Hi everyone! Here's the next installment. Can't wait to hear what you think. By the way, our discord group is still open. I post previews of these chapters as well as related artwork. It's a great place to springboard ideas as a writer and an even quicker way to get in touch with me and Tallman if you have questions/comments/etc. This has been such a supportive and interactive community and we would love to keep it going. Here's the info if you're interested: discord. gg/ DTYfNqH (take out spaces).

Kakashi had brought Yukihana before the village elders. Their faces had been pinched and sour with opinions already colored by the rumors of Yuki's misconduct. She was a foreigner, a murderer, a possible Kaguya sympathizer, and worst of all she had worked as a stripper. Kakashi had been admittedly uneasy about bringing her in. Yuki often responded to challenges by doubling down, even if that meant losing. To date, he had never seen her back down from a dare or compromise her hubris. As he lead her through the streets, Kakashi could almost picture the room frozen over. His mind's eye scoped the room, bringing into focus the elder's terror stricken expressions as Yuki threatened their lives, basking them in the horrifying beauty of the Yukionna.

Much to his surprise, Yuki was completely well behaved. Kakashi had seen glimpses of her propriety before but on this occasion his girlfriend had pulled out all the stops. It was like political warfare: housewife's edition. Yuki had chosen to dress simply but traditionally. Everything about her was polished and impeccably stylish in a timeless sort of way. She had been soft spoken and polite, answering their intrusive questions with grace and eloquence. Kakashi had to stop himself from doing double takes every few minutes to make sure that this was, in fact, his girlfriend and not some talented doppelganger.

After they had left, the facade slipped. Yuki could barely contain her evil laughter, stifling it behind a dainty hand until they got home. The moment they crossed the threshold, she broke down and spewed everything she had really been thinking at the meeting. In a sea of verbal demonstrations of what a horrible person Yuki was capable of being, Kakashi could at least console himself that she had the sense to know when and how to behave. Once her tirade had ceased, the pair had stripped down to their underwear, ordered takeout, and spent the remainder of the evening snuggled up on the couch reading. It never ceased to amaze Kakashi how easy it was for Yuki to help him forget that he had been the Hokage that morning. With her, he was always Kakashi. And Kakashi was becoming a pretty happy person.

...

Yuki shrugged and let out an exasperated sigh. She was leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom wearing her favorite nightdress. It was one of Kakashi's old shirts. When he originally bought the garment, it had been black. Long before Yuki came into the picture, a hundred washings had left it snuggly soft and more of a charcoal gray than black. The day she fished it out of the back of his drawer during her first sleepover, Kakashi could see it in her eyes that the shirt was now hers. When she died, Kakashi stuffed the shirt back into the same spot she had found it. For the first few months, he took comfort in the way it still smelled of her. Once the scent faded Kakashi kept it around. The idea of letting it go had somehow been unbearable. When she came back from the dead and opened the drawer, the look on her face reassured Kakashi that he had made the right call.

Standing in the doorframe, Yuki's blue eyes almost seemed electric when sandwiched between her inky hair and the dark crew shirt. There was a sharpness, a predatory intelligence in those eyes that could not be masked by the childish pout she was sporting.

"Come on, babe," Yuki pleaded. "The elders were floored. What more do I need to do?"

Kakashi glanced at her in the mirror. His chin was tipped up as he watched himself carefully shave the delicate skin on his throat. The entire bottom half of his face was concealed by a cloud of puffy white shaving cream. Each scrape of the straight razor slowly exposed his face. "It's not just about the elders, Yuki. I'm a public figure. Which means, by default, you'll become a public figure."

"Yeah, I'll look great on the magazine covers," Yuki adjusted against the door frame. "Do you want me to promise to avoid scandal? Not to take any impressionable young lovers on the side, corrupt the youth, that sort of thing?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "No, Yuki. It means you need to make an effort to be a part of the community."

Yuki furrowed her brow. "How do you mean?"

"I don't know," Kakashi sighed. "What can you offer the people of Konoha? You're incredibly talented and clever. There has to be something you can do that will make this village a better place."

"I can exorcise demons," Yuki started counting off on her fingers. "Perform cleansing rituals, rites for the dead and dying...snowclones!" She snapped her fingers. "Why don't I give out snow cones?"

"Yuki, this isn't some bit to get elected," Kakashi flicked shaving cream off the razor into the sink. "And although I think your old priestess duties would be found helpful by some, I think the knowledge of the source of your prowess would make everyone uncomfortable."

