You made me cry, you told me lies
But, I can't stand to say goodbye
Mama, I'm coming home - I'm Coming Home by Ozzy Osbourne

Sasuke

I stood outside the gates, a slight frown on my lips. I could feel my resentment, still there after all this time away, even after everything I did to rid myself of the poison. Suddenly, I wished Itachi was here. His small smile encouraging me, always.

It had, I knew, encouraged me to hate him, just as much as it had encouraged me to find my way back home. To bury these feelings, the lies I'd eaten whole and let burn me from the inside out. At the end I was here though. Konoha, her huge gates wide open in the afternoon's dying heat.

I ran my hand through my hair with a sigh, I should be happier. I wanted to be happier, I just had to relearn how to trust. That wouldn't be easy. Instead of making more excuses to just stand there, I breathed in deep, and blew out slowly until my heart calmed and my chakra settled. I walked into Konoha with my head held high.

I don't really know what I expected. When I'd returned the first time, I'd been nearly smuggled in and treated in a private room in the hospital. That hadn't suited me, and Naruto, Kakashi and I had decided that I needed to find a new purpose. I wasn't going to go against the Leaf. I was not - under any circumstances - going back to study with Orochimaru. I had been at loose ends. In some ways, though I felt like I had a job to do out in the world, I still was a little lost.

Now, though, people looked at me curiously. Some who probably knew me from when I was running around the village as a genin watched me for a moment before going about their business. Was this what it was like for Itachi? I wondered if he'd told me the truth. I believed him, finally, after Orochimaru made me believe, but still. I let my eyes roam around, picking out places I knew. Shops I would need to visit. Watching over them all, the Hokage's Tower.

I was always a little awed by it. The piping that carried who-knew-what all over the building, the bright red paint and the towering crown of the leaf insignia, it was worth the awe. It was the largest building in the village, although, judging by the construction that was underway, that was likely to change. Pain, I thought absently, and looked out toward where the Uchiha land was.

Hinata. I wondered if she'd taken my offer, if she was showing yet, and unbidden, a tiny smile tilted my lips. I wouldn't be the last Uchiha for much longer. I finished sightseeing, and whipped my hand into the seals for transportation, wafting away with a puff of smoke and the tang of ionized air.

I appeared just outside the Hokage's tower. Teleporting in there could be dangerous with so many treasures and scrolls that could be triggered by even accidental chakra release. I pulled my clothes sharply to straighten them. Another delaying tactic, I was becoming a master of them. Gone were my open robes and the clothes I'd worn as a disciple of Orochimaru. In order to get as far away from that life as I could, I now wore simple black garments. The kind of outfit that would go unremarked in any shinobi village. I snugged my tactical pouch then silently berated myself for feeling uneasy.

I braced myself to run up and meet with Kakashi. Instead, I had the sudden urge to turn around. I did, and I caught the sight of long indigo hair and my heart skipped a beat. Isn't it speak of the devil and he appears? I'd simply been thinking about Hinata, but here she was. I agonized for a split-second, the last time we'd been close to each other, things had seemed impossible for me.

"Hinata?"

She stopped, a sudden smile blooming, "Sasuke!" She waited for me to catch up, and she resumed her walk. "I am sorry for…" She looked up and away, "For how I acted last time we saw each other."

"It was my fault." I seem to have surprised her, she swung her soft gaze back to me, "I was angry. Kakashi was being unreasonable, so I thought. He came to some wrong conclusions, and that always just…" I shook my head, "Nevermind. I'm sorry."

She touched my arm, and I could almost feel her fingers searing my skin. "I'm happy. How long have you been back? Are you well?"

"Not more than five minutes. I was on my way to see Kakashi..." I clicked my tongue in irritation, "The sixth." I held out my hand for her basket, and she handed it over with a gentle smile, "Were you going shopping?"

"I am. I need to grab some vegetables. I am going to cook for a small gathering tonight. But, I'm more than able to finish the chores Sasuke, if you have things you need to do."

