A/N: I don't like this chapter, actually.

Just as further proof that I actually do have playlists for everything, I made a playlist of music that the kids have, if anyone wants it. This is, of course, assuming that I am the DJ, so take that as you will.

SIDE PAIRINGS: For this chapter, and maybe some later if they find a spot: KibaSaku, NaruHina, and InoLee. Beware my crack!

Christmas with the Hatakes
By: Reggie

December 11th: Parties

"Now, you're sure you've got everything?" Iruka was frowning, eyeing Kakashi up and down, and obviously doing a mental inventory of things attached to the Jounin's person.

Kakashi rolled his eye and sighed heavily. This bag hung over his shoulder was really uncomfortable, and it would not be getting any lighter the longer he stood there. "I'm positive. We have bottles of juice, bottle of water, a thermos of formula, diapers, wipes, a fresh change of clothes, a change of pajamas, a change of shirt for me in case she decides to spit up, toys, books, her blanket, eye drops, earplugs, baby medicine, medicine for me, tissues, immunization records, a list of emergency contacts, even that little nose sucker thing." Here the jounin made a motion with his hand like he was squeezing something. "I'm pretty sure she's set for life."

Iruka remained where he was, fidgeting slightly. "I really should just take her to the mission desk. The party is going to be loud; she'll get over stimulated and be fussy the whole time. Then she'll get tired and cranky, and who knows what might happen if she…"

The Jounin held up his hands in what he hoped was a calming gesture. "We've been over and over this, Iruka. You can't take her to the desk. Tsunade said you couldn't, because she needed you focused. This is just the kids' party. The lights are going to be on the whole time, no alcohol, and Shizune made Sakura promise that the music would only be decently loud. I'll probably even manage to get them to keep it low because I have Sayuri with me. We'll be fine."

"If you think Kiba Inuzuka isn't going to sneak in some alcohol, you're delusional." Iruka was half-smiling in spite of himself, Kakashi could tell. The Chuunin wasn't happy about this arrangement, but it was all they had. Their regular babysitters were all gone, and Kakashi wasn't willing to leave their daughter with a strange genin team and their sensei.

He remembered too well Obito and the type of babysitting the boy had done. He may not have been the typical example, but Kakashi wasn't willing to risk it.

"If she gets to upset, bring her to the desk," Iruka reached up, pulling Kakashi's mask up for him before kissing a surprisingly compliant Sayuri on the head. "Tsunade can just deal with it then."

Kakashi nodded, grinning under his mask. He had no doubt that Iruka would make Tsunade stop complaining it, if it came to it. The Jounin wasn't sure if it was a sensei thing, a prince thing, or both, but EVERYONE listened when Iruka commanded. Except himself, but then Kakashi had always been an odd one.

The Jounin placed a masked kiss on his lover's cheek, stepped back to give him a smart salute, before taking off out the door. Kakashi still wasn't sure what he'd done that was bad enough to piss of the Hokage so much that she'd assigned him to help chaperone the teenagers Christmas Party, but whatever it was, he was surely sorry.

He arrived, an hour late, to find the party was already getting underway. As promised to all the parents, and various other concerned adults, the lights were still on. But they had been dimmed, and the gymnasium at the Academy was barely recognizable under the horribly sparkly decorations that made it resemble some place in snow country and the giant speakers.

The kids were already dancing to the heavy beat; he could see Sakura's pink hair as she bounced beside an eager Kiba. Kakashi grinned under his mask.

Sayuri cried, and the Copy-nin took a moment to dig the ear plugs out of the horrible bag he was carrying to protect her sensitive ears, as well as the earmuffs he'd thrown in there, before moving over to where the other Jounin were leaning against a wall behind the refreshment table.

"Yo," he waved. Genma returned the wave with a dark look. If anything, that man looked less happy to be here then Kakashi was.

Guy just nodded at him, an oddly subdued reaction. Kakashi found this curious and followed his friend's gaze. Mini-Guy was out there, looking thoroughly lost, as he tried to keep up with the blonde Yamanaka girl beside him. She seemed to be having a blast, sensuously swinging her hips sensuously to the beat, and paying relatively little attention to her partner.

Kakashi chuckled and sat down next to Asuma. The other Jounin was leaning against the wall, twitching slightly, which only made the lack of his usual cigarette more noticeable.

"I take it Kurenai came then?" Kakashi grinned up at the other man, dropping his bag on the floor beside him and removing Sayuri from her carrier. She seemed happier now that the noise was dampened, and immediately reached for the bottle on the side.

Asuma nodded out onto the dance floor, where Kurenai could be seen pulling Sakura and Kiba, who'd gotten much closer together since Kakashi's entrance, back to a suitable distance. "She takes this thing kind of seriously."

