Where We Belong

Chapter XII

Itachi and Konan thought they had had enough of strong emotions with the -in their very personal opinion- exaggeratedly lavish wedding ceremony and subsequent party that their closest friends and family had organized for them for fate to surprise them in such an unexpected way. They were walking back from the place Naruto had very especially reserved to throw the party shortly after 2am that night when the ponytailed man noticed his wife's grip on his left arm tighten slightly and, only a couple seconds later, he heard her hiss sharply. Itachi turned to look at her and his onyx eyes opened wide in shock as they even turned scarlet when he realized that the orange-eyed woman was pressing on her belly with her free hand. Without giving the idea a second's thought, he lifted his wife up bridal-style turning his face over his left shoulder towards his brother and his sister-in-law with a meaningful look in his eyes. As if silently assuring them that they would join them later. In all honesty, Sasuke was at a loss by his brother's sudden reaction; Sakura on the other hand became aware of the possible reason behind it instantly. She was a mother after all. On the other hand, Konan was only three days ahead of childbirth date. She thus turned to her husband and asked him to stay there with their friends or else everybody would get alarmed and she was convinced that that wasn't his brother's intention at all.

- I think you're right about that... -her husband admitted in the end -Can you at least make sure they'll be alright? Honestly, I'm not half as concerned about Konan as I am about my brother right now...

- Then that makes two of us, Sasuke. She's proven herself strong enough to deal with this. However, he's still dealing with the aftermath of what's happened these last few months...

In the meantime, the older Uchiha kept on running, hardly stopping for a minute to regain his breath, towards the hospital. It was quite a long way from the place where the party had taken place, thus he decided to speed up a bit, warning Konan to get a better hold on him and try to breathe as steadily as she could manage. The blue-haired woman was surprised as to how the ponytailed man would know how to act under those situations though, before she had time to ask, a voice both of them knew very well called out from behind Itachi, asking precisely the ebony-haired man to stop for a moment. Uncertain of what Kisame's plan would be, Itachi all the same agreed, stopping short a few steps ahead, though still keeping Konan firmly held against his chest. The imposing-looking shark-featured swordsman walked over to them with surprising agility and speed considering his almost massive size and, as soon as he got beside them and, taking his former partner in Akatsuki completely by surprise, he hit Uchiha's back with his large and heavy sword, causing the onyx-eyed man to let out a low hiss before falling slightly forwards. Kisame Hoshigaki caught him quickly and almost as if Itachi were a feather bag, he carried him over his left shoulder. Meanwhile and as he replaced Samehada on his back, the shark-featured shinobi held Konan with his right arm. He shook his head and, looking down at his two former Akatsuki companions with a pitiful grimace very unusual in him, he murmured:

- I'm sorry guys, but you wouldn't have gotten anywhere otherwise. It is clear that neither of you is in a condition to make great efforts under these circumstances...

Hospital, an hour later...

His size had never been an obstacle for Kisame to run as fast as he was capable of showing. And he was, moreover, an extremely agile man in spite of the very imposing proportions of his figure; that, including his inseparable load rather than burden, almost as heavy as his own body. That was, Samehada. None of this, however, prevented him from reaching the hospital in just one hour. Once at the entrance of that building and before he even asked for assistance, Tsunade was quickly walking towards him. Actually, she trotted towards the Kirigakure swordsman as soon as she did as much as catching sight of him. He was surprised that he had not seen her at the party, even though she had attended the ceremony. However, he chose to ignore that for the time being and, instead, he briefly explained to the Sannin what happened to his former fellow Akatsuki. Tsunade acted accordingly, quickly commanding her two assistants to take Konan to one of the operation theatres and Itachi to an observation room, noting, with a visibly arched eyebrow, that the ebony-haired man had a superficial but not too concealed wound on his back. And she could also tell by the appearance of it that it looked similar to a burn. She was fully aware that the Uchiha himself could have never harmed himself with his own Katon; much less with Amaterasu, in which case the damage wouldn't only have been greater but also Itachi would definitely have died. Raising both eyebrows even more, her honey eyes shot to Kisame's deep black ones: