A/N: Sorry this one was late, lack in motivation coupled with lots of school makes for a not so prompt update. remember to review! :D
The next day Gaara woke up when the covers were thrown off the bed and a loud bang of the bathroom door echoed in the large room. His hazy mind registered that Kiya was not in bed anymore and suddenly jumped to the conclusion that something was wrong. He threw himself through the bathroom door, sand flying and proverbial guns blazing when he slipped on his pajama pants and landed flat on his ass.
The sound of Kiya throwing up and laughing at the same time made an odd echoing noise in the toilet bowl, then he heard "Gaara, you just made my day. Who else gets to see the Kazekage fall on his ass after slipping on his own pants?"
Kiya giggled then groaned feeling another heave coming on. Gaara got up and kneeled next to her, gathering her hair and holding it back for her. Kiya pulled her head up and laid her cheek on the seat.
"Really hope this doesn't last for very long. I have to eat and keep my food or else the baby won't eat." She said with her eyes closed. Gaara realized he didn't know what time it was.
"Kiya do you know what time it is?" he asked her rubbing her back lightly trying to soothe her.
"A little past 5. I woke up at 4:30…" she groaned again and turned to face the bowl again, dry heaving.
Gaara was seriously worried now; he definitely had to talk to someone about this throwing up thing.
"Gaara honey?" it was nice to hear her say that again.
"Hm?" he answered
"Will you run down to the kitchen and see if we have any crackers or anything? They would be in the pantry on the left side on the middle shelf. If they aren't there you'll have to go out and buy some." Kiya said, breathing heavily.
"Of course." He said.
Gaara stared at the empty shelf with pure malice. 'Where the hell am I going to get crackers at 5 am?' he thought.
Then an idea popped into his head and he smiled to himself. He walked back upstairs and informed Kiya that he would come back with the crackers. He threw on a jacket and leaped out the window.
He found the closed convenience store and discretely had his sand pick the lock. He had done this many times when he was younger, his type of rebellion after he realized that killing people was probably not the best way to go but he had been a teenager and there was a little rebellion in him. The lock clicked and he pulled the door open. He couldn't believe it, he was the Kazekage, breaking and entering for crackers for his pregnant wife. Was there anything that sounded more ridiculous?
He grabbed a few boxes and headed out the way he came. He paused and considered leaving a note but then thought better of it. His sand re-locked the door and he raced back to his wife.
"Throwing up makes you so hungry!" Kiya said lying in bed eating crackers.
"I wouldn't know." He responded lying in bed next to her.
She turned and appraised him "You've never thrown up before?"
He shook his head "Not that I can remember."
She narrowed her eyes and said "Lucky."
His laughter echoed through the room. It was still rare to hear him laugh at all so hearing him burst out in uncontrollable laughter was odd, even for Kiya.
"You think I'm lucky because I have never thrown up? Does being the host to a giant, psychotic, murderous raccoon spirit not negate the luck of never throwing up?" he choked out between gasps of air. Kiya just looked at him then smiled at him.
"I suppose you have a point, but you should probably not say anything like that when I'm having this baby."
He just smirked at her and scooted closer, wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm making the announcement today. Everyone will know after noon today." He whispered in her ear, his voice half an octave lower.
She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "I know what you're doing. And the answer is no."
Damn! Gaara tried to slide his hand down her thigh but she shoved it away.
"Babe, I'm really not in the mood right now. I'm tired and gross and I just threw up!" she huffed and he almost pouted but conceded, content to just cuddle her until she felt better.
Gaara knew that pregnancy did weird things to women. When he had first heard Kiya was pregnant he had done a little reading but still had a very limited idea of what was supposed to happen: thus his plan to write to Sakura and ask her specific questions on the matter.
He felt Kiya yawn and he smiled. "You should go back to sleep. The library can do without you for an hour or two." He said pulling the covers over them both.
"Hmmmmm…the library, my library. I love you, best husband in the world." She murmured turning to kiss him before she rolled over to fall asleep in seconds.
He looked at the clock, it was 5:30. He reached up and re-set the alarm for 9:00. The world could deal without them for 2 hours.
"GAARA! Where the hell are you! You were supposed to be at your desk an hour ago!" Kankuro yelled through the doors to their bedroom.
Gaara groaned and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the alarm clock, it was 8:56. He felt the bed shift as Kiya got up and stalked to the door.
