𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝙻𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚎r. (𝙶𝚊𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝚡 𝚘𝚌)

The Love of a Mother ( Chapter 48 )

The first few months took it's toll on the Kazekage, Leila had been given the trust to care for Gaara when her sister was not able to. Days went by with work that Gaara busied himself with, but nights...rage, and a protection jutsu was always put under Gaara, when he found his own way to cope. Leila would hide away when Gaara found his 'medicine', but she knew that he wasn't able to control the sand when he would put a jutsu on himself to make him inable to manipulate the sand. Whenever she would see Gaara put himself in that jutsu, Leila would quickly find a room deep in the mansion to keep herself away from the sound of glass smashed against the wall, Gaara growling at his rage for his past.

As the sun began to set, Leila found Gaara in his Work Room finishing up some minor paper work. Over the months, Leila had created a friendly bond with Gaara, "Would you like some supper, Lord Kazekage? If you'd like, I could make some curry for you."

"No."

"Oh..would you like something to eat then?" Leila offered, anything to may be keep one night where Gaara would not find happiness through his 'medicine'.

"No."

Leila watched him do the same handsign, then the sake kettle, along with a shot glass. It was going to happen again, when Gaara would be in a drunken rage just to get over the creeping lonliness that lingered through his soul. Gaara did not hesitate to pour the sweet, spicy liquid down his throat through the shot glass, though he plainly saw the concerned look on Leila's face. When he could feel numb to the world again, he understood why his wife was such a heavy drinker, the feeling of the sake swallow up the mind was intoxicating to the soul. The poison could make him see her again, to see Ura and the child he wouldn't see until they were 4 years old.

"Gaara-sama...please, not tonight, you're very tired and Kankurou doesn't want to see you like this again and-"

"Get out," Gaara sent an icy wave at Leila through one glare a her.

Biting her tongue lightly, Leila inched out of the Work Room, watching Gaara bring the shot of sake to his lips. She knew Ura would never allow Gaara to become this way, Leila quickly made her way outside to go be at Kankurou's apartment. Even the warm night air felt like a crippling pressure blanket, Leila didn't know what to do to Gaara's drinking anymore. As she stood outside Kankurou's door, she began to recount the many times she wished Ura was back.

"Leila, why are you here so late? Is something wrong with Gaara?" Kankurou asked as he opened his door.

"He's at it again tonight, and..well...can I stay here for the night?" Leila had a pleading look in her eyes, "I just want to get away from Gaara for the evening..."

"Yeah, sure, come in," Kankurou opened the door wider for Leila to walk in.

Leila sat on Kankurou's couch as he brought her a cup of tea, "So...how bad tonight? Is it all twenty or just fifthteen?"

"I don't know, as soon as he started I left the mansion... Kankurou, I really want Ura back home now, she would've made Gaara stop drinking so he could lecture her about not drinking... Why did he even start in the first place?" Leila asked as she blew on her tea.

Kankurou looked up at the ceiling of his apartment, when did Gaara start drinking anyways? Then it hit him, it was the week after Ura had left that Gaara found Ura's sake cantine and began sipping out of that, at first. Temari didn't notice because she was more concerned about her own marriage, but Kankurou could tell why Gaara was such in a mess now. Gaara was so used to having Ura around, so without Ura around to keep him constant company. In order to keep Gaara in knowing that he was wanted to live, he needed Ura around to reassure him on days he needed to know that.

"I guess after Ura left... He won't stop until she comes back, that'd be my guess," Kankurou shrugged, "Just stay here for the night and i'll have a talk with Gaara in the morning, if he's able to talk..."



****Ura****


"Well...that went terrible," Ura sat on top of her desk, another class of Genin had finally left her class.

"Hey, it could have gone worse," Lee commented as he wrote a few more jutsus on the chalkboard, "They remind me of the class Naruto and his team were all in after my own. Give them time, they will respect you as the best Sand Kunoichi in the Fire Country."

"Yeah, their nickname for me is 'sandy-sensei', and I had to throw a few hari at their worksheets when they began to draw a sand woman on their papers," Ura opened up a bottle of water, "I love Konoha, but i'm starting to hate their Genin."

"You were one too at one time," Lee pointed out as he pointed the chalk at her, "And you were probably just as misbehaving."

"Kankurou was, but I was the one who always followed without question," Ura sighed, "I miss being a Genin, life was so much easier just to follow orders and joke around with your teammates. Sometimes, I even miss seeing Baki not around anymore."

