SPOILERS: Through Naruto chapter 342 and/or Naruto Shippūden episode 112/ the second year of Shippūden.

NOTES: Thank you all for sticking with me and our couple through thick and thin! Now it's time to wrap this up. Enjoy! And please check the details at the end for a link to a piece of fanart inspired by this chapter!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.

CHOOSING FATE

Chapter 22: Family

Kiba was almost half-way through his mushroom circuit when Akamaru heard the whistle. Hinata had insisted he not miss work just because the due date was approaching, but he and his partner had intentionally stuck close to Konoha, just in case.

They were almost attacked by a twitchy shinobi on guard as they pelted up and over the wall that surrounded the village, but the man was fortunately partnered with a Hyūga, who could see Kiba was no clone and understood when he whooped, "The babies are coming!"

A few blocks from the hospital, he was joined by Shino and Hidari. While Shino acknowledged him with only a nod, the gray dog yipped in excitement. Once they arrived, Kiba sent Akamaru to the Akimichis' with his catch, knowing Chōji's mother would understand what was going on when his partner arrived without him. Migi was already there, pretending to be bored as he waited outside because large animals were barred entry without injury.

Receiving reprimands from the staff, Kiba pelted his way to the delivery ward, and he arrived in time to see his sister leaving a room.

"Damn, you got here fast." Hana looked him up and down. "But you're filthy. Go get cleaned up. She just had her second contraction, so we've got plenty of time."

"Is she...?"

"Everything's fine." His sister's smile turned into a frown as she put her hands on her hips in one of her classic do-as-I-say poses. "But it won't be if you go in there like that."

Shino gripped Kiba's shoulder and mutely guided him to the nearest restroom. Still buzzed about the prospect of getting to hold his kids in a matter of hours, Kiba followed Shino's guidance without complaint or even thought, scrubbing his hands thoroughly and excepting the damp washcloth his teammate offered to help him wipe off his clothes.

He was guided into the delivery room, and his mate smiled at him. Then he kind of lost track of everything else for a while. He smelled that Hanabi and Sakura were also there, and that Hana left once he came in, but all he was fully aware of was the touch of Hinata's hand in his and the steady rhythm of her breathing and pulse. Just beneath those sounds and feelings were the pulses of their children, and for a bit it was as though the four of them were one, connected through touch and soul and heartbeat.

Then a contraction came, like some shaking the loose contents of a box, and the sense of connection was disrupted. Hinata was squeezing his hand in discomfort he couldn't relieve, so he murmured encouragement. Afterward he couldn't remember what he'd said, but he could recall the pressure of Hinata's grip and the sound of her harsh breaths with perfect clarity.

When their master arrived with the scent of Mannaka clinging to her, she used a technique she'd come up with to help him focus when he'd been little, and he began feeling a bit more down to earth.

She was asking him a question he suspected she'd asked more than once. "Does your mother know?"

He nodded and answered automatically to his master's authoritative question. "Kuromaru would have heard the whistle if he's within range." Then a thought occurred to him. "But I don't know if they're even in Konoha...Hana!"

His sister poked her head through the swinging doors, unconcerned because there was no alarm in his raised tone. "What?"

"Is mom in town?"

"Yeah."

He gave his sister a dismissive wave. "Thanks." Then he turned back to this master. "Yes, she knows." Just like when he was little, it pleased him to be able to give his master an answer with certainty.

Keeping her red-eyed gaze on him, Master Kurenai asked, "Does Hinata's father know?"

Kiba looked to his mate, and she shook her head. "I was with Hana when my water broke."

It hadn't occurred to him to wonder why his sister was there before him. Her clinic was close to the hospital, after all. He turned to his mate's sister, and she shrugged. "I was training with my team when Migi arrived to bring me here."

Facing his master, he answered sheepishly, "I don't know."

The jōnin gave an amused smile. "Do you think maybe someone should tell him?"

It occurred to him that maybe someone should.

"I don't think he's too concerned about this, other than when it's over." The slightly defeated tone in Hinata's voice had him massaging her shoulder in comfort.

Their master tsked and shook her head. "I thought I taught you to never underestimate the pride and arrogance of powerful men. Regardless of them not having byakugan, your children will be his grandchildren, an extension of him." She shrugged. "But it's up to you."

