Chapter Text
Naruto wakes up to the sound of Gaara's legs shifting around in the blanket as he kicks them off and onto Naruto’s side of the bed. This is already pretty surprising as Gaara is known to be out of bed with breakfast for the two of them on the table by now, since he has always been a horrible sleeper.
Hey, there’s no complaining here since Naruto was sorta down to cuddle anyway. He wants to nuzzle into his neck, where he'd spent the night prior sucking and biting bruises while Gaara rode him. Mmm yeah, that was nice. He rolls over to do just that, intending on wrapping his arms around his husband; his arms only find an empty mattress, though. Damn, he was too busy daydreaming and didn’t hear Gaara slip out of bed.
Naruto rubs the sleep from his eyes as the door to the bathroom attached to their room slams shut. He yawns, shifting around in the sheets and calls out to Gaara, "What, ya had to pee that bad?"
He expects Gaara to snip at him through the door for being snippy as he usually does, but he doesn't. Naruto rolls over in bed once again, stepping onto the smooth wooden floors after a few more minutes of gathering himself.
Gaara is still not out of his hiding place in the bathroom. Hmm, Naruto looks over at the sky… yeah, the sun has moved a bit, Gaara shouldn’t be in there this long unless he isn’t okay.
He pads his way across the room and knocks gently on the door after a moment of silence, trying to strain his ears past the sounds of the desert songbirds greeting the pale glow of the freshly risen sun.
"It’s been like, fifteen minutes, are you okay?"
There's a sound of something clattering to the ground, accompanied by swearing. “I am alright,” his firm voice nearly rattles the door. The sink runs for a moment, then the door swings open where Gaara's wide eyed face stares up at him. He leans one of his shoulders on the doorway, arms crossed, with a worried look on his face.
"Naruto. Good morning. My apologies for our breakfast’s late start today, I'll get to work on it right away so you can get to that rug shop you mentioned you wanted to visit today." He swiftly steps around his husband, snatching his robe off of the floor.
"Was there anything in particular you’d like to eat today? I am willing to make whatever meal will make you happy. You name it and I will prepare it."
"Ummm. I guess if that's what you wanna do… Then maybe some waffles sound kinda good, dontcha think so? Maybe with blueberries or somethin’ like that, we got any blueberries?"
Gaara ties the robe's belt at his waist, folding his arms over his chest. He looks out toward the kitchen, chewing on his lip. "Alright, That is certainly something I can do with our current ingredients. Come out to the table right away so I can prepare your coffee."
Naruto blinks in surprise一 is Gaara being avoidant? That’s not really like him. Especially since they made a promise about honesty and all when they got married. Naruto is a little freaked out, but cautious as he pushes the subject a little further, "What about your coffee? Are you sure you’re okay, Gaara? You always have coffee unless you're sick or something. You’re not hidin’ bein’ sick from me, are ya?"
Naruto wraps his hands around his husband’s waist in the hallway, resting his head on the slightly shorter man's shoulders. Gaara is struggling to not lean back on him and relax into their embrace. Oddly, it somewhat reminds Naruto of when the two of them had first started dating in private while Gaara was still quite timid about affection in public.
Naruto’s heart squeezes painfully in his chest. Why can’t he just figure out whatever is making Gaara so upset? He tries to come up with a solution.
"Maybe I'll make breakfast for the two of us today and you can go relax in bed this mornin’ since you earned it. You always work so hard, don’t you? Take it easy today and let me do it."
Gaara rushes off ahead of him, "I'm okay, really. Come. Sit. We need to talk to each other about something important."
Naruto feels his heart stop in his chest, but he forces himself to take a breath, knowing damn well how he can overreact when he doesn't ask for more information. He runs a hand through his hair and asks, "Is it something that I should worry about?"
"No. Perhaps. It’s…" Gaara chews on his lip, worry plain as day on his face. "Please just… just sit down. I do love you with every piece of me that I have to give, but please have a seat and just be quiet so I can think for a while."
The nervous blond nods carefully, pulling out the chair from where it's tucked tightly against their little wooden dining room table to sit. The moment he folds his hands at the table, his husband begins frantically pacing about the kitchen, pulling out the different ingredients for their breakfast.
"I love you," Gaara says, eyes flicking over to Naruto for one anxiety-inducing moment, "you know that? I love you so much, I truly do. I love being with you and I love the little family we have with each other. It feels like I have everything I could have ever dreamed of having when I'm with you."
