Author's Note: This story is a collaboration with Lady Oracle12. Her Dragonball Z crossover, though it occurs primarily in Naruto, under the title "Lost". You don't have to read it to understand this story, but it will help clarify a few points and give a broader understanding of the story as a whole. We will also both be writing companion stories that occur in the Dragonball Z universe. Hotaru - the main character in this story - will not appear in either of those stories; I will instead be writing for another OC named Tomoe, but I won't continue on that line.

Warning: Spoilers if you don't yet know who Naruto's parents are - they are alive in this story. (Don't worry, we keep Naruto pretty true-to-form). These first few chapters are just an introduction to the changes we've made to the universe, the real plot doesn't get started until about the fifth chapter. (All of this follow-up is necessary though).

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Hotaru.

Enjoy!


Kunoichi

Tadashi Hotaru

Inoue's brow furrowed as she stood in the kitchen, mixing ingredients for dinner. She wasn't thinking about the recipe – no, this was one she could make blindfolded with her nose plugged – but rather something far more important than food. She'd been feeling ill the last few days and had finally caved and went to the hospital to find out what was wrong. And boy had she been surprised. Not that she probably should have been…

The problem was that now she had to tell Bakuryuu and she wasn't sure how he would take it. Sure, the man was usually nice and bubbly and took things well, but this… well this was big. And she didn't know if he would feel ready or if he really was ready. She finished mixing and preparing then put dinner in the oven and leaned back against the counter, thinking seriously over this issue. How did she even bring it up? What did she even say? Maybe she could ask Izumi…

"I'm home~!"

So asking Izumi was a no-go. Apparently there wasn't time for that.

"Inoue~? Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen!" she called in answer. Her voice was a bit squeaky and it made her want to hurt herself. She had better control than this dammit! She was a jounin!

"Are you all right?" Bakuryuu asked as he turned the corner into the main part of the house. His brow furrowed in worry and he started toward her. "You look pale. Did you go to the hospital today?"

"Mmhmm." Her voice was too high-pitched. Dammit, where did all her self-control go?!

Now the man looked worried. He grabbed her shoulders and looked in her eyes with a serious face the likes of which few would ever see on his face. "What did they say? Are you okay?" Slowly, she nodded. "Then why do you look so upset?"

And then Inoue realized that her concern was misplaced. It wasn't Bakuryuu that she was worried about not being ready – despite appearances, he was actually great with kids – it was her. And she really didn't think she was ready for this. Not now, not yet. But her anxiety wouldn't change the facts of the matter so she marshalled up her courage, swallowed the lump in her throat, and answered, "I'm pregnant, Bakuryuu."

The man blinked once, twice. "Pregnant?" he echoed, seeming a bit started by this announcement. Inoue only nodded. "I'm gonna be a dad and you're going to be a mom?" Again, she nodded. "This is great news!" he exclaimed, swooping her up and spinning her around. "This is wonderful! Brilliant!" He settled her back on the ground and gave that beaming, infectious smile of his. "Darling, what could you be upset about?"

"I… I don't know if I…"

Bakuryuu cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. "You're going to be an incredible mom."

~ Jinchuriki ~

A very pregnant Inoue made her way up the unnecessarily tall flight of stairs toward the Hokage's office, using Bakuryuu as a prop to keep her from falling over. Man, pregnancy sucked. On the bright side, the torture was almost over. Soon, they would have a sweet baby girl to take home and care for.

But for now, the woman scowled at all the stairs and wondered what on earth could be so important that Minato would put her through this torture. Before she could ask, or say anything for that matter, she found herself swept up from the ground into her husband's arms. "Bakuryuu!" she spluttered, flustered.

He grinned. "Looky there, I swept you right off your feet!"

Inoue coughed out a laugh and shook her head, smacking his shoulder. "I was walking just fine, Bakuryuu."

"No you weren't~! Besides, I like carrying you." He grinned.

