Chapter 2: The Reason why Raidou and Kakashi insist on Calling Genma a Mother Hen: Genma faced a period of growth and adaptation after he became the unofficial babysitter to four clan kids and Tenten. During said period, he found himself facing more time inside of the village, less time doing things that he once did frequently, doing more things he barely ever did, and two annoying friends that didn't seem to understand that, no, he wasn't some kind of mother hen. And no, he wasn't about to give up his career as a tokubetsu jounin just to open a damned day care center.

..~..~..

One day Genma woke up to a hyperactive ball of energy jumping on his chest and asking for his breakfast. This didn't really surprise the man because he had gotten accustomed to Kiba entering his home without too many difficulties and telling him to make him food.

Even though he had traps and defenses set up along his whole apartment, he'd made them so the kids and their parents could enter without activating them. They were a lot of traps and he knew that he would be faced with annoyed clan heads if he didn't take that safety measure. Especially from Tsume, who had apparently deemed him worthy of taking care of her youngest at all times and allowed the kid to come in whenever he wanted as long as he did so with Kuromaru as an escort.

"Genma! Genma! Farmer man! Farmer man! Give me breakfast! I'm starving!"

The senbon enthusiast allowed the boy to bounce on his chest two more times before he scooped the kid up in his arms, sitting up to hold him up in the air. "Where's Kuromaru?"

He didn't even bother with telling the kid he needed to wait for him to open his apartment up to him. It was a battle he hadn't even engaged in with Neji. It wouldn't be worth it to even try with an Inuzuka. They were a head strong lot.

"Right here, Shiranui."

The large wolf-like dog appeared at the doorway into his room, both dark eyes looking the human over for a second before glaring at Kiba. "What did I tell you about waking him like that, pup? You know your mother doesn't like it when you do things like this."

The young boy waved the dog's concerns off, "She won't know what you don't tell her, Kuromaru!" He beamed brightly at this, then looked at Genma with wide eyes. "Breakfast, Farmer man!"

Farmer man. He had first heard this nickname innocently whispered by Hinata. She had said that he looked a lot like the farmers in her fairy tales with the senbon always sticking out from his lips. She had been real sweet about it, too. Told him in the cutest way he could have heard. But Kiba had overheard and then he, Ino and Tenten had begun to call him by the name almost exclusively.

From something innocent brought on by Hinata all the way to a nickname filled with mocking used by the three most hyperactive hellions he had ever met in his life.

Genma looked at the boy with an analytical eye, then sighed, shook his head, and placed him down on the floor. "You should really learn how to say please, kid."

He knew that the kid was rough around the edges. But out of all the Inuzuka he had met, he had learned that they all were rough around the edges. The way they were raised made most of the members of the clan be crass and somewhat rude because they were taught to be honest at all times. The kid wanted something, he demanded for it. He didn't like something, he made it clear. But Genma didn't bend over backwards trying to fix the kid's attitude and sense of discipline. He knew that his mother did enough of that while she was around.

"I know how to say it! I do!" The boy argued, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "But I'm starving!"

The man clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, feeling somewhat odd about being awake and not having a senbon in his mouth, but soon stood up and stretched his arms above his head. He was shirtless, like he liked to sleep, but wore pajama bottoms. After a few close calls with Kiba appearing out of nowhere, the man had taken to wearing actual clothes to bed to spare the boy of any unwarranted trauma.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Inuzuka?" The man questioned as he grabbed the senbon he kept on his nightstand to pop it into his mouth. After rolling it around with his tongue and smacking his lips a few times, the man began to walk out of his room, feeling somewhat ready to begin a new day now that he had his lucky senbon around.

"Too early to be awake?" The boy questioned, showing exactly how much time he had spent around Genma.

"Too early to be awake." Genma nodded, yawning softly as he stepped into the kitchen to begin to prepare food for three.

Even though Kiba hadn't asked for it, the man knew that Kuromaru enjoyed eating a snack here or there. And seeing how it couldn't be any later than seven in the morning by the lack of light outside his home, the dog most probably deserved some kind of treat after having to wake up so early to make sure his young charge got to Genma's safely.

