A?N This is something of a filler chapter. the plot will pick up again with the next one. BTW there's a bit of touching and teasing between the men, let me know if you think I should up the rating. :)
A rustle, a rasping cry, and the sudden presence of cool air beside him, replacing warm flesh, awoke Kakashi from his deep sleep. He opened his eyes to see Iruka bent over the crib on the far side of the room, offering a magnificent view, as he scooped up little Keshi.
"Come to Daddy Sweetiepie."
A smile curved the copy nin's lips, and gradually spread happiness throughout his whole body. He watched his lover holding his daughter, their daughter. Together they were just way too… adorable.
"Shouldn't I be Daddy. I am her father after all."
Iruka turned to face him, adjusting the baby's weight against his chest. "Well I'm sure as hell not being Mummy."
Kakshi sat up and patted the mattress beside him. The other man sat down, and he wrapped his arms around him, so that the child was nestled gently between their strong toned bodies.
"Then we have a problem don't we?"
"I don't see why, just because she has two daddies. We'll just be Daddy One and Daddy Two."
Kakashi released them both and threw himself back against the pillows with a throaty chuckle.
"Only you Iruka. Only you could come up with such a sweet, charming, and absolutely perfect answer. And you didn't even have to think about it did you?" He gazed at his partner with open admiration.
Iruka blushed and nuzzled the baby's head, smiling shyly. "You like it? I'll even let you be Daddy One. As you said, you're her father."
"You're already more of a father than I'm sure I shall ever be. You're the reason that she's going to grow up to be a beautiful, well adjusted and all around wonderful person. Just like her Daddy Two."
Misty brown eyes darted up as Iruka coloured even more. "Of course she'll be beautiful, a real heartbreaker. We may have to make her wear a mask."
Kakashi grinned and sat up again, holding out his arms to take the child. "So what do I need to do today?"
"You want to look after her?"
"Of course, while I'm here. We'll have to work out something for when I'm away, but I'd hope the old slave driveress will give us a few days at least."
Iruka shifted a little. It always made him uncomfortable when Kakashi spoke about Hokage-sama like that. But he had a point. She had been working him relentlessly for the past few months.
"Well I have been taking her to school with me, but she is a pretty big distraction. Although several of the kids have little brothers and sisters, and they've given me quite a few useful tips. You know, how to hold her, how to rock her to sleep. The kind of thing you learn as part of a family."
Kakashi ignored the hint of sadness in that last sentence and waited for Iruka to continue.
"Just feed her, bath her, change her and hold her if she gets fussy. She should sleep quite a lot of the time. And she's been going through about three or four bottles of that stuff a day."
"Piece of cake. I'll even see if I have time to turn in my report."
Iruka laughed as he headed for the bathroom. "Well at least you'll have a decent excuse for it being late for once."
Still holding the baby, Kakashi rose from the bed with a fluid grace common in cats, but rare in men, and made his way to the kitchen.
First off she needed a change of clothes. The front of the sack-like garment she was dressed in was stained with drool, milk, and God-knows-what. And if she peed half as much as a puppy she'd be wet too. He looked around. No sign of diapers. But he knew that there were plenty of kitchen towels in a drawer. Laying her carefully on the kitchen table, he took off and discarded the old diaper, then folded a towel between her legs and sealed the sides with chakra. After doing the same with a supermarket bag to waterproof it he decided that yes, it would definitely do. Now for the clothes. He replaced her sleeper with another towel twisted around her small body like a toga.
As he stooped to pick her up, her eyes made contact with his… and she smiled. The corners of her pink rosebud lips lifted and her mouth gaped open, showing red toothless gums. Well it was certainly cute, he'd give her that, but Iruka was wrong. He still preferred puppies.
Iruka found him he settled on the couch in the living room feeding Keshi a bottle of formula. He stood in the doorway and watched for a few moments as the child slurped and guzzled and Kakashi used the corner of a towel to blot the dribbles from her chin. He left the room and returned holding a soft muslin square.
