"Mamma!" Atsuko yelled in delight after he jumped the last five steps into his mother's arms, the hood falling back and Koyuki smiling.

"Hello Atsuko." she said with a smile and kissed his forehead.

"Welcome home Koyuki." Kankuro said.

"Thanks."

"How was the mission?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Bloody...like any other anbu mission." she placed Atsuko on the ground and he wrapped an arm around her leg with teddy bear in hand. "Where's Gaara and Temari?"

"Temari is making dinner and Gaara is still in the Kazekage building."

"Busy as always I guess." She took off her cloak and sand fell on the ground and a bit on Atsuko. "That sandstorm outside is worse than the rain back in konoha."

"True, at least water dries off, while sand gets everywhere."

"Well, I go used to it." she said and shook her silver hair of any sand that could be in it. Her hair had started turning silver six months after Atsuko was born and didn't turn completely silver until she had gone on a mission that had almost ended her life and what had saved her was her friend Mika and the momentarily loss of control over the curse mark. Now her hair was past her waist and closer to her knees.

"I'll go take a shower while dinner's being prepared and come down when it's ready."

"Alright. I'll go tell Temari you're back."

"Mommy can I come with you?" he asked.

"Okay Atsuko." she smiled and picked him up as they went up the stairs. It turned out Atsuko needed a shower as well when she had realized he was dirty from playing outside before the storm had begun and made him take a bath too. Now she was in her bathrobe and drying her son's hair after placing him in a grey t-shirt and black pants.

"Mommy can I brush your hair?" he asked as she placed the towel on the rack. Her hair was now almost dry and she smiled at him again.

"Alright just let me get dressed." She threw on a baggy red-shirt and white shorts before giving him a brush and sitting him on her bed and she laid on her stomach next to him. For some reason ever since her son could speak in full sentences which had been three months ago he had asked if he could brush her hair. She had asked once but he never told her, he would only smile and ask again with puppy dog eyes she couldn't refuse. As he brushed her hair it was silent until she turned her head to look at him.

"Atsuko, can you tell mommy something?" she asked him and he stopped brushing her hair. "And please tell me the truth."

Atsuko was silent until he looked around as if afraid he would be heard.

"Promise you no get mad?"

"I promise." he fidgeted with the brush as he told her.

"daddy Mika..." Koyuki bit her lip at Mika's name and tried not to let a tear slide down her cheek. "He say my real daddy...love you hair."

She closed her eyes. Along time ago she had once told Mika how Sasuke had a thing for girls with long hair.

Then why don't you cut it? he had asked.

I grew attached to it and it's the only reminder of why I grew it and to not forget my goal. she had answered. And to tell you the truth, he always had a habit of twirling it through his fingers when he thought I was asleep.

"Mika told you that?" Atsuko nodded.

"He say to keep mommy's hair pretty. And he made me not say...some else."

"And what was that?" she asked now on the verge of tears.

"He love it too." Koyuki's eyes widened and a stream of tears fell down to which Atsuko placed his hands on his mother's cheeks.

"Mommy don't be sad."

"I'm not sad darling...I'm happy." she said as she sat up and kissed his forehead. "Now lets go eat."

"You needed to speak with me Gaara?" Koyuki as she closed the door to his study and sat on a chair facing him. Gaara nodded as he placed down his book. Koyuki had just finished placing Atsuko to bed when Kankuro had told her Gaara was back and he needed to see her in his study.

"Yes. Tomorrow Temari will be going to Konoha as our representative and help with the preparations for the upcoming chunnin exams. Koyuki's stomach flip over and she felt a cold chill down her spine.

"And you need me how?" she asked hesitantly and Gaara gazed at her intently.

"I want you to go back to Konoha."

Koyuki paled and her blood ran cold. Back to Konoha, back to the memories and past she had almost forgotten about.

"I will do no such thing." she glared.

"I know you needed to heal and yes you didn't just sit around and mope in a corner but actually kept to you ninja duties after having Atsuko...but it's not enough. Konoha is your true home and you need to face the past."

"Gaara-"

"As the Kazekage I am ordering you to obey me." he said sternly but then his look softened. "And as a friend I'm telling you for your own good. You need closure."

