I brushed the stray leaves away from the top of the slab of stone, placing down a bouquet of yellow roses. I crouched down, staring at the tombstone in front of me, smiling a little. "Neji, it's me, Komo."

I sat down on the cold ground, crossing my legs. "How have you been? I'm sure it's kind of lonely there, so I brought you the newspaper. Hopefully you'll find something interesting in them." I set the rolled up bunch of papers next to the bouquet. "It's been a while since we've talked, huh. I think the last time I came was probably when Jun won his award for art. Now that I think about it, that was about six years ago…"

I fiddled with my fingers, letting the wind blow my hair. "I gave birth to a daughter, and coincidentally, she was born on the same day you were! So I named her Fukahi because you always had something to talk about regarding unavoidable situations." I laughed to myself, "That was cheesy, wasn't it? Anyway, I just came to say hi. Everything in my life has been going well. I'll be seeing my parents this weekend so they can see their grand-daughter."

I stood up, brushing the dirt off my pants, looking at Neji's grave once more. "I miss you. I'll talk to you again, so don't worry because I haven't forgotten you!"

"Aniki!" Fukahi chased her teenage brother around the house, Jun trying to avoid her hugs.

"Jun, just hold her." I sighed, cooking up their lunches for school. "She just wants to be held."

Jun sighed, brown hair falling into his eyes as he picked up his little sister. "Fukahi, you're such a little squirt." The black-haired child clapped her hands on his cheeks, squishing them.

I smiled at them, Itachi coming into the kitchen to sweep Fukahi out of Jun's arm's, the little girl squealing in delight. "Papa!" Itachi smiled, our daughter clinging on to his neck, leaving a wet kiss on his cheek. "G'morning!"

"Good morning, Fuka." Itachi walked towards me, still holding Fukahi. "Good morning, my love." He murmured, pecking me on my lips. "Good morning, Jun." He then took a seat at the table, setting Fukahi on his lap. "Show me what you remember from yesterday at school, Fuka, Jun." Jun sat across from him at the table, the three of the chattering away about what they did at school. I grinned to myself, thinking how fortunate I was to be blessed with such a great family.

Itachi did not look a day older than thirty, but he was already thirty-nine. His hair was still long (I trimmed it for him from time to time), and was braided loosely, a couple of strands of grey hair lacing through his black curtain. He was wearing a suit in a muted gray colour scheme, reading glasses sitting at the end of his nose bridge. Still the classiest man I know alive.

I finished up cooking, setting everyone's breakfast on the table with their respective bentou's in front of them as well. "Thanks, Mama." Jun smiled at me, and I ruffled his hair. "Stop that! I'm not six anymore, you know!"

"I know you're in college right now, but I'll always remember you as that puny six year-old who called me ugly." I laughed, Itachi's eyes twinkling at us. "Say, are there any nice girls?" Jun's face turned beet red, and I could see the steam come out of his ears.

"N-No!"

"So there are!" I gave him a noogie, Jun struggling to get out of my grasp. "Tell me her name! Do I know her parents? Does she live in this neighbourhood?"

"Komo…" Itachi looked apologetic towards his son. "Let him go…"

I let go of the poor boy, Jun massaging his head. "Hoshigaki… Amemi…" His voice was quiet, but a mother knows and hears everything.

I locked eyes with Itachi, and he had the weirdest expression on his face. "Kisame's daughter?" Even Itachi was just as surprised as I was when those words left his mouth. Images of an olive-skinned girl with vibrant blue eyes hidden behind thick black frames, and pale blue hair popped into my head.

"Well, what do you see in her? Share with me, Jun." I smiled softly, the boy eating again.

Jun swallowed, thinking about it for a moment. "She's kind of like me. She got adopted by Kisame-occhan when she was younger, and we met around the time we both got into our art high school and we've been friends ever since…" He trailed off, trying to collect his thoughts. "And I guess we got closer over the summer when we worked together at the arts camp…" Hearing those words coming from Jun's mouth was strange. Never in my life have I seen Kisame as anything but a sharky colleague, best friend of my husband. though he wasn't married, he already had a daughter, and to me, that was the best feat Kisame could offer.

"Go after her." Jun and I both looked up, staring at Itachi, sporting the same reaction. Our jaws dropped, making an o-shape. "If you like her, you should at least try to pursue her before you let her go."

"Otou-san…" It was rare that Itachi blatantly gave his approval to something. "You're right. I'll try my best!" Jun seemed to be firing up, his eyes full of determination.

I clapped my son on the back, chuckling. "Jun is finally growing up!"

"Ow, Mama, that hurt!"

I grinned, rubbing his back in a soothing to ease his pain. "Alright, go to school before you become late Jun."

Jun nodded, taking his bentou with him. "I'll see you guys later. Bye, Fuka." His sister kissed him on the cheek, Jun beaming at her.

"Be safe, Jun. I love you." I gave Jun a hug before he left the house.

I looked over at Itachi who seemed to be enjoying himself as he was teaching Fukahi how to read something. "So I'm going to assume you're driving her to school today, huh."

I grinned when Itachi looked up, slightly caught in his moment. His cheeks were tinged with pink, "If that's alright with you."

"Of course it is! I have to meet up with Deidara anyway. Besides," I threw him a smirk. "She enjoys riding in the car with you more anyway. Such a Daddy's little girl already!" I tsk-ed at my husband, a low chuckling leaving his mouth.

