully steadying her still exhausted body.

Both new parents watched in wonder while their infant nursed.

"I named her Kiku," Hoshiko stated quietly, but really asked if he agreed to the name.

Her husband smiled, genuinely, easily picking up on the hidden meaning of her words. "It's a beautiful name for our cute little girl. Although next time I want to be there."

This blunt statement earned him an incredulous look from his wife who was still in pain. Sometimes he simply couldn't resist riling her up; she was much too appealing when angry, the legendary shinobi thought, smirking at her.

"Next time you get to carry the baby!" Hoshiko whisper-yelled playfully, trying not to wake anyone in their close vicinity - much less disturb their baby. Although, inwardly she conceded the immense pain was worth it to hold her little girl now. "I want to name Umino Iruka as her godfather. He helped me out a lot earlier."

At this Kakashi swiftly nodded his consent, knowing the brunette chūnin had a good heart and level head on his shoulders from Naruto's stories about his former sensei. "Anything for you, koi."

- The End -

xxxXxxx

Dictionary:

2: Koi is the equivalent of 'babe', although slightly more classy; used by the male in the relationship

3: Japanese lunchbox

Sorry for the long absence! I am currently working on the next chapter to 'Petal' for those who are reading my other fem!Harry story as well. It's a bit slow-going though, because I just moved to another city, am preparing for another semester at college and trying to find out what my first (and so far only of the four) room-mate is called! After almost two weeks of living together, I have yet to figure it out!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this little one-shot.
Love, W

Edited 7/5/2015