"I thought you hated your sensei," Lee commented as he sat next to Ura, "After how he treated you as a Genin, then when you became a Chunin he told you the real reason why you were on his team anyways. I do not think you could ever miss a guy like him."

Ura sighed, she was amazed too that she could ever miss Baki, "When he told me the only reason he allowed me to be a kunoichi was my Sharingan, I was pretty pissed. At one point I really did hate him and wished he would just die, but... If it wasn't for my Sharingan, I wouldn't be here right now when you think about it. So if I didn't have my Sharingan, Baki wouldn't choose me...in away, i'm thankful for both."

Both Lee and Ura stopped their conversation when they saw Sakura come into the classroom, her belly was as big and round as a human head. The kunoichi looked around the classroom, "This classroom holds many memories..."

"Good afternoon, Sakura, how are you?" Lee smiled at Sakura as she approached Lee and Ura.

"Tired, cranky, and i'd like to eat some dairy food but i'm already fat enough," Sakura leaned against the student's desk, "So, Ura, how was your class?"

"Don't make me talk about it..." Ura groaned as she headed for the door, "I just hope the next few years of this will go by easier..."

"Oh, Ura, before you go, Tenten will be needing your help taking care of the youngest kid. Could you help her while I take the other three out?" Lee asked to Ura.

"Yeah, yeah, go enjoy them," Ura left the two in the classroom.

Though she rarely noticed it, Ura was also getting a belly, just as big as Sakura was. Ura forgot sometimes because instead of her old fighting uniform, Ura wore a purple kimono to try and hide her pregnancy. She placed her hand on her womb, ony a few more months, then she could have her child.

Living with Lee and Tenten was a huge chore for Ura, every evening she would come home to see Tenten trying to keep her oldest child, age of 4, out of the pantry. The oldest's twin was the same age, and who was even a bigger mess to pick up after of. Ura's favorite was the third oldest, who was very quiet and kept to themself. But, the baby was more troublesome, always wailing about something. Ura helped Tenten as best as she could, also getting some potential training out of being a mother as well.

As she entered Tenten's home, the two oldest were screaming at the top of their lungs as Tenten struggled to prepare their snacks. Ura quickly began to help out by taking the baby out of Tenten's arms, helping the baby go to sleep through the screams of it's oldest siblings.

"I'm so sorry about this, Ura, i'm not a bad mother it's just the kids," Tenten rushed passed Ura and silenced her kids with food, "I don't mean to trouble you every evening with these chores."

"It's alright, Tenten, it's better that I help so I can know what to be prepared for when I have my own, plus help you out while Lee's busy," Ura smiled as she layed the baby down in it's play pen to sleep.

"I know it's bothersome, but as soon as they come of age they begin their academy training to become shinobi as well," Tenten had a hopeful look in her eyes as she began to prepare dinner so Lee could eat after he comes back, "So anyways, were your classes easier today?"

"No..they are a hard bunch of Genin," Ura groaned as she helped Tenten in the kitchen, "One decided they wanted to bring the class all the kunai they could find in their home. So, while i'm giving a lecture, my sand barrior goes up so when I turn around, there's a bunch of hari on my desk."

"I'm sorry to hear that, did you punish them?" Tenten asked as she chopped up a few carrots.

"No, from what my rules are about my section of teaching, at least to Naruto, i'm not permitted to punish the students. So I had Lee come in and punish them for me, he made them run 500 laps around the field," Ura answered while boiling up the water with a slight fire jutsu at the bottom of the pot.

The twins began to wail again, they had finished their snacks and were getting bored. Ura had the type of their screams down pat, she pulled out their teddy bears and their screams ceased right before the baby was about to awaken. Finishing up the supper, Tenten placed the meal in the fridge so when Lee comes home, they could all eat while the kids are asleep. As if on que, Lee walked in, retrieved three of his oldest children, then left for a walk to the park. Tenten let out a relieved sigh as she slumped in her kitchen chair, "Thank goodness they're gone for awhile, I thought I was going to collapse."

"I just pray I have just one child, and not four..." Ura slumped into the chair across from Tenten, "One's enough for me.."

"When you have your kid, you're welcome to leave them here for awhile, I don't mind baby-sitting for you," Tenten looked over at Ura with a compassionette look.