"No one knows I'm here yet." I felt my lip curl, my best shot at a smile for the time being, "I can help out my clan head."

"Of course." She laughed, "You should come stay with us, at the Seat. I would be honored to have you move back in. Although, you still have your apartment, if that's better." She paused in front of a vendor, picking over small trays of mushrooms. "Maybe this sounds silly, but I've missed you. You left so soon after..."

"I know." I watched her select a couple then, "Get tomatoes. I hate mushrooms." She selected a large slicing tomato and a handful of small ones. "I had to prove some things to myself. To clear my head. To be sure I was even worthy of coming back."

"You are!"

I nodded, "Yes. That's the conclusion I came to as well. Now, I need to prove things to others. Here, in Konoha." I stopped when we reached a butcher shop with several types of meat hanging in the window, "You weren't kidding? About me moving in?"

"No." Her smile was so honest, "I have help, my assistant Kazuko-san, but that's not every day... I get lonely." She tucked a lock of indigo hair behind her ear, "Sure; I have my team, and your old team, and my sister is in and out, but with the baby…" She patted her abdomen and my eyes fastened to her movement, though she was just as trim as ever to my eyes. "I think he makes them a little uncomfortable, like I grew up while they..." She shook head, suddenly sad. "I suppose I have. Clan head, expectant mom. It puts some stress on them. And me."

"It's a he?"

"Huh? Oh! I've had a sonogram, but it's way too early for that. A couple more weeks, actually. I just have a feeling."

"I will." That quick decision nearly swamped me with fear. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be afraid. The prospect of living with someone, being in the house where my parents and my childhood had died… it was a lot to process. But at this moment, I wanted nothing more than to be near my nephew. Or niece.

Hinata did a double take. "You will? You don't want to think about it?"

"I'll move back." I cleared my throat roughly, "No. If I think about it, I'll probably change my mind. I've learned that thinking too much gets me into trouble."

She threw arms around me and I tightened like a spring before I could tell myself to relax. "I couldn't be happier."

She held out her hand, and I put the basket back into it, "What time is dinner?"

"Around seven." She glanced at the tomatoes, they probably didn't go with her plans, but I really don't like mushrooms. "Sakura will be there. Is that a problem?"

I blew a heavy gust through my lips. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." That was too much to think about, never mind taking action.

She chuckled, "Okay, but please find time to talk to her. She…" Hinata clutched the basket, "She has missed you as well."

I nodded. I was sure she had been. "Okay. I have to go."

She waved and disappeared into the butcher's while I retraced our steps back toward the Hokage's tower. It was time for my second test, Kakashi-sensei.

A few shinobi dotted the hallways and stairwells of the Hokage's Tower. I kept my eyes trained just ahead, and tried not to let curious looks make me nervous. I didn't like it, but I understood that I'd been a boogey-man to the village for a handful of years before deciding to come back. I had made a dark name for myself, and now I had to live with the consequences.

Plus there was Itachi to think about as well. A subject that was never far from my thoughts for the last few weeks. I continued climbing familiar stairs and crossing corridors to reach Kakashi's offices. Itachi had come back. He had come back and fell in love and managed to make a new home for himself.

I felt a fist balling at my side and forced myself to calm down as I entered the Hokage's antechamber. The Hokage's secretary, a woman with a pencil wound into brunette hair, looked up from her work.

"Uchiha," I said, unnecessarily if her wide eyes and shocked face were anything to go by. "I need to see the Hokage."

She gave me a small seated bow, "He didn't want to be disturbed, but I can check." She picked up a phone, and pressed a button. "Rokudaime-sama? Uchiha Sasuke is here for you, sir." She nodded, "Okay. Thank you." She dropped the receiver back into the cradle, "Go ahead, he's got time."

I opened the door, making a small bow to Kakashi. I wondered if I would ever not think of him as my teacher. If I were honest with myself, he was better than any father to me. With my unlikely siblings, Naruto and Sakara, this infuriating man had raised me.