Yuki gave him a deadpan look. "It's not like I'm channeling Kaguya..."

"Regardless, no one wants her rituals done here," Kakashi said with a tone of finality. "Not to mention that could blow your cover."

"I wouldn't be doing it decked out in full robes and regalia," Yuki put a hand on her hip. "Not that you guys have anything resembling art or culture, let alone anything that I could use as regalia-"

"The hospital is holding a bake sale." Kakashi had finished shaving and paused speaking as he rinsed the remainder of shaving cream off his face. "Why don't you go talk to Sakura and see what you can do to help?"

"Here we go again!" Yuki threw up her hands and puffed herself up indignantly. "You know I can't bake, Kakashi. That's you're running joke, your woman can't cook or bake. What the hell am I supposed to do at a bake sale?"

"Well," He cocked his head. "You've proven yourself a perfectly capable saleswoman."

"When?" Yuki knit her brows.

Kakashi shrugged. "I know I went back to that strip club to see you dance again."

Yuki socked him in the shoulder and he chuckled. "I don't think selling cookies in a stripper stage outfit is the way to win over the yokels, Kakashi!"

"Or it might be exactly the way to do it," He grinned as he pulled on his shirt. "At least half of the town would approve."

"The half with dicks," Yuki rolled her eyes. "I got it. You're so funny."

…

"Okay," Haruka took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Tell me again how this happened?"

"Well, you know," Yuki shrugged evasively. She was sitting on the carpet cross legged, rolling a ball back and forth to Satoru. "It just kind of happens."

"This doesn't just happen, Yuki!" Haruka stomped her foot. "You say things that make them happen!"

"It's not that big of a deal," Yuki's voice was soft, as though by saying the words dismissively it made it so.

"You bet a ridiculous amount of money that you could sell more at the bake sale than Sakura and Ino combined." Haruka huffed. "Okay. Be a teacher Haruka. This is a teachable moment." She put her hands together in front of her and used the calmest voice she could muster. "Yuki, can you tell me the problem with betting that you can beat two people who are talented bakers at a bake sale?"

Yuki sighed in resignation. "I…can't bake."

"So who the hell is going to bail you out of this?" Haruka jerked her thumb at her herself. "Because it sure as hell isn't me. I can barely cook! Neji has to do most of it!"

"Why does it matter if I lose the bet, honey?" Yuki shrugged. "Money's just a thing."

Haruka bit her lip and looked away. "I was just…I needed to ask you for a loan."

Yuki blinked in concern. "Why? What happened?"

Haruka shook her head. "Nothing happened. It's just, Satoru's growing really fast. Neji and I work enough to keep food on the table but the boy has already outgrown his high chair, his clothes, and his shoes. He's also getting too big to sleep with us. I wanted to get him his own bed."

Yuki looked at her grandson, who was happily mouthing on the gently spiked ball they had been playing with. She reached over and grabbed one of his shoes, holding it up to his outstretched foot. "My God. He has little kangaroo feet," Looking at him, Yuki was ashamed she hadn't noticed and that Haruka hadn't said anything sooner. His shorts were too short and his shirts were just shy of being baby crop tops. "And I just pledged all my liquid cash to charity if I can't outsell some people."

Haruka pressed her hands to her temples. "It's okay. You're smart, I'm kind of smart. Maybe if we go to the library and get some good recipe books we can jumble things together so they will work okay."

"Come on, baby," Yuki scooped up her grandson. "Let's go mop up Nana's mess."

…

"I'm sorry," Yuki threw up her hands in defeat. "Everything I touch turns to ashes."

Haruka looked at her mother's test batch and frowned. "What did you do to get it that….poofy? It's…it's so charred to a crisp but puffy; like you managed to preserve the dust cloud of a bomb going off." She reached out and poked one of the strange, mushroom-like muffins and the head crumbled at her touch. "Just…how?!"

"This level of destruction," Yuki shrugged. "It's its own gift, in a way."

Haruka looked at her sugar cookies. The color was a little off but they tasted okay. The leaf cookie cutters she had used to cut the dough into crisp shapes had been obliterated during the baking process. They were bloated, vaguely-leaf shaped blobs of cream and beige. Her cupcakes hadn't fared much better. The consistency was right, but none of them had the desirable "muffin top". The cupcakes had just risen to the point that they reached the brim of the wrappers in the tin.

