A/N: Hey guys! I'm going to be gone this weekend, but I'm going to try to get these all posted anyway. If I can't, I'm still going to write them and expect a large post on Monday.

Very light hints of some of my Rookie 9 (and Team Guy) pairings, but they're miniscule. There are also some slight spoilers to Kingdom of Secrets that were unavoidable this time, but hopefully they're slight enough you won't notice…

Christmas with the Hatakes
By: Reggie

December 5th: Snowflakes

Babysitting Sayuri was never an experience that Sakura particularly enjoyed.

Oh, she was far from the worst baby ever. Sakura had had plenty of babysitting experience, both before and after becoming a genin, and by far the worst kids had been a pack of five and under Inuzuka brats that had been a mission for her, Ino, and Chouji after Shikamaru's promotion. The little monsters had managed to destroy half the compound before Team Kurenai had shown up as back-up.

The one compensation for that mess had been how horrified Kiba had looked when realizing that she, Sakura, had not only been in his house, but also gone in his room while chasing a particularly nasty kid with very sharp teeth. His face had gotten so red that the fang marks on his face had disappeared, and she'd been genuinely concerned he would follow Hinata's usual example and pass out.

Ino had had a field day with that, and poor Kiba had avoided everyone but his teammates for a month.

There was no way Sayuri, even in her worst mood, could top the hell unleashed by teething Inuzukas. No, what made babysitting Sayuri such a particularly unpleasant experience was that Iruka-sensei always left her and Naruto a to-do list of things he expected to be done before he and Kakashi-sensei got back.

Last time they'd been asked to reorganize the cupboards so anything that might harm curious babies was up very high, and put childproof locks on the doors. The collection of JUGS of poison she had found in the cupboard above the fridge had been mildly disturbing. Naruto had found something in one of the drawers that he refused to show her, and still wouldn't speak about.

In theory, today's list seemed far less traumatic. Cut out one hundred of those paper snowflakes, trying to make them all different, and then use a finger that had chakra focused on it to draw a line on thirty of them. Theoretically, this would leave a trace amount of chakra behind.

Sakura remembered this lesson. Iruka-sensei would tie a string to each snowflake and tape them all to the ceiling. It was an observation lesson, although the students wouldn't be told this. They would think it was just winter decorations. At the end of the day, whoever could point out all thirty chakra-lined snowflakes when he asked would get a treat.

In their graduating class, it was the future Team Kurenai that had succeeded at this the best, although that shouldn't have been a surprise.

At the time, it hadn't occurred to Sakura just how long to take to cut out one hundred paper snowflakes. But now her fingers ached and she wanted nothing more than to give Iruka-sensei a huge hug for all the effort he went to while trying to train them just to survive.

Naruto grunted as he nicked his finger with the scissors again. They'd put Sayuri down for her nap a half hour ago, and had been working nonstop ever since. In that time, Naruto had managed to cut his thumb open, twice, with the safety scissors. Safety scissors!

"How do you keep doing that?" She half growled, exasperated. "It shouldn't even be possible, but you keep managing it!"

Naruto half-shrugged, his thumb in his mouth as he sucked on the wound.

Sakura rolled her eyes and grabbed the next piece of paper. Twenty down, eighty to go. Oh joy. "I can understand why you have to do this. You're family to them. But I don't think I should be required to."

The boy shrugged, removing his thumb this time to speak. "Because you like playing with my little sister?"

She couldn't stop the smile that spread over her face whenever Naruto called her that. Even though niece probably would have been a more appropriate term, Naruto had determined the first time he saw her that it simply did not suit the infant. She was immediately titled little sister, and she had remained it ever since. "That was why I came the first time. There's no logic for every other time."

Naruto inspected his thumb for a moment before returning to his cutting once he'd decided it wasn't bleeding anymore. "Because Kakashi-sensei pays well?"

This was true. Kakashi-sensei paid them more than it would have taken for him to hire a genin team for the job, sometimes extra if Sayuri had been particularly difficult that day. The only explanation Sakura could come up with was that he wasn't comfortable leaving her with strangers while he and Iruka went out for their date night, like they did every week. Which, she supposed, made sense, considering all the usually circumstances surrounding the little princess.

Naruto's mind must have been wandering the same direction as her's, because he grinned suddenly and said, "Hey, Sakura-chan, when we started that mission to escort Iruka-sensei, did you ever think Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei would have a baby together?"

"No. They're both MEN, Naruto. Present circumstances excluded, it isn't really possible." Sakura shook her head, amused. "Do you know any other kids with two biological fathers?"

"That wasn't what I meant." The other teen probably would have been upset if he wasn't so focused on cutting interesting shapes for his snowflakes. "I meant, did you think they would end up together like this?"

"Why, did you?" Sakura had to profess a curiosity here, because, no, she'd never envisioned the two sensei together. As far as she knew, the two had only had a passing acquaintance at best prior to that mission. She seriously doubted that even the men they were speaking of had given the matter any thought. She doubted even more that Naruto, who still couldn't see Hinata's obvious crush on him, would have been that far sighted.

"Not exactly," the blonde grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "I just remember thinking before we left that they fought worse that Tsunade-baachan and Erro-sennin."

Sakura laughed, picking her scissors back up off the table now that she had finished folding. "And those two fight like an old married couple."

"Exactly." They continued working in silence for several long moments before Naruto paused. "Uh, Sakura-chan…should we get them a Christmas present?"

This gave the young kunoichi pause. They had both already picked out presents for Sayuri, but getting a present for the two adults hadn't really occurred to her. Now that it had been mentioned, it seemed silly that she hadn't thought of it earlier. Of course they needed to get Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei presents! She spent more time with them than she did her own family.

But what did you get them as a couple? Individually it wouldn't be hard, but together? Obviously some of their interests had to overlap, but Sakura could not think of one that they shared.

"I guess you don't have any ideas either," Naruto sighed after she hadn't answered him for a while, lost in her thoughts. "I know what I would get Iruka-sensei. He'd love some vouchers to Icharaku!"

"To pay for your meals," the pink haired girl observed, torn between amusement and exasperation.

Naruto ignored her. "But I don't think Kakashi-sensei even likes ramen all that much, and Ino says you have to get them presents as a couple 'cause that's a couple thing…"

"Wait," Sakura put down her scissors so she would not be tempted to use them on her teammate. "You asked Ino about this before you asked me?"

"Ah, well, not exactly." Naruto shifted, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "I heard Ino talking with Chouji about how shopping for Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei is difficult because they are kind of a couple, but they aren't, so you can't get them a joint gift like with regular couples…"

Sakura nodded, satisfied. "You don't have to, but it kind of seems like we should."

She's already decided that the two of them would get the older men a joint present. Naruto never had much money, and Tsunade-sama was still taking the cost of damages Sakura caused out of her paycheck, so the kunoichi's funds were lower than normal at the moment, too, so the only way they could get anything decent would be to purchase it together.

That still left her stumped with what to get them. "Maybe we should hire them a real babysitter. Or get Iruka-sensei an extra pair of hands for the chores."

Naruto laughed.