Chapter 3: The Reason why the Kids and Genma all now Share Birthday Parties and How Genma Tried to Keep Monetary Problems to Himself: As time went on, Genma found himself becoming accustomed to having little hellions running amok in his home and had accepted the fact that his apartment would never be a fully bonafide bachelor pad ever again. He also happened to come to terms with the fact that birthdays were now the most important thing in the world and he could never forget one. Ever. And, really, whenever they seemed to find another rascal to join their horde of hyperactive trouble-makers, it was just one more mouth for Genma to feed... Now if he only had enough money to keep said mouths fed.

..~..~..

It was March. Months of taking care of the kids had bled together and now Genma couldn't really be bothered with trying to ask for more out of the village missions. Especially because whenever he did go out, he found himself stuck with either Yamanaka, Hyuga, or Inuzuka teammates... Or with non-clan members that didn't know how to keep their mouths shut about him being out of place and having to go back to his chicks before they were led astray.

If he had 'accidentally' sent a senbon into a laughing Iwashi's knee after the bastard had asked who the father was, it was merely because he hadn't been paying attention and his concentration on his weapons had slipped. Although the Hokage hadn't bought that excuse and sentenced him to front desk duty at the library for a week as punishment.

In that week was stuck in the library, he was visited by the little mongrels that he had begun to call parasites in his mind. They kind of were just that. They ate all his food, used up all his energy, all but burned all his money, and turned his apartment upside down without giving anything in return... Although a small part of him said they gave him smiles and laughter in return... But Genma ignored that because he wasn't a mushy kind of guy.

On more than one occasion, he'd been forced to steal a book away from their grubby hands because they were in danger of breaking the spine.

"You kids can't read." He'd growled at them, which had then made Ino huff and cross her arms haughtily. "Well then you should teach us!"

That had been where he drew the line, though. Teaching kids how to read and write was not something he had wanted to do. So he'd instead showed them the kids section of the library, the one with all of the books filled with more pictures than words, and then had sat them all down to read to them.

It had been as he was forced to read the story of the turtle that wouldn't quit in her race against the rabbit (whom shared enough similarities with Kiba's own personality that even Hinata had told him he should dress up as a rabbit for Halloween) that two new kids joined the ranks of hellions.

Both clan kids, to Genma's dismay.

"Hey, mom, can we see the story?"

Genma had quirked an eyebrow at the question, but continued to read and point at the vivid images of the turtle going slow and steady, even though the rabbit took breaks here and there because of overconfidence.

"Alright, Chouji. Are you going to go too, Shikamaru?"

"No way that the rabbit is going to lose!" Kiba shouted out as he jumped up, pointing a finger at Genma's face. "He's way too fast! And the turtle's a girl! Everyone knows guys are better than girls!"

Genma leveled the boy with a disinterested look, then passed the page, a small smirk forming on his lips when the boy shouted in shock at his words. "And the turtle passed the sleeping rabbit, well on her way to the finish line."

The three girls began to cheer as Kiba fell to the floor, gripping his head. Neji patted the boy on the head softly, "Overconfidence is a great downfall, Kiba-kun."

"It's not fair... He was going to win..." The boy whispered, eyes wide as he looked at the only other male in the group. "Why did he go to sleep?"

Genma smirked softly at the boy's theatrics, then looked up when he heard and felt two new people approaching him. He guessed that one of these had been the kid he had heard asking for permission to go over to their circle in the kid's corner of the library. Which, really, was more of a semi-circle with kids strewn haphazardly all around in front of him as he sat on an uncomfortably small stump, all resting on top of a rug filled with bright and kind of annoying to the eye primary colors.

They were both clan kids. One an Akimichi from the clear plumpness and symbols that could only belong to a member of that clan. And the other a Nara with dark hair pulled into a ponytail and slightly closed eyes, body language speaking about complete boredom and disinterest.

"Uh... Hi..." The Akimichi waved softly, body language reading of being somewhat shy. "C-could we sit and listen?"

Genma was about to tell them that he had to leave and go back to his front desk duties before someone ratted on him for skipping out on his duties. But before he could, Ino jumped up and ran towards both boys, throwing her arms over them in a hug.

"Shika! Chouji! I'm so glad to see you two again!" She cheered, then grabbed them each by one hand to pull them into the circle of kids and sit them down on either side of her. "This is the farmer I was telling you two about. His name's Genma and he's awesome!"

The Akimichi's eyes widened at this news, even though the Nara just looked at him through narrowed eyes.

Ino knew these two. Said two were undoubtedly best friends from the way they were together and had only been with one of their mother's. Ino was the daughter of the clan head. And he'd be lying if he said that the Nara wasn't the spitting image of one of the laziest people he had ever met in his life. These were Chouji and Shikamaru. Sons of Choza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara respectively.

"Read us another story, Genma!" Tenten suddenly gasped, "This time about a kick ass kunoichi that destroys all the men around her!"

There were no doubts in Genma's mind that Tenten would grow up to be a feminist.

"Ew! No, one about a strong samurai that destroys everyone in his path!"

