THE DICHOTOMY OF FAMILY AND GENETICS

Naruto never though much about her own family; then she got one whether it was wanted or not. All of a sudden, she finds herself missing what she had never had, and what she had never missed, before. SasuNaru (FemNaru), slight GaaSaku, ShikaIno, KakaRin, JiraTsu, MinaKushi, & YahiKonan.

CHAPTER XI
~ TWO MONTHS ~

Raise your head up, lift high the load;
take strength from those that need you.
Build high the walls, build strong the beams;
a new life is waiting,
but danger's no stranger here.

Naruto found being awoken from her sleep at just over five months to the clobbering of her insides unpleasant to the say the least. Especially when she was even fatter than she had been last time.

Naruto didn't know if was thanks to Sasuke having a few words with Tsunade, or Mikoto, Fugaku, and her father keeping their hawk-like eyes on her every opportunity they got, or Nagato's prenatal vitamins, but there had been no miscarriages this time around. Even Ino and Kakashi were getting in on the gig. Naruto was slowly beginning to curse Sasuke's twin-filled genetic code.

At least she didn't have to worry about Sakura's wedding. The girl nearly had a meltdown over one of her exam results being five points below a perfect score, and decided that grades were more important than wedding plans. Well, aside for the last month of her best friend's second 'spawning', when she would be visiting with Gaara.

Gaara didn't seem to mind; his attitude was to simply turn up, say yes and get on with it once Sakura had decided on the date. He was more worried on making a good impression on Sasori when they came down since they would be staying with him.

That was beside the point though. She had visited her father's family home earlier in the day, and the visit had been nothing less than exhausting. Yahiko was okay, and she was getting along much better with her father now – she had even called him 'Dad' a few times – but her grandfather...

She didn't know what she thought of the old goof; on the one hand, he was funny, had an awesome collection of toads and cooked some really good and spicy Iwan food. On the other... he was a complete pervert, and Sasuke was very, very wary of him.

Especially when he started talking about his series of porn novels in the presence of Tamamo's impressionable ears (thank god Yahiko was quick with using his hands as earmuffs).

It had been good to meet the man in spite of those initial teething problems but she was exhausted, and she had work tomorrow too – Killer Bee didn't care a bit as Sasuke had predicted, as long as the books got filled out properly and the shop stayed in the black, he was happy.

Sasori was a perfectionist, so she had given him and Anko the job of looking after the books. As for staying in profit, the shop was doing well without her input. Darui was capable of handling the shop himself for a few months, so she was finishing up tomorrow. She did not want to go in for her last day sleep deprived as well as fat.

The kicks to her gut were all well and good – they were fairly mild – but the kicks directed closer towards her kidneys were damn near vicious in breaking something.

That being said, she couldn't help ginning in enjoyment when she felt the two brats kicking for the first time. After a few moments though, the feeling was replaced with irritation.

"Stop that!" she hissed, prodding first the upper left, then the lower right of her bulge.

She was still only five months along, but the stretchy jeans already needed to be changed in size. One of the many reason she hated Sasuke's twin genetics. Another was the unholy variety of weirdo cravings. One being raw chillies. Admittedly, Naruto had been known to eat raw pepper in a salad, bit it was still weird.

The movement roused Sasuke, and he sat up, blinking sleepily as he glanced at the clock.

"Naruto, it's 3AM... Yahiko's giving me an advancement test today, so this had better be good..."

Naruto glanced at him just as the kicking resumed once again, and her face split into a wide goofy grin. She grabbed his hands and planted one on either side of the bulge, directly over the kicks. His eyes widened for a moment, before he moved closer to her to get a better feel. He pushed up the t-shirt she was using as a sleep shirt now – one of his - and ran his hands over her skin.

"Which one's which?" he asked after a few moment of plain fascination.

They had, only at the last ultrasound, decided to find out what the genders were; Naruto had had a split feeling about it, and she didn't want to go buying baby clothes blind this time. It turned out the split feeling was actually right again; one boy and one girl.

Fraternal twins – Naruto had been rather disappointed that they were not Mono-zygotic, but she had quickly gotten over the minor loss. Sasuke looked terrified at the thought of another girl, but the little boy had put him in a disgustingly good mood for a whole week.

"Hiro is the nice one – the one not kicking so much. I think he's a bit shy. Hellspawn II is the more exuberant one" Naruto replied.

They already knew what the boy was going to be called – Sasuke had stuck with the suggestion he'd picked out when they first started brainstorming for Tamamo's name.

As for the girl... Naruto was still waiting for inspiration to hit. Tamamo and Hiro both had fancy looking names when written properly, so she wanted something just as good.

After a few moments of interaction with their father through her skin, the two brats decided to go back to sleep, and Naruto was finally allowed to resume her own. Or she was once Sasuke had squashed up against her back any way. She supposed it was better than him jumping her though.

She'd found sex was still enjoyable this time after one incident. They'd gone to an Easter egg hunt for Tamamo on the outskirts of Konoha with Ino and Shikamaru; someone had thought it would be fun to give her a set of false rabbit ears like Tamamo's, and to her irritation, Sasuke liked them. He wouldn't let her take the off until Tamamo had been put down for the night...

They'd done dress-up stuff like that before (she had a black and orange corset thing that always made him rather like putty once it was put to use), but he'd never been that enthusiastic about it. She knew what the real lust had sprung from; much to her consternation, Sasuke thought her then barley-showing stomach was actually sexy, or a turn on or something.

He was twice as affectionate when the were by themselves, or even when they weren't and it was just things like kisses. She didn't really get how being fat made him more horny than usual, but it was... it was actually really, really good, so she kept her opinions to herself for fear of putting him off.

His arm tighten just above the stupid bulge, his nose burrowing into her neck as she fell back asleep again and Naruto soon joined him. The next day, Sasuke was so dizzily smug at work that he forgot to be nervous about his rather important test, and ended up passing with flying colours instead of averaging as he'd be having nightmares of.

"So... have you thought of a name yet?" Sakura asked, rifling through an aisle of t-shirts.

She had bullied her teacher into giving her a make-up exam at university and once passed to her own satisfaction, she had decided to come down by herself earlier than planned. She had surprised them all by turning up at the end of June. Gaara had tests of his own though, so he would be joining them next month.

They were currently in the middle of a baby clothing shop, hunting through sales bins for new newborn clothes. In hindsight, Naruto shouldn't have given the old ones to charity shops once Tamamo grew out of her own, but they had been taking up space at the time. Now she had to buy new girls' clothes for her second daughter, as well as the ones for her son.

As Shikamaru and his son would say it was 'troublesome' (Ino had been very displeased with her boyfriend when Mujiro's first word had emerged from his lips). Especially when she was due to give birth in two months. Moving around was twice as awkward as before, thanks to the double load, so she had been putting it off.

