"Chiru, Tokuma. What're you doing back so early? I was expecting you guys to be back at eleven."

Anzu cleaned her hands on her dish wash before raising an eyebrow at the two young adults. Tokuma seemed very annoyed, having dragged Chiru in. Chiru, on the other hand, seemed very giggly and upbeat. She was quietly laughing, and then cackling like a madman. Then her laughter would quiet to a barely-suppressed giggle again. Anzu had seen her daughter like this a few times, and even now, it scared her. Chiru's instability was troubling.

"Chiru got us kicked out of Southern Soup," Tokuma answered, eyebrow twitching at the idea.

Chiru laughed harder, her small body quivering with giggles and guffaws.

"Oh, Nii-chan…," Sibai murmured over her china bowl of steamed rice and BBQ. She seemed to have just gotten back from work, still in her uniform. Sibai leaned on her hand and sighed painfully. Tokuma jerked up his best friend into bridal style, an absolute . "What do I do? I've been listening to her laughing all the way through Kohona. It's like she's lost her sanity or something."

"You can't lose something you've never had!" Chiru managed through her giggles, before laughing like witch again. "Ooh! Tokuma, such a bad boy! Staring at my boobs! How naughty, and just when I was starting to believe you were asexual! You even used the door, which shows you lack imagination!" Chiru made a spreading sign with her hands, letting a asylum-worth, "Oooohh, Imaginatinon," pass her lips before laughing like a madman again. Tokuma, looking helpless, turned red and held her out. Help, his expression read.

Anzu tapped her chin a few times, thinking. Suddenly, she smiled and crossed her arms. "Just set her to bed, she'll be out in seconds," Anzu replied happily, returning to the dishes. "B-but, there's no way she'll go to sleep with how hyper she is—," Tokuma started to protest.

"Oh, don't worry. Something weird happens with Chiru when she's tired. It's like her body releases stored sugar just to keep her running. Now put her to bed, Tokuma."

Anzu could be very daunting when she wanted too be. With a gulp, Tokuma nodded stiffly. "Yes, Ma'am," he said more bravely than he felt. He followed orders without hesitation.

He walked through the corridor and took the second door on the right, which he knew was her and Sibai's room. He slid the door open with difficulty, having his both of his hands occupied with Chiru. Chiru giggled at his difficultly and squirmed in his hands, successfully making it harder to open the door.

When he finally managed to slide open the paper door, he hurried over to the bed. The bedroom was undecorated; no surprise, really. The walls were the same creamy white walls of every other low-class Hyuuga, the floors the muddy brown of every other low-class Hyuuga. However, the personal touches made it special.

The dresser sat to the left of the door. With four drawers, there was two for Chiru and two for Sibai. However, their belongings were scattered all over the top, too. There was a picture of Chiru and her team, smiling with each other's hands wrapped around each other's necks and broad beams on their face like they were the freest things in the world. Hizashi Hyuuga stood above them, flashing thumbs up towards them. There was also Sibai's team, with them in a dog-pile, their poor sensei on the bottom. A small jar of coins sat in between them, stuffed with Yen, with even more pictures beside it. There was a picture of Anzu and Sibai, napping over a book they had read. Chiru was sweating like crazy and had multiple bruises all over her face in this one, but in big characters it read at the bottom: MASTERED! She was giving a peace sign, holding a scroll in the other hand. She looked elated.

Their bed as special in its own right, also. The half nearest to the wall was clothed with Navy blue sheets, messy and out of order. The other half had a light yellow and tan combo, made up neatly without a crease or crinkle. The Navy Side belonged to Chiru, as it was her favorite color ("God cannot even surpass Navy Blue!" Chiru said at the Academy introductions.) and the yellow and tan side belonged to Sibai. Under closer examination, there was the teddy bear Tokuma had given Chiru at the Sakura festival eleven years ago.

Tokuma set Chiru on her side of the bed and tucked her in, making sure she wasn't too cold. Astonishing enough, she was out within moments. "It really must've been a long night," Tokuma noted with a shrug. He started to leave, hand firmly on thedoor, but a certain picture on the wall caught his eye.

Tokuma crept closer and examined the picture. It wasn't one of those small picture frames, but a fairly big one. It looked like a collage, actually. But that wasn't what made his shake his head and chuckle.

It was a collage of Tokuma and Chiru. It seemed to be a collection of pictures over the years, ranging from their Academy days to the recent Jounin Exam. Chiru and I on our first mission, Chiru and I sparring, Chiru and I playing tag, Chiru and I posing with our Chuunin Jackets—

What's this?

Tokuma doesn't remember this picture. It was their early Chuunin days, when they were so overloaded with missions and paperwork they often sat more than walked. The sun was setting in the training grounds, where Chiru and Tokuma had evidently been training. Unmistakably, they were mastering something new, because there were piles of unwound scrolls everywhere.

