Chapter 9
Truth Behind it All
Like I expected, after school, Naruto came round. I let him in and we both went upstairs. My room was fairly large compared to the average one. My bed had it's right side pushed up against the wall and lay in the far corner of the room, bearing black blankets with a grey duvet rolled up at the foot. I kept it there in case I got cold during the night. On the left hand side of my bed was the window. Out of it, you could see across the city and right out into the desert. At sunrise, the view was beautiful. Across from the window was a large wooden desk on which my laptop and stationary resided. I didn't have much stationary because I'd never been creative. I was quite good at writing – having good grades in English; though my art was terrible. I couldn't even draw a stick figure without it going wrong. The floor in my room was smooth laminate and there were no rugs in there - for the simple reason that my sister slipped on a rug I used to have in there a few years ago and broke her arm. My father told me to get rid of it after that. The walls in my room weren't anything special. They were a steely-grey colour and the window-sills were painted white. I had many posters up of bands that I liked and a few photographs – mainly of Lee and myself together. They were pinned onto some foam board I had on my door. Them photographs were the only mementos I had left of Lee. All of his belongings were given to charities. I knew that was probably what he would have wanted with him being so generous, but I wanted to keep something of his... at least a shirt – just to remember what he smelled like, just to recall those memories of when we used to go out shopping, or to the park, the swimming pool... It only seemed yesterday that we fell in love. He was taken from me so quickly and I still had so much to tell him – I wanted us to raise our little girl together. Our little Kaeda was deprived of her own father due to some inconsiderate fucker on the road.
"Wow." Said my blonde friend in awe, snapping me out of my thoughts. "It's always so clean and tidy in here... how can you be bothered to do something so boring and tedious as cleaning, dattebayo?" He dumped his bag on the floor and seated himself on my bed.
I sighed. "Because I don't want my room to look like somebody threw a bomb in it. Take Kankuro's room for example. There's not a day that goes by when I don't start heaving from the stench every time I walk past it. It smells like something died in there. I don't know what though, probably his friends since he never seems to have any."
"I heard that, you little snot!" Yelled Kankuro's voice from his bedroom.
"Lose some weight, you fat bastard!" I yelled back.
"Language!" Scolded our father from downstairs.
Kankuro wasn't really fat... he just ate a lot and wore baggy clothes that made him look overweight. Maybe he was fat. I really didn't know.
"So, are you going to tell me?" Naruto pried on.
"Tell you what?" I asked a little absent-mindedly.
"Only the reason I came here after school in the first place, baka."
"Oh... that."
"Duh."
"So you came over not because you wanted to see me, but because you wanted to be a nosy bastard?" I questioned him jokingly.
He pouted and patted my back. "Oh Gaara, of course I wanted to see you."
"Thanks."
"So... tell me?"
I sighed. Could I really tell him about it? Could I trust him? Of course he was my closest friend now that Lee was gone. I suddenly realized that I really had to learn to trust people, or I'd end up alone and miserable for the rest of my life.
"Gaara, come on." Naruto placed his arm around my shoulders comfortingly. "You can tell me anything." He scooted closer to me.
"Swear you won't tell?"
"I swear on my life."
"Swear on ramen?"
He chuckled. "Yes, I swear on ramen."
I bit my lip. "First of all, your Bijuu... can he do weird things to your body? Like mess up your organs and stuff?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah he can, dattebayo."
"Can he grow you any organ in the world?"
"I've never been in that kind of situation before, but I guess so. Why you ask?"
"He grew me an organ..."
"What kind of organ?"
I blushed and took a deep breath. "A womb."
He stayed silent for a few seconds. "A womb? Like a womb where ladies can carry children?"
"Oh, well no shit!" I snapped.
"Sorry. But what has a womb got to do with... this?"
"Shukaku created the womb whilst Lee was... you know..." I blushed darker and looked at the floor.
"Whilst Lee was what?"
Friends could be spectacularly dumb sometimes. Especially Naruto. "Whilst Lee was fucking me up the ass! Jeez, do I have to spell it out for you?"
Naruto blushed: Oh...Oh right... Sorry..."
There was an awkward silence.