"Yeah... Sasuke had an idea the other night when the fuses shorted out in the lights... I'm keeping it a surprise though." Naruto replied – she didn't really have any problem telling the name for her daughter early, but to do so would mean explaining the origins, and she didn't want to have Sakura squealing over her boyfriend's sappy side.

"You're going with purple again right? What about that one?" Ino asked, pointing to a purple baby-grow with cheery white moons and clouds sewn on the front with silver thread. There were sleep Z's on it too. Naruto quickly snapped it up, adding it to the small pile on her arm.

"Alright, now I just need a jacket... Y'know, I think Sasuke was right about wanting boys; buying clothes for girls is such a headache..." Naruto grumbled as she glanced at the two toddlers walking behind her and in front of Ino.

Tamamo and Mujiro were talking in hushed tones very rapidly, too rapidly for her comfort. Mujiro may have started out as lazy as his father, but since Ino was the one around him most... he was picking up her enthusiasm. Shikamaru worked as a lorry driver for a timber company, so he was sent all over the country quite often.

He could have got a job that more fitted his genius, but it was a well paid job, and all he had to do was drive. With Ino's job and their lack of abandonment issues, Ino and Shikamaru had been in a place of their own twice as long as she and Sasuke had. The only downside was that he wasn't around quite as much.

They argued about that a bit, but Ino had a rule about never going to bed mad at her boyfriend so they usually talked it out fairly quickly. Really, the normality in their relationship made Naruto a little envious. Not that her relationship with Sasuke wasn't normal – she was pregnant again for god sakes – but it had been a much more turbulent road for them, comparatively speaking.

"I wouldn't be so sure; Mujiro can be so picky sometimes it's unreal" Ino muttered, holding up a white jacket with pale purple edging and toggles in the hood and holding it out for inspection.

Naruto quickly added it to the pile and looked around for her daughter, who had disappeared in the few moment it had taken to take the jacket from Ino's hands. She didn't have to look far; apparently, those hushed childish whispers had turned into a childish argument.

Oddly, Tamamo was not the causer for once; instead she was bawling her eyes out as Mujiro tugged on her shoulder-length spiky cadmium hair, and presumable said something mean, half in an understandable language, half in baby talk.

"Mujiro Yamanaka! You leave Tama-chan alone or so help me, there'll be no sky-watching with Papii for a week!" Ino yelled, darting away from the rows of baby clothes to control her hair-brained son.

One her hair was free from her playmate's grasp, Tamamo immediately darted over to her mother; Naruto had noted that as soon as she started to show, Tamamo began to get even more attached than she already was. She even had tantrums when Sasuke tried to take over when she was carrying the girl.

Naruto hoped that it was a phase she would pass through once her younger siblings were born; it had really started when picking her up for her usual hugs became a bit difficult. Once the twins were out (Naruto was trying not to dwell on that thought too much), she was hoping the possessive phase would pass once she adjusted to the idea of sharing.

As Ino scolded her son, and Sakura took her wallet and the pile of clothes to get the paying done with (Sakura already knew her pin number by heart), Naruto turned to hoist the girl above her bulge. It was definitely strenuous, but to not do so when she was bawling her eyes out was just... mean. And like any normal mother, she couldn't stand seeing her daughter crying.

"Shhh, you're alright Tamamo – Mujio's pulled your hair before hasn't he? Where's these tears coming from?" she asked – she wasn't downsizing the incident at all, she was just speaking the truth. Tamamo had had her hair pulled by the boy several times in the past, and she'd not batted an eyelid. She was a tough little cookie...

Tamamo said nothing, sniffling into her shoulder instead and tightening her grip with her arms and legs, very much like a koala. Naruto sighed and just gave the girl another squeeze and rubbed circles on her back. She wondered if the two kids had cooked this up somehow – she really wouldn't put it past them, even if they were still a few month's shy of their third birthday.

Ino rejoined them then, with a rather dejected looking Mujiro, his hand held firmly in her own.

"Mujiro, don't you have something you'd like to say to Tama-chan?" she asked, more directionally than inquiringly.

The boy shuffled uncomfortably when Tamamo turned her eyes from Naruto's shoulder and stared warily down at him. For a few moments he said nothing, before looking down guiltily and mumbling a small apology out. Much to Naruto's relief, her sniffling died down a little, and as Sakura returned from the tills, Tamamo was finally willing to unclench her arm and be put down.

"Let's go get something to eat and the head back, you're starting to look a bit pale..." Sakura decided, handing Naruto back her wallet and the new bags of baby clothes.

Naruto nodded, re-pocketing her wallet and taking a grasp of her daughter's small hand; she was beginning to get tired and it was only three in the afternoon.

She probably should have let Sasuke suffer through this like he had been insisting, but she hadn't seen Ino for ages, and Sakura was only here until the end of September. She hadn't wanted to waste the opportunity to spend time with them, and she hadn't planned on taking so long.

Unfortunately, plans didn't always work out the way they were supposed to, something Naruto was all too familiar with; she would have been blind to not notice just how much strength it had taken to comfort her daughter, and how much she had left as they left the shop.

"I don't understand this; she'd never been so… possessive over you before..." Sasuke muttered, unclasping the arms of his screaming daughter from his girlfriend.

The girl clung on to her mother like an octopus, simply reattaching her arms when both he and Naruto tried to pry her off; he didn't begrudge his daughter affection from her mother, but Naruto couldn't carry Tamamo as much as she used to. Tamamo didn't really understand those doctor orders to avoid strain though, despite Naruto's attempts to explain it.

"Oh god, I give up... I'll just sit on the sofa till she falls asleep or something... Not like I was planning to do anything but sit in bed anyway" Naruto muttered wearily, tightening her arms around Tamamo instead of trying to pry her off.

Tamamo continued to sob and whimper as they both sat down on the sofa, clutching onto her mother furiously. Sighing to himself, Sasuke went to the fridge and poured some of the pre-prepared tomato soup into a large jug, then stuck the jug in the microwave.

The food was not for himself or Tamamo but for Naruto; she could stomach the soup now, and even he could tell just how exhausted she was after that shopping trip earlier. He didn't know how to reprimand Tamamo for this though; she didn't understand what she was doing wrong.

She obviously knew something was changing, but not the what or why, and her only reaction was to become completely possessive of her mother. She even bit him the other day when he tried to hug his own girlfriend (the word girlfriend used only for the sake of terminology).

Sitting down beside Naruto with the bowl once he was done, he found her on the verge of sleep, Tamamo still sniffling.

"Tamamo, sit up so your mother can eat please" Sasuke instructed the little girl, praying to god she would listen; something in his voice – perhaps the tone of it – apparently made her stop, and Sasuke let ought a sigh of relief when she crawled onto his own lap, and he passed the bowl over to Naruto.

Naruto began to wolf the soup down, and Sasuke did not like it; she ate more now, that was normal, but not this eagerly or quickly. She was exhausted, and that really wasn't a good thing. Maybe it was just because it was pretty bad today, but he was still worried about it.

