There was a small tug on the hem of Itachi's shirt, followed by a hushed voice. "Is Mama still sleeping?"

"Yes, Ryoko." Itachi smiled reassuringly at his daughter, and with his free hand, reached down to brush her hair away from her face. "She's very tired from her hospital shift last night."

"And that's why you're making breakfast today," Ryoko concluded.

"That's right," Itachi agreed, poking her forehead lightly. "It will be ready soon, so please sit down."

She giggled, covering her forehead protectively, and took her seat. "Thanks, Papa!" she chirped, eagerly eyeing the dishes he placed in front of her.

"You're welcome, Ryoko-chan. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Ryoko chewed thoughtfully. "Can you do the pretty braids that Mama always does? I can tie my hair up by myself but I can't braid it," she said sadly.

"Of course," Itachi said patiently. He'd managed his own hair for years; Ryoko's shoulder-length hair would be simple enough to do. How hard could braiding be?

"Papa…"

Judging from the pout he could see in the mirror, Ryoko was not impressed by his efforts. It seemed that Itachi had severely underestimated how difficult braiding could be, especially when it came to his daughter's exacting standards.

"Aa, my apologies, Ryoko-chan," Itachi said, eyeing the knotted mess warily. "I still don't quite understand the process but I'll try again."

The look she gave him could only be described as doubtful, but Itachi was determined to succeed in this simple task. Before he could make another attempt at braiding, however, he would first have to untangle her hair – which, unfortunately, was beginning to look like a long, difficult process.

"Papa!" Ryoko yelped, her hands flying to the section of hair he'd been trying to salvage. He froze, cursing inwardly – just as he thought he was starting to get the hang of it…

"Ryoko–"

"Is everything alright?"

Both father and daughter whipped their heads to the doorway where Sakura was standing, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. To Itachi's embarrassment, her gaze landed squarely on where his fingers were now entwined in Ryoko's hair.

"Mama!" Ryoko beamed, her frustration seemingly forgotten. Itachi took the opportunity to carefully – but quickly – untangle his fingers, smiling somewhat nervously at his wife as he did. "Papa pulled my hair when he was trying to braid it and it hurt! I don't like it when he does my hair, can you do it instead Mama? Please?" she added, catching the reprimanding look in Sakura's eyes.

"Of course, Ryoko-chan," Sakura said warmly, but she smirked slightly as she continued speaking. "I'm sure you father didn't meant to hurt you – he just didn't know what he was doing."

Defeated, Itachi could only manage a wry smile as he let Sakura take his seat behind their daughter. The ease with which she dealt with the mess was admirable, her fingers deftly smoothing out and untangling all the knots. Ryoko's blatant preference for her mother's expertise wounded him a little, even if he understood exactly why, but it was his own ineptitude that was the last blow to his pride. He, Uchiha Itachi, couldn't even manage to braid his daughter's hair…but that didn't mean he couldn't learn from his mistakes.

Standing to the side, he watched intently as Sakura began to section off Ryoko's hair, and hoped that neither of them would notice the flash of red in his reflection's gaze.

"Where's Mama?" Ryoko demanded frantically. "I need her to do my hair."

"She's busy," Itachi answered. "I can do your hair, if you like."

Ryoko eyed him doubtfully. "…How long will she be?"

"I am more than capable of doing your hair, Ryoko-chan," Itachi said dryly. "Sit down, please."

He couldn't help but wince when he saw Ryoko had shut her eyes in anticipation, but in less than five minutes her expression had changed completely.

"Wow!" Ryoko turned her head from side to side, admiring his handiwork gleefully. "I love it, Papa, it looks so nice! Thank you!"

When Sakura emerged from the bedroom, Itachi busied himself with tidying up and coincidentally managed to miss the unimpressed look she shot him when Ryoko ran up to her, gushing about how much her Papa had improved.