And he was also pretty sure that Kiba would either end up terrified of women for the rest of his life, or a borderline misogynist. All because Tenten and Ino were so radical in their own beliefs.

As both kids began to argue over what would be the best story to listen to next, Genma felt a tug on his pants leg. And when he looked down, he found Hinata clutching a book with a lion on its cover tightly, pale eyes wide.

"Th-this o-o-one?" She stuttered out, shakily raising the book to him.

This one, though... Her future was still uncertain to Genma. He just hoped she would grow out of her stuttering phase. She wouldn't be taken seriously as a clan head if she stuttered so much.

Giving her an earnest smile, Genma nodded, scooped her up, and opened the book. "The Tale of the Hungry Lion." He smiled at the groans that came from both Kiba and Tenten, but soon began to narrate the tale that Hinata had picked out all on her own.

After that, Chouji and Shikamaru came around more often. At first it was because of Ino. But soon enough Chouji figured out that Genma cooked really good breakfast and asked to go with Inoichi, Ino, and Tenten during the morning to get some. And because wherever he went, Shikamaru followed, the Nara appeared with the Yamanaka as well.

It didn't hurt to have them around, though. Shikamaru was so lazy yet smart that he was able to talk Kiba out of some of his dumbest decisions. He'd even managed to stop a fight between Tenten and Kiba by saying that both genders were troublesome in their own way and it was stupid to fight about it. This had made both firebrands pause for a moment before getting distracted by Chouji asking to bake a pie.

Genma had learned to bake pies because of the Akimichi.

And he'd been forced into another week of duty in the library because some rat that had (wisely) been left unnamed by the Hokage had told the man that Genma had been shirking his duties. Although, this time around, he was forced to read to all the kids that came around from the village, not just those he took care of.

"Farmer man! Farmer man!"

Genma had just wanted to sleep in on a Sunday. Had that really been too much to ask for? The answer was yes. Because now he found his room overrun with tykes, Kiba and Tenten jumping on his bed but, luckily, missing his body.

"Yeah, Tenten?" He groaned out as he threw his arm over his eyes, trying to sleep for a little bit longer before he had to wake up and deal with the little hellions.

For a moment, everything was quiet. And this made Genma move his arm to look at what was happening. But he immediately regretted doing so when he suddenly found Ino throwing herself on top of his stomach, shouting out, "It's Tenten's birthday!"

All of the breath was knocked away from him. And, really, it was unfair. There were too many kids. They outnumbered him seven to one. And they took advantage of this whenever they needed to get away with something.

"Well, not really. It's in a week." The girl with the buns on her head explained as she sat down on Genma's stomach behind her blonde friend, smiling cheekily at him. "But I want to go out and buy the decorations for the party we'll be having here."

Genma had to force himself to breathe as the words sunk in, trying to not freak out over the fact that Ino had gotten the drop on him like she had. But then, once he was finally breathing normally, he was smacked by the words and he sat up immediately, causing both girls to roll and fall onto his bed.

"What do you mean 'here'?" The man questioned, then looked around the room to see who had appeared.

Shikamaru was nowhere to be found. But seeing how Chouji stood by the door and Ino had been the one to give him such a rude wake up, there was no doubt that the Nara would be lurking around somewhere. Kiba was sitting beside Tenten, head cocked slightly to the side, as he and both girls looked at him in confusion. And Hinata and Neji stood beside Chouji, both looking at him with widened eyes.

"My birthday party will be here, Farmer man. With all my friends and family." The girl answered bluntly, then Kiba piped up. "And all our family too. She invited all of our parents. And even Scarecrow and Bitch Face."

Genma looked back at the kids on his bed and glared at the Inuzuka, "You know you can't be calling those two idiots like that. They have names."

Then Ino smiled broadly with a nod of her own. "Of course, Farmer man. Scarecrow and Bitch Face. Those are their names."

There were a lot more battles with the kids that he lost rather than won. Like the battle over their vegetables. Or their fruits. Or the battle about how they should not be breaking into his home in the middle of the night just because they wanted to sleep over (this was usually Kiba, Neji, and Hinata. The other kids were a bit more okay inside of their own homes).

The battle over what his friends' names were and what they should be called was yet another losing battle.

"It's-" He began, only for all of the kids (including sweet, innocent Hinata, much to his chagrin) to interrupt him. "Too early for this!"

He glared at them all before grabbing the senbon on his nightstand, biting it in a show of annoyance, and walking out of his room with a frown. It wasn't mature of him. But he believed he had a right to be somewhat irritated after the way the kids had decided to wake him up.

When he walked out, though, his irritation was replaced by surprise at the man he found waiting in his family room. Normally, Inoichi would be the one to drop the demons-in-training off. He had expected to either see a blonde man waiting for him by the door or to not see him at all. But this time around, he didn't find Inoichi. Instead he found the Jounin Commander of Konoha, head of the Nara clan, Shikaku Nara.

And he had a small smirk on his lips as he looked at the banner the kids had made for him quite some time ago, which was now strung over his sofa. Oh, there was Shikamaru. Sleeping on his sofa as he owned it.

