Chapter 14: Growing Pains: The children were no longer children. They were official shinobi and could not continue playing around as if they were still in the Academy. Genma was sure of this and did his best to try and help. He wanted them to be able to survive their missions, after all. And it seemed to work, for the most part, although with a few unforeseen consequences.

..~..~..

"Naruto, would you like to go and get some ramen?"

The kids were still giving their teachers a headache. So Genma had decided that keeping them happy and content wasn't worth it anymore. The little mongrels were abusing of his kindness and getting themselves in trouble. And while this may have been fine while younger, they were only really harming themselves in the long run. If they missed training, they wouldn't learn. And if they didn't learn, they would not be able to protect themselves in the battle field.

They may all have pretty good excuses for wanting to stay away from their teachers. Neji, Tenten, and Lee specifically. And Naruto's team had a pretty- No. He couldn't go down this train of thought once more. It had been difficult enough to get to this conclusion. He couldn't be psyching himself out so early.

The rest of Genma's friends agreed with him, aside from Kotetsu, of course. The hyperactive man wanted the children to continue running around and causing mayhem. Especially because he helped them get away with most of the evil things they planned. But the rest believed that he needed to just bite the kunai and set the kids straight as soon as possible.

And the best way to start this would be by speaking with the kids closest to him, Naruto and Sasuke.

"Would I!" The blonde shouted out, then pushed Sasuke away from the scroll he had been reading and towards the door. "Let's go, Genma! Quickly now, Sasuke! We need to take advantage of his concussion before it wears off!"

He did not have a concussion... He allowed himself to go home with one once and suddenly he was only ever nice when injured... Stupid Izumo for telling his kids the truth...

Both boys ran to Ichiraku's in a race. Genma followed lazily, although he kept pace with them to make sure they didn't do anything that may put his plan in jeopardy.

Luckily for him, the rest of the parents had agreed to help him with his plans. To set them straight, he would need to cut off the head of the monster. Or, in this case, the heads. The first two were Sasuke and Naruto. The other three were Tenten, Kiba, and Ino. But he would get to them later. First, he would need to get these two in order.

When they reached the ramen place, Genma nodded at Teuchi and Ayame. Both cooks were aware of what he wanted to do and had agreed to help him out. They loved all of his kids and did not really want to cause them any distress. But they understood that they were only hurting themselves with their actions. So they were more than happy to take part in straightening them out.

"The regulars please, Old Man!" Naruto ordered with a broad smile as he sat down.

"Naruto, you really shouldn't be so rude to Teuchi-san." Sasuke chided softly while he took the stool to the blonde's left, leaving Genma to sit to his right.

"Three regulars coming right up!" Teuchi chuckled softly as he looked over at Genma, sending a subtle wink his way.

The senbon enthusiast smirked back and settled into his stool, content to just listen in to Naruto's chatter and give a few opinions while Teuchi and Ayame did their part.

~/~

"Ah! That was delicious!"

They had finished eating. Naruto was more than happy to have gotten to eat his favorite food. And Sasuke was smiling subtly, just as happy. Even though he'd never said it aloud, after years of living with Naruto, he had adopted a few of his likes. And he now loved Ichiraku's almost as much as the boisterous blonde.

"Thank you very much, Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan." Genma thanked them both with a soft nod of his head, then looked over at both his kids. "Hey, you two, are you feeling alright?"

"What do you mean, Farmer man?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, reminding Genma a lot of Kiba when the Inuzuka was confused... Birds of a feather... "I feel fine."

He smirked.

Naruto's head cocked even further until it was almost touching his shoulder.

A few seconds of silence passed.

And Sasuke gasped out.

"You poisoned us!"

Genma's smirk grew as he stood up calmly, "I did."

"What?!"

It was nothing dangerous. A subtle poison used to paralyze targets for a few minutes. It was one of the first poisons a ninja learning this specific art was introduced to. And in the doses Sasuke and Naruto had been given, all it would do was make them feel warm and uncomfortable. And maybe it would leave one of them frozen. But not for long.

Not like they needed to know.