As he cooked a simple meal of eggs and heated up some left over rice, Genma listened complacently to Kiba chatter about anything that came to his mind. And every time the Inuzuka asked a question, the man would answer as honestly as he could.

"Why's the sky blue?"

"Because of science stuff."

"Why doesn't sis like playing with me?"

"Because she's in the Academy and is going through the dangerous perils of childhood."

"But aren't I a child?"

"Yeah, you are. But you're not in the Academy yet... Don't sweat it, kid, your time to run away from cooties will eventually come."

"... What are cooties?"

Smirking softly, Genma plated the food for himself and Kiba, then walked over to the bowl Tsume had left about three weeks ago for Kuromaru and dumped the rest there.

"You'll find out when you're in the Academy."

The boy groaned dramatically at his question being avoided like only Genma could do, but soon shut up when food was placed in front of him. Without even waiting for Genma to give him chopsticks, the boy dug in savagely, eating without any kind of hesitation.

As he saw the boy eat without much restraint, Genma couldn't help but smile softly. The Inuzuka was quite a character. Just like the rest of the kids he took care of most days now.

He had been taking care of these kids for weeks now. And he'd only truly gone on only a handful of missions that were B-Rank or higher. Only one A-Rank. It was beginning to irk him. Not only were A-Ranks a good source of income, but they usually made him stay out of the village for weeks on end, distracting him from all his thoughts.

Even though he had been able to push most dark things to the back of his mind once Neji appeared in his life and brought the rest of these wild kids as a consequence, he was becoming accustomed to what his life was now. And now that he wasn't running around trying to keep the kids from killing each other or themselves every second of the day, his mind was allowed to wander. And that was a dangerous thing with everything he had managed to lock up.

... He'd have to speak to the Hokage about this. He needed to stretch his legs, bust some heads. Even though he didn't mind looking after kids, he was also a shinobi. It was in his blood. He couldn't become docile and domestic. It just wasn't who he was.

Maybe he could do that today. Need for their services outside the village had slowed because there were so many of them now, which meant that the Hokage, although still stuck with an overload of paper work, didn't have to force his people to churn out reports so they would be available for another mission immediately. It'd be nice to go out again. Especially with teammates that were normal, non-clan related like him.

"Yo, Farmer man! We should go out today and go to the zoo in the nearby town!"

Genma's thoughts on hopefully taking back some semblance of his old life halted when he heard Kiba pipe up. And when he looked at the boy, he found the Inuzuka smiling broadly at him, eyes shining brightly.

"Kuromaru could be our guide. He's been there before with ma and pa." The boy continued, stopped for a second to lick his fingers, then nodded at himself. "We would all really like to go out and have some fun with you!"

"Oh, Kiba. I don't think your parents would allow me to take you kids out so far." The man smiled softly at the boy as he walked towards him, ruffling his hair. "But we'll figure out how to have a good time here, yeah?"

So... He was outside of the village. But not for the reason he had wished to leave.

"I want to see the giant tortoise!" Ino bounced on Kuromaru's back with excitement clear on her face, all the while Tenten nodded in agreement from behind her.

"Well I want to see the tigers!" Kiba jumped up in front of Genma with a loud whoop and Neji nodded softly in agreement with him.

Hinata was grasping tightly onto the tokubetsu jounin's left hand, Neji onto his right, and Kiba was holding his older sister's hand with a broad smile on his face. The older girl had a small smile on her face, although she didn't really seem like she was too joyed with having to spend a day with her baby brother's friends.

"Calm down, children. You'll be able to see all the animals in an hour or so."

The man was good with children. Why he couldn't have come with them alone, Genma couldn't understand. Clearly, Inoichi knew how to take care of all of the kids under his care. Why he couldn't have taken them all on this excursion alone was beyond the man. Especially seeing how Takeo was also with them, aside from the extra set of hands that were Hana and Inoichi.

Kiba had convinced his friends to talk to their parents about going out on a trip with Genma. And somehow, the parents had come to the conclusion that it would do the five children (and Hana) good to get out of the village and see what the world outside had to offer.