The Nara reminded him of a prissy cat most days.

"Shiranui." The man turned to him with a nod, eyes dancing with amusement. "I was led to believe that the kids were allowed to enter your home without trouble. Although, I must admit, it was somewhat troublesome to have to disable the traps you set up." The man quirked an eyebrow at this, which made Genma suddenly feel like he were a genin once more getting scolded by his teacher. "Is there any reason why I was the only that was targeted by those traps?"

He had never expected to see either Shikaku or Choza in his apartment, just like he didn't expect Hiashi to try and enter it without waiting for Genma to open the door for him. Because he was the Jounin Commander, Shikaku was always working. Even more so than Choza. There had been no reason for him to believe he'd ever have to worry about his traps targeting him.

Blinking at the man, Genma cleared his throat and tried to chuckle, although it came out as forced and slightly nervous. "Uh..." What could he tell the man? That he had not bothered with including him in those that could enter his home without getting targeted because he never thought they'd ever even have to talk face to face?

He was pretty sure that was a sure fire to end up on the list of all demeaning jobs that the man could hand out. Sure, the Nara clan was calm. But Hiashi was vengeful, Inoichi was mischievous, and Tsume was dangerous. What was to stop Shikaku from being any different from them?

As he faltered for what to say, the kids that had woken him up rudely ran out of his room and towards him, screaming about wanting breakfast and possibly some chocolate. Tenten and Ino wanted the chocolate. Although he swore he heard someone shouting out for chips before his attention was taken by Shikaku once more.

"Inoichi was called up for a last minute interrogation. And Choza is away on a mission, Chouji is staying with us for the next few nights. So Inoichi asked me if I could escort his usual charges to your apartment." Shikaku explained himself as he looked at all of the kids running circles around Genma, "Are you able to complete missions while you take care of so many children?"

"Mah, you're being boring again, Pineapple Head!" Kiba stopped in his running to glare at the clan head, managing to surprise and stump Genma at how rude he was being. "Why don't you leave already so we can go ahead and get ready for Tenten's birthday party?"

This man wasn't, technically, Genma's boss. He was just the jounin that knew all jounin, their strengths and weaknesses, and helped the Hokage assign them to the missions in which they would be the most useful. And to have Kiba disrespect him like that made Genma begin to worry that he may just find himself completing a few D-ranks for the next few weeks.

"Tenten... That's the one with..." The man looked at the three girls that were still busy running around, then pointed at the correct girl. "The buns. Am I correct?"

This made the girl stop and smile broadly, "I'm turning five! And we're having the party here!"

"Tenten, you are not-" Genma was about to put a stop to this whole nonsense. But then Shikaku interrupted him with a quirked eyebrow and amused smirk that both irked and worried him.

"Oh, really? And you are going to use today to find the decorations?" The Nara questioned, then placed his hands on his hips, closing his eyes as he continued to speak. "Well, I believe I could help you find everything you need. Today is my day off, after all. And I am sure Genma wouldn't mind me coming along to help."

The man's words made all of the kids stop running and look at him. And then the kids glanced at one another, clearly confused and curious as to why a clan head that wasn't Inoichi would want to tag along with them. But soon Kiba shrugged at his friends and looked at the man. "You can come, I guess... But only if you promise to buy me chocolate!"

"Kiba!"

Shikaku waved Genma off, though, and chuckled with a small nod. "Sure thing, Inuzuka. I'll buy you all some candy. Is that good?"

Kids were easy to understand. If you offered them candy, they'd love you. If you insulted them, though, they'd hate you.

Because he had promised them candy, Shikaku soon found himself with all of the kids running around him... Well, all but Shikamaru who just slept on the couch, snoring softly.

~/~

After he had gotten dressed (self conscious for some reason about the fact that Shikaku Nara had seen him shirtless) (seriously, it felt as if Hiashi had seen him shirtless), given breakfast to the terrible tykes, and made sure they were all ready for the day, he and Shikaku had gone out to the village to find the things Tenten would need for her birthday party.

He was going to be hosting a birthday party for a four year old going on five year old. And she had, apparently, invited all of her friends and their families there.

This meant that his apartment would be crawling with clan heads, clan heirs, and who knows who else. And it was anything but prepared for adult company. There were signs of the kids everywhere. From discarded clothes, broken or damaged toys, paint on the walls, unidentifiable stains, and paintings strewn all about, their influence in his life was extremely clear.

"We need balloons! And a giant cake! Chouji, do you think your mom could make the cake?"

Tenten was chattering happily about everything that came to her mind about that had to do with her birthday. She was jumping animatedly at the front of the group, Ino beside her and Kiba following inches away. Hinata was holding onto his hand like she always did, all the while Neji, Ino, and Shikamaru walked behind the three fastest children. Shikaku was lagging behind him, taking his sweet time as he walked. He was not helpful... At all. But at least he wasn't judging Genma like someone like Hiashi would have done.

"Yeah, I think she could. Mr. Nara, could we go and ask her today?"