Nagato had told them the same thing Tsunade had when Naruto had been in the hospital before giving birth to Tamamo; her body structure wasn't well suited for childbirth. She had muscle (she'd broken his nose before now with ease) but her general frame had trouble enough with the extra weight.

That had been last time, and with just one baby; she was having two this time. It hadn't been a major concern until recently, but she was getting so tired so quickly lately; he was so paranoid that he'd blackmailed Itachi and Shisui into taking turns to watch her during the day.

It wasn't that he didn't think her capable of looking after herself, but she was too tired. Nagato had said as much at her last check up, and with Tamamo choosing now of all times to enter her brat phase, he was worried. He'd been working extra shifts since Naruto had taken leave from her own job, so he didn't get home early enough to give her a hand like he wanted to.

Hence he'd blackmailed his brothers into babysitting his girlfriend, and by association, their Hellspawn niece. He didn't really have to blackmail them, but he did have some pride left. It wasn't really blackmailing either, and they both seemed to understand. It wasn't everyday either; Yahiko was kind enough to give him Wednesday afternoons and Sundays off, and he knew his mother often dragged Naruto over to his childhood home during the day.

He was still worried though.

Naruto finished the soup, and he took it from her hands before she could protest, slowly easing his now, sleeping daughter onto the sofa; it wasn't just Naruto suffering from this either. Tamamo wasn't really the tantrum kind of girl, and when she did have them, they tired her out.

Unfortunately, everything that was happening was scaring her, and rebelling was the only way she knew how to react to it; Sasuke was dreading her teenage years already.

Never mind boys, he was more worried about how her independent streak was going to manifest. He and Naruto both had pretty blatant ones – to think she would escape them without one was impossible by either nature or nurture.

Tamamo woke up, bleary eyed, and scooted closer to her mother as he put the dish in the sink, clamping her arms back on Naruto's neck and mumbling a small apology.

Moments later, she and Naruto were both sound asleep.

"Do you think it's going to be a problem? I know she's only young but that doesn't mean she can't get jealous. If this keeps up when the twins are born..."

Naruto left her question hanging as she absently watched the TV screen, her mind clearly on their daughter rather than the cookery competition programme she was forcing him to watch ('for pointers'). Sasuke couldn't really point fingers when the same thing had been plaguing his own mind.

It was the ninth of July, and his daughter had not calmed her possessive behaviour with Naruto in the slightest. Tamamo was in bed now, but getting her into it had been a task and a half. Naruto had been taking a well-needed nap, and Sasuke had refused to wake her just because Tamamo was throwing another tantrum.

Tamamo had not liked that decision at all, and it was only after some sterner words about letting her mother rest that she stopped kicking up a fuss. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the need to rearrange the apartment in preparation for the two new arrivals.

Some things were already baby proofed, like the gate by the door for when they left the terrace door open in summer, and the plugs, but not everything was done. He and Naruto had been spending the day fixing up a larger cot and a twin-pram. Naruto shouldn't have been helping, but no-one else had been free, and they really needed to get that finished now.

Naruto was due to pop next month – there would be no time for it then. Tamamo's recent attitude problems had not been helping matters, especially given that Naruto was tiring much more easily recently.

"It's a big change for her; once she figures out that we aren't going to ignore her and she gets used to sharing you she'll calm down... She's had us all to herself so far after all..." he suggested, pulling Naruto closer to him and rest his arms just above the bulge of her stomach.

"I guess..." she mumbled, too sleepily for him to pick up on the level of her belief.

He felt a dull movement from one of the twins – he presumed it was not Hiro since Naruto insisted the boy only kicked when she was hungry – and watched with wary eyes when Naruto's wince turned into a yawn.

She really was getting the brunt of the pregnancy this time around, and it had started much earlier. She had regular check ups with Nagato, but Sasuke had a horrible feeling Naruto wasn't giving her own exhaustion the attention she should be. The fact that she was falling asleep at 8PM was a testament to just how exhausted she was, and she'd already had a nap earlier.

Tamamo certainly wasn't helping, but Sasuke didn't at all blame the girl for wanting to keep her mother to herself. He got very jealous in some circumstances himself. He'd have to talk to Tamamo about keeping that side of her under close guard if it continued in the future. Apparently it had been passed on.

That had been the cause of the argument that resulted in their break-up back in school. Naruto had a lot of close friends, but the ones that had bothered him were the male ones, especially Kiba and Sai. It got to the point that his possessive jealousy had suffocated them, and he began making accusations that really, he had known were completely untrue.

His own jealousy had ended up driving her to the thing he had accused her of in the first place. If Itachi hadn't intervened a few days before she came to visit him that morning, he'd probably have slammed the door in her face. He still didn't like Sai even now, but at least that problem was dealt with.

Naruto let a few soft breaths as she fell asleep, shifting against him as best she could with her swollen form; he frowned at the tired behaviour that permeated even her sleep, and carefully slid his arms underneath her. Carefully to avoid waking her, he stood up and carried her to their bedroom.

He wished there was more he could do to make things easier for her, but short of keeping Tsunade away and making sure he got back from work as early as he could, he couldn't really do much with her stubborn streak. He realised that Naruto's problem was medical – one baby had sent her to unconsciousness for several days, she was having two this time – but he couldn't help worrying.

It wasn't legal yet, probably wouldn't be for several years, but the word girlfriend was just a synonym for wife to him now. He didn't know if things would have gone this way if Tamamo hadn't entered their lives – for one thing Naruto would still be somewhat emotionally stunted in certain matters – but it was fact now.

He felt that gave him the right to get paranoid about her health when it was so obviously not at its best. He wasn't a doctor, so he couldn't help out with that, Tamamo refused most all contact with him unless Naruto said something about 'Playing with Papa' for while, and it wasn't like he could give birth for her. Worrying was probably keeping him grounded.

Pushing the door open with his back and headed into the room, and laid Naruto down on the bed. He didn't have to change her into her pyjamas since she was already wearing them. She had taken to pulling on of his shirts that was loose on her expanded form and a pair of boxer shorts at home by the time she'd hit her sixth month.

Sitting down he started rearranging the covers over her, before crossing round to his own side of the bed after watching her face tense up in her sleep, almost like she was wincing at something. Instead of going to sleep himself, he simply followed her under the covers and pulled her close.

Naruto turned, slowly snuggling closer in her sleep. She always did that – ever since they'd first had sex; she always managed to curl up beside him even amidst her light snores. It wasn't as relaxed tonight though, and he noticed another wince on her face as she moved.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, and after making sure the baby monitor was on in case Tamamo woke up, reciprocated the gesture by pulling her slowly closer to him. He didn't know where the sudden anxiety was coming from, but he had a feeling he would be sleeping much that night.