"I just wish we had more time," Haruka sighed. "If the sale wasn't tomorrow, we could have tried making jams or something instead."

Yuki palmed her forehead. "Jam is a brilliant idea! Why did we even try to bake?"

Haruka rolled her eyes. "Because even if we did sell a crap ton of jam, that's not technically 'winning' at the bake sale."

Yuki shrugged. "We did our best, sweetheart. I'll eat my shirt for this bet but give me a couple weeks and I can help you get the furniture and clothes for Satoru."

Haruka nodded, a crestfallen look on her face despite her best attempts to be a grown up. If it had just been her and Neji eating cheap food she wouldn't have cared. The couple didn't need anything; time and time again they had proven all they needed was each other. Years on the road had kept pride from getting to her head about material things. Haruka spent her free time mending their only clothes, sheets, and blankets till they fell apart or disintegrated in the wash. But Satoru was a baby. It broke Haruka's heart every time she had to shove his feet in shoes so tight he cried, or when his shirts were so uncomfortable he stripped every time she looked away. She would carry him around barefoot and catch dirty looks like she was being a negligent parent.

Most of their burden had been recently acquired. Although Neji lost his savings in what they affectionately called "the divorce", starting at zero wasn't what hurt them. Satoru had been a sick baby, in and out of the hospital several times in his first year, and the two had racked up a bit of debt. With both of them working the red numbers were slowly being wiped away, but there wasn't enough to go around for anything but absolute necessities. Yuki was right, though. Despite the suffering they had already gone through, the family could get by if it was only a week or two more. It just hurt Haruka's heart that the person bearing that suffering hadn't cut all his teeth yet.

Her mother left for the night. Haruka kept baking with the ingredients Yuki had bought, trying this and that. Nothing turned out attractively but they would at least have a good variety of products at their table. Socks, her tuxedo cat, good naturedly allowed Satoru to chase him around the living room so Haruka could work. Around seven thirty, she gave Satoru his dinner, bathed him, and put him to bed. When Neji arrived shortly after he stood dumbstruck in the kitchen.

"Honey, what's all this?"

Haruka walked by with the laundry basket. "Oh. We got roped into the bake sale for the hospital tomorrow."

Neji approached one of the tupperware boxes containing the blobby sugar cookies. "By 'we' you mean your mother did and you had to bail her out?"

"Bingo," Haruka sighed and set down the laundry basket, crossing the kitchen. Neji wordlessly held out an arm and his wife tucked herself under it. Neji had fished out one of the cookies and took a tentative bite. His tentative expression was a mixture of husbandly duty and concern for the nightmare his tongue was about to encounter. Instead, as he chewed, his expression softened.

"These are much better than the last time you baked," Neji's eyes had gone wide. "I would even say they're good."

"That's sweet of you," Haruka let out another dejected sigh. "I got a bunch of recipe books and tried my best. Too bad they're ugly as sin."

"These hippos look great," Neji offered.

Haruka gave him a deadpan look. "They're leaves, Neji."

The smile slid off his face. "Oh."

His wife disentangled herself and began walking towards the bedroom. "I'm going to sleep. I've got an early morning tomorrow to frost all those damned cupcakes."

"Goodnight," Neji called after her. "I'll be in shortly."

He heard the door close to their bedroom and looked over Haruka's work. By no means was his wife a baker but everything she had made was at least passable. He sampled each of her wares and was satisfied by the flavor and texture of all of them. Haruka was right. The only thing wrong with her baking was that it was not aesthetically pleasing. He tapped his fingers as he surveyed the unfrosted cookies and cupcakes. Neji had never decorated baked goods before, but he had painted and done calligraphy. He couldn't imagine the principles would be too different. Haruka had a bag of piping supplies (which blessedly, by the receipt he saw his mother in law had foot the bill) sitting ready on the counter. Neji leafed through a few of the baking books, found a tutorial, and got started.

…

"OH MY GOD!"

His wife's voice from the kitchen vaguely registered in Neji's brain. He grumbled, rolled over, and tucked further into the warm imprint she had left in their futon. Satoru was there, having wiggled his way over to his mom's spot in her absence. The thunderous sound of his wife's footsteps down the hallway stirred both of the boys so when she came exploding inside, Satoru whined.

"NEJI!" Haruka huffed, a wild look in her eyes.