"Sure thing, Chouji."

Tenten's grin was huge as she cheered, then gasped dramatically when she found the store she had been looking for. The party store.

Genma could already feel the dent this would make in his pocket.

"Let's go, my minions!"

Kiba and Chouji ran after her without any hesitation. And Ino and Neji looked at one another for a moment before running after them, even though Shikamaru and Hinata stayed behind.

Genma sighed softly as he began to wonder just how he could explain budgets to the clearly overjoyed children. The money he made was steady. But it was stable for one person. Not for one adult and seven children. Because he had been taking care of the kids for so long, Genma had gotten accustomed to stretching his dollars. But he wasn't sure how he could help pay for the girl's birthday party while still keeping himself fed.

If he just stopped eating dinner until he was able to get a good A or S-Rank, he should be able to pay for a few things...

He made the calculations before nodding to himself and walking into the store after the children. He could deal without dinner. And, if the worst happened, then he could just tell Raidou, Kakashi, or Iwashi to give him food. Or he could even ask Teuchi if he didn't mind being nice and giving him a house special, three went for regular price, and the last one went free. If it were like that, then he could just drag those same three bastards down to the ramen shop and make them buy the food.

"I like your hair!"

"R-really? Are you s-sure?"

Genma was surprised to not hear the children screaming and being threatened with getting kicked out of the shop. It had happened before. He had made the great mistake of taking them all to an ice cream shop after he had finished telling them about one of his old missions from when he was back on a genin team. And that had ended up with the children trying to run up walls and throwing spoons as if they were kunai.

"It's pink, Tenten. Pink isn't a- Youch! You little- Ow! Stop hitting me, you- Ah!"

Kiba really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut. It was amusing yet sad to see him committing the same mistakes.

The party shop had rows upon rows of party supplies. There were so many different kinds of things to buy for a party that it seemed like the store was overflowing and nearly bursting with its wares. It was easy to get lost in this place. Luckily, though, the kids were loud. So finding them only took Genma a few seconds.

And when he found the five kids, he felt his heart sink just slightly. They were with a new girl. This one with short pink hair and wide green eyes.

Immediately, Genma prepared himself for the question that would eventually come. And after Tenten had run around the whole story with the girl grasped by the hand, handing all kinds of things to Kiba, Neji, and Chouji to carry so they could buy, she came up to Genma with a broad smile on her face.

"This is Sakura Haruno and her parents are civilians. Her birthday is on March 28 and I want us to share our birthdays!"

The girl was flustered and seemed about ready to tell Tenten that she didn't have to do that. But then Ino appeared, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and pointed at herself with her thumb.

"Don't worry, Sakura! I'll keep the boys from being too stupid!" She promised, then looked up at Genma. "She's coming to lunch with us, you know?"

"Do her parents even know?" The man questioned, which made the both spitfires blink at him in confusion.

"Why would they need to know?"

After explaining to them that if they took Sakura without telling her parents, he would be arrested for kidnapping and thrown in jail, the girls asked Sakura where her parents were. And after a very flustered conversation about the girls wanting to invite Sakura to go with them to a man that, even though wasn't a shinobi, kind of scared Genma (all the while the rest of the kids ran amok behind him and even managed to topple a display case), Genma found himself having to explain to his kids that they could not bring anyone that they wanted into their little cult.

Sakura's parents had said that they would think about sharing her birthday party with kids they did not know. And that they would pass by his apartment tomorrow to get acquainted in a better way with him. But they could not be expected to allow their only girl to go off with some man they had never even seen before just because the kids he happened to take care of (none of whom were his own biological children) wanted Sakura to be their friend.

Kiba had said Sakura's parents were stupid. Tenten had agreed. Neji had told them that they were being childish. All the while Ino just moped about not having another female friend around. Chouji, Shikamaru, and Hinata had all been much less vocal about the whole situation.

After all of that, and apologizing to Sakura's parents for Kiba having almost hit the girl's father with a packet of balloons, he had ended up paying for Tenten's party supplies.

Some had been pink. Which stood out, considering how Tenten had always said she hated the color.

But he hadn't said anything about it. When these kids got something in their minds, it was near impossible to make them forget about it. They wanted Sakura to be part of their group. And who was he to dash their hopes away so quickly? Maybe Sakura's parents would actually pass by and allow her to be friends with the insane bunch.

... Handing over the money had hurt him. Especially because he could feel Shikaku's eyes on his back as he tried to force himself to part with his hard earned pay for the eldest of the kids he took care of.

He ended up having to skip dinner a few times after buying the party supplies for a party he didn't even want to throw.

Sakura's parents actually did pass by his apartment the next day. Luckily, though, they passed by late enough to find the kids taking a very uncharacteristic nap.

He had made sure to tire them out more so than usual just in case the civilians did pass by. Genma knew that they would feel out of place in the shinobi part of Konoha and had decided that he'd do everything in his power to make them feel somewhat comfortable. So he had picked up most of the kids' mess in his apartment, set the sleeping children down on his only bed, taken note that he should buy another bed for days like these, and then taken out the pie that Chouji and Hinata had helped him make from the oven.

