Role Reversal

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy the grand finale of Role Reversal. Oh and for those of you interested, feel free to check out my other stories.

Chapter Notation: This chapter takes place three years after the last one. Oh and as Hinata's mother was never named in the show and manga, I've taken to calling her Emiko. I figured I should clarify that to prevent any confusion.

Chapter 22

You knew your life was weird when your daughters' babysitter was a giant Sasuke thought himself. Weird, but also wonderful. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Daddy!" Emiko smiles as she rushes over to him.

Her sister wasn't far behind though. "Papa's back!" Hanabi was certainly every bit as much a daddy's girl was her elder sister.

Hinata laughs as she smiles and watches them. Sasuke decides to humor the toddlers and allows them to bowl him over as always. It made them feel strong and it wasn't like he was going to get more than a couple bruises out of the whole ordeal anyway.

"I hope they didn't give you any trouble." Hinata smiles at her Summon. "Did they give you any trouble, Aoda?" The bluenette looks up at the snake.

The twins were currently running around outside. Well more precisely, they were using Sasuke as their own personal jungle gym.

Sasuke and Hinata had gone off to get some groceries and had left the twins in the care of the trusty Summons' eyes. Sasuke said Summons because Garuda was monitoring the situation from the skies.

Garuda didn't say much, but he was always there. The giant hawk was perhaps the reason why the old saying was invented. Watching you like a hawk. Nothing slipped past that Summon's keen eyes.

Aoda shakes his very large and scaly head. "No. The Hatchlings never give me any trouble." He smiles at Hinata. "They are very good Hatchlings."

Sasuke chuckles at that and nods in agreement. "Yes, very good Hatchlings." Who knew that a massive serpent would have a soft spot for children, he muses to himself.

It had been that way since the day Aoda had laid eyes on them though. On the very day that the girls had been born, they had both each immediately forged a connection with the Snake Summon. The Bubble Eyes Jutsu was not to be underestimated!

"AHHHH!" Sasuke winced as he held his wife's hand dutifully.

Hinata had gripped his hand so tightly that the expectant father wasn't entirely sure that she hadn't broken his wrist. That was okay though. It would be worth it.

He tried his best to encourage her. "Keep pushing, My Love." Though Hinata looked less than thrilled by his efforts.

"YOU KEEP PUSHING!" Sasuke blinked at the ferocity in her voice and took a step back.

Tsunade shook her head. It was obvious that the medic wasn't phrased by such things. Why would she be? It was likely that she had delivered dozens, maybe even hundreds of babies before.

"He's right, Hinata." She smiled at her. "I can see the head. Just a little bit more!"

His wife had been in labor for the better part of the day and Sasuke could see that she was exhausted. Somehow though, his lover found the will to push and push. Until in rapid succession two loud cries were heard.

Once the eldest came in to the world. Her twin sister wasn't far behind. How thoughtful of her to clear the way so to speak.

"A-Are they okay?" Hinata panted out desperately.

Tsunade nodded after a few tense moments of examining them. "Congratulations. You're the proud parents of two beautiful baby girls." The busty blonde decreed as she waited for Shizune to clean Hinata off before Tsunade gently deposited the two small bundles into the bluenette's arms.

Sasuke looked down and smiled. They were the most adorable babies that he had ever since. Admittedly, the Uchiha knew that he was biased, but whatever. He didn't care.

"They're perfect, Hinata." He whispered to her as he kissed her cheek and gazed down at them in wonder.

They both had Hinata's midnight blue hair and his ivory white skin. Their eyes were obsidian black like his, but otherwise they had their mother's face. Save for their ears. They definitely had his ears.

Hinata smiled down at them. "Yes, they are." She cuddled them both to her chest and began nursing them. "After they're fed, we can let the others come in and see them." She looked at him.

Sasuke nodded in agreement. He wasn't even going to argue with the fact that Hinata's entire personality had changed as soon as the babies were placed in her arms. That was just part of being a new mother, he supposed.

About an hour later, they allowed some of their family members and friends in. Mostly because there was no way that the entire Uchiha Clan was going to fit in there.

"Oh goodness!" Mikoto, Izumi, and Aiya made a beeline to the babies. "They're so beautiful."

The Uchiha men weren't much more dignified as Shisui decided that he just had to play with the eldest's toes. Kenji made silly faces at the younger twin and yes, even Fugaku couldn't resist tickling the twin's tummies.

"Wow, Bastard!" Naruto bounded in and laughed. "Who knew that you would make such cute kids." He snickered. "Must be Hinata's influence."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his friend. Naruto could be such an idiot sometimes. Though he didn't hold it against him too much. Naruto was just Naruto.

"Idiot." He muttered under his breath.