Inoue just shook her head. "What do you think Minato-kun wants with us?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it must be important if he asked for us to come see him instead of just dropping by. Plus you should call him Hokage-sama now, it's disrespectful." There was a slight gleam in the man's eyes and his lips twitched into a more mischievous version of his bubbly smile.

"Minato-kun is our friend so I'll call him by his name. Besides, he doesn't like being called Hokage-sama by his friends, you know that."

"Which is exactly why we should!" Bakuryuu proclaimed with a laugh.

Inoue spatted his arm. "Don't be mean to the poor man!"

"Ah, but it's fun~!" he whined. "Come on, you know you like seeing him flustered too."

The woman giggled. "True enough."

They quieted for a little while. "I hope it's good news," the man announced.

"When does the Hokage ever summon someone when it's good news?"

"When it's really good news."

Inoue snorted and shook her head. "Your optimism is inspiring, love, but I don't think it's warranted here."

"Well neither is your pessimism. Do you really want bad news with the baby so close?"

"Close? Ugh, I wish it was close. We still have months left, Bakuryuu! And I didn't say I want to hear bad news, I just expect to."

It wasn't long after that that they arrived at the Hokage's office and the secretary let them in. "Minato-kun," Inoue greeted.

Bakuryuu took one look at the strain behind the blonde's smile and he deflated. "It's bad news, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, I should have made you walk up all those stairs so late in your pregnancy," Minato apologized rather than answering. He stood and rounded the table to pull out Inoue's chair.

"It's definitely bad news," the woman grumbled, sitting tiredly in the offered chair. Bakuryuu sat down beside her and rubbed her leg consolingly. She set her jaw. "So how bad is it?"

The blonde grimaced slightly and any hope of it only being mildly bad fled Inoue's mind. Bakuryuu slumped further. "You remember the testing a few weeks ago? The ones we conducted in our search for a suitable host for the Sanbi?" Inoue paled and Bakuryuu frowned seriously, meaning both were aware of what he was referring to. Minato sighed, looking world-wary and exhausted. "In the entire village, there is only one compatible person that falls within the age-range best suited for becoming a Jinchuriki."

"No…" Inoue murmured, horrified as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "You don't mean…" There were tears in her eyes now.

Minato's face was grave as he nodded. "Your child is that one person." Inoue buried her face in Bakuryuu's shoulder. "It's still your decision, of course. I have no right to take that from you. It's your child, not mine. You can say no."

"But if we do, chances are the Sanbi will break free and wreak havoc on the village."

"There is a chance I could find someone outside the favored age-range."

"But that presents its own problems," the other man countered.

Inoue pulled away and rubbed at her eyes, shaking her head. "We can't just put the village in danger like that. How could we ever live with ourselves? How would our daughter be able to look at us? As much as I want to say no, I can't. Not with knowing the consequences."

"I'm sorry," was Minato's response. Silence reigned.

~ Tadashi Hotaru ~

"Aw~ look at her~!" Bakuryuu cooed at the baby in his arms. Her pale eyes, one purplish and the other bluish, were way too big for her face which was scrunched up kinda funny. She had a little head full of short grass-green hairs, all stuck to her adorable little scalp, and teeny tiny hands and fingers. His nose was miniaturized and scrunched up on her little face. Her mother's cheekbones tried to make themselves known under her oversized eyes.

"Come here," Inoue instructed in a somewhat forceful voice. She reached toward him with tired arms, face showing her exhaustion.

"You need a nap," he told her, sitting down beside her and readjusting the infant so she could see her. "Who's that, Hotaru?" he cooed at the child who seemed content and confused. "Is that Mommy? It's Mommy. Say 'hi Mommy'." He took her little hand and made her wave.

Inoue chuckled. "Let me see her." She held out her arms for the infant.

"You sure you got her?"

"I'm sure." Bakuryuu gingerly handed the infant over to her tired mother who took her finger and gently traced the mark on the baby's stomach, the mark Bakuryuu had been trying his best to ignore. The baby made adorable little cooing sounds and smiled a little, comforted by the action. Inoue kissed her forehead. "I love you, my little Firefly."

