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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: PERKS OF BEING PREGNANT

I sighed as I felt part of Gaara's shield fall. 'Gaara, you're in so much trouble.'

'You are able to talk to the demon?' he thought, carefully shielding what he was doing.

'Yes, and I'm sure that you would be able to talk to Okami since we are all bonded together,' I thought smugly. 'Get back here or I will rip this IV out of my arm and come after you, don't think that I won't!'

'Calm down please and give me an hour and I'll be back. Get some sleep. You'll know what I am doing by then," he whispered softly then shielded his mind again.

I released a feral growl through the demon's mind and laughed as I felt his slight fear at what that growl meant. "Make sure he hurries it up."

"Yes ma'am," the demon whispered.

"What is your name, demon?"

"Don't have one, lady."

"Call me Karin and I will call you…" I thought for a second. "…Hisashi."

"You honor me Karin, sleep well and I'll torment him if he doesn't hurry."

I smiled and let dreams carry me away from the world.

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There was a child in front of me playing on the floor with toys. He had black hair and the tips looked like they were dipped in red but his eyes were the color of the sea with streaks of purple and seemed to ensnare me. He smiled and I saw a pair of small fangs and he crawled to me and I noticed his nails were clawed like an animal's.

I studied him and noticed his ears were pointed. I pulled him into my lap and he snuggled against me on his side and I saw a tattoo that held the crescent moon of my wolf and it wrapped around a swirl of dots that looked like sand on the center of his brow. I smiled until I saw Byakuya standing in front of me, his blade drawn.

"No monster shall live, you both shall die!" he growled and lunged.

I was unable to move myself in time and saw the blade pierce the child and felt it pierce my body…

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I bolted upright in the hospital bed, sobbing. I was alone in the room. I fell back onto the bed and rolled onto my side and curled up into a fetal position, my back facing the door. I couldn't stop my sobbing and when Tsunade entered, she ran to my side concerned, only to relax when I told her it was just a dream.

"How long was I out?" I choked out.

"Not even twenty minutes, do you need something?" she hovered over me.

I looked at her and mouthed Gaara's name as I broke down into more sobs. She nodded and ran out of the room. About five minutes later, Sakura and Hinata entered and sat on the bed by my feet to try to comfort me.

It was about ten minutes later that I drifted into a tear-induced sleep. My sleep was restless and I kept waking up every five minutes only to break down into more sobs that Sakura put me on oxygen because I couldn't breathe, at least I wasn't puking. Mercifully, Gaara finally returned, dragged by the arm by Tsunade. She threw him into the room and summoned the two girls out and closed the door.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he hurried to my side.

I scooted over and pulled him onto the bed and curled against him, glad that my sobs had slowed to silent tears. He wrapped his arms around me, careful of the IV and air tubes and held me close.

'I'm going to kill you if you ever leave like that again,' I thought to him as I buried my face against his shirt.

"What happened, Karin? Tsunade only told me that you had entered hysterics," he breathed in my hair.

I showed him the dream through the bond and felt myself shaking as I felt as if it was happening. Gaara's arms tightened around me and thought nonsense to me and I calmed down and drifted into a dreamless slumber.

GAARA'S POINT OF VIEW

I watched Karin as she slept in my arms and shuddered at the dream. Through the bond, I felt everything that happened as if it was real. I buried my face in her hair and took a deep breath of her scent that reminded me a lot of desert roses.

'Such a vivid mind,' I thought.

'And you wondered why a pregnant woman was in hysterics,' my beast growled. 'Couldn't your little spontaneous shopping trip have waited?'

'No, demon, I needed to do it for her. I won't leave her again.'

'Hisashi,' the demon growled.

'What?'

'Karin named me Hisashi when she learned that I was unnamed. It fits me well with the nature that I have to not die. I am just passed along from parent to child.'

'It does suit you, now let me rest.'

I closed my eyes and held Karin tightly in my arms. Tsunade was ushering my plans along since I told her what they were when she hunted me down. She had said that she would take care of everything while I comforted Karin so she didn't go into hysterics again. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Gaara!" I jerked awake. "I swear if you don't get off, I may puke on you!"