"Wow." Suigetsu walked in with Karin and Jugo at his side. "Cute kids." He laughed as he joined Fugaku in the tummy tickling. "Now, Karin don't scare them too much!"

Karin twitched. Sometimes, Sasuke was quite certain the other man had a death wish. It was like he couldn't resist deliberately setting Karin off or something.

"They're beautiful." Jugo smiled. "You must be so proud."

Damn right. They were proud. They were the most adorable little Hyuga-Uchiha Princesses in the entire world. Well they were the only Hyuga-Uchiha Princesses in the world, but that was besides the point!

"We are proud." Hinata giggled. "Very proud."

That's when Itachi and Neji made their way over. "I imagine this new forest will be even better than the one that came before." Neji whispered as he kissed Hinata's cheek.

Itachi shook his head and poked Sasuke's forehead. "My foolish little brother is now a foolish little father." He chuckled as if the idea greatly amused him. "Will wonders, never cease?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes again and then blinked when he heard Karin scream. "AHHH! IT'S A GIANT EYE!" Which of course made his infants cry and instantly put Sasuke on alert.

His eyes followed where Karin's were and he blinked as he saw Aoda's eye trying to peek through the hospital window. "It's just Aoda." He looked at Hinata. "I think that he wants to see the twins. What do you think?"

The bluenette smiled at him and nodded. "It's okay. Let him see." Sasuke nodded and scooped the girls up in his arms before walking them over toward the window.

The rest of their family was understandably wary about letting two newborns near a snake that was the size of a two or three story house, but Sasuke wasn't. Really, Aoda was just an overgrown puppy when it came down to it.

"They're such precious Hatchlings, Master Sasuke." The snake smiled.

Well he smiled as much as a snake could smile. At that moment, Sasuke was almost certain that Aoda was the only being who might possibly love their daughters almost as much as he and Hinata did. There was a certain warmth in those eyes that was almost impossible to articulate, but one could just feel it innately in their bones.

"Yes, they are." He smiled.

Aoda nodded as his tongue flicked around curiously, causing the formerly fussy infants to stare rather wide eyed and coo excitedly. "What are their names?" He smiled more.

Hinata looked at her Summon and laughed. "Emiko and Hanabi, after my mother and sister." She sighed. "It's a shame that they couldn't be here today."

Neji winced at that, but to his credit…he held it together. In some ways, the Hokage was a far stronger man than Sasuke would ever be. He doubted that he could have remained so stoic in the face of such pain.

"They're with us in spirit, Hinata." Neji sighed softly. "Never forget that. I know that and you should as well." His wife nodded in agreement.

Itachi nodded. "They're fine names." He shook his head and tried to lighten the mood. "Well Sasuke, I hope that you've outgrown your distaste for the color pink since you have two daughters."

Sasuke knew that he was going to get eyestrain at this rate. He was rolling his eyes far too much for it to be considered normal and he knew it.

"Stop being stereotypical." He glared at his brother. "Just because they're girls doesn't mean that they'll like color pink."

Hinata laughed softly at that. "That's true, but it doesn't mean that they won't." Sasuke tried his best not to open gape at his wife, but she had just made it rather difficult.

"Whose side are you on?!" He grumbled and everyone laughed.

Hinata smiles at Aoda. "Well that's good." It was hard not to smile at the gentle snake and her husband who was getting "mauled" by their very excited toddlers.

The twins really were enamored by their father and he was equally enamored by them. It was sweet. She couldn't ask for a better father to her children.

"Alright." She laughs." Alright. Get off your father. We're going to visit grandma and grandpa."

The words were like magic really. Hanabi and Emiko both jumped off Sasuke and bolt over to Hinata. Truly, it was amazing how fast the two of them could move, when they wanted to.

"Thanks." Sasuke smiles at Hinata. "So do we got everything?" Hinata nods in confirmation.

They had everything and now, they heading off to Sasuke's parents' house. Emiko and Hanabi were both riding on Sasuke's back a few minutes later. They really did love their piggyback rides, she muses.

"Cousins Hanabi and Emiko!" A little boy named Jirayia rushes over to them and huggles them.

Jirayia was Itachi's and Izumi's son. Hinata found it a bit strange that Itachi had chosen to name his son after the author of an erotic series, but she wouldn't question it. Jirayia was also a legendary Sannin, after all.

She smiles as she watches the children play. It was sweet to watch how well they all got along. Though one had to watch them carefully. If you didn't, you soon found yourself surrounded by chaos.

For example, they had once chosen to express their artistic sides. The three children had done so by splashing a virtual rainbow worth of paints onto the walls of their home. It had taken forever to get the walls back to their natural color!

"They're getting so big." Mikoto smiles as everyone sits down to eat.