Naruto blushes, "I-I love you too. You're my best friend and my favorite person. You know what, you're kinda scaring me, Rara."
Gaara clicks his tongue, an irate smile on his face, "I hate that awful nickname and you know it."
"And you still responded to it!"
"Unfortunately, I did." He curls his lips into a small smile as he fills the little colander with fresh blueberries and brings them over to the sink.
Gaara turns on the tap water and lets it wash away all of the little unseen bits of dirt from the fruit, shaking it gently once he deems it finished to shake off excess water. Then he plops them into the little bowl of waffle batter he's stirring, mixing it gently to incorporate it.
"Naruto."
"Hm?"
Gaara is firmly turned away, toward the stove top which he turns in with a click until the pilot light catches it. The flames roar and he sets the cast iron waffle press on it, waiting for it to heat.
His hands grip the edge of the counter, "You know… that I haven't been feeling well the last couple of weeks. Today I'm supposed to go to the doctor to see if I've got the flu," he turns to his left, grabbing a generous spoonful of butter, wiping it into the griddle.
It hisses as it makes contact with the iron, "You think it's something worse?"
He shakes his head, "No. I… I'm sorry, this isn't something that I've done before, and I have to wonder if this is how my other family members felt."
Gaara takes a steady breath, spooning batter into the now-ready press. He distributes it evenly into each divot and closes the press, securing the latch nicely. As he takes a second, more watery breath, Naruto nearly jumps out of his skin to rush over and check on him.
"Gaara, are you crying over being sick? Because I'm not that sad that you're missing work, I just care about you and一"
" I'm pregnant ."
Naruto jolts, "Wh-what?"
Gaara laughs dryly, disengaging the waffle from its iron prison with a fork, "I didn't… I was just curious and wanted to see before we went today. I was sure it would be negative, but then the little bar at the bottom wouldn't go away and I… It was indeed positive."
"Wait, you're really…?"
"Seems that way." Gaara nods his head once, then turns back toward his cooking. "Do you want syrup? Butter? I can even make you some whipped cream, if you really prefer. I can top it with strawberries, I think I've got some in the fridge, too. Would you prefer that or perhaps一"
"Gaara!!" Naruto rushes over, taking Gaara's busy hands into his own, making him forget about the damn syrup. "Wait a damn second, hold on, we're having a baby?"
"Only if you… Do you really want to?” Gaara flinches a little bit, “I know you love me and you said you would not want things to change, and I know with Shikadai and everything going on with the railroad, we're both too stressed out to think about starting a family or… I… I don’t want to do anything without your enthusiastic consent."
"Don't be stupid!" Naruto nearly shakes him, deciding against it due to his current situation though. Instead, he brings his precious form closer, wrapping his arms around Gaara's shoulders. "You're the one who has to carry it, I should ask you if you want to. My god, Gaara, if you don't want to or can't right now, I won't be offended or mad with you."
Gaara nuzzles into his chest, pressing his ear to Naruto's heart, "I'd like to try. It's still… it's still pretty early, so there's no telling if it'll stick, but I wouldn't mind, you know. I can even keep working until I show, but I can work at home since it’s mostly paperwork anyway. There’s not exactly a looming threat of war, what with the hero of the world living here and all." And then he laughs lightly, "I think Temari wants a nephew anyway一 and Kankuro一 they keep asking me when I’m going to start a family of my own with you."
Naruto blushes again, "Oh my god, Temari, no. She's worse than her husband."
"Oh?"
He groans, "He told me that he wasn't gonna take my calls anymore until I told him for sure whether or not we were gonna give Shikadai a cousin, and I said WELL WHAT ABOUT KANKURO and he said Oh, well, you know that guy is a pain in my ass and isn't ever having kids if he can avoid it and I said, WELL HOW IS THAT MY PROBLEM!? He doesn't know how to shut up!"
Gaara sighs, scrunching his eyes in irritation and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yes, this is a problem a lot of people from Konoha have, I've noticed. None of you know the art of tactical silence. You are strongly included in that."
Then Naruto waves his arms, "WELL FORGET ABOUT ALL OF THAT, I'm just so happy! I feel like we should celebrate or something, you know!? You can't drink, obviously, so what if we just went back into the bedroom together and…" And the blond is waggling his eyebrows, much to the annoyance of his companion.