"I can't help it. She's basically the essence of you in a small package." He looked down at her, completely absorbed in our daughter.

"Go drive her to school before you make her late already!" I laughed, Itachi finally getting up with Fukahi in his arms.

"Mama, Papa is never late!" Fukahi furrowed her eyebrows. She looked pretty much like her father, except she had my eyes and I guess my personality.

I lightly pinched her nose. "Mama knows, but let's keep it that way."

"Hun, you can still have sex?" Deidara questioned, pointing a spoon at me. Of course he'd ask that. "That's a feat in itself, un."

I blushed, trying to quiet the blonde down. "Not so loud, Deidara!" His café was busier than usual, hustling and bustling with college students. "I mean, I guess we try to, but having kids and work, it's quite hard."

"That's the only thing I can agree with you, un."

I chuckled. "Sasori's taking care of her today?"

Deidara nodded. "He insisted. I swear, he's more of a girl than me, un." Deidara pushed a new cup of coffee towards me. "Ever since she came into our lives, all he's been doing is making sure she's not crying. I love the man to death, but he's always so worried about her, un."

"Hey, she was born prematurely, let the man spoil someone other than you!" I laughed, Deidara throwing a sugar cube at me. "What's her name again?"

"Shifuku."

I smiled. "You two really are at bliss, huh. That's a beautiful name."

Deidara smiled genuinely at me. "Thanks. How's your family?"

I smiled, leaning a hand on my cheek. I sighed dreamily, "So perfect, Deidara. I don't think I could have it any other way."

"I still remember the day you said you weren't going to fall in love with him. And now look at you after all this shit happened, un." Deidara snorted, pushing another plate of food towards me.

I sat up straight, suddenly remembering something. "Oh yeah! Hachi gave us a phone call at the offices a couple of days ago."

Deidara rose an eyebrow. "What did she say, un?"

"Well," I took a bite out of the croissant on my plate. "She told us she was finally deemed socially appropriate so they let her out of her psychiatric ward, but she has this counsellor who's by her side all the time anyway." I swallowed the buttery goodness. "She asked about Jun-"

"And what did she ask, un?"

"She asked if she could see him, of course. I haven't told Jun yet, but I'll let him decide what he wants to do since he's eighteen now." I shrugged.

"Can you believe it, un? He's eighteen…"

I chuckled to myself. "That means I've known Itachi for eleven years only… It feels like I've known him throughout my entire life."

Deidara snickered, "Maybe you did, Komo, un."

I shook my head. "Nah, no way. Why would he be at an orphanage anyway, when he had parents?"

"Hah, that's true, un."

I had laid down on the grassy hill, that one hill no one dared go to because it was the farthest away from the playing ground, and was on the verge of being out-of-boundaries. There was this one tree that had a really contorted looking trunk and gave the image of a ghost. I didn't mind, though, I mean, it's not like the treat could eat me up.

I stared up into the leaves, the sun shining through them brightly, but the leaves provided enough shade to act like my sunglasses for the moment. The cicadas sang gracefully, and there was also a gentle breeze cupping around my ears. Everything was perfect, till something, well more like someone, broke the silence.

"Komorebi…"

I sat up abruptly, looking around for the voice that called out my name. I looked behind the tree, at the iron fence that the orphanage was surrounded by. I spotted a boy with raven-black hair leaning against the fence, looking upwards at the same scene I was looking at. "Who are you?" I asked, peering from behind the tree.

He turned around and my breath hitched in my throat. A beautiful boy stood before me, black eyes unblinking. "I could ask you the same."

I scratched my head, not knowing what to say.

"The sun that shines through the leaves has a word. It's called-"

I smiled, interrupting him, "Komorebi!"

Final A/N:

I'm so sad this is coming to an end, but I also feel really proud of myself for finishing my first story ever! I've written many unpublished one-shots, and I've also written a short story when I took a creative-writing course, but nothing like a Fanfiction! I am so, so, so thankful for all the nice comments of I've received and all the interactions I've been getting with everyone here! I would like to specially thank all of those who I have replied to in my previous Author Notes because you guys really made me feel like I was going in the right direction with my story, even though I rely heavily on gut and experience while I write. Thank you all!

As for future plans, I will probably be publishing a song-inspired one-shot by the end of the week, but hopefully within the next few days. I also do want to start another story, but I have yet to fully map it out, so it might take some time before I can cough it up. I suggest following me so you can get updated when I do publish something because I don't have a definite timeline yet!

I would also like to source that the art for the cover is by Sakimi chan (you can find her anywhere if you google her, but mainly on Tumblr, Deviantart and Facebook). She does wonderful real-life portraits of your favourite anime characters and I always see her at the anime conventions. God, isn't he beautiful?

I thank you all again!

Final Replies:

Mina'sMadness: I think we all read in the middle of the night haha! It's when I get the most inspired to write something crazy! I find all the good fanfictions before bed and I end up not sleeping till late (early!) because I wanna finish reading it! I thought it fit perfectly with her too, didn't it? Those pictures Neji existed, but he never really meant to hurt her with them. He wouldn't publish them out of spite because he cared about her way too much, even if it didn't seem like it. He disposed of them as soon as Komo transferred to his corporation. Hope that answers your question! Send me more if I you still have some!

Wonderfantasy: Me too! I can't believe I finished in a month! I hope you can look forward to my future works then!