Born Anew

Chapter 29

Kakashi POV

For the next few weeks, I'm so busy I barely have time to sleep, what with the repairs to the village and constant meetings between the Hidden Leaf Village and other Village. Because of Naruto's efforts, all the Hidden Villages across the continent have finally come together. Not only did we fight together against Madara Uchiha and Kaguya Otsutuki but in the aftermath of the war, we've all come together to help each other with reconstruction. We've grieved the deaths of all the shinobi we lost together and in general were working to become closer and more united on everything else.

I've even gone with Sakura to get back the two idiots, Naruto and Sasuke from exploding each other's brains out. They've fought so ferociously that they blew each other's arm off. Sasuke and Naruto were finally seeing eye to eye on things and Naruto was prouder of himself for his efforts to get his friend to see the light.

But while all that was going on, Karin hasn't woken up. Despite being so busy that I barely had time to sleep or pee, I made sure to always stop by the hospital on my way home.

Sakura and Lady Tsunade had both attacked me about a week ago about how I didn't tell them that Karin was pregnant with my child. Lady Tsunade didn't sound that surprised since she already suspected something but she was still pissed as all hell that I didn't tell her myself.

Sakura stood over Karin, clucking like a mother hen and refused to let anyone aside for me or Lady Fifth to come near her. Sakura personally took care of everything that Karin needed. She still hasn't forgiven me for not saying anything so as I walk into the hospital this evening, she shoots me a particularly disgusting look from across the room.

She doesn't say anything to me so I walk the already familiar way down to room 153. I enter the room with the fresh bouquet of roses I picked up right before I came here. "Hey, Karin," I say softly. "You're looking well."

And she does. Although she's pretty much a vegetable on the hospital bed, there's a faint pink coloring on her cheeks, contrasting against the whiteness of the room. She hasn't moved her position from yesterday but then, am I really expecting that?

I throw out the flowers I brought over last week and replace the water in the vase, then place the flowers inside. I mess around with its arrangement for a few silent moments and then I glance back at Karin.

Her chest slowly, so slowly, rises and falls rhythmically. My heart aches to see her like this. With a critical gaze, I rake my eyes over her body. She doesn't look any different than she did before the war. Except for the small and subtle baby bump.

I sit down on the chair beside her, satisfied that she's looking okay. "I had a really busy day today," I say, breaking the silence. The only response I get is her quiet breathing. I try not to let it bother me. "Lady Fifth was seriously stressed and she was taking it out on everyone. You know how she gets." I sigh. "Shiroyan is like a lost puppy. He's not doing much of anything."

I pause for a moment and all I receive is silence.

"Everyone's worried about you, you know," I say. "You've only been here for a short while and everyone's concerned for you as if you're one of us. And you are one of us. You've grown on the citizen like fungus." I smile. "Just like Naruto. Like nephew, like aunt, huh?" That makes me think of something else. "You have to get well soon because we promised we'd tell Naruto that you're his aunt once you started to get better. We want you to be there when we tell him."

No response.

"He misses you a lot." I take her cold hand in mine and squeeze it tight. "He feels sort of guilty for not having the time to stop by and see you. Even though the kid doesn't know that he has any living relatives, he's still mighty close to you. Maybe he feels the family blood running through both your veins."