Ran was quiet when Kakashi finished his story. Not that it was a long one. He had shared just enough to get the message across. It was too much to ask for him to share the entire story. Still, the young girl appeared thoughtful as she stared down at the team photo, her other hand absently stroking Pakkun's head.

"Ok," was all Ran said after several minutes of silence.

"Ok what?"

"Just… ok," the little girl repeated herself before pushing to her feet. "I'm going to bed now," she said as she handed Kakashi the picture. Pakkun followed her, leaving the jounin by himself in the living area.

"So, what'cha think?" the pug asked as Ran changed into her pajamas.

"I don't know… it's confusing…"

"Kakashi hasn't lost anyone on a mission since Obito," Pakkun explained. Rin didn't count to him. She betrayed Kakashi by forcing him to kill her. "He would, and does, sacrifice himself before letting a comrade die. And I'm pretty sure he'd cut his own arm off before turning it on you."

"Why should I believe you?" Ran asked.

"You don't have to, but you should still give Kakashi another chance."

The little girl worried her stuffed animal between her hands before getting comfortable on her futon. "Maybe…" Pakkun gave her an encouraging head butt before curling up next to her and resting his head on her chest.

"Good pup."


Ran seemed to be doing better the next morning. She didn't seem to be nearly as anxious as she was the previous night, but there was definitely still some lingering distrust. Pakkun must have convinced her, Kakashi thought. He really owed the dog as many belly rubs as he wanted.

"Onigiri again?" Kakashi asked as he loaded the rice cooker.

"Uh-huh, and milk."

Peering into the refrigerator, "looks like we're out," Kakashi commented as he closed the door.

Ran let out an indignant cry, "but milk!"

"I could go get some real quick, I guess… Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Completely fine!" Ran chirped, she really wanted that milk. Back when her mother was alive, Ran would have a glass of milk with her breakfast every morning. It just didn't feel right not to have the beverage with her morning meal.

"Alright," Kakashi relented, "don't let anyone in the apartment, even if it's someone you know."

"Even Naruto-nii?"

"Especially Naruto."

Shiranui Genma was tired. Long missions tended to do that to people. Now all he wanted to do was collapse into bed and sleep for the next few days. That is, until he made his way past his neighbor's apartment.

Since when did Kakashi like flowers? He wondered as he backed up to the to the window sill. Genma may be tired, but he was never too tired to give Kakashi shit. It was one of the few joys in life.

"Now that's just lazy," the jounin muttered to himself as he made his way into the apartment through the open window. "Must be getting lax in his old age," not that he should be talking, they were the same age after all. A quick scan with his chakra revealed that the masked jounin currently wasn't home, but Genma did pick up a small signature in the other room. He just assumed it was one of Kakashi's dogs and proceeded to make himself at home at the kitchen table. Genma even made sure that he kicked off his sandals before leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet onto the table. He was courteous like that.

The sound of tapping feet brought his attention to the other presence in the house. Kakashi's dogs rarely gave a shit, and Genma seriously doubted this would be one of the times they did. Hell, Pakkun would probably even join him.

A loud creak came from the door to Kakashi's room, and Genma raised his hand in greeting to what he honestly thought was going to be dog.

That is, until a little girl made her way out of the room.

Hand still stuck in the air, the jounin stared at the girl in shock. She froze like a deer in a bright light when she spotted him, going completely still and clutching what looked like an orange watering can to her chest.

3…

Neither breathed.

2…

Genma's senbon fell from his mouth in shock.

1…

"AAAAH!" The kid screamed, jolting Genma out of his shock. "AHHH!" She continued to scream before hurling the bright orange elephant shaped watering can at his head. Genma was a jounin, one of Konoha's elite, and a veteran of the Third Shinobi War. So if anyone asked him, he was not hit in the head by an orange elephant shaped watering can that a little girl threw at him. His masculinity couldn't take the hit. Just as he was losing his balance on his dangerously tipped back chair, player three entered the game.

The elite of the elite. The one who tore through enemy lines like they were butter. Whose lone red eye served as a window to hell. Chakra that made all but the most hardened shinobi tremble in fear. All before an arm was thrust through their chest and the crying of one thousand birds being the last thing they heard on this plane of existence.

Needless to say, there were very few shinobi left who didn't shit their pants when one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha burst through the window guns blazing. Genma was proud to say he was one of those few. Whether that fact could be debated or not due to fact that he was too busy falling backwards to manage defecate himself in fear, well, that was up for grabs.

"Oh," the air that promised certain agonizing death dissipated as though it had never been there, "it's you." Turning away from his friend, who was currently sprawled on the floor, Kakashi placed a carton of milk in the refrigerator, much to Genma's bewilderment.

Genma managed to get to feet and popped his signature senbon into his mouth. "You're gonna away for a long time for this, Kakashi," he mocked his fellow jounin, trying to play it off, but his strained expression gave him away.