"What, honey?" Neji grumbled as he calmingly stroked his son's head. "It's seven-thirty and I was up late-"

Haruka threw herself on top of her husband, planting kisses wherever she found skin. "I love you I love you I love you I love you-"

Satoru began to giggle and his mom pulled him in on the action until it devolved into both parents kissing Satoru till he happily squealed like a pig.

"So you liked my work?" Neji asked with a grin.

Haruka grabbed his chin and shook it affectionately. "If I wasn't so happy I would be jealous at how talented you are at everything."

"Your frosting work is all done then," Neji said as he pulled the blankets back over his wife. "So you can sleep in a little longer."

"You are literally the best husband in the history of ever," Beki purred as she nestled back into the bed, the happy family sandwich complete once again.

…

Ino slapped Sakura hard on the arm. "I thought you said your sensei complained to you about how crappy Yuki's baking was!"

"He did," Sakura hissed. "He even showed me the black hockey pucks she called brownies once."

"Then explain to me what the hell is going on!" Ino gestured to Yuki's table. Or rather, in the general direction of where the table should be. The table and its occupants were completely obscured from view by the large crowd of people lined up to buy their goods. Ino and Sakura both had modest crowds. The constant trickle of customers made it impossible for them to run over and do recon. All the pair could do was quietly stew on what Yuki could possibly be selling to draw such attention.

"I bet she's in a stripper outfit," Ino scoffed. "She would fight dirty." She looked at Sakura. "Well two can play at that game!" Ino took ahold of the hem of her shirt and started to lift when Sakura smacked her hands.

"No. We don't play by her rules," Sakura sighed. "We have to think about this as benefitting charity. This is going to buy a lot of new beds for the children's hospital. If Yuki stepped up to the challenge, just think that it's all for the kids. Plus, all the egg on her face she'll get from making a fool of herself and losing all that money."

Ino glowered and mumbled a few choice words about being a quitter as she released her hem. Just then, Sai wandered up with Inojin munching on a wad of a rice krispie treat. A paper bag was clutched in his hand, the top closed with a snowflake sticker. Ino's eyes went wide. "Sai, did you buy something from their table?!"

He laughed. "Yes. It was the only table with anything that looked even remotely presentable," Ino shot him a look and his grin deepened. "Well it wouldn't be fair for me to just buy the stuff I decorated, now would it?"

"Let me see," Ino reached out and Sai relinquished the bag. Sakura leaned over as Ino pulled out the most beautifully decorated sugar cookie they had ever seen. It was a maple leaf with a lovely mosaic of red, orange, and shimmering gold icing. It looked like a living watercolor painting. Both girls fell silent as they stared at the cookie in a mixture of awe and revulsion.

"Was…was everything like this?" Sakura practically whispered.

"Are you kidding?" Sai chuckled. "By the time I got to the front all the good stuff was gone. This was crap next to the cupcakes, but of course those sold out first."

Ino broke off a hunk and gave it to Sakura, then broke off a piece for herself. "Well they might look pretty, but," She took a bite and chewed. The cookie was plain, almost a shortbread, but it was complemented by the powdered sugar sweetness of the frosting perfectly. Ino's face twisted in disappointment and frustration. She let out a single choice expletive, to which Sai clapped a hand over their son's exposed ear.

"Language, Ino."

"It's good," Sakura groaned. Before the despair could fully set in, however, a glint of suspicion twinkled in her eye. Slowly, Sakura raised her head, her expression somber. "They had outside help."

"Outside help?" Ino gave Sakura a confused look. "Who, though?"

"My guess would be Hinata," Sakura folded her arms. "Haruka has busted arms and Hinata feels sorry for her. If Yuki pawned off the baking on her daughter, then there's a chance that Hinata got roped into it."

"But she has her own table," Ino protested, gesturing to the pretty, floral tablecloth covered table twenty feet away. Hinata had a crowd of her own. She was only selling very simple white cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting, the same thing she sold every year. Plain as they looked and as basic as their flavored, the cupcakes were amazingly delicious and were a bake sale favorite. "There's no way she had the time to crank out four hundred cupcakes of her own and then-"

The crowd near Yuki's table had ebbed to nothing. It was clear that they had nearly sold out completely as new customers craned for a look then passed on by. Yuki and Haruka were seated, looking satisfied but exhausted behind the table. Haruka was resting on her elbows with her face in her hands as her husband stood dutifully behind her kneading the soreness in her shoulders away.