The man smiled broadly and slid one arm behind his wife's back and the other under hers so her arms didn't get tired from holding the baby. Inoue snuggled into him and smiled contentedly for a while before drifting off to sleep. Bakuryuu stayed like that for a while before settling his daughter in the crook of one arm and laying his wife back in the bed so she could sleep more comfortably.

~ Jiraiya Saves a Life ~

At first, Bakuryuu was convinced that their daughter took after her mother. She had to, as difficult as she was. The young couple were about ready to pull their hair out because she wouldn't stop screaming. It was driving them crazy, and they couldn't get any good advice from anyone. It was so bad that they hadn't even gotten to go see Mikoto and her new baby, Sasuke.

Then they found out that she was losing weight rapidly and there was speculation that being a Jinchuriki had exasperated the Tadashi disease, resulting in a Tadashi-Uchiha kind of child, and everyone knew those never lived. Whenever Minato or Kushina came by to visit, they both looked horribly guilty, but it wasn't their fault. How could it be? There was no way they could have known this.

The man's stomach seemed to be permanently twisted in anxiety. He could see on Inoue's face that she was feeling the same. They both got rather clingy and went out of their way to spend all the time they could with their baby girl, screaming little pain or not. But they couldn't push their responsibilities off forever, and the day came when both were called off to tend to said other responsibilities.

Usually one of them could manage to stay back and watch her but no wiggle room was given this time. It was bound to happen at some point. Which left them with the frustrating decision of who to leave her with. Minato was busy with his duties as Hokage and they didn't want to put the pregnant Kushina out. Ryunashi would be working with Bakuryuu and Izumi had Kitsune to watch. Inoue's father hadn't been getting around well since his encounter with that bomb that had put him out-of-commission and obviously they couldn't leave her with his mother.

Granted, she was looking better and better until Jiraiya arrived. True, they didn't want to leave her with him either, but when forced to choose between the drunk and the pervert… well the pervert looked way better. The man was a bit hesitant, but not given much choice as the two young parents left their daughter with him and hurried off.

Bakuryuu spent his day worrying over his daughter and hurrying through his work anxiously before his brother practically threw him out of the building. But the younger brother wasn't complaining. He hurried straight home and was horrified to find that he wasn't greeted by the screaming baby that had been so constant in the last several weeks.

No. She couldn't have. Not… not when…

He practically tore the door off its hinges and hurried inside to find Jiraiya sitting perfectly calmly on the couch with a silent Hotaru in his lap and a book open in his hands.

What the fuck? Seriously, what the actual fuck?

Bakuryuu might have shouted that.

"What's wrong with you?" Jiraiya grumbled. "The kid just went to sleep." He glanced down at the infant in his arms who had a content expression on her little face, but she didn't awaken. "Good thing she's a heavy sleeper."

"Sleeping? I don't think she's…" He moved hurriedly to the man and leaned in close. Sure enough, the little girl's chest was moving slightly and every few times she'd make this little humming sound. "She's asleep. Peacefully."

"Duh. I don't see how Tatsuya could have raised such a stupid brat." He adjusted the infant as if expecting Bakuryuu to take her which he quickly did, staring at the infant in absolute amazement. Maybe Jiraiya was the God of Babies or something.

"How…?"

"What have you two been doing anyway? Starving the kid? She ate three whole bottles!"

"Three… you gave her three bottles?! Are you trying to make her sick? She must have spit it up everywhere!"

"Nope, didn't lose a drop." Jiraiya stood up and walked over to the bookcase, putting a book on the shelf. "She seemed to like the book too, so I'll let you keep it."

"What were you reading her?" Bakuryuu demanded, glaring accusatorially at the man and holding his sleeping daughter close.