"Naw, you have enough kids to take care of, besides... While you have Lee, Sakura has Ino, and Naruto has Sasuke, i'd like to have my own little kid to hold in my arms," Ura held her stomach, "I hope I have a son.."

"Oh no, you don't want one of those, they're too hard to keep up with. You've seen my oldest, he's a huge hassle and a jealous little kid over all of his siblings," Tenten's eyes were wide, "Believe me, having a son is not the way to go."

"But i'd like a son who would follow his mother around all day and obey all of my orders...a child who's eyes would brighten when he saw his mother walk into the room to pick him up. And when they're older, they will still obey my wants and will protect his weak, old mother," Ura looked out the window, "A daughter would only follow in my footsteps and end up lonely for most of their young life. I want my son to be adored by all the girls, but he'll have whatever I choose."

"Possessive aren't you?" Tenten had a sweat drop at Ura's expectations, "Be realistic, children are supposed to be who they are, we're just here to make sure they find what's best for them. Besides, the only reason we have kids is because when they're older, they can help clean the house."



***A Few Months Later***



"Get her to the hospital now!" Naruto had picked up the laborous woman as Sasuke had people move out of the way towards the hospital.

As soon as Naruto kicked the doors open, he then looked around to see all the doctors busy, leaving only nurses surrounding him. He then found one and handed Ura to them, "She's in labor, get her into a room now!!"

Soon, Sakura had entered in Ino's arms, she too was giving labor at the same time as Ura! Sasuke helped Sakura to another room as Naruto followed the stretcher that took Ura to a seperate room. Nurses and a few doctors swarmed into the room, Naruto was in the back, trying to see what was going on. Then, Lee had burst in, along with Tenten, but both were shoved back to the back of the room with Naruto.

"What did we miss?" Tenten looked over at Naruto, "How long has she been in labor?"

"She just started, and you didn't miss anything," Naruto answered as he pulled up a seat, "I guess we'll be here for awhile."

Time passed, Ura wasn't screaming, but Tenten and Lee were by her sides, telling her to push and breathe. Naruto was at the end with the other doctors, waiting for a sign that the baby was ready to come out. Through some minutes, Sasuke and Naruto had switched places to visit both friends, along with Lee. Tenten remained by Ura's side, holding her hand as Ura squeezed as hard as she could to release her pain and frustration to why her child was not coming out yet.

A few more hours passed, the doctors were giving Ura a break to rest before she would collapse. Tenten wiped the sweat off of Ura's face, "You're almost done...just a few more hours of breathing and pushing then you'll have your kid."

"Where...are yours?" Ura looked exhausted as she turned to Tenten.

"I had Guy-sensei watch them for awhile while i'm here," Tenten made a triumphet smile at Ura, "So they won't be screaming in here, especially when you're like this."

Ura looked back up at the ceiling, a few tears ran down her face, "I want Gaara to be here... His mother died while giving birth to him, and... I don't want my child to be alone to end up like Gaara had to go through for most of his childhood life. I shouldn't be here..I should be in my village giving birth with my family by my side...I don't want to die..."

"You won't die, the doctors do say that there is something wrong-"

"What!? What's wrong with my baby?" Ura's eyes shot open to Tenten, "What is wrong with my child!?"

"They just say that it has the characteristics that Naruto had when they were having him come out of his mother's womb. From what i've heard, they saw the sign of Shukaku.." Tenten looked away from Ura, "And...i'm sorry."

"What?...is it me or my child?" Ura was so worried about her child surviving or not, "Tell me, Tenten, i'm the mother, tell me!"

"They think you may not be alive when you give birth, the Shukaku spirit is too powerful for anyone to handle," Tenten's eyes watered up, "I promise..that if you don't...i'll send them to Gaara personally."

So many thoughts entered through Ura's mind, the shock of not being there for her child had ultimately frightened Ura to high heavens. Leaving Gaara to raise their child alone, of all things she had sworn was to never leave Gaara alone in his life again. Her eyes were filled with fright, everything seemed to just go to complete silence, all that Ura could see were the doctors swarming in taking her to another room that said 'Emergency Surgery'. When she turned her head to the side, she had seen Tenten trying to hold back her tears, but failed. Ura turned back up to the ceiling, she was giving birth to Shukaku...Shukaku...the demon that had been the reason why Gaara was so alone.

"Get the anestiegsia in her! Stat! Get me a the vital signs of both mother and child now!"