"Neji!" Ino spat, vehemence dancing in her green eyes. "That talented bastard."

Sakura's eyes grew wide. "You think he made those?!"

"He's a genius, Sakura," Ino scoffed as she folded her arms. "It would be just like that jerk to decide to become a master baker overnight."

Sakura shrugged and adjusted some of her plates. "Let's try to look on the bright side, Ino. Maybe they didn't bring enough or they under charged. We might still beat them, Neji or not."

Ino sighed. "You're right. There's another hour left and they completely sold out." She looked at her husband and held out her arms. "Give me Inojin."

Sai shrugged and handed him over. "You need a break?"

"And let you sell?" Ino laughed. "You're kidding, right? The point is to make money, not start six blood feuds over emasculating the customers."

Sai blinked. "Then why do you need Inojin?"

"He's my baby; he's gorgeous," Ino snuggled him affectionately. "Chubby baby cheeks sell things for women the way sex sells for men."

At the end of the day, Ino and Sakura were ultimately the victors, but only by the margin of a few ryo. Several people had come by with samples of Neji's work and the girl's hearts sank. They may have won but all anyone talked about was the Hokage's girlfriend's table. Yuki held up her end of the bet. Ino and Sakura had to console themselves with the knowledge that although in spirit they had been defeated, they had scored a major financial victory for the children's hospital.

…

Haruka came home from work exhausted and lonely. The preschoolers had been riotous and her aid had been out, meaning she had to hold the line on her own. It took tapping into her Tsukimori discipline stores not to break down crying the third time she'd been smacked in the face with an airborne wad of playdough. The lack of adult companionship had taken its toll as well. Haruka had practically run home to see her husband, excited for the peace and calm he brought wherever he went.

When she walked into the kitchen, Haruka was surprised to see the entire room had been turned into what looked like the backroom of a bakery. Flour dusted the counter tops and scraps of cake sat in the sink waiting for the switch to flip on the garbage disposal. After the visual shock subsided, Haruka noticed how chilly the house was. Satoru toddled by with his coat on, the cat hovering right behind him and his bear clutched in his hands. "Neji?" She called out as she walked into the kitchen. The scene was almost surreal, like this was her kitchen from another dimension. Close, but not quite, and in a way she wasn't able to put into words.

As she surveyed this strange scene, Haruka noticed there was a cake sitting on the table. It was beautiful; a three-tier masterpiece of a wedding cake. The finish on the frosting was flawless. A scene had been painted on it in what Haruka could only assume was food coloring. Each tier represented part of the world; the bottom tier was painted with koi dancing playfully between lotus blossoms. A great twisting pine climbed from the middle tier up to the top tier, where cranes flew gracefully across a cloudy red sunrise. There was a texture to it, though, that confused Haruka. She reached out to touch the lifelike needles on the pine only to have her wrist caught mid motion.

"Honey, I need you out of the kitchen," Neji said in a soft but firm tone. "Your breathing is going to melt the chocolate."

"Neji what is all this?" Haruka knit her brows in confusion. As she spoke, Neji gently shoved her back out into the living room.

"Could you keep Satoru busy for me?" Neji gave her hand a squeeze. "I need to focus on my work."

"Your work? It's a cake, Neji," Haruka scoffed. "How is that your work?"

"Cake decorating is an art. I need to give it all my concentration," His eyes widened. "I have an idea. Why don't you go out with your mother to eat tonight? She owes you that much for the bake sale."

Haruka blinked in shock. A small smile tugged at her lips. "You're kidding, right?" Neji's expression was stone. "No. You're…you're kicking us out to work on a cake?!"

"Yes." Neji folded his arms. "Between you and the baby I won't be able to think straight."

After a long day coming under the assault of frustrating small things she couldn't hit in anger, Haruka exploded. "FINE!" She screamed as she stormed down the hallway. Satoru gave her a frightened expression as she bodily scooped him up and tore through the house towards the door. "Mom always tried to warn me you'd leave me for something gay like this!"

Neji didn't try to stop her. Haruka made a show, or at least only partially made a show, of her struggle to get the front door open. It was supposed to buy him some time to come down and comfort her. Neji was having none of it, so Haruka marched off into the night with her baby flailing and calling for his daddy. Yuki was home alone; Kakashi had another long night of kage work. The trio headed out to the diner where Haruka's rage was quelled by good hot food and her mother's lighthearted company. The highlight of the evening was Satoru producing a close approximation of "noodles", which everyone (staff included) insisted he say over and over. After a nice long walk through the park, Haruka headed home with a passed-out Satoru. Now was that so hard?She thought. Was Neji so busy with his new hobby he couldn't have a nice dinner and take a walk with his wife and baby?

