A light knock in the window woke up Gaara. He was naked. He got out from under the covers and made sure to tuck Sakura in before he put on a pair of trousers and opened the window. Cold air entered the room. Baki bowed his head respectfully and kept his eyes focused on the ground out of respect for Lord Gaara's privacy.

"Kazekage-sama."

"Baki, what happened?"

"I am so sorry for the disturbance, but this situation requires your attention."

"I see. I am coming. Wait for me outside, please."

Gaara understood the gravity of the situation from Baki's uneasy tone. He hurried to get dressed while he was watching Sakura's sleeping form with sorry eyes. He left her a note on the table and left the room without making any noise. As Baki and Gaara were running to the office, Baki informed him about the problem. There was a mix-up with the export merchandise. The Stone had found out that a kid was replacing the Kazekage and decided to profit from it. The Stone was an old customer of the Sand. There have never been problems until that day. Shinki had sent the export merchandise like he should have and the Stone confiscated it without paying. They had the guts to send the Sunan workers back home empty handed without allowing them to get past the Stone's gates.

As Gaara entered the room, everyone stood aside to make room for him. Shinki stood up from his chair and made room for his father while also bowing respectfully and equally shamed. His father adopted his usual serious tone and hard face. He rested his elbows on the table and hid his mouth behind his clasped hands.


Sakura was disappointed to find out Gaara was no longer next to her in bed on that morning. She stressed because she didn't have time to pack some food for him. As she was giving the kids a bath, she kept thinking about what could be so important and urgent to need Gaara's attention so early in the morning? She was pregnant in the 5th month and her belly started growing a little.

She was cooking. The kids were playing around her. One of them broke a window with his ball. Sakura got pissed.

"How many times have I told you to stop playing with the ball inside the house?"

"Mom, he started it!"

"Shut up! Stop blaming your brother!"

"Sit here with your hands on your knees and don't move until I tell you to, got it?" She took her son by under his armpits and placed him on the couch, then she turned back to her other kids: "Behave yourselves until lunch is ready!"

"Yes, mother."

Her security guard started collecting the shattered glass and sent somebody to buy a new window and replaced it within the next hour. Sakura was cooking in the kitchen and watching her punished son from the corner of her eye.

"I am watching you, you know?"

Every time he heard her, he stilled and straightened his back, trying not to even blink. Sakura was happy that he listened to her for once. However, it didn't take long before the boy got bored and continued to bug her with his questions

"Mom, how long do I have to stay like this?

"Until I say you can leave."

"Of."

Sakura laughed to herself and then got angry for no reason. This pregnancy was the most difficult of all. Hold on, Sakura. You can do this!

"Mom..."

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Go and play with your brothers."

"Yes!" He happily ran towards his brothers.

Tears of stress and sadness mixed with the food Sakura was stirring in the pan.


"Why did they refuse to pay?"

"Kazekage-sama, they said they have already paid."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. The workers came back without money."

"Send a messenger bird to the Tsuchikage."

"We already have, my Lord."

"And the answer?"

"Tsuchikage-sama said he is very busy and doesn't have time to lose with something so trivial."

"I see." That perverted old bastard. He thinks he can mess with me. He is wrong.

"I am sorry, father. It is all my fault."

Gaara remained silent.

"What do you think we should do, my Lord?"

Gaara answered with calm and arrogance: "I forbid any trade between the Sand and the Stone starting from now. Shut the gates for their citizens."

"Yes, sir."

"Baki...The Stone...many of our people go there on vacation every year, don't they?"

"Yes, sir. They have the most beautiful waterfalls. They have got mountains overflowing with wild animals and birds you can only find there and nowhere else. Their songs heal depression."

"I see. How many of our citizens are planning to go there on vacation this year?"

"Around 1000."

"Give them back their money they have already paid for booking."

Everyone looked at Gaara in surprise.

"Y-yes, sir."

"Tell them it's impossible to go to the Stone this year. In exchange, offer them a free weekend at our hotels on the beach. How much money does the Stone owe us?"

"4 million yen."

"How much does one person pay for a vacation to the Stone on average?"

"10.000 yen just for booking the hotel."