"The book I wrote." Oh God what— "It's called Tales of a Gutsy Ninja. Minato likes it, Kushina too, but it hasn't sold much. Those two actually said they'd name their son after the main character." The old man smiled affectionately at the book.

"Is… is it a pervert book?"

"What? No! What do you think I am?"

"A giant pervert?"

Jiraiya just snorted. "Well I watched your brat, you can have her now. I have some important… business to attend to."

"You mean peeping!" Bakuryuu accused.

The man looked at him and lifted an eyebrow. "And?"

"You can't just—" Jiraiya ignored the spluttering man and started toward the door. "But I— But you— and he's gone."

Hotaru woke up a couple of hours later and cried so Bakuryuu decided to take a page out of Jiraiya's book and feed her until she shut up. She ate two and a half bottles. Then she was all smiles and giggles and contentment. The father felt like he could cry in happiness. Maybe they just weren't feeding her enough. Maybe-maybe she would start to gain her weight back. Maybe… maybe she would live to a nice old age. Like thirty.

Inoue would warn him not to get his hopes up but he couldn't help it. He hoped with his whole heart that his princess was going to grow into a nice, healthy young woman.

When the mother got home, she had her own moment of astonishment before she warned Bakuryuu just as he knew she would. But he could see it in her eyes: she was hoping too.

~ Lullaby ~

It turned out that their hoping wasn't fruitless. After a few days, Hotaru evened out at a full bottle (and sometimes half of another) and began gaining her weight back. She went from being a screaming, crying pain-in-the-ass to a sweet little cooing, giggly angel. Bakuryuu was quickly overly enamored. He carried the baby all over the house, cooing and bouncing and singing. Inoue laughed at him, and she would take Hotaru away and say "don't corrupt my poor sweet daughter with your goofiness" or "don't torture poor Hotaru with that awful excuse for singing." She would do just about the same thing he would, except she didn't sing.

But sometimes if Hotaru woke up in the middle of the night, he could hear Inoue sing her a quiet little lullaby to put her back to sleep. It was always the same one too. He'd even learned the words.

"In the warm summer night,
They show their tiny lights
Shining so bright, A wonderful delight
Magical they seem, Through the soft moonbeams
They sparkle and gleam, So beautiful to see

Fireflies, fireflies, glowing in the night
Flickering, shimmering like stars in the sky
I go outside to watch them fly and what do I see?
A firefly, firefly glowing just for me

The moon shines above, The summer winds blow
What do you think of, When the fireflies glow
Magical they seem, Through the soft moonbeams
They sparkle and gleam, So beautiful to see

Fireflies, fireflies, glowing in the night
Flickering, shimmering like stars in the sky
I go outside to watch them fly and what do I see?
A firefly, firefly glowing just for me

Firefly, firefly, how I love you so
Flickering, shimmering your tiny glow
I love to watch you in the night, so bright and happy
Please come back tomorrow night and visit me
Please come back tomorrow night and visit me

Firefly, firefly, how I love you so."

~ Babysitter ~

The first time Izumi watched Hotaru was quite a ways into her pregnancy. Bakuryuu had been against it, not wanting to put the woman out in her condition, but he ceded when he learned that Ryunashi would be there as well.

He didn't expect to return to the Tadashi compound and find a screaming Hotaru, a frustrated Ryunashi, and a teary-eyed Izumi. The woman was practically howling and the man looked ready to shake the infant.

Bakuryuu snatched his daughter away from him before he could and Inoue looked ready to do the same. The four month old looked up at her father and her crying quieted a bit, her lips trembling pitifully and her face all red. "Oh my poor baby," he cooed. "Were these strange people mean to you? Oh my poor sweet baby."

"Ba!" she whined.

"Are you hungry, Angel? Here, let Daddy make you a ba." The baby settled, eyes still teary and lips still trembling. She didn't cry though. They'd built up quite a bit of trust in the 'ba' area.

"I just fed her!" Izumi whaled. "She can't be hungry!"