Hinata considered this for a moment, then turned to Kiba. "What do you think?"

"I want whatever you want." He didn't feel it was his place to voice an opinion on the mater.

There was a knowing glint in his mate's eyes. "But...?"

"But I think we should tell him." He spoke as his thoughts became clear to him. "If he comes or not, that's his choice, but I don't see why we should snub him just because he snubs us."

Master Kurenai made a pleased hum while Hinata nodded. "Then let's tell him."

Kiba turned to Hanabi. "Do you mind taking care of it? Hana can send one of her boys once you've written the note."

"Sure." The little Hyūga hopped off the stool she'd been sitting on and headed out on her personal mission.

"Kiba." Once he shifted his gaze to his master, she continued. "Has Shino been in yet?"

"Um..." Replaying all the scents since he'd arrived in the room, she shook his head. "No."

"Maybe he should get a chance to see everything's all right?"

He remembered how anxious Shino had been at Kogane's birth. "Yeah."

Master Kurenai left, and Shino came in a minute later. At first, he said nothing, but their teammate took Hinata's hand when she offered it. Then, as though coming to some conclusion, he nodded to them. "Akamaru has arrived with your overnight bag. Let me know if you need anything."

Hinata gave his hand one last squeeze then let him go. "Thank you, Shino."

"Yeah. Thanks, man."

With a nod, he left, and Sakura smiled. "It's lucky he wasn't on a mission."

Kiba laughed. "Luck has nothing to do with it. After Kogane, he wasn't taking any chances and asked not to be assigned away missions for two weeks before and after the due date."

The medic's eyes widened at that. "How did he manage to convince Lady Tsunade?"

Hinata giggled. "I asked him, and he just said, 'There are advantages to being an Aburame.'"

"Damn!" Both girls looked at him. "I forgot to send someone to tell the Hokage."

Sakura waved his concern away. "I'm sure she's been told."

Then another contraction started, and he was completely aware of Hinata's discomfort this time—every squirm, every ragged breath, every drop of sweat on her brow that he wiped away, as well as the crescent-shaped marks from her nails digging into his palm.

Stationed on a stool at the foot of the birthing bed, Sakura bent checked on Hinata's progress and suddenly stiffened upright. "Crap!"

Since the contraction had passed, he could feel Hinata's pulse was fine and hear the babies' were also good. He exchanged a confused glance with his mate.

"I know you talked about Inuzuka births being easy and quick, but..." Gesturing at Hinata's spread legs, the medic shook her head. "You didn't say they were this quick!"

"I don't get it." He really didn't see the problem. "What's so bad about it?" The sooner he got to see his kids, the better.

Sakura ignored him. "Hinata, you're already dilated so far that it's probably too late for an epidural." Normally so decisive, it was odd to see the pink-haired kunoichi anxious. "I'm so sorry. Are you sure your contractions didn't start sooner?"

Shrugging, Hinata shook her head. "I honestly wasn't sure the first one wasn't just the two of them having a foot fight until it hurt...so I suppose it's possible." She didn't seem afraid of the prospect of giving birth without pain killers. "What are our options?"

"At this point..." Glancing at the clock, Sakura's gaze grew briefly distant, as though she was calculating something in her head. "Acupuncture's probably the only choice left."

Hinata nodded. "That will be fine."

"Okay. I'll be back in a minute." She stood to go. "Yell if you need anything."

Finally alone, he nuzzled his mate and peppered her cheek and neck with kisses until she laughed. "Stop it. I'm all sweaty."

"You say that like I would care." He nibbled on her earlobe in the way that got her to giggle and blush.

Hearing the door swing open, he glanced up to see Hanabi wearing an expression that was a mixture of amusement, embarrassment, and excitement with a thin veneer of Hyūga calm over the top.

"I can come back later," the little Hyūga said blandly.

"Nah, don't let my friskiness chase you out, half-pint." Straightening, he tidied the near half of Hinata's collar, which he'd shoved aside with his eager nose and lips. "I'm a ninja, after all. I can behave for a few hours—I've been trained."