"I didn't kidnap her!" Kakashi snapped back.

"Sure you didn't," Genma teased, and Kakashi had to remind himself that it wasn't a good idea to knock him on his ass while Ran was watching. He would just have to do it later. Maybe in a dark alley.

"Ran," the little girl popped her head out from where she hid behind Kakashi, "this is our very rude neighbor, Shiranui Genma. Genma, this is my daughter, Ran, that I did not kidnap."

"I'm a mission baby," the girl added helpfully.

"That's really not something you should go telling people right when you meet them…"

"But Kasumi-sensei says that if I take pride in it, eventually people will stop saying it to be mean."

"Fair enough."

It was fair to say that poor Genma was more than a little shocked. The poor man's thoughts were stuck in a loop of, I go on one mission, one! And I come back to find out Hatake Kakashi had become a father! Of all people! "I need to lie down…" The jounin muttered to himself as he gathered his sandals. Maybe after a few hours of sleep this would all make sense.

"Use the door this time," Kakashi warned, and Genma thought it best to actually listen to him for once.


Things were going pretty well in the Hatake-Koizumi household. Ran spent her days playing at the daycare while Kakashi completed missions and trained with his team. According to Kasumi-sensei, Ran was quite getting popular with the younger kids. She would often read them picture books outside of story time, voices and all. She still had her fair share of troubles with kids her own age, but Kakashi was relieved that she was getting along with at least some of the younger kids.

But a new problem had presented itself. It had been a while since Ran's last bath, and she was starting to smell. Not to mention the layer of dirt she was wearing as a second skin. It had gotten to the point where the daycare workers were starting to voice their concerns. Kakashi usually showered after she went to bed and crammed the inevitable into the back of his mind.

"Mama said the only boy allowed to see me naked is Jii-chan!" Ran squawked when he brought the problem up with her. She was just as against it as he was.

Now what?

Well… there was one person.

"Please!" Kakashi pleaded to his only female student with a low bow.

"W-what?" Sakura asked, slightly concerned.

"Ran needs a bath and refuses to let me give her one," he explained, still not raising from the bow.

"What? Oh, sure, fine. You could have just asked regularly, I would have said yes," Sakura said, unimpressed. When she answered her pounding door at 8 pm to find her sensei bowing lowly before her, Sakura had honestly expected him to ask something bigger of her. A kidney, part of her liver, a 'get out of the hospital free card'.

"Thank you," Kakashi genuinely thanked her. She could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes.

"Would you like to come in?" Sakura opened the door wider to let the pair in. Kakashi wasted no time making his way in with Ran trailing behind him. A tub filled with bathing necessities and clean pajamas held in her arms. "Sensei… did you come here expecting me to agree?" Her voice was strained and a vein popped out in her forehead. She turned to find that her teacher had wasted no time making himself at home. Kicked back in one of her kitchen chairs, book in hand, with a steaming cup of tea. Where he had gotten that was beyond her.

"I had a feeling you would say yes, but I thought it best to play it safe," he said with that infuriating eye crinkle. "And if you had refused, I would have given you a heart-wrenching tale of how I would have no other option but to toss her in the river." Sakura would have thrown him out then and there if it weren't for Ran.

"I've taken a bath in a river before," the girl piped in.

"We'll do that next time," Kakashi reassured her.

"Fine, fine," Sakura snapped at her sensei, "just stay there and don't touch anything!" Kakashi gave her a lazy salute as she lead Ran to bathroom. At least she brought her own soap. Sakura thought.

"Ran," the older girl started as the water continued to run brown, despite the fact that this was the little girl's second wash. "When was the last time you had a bath?"

"Not since the last one you gave me."

"Not since-! That was… 10 days ago!" Sakura squawked. "Why haven't you had a bath since then?"

"He hadn't asked until today," Ran said with a shrug. "He would just spray me with something that smelled nice. The bottle had a waterfall on it."

A waterfall? Sakura wondered before turning back to the matter at hand, "why didn't you ask for one then?"

"Mama said the only boy allowed to see me naked was Jii-chan," Ran explained like it was obvious. "And since Jii-chan isn't here, a girl has to give me a bath. And there aren't any girls at the apartment…"

"Alright, alright. That makes sense, but Kakashi-sensei is your father. He's allowed to see you naked. It's normal for families to take baths together," Sakura explained, regurgitating the words that were fed to her all those years ago.

"Do you still take baths with your parents then?"

"Ehhh, not some much any more, but I used to a lot when I was your age."

Ran remained quiet for the rest of their bath, and didn't say anything until Sakura lead her back to Kakashi. "Alright," she said as she slipped into her sandals, "you can see me naked."

Poor Kakashi did a double take before turning turning to Sakura, extremely confused.

