“Mom, I would want you to stay with Kiyoko until I’m back,” Kakashi said as he put things into his backpack. I watched him get his things together quickly, as I sat on the couch.
Ryuu’s predictions were right. And Master Jiraiya was right as well. The Akatsuki finally made their move, and they’ve somehow managed to capture the one tails, the Kazekage. They were coming after all of us, one by one. I felt light headed the moment Kakashi told me the news. Naruto would be targeted, and who knows perhaps I might be as well. No one knows if the Akatsuki know of my identity of not.
“Lady Tsunade will have your father be with you, while I’m away. He’ll be here soon.” Kakashi took my hands and gave them a squeeze. He kissed me quickly. He didn’t say everything was going to be okay, because things were only going to start getting worse. This situations, these feelings, it must have been what my mom felt too.
“Be safe,” I said as I watched him go out the door. Ume came to sit next to me, she didn’t have very much to say either. She gave me a brave smile and squeezed my knee. This was the worst time for the world to come undone. I could feel it in my gut, things were going to get worse. The world was going to become unbalanced.
“What are we going to do?” I whispered to myself.
“What do you mean?” Ume asked. I shook my head. Nothing. there was nothing we could. All we can do is pray and hope everything goes right.
We ate lunch together in silence, there was nothing I wanted to talk about. My head was filled with worry. I hope Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura have a safe mission. My father came in hurry as Ume and I washed the dishes.
“Dad,” I said. He looked sweaty and tired. He must be exhausted from the mission.
“Lady Hokage told me everything. We’ll be fine, I know we are going to be fine,” he said out of habit. I knew he had a hard time believing it himself. He only said that to lessen the worry in me, but it didn’t relieve me very much. I was glad for one thing that, he was here with me. He won’t be out in danger, I just worried about Kakashi for now.
Ume went to her house to grab a few herbs from her garden that she said would help me. She was afraid all this fear and stress wouldn’t be good for the baby. Maybe she is right, but I don’t know how to calm myself. How can I think everything will be alright, if it's clear that everything won’t be “okay.”
“They are using a very frontal tactic. The Akatsuki made it clear that they wanted everyone to know they were back. That must be the only reason why they would attack the Kazekage.”
“I don’t think that is all they wanted to do. They really attacked the kazekage. They won’t stop there. Soon enough they are going to come for all of the jinchuuriki.”
“If they do, you don’t have to worry. Kakashi, Lady Tsunade, me, and every ninja in the village will protect you. Nothing will harm you, we’ll fight for what is right. Good always wins over evil,” my father patted my head. HIs words put me to rest for the day. He was right, we protect one another. I’m positive when the day comes, the village will protect me.
Ume brought over knitting utensils so I can pass the time. I’ve tried sewing with Eri but it didn’t work out. I think I won’t be able to do things like that, but there was something I wanted to make my baby. A blanket, just like my mother made for me.
Ume brought pink and blue yarn. Unlike my mom I had no idea or sense of the gender. I’ll make two just in case. If its a girl than I can give it away to someone, and if its a boy than I can give it to Eri. Ume showed me the correct way to hold the needles and the way to knit the yarn into patterns. It was a lot of concentration, but I was set on making this blanket.
My father came back from showering from his house with his hands full. He brought over the crib that he made for me a long time ago.
“It was only getting dusty again at the house. You’ll put it to use in no time. Nine months pass a lot faster than you think.”
He put the crib in the spare room. It looked so out of place. I’m sure once I go later in the pregnancy than this room will look more like a nursery. I wanted to decorate it with beautiful decorations and toys. I wanted my child to have a childhood that I didn’t have. Everything was going to be better for him/her. I promise it will.
Ume, my father and I walked around the village in the early evening. I actually started the blanket nicely. I think Ume is a much better teacher than Eri but of course I didn’t tell either of them that. I was excited to see the end product, I’ll knit everyday. When he/she is born I want to wrap them around in the blanket I made.
We walked through the marketplace, just looking at a few things that I might need in the future.
“Kiyoko!” I heard someone call my name. I turned around the see Hinata walking towards us. She had a few bags in her hands.
“Hinata, I haven’t seen you very often. Is Lady Tsunade sending you out on missions too?”
“Yes. I’m about to go one right now. The Kazekage has been-”
“Yes, we know. Make sure you’re safe,” I said at her. So Guy’s team is also going to be dispatched.
“Kiyoko, you’re... you’re” she faded out, but I saw her eyes look down to my stomach. How was she able to sense it. It must be the byakugan.
“Yes, but shhhh. It’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone,” I said. She nodded and smiled.
“I found it odd that Lady Tsunade didn’t send you out too the missions. That must be the reason why. Well I have to go, please take care. Goodbye.” She said and left like the wind. Those eyes of her’s really did see everything. I wonder how everyone will react when they find out about this little child inside of me.
There wasn’t a moment in the long days that I didn’t think about Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto. At night, Ume would sleep besides me instead of Kakashi. She was warm, but not as warm as Kakashi. My father slept in the living room. I could hear his snores through the closed bedroom door.
“Are you not going to sleep?” Ume whispered next to me. I looked at her, she wasn’t asleep either.
“I can’t.” I said. Ume turned on her side to face me. With her being so closed I noticed the years of worry in the lines on her face.
“It’s a new chapter for you Kiyoko. You’ll get used to sleeping with a heavy heart. It’ll get easier though, because you’ll have someone else to think about. Trust me, I know exactly how you feel,” She said with a small smile.
“How did you manage to sleep?” I asked her.
“I didn’t. I used to stay up late reading, or knitting. Other times I had friends stay with me. Having Kakashi kept me busy and preoccupied. Taking care of a child is a lot of work, so time went quickly. When I really got lonely I sang to Kakashi, watching him sleep besides me made me feel calm. I also believed in Sakumo, he was a powerful ninja. I trusted his skills and his intelligence to not get into messy situations. Kakashi will come home, don’t worry about it.”