There was no mistake his words were sincere and Koyuki felt gratitude towards him but after everything that happened she just didn't think she was ready. Sensing her distress Gaara stood from his chair, walked around his desk and wrap his arms around her and placing his chin on top of her head.

"I know Mika's death affected you more than you care to lead on Koyuki but he would of not wanted you to mourn him like this." her hands rose to his shirt and clench it tightly.

"He loved me Gaara...that idiot-why did he have to wait until he was bleeding dry to tell me?" she whispered miserably.

"Because he knew you couldn't give him you heart completely. Part of it still belongs to Sasuke Uchiha whether he wanted it or not."

He gently pulled her away and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You need to do this." she could see it in his eyes that he had made up his mind and nothing could persuade him.

"What time should I wake up?" she asked in defeat and Gaara gave her a small smile.

"As early as possible."

"Atsuko will love that." she muttered since her son had a habit of waking up before anyone else in the house except Gaara since he in fact didn't sleep. "I guess I should hit the hay then."

"Good-night Koyuki."

"Night Gaara."

When she got to her room she slowly closed the door to not wake Atsuko up and after changing into her pajamas she silently slid under the warm covers on her bed. She placed her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling, but sleep didn't come.

I'm going back home. she thought Back to where everything started...back to bloody reality.

She didn't know when sleep came to her, only that when it did she slept un-plagued by nightmares. Though a strange sensation filled her as the birthmark on her shoulder which still held some of her sealed childhood memories slightly glowed. Her sleep turned and visions of the older versions of her friends filled her mind along with her brother and the Hokage. When her alarm rang at five in the morning she sat up, turned it off and scratched the back of her head. The dream in itself had been strange, seeing the older versions of her friends was strange as she hasn't seen them since the day she left. She hadn't even accompanied the sand siblings when they had to take the chunnin exams for the second time because she had still been pregnant at the time. In the end she shrugged it off and proceeded to getting dressed before heading over to wake Atsuko up only to find his little bed empty.

For an instant she panicked and was about to leave her room when she found a small note on his pillow. When she picked it up she recognized Gaara's writting and only had one word written on it.

Kitchen

Sure enough when she got to the kitchen she was assaulted with the sweet smell of pancakes. Atsuko was sitting on a stool and Gaara was flipping the pancakes into an already sizable stack next to him. Atsuko smiled brightly when he saw his mother walk in.

"Mornin mommy!"

"Good morning to you too darling. Ohaio Gaara."

"Ohaio Koyuki."

"Wow I haven't seen you making food in quite a while." she teased as he placed the large stack of pancakes on the table and she grabbed herself a plate before serving her and Atsuko one. After turning off the stove Gaara joined them and Atsuko looked at his mother with curiosity.

"Mommy uncle Gaara say we going on adventure." Koyuki stopped eating and met eyes with Gaara who nodded.

"uh, yes that's right. We are going to Konoha." she replied with a stiff voice.

"You home?" he asked excitedly.

"That's right. In fact...we are going to be living there from now on." she said and Atsuko was happy for a moment before he finally realized what that meant.

"So...we not coming back?" there was a bit of sadness in his eyes and once again she was surprised at how quickly he was able to realize difficult things like this. Sometimes he would act like any two year old, still discovering the world and playing out in the sun and get dirty; and then there were times like these when he would act far beyond his own age. But when Koyuki had finally asked herself about this she realized how stupid that question was. He had Uchiha genes for heavens sake and they were too smart for their own good. Combining that with the genes of the Hatake clan and you've got a smart kid who shouldn't be that smart; her clan had probably never been as great as the Uchiha's but they were on par in terms of brains and power.

"No sweetie afraid not. But whenever we can I promise we'll come back to visit or they'll come visit us." she smiled at him. That somehow seemed to please the little two year old as he returned to his meal. Koyuki and Gaara exchanged a look before they continued eating and were soon joined by Temari five minutes later.

"I knew I smelled pancakes." she said with a yawn, still looking sleepy as she sat down and served herself. "Gaara informed me you would be accompanying me."

"Yes."

"And that your stay there will be permanent."

"Of course."

Temari sighed and gave her a sad smile.

"I'm going to miss you when I come back. It just won't be the same without you and Atsuko around."

"I'll make sure to write whenever I can and visit as often as we can." Koyuki smiled sadly at Temari too. "I just hope Kankuro can get by without me since I won't be here to get his ass outta bed or fix him a coffee to get rid of the headache."