That got both the Hyūga sisters giggling, which caused the acupuncturist who entered to glance between them in confusion. She smelled of incense and olive oil and, with the help of Sakura, was done inserting thin wires into Hinata's ear in a few minutes. Accepting their thanks, she gave them a polite bow then left.

Another contraction came and went with less discomfort on Hinata's part. Then the obstetrician arrived, reintroducing herself to them before flipping through Hinata's chart with a perplexed expression. "So you've had four confirmed contractions in under 90 minutes and your first child is already crowning?"

Admittedly, it was fast even by his clan's standards, but Kiba couldn't help smirking. "Your first Inuzuka birth?"

The doctor gave him a look that seemed to say, "Don't be a smart-ass" then had Hinata review what she should expect as the doctor prepared to deliver the babies.

Then another contraction came and everything became a slow-motion blur. The doctor gave instructions to Hinata and Sakura, there was the small sound of an incision and the scent of Hinata's blood blossomed into the room as she squeezed his hand and her eyelids and her diaphragm. With a gush, the first baby came into the world and cried loud and strong. Then Sakura was there holding a dark-headed infant, and the doctor was tying off and severing the umbilical cord.

At last, when time and his senses began functioning properly again, he heard his mate telling him, "Go, go," and he followed Sakura as though the medic pulled him on a string to watch her clean and swaddle his crying baby girl.

From outside, Hana shouted. "What is it?"

"Hitomi's a girl!" he called back, ignoring the doctor's disapproving frown.

"Kiba." Somehow, Sakura had learned to say his name the way Master Kurenai and Hinata did, in a way that he couldn't ignore. "Do you want to hold her?"

His heart practically burst with excitement and pride as he reached out his arms to take his daughter into them. "Hitomi," he murmured as he carried her to Hinata, sniffing her new-baby scent. "We know you're here. No need to cry anymore." But it wasn't until he placed their girl into his mate's arms that the infant settled down and finally opened her eyes.

"Kiba, her eyes are round." Hinata seemed startled by that.

"It's okay." He couldn't remember if he'd mentioned it before. "If her eyes become like mine, it won't be until later, once she's weaned and she starts teething."

Leaning close, he flashed his fang tattoos at his daughter, and she responded properly. Then she frowned up at him and made a grab for his nose. When he pulled out of her reach and vision, Hitomi blinked in confusion.

"Take her," Hinata gasped as she reached for his hand and a shudder shook her.

"Already?" murmured the doctor as she and Sakura prepped for the second baby's arrival.

With him holding his daughter in one arm and Hinata's shoulders in the other, she winced and huffed her way through the birth of Hitomi's twin.

Although he suspected Hinata had known, thanks to byakugan, it came as a surprise to him when the doctor murmured, "A boy."

Kissing his mate, he passed Hitomi back to her and laughed, "One of each." Realizing his boy hadn't cried yet to alert the people outside, he shouted, "Hara's a boy!"

That got both babies crying, and the doctor scowled at him as she worked to close Hinata's incision. Bouncing on his toes in happiness, he watched Sakura clean Hara. Then the baby opened his eyes, and she gasped. He couldn't find the breath to gasp and just stared numbly at his son's milky eyes. Only once had an Inuzuka been born blind, but he had gone on to be a legendary tracker. Perhaps his son would do the same. Then Sakura was scrambling through a drawer as Hinata picked up on their distress.

"What's wrong?"

"Hara is..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Maybe not," insisted Sakura as she flashed a special light in the baby's eyes and he blinked them shut with an unhappy burble.

And then Kiba's knees gave out and he found himself on the floor looking up as Sakura laughed and his mate called to him. "Kiba, what's happened?"

"Hara's a Hyūga!" Stepping over him, Sakura rushed to Hinata's side. "Look!"

It took him a full minute to process the idea that he was the first Inuzuka in the clan's history to have a non-Inuzuka baby. He knew it took that long because he was staring at the wall with the clock. After the second-hand reached 12 again, he got up and headed for the door. "Hana!" He nearly smacked his sister with the door as he exited.

Disinclined to show anxiety or fear, anger brewed in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to get the register."

"The register?" she echoed in surprise.

"What register?" asked Master Kurenai and Hanabi in unison.

"The Inuzuka marriage register," explained Hana. "Kiba and Hinata went through the Inuzuka marriage ceremony to legitimize their children in the eyes of the clan." She gave her brother's shoulder a shake. "Why do you need the register?"

