Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Little Imp

Part I: Ecchi-chan

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"She's beautiful…" he tenderly whispered with a look of pure bliss, wonder, and affection as he gazed down at the tiny bundle snuggled comfortably into its tired but radiating mother. Amaya smiled and gently caressed the soft wisps of silver sprinkled atop the otherwise smooth head.

She lovingly chuckled, "Just like her father…the Hatake tradition lives on…"

A hushed, deep chuckle chimed with hers as he leaned closer and hesitantly took the slumbering bundle with his wife's encouragement.

A soft laugh rang out, "You're acting as if she's made of glass."

Kakashi scowled and opened his mouth to counter that comment when a tiny hand had stopped him, grabbing his nose. His body froze then relaxed and focused on the awoken infant.

Deep, purple eyes stared back in equal amazement, curiosity and marvel swimming in the widened orbs.

"Ah, but she has her mother's eyes," he murmured. A delighted squeal echoed out followed by incoherent gurgles and nonsense as the young man's face continued to be explored. "Yeeess, that's my hair—itai! Ow, ow, stop pulling on it, that's my eye—don't you dar—ouch! That's not to be jabbed! Now what are you drroijf ahk jrnjla—"

The newborn persisted in its exploration of the inside of the human mouth with its tiny fist while her mother erupted in laughter. The mask had long been discarded, along with the shinobi attire when the newly weds had settled in the small, peaceful town in the mountains.

Gently prying the little one's hand out of his mouth, Kakashi took turns giving the laughing mother and infant the evil eye. His expression soon softened though, as he looked on, a rising, overwhelming sensation filled his heart.

'Father…I'm a father! A dad!'

He laughed, nuzzling his nose with that of his daughter. A ridiculous grin adorned his face. 'Haha! Daughter!' The grin seemed to be contagious as the infant copied her father's wide grin and smiling eye. His grin lessened a little and took on a sad appeal, recalling past memories and he made a silent vow. '…I promise... to always be there for you, protect you, love you, my little one…'

"Hello little one…hello Sora."

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"No, no, now say it with me, O-t-o-u-c-h-a-n, Ot-ou-ch-an, Otou-chan." ((Daddy))

"Ecchi-chan!" ((along lines of 'pervert'))

Kakashi heavily sighed and leaned back his head in defeat. Meanwhile, a one-year old Sora sat giggling in her highchair while happily while playing with her food. Amaya and Kakashi had both been shocked when their little one had started speaking clearly, if not grammatically correct sentences, at 6 months. It seemed she had inherited her father's genius. Of course, he was not as amused as his oh-so-sweet-darling when Sora had said her first word. Really! What was that woman doing turning his own child against him! Now, one last try to undo the corruption before she came back from the market. Kakashi straightened his neck and refocused his attention on the—…in..fant…

"NANII!" The silver-haired man exclaimed jumping to his feet at once, pulling at his hair while gawping like a fish at the empty highchair. Nooo. No, no, no, no. This was not good. Not good at all. The thought of Amaya's looming face over his cowering ant-like form just before she did unspeakable tortures of doom crossed his mind, causing him to sweat drop frantically.

"Aaah! Where did she go! Where! Sora! Sora! Come to otou-chan's voice! Sora!"

In the refrigerator? No. Under the couch cushions? No. In the trash bin? No.

'Gah, this is a one-year old!' He thought exasperatedly. 'She can barely run!…Could she?..' After all, she was quite the surprising little devil. 'Nooow, if I was a little—'

The sound of the doorknob turning interrupted his thoughts. "I'm hooome!" Amaya cheerfully pronounced and walked in with grocery bags.

"Ah! Welcome home! Let me help you with that!" The husband merrily took the offered bag while giving the wife a peck on the cheek.

"She wasn't too much trouble?" The midnight-haired woman asked.

"Hmm? No, she's sleeping like an angel upstairs," he assured, eye curving into its smile.

Kakashi: 'Angel my ass…'

Amaya: 'He's one hella of an actor...'

"Ah so? ((Really?)), I'm glad," Amaya replied, warmly smiling. "Can you get the sushi out of that bag please?" She asked, turning to the cupboards and unloading the groceries.

"Sure." He reached in large bag while thinking frantically. 'Damn, damn, damn, ok, divert her, find the baby, good to go, somehow…its not going to be that easy…' He stopped for a moment when his hand had landed on soft texture. 'Hair?…'

"ECCHI-CHAAAN!" Sora sprung up, arms out with a wide grin on her face. Kakashi had jumped back, landing smartly on his bottom.

"Amaya 54, Kaka-Baka 20," Amaya proudly tallied up, looking down on the still sitting figure seemingly in shock. "Soooooo…" The woman began, Kakashi slowly looked up at the imposing figure, "just. What. Was. She. Doing. Out. Side. By. The. River. Scarecrow" An audible gulp could be heard while the child happily giggled from seeing a familiar sight.