Indeed. They were. The twins were growing by leaps and bounds. So much so that Hinata wasn't really worried about what she was going to tell Sasuke later that night.

Sasuke nods proudly. "Probably Taijutsu Specialists in the making too." He shakes his head. "You should see how it feels to be on the receiving ends of their tackles."

Hanabi laughs. "Silly Papa!" Those were her favorite words as far as Hinata could tell.

That wasn't to say the girls didn't adore her too. They loved playing Dress Up with their Mommy. Much to Sasuke's chagrin that even included pink sometimes!

"Yes." Hinata smiles. "He is as very, very Silly Papa."

There children might be identical, but in some ways they couldn't be more different. It was like trying to compare the Sun to the Moon. Hanabi was their Sun and Emiko was their Moon.

Hanabi was by far the more aggressive of their twins. Like her name sake, she knew what she wanted and she went for it. Her affinity was fire and anyone who pinched her cheeks quickly found that out!

"Mommy likes it when I'm silly though." Sasuke smirks. "A lot." Which causes Hinata to blush and everyone else at the table to chuckle, even Obito.

Emiko was quieter than her sister and about ten times sneakier. Her affinity was that of water and the bluenette was quite certain she was a Genjutsu Mistress in the making. Just like her former Sensei. Kurenai.

Speaking of Kurenai, Team Eight was doing great. Kurenai had a daughter of her own who was growing so fast and had had taken a teaching position at the Academy. Kiba was now raising Ninja Dogs with his family and Shino was an intelligence specialist.

"Yes, I imagine so." Obito smirks. "Or else you wouldn't have twins in the first place."

Things with Obito had settled down. It had taken the man awhile to accept the fact that you couldn't mold the world into your preferred image with a Jutsu. That was just fundamentally wrong and Rin wouldn't have wanted him to do it.

Now, he served as an advisor to Neji and as a babysitter whenever Hinata and Sasuke went away on long trips.

"Don't be such a deviant in front of the twins." Aiya smacks Obito upside the head. "Honestly! One would think a grown man would know better."

Obito gapes at Aiya. "Woman, do you even remember who you are married to?!" He points at Kenji who just chuckles in response.

Hinata laughs softly at her family's antics as she eats. It was nice to have this. To have a family again.

It seemed like everything had worked out for the best. Shockingly, even Taka had managed to settle down in the Leaf Village. Taka was the name that Sasuke had given Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo.

The red head and Suigetsu had always bickered like an old married couple, but it had still stunned everyone when the two of them had gotten married. Sasuke had always told Hinata that he really hoped those two never had any children and as cruel as it might sound, the bluenette was inclined to agree.

"Yummy for the tummy." Hanabi giggles as she eats.

The thought of those two as parents made her shutter. Fortunately, it didn't seem like either of them were particularly inclined to take that plunge. Karin was happy being a medic and Sugietsu was apparently happy playing with swords and ravishing his feisty wife.

Jugo was another matter though. He had decided to help the Uchiha Clan with their Ninja Cats. The man was quite good with animals. Hinata had really never seen anything like it in all honesty.

The rest of the meal mercifully passed without incident. "Come on, Emiko and Hanabi." Sasuke smiles as he picks them up. "Let's go home." As did the journey home.

It took them awhile to get their girls to settle down though. "And they lived Happily Ever After." Hinata had to read them a bedtime story before they would even entertain the thought of sleep.

"Prince. Kiss. Kiss. Prince!" The girls giggle in delight.

Hinata didn't really know how to respond to that. On one hand, it was utterly adorable. On the other, should two year olds really know that much about kissing?

"Yes, when you're much older you can kiss the prince." Sasuke shakes his head as he kisses their foreheads and turns out the light. "And I'll make sure to scare off any unworthy ones." Sasuke smirks as the two of them walk back to their room.

Side by side. They were always side by side, Hinata noted. It was just a natural pattern, she supposed. One day, they would be the next Aiya and Kenji. Well at least that's what every newlywed couple wished for in her mind.

To have a marriage that spanned decades and grandchildren. A marriage that was still filled with passion and occasionally, it was okay if you had to whack your boisterous spouse upside the head for their own good!

"Try not to breath fire on the prospective princes." Hinata laughs as they make their way to their room.

Sasuke shrugs. "I'm not going to make any promises, but I'll try." Her husband kisses her and smirks. "Besides, it's my job to scare off the less dedicated ones."

Hinata laughs and shakes her head as she returns the kiss. Her laugh was like music to his ears. Sasuke never got tired of hearing it.

"Mmm." She smiles at him. "I suppose that's true."

Sasuke nods. Damn right it was true. Sometimes a dad had to do what a dad had to do! There was a handbook and everything!