Chiru and Tokuma were out cold against the Tai Jutsu log, heads leaning on each other. Tokuma found himself smiling. He was so short back then. Even Chiru was taller than him, and that was saying a lot. Now he towered two feet above her, but that was beside the point.

"Mom took that picture, you know," Sibai said from the doorway, interrupting his thoughts. He turned to face her, a serene look in both of their eyes. Tokuma saw the composed faces of the other Hyuuga echoed in her own individual features. "She was getting worried so she came to check up on you two. This is what she saw. So she ran home squealing, grabbed her camera and took a picture."

Tokuma had a hard time imagining Anzu, the housewife, run squealing.

Sibai looked amused as she leaned against the doorway. Bags rode under her eyes from obvious Chakra exhaustion, but she looked happy nonetheless. There must've been a big, life-saving operation she had taken part in. She took off her Chuunin jacket and hung it on the bed post before smiling at Tokuma, "Goodnight Tokuma. Sleep well."

Tokuma took this as his sign to leave. He exited, leaving Sibai to rest in peace. As he left, he expected Anzu to be still drying dishes. But instead, there were clean, plain white dishes air-drying by the sink. The sink made a steady drip in the darkness and uncertainiy of the living room. Tokuma sighed and left, locking the door from the inside on his way out.

"What a typical day. I ended carrying Chiru home, again."

It was a good day for the hot spring. It wasn't too hot, nor was it too cold. It was a cloudy overdraft; just wet enough to declare it a lazy day. And indeed it was a lazy day, decided Chiru. I should go the onsen and relax, try to bathe all this extra sleep off. Nothing will bother me today, nuh-uh! Today will be the perfect day. And it was.

Chiru wanted to say she relaxed all day and went home happy and content and nothing bothered her at all, especially like a single mother in a dire need of assistance.

But she can't.

She had barely been in the onsen for fifteen minutes before Kaori Sazaki came in, her little boys attached to her arms. Kaori was Chiru's personal nurse, who had attended to her while she was at the hospital for routine check-ups on her crown chakra. Kaori and Chiru had become good friends, despite the ten-year age difference.

Kaori looked utterly exhausted. Her little boys, Kazuki and Kazuo, were jabbering on about something insignificant. Kaori mumbled, "Uh huh, uh huh. Oh, that's so nice Kazuki… oh wait, you're Kazuo,"

Chiru swam over to her long-time friend and aunt-figure, leaning on the edge when she tiredly stepped in. "Hello, Kaori-chan. You look a little tired."

Kaori seemed to melt into the hotspring as she stepped in. She considered Chirus comment for a moment before gushing uncontrollably, face turning red from passion, "Oh my, Chiru! You have no idea! Ever since Keiichi split, it's been complete havoc!"

Keiichi was Kaori's late husband. He found a woman not so child-worn and was never seen since. Kaori hadn't particular mourned long, neither had the rest of the population. Keiichi had been an ass. Kaori had admitted to feeling sorry for the girl he ran off with. "Poor girl," she had said.

Chiru raised her eyebrows, sympathetic from memories of a clingy, loud, and annoying Sibai. She crossed her arms over the edge of the onsen and leaned on then. "Oh? What do you mean, Kaori-san?"

Kaori sent a glance over to her rampant kids, who were currently terrorizing the other relaxing individuals of the hot spring. "Kazuki, Kazuo! Stop annoying other women and behave!" Kaori shouted at them. The brothers stuck out their tongues and continued wrestling. Kaori sighed, antagonized, and turned to Chiru. "I just don't know what to do," she cried. "No matter what punishment I enforce or how I treat them, they're always so… energetic! But they aren't old enough to burn all that energy in the Academy, yet, either!"

Kaori squirmed where she sat and sunk lower into the water. "To make it even worse, I have to do so many errands tomorrow. I don't have money for the babysitter, either. Even if she did quit."

Chiru blinked and moved her position again. She relaxed against the edge, arms securely holding her up. She bit her lip in thought, sending a few indecisive glances at Kaori. Exhausted was not the word that fit the mother. She worked long shifts at the hospital, sometimes even two, to provide for her family; Hospital pay wasn't very much. To make it worse, she had two hyperactive boys who had no father figure in their life and enough energy for eight Genin.

Chiru grabbed her towel and stood, wrapping it securely around her body and stepping out of the water. "Hey, Kaori, why don't I watch the children tomorrow, discipline them the way I disciplined my sister," She started, turning towards her friend.

Kaori put a hand on her cheek, thinking. "Yes, yes. But I can't pay you much—,"

"No, no. I won't accept your money."

Suddenly, the spawns of the devil themselves ran up to her, excited. "Ready, Kazuo?" The taller one asked. The smaller one grinned and gave thumbs up. "Now, Kazuki!" The brother reached towards Chiru and tore off her towel, leaving her nude.