Despite his attempt at light sleep, Sasuke did fall into total slumber, only to be awoken by Naruto's hand on his shoulder at 3AM. At first he was somewhat disgruntled at the rude awakening, and then he saw her face.

"Finally...What took you so long?" she demanded, only half jokingly.

Beads of sweat were starting to build on her forehead, and the scrunched expression was an indicator that he had been right to be worried. Damn it, he knew she should have been off her feet more but would she listen at all? No, of course she wouldn't. Sure she didn't really do anything strenuous – he hadn't actually let her do anything with the cot but read the instructions to him – but that wasn't the only form of exhaustion.

"Naruto, what's wrong? Talk to me..." he asked, sitting up and brushing her fringe from her eyes just as her discomfort left.
"What do you think is wrong you idiot?" she asked a little breathlessly, trying to lighten the anxiety a little.

Sasuke frowned, sleep dulling his usual perceptiveness, before his eyes widened. Just in time for Naruto to grit her teeth at the contraction that took over her senses.

"Already? You're sure?" he asked, alarm beginning to set in as his brain connected the dots.
"Urgh, ow! Yes! I'm pretty damn-"

Naruto cut herself off with a sharp, pained yell. One that lasted far too long. One that confirmed the fear that started clouding his mind. The twins wanted out, and they want out now. They were impatient, and had no intention of waiting inside Naruto any longer. And they were early – Naruto was only eight months along. They were four weeks from being due...!

"Ow! Ow! Sasuke don't just sit there!" she hissed, trying to keep her discomfort under control by gritting her teeth.

Sasuke quickly started pulling a pear of sweatpants discarded from earlier on over his boxers. Naruto had pulled herself into a sitting position by the time he was done, but luck seemed to have deserted her when she needed it yet again. As he tried helping her to her feet – remembering everything Shizune had told them – Naruto let out a pained yell, and her waters broke.

At that point, Sasuke felt fear creep into his mind. Not daring to move her, he lowered her back onto the bed, which had thankfully spared from the mess. His mind was blank – he knew that calling an ambulance was best option, but the hospital was on the other side of town. They just wouldn't get here in time and god forbid he would know how to deliver a baby.

He knew very little of the process, and none of it good; he knew that Naruto's doctors didn't like her body structure in terms of giving birth, he knew that Tamamo had rendered her unconscious for almost a week even with good quality medical care, he knew that the twins wanted to arrive now, and there was little chance of any ambulance getting to them in time.

His mind was a blank. In spite of all the precautions, all the time he'd spent worrying and going over this exact scenario in the pre-natal classes, this had never been covered. He had no idea what to do.

"Sasuke... I think-" Naruto broke off, her breath quickening as a contraction seared through her, her fingers digging into his upper arms.

It passed and Sasuke pulled her close, pressing his lips to her forehead, before looking her eye as he spoke – he couldn't loose his head. That was his job now – not to loose his head, and do everything he could to get Naruto through the daunting task that was not too far in the future.

"Naruto, you need to lie down. Moving isn't going to help – I'm going to phone the hospital, and then... We'll... It'll be fine. I promise. It'll all be fine..." he reassured her – he could see the panic threatening to set in already.

He tried not to remember how Itachi interpreted the word 'fine' as ('Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional') as he held her. Naruto nodded breathlessly until another contraction arrived, and her arms clamped around his shoulders, nails digging into the skin of his back through the shirt he wore to bed.

This was going too fast, much faster than the last time. At least it seemed to be – it had taken hours for Naruto's waters to break last time. Fuu had needed up breaking them for her, and if he remembered correctly, they had started coming in thick and fast after that.

No, this was definitely not good, and they both knew it.

"Sasuke... You have to call her...!" Naruto gasped, relaxing her grip on his shoulders as the contraction passed.

Sasuke stared at her, horrified for a moment before his brain caught up. Tsunade didn't live too far away, and she had exactly the right training. Even if she was at the hospital, she could take the underground, or buses, or even run, and get here a lot faster than an ambulance would. And she would come running.

Naruto had seen her a few times in the past few months, but only at a glance. She wasn't ready to see her again... and yet it was all he could think of. He didn't dare move Naruto now. As if to emphasise her own words and their importance, Naruto screamed as another contraction hit.

"Sasuke!"

He didn't need any more convincing; grabbing Naruto's mobile phone from her bedside table, he shifted through the numbers until he found Tsunade's caller Id, pulling Naruto as close as he could with an arm around her shoulders. Naruto had never deleted Tsunade's number, perhaps because she knew she wouldn't stay mad at the woman forever.

Sasuke thanked the gods for it as he hit the call button and put the phone to his ear.

Tsunade answered on the second ring. Sasuke didn't believe his garbled explanation had gone through entirely, but she had the just, and the business toned 'I'll be there in ten minuets' gave more than simple relief. And thank god it did, because all the noise had woken up Tamamo.

Promising to come back, Sasuke headed to Tamamo's room; the toddler was standing behind the rails of her bed, looking scared, with tears streaming her face. Obviously, her mother's pain induced yells had reached her ears. Sasuke was shocked when she didn't insist on her presence instead of his when he lifted her out of her bed.

"Tama made Mama sleepy, and Mama made scary noises, like a big ouch..." the toddler sobbed, clinging around his neck like a koala, just like Naruto.

It took Sasuke several long minuets to convince his daughter that her mother's discomfort was not her fault for being more attached than normal. Even then she still wanted to go to her mother, and it tore at him to tell her no so harshly, but Tamamo couldn't see Naruto at all until everything had passed. So her hugged, promised that her mother would be fine, and put her back in her bed despite her mild protests.

After that, he made three more calls – one to the hospital, one to Sakura, and one to his mother. Sakura, because she was a medical student, and would be a lot more use than anyone else would if Tsunade needed help, and his mother because it was best Tamamo be out of the flat, and he couldn't leave. He refused to leave. As for the hospital, well, that was obvious.

Calls over, he headed back to Naruto. By some miracle her contractions had slowed down, but he wondered if it was simple willpower. He did everything he could remember Fuu had done in the hospital in terms of making her comfortable.

Pillows at her back, plenty of water, and while he knew it wasn't the same as an oxygen mask, he flapped some pages of a paperback at her in hopes it would help with her breathing. The sheer stupidity made her laugh for a moment. Then another contraction came, and she gritted her teeth together in an attempt to keep her discomfort from Tamamo's ears.

Sakura arrived only minuets before Tsunade, and letting her take over for a few moments, Sasuke went back to his daughter, removing her from the bed and keeping her occupied with a jammy chocolate mallow biscuit snack until his mother arrived.

Naruto held her pain back long enough to reassure her, before Tamamo was taken to a much quieter and likely safer address for the night.

Sasuke was glad she was gone, because the night was nothing short of hell.

"Naruto, you need to push soon – I know this is painful, but we can't wait any longer for the ambulance to get here" Tsunade said softly.

