DISCLAIMER: Naruto does not belong to me.

CHAPTER THREE: At Sand

He didn't know if he should bang his head against a wall, but all of this was making him crazy.

Baki glowered angrily at the grinning white-haired Leaf sannin sitting comfortably on an armchair at the other side of the table with his leg hanging over one arm. The interim Kazekage could not understand why the damn sannin decided to shove the small blond baby into his arms the moment the sannin entered his temporary office, but it was pretty uncomfortable with the child squirming in his arms while she made vain attempts to grab hold of the loose piece of his turban hanging over one side of his face.

"Gaara is quite taken with Natsumi, and Kankurou with Kyuu, and since you are the siblings' sensei and the current Kazekage, you might as well get to know her." Jiraiya spoke up as though answering the Sand jounin's unasked question. "Gaara and his siblings after all will not let them go back."

Of course the Leaf sannin knew that Sand siblings would never let Natsumi and Kyuu leave them. It took him a better part of the day to get the three to leave Natsumi and Kyuu with him while they went to buy things for Natsumi and Kyuu. When Gaara and Kankurou finally gave in, they had made him promise that he will be back in an hour's time or they will let Temari cook him for dinner. The crazy glint in the Sand kunoichi's eyes still made him shiver.

"Damn you Leaf nins," Baki growled under his breath, bowing his head to keep from the sannin from seeing his lips move. He was startled out of his thoughts when his turban was suddenly tugged loose. He stared down at the baby in his arms, grimacing inwardly when his turban fell to the floor. He flinched at the wide-eyed gave on his scarred face and he instinctively raise a hand to cover his face, only to stop when Natsumi reached up and placed both of her hands against his scarred cheek, a bright smile on her face.

Baki gaped at Natsumi.

People, civilians and shinobis alike, have often turned away in disgust at the sight of the horrendous burn marks and scars that covered the side of his face, even the previous Kazekage and the medic nins that saw to his treatment after a failed mission at Hidden Cloud, but not this child. A warm tingling sensation ran through his body and a gentle expression came to the jounin's eyes. Natsumi widened her cerulean eyes and gurgled happily, patting the jounin's cheek with her hands.

"It should be illegal to have eyes like hers." Jiraiya shook his head at the jounin as he stood up and reached over the table separating them, ruffling Natsumi's hair with a calloused finger. Then, he let out a loud chuckle as Kyuu barked loudly from his place on the sannin's head. "Even hardened shinobis can be turned into silly putty with her around."

"Aa."

Had any people been brave enough to enter the store, they would have heard the Sand siblings arguing over a silly thing.

"No! Pink!"

"It has to be black!"

"Pink!"

"Black!"

"Pink!" Temari shouted at her marionette-using brother with her hands on her hips. "Natsumi is a girl and pink is a girl's color. All her things have to be in pink"

"Well, she's a Sabakuno, and no sane Sabakuno would be caught dead wearing pink. Black is the Sabakuno family's color therefore, everything has to be in black." Kankuro glared at his older sister with his arms crossed.

"Blue"

Both Kankurou and Temari blinked in surprise before turning to Gaara. The youngest of the siblings stood near them with his back facing his two siblings as he regarded the heavily-sweating shop clerk with emotionless green eyes.

"Light blue. Just like the sky in a clear and sunny day," said Gaara while he turned his eyes on the small stuffed penguin sitting on a nearby display. "And get me that"

Kankurou hung his head in defeat as the clerk rushed off to complete their order nearly bumping into a white-haired man with a small fox kit lying on his head and a Sand jounin with a piece of cloth hanging over one side of his face carrying a cooing baby in his arms.

"Oi there, you finished?" Jiraiya gave the three a grin while the fox on his head jumped off and landed into Kankurou's arms.

Gaara gave his jounin-sensei a blank look when Baki handed him Natsumi. The sand-user cradled the baby against his chest as he growled at the clerk, "The toy"

The clerk let out a loud squeak before he rushed off to get the toy.

Temari giggled a little when Natsumi gurgled happily at the sight of the penguin toy and pulled it into her arms. She laughed even more when Natsumi bit down on the toy's beak.

Gaara smiled a little at his baby sister when Natsumi looked up at him and gave him a smile with the penguin's beak still in her mouth.

AUTHOR'S nOTE: I'm basing this on my experience with my goddaughter when I helped in taking care of her two years ago.