DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own. PLEASE REVIEW! I will take advice and suggestions from my readers while continuing the story - that includes future pairings and most anything else!

Thinking

Biju, etc. speaking

Biju, etc. thinking

Emphasis

Kids her age should not be able to hold on to grudges this long.

It had been over a month since the attempted Hyuuga kidnapping and the whole fiasco with Naruto-hime. Kakashi was miserable. The only thing the tiny blonde had said to him in the past five weeks was rather profound but eerie, and he probably would've been destroyed by her words had the girl not shaken her teensy chubby fist at him while saying it, making her look utterly adorable.

"Your apology and words are of no significance, flesh bag."

Where in Kami does a three-year-old even get language like that? Kakashi could only assume she heard Orochimaru saying crap like that, and that made him feel even worse. But nooooo... He said to himself in a singsong voice. Stupid Inoichi-san has to make it his life's work to "heal" me. As if… Kakashi knew for a fact that he didn't deserve healing or to be whole - whatever the hell that meant. He was broken out of his pouty doldrums by a shadow smacking him in the head.

"Cut it, Hatake," his Jonin commander ordered as he returned to nap in his chair.

Kakashi went back to hiding behind Jiraiya's masterpiece of literature. Damn all these busybodies looking into his life! Re-engaging himself in a scene of passion and what had to be near-impossible flexibility, just the thought of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio interfering in his life spoiled his quite pleasurable activity again! The Mind Walker had jumped into his mind the third time he refused to talk, and came out disappointed, letting him know many of his "hangups" they supposedly needed to work on.

And what the hell did he mean by, "You've got less sexual drive than a dandelion?" Not cool!

"You can't move that way, Naruto-hime," Shikamaru said, as he placed her shogi piece back where it came from.

Kakashi pulled down his book a bit to see Naruto looking awfully unimpressed at that statement. Bossy Naras.

The kid sneezed and Naruto-chan quickly moved a few of both of their pieces around the board. At first, Kakashi thought she got away with the cheating until he noticed Shikamaru-chan's evil little glare. Naruto had a hell of a poker face, he'd give her that much. She'll make one hell of a kunoichi - not that she wants to be one. He groaned out loud and placed the top of the book against his headband. Closing his eyes, he tried once again to come to terms with what the Yamanaka and Nara Clan Heads said that really freaked him out about the supposed blind hero worship he had of his sensei.

Maybe Kushina-nee had been too weak to take back half of the Kyuubi? But she was strong enough to keep that barrier up… Everyone knew that at this point. Could it really be that Minato-sensei couldn't live without his wife? But what about leaving Naruto-chan? What about leaving me? He'd left him and his daughter all alone, and things had spiraled into hell for him and Naru without them.

The Jonin commander had notified him of all the intricacies of Naruto's seal and he learned to the best of their knowledge exactly what had happened THAT night when Shikaku had joined him and Inoichi for a "friendly session." That one had nearly forever broken him, which that asshole Yamanaka said was necessary for rebuilding a strong foundation within him. Dick.

Wasn't therapy supposed to be HIM -er, a client who actually wanted therapy, talking, and the other guy sitting there with a stone face, only occasionally asking questions? Kakashi knew that he'd heard others bitch about silent counselors. Why did he have to get a know-it-all who knew too much and yet nothing?

"You know damn well, Kakashi, what an idealist Minato was…" Shikaku's haunting words echoed once again in his mind. I've gotta stop thinking this shit about sensei…

Balance. It was supposedly all about balance, but when had he ever had balance in his life? He pulled down his precious book again to watch Naruto. She'll never have that oh-so-elusive balance either.

No choice in being a ninja or weapon for the village that despised her. No choice in being an orphan. No choice in being stuck with me.

Naruto looked over slowly and stared at him for a moment. "Dude," she deadpanned.

Kakashi hid behind his novel again but couldn't help the grin that traitorously appeared under his mask. The little brat was a sensor that had somehow inherited sensei's lie-detecting abilities along with what Kushina-nee called her "bullshit detector," and more. Little brat? That was a new thought… a correct one, nonetheless, he suddenly realized. Smirking, he pulled down his book again and looked at Naruto's twisted-up little scowl. She doesn't enjoy playing with kids at all. He burst out in a fit of snickers, utterly confused but for some reason bemused by his own reaction to the little girl.

Both kids stared at him like he was crazy from their shogi table, which he was beginning to think he was. The dead stares in their baby-fatted little faces cracked the teenager up even more. He got himself under control again and noticed one side of Naru-chan's lips curl up before she hid behind her hair. She's smiling! An embarrassingly high-pitched giggle ripped through him, making him again hide behind his precious.

A moment passed in silence before Naruto began giggling too. Kakashi was embarrassed that his own outburst was even higher than hers. He also heard a quiet childlike, but still obvious Nara snort.

"You sound like a girl," the brat sniffed.

Naruto jumped over their game board, right on top of the Nara heir, and started to pound him. Kakashi laughed out loud and went back to reading, leaving the elder Nara to straighten the kids out.