Naruto did not like those words, but she knew them before they left her grandmother's mouth. Sakura sat behind her, helping her sit up and give her some leverage on the pathetic, agonising attempts to push. Sasuke was on her other side, an arm on her back, and his free fingers volunteered for crushing, as if that small action would transfer the tearing pain from her to him.

This was nothing like Tamamo's birth.

They were the same in that she hadn't realised how close her contractions were, but timing had brought the revelation at a much later time than before. It was barley five minuets since Tsunade and Sakura had arrived, two since Mikoto had taken Tamamo away from the chaos, twenty minuets since waking up to searing pain, and she already had to push.

There were a few reassurances about being at home, and with the benefit of past experience, but the same thoughts that Sasuke and Nagato had worried about during her pregnancy were etched on all faces. Faces including her own. Home wasn't where she should be – she should be in a hospital. Nagato had been trying to open her mind to a caesarean, and she knew why.

She didn't have the option now though, and if the twins wanted out, what force on earth was going to stop them? Gritting her teeth as hard as she could, she pushed as hard as she could as soon as she could as the contraction swallowed her.

It was so much worse without the medication. She felt like she was being torn in two. More than ever she understood the concerns that had first been raise by the blond woman in her pyjamas. Her grandmother had her hands on her stomach and was monitoring every little thing that passed, and professional concern marred her young-looking face.

Even as Naruto clenched on Sasuke fingers, forgetting about gritting her teeth and simply screaming as she pushed, she could feel the molecular protest in her hips. It felt too constricted, far too constricted. She could feel every protesting inch as the first born of the twins – she didn't know which – moved closer and close to the world.

By the time the paramedics arrived, she knew she had woken their neighbours, because Sakura had to rush to the knocks at the door several times. It felt more reassuring to have the two extra professionals in the room, but they agreed with Tsunade – she couldn't go to the hospital as she was. She was too close. They would simply have to get her through this as quickly as possible, and then rush her in.

She didn't feel the hurried needle in her arm with a high dose of pain killers, and it didn't seem to work. She was pushing again, and felt every single movement. Her bones were shrieking at her to stop, telling that this was beyond her capabilities without serious damage to her body. She wanted to listen, but if she did... well, she couldn't listen. The twins wanted out.

Sasuke's arms were tight about her waist, a cacophony of reassuring words in her ear. Every time she pushed and screamed in protest, his fingers crush her own and his arm clenched. The reassurance was enough to keep her pain hazy mind form failing her.

She wanted so badly to just collapse, to give up, but that was the very worst thing she could do, and feeling the fearful reassurance beside her kept hold of her attention.

There was another presence that reassured her though, one she would never have expected. Tsunade told her what was happening every second, told her little tricks to make the pain go away - none of which worked, but it gave her something else to focus on.

She tried to distract her with meaningless topics – her grandfathers current attempts to cross breed his favourite poison dart toads, the few scratches of news on her mother that her father's private detective had uncovered, and the few times she did start to slip, her voice was sharp like a whip, bringing her back to the real world.

Finally, the first birth drew to a close. Her throat was hoarse as ripping protest of flesh bone and muscles on the contraction finally gave way to her son's head and shoulders. Tsunade was quick in helping to pull him free, seeing to his needs and clearing his airway as the one of the paramedics took her place.

That was when she realised something had gone wrong – not for her baby. Tsunade's call and Sasuke's, momentary happy mumbles of their only son making his presence known made that impossible. She could hear him fussing, as if starting towards crying, but not quite.

No, Hiro was fine. He was perfect. The thing that had gone wrong was her – there was a flurry of instructions, and the paramedics were too insistent on delivering Hiro's little sister. Naruto felt like all the energy was being sapped from her as she continued to push, heeding the frantic words of the paramedic, and trying to ignore Sasuke's yells in her ear.

Despite her attempts, there was little change, and the faces around her grew darker as her strength slowly and steadily dribbled out of her. Blood. Too much blood. That was why she felt so weak – aside of the protest of her body, it was loosing blood. She had a feeling she knew why, but the second baby, her second daughter, was following her brother. She wouldn't wait...

"Tsunade! What's going on? Why is she bleeding so much?"
"The baby tore her – I already made a few incisions to help her along but it wasn't enough. Her body is just too narrow!"
"We have to get the second baby out of her and get her to the hospital! At this rate she'll..."

The voices were dull, and Naruto guessed the pain medication was finally kicking in, but it didn't make much of a difference. Screaming had long since died in her throat – the pain was too overwhelming. It was almost an anaesthetic in and of itself. As she pushed again, she felt the loud, agonising protest of her hips, pelvis, and almost every bone in the area immediate to the birth itself.

She felt so weak, but even amidst the haze, she knew that falling unconscious as she had with Tamamo would be the worst thing to do. Sasuke spoke hurriedly in her ear, begging her to stay awake, begging her to push once more over and over, telling her everything was fine even when it was an outright lie.

She couldn't do it though. She felt so weak. Her attempts were more pathetic than her first tries with Tamamo had been, but she simply couldn't do it. Energy was leaving her. She couldn't stop it, and it made her sick to the stomach when she could feel the damp spots of tears form her boyfriend on her sweat soaked neck, and pleading reassuring kisses on her forehead.

"This isn't good – how much has she already lost?
"I don't know – she already lost a lot during the first one. She needs more"
"She needs a hospital is what she needs – we aren't equipped for this! It's obvious that she needs a C-Section!"
"We can't move her! The minuet you move her it will just get worse! She's too far into labour to be moved!"
"She needs a transfusion then – we have O in the van, but a match would be better – what blood type is she?"
"She's B"
"We don't have any of that – just O. Is anyone here B?"
"No- I'm AB"
"I'm O too – I can donate if she needs any more than what you have"

What was going on? A? B? O? They were talking about blood types. She needed blood? She had lost so much she needed more? That was why she felt so week? The mixture of pain, tears, and the haze of painkillers and disappearing strength made vision difficult, but she could see one of the paramedics rummaging around with the contents of a bag.

"I'm a match. I'm B. She's my granddaughter – you won't get a better match than that. Hurry up man; we don't have the luxury of time right now!"

It was so dim and she didn't know if she could feel anything anymore, and then... it stopped being so hazy. The energy that had left her came back, if only by a little. With it came the sensation of pure, unadulterated pain, but it brought her out of her haze, out of the confusion.

"Wh-What's going…? What happened?" she mumbled, her hands clenching the arm around her waist as she tried to push again on command of the paramedics.

The pain was worse, and she let out another scream. Why hadn't she woken up? Why didn't she realise she was approaching labour earlier? Why hadn't there been any signs? Why didn't she notice? Why was this so hard, and so painful, when it was a prelude to something so precious? Something worth the pain?