"Why?!" Sasuke shouted, jumping up to his feet with wide eyes.

"To test you, of course." Genma answered simply, taking one step back. "You have been genin for a while now. And you're Kakashi's students. The skills you should possess by now should be enough for you to take the antidote from me to stop the poison from affecting you too harshly." He took out two vials of clear liquid from his pocket, shaking them with a sly smirk.

"I don't want to die!"

Naruto lunged at him without any hesitation. But Genma easily dodged the swipe and turned his back to them.

"You have half an hour before you're whole body becomes paralyzed."

And he took off.

~/~

The two were good. They worked together rather well and used each other's advantages to make up for whatever disadvantages they possessed. It was easy to tell that they worked together often enough.

But they were reckless and unbelievably unrefined.

Sasuke ended up destroying two fruit carts with his fire release attacks. And Naruto broke quite a few doors with his brute force.

By the end of the thirty minutes, both boys fell to the floor with twin shouts of surprise. And Genma resisted the urge to roll his eyes at their paralysis as he walked up to them.

"Why would you do this to us, Genma?" Sasuke gasped out, breath heavy and face red.

Naruto was fairing better for his face wasn't as red, although his breathing was harsher. But Genma guessed that this was because of the hidden resident inside of his body.

"To teach you a lesson." He answered honestly as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I wasn't even trying, just running. If you two were better equipped as ninja, you would have been able to formulate a plan to catch me and act it flawlessly in less than the time I gave you." He frowned deeply as both of them looked away from him.

"All of you have been skipping out on your ninja training. And I won't stand for it anymore. I refuse to be the reason why one of you does not return home one day. You run from your responsibilities and your teachers. And I won't let it happen any longer." He crouched down between both of them and made sure to look Sasuke straight in the eyes before doing the same to Naruto, "Next time I hear either of you skip out on lessons with Kakashi, I will up the dose."

With the threat, he straightened up and threw the vials at their sides. "And as further punishment to make sure to get this lesson through your thick skulls, you're grounded for a week. And you have to do all the housework. Or else, there will be a repeat episode."

A week after this, Kakashi appeared inside of his room without any qualms about it being midnight and Genma wanting to sleep. The younger male shook the senbon enthusiast awake and with a joy Genma couldn't really understand at the moment, thanked him.

Apparently, Naruto and Sasuke had learned their lesson. And Sakura, after having heard what had happened to them, had decided she didn't want to test Genma's patience with her and went along with Sasuke and Naruto in following Kakashi's instructions.

Although, now they all wanted to be taught about poisons and how to use them.

The following head Genma was to cut off ended up being Tenten. And it was a rather simple thing to do. Instead of having to make elaborate plans that would force her to see the light, all he had to do was threaten with his good friend, Might Guy. Luckily for him, Neji and Lee had been there as well.

While Lee couldn't really count as one of the heads of the great monster that was the group of kids he took care of, Neji could. He didn't really incite as much chaos as Tenten or the others. But he still had the power to convince the rest of his friends to follow him with precise and well thought out words. So having him there made sure that he and Tenten both would behave.

"Follow everything he says unless you want me to start giving him training ideas."

"You wouldn't dare."

Tenten had hissed.

Genma had calmly sipped at his morning coffee.

Neji and Lee had just watched the interaction in slight awe and worry.

"You kids remember how Guy wanted to start you off with fifty laps around Konoha on your hands?"

They had all nodded.

"And you remember how I talked him out of it?"

Once more they nodded.

"Think I should tell him you're ready?"

They all quickly promised to try and not skip any more training sessions.

Kiba and Ino were the last he had to take care of. And he had prepared quite the elaborate plan concerning explosive tags and putting Akamaru and Inoichi in peril (it would have all been act, he would never truly put those two in dangers way). But before he could go through with it, both Team 8 and Team 10 went to his apartment with a picnic prepared and invited him to go eat and be part of a joint training exercise.

He would have considered this odd, had Asuma and Kurenai not been there to ensure this was not some kind of dangerous plot to retaliate against him.

