A/N: Must…resist…urge…to sing…Jingle Bells! Short to prevent cavities.

Right version this time! Sorry.

Christmas with the Hatakes
By: Reggie

December 6th: Sledding

"You've had a lot of really bad ideas, Pup," Uuhei muttered, doing her best to hold still while the ninja fashioned a harness around her, "but I'm pretty sure this one tops the list."

"Why?" Kakashi looked genuinely confused. "She's not sitting there alone, Iruka's holding her. And we won't be going all that fast with Pakkun as lead dog."

"Hey!" The pug growled from where he was already strapped up.

"Well," Guruko, who was behind him, smirked, "your legs are kind of short."

"Not as short as your…"

"Heel, guys," Kakashi rolled his eyes as he said it, fairly confident he didn't want to know. "Come on now, this is supposed to be a fun family friendly activity, alright?"

All of the dogs turned to look at him, with various degrees of shock. Probably because the words 'fun' and 'family friendly' were not those commonly spouted from his mouth. The Jounin laughed nervously, moving on to fasten Bull in place. The large puppy, because that's what he was, really, was in the back to do most of the pulling. Theoretically.

"You're absolutely certain this is a good idea?" Iruka looked up from where he was already sitting, tucked in with more blankets than was probably strictly necessary, in the dog sled.

Sayuri was positioned comfortably in his lap, dark eyes wide and alert. This was a new experience and, true to Hatake form, she was absorbing all of it like a little sponge.

"It's going to be fine," the Copy-nin grinned, tightening the straps over Bull's chest with half-frozen fingers. "There's plenty of snow, and we're only going around the training grounds…the genin level ones."

Iruka frowned out at the open fields. "Do you see how many children are out here playing Kakashi? If we get through this without running over any of them I'm going to die of shock."

Kakashi couldn't help pouting, slightly. "You're doubting me again. I'm not a Jounin for no reason, you know."

"I'm not doubting you." Iruka shot back. "You're underestimating the capacity of children to get underfoot and in to trouble."

This was probably true, Kakashi had to concede. Iruka was the expert on such things, and Kakashi knew from experience that Sayuri was a master and getting in his way and she could do little more than roll around and wiggle where she wanted to go. Still, he wasn't JUST a Jounin and his dogs were all very skilled. They could run easily as a pack…although he hadn't tied these particular dogs together before…

"Where did you get this sled anyway," Iruka looked around at the contraption. It was well built, and looked like one of the dog sleds Iruka had seen of teams in Snow Country.

Kakashi went still for a moment, resting his head against Bull's side. The big dog whimpered, trying to turn his head so he could lick Kakashi's face. Fortunately for the Jounin, he was already strapped in enough to prevent this. Kakashi took a shaky breath before speaking. "It belonged to my father. He used to take me out like this the first day the snow was deep enough. It's been in storage for a long time, I finished cleaning and repairing it last night."

Sayuri made a soft noise in her throat, and reached out small hands to her other father. Kakashi gave Bull's harness one final tightening pull before going over and offering his hand to comfort the little girl. Iruka was staring at him, a look in his brown eyes that didn't have a word.

"I remember loving it as a kid, and it was always part of Christmas for me," Kakashi's voice was soft as his free hand caressed their daughter's chubby cheek. "I just…"

"Do they respond to mush?"

Iruka's interrupting question was so unexpected that Kakashi nearly toppled over in to the snow. "What?"

The Chuunin smiled impishly at him, holding Sayuri just a little bit closer to his chest. "I asked if your dogs answer to mush?"

"No on your life, sensei," Bisuke growled over shoulder, though there wasn't any real malice in it. "We understand go just as well as…"

"Go!" Bull yelped happily, lunging forward. The sled moved, and the other dogs were obliged to follow, or else be run over.

Iruka gave a startled cry, and Sayuri squealed in delight, as the sled raced across the frozen ground, with Kakashi yelling and running after it.