"Miku, stop that, dattebayo!"
CRASH!
I winced as I watched Naruto failed to stop the ultramarine-haired four-year-old from knocking over what appeared to be an expensive vase. We are so getting our pay docked— "Kiku, get down from there!"
"Fak you!" Miku's double yelled at me from the ceiling, where she was currently standing on.
"Hey, don't make me come up there—aaugh!" She spit on me! "Oh that is it, you little brat—you are gonna get it!"
Meanwhile with Sasuke, he was having a rather peaceful time with the white-haired boy at his side. Riku was his name and, unlike his sisters, Riku was quiet and well behaved. As for Kakashi, he just sat by, enjoying the chaos Miku and Kiku were causing Naruto and I. To him, this was yet another D-rank mission full of pain and suffering for his Genin.
It was just our luck that the Sandaime found another babysitting job for us, watching over Takemi Tae's triplets—and yes, triplets. We were just that lucky…
Takemi Tae was a Tokubetsu Jounin who worked as a nurse (the non-medic-nin type) at a civilian school. She was also an acquaintance of Kakashi's (I'm guessing ANBU, based on how ambiguous Kakashi was when he mentioned this) and used to be quite the active kunoichi before getting pregnant with triplets. How she managed to care for triplets when she was a single mother with a job, I have no idea—oh, right…shadow clones. It's the reason why Tae even had to put in a request for babysitting, since her constant use of shadow clones nearly exhausted her chakra reserves and she was on medical orders to refrain from using the technique until she fully recovered.
I'm just gonna focus on getting this brat off the ceiling now…
"You're doing great, you two." Oh shut up, Kakashi! "Try not to get the ceiling dirty, Chōko—and watch out for glass, Naruto!"
"Stop sitting and do something, Scarecrow, dattebayo!" Naruto was pissed.
"Your mother's going to get mad when she hears you've been misbehaving, Takemi Kiku!" I yelled as I ran after Kiku on the ceiling. It was rather disorienting running upside-down like this, and rather inconvenient, because gravity kept wanting to take my glasses down, but fuck it, I need to get that four-year-old off the ceiling before she hurts herself from overusing her chakra.
"Only three more hours to go, everyone," Kakashi said as he continued reading Icha Icha Paradise.
Joy…
…
About two and a half hours later, Miku and Kiku passed out on the sofa, having exhausted themselves from tormenting Naruto and me. Riku was still awake and seemed rather relieved that his sisters were asleep. The house was certainly quieter, that's for sure…
"Why us…?" I found myself asking as I slumped back in a chair. "Why?"
Naruto said something, but his voice came out muffled because his face was flat on the table we were sitting at. Because the first thing he did after sitting down was slam his forehead onto the table and stuck to that position for the past five minutes. Naruto was just done.
And Sasuke was currently cleaning up the mess Miku and Kiku had made—as a favor to Naruto and I, since Riku wasn't a little shit. In fact, Riku seemed quite eager to help Sasuke out in any way. He was almost like a little puppy, the way Riku was at Sasuke's side… How cute.
"Did I do good?" Riku asked Sasuke after the two had finished cleaning.
Sasuke looked down at Riku for a moment before ruffling the boy's hair. "Yes, you did."
A light blush tinged Riku's cheeks as he smiled widely at Sasuke and—holy crap, shark teeth.
"Ah, so that's who the father is," Kakashi suddenly said.
"Sensei say what?" Okay, I'm lost.
"Oh, you'll find out when Takemi shows up," Kakashi said as he closed his book. "Speaking of which, here she is."
As if on cue, a young woman with short, ultramarine-colored hair entered the house. She wore a white lab coat over her blue dress and had on a pair of high heels that made her seem taller than she already was. Her first question to us upon opening the door was, "Who did what this time?"
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Takemi Tae and holy crap, what does she mean by this time?
…
About fifteen minutes later, Kakashi enlightened us to a bit of information that he was keeping from Sasuke, Naruto, and I…information that Tae had told him before barging out of the house seven hours ago…information that could have given us a heads-up in regards to the hell-spawn that were Tae's children. It turns out that we were the eleventh Genin team in charge of watching over Tae's triplets. What happened to the previous teams? They kept calling it quits after the first day of watching over Miku, Kiku, and Riku—by the way, Riku wasn't always the quiet, well-behaved child he was today. Nooo, he was the worst out of his siblings.
Riku has a biting problem with people he doesn't like. Team 7 as a whole was only fortunate that Riku actually liked us, because those shark teeth are not just for show. Nope…those teeth of his were known to have sent five Genin and two Jounin to the hospital.
By the by, Riku wasn't the only one with shark teeth…Kiku also had them. It was literally the only thing setting her and Miku apart, as the two were nearly identical in appearance. Well, that and the fact that Miku liked to wear dresses. Kiku preferred to wear shorts—all for the sake of running around on the ceiling.
"Hey, hey, why don't you have a husband-ttebayo?" Naruto suddenly asked Tae.
"Oh my god, Naruto, you can't just ask people why they don't have a husband!" I'm getting Mean Girls vibe from my tone and response. Great, now I'm gonna be tempted to make quotes for the rest of the day…and only I will ever get them. This really sucks…
"Nah, it's fine!" At least Tae doesn't seem to be offended by Naruto's question. In fact, she seems rather amused. "To answer your question, I just never got romance—like, it just wasn't my thing. I'm happy being single."
"And yet you have these three," Sasuke remarked as his eyes focused on Miku, Kiku, and Riku.
"Just because I like being single doesn't mean I don't want a family." Tae sounded as if she had already told this to others already—many times, by the looks of how automatic her response appeared. She almost sounded jaded… "The orphanage considered me an unfitting parent, so I had to take an alternative in making my own family."