"Do you think there'll be any animals from the Land of Snow, Lord Inoichi?" Neji questioned as he looked up at the blonde man, who only shook his head softly.

"I don't think so, Neji. The animals there are used to a cold climate and snow. There isn't any of that around here, just sun shine and moderate climate changes." The Yamanaka explained, but still smiled, "Although I'm sure there'll be a lot more interesting animals to find."

All five children were extremely excited to be going on their first major trip outside of the village. From what their parents had told him when they told him about taking them out, none of them had actually been outside before. And, really, why weren't their parents here to take them out for this trip? Inoichi and Takeo were the only ones that seemed as if they actually wanted to spend a day with their respective children!

Although, speaking fairly, Tsume and Hiashi were both clan heads and had a lot of things to take care of before any impromptu vacations. And the only reason why Inoichi could do this was because he had gotten injured on a mission about two weeks ago and wasn't set to return to active duty for at least another week. And because her husband brought in a steady source of income, Takeo didn't need a job that gave too much and instead kept herself busy by helping the parents and younger siblings of some of the shinobi in her apartment building, giving her time to helping others.

But, seriously, those two were enough to take care of these six kids. Genma wasn't needed. Really.

Well... He'd gotten what he'd wished for... In a way. He was out of the village. But it wasn't for the reason he wanted.

"Genma!"

"Yes, Ino?"

"What animal is most like me?"

The question made the man actually think about his answer. Most of the times, it was easy banter with all of them or giving noncommitted answers to their curious questions. But seeing how Inoichi was here, he couldn't really deflect the question... He'd have to tread carefully here...

"You're no animal, princess." Inoichi answered for him, "You're a princess."

Taking a look at the girl hugging Kuromaru's neck, Genma couldn't help the small smirk. She was glaring daggers at her father. But the blonde man had the decency to small apologetically at her.

"Well, let's see your attributes, Ino." Genma said easily, making her look at him. "You're extremely active, so lazy animals like sloths and cats are out of the list-"

"But I like cats." The girl interjected, which made Tenten poke her in the arm to look at her. "But they sleep half the day away, Ino. You barely even sleep."

"And you enjoy running around and having a lot of fun." The man continued talking as if he had never been interrupted, clicking the senbon between his teeth as he thought. "But you're also extremely smart... So, if I would have to guess... Fox."

There was a moment in which none of the kids said anything. But suddenly, the rest of the kids, including Hinata, were shouting over one another to ask which animal was most like them.

~/~

They were going to get kicked out of the zoo. He had no idea where Inoichi had disappeared to, Kuromaru was busy trying to catch the dogs Kiba had somehow managed to smuggle into the zoo, Takeo was too busy looking at souvenirs to help him reign in the kids, and he swore that Ino, Hana, and Tenten were going to seriously hurt Kiba and Neji if they didn't stop tag teaming them.

"Say it!"

"Never!"

"Say it!"

"Bite m-Ow! Did you just bite me!?"

"Say it, Inuzuka!"

With a heavy sigh, Genma looked down at his stained clothes and wondered if this trip had been worth it. He had worn the most civilian like clothes he could find in his closet- a set of dark blue pants, a white shirt, and black jacket- and had hoped they would serve him well... At least his flak jacket would have covered most of his torso and kept his nice shirt from getting stained.

Hinata wasn't any better off. And her dress had been a light lavender color.

"Sis! Get off of me!"

"Take back what you said about girls and admit we're stronger than you!"

Neji was more quiet about the pain he was being subjected to. With Ino sitting on his back and Tenten forcing his hands down with her foot, the Hyuga couldn't really move. And Kiba was caught with Tenten's other foot in his face, all the while his sister kept her knee on his back while holding both of his arms back.

It had been quite a vicious battle, if Genma could tell the truth. Both boys had fought valiantly. But they had eventually gotten their asses handed to them by the girls. And he was somewhat proud to see that Hana could move so fast even though she wasn't supposed to graduate from the academy yet. And Ino and Tenten knowing how to throw a proper punch and kick was good too. He just kind of wished they weren't using these skills against the boys.