"Tsunade, you need to stop - You've gone over the limit!"
"Shut up Yagura and just keep pumping it into her – I know my limits!"
"You're being too personal!"
"Of course I am you fool – she my granddaughter! What else do you expect?"

"You're loosing blood Naruto – Tsunade is giving you a transfusion, but you have to push now. You've lost too much for one transfusion to help much. I know it's hard, that you're in a lot of pain, but you have to push Naruto!" Sakura told her, shuffling her into arms beneath hers and forcing her so she was half kneeling.

"The hell you do candy-floss head... " Naruto whimpered just before she had been moved fully.

She felt the pain breaking her - the movement was agony, and for a moment she blacked out. When she woke up she was back on the bed again, the pain was back, and her strength was beginning to fade, and people were yelling frantically, but she had never been clearer headed.

"Naruto you need to push now!" Tsunade ordered, her tone leaving no hint as to what might happen if she didn't.

And that was what she did; Sasuke pulled her ratty, sweat-damp auburn fringe from her eyes as she gripped his hand, and pushed. This time there was a new pain, one that she could feel inside her bones themselves. So sharp and deep that she was certain something had broken with the effort that went into the final push.

It was blinding, and she screamed from behind gritted teeth into her boyfriend's shoulder as she finally felt her daughter leave her body. Unlike her brother, her second daughter came into the world screaming as loud as her mother, and yet Naruto barley heard it. She heard sobs of relief from Sasuke and Sakura before flurries of movement surround her, and she was being moved.

She wanted to see her twins, she wanted them so much, especially after all the damn effort it had taken to bring them into the world, but... she couldn't keep her eyes or mind focused on the world. She could only concentrate on how warm Sasuke hand was, and how it had never ever left her own.

The warmth was lulling, and as a loud blaring filled her ears, she let it lull her into sleep.

Sasuke didn't remember getting to the hospital, or how he ended up in the hospital waiting room. He knew that at some point, he was dragged away by Naruto's father to have his hand wrapped up, and that his baby son and daughter had been whisked away by the man for a very long check up.

All he could think of was how much blood and pain Naruto had endured, and how dangerously close she had been to... to something else that he didn't want to contemplate. He thought Tamamo's birth had been a bad one, but there had been nowhere near as much blood, and she hadn't cried.

His memories of Naruto crying were dim ones, but this birth was branded onto him. It had started so quickly that he thought it would be over with quickly, but the opposite had happened. Despite being early, smaller, giving birth dad been much more complicated. Much more dangerous.

He remembered worrying about the dangers of childbirth when he was sixteen, and looking things up after Naruto's first ultrasound. He didn't realise how real those dangers were back then. He did now. It seemed innocuous for Naruto's own body to be the problem, despite being told it wasn't suited for such a task. And yet if things had gone any more wrong, it would have killed her.

No one had said it, but he didn't need them to. The frantic worry on Tsunade's face, the guarded panic of the paramedics, Sakura's frozen fear, the screams and tears from Naruto, and most of all the pain induced in them, had said all that needed to be said.

And the blood. He'd never seen so much of it before. It stained his trousers, hands, his t-shirt, and he wouldn't be surprised if it was in his hair. He looked like he had coke from a murder rather than the birth of his children.

The word transfusion had stilled his own for a moment, realising he was absolutely no use. He'd never been more grateful for Tsunade's presence.

Things had been even worse when Naruto blacked out – the paramedics thought kneeling up on her shins would help the process – let gravity do its work again – but the movement itself was too much for her. Sasuke had wondered if they though they could get her onto the stretcher. The question had quickly been answered.

As horrible as it must have been when she woke up to the pain and chaos again, he'd never been more relieved to see her wake up. She had been breathing, that hadn't been a problem at all, but that wasn't the point. He had been dangerously close to seeing her die, and it had terrified him.

His father arrived a few hours after arriving at the hospital, his eldest granddaughter in tow along with a bag of baby clothes picked up from the flat. Tamamo too one look at him, unease in her eyes at the confusion surrounding her, and tears immediately spouted for the both of them.

Sasuke wished he could say something that would reassure her more than the quiet murmurs and self-convincing promises that 'Mama will be fine'. When she fell asleep, he had the first chance in a long time to simply talk to his father. Neither of them were very verbose people, but times such as the one that had swallowed them were what denied accusations of Fugaku Uchiha being a detached father.

He told Sasuke about his own birth, and the difficulties his mother had had with it. Not the same as Naruto's, but there had still been some cause for concern. The slight empathy helped, and when Tsunade finally appeared along with the bed Naruto was wheeled into the room, his head was settled enough to take the news without panic.

"Well, it was as bad it looked, but she's out of the woods. She'll have to stay her for a month or so to heal properly though. I think the second delivery was too much for her. There's a fracture in her pelvis. And not one to underestimate; any more weight on it might do damage she definitely doesn't need" Tsunade reported wearily.

Sasuke, who had sat down on the chair beside Naruto's bed as soon as she entered, bit his lip. He bit his lip so he wouldn't clench his arm too much on the sleeping bundle in his arms. A fracture. Giving birth had been hard enough on Naruto to damage her bones. He couldn't begin to imagine what that must have been like, despite having seen it for himself.

Her face was pale, and she was still hooked up to a blood bag. She looked awful, and part of him wondered if some self-blame might not be in order. He knew it wasn't, but he couldn't help it. Anyone who had seen that would have a mild amount of spectator guilt.

He was just glad she would be back on her feet at all, that she was alright, that the nightmare he'd been imagining was just that. A horrible nightmare he didn't ever want to see again.

"...Sasuke, I don't think I need to say this, but she cannot do this again. I wouldn't even recommend her having any more children, but... If she does, she will have to have a caesarean. Her body will not cope with labour a second time" she added softly.

Sasuke's eyes widened, and snapped in disbelief towards Tsunade. The news didn't surprise him – they had been told to take the caesarean option by Nagato – but it still shocked him. More kids hadn't really been on the agenda, but he did know that Naruto wanted more. How was she going to react to this?

"...I'll tell her when she wakes up, but I thought it best to tell you now" Tsunade finished, turning to leave the two of them alone for a while.

"I'll tell her. She's just forgiven you – if you tell her, it might go… pear-shaped again" Sasuke replied cautiously, taking his fingers and brushing them over Naruto's still ones.

He couldn't say he would comfortable with Tsunade, but she had been there when Naruto had needed her most. The moment Naruto had told him to call her, she had been forgiven. Perhaps their relationship would not be that of a typical grandparent and grandchild, but she had been forgiven.

She had repaid her more than Sasuke had ever anticipated from her. Not only had she shown up when Naruto needed her most, Sasuke was fairly certain that the riskily high transfusion had saved Naruto's life. He'd seen how much had flowed out of her. He knew that even with the O, there wouldn't have been enough if Tsunade hadn't volunteered her own.

Tsunade said nothing, but he was certain she appreciated the reply. He voice was softer when she spoke again.