"How much did you give her?" Bakuryuu asked, pausing and bouncing the infant. Maybe she needed some baby food instead of a bottle?

"I gave her a whole bottle!"

"That's it?"

"What do you mean that's it?! She's only four months old, Bakuryuu! That's more than enough! Tell him, Inoue!"

"That's not enough," the green haired woman countered, shaking her head.

"Not for Hotaru," Bakuryuu added. "She eats at least three, sometimes a fourth."

"That's ridiculous!"

"I know," he answered, fixing a bottle with one hand. "She's got a monster appetite. She'll probably nearly eat us out of house and home when she gets bigger. Yes s'e will. Yeah. My sweet Hotaru is a li'l piggy." He nuzzled her forehead while he shook the formula up the plopped it in her mouth. The baby settled in contentedly, sucking away at her bottle.

"This is ridiculous, Bakuryuu! You're going to make her sick!" Izumi scolded, reaching for the bottle. When he dodged, she turned to Inoue. "Stop him! He's going to make her sick!"

"He's fine, Izumi," the younger mother responded calmly.

"They're the ones that have to deal with it. If they want to make her sick, let them learn the hard way!"

"But what about poor Hotaru? I can't let them be this irresponsible!"

"Izumi, stop it," there was a sharp note in Inoue's voice when she spoke, looking the other woman in the eye. "I don't need you to tell me how much to feed my daughter. I'm the one that feeds her, Bakuryuu too."

"You both clearly know nothing about children! No wonder she howled so much!"

"Izumi, do you remember when Hotaru first came home?" Inoue demanded, crossing her arms.

"Huh?"

"When we first brought Hotaru home, she was impossible. Screaming all the time, losing weight… remember how everyone was saying that it was the Tadashi disease? That the Sanbi was reacting badly with it?"

Izumi's face grew more serious and startled. Why would the other mother bring up what was no doubt a horrible time for her?

"Well it turns out that we were actually starving her. We owe Jiraiya-sensei; he's the only one that thought to feed her until she stopped howling. Those first couple of weeks our newborn would eat at least two nine-ounce bottles before she finally gained enough weight back and settled at a full nine-ounce bottle. That's how much she ate until it was about time to move a normal infant from two to four and then she started taking two. Now she'll take three as long as we make sure to give her some baby food too. Hotaru's metabolism is simply ridiculously fast. She's special, and I would know. She's my baby. So please stop telling me what she needs and doesn't need."

Things got a little quiet after Inoue's little speech. Izumi looked a little hurt but didn't protest their 'over' feeding their daughter. Bakuryuu leaned in close to his wife and was greeted with a sharp, "I'm not apologizing."

"I wasn't going to say anything actually," Bakuryuu told her. "Well except ask if you could hand me that burp cloth 'cause I can't reach it…" Inoue blinked then looked to the side and grabbed the burp cloth and gave it to him. "Thanks sweety."

After that day, Izumi made sure to heed Inoue and Bakuryuu's word when it came to Hotaru, having found that it tended to work better than trying to treat the infant like any other one.

~ Uzumaki Naruto ~

Hotaru was just shy of being four months old when a disaster struck the village. The day had started normal enough, it was even nice. The infant was having a 'play date' with Sasuke – really just an excuse so their mothers could talk and socialize. To be perfectly honest, Itachi and Kitsune did most of the watching, but we aren't supposed to tell people that.

Anyway, the danger was suddenly brought to their attention in the middle of the night. The ground shook, almost like an earthquake but not quite. Then a terrifying roar shook the walls of the house they were in. "Kitsune! Itachi! Get the babies inside and hide! Now!"

The two children were frozen in fear, but the order jerked them out of it. They each picked up a baby and rushed to do as they were told, cradling the babies close. Sasuke was crying but Hotaru just had a funny, perturbed look on her face like she was entirely sure but she might should be frightened.

Inoue wondered if the Sanbi had something to do with that, but had no way of knowing. Besides, she had more important things to worry about – like what the hell was attacking the village?

