Tsume coughed and rolled onto her back, glaring at the ceiling. Today of all days, she had to get the flu!

"Damn you, Shikaku," she muttered. The Nara had worked with her the other day, not completely recovered from his bout with the flu. He had passed it to her.

"Why are you damning Shikaku?" Kakashi asked from the doorway, biting his lip to hide a smirk. Tsume lifted her head to glare at him.

"Because he is the reason I'm sick," the Inuzuka growled. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I didn't know that it was possible for Nara's to get sick." Kakashi laughed quietly.

"Shut up!" Tsume snarled. "That is not the point. The point is that I have the flu…" –a wicked gleam in her eyes made Kakashi shudder—"…and you are going to have to listen to everything I say."

"Huh?" Kakashi blinked. He didn't think that was how it went.

"You have to listen to everything I say. So if I tell you…to go take care of the dog poop in the yard, you have to do it," his girlfriend smirked, sitting up. She threw a fist in the air. "I love being sick!"

She coughed, flopping down on the bed. "Sort of."

"I don't really have to pick up the dog poop, do I?" Kakashi whimpered just at the thought. The Inuzuka's had nearly two dozen dogs—and they all used the same "bathroom." That would take hours to clean.

"No." Tsume waved her hand in the air. "Have the boys do it when they get home from the Academy."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Do you need anything?"

Tsume thought for a long moment. "Can you get me something to eat?"

Kakashi frowned, cocking his head to the side. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I remember when I was little and I got sick. My dad told me that I couldn't eat anything for like an hour, or at least until I could hold some water down."

"And I had a glass of water nearly a half hour ago. It hasn't come back for an encore." Tsume pointed out. Kakashi sighed and left the room.

In the kitchen, Kakashi opened the fridge and studied the contents. He stood there for probably a good five minutes, staring into the fridge without really seeing anything. It wasn't until he started shivering that he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, and that there was no point standing here if he wasn't going to grab anything.

So he went to the cupboards and hunted around until he found some bread, and popped some into the toaster, leaning against the counter and waiting.

Kasumi pranced around his feet, and he smiled and picked her up. "You should go up to Mommy," he whispered to her. She barked and wagged her tail. "I'm sure she would appreciate your company."

When he set her down, Kasumi bounded up the stairs to Tsume.

The toast popped up and Kakashi grabbed it, walking back up the stairs. Kasumi was standing on the bed by Tsume's face, wagging her tail happily. Tsume was petting the dog, sighing as the smell of the toast filled her nose.

"Give me," she demanded, holding out a hand. Kakashi gave her the toast, and rolled his eyes as she bit into it hungrily.

"Kasumi looks happy," he commented. Tsume nodded, glancing up.

"That reminds me. Kakashi, can you go down to the kennel and get Kiba's dog? I would do it myself, but I don't think that I would be able to walk that far."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sure, I guess I can do it. Did you already have one picked out?"

"No." The Inuzuka shook her head. "Just pick three or four and bring them back for me to check. If there's one that I think would fit him, we'll give him that one. Whatever dogs are left we can let the other kids choose from."

"Okay," he agreed. "I'll be back soon, then."

He left the room again, grabbing a shirt on his way.

/\/\

In the Inuzuka kennel, Kakashi crouched down in front of the cages and studied the puppies. There was a small chocolate Labrador, a couple golden retrievers, one beagle, and then a tiny white puppy with brown ears of a breed he didn't know.

He carefully picked up the Labrador and the beagle, and then two retrievers. Almost as an afterthought he whistled to the white puppy, and it followed him happily as Kakashi walked out of the kennel.

Tsume had sat up in bed, her toast long gone. She was frowning down at the comforter twisted in her hands, cautiously sniffing the air. She glanced up when her boyfriend walked in.

The yapping dogs jumped up on the bed and tumbled around each other. Tsume stared at the puppies carefully, judging them. The poor puppies had no idea what she was doing, oblivious to her calculating stare.

"Okay," she said, clapping. The startled dogs whined and stared at her. "I have chosen!"

Vaguely Kakashi thought that she sounded kind of scary.

"Which one?" Kakashi asked.

"The white one."

Kakashi blinked. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Tsume nodded. "I know what I'm doing, Kakashi. This little puppy will grow into a fine dog."