Drawing a deep breath, he started counting backward to calm his taunt nerves. "Hara's a Hyūga."

"What?" demanded Hanabi.

Hana went from angry to stupefied. "How?"

"I don't know and don't care, but I want the register and the Hokage here to help me convince Hiashi to let me marry Hinata." He returned his sister's shoulder shake. "Will you be able to get the register?" With a nod she left and then he turned his attention to Shino and Hanabi. "I need you two to convince Hiashi to come here. I don't care what you have to do or tell him, just get him here. Will you do that?"

Shino nodded, but Hanabi quirked a skeptical eyebrow. "One question, first."

"Anything." He couldn't help feeling a thread of trepidation as he looked into her critical, demanding Hyūga gaze.

"Have you actually proposed to Hinata?"

It took him two blinks to process then react to the question. Spinning on his heel, he marched back into the delivery room. "Hinata!"

She glanced up from her children, and he was struck immobile by the happiness radiating from her. He had seen her in nearly every situation two people could share, and never had she looked more beautiful. "Kiba?"

The love that welled up inside him nearly stole his voice. "Would you marry me?" It came out soft, a bit desperate, and almost pitiful, but she smiled and nodded.

"Yes."

"Right." Turning back around, he returned to his mate's sister. "Yes, she said yes. Will you do it?"

In an uncharacteristic show of affection, Hanabi hugged him. "Count on me!" Then she was off, sprinting down the hall, ignoring the frowns of patients and nurses.

Shino placed his hand on Kiba's shoulder. When Kiba dragged his amused gaze away from the running girl, he looked up at his teammate and could tell he was smiling behind his collar. "You are blessed."

Returning his teammate's gesture, Kiba grinned. "Yeah, I know."

With a nod, Shino let go and started after the young Hyūga.

"Want me to get the Hokage?" offered his master.

"Yes, please!" He bowed to her but she pulled him into a hug.

"Congratulations," she murmured into his ear. Then she slapped him on the back and headed to the exit.

As his whirlwind thoughts bounced around his head, one struck him with enough force to register—his mate could now be his wife. Then he whooped and laughed and shouted until the obstetrician came out and growled. "Quiet down or I will have you removed from the hospital."

He startled her by hugging her and spinning her around. "Thank you!" Laughing, he returned to the delivery room only to be stopped by Sakura.

"You were on the floor." She paused between the words for emphasis. "Clean yourself up again."

Obediently, he did as he was told, then he all but crawled into bed with his mate and children. Despite the earlier noise, his boy had fallen asleep, but Hitomi's eyes were open in her wrinkly little face, her tiny arms reaching for her mother's nose

"I can't blame her if she ends up being a mama's girl." Wiping his mate's sweaty bangs aside, he kissed her temple and then rubbed his cheek against hers. He could feel no tension from her, and there was no fear or current stress in her scent, only the stale odor of the efforts of birth. But he wanted to be sure, to hear it from her lips. "You doing okay?"

"I'm doing wonderful." The pleasure in her voice amplified her words, and she tilted her head so she could kiss him, her lips conveying every ounce of happiness she felt. Then Hitomi made a little unhappy squeal, and they broke apart.

"Do you mind if I check your blood pressure?"

Kiba had forgotten Sakura was still there. Hinata nodded and passed their daughter to him so Sakura could slip on a cuff.

Once she was done with that, Sakura spread her hands above Hinata and began scanning. "Any pain?"

Shaking her head, Hinata smiled. "Nothing serious. Doctor Obata is very good. I still feel cramping, but I can hardly tell I was even cut."

"Let's leave the acupuncture needles in for now, though." The pink-haired kunoichi chuckled. "I doubt Akemi wasn't expecting you'd be done so soon, but I can get her if you'd like."

Kiba rocked his daughter in an unsuccessful attempt to get her to sleep. "Akemi?"

Sakura huffed. "The acupuncturist."

"Oh, yeah."

The door opened. "That can wait." The Hokage walked in with Master Kurenai following behind. Both women cleaned their hands and arms thoroughly. "Congratulations to both of you." Lady Tsunade gave them each a nod. "Kurenai says one of your kids is a Hyūga?"