"You would understand if we were confused, Mr. Shiranui." Sakura's mother, Mebuki, smiled softly at him as he served slices of pie on plates.

"Please, call me Genma. Mr. Shiranui makes me feel older than I am." The man smiled back as he placed the pie on the counter and took the plates towards the civilians, then went towards his refrigerator to grab a can of whipped cream. Without thinking about it, he squirted some onto Sakura's pie, making her look at him wide eyed.

He froze as soon as he noticed what he had done.

All of the kids liked whipped cream on their pie slices. It had become second nature for him to do this. So, without even thinking about what he was doing, he had guessed that Sakura would like some as well.

"I'm sorry." He chuckled nervously, bringing up his hand to scratch at the back of his head. "The kids usually like whipped cream... If you don't, I could change your slice."

She didn't answer. And Genma guessed that she must have really hated whipped cream if she had yet to move. But when he was about to take the plate away, she smiled broadly up at him.

"I love whipped cream!"

The pinkette then dug in, green eyes shining in amazement at how delicious the pie was.

Seeing how the tension had been defused, Genma returned to his fridge to place the canister inside once more, then grabbed the milk carton and offered some to the Harunos. All three nodded at him and he soon grabbed three cups and served them the milk.

That was the last bit of milk... He'd have to steal some more from Raidou.

"Do you take care of these children often, Genma?" Sakura's father questioned after savoring the pie for a moment, which made Genma smile tiredly at him.

"Just about every day, sir. I have inadvertently become a babysitter." With this he chuckled softly, falling onto the chair in front of them as he passed a hand through his hair.

They had played Steal Genma's Bandanna! and it had tired him out. The kids had played in teams of three, while Hinata and Neji aided Genma in keeping them away. But that had ended up with the Hyuga double crossing him and winning.

Hinata looked outright adorable with his bandanna wrapped around her head.

"I know they seem like a rowdy bunch, but they're mostly clan kids." Genma began to explain, looking at the man honestly. "They all kind of knew one another in some way when they became friends. Although Tenten does have a civilian mother."

This seemed to ease the three a little bit. Then Mebuki asked, "But how do you have time to take care of all of them? And where are their parents in this picture?"

Genma leaned back slightly as he rolled the senbon in his mouth, then shrugged, "Going about their regular lives, I would guess. I didn't really tell any of them I would take care of the munchkins. They were just kind of dumped on me. And I don't really mind, seeing how they all keep me occupied." And broke, he mentally added in slight chagrin, but soon smiled at the three Haruno's. "I'm not telling you that you should bring Sakura here every day. Just give her a chance to see if she really wants to be friends with some of these kids. Ino and Tenten were both especially eager to be her friend. Then; but only if you're comfortable with it; you can let her become part of the usual crowd. If you're not comfortable with that, though, I don't see any problem with setting up play dates for the girls."

He sounded like a parent. He wasn't even old enough to drink and he sounded like he could actually be these kids' father.

What had they done to him?

Mebuki and her husband exchanged looks for a moment, then the woman nodded. "Would you mind meeting with us tomorrow in front of the Hokage Mountain? We were going to have a picnic there and I believe it would be a good way to see if Sakura gets along with your kids."

Your kids.

Genma felt like telling the woman that they weren't his. But before he could say so, a wild Kiba suddenly appeared, running around shirtless and with shaving cream on his head.

"What should we bring?" The boy asked animatedly, "Genma and Chouji can make pie!"

"Kiba, what are you doing awake?" Genma stood up from his chair to grab at the boy, but the Inuzuka was too quick. "And how did you get into the shaving cream? Did you learn how to pick locks from Tenten?!"

"Yup! Catch me if you can, Farmer man!"

His apartment then found itself covered in shaving cream as well. And he had sworn that Kiba would be the reason why they would not be able to befriend Sakura.

But when he had finally caught the hyperactive little shit and turned to apologize, he found Sakura giggling, Mebuki chuckling softly, and Kizashi smirking at him.

"Would you mind bringing enough pie for all of the children?"

He had honestly expected Sakura to not want to be around him after Kiba's little show of hyperactivity and messiness.

It sucked that he was wrong so often nowadays.

The picnic with Sakura and her parents had gone off rather well... Actually, considering how it was these kids, it had gone amazingly.

Only Kiba had ended up crying, but that was after the girls had all teamed up on him, tied him up with some rope Genma had no idea as to where it had come from, and painted him up like a beautiful clown; complete with fake eyelashes too.

Mebuki and Kizashi had both been left aghast and horrified by what the girls had all managed to do. But Genma had just laughed, told Kiba that he should really learn to keep his mouth shut, and then helped him untie himself.

Sakura came around once every week. Both of her parents worked, but her mother did so in a hairdressing salon, so oftentimes the girl went with her to her job. But whenever the pinkette arrived with either her mother or father behind her, she threw herself at Ino and Tenten, immediately beginning to chatter animatedly about everything that had happened to her in the time they had spent apart.

