EDIT (1/7/18): Basic stuff, sentence fluency, I attempted to better the flow of this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Gai's team was…interesting to say the least. One would think that a combination of such people would end up disastrous, but in this case somehow…they weren't. They were one of Konoha's strongest teams and most enthusiastic at that. Well, at least two members of it were, but they had more than enough for the other half of the team.

The team consisted of four members; Gai, Lee, Tenten, and Neji. Out of them, only one was from a noble family, and that same person happened to be Hinata's cousin.

He didn't like commoners much, and that included Nato at first.

"Neji, I-I would like you to meet Nato."

The latter mentioned boy smiled brightly, waving cheerfully from behind the counter.

"Oh, so you were the one who gave those silly ideas to Lady Hinata." Neji sneered. Immediately, the sunny day seemed to dim as the blond boy dropped his smile. "Come along, Lady Hinata. We should not be in the presence of such low-life." He moved to drag Hinata out of the room, but found he couldn't. Neji turned to see the girl standing firm, wearing the angriest expression he had ever seen on her face.

"Neji-niisan, I will not stand for you saying such awful things to my closest friend. He is one of the noblest people I have ever known." She spoke in a soft yet undeniably strong voice. Hinata looked back at Nato, who looked almost as shocked as her cousin, and somehow full of pride also. "I'm sorry for that, Nato. Please forgive us."

Nato nodded carefully, and watched as the two Hyuugas exited the store.

Tenten's father was the best blacksmith in Konoha, and maybe even the entire Land of Fire. Most noble clans went to him for weapons and armor, and he was the personal blacksmith for the Namikaze family. His daughter, however, was probably his biggest customer. She was a master at all different sorts of weapons, and could often be seen practicing in the open field behind "The Hot-Blooded Dojo". In the team, many would say she was probably the most levelheaded member.

At the same time, Lee would usually be within the Dojo training with Gai or even Neji at times. However, more than that, the orphan could be seen running laps around the city walls, whether on his feet or his hands.

Of everyone on the team, he was the hardest worker.

And of everyone on the team, no one loved Yashima more than Neji. This was the greatest thing that connected him and the rest of the team to Nato.

"Neh, Shima-chan, pulling my hair is not going to make it any longer."

The eighteen-month-old girl continued to squeal and giggle as she tugged on the red-gold strands that now hung down past Nato's chin. The boy sighed as he adjusted the baby in his arms and attempted to gently pry her fingers out of his hair.

Yashima did not appreciate it. "Nooo! Dada, no!" She squirmed around in his hold. Nato sighed again and let her be. He never was good at resisting her amber gaze. He tried to ignore the latest yank and continued on to the field.

As soon as it came into sight, Yashima ceased her pulling and instead begged to be put down. Nato complied and carefully held his surrogate daughter's hand as she limped with him up the slight incline towards a shady tree. He picked her up again as he plopped down underneath the tree, situating Yashima between his legs. She immediately began inspecting the dirt and its various inhabitants, a sound rapidly firing from her mouth as she did so.

"Tuka-tuka-tuka-tuka-tuka-tuka!"

Nato wasn't quite sure when she started making that noise, or what it even meant. However, when she did, Yashima was happy, so everything was good in Nato's mind.

He glanced down again to see a fist entering his daughter's mouth.

"Whatcha got there, Shima-chan?" Nato caught a glimpse of green. His eyes widened as he quickly reached out to keep the enclosed fist away from Yashima's mouth. After carefully prying her small fingers open he saw the shiny green and purple beetle in her palm. It didn't look too happy, nor calm.

Yashima seemed to sense that she wasn't going to be able to swallow the poor beetle, so…

"Dada, see!" She shoved her palm into her dad's face. Nato leaned back in surprise, almost jumping. "You see? You see, Dada?"

The jinchuuriki, worrying more about the beetle being squished at this point, carefully took the insect into his own hand. "Yeah, I see, Shima-chan." He placed the beetle up on the tree's bark, and it quickly scurried out of the girl's reach. Hinata would not be happy with him if their surrogate daughter swallowed a beetle.

Yashima pouted, and turned her gaze elsewhere. Or more specifically, towards the green blur charging straight at them.

"NATO!"

Said boy clutched the little girl tight against his chest as an exuberant, green spandex clad teen raced up to them. He suddenly stopped in front of their tree, sporting a large grin on his face. "Hello, Nato! What brings you here this pleasant morning?" Then Lee looked down to see the little girl sitting in Nato's lap. He jumped back and his mouth dropped comically. "AHH! Who is this?!"

The golden-haired boy proudly stated, "Bushy-Brows, this is Yashima, my daughter, ya know!"

If possible, Lee's jaw dropped even further, before he recovered and sparkles appeared around him. "The passion of your youth is astounding, Nato! I can't help but admire it!" A flame appeared in his eyes as Lee pumped his fists. "I will work hard to catch up, Nato!" He raced away again and began his laps around the city anew.

It was then that Nato finally noticed Tenten and Neji. The former looked worried and the latter unbelievably pissed.

"Nato, you're not even thirteen and you have a kid?! Who's the mother?"

"Hinata, ya know!"

Neji didn't seem to appreciate that answer. He appeared in front of Nato in a blaze of fury, saying, "how dare you do th-that with Lady Hinata!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"If you had a baby together, then you must have done that with Lady Hinata!"

Nato was still confused, and it showed clearly on his face, so Tenten stepped in to help her teammate.

"You know, the thing to make a baby!"

"Ohh," Nato began, "that's what you're talking about." Nato honestly still didn't really understand what they were talking about. Maybe he'd ask Hinata later, she was smart so she would know. "Why didn't you just say so earlier, ya know! We aren't Shima-chan's birth parents." He looked tenderly down at the babe playing in his lap. "They had both passed away by the time Aduryeanne came around, six months ago."

"Oh," they said in unison. There was an awkward silence.

"Dada, who 'dis?" Yashima tugged on Nato's shirt, begging to be introduced.

Nato pointed first to Neji and then Tenten. "This is your Uncle Neji and Aunt Tenten."

Immediately Yashima climbed out from her father's lap and waddled over to her mother's cousin. She pulled on Neji's pants, exclaiming, "up, up, up, up!" The teenager hesitantly lifted the little girl up into his arms, and flinched slightly when she began tugging on his long hair. However, even as this continued, Nato could tell Neji was warming up to the adorable, babbling Yashima.

"Oi! Neji! Let me hold the cute baby!" Tenten opened her arms invitingly to Yashima. The little girl reached for her in return and Neji reluctantly handed her over to his teammate. Tenten spun the eighteen-month baby around, exclaiming, "you're so cute!"

The members of Gai's team loved Yashima (especially Neji; he spoiled his pseudo-niece rotten), so Nato could depend on them to look after her when no one else could. When he did, he often came back to find complete chaos, but that was alright.

They always kept her safe and happy.

This chapter is very short, but I needed to just get it out and done with. I'm also not too happy with the flow of it, so if anyone has suggestions please do share them. Usually I'd ask my older sister but she's away on a trip currently. Also, if you have any scenes/memories you want to see between Nato/Hinata/Yashima and any of the Konoha 11 I have not yet written a chapter about, I would love to hear and maybe implement them. I need ideas.

AlphaMike369: Yes, the next few chapters will mainly be about Nato's interactions with the Konoha 11, plus some other characters (mostly how they first met). They will be rushed because the main focus of the story takes place after all of that, but I wanted to give some background information. I can see what you mean though, so I'll try to pace it out a bit more. Thanks for the review!

Thanks to Fluttershy 2059123 who also reviewed the last chapter!