'Uh-oh.' He thought.
The door banged open. "Well it's about ti-" Kankuro stopped and slowly shut his mouth.
"Kankuro sweetie, do you know what time I woke up this morning, hm?" Kiya said and a sticky sweet tone. Gaara proceeded to pull the covers over his head and plug his ears.
Kankuro shook his head dumbly. Kiya smiled.
"FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE FUCKING MORNING!" she shouted. "Do you know what I was doing at four in the morning? Throwing up! So the next time Gaara is late to his fucking office it's because I was having morning sickness and needed him! I suggest that you think twice the next time you come pounding on our bedroom door!"
BANG! The door slammed shut. Gaara peeked out from under the covers to see Kiya start to walk toward the bed then stop. The look on her face changing rapidly from angry to sad. She turned back to the door and opened it slowly to see Kankuro walking away.
"Kanky, I didn't mean to be so mean. I'm sorry." She said walking toward him.
He stopped and turned a small smile on his face. "It's okay. You were tired and sick. I should have thought about you being pregnant before I came looking for Gaara." He pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back.
Kiya had gotten to the library at 10:00 and worked for an hour and a half before she had to go get ready for the big announcement. Kiya was suddenly worried as the idea of miscarriage made its way into the back of her mind. What if she miscarried and the whole village was expecting her to have a baby! Oh no! they would know!
She spun on her heel as Gaara entered the room. "Gaara! You can't make this announcement!"
He was silent, just looking at her, waiting for a reason.
"Gaara, you can't tell the whole village yet! What if I have a miscarriage?" she grabbed his hand and looked at his face.
Gaara was utterly confused. "What's a miscarriage?"
Kiya almost wanted to slap him but she stopped and took a deep breath reminding herself that he was not used to this kind of thing. "Honey, a miscarriage is when the baby comes too early and isn't developed enough to survive. Basically it's losing the baby."
Gaara thought for a moment. "And what are the chances of you having a miscarriage?"
Kiya shrugged, not knowing. Gaara nodded then took her in his arms holding her close to his chest. "Kiya even if you did have a miscarriage that doesn't mean we can't try again later. I don't think that you will have one. I have been building up my positive karma." He couldn't help the small huff of laughter that escaped him after he said the last part. He felt her smile then start to laugh lowly into his chest.
He pulled away and looked at her and she smiled back at him. "Can I make this announcement now?" he asked cupping her chin and brushing his thumb across her soft skin. She nodded and he took her hand throwing on his Kazekage hat right before they walked out on to the balcony.
The hot noon sun hit them both and the crowd cheered, excited to hear what the Kazekage and Kaze-hime had to say. The crowd stilled as Gaara lifted his hand for quiet. His voice carried over the people of his village.
"Hello everyone. Kiya and I have a very important announcement, for us and for the village." He paused and looked out over the people waiting for him to tell them what it is that was so important. Many of the faces he recognized either by name or possibly by some name they had called him. A moment of anger passed through him but then it was gone. He had died for his people and they had welcomed him back as their Kazekage, he belonged here. He removed his Kage hat and looking back out on his people he did something none of them expected. He smiled.
"We're having a baby!" he shouted then turned to his wife and kissed her all out, in front of the entire village. Gaara had never felt so happy or so free in his entire life. He was allowed to be happy and show affection publicly toward his wife, he was going to be a father. He almost didn't hear the thunderous reaction of the crowd; it was muffled under his blanket of sheer joy and Kiya's arms around his neck.
He pulled away from Kiya and waved at the mass of villagers. Kiya, being slightly dazed by the impromptu kiss, grabbed his arm for support and waved to the cheering crowd as well.
As the day went on both Kiya and Gaara got many congratulations and suggestions from the villagers and various ninjas around the village. However Gaara was still worried about Kiya's mood and 'morning sickness' so he sat down to write his letter.
Several pieces of paper and half an hour later Gaara still had nothing. He wanted to ask questions without sounding as if he was totally in the dark about this whole pregnancy thing.
'But you are in the dark. You don't know anything about babies!' he berated himself. Still he couldn't make himself sound helpless. He had to find a way to ask without really asking.