He could, theoretically, stop all of this. He was a tokubetsu jounin. He'd been the Fourth Hokage's body guard. In his field of expertise, he was the best of the best. He could take on three little girls.

But... Kiba and Neji had run their mouths thinking that he would back them up because he was also male. It wouldn't hurt them to get their pride bruised by the harsh truth that girls could be just as good- or even better- as them.

"Hey, Hinata." The young girl looked up at him with wide pale eyes, "Want to go over to the gift shop to see if we can find some change of clothes for you?"

Her family had only packed her delicate dresses. And with a group of rowdy kids like this one, they would all get ruined before they returned to Konoha in a few hours. Even though he didn't have a whole lot of money, he guessed he could buy her a set of clothes to replace the food and dirt stained dress she wore now.

Taking one final look at the girls that were still trying to get Kiba and Neji to crack, Genma guessed that they would still be here when he returned with clothes for her. And he also decided that he should be something for Neji, his own formal wear would be much too ruined after everything it was being put through at the moment.

At the moment, he hadn't known it. But when he got to the gift shop, he found out that there were some things even more troublesome than children fighting. And one of those was an impressionable child surrounded by brightly colored stuffed animals and amazing looking products at unbelievably high prices.

Genma had told her there was no way in the world that he'd buy her anything that wasn't clothes. Hinata had looked up at him with wide eyes that were seconds away from tearing up.

He had tried to stay strong and just buy what he though would be needed...

Needless to say, Hinata had won. She'd walked out with a stuffed lion, heart shaped ring, and a new set of clothes to replace the food and dirt stained dress she had worn.

... Oh. Right. And Neji and Kiba hadn't cracked at all- which made Genma admit that they at least stood fast in their beliefs, even though they were being idiotic. Inoichi though had swooped in and taken the three girls off of them. And then Genma had gotten an earful about how he wasn't supposed to leave fighting children unattended... Although Inoichi admitted Hinata looked adorable hugging her new lion.

After the zoo fiasco, Genma had been given a week long mission. The Hokage sent him, Raidou, and Tsume to the Land of Wind to track down a missing nin. It was supposed to have been a straightforward kind of mission to track, find, and bring back for interrogation.

Missions, though, never went according to plan. Instead of being out for a week, they were out for two. And even though they brought back their target, they returned in a less than stellar state. He had come back tired, with a bandaged shoulder- seeing how it had been dislocated- and in serious need for a drink.

When he'd gotten back to his apartment, he'd just wanted to get himself a cold beer and collapse, sleep for a full month. Drinking a bit after an especially gruelling mission was nothing new to him. Even though he wasn't completely depleted from it, he wouldn't mind a drink. His thoughts weren't dark, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to unwind a little bit.

But when he returned to his apartment, instead of being able to drink a little bit, he found the kids waiting for him inside of his apartment, Inoichi there with them. They were all holding up a large banner that had a message finger painted on it.

'Welcome home, Farmer Man!' It was then signed by every single kid in their own unique way, seeing how none of them had learned to write yet.

Kiba's must have been the twin red triangles. Neji's the black, somewhat chubby bird to the corner. Hinata's must have been the orange and yellow blob he guessed must have been a lion. Tenten's was clearly the smiling face with twin buns on its head. And Ino's was undoubtedly the bouquet of flowers that took up a lot of space.

He hadn't even set a foot through his door before the kids had left their stations holding the banner up and ran up to hug him tightly, all the while begging him to never leave for so long again.

Inoichi, instead of helping him get rid of the kids that refused to let him up from the floor, merely laughed at the kids' antics.

Their first sleepover. How had he allowed himself to be talked into this?

... Right... Hiashi had literally dropped Neji and Hinata off at his doorstep with sleeping bags, telling him that his wife and he would be enjoying a special day together and did not wish to be interrupted. After that, Kiba had arrived, seen the sleeping bags, and rushed back to his home to grab one and return. He didn't ask for permission. The kid had just assumed his mother would let him stay. And then when Inoichi had dropped Ino and Tenten both off, he'd asked Genma what the bags were for. And the traitorous Inuzuka had asked if both girls could stay over for the sleepover.

