Gai shifted the bundle on his lap, freeing an arm to tug on the slightly tight collar of the borrowed shirt. The blue eyes looking up at him over the top of the bottle were beginning to unnerve him a bit, he couldn't shake the feeling that the kid was just waiting for him to let his guard down before unleashing another attack.

"He's not gonna bite you know, he's only got two teeth," Kakashi chuckled from his crouched position on the floor, cutting another bite size piece from the apple with his kunai and handing it to boy next to him. Sasuke stuffed the chunk in his mouth along with what he was already chewing, providing a fairly convincing impression of a chipmunk hoarding acorns. "And don't forget to burp him."

Gai eyed his rival suspiciously, not entirely convinced that he wasn't being set up again. Kakashi sighed and rolled his visible eye, passing on the last bit of apple and bouncing to his feet to retrieve Naruto. Draping a rag over his shoulder, he leaned the boy against him and started patting his back. The two exchanged a look as a knock sounded at the door a moment later. Kakashi tensed, flipping the kunai still in his hand to Gai and jerking his head to gesture toward the door.

The Green Beast was happy to assume the role of security guard as the blond started spitting up, eager to escape the striking distance of what he was starting to consider a living booby trap. Opening the door revealed a dark haired six year old rather than an agitated mob or a dangerous assassin, though he hadn't really expected an assassin to knock. He looked up wearily at the bushy-browed teenager standing in his path.

"I'm supposed to pick up little brother," the boy stated, pushing past Gai and into the room.

"Tachi!" the older baby squealed, darting to his brother and trying to climb up his leg. Kakashi visibly relaxed, nodding in greeting and setting Naruto loose again.

"Wait, if he's taking one of them then I can't have a rematch," Gai protested. "Why was I doing surveillance if I don't get a rematch?"

"I don't know, personal growth I guess," Kakashi chuckled. "They're children, not toys, what did you want to do, race them?"

He sighed as he saw Gai's eyes light up, shaking his head as his friend pulled the puzzled younger boy aside and whispered with him for a second. After a moment child handed his brother to the teen and popped into the kitchen. Kakashi cocked his head, an unspoken question at his smiling friend.

"Okay, I've got this one, you've got the crawling mess. We set them loose, the kid and the dog call for them, first one to the kitchen wins." Gai's toothy grin widened even farther. "And no cookies this time!"

"Fine, let's get this over with." Pakkun went to join the younger boy as the two teenagers lined up against the wall, holding the infants a few inches above the floor. "Go."

They set the boys down and the cheering squad started rooting them on as they started crawling. Itachi smirked, pulling a tomato out from behind his back and waving it in front of him. His brother cooed and sped up, pulling ahead as he crossed the finish line and reaching for the fruit.

"You had him raid my refrigerator?" Kakashi looked at his friend, amused at having his own tactic turned against him.

"A successful shinobi learns to make the most of a situation," Gai parroted back at the jounin, beaming. "I win!"

(A/N) There you have it, Gai's persistence pays off in the final act! Thanks to SarahNThatcher, Keke, kirin-saga, and NamMiya again for motivating me with reviews. I've found a couple of stories implying that Sasuke loves tomatoes, but if anybody knows of a better bribe I might revise that later.

I'm not going to try to squeeze anything more out of this particular plotline, but if you like this then check out the 'prequel' I'm currently working on, "Muddling Through".

Thanks for reading! ^_^ Leave a review, it motivates me to write more!