Kakashi shrugged. He wasn't going to criticize her choices.

"Lock the dogs in the living room. When the kids get home we'll give Kiba his puppy, and the other kids can choose theirs." Tsume said, leaning back against the pillows. "I'm gonna take a nap."

She closed her eyes and Kakashi herded the puppies out of the room.

/\/\

Kakashi left a couple hours later to pick the kids up. Ever since those kids had talked to Naruto like that he had been a bit paranoid, never letting the kids walk home alone anymore.

He stood by the front gate, nodding to other parents he happened to know. He grinned under his mask when he saw Shikaku, and he walked over to stand next to him.

"You know," he started. "Tsume is really mad at you."

Shikaku glanced up from the ground, groaning pitifully. "What did I do now?" he asked roughly. Kakashi shrugged.

"She thinks you got her sick."

"Damn! I did?" Shikaku muttered. Kakashi nodded.

"Yep. She damned you this morning after throwing up." Kakashi said brightly. Shikaku groaned again, tilting his head back to stare at the sky.

"I'm so dead."

"Yes. Yes you are." Kakashi agreed, leaning against the wall to look for the kids.

He nearly fell over when small kid ran into him, hugging him hard. "Hi, Daddy!" Naruto cried happily. Kakashi chuckled.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, ruffling the blonde's hair. Sasuke and Kiba followed at a much slower pace, and Sakura was trailing behind to Ino Yamanaka.

"Come on, you guys!" Naruto called back to his siblings. Kiba ran over to them, and Sakura said goodbye to Ino and hurried over.

By the time Sasuke had finally joined them, Naruto was bouncing up and down with anticipation. "Come on! We have to see Mommy and make her feel better!"

Kakashi chuckled and led the way back home, pulling Naruto along when he stopped to talk to Shikamaru and his dad.

When they finally got home, Tsume was curled up on the couch in the living room with the dogs, watching TV with a blanket wrapped around her.

"Mommy!" Naruto cried, running forward to sit next to Tsume. She chuckled and hugged him lightly.

"Hey, Naruto," she said. "How was school?"

"Great! I made you a card," he added, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. Tsume took it with a raised eyebrow and read it, smiling.

"Oh, thanks, sweetie," she said, hugging the little blonde again. "Hey, I have a surprise for you guys."

Kiba lunged forward, grinning. "What is it? What is it?"

Tsume smirked, disentangling herself from the blanket. "Here," she said, picking up the white puppy curled up by the TV. "Kiba, here's your ninja dog."

Kiba jumped, whooping, into the air. "YES!"

"His name is Akamaru." Tsume went on, handing the puppy to the brunette. "Take care of him."

"As for the rest of you," Kakashi said, and the remaining three kids looked at him. "You can pick a dog from the four in here. They will be your responsibility."

Sakura crouched down in front of the chocolate lab, cooing at the puppy. Naruto bounded forward and picked up the beagle, and Sasuke shrugged and sat down next to a golden retriever.

"What are you going to name them?" Tsume asked as she sat back down. Naruto smiled.

"I wanna name mine Ramen!" he announced. Sakura frowned.

"Are you sure, Naruto? In a few years you might not like ramen anymore, and by then it will be too late to change it."

"How could I not like ramen?" Naruto exclaimed. "It's the best thing in the world!"

And then he cooed the puppy's new name to the beagle repeatedly. Kakashi sighed.

Sakura thought for a long moment. "I think…I'll name mine Coco."

"A great name, Sakura. What about you, Sasuke?" Kakashi said.

"Darkness," Sasuke said, a weird glint to his eyes.

"NO!" Tsume shouted. "You can't name your dog something as depressing as that. How about…Hunter? Or Rusty? Your dog looks kinda reddish."

Sasuke sighed. "Fine. Rusty."

Kakashi clapped. "Great! Now go play with your dogs while your mother rests."

The kids left with their dogs and the blessed silence following made Kakashi smile.

"What are you going to do about Itachi?" Kakashi asked. "He seems to be getting restless or something."

Tsume shrugged, closing her eyes. "If he feels like telling us, he will. For now, let's enjoy the quiet we have been graced with."

A/N: Man, I cannot believe how long this took! I kept stopping because I didn't really know what I was doing. Now I have some ideas, though, so the next few chapters should be interesting. Review, please!