"Minato should be done with his checks soon. If there are no problems I can arrange for you to see the twins. They're early, but that's normal... in any case, he said he had something to speak to you about. He left a message but..." she trailed off, without need for explanation.

Sasuke was reluctant to leave Naruto, but he knew she would be a long time waking, and aside from the few moments when a tiny spark of happiness mixed the fear earlier, he hadn't seen either of the twins. Twins. His head was more boggled than it had been when they were told. Twice the fun and double the trouble no doubt.

He wondered who they looked like more – he'd hardly seen them. They had been brought in another ambulance to the hospital than Naruto, and he had only left her when the doctors dragged her away. Glancing at his father, the man nodded once, and silently took his granddaughter from him, not a single jostle to wake her.

One last glance to Naruto, a kiss on her forehead and silent murmur in her ear later, he followed Tsunade out of the door towards the neonatal unit in search of Minato.

The light burned Naruto's eyelids open.

At first she felt stiff, sore, and wanted to go back to sleep. The she remembered the twins. Or rather, she remembered that she had given birth to them – she had not seen them for long enough to remember anything else of them, and she remembered very little but pain from their birth. A lot of pain at that too.

"Naruto?"

Glancing to the side of the room, Naruto gave a weak grin to her boyfriend; he looked a mess. He hadn't shaved for a while, and dark stubble made the fiercer set to his eyes stand out. Slight shadows indication a lack of sleep hung beneath them like dull curtains, but they were wide with relief.

His shirt was wrinkled – something he would never allow – and there was a small bundle of purple and white in his arms, one that guaranteed his ironing fetish had been the last thing on his mind for some time. Tamamo was by the window, seated at a table and scribbling away on some paper. There was a dual-pram there too, just out of sight of the bright sun and away from light that might be too bright.

"That would be my name" she grinned, slowly inching her self into a more upright position.

Sasuke quickly replaced the little bundle back in the pram, and then moved to help her ease up. Slowly, very slowly, he shifted the bed so it was propped up a little. It proved a much better idea than hoisting herself up. That had left a nasty stinging in her lower regions that she had no desire to re-experience.

"What happened? How long have I been out? Are the twins alright?" she asked.
"You passed out again and scared me half to death, same as before, and the twins are fine" Sasuke replied, carefully seating himself on the side of the bed and wrapping is arms around her.

His lips pressed against her forehead, then her cheek, before finally landing on her lips in a fervent relief. He felt a little tense – presumably holding back so as not to jostle her – but the moment she pressed her lips back it melted. Pulling away, he leaned his head onto her own, eyes closed as if he had been set on pause.

"I was so scared; I knew you were going to wake up but... It was so much worse this time that I couldn't convince myself that you wouldn't suddenly take a bad turn and… leave me..." he breathed, arms clinging gently around her shoulders again.

"You weren't the only one – I didn't think I'd be able to do it for a while... I don't really remember it, but I know it was bad..."
"That's the understatement of the week – you needed a blood transfusion, there was... tearing... and you have a fracture in your pelvis. That's a little more than bad I'd say..." Sasuke snorted, half-heartedly trying to lighten the mood.

Naruto had a brief memory of feeling that fracture, and the blood loss, and felt her skin paling at the memory of the pain that had accompanied it all. Sasuke was right – it had been more than a little bad. That fact, of course, begged the last question...

"Sasuke, how long have I been out?" Naruto asked, wondering if she even wanted to know.

"...Almost three weeks now. You woke up a few times, but you weren't really awake, it was more a reaction to the medication changes or when the nursed came by for that sponge bath stuff. I don't think you even noticed" he replied after a moment, all the fear and worry bubbling over his quiet voice.

Naruto absorbed that with a long intake of breath. Three weeks. Her babies were three weeks old. She'd missed almost their entire first month of life. And she had a feeling there was more news she wouldn't like. Sasuke's reluctant tenseness was an indicator there was more he had to say.

"What else?" she asked, resigned to the oncoming dark cloud.

Sasuke hesitated, looking for all the world like he wanted to avoid the subject, or think on how to word it some more, before his sighed and settled for his typical manner. Short and to the point.

"The fracture wasn't just from this birth Naruto. Tsunade thinks it was a miniature one from when Tamamo was born that was enlarged from the stress of this one. Obviously it wasn't noticed, and though healed, it did heal properly and the twins... it was opened up again, badly. Nagato agrees with her and... Well, your body wouldn't stand the stress of labour again because of where the fracture is – next time it might not be a fracture but a complete break..." he said quietly.

"So I can't...?" Naruto trailed off in disbelief.
"They don't think it's a good idea. At least... not the normal way" Sasuke rephrased.

That... made her feel a little better, but not much. She hadn't given it serious thought, but she would have liked it if she did have more kids. Not a vast number, just a one or two, but... that put damper on the idea. A serious one if the memory of that dim, snapping pain was anything to go by...

She leaned into Sasuke, biting her lip until she had somewhat accepted the revelation. Was she never going to get something so simple without any kind of pain? First with Tamamo, she had nearly given her away because of emotional stunting, and now her own body was betraying her.

She'd always taken a perverse pleasure in her figure. Well, not her boobs – they were pathetic – but he stomach had always been flat, her structure refined enough for natural predisposition to the smaller dress sizes without starving herself. Only now, that same figure had cause such complications that both Tsunade and Nagato were recommending she didn't have any more children, and definitely no more normal births.

"Where are the twins? Is Tamamo alright?" Naruto asked, swallowing the disbelief and grief for another time.

The question quickly caught the attention of her eldest; Tamamo's eyes perked up, and she immediately forgot about her doodles. Darting across the floor, Sasuke quickly snatched her into the air before she could jump and jostle her way onto the bed.

"Tamamo, what did I tell you? Mama's still hurting, so you can't jump around remember?" he reminded.

Tamamo did not droop, but rather nodded and held her hands out, much more careful than she had been seconds ago. Carefully setting her onto the bed, Tamamo threw her stubby arms around her neck, burying her head in her hair and curling into a sated ball beside her.

"Hey sweetheart – I've missed you. Did you look after your Papa for me while I was sleeping?" Naruto asked, smoothing her fingers through Tamamo's soft silky hair.

Tamamo nodded, and curled into a tighter ball of contentment, breaking it long enough to plant a slobbery, but happy kiss on her cheek. Naruto retaliated with a raspberry on her neck, finally drawing a delighted laugh from the girl. There was something... strange about the way Sasuke watched her as she held the girl, perhaps something else she still needed to be informed about?

No – there wasn't really much else to discuss. Things had gone badly, and now she was recovering. It was that simple (in spice of being decidedly not simple). If there was, it could wait. She didn't want any more bad news – she wanted to see her family.n Apparently Sasuke read her mind.

