Within a few months, life in the unconventional Umino/Hatake family had settled into a comfortable routine. The little princess had expanded her territory from one corner of the living room, until it had taken over the entire apartment. And beyond. A grandmotherly neighbour was equipped and on call to pick her up from the village nursery and keep her overnight if necessary, if neither of her fathers could. And both Naruto and Sakura had a few plushy shuriken and kunai, alongside their harder, sharper, versions, just in case.
Even Maito Gai maintained an impressive stash of toys, hoping to be included in the list of potential babysitters. Although after Keshi's first visit with him, that seemed unlikely. Maybe it was the eyebrows, maybe his volume, or maybe just his size. But she screamed the moment he opened the door to welcome them in, and didn't stop screaming until she was safely back at home.
"Well the kid's got good instincts, I'll give her that." Kakashi said smugly, as he shushed and cooed. Trying to sooth away the sobs that were still jolting her limp body.
Iruka stretched out on the couch and watched them. The fearless assassin, seated in a pink rocking-chair decorated with pictures of white fluffy bunnies, cradling the tearstained child. He felt so full of love that he was sure he would burst any minute.
"I'm sure Gai meant well. He bought her a cake, and that outfit he gave her is sort of…sort of…"
Kakashi snorted as the look in his visible eye hardened to steely grey.
"Iruka, I do hope you aren't trying to say cute. No child of mine will ever wear pink spandex. And cake… cake! And it was covered in pistachio nuts. She could have choked to death. I told him over and over that she's only just started eating rice porridge."
Iruka tried to stifle his amusement, although at the time he'd been just as enraged. "He was only trying to cheer her up."
"Some chance! I'd scream too if Maito Gai was trying to shove green encrusted goop down my throat."
Iruka pulled himself off the couch and knelt on the floor facing him. "Don't worry. Daddy Two will save you both from the scary big green man."
Kakashi couldn't resist a grin. "I'll hold you to that next time he challenges me."
The grin was returned, doublesize. "Shh, she's asleep. Let me help you put her to bed and you can hold me now if you like. In fact you can hold me all night long."
The next morning Kakashi woke first. As always he was the first to detect the change in Keshi's chakra as she started the abrupt change in consciousness from 'sleeping like a baby' to 'writhing squawking mass of hunger and various other needs'. But today, he felt something different. Something excited, shivery.
He dashed to the bedroom door, faster than any human eye could follow, pausing only to grab the robe that Iruka insisted he wear about the house.
"Iruka! Come here, quickly!"
The other man woke in a panic and fell out of bed in a tangle of bedsheets. In a most unninja-like fashion.
"What… what is it? Is she sick?" He threw himself towards the doorway, still naked, hair disheveled. "I swear she's had one cold after another since we put her in that nursery."
Kakashi shot out an arm to bar his way.
"Look. She's sitting up. All by herself. She's a genius, a prodigy. Have you any idea how much muscle control and balance that takes?"
The little child was indeed sitting, grinning wide enough to display the single tooth in her lower jaw, and batting at the dolphin mobile hanging over her crib. The one that Kakashi had brought home with so much pride that Iruka had never been able to tell him how much he truly loathed it. Although he had taken it upon himself to personally sabotage its little music box, that now no longer played 'Under the Sea'. Keshi turned towards her audience, cooed and burped loudly.
Iruka reached for his robe, slipped it on, then reached for his partner. Not sure whether to hit him for scaring him or hug him for being just so damn lovable.
"I… I don't think that necessarily means she's a genius. I think it's age appropriate, for them to sit at around six or seven months."
"Not that it means she isn't." He added hastily. "I mean we don't actually know exactly how old she is."
The acknowledged genius's brow furrowed. "Then how will we know when to have her party?"
"Her what?"
"Her birthday party. If we don't know when her birthday is, then how will we know when to have it?"
Iruka hugged him. Damn lovable and even more damn adorable. Worth any number of scary awakenings. "We'll work something out. By the way, do you have a mission today?"
"Yes, with the kids. But it's local, we should be back before dark. I told them to be ready to go at five."
Iruka blinked then glanced at the clock to confirm his suspicions. "But Kakashi it's almost seven."
"Good, that means we still have plenty of time for breakfast."
This time the choice was much easier. Iruka hit him.
Naruto and Sakura watched the sunrise from the bridge, ate their breakfast and chatted amiably. 'Waiting for Kakshi-sensei' had become an enjoyable ritual for them, a chance to catch up on gossip and on their friendship, after their years apart. And one they would seriously miss if Kakashi actually showed up on time.
They were not disappointed.
"Yo."
"You're late." Naruto said casually. Barely looking up from the plum-studded riceballs Sakura had made for him.
"Well… you see a beautiful young maiden needed my help. She'd been terrified by a hideous green ogre and refused to leave her home unless I promised to personally escort her."
Sakura bit her tongue to hold in a giggle. So the visit with Gai hadn't gone so well. "Couldn't Iruka-sensei have dropped her off on his way to school?"
"No. He insisted on finding Gai and apologising. He felt some of the things I said yesterday might have been unnecessarily… harsh. Particularly my suggestions for measures that should be taken to make sure that he never has children of his own."
Naruto winced and crossed his legs. "So about this mission. Where are we going?"
"Out to the border on the Northwest. Some traps have been sprung and some barriers breached. Probably just animals but we have to check it out."
"Couldn't the regular patrol do it?"
Kakashi hopped onto the rail of the bridge and crouched there smiling, his eye curving into its characteristic crescent. "I'm sure Tsunade-sama has her reasons for sending Team Kakashi."
The two young ninjas suddenly felt very grim as they packed away the remains of their meal. They both understood everything that that implied. Kakashi was one of the few shinobi still active in the field, who had fought in the war against Hidden Stone. Although they were now officially at peace, relations between Leaf and Stone had never exactly been good.
Depending on what they found out on the border, they may have just got a whole lot worse.