"I see you've gotten lost again, Sasuke." Kakashi's tone was light.

I shook my head, "Just trying to emulate you, sensei."

Kakashi sat back, and I studied him in silence. His election to Hokage had changed him even more than the simple passage of years or the restoration of his eye. He seemed more settled, though what I knew about that state could fit on a pin. Though his mask was still firmly in place I could discern his emotional state.

"Will you be here for a while?"

I gave him a sharp nod, "I think I should. I have things I must do, some others I must think about. And my journey, though eventful, only yielded more clues. No answers."

Kakashi scratched the eyebrow with a scar that still marked his face. "Sasuke, you should understand by now that your place is and always was here. I know you set off in search of Uchiha secrets and stories. Couldn't they be just what they sound like? Stories?"

"No," I sighed, "I am closer than ever to uncovering the truth. I know there is more to be found, and for the good of Konoha I will chase these rumors as far as I must."

His eyes softened, "I understand. Will you stay long enough to meet your new family member?"

"I want to." I accepted that, "But sometimes I cannot help but leave."

I hate that part of me. The part that can't withstand the curiosity of others, the endless needling of guilt just being in the Village brought. But if I could be good, kind, and remember how to laugh out there, then I wanted to remember how to do it right here. With people I love.

"I want to spare hurting anyone, but more than anything I want to hold Itachi's child."

Kakashi shook his head, "Itachi's child. Hinata told me a couple of weeks ago. I am still stunned."

I snorted, "I thought she'd be showing by now, but what do I know? Anyway, is there anything else?"

"Unless you feel the need to talk about your time out there, or is there something I should know?"

I shook my head, "Rumors, maybe. Whenever there was a problem, I took care of it. All part of my redemption."

The silver-haired Hokage smiled, and even with the barrier between us, I felt his quiet support. "Then write up a report, I look forward to reading it. Another thing…" Kakashi leaned forward, "Would you like to become a chunin? Your official status is nukenin, and that will not allow you to work for Konoha."

"Are you talking about getting paid? There's the Uchiha accounts?" I had no idea what, if anything, were in them. "I had some savings. I haven't needed money so far. I foraged."

"Kid, you've got a baby you might just want to help raise. You will have to start feeding yourself from shops and may want to get some more changes of clothes. Money should be a concern."

"I'm not missing," I rebutted. "Just list me as genin. You know who I am; I don't need a title to earn money."

"No, I suppose you won't. And you're right, I know who you are; I could give you S-ranked missions, and laugh myself into a coma thinking about a genin doing them. But Sasuke, you should take some pride in being a Leaf shinobi. If you ever want the redemption you are looking for, then I urge you to take the titles. I know how bad you feel after all that's happened, but you're a hero. You'll never be a Naruto to them," Kakashi gestured out to the Village, "but you saved the world for them too."

"You think a title will change how they feel?"

Kakashi sat back with a weary sigh, "People, especially your fellow shinobi, believe in things like titles. Nice homes. Clan names. The only thing I have ever had was my title. I paid month-to-month on an apartment that should have been condemned. The Hatake haven't been a clan since the first Nin-War. But I had my status as a special jounin of the Leaf. And my somewhat spotted reputation." He shared another half-smile, "And now I am Hokage, though I never wanted the job. Titles give you something to hold on to when you have nothing else."

My heart gripped, and I nodded. I'd smoke the chunin competition.

AN/ 11 weeks - probably not showing yet; sorry, Sasuke-kun. The embryo is about the size of a small strawberry, the uterus about an orange. Oh my. I think I may have given myself some plot. Thank you, self. I read the Sasuke Wiki. I still dislike Sasuke. I'm trying not to. Maybe making him into a decent guy will help.

I forgot that Sasuke lost a freakin' arm and has Rinnegan in one eye. *bleeep!* re-writes while sobbing

Please enjoy your crack! fiction.