"So for 1000 people that means 10 million yen that won't go to the Stone. Let's see how the Tsuchikage will handle the angry hotel owners knowing they lost this much money because of him. Not only this, but our people would have spent a lot of money on food and entertainment. Those money will stay here in the Sand."

"I bow before your intelligence."

"We bow before your intelligence." Everyone repeated in a choir.

Shinki looked at his dad with admiration and respect.

"Shinki"

"Yes, sir."

"When the Tsuchikage will send a messenger bird, don't hurry to give him an answer. Tell him that if he wishes to collaborate with Suna again next year, he has to pay what he owes, plus the same amount in gifts, not money."

"Yes, sir."

"Baki, make sure everyone in the ninja world finds out what happened here."

"Yes, my Lord."


No matter how much Gaara wished to stay home with his pregnant wife, he couldn't. There were still many things Shinki didn't know how to handle and he needed his father's help. Gaara and Shinki agreed to not talk about work at home, in Sakura's presence, to avoid stressing her. However, Sakura couldn't stay far from stress. Her thoughts grinded her stomach, thinking about what could happen. She inevitably found out about the Stone from other women she met in the market. At home, Sakura started saving money. She bought cheaper products and avoided any luxury because she knew Suna didn't have enough money to pay all those people their money back, so Gaara was going to pay them with his own money. Gaara didn't ask her to save money and he felt bad that she thought it necessary, so he couldn't look Sakura in the eyes at dinner out of shame.

Days went by and Sakura's belly grew along with her cravings. One night, she woke her husband up at 3 AM.

"Gaara...Gaara?"

"What is it, my flower?"

"I want to eat watermelon."

"Right now? What's the time?"

"3 AM."

"There's no place I can buy you watermelon right now. Go back to sleep. I will buy you some in the morning."

Sakura lay back on her side with a pout, thinking about watermelon and nothing else. Gaara hugged her from behind, inhaled the sweet scent of her hair and went back to sleep. In the morning, he couldn't escape her mouth, so he went to the market before he had to leave for work.

"I am sorry, Kazekage-sama. We are out of watermelons."

He went to the next shop and he received the same answer.

"Why can't I find watermelon anywhere?" he asked his security guard.

"Kazekage-sama, you gave an order to forbid importing merchandise from the Stone."

Gaara closed his eyes and sighed.

"I understand."

He came back home with dates and almonds.

"Sakura, I couldn't find watermelon, but I know you like these very much."

"Thank you." She replied with disappointment.

Gaara hated letting her down. He would have rather endured a slap than see her looking at him that way. He was upset on the way to work. The Tsuchikage refused to yield. Shinki and Gaara were tensed at work. Sakura was tensed at home because she had no idea what was going on with her 2 boys. She started crying in corners when her children were sleeping at noon. Gaara didn't know about this. He struggled to make things as easy for her as possible, but he was overwhelmed.

When Sakura was pregnant in 7 months, she felt pain stabbing her in the side of her stomach and panicked, thinking she was going to give birth to a premature baby. She quickly telephoned Gaara at his office.

"Gaara, I think I am giving birth."

"Now? But it's not the time."

"Come home now!" she begged him with teary eyes.

"I am coming." He replied decisively.

Kankurou was gone on a mission, so Gaara took all of the kids with them at the hospital, after Sakura insisted that she cannot leave them with a stranger. At the hospital, Gaara was playing with the kids in the waiting room while the doctors were examining his wife. He felt nervous as he was looking at doctors coming and going in and out of Sakura's room in a hurry, like something important was happening. He couldn't help but ask himself: What's going on? The doctors looked scared and embarrassed.

"Dad, what's going on?"

Gaara did his best to smile at his red haired son who was only 4 years old and was looking at him with his mother's green eyes. The stress in his eyes was obvious, so Gaara did his best to make the worries go away.

"Nothing, son." He took the boy by his hips and chest and swung him round like he was a plane. The child happily spread his arms and the others giggled and laughed.

"Dad, dad, me too!" Another one said while pulling at his father's trousers. When Gaara directed his eyes to him, the boy lifted his arms, waiting to be picked up.

Thankfully, Gaara saw Shinki at the end of the hallway. He finally had the perfect opportunity to let the kids with someone he could trust and go see what was wrong with Sakura.

"Look who is here!"

The kids looked in the direction their father pointed to.

"Big brother!"

"Big brother!"