Chiru squeaked and froze. "Whoa, Onii-tan," Kazuo squealed. He pointed at Chiru's bare breasts, face brightening with young curiosity and enchantment. "There are huge balloons on her chest! And they're so shiny!" Kazuo glomped her and started rubbing her face in her breasts. "Shiny balloons, shiny balloons."

"Don't be a Baka, Kazuo! Those are boobs, and, boy, they are big! Like all Hyuuga!" Kazuki face drowned in red. His hands made lifting motions as he drooled. Chiru's eyebrows could only twitch, a cross between angry and down-right annoyed. "K-Kuso!" She screamed, grabbing Kazuo's wrists and flinging him into the hot spring. She quickly hitched up her towel, and tucked it into a secure position. She turned onto Kazuki and grumbled darkly, a dark red aura surrounding her. It had never been quite that extreme since Tokuma walked into the changing room taking pictures.

Far away, on a mission, Tokuma Hyuuga sneezed. "Yo, somethin' up, Tokum'?" Hana Inuzuka asked, hand on hips. "Nah, it's probably just someone remembering the picture incident."

"Ah."

"Kazuki…," Chiru Hyuuga rumbled an unsaid threat in her throat. The boy, probably around nine, opened his eyes wide and shivered. Without a word, she stealthily approached him. With methodical movements, she stepped towards Kazuki. He panicked and put his arms up, letting Chiru grab secure hold of his sleeve and back of shoulder. In one moment, she had pressed her leg against the back of his. He started to lose his balance, tipping from side to side dangerously. Chiru then took this chance to flip him over dramatically, sending his legs spinning like pinwheels. She yelled, as was tradition, "Osoto Guruma!"

Kazuki was barreled into the ground. He let out a gasp, as was expected. He was not acquainted with Judo, so he did not know to perform a side break fall, as it was best for this technique.

Everyone seemed to freeze. Kazuo, who was being helped out of the water by Kaori, stared incredulously at his older brother, mouth agape. Kaori seemed flabbergasted by the way Chiru handled Kazuki. The rest of the females, a mixture of Kunoichi and Common Folk, gasped at the merciless consequences.

Kazuki let out a hiss as he struggled up on one elbow. His face was red from pain, his teeth gritted, one eye sequenced closed. He obviously wanted to cry, but he bluntly wouldn't, by the looks of it. "Are you going to cry, Kazuki?" Chiru asked coldly. She placed her hands on her waist, waiting for his reply.

"Hello no! I will be the best Shinobi ever, and Shinobi don't cry!" He screamed defiantly. Chiru's eyebrows dropped low, and Kazuki flinched.

Suddenly in a more joyful mood, Chiru flew around the face Kaori. "Well, Kaori, see you tomorrow!" She said happily, standing akimbo. With a two fingered salute, she raced out into the changing rooms.

"What a crazy old hag," Kazuki muttered, rubbing his head tenderly. He looked at his hand, surprised to see a clean, tanned hand, instead of crimson blood like he expected. He shakily stood up, stumbling. After a few moments, he tested his balance by feeling around with his foot. When he was positive he could stay upright, Kazuki stood upright and glared at the changing rooms. "Bitch."

Amazingly, the Kunoichi population in the onsen laughed. An ordinary Kunoichi said to a red-haired Kunoichi. "Oh, wow, Aiko! That was amazing!"

"Yeah, yeah! I haven't seen something that entertaining since… well, never!" Aiko replied.

Kazuki turned on them, furious. "Shut up! That wasn't funny!"

The woman who had said it was amazing stepped out of the bath, securely wrapping the towel around her well-developed body. "Hey, hey. That was Chiru Hyuuga, a Judo master and someone who could've killed you with only that if she wanted too. She went easy on you, kid," She crossed her arms and tossed her nose up, defiant. "If you ask me, kid, you deserved it. It was about time someone taught some manners."

She walked out of the same door as Chiru had.

"That lady went easy on me," Kazuki mumbled to himself, amazed. He rubbed his bruised side, skeptical.

"That lady was a bitch."

Heh, heh, heh. I liked this one. I really, really liked it. I was going to tie the babysitting thing in there, but I decided not to. This was a perfect intro for the Babysitter Arc, and, besides, I want to span the babysitting thing into at least two chapters.

Again, another encouraging review from HinataWeasly789! Dango for you!

Yes, by the way, I did really pick out that Judo move. Though I don't study Judo, I have a book and I hope to train in it. I understand the movements in there, and how it works. You guys should try it.

I don't own Naruto or anything else in here, except the plot and the following characters: Chiru, Sibai, Anzu, Kazuki, Keiichi, and Kazuo. I hope you guys look forward to the next one, though it might take a while. I'm looking for entertaining babysitter stories from everyone, including my teachers, but so far, I have only come up with enough for a few events in a large spider web.

Fly,

Aviandra