Damned Inuzuka... Those two always fought with him. Why would he want them to stay?

Genma had a running theory that Kiba may just be a masochist.

But Inoichi had agreed that it wouldn't hurt to let Ino stay over and had said he'd fetch the things she would need and bring them later during the day. And then, when asked about Tenten, he'd said he'd speak to her parents and let them know when he came back.

The day had been spent with Genma figuring out how to keep the kids from killing one another, keep them entertained, and not get his apartment too dirty in the process. Luckily, he had a set of cards and sat them down to teach them how to play a simple game of Go Fish. And that had literally kept them entertained for hours. Although once they'd gotten bored with that, they had begun to finger paint and steal snacks from his fridge. Which led to his apartment finding itself stained once more with all kinds of colorful substances and Hinata tripping over her own feet each time she tried to rush past Genma to keep him from taking back the chocolate she had taken.

But then came the really difficult part. Which had been getting them to take baths so they could get dressed for bed.

Kiba hated water, or so he proclaimed. But Genma knew differently because the kid enjoyed the swimming pool a lot. He just hated having to get clean. And Tenten didn't like being told what to do, so she put up a fight. Neji hadn't wanted to wash his hair like he needed to do every day, which was yet another problem. And Ino had decided that if all her friends were going to be difficult, then she had a right to be so as well. Seriously, she hadn't had a reason to not bathe. She'd just said she didn't want to and had raised hell avoiding Genma.

Hinata was a heaven sent with the four other demon children running around.

Now Genma rested on his couch, one leg being used as a pillow by Tenten, the other by Ino, with Hinata curled up to his chest, and Kiba curled up on the back of his couch right beside his head. Neji had been the only one to use the sleeping bag he had brought, but had placed it right in on top of Genma's feet, effectively pining him onto the couch.

His apartment was a mess. There were shoes and clothes strewn all across the floor. Toys, cards, and even utensils had been scattered all around and even Hinata's stuffed lion was hanging haphazardly over the windowsill his couch faced. Kiba and Ino had managed to knock down a vase, a potted plant, and a framed work of art Genma had in his hallway.

And that wasn't even taking into account the mess that had been made of his only bathroom.

It was a Friday night. Genma wasn't really one to go out and party the weekend away, but he'd always kept a schedule of going out with friends to play poker every once in a while. But ever since he had started taking care of these kids, those nights with friends had become less and less. And he'd even promised Kakashi and Raidou that he'd join them at their strip poker with three kunoichi... But those plans had been ruined by Hiashi appearing with zero consideration for his carefully laid out plans.

It had surprised him that neither of his friends had appeared at his door, demanding to know why he had flaked out on him. And Genma had begun to hope that they would never arrive.

But right when he was comfortable enough to get some shut eye of his own, the lock to his door was opened, his doorknob twisted, and in stepped his best friend of some fifteen years.

For a moment, neither man said a single thing. They just looked at each other with wide eyes. But the more Genma looked at Raidou, the more he noticed the man's lips turning up into a smile. And as soon as it was the patented 'You're in deep shit now, Gen', the senbon enthusiast knew he was screwed.

"Kakashi, find a camera." Well... At least he had the decency to whisper.

"What?" Came the surprised question from the man Genma had yet to see, then there was a grunt as Raidou's elbow connected with his ribs. "I thought we were here to shave Genma's hair off for leaving us stranded."

Raidou rolled his eyes, but the smile never left his face. "Just find me a camera, you idiot. I promise it'll be worth it."

A few seconds passed and then Raidou turned back to Genma, a devious glint shining in his eyes. And Genma knew that nothing good would come out of Kakashi finding a camera. Especially because of the kids he currently found himself pinned down by.

"Raidou, don't you dare." The man hissed with a glare, hoping that his killer intent would be enough to deter Raidou from whatever he thought he was going to do.

But the dark haired man smirked broadly, shook his head, and mouthed 'You're fucked, boy'. Genma's glare turned deadly, and he moved his right arm to grab the senbon in his mouth and send it in the bastard's direction. But before he could even raise it to shoulder level, Ino's hands shot out, grabbed it, and pulled it down to hug it like some kind of stuffed animal.

