Mate of the Sand (Gaara's Neko sequel)

Mate of the Sand Chapter 28

Alright, so... there's only going to be one kid, human, girl.  That's what I've come up with so far.  Another timeskip because I'm lazy and eager for it to be over with.

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It's been another month.

Gaara insists that I stay home now.

Over the past month, I've been buying a few things for the child.

I won't bore you with the details, just normal baby stuff.

There's a lot of talk in Suna.

Nai keeps me up to date.

He says that most of the people are talking about me.

There are a lot of rumors.

Maybe I died.

Maybe I got sick.

Maybe he decided to divorce me and I left.

No one thinks about the fact that there could be a baby.

At least, no one says it out loud.

I'm alone right now.

Well, not completely.

Shikaku has some sand following me.

It sweeps after me from room to room.

Gaara says it's to protect me.

I'd say it's to give him peace of mind.

But it's sweet, so I just grin softly.

Matsuri came over recently.

She came when no one else was here, she wanted to talk to me.

When she walked inside, she looked smug.

That put me on edge.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

I shut the door behind her softly.

"Fine. Just fine."

She walks past me to the living room.

"People have noticed you've disappeared."

I nod.

"Yeah. I know."

She chuckles softly.

"I just wanted to make sure you were still alive."

I frown.

"Why?"

She turns, raising an eyebrow.

"Hmm?"

I place a hand on my hip.

"You hate me. Why do you care that I'm still alive?"

She grins softly.

"Maybe I'm just happy for Gaara. Maybe I don't hate you as much as you think."

I raise my eyebrows, she sighs.

"Things are gonna get a whole lot worse for you. And I wanna make sure you don't miss it."

That's more like the Matsuri I know.

"How do you know?"

She smirks deviously.

"You're not human. You don't know our ways. I do. I can see them, use them. Against you."

One hand reaches out to touch my stomach.

"Your child. She's going to destroy things for you. It was bound to happen, after all."

As much as I'd like to get angry, she's right.

It's been a ticking time bomb since I got back.

"Why did you tell me this?"

Her smirk grows even more sinister.

"I want you to wait for it. You're going to wish it had started, and then that it never had."

She wants the wait to make me suffer, make the whole thing that much worse.

"What did I do to you? To make you hate me so much."

She takes her hand away from my stomach and steps toward the door.

"You stole Gaara from me. But it isn't me you need to watch out for. You have other enemies."

My mother.

Any bounty hunters.

People against nekos in general.

I don't have many people on my side.

Her coming was a wake up call.

She's reminded me to stay on my toes.

I've been getting too relaxed.

I need to remember that the majority of the world is against me.

There is ten people I can trust.

On'na, Ichiji, Nai, Gaara, Ko, Temari, Kankuro, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji.

If that.

Can I trust them?

Yes, I have to.

No one can live without anyone to trust.

Everyone feels safe with someone, or they drive themselves crazy.

So I trust them.

Because I have to.

Does that really count?