This LITTLE chapter is dedicated to Princess Hinashi! I really appreciate everyone's reviews and questions - and thank you all so much for reading and following my stories.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own. PLEASE REVIEW MY CHAPTERS! I will take advice and suggestions from my readers while continuing the story.

Thinking

Biju, etc. speaking

Biju, etc. thinking

Emphasis

Luckily for us, she ran into some new friends." He smiled at Tsunade's apprentice: such a nice girl... "Please find Kakashi-kun first: that's an order. I believe that you will find Naru-chan at either the Yamanaka, Nara or Akimichi main estate." He watched them all sunshin away, Tsunade in tears and Jiraiya looking incredibly determined. Perhaps this has happened now, with Naruto-chan still safe in the village, to teach each of them better awareness and responsibility.

Ino-chan is weird.

The boys were nice, and she supposed Ino-chan was too, but why did that girl think she was a "doll?" I don't even know what a doll is! The toddler thought about what a doll could be - no matter what she was sure the weird girl was just wrong. She'd noticed that the boy with the funny hair had rolled his eyes at Ino-chan. He even tried to tell her she was wrong, but Ino-chan just keeps ordering me to do things! And she wouldn't speak no matter what she said! No matter what any of them said! People weren't to be trusted: she'd learned that lesson very well in the cave. The snake - that's what Niisan called him, and Niisan never lied - the snake and the snake boy were bad. And they ordered her around a lot. They hurt me a lot too. The tiny blonde wiped her eyes from the crying coming out of them. She knew what happened if she accidentally did the crying.

"Oi. Girl, are you okay?" Shikamaru asked.

"Shikamaru. Her name's Naruto, son: Naruto-hime," Shikaku scolded.

"Like me!" Ino said excitedly, feeling absolutely thrilled that there was another princess. Even if Naruto-hime was a doll princess - or princess doll, it still meant that they could be best friends. It had to: Ino would make her! She's just a doll, so I can order her to do whatever I want! Her eyes widened as a terrible thing occurred to her. Oh no! She's a princess, too… Does that mean she can order me to become a doll! I don't wanna!" Ino began to bawl.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. Inoichi was trying to comfort his loud baby girl, asking her what was wrong.

"See Ino-chan, this is why Shikamaru-kun says we can't be friends with you," Choji said - thinking that warning her and telling the truth was a kind thing to do. Ino wailed louder.

"Shikamaru!" Shikaku began to chastise his bratty son, just as Chouza yelled at Choji for saying such a thing - making the oldest child in the room cry.

"Troublesome. Say what you want, Dad: I know how you really feel." Shikamaru stared at his son in disbelief, although by now he should've known that his son would be causing him trouble for the rest of his life. "Women are troublesome," he stated as if he were a damn sage extolling wisdom upon the masses. "They're just weak, and crying proves it." The little Nara yawned as Choji ducked his head, continuing to sniffle quietly into his father's shoulder.

Sniffing loudly, Choji managed to get out a shaky "Sorry, Shikamaru, Ino" before putting his arms over his face - trying to be quiet while he continued crying.

Ino looked up furiously. "See, see! If fatso can cry, why can't I?" Inoichi immediately put his hands in front of his face, using a mind-control technique to put his larger teammate in a type of stasis, while Shikaku grabbed the attacking Akimichi toddler around the waist, thanking Kami above that the child couldn't do any of his Clan techniques yet. He spoke soothing words to the littlest Akimichi while glaring at two of the other children.

"Ino-chan, you know better than to say something like that. Remember?" The girl pouted and looked away. "And as for you, Shikamaru… What you said about women is simply just not true!" He watched as his son quirked his lips sideways, cocking his head to the side, looking back at him as if his he was obviously lying. Troublesome. What am I going to do with this little shit? Taking in a deep breath, he continued. "Actually, Naruto-hime here may very well turn out to be a very, very powerful shinobi one day." He smiled at the tiny girl. "Even more powerful than us." Her parents certainly were. "Isn't that right Naruto-hime?" The girl looked at him for a few moments before shaking her head.

"Ha! Even she admits it…" Shikamaru looked over at the tiny girl to see a look on her whiskered face that stopped him cold. Those big blue eyes he'd thought were pretty before - prettier than bossy Ino's eyes, for sure - looked a little scary now. He swallowed thickly as the doll-like girl continued to passively stare at him. He shivered. Maybe his dad was onto something after all…

I don't want to be a powerful chibi-onee! That's what the snake people wanted! I just want to be me, whoever I am... The little blonde went over into the corner, sat down, and angrily pouted.

They all turned as someone pounded on the door.

Shikaku opened the door to find the last Hatake who looked ready to have a nervous breakdown. "Kakashi-kun! My isn't this a surprise," he drawled. "What can I do for you, son?"

