Dreamt

Chapter 16

AN: There is a new scene at the very end of this chapter.

The summer festival was loud on the streets of Konoha. Sakura could see it only through the hospital window, as Tsunade insisted on keeping the twins under observation. They came quite a bit too early and were rather small. And according to Tsunade, it would have been easier for her to adjust to taking care of them here, with all the nurses to help her around. That actually could have been the case – Sakura had hard time imagining the amount of multitasking the children would require. Especially if they choose to de-synchronize their waking and eating rhythms.

But today was the day they could finally go home. She was waiting impatiently but Tsunade was urgently summoned to Hokage's tower and then Naruto, who was hanging around annoying her all day long, got lost somewhere. And since Sakura knew how much he wanted to walk her home, she kept her nerves in reign and waited.

It was evening when Naruto finally re-appeared, along with Sasuke and a bundle under his arm.

"Where have you been all this time? Are you that bent on testing my patience?" She could have waited, but it's not like she would let it pass by without a comment. Naruto got somewhat smaller.

"I was at your place and brought you this… Since you missed the whole festival, we thought you could at least have a stroll through it…" The package he carried contained a kimono. Specifically, the blue one that she wanted to wear for the occasion.

Sakura looked with incomprehension at her teammate. "How did you know?!"

"He, he… Madara found it…"

"You and Madara were going through my wardrobe? Together? To find a dress for me?" That just sounded too ridiculous.

Naruto rubbed back of his head in embarrassment. "Kind of…"

"Well… then… Thanks!"

Sakura changed. The children had been ready for some time already. She was just trying to figure out how to carry both of them simultaneously when Naruto took one of the twins and handed her to Sasuke. Then grabbed the other one himself and grinned. "We'll carry them for you Sakura-chan!"

"Do you even know how to hold him?" Sakura heard her own voice reaching an unpleasantly high panic-pitch.

"Sure, I do! Trust me! We've been doing it for the whole month already, right?"

He was actually holding the little one with care. But how long can Naruto keep his focus? With Sasuke, she could be sure that he won't be doing anything rash, but Naruto…

"But no running! Or jumping around! And remember the head..."

"I know, I know. Sakura-chan, have a bit of trust!" Sakura only sighed.

Tsunade and Shizune joined them on the corridor. When they left the building, Sakura was surprised to see Kakashi-sensei together with numerous ANBU escorts.

"Would you mind if I walk you a bit? Such a special occasion – first children born to my precious student…And looking at these other two, I'll need to wait quite some time for the next ones…"

Sakura felt warmth spreading in her chest, she nodded her agreement.

The crowd was dense and the passage was narrower than usual as the festival stalls were lining the main street. In early evening, people were wandering aimlessly between brightly lid stalls. The air smelled with summer and was full of buzzing of cicadas.

To pass through, the ANBU went forward trying to clear up a path for their party. Sakura was at the front with Naruto and Sasuke flanking her sides. Behind her, Kakashi and Tsunade were followed by more and more of her friends who kept joining as they saw her coming. Ino was there, and Shikamaru, and Hinata, and Iruka-sensei…

"Make way!" Called the dog-masked ANBU as crowd started getting denser.

"Make way! Make way for Uchiha Sakura! Free the way for Sakura-sama!"

"Hey, Sakura!" She recognized a familiar voice – it was Kiba. "Congratulations!" He raised a sake cup towards her. Not his first one this evening, it seemed. Sakura waved back cheerfully.

"Hurray for Sakura-sama! The one that stopped the war!" It was Lee, going all over the board as usual, but Kiba picked it up, and Naruto as well.

"Hurray for Sakura!"

Voices from the crowd joined in. "Hurray for Sakura! Hurray for the one that stopped the war!"

"Make way for Uchiha Sakura-sama! Make way for the children!"

"Let us see them!" She recognized the voice, but couldn't see the face. "Let us see them! First Uchiha children in a decade!"

Naruto lifted up the little boy he was carrying. Holding him high in outstretched arms, he kept turning as he walked. Sasuke, a bit reluctantly, did the same.

"The names!" It was Kiba again. "What are their names?!"

Naruto stretched out his arms even higher. "Uchiha Gen!" he shouted out with all his Naruto energy. "It's Uchiha Gen, dattebayo!"

"And Yume!" Sasuke's voice cut like a knife through the rumble of the crowd. "Uchiha Yume!"

He looked at the tiny girl he held in his hands. How could it be that something so small will grow up to be a person? She was staring upwards as if she was gazing into the starry sky. 'She cannot even see them yet, she's too small… Or can she?'

"Make way! Free the way for Sakura-sama and the children!"

They were nearing the Uchiha compound. The closer they came to the compound, the more out-stretched their makeshift procession was becoming. People were still following Sakura, but they held more and more distance to her. Turning from participants into spectators. It was becoming her stage, her act, and all eyes were on her. 'I am the link to bind this clan to the village. Only through my actions can the people acknowledge him. Only through me he may look human in their eyes again. Not an ancient malevolent power but a man. Clan leader. Husband. Father...'

They reached the perimeter and Naruto placed Gen in her arms. Sasuke did the same with the girl a couple of meters further. Now she was walking alone towards Madara.

He was standing before the main gate, arms crossed on his chest, and perfect impassiveness on his face. Despite all the circumstances, Sakura wanted to giggle, because now she was able to see through this facade with no effort at all.

"Madara-sama," Sakura bowed as much as the combined burden of the twins allowed her to. "I present to you your children." Not that he had not been seeing them during their stay in the hospital. He had been practically living in her room, driving the nurses into permanent anxiety. But now, since her passage gathered such an audience, it was more than greeting his wife. It was accepting new members of the clan. Sakura raised her head and strained her voice to make it louder. "Gen and Yume!"

She crossed the last few meters separating her from Madara and placed the children in his arms. For the shortest moment, there was so much emotion on his face that Sakura's heart clenched with almost physical pain. But it was just a split of a second and he was back to his usual self. Maybe it was the distance from the crowd, maybe the darkness that was granting them some form of privacy, or maybe Madara just decided he didn't care. Whatever the reason was, he bent to her level and mischievousness glimmered in his eyes. "And how am I supposed to hold you when you're making my hands occupied with those two?"

Sakura laughed. "You don't have to hold me, you have me."

AN:

A small note to the children's names - "yume" is obviously "dream" and "gen" comes from this particle from the word genjitsu = reality. At least according to google translate (hurray for great sources) 現実 is genjitsu, and 現 - "gen" translates as "current". (Wish I could claim some knowledge of Japanese, but I don't...) Nevertheless, "gen" stands in contrast to "yume" as the reality part of this story. Because the juxtaposition of their names - the "Gen to Yume" - carries the core theme of this story, to the point that when I was writing it, the whole story used to function in my mind under this name…

And… that's the end! Thank you all for reading and for all the amazing feedback! I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing and sharing it!

The sequel, called "Gen to Yume" is already posted - if you're interested in the developments of re-established Uchiha clan, go check it out!

The omake-chapter – "Breakfast on the Floor" is also out. It diverges from the current "Dreamt" plot in chapter 15 and deals with scenario in which Sakura doesn't go into labour immediately and the members of the Uchiha clan have some time to calmly settle down.