Hinata gave their boy a little shake, but all he did was smack his lips, apparently disinterested in waking.

Kiba passed their girl off to their master. "Master Kurenai, Hitomi. Hitomi, Master Kurenai." Leaving the jōnin as she made baby noises, he reached for Hara. "Let me try." Scooping up his boy, he moved to the Hokage's side. "Hara, wake up." He said it so firmly that Hitomi let out a little squawk and Hara's eyes popped wide open.

"He's not...?" The Hokage seemed skeptical.

"I checked him, myself, Master." Sakura brought over the special light. "He's not blind."

Shining the light in the baby's eyes, the Hokage nodded at the reaction and passed the light back to her disciple. "So now you want to get married?"

"We wanted to get married before, Lady Hokage" corrected Hinata, her arms out so she might hold one of her children. Master Kurenai returned Hitomi to her mother. "But I felt obliged to my clan to bear a Hyūga." Reaching her free hand to Kiba, he took it and stood beside her. "If we had known this would happen...that it even could happen...we would have tried sooner."

"Well." The Hokage placed her hands on her hips with a hint of a grin on her lips. "I don't see any reason why I shouldn't, but it doesn't solve the problem of legitimacy."

The door opened, and Hana walked in carrying the clan register. "Lady Hokage, I have something that might mitigate that issue."

Kiba could smell his mother's scent on Hana but was surprised when she walked in, forcing him to avert his gaze. She walked right up to him, and he stood stock still as she took a sniff of his sleeping son.

"This one's the Hyūga, huh?" She didn't need to be told. "First you can't keep it in your pants, and then you father a Hyūga..." Her words were growled quietly, only Hana might have overheard, but she was busy explaining the register to the Hokage. "I always knew you were a bit soft, but I never thought you were deficient."

The need to defend his child overwhelmed his acceptance of her criticism. "There will be nothing deficient about my son!"

The room was suddenly silent, and then Hitomi began to cry.

"Lady Inuzuka." Despite that she was comforting their crying child, Hinata's voice was cool and commanding, and Kiba could feel his mother's gaze shift from his son to his mate. "I shall not allow inequity in the treatment of my children. These are both your grandchildren. You will accept both of them or have access to neither of them."

It took effort not to back away from his mother as her anger spilled out of her like water from a fountain. It was seldom wise to challenge an Inuzuka, least of all the clan head, but Hinata had succeeded in doing so before. Then the tension broke as his mother laughed. "I like you, little Hyūga. You've got guts." She ritualistically licked Hara's forehead. "I accept him as my blood, my grandchild." Then she moved to Hinata and bent down to sniff Hitomi and lick the baby's forehead. Glancing over, Kiba saw the baby reach for her grandmother's fang tattoos, causing his mother to grin with pride. "Such a lively girl! You're going to have fun with this one."

Then the door opened again, and he had to move aside as three more people came into the already crowded delivery room—Hiashi Hyūga followed by Hanabi and Shino. Surprisingly, the temperature in the room didn't drop like it often did when confronting the head of the Hyūgas. Instead, Hinata's father looked slightly irritable and largely disinterested.

He acknowledged Kiba's mother and the Hokage with stiff nods. "You wished to see me, Lady Tsunade?"

If the Hokage was surprised by his assumption, it didn't show. "We have a situation here, which I'd like your help in resolving." She lifted her chin toward Kiba. "What was your primary objection against letting these two marry?"

Flicking his pale gaze at Kiba, his glance fell to the baby in his arms and lingered there just a bit too long, given his apathetic air. "My primary objection?" He said it in such a way that it was plain he had more than one. "He can not father a Hyūga."

"And if he could?"

Hiashi's eyes widened and, at last, he looked at his eldest daughter.

Hinata smiled proudly. "Hara, our boy, is a Hyūga." She glanced at Kiba, and he responded to her unspoken command.

"Hara, wake up."

Their son opened his eyes to frown in displeasure. Then, in an act so daring Kiba would later look back on in wonder, he grasped the elder Hyūga's hand, raised it to create appropriate support, and placed Hara on his grandfather's arm.