"Here, we have cloths for that, the other mothers call them drool rags. Drape it over your shoulder when you burp her too, in case she spits up."
Drool rag? Spits up? Puppies were sounding better and better all the time. "Hey what do you mean other mothers?"
His question went unanswered. "Kakashi, what on earth do you have her dressed in?"
"Just towels. It's all I could find to fit."
"Well it's brilliant, but don't you dare take her out in public like that. We do have baby clothes you know. There's a box of them in the bedroom closet that some of the kid's parents scrounged up for us. Diapers too. And don't forget to give her a bath."
The clock above the door caught his eye. "Oh my God the time!"
Iruka ran his fingers through two sets of fluffy white hair kissed the cheek below the fuller, fluffier of them, and vanished in a cloud of smoke.
By the time the bottle was gone Keshi was asleep again, so Kakashi took her back to her crib and crawled back into bed. With any luck she'd be out until noon, apparently this apple hadn't fallen very far from the tree at all.
When Iruka came home at lunchtime to check on them, they were in the bathtub together. The baby was sprawled face down on Kakashi's chest, a patch of pink flesh against his white as he smoothed baby wash over both of them.
"Well I see you're determined to let her see you naked, but I'm glad you two are bonding."
Kakashi rinsed her off then handed her to him. "Iruka, she's going to see plenty of man flesh sooner or later. Especially if she shares a bedroom with us."
As if to rub it in, he stood up… giving Iruka a full frontal view. The other man couldn't help but devour him with his eyes. They'd been apart for more than two weeks and the sight was a very significant test to his self-control.
"Well I have to get back to school."
He blushed as he engulfed the little child in a bath towel before handing her back. "But if you want to you could move her crib into the living room."
They really didn't need to be in the same room, he reasoned. They were ninjas, they could hear a sparrow land on a roof across the street if they wanted to. His eyes darted up and the blush deepened from pink to crimson.
"Before tonight."
He was rewarded with a broad grin and a quick grope, although how, when the other man's hands didn't leave the baby, was a mystery.
"Kakashi! Stop you're making me wet!"
"Just wet?" He felt a firm squeeze to his crotch.
Iruka swallowed. "Cut it out. I have to go back to roomful of kids."
"Then it's a good day to practice distraction techniques."
If Kakashi hadn't been holding the baby Iruka would have hit him, but he settled for a glare, as he backed away out of range. If there was an 'out of range' with this man.
"By the way, the other teachers at the academy gave us a stroller, as a baby gift. I thought you could use it when you take in your report. It's outside the door." Then with speed that would be impressive in any other company, he went back to kiss Keshi's fluffy pink head, and vanished. Kakashi watched the wisps of smoke fade away then took his soft bundle into the bedroom to dress them both.
Getting the kid into real clothes was not so easy. Her short limbs were unexpectedly soft, and pushing them in the outfit he'd selected was like trying to poke worms into their holes. The towels had been so much easier, but not a possibility. Iruka would be certain to find out sooner or later. After a few tries he turned the one-piece garment inside out then rolled it onto her, like peeling a banana in reverse, then pulled her arms and legs through from outside. Now for the stroller.
As Iruka had told him, it was just outside the door. An elaborate cart, like those he'd often seen people in the village using to transport babies. But it would be a real pain to carry over the rooftops. Surely someone must have come up with a better idea. Well he wasn't a genius for nothing. He took one of the cloth strips that he used for his leg bindings and wrapped it around them both. Another lashed over his shoulder, between her legs, around his waist, then back over the other shoulder, secured her firmly in place against his chest. He fastened a second weapons holster onto his other thigh and armed it with a bottle of formula and two fresh diapers. After a moment's thought he added a 'drool rag'.
As he slipped on his jacket he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. She wiggled her arms and legs in what he took to be appreciation. This time he was the one that smiled. Maybe Iruka was right, maybe he was starting to bond.
"Come on then kid, your very first mission, to deliver a mission report. Just don't spit upon the old lady, or even worse, on her pig."