Even though both of her parents wanted her to be somewhat polite and kind, Genma knew that Sakura was slowly being corrupted by the kids. And after he had ended up having to run off some bullies that had target her because of her hair and somewhat large forehead, he believed that it wouldn't really hurt her to be corrupted by them.

The money being waved in front of him both enticed and angered Genma.

He needed it. He was done to cheese and crackers for his meals to be able to keep the kids fed whenever they visited. But the fact that this man was offering him the money... It felt like a handout. And he hated pity.

"I can't accept that. I'd be doing the same thing I do every other day." Genma shook his head as he crossed his arms. "I'm not going to take any money from you for something I would gladly do for free."

Pride was something that sometimes did him in. Even though he was usually calm and collected, only ever really losing his cool when the kids really pushed his buttons, he had a very big flaw that wasn't the laziness most thought. He was prideful. He would never rely on someone to do something he could do himself. That was why he had toolboxes filled with instruments to use whenever his toilet broke down or his faucet began to leak.

His landlord didn't like it, but had grown to accept the fact that Genma would never ask him to fix anything.

So, even if he was currently kind of hungry after having eaten a small amount of leftovers while he watched the kids eat healthy servings of breakfast, he wouldn't accept the money.

"You're being troublesome, Shiranui." Shikaku breathed out with annoyance clear on his face, "And what we are asking you is different from what you normally do. We want you to come to a clan head meeting to take care of all of the children. That means we're asking you to leave your apartment for a night and care for the children outside of your usual setting. And for your service, we're offering a reasonable amount of money."

He could tell that Shikaku really didn't want to argue with him. But Genma wasn't about to let him win so easily. Jounin Commander or not, Shikaku couldn't think he could get Genma to do whatever he wanted.

"You're offering to pay me to take care of less kids and do even less things than I usually do." The man deadpanned, crossing his own arms and jutting his hip out slightly to the side. It was one of Ino's many quirks. He had seemed to adopt it without even noticing it. "If I don't accept money from when you guys leave the mongrels for days on end at my apartment, why would I take it now?"

"Because you would be having to deal with the likes of Shino Aburame and Sasuke Uchiha aside from your usual charges." Shikaku answered with as much a deadpan as the one Genma had used, then smirked slightly, "If anything happens to either of those kids, it'll be your head. So as an extra incentive to make sure you don't allow things to get too out of hand, we clan heads decided to give you this money."

They wanted him to take care of all the children that belonged to the large clans of Konoha. Not only the six clan children he had been taken care of for a while now but also two he had never even met before. One of which was Shibi Aburame's son... The other which was Fugaku Uchiha's son...

He knew he had paled. But Shikaku didn't have to chuckle so amusedly.

"I don't think I want to take the job then, not even with money being offered."

"Too late." The Nara slapped Genma's chest with the wad of bills, letting go of it. And Genma immediately caught the bundle that fell into his hands, glaring at the man before him. "The kids are already excited to have their trusty farmer around to play Steal Genma's Bandana with."

~/~

If Hiashi was scary, Fugaku was terrifying. And he made sure to give express instructions on how to care for his youngest son, adding a good threat to ensure that he was treated with respect and reverence and Uchiha deserved.

Genma had been forced to hold Kiba back before he tried to bite the man's foot as he walked away.

The Clan Head Meeting was taking place in the Hokage's office. And they had been allowed to go into the gardens outside for the children to be able to stretch their legs and have fun while their parents discussed all the things that would normally bore them.

Even with Fugaku's clear distrust of the children and Genma, Sasuke integrated into the group without too many difficulties. He was respectful and kind, yet seemed to enjoy having fun and had no qualms about chasing after Kiba to play tag with him. Ino busied herself braiding Neji's hair while he braided Hinata's own short one. And Shikamaru and Chouji lay on the bushes around the small garden, cloud watching even as the sun set.

Genma would have considered this a good day... If not for the lonely Aburame standing by the edge of the garden, quiet as he examined the plant life in front of him.

He had known that Sasuke and Shino would be the wild cards for this meeting. All of the other kids already knew each other and enjoyed hanging out. They were outsiders and even with how accepting the kids were, Genma knew that they wouldn't jump on the chance of befriending someone as odd looking as Shino.

Seriously, why was the kid covered from head to toe? Sure, it was pretty cute to see a miniature sized Shibi walking around, but it was also kind of scary. Was this kid supposed to be three?

"Hey, you're cheating!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Sasuke and Kiba were arguing. But soon enough Chouji ran up to them, tagged Kiba, and took off running, effectively distracting both boys by making him the tagged person.

He was kind of disappointed with the fact that the kids hadn't tried to bring Shino into the cult like they had done with Sakura. But he wasn't about to leave someone so innocent feel the harshness of being ostracized by those his age.

"Yo."

Shino looked up at him through dark sunglasses, but said nothing. Instead he just stared and waited for Genma to continue.

"What are you looking at?" He questioned, crouching so he could get a closer look at what the Aburame was observing.