If I recalled correctly, the orphanage doesn't allow single-parent adoptions, if the parent in mind is a shinobi. Something about the possibility of a single-parent shinobi getting themselves killed while on duty and orphaning their child yet again… It is pretty much the reason why shinobi and civilian relationships are encouraged, if said shinobi is not from a major clan.
In most cases, it's usually an incentive for shinobi to pass on their genes to the next generation of future shinobi instead of adopting. If it ended up producing a four-year-old girl like Kiku, who can walk on the ceiling without any problem, then it certainly has some logic behind it (not very good logic, but logic nonetheless). I'm guessing the previous wars must have something to do with that.
"So you went to Iwai?" Kakashi questioned.
"Yup!" Tae grinned widely. "I wasn't expecting triplets, though…any other questions you'd like to ask since we're taking the time to catch up, Hatake?"
Kakashi thought for a moment. "Well…I've been meaning to ask, but I thought Kiku was your only daughter…Did I miss something?"
…
"Geez, has it been that long since we last talked to each other?" Tae rubbed the back of her head. "Well, time to give you an update…as you can see, Riku's my only boy, Hatake."
"I can see that…I guess I must have made a mistake." Kakashi chuckled. "Sorry about that, Miku-chan."
Miku stared at Kakashi for a moment before smiling. "It's okay! Everyone makes mistakes!"
Indeed.
…
It was only until Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and I returned to the Academy that the meaning behind Miku's words finally hit me, at which I ended up blurting out, "So that's what she meant!"
I soon found myself getting stared at by everyone in the room, including the Sandaime and Iruka. I need to learn to stop embarrassing myself…
"I see you all made it back unscathed…" the Sandaime mused as he reviewed the mission scroll Kakashi had returned to him. "How was Riku doing?"
"Not biting, that's for sure," Sasuke remarked.
"I think he likes you best-ttebayo," Naruto huffed. "Must be nice not having to deal with Miku-chan."
"At least you didn't have to get Kiku off the ceiling!" My glasses kept falling off—not fun!
"Would you like to take on another mission?" the Sandaime asked Kakashi, who seemed to be considering it for a moment before shaking his head.
"I think I let my Genin suffer enough today." Suffering that you were certainly enjoying, ya sadist! "We'll be back tomorrow."
And so ends yet another day full of suffering…worst seven hours ever. The money was not worth it! It totally isn't—okay, maybe it is, but I still have lingering memories of struggling to save up money from my past life (college is fucking expensive), so any money is good enough for now.
"I'm gonna go buy a birthday card…" Shino's birthday is coming up soon and I'm pretty sure Gaara should be receiving our gifts for him in Suna very soon. "You guys coming along?"
Naruto nodded his head. "Might as well—do you think he'll be home when we drop it off-ttebayo?"
"Doubt it." Sasuke sighed. "Considering how busy we've been, they're probably just as busy."
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, what do you know of Team 8 and Team 10?" I looked questioningly at Kakashi, who seemed about ready to ditch us to go spend some quality time staring at the memorial rock (most likely). "They probably have it better…"
Kakashi tilted his head to the side. "Last I heard, Team 10 was on messenger duty and Team 8 is doing god knows what chasing after Tora the cat."
Sasuke made a face. "Who the hell is Tora?"
"A feline from hell," Kakashi replied.
Naruto laughed. "You're probably exaggerating-ttebayo."
"I dunno…" I seriously am not looking forward to ever getting stuck with a D-rank mission involving Tora.
"You might have had it bad today, but at least you're not stuck on a team with an Inuzuka chasing after a cat." Kakashi certainly made a point. "So about your outburst, Chōko…just what exactly did you mean?"
"About Takemi-san taking an alternative—it was Munehisa-san, wasn't it?" That is totally not what I meant, but Kakashi doesn't need to know! "He's the father!"
"Is that what Manabe-san meant when he said Kazuichi wasn't the only brat he was a grandfather to?" Naruto seemed to have made a connection.
"I think he was talking about Iwai's daughter, Michiko, but you could be right." Kakashi shrugged.
…
"Kakashi-sensei, how do you know all of this?" Sasuke asked a question that I felt like asking as well.
Kakashi chuckled. "Iwai runs a weapons shop, remember? Where do you think I get my kunai and shuriken?"
"Riiight…" Almost forgot about that… "So Sasuke, Naruto, and I are gonna go get something for Shino's birthday, do you want anything while we're out shopping? I know you're gonna leave us."
"Get a carton of milk, we're almost out." Kakashi promptly left after that.
Why does it feel so normal to hear Kakashi say that? "I think we've domesticated him…"
…
…
Considering how well we did, in comparison to other Genin teams, it wasn't that much of a surprise that we got put back on babysitting the Takemi triplets the next day. That still didn't mean I didn't complain, because I was complaining on the way to the Takemi household.
"Why the hell are we even babysitting these kids?!" I don't want this, dammit!
"Because it brings money to the house, Chōko," Kakashi said before ruffling my hair. "I'm sure they won't be that bad today."
"Says you!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're not the one putting up with them, dattebayo!"
"I don't hear Sasuke complaining…" Kakashi turned to Sasuke, who was silent.
"That's because Riku isn't being the terror he was with everyone else!" Hell, we're pretty damn lucky Riku hasn't bitten any of us.
"It's because he likes us," Sasuke remarked.
"I think it's more than that in your case-ttebayo…" Naruto muttered.
"Ah, young love!" Kakashi, I would appreciate it if you do not read Icha Icha Paradise when you say stuff like that.
At least I get another chance to look at Tae's legs…what? They're very lovely legs…
"Yeah, I think so too." Oh god, did I seriously say that out loud enough for Kakashi to hear me