'Come on, this is Sakura! One of your wife's best friends, she'll help you just have to suck it up and do it!' he told himself and set to writing. It was a long and rambling letter full of odd questions and awkwardly started sentences but Gaara felt that this letter summed up his confusion about the whole situation. He included a post script that said "P.S. Please dispose of this letter properly and promptly after you have answered my questions". He nodded once, satisfied then called a messenger to get it to Konoha as soon as possible.
A week went by and Gaara was anxiously awaiting his reply from Sakura. Kiya was taking a nap on the couch in his office when there was a quiet knock on his door. Kiya had bought a little doorknob hanger for his office whenever she took a nap that read "quiet please, pregnant woman sleeping". He opened the door and took the scroll the chuunin handed him. He ripped open the seal and started reading.
Kazekage-sama,
This is all perfectly normal behavior. Kiya's body and emotions are imbalanced early in the pregnancy due to the fact that the placenta is not developed yet (the placenta is developed in the second trimester and helps provide the baby with nutrients and takes over the production of growth hormones). Kiya's body is producing these hormones for the baby right now so she is feeling tired and irritable. Once the placenta takes over that job she will be much happier although still quite tired.
You may notice in her later months of pregnancy that she doesn't sleep well at night but sleeps fine in the early afternoon. This is also normal; her body is getting her ready (slowly but surely) for the sleepless nights when the baby is here. Speaking of, you should probably go back to your practice of not sleeping very much during the night either, she'll want your help and I'm sure the baby will want you too.
As for morning sickness, encourage her to eat some crackers or rice cakes before she gets up in the morning. Also make sure she has something to eat with her at all times. To a pregnant woman an empty or over-full stomach is a one way ticket to the bathroom. All your other concerns are normal for fathers, just don't smother her in protectiveness and you're golden.
Sakura
Gaara looked up from the letter and scratched his head. This information was helpful but it didn't seem to stop him from worrying. Just then Kiya groaned and rolled over. Opening sleepy eyes she peered at Gaara then smiled at his thoughtful expression.
"Gaara? Can you go in my bag and grab the crackers I have in there?" she yawned and he walked over to her bag by the door and opened it finding about 5 different kinds of crackers inside.
"Uhhhh, which ones?" he asked.
"The bright orange ones with the fake peanut butter in the middle." She giggled at him as he rolled his eyes. "Oh and bring that jar of peanut butter and the butter knife I have stashed in there."
"What?" his head shot up then looked down and there in the bag was indeed a jar of peanut butter and a knife.
He gathered all the things she had asked for and brought them over to her. She proceeded to open the jar and scoop out a little bit of peanut butter and eat that first right off the knife. Then she opened the cracker bag and pulled the two crackers apart and put more peanut butter in between the crackers.
Gaara just shook his head. He remembered the first advice he got: "don't mess with her food. She's gonna eat what she wants to eat and that's that." One of the older council members had pulled him aside after the meeting where Kiya threw up and told him about the odd eating habits that women experience and if you don't have something just go out and get it for her. It seemed silly at the time but Gaara was a believer now. The rest of the day went on as usual and soon it was time for Kiya to go home and cook dinner.
"Bye Gaara, don't be late okay?" she said looking back and he nodded.
Not 5 minutes after Kiya had left there was a knock on his door. He stood and opened the door only to be knocked out of the way by a green blur.
"Lee? What are you doing here?" Gaara said from the floor. Gaara had always considered Lee one of his first friends. They were not as close as Gaara and Naruto but Gaara felt he could talk openly with Lee.
"Gaara-sama! I'm terribly sorry to barge in like this- oh no I must have knocked you over when coming through the door." Lee said franticly. He was obviously incredibly frazzled about something. There were no exclamations about youth and vitality at all.
"Lee." Gaara said trying to get his attention.
"Lee." A little louder.
"LEE!" Gaara shouted.
Lee paused and looked at Gaara. Lee seemed to deflate into one of the chairs in front of Gaara's desk looking utterly tired, something that just looked wrong on Lee.
Gaara cleared his throat "Now, Lee I have told you many times you can call me just Gaara. We are friends. You are obviously in need of my assistance, what do you need?" Gaara sat behind his desk waiting for the answer.
A/N: AHAHAHAHA! Cliffy! what's Lee gonna say? sorry I ended itlike this but I had to update and I hit 6 pages. also what do you guys want the baby to be? any name suggestions? make sure to review!