"Her blood pressure is higher than normal, and the child seems to be squirming too much for her tube to handle! It'll rip open and cause fatal internal bleeding!"

"Hurry, get the towls, I think it's going to come out!"

"Stay with us now, Ura, don't give into anything, you're just going to sleep for awhile."

Darkness engulfed her as the light began to fade, she felt like she was falling to a dream that she would never wake up from. Shukaku appeared in front of her, the last time she ever saw Shukaku was when Gaara was fighting Naruto, but that was it.

'How dare you take over my child...' Ura glared at the beast, "I'll just have Naruto take you out as well, you're not going to harm my child..."

The beast didn't answer back, then the image of Gaara appeared in front of her, his arms crossed. Then, the next image of Gaara was one that had especially scared Ura, the one with Gaara drinking sake while in a fit of rage.

'No..that's not my Gaara, he doesn't drink,' Ura eyed the image carefully, 'He wouldn't drink ever...'

A huge pain went into her womb, she could feel Shukaku wreak havoc within her, in her child. She held her knees against her chest as the pain increased to where she felt she could die at any moment. Ura shut her eyes tightly, tears dripping down her eyes to her knees, how the pain felt like a boulder exiting through her womanhood. Of all times she didn't want to die was now, Ura had come so far and had high hopes of having her child with Gaara, and now was not the time she would give in.

'GET OUT OF ME, SHUKAKU YOU DAMN MONSTER! I WILL NOT LET YOU CLAIM MY LIFE, I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU, I WILL NEVER DIE IN ANYONE'S HANDS!' Ura screamed as loud as she could to make sure her spirit knew that.



***Lee and Tenten***



Waiting was even harder than watching Ura in pain while pushing as hard as she could. Lee kept his eyes right on the operating doors, waiting for one of the doctors to come out and tell them the knews. Tenten, however, was trying to keep her mind off the image of Ura's corpse on the operating table by picking at her nails. Then, Lee jumped up when one of the doctors slowly came out of the door, approaching Lee and Tenten.

"How is Ura? Is she ok? What about her child?" Lee asked persistantly.

"Her son is a healthy baby boy, though there are dark circles on his eyes, like a racoons, is a suspection that he did not sleep while in her womb. But...Ura is barely alive, we believe that she will not make the night, or if that," the doctor had a sorrowful face on, "Her son is being watched carefully to see if his vitals signs change, but besides that he's perfectly fine."

"Can we see her?" Tenten urgently asked, "I want to see her!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, Ura is suffering heavily from internal bleeding, and it's best to keep her calm so she can retain her blood," the doctor answered, then noticed the Hokage come over, "Lord Hokage, Ura's-"

"I heard, I heard, but i'm seeing Ura whether you like it or not, pal," Naruto shoved passed the doctor and headed down the operating hallway.

He looked in every room until he found Ura, still awake, breathing heavily, and just looking...like a dying corpse, suffering. Naruto was in horror seeing his friend in that state, but with a gulp, he walked into the room and stood by her bedside, "Hey there," he whispered.

Ura barely moved her head to him, only her eyes darted to Naruto's trying-to-be-happy-for-you face, "Hey...how's...Osamu..?"

"Osamu? Oh, he's healthy, the doctor was saying he was in perfect condition for a baby," Naruto whispered with a cheery smile, but his eyes were filled with concern.

Naruto had never seen Ura so weak before, all the times he had seen her defiant and ready for anything to come her way. Now...seeing her near death, Naruto didn't know how to react to her at all. Ura noticed Naruto's silence, then looked at the door, "Don't worry....i'll be walking...out those doors...soon enough. Death has nothing..on me."

Even though she could be dead within minutes, Ura's sense of defiance always seemed to shine through. Naruto then looked at Ura's body thuroughly, how damaged and bruised it was from the needles and patches that the doctors and put on and pulled off on her. He took a deep breath, then asked, "When...do you want me to get Osamu to...Gaara?"

Ura directed her gaze back to Naruto, she couldn't believe he didn't have faith in her to survive. She smirked as she continued her labored breathing, "Silly Naruto...i'm going to take Osamu back...myself."

"Ura, the doctors say you have the highest risk of probably not making the night. There is very little chance you will live to see tomorrow," tears formed in Naruto's eyes, "Though I usually don't believe in doctors, I...I believe them this time."

"Then...you're an idiot.." Ura's eyes angled themselves into an irritated position, "I will...just you wait... Nothing..can stop me..."