'Outside! When did that happen?' Kakashi mentally held up an 'uh-oh' sign, that look was SCARY. He had encountered some of the most bloodthirsty ninjas of the land, fought against murderous beasts, breathed on the face of death numerous times. Maybe he was getting rusty since his shinobi days, or maybe, that look was just plain SCARY.

"Oi. I'll deal with you once I put her to sleep," Amaya had lifted Sora out of the bag and carried her while gently patting her back. Sora looked over her mother's shoulder and saw her still sitting father.

One, and only one thought popped into his mind when Amaya had disappeared upstairs. 'RUN. AWAY.'

When the ominous woman retreated downstairs, all the groceries had been neatly put away with the silver-haired man nowhere in sight. Instead, a note was taped on the door.

Maa, it seems we don't have any wasabi left.

I'll just pop out and get some.

Love,

Your forever affectionate, devoted, caring, doting husband

Amaya quirked an eyebrow at the ending and walked over to the pantry. The wasabi she had just bought in the market had mysteriously vanished. Her eye started to twitch.

Later, when looking back, Kakashi swore, he absolutely swore that he saw that tiny munchkin smirk at him over Amaya's shoulder. She smirked! He swore it! Why that sneaky, conniving, scheming, manipulative, underhanded, deceitful, evil, little imp.

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Of course, she just had to inherit her mother's mischievous nature did she? Hmm…mischief + genius trouble. Scratch that. Big trouble. Turning two, the little imp managed complete and intelligible sentences.

"If a tree falls in the forest when no one is around, does it make a sound?"

"…Perhaps…"

"Are humans innately good or evil?"

"…Hmm..don't know about others…but you're pure evil."

"So does that mean some are inherently good and others evil?"

"…Maybe…"

"But then, does every single person have a specific role, destiny to fulfill in life as part of a greater plan? Which side do you believe in Fate vs. Free will?"

"……Hmm? Did you say something?"

Scowl.

"Are there alternate universes out there with infinite possibilities where a single, insignificant but different choice follows a chain of other trivial and important steps in life that determines an entirely different you?"

"……….."

"ECCHI-CHAAN!"

"……..hmm…that couldn't possibly be my little imp…my imp would address me as otou-chan…"

"Why do you read hentai-manga books ecchi-chan?" ((hentai-refers to 'pervert'))

Stumble.

"…Hehe…what makes you think they're hentai books? …How do you even know what hentai means?" Attention temporarily diverted from the orange-jacketed book down to the small figure holding his free hand, large, innocently questioning eyes slightly curtained by silver bangs stared back.

"Maa, that's what okaa-sama says, ecchi-chan." ((okaa-sama – 'mother dearest')) the child replied, with slight cheekiness.

Grumble.

'Is it me, or did she say that a bit cheekily…how can a two year old be able to sound cheeky in the first place? Grr…that woman is corrupting this girl…'

"Hurmph…you shouldn't believe everything you hear…" the man countered, returning his eyes to the pages.

"That's true. But why did okaa-chan make you lock up all your orange books in the bookcase with a bolt and key?" (('mommy'))

"…because a two-year old cannot comprehend this kind of literature and might be so confused that her little head explodes…"

A flinch.

A secretive grin. 'She may be cheeky for her age, but she's still two.'

"What kind of literature?"

"Maa, maa. Do you really want your head to explode?—"

"—No." she quickly replied.

Father and daughter reached the entrance of the town market, upon which the villagers immediately crowded the two and cooed and 'awed' at the two-year old.

"Aww…she's a darling!"

"She has her mother's eyes no doubt, those beautiful treasures."

"ohh…KAWAII!" (('cute'))

At this point, the little imp had long changed her demeanor into that of an adorable toddler sucking her thumb, smiling while shyly hiding behind her father's leg.

"Can you say something little one?" Eager faces grew quiet, waiting for the tot to answer.

"Otou-chan!" The toddler happily answered, eyes curving into smiles while hugging and burying her face into her father's leg. Said father looked down with a disbelieving, twitching face.

"AWWWW…" the crowd cooed together, then slowly departed after uttering farewells.

"Oi. Imp." Kakashi squatted down so he was eye level with the toddler. His eye squinted as if trying to look through the disguise, pupil shrinked to a dot. "Juuust what are you playing at, ne?" ((a questioning expression)) He questioned, poking the tot's nose with a single finger.

"Otou-chaan!" She merely replied, hugging her father's neck. "Elbow-back ride! Elbow-back ride!" Passing villagers glanced and chuckled at the scene. Kakashi sighed then smiled, hoisting the child up so that she was sitting on his shoulders. 'Otou-chan eh?' He reopened his book then snapped it shut, giving a suspicious look at the seemingly uninterested child who was looking away in the distance, innocently whistling.

'Amaya would kill me…no, boil me alive, force feed me rat-poison, drill holes in my head, pour acid through them, etc.' The man gave a sad sigh and placed the book in its pouch. "Yosh! Ready to go shopping?" (('All right'))

"Hai!" The toddler gave a mock salute. "Mission Make-Okaa-chan-Stop-Being-Sick underway!"