Kakashi arrived to see this happening. And he gave the camera over to Raidou quickly then disappeared once more. But soon Genma heard his cackling laugh from the hallway, making him frown heavily... Well... He'd been caring enough to bust a seam laughing outside and not where the kids would be able to hear him completely.

Raidou took a dozen different pictures before stepping inside to pat Genma's head softly.

"I never would have taken you for the mother hen type, Gen."

Genma had tried to lash out at him with his mouth. But the bastard moved his hand away before his teeth could even catch skin.

"This is... Raidou, please tell me we're going to use this." Kakashi was now beside Raidou, smirk clear even through his mask. "Can you just imagine how much this will boost morale if we put the pictures up in the jounin headquarters?"

Genma's eyes flew open, "You can't do that!" But he didn't move. He couldn't. He had yet to deal with the children in their recently awoken states and wasn't sure if he wanted to do so at midnight.

"We will." Raidou smirked broadly, waving the camera in his hands as if it were a great prize.

"Just consider it payback for ditching us." Kakashi winked with his own visible eye, then turned back to Raidou. "Let's go get these developed."

Then they were gone and Genma breathed out heavily, allowing his head to fall back against the back of his couch.

And he really wanted to be irritated and stay like that. But Hinata shifted on his chest, tightened her grip on his shirt, and nuzzled her head into him. With this, Genma felt the irritation begin to leave him. But then Kiba wrapped his arms around his neck, nuzzled against the side of his head, and sighed in contentment.

These kids would be the death of him.

Genma had not gone to jounin H.Q after Raidou and Kakashi had snapped those pictures of him with the kids. He had finished a good mission so he wasn't feeling ansty anymore, the kids liked going to his apartment literally every day, and he wasn't all too eager to see what those two jerks had done with the pictures they had taken.

If he wanted a mission, he'd need to go there. That was were all jounin went, either regular or specialized like him. And he wasn't quite eager to see what those horrible friends of his had come up with.

Besides, he heard the way some jounin snickered at him as he walked down the streets with the kids jumping up and after him.

He'd been forced to go on quite a few grocery shopping trips ever since the kids had first appeared. But even more so now that Takeo was going to be working on helping out at the hospital with traumatized shinobi. That meant that they wouldn't have her steady source of lunches. Even though Inoichi would still continue bringing those delicious dinners with him.

For the first time ever since he had met Neji, Genma would have to cook more than just breakfast for the kids. And he wasn't quite sure what to do. He'd never been too picky with his food. Cheapest was best. So he just bought all kinds of instant foods that just needed to be popped into the microwave for any length of time. But his usual diet may not be good for the kids under his care, especially for Hinata and Neji, whom had a pickier taste than the likes of Kiba or Tenten. Ino was caught in between, liking some foods, but despising others.

He'd bought pre-made breaded chicken, a whole lot of rice, some fish he knew he could sauté without too much difficulty, and vegetables. The kids had wanted to buy candy- Kiba had been especially adamant about peanut butter and chocolate and Ino about the much too pricey for his budget chocolate- and sugary snacks, but Genma had managed to talk them out of it.

"Farmer man, let's go to the weapons shop and see what pointy things we can buy!"

"Yeah! I want to buy a kunai!"

Genma glanced down at the two girls with a shake of his head, "Ino, your dad has forbidden you from being anywhere near any kind of weapon after you tried to kill Kiba with that shuriken. And Tenten, you know that your mother doesn't want to see you anywhere near the hospital because you decided to do dangerous things."

Both groaned and threw themselves at his legs, wrapping both arms and legs around him. But the man merely rolled his eyes and continued to walk with both kids weighing his feet down.

This had happened a few times. It had proved to be a very good workout for the legs. Guy would be proud.

"Kiba, don't drop that bag. Those eggs weren't cheap."

"Yeah, yeah. I got this, Genma. Don't worry!" Kiba smirked up at him, the bag filled with a carton of eggs held tightly in both his hands.

