Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A/N: It has come to my attention that Kakashi and Sakura's relationship status is rather vague. I'm sorry about that. I should have addressed it in the first chapter and I apologize. Sakura is 20 years old. Kakashi is 34 years old. They are together; in fact I just now decided that they are married. So here we go, on with the story. Oh wait I just realized that you probably think I'm making this up as I go…only a few parts of it, the rest is planed I promise.

His alarm would go off at 5:30 every morning. He never hit snooze so he was always at the memorial stone at 6:00. Once there he would zone out in front of it till around 7. After that he would run a few laps around the village before going home to eat breakfast. Around 8:45 he could be found strolling onto the training grounds with some made up excuse about helping a woman, who was assaulted by black cats, cross the street. However today at 5:20 Kakashi, who liked sleep as much as the next person, was woken up by Rumi's high pitched voice. She yelled his nickname she had given him as his full name gave her trouble.

"Kashi!"

Kakashi groaned and Sakura mumbled something about it being too early before pulling the quilt over her head.

"Kashi wake up! UP! UP!" Rumi wined; now right next to his side of the bed.

"She's just going to keep at it." Sakura warned from under the blankets.

"UP!"

"Alright I'm up. I'm up." Kakashi reached over and turned his alarm off.

He let himself morn those blissful ten minutes he missed for a moment before he pulled himself out of bed. His back and neck popped as he stretched and yawned. Rumi got impatient fast and grabbed hold of the edge of his shirt and proceeded to lead him out the room.

Rumi decided that she wanted Fruit Ninja Os, but Kakashi and Sakura only had Wheaties. 'Breakfast of Champions' he told her, but Rumi didn't like Wheaties. She only ate white bread, hold the crust, so that ruled out the toast she wanted next. They only ate wheat or rye. Then it was on to pancakes, but Kakashi and Sakura didn't have syrup. So then she wanted her Cheerios, the ones that were currently scattered a few feet away on the open living room floor. Kakashi wondered for a moment if he should just scoop them up into a bowl. What would a bit of dirt hurt?

"Don't even think about it." His wife's voice came from behind him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged

"You are not scooping up the Cheerios off the floor and feeding them to her." Sakura warned.

Kakashi deadpanned "It's rather scary how you knew that."

"I'm a ninja. I know everything." She smirked striding over to the island that separated the kitchen from the living room.

It seemed she did know everything. Or rather she knew how to get Rumi to eat the scrambled eggs and apple slices. She also knew what to say to get the little girl to cooperate and changed into her clean clothes. It was also a relief that Sakura knew how to do little girls hair. Then her pager went off.

"That's the hospital. I've got to go in for a few hours. Tell the boys I'm sorry I won't make it to training." Sakura said standing.

Kakashi stood as well and pulled her into him. His lips found hers for a few moments before he pulled back.

"Want us to bring you something for lunch?" he brushed some pink locks behind her ear.

Sakura shook her head. Pink strands fell back in her face and she swept them back. "No, I think I will be home before then, if not I can always grab something from the cafeteria."

He nodded and watched her slip out the sliding glass doors and onto the balcony. After closing them behind her she waved and disappeared in a whirl of cherry blossoms.

Kakashi held Rumi's hand as they walked to the memorial stone. He was lost in thought as it came into view and the next thing he knew, Rumi had slipped out of his hand and took off towards it.

"Daddy!" She yelled excitedly

Kakashi stood stunned for a moment and he looked around to see who Rumi called out to. They were the only ones around this morning. Then his unspoken question was answered as she flopped down on the grass next to the stone. Rumi became just as chatty with the cenotaph as she had with Sakura the other day. She held up the pictures she'd drawn towards Asuma's name carved in the black monument and told about her day. Kakashi felt his throat tighten at the sight but Rumi's bubbly attitude was contagious and he soon found himself smiling at her enthusiasm while she talked to the father she had never met.

"Whoa that sucks ya know and on your off day too." Naruto shook his head sadly looking at Rumi coloring a bit away on the grass.

"It's not so bad, besides it can't be helped." The Copy Nin replied.

Sai and Yamato were called away on a mission so Kakashi and Naruto were the only ones training, if you could call it that. Honestly Kakashi wasn't sure why Naurto bothered training with them at all. They didn't even pose a challenge to him anymore; well no one did now days. Kakashi figured it was just a way for the young man to spend time with them before he took on the role of the Hokage and gave up social life. Tsunade said she still had a lot to teach him before she'd handed the title over, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time.

"Hinata has been talking about kids lately." The blond man said it casually but Kakashi could tell that Naruto was actually quite nervous about the prospect.