"So what has sex got to do with this?" Naruto asked after a few minutes.
I sighed. "Think about it. A womb that was created during sex. Ring any bells?"
"Are... are you saying that y-you're pregnant?"
"Oh well done! Well done Naruto!" I exclaimed in an exaggerated way, clapping sarcastically.
He stared at me, shocked. "Then prove it, dattebayo!"
"Okay..." I said. "Come here and feel my stomach."
Naruto cautiously shifted on my bed and sat in front of me, looking into my eyes the whole time. I gently took his hand and placed it on my abdomen. "There. Can you feel?"
He nodded. "Wait... are... are you sure you're not just fat?"
I glared and shoved him off my bed. He landed on his backside and winced. "Ow!" He grumbled, scrambling to his feet.
"I am not fat! That bump you feel there is called a baby! If it was fat, it would be soft! Does that feel soft to you?"
"No, it felt hard."
"Exactly!"
"Well... you should take a test, just to be sure."
I scowled. "I had a scan yesterday!"
"Really? Is the baby a boy or girl?"
"Girl."
"That's... kind of cool... my best friend is pregnant dattebayo..."
I blushed.
"Any names in mind?" He asked with a grin.
"Her name is going to be Kaeda... Lee told me he liked that name..." I said with a sad smile. "I miss him."
Naruto hugged me. "I miss him too. He was such a great friend... nobody can ever replace him."
I nodded, letting a tear roll down my face. "He meant the entire world to me."
My best friend patted my back comfortingly. "Hey, he'll always be in your heart, right? You have photographs of him and those wonderful memories in your head... You must also remember that he'll always live on inside little Kaeda."
I smiled. "You're right... thanks."
He smiled and let me go. "Don't worry about it. So how was the scan yesterday?"
"It was great, I spoke to Tsunade about everything and she explained a load of stuff to me. I got to see Kaeda growing inside me and it felt amazing... she's so cute..."
Naruto smiled happily. "So, do you have any photos of the scan?
I got up and took some photos out of my jacket pocket, then handed them to Naruto. "Here."
Naruto stared at them. "She's so tiny..." He whispered, tracing her outline with his index finger. I smiled and sat down beside him, also staring at the photo. I couldn't wait until she was born, until I could finally hold her in my arms. I suddenly felt my stomach cramping up again and winced.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, panicking.
"I'm just getting cramps again."
"Shit! You're in labour!"
"No I am not! Shut it!"
"Non-Believer!" He screamed, rushing out of my room and darting down the stairs. "Gaara's in labour dattebayo!"
I rolled my eyes, chasing after him. "Naruto you idiot, come back here!" Great, now he would worry everybody in the house. As soon as I left my room, I smacked right into Kankuro.
"Gaara, you're in labour?" He asked worriedly.
"No, Kankuro, I'm fine..." I replied.
"Making up stories again, you little shit?" He sneered.
"Why would I fucking want to do that?"
"Because you're an annoying little brat." He retorted, skulking back into his room.
My father rushed up the stairs moments later, a panicked look on his face. "You're only two months gone, Gaara!"
"No, dad, it's fine – Naruto just got confused." I told him.
"You're alright then?"
I nodded.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
He turned to my friend and scowled. "Don't scare me like that again, Naruto!"
Naruto laughed awkwardly. "Sorry Non-Believer."
I glared at him once my father had left the room.
"What? I was just worried." He said sheepishly.
"You really think that I'd go into labour after two months?"
"Well, that would be quite worrying..."
I sighed. "Exactly."
"How long are you pregnant for?"
"Nine months I think. Might be different for me though since I'm male... and a teenager." I replied. If anything, it would be a shorter pregnancy I would imagine. Naruto lay back on my bed with a content smile on his face. I smiled and lay down next to him, enjoying his company. It had been such a long time since he had been friendly to anybody. I really appreciated Naruto being there for me – this was a time when I really needed somebody. Knowing that, I fell into a peaceful slumber.
3
A quiet conversation somewhere in my room awoke me. I opened my eyes, guessing that I had slept for a long time as it was so dark outside. The moon had already risen and the air had become cold. I sat up, realizing that Naruto was no longer laying next to me.
