A/N: I AM AWARE I MISSED LAST WEEK'S UPDATE. I was eaten alive by homework. I sat down Thursday and when I looked up again it was Sunday. But now I am through playing catch-up and am working ahead of all my classes! My writing time now increases.

I do not own any of the Naruto characters!

It's just a little AU!


Chapter Thirty-Five: Lucky


February 25

Hayate had very firmly decided he was never having kids. Ever.

Especially since he was the only one who had any idea how to get the bubble-gum out of little Ino's hair.

Genma probably knew, but he was asleep on the couch, folded around his cast and sling, socked toes curling over the edge of the cushions. Though he and his team had been cleared for easy D-ranks, it was obvious to Hayate that Genma wasn't really in any shape for any mission. As soon as he got still he started nodding off, and his concentration was shot....whatever pills he was on, he was taking some strong stuff. Iruka had planted himself by Genma's feet, in a very watchful sort of way, and was making sure their teacher did not get jostled, jarred, or otherwise disturbed.

Of course, in doing so, he'd managed to neglect keeping an eye on Chouji and Ino, and the two toddlers had gotten into a fight, and Chouji had stuck his bubble-gum into Ino's blonde ponytail. There had been much wailing, carrying on, and threats with dull kunai.

Baby-sitting ninja kids was always an adventure.

Shikamaru and Itachi were playing "Go Fish" and debating heatedly on who was cheating. Hayate thought they both were. Iruka was playing, too, but he wasn't very involved. He was keeping an eye on Chouji, who was in time-out for being so creative in his use of weapons and going for Ino's obvious weakness. So Iruka had said. Fortunately, Chouji looked well on the way to joining Genma in dreams.

Hayate sighed and scooped out another dab of peanut-butter from the jar. He rubbed it into the mess of gum-in-hair.

"Wah, are you sure it'll come out?" Ino whined, hanging her little blonde head over the sink like she'd been told. She was surprisingly obedient, though talkative. Hayate hadn't heard her pause for longer than two minutes at a time. "I mean, it's gum and the last time I got some in my hair 'Kaa-chan cut it out! The peanut-butter stinks!"

"It'll work, don't worry," Hayate rasped, and cleared his throat.

He knew how to get gum out, because the last time he'd gotten caught by the bullies at the Academy, they'd put gum in his hair. Hachiko had taken one look at her bedraggled, defeated nephew, and declared that she knew how to get the mess out without too much butchering of his hair. A generous application of peanut-butter and a very thorough washing had reduced the need of scissors to a very light trimming. Hayate was confident that he could get all the gum out of Ino's hair without resorting to scissors. It hadn't been rubbed in with as much malice as his attack had.

"Wah, I'm tired of leaning over! Aren't you done yet?"

"Not yet." Hayate thought the gum was looser. He tugged at it, and the biggest wad slid out at last. Hayate grinned in triumph and chunked it in the trash. "Okay, now we need to go wash it all out. Can you hold it?"

"Like this?" Ino reached up with one hand and held her ponytail like Hayate was, over her shoulder and away from everything else.

Hayate nodded, and licked the remaining peanut-butter off his fingers before he screwed the top back onto the jar. He then reached over and helped Ino off the counter. It was less of him lifting and more of him slowing her descent--he couldn't pick her up without threatening to dump them both over. He'd tried before there had been gum and peanut-butter involved.

Ino led the way to the bathroom, pattering along on her little bare feet, skirt fluttering. She was wearing pants under the skirt, though. Into the impressive bathroom they went. Yamanaka Inoichi apparently lacked for no salary: his house was large and well-made. And currently very warm. Hayate and even Itachi--both of whom were usually the coldest of all in their team--had rolled up their sleeves. Hayate came quietly along behind Ino, habit quieting his footsteps into utter silence.

The child never looked back despite the lack of noise. Either she was just that trusting, or she was used to her ninja parents already. She went across the chill tile floor to the spray-faucet, and now she looked imperiously up at him. "That's me and 'Kaa-chan's soap, and that's 'Tou-chan's!" declared she, pointing. "So you gotta use this one."

Hayate nodded and knelt on the tile to retrieve the indicated bottle. Curious, he opened it and sniffed. Sure enough, it was a floral-scent, faint but sweet. Maybe gardenias, he thought, thick and almost cloying to his trained senses. He tugged the little bathing-stool over, and Ino leaned over it, hanging her hair clear so Hayate could get to it. There were a few moments of figuring out how this was going to work, but then they had it and the peanut-butter, along with the remaining gum, was washed out.