First he had watched over the kids as they sparred and tried to win points for either team. Team 8 had won, but that had been simply because Shikamaru was too lazy to care, Chouji didn't want to hurt his friends, and Hinata's Byakugan gave her an extreme leg up on Ino.

After that, he had gone against Asuma to show them proper forms in some of the attacks they had used and let Chouji know that there was nothing wrong in fighting against friends if it was to help each other improve.

Then they had ate the lunch Chouji, Hinata, and Asuma had prepared. As they had eaten, both Ino and Kiba had walked up to him and sat down in front of him.

"We won't skip out on training anymore." Ino began, eyes wide. "You don't have to do anything to us."

Genma quirked an eyebrow as soon as he heard this, then glanced over at Kiba. The Inuzuka frowned and Akamaru whined softly, "We know what you did to Sasuke and Naruto. And how you threatened Team Guy. We'll be good. Promise."

He found it hard to believe that these two would not incite any kind of rebellion against their teachers. But they seemed honest enough. And if they ever tried anything, he had quite a few tricks up his sleeves to stop them.

With a small smile, Genma nodded and patted both their heads, "Good. Now why don't we have another round of matches after lunch, but this time for a prize?"

Both immediately agreed to this. And the rest quickly followed suit, clearly interested in whatever prize Genma thought giving them.

~/~

The winner of the matches was Shino. And his prize was (after convincing Kurenai) a day off to hang out with Kotetsu while the rest of the kids went out on a joint training trip.

After this, the kids began to ask to hold little tournaments for whatever prize Genma thought of. And this was when Genma noticed that, maybe, he should have tried this tournament style option before having scared the piss out of the other kids.

... Eh... You live and you learn.

A few weeks after the kids had finally begun to pay attention to their ninja training, Genma felt like bashing his head against the wall.

"What are you doing here?"

"They want us to go on a training trip together!" Naruto shouted from his spot hidden inside his bed.

"What's so bad about that? You just finished up a training tournament last week!"

"And remember that I want a good prize!" Kiba popped up from beside Naruto, then quickly hid inside his covers once more.

... It was like with Team Guy all over again... But this time all twelve of the kids were hiding in various spots of his apartment.

"But they want Guy to lead it! He's insane!" Sakura squeaked from inside his closest, only for Hinata to follow and gasp out, "I do not want to die yet, Genma-san!"

"And I want my sister and cousin to live!"

"Is Hanabi in there with you two?" He questioned in actual surprise, before groaning in frustration. "She's supposed to be in the Academy!"

All of the kids remained hidden after this. Naruto, Kiba, Lee, and Chouji all remained inside of his covers even though they were much too big to fit comfortably. Hinata, Sakura, and Hanabi- who should not have been there- remained in the closet. And the rest of the kids stayed in their hiding places, apparently adamant about not wanting to go on a trip led by Guy.

Not even threatening them with bodily harm was enough...

~/~

He ended up convincing the teachers to not have Guy lead the thing. He was still much too insane for them to want to follow him.

They conceded without too much problem and instead had Kurenai and Asuma plan the whole thing.

"Genma! My daughter is dying!"

After years of continuous abuse, it was a miracle that Genma's door had yet to give up and collapse beneath the force of being thrown around by the shinobi that invaded the man's apartment.

Weeks after the kids' relapse, Genma had been content to believe that they may have finally learned to deal with their problems on their own.

Inoichi, though, was apparently another matter.

Looking up from the card game he had been playing with Kiba, Shino, and Iwashi, Genma found Inoichi standing at his doorway with a furiously blushing Ino in his arms.

"What are you rambling about, Inoichi?"

Through the years, he had come to know that the Yamanaka was one of the more excitable parents. And because he was a single parent, he was around often enough, asking for help when it came to his daughter. But after she had turned ten, Genma had thought that he had finally gotten the hang of the whole 'parenting' wrong.

He had been known to be wrong before.

"My daughter's dying!" The blonde shouted once more, tears brimming in his eyes. "She's bleeding and it won't stop!"

"Dad!"

Ino's face was a scarlet red Genma had never seen on her before. But even as she struggled to get out of her father's grip, the man did not let her go.