"No, we must not. I just started breakfast.” Gaara shuts down his horny husband easily, much to his unfortunate dismay. “Take your waffle, eat it, and I'll think about it for later."
"Come onnnn, it's not really that big of a deal, is it? You can't get more pregnant, right?" Naruto pours the syrup onto his giant fluffy waffle himself. He then reaches his arms around Gaara's waist, resting his hands on Gaara's stomach, swaying him lovingly from behind. "Though you definitely need to eat, and to take it easy for a little while, huh? You work too hard all the time and I don't want anything bad to happen to you." He kisses his husband's cheek and takes the plate from the counter, where he sets it onto the table.
Gaara rolls his eyes and presses down the plunger on the little steel coffee maker. He clicks his tongue in irritation, "Oh, so I am simply far too fragile to file the same paperwork I’ve been filing since age fifteen from a comfortable ergonomic seated position all day long, but I'm not too fragile for you to bend over our mattress, pin me down like your toy and fuck senseless? I see where your priorities very clearly lie."
“Obviously, that’s exactly what I’m sayin’, yeah.” Naruto sticks his tongue out at Gaara. “Coffee please…?”
“It’s coming, be patient.” Gaara chides him lightly as he pours coffee into a tall yunomi cup, adding in a splash of milk and a tablespoon of maple syrup. Then he brings the far too sweet drink over to Naruto, setting the mug in front of him. "Is it good?"
Naruto has to pause eating, chasing down the fluffy dough with his creamy coffee, "Rara, it's always good, you're a pretty good cook. Ouch, hey, don't swat me! It's true, you are a good cook."
"I was swatting you for the foolish nickname, Ruru ." And Naruto groans deeply, much to the joy of the other man. He heads back into the kitchen, pouring the other portion of batter into the press.
"Do you understand now? You hate it too, do you not? It makes me feel like I am a scolded small child when you call me Rara." Gaara hisses a breath between his teeth. "Now stop talking and eat your breakfast."
Gaara settles back into the mattress half an hour later, a mug of tea at his right and his husband on his left. Naruto snakes his arms around Gaara's waist, nuzzling his cheek tenderly against the boy's stomach, humming some song Gaara only faintly recognizes. Gaara sets down the book he is reading and runs his hands through his partner's fluffy hair, Naruto looks up at him with a little smirk, "So hey, how about that celebration we talked about in the kitchen earlier, huh?"
He rolls his eyes, adjusting his reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, "Naruto, really. How can you be so… ready to go all the time? I ride you to your very messy completion nearly every night and yet you still have all of this energy within?"
"I dunno! I just like you." He smiles and rubs the back of his head, not looking sorry in the slightest. He isn’t, of course, and… well it’s not like Gaara doesn’t want to a little bit.
“Enough to marry me, maybe?” Gaara smiles a little, sliding his glasses from his face where he folds them neatly on the table. "I suppose we do have a little time to waste before the appointment… Lie back?"
Of course, with such a simple request, Gaara expects Naruto to lie down and comply, but he does not. He's about to repeat himself when Naruto pushes him back gingerly to the pillows instead, "I was thinking that… y’know, it's your celebration right now, so I can just use my tongue on you. I have a lot of stamina and all, but I don't think they wanna deal with me leaving a mess in you at the doctor's office."
"Oh." Gaara's cheeks flush pink, "I don't see why not, if that's what you want to do… a-alright."
Naruto chuckles, "We've been married for like, what, eight years now and you still blush when I ask if you want head? You're way too cute, you know that?"
The nurse raises her eyebrows high and stares at Gaara confusedly, "Lord Kazekage, you… Your test is positive."
He's glad his excitable husband is not here with him to cause a public fuss. The last thing he needs right now is for anybody in Suna to be privy to this information.
Privacy is key.
"Let us keep this between us, shall we?"
"Of course, my Lord."
Several weeks pass as late Spring gives way to the gorgeous flowers of Summer. Gaara is sitting at the kotatsu table, currently enjoying the view outside of his window. All of the desert flowers in their garden are in full bloom, attracting more little insects than usual. The sounds of the flight of birds wings and cicada chirping helps to relax him fully as he leans on his palm, pushing his weight onto his elbow. He's supposed to be working, yes, but he and Naruto try to take some time to focus on small things every day.
It's really been helpful for Gaara especially since he really has trouble living in the moment peacefully. It's such a beautiful day to be drinking ice cold black tea and filing easy paperwork. Today's files are for allowing the work and servicing of the engine for the train. Naruto is comfortably lying on his back on the tatami mat next to him when Gaara feels an uncomfortable flutter in his throat.
