Author's Note

Decided to have this short and sweet Naruto chapter here. Considering she is still bed-bound there isn't a whole lot going on with her at the moment, so just sticking to the important bits. Next up- Gaara's version at wooing a girl.

Comments/reviews always serve to inspire, and thank you for all of them so far. Each one makes my day :D

Naruto

I stared at the ceiling, unable to wipe the stupid grin from my face. Kisarei. So, this would be my official name, the name my own husband had given to me. If I managed to live, this is the name Suna and the world would know me by. "Kisarei." I said it aloud, wanting to hear it, wanting to get used to it. I could live, couldn't I? Maybe. If I did, then I would need to get used to this name. "Hi, I am Kisarei, wife of the fifth Kazekage." I snorted as I said it. The words sounded so damned formal. The lead position in Konoha was nothing like it was here. Here, the Kazekage was an inherited position full of ceremony and traditions. Formal and precise, a figurehead of the people, but with enough power to fight and defend for their people if it came down to it. In my studies, I noticed Gaara's... my father in law had worked at making it closer to the other villages, connect with the people, make it less formal. He had built a house, a small one, amongst his people, married a common ninja and walked the streets without airs.

When Gaara took over though, he brought it back. I asked him about it, when I had first come across the comparison. All he told me was 'etiquette is something good to focus upon'. I smiled as I remembered the naming ceremony. Did all Suna citizens have to go through such a thing? What a beautiful tradition. Not just a scribble on a paper, or a utterance of a name for others to carry on in place of a parent. My smile fell at this thought and my vision blurred. I raised my arm up to my eyes, hiding my tears. There was nobody else around, but it was habit. Breathe deep, laugh it off, everything was fine. The sting in my eyes lessened and I lowered my arm.

I screamed. "What the fucking hell?" I glared at the hooded intruder who had startled me. "I close my eyes for a god damned minute and you sneak in like some kind of pervert, the hell?"

He visibly cringed at the word, and refused to meet my eyes. "Hey, you holding up ok." A deep redness formed on his cheeks, so deep it was visible from the shadows of his hood and I watched as his hands moved as though they were moving puppet strings.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You hiding something from me?" I sat up as much as I could force myself to. "You are being obvious about it."

"What? I'm not, I mean, why would I..." He groaned and walked up to me. "Listen here, I'm only here to make sure you are fucking alright, so are you?"

"Oh yeah, wonderful." I rolled my eyes at him. I can barely move, I am a fucking girl, my name was just legally changed and I could totally die giving birth to your niece. "Ask me again in two months and I will give you a less sarcastic answer." Because if he could ask me in two months, it would have meant I lived. No matter my real condition at the point he asked, I would consider it a win.

He sighed and pulled a chair up to my bed. He kept his eyes trained on the floor, his shoulders slumped to the point of being barely noticeable. "You know, he will never let you die. He would sooner do a full human sacrifice of all of Suna before letting you go. So you can just stop with all the death talk, alright?"

"He might not have a choice in it. My body's been tearing itself apart since the first day, slowly at first. When I went to Temari's, I ran out of the sedative. That shit let me move though, without it I was just bound to the fucking bed. Couldn't even blink my damned eyes without wanting to just end myself it hurt so fucking bad." I spread my hand out over my daughter. The skin was getting tighter there. Soon, she would be out in the world, taking her first breaths of air. Seeing light and hearing sound. She would be so overwhelmed by it all she would cry, and maybe, just maybe I could hold her, comfort her.

"Do you still..." He didn't finish the words, still unable to look at me. His voice was soft, as though embarrassed by something.

Shit. I know this reaction, I've seen it before. I groaned. First, answer the question, then confront what likely happened and tell him everything was ok. Poor thing, another victim. "Not really. The pain is almost entirely gone now. I'm just tired, ya know? I lose energy in minutes. I can kinda sit up now though, I think that's progress. It's just kinda weird not to heal in minutes. Used to escape the infirmary all the time because of it." I ended it with a laugh, remembering the panic I caused the first few times I did it, then the resulting 'tie him to the bed!' once they realized my escape tactics. There was a twist in my stomach as I remembered the cause of my healing. My mother, the Uzumaki in me. For both of us, for Gaara, for me, I didn't want to repeat history. I wanted to teach her, read to her, I wanted to protect her, keep her safe, comfort her. Hug her. Be there when she came back home, welcome her.

"Stop being such a girl, Naruto."

