Our Heavy Burdens(Naruto Fanfic Gaara Love Story)[Slow Update]

Chapter 30: Avoiding

After seeing Gaara's reaction, I couldn't handle being near him anymore. I know he might have wanted to know more about my daughter since I didn't say much about her, but the hurt on his face, like I had somehow betrayed him... I don't want him to look at me like that again, and I was afraid he would hate me and be disgusted of me if he saw me again. So I decided to avoid anything involving him, whether it'd be his siblings, Shikamaru since he's secretly dating Temari, summons or messages from Suna. I still do my usual work, but I'm only sending clones out on the jobs. My real self, as well as Shizuka, are still hiding out with the Akatsuki. Okāsan sometimes tries talking to me about it, saying that I shouldn't let my fear stand between me and Gaara. She would remind me of the vow I made to Hagoromo-san of protecting the tailed beasts, that I also have to protect their Jinchuurikis, and that Gaara was one of those people. It made me consider going to him, but I couldn't help myself from hesitating still.

Eventually, one of my clones working at the village was called to Tsunade's office. As typical of me, my clone used my many Flying Thunder God seals to teleport herself right in front of Tsunade's desk. Anyone in the room is smart enough to remember that I can appear in that spot at any time, so they make sure to stay away from it so I don't accidentally land on them. I did that to Kakashi once, and he collapsed with me standing on him while I just smiled and said, "Oh, hey! What's up, Bakashi?" He hit me hard enough to leave a lump on my head, but it was still funny and worth it. Anyway, my clone appeared in the room and didn't notice the other people in the room at first since I'm respectful enough to address the Hokage first. So, she bowed and greeted Tsunade, who was looking like she was annoyed for getting involved with whatever mess I made. My clone was confused until I heard Shikamaru call out from behind her. My clone, starting to get a bit panicked, turned around and saw not only Shikamaru, but Temari, Kankuro and Gaara behind her. "Oh shit-" My clone cursed, and I guess they all assumed that clone was the real me and I was about to teleport away, because Temari and Kankuro both exclaimed, "No!" then grabbed onto my clones arms.

Unfortunately, my clone freaked out and dispersed itself, sending all her memories and emotions back to me. So, as I was sitting in the living room, watching Deidara try to teach Shizuka how to mold regular clay (because if it was his explosives and it blew up my daughter, I'd break his bones), the memories and emotions returned to me, and I began to have a mini panic attack. It disrupted my chakra flow, which then dispersed all of my clones in Konoha. Though, it was probably for the best since if any more of them had memories of the Sand Siblings trying to confront me, I might be feeling worse. Okāsan then went over to me to try to calm me down, and I started crying while repeating, "I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do. He's coming, I don't know what to do."

~third pov~

Luckily for Gaara and his siblings, Tsunade and Shikamaru warned them beforehand that Nariko had a lot of clones around the village, and that she might not even be in the village herself. So when the clone that Temari and Kankuro were trying to restrain disappeared and the ANBU reported back that she wasn't in the village, Kankuro groaned in frustration. "Why the heck is she hiding like a criminal when all we wanna ask is how she had a kid without us noticing?!" He exclaimed while flailing his arms. "First, it would be better for you to find out for yourself rather than asking anyone else, as I've said before. Second, I have had cases before where pregnant women can appear normal in size or barely change in appearance and no one could tell that they were pregnant. I am not saying that's what happened to Nariko, I am just saying for you to consider that possibility. Third, with how her clone reacted, I assume that she fears how the three of you, especially Gaara, would react to her story of how she had a daughter." Tsunade explained, both her and Shikamaru staying silent about the truth out of respect and consideration of Nariko's privacy.

"Hokage-sama, do you know where else Nariko might be? I understand that she must fear my confrontation with her, but I really need to speak to her about this. I don't care about the fact that she might have had a daughter with some other man, or that she just took in this child out of the goodness of her heart. I-I want her to know that I still want to be by her side, and that I-I love her." Gaara told Tsunade, though he blushed and stumbled over his words a bit at the end out of embarrassment for confessing his feelings in front of not only his older siblings, but possibly his sister's boyfriend (though he's not entirely sure since neither of them have announced their relationship) and the Hokage. Temari awwed at the confession while Kankuro proudly patted Gaara's shoulder and Shikamaru and Tsunade smiled in approval.