Sufficiently settled down, Haruka made it her mission to gently confront him. They hadn't had a fight in a long time and she was eager to put the matter behind them. When Haruka walked in the front door, she immediately spied her husband hard at work on a different, smaller cake. Despite her pledge, Haruka rolled her eyes and put the baby to bed. She came back in the kitchen and leaned against the fridge. "So are you going to tell me about this sudden passion for baking you've developed?"

"I can't talk now, I'm working," Neji was not impolite but his tone was final.

The rage began to build. Hyuga she might be in name, but Haruka had the old Tsukimori anger in her belly. It was an ocean wave swelling as it headed for shore. Every slight built up its speed and mass, so when it did make landfall it would be a devastating tsunami of emotion. Haruka swallowed it back as hard as she could and opened the fridge. With her replacement kidneys Haruka wasn't allowed to drink alcohol (or really anything other than water and weak teas), but she was so upset she tried to will a beer into the fridge. Instead of beer she was met with a different shocking sight. Neji had rearranged the whole fridge to accommodate not just the three tiered cake, but at least one other sheet cake. Their fridge was never full, so not much had been displaced. "This is getting ridiculous, Neji."

"Go to bed, Haruka," Neji said curtly. "I'll be in shortly."

Her grip tightened on the fridge door. She bit back a slew of biting words and slammed the door shut. Neji sprang to his feet with an exasperated sigh. "I hope to God you didn't just mess up my cake."

"I don't care about your precious cakes, Neji," Haruka called over her shoulder as she walked towards the bedroom. "Why don't you sleep out here with them?"

…

The next morning, Haruka woke up to go to work. She found not only her husband but the baby and all the cakes were gone. Not having the time or the energy to investigate beyond that there wasn't a break up letter on the counter, Haruka got ready and went to the Academy. Her aid was still home sick again and the kids were out for blood. At the end of the day, she was so tired it took her a solid five minutes of fumbling with the keys and the handle to get her door locked.

Haruka stumbled through the front door with leaden legs. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the kitchen. Everything seemed to be back to normal. She blinked, wondering if her husband had even come home that day. The living room was empty as well. Haruka stood in the crossroads of her house, listening for any signs of life. Nothing but silence met her ears. The next place to check would be the bedroom. If unoccupied, she was going to take a shower and a small nap before starting dinner. The moment she walked through the bedroom door, her eyes were met with a beautiful crib-bed. It was white wood and had detachable bars, so as Satoru grew it could become his big boy bed.

"Surprise!" Neji stepped out of the bathroom with Satoru, who joined his father's chorus with excited squealing.

"Neji, how did…when did you?" Haruka stammered as she gestured back and forth between her husband and the bed with a confused expression.

"Well," Neji walked Satoru over and put him in his new bed. His favorite bear and blanket were already waiting for him in there. Satoru grabbed his cream blankie and began to spoon his bear happily. "I remembered the consequence of your mom losing that bake sale bet and went looking for a way to drum up the extra funds. Kakashi didn't have any extra missions for me to take, but I had a family approach me after recognizing me from the bake sale. Their daughter was getting married and they asked if I could do the cake in two days. Their original baker had a bad fall and hurt her hip. They had been scrambling to find another bakery in town but no one would take them on such notice. The family needed it immediately but they were happy to compensate me for the rush."

"And it was enough for the bed?" Haruka blinked in surprise. While they talked, Socks ambled in and approached the crib. Satoru giggled and waved to the cat from inside. Socks dropped into a pouncing position, wiggled his butt, and leapt up inside the crib. Satoru laughed as the cat gave him a few kisses before snuggling up on the blanket beside him.

"Not just the bed," Neji smiled. "They were so impressed with my work that they threw in enough for Satoru to get some new clothes and shoes, too."

Haruka threw herself at her husband, tears streaming down her face. "You're an angel, Neji."

"Did I mention they sent leftovers?" Neji kissed her crown. "You don't even have to cook tonight."

"Can I marry you again?" Beki grinned. "Seriously."

"No need," Neji brushed the hair out of her face. "It's my job to take care of you two."