I snorted. "Yeah, kinda late for that, isn't it?" I cleared my throat. "Listen, I'm sorry about him, alright?"

He stiffened. "Sorry about who?" His voice was tight. I nailed it.

"Gaaruto. He slept with you, didn't he?"

He looked up at me then and pushed his hood down. "How did you-"

"I know the look." I shifted on the bed. "Bothered me the first few times, I mean, the guy has my damned body. Had my body. The benefit of all this is being able to separate myself more from that guy. Annoys the hell out of me. We used to be friends, back when I first made him. He hates me now though."

He swallowed. "Gaara walked in on us." He lowered his cloak and I seen a large bandage wrapped around his torso. "Just wanted to warn you."

"How long ago?" If it were recent he might break his promise to come back to me today. I wanted him to come back to me. I needed him to. I wanted to tell him about her, tell him he was going to have a daughter. Have time with him, precious time he could hold onto in case-

"Over a week ago."

I sighed a breath of relief. He hadn't even let on about it. Unless... "Is that why he left for so long?"

"No. The Hokage came and he wanted to address some things regarding... Well, you."

I hummed. "He's asking for medical ninja, isn't he?"

He just shrugged. "This is so damned weird. I mean, the guy sounded just like you, well the way you used to sound, and damn. He had Gaara's face, then he didn't have his face... I let him in my room, not even thinking it was anyone other than Gaara, then suddenly, this smell... This damned amazing smell and... Then this woman was there, blonde hair with teal eyes and..."

"I really don't need the details."

"But he switched back mid way, and I was too far gone to stop until-"

I glared at him. I really didn't want to picture him with my damn clone. "Kankuro, I really don't need details here. I know what the guy does, he did it to Kiba, Choji, Tenten and Shizune the first round through as revenge. Then around twenty random people in Konoha. Freaking pervert. Why I locked the guy up, and now he is out wreaking havoc on Suna." The first time was the hardest, then after about the tenth person I found who had indecent memories of my body, I sort of got used to the weirdness of Gaaruto.

"What in the hell did you do to him that made him hate you?"

I shrugged. "No idea. Can't remember, and the idiot won't tell me beyond 'You brought it on yourself, lovely Other.' So damned creepy. He used to be nice. Nice."

He hummed and his eyes glazed over a little.

Oh god, he wasn't. "You're fucking fantasizing about him, aren't you?"

He coughed and I groaned. Disgusting. "I can't help it! The guy is amazing in the sack, damn it." He leaned back into the chair with a groan. "I just wish I could stop thinking about it. Damn." He frowned a little and looked up at me. After a moment, a small half smile spread on his lips. "If you are half as good in the sack as he was, Gaara is one hell of a lucky man."

The last thing I remembered was using every ounce of strength in my body to throw a pillow at the bastard.

.*. .*. .*.

When I woke I was alone. Thankfully, very alone. I sighed. So the annoying thing slept with Kankuro, probably because it didn't have any luck with Gaara. I smiled at this, since the reason I locked him up in the first place was the idle threat of him sleeping with Gaara. Score one for Naruto original, I actually did get to sleep with the guy and damn it was freaking amazing. I didn't remember too much from it, just feeling. Skin, pleasure, desperation. Hell, all the times I had been with Hinata had never measured up to it and the guy barely even moved. Had I ever even been able to get her off? Ever?

I stared up at the spiral on the ceiling. I honestly can't even remember. Wow, I was a terrible lover. Where in the hell did Gaaruto get his prowess anyway? It sure as hell didn't come from me. Not to leave that much of an impression. I groaned as I thought back on all the times Kiba threw that little tidbit in my face in spite of not knowing he still existed inside my mind and I didn't actually remember any of it. Way too graphic, and damn it I wasn't that kind of guy anyway.

Girl. "Naruto Uzumaki, seventh Hokage of Konoha, deceased." I said it out loud, letting the fact settle in deeper. Dead. Naruto Uzumaki was dead. This was someone I would never be again, even if I did survive and the thought made me sick. With one wish, one decision I had thrown everything I ever worked for away as though it were nothing. My position. My village. My family. I felt her move in me and I rubbed my abdomen in an attempt to comfort her. How much was she aware of? Could she sense my emotions? "Shh, little one. Mama's here." I choked on the words. Mom. Me. Woman. Kisarei. Kisarei of Suna. I let out a shaky breath. It was going to be hard getting used to the change. I had been Naruto Uzumaki for thirty five years. Guy's guy, crude and hyperactive ninja turned Hokage and absentee father and husband. Now what? A guy's girl, crude and hyperactive konoichi turned attentive wife and mother. I snickered, but wondered how much I would even be able to do if I did manage to survive.