"What should I do, Genma?! I don't know what to do!"

He was honestly completely confused and taken aback by whatever it was that Inoichi was shouting about. But it seemed that Kiba was not.

"Dude, she's not dying. Chill out." The Inuzuka groaned out with a roll of his eyes as he threw his cards onto the table, "All you've got to do is buy some stuff from the pharmacy."

Inoichi stared at him in perplexion for a few seconds. Then the man moved quickly, grabbed the Inuzuka, threw him over his shoulder as he shifted to grab Ino around her waist, then took off running.

"Tell me everything!"

And they were gone. Genma blinked at his open doorway for a bit before sighing and standing up to close it.

"Everyone I know is insane..." He lamented softly, which made Iwashi call out, "But you love us!"

Suddenly Akamaru barked out from Kiba's seat, pushing a card onto the center of the table to signify that he wanted to continue with the game.

Playing a card game with a dog... Wouldn't be the oddest thing he had done if he was being honest.

Ino was not dying. He was more than sure of this. But Inoichi Yamanaka was kind of an idiot when it came to his daughter. And Kiba wasn't really the best in explaining feminine stuff. But he knew exactly what was happening with the girl. He lived with two girls, after all. And he was always forced to go out and buy their supplies whenever they were feeling too angry with the world to out themselves.

"Here. These are Hana's favorite." Kiba murmured as he handed the different colored boxes to his blonde friend, whom was still blushing brighter than he had ever seen.

"And what are these for? How are you supposed to use them? Am I supposed to help in any-"

"Dad! Please!" Ino shouted in exasperation, seeming to shrink into herself as her father jumped in sudden shock. "Can we please just go pay?"

Kiba had never heard Ino sound so embarrassed... She sounded as if she were close to tears.

Sighing softly, Kiba shoved his hands into his pockets as he followed after the blonde. But once they were close to the cashier, he saw Ino hesitate and take one step back. So he followed her line of sight and breathed in deeply before exhaling and walking up to her.

In Ino's eyes, the teenage boy must have been cute.

"Give them here."

The blonde turned to him with wide eyes, "Kiba, what-"

But he swiped the boxes away from her before she could finish the sentence. And he walked up to the cashier and placed them down on the counter as quickly as he could, ignoring the burning he felt on the back of his head as Ino undoubtedly stared at him.

"So quick, Inuzuka?" The teen asked with slight surprise.

"Ma wants to make sure she's got enough supplies for next month." He shrugged softly, "And it's best to have her happy than have her sic Kuromaru on me."

This was his family's favorite pharmacy. They allowed dogs inside and were good friends with the Inuzuka. And it was the only establishment that stocked his family's favorite brand of feminine supplies. Besides, they had the best jerky.

~/~

When they got back to Genma's apartment, Inoichi thrust them both into the bathroom. He didn't stop to explain anything to Genma. Instead he just shoved both Kiba and Ino inside (after quickly threatening them to not try anything funny- which made them both gag) and begged Kiba to make Ino better.

Once they were inside the confines of the bathroom they had both used almost as often as the ones in their own home, Ino shifted awkwardly. Kiba didn't know why she was so embarrassed, but he knew that Hana had been the same way when she had gone through her first time.

Maybe it was a chick thing.

Shifting from one foot to the other, Kiba decided to be the first to speak. If he waited, he may just have been stuck in here for longer than an hour.

"So you see these?" Kiba pointed at the green box they had bought, "These are Hana's favorite. Says they're the best for kunoichi in the field. They don't move around or whatever..." He began to feel somewhat awkward when Ino's bright and trustful eyes bore into him, a blush spreading up on his cheeks, "But she didn't start to wear them until she was fourteen... So... Uh... I guess you should start off with these."

He picked up the blue box, "These are pads. You uh..." Okay, he was starting to understand why Ino had been so embarrassed by her father's actions. "They go on your underwear. They've got a sticky part. And you put them so they're able to catch... Uh... You know..."

She was looking at him like Akamaru had when they'd first met. It was making feel like he wasn't giving this whole thing the importance she was.

"Kiba..."