"So I see." Sayuri's favorite toy, a stuffed fox that Naruto had gotten her as a joke, was removed from the bag and immediately snatched by tiny chubby hands. "Doesn't trust us to do our job?"

"Not in the slightest."

Genma came and sat on Kakashi's other side, resting his head against the wall. "I'm never doing a favor for Shizune again, if this is Tsunade's pay back." He turned his head to the side, watching curiously as Sayuri mouthed her helpless toy. "Are you sure it's a good idea to bring a baby to a party, Kakashi?"

"Not at all, but everyone is busy tonight. Didn't really have a choice." Almost absent-mindedly, Kakashi reached down and tickled his daughter's belly. She squealed with delight. "If it really starts to hurt her, I'll put a silencing jutsu up. She seems okay with just those, though."

"I'm more concerned about what she might be exposed to," Genma leered, pushing the needle to the other side of his mouth. "You never know with these kids."

"I know nothing will happen if Kurenai has any say about it," Asuma piped up, sounding thoroughly miserable.

Guy fidgeted slightly as the music changed to something with a slower tempo, and the blonde latched herself around mini-Guy's neck. The poor kid looked shell-shocked, his round eyes now seeming to take up half his face, and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what are you thinking bringing little sister here?" Naruto's appearance was so sudden that Genma actually jumped, but Kakashi was used to the volume by now.

He simply shrugged at the teen, half-wishing he'd just let Iruka take her so that he would be left alone, "why aren't you dancing?"

Naruto's grin faltered a little. "Well…I don't like the slow songs so much. And I wanted punch."

"You don't have anyone to dance with," Genma supplied helpfully, the needle in his mouth twitching a little in amusement.

Naruto's cheeks puffed slightly as he sucked in an indignant breath. "There's one girl here for every two guys! You can't get a girl every dance. It's not possible."

Kakashi took a moment to be momentarily impressed that Naruto had not only realized this fact, but managed to articulate it. Maturity worked for his hyper-active student.

"There's one girl that doesn't have a partner," Kurenai grinned as she appeared mysteriously at Naruto's side. The look on her face clearly displayed that she'd been waiting for a chance to do this all night. The red-eyed kunoichi pointed to a dark corner on the other side of the room, to a figure mostly obscured by balloons. "Hinata hasn't danced all night."

Naruto's blue eyes went wide in surprise as he followed the Jounin's pointing finger. "Hinata? I didn't even know she was here!" The blond frowned a little, rubbing the back of his head and mussing his hair further. "But Hinata is afraid of me."

"Afraid of you?" Kakashi asked incredulously, digging into the diaper bag to try and find the book he'd brought for himself as well.

"Yeah! She always faints whenever I get near." Naruto actually looked sad about this. "I scare her silly."

Kurenai smiled sympathetically, giving his shoulders a little push in the direction of the mostly hidden kunoichi. "I think you might be surprised. Just go ask her."

Naruto shot Kakashi a helpless look, as if asking for an alternative, but the Jounin pretended not to see him as he dug through the diaper bag. How much stuff could a person fit in this thing anyway?

When he saw no help was coming from his sensei, Naruto grabbed two glasses of punch and shuffled off in the indicated direction.

"Think Hinata's going to pass out?" Genma whispered as he leaned over to peer in the bag as well.

"Most definitely."

"Don't be too hasty," Kurenai grinned wickedly at them.

"You didn't brainwash your student, did you?" Asuma frowned, looking genuinely concerned about it.

"Of course not! We just discussed how difficult it would be for Naruto to get to know her if they never get a chance to talk, that's all."

Kakashi couldn't help being a little curious as to how this was going to turn out, and gave up finding his Icha Icha. Iruka had probably found it during one of his triple-checking's of the diaper bag, and removed it without Kakashi noticing. Instead, he picked up Sayuri and exchanged her fox for a bottle of apple juice, which she happily accepted, and watched his student approach the shy girl.

He couldn't hear the conversation from where he was, but Kakashi saw Naruto hold out one of the cups of punch. It was accepted by a slightly shaking hand, only to be dropped a moment later. He could only assume that Naruto had asked the poor girl to dance.

Hinata did not, however, follow her cup to the floor, and even from this distance Kakashi could see Naruto's grin as he grabbed the girl's hand and tugged her out on to the dance floor as a new song started.

The three men on the floor looked at Kurenai in wonder.

"How long do you think she'll last?" Genma asked.

"Probably only a song or two," Kurenai admitted with a shrug, "but it's a start."

Kakashi frowned out on to the dance floor, where he could see Kiba and Sakura starting to inch towards each other again, the young kunoichi giving one of the best 'come hither' looks Kakashi had ever seen. He redirected his frown to the infant in his arms, who was happily sucking on her bottle, oblivious. "If I ever catch you giving that look to anyone, young lady, you'll never see daylight again. And any guy you dance with WILL be castrated."

Beside him, Asuma laughed.