I tried to think about her words. He was smart, but he loved his comrades, I don’t know what he would do to keep them safe.That part of him scared me and worried me.
I sighed in the darkness. I found myself looking at the black ceiling. Ume tried to stay with me, but she ended up falling asleep soon after our small chat.She did know what I was feeling, but not entirely. When she was younger there wasn’t an insane organization out for jinchuurikis. She wasn’t a jinchuuriki. I am.
Ume doesn’t know the fear I have for this world. I don’t know who else could understand me. I wish my mother was still here to comfort me. She understands, she was a jinchuuriki, and she was pregnant. She felt the world coming undone. It was too warm for me under the blankets and it was useless to just thrash and turn in bed.
I walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The Leaf Village was silent and dark, resting. I wish I was like the village.
“You can’t sleep?”
“Ume asked me that too. I’ll get used to it, I’ll have to,” I told my father. He nodded as though he understood.
“What would my mom do while she was pregnant and you were away on missions?” I asked him. He and I saw in the kitchen table, he had a glass of water before he went to grab a book from his bag. He flipped a few page before grabbing a piece of paper in it. It was a picture of my mom, pregnant.
She was smiling so brightly, with her hand on her stomach and her family around her. It looked like a baby shower.
“I keep pictures around, it reminds me of the time when everything was perfect. Your mother would usually spend her days with her family. She would play with her niece and nephews at her parent’s house. She loved reading. Before any mission I would have to accompany her to the library ad carry mountains of books to the house. They weighed tons to me. She liked to paint too, but she wasn’t very.... gifted at it. I remember a time when she was painting a landscape to hang in the nursery. It didn’t look very natural to say, but she enjoyed it.”
“She had a lot of hobbies.” If only I had the opportunity to see her do all those things. I would have loved painting with her. We could have read series of books together and talk about the amazing plot. I could have taught her how to cook some of my favorite dishes. I would have memories of her from my childhood. If only she was alive.
“Don't worry about things too much. We’ll protect you two.”
“I wish I wasn't. You know I trained so hard for so long to fulfill this prophecy I was given. I mastered wood style, sage mode, and to some extent beast mode. I feel like I'm letting everyone down. I want to save everyone from the future. I can feel it in me dad, the world is going out of balance and the ones who are leading everything are the Akatsuki. If somehow they get their hands on all of the tailed beasts, then it's over,” I said.
My dad took me in his arms, which gave me some relief.
“But they won't get all the tailed beasts. No one is going to know you have a tailed beast inside of you.” He smoothed my hair with affection. I have to believe he knows everything, he's my dad. I managed to fall asleep in the living room. My father laid on the floor near the couch, his hand held mine the tire night. It was the only way I rested that night.
Things did get a bit easier for the next couple days. It would take at least three days to get to the Sand Village and three days to get back. I couldn’t even contact Kakashi, I had no way of knowing what was happening.
Lady Tsunade was too busy too have me in her office. She was getting things ready for any attack that might come to the Leaf Village. My father and Ume spent their time with me. Eri came by often too. I didn’t mind at all, there were times, like taking care of Rin, that kept my mind off of things for a bit.
It was about eight days already since they left, they should be getting home any day now. I have noticed that every day that passes my chakra sensing abilities have been dulling. I can no longer sense chakra miles away, like I used to. It was strange but some of my ninja senses were becoming numb. It must be because of the pregnancy.
“Kiyoko,” my father had come back from getting something from his house.
“Kakashi and Guy’s teams are back.” When those words came out of his mouth I was running to out my shoes on.
“Kakashi, he’s in the hospital right now,” he said with some sorrow in his eyes. I felt my heart drop.
“Is- is he okay?” I asked. If he wasn’t....
“I’m not sure, I haven’t gone to see him myself. Let’s go together,” he said. With shaky hands I was able to buckle my shoes on and quickly walk to the hospital. It seemed so far away, which gave me time to only think about horrible situations. I felt that it must be my fault somehow that he was in the hospital. I wanted to be able to fight with them, but I can’t. I can’t do everything I want to now. Along the way my father told me over and over again that he was fine, but he doesn’t know that and neither do I.
I asked for Kakashi Hatake at the front office, and they directed me to his room. I can hear other voices inside his room. More than one, if he was in critical condition than they wouldn’t let so many people in his room. I opened the door to see Guy’s squad and Naruto and Sakura in his room. Kakashi was laying in bed, conscious. I sighed in relief.
“Kiyoko.” Sakura and Naruto said. I smiled, finally with happiness that they looked safe and uninjured.
“I’m so glad that you guys are safe. I’ve been so worried,” I said as I walked closer to them. Kakashi looked exhausted.
“We’ll leave so Kakashi can rest,” Sakura said as she pushed everyone out the room. My father went to wait outside too.
“Are you okay Kakashi?” I asked as I got closer to him. He took his hands in mine.
“I just used one jutsu to many. I’ll be bedridden for a week though.”
“I’m so glad you’re not hurt any worse,” I took a deep breath. It felt like forever since I could take a deep breath. I wanted to know how everything went, but I didn't want to talk about that right now.
“You look like you haven’t slept in days, you should sleep,” Kakashi said as he took my cheek in his palm. I nodded, there wasn’t a point in lying to him. I couldn’t sleep very well.He gave me a weak smile and patted the mattress near him.
[Reviews - 130]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: Sorry for the long wait, but I don't have very much time on my plate. Enjoy the chapter!! Love you guys!!
Chapter end notes: Thanks for reading!! Let me know what you guys think!!