"Gaara." A familiar voice spoke.
I turned to be faced with nothing but darkness. "Huh? Naruto?" The blankets slid from my body as I shifted forward. A shadow was visible in the moonlight and then, it was gone. The darkness engulfed me and my whole body went numb. Suddenly, something was shaking me quite violently. The voices got louder and louder before I sat up quickly, light flooding the room. Naruto was holding me. "Gaara..."
"Huh? Let go of me." I grumbled, squirming out of his grip. "What happened?"
"You started acting weird and fainted. So I caught you."
"Oh, thanks... sorry, it happens a lot."
"Don't worry. Temari said dinner is ready by the way." He helped me slowly to my feet so I didn't pass out again and we went downstairs. Kankuro was sitting at the table, eating happily. I sat opposite him and Naruto took a seat beside me. Temari handed us our plates. I could feel Kankuro glaring at me, but I didn't care.
"Hey, where's Non-Believer?" Naruto asked with a mouthful of beef. Temari rolled her eyes at his terrible table manners and sat opposite him, shaking her head. "He got called in at the office to sign some urgent papers. He won't be back until the early hours of the morning." She replied.
I started to eat my dinner, not realizing how hungry I was. Kankuro kicked me in the leg, causing me to glare at him. "What do you want?" I mimed.
"Fag." He mimed back, kicking me again.
Temari looked at us both. "Cut it out you two!"
We both averted eye contact and ate in silence for the rest of the meal. After I finished, I picked up everybody's plates and started to wash up. Once that was done, everybody went into the lounge to watch TV. I cleaned up the rest of the kitchen until I heard my siblings go to bed. When I had no more cleaning to do, I felt empty for some reason, then started thinking about all the bad things that had happened to me, then emotions just built up inside me. I started thinking about my family, wondering what they really thought of me. Why was Kankuro so horrible to me? What did I ever do to make him hate me? We had always been so close from a young age... It made me wonder if I'd have died in the car accident, would he have cared? Did he love me at all? A few tears fell from my eyes and I wiped them away quickly, not wanting anybody to see my cry. Unfortunately, more came and before I knew it, I was on the floor, sobbing. I didn't know why I was crying, it could've been pregnancy hormones, or maybe just everything coming back to me, reminding me of my pain. I just couldn't take it anymore. My heart still ached painfully for Lee and I knew he wasn't ever going to come back, no matter how much I begged, cried and screamed, I would never see him again.
As I sobbed, comforting arms wrapped around me.
"Hey Gaara... calm down..." Came Naruto's voice. "Ssh... stop crying... Lee wouldn't want this..."
The sobs came louder and I hugged Naruto tight, burying my face in his shoulder. I didn't want to stop crying. I had been holding my emotions back, I had been strong for too long and I was sick of it. Since Lee died, I hadn't grieved properly, everybody was telling me to be happy for my daughter. The last thing I wanted to do was make her sad too, but there was only so much I could take.
"What's wrong Gaara?" Naruto asked once I'd calmed down a little.
"E-Everything!" I wailed. "It h-hurts! I-I miss him so much Naruto!"
"I know, he probably misses you too."
"Nobody u-understands how m-much we loved each other! I don't want to fall in love again! I can't e-ever love another person again!"
"Gaara, Lee wouldn't want to see you this upset. I know what he thought of you - he told me! He said that you were the best thing that ever happened to him and that he would give his life for you. I know exactly what you meant to him and seeing you cry like this would break his heart." Naruto said gently, rubbing my back in a comforting way.
"I-I know... but I h-haven't grieved him... p-please let me cry..."
He nodded and continued to hold me as I cried harder than I had done in ages.
Silence fell upon us soon, except for the sound of me crying. Everybody in the house had gone to bed. Naruto and I sat on the kitchen floor for a very long time. I snapped out of my daydream and noticed that the kitchen was no longer dark. Moonlight shone in from the window above the counter and created a large, mesmerizing silver ray that had settled on the floor where I was curled up with Naruto. Something about that moment gave me reassurance and I felt safe. My worries melted away from me. The light faded slowly as a cloud passed over the moon and all was dark again. It wasn't until my father came home that I realized that Naruto had fallen asleep, holding me in his arms. The kitchen light flicked on and I looked up as father came in.