"Alright you little monkey, I think we should introduce your Mama to your brother and sister – come on, you can sit on my chair so no chair-monsters steal it..." he interrupted with a grin, ruffling the short red hair of their daughter's head.

To Naruto's surprise, she didn't complain, or fuss. Rather she laughed at the action, and immediately jumped off the bed, after kissing her on the cheek again. Flicking an eye between father and daughter, she guessed Tamamo had done a lot more bonding with Sasuke in her absence. She was following his every word like they were those of an idol. She'd have to ask Sasuke later, but she was glad he had gotten some time to get closer to their eldest.

Wheeling the pram over to the bed, he slowly lifted out a bundle of blue. Naruto caught a glance of tiny hands yanking towards Sasuke long fringe before the tiny little body was finally in her arms. Her son stared at her in curiosity with wide blue eyes exactly her own, and a pudgy face that didn't match Sasuke's at the same age, a thick mop of jet black hair dusting his head.

Pale pinkish fingers grabbed onto the one she held above his tiny hands in curiosity. Hiro Uzumaki looked much like his father in skin and hair, but that squat little face could only be her own. He was gorgeous, perfect, and worth every ounce of the pain it had taken to introduce him to the world.

She couldn't wait to see if he was like her – active and full of energy and mischief like his older sister – or more like his dad, smart and bookish, and horrendously shy.

"Hiro – this is your mother. You be nice to her, and don't give her any lip. You're better off that way. Trust me" Sasuke grinned, leaning over her shoulder, making a loud whisper to the little boy in his last set of words.

The love in his voice as he spoke to the curious little boy was almost suffocating. Naruto knew he would be excited to have a boy the minuet they knew the genders, but he was absolutely brimming with pride and adoration. For some reason, she got the feeling Sasuke would start practising his poor sports skills for bonding time in the future.

She feigned hurt, and sniffed at the comment until Sasuke kissed her cheek. Then she gave him a tired grin, and turned her gaze to the sleeping baby girl in his arms.

She was curled face to her father's warm chest, thumb pulling at the edge of her moth and drooling slightly, looking as happy a bug in a rug as she slumbered. She had the same hair, same skin, same pudgy face as her brother, and Naruto would bet that their eyes were the same too. There were a few slight differences, ones that gave away femininity, and Naruto grinned, resting her head on Sasuke's shoulder when she sat on the bed beside her.

"You're going to be chasing the boys away from her when she's thirteen, aren't you?" she asked, relaxing into the familiar scent of Sasuke; tomato, a recent addition of talcum powder, burnt something, musky spice, men's deodorant, and the tinge of iron that came from working with fuse boxes all day.

"You have to ask that?" he snorted, slowly exchanging the girl for her older brother.

She woke for only a second, her wide blue eyes regarding her mother carefully, before glancing at Sasuke, and finally deciding she was safe enough in the arms of the strange woman holding her, and promptly going back to sleep. Oh yes, this little one was going to be exactly like Sasuke in the trail of broken hearts she'd leave behind when she was older.

"Hello Tsukiko" Naruto smiled at her youngest daughter.

Tsukiko didn't answer her, but Naruto didn't mind. She was perfectly content meeting her, having her in her arms as she had Hiro.

"How much longer am I going to be in hospital for?" she asked, rubbing her thumb gently over her daughters pudgy cheek.
"At least another couple of weeks – at least, I think that's what the doctor said. He couldn't give me a straight answer when I saw him last..." Sasuke muttered.

She knew what mutter – it was the mutter that accompanied speech with a person Sasuke vehemently disliked. He used it a lot with Sai even to this day. He occasionally used it with Kiba and Sakura when they irritated him on purpose. Obviously, Sasuke and this new doctor didn't get along so well. Naruto only wondered which of Sasuke's buttons the poor man had unwittingly pressed.

He muttered to himself again before carefully sitting beside her properly on the bed, head leaning onto her shoulder as if he was going to fall asleep. The stubble on his chin scratched her face almost irritably, but ticklish too. A strange mix of pleasant and unpleasant.

It was just like everything else that was going on; it seemed she had paid a price for the two bundles, which were now attracting the curious eyes of their older sister, but it was a good one. Things had no doubt been complicated by the turn of events but there was nothing she could do but work around them now.

Though that being said, there may have been one other piece of good luck she had managed to hold onto in that awful memory of pain tears and unmitigated screaming.

"Sasuke?"
"Hnnm?" he replied drowsily – apparently he really was falling asleep.
"Before you take the kids home... or when you do... could you find the old bat for me?"
"...Fine" he grumbled after a reluctant moment of pause.

Naruto snickered at him, and pressed her lips against his sleepy face.

"Thank you"
"Hnrgh" he snorted – yes, that was definitely a sign of late nights.

Naruto deliberately paused for a few moments, letting him lull back into a half-daydream state.

"Sasuke?"
"What?" he replied, a tired moan in his voice that she couldn't quite take offence to.
"I love you" she mumbled.

Sasuke's grouch reply disappeared, and he curled slightly against her, just like Tamamo had only seconds ago, repeating the same words back to her. They stayed like that for a few more minuets before Tamamo's boredom replaced her father on the bed again, and she started regaling to her mother all the details on her new siblings she had missed in slumber.

Later, when the nurses shooed her visitors out on protest – 'visiting hours were over two hours ago!'- there was a confident reassurance in her that everything had worked out, and would continue to do so.

So... a lot going on this chapter. Not really happy with it... I was half-tempted to commit character-death, but I decided it would be way too cruel and way too much of a cop-out. Makes it an awkward end though. I'll have to extend my chapter numbers now *grumble grumble*

It is greatly exaggerated, I know. In real life, the paramedics would probably have moved Naruto as soon as they arrived. I did my best to make it plausible though. And yes, it is possible to sleep through contractions. A bit odd, but it can be done. Naruto slept through hers up to a point where it was too late to move her.

Unfortunately, her body was what cause the problems, and the reason why she needed to be at hospital in the first place. I've stressed this before, but I hope it doest come across as too implausible. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I didn't take biology.

The closest I get to it is greys anatomy, and that Children's Hospital about Great Ormond Street that used to broadcast on the BBC.

For those puzzled about the blood transfusion, people with O-type blood can donate to any other blood group, hence why it's used in emergencies. In retrospect, O types, can't receive from an A or B donor though. That much I'm certain of – I'm O-, which means I can only get a blood transfusion from another O-, but I can donate to anyone else. There. That's the only biology I know for certain. -_-;

Then again, it's 2:30AM her in Britland, so what do I know? My brain is sleep deprived! In any case, I hope you guys like this chapter. With any luck I made up for the horrible stagnation this story's been getting lately :)

BTW! BTW! In a show of shameless self-advertising, I've started a Zutarta story if anyone's intereted, so A:TLA fans, take a peek if you get the chance at all :D

Quote is from 'Two Worlds' by Phil Collins.
Rate&Review ;)

Nat
xxx