Instinctively, Hiashi adjusted himself to support the infant, and then he just stared at the pale-eyed child who stared myopically right back. The man had denied Kiba and his daughter and the pregnancy, but he could not deny the baby in his arms. In front of a room full of people, he raised his free hand as though caught in a genjutsu and offered it so the baby's grasping hand would have something to latch onto.

"Father, I'm going to marry Kiba." While it wasn't a command, there was no quality of request in Hinata's tone. "You will accept Hara as your heir, and he will not be sealed."

The head of the Hyūgas shook his head and spoke with sadness in his voice. "It is too late. He is already born."

"It's only too late if you let it be." The Hokage held open the battered, leather-bound book that had recorded every Inuzuka marriage since Konoha had been founded.

"What is that?"

"This is their Inuzuka marriage contract." Pointing to the date on it, the Hokage grinned. "As you can see, it predates the birth of your grandchildren."

Hara squirmed, and his grandfather absently altered his hold on him, reminding Kiba that this intimidating man had probably once held Hinata and Hanabi the same way. "That's all well and good, but it's not legally binding or we wouldn't be having this conversation."

The Hokage shrugged. "I can have them sign a legal one with the same date." Her gaze grew hard. "If I do, will you also sign it?"

Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the Hokage's unorthodox suggestion, then his gaze fell to the baby sleeping in his arms and he nodded. "I shall sign it."

Shifting her gaze to Kiba's mother, the Hokage demanded, "Any objections, Tsume?"

His mother snorted. "I already married them once. Twice is fine by me."

"Sakura, have Shizune arrange everything."

"Wait, Lady Hokage." All eyes turned to Master Kurenai. "I can get there faster." With a nod from Lady Tsunade, the jōnin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"In the meantime," glancing around the room, the Hokage frowned, "I believe there are too many people in here." She waved to the door. "Two at a time, starting with the grandparents. The rest of us out. And by the Will of Fire, someone had better buy me a drink!"

"I know this great place across the street, Lady Hokage," offered Hana as they filed out the door.

Once it was just the six of them, Kiba returned to Hinata's side while his mother's tone grew challenging. "So how about it? I acknowledged them both. You gonna take a look at your granddaughter?"

Leaning over for a better view, a lock of hair slipped over Hiashi's shoulder and was quickly snatched and yanked by his granddaughter, causing the elder Hyūga to grunt in discomfort and frown in displeasure when Kiba's mother burst out laughing.

Hinata helped her father free his hair from the baby's grasp, and he gazed curiously at the wide, dark eyes of his granddaughter. "They're round," he observed.

"If she gets slits, they happen later, at the same time as her fangs," explained Kiba's mother.

"Fangs?" wondered Hinata as her father transferred the sleeping boy to her free arm.

Kiba blinked at her uncertainty. "I said, 'teething.'"

Hiashi straightened and gazed at his grandchildren in something that might have been contentment. Then he asked in as differential a tone as Kiba had ever heard from him, "What is her name?"

Smiling, Hinata gazed up at her father with love in her eyes. "Hitomi."

The elder Hyūga nodded. "That's a good name."

Kiba's mother chuckled. "You two may have gone about all this ass-backwards, but I'm glad it's worked out for you."

Hinata's smile dimmed. "Not everything has worked out. What about Kiba's clan affiliation?"

Kiba heard his mother shake her head. "None of this changes what happened. What's done is done." She made a dismissive sound. "Besides, it make things easier on you if he's not an Inuzuka. This way there's none of that misogynistic bullshit that would make you take your husband's name and no clan conflict for him."

After watching his mother's fingers affectionately brush the noses of each baby, Kiba heard her head toward the door. "Come on, Hiashi. Let's go join the Hokage for a drink and give the others a chance to visit. Your poor youngest hasn't had a chance to even touch one yet."

"How would you know?"

His mother laughed. "I have a nose in my head."

And so, Shino and Hanabi came in next to clean their hands thoroughly and play with Hitomi while Hara slept. As Hinata was giving the babies their first feedings, the Hokage's aide arrived with Master Kurenai to get their signatures and then search for the Hokage and their parents. Finally Hana returned with Akamaru, whom Sakura had arranged clearance for. His sister told them of the Hokage's theories about Hinata's chakra treatments and dizygotic twins explaining Hara being a Hyūga, but Kiba didn't really follow it. Both Hana and Akamaru were in pure baby bliss until Hinata's drooping eyes caused Kiba to shoo them out so his wife could rest.