"Well Kankuro can get off his ass by himself and fix his own coffee thank you very much." drawled a sleepy Kankuro who was leaning on the door frame.

"And good morning to you too." Koyuki smirked. He pushed himself of the door frame and sat next to her while she served him a plate.

"So at what time are we leaving Temari I have everything prepared already."

"As soon as we are done eating. There will be an escort coming with us and it will take us three days to get to Konoha and we'll probably get there by nightfall."

"Mommy I don't wanna go anymore." Atsuko whined sadly when they got to the gate. The thrill to leave was soon replaced with dread knowing he won't be able to come back to suna for a long time and he wrapped his arms around his mother's leg. Koyuki pulled her hood back and got on her knee to be on eye level with her son.

"Atsuko I know this is hard, it was hard for me when I left Konoha too. But I promise you we'll come back once in while, besides you might change your mind when you get to Konoha."

"No I want to stay here." he protested with tears in his eyes. Koyuki sighed, of course he wanted to stay he was born here and had never gone anywhere else not to mention he's only two years old. This has been his only home.

"Atsuko please do this for mommy." she pleaded, moving his long bangs from his face. She had tried cutting them many time along with his hair which was now down to his shoulders but when ever she tried she was met with puppy dog eyes and tears and she had no choice but to give up. Atsuko met his mother's eyes and saw her sadness in them and he never liked seeing his mother sad. Slowly he nodded and she kissed his cheek.

"We should get going." she told Temari and pulled her hood back on and her backpack. She turned to Kankuro who shook his head and took her hood down.

"Honestly Koyu you don't need to put that hood on you look like the reaper."

"Kankuro someone could recognize me on the way and I don't want that when we get to Konoha."

His only response was to roll his eyes and grab a lock of her silver hair up to her eyes.

"Yes I'm sure the last time they saw you they complimented on this amazing silver hair and how it almost reaches the floor."

Koyuki could only flush pink and glare.

"My hair doesn't reach the floor." was her only argument and Kankuro chuckled before kissing her on the forehead and giving her a gently hug. "Good-bye Koyuki."

"We'll see each other soon I promise." suddenly her arm throbbed and an image of Kankuro withering in pain flashed in her mind and tensed. When Kankuro let her go he raised an eyebrow but she shook her head and rubbed her arm where her birthmark was which was now covered by a bandage. "Just take care of yourself and don't get into trouble I don't want to come and save your sorry ass." she smirked.

"You wish sweetheart." he winked and she rolled her eyes, grabbing Atsuko's hand.

"Be careful and don't forget to send a hawk when you arrive." Gaara told them and Temari nodded.

He hugged Koyuki and then knelt and extended his hand to Atsuko which was in a fist as if holding something. Curious, Atsuko cupped his hand and Gaara dropped the object in his hand.

"This is a present, so you can be sure that we will always be with you no matter where you go." Gaara said with a smile that was so small only Atsuko could see. It was a chain made out of gold with an oval pendant attached to it with the sand symbol and when Gaara opened it for him there was a picture of Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari on one side and a smiling woman with dark brown hair and soft chocolate brown eyes. Atsuko looked questioningly at Gaara.

"Who's that uncle Gaara?" Koyuki saw the picture and her eyes widened.

"That is your mom before you were born Atsuko." Gaara said. "Kankuro took that picture when you weren't looking." was his answer to Koyuki's un-voiced question.

"Mommy you look really happy." he said and she closed the locket quickly and cleared her throat.

"We really should get going Temari I don't wanna get there late." she said. Gaara took the locket from her and place it around Atsuko's neck.

"As long as you always keep this with you we'll always be close to you Atsuko." Gaara whispered and ruffled his hair before standing up and Koyuki grabbed her son's hand.

The entire time they walked Atsuko kept looking back every now and then to Suna until they were so far away he could no longer see it. He regretfully looked forward again and held tighter to his mother's hand until he gasped.

"Mommy my teddy bear!" he looked at his mother close to tears until she smiled at him and produced said bear as if from mid air.

"I knew you couldn't part with him." she told him gently and gave it to him which he hug with the hand that wasn't holding on to his mother. Temari smiled at them before beginning her conversation with her escorts on how they would proceed once they got there.