"I'm not really the best to help with this kind of thing!" He took a step back as he put the boxes back onto the lid of the toilet, then looked down at the floor to not have to see Ino. "Why didn't your dad bring you to a woman or something?"

There was a moment of silence that made Kiba feel as if he were about to be crushed under the awkward. Then he felt two arms wrapping around him as Ino pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you."

His face was as red as Ino's had been at this point. But he just patted her back awkwardly, "No problem... What else are friends for?"

"For pranking and to command, of course." Ino smiled at him as she let him go, then moved to grab the blue box. "Shikamaru and Chouji's moms are both outside of the house. And my dad freaked when I asked him for some help... He didn't think of anyone else other than Farmer man."

Slowly Kiba began to feel normal once more. And soon he cracked a small smile, "Well, your dad has been known to overreact sometimes."

She let out a small giggle at this, "Yeah... He's kind of insane..." She muttered, then looked back at Kiba, "Seriously, Kiba, thank you... Back at the store-"

He raised his hand at this, stopping her. "I'm not really good at understanding girls. You're weird to me. But my mom and sister hate having to buy their things so I'm left having to do it... Guess it's just a girl thing."

Once he finished, her mouth hung open. But before he could ask her what was wrong, she chuckled softly and shook her head, "That's actually really intelligent of you to say... I never would have thought you'd ever understand a single thing about girls... Although... How did you know what was wrong with me?"

"That hurts." He feigned hurt, then shrugged, "Forget I'm an Inuzuka?" He questioned, which made her shake her head, "Above average sense of smell. I know when just about all the chicks around me are... You know."

Feeling just a tiny bit awkward once more. And Ino seemed just as embarrassed as before.

"Wait! You know about all of us?"

He could not understand why she was so shocked. "Well... Yeah... If I knew about you, I would know about the rest. Like how Hinata and Sakura have yet to go through this."

Ino paused for a moment, then quirked an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Duh doy." Kiba resisted the urge to roll his eyes, then nodded, "Sometimes having such an awesome sense of smell isn't all that awesome."

They both shared a small chuckle at this. It wasn't all that funny. But Kiba saw the tension ease out of Ino as she chuckled. And that made him feel like he had done something right. Which was a new feeling when it came to his female friends; he only seemed able to piss them off whenever around them.

"Alright... I'll leave you to it. If you need any help, though, Hana won't mind giving you a few tricks and pointers. Being a chick, she knows a lot more about this than I do."

Ino nodded and shooed him off. But just as he was about to close the door behind him, Ino called out to him. So he turned once more, only to find her blushing softly once more.

"Seriously, though... Thank you, Kiba. This... uh... It means a lot to me."

"Don't mention it." He smiled, then closed the door and walked to the main area of the apartment.

Once there, Inoichi jumped out of his chair and ran to him, asking if everything was alright. And Kiba merely glared at him and flicked him on the nose.

"You're an idiot." He chided, then grunted, "Don't run to Genma about this kind of shit. He'd be just as confused as you. My sister works at the Inuzuka veterinarian clinic most days. You can find her there. Go ask her about this kind of stuff."

"Kiba! You can't-" Genma was about to scold him, but Kiba shrugged and walked over to the table to find Akamaru playing his game for him... And winning.

"I won't do it again, Genma. Promise. But he needed something to knock him back to reality." He murmured as he looked over Akamaru's cards, then smiled, "Steak for you tonight, boy."

Kotetsu enjoyed spending time with the kids. Even though they would undoubtedly be going on missions as fully fledged ninja in no time, they were still the same little kids he had helped raise (in his own way) through the years.

Although, sometimes, he knew that they needed to leave them alone, no matter how much he wanted to help.

Like when Naruto and Sasuke hid away together to discuss whatever it was they whispered about, far away from any prying eyes. He'd stumbled upon them in various different places, arguing with harsh whispers about things he could not hear. And he'd always felt the same compulsion to go them and force them to smile, hating how serious they looked. But he'd heard small snippets of their conversations at different times and always decided to leave them alone, no matter how much he wanted to get them to smile.

"I think I should do it. He says it'll help me, Sasuke!"