The boy seemed to think on his answer for a moment before relenting, "My brother told me that there might be rare bugs inside of the Hokage's garden... But all I am seeing is common species of bugs that I could find all around Konoha."

There was a bit of disappointment in the boy's otherwise level tone.

The senbon enthusiast quirked an eyebrow at his words for he had never heard of Shibi having had a son before Shino. But he didn't question it and instead asked, "Would you like to play a game with me and the rest of the kids? You could be on my team."

Shino glanced up at him and Genma really wanted to be able to read his expression. But seeing how his face was mostly covered, he couldn't.

"Are you sure you wish to play with me?"

"I'm asking you, aren't I?"

The boy cocked his head to the side slightly, but soon nodded. And when he did this, Genma smiled at him, motioned for him to follow, then called for the kids to get into a line in front of him so they could play their favorite game.

Shino proved to be incredibly smart and good at planning ahead. Sasuke wasn't as impulsive as Kiba, but he wasn't as thoughtful as Shikamaru or Shino. And by the end of the night, Genma's team had won most of the bouts because Shino and Hinata both proved to be a good team.

When the clan heads walked out of the meeting with the Hokage right behind them, they were met with the sight of Genma running with Hinata and Shino carried under one arm each, six other tykes following quickly after him. And when the man stopped running to be able to return the kids to their respective parents, he found Hinata crawling up his back to grab his bandanna.

"Shino-kun! Neji-nii-san! Our plan worked!"

He had been double crossed by Hinata again. He should have learned from the past game, but Hinata was much too cute. How could he not trust her?

Besides, it was amusing to see Hiashi look so surprised by his daughter's actions. It was about time he saw that he didn't need to be strict with discipline at all times to make her grow strong.

Fugaku hadn't seemed all the amused with his son taking part of so much fun, but Genma didn't have any time to hear him get angry because he was soon being thanked by Shibi Aburame for having included Shino into the game. And, upon noticing that Genma was in for a conversation, the Uchiha had left in a huff.

"It was nothing, Shibi. That was what you left him with me for, right? To have fun?"

The man nodded silently as Shino walked over to him, then Genma patted the top of the boy's head, on top of the hood, with a smile.

"You know, I take care of these kids just about every day. I wouldn't mind if you brought Shino around every now and again so he'll be able to play with the kids."

This would be the first time Genma would bring a kid into the pack of rabid animals that were the kids he took care of. But it wouldn't be the last.

It was time for Sakura and Tenten's shared birthday. His apartment had been cleaned up to the best of his extent, although he had not been allowed by any of the kids to take down any of the decorations they had put up.

His apartment looked as if a glittery princess and badass tomboy had fought all over how it should have been decorated and had settled on a midway point.

There were ninja like decorations- kunai, fans with knife tips, paper swords, fake hitai-ite, and shuriken were the most seen- strewn all around. Tenten's contributions to the party. Then there were flower petals, pink tiaras, and paper princesses set up all around in an almost balanced way when compared to the abundance of ninja decorations, which had been bought for Sakura.

When Tsume had arrived, she had complemented Tenten's style while asked why in the world they would have princesses in a place for ninja. Then Kiba had barked at her that Sakura was a civilian, made the woman turn to look at the little girl, and then had promptly received a smack upside the head because he had not told her she would need to bring two different gifts. Then the woman had told Sakura she was going to find her something she may like and had run out of his apartment.

The pinkette had been left stunned by the terrifying looking woman and Genma had not blamed her. But then he'd patted her on the back, told her Tsume was not so scary when someone got to know her, and directed her towards the refreshments table where Tenten and Ino were struggling to get something to drink while their parents spoke with one another.

When someone actually knocked on his door, Genma was surprised. Then he remembered that he had invited Shino and Shibi to come as well and guessed that it must have been them. Hinata and Neji had already been left by Hiashi and no one else bothered with knocking anymore. Inoichi had just about muscled his way into his home, Tsume had thrown the door open, and Takeo and Takeshi had entered a bit more composed than the rest, but had not knocked either.

The bastard known as Kakashi had climbed into his apartment through his room's window. And, really, Genma couldn't understand why Tenten had invited him and Raidou if she hated both men so much. But they seemed to be having fun doing their best to avoid making Hinata cry as she asked them to help her in the bathroom.

Genma had a feeling that the girl had been put up to this by her friends.

Still, he walked over to his door and opened it, smiling softly when he found Shino standing beside his father with two neatly wrapped gifts in his hands.

"Come on in, guys. Shino, you can put the gifts on the coffee table. And then... Well... You know how my apartment works by now."

The boy nodded and walked to place the gifts beside the rest that had been brought for the birthday girls, then Shibi asked, "At what time should I come to pick Shino up?"

The question actually surprised Genma. Then he remembered that Shibi was still new to their group and was still being cordial and polite. He had yet to dump his kid on Genma's shoulders without a single word like the rest had taken to doing.

"Well... I haven't thought about that, actually." Genma admitted, cocking his head to the side slightly. "I'm pretty sure the rest are just going to let their kids sleep over... But you could also stay here. Tsume, Inoichi, Kakashi, Raidou, and Tenten's parents are all here. And I'm not bad company either."