"You two will be great parents." The older shinobi reassured him.

"I don't know anything about being a dad." Naruto admitted looking down at his feet.

"You know your dad said that same thing to me before you were born." Kakashi remembered with a slight smile.

Naruto brightened instantly "Really? He seemed like he would have been a great dad, when I met him. I know I didn't get to spend a lot of father son time with him, but I'm proud he was my father."

Kakashi nodded. "You should be. He loved you. He loved this village and everyone in it like his own children. He entrusted you with them. You have surpassed him now. I know you'll be a great dad and Hokage."

Naruto smiled and blushed a bit at the rare complement. "Yeah but it takes a village to raise a child." He pointed out.

Kakashi looked at the blond man, who as a boy had no family to speak of, and then to Rumi who was now playing her own game she had dubbed Kunoichi saves the day with one of her dolls.

"Yes sometimes it does." The copy nin agreed.

After training Rumi decided that she wanted to go to the park. As they walked away from the third training ground, a flurry of cherry blossoms dropped Sakura right in front of them.

"I missed all of training didn't I?" she pouted a bit put out.

"Yeah, Naruto waited a bit but he had a meeting with Tsunade he had to get to. He said to tell you same time Tuesday." Kakashi relayed. Sakura sighed, that was the third time this week she'd missed training.

"Where are you off to?" She asked looking down at Rumi with a smile.

"The park! Come wif us Sakra." the raven haired girl answered brightly.

She grabbed Sakura's hand and led her down the road a bit before she decided that Kakashi needed to be holding her other hand. The Hatakes soon found themselves swinging Rumi by her hands between them. The three year old laughed in delight loving her makeshift swing. As they approached the park they saw a boy walking his dog around its perimeter.

Rumi's attention was quickly diverted and she ran to him. The boy let her pet his colie. Sakura and Kakashi walked up just in time to hear Rumi complain about the dog not listening to her. The boy smiled at her before he and his dog continued on their way.

"Aki always listen to me. Uncle Kiba and Aki always plays with me" She said with a frown.

Kakashi and Sakura looked at each in understanding. Sakura knelt next to Rumi who seemed genuinely put out about the dog.

"Rumi, Akamaru is a ninja dog. He is a lot smarter than other dogs so he can understand you." She explained.

"But you know, your Uncle Kiba isn't the only one who works with Ninja dogs." Kakashi added.

He had already bit his thumb. Kakashi's hands flew though the signs before he slammed it down into the ground. A plume of smoke covered the area and as it cleared it revealed all eight of Kakashi's ninken. Pakkun, Bull, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Ūhei, and Guruko stood at attention.

"You summoned us?" Pakkun spoke from atop of Bull's head.

"Yes I need you all to play with Rumi." The copy nin said pointing to the wide eyed girl next to him.

"You summoned us to babysit?" Bisuke asked

"We are Ninken we don't babysit little girls." Urushi announced.

"Yeah we're more suited for tracking and tearing out guys throats." Akino added.

Uhei, and Guruko nodded in agreement and a chorus of "yeah" s went up from the group as the dogs began to yip and complain. Kakashi took a steep forward already fed up with his ninken who were normally so obedient. Bull barked suddenly. The deep sound sent chills running down everyone's backs. The pack went silent and Sakura stepped back pulling Rumi with her.

"Bull is right. We are Kakashi's summons and we must follow his orders." Pakkun said hopping off Bull's head.

Bull walked up to Rumi and licked her face. The little girl giggled and scratched under his chin. Immediately the others joined in and they ran around the large grassy field. They were soon playing tag and while the eight ninken were known to be some of the fastest, Rumi was always able to catch them. Kakashi figured it was due to the fact that whoever she caught was given a scratch behind the ears or a quick belly rub.

They finally stopped for lunch and after the pack began to doze under the shade of a giant maple. Rumi still full of energy ran over to the playground. Sakura and Kakashi sat on a wooden bench overlooking the playground to watch her.

"How was she this morning?" Sakura asked as Rumi slid down the slide with a few other kids.

"She was good." He answered then continued to tell her about his conversation with Naruto. Sakura smiled at him as he finished.

"That's great. I'm so happy for them. They are going to be great parents." She said sincerely

Kakashi looked at her catching a gleam in her eyes; it was wistful in appearance as she watched the children play ninja before she turned away.

Even though Rumi had only been with them for a little over a day, Kakashi found himself toying with the idea of asking Sakura what she thought about them having their own kids. Just as he was about to open his mouth Sakura stood suddenly.

"Rumi?" She called worriedly. Children ran around the playground but none of them turned at the sound of the name.