From beside the Inuzuka, Genma saw Hinata and Neji sharing the job of carrying the bag filled with a carton milk. They looked adorable. Neji could carry the bag without any trouble. But Hinata was intent on helping her cousin, even though her height posed a problem. Hinata was concentrating on all of her movements, her tongue peeking out just slightly from her lips; Genma had found this was a quirk of hers when she concentrated. And Neji was frowning slightly, trying his best to not accidentally step on his cousin's feet.

He was walking with about six different bags on his arms with Tenten and Ino on his legs, Kiba to his right, and Neji and Hinata to his left. People around them were careful to not get too close to the kids, most probably put off by the fact that there were four clan kids with him, although when they passed by a couple of shinobi, Genma could see the way they began to smile broadly.

If he had once had a reputation for being a badass, walking around with five children around him (with two hanging onto him) had certainly blown those beliefs up.

How could he be badass with kids? ... His reputation would never be the same...

Well, he'd had a good run.

"Farmer man!"

This voice... Did not belong to the kids. It was older and certainly male sounding. It was...

Cursing under his breath, Genma glared at Raidou as he ran up to him.

"Farmer man, it's been a while."

When the bastard was right in front of him, Genma stopped walking. He didn't say anything and instead kept a cool glare on his face. He had yet to see how much damage his best friend had caused, but he knew that there was no way he could ever walk into the jounin headquarters without hearing some kind of joke about being a mother hen.

"Genma?" Ino piped up from his leg, which made the man look down at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Who's this?"

"Hey, kid." Raidou dropped down so he was squatting in front of both girls, smiling broadly. "My name's Raidou. I'm Genma's best friend."

The senbon enthusiast watched as he and Ino interacted, wondering how she would react to him. Raidou wasn't necessarily ugly, but he wasn't the handsomest person around. Even though he didn't really have any marks on his face, he had what Genma lovingly called a perpetual pissed off face.

"I don't like you."

Raidou spluttered in shock at Tenten's strong words. And Genma smirked down at him, silently thanking Tenten for being one of the bluntest kids around.

"Wha- But... Why?"

Ino answered for Tenten with a nod. "Because you can't use that nickname. That's what we call him. You can't use it." Then the blonde looked up at Genma with a tug at his pants. "Let's go, Farmer man. I want nuggets."

Genma nodded at this and began to walk off... But he could hear Raidou's raucous laughter from behind him.

"But why does he have to be here?"

Genma sighed heavily at the kids collective groan as he stirred the rice he was cooking.

"Because last time you kids stayed over to sleep, you left my apartment looking as if a tornado had ripped through it." He answered with a small shrug, placing the lid on the pot once more before turning to the five children he was to take care of once more for a whole night.

This time it wasn't Hiashi that had started it. It was Inoichi. He was supposed to go out on a last minute interrogation of utmost importance, and had no babysitters to take care of Ino. His wife had died about two years ago, leaving him with only Ino to take care of. Usually, on calls like this, he would have someone from the clan take care of Ino. But for some reason, he had decided that Genma would be the perfect sitter.

He'd then told Hiashi and Tsume about leaving his kid there, which had wound up with both clan heads deciding to also leave their own kids. And not to be left out, Tenten had also climbed aboard.

But Genma had learned his lesson from last time. He couldn't deal with these kids while they were hyped up on sugar all alone.

Besides, Raidou had wanted to meet the kids and show them that he wasn't a complete jerk. Even though he was, Namiashi wanted the kids to see that he was just as good as Genma. Although he had also said that if they didn't respect him, he would discipline them in any way he saw fit.

They were arranged in a line. Ino on the left, Tenten beside her, Kiba beside her, Hinata beside him, and Neji on the other corner. They were all glaring up at him in varying degrees. Neji's was, honestly, the scariest one, while Ino's was the most passionate. Hinata was trying to glare, although failing just slightly and looking adorable while doing so.

"But he's mean!"

The man placed his hands on his hips to mimic Ino's own stance, a small smirk playing on his lips. "I know that. He's my best friend, kid. Believe me when I say I know that he's mean." She huffed and stomped her foot, but Genma merely shook his head. "He'll just be here to help me keep you kids from killing each other. And if does anything too mean, I'll help you kids get your revenge."

