Suna was hot! Really hot! Aiko liked it that way. Unlike Takeshi, she enjoyed the dry weather, especially heat. They arrived at the Kazekage tower shortly after arrival.

"Takeshi? What are you doing here?" Aiko saw her brother in the lobby.

He was leaning against the wall, waiting. Ichiko, Hiro and Kurenai were there too.

"Waiting for you Aiko! Let's go!" He pushed his sister up the stairs, "Today's the day…"

Gaara was sitting at his desk, going between sleep and the alertness of being awake. He heard a knock on his door.

"Hn, come in."

It was his assistant, "Kazekage-sama, you have visitors." She announced.

Gaara took a long drink of his coffee to wake up a little. "Hn."

He waited a few seconds before looking up at two leaf ninja that looked like him.

"Hey, Dad." Takeshi spat, leaning on the door frame with a mischievous smirk. He had his eyes…

Aiko folded her arms and stared at the man in front of her, frowning. She had his hair…

Gaara stared back at them in confusion. Dad? Weren't those Sakura's- Oh… He stood from his seat.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

Oh Kami…

Aiko raised her wrist to show the kanji to Gaara and Gaara went pale.

"You're the kids from the Chunin exams… You're my kids?"

They nodded.

Gaara's sand approached them cautiously and Aiko watched it. It touched both of their cheeks and flowed to their fingers.

"You're-"

Aiko hugged her father before he could finish. Gaara was taken by surprise. The last person who did that was Sakura… He hugged her back. Takeshi stood still and watched the seen with a small smile.

Aiko let go and stared at her father, "Mama misses you."

Gaara frowned, "I regret not going after her."

Not a day went by he didn't think about Sakura or letting her go. That was almost fifteen years ago.

"Come see her." Takeshi said insisting. He wanted his mom to be happy again. They both saw passed her fake smile and heard her silent cries at night.

"I will once my work in here is caught up. I'm not allowed to leave until then."

"Oh… We're supposed to pick up some scrolls while we're here, too." Aiko remembered.

Gaara handed the kids the scrolls and nodded.

"What rank are you, now?" Gaara asked. They were his kids! He had to ask questions, right? He wondered why they didn't hate him…

"ANBU." Takeshi answered taking out his wolf mask.

Aiko nodded and took out her Panda mask.

"Our teams are downstairs."

Gaara shook his head, "You may come in now. They've been there the entire time."

He sensed their presence a long time ago. The rest of Team Three and Team Six walked in standing by their respective twin.

"Dad, this is Yuhi Kurenai-sensei, Uzumaki Ichiko and Inuzuka Hiro. We've been a team since Academy graduation." Takeshi made introductions.

Gaara shook their hands and said to Ichiko, "Please, give my regards to Naruto."

Ichiko nodded quickly, "Hai, Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara turned to Aiko's team and met Sasuke's eyes.

"Papa, this is Uchiha Sasuke-sensei, Yamanaka Shinya and Hyuuga Hideo. We have also been together since the graduation." Aiko's eyes brightened when she said the Hyuuga boy's name. She planted herself right beside him. The boy seemed just as fond as her as she did him.

"Uchiha, how long has it been? Twenty years? I see you've succumbed to being a teacher now. Do they not let Ex-S-Class missing-nin breed?" Gaara grunted. The tension was thick between the two stoic men.

Sasuke smirked, "Sounds about right. How's your love life?"

All of Team Three choked on air; they weren't used to such cruel remarks.

"It was perfect until you came in. At least I have kids I can be proud of." Gaara replied emotionless as ever. It was obvious he had a major distaste for Sasuke.

The rest of the group just watched.

"You just met them five minutes ago."

"If Sakura married you, I would have never met them."

Aiko gasped. Hideo let her hide herself in his scarf. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder as to protect her from their words.

"How dare you!" Sasuke sneered; about to say something back.

"Enough!" Kurenai demanded, being the eldest person in the room.

Sasuke and Gaara shut their mouths and Aiko came out of hiding. She was crying. Takeshi glared at them both.

Sasuke snorted, "Aiko single-handedly defeated two rogue ninja with her sand controlling ability on our first mission."

"Takeshi out ran the fastest ninja's in the region and excels in Taijutsu." Kurenai added.

"I'm proud of you both… But, I have a lot of work to do before I can go to Konoha so please…"

The teams left, leaving Takeshi and Aiko behind once more.

"Please, don't take too long, Papa…" Aiko said bowing to him. Takeshi nodded bowing as well.

"I've waited sixteen years; I won't let your mother wait any longer." Gaara promised. He had to ask though, "Why don't you hate me?"

They both looked at each other and smiled warmly at Gaara.

"Mom said not to hate you. She said you were only thinking of what was best for the village. There's no point in hating someone for hurting someone you love if the person you love still loves them. But, if I do say so myself though, I wanted to kick your ass every time Mom mentioned you and cried." Takeshi said for the both of them.

The twins said their goodbyes and left their father again.

"Takeshi…"

"Hai?"

"How did you know who Papa was?"

"I heard you ask mom and I finally just gave up and accepted it…"

"Thank you… I never would have been able to face him without you."

Takeshi gave his sister his signature grin, "Anytime, sis!"

Sakura sat in Tsunade's office with her head in her hands.

"It's been a week… Have you heard from them yet?"

Tsunade took a swig of her sake and rolled her eyes at her apprentice.

"They should be home tonight! Don't worry about them, Sakura! Everything is going to be fine."

"I'm not worried about their safety. They're all more than capable of taking down anyone but…" Sakura hesitated, trying to breathe.

Sakura hadn't slept in days. She hadn't been able to sleep well in years…

"They met Gaara." Tsunade said looking at some paperwork, "I just got the message this morning."

Sakura's eyes widened. She knew it would have happened sooner or later but that could have meant two things. He rejected them or accepted Aiko and Takeshi. Sakura knew Gaara well enough to know what his reaction would be but it still scared the hell out of her.

"Mom?" Sakura heard her son's voice from the doorway.

She jumped up from her seat and embraced him. "How was the mission?"

Takeshi smiled at his mother sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sure you already know…"

Sakura's mouth formed a straight line. "No, I don't."

Takeshi blinked at his mother. "Oh, well… I'll tell you when I get home! Aiko's team is still travelling."

"Alright, I'll be waiting then." Sakura made her leave, smiling at Kurenai, Ichiko and Hiro.