"No, Naruto. Ignore Mizuki Sensei. He may be a good teacher, but what he's proposing will get you in a lot of trouble!"

Every time he'd encountered them like this, the conversation seemed to be about the same thing. Something to do with Mizuki, another Academy teacher. He never thought much about it for it always sounded like a prank of some kind. And Naruto was always getting himself in trouble, so Kotetsu just left it alone. Instead he left as quietly as he could to not alert the kids as to his presence and went off to find any of the other kids to try and have some fun before Izumo found him and dragged him back to the village gates.

~/~

Hinata and Neji were the duo he encountered as frequently as Naruto and Sasuke. But this was simply because of his ties to the Hyuga clan. Ties he was still dumbfounded as to having somehow managed to make while under their care.

Whenever there was a mission Hiashi believed he and Izumo were good for, he would call him to the compound to discuss the plans. And it seemed that a few of the Hyuga enjoyed just being around him, for sometimes he was called up on a purely social call to interact with some of them. And, even if these were the fewer amount of times, he sometimes was just called to speak and catch up with the always busy head of the clan.

(He would never admit it, but he enjoyed those times the most. Hiashi was a really interesting individual beneath the calm and collected persona. And he told the best stories.)

Normally when he came across the cousins, they were outside in Hinata's personal garden after a round of rigorous training. They sat shoulder to shoulder as they calmed their breathing.

"I am glad you, Kiba-kun, and Tenten-chan were able to pick that lock when you were younger, Neji-nii-san."

"... I am as well... I do not want to know what would have become of me if I had not done so..."

When he'd first heard this, Kotetsu had been left confused. He hadn't really understood what they had been speaking about. But he had known that he should not interrupt the adorable family moment. So he'd walked away and decided to leave them alone until they sought him out.

By the fifth time he heard this snippet repeated (for it always happened, like clockwork, after they finished their training sessions), Kotetsu's curiosity had been too much for him to handle. So he'd asked Hiashi if he knew what they were talking about.

What he learned, he felt was much too intimate for him to know about. Much too intimate and personal for him to be a part of.

He took to seeking Hanabi out on the days he visited. That way he would not come across the scene anymore, accidentally ruin it by just seeing it.

~/~

Shino's moments were the only ones he wasn't afraid of being a part of. But this was because, even though he'd never truly said it, Shino was his little brother. They shared so many experiences... Many that were kept only to themselves. Moments that no one would ever know about; should never know about.

When he visited the Aburame compound, he was treated like a member. He was seen as a part of the family by many of them and respected. Even with how young he was and how immature he tended to be, he was treated like a deserving warrior when he was around them. The usually aloof Aburame acted around him like they did with each other, for they no longer felt he was a stranger. Instead, he was part of the hive.

Whenever he found Shino alone and pensive, he did not slink away like he did with Naruto and Saskue. Nor did he feel guilty for seeing him in those moments, like with Hinata and Neji. Instead, he felt peaceful and a tug of family that told him to go to Shino.

So he'd walk up to the Aburame and sit beside him, smiling softly at him before he folded his arms over his chest and waited. He sat upright, close but not shoulder to shoulder with the pensive Aburame. And after a few minutes, he would feel the boy move closer to him until they were pressed together and heard a soft breath escape him.

"Ko..." Shino would begin in a whisper.

"Shi..." Kotetsu would smile softly, keeping his voice down.

"Te..." The Aburame's voice would strengthen, and he would let his head fall onto the elder's shoulder.

"No..." He would glance down at the boy, who kept breathed in deeply before finishing.

"Tsu..." With this, Shino would look down at his lap and Kotetsu would bring his arm up behind Shino to give him a one armed hug.

"My favorite Aburame."

And he'd then be treated to one of the unbelievably bright smiles Shino only allowed him to see. Which would leave him feeling calm and at complete ease, even as Shino asked him about all the things that ate away at him. Things that, sometimes he was able to answer, but would leave him answerless most of the times.

He enjoyed spending time with all of the kids. Although he knew that, sometimes, they just needed space and time to themselves.