"Gaara." He said quietly. "It's three in the morning... Why aren't you in bed?"
"Lost track of time." I replied with a yawn. My eyelids felt heavy and my body was weak.
"Have you been crying?"
"No, I'm fine."
He smirked and wiped a tear from my face with his thumb. "Want to talk about it?"
I shook my head. "No dad... go to bed. You look exhausted."
"It's work Gaara. It's what it does to you. I'm used to it."
"Please, get some rest."
He shook his head. "Not until you and Naruto are settled."
"I think he fell asleep on me..." I giggled, gently moving Naruto off of me. I scowled as I saw that he'd drooled all over my shirt.
My father smirked and picked Naruto up, then took him into the lounge before placing him carefully on the sofa as not to wake him. "He can sleep in here for tonight."
I nodded and lay a few thick blankets over him. Nights in a desert could be perishing and I didn't want him catching a cold or anything. "Goodnight Naruto... and thank you..." I said gently, patting his blonde head.
"Come on Gaara... you need to sleep too. For you and Kaeda." Father reminded me quietly.
I nodded and followed him upstairs. "Goodnight dad."
"You too." He smiled and went into his room whilst I went into mine. My heart didn't feel so heavy now I'd had a good cry. It was all I needed from the beginning really. I lay down on my bed, covering myself with the blankets. I managed to fall asleep almost undisturbed for the rest of the night, except for a few trips to the bathroom.
3
The next morning, I was awoken by the sunlight shining on my face, almost blinding me. I growled and turned onto my side, but was rudely interrupted again as a weight jumped on me excitely.
"Mornin' Gaara!" Naruto greeted rather loudly into my ear.
Moodily, I shoved him onto the floor and pulled the blankets over my head.
"Oh, aren't you a lazy one today huh?" I felt his hands reach under the blankets and tickle my sides.
"Uhnn... Naruto!" I groaned. "Piss off!"
He tickled me harder, so I grabbed my pillow and smacked him over the head with it.
"Oh you'll pay for that one, Gaara!" He grinned, pinning me to the bed.
I suddenly felt nauseous and squirmed under his grip. "Let me go. I feel sick."
He nodded and moved away from me. I rushed into the bathroom, throwing up into the toilet. After that was done, I flushed the toilet and went over to the sink, rinsing my mouth out. When I looked into the full-body mirror, I lifted up my shirt and gasped. My once flat stomach now had a small bump in it and my waist had curved in even more. "I look like a freaking woman!" I muttered, letting my shirt fall back down again. Despite all of this, I couldn't wait until I could hold Kaeda in my arms.
"Sorry Gaara. Did I trigger your morning sickness?" Naruto asked guiltily.
I shook my head. "No, I'm sorry for being moody with you, Naruto. It's nothing you've done, I swear. I just feel so tired and pissed off all the time."
"Hey, it's fine, I understand. Why don't you relax in the bath for a while? It might make you feel better." He suggested.
"Yeah, I'll try that. Thanks."
"Welcome. I'm going downstairs to watch some TV ." He said, leaving the room.
I filled the bath, stripped and climbed in, The hot water made me feel sleepy and happy. It really did relax me as Naruto had said. I started to wash myself and soaked in the tub for a while until a sharp knock came from the door. "Gaara!" Yelled Kankuro's voice. "You've been in there for a whole hour! What the hell are you doing? Jacking off?"
I blushed. "No, I'm in the bath!"
"Why do you take so long in the bath?"
"Oh, probably because I don't want to smell like you!" I retorted, wrapping a towel round my waist before unlocking the door. "There, I'm done! Happy!"
"Hallelujah!"
I smirked and walked back to my room, drying myself with a towel before putting on a baggy band shirt and black cargo pants. Naruto came rushing upstairs. "Gaara, I need to go, Jiraiya's worried about me. I'll come over tomorrow."
I nodded and hugged him. "Bye Naruto and thank you."
"Don't mention it." He replied, rushing downstairs. Moments later, I heard the front door open and then close. Naruto was such a great friend to me.