As Hayate dried her hair for her, the little girl had more orders. "Now you need to brush it. 'Kaa-chan always brushes it after we wash it, so it'll be pretty!" She cast a blue-eyed look his way, and she was too young to hide her feelings. Hayate read the curiosity and mischief clearly--she was testing him, seeing how far she could push this new, timid person.

He shouldn't smile, he knew, but he couldn't really help it. There was something funny about the little look, like she thought she was being so clever. He bit his lip and tried not to smile, but she saw the twist of his mouth, and she grinned and giggled. She had a high, sweet little laugh.

"So where's your brush?" he asked, and cleared his throat against the cough.

"In my room," she reported. "So c'mon, Hayate-san!"

Hayate hung the towel up so it would dry, and followed the impatiently-dancing Ino. She skipped as she went, foul mood clearly banished, all thoughts of ruined hair gone. Hayate followed at a more sedate pace, across the tatami, and down the halls to Ino's room. She opened the door with a flourish, and gestured him in.

"This is my room!" she announced, and spread her arms to encompass the space. "And there's my brush and hair-stuff!" She whirled and bounced across the small room, and reached up to a shelf to pull down a little basket that rattled and rustled. It was full of clips and pins, bands and ribbons, with a set of brushes tucked in there amidst the magpie collection of items. She ran back to him with the basket clutched to her chest, chubby little hands wrapped around it securely.

"You're too tall!" She pouted up at him. "You need to sit!"

"Alright," he agreed. "But where are we sitting?"

She thrust the rattling basket at him. Rather than protest, he took it, and watched as she darted to the shelves again, hitting on her knees and pulling out a set of zabuton. She laid these on the tatami to her satisfaction, then seated herself on one and gave Hayate an expectant look. He came and sat down behind her, and set the basket to her side, where they could both get to it. After she pulled out her ponytail holder, he set ro brushing her hair. It was fine and silky in his fingers, unlike his aunt's hair. His aunt's hair was heavier and thicker. Ino's hair, when he brushed it out and automatically set to braiding it, made a much narrower braid.

Ino's curious little hands came up and followed the braid. "Ooooh, I didn't know you could braid!" She giggled. "Most boys don't! They do messy ones! 'Kaa-chan's teachin' me but I'm not very good yet, it takes lotsa practise!"

"My aunt's hair is really long," Hayate told her, smiling at the excited chatter. "I help her braid her hair sometimes. Um, I need a holder...."

Ino whipped out a sparkly purple one from the basket, and waved it over her shoulder. It was easy enough to take it from her little fingers and snap the hair-elastic around the end of the braid with a few quick twists. Into flipped the braid over her shoulder and loudly admired his handiwork. Hayate grinned at her.

"Hey, d'you want to play dolls?" she asked. "It's so boring when Shikamaru and Chouji come over 'cause they never want to play dolls! And you braid real nice."

How braiding skills equaled playing with dolls Hayate wasn't sure. "Eeto...." he stalled, and tried to think of a polite protest. Apparently Ino took the not-protest as a yes, or else she was just too eager, because she leaped up and ran to her shelf again, pulling down a pair of dolls. She ran back and thrust one of them at Hayate.

"This's Hanako and this is Orihime. She's a princess and Hanako is her lady-in-waiting, only they're ninja in disguise." Ino nodded and held the blonde doll close. "You can play with Hanako."

Startled, Hayate took the doll. Hanako....had been his mother's name. Dumbly, he stared down at the painted face, the porcelain and weight of cloth and buckwheat. It was a a traditional geisha face, white and red and black, and nothing more. The doll's hair was black, too, and long. Hayate shook his head and felt dumb....Hanako was a very common name, after all. There hadn't been any reason to feel that funny jolt down his back, nor the hollow ache in the pit of his stomach. He reached up and stroked the tiny silk robes, wincing at the rasp and drag of his calloused fingers against the smooth fabric.

"Hayate-san?" Ino's voice, small and almost hesitant.

Hayate blinked and looked up at her. "Aa, nani?"

Ino was frowning, biting her tiny lip. "....why are you sad?"

"Me? I..." Hayate blinked at her, then felt his face fold into one of his little perfect smiles. "I'm not sad. But I don't think I can play with you...my hands are too rough, see?"

Ino stared at him, and scowled, She took the doll back, and marched over to put them on the shelf again. She whipped around and came back. Hayate flinched as she raised a hand, instinct demanding he block what might be an attack. The stopped at the same moment, eyeing one another. Ino reached out the last few inches and set her hand atop his head.