Naruto turns, glancing over at his husband's stressed out face. "Gaara? Is somethin' wrong? I can fan you, if you want…?" he offers.
Gaara shakes his head, removing his readers and quickly rises to his feet, "Yes, It is just… h-hold on, I'm sorry." And with that, he rushes off in the direction of their bathroom.
Of course, Naruto is used to Gaara rushing off to quietly answer work calls, but he hears the way the bathroom door slams and the clattering noise of the lid. That doesn’t sound good and it definitely is not a work call, especially not with the awful, half-sob retching noises from under the door.
Naruto walks across the room and gently knocks on the door with his knuckle, but Gaara replies before he can even open his mouth to ask. He coughs wetly, "I am alright. I’m fine. Naruto… just please go away. I don't want you to hear me getting sick."
"I've heard you getting sick before, don't worry about it." Naruto leans against the door, pressing his cheek to the cool wood for a moment. He does not like Gaara’s suffering and wants to help him feel better, "I'll get you some cold water, okay?"
Before he can walk off to get it, the toilet flushes and the sink runs for a bit, the door opening quickly afterwards. Gaara looks awful, his face drained of color and pouting. "I'm sorry to worry you… Didn't think that'd start happening so soon, but I guess they did say I was far along enough for it."
Gaara's brows pinch together, and he stares up at Naruto, feeling a little more than totally helpless. "I believe water would be nice, yes. I think the irritating summer heat is just dramatically exacerbating the sickness."
Naruto chuckles, "Maybe, but you’re probably just pregnant." Gaara pouts at that and rests his head on Naruto's shoulder, who pets the back of his head. "Hey, why don't you take a break from work and we can have lunch? Go lay down on the couch for a bit."
"No, but thank you. I'd rather get some air, would you worry if I went to sit in the succulent garden for a bit?" Gaara tilts his head and waits for an answer as Naruto grabs the water cup.
The koi pond and the little waterfall are out there, so the air will be a lot cooler and cleaner. Naruto doesn't really have a valid reason to say no, so reluctantly, he nods.
He hands Gaara a little cup of ice water, and kisses his forehead. "I'll be okay. You worry too much. A little morning sickness isn't going to ruin my day, I just want to… tell Mother, I suppose."
"You haven't told her?" Naruto asks, raising his eyebrows. Gaara drinks from the cup for a bit, waiting until he’s thoroughly washed out the sickly taste from his mouth. Then he hands the glass back to his husband, who takes it and sets it on the kotatsu table near the two of them. The redhead once again rests his head on Naruto’s shoulder, kissing him quickly before standing back up straight.
He sighs, "I haven't had the time for it. It's not as though I use my sand very much these days, you know. She'll definitely hover a lot more."
Naruto scratches his cheek, "It never stops being weird that your sand is sorta like your mom, y'know. Just don't let her kill me because I don't want you to raise the thing alone. Not about to get you pregnant and then just die!"
The Kazekage smiles, "I'll do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen."
He sinks to the ground, his legs shifting and adjusting until he's seated comfortably next to the little gourd full of inert sand. It rises around him instinctively, curling around his head and shoulders, brushing against his cheeks and dusting his hair. He smiles, leaning towards the pressure of it clinging onto his skin.
Gaara swallows dryly, "Mother, I wanted to talk. I know you can't really talk back, but I'd still feel like… I'm not doing something correct if I do not communicate this properly."
The sand dances anxiously, spreading in a thin layer across his arms and palms, somehow sinking even between the pinched together tips of his fingers.
She must sense his fear, so he starts to explain more quickly, "I'm alright, probably, but do you remember how you felt when we knew about Shikadai's existence for the first time?"
Sand swirls in the air in little spiral formations, circling Gaara's head, and he can almost imagine she wants to pet his head. "Yes, we were both pretty afraid of the same thing that happened to you happening to Temari, but it didn't and I know how much you love Shikadai. Temari is okay, and we were all pretty sure Kankuro would never have kids, so it wasn't exactly an anxiety we'd have again."
Gaara takes a steady breath as the sand stops its dance, pausing as it brushes the back of his neck comfortingly, "You're likely already aware, but on the off chance you aren't… Mother, I'm going to have a child of my own soon."