"There was probably a better way to phrase that," the older girl muttered. "What she means is that you won't have to come to me again."

"Oh, well, I guess that's good… Thanks, really Sakura," Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head. The girl just nodded before waving them out of her apartment. "You need to chose your words better," she heard her teacher scold his daughter as they made their way down the stairs.

Sakura shook her head and turned away from the door, when a sudden realization hit her. "He was spraying her with air freshener!"


The following morning was dedicated to Saturday morning cartoons, specifically, Gekotan's hour block. Ran was in a chipper mood afterward as she hummed the theme song while eating her onigiri.

"Why do you wear a mask?" Ran asked as they were finishing up their meal.

"All the cool ninja wear masks."

She had the audacity to snort.

"Fine, I get really bad hay fever."

"It's summer."

"I get it year 'round."

"Your eyes aren't red."

"Another perk of being a ninja. Only lousy ninja get red eyes."

Kakashi could see that Ran was getting increasingly frustrated with their back and forth, but it was just too much fun messing with her. Then she said the words, the words that set off the perfect chain of events.

"I wanna see what's under your mask." Jackpot.

"Hmm?" Kakashi hummed, but he was smirking internally. It had been so long since the last time he had gotten to do this. "You do now?"

"Yeah! I've lived with you for a while now, and I still don't know what you look like!" Ran huffed.

The jounin hummed again as he sat up straighter and snapped his book shut. It made sense that she wanted to see his face, and Kakashi wasn't going to deny her that, he just wanted to have his fun first. "Alright," Ran mimicked his posture. "I'll show you what's under this mask…" He could see her swallow heavily as she watched him with as much concentration as a five year old could muster. Slowly reaching up, Kakashi drew out the action of hooking a finger under his mask, causing Ran to lean closer in anticipation. "What's under this mask…" he drawled, Ran looking about ready to rip it down herself, "is… another mask!" Kakashi cheered as he revealed his second mask.

The expression of excitement and anticipation held out for several seconds before shifting to one so vacant that Kakashi was slightly worried. Pushing to her feet, Ran made her way into their room and came out with her backpack. "R-Ran…?" Kakashi questioned as the little girl stepped into her sandals. "What are you doing."

"I'm running away," was all she had to say, still wearing that eerily vacant expression.

"Wait, wait, I'll take the second one off," Kakashi assured her, but he chose his words carefully. Ran looked sceptical, but ultimately plopped back down across from him. Kakashi knew that it was probably going to be very mean, but he just couldn't help himself. An opportunity like this had never presented itself before.

Ran was trying to look angry, but couldn't manage to hide just how engrossed she was. Reaching up for a second time, Kakashi took his sweet time hooking a finger under his mask. Gotta build up the anticipation, and all that. Waiting until the little girl was about ready to burst, Kakashi pulled down his second mask to reveal that he had done a seal-less transformation to give him a third mask. "A third mask!" He cheered.

If only Ran found it as funny as he did.

"AHHH!" Ran cried as she flipped the low table. Kakashi's laughter was drowned out by her screaming. Being a jounin, an upturned table posed no threat, but a very frustrated backpack wielding five year old? It was a safe bet that Ran got in a few good hits.

"Alright! Alright!" Kakashi forfeited after he got the wind knocked out of him. "I'll show you!"

"For real this time?" Ran asked between huffs of air.

"Well…" He started, but quickly corrected himself when Ran lifted the backpack threateningly. "For real!"

The little girl let out a huff before seating herself in front of him with her arms crossed. She managed to contort her mouth into a perfect upside down 'U', and Kakashi was forced to admit he was actually a tad bit impressed. Not many people could manage such an expression. Releasing the jutsu, Ran's eyes grew wide as she leaned in to study him better. The jounin was getting a tad bit uncomfortable by just how intently she was staring at him, half expecting her to pull out a magnifying glass.

"You are a very pretty man." She finally said, leaning back with a satisfied nod.

"Thank… you?"

"Mama had good tastes."

Kakashi nearly choked at that, but quickly recovered from his coughing fit.

"Teeth," Ran demanded, wasting no time.

"Excuse me?"

"Show me your teeth! People keep saying we have the same teeth! So Show!"

"Fine, fine," Kakashi relented before opening wide for her to see. The little girl let out an excited noise when she saw his prominent canines.

"We match!" Ran cheered before opening her mouth wide as well.

"I can see that," Kakashi laughed before patting her on the head.


A/N: Sorry about the wait for this chapter, I haven't exactly been in good health these past few weeks. It didn't help that I was having a lot of trouble with the bath scene. Japanese bathing customs are pretty different from most Western ones. It's pretty common for family members to bathe together in Japan, especially with young children. While here, once you're old enough to not drown, you're pretty much on your own. At least that's how it was for me.

Hope it didn't come off too weird.