Shinki took his father's place and played with them while Gaara nodded to him, signaling for him to stay there while Gaara slipped into the room. His heart sunk to his feet when he saw his wife with so many wires attached to her body. The doctors were discussing some heated argument while standing in a circle by the side of the bed.

"What is going on here?"

All the doctors turned with their face to Gaara and bowed deeply before greeting him respectfully. An older doctor took a step towards Gaara and expressed his concern while looking down.

"Kazekage-sama, I am afraid your wife has a serious problem."

"Is she giving birth? Is the baby alright?"

"She's not in labour. The stomach pain the Lady has is caused by a colon disease."

The doctor's words hit Gaara like a fist into his chest.

"Was my Lord aware of this aspect?"

"Yes. But she hasn't had an episode in years. We already have 4 boys that she delivered on time without problems."

"It might be that the Lady was upset or stressed lately."

Gaara took a deep breath. His hands fisted by his sides.

"What stage is the disease in?"

"I am afraid it can't go untreated. If we allow it to evolve, in this rhythm, the Lady's colon will break resulting in the Lady and her baby's..."

"Death." Gaara completed the doctor's sentence.

"If we start treating her, I am afraid she might have a spontaneous abortion or the baby could be born with handicap."

Gaara's stomach flipped upside down. Exactly what he didn't want to happen, happened and he was powerless against it.

"What other solutions do we have?"

The doctor thought whether he should speak his mind or not.

"We could induce a forced birth right now, but..."

"But what?"

"We can't guaranty that the Lady will survive."

Gaara turned with his back to the doctor. He had a murderous look in his eyes and he tried his best to calm down. He was desperate. The kids were waiting for him outside. How was he going to tell them that they won't have a mother anymore? How was he going to live without Sakura, the candle of his life? How was he going to wake up in a cold empty bed, without the perfume of her hair? How was he going to live without tasting anything from her hand? Or hear her voice calling his name? Or kiss her white breast that fed so many of his children? The happy screams of Itadori woke Gaara from his dark place. He turned around to face the doctor again.

"I can't live without her."

The doctor respectfully and painfully bowed deeply before his master.

"There must be another way. Tell me there is another way." The desperation in his voice was obvious.

The doctor looked to the left, then to the right, weighing an idea.

"Tell me what you have in mind."

"Kazekage-sama, I suggest we put her in an induced coma until it's time to give birth. We will watch her from here. She will receive food through a drip in her arm."

Gaara swallowed the lump in his throat with difficulty.

"This way, the disease will evolve, but very slowly because the Lady will have nothing to be stressed for. We will keep the baby under surveillance and we will let you know if any changes come up. When the pregnancy is complete, we will wake her up and she will give birth naturally. I have to warn you that it will be very painful. This disease will make the Lady bleed more than normal. After the baby is going to be born, we will do our best to heal and treat the Lady on the spot. She has 85% chances of survival."

"You will give everything to save my family and I will give you anything you want."

"There is nothing I want more than health for Kazekage-sama's family."

Gaara chewed the inside of his cheek to prevent tears from falling from his eyes and he walked to Sakura with confidence. He didn't want to scare her, so he presented everything to her as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

"You will sleep, lucky girl. You'll leave me with the screaming children while you sleep like a princess." His head rested on her lap and he guided one of her hands through his hair, asking for her touch. He acted like a cat. In his heart, he didn't know if this was the last time he felt Sakura's touch.

Sakura smiled shyly.

"What will you tell them?"

"That you've gone on vacation."

"Gaara!" She playfully pulled his hair.

"Auch! Security!" He pretended to ask for help.

They both started laughing. The doctor got closer to the bed and was ready to inject a powerful sedative into Sakura's IV, to make her sleep. Sakura wanted to turn her head and look at what was happening, but Gaara's soft palm cupped her cheek and redirected her face to him. He kissed her with his eyes open, while looking at the doctor injecting the sleeping potion. Sakura became drowsy. Gaara held her head in his hands and whispered in her ear while he put her head on the bed: "I love you!" before she went to sleep for the next 2 months.

Note: I think Gaara needs our prayers more than Sakura this time. If his Sakura dies, he will end up just like his father. What do you think?

I posted 2 chapters today: one for each of my stories. I really hope you enjoy! :)