He caresses her cheek. "I don't think that I ever told you this, but you're amazing." The raven haired ninja smiles at her warmly.

Hinata looks at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" Her lavender eyes search his for an answer. "You've told me that many times." She laughs at him as she nips his nose playfully. "You tell me that everyday."

That was true, but not in the way that it necessarily needed to be said. Sasuke hadn't said this before because he didn't want to bring up unpleasant memories, but he felt she needed to hear it. At least once.

"Well yes, but I don't believe that I've ever listed this reason specifically." He was almost positive that he hadn't.

Though Sasuke would be the first to admit that sometimes he didn't entirely remember what he said in the throes of passion or during the afterglow. Still, he was determined to tell her this. Just this once.

Hinata looks at him with mild concern. "What is it?" He was apparently doing this wrong.

"Nothing is wrong." He smiles at her. "Everything is perfect and that was my point."

Hinata cocks her head to the side. Though she did seem relieved. He'd just have to clarify.

"If our roles were reversed, I don't think that I could have done what you did." He shakes his head.

Actually, he was almost certain that he couldn't have. If Itachi had wiped out their Clan, Sasuke wasn't sure that he would have listened to reason until it was too late. Until Itachi was dead.

Hinata wraps her arms around his neck and shakes her head. "And what do you think that it is, that I did…that you wouldn't have been able to do." She smiles up at him. "Because I think that you could have done whatever it is. There are times when you don't give yourself enough credit, My Love."

"There are a million things." He shakes his head. "That you did, that I don't know that I could have." Sasuke runs his fingers through her hair. "Listening to me. Finding out the truth. Forgiving Neji before it was too late and despite everything finding your own happiness."

Oh and there was one more thing that she had done. One thing that he never would have been able to do. Though this particular aspect of Hinata's amazingness just wasn't something he could have done.

"Oh and of course, surviving childbirth." He smirks. "When having twins. That one will deserves an honorable mention."

Hinata blinks as he says all that. "Mmm. I was right. You really don't give yourself enough credit." The young mother of two shakes her head in disbelief. "I couldn't have done any of that without you." She brushes her lips against his own. "You're what truly kept me from succumbing to the darkness within my heart. I was already more than halfway gone when you found me."

He always found her, Hinata observes. That was just what Sasuke did. Perhaps, he really should have been a tracker ninja.

"Well I'm glad that you weren't completely gone." Sasuke kisses her forehead. "Or else I would be a very lonely ninja. I can't imagine there being anyone else besides you." And there were times like this when he could be so sweet that he truly took her breath away.

"Let's just hope that we never find out." She smiles at him. "That you never have to go through the pain that I did, but in the end it was more than worth it." She kisses him. "Because now, I have you and the twins."

Hinata had everything that should could have ever possibly wanted. Her husband and their daughters. A loving family that she had married into. A redeemed Neji who was now Hokage and leading the Leaf Village into something that was bound to be considered a Golden Age in the future and most importantly, she had a future.

When she had gone to Orochimaru, she hadn't really seen one for herself. Now she did though and the future looked bright. Her future looked bright as a ninja, a mother, and Sasuke's wife.

"Yes, that's true." He smiles at her. "Well no need to dwell to on what ifs." He smirks at her. "When I can draw us a bubble bath and we can make the most of the fact that our daughters are sleeping."

Hinata nods at that in agreement. "And our son." She smiles at him slyly.

Sasuke blinks and falls on his ass in shock. "W-What?" Hinata giggles as she helps him up and places his hand on her stomach.

"I said and our son." Her smile never wavered. "I'm almost certain that it's a boy this time." Hinata smiles sneakily. "And it seemed that this time we really did reverse roles. I almost fell over when you knew last time, but this time…you actually fell down."

She hadn't expected Sasuke of all people to do that. It was rather funny, really.

"Well yeah." Sasuke laughs as he scoops her up Bridal Style. "You just told me that we might have another child. Of course, I was surprised." He looks at her a tiny bit suspiciously. "How did you manage to hide it from me?"

"Oh that's easy." Hinata laughs. "This time, you couldn't tell if it was me or the twins sneaking the cookies."

Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. "Right." Well that was a fair point. "Well that's wonderful news! Let's celebrate with a hot bubble bath for now and we can tell the rest of our Clan the first thing in the morning."

Hinata smiles up at him as she cuddles into her husband's chest. "That sounds wonderful." Sasuke nods and leads carries her into the bathroom.

Fortunately, he knew how to use the Soundproofing Jutsu. If they didn't use that, their children might never get any sleep. Sasuke really loved to play with their daughters, but he also loved to play with her just as much. Which was probably why they were now expecting their third child, Hinata muses to herself.