A/N: Clearly, I'm not going to sleep tonight; might as well do the next chapter. Things are getting more serious and I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but this story is AU.

Kakashi had finally done it. He had found the perfect day care system that would take care of Kiyone when he would be assigned long term missions. The name of the day care system: Team Ten. They would be paid as though on a D rank, when in reality it was a favor since Kiyone disliked civilian babysitters.

Asuma and his team had done their fair share of babysitting missions but so far, Kiyone was almost too grown up to be a child. At age four, she was hyperaware of her surroundings and extremely observant. She was quick to make an assessment of his team and she had made it very clear that she did not like Ino one bit.

"Kiyo-chan, don't you want to practice for your flower arrangement class? I can help you." Ino told her with a kind smile. A smile that froze on her face when the look in Kiyone's eyes damn near stopped her heart. Her glare was damn near on par with that of the demon kid from Suna. It was the same look Kakashi had given her when she and the other Rookies discovered the truth behind Naruto's nearly unlimited chakra supply.

She might have said something along the lines of 'What Hokage would keep a monster in the village' when Kakashi's Killer Intent became entirely focused on her being.

But Ino would not take such disrespectful behavior from a child. Even if that child was the sister of a famous ninja. "Kiyo-chan, that's not a very nice look to give someone."

At her words, the four year old's glare only intensified. What felt distinctly like Killer Intent started leaking from the Copy-Nin miniature.

Shikamaru glanced at the females in the room out of the corner of his eye while he played Shogi with his mentor. "Troublesome. Ino should know better."

"How so, Shikamaru?" Asuma asked his student while considering his next move.

"I used to play with Naruto back when we—" he nodded towards Chouji, "—were little once did he act or behave like a demon. A little monster in the kid-sense, yes. But not a true monster like the Kyuubi was described to be."

"Shika is right, Asuma-sensei." Chouji said mid-chip, "I've helped Naruto look after Kiyone before. She looks up to Naruto as a family member. Ino may not remember, but Kiyone was there at the exam stadium."

Asuma nodded. He remembered as well that it was Kiyone who climbed onto Naruto's shoulders to cover his ears when some of the other Rookies started bad-mouthing Naruto after Ino spoke up.

Asuma, Shikamaru, and Chouji were some of those that didn't care about Naruto's status as a container. They were disappointed in Ino though; all she did was complain about the situation. And she often did it within hearing distance of Naruto's team.

"Ino needs to learn," Asuma abestenly reached into his pocket for a cigarette," Kiyone may be a child, but she's a Hatake through and through. She doesn't think like a child does at her age, and no doubt Kakashi has already started her training. So if Ino thinks she can talk down to this child, she's in for a rude awakening."

Ino tried to keep a calm facial expression. Kiyone's own facial expression was just as calm, but her eyes were harder than steel, and burned with barely contained rage. And that was frightening look on a child.

"Ino-san, I don't like you. You're mean to Naruto-niisan. 'Kashi-niisan said I don't have to be nice to mean people who don't see." Kiyone's tone was colder than a graveyard, much like her big brother's when Sasuke would say something extra mean.

"See what, Kiyo-chan?" Ino really didn't want to talk to this kid anymore.

"How nice Naruto-niisan is to everyone. Monsters aren't nice to people. Demons don't make friends or help kids learn how to play on the swings. Naruto-niisan takes care of me. Just like Chouji-niisan, Shika-niisan, Sandaime-ojiisan take care of me. Does that make them monsters too?"

Ino was stunned. When she was four, she never talked that way, nor did she use logic like that. "W-Well no, Kiyo-chan, but you don't understand…" How to explain to a child the monstrosity of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?

"No, Ino-san, you don't understand. You're the monster." Without another word to Ino, Kiyone's anger and Killer Intent evaporated into thin air. The young Hatake walked over to Chouji and sat on his lap. Hugging her knees to her chest, she mumbled, "I want 'Kashi-niisan to come home."

When Kakashi returned home after a little "Team Trust Building" exercises, he noticed something off about his home. Granted, his father died in the house and he only recently claimed the estate, but the house was far too silent.

"Kiyo-chan, I'm home." He called out knowing she had to be home. He had bumped into Asuma on the way home, who let him know that he had just escorted her to the house.

He heart he soft creak of the hardwood floor and knew his sister was coming to greet him. What he didn't expect was for her to be wearing one of his many black turtleneck, long-sleeved shirts as a dress. Nor did he expect her to have puffy eyes and a stuffy nose as she launched herself into his arms.

"Kiyo-chan, what happened?" He rubbed her back in soothing circles while she cried into his Jounin vest.

"W-Why are people s-so mean to N-Naruto-niisan? I h-hate them all!" She wailed.

"Shh, it's okay. People just don't know Naruto-kun like we do. They'll learn he's a good person." Kakashi could only hope his words got through to her. Asuma had mentioned that Kiyone was developing a slight anger problem.

The following day, Kiyone was suspended from the Academy for kicking a classmate in the chest so hard, one of his lungs collapsed. Luckily, the boy received proper medical attention just in time.

When Kakashi received the news, he sighed heavily and dismissed his students. After picking up Kiyone from school, he asked her why she hurt her classmate and went into a short lecture about camaraderie with ninja of the same village when she cut him off.

"He said the White Fang was dead, so why should the daughter of a dead failure of a ninja be anything special?" She whispered to him while she fought tears. She never knew her father, but she was sure he would have loved and supported her no matter what. Just like her big brother did. And her big brother always told her that their father would have been proud of his children. She knew that meant a lot to both of them, but she knew it meant the most to her brother.

Kakashi felt his blood boil and was tempted to turn back and beat the snot out of the teacher who most likely wasn't going to punish the other boy for his words.

Small fingers curled around his own, making him look down. The sight of his sister wiping her tears with her head hanging low while her other hand desperately clung to his, took the edge of his initial anger. Kneeling, he wrapped an arm around her and let her cry.

The life of a ninja, no matter the age, was a hard life indeed. And as much as he wanted her to stay a child, she was a Hatake too. She had to grow up even if she didn't want to.

A/N: I think the final chapter is coming up. There will be a sequel about her growing up of course. And the fun starts over when she hits puberty and starts noticing boys.