He should have known saying that was a horrible idea. These kids took everything at face value. Whatever he said, he took to heart as if it were the only true thing they needed to believe.

Genma would find out how truly evil the kids could be when they put their minds to it. But at the moment, he was happy to be making a simple dish of frozen nuggets with cooked rice to keep the kids from trying to get into the cookie jar.

He hadn't had any cookie jars in his apartment before. Not when he was a kid and his family was still alive. And certainly not once he'd begun to live by himself. But Tenten had deemed cookie jars an explicit need for all households and had made one with the help of her father. Inside were the kids favorite brand of animal crackers.

"Now why don't you kids go ahead and-"

"Honey, I'm home!"

Genma tried his best to keep the smile on his face when the kids glared at him and the door to his apartment slammed open. But he could feel the corner of his lip twitch in annoyance.

"Come on in, Raidou." The man walked over to his friend, who closed the door behind him with a broad smile. "You got here just in time. We're going to start finger painting."

"Sounds good, Farmer man."

A chill went through Genma as he heard these words. But he soon stamped it down and motioned for Raidou to follow him.

They all sat down to paint and Raidou seemed to really enjoy himself as he helped the kids with the paints and papers. He really seemed to want to want the kids to have a good time with him, even with how rude he had undoubtedly come across during their first meeting. It had all been going great. Until Genma stood up to serve the food for them all and Raidou chuckled, "I would like some extra nuggets, mom."

Something had changed after that. The kids had stopped shouting and fighting with one another. And Genma swore he saw them glare at Raidou, even though they always smiled up at him with faked innocence.

As they finished up with their painting and began to play card games, Tenten excused herself to go to the bathroom. And even though Genma found the way she ran off so quickly somewhat suspicious, Hinata asked him to give him some ice cream and his attention was soon taken by the young Hyuga.

He scooped chocolate ice cream into the girl's favorite bowl, a pink and purple one with a lion on it (it had been hell to find, but had been worth it seeing how she didn't eat ice cream without it). And he served some for himself, deciding to enjoy some of the sugary treat. But right when they began to eat in the kitchen, Genma heard a surprised shout from his living room.

"What in the world?" He questioned softly moving to see the living room through the opening in his kitchen where the counter was. "Holy- Tenten!" He shouted, eyes going wide as he saw the girl throwing his kunai and shuriken at a surprised and fumbling Raidou. "Where did you learn to pick a lock?! You're four!"

The girl was smiling broadly as she threw the deadly projectiles at his best friend, all the while Ino and Kiba cheered her on from the sidelines. Neji was merely looking at Raidou dodge the objects with almost disinterested eyes.

"Tenten, stop!" He moved to leave his kitchen, but suddenly found Hinata in his way, arms splayed out to stop him from passing. "Hinata, move."

The Hyuga shook her head with face as red as a tomato.

"Neji, Kiba! Go!"

Looking up from the Hyuga, Genma found that Tenten had run out of weapons. But instead of leaving Raidou alone, Neji and Kiba suddenly jumped on him. And because he was slightly off balance from all of the dodging, the man fell to the floor with both kids on top of him. Then, as if all of that hadn't been enough, both girls rushed forward, grabbed the paints that had been left on the floor, and dumped it all over the man's face.

While all of this happened, Raidou was shouting out in surprise and almost fear. And as the girls and boys rubbed the paint into him, Genma couldn't help but smirk.

Maybe now Raidou would finally stop calling him a mother hen. Maybe the kids would finally have scared him enough to stop him.

Raidou hadn't stopped. If anything, the attack had seemed to make him even worse. And even though Genma had been able to embarrass him in front of Kakashi with the tale of how midgets had made him scream like a little girl, the bastard had gotten the last laugh.

"So, when are you opening the daycare, Genma? Think there'll be room for Raidou and I to work with you?"

Genma hated his friends.

..~..~..

Thank you so much for all the faves, follows, and reviews! You guys are awesome!

Also, don't worry about more kids appearing. More hell spawns will join these kid's rank in the next chapter!

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