Then time began to blur into a cycle of sleeping, rocking, diaper changing, feeding, and burping.

After Sakura's shift ended, Chōji and Ino dropped by to deliver a basket of fruit and a flower arrangement that required a second side table to hold it.

That night, having arranged to sleep on a gurney in his wife's room, Kiba watched in fascination as his half-asleep son suckled at his wife's breast while he rocked his burped daughter to sleep.

"I've been thinking..."

He lifted his gaze to his wife's pale eyes, and the beginning of dark smudges beneath them made him want to kiss her fatigue away, which made him wonder about his own fatigue. She seemed lost in thought, so he just waited.

At last, she nodded. "Since we're married now, and our children are legitimate...we can raise them together."

"Yeah?" He could tell there was something less obvious she was getting at.

"You don't have to raise them by yourself at the cabin."

He still wasn't following her completely. "Then where would we raise them?"

Turning her gaze to him, worry knit her brow. "I know you've put so much work into the cabin, but...as heir, I'm entitled to my own suite of rooms when I marry, so..."

"You mean we could live in the Hyūga estates?"

She nodded, her worry becoming more prominent.

He couldn't help grinning at the prospect. "With Biten to help cook and Yuki to help clean and Hanabi to help babysit?"

It seemed her fatigue was impacting her ability to read him, since her worry was only blunted by cautious optimism. "Yes..."

"And hot running water and refrigerators and central heating and washing machines?"

Catching on, she began to grin. "Yes."

Nuzzling her affectionately, he practically purred with pleasure. "And those pruny Hyūga elders who always looked down their noses at us will have to acknowledge me as your legitimate husband, and Hitomi as your legitimate daughter, and Hara as your legitimate heir?"

She giggled as he nibbled her earlobe. "Yes!"

"I'll have to think about it."

In the end, Kiba gratefully accepted Hiashi's offer to live in the Hyūga estates. Within a week after the babies' birth, they moved into a set of rooms that were nearly as big as Kiba's whole house growing up. A week after that, they had converted most of it from tatami to tiles and wood so Akamaru didn't have to keep watching from the verandas.

Master Kurenai won the pot for guessing within 90 minutes of when the babies would come, and she spent it buying them a playpen she swore from personal experience was both safe and indestructible. As it turned out, she was half right. It housed Hara adequately, but Hitomi eventually found a way to break it. Even so, it lasted much longer than most of her toys.

Although the conflicts of the world disrupted their lives in ways large and small, with the Akimichis' blessing they managed to enjoy cherry blossom viewing almost every year with their family and friends under the tree by the cabin. Even in times of crisis and sorrow, Kiba and Hinata were contented with their fate, and they raised their children to be wild and strong and free.

DETAILS

Elixire J. Crow created a wonderful piece of fanart for this chapter inspired by the second to last line. Since you can't put links in chapters, please visit my profile for a link. Thank you so much, Elixire!

As I mentioned in the details of chapter 17, men are usually not involved in childbirth (nor much in child rearing) in Japan, but given the story and how much of a hands-on kind of guy Kiba seems to be, I couldn't imagine him not being there.

Tatami = mats made from the stalks of rice, a traditional Japanese floor covering

So that you all know, NicoXChiku says Cata may do some fanart for Ino's story in chapter 20. If that happens, I'll post a link of it in my profile, so please check back every once in a while.

THANK YOU to all my reviewers—especially heartsXkisses, blackirishawk, Greatness Alone, NicoXChiku says Cata, Little Hoarder, Hellewise14, DreaminginOctober, and LadyRen5 for reviewing multiple chapters! Early on, I seriously doubted I'd reach 100 reviews, so I really appreciate it!

I'd like to offer a special thanks to my friend Sam and my husband for letting me bounce ideas off of them. Sam's the one who helped me come up with the title, a task that had thwarted me for the first eight months I worked on the story. Thank you both so much!

I confess, I'm both happy with the end and sad that it's over. It's been a heck of a ride, and I'm grateful for all of you taking it with me and our couple. Thank you for your readership, and happy reading to you all!