There's a moment or two of a quiet calm as the sand slides across his skin, down and around his torso to snake around his stomach. He smiles, giving a little affirmative nod, and vaguely feeling insane for talking to dirt (God, he understands why people were so freaked out by him).
Then she seems to understand as his sand billows out into a great, large and beautiful shape, exploding across the yard and sending sand careening into everything around the garden. Luckily, she still shields him from the mess, but his cacti (and that nice furniture set he just got) aren't so lucky.
Well, he expected a reaction, but not this sort of drama.
"I'm honestly as surprised as you are… It's not something I ever planned to do, I'm taking it one day at a time. I just desperately wanted you to know."
It clings tightly to his skin now, gathering up the tossed grains and pressing them against him protectively.
"I'll be alright, Mother… I do not casually engage in combat anymore since the war ended, you know, and you're always here to protect me if I need you. Naruto will be a good father to them, I promise."
And as soon as his name leaves Gaara's lips, the blond appears in the sliding door of their backyard. He jumps when Gaara catches his gaze, stiffening his back, "Hope I'm not interrupting, I just… heard your sand go flying and got kinda nervous."
Gaara tilts his head, "I'm alright. She just had a big reaction to the news. Seems as though you'd do well to do your best from now on."
Then he inhales deeply, rising from his seat on the ground with a boost from his sand. "Is someone else watching the lunch or is it quietly burning up unattended so you can motherhen me?"
Naruto's head whips around, sniffing at the air with closed eyes for a moment. Then he jumps, dashing back into the house and Gaara chuckles. Well, at least that's more or less not going to change. They'll definitely have to work on that before the new kid is here. Still, his inability to cook is weirdly charming, that or Gaara's hormones are weird, and they likely are. Mother seems to react to this and pushes Gaara to the door.
"Alright, I'm going." He pulls the sand back into his gourd, capping it up and carrying it inside to sling back over the door as usual. " Must everyone dote on me like I'm pathetically weak and fragile now?"
Oh if only he could see into the future…
"YOU'RE WHAT!?" Gaara holds the phone away from his face, flinching with his eyes closed. He's starting to regret making this a speakerphone call, but he really wants Naruto to be there, too. He just didn't think Temari's reaction would be so… negative. Or quite this loud. Naruto wiggles anxiously at his side, with his hand curled protectively over his husband's torso as she drones on. "Gaara, hell no… I'm sorry, but I do NOT believe that for a fucking second."
Naruto chimes in, "Rara一" Gaara sneers at him "一 Gaara , doesn't have a reason to lie. Come on, Temariiiii, what do we gotta do to make you believe us?"
Gaara raises his head, "I'm having my first imaging and proper examination done in Konoha in a few days, at Naruto's insistence. You're welcome to join us, Temari."
"Hmm," she thinks aloud, and Gaara smiles at the fussing sounds of Shikadai faintly. Temari pauses their conversation to tend to her baby. "Hold on, brat, let me untie the kimono. Don't try to do it yourself or you'll get your finger caught. You're hungry, huh?"
"Do you want to call me later?" Gaara asks, leaning his head on Naruto's shoulder. "If you're feeding Shikadai, then your hands must be full."
"No, he sits up fine on his own, I just have to take my fucking boob out and he goes to town. Can't wait 'til he doesn't want to do this anymore, it's a headache and hurts with the more teeth he gets." She complains. "Tch, almost a year old and still doing this. Even Shikamaru's mom said he didn't go for this long. Not like I can ask Mom or Dad if we did… Anyway, that's quite enough about me and my damn problems. If I want to keep bitching about being a parent, I can always call up Sakura or something. Suppose there’s no use in that, and if you're telling me the truth, then I guess I’ll be seeing her in a few days anyway, huh?"
"I suppose you will. I'm safe to assume we'll be staying with you? We'll be riding on the train for its first test run to and from Konoha, so I won't be traveling on foot all that way and back."
"I'd hope you damn well aren't if you really are being honest!" She barks, and Gaara can just hear the angry face she's pulling through the phone. "Don't be stupid, okay? And drink your milk, eat your vegetables. Go outside once in a while, won’t you? You’re so pale I always worry. Don’t forget to give into cravings, if you have any. You of all people are God awful at being nice to yourself, but just this once, please do it for me?"
“Fine.” Gaara says, rolling his eyes. And though being treated like some fragile thing is still so irksome, if even Temari is doing it, maybe he can allow it just this once.