She and Mikoto made it to the door before Fugaku pushed them back inside, yelling at them to stay put and watch the kids. He didn't push them soon enough that they had missed the giant, nine-tailed beast just past the edge of the village. Its head was tilted back as it howled in anger and frustration.

Perhaps it was a trick of the light, or Inoue imagining things, but she could almost swear she had seen a Sharingan eye. But that couldn't be right! An Uchiha wouldn't have unleashed a tailed beast on the village!

…Right?

Inoue spent the rest of the night between frustration and fear. Her village was in danger and all she could do was sit back and watch her children. Mikoto and the very pregnant Izumi – who had arrived shortly after Fugaku had told them to stay – were in no better shape.

When she was frustrated about not being able to help or worrying over who did this and why, she found herself thinking over the reason her stomach was twisted into knots: Bakuryuu. She hadn't seen him since that morning, didn't know if he'd rushed into battle – but knowing him, he probably had – or if he was just helping people evacuate – also a strong possibility. She knew he was strong, but it was hard sometimes to remember that her goofball of a husband wasn't someone who would die so easily.

Really, who could blame her for worrying over a man that had once ran around screaming because a cat had attached itself to his head?

Soon – but not soon enough in the woman's opinion – the fight was over. Minato had finally arrived and sealed the biju safely away…

Into his newborn son. Inoue knew he was probably far too worried and upset about it, not that she could really blame him. She'd been practically frantic over it happening to Hotaru.

Naruto was the boy's name. Namikaze Naruto. Minato had decided months ago to name him after the main character in sensei's novel, the one he liked to sit and read to Hotaru because it made her giggle.

As for Bakuryuu, he was perfectly fine of course. Well except that he'd somehow managed to get half his hair sheared off. He was almost in tears over it, poor thing.

~ Tadashi Kikyo ~

Hotaru was exactly six months old when Izumi had her baby, a little girl she named Kikyo. Her vocabulary had extended far beyond the limited range it had been two months prior. She was crawling well too and trying to learn to walk.

"Wanna go see the baby, Hotaru?" Inoue asked her daughter, kneeling in front of the near-toddler who was sitting in her playroom floor… playing.

"I baby," the child responded, looking adorably confused.

"The other baby."

"Ober?" Hotaru tilted her head, looking more confused now.

"Yes, your new cousin. Kikyo."

"Ki… key-k…" Hotaru's face scrunched up and finally she apparently decided to give up. "Kyo?"

"Kikyo," Inoue spoke slowly, enunciating each syllable.

"Key-key-oh," Hotaru repeated, saying each syllable as if it were its own word.

"Now faster. Kikyo."

"Kyo."

"No, sweety. Kikyo."

"Kyo."

"You guys coming?" Bakuryuu asked, appearing in the door.

"Go see Kyo!" Hotaru proclaimed proudly, holding her hands up to him.

Inoue's hand attached itself to her face, but Bakuryuu melted. "Yeah, let's go see Kyo!" he cooed, hurrying to his daughter only for his face to be quickly greeted by the floor thanks to a punch to the back of the head via Inoue.

"Don't encourage her mispronunciations!" she snapped.

Hotaru laughed. "Da-y go dow~n!" she giggled, grinning broadly.

"You're not supposed to laugh at Daddy getting hurt~!" Bakuryuu whined.

"Yes you are," Inoue responded with a smile, picking up her daughter. "Let's put you on some clean clothes."

"Boo!" Hotaru proclaimed.

"No blue, sorry."

"Aw~!" she whined, pouting.

"I'll go buy—"

"Bakuryuu!" He hushed. "Good boy. No blue, Hotaru."

"Eh-ow!"

"Say it right," Inoue said, serious look on her face.

"Ehwow?" the child tried.

"Yellow," the mother corrected.

"Ewhoa," Hotaru echoed.

"I guess you're too young for your 'y's and your 'l's so I'll give it to you."

"Yay!"