Much like, sometimes, Shino needed his non-Aburame big brother to just be there.

She may have been young, but she was not stupid. If anything, Hanabi Hyuga was extremely smart. Even her non-official guardian, Iwashi Tatami, had been surprised by how truly smart she was. Although she had never understood why people were so shocked. Her father was extremely smart and she had been just about raised surrounded by insane yet smart children.

(Although she would never admit to thinking this about many of Hinata's friends, the fact was that they were smart. They had to be to be able to get out of the messes they created.)

One time, when she was younger, she had heard the clan elders whispering words she did not understand about her father. She had known what they meant, really. But she had not been able to understand why they had been used to speak about her father. And when she'd asked Iwashi about them, he'd merely explained that the elders were old people that believed some of her father's decisions were odd for their clan.

Disgraceful, weak, humiliating.

She knew what they meant. But her father was none of them.

Outrageous actions, would destroy the clan, just asking to be attacked.

Their clan was strong. And Konoha was peaceful. They should not be getting attacked at any point.

Dishonorable.

Never. Her father was anything but that.

But out of respect to her father and his love for rules, she had not called the elders out on their shameless hate. She had merely remained quiet and asked Iwashi to explain to her why they were being so rude.

The elders enjoyed putting her father down. They liked to insult him for his supposed 'wrong choices'. They believed that by allowing so many outsiders to influence his children, he was raising them to be weak and to disgrace the clan.

Hanabi loved her clan. She loved her family. Her cousin and sister were her greatest friends. And she was more than eager to join the ranks of her clan in the shinobi life as soon as she could.

But she held no love for those that insulted her father.

She knew that he knew the elders spoke ill of him. She knew that her father did not like it. But he remained quiet and seemed to turn a blind eye on them.

Although, much like many did not expect of someone her age, Hanabi knew of the toll it took on Hiashi Hyuga to have to deal with so many negative thoughts when they were directed at him, his decisions, and his children. He never allowed himself to show his true pain around many. But Hanabi could see in his eyes. She could see the subtle wince of his eyes whenever the most vocal of the elders, an old, prudish woman with more wrinkles than skin, let her distaste made clear.

She kept quiet about this, though. Her father wanted her to think of him as a strong, immoveable force that could not be hurt. So she played along and acted as if everything was normal when around her father.

Although she did ask Genma-san and Iwashi just why he allowed so much disrespect to fly.

The non-clan members never seemed to know what to answer. Instead, they would just ask of her, "Don't let those whispers get to you. They're old and senile. Your father knows what he's doing. Listen to him, make him proud, keep training, and become the greatest ninja you can."

She loved Iwashi like a brother and Genma-san like a second father. She had been raised with them taking care of her whenever her father couldn't. So she listened to them. And she hoped that, as she made her father proud by being a good student, she made Iwashi and Genma-san proud by having her father so pleased.

Genma could not understand why it was that the people he had come to meet over his life seemed to like him so much. The kids stuck around him like glue. Just like the teenagers, even though they were now adults with their own homes and lives. And the parents were more than glad to have him around to dump all of their responsibilities on him whenever they wished to.

He had understood why they stuck around when they were younger. But they were genin now. They had no reason to stick around like they did.

Still, they asked for sleepovers and awesome trips as often as they had when they were kids. And the not-teenagers wished to hang around as much as they could as well, apparently not content with having to grow up and become their own person.

"You have a talent, Genma."

Genma turned to look at Kakashi with a questioning eyebrow raised. But then he turned to look back at the scene before him, a soft smile crawling onto his lips without his permission.

A joint training trip to their favorite park had left the genin completely wiped out. And the not-teenagers had jumped at the chance to finally have a day together and begged the Hokage to leave them to go with the kids, promising to help with their training so that their free day could be categorized as work rather than vacation. Although they had played a lot more than some of the kids.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Kakashi..." Genma murmured softly, then shook his head, "One would think they were still eighteen and nineteen rather twenty three and up."

Iwashi shifted slightly to get more comfortable before he tightened his grip on a comfortably sleeping Hanabi. The young Hyuga, in turn, tightened her own grip on his hand, which rested on her waist.