"Rumi!" She yelled again getting desperate. The little raven haired girl was nowhere in sight. Kakashi whistled for his dogs but they were already up at the sound of Sakura's frantic voice.

"RUMI!" He yelled but even Kakashi's deep baritone was met with silence.

The two jonins ran alongside the dogs, who had picked up her scent. They barked and suddenly turned to the right running past the trees that bordered the park. However they halted for a moment at the chain link fence that kept the children safe from a drop off a little ways ahead. Kakashi felt as if his heart had just fallen off that ledge as he noticed the hole in the fence just big enough for a three year old girl to crawl though.

Kakashi cursed, launching himself over the tall fence. Sakura and the boys followed right on his heels. A shrill scream ahead nearly stopped his heart again but now Kakashi was moving so fast he blurred. Right in front of them was the drop off. Rumi was hanging on by a root that jutted out from the earth over the edge. Below her, a good seven stories down, were jagged rocks and a river. As with most little girls Rumi didn't have any upper body strength to speak of and she lost her grip on the last thing keeping her from falling to her death. Gravity did the rest.

Sakura screamed along with Rumi and she reached out but her husband was faster than her. Kakashi launched himself at Rumi and felt weightless for a moment before gravity was pulling him too. His arms wrapped around her and he tucked her under his chin protectively against his chest. Kakashi's shoulder slammed into the side of the cliff on the way down, but he didn't loosen his hold on Rumi. He managed to right himself in the air. The rocks jarred his knees as he landed but he let his chakra infused feet run across the water a bit as he lost momentum.

Rumi clung to his shirt, her streaming tears soaked it through but he just held her tighter. Kakashi's breath was ragged and his heart pounded relentlessly against his rib cage. He breathed in then let it out slowly as he calmed himself. Rumi was okay. He had been more afraid for her that he ever had for his own life. Kakashi found himself whispering reassuring words of comfort to the little girl as he walked atop the water to the riverbank.

Sakura and the dogs stood at the edge. They had hurried down the side using chakra to stick to the cliff face. Kakashi looked at his wife's tear stained face as she put her arms around the two of them in a hug. Rumi reluctantly let Sakura pull her away from Kakashi as the medic examined them.

"Are you hurt anywhere sweetheart?" The pink haired woman asked.

Sakura had knelt down eye level with Rumi and ran green chakra hands over the little girl checking for injuries. Rumi shook her head in the negative and sniffled while wiping her eyes and nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

"What happened? Why did you leave the playground by yourself?" Sakura asked brushing dark hair away from Rumi's onyx eyes.

Rumi shrugged looking down but still answered. "I follow butterfly." She said quietly.

Kakashi ran his hand through his hair as he pictured the scene. Rumi chasing a lone butterfly, trying to catch it in her grubby little hands as it slipped through the chain link fence getting closer and closer to the dangerous edge. However butterflies have wings and little girls don't. Sakura pulled her into a tight hug.

"Please don't ever go off by yourself again. You scared us half to death." Her voice was strained.

"I won't" Rumi said.

Kakashi sighed and reached down to help them up.

"Let's go home." He suggested. Both Rumi and Sakura thought that was a great idea.

Rumi fell asleep riding on top of Bull on the way home. The ninken had glued themselves to Rumi's side the whole way and were reluctant to leave, but Kakashi promised he would summon them all again the next day if Rumi was still there. However that didn't stop them from leaving until they made sure she was safely inside the Hatake residence.

Kakashi and Sakura began making dinner together at the kitchenette quietly while Rumi napped on the couch a few feet away.

"I was thinking that since we both have tomorrow off we should go buy Rumi a new outfit and maybe catch a show." Sakura suggested while she sliced carrots.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow while he stirred the broth on the stove.

"Why don't we just wash the ones she has? Or go to her house and grab one from her closet?" he asked.

Sakura tisked at him, "We can't just go brake into Kurenai's house." she said ignoring his first question.

"Sure we can. We are ninja, locks don't work on us. Besides it's not like Kurenai would care. We'd just be getting her kid some more clothes." He reasoned.

"Well I think after today she deserves to get a new outfit and see a movie." She huffed

"I think you just like the idea of buying her stuff. Honestly Sakura we shouldn't spoil her."

"Why not?"

Kakashi sighed he hatted shopping. "You're not going to let this drop till you get your way are you?"

"Nope." Sakura said with a smile knowing she'd already won.

"Fine then we'll go see a movie and take her to get an outfit but she only needs one."

A/N: Thanks to my nephew Chris for looking over this for me. And thanks to all of you for taking the time to read. Please drop a review before you go.