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

Chapter 28: Being A Mom Is Hard

Since I don't want to stop being a ninja, I've decided to just make shadow clones of myself to do my work. I won't use my paths unless it's an emergency, and my actual self will be taking care of Shizuka. I don't want to leave her with a fake me or with a body that didn't look like me. I want her to get to know and be raised by the real me. So, for any missions, meetings, or training with the ANBU, I have clones there while I'm with my daughter. Tsunade and Hiruzen were a bit wary of me being a single mother and having a child that could destroy the world once she's strong enough, but I reassured them that as long as she has no reason to destroy the world, she won't. It might be a bit hard, though, because of how everyone might treat her.
Because Shizuka is still growing and learning, she doesn't know how to completely control her powers. Meaning, she often levitates things unknowingly, and unintentionally enters everyone's minds. Twice she levitated something out of excitement, once being herself, and the other times she broke things like water pipes or exploded fruits because she was upset over something like having a soiled diaper. And anyone as far as a block away from us can hear her speaking in their minds. The first week when we were in Konoha, there have been complaints about it to Tsunade, who then turned to me. I'm trying my best to teach Shizuka how to control her kekkai genkai, but it's difficult because of how young she is and how small her attention span is. Inoichi gave me some advice on how to take care of her, and him, his wife and daughter offered to help me whenever they can if I needed it. Hiruzen and Itachi also offered to help, even though they haven't taken care of a baby in a while and are busy mentoring, Hiruzen with Tsunade and Itachi with Sasuke. I only accept the help when I know they aren't occupied, and reassure them that it's alright if they aren't able to due to their busy schedules.
I have yet to tell Gaara about Shizuka, as well as Naruto and the Akatsuki. Naruto is traveling who knows where, and Gaara is trying to become Kazekage from what I last heard. Orochimaru's and Sasori's spies keep me updated if they concern me or someone I care about. At this rate, I'm going to have to let the Akatsuki members know next before going to see Gaara. I might have to just tell him when he has his ceremony, but I don't know how he'll react. The news might just ruin his day if I do tell him. I don't want that to happen, and our relationship ends up ruined again.
'Whee!' Shizuka squealed in delight. I sighed as I saw her spinning herself in the air, and pulled her into my arms before she accidentally dropped herself. My sigh deepened when she decided to levitate me with her and begin spinning me. I'm guessing she wanted me to have fun with her since she's laughing with joy. As I sensed my clones disappear after they were done with their jobs, Shizuka suddenly dropped me, causing me to fall upside down and hit my head. "Ah! That hurts!" I exclaimed, rolling onto my side and cradling my head as Shizuka giggled and tried crawling away, unaware of the injury she gave me. I squinted in pain as I looked at her, and activated my Rinnegan so I could speak to her. 'Shizuka-' I gasped as pain shot through my head, and I whimpered while curling into a tight ball and clutched my head. Shizuka has stopped moving, turning her head side to side as if trying to look for me. 'Mama? What's wrong? Where are you?' She asked in concern before crawling to her left, attempting to get to me. I groaned as I closed my eyes, beginning to feel nauseous and dizzy as my ears rang. "Shizuka....." I murmured, reaching out to her and trying to grope around the ground for her, but only felt air. As I opened my eyes a little again, I saw that I had my arm raised instead of near the floor.
Unable to respond to Shizuka's calls, she began to panic and cry, her voice echoing in my mind and possibly in other people's minds as well. I heard a frantic knock on the door, once, twice, before it was broken down. Kakashi and Inoichi rushed in, quickly taking in the scene before Kakashi rushed to me while Inoichi moved to pick up Shizuka. "Nariko? What's wrong? What happened?" Kakashi asked, and I scrunched my face up in pain and confusion. "What? What happened? What are you guys doing here?" I asked instead, and Kakashi and Inoichi shared worried looks with each other. "Kakashi, take Nariko to the hospital. I'll stay here and watch Shizuka." Inoichi told Kakashi. Kakashi nodded before picking me up and rushing out of the house.
Sometime later, the medics announced that I had gained a concussion, and once my confusion faded, I explained what had happened. The medics were able to heal me, but still suggested that I should rest for a few days. Kakashi took me home, and we found Inoichi trying to calm a still crying Shizuka, who was still calling for me. Kakashi grabbed my arm. "Nariko, I know you want to talk to your daughter, but the medics told you to rest. You shouldn't use your Rinnegan just yet." He warned me, and I gently removed his hand from me. "I know I shouldn't, but I have to. Also, the resting was just a suggestion, not a requirement." I told him before going to Inoichi and taking my distressed baby.
Shizuka immediately stopped crying, recognizing the feel of my body as I held her. I reactivated my Rinnegan, wincing a bit as I used Ningen to speak to her. 'Shizuka~. It's alright, darling, I'm here~.' I cooed in her mind. 'Mama, what happened? Where did you go?' She asked. I realized that she was afraid that I had abandoned her. As much as I didn't want to show her my memories of the accident, I knew that I had to in order to help her understand that I didn't mean to leave. I sighed before kissing her head, and sent my memories of this past hour into her mind.
Shizuka was still for a few seconds before she slowly started crying again. 'I'm sorry, Mama. I didn't mean to hurt you. I promise I won't use my powers again.' She whimpered, and I quickly tried to reassure her. 'No, sweetie. You don't have to stop using your powers. We just need to work on you getting better control over it. And when you're older, I'll teach you how to be a ninja like me so you can come to work with me and help me protect everyone.' I told her, and she sniffled before murmuring okay. I knew, though, that she was going to be cautious and timid about using her powers from now on.
I deactivated my Rinnegan, and sighed in relief now that the headache it was giving me was fading away. "Nariko, why don't I watch Shizuka for a while? You should get some rest." Inoichi offered. "I'll inform the T&I HQ and Hokage-sama that you'll be off duty for a while." Kakashi added. I sighed again before nodding. As I handed Shizuka over to Inoichi, Kakashi left the house. Shizuka has fallen asleep, so she won't be much trouble as I go take a nap on my bed. I snuggled into my blankets and pillows, humming softly before letting sleep take me.

A/N wow it's been a while since I've updated this. I saw the requests you guys made for me to make a new chapter, and your wishes have been granted. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

I'm still going to take a while to write more chapters because there are a couple of them that I need to think up before I transition this into the Boruto years. Like I mentioned before, I'm not gonna do Shippuden or any of the small arcs after it. I'm also going to take a while to update because I have multiple other stories that I have to update, both that are published stories and that I haven't published yet. That doesn't mean I'm abandoning any of the stories that I have on hold, it just means that I have a lot on my plate when it comes to writing in Wattpad. Add on my college classes, though it's only two, and it's still a little more than a handful. I'll try my best to keep up with the writing though, I promise. 😁👍