"The fifth Hokage would most likely expect us so she'll probably have someone waiting for us at the gate to take us to a place to stay and meet her in the morning." then he looked at Koyuki and her son. "Though she might have trouble accommodating them."

"Why would they-" Koyuki started but then it dawned on her. "Oh no he didn't! Don't tell me he didn't tell her?"

Their looks told her enough and she huffed indignantly.

"Honestly that man needs to stop making decisions like this on his own." she glared at nothing in particular.

"I'm sure we'll work something out." Temari said but Koyuki waved it away.

"It's fine, besides I have a house there so..." she let the sentence to be finished in their minds.

"Great then I can stay with you right?" Temari asked. "I really don't want to separate from you two so soon."

Temari gave her a pleading look and Koyuki laughed.

"Alright Temari but what about them." she nodded to the escorts who chuckled.

"Don't worry about us we'll take the original arrangements. Besides I'm sure this will come as a relief to the Kazekage on the expenses."

The expenses were already immense as it was since they had decided to cooperate with Konoha on hosting the chunnin exams in Konoha again and this small saving would no doubt be a relief to Gaara.

"I'm sure he'll agree." Koyuki laughed.

They continued like this for another hour or two until Atsuko tugged on her hand.

"Mommy I'm bored." he said

"What do want to do?"

"Play." he said and Koyuki thought for a moment. There was nothing in her backpack that he could play with and walk at the same time...unless.

"Okay." she bit her thumb till it drew blood and made a few quick hand signs and slammed the ground followed by smoke. When the smoke cleared Akira in his tiger form appeared and the toddler squealed in delight.

"Akira!" he yelled in delight and ran up the tiger and hugged his muzzle. Temari and the escorts gave Koyuki an exasperated look which she rolled her eyes.

"What? He's capable of ripping throats and babysitting." Akira heard her and he growled.

"Is that why you summoned me?" he asked indignantly. "My rank has depleted ever since I made the contract with you."

He pretended to be upset as he tried to keep Atsuko from grabbing his tail.

"I went from killer to bodyguard, then I went to nurse followed by pet...now I've been demoted to babysitting! How humiliating." he whined and Koyuki rolled her eyes as she began to walk and Temari and the escorts folowed along with Akira while Atsuko still tried to get his tail.

"Don't exaggerate and admit you love him." she smirked. Since Akira was introduced to Atsuko a few days after he was born Akira had told her to summon him as often as she could just to see him. When ever Koyuki ran errands Akira took care of him whenever Temari or Kankuro couldn't.

It wasn't until two more hours later that Akira had tired the poor kid out and he was on Akira's back fast asleep. After telling Koyuki he was running low on chakra and needed to head back that Koyuki took Atsuko in her arms and with a thanks Akira disappeared.

They arrived at Konoha by nightfall exactly as planned and were greeted by the guards who bowed.

"Welcome Temari-san." then eyed Koyuki and suspiciously until they saw Atsuko asleep in her arms. "Though we did not expect this young lady and her son."

The night was dark and slightly illuminated by the street lamps so they couldn't see Atsuko very well to see the Uchiha features.

"Yes I'm sorry about that the Kazekage kinda sent her last minute but this is a private matter that needs to be discussed with Hokage-sama." the guards nodded and let them pass with the address of where they'll be staying.

"We would accompany you but we cannot leave our post."

"Do not worry we've been here plenty of times before to know the way, thank you." Temari said with a smile and they left. When they turned a corner Koyuki let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Now you can show me to your house Koyuki." Temari said and then turned to the escorts. "We'll meet you at the hotel at six in the morning."

They nodded and headed their own way. When Koyuki and Temari arrived at Koyuki's home they saw a clean house with only a week layer of dust and Koyuki kept her defenses up even with Atsuko asleep in her arms.

"Seems someones been keeping the house clean once in a while."

"Too often in my opinion." Koyuki murmured.

"Don't worry." Temari said before yawning.

After they had gotten everything settled they changed into their pajamas and got in bed. Someone had also washed all the sheets so there was no need to change them. Atsuko on the other hand didn't want to sleep alone in a new place so he snuggled next to his mother and fell asleep again while Koyuki stared out the window from her bed.

I'm back in Konoha...Sasuke. she thought before her gaze fell to their team seven picture and she let sleep take over her.