"You have a nice mind but you'll mess it up if you lie too much." The way she said it made Hayate think she was reciting something oft-repeated. "That's what 'Tou-chan says all the time. And you really do have a nice mind, much nicer than your team-mates." She nodded, bobbing her little blonde head up and down.

"My mind?" Hayate frowned a little, feeling her tiny hand warm atop his hitai-ate.

"Un!" Ino nodded, and took her hand away. "So if you don't wanna play dolls, what can we play?"

"Um, I don't know." Hayate racked his mind for games that didn't involve chakra-building or the fast-and-dangerous "games" Genin played...like kunai-tag with sharp kunai and small exploding tags. He wasn't used to thinking in simple and easy terms.

"Hey, hey! I bet if you make your Iruka-san bother Shikamaru, we can get them all to play tag in the garden! Or build snow-castles!" Ino grinned and danced from foot to foot. Hayate saw the little basket of hair-items getting close to an upset and rescued it.

"Okay, we can try that." Hayate smiled and offered the basket to Ino. "But put this up first."

She cheered and hurried to do so. Hayate unfolded himself from kneeling and picked up the zabuton. Ino rushed back and took these, and darted back to shelve them again. She took off at a mad dash for the main room, calling over her shoulder for him to "Hayaku, hayaku!" Smiling, Hayate followed....but something made him pause and look back at the dolls on the shelf. After a moment, he told himself he was being silly, and moved on to join the commotion in the main room.

The snowy garden was lit wonderfully by the lamp in the great stone lanterns. Itachi had lit them, impressing the children with his katon jutsu. Hayate was fairly impressed, too. Itachi had been getting better these days, to the point where he hardly needed hand-seals anymore for the smallest fireballs.

They'd left Genma inside, still dozing on the couch. He'd roused briefly, but he didn't want to take his cast out into the snow. He'd sleepily supervised them bundling up the kids, and volunteered to make hot tea before they came back in. Whether or not he would, Hayate didn't know.

The three kids and the three Genin tumbled about in the garden, all involved in a cross between a mad chase and a game of tag. The snow in the garden had been painstakingly removed--probably by working Genin teams, though maybe Inoichi had done it himself--and the few inches left were perfect for rough-and-tumble play. Chase turned into snowball-throwing somewhere along the way, and soon it was a wicked match.

Taking cover behind an ornamental evergreen bush, Hayate and Itachi and Ino did their best to oust Iruka and Shikamaru and Chouji from the little snow-fort. Hayate was breathless from laughing and the cold and coughing, but it wasn't too bad. Itachi kept sending him worried looks. Ino had dismissed it in the way children had. Hayate muffled a cough behind his scarf, and lobbed his current projectile hard and fast in Iruka's direction.

With a cheer, Iruka's hands whipped through signs, and his chakra flared. He flung a hand out and the snowball diverted course with a jerk: clearly he was manipulating the water in the snow.

"That's cheating!" Itachi bellowed across the garden.

"I'm a ninja! I lie, cheat, and steal!" Iruka crowed, and launched his hard-packed snowball at Itachi's face.

Itachi's hands formed a single sign. With a quick breath he spat a golden-orange fireball and melted the snowball midair. Ino clapped her hands and cheered, jumping in place. Hayate laughed at the bewildered look on Iruka's face. Itachi looked decidedly smug.

Hayate grinned and scooped up another handful of snow. Things were about to get very exciting.

A/N: Yes, peanut-butter and gum does work. Yay! Poor Hayate, he got himself bullied around by Ino. At least she was cute. Next chapter: our team is still ground-bound, but that doesn't mean exciting things don't happen. Paperwork, questions, and a little bit of history. Itachi learns more about Iruka, and gets scolded by Hayate!

Six reviews last chapter! A heartfelt thanks to all who reviewed: WhyMustIWrite, eggomilburnigan, InARealPickle, Ally Plz, Sonar, and Shirayuki Tempest!

Tatami Woven mats with thin padding. Typical traditional upper-class flooring.

Zabuton The little flat cushions used to sit on tatami

Eeto Umm... A place-holding noise, mostly.

Geisha Trained entertainer, not a prostitute, with distinct make-up patterns

Aa Slangy male yes

Nani What, short and informal version of Nani desu ka

Un Slangy female yes

Hayaku Hurry up! or Go faster!

Katon jutsu Fire jutsu