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Chapter 55 - Interlude 3: Flying Solo

~ About a month before Naruto returns from his training trip with Jiraiya/ a year after Interlude 1 ~

As the door to their apartment closed with a click of the lock, Kakashi and Kaiya shared a look. The one-year-old stopped munching on her breakfast of rice, apple slices, and milk and watched the door for a long moment to see if Amaya would come back in. This was the first time Amaya had been on a mission since giving birth a little over a year ago.

Kakashi was happy for his wife; she'd been chafing under the banality of her maternity leave. Not that she didn't love her daughter, but she also loved Konoha and wanted to get back to protecting it. She and Kakashi had talked a few months back, about when and if she'd return to work. He'd wanted her to stay home another year, but Amaya had said waiting would be hell.

They'd eventually agreed to a number of stipulations: rigorous training to get her back into shape and battle-ready,as deemed by Kakashi; her only taking C-rank, maybe the occasional B-rank for the first few months; no missions for one if the other was already out of the village (unless ordered to, of course); always have a babysitter ready and waiting if needed. The debate on who was suitable for that task had lasted at least a week.

There had been compromise on both sides, but neither of them wanted to take the slightest chance of leaving Kaiya without either of them if they could help it. So far, Tsunade had been accommodating, though the price of that was that she'd begun talking to Kakashi about becoming the next Hokage.

Seeing that Kaiya wasn't going to burst into tears and had gone back to her food, he ruffled her short silver hair as he went over to a little table in a corner of the living room and knelt on the cushion in front of it. Four pictures sat on the table in matching wooden frames: his father, Sakumo, Minato-sensei and Kushina, Obito, and Amaya's parents. In front of the pictures was a little dish for incense, which he lit with a small fire jutsu. Kakashi pressed his hands together and bowed his head. "Please, watch over Amaya today. Keep her safe and bring her back to us." His vision blurred. He sniffed and smiled wryly at the pictures. "She's really gotten under my skin, hasn't she?"

"Daddy." Kaiya's little voice broke into his thoughts. He turned to see her making grabby hands at him from her high chair. He got up and pulled her from the chair. Kakashi held her close, speaking as if she'd understand, even though he knew she was too young. "Don't worry about me. Daddy's okay. Mommy will be okay too. She's not doing anything dangerous, just guarding an over-anxious merchant. He's paid for protection before and nothing's happened."

The room suddenly seemed too small; he was keenly aware of the snow they'd gotten during the night and the generally low December temperatures outside. He couldn't stop his mind from going to dark what-ifs. What if they got separated in a bad storm on the way to the port in the southern part of the Land of Fire? What if she couldn't find shelter and froze? What if the ship got hit by a large wave in the choppy winter seas and capsized? What if she was below decks and couldn't get out before she drowned? What if the client was lying?

The memory of Team 7's first C-rank mission was fresh in his mind from a nightmare. He'd woken Amaya with his movements as he fought Zabuza in his dreams. Once she woke him up, she held him until his racing heart calmed. Then he confessed his worries to her. His wife had just smiled, kissed him, and snuggled with him until dawn.

Kaiya's squirming dragged him from his spiraling thoughts. She frowned at him when he pulled her away from him a little. He gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, dear. Didn't mean to squish you. How about we go get dressed and go see Uncle Gai?" As he walked to Kaiya's room to dress her in more than the pink shirt and diapers she wore, he muttered to himself. "I could really use the distraction. Gai'll probably turn our visit into some sort of contest to avenge his last loss."

Kakashi wasted no time getting the two of them dressed to go out. He grabbed the ready-made diaper bag by the door and walked to Gai's apartment at the end of the hall. Gai had been moved to a ground floor apartment for the time being, though only after several heated arguments with Tsunade. The silver-haired nin knocked. He could hear Gai hopping to the door and sighed. When Gai answered the door, all smiles, Kakashi did a quick calculation before shoving Gai hard. The jumpsuit-loving Jonin flew backward, only to find himself sitting in his wheelchair.

The silver-haired Jonin walked in, closed the door, and glared at Gai. 'You're not supposed to be out of that chair."

"But I feel fine!" Gai insisted. "Would I lie to my eternal rival?"

"Yes," Kakashi said, thrusting Kaiya into Gai's arms to keep him sitting for at least a little while longer. He glanced down at the hard cast on Gai's leg. At least it wasn't cracked like before. "Do you not want your leg to heal correctly? Because if you keep acting like an idiot, you'll wind up not being able to walk."

The dark-haired Jonin grinned his good-guy smile while Kaiya tried to grab one of his bushy eyebrows. "But if I sit too much, my flames of youth will be smothered and I'll wither away."