He chuckled lamely when Shibi just stared at him, then cleared his throat and shrugged. "But, seriously, I'll understand if you stay or go. I know you're still getting used to the whole swing of this... Whatever this is."

"I believe normal people would call it a daycare, Mother!"

Kakashi suddenly popped up behind him, wrapping an arm around him to salute lazily at Shibi. "You see? Your clientele is expanding!"

Genma had half a mind to bonk Kakashi on the head and throw him to the wolves that were the children. But the man soon slinked away and towards Raidou to most probably avoid his wrath.

"If it is alright, I would like to stay for a little while." Shibi reminded Genma that he was still there, which made the man nod and step aside.

"Sure thing. There are snacks laid out on that table, along with fruit punch and plates. And if you'd like some more adult drinks, Raidou placed some beers in the fridge."

The Aburame nodded and made his way towards Inoichi, striking up a conversation without too much difficulty.

Genma turned to face the rest of the kids and found Kiba and Neji run up to him, panting softly.

"Farmer man, Bitch Face said your birthday's on July! Is that true?"

"Is it true, Genma-San?"

Genma blinked at both children before nodding dumbly. And suddenly he found his arms full, both boys having jumped on him to hug him.

"We're sharing our birthday with Farmer man!"

"What?! No fair! I wanted to share with him!" Ino stomped her foot in anger, running up to them with a glare on her face.

And one by one the children ran to him, shouting about they wanted him to share their birthday. Even Shino agreed that he would not mind to share his birthday with the man that took care of all of them.

Looking up from the crowd of munchkins, Genma found that all of the adults in the room were looking at him. Inoichi, Takeo, and Takeshi were all smiling, Shibi was covered up like his son so he couldn't really see if he was smiling or not, and Kakashi and Raidou were snickering conspiratorially. And in their hands...

"You sons of-" Genma tried to move away from the kids to try and smack the camera away from his bastards of friends. But they were a solid wall that he couldn't pass through. And jumping over them may just end up giving Shibi the worst impression of him possible, so he didn't dare do it.

"Oh, come on, Genma!" Raidou smirked as he raised the camera, "It's a perfect shot for the scrapbook!"

And none of the other adults there did anything to help him.

~/~

The cake had been huge. Chouji's mom had really outdone herself.

After the whole picture debacle, Genma had been treated to quite the sight. The kids playing pin the tail on the annoying men. Raidou and Kakashi had both been forced to run and jump away from them to avoid getting stabbed with a donkey tail. And Genma had rejoiced in every second of it.

When Shikaku, Choza, Yoshino, and Chiasa arrived with the cake, the children had all been amazed by how beautiful it was. It was the perfect blend of Tenten and Sakura if Genma could tell the truth. Girly and filled with ninja. Pink, red, black, and blue. And at the top of the second tier was a beautiful princess with swords in her hands, while the kunoichi beside her had a tiara on her head.

Both girls had been amazed by how beautiful it was. And then Kiba had begun to clamor about how he wanted a cake that cool for his, Neji, and Genma's joint bash. Which had then ended up with all of the kids arguing about whose cake would be the best once their birthdays all rolled around.

Now all of the kids were sleeping on whatever surface they had managed to drop onto and the adults were helping Genma clean up. Neji had somehow managed to climb onto the kitchen counter and fall asleep there. Shikamaru was curled up with Chouji on the sofa. And Ino and Shino had, amazingly enough, managed to climb to the top of his refrigerator and fall asleep together. He didn't know how. He just know they had gotten there and neither he nor Inoichi or Shibi had tried to stop them.

All the adults were helping... All but Kakashi and Raidou. They were busy being used as pillows by Kiba, Hinata, Tenten, and Sakura.

"Get them off of me, Shiranui." Raidou hissed as Genma picked up cups that had been left along the floor.

"Come on, I've got a mission tomorrow." Kakashi whined from his spot on the floor, arms pinned to his sides by the Inuzuka on top of him.

"Hmm... I could help..." Genma clicked the senbon against his teeth for a moment, then smirked at both men, "Or I could find that camera and take pictures of you both."

"No!"

"Here you are, Shiranui." Shibi suddenly appeared beside him with the camera, offering it to the man. Genma quirked an eyebrow at him, but the Aburame just looked at the angered men caught beneath the children. "I believe these pictures would make good companions to the ones already in the jounin headquarters. Don't you agree, Shikaku?"

"Completely, Shibi." The Nara smirked at both men, "Especially now that they'll be getting a taste of their own medicine."

Genma snapped a lot of pictures of them. But he also took a few of the rest of the children in the odd spaces they had chosen to sleep in. And, finally, when his apartment was clean, he got all of the adults together to take a quick picture of all of them.

..~..~..

Hope you all liked it! It's the longest chapter until now! Naruto will appear in the next chapter, and there will be more to see of Sasuke too. Just like there will be more to see of Kakashi and Raidou and their misadventures with Genma's horde!

Please review!