Worth Saving You

The next two months went by quickly, with the boys falling into a steady routine, and a much more comfortable one than they had had before. Sasuke spent a lot of his time studying in the library that took up half of the basement of the main shrine building, though he would never tell Naruto what he was doing down there. The blond had often considered sneaking down and finding out what the hell was so important in there, but in the end he knew that if Sasuke wanted it to be a secret there had to be a reason, and he would respect that for now.



Naruto had gotten bigger to, his stomach swelling to the bursting point. He couldn't keep up with his training, not anymore, and that fact made him nervous. He knew Sasuke would leave him again once the child was born, and he was afraid he couldn't keep it safe, not all on his own. It wasn't uncommon for Sasuke to shake him awake in the night now, pulling his sweating and wide eyed from some horrible dream where he hadn't been able to save their child. He always passed it off as nothing to the Uchiha though. He didn't want Sasuke to see him as weak, or worried. He'd never come back that way, and Naruto knew that Sasuke needed complete concentration if he was ever going to beat his brother, which meant no distractions, no worrying about other people.



He had grown big enough that he had trouble walking sometimes, his center of gravity precariously pushed forwards, and Sasuke had forced him to accept an escort of sorts, one of the younger monks who was training there. Sasuke had said something to the boy alone on that first day though, and Naruto couldn't imagine what it might have been seeing the young monk's face after their little conversation. The boy had relaxed a bit around him though, especially when Sasuke wasn't present, which he often wasn't, spending so much time in the library.



The two of them, Naruto and his young, mostly silent escort, had taken to walking the meditation trail once or twice a week, usually without much conversing, leaving Naruto free to ponder his situation, and try to clear his mind of the worries and doubts that plagued him regarding Sasuke and their unborn child. It was during one of these walks that they received their first sign of danger. The afternoon had been quiet, and Naruto was enjoying the warm air and the cloudless sky above the forest beyond when they found the man.



He was half dead, stumbling through the forest. A traveler most likely, moving between villages through the mountain pass beyond. He was dazed, covered in blood and bits of sticks and leaves from the woods. The young monk had cut their walk short then, helping the man inside. His recollection of the events leaving him like this were shaky at best, disconnected and blurry, but he distinctly remembered red, spinning eyes and black cloaks with crimson clouds.



Naruto's blood had run cold at that, and Sasuke, who had emerged from his studies to see what the commotion was about, had stiffened, eyes growing hard and dangerous. Itachi was close, which meant the akatsuki were on their trail again, despite Sasuke's meticulous carefulness with their whereabouts. Needless to say, Naruto was not aloud back outside of the walls of the monastery.



Sasuke had immediately decided they should leave, but the head monk had warned him against it. It was too risky, they were safer here, behind stone walls, then they would be out in the forest by themselves, and letting Naruto travel in his current state was a bad enough idea as it was, with no one exactly sure what to expect from his unusual and unorthodox condition. The Uchiha had spent several days brooding on this before agreeing, though he spent less time down in the library and more time by Naruto's side, uncomfortable if he didn't know the blond's exact location at any given time.



X





It was on one of these afternoons, a rare moment when Sasuke had returned to the library and left Naruto in the garden with the young monk who had been watching him, when Naruto had doubled over in pain, quick and shooting through his stomach and below. He'd fallen backwards from the stone he had been perched upon in surprise, the landing on the hard-packed ground behind him knocking the wind from his lungs for a second before the young monk was looking down on him with a concerned face.



Naruto smiled, opening his mouth to say he was fine when the pain came again, and his hands clutched at his middle harshly, his face screwing up in pain, and before he had even caught his breath the young monk had pulled him to his feet, one arm over his shoulder as he led Naruto inside, to the guest quarters where they'd been staying. He took him into a different room though, clean white sheets freshly pressed and laid on the bed. Naruto was thankful as the man pressed him down to the bed, calling for a passing brother to alert the head monk.



The old man came quickly, though Naruto was fine again by then, the pain passed. Still, the monk examined him thoroughly, a slight frown marring his face, before he smiled deeply, whispering something to the brother who had brought him, the young monk's eyes widening as he caught the words. Naruto was confused as the boy hurried away, but suddenly he understood when a moment later Sasuke was there in the doorway, out of breath from sprinting all the way over.



The fact that they had fetched the Uchiha from one of his rare moments of studying meant one of two things, either something was gravely wrong or the baby was coming. The fact that Sasuke seemed almost excited, coupled with the old monk's calm smile, ruled out the first option. That meant that the moment was finally here. The baby was on it's way.



X



Sasuke had waited in the hallway nervously, everyone within ten feet of the boy could tell by the building energy that he was barely controlling himself. The old monk had kicked him out of the room somewhere around the third hour, when Sasuke had threatened one of the younger monks with a painful dismemberment for some otherwise unnoticed indiscretion with Naruto. He just wasn't sure what to do, too many emotions twisting painfully in his stomach.



He could feel the pain that Naruto was suffering through acutely, it was coming off the boy's chakra in great waves, and it didn't do much to calm him. He could hear the sounds the blond made as well, though they were muffled from distance and his former teammate's struggle to bite them back. That alone was enough to make him nervous, because he knew how much Naruto could take and this was clearly beyond this. He'd heard many times, and read in countless books, about the pain of natural childbirth, but he knew this had to be worse, between Naruto's lack of proper birth canal and the fact that his demon seemed to neutralize all of the drugs they'd attempted to give him for the pain.



Still, the anxiousness sharpened his senses, and so the moment the child's body hit the air around them he knew, even before the wriggling body let out that first shrill cry as it's lungs started working. He was back through the door in a flash, standing by the little bed, his eyes locked on the pale, wrinkled skin of the newborn. He froze then, his eyes clouding a little from tears he didn't understand.



Then the spell was broken, the cord that connected the baby to Naruto severed and the child set lovingly into Naruto's outstretched arms. Sasuke moved slowly then, like he was underwater, struggling for every movement, and crossed to place on hand on the baby's damp, bare head. His mouth opened, but there were no words for what was coursing through his mind, his pulse thrumming fast in his ears, so he closed it again, tearing his eyes away to watch Naruto instead.



The blond was practically beaming, his eyes locked on the pale child in his arms, one tanned finger gently stroking it's cheek as the baby grew silent, staring up at the boy above him. Sasuke felt odd then, sort of disconnected from the scene before him. He didn't move again for what seemed like an eternity, until Naruto's smiling eyes met his.



"She's beautiful, Sasuke. She's perfect. What will you name her?" Sasuke took a moment to think, even though he'd known the child was coming, even though he'd wished for this day forever, he hadn't even thought once about something as simple as a name. Everything he could think of now seemed to fall short though, the little girl bundled into Naruto's arms seemed to transcend every option.



Green eyes met his then, wide and curious, and he smiled, small but painfully honest.



"Sakura. She should be Sakura."





*end book one*