Kakashi was panting. So freaked out about hearing from Pakkun where Naru could be, he dispelled all the clones he was capable of making and took off running. He chastised himself as he did so, knowing he needed to keep it together and retain chakra in case the little princess had gotten away from the supposedly safe hands of the Ino-Shika-Cho team. He still pushed himself to the limit, and only now realized he should have sunshinned. "You - uh - have you, well I know you have…"

"Yes, we indeed have, brat. Now before I let you in my home I want a full account of why we - Minato's best friends - had no idea that little Naru-chan had been found. For a moment I thought we were the first to find her after all this time, but then I realized that she was in baby ninja clothing that I haven't seen anywhere but in this village at one shop - and then I saw your damn pug. Little bastard dispelled before answering us! I should kick both your asses, boy! Now explain yourself," Shikaku finished, giving a fowl look at the silver-haired Jonin as he rested his shoulder against the door jam.

Kakashi's breathing and heartbeat slowed. He groaned. What could he do? Shikaku Nara-san is my commander: I'll just have to answer him and tell him the S-class secret. He would warn him before doing so and ask for his consent to report on the details, but he already knew the man would force it out of him one way or another. Plus, speaking to him would be a far better option than what his teammate would do. Internally he winced. Having been wind-walked before taking his captain's role in ANBU, he knew it was far from a pleasant experience.

"The Doll" watched as Shikaku-san made another one of himself, wondering what that was all about. She replayed in her mind over and over the things he did with his hands and what he said in order to try it herself later. It might be fun having another her around! She might even be able to talk to her other self, as long as no one else was listening. The animals were okay. She could tell that they had kind hearts, unlike what people had… No, I'm "being bitter:" that's what Nissan would say. The jerk had been really quiet or sleeping lately, and she missed playing with him. She was also angry that no one here could see him. He's playing another trick!

Continuing to quietly watch the weird people in the room from the corner, she felt sad. Ino-chan called the man holding her "Daddy." Part of her wanted a "Daddy," too - maybe even to hold her. She shook her head. Choji-kun was on his daddy's lap, too. It was so weird seeing Ino-chan crying like this and not being in trouble or getting punished for it. Maybe Daddies were okay with crying? She scoffed at herself. One of the Shikaku-sans patted his shorter lookalike on the head… she didn't even know what they were saying but she felt something burn inside. She didn't have a name for it, but for just a few seconds she wished she had a "Dad" or "Daddy" too. She scolded herself for thinking these things and tried to make the bad feeling go away. It was then that she again noticed their hair.

Ino-chan's daddy had hair just like Ino, but it was longer. Shikamaru-kun had hair like his Dad, too. All four had their hair bound in something just like the lady she lives with - she's pretty sure her name's Drunk - and the man she calls "Pervert" has bound hair, as well. A few hypotheses came to her mind…

Were Pervert and Drunk Lady related to these four? Their hair was really different, though. Drunk Lady's hair was more like Ino-chan's and what was his name? Inoichi-san? No, she must have gotten that wrong: that would be a dumb name after all. She'll keep that opinion to herself - but still, it being a dumb name is pretty obvious. She quietly snorted - another thing she wasn't allowed to do. Looking around, it seemed like no one noticed and she sighed in relief.

Shizuneechan didn't have hair like any of the others...

Pervert's hair was more like Masked Guy but not as long or bound… "Kakashi:" she was sure that was the moody Masked Guy's name. He paid the most attention to her of anyone where she was staying now and was super nice or pretending to be, but he was also sad a lot. For some reason, it was easier to feel people's bad emotions. "That's because you are bad," she heard the snakes' voices say. No! No, Nissan had said she definitely was not bad - and he was right about the snakes being super bad, that's for sure. She shivered at the memory, then went back to thinking about hair again. Nissan groaned but went back to ignoring her, pretending to sleep.

Pervert and Masked Kakashi both had hair that stuck up all over the place, just like hers did...could that mean? She felt her heart begin to beat faster and faster.

Kakashi arrived at a strange scene. Inoichi's daughter was crying and being comforted by her father, Shikaku or his clone was patting his son's head, whispering something to the boy. The boy was pouting and glaring at the corner of the room directly in front of him and his father or a copy of him. Looking desperately for Naru-chan, he noticed that Chouza also had his son on his lap - his son looked like he had been crying, too. Kakashi had followed Shikaku into the room, which finally allowed proof that he was a clone when he dispelled. Right in front of him, he could now see little Naruto, looking like she was having a panic attack. He had her in his arms again in less than a second.

"Shhh, shhh," Kakashi held the little blonde as he rocked her back and forth. "You're okay now, I'm here." He opened his eyes and glared at the other men in the room who looked baffled. Who dared upset his little Naruto-chan?! "Kami, Naru-hime: am I glad to see you!" He continued rocking her back and forth as she fell asleep on his shoulder, but not before she reached out and gently felt his hair, holding onto her own long hair that was in her other hand.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, watched the entirety of what was going on at the main home of the Nara Clan through his crystal ball. He had been right in his first assumptions: Kakashi-kun would make a fine guardian for his surrogate granddaughter: the boy just needed to learn more about acting as a single parent to the little girl.

He really needed to find out which one of the adults in the Senju Clan was learning about Jashin, though - as if he didn't have enough shit to deal with!