Disclaimer: Naruto and anything associated with the anime directly is copyright of Masashi Kishimoto.

Misammi: no durh, I can't even draw that well.

6 years before…

"I don't wanna leave Sunagakure!!!" the little girl whined. She latched onto another small figure in black. "Kanku-nii! Tell my nii-chan not to go!!!"

The little boy frowned and put his hand up to block his face from the sand. "Why me? Ichi-san is stubborn…tell Temari to do it!"

"No way!" the blonde girl cried out. "He barely even listens to me!"

The little girl turned to the last one there. "Gaara-kun, don't you want me to stay?" she asked pleadingly. The little boy nodded, hugging his bear tightly. She let go of Kankurou, who rubbed his arm. Falling to her knees, the little girl started crying. A red-haired teenage boy walked up to them.

"Tsukino, we're gonna leave right now. Kankurou, Temari, you guys be good. You too, Gaara." He pulled the sobbing little Tsukino to her feet and knelt down beside her. "We'll come back, okay? Right before you graduate, I promise I'll transfer you back here so you can graduate with Gaara."

With tears in her eyes, Tsukino turned to Gaara. "Promise me we'll graduate together! Pinky promise!" Gaara nodded, and held out his pinky.

"C'mon you guys, gimme a hug." Kankurou and Temari hugged the older boy. "Gaara, c'mon. You won't see us for a long time."

After hesitating for a moment, the little boy rushed forward into Ichigo's outstretched arms.

With an air of finality, Ichigo stood up, and said, "Well now, we're leaving. See you in a while!" He took Tsukino's hand and gently pulled her away from the little group.

"Remember to visit!" called out Temari.

"We will!"

"You'd better write!" shouted Kankurou.

"Okay!"

Gaara stood there quietly. He looked down. "Gaara?" asked Temari. "What's wrong?" Ignoring her words, he ran after the brother and sister walking towards the gate.

"Hey, Gaara?!" shouted Kankurou, as Temari held up a hand to silence him. She smiled. "It's okay."

Tsukino's tears streamed down her cheeks until a pale hand grabbed her shoulder. She and Ichigo turned and saw Gaara. Tsukino quickly turned away and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, determined not to let him see her red eyes.

Gaara held the tattered teddy bear out to her. She shook her head no, but he held it out persistently, like he was begging her to take it. Taking it in her hands, her brother spoke. "Gaara, you'd better go. The sandstorm's getting worse." The little boy nodded goodbye and ran off.

Tsukino took a long, hard look at the teddy bear in her arms. Hugging it tightly, she started crying again. Ichigo picked her up gently and carried her in his arms.

She would always remember it. The smell of dusty sand.

Present day…..

"Tsukino!" shouted Ichigo, now a young man. "Help me out here!"

"Geez! Lemme unpack my own crap first!" she snapped.

"What the heck's taking you so long?" Hearing footfalls on the stairs, she quickly stuffed a small, tattered teddy bear under the new pillows and jumped off her bed. "Help me out! What the heck are you doing anyways?"

He spotted the teddy bear's leg sticking out from under the pillow. Grinning mischievously, he seized it out from under the pillow with ease. "Hey, that's-" Tsukino protested.

"This old thing? I thought you lost it on the trip here 6 years ago. I can't believe you still have it!" he teased, swinging it in front of her face by its ear. "C'mon, you're 10 years old, about to graduate the academy, got recommended for ANBU and still carrying this around? Gaara gave this to you ages ago!"

Tsukino snatched it from his hand, and clutched it to her chest tightly. "Don't frickin' touch my stuff!" she roared.

"Tralalalala…" sang her brother as he pranced down the hall. "Such an old love, yet she's still in love!"

Ichigo ducked as she pelted pillows at him. "Tch, real mature, Tsuki," he muttered before one hit him full in the face. Feathers flew as her rage strengthened her throws. "Hey hey hey! Watch it! Those are new, and we can't afford to lose all of them!"

"Nyehh" Tsukino stuck out her tongue. What a stupid place. Finally, they got a new house, but right before she graduated? What was the use if Ichigo actually kept his promise about sending her back to Sunagakure?

Climbing back onto her bed, Tsukino picked the tattered bear up. True, it had been ages since she had seen Gaara. Were people still bullying him? She and her brother were able to protect him, as the Haruka clan had much respect. She wondered if Gaara was still like her, alone and isolated because of his family and his village.

Tsukino cursed and punched her pillow angrily. It wasn't fair. Her family, a clan of expert scientists and jutsu developers, had rejected her. They respected her for her brilliantly inspiring mind, but she had no discipline. Anger management, insomnia, and crazed, dangerous experiments. And her black hair that she was born with? That caused even more trouble for her. Everyone in her family had bright red hair. Like her brother and Gaara. Accused of being a victim of kitsunetsuki, that she was a fox demon, all rejected her, except her brother. Her brother was the only one who helped her feel truly alive.

She sighed, and flopped back onto her bed. A new life, after that had happened. The only thing she didn't want to forget about the Village Hidden in the Sand were her friends. Staring at her ceiling, she lay there, wondering if people here would miss her if she left for Sunagakure.

"Kyaaaahh!!!" Tsukino shrieked as a face stared at her through her window. She scrambled off her bed, and an arm shot out and grabbed hold of her. Turning, she realized who it was.

Grinning like a pervert staring through the windows of a girls' locker room, Lee cackled with laughter. "No one can keep up with the antics of youth!"

Tsukino whacked him with a pillow repeatedly, causing him to fall into her room and on top of her, in a very uncomfortable position.

Her brother came running in, face sweaty and wearing an apron. "Tsukino, what's going on?! I heard you scream and I-" Ichigo paused and he took in the scene before him. What he saw, my friends, was Lee on top on his little sister.

Ichigo's shadow loomed over the two in the bed. In a deadly voice, he asked quietly, "Lee, what do you think Gai would say if he heard his student was killed by an older brother because he was sexually assaulting the little sister?"

Lee sweatdropped. "Ah, um, well, there's a simple explanation for this Ichigo-kun, well, I came in through the window, so umm…"

"You came in through her window?"

"Oh, it wasn't like that, I swear, I mean…"

"Dude. Lee. Get the hell off me first so I don't get killed in the crossfire," Tsukino mumbled. "And Ichi-nii, calm down. I was hitting Lee-senpai with pillows and he fell in by accident."

Lee got off her bed, and carefully walked around the fuming Ichigo to get to the door. Rubbing his head sheepishly, he said, "Well, I'm going to leave through your front door then. Ehnn…see ya Ichigo-san, Tsukino-chan!"

Tsukino attempted to hide her yawn by a cough, but her brother wasn't fooled. He immediately ordered, "Go to sleep."

"But it's only 3!" she whined. Ichigo glared at her, which gave her the sign that he was still mad about the Lee thing. She obeyed, but reluctantly. "Okay, okay then, go away."

Stupid brother. Stupid Lee.

The door slammed behind him. She sighed, and lay down in bed, pulling the covers onto her. It wouldn't matter. She hadn't had a good night's sleep since they left Sunagakure 6 years ago. Pulling the Gaara's teddy bear out from under the covers, she cuddled with it contently. But it still wasn't the same. She buried her face into the pillow as the tears came out.