Genma knew that, to many, it would seem odd to have Iwashi hugging Hanabi so tightly. Some may even take it the wrong way. But there was a connection between those two that reminded Genma a lot of Shino and Kotetsu's own.

These kids were the living proof that blood did not necessarily dictate family.

Speaking about Kotetsu and Shino... The older male was splayed out on the floor of his living room, Shino's head resting on his left shoulder while Kiba was curled up on his right side. Akamaru slept on top of the elder's chest.

"They're all kids at heart." Kakashi shrugged softly, then motioned to the last of the not-teenagers. "I still can't believe Sakura's little crush has not worn off."

Hayate was still awkward around the girls, even after years of knowing them. But he seemed to have at least warmed up to them, for he was snoring softly with Sakura's head on his shoulder, both having fallen asleep on his couch. Izumo was sleeping on the other side of the couch, Chouji splayed out on top of him. And, finally, Hana was curled up between both Naruto and Sasuke, her arms wrapped protectively around them.

"It'll leave her eventually." Genma shrugged, then he looked over the rest of the kids.

Hinata was curled up beneath a blanket on the floor, all the while Neji slept seated up beside her. Shikamaru was splayed out on top of his kitchen counter- which made Genma think back on old times when that had been any of the other kids. Ino and Tenten were hugging each other near Hinata and Neji. And Lee was snoring loudly on top of his bookshelf, which Genma still couldn't believe he'd managed to climb.

"They have their own homes... Own lives..." Genma sighed, only to find a hand fall on top of his shoulder.

"Yeah, they do. And you're an important part of it."

This was all much too sappy for Genma. Too adorable. And he wasn't sure if he should have felt happy he was allowed to be a part of these experiences, or somewhat bitter about the future.

If he grew any more attached to them, he wasn't sure how well he'd fare once they finally decided to leave them.

But... He could enjoy this for now. He could enjoy being part of a family for now. Especially now that they had finally decided to calm down and not be such huge pains in his ass.

Sometimes, Genma forgot how truly evil his kids could be.

Not to him. Never to him.

But... He wasn't sure how he should deal with this newest development... He wasn't even sure if he should try and deal with it.

"I believe these are yours."

He had never seen a Hyuga looking so angry before. But the squad that was now at his door was filled with pissed off members of the clan. And none of them seemed even the least bit humored as all of his kids were pushed inside. Including the not-teenagers.

"The Hokage asked us to leave them with you as he thinks of a suitable punishment." The eldest of the Hyuga there, a man he'd worked with a few times, informed him as he pushed Kotetsu- whom had his tongue sticking out in a sign of childish petulance- inside. "Do not let any of them leave."

After all of the (some, not all) guilty looking culprits had been left inside his apartment, the Hyuga squad left.

For a moment, Genma just took in the sight of them. Some had their clothes burnt up. Others had scratches on their body. Kotetsu, Naruto, and Kiba had bruises forming on their body. And he did not miss the worrying pouches that hung from the waists of Team 7.

Before he asked what had happened, the senbon enthusiast breathed in.

"The elders deserved it! They kept insulting me, father, and Hinata and Neji!" Hanabi began to shout before he could even ask, "We just needed them to know that outsiders aren't always as incompetent as they think they are!"

He could point out all the things that would undoubtedly go wrong after what they had done. He didn't know what had happened. He just knew the kids had planned something that had to do with revenge on the elders of the Hyuga clan...

But instead, he breathed in, shook his head, and looked at Izumo and Hana. "Even you?"

They, at least, had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.

"They made some good arguments."

..~..~..

There is a new poll up on my page! I took the results of the past poll into consideration and created it. So, this time the question is if Genma should end up romantically involved in the story. And the answers are 'No' and 'Whatever you think' for that. And if there should be romance, these are the options: Kakashi, Hiashi, Raidou, or Bear/Ibiki. Because I know that not everyone wants to go to a poll, I ask of you that if you don't want to, review your answers. This story is more of a labor of love for the community rather than for myself. So I wish to hear what y'all have to think. Please review!