Inoue gave her another look. "What did you just say?"

"…way?"

"Say. It. Right."

"Ye-yewhoa."

"Good girl. Soon enough we're gonna teach you your 'l's and then you'll have it down." Inoue carried her daughter to the child her room and fished through her drawer for an outfit in the decided color. She found a yellow shirt with the Senju symbol on the back and Uzumaki swirls on the arms – both in black – and a pair of black pants before dressing the child.

"She looks like a bee~!" Bakuryuu whined, holding the child at arms' length and pouting at her. Hotaru made a sad face. "But she's a beautiful bee!" he added quickly. "A beautiful, stunning bee in her yellow and black." He pulled her close to his chest and rocked her back and forth.

"Da-y! Dizzy!" she whined.

The father stopped and kissed her forehead. "Sorry, princess."

"Let's get going sweety." Inoue smiled and settled the diaper bag over her shoulder. She held her hands out to Hotaru but the child grabbed onto her father's shirt and snuggled in.

Bakuryuu laughed. "I think that means I'm the favorite~!"

"That's because you spoil her," the mother grumbled, crossing her arms as they started toward the door. She locked it behind them.

"Maybe if you lightened up on her talking…" Bakuryuu trailed off at the look he received.

"If she can say it right then she should. I don't mean to teach her bad habits and you shouldn't either." Inoue crossed her arms and scowled.

The man leaned over and kissed her temple. "Inoue, she's only six months old. She had plenty of time to figure out how to say words correctly."

"If we let her develop bad habits then it'll just be more work for later when we have to break them. It's better to teach her correctly now then to worry about fixing it down the road."

"If you say so."

"It'd help if you didn't encourage her to say things incorrectly."

"I don't!"

"Yes you do. You coo about how adorable she is every time and you know it."

Bakuryuu pouted. "Da-y sad," Hotaru announced. "Don't be sad! Happy!"

"Yes ma'am," he answered with a chuckle, giving her a smile.

"Happy Da-y! Happy Mama!" Inoue laughed.

It didn't take them long to reach the main house of the Tadashi compound. Inoue was about to knock when Bakuryuu just threw the door open and strolled in as if he still lived there. His wife gave him her most frustrated expression but walked inside and closed the door behind them. "We're here~!" the man called into the house.

Kitsune appeared in a doorway with her hands on her hips. "Oji, you're supposed to knock first. And don't shout! Mama is sleeping."

"Oh. Sorry," he murmured quietly.

"Ki-nay," Hotaru greeted with a broad grin.

"Hey, Hotaru," Kitsune greeted.

"Did we come at a bad time?" Inoue asked.

The girl shrugged. "Papa said you were coming."

"See Kyo?" Hotaru asked.

"Kikyo," her mother corrected.

"Yeah, Papa has her. Come on." Kitsune motioned for them to follow then turned and made her way down the hall, Bakuryuu chattering away as he and his wife followed.

Hotaru was perfectly fascinated with Kikyo. She got along with her well and didn't seem to be jealous of the attention the newborn got at all.

Until Bakuryuu touched her. Then she started howling. "My Da-y! Bad baby! My Da-y!"

"Hotaru!" Inoue scolded. The younger man started to hand Kikyo back to her father. "Don't you dare put her down." The man stiffened and looked horribly torn. "Hotaru, you hush right this second."

"My Da-y!" she howled.

Inoue spatted her leg. "Senju Hotaru, you hush right now. If Daddy wants to hold Kikyo, he can."

"My Da-y," she whimpered, eyes full of tears.

"Yes he is. But he's Kikyo's Oji just like Ryunashi is your Oji."

"But my Da-y."

"Hotaru~!" Bakuryuu whined. He shut up when Inoue gave him a look but she finally sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Fine, but you can't do this every time, Hotaru. Kikyo needs attention to."

That was all the younger brother needed to hear before giving the newborn back to her father and scooping up his pouty six month old.

"You're too spoiled for your own good," Inoue sighed.