There was something in the back of my mind which scared the hell out of me. One I tried not to think about. One I didn't want to tell anyone about because I was probably just being paranoid. The more time went by, the more I thought about it. At first it was simply an unease. Then, it was more about me trying to live and the thought left. My seal, it had pulsed so often when I first was pregnant, then I seen him, briefly before I woke up here months later. Kurama. Gone. My seal no longer pulsed. I couldn't feel his heat. I couldn't even feel his presence. It was this fact which scared me the most. Why couldn't I feel him anymore? Even before I knew what he was I could feel him. Almost like this unending heat and anger which ebbed out from my navel and spread outward always threatening to posses me. Later, when I broke the seal and we became friends, the feel of him there always made it feel as though I weren't alone. Now, all I could feel was her. I rubbed her again, hoping my own worry didn't get through to her. How big was she now? I hadn't read far enough in the books to be able to compare.

If Kurama weakened during all this, and I gave birth... If he died during birth, so would I. I couldn't live without him, he couldn't live without me. We were sort of a package deal. The only thing was he would eventually come back while I would stay dead. Not exactly ideal circumstances. I closed my eyes and focused on him. "Come on, answer me damn you." Nothing. Still nothing. Yet, I knew he had to be there. Somewhere. He had done something to me, and I had no idea what. "What did you do to me, you big stupid fox?" Silence. No room, no giant fox, nothing. Not even a pulse or heat from my stomach where he should be. I flexed my hand over my navel and realized my own child now resided there. Had my own mother been afraid of my birth and what it would mean for the seal?

I dropped my hand and tried clearing my mind. This is why I wanted Gaara. When Gaara was here I could focus on him no matter how silent and awkward he was being. It let me think, let me obsess and dream and desire and I really just wanted him here. I shifted in bed and looked back up to the spiral. "Kisarei, you are a woman now, get fucking used to it." Kisarei. "Kisarei, Kisarei, Kisarei." A smile found it's way back to me. Gaara picked it, this name. Whispered it directly to me during the ceremony. I would have to build up the nerve to tell him my other decision. It was a hard one, one I wasn't sure even I was ready for. Why I was practicing the name. I had decided it while he was gone, after he shoved hope down my throat before disappearing on me.

If I lived, when I lived through this, I was going to destroy what I was. Give up my old name. Let it die like my clone. My heart clenched at the thought. I would no longer be an Uzumaki, was no longer an Uzumaki. Naruto was another life, another me. I would never be him again and I don't know if I would ever want to be. I still wasn't sure I was fully ready to give him up though. The life he had made. Give up my manhood. I hadn't even had enough nerve to feel down there yet. Was there any of that life left there, or was I already completely woman? It was all so freaking weird. Going to the bathroom was weird, felt weird and I didn't want to know. I didn't even want to contemplate what would happen inevitably in the next month or so.

Birth. Hell no. Didn't want to think about it, didn't want to do it. Couldn't they just jutsu the precious little thing out of me somehow? I shuddered. I looked it up once, before Boruto was born. The entire process scared the hell out of me and to be honest, I was a little glad I hadn't been present while she did her thing with him. Now, I was the person who was going to be doing, and I would murder Gaara if he wasn't there.

I was a terrible husband. Would Hinata get married again? If she did, I hope it was to someone better than me. Someone who could be her everything. Someone who could truly love her back. I tried, but without my permission, I had already given it away without even realizing it. To Gaara. Always to Gaara. I felt a warmth spread through my chest as I thought about it. Married. To Gaara. Gaara's own little child was growing inside of me. Gaara's daughter. It might not have been what I ever imagined. Turning into a girl, bedding my best friend, getting pregnant then marrying him was never even a possibility on my radar. Yet, here I was, doing exactly that.

I tickled at my stomach and giggled as I felt a small ticklish rumble from within. "Please, just let me hold you." I settled back onto the pillows, exhaustion once again setting in. Napping wouldn't hurt. I was waiting for him to come back anyway.

"Soon, my sweet one, we will tell your Daddy what you are, ok? He is going to love you. I know it." I rubbed her and she settled back down. I hoped to dream. Dream of what my life could be as Kisarei, mother to the children of the fifth Kazekage. Children, now wouldn't that be something? I hummed some sort of unidentifiable tune until my voice gave out and I fell back to sleep.