Karin pushed me off the bed, ripped out the IV and oxygen tube then bolted for the bathroom where she locked the door on me and I heard her puke. I knocked on the door but heard her growl as I heard the tub turn on. I summoned my sand around me and appeared in the bathroom as she pulled off her shirt.

"Did you have to lock the door?" I looked at her.

"I knew you'd come in one way or another," she smiled then I looked at her stomach.

I walked to her and wrapped my hands around her stomach and turned her towards the mirror. "Just think in about 4 or 5 months we'll get to see the bundle of joy."

She giggled and pulled my arms away then pulled off her pants and got into the tub. I sat on the ground next to her and propped my arms on the edge and kissed her cheek. She looked at me and pressed her lips to mine then I got a bunch of water dumped on my head. She pulled away and proceeded to play with the bubbles.

"That wasn't nice," I frowned.

"So…?" she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "What were you doing today when you left?"

"It's a surprise," I smirked standing up. She pouted and lowered her head so I couldn't see her face. "Karin…"

"You said that by the time you came back, you'd tell me," she whimpered.

I groaned and knelt next the tub and made her look at me. "I promise that you'll know soon. I just want everything to be finished before you know." I kissed her tears away and slid one hand into the water to rest on her stomach. "We have created a wonderful thing, but we didn't do it in the right order. I could lose my title if word of an illegitimate child got out."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she gasped. "What are we going to do then?"

"Karin, don't worry we'll keep this quiet until the proper time," I whispered and kissed her as I summoned my sand. "I'll be on the couch when you're done."

KARIN'S POINT OF VIEW

I watched Gaara disappear and sighed. Who knew how much trouble two people could get into when one of them was a leader of an entire country? I ducked under the water and washed my hair quickly. At least I wasn't as nauseous as I was before Gaara came.

'Karin, what do you think he's planning? And what did he mean 'keep this quiet until the proper time?' my beast growled as I drained the tub.

'I don't know, see if you can get any details from Hisashi,' I thought back as I got dressed in a new kimono that Tsunade had kindly put in the bathroom closet. Its slits went to my waist on both sides and flowed down to touch the ground.

I walked out of the bathroom while drying my hair and saw Gaara lounging on the couch. His head was resting on the back of the couch with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. I smirked and let the towel drop to the floor as I walked closer. I climbed onto him, straddling his body and slid my hands up his arms as I kissed his neck. I rocked my hips and heard him groan as I ground into his hardness as I slid the collar of his shirt down to expose more of his neck.

"Karin…"

'Relax,' I smirked as I kissed his neck again, moving my lips to the scared skin that was my doing and I bit him, extending my fangs. 'Don't say anything, in case there's someone passing by the room.'

'Are you sure you should be doing this with the child?' he moaned in my mind as I drew blood and started sucking.

'I'm only hungry,' I chuckled. 'Some hungers are easier satisfied than others. Plus I haven't been able to see or touch you for months.'

'Karin…' he moaned as I moved my hands down his chest and started to unbutton his pants.

There was a knock on the door, making both of us freeze. "Gaara, Karin, may we come in?" the voice of Sakura came to us.

"Give us a few minutes," Gaara called, his voice controlled as I buttoned his pants and withdrew from his neck. Then I slid to the side off his lap and licked any blood off my lips. "Okay."

"Hey, how are you doing Karin?" Naruto smiled as he, Sakura, and Sasuke came into the room.

"I've been better," I smiled then thought to myself and let Gaara hear my train of thought, 'Was doing great 'til you interrupted?'

Gaara laughed in my mind as he heard the comment, but on the exterior, he was emotionless.

"Karin, why are you not on the IV or Oxygen?" Sakura pushed past the two guys and pulled me off the couch and put me back on the bed. Then she put the IV back in but I refused the oxygen.

"You didn't tell them anything, did you?" I growled to her, knowing she knew what I was meaning.

"No, patient confidentiality," she smiled. "Plus Tsunade told me the situation."

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked, hearing the conversation.

"Don't worry about things that are not an issue," Gaara growled, standing up. "Sakura, is Tsunade finished yet?"

"She said to give her one more hour," Sakura smiled, looking at him.