"I know someone I'd like to smother," muttered the Copy-nin as he sat on Gai's couch. When Gai had broken his leg in three places on his last mission a week ago, Kakashi and Amaya had moved his things for him to his new apartment and had made sure there was enough space for Gai to get around with the wheelchair. He glanced around and frowned. "And where are your crutches? You'll need those in a week or two."

"Somewhere, I don't remember where I left them," the dark-haired shinobi said as he tossed Kaiya into the air, much to her delight. "I should find a wife. Then we can see who has the cuter children."

"No!" Kakashi yelled firmly as he went down the hall to Gai's room. There, almost hidden under the edge of the plain wooden dresser, were the crutches. The silver-haired shinobi sighed and returned to the living room. He glared sternly at his friend. "First, I shouldn't have to tell you that you shouldn't get married just for some stupid contest. Nor should you get some poor woman pregnant for that same reason. Second, stop hiding your crutches like you're five! If you're going to get rid of them, at least try harder." He paused. "And no, that's not a challenge either."

'Your daddy's just no fun, is he? Is he?" Gai cooed to Kaiya, who laughed and grabbed at one of his eyebrows again. This time, she got a good enough grip that she ripped out some hair when she flailed her arm. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Kakashi chuckled. "That's my girl." He took his daughter from Gai, who was rubbing his assaulted brow. As he sat down on the couch, the Copy-nin gently pushed Kaiya's hand away as she grabbed for his mask. "I'm sure Lee's been by to see you—" He stopped as Kaiya got her fingers into the top of his mask. He pulled her fingers away and shifted her in his lap. "No, no, sweetie. Leave Daddy's mask alone. Anyway, where was I? Have Neji and Tenten stopped by?"

"No, my other precious students are off living their youthful lives without me. Last I heard they left for an extended mission as I was returning from mine."

"I'm sure they'll visit when they get back," the silver-haired man said, distracted half by Kaiya reaching for his mask again and half by rummaging in the diaper bag for one of her favorite toys. He handed her the little stuffed frog Sakura had given her when she was first born. The little girl clutched the frog and babbled happily at it.

"I suppose," Gai sniffed, a dejected look making his eyebrows almost meet. Kakashi knew that face. The dark-haired nin glanced up, his eyes pleading. 'You know, I'd be sure to recover more quickly if my eternal rival would let me take his adorable daughter for a ride outside in this chair. I wouldn't even have to use my leg or anything."

Kakashi smirked, glad his mask mostly concealed his expression, and feigned indifference. "As long as you hold on to her tight. Amaya would kill us both if something happened."

Gai's eyes lit up and he eagerly rolled to and out of the door. "Come, Kakashi! Let us see which one of us is faster. I need a chance to redeem myself from last time."

The Copy-nin groaned but carried Kaiya outside with him. He handed the little girl over to Gai, who wrapped an arm carefully around her. They started off slow so as not to scare Kaiya, but as they sped up she giggled and squealed louder, obviously egging them on. When they really got going, the pair was a near blur as they circled the apartment building again and again. Kakashi even started hopping on one leg to give Gai a fairer challenge, though he was careful to stay just far enough behind Gai so he wouldn't notice.

After about fifteen laps, they stopped. A little too abruptly. Kaiya slipped from Gai's arm and went flying through the air. The silver-haired man's heart leapt high into his throat as he dashed after his flying daughter. He caught her mid-air, and once he landed, he checked her for any kind of injury. Kaiya was grinning hugely and trying to say "fly", but she couldn't quite get the sound. Her father smiled; if she was smiling and happy, she was fine. Kakashi held her up and spun around with her in the air. "Was that fun?" He lowered her and snuggled his cheek against hers. "I'm so glad you can't talk yet. Your mother would probably skin me alive."

His daughter took this wonderful opportunity to rip his mask off his face.


"How was she? Did she give you any trouble while I was gone?" Amaya asked a couple of days later when she'd finally returned from her mission. She'd scooped Kaiya into her arms and was listening to her daughter's excited babbling.

"Not at all," Kakashi said, wrapping an arm around Amaya's waist and pulling her close. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Missed you."

"And I missed you," the tattooed Jonin breathed as she returned his kiss. When she pulled away, she turned her attention to Kaiya. "Both of you. I missed you so much I could just smother you in kisses." Kaiya's squeals of laughter as Amaya planted kisses all over the little girl's face brought a warm smile to Kakashi's face.

"Fly, Mommy. Fly, fly," the silver-haired girl said, throwing her little arms up in the air. Kakashi's smile vanished instantly.

Amaya frowned and looked at her husband. "I see she learned a new word while I was away. Anything I need to know about?"

"Nothing at all," Kakashi said, taking his daughter and tossing her into the air. "See? Fly."