With the shopping done, Kakashi was walking back to their cottage, one hand on Sora's leg to keep the tired-out child from slipping, who was currently snoozing, using his hair as a pillow, and the other holding the bag of flu medicine along with other household items. The child softly murmured in her sleep, "Ecchi-chan…"

'Tch…even in her sleep…'

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"NO!" Thump of a fist on table.

"You can't deny her something like this! Not this way!"

"Anything! Anything else! Why a ninja!"

"You can't suppress her…it crushes a person's spirit if you do…they will always be lost of who they are…"

A sigh. "I know, I know that you would know this better then I do, but this…this is different…"

"Is it really?"

"…….I just…I don't want her to…live my life…to kill without thought…"

"She won't. All she wants to be is as great as her ecchi-chan." A small, comforting laugh.

"Maybe."

"Ninja I agree, but she better not pick up your reading habits…"

A light, deep chuckle.

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He went through the hand seals again, this time, creating a perfect clone. He released the seal and stretched a bit, he liked to train once in a while to make sure his shinobi skills didn't rust away. He worked with a group of other civilians, acting as part of the guard when bandits and outlaws occasionally visited the small village. That recent crook should not have been able to land a blow; he doubled his training times since then. Amaya sometimes joined him in training and in the guard when the bandits consisted of ninja (the village was a regular mountain town, there were few ninja living there along with themselves), but mostly nursed her garden and tended to Sora. He frowned when recalling the three year old practicing with his shurikens. Despite the awkward, larger size, she was quite accurate in her throwing skills.

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"What are you doing?"

Startled eyes guiltily stared down and flickered up then down again. The tree had shurikens and kunais embedded in its trunk, each rooted solidly. Kakashi had been walking home from training upon spotting a familiar silver-haired child.

"What did I tell you about using these?" He quietly but sternly asked, holding up a kunai.

"…Not to touch them…but!"

"But nothing." He firmly concluded. With that, the man quickly took out all the weapons and placed them in his pouch. "Lets go," he stated, taking the little one's hand. A shamefaced child hung her head, silently following her father. After a while, Kakashi broke the tense silence. "Do you realize why you're not allowed to touch such things?" Silence. He continued. "These are not playthings or toys, you could have hurt yourself." The child bit her bottom lip. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose then crouched down to her eye level, gently taking her cheek in his hand. "Look at me, promise me you won't do this anymore," he softly spoke.

The girl shuffled her feet, "D.. demo…demo!" Her eyes turned fierce as her small hands fisted and looked into her father's. "Demo! I know they're not playthings or toys! I want to train! I want to become a ninja, like you!"

At this, the father's face slightly hardened. "Where did you learn that?"

"…From the kids at school…their parents said you were a shinobi…and okaa-chan was a kunoichi."

Kakashi closed his eye and sighed, "Okaa-chan and I used to be ninjas, not anymore. Sora, our last acts as ninjas were in helping to defend against the Kyuubi attack. After that, we came here to live and have you in peace. A ninja's life…isn't so glamorous." Dark, purple eyes grew confused. The father distantly stroked the child's downy hair. "You barely have a childhood as a ninja…" he whispered. Cloudy eyes snapped back to attention. "Maa. Okaa-chan will skin us both alive if we're late for dinner," he stated with his eye curved in its smile.

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Kakashi stood still and crossed his arms. "Oi. Imp. You can come out now."

A small figure jumped down from her hiding spot in the trees. He quirked his eyebrow in question. "Still want to be a ninja eh?" Furious nods.

"All right then…you can become a ninja…"

A sun-blinding grin appeared while sparkling amethysts twinkled with joy.

"IF!" The jumping child stopped and looked up expectantly at the figure with his finger in the air.

"You start, from now on, addressing, referring, even mentioning me as, otou-chan, though otou-sama will work too," ((otou-sama – 'father dearest')) he finished, curved eye matching his victorious grin upon looking down at the gaping child who looked as if she lost her favorite toy. She abruptly snorted and crossed her arms, turning her head to the side.

"No dice."

It was his turn to gape, though quickly regaining his composure. "Maa. Maa. Don't know how you're going to become a ninja…"

"Maa, don't know how okaa-chan will react to how much you spent to get the latest, autographed Icha Icha volume," she drawled, casually walking away with her hands behind her head.

Kakashi sweat dropped and stuttered, "ahh…um…matte!"

'Blackmail…blackmail!'

'That. Little. Imp.'

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Notes: -otou-chan is also used as a dialect in a part of Japan, though it can mean 'daddy'

-the –chan in 'ecchi-chan' is referring to closeness and/or family in this case instead of as an intimate/close friendship.

-the –sama is actually a high, honorific title given to a name, though, otou/okaa-sama can be translated as 'father/mother dearest'

-wasabi is a Japanese condiment that sharply stings your nose. Usually served with seafood.

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(A/N: please correct me if I'm wrong in any of these translations, tell me what you think so far! )