Part 6 – No One (by KOY)

How can I tell you this?

They both had hoped that having a baby would make things better. That, with a child between the two of them, linking not only their love, but also their villages they could finally be together forever and be happy.

But, he reasoned, they were Jinchuuriki, and fate would never be so kind to them.

He worried for her. The woman she had been had faded so thin from the stress of the pregnancies, the many miscarriages, she no longer burned with the Will of Fire. An orange, faded coal was all that was left of the large, burning blaze of her spirit.

She wouldn't look at their daughter; wouldn't hold her, wouldn't feed her; so intense was her depression. She screamed and cried, and verbally attacked the wet nurse with brutal, demonic words of hate.

I cannot touch you,

But I can kill you.

Once, she hit him, and though he could not feel her palm on his cheek through the armor of sand he wore, the blow to his heart was far sharper than anything else he'd ever been struck with. She had never looked so guilty and self-loathing before and never raised her voice or hand in anger again after locking herself in their bathroom for four days.

I'm so sad to say to you,

But don't put your face so close to me

It was that time in the day where the sun was setting, the sky blazing nectarine orange, gold yellow, and blood red streaked with dusky lavender. The stars had yet to emerge from their hiding places. Civilians were clearing the streets, and the ninja were emerging from the shadows to watch over the soon-to-be sleeping villagers like a pack of wolves protecting their young.

He has found the wet nurse exhausted and pale, sleeping in the living room, and safely concluded that his daughter must have been napping as well. Caring for the premature child of Jinchuuriki was no easy task.

He glided up and down the extensive hallways of the Kazekage mansion, and found her, of all places, in their daughter's room. Panic bloomed within him for a moment, but he relaxed when he saw she wasn't doing anything rash and the baby was still fast asleep and unharmed.

Now I hear you say my name

So I cross the light to be with you

Her faded, golden hair spilled over her arms and into the crib, blue eyes hidden behind lowered butterfly lashes. She sniffed, and he realized she was crying.

"Naru," he breathed, and wasn't completely unsurprised when she didn't look up.

He strode to her side, feet sinking into the plush, ivory carpet. Their daughter was fast asleep in her crib, lacy blankets wrapped around her tiny body, face pink and a bit splotchy, petite finger between red, pout lips. The infant's hand was hardly larger than the end of his thumb.

He knelt beside his love, running his fingers wordlessly through her endless, oily locks of hair. The backs of his hand stroked her whiskers, which appeared almost black against her pale, fragile skin. "Naru," he repeated softly.

She shuddered and closed her eyes. Inhaling deeply and slowly. "I'm a bad mother," she whispered, and his face softened in awe. She trembled under his touch uncontrollably. "I've hurt Akane; I… I hurt you." Her face vanished behind her hands. "I'm awful. I'm such an awful, terrible,monster."

What can you do for now?

I know you can…

I know you cannot do anything.

He stood abruptly, sand whirling furiously around his robes as he grasped her chin with enough force to bruise and crashed their mouths together. He could taste her tears, her grief and guilt, the darkness that clung to her insides like a parasite. It made their kiss, once filled with so much love and passion, oh-so bitter.

She pushed against his shoulders, trying to break them apart, but he was stronger than her now, and he knocked over her chair as he lifted her from the floor and pressed her against the wall.

She squirmed, trying to push him away, but he kissed her and held her, stealing her breath away in gulps until she went limp in his arms. He pulled away then, cradling her hand in his hands, her breasts pressed harshly against his chest.

"Don't ever say such a thing again, ever," he hissed, his lips drawn in a painful grimace. She couldn't look away from his hard, pleading green gaze, "You are not a monster. You are my mate, my wife, my love, and you've had the carry a child neither of us is ready for. Look at me," he growled, drawing her eyes back to his face. "It will be okay. Akane will be okay. I love you, Naru. How could I ever not?"

I'm so sad to say to you

But don't put your face so close to me

Shining, pearly tears trickled anew from her large, blue eyes. He smoothed them away with his thumb and kissed the wetness away from her cheeks and lashes. He kissed her checks, her eyelids, her neck, her hands, and he laced their fingers together tightly until their knuckles were ashen.

She let him touch and move her, kissing back every so often when their lips met and trembled when his hand pressed her full, nourished breasts. His teeth nipped at her collarbone, dexterous fingers pushing down the top of her nightgown. She bit down on two of her fingers, suppressing the moans that threatened to escape.

"Gaara… the b-baby…"

He understood immediately, kissing her swollen lips hungrily as sand crawled up her legs and covered them both until they were in the master bedroom. He wasn't gentle as he pushed her onto the burnt red-orange, transparently thin sheets, drapes of the canopy fluttering like wings at the wind her movement caused.

He stripped her bare, demanding her attention, and tearing her out of the postpartum depression she had dug herself so deeply into.

Now I hear you say my name

So I cross the fire to be with you

She cried out as his mouth closed over one ripe bud, suckling her or her womanly nutrients. He marveled at her sweetness, pinning her arms down firmly, denying her the ability to touch him, push him away, or cover her naked body in shame. He milked her painfully, ignoring her cries and tears, unwilling to let her fall into the black pit of depression and despair.

She couldn't tell when he managed to get his robes off, only that he kissed her fiercely as her body exploded with a feeling she had let herself forget. She clung to his shoulders desperately, overflowing with emotion when she realized that he too was trembling, silent tears falling down his face.

He kissed her, touched her, made her body burn and ache in his unbridled worship of her entire being. Sweat glued them together as one, and he made her his again and again and again, healing her shattered soul the only way he knew how.

The flourished in what others labeled as a terrible sin, as only demons could.

I'm so sad to say to you

But don't put your face so close to me

Her nails pierced bloody crescents into his back, her nose buried in his neck, taking in all his love, his smell, and his pain. A pain that, deep down, rivaled her own.

He rested his forehead against hers, utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and he knew she was in the same state. They lay in each other's arms, sharing the same breath, the same heartbeat, the same soul, intertwined as it was as if they were one being instead of two.

He kissed her softly, lovingly, the heartfelt contact saying it all without the aid of words. He told her, through a kiss, how much he loved her, how much it hurt him to see her suffering, even the emotions that no words existed for.

She exhaled shakily, her head nestled under his chin, golden locks mixing with blazing red. Her world at that moment was filled with warmth, contentment, love, and new light and she held him against her with the wish that they could stay here, this way, for the remainder of their lives.

Now I hear you say name

So I cross the light to be with you