I pulled my feet up and crossed them as I crossed my arms and glared at Sakura and Gaara. Gaara returned my glare with a blank look while Sakura backed away. Naruto looked at me and backed away as well with Sasuke.

"If looks could kill," Naruto muttered to Sasuke.

I growled at them, letting my eyes change to the eyes of my wolf. They scampered out of the room while Sakura just swiftly left. I waited for a couple seconds then tore the IV back out then motioned Gaara back to me. He came cautiously and as soon as he was in my reach, I grabbed him and pulled him back to me as I latched my teeth back onto his wound. I wound my fingers in his hair as his hands came around my waist.

I started sucking his blood again and felt him shiver. Eventually I pulled away and licked the wound to make it stop bleeding. Gaara swayed and I got off the bed and sat him on the couch. His mind was fuzzy and I smirked. I searched his mind but the information I searched for was still firmly behind a shield.

I sighed and straddled his waist again and kissed him. He responded and his hands slid up and down my waist and I pulled myself against him tightly and ground into him. He responded with plunging his tongue into my mouth.

'We really shouldn't push you while you're pregnant,' he thought as he pulled away. 'That bite was something else though…'

'I'm not going to break and neither is the child,' I growled looking down at him. 'Who said we can't have any fun?'

'We can, but we have to be careful so we don't injure the child. We should ask Tsunade to see if we can do a test to see what gender it is…'

'No need, Okami," I called.

'From the smell around your womb, it's definitely male,' Okami smirked as Gaara stiffened under us. 'There's no reason to act that way, we are bound just like Karin said and I've had a few conversations with Hisashi as well.'

I smiled as Okami went back into her cage. I got off Gaara and walked into the bathroom to brush my hair. Sakura came back in to check on me and growled as she saw the IV tube sitting on the bed. I braided my hair and looked at her amused.

"I have different ways to get the sustenance that I need and I don't require that tube to support the two of us," I smirked.

"And how are you able to keep this 'sustenance' down?" she growled, crossing her arms.

"Let's just say that some of the things that are most likely nauseating to you humans are appetizing to me," I smiled. "Your food won't be able to agree with my body ''til the sustenance I truly need is sated."

"What exactly did you eat?" her eyes widened.

"Do you want to keep your lunch, Sakura?" I taunted and she left the room quickly. "Geez, they are so interesting."

"What did you mean exactly by that?" Gaara whispered.

"I remember a period of time after the Chunin exams that food didn't exactly sit well with me, but blood did. I had been injured too many times that my body rejected the unnecessary food so I had to switch to blood to get what I needed for me and Okami. I did tell you I took on unusual habits from being with Okami," I explained, sitting next to him on the couch.

He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair as he took a deep breath. I purred and snuggled against him, my arms wrapped around my stomach. The time seemed to speed up because Tsunade entered some time later, grinning and pulled me away from Gaara and out of the hospital.

"Tsunade, are you drunk?" I growled as she dragged me to a house as the sun went down.

"Slightly but what I'm doing is for you and your love," she giggled as she threw a pile of clothes at me. "Get dressed; Gaara wants this to be remembered."

I sighed and looked at the clothes. It was a more traditional kimono that was three layers black with purple flower designs on the sleeves and hems that matched my eyes. I changed into it then Tsunade dragged me to another house which was Ino's and she did my hair.

'Gaara what are you planning?' I whispered as Ino applied some silver eyeliner to my eyes and some mascara.

'You'll see soon,' he thought back, sending his love through the bond.

'Okami, did you ever get information from Hisashi?'

'Yes, but its better if I leave it unsaid,' she whispered and went to sleep before I could get anything else out of her.

I sighed as Tsunade and Ino pulled me from the house and up to the cliff above the Hokage heads. They left me there and disappeared. I jumped down to the fourth Hokage's head and sat down. I heard Gaara before he landed next to me.

"You look beautiful in that," he whispered as he helped me stand up then released me.

"What is this all about, Gaara?" I whispered turning away from him and looked out over the village.

"Karin, look at me," I heard him whisper.

I looked over my shoulder and gasped. He was on one knee and held a box that held a purple amethyst ring inside what looked like a flower. I turned my whole body around and realized I was shaking.

"Karin, will you marry me?"

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