Tsume let Kakashi lead her upstairs into her room, still seething with anger.

"Tsume," he said as he closed the door. "Calm down. It's not that big of a deal."

Tsume turned to the only window in the room, keeping her face hidden from the younger ninja. She could feel her anger slipping away, comforted by the sound of Kakashi's voice.

She had never realized how much she actually depended on the man when her anger got the best of her.

"I know," she whispered. "I just don't want my baby girl hurt by Itachi."

Kakashi stepped up next to the Tokubetsu Jonin. "Tsume, Hana knows what she's doing."

"Kakashi, she's only six!" Tsume turned to him with tears in her eyes. "She doesn't know that men can be cruel, evil, and thoughtless! She doesn't know," she ended in a much quieter voice.

Kakashi's voice was soft and soothing when he spoke again. "Is this about Isamu?"

"I—" Tsume nodded, not finishing her sentence.

"Tsume, if Isamu chose to leave you, it's because he wasn't strong enough to handle who you really were. He chose to leave you instead of making you live with a marriage whose foundation was based on fear." Kakashi placed a hand on Tsume's shaking shoulder.

"You deserve better," he finished quietly.

"Kakashi," Tsume murmured. "Why do you care so much?"

Kakashi gave a tiny smile, barely visible through his mask. Tsume pulled it down gently.

"Because I'm one of the only people you've ever let in this far. You keep people at arm's length, trying to protect yourself. But you have your weaknesses," Kakashi said.

"That doesn't explain why you care so much," Tsume pointed out, her voice still hushed.

"Plus, you are one of the only people I've let see my face without killing them," he added. He pulled Tsume closer to him, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I'm glad I took this mission." Tsume said what seemed like hours later, but was probably only a couple minutes.

"Why?"

"Because I never would have met the real you if I hadn't."

/\/\

Outside her mother's door, Hana threw her hands in the air. Itachi, standing next to her, smiled.

"It worked!" the Inuzuka muttered victoriously. "I knew it would,"

Itachi decided not to point out that it was his plan, and that Hana had adamantly refused to go along with it.

Of course, it happened anyways, completely accidental.

/\/\

When Kakashi and Tsume finally emerged from the bedroom, Tsume had calmed down to an unbelievable level, and Kakashi still had his mask pooled around his neck.

He didn't even look at the kids as they openly stared at his face. He was too concentrated on the fact that one child was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Kiba?"

Tsume's eyes snapped open, and slit irises raked the room for any sign of her son. Hana chuckled quietly.

"He's in the kitchen with Kuromaru."

Tsume visibly sagged with relief, leaning against Kakashi for support. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders almost unconsciously.

Hana eyed her mother and Kakashi curiously, wondering what had happened in that bedroom after Itachi had dragged her away. She didn't say anything, though.

"Itachi," Kakashi said. The Uchiha looked up at the tall man stonily.

"We've been thinking," Tsume said. "That you should stay here, at least until you get your own place. We don't have to adopt you," she added, reading the expression on the raven's face.

"You can just stay here. We wouldn't be very good parents if we let you live in the forest for the rest of your life." Kakashi said.

"I wouldn't want to intrude—"Itachi started.

"We have plenty of room." Tsume said firmly. Her eyes held the determination she was feeling.

"I—"

"Just do it, Itachi. If you don't she'll never let it go," Hana said. Itachi sighed.

"Fine. Just let me get my things."

He trudged out the door, Hana following close behind.

Kakashi bent down to pick up Sakura and Naruto, looking around to see where Sasuke was. The youngest Uchiha was asleep, leaning against Kasumi, the little pup wagging her tail.

Tsume picked up Sasuke gently, smiling softly before going off in search of her son.

Kakashi moved up the stairs to Hana's room, gently setting Sakura in her crib. The baby was already asleep, so it wasn't that much of a hassle to get done with her.

Naruto was next, and the little blonde was poking his face curiously, cooing at him. He was obviously not going to get to sleep easily.

The nursery was dark, and he had trouble navigating his way to Naruto's crib. He placed Naruto on the mattress, only for the baby to whine without anything to play with.

He sighed, leaning closer to his sensei's kid.

Tsume closed the door to the nursery, smiling at Kakashi.

"Is he not going to sleep?" she asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Here, I'll help you."

Tsume placed Sasuke and Kiba in their cribs, moving over to stand next to Kakashi.

She had been much more willing to help him get the kids to sleep when she discovered that he had absolutely no talent in singing.

Tsume sang Naruto to sleep, and Kakashi listened to the beautiful voice he knew so well. He really did like Tsume—no, without her, none of this would have happened. He loved her.

Little did he know, there were two little troublemakers in the same house as him, and they had a plan.

/\/\

Hana sneaked into Itachi's room, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Is everything ready for tomorrow?" she asked anxiously. Itachi nodded.

"Everything's ready. They'll be together before the end of the day."

A/N: Okay, this chapter, in my opinion, was not as good as the other ones. Oh well. I can't do anything about that.

So, I've been trying to fit in as much Kakashi/Tsume as possible so I can move on with the story. It's kind of hard, trying to keep them in character, and take it slow so it doesn't seem like they hate each other one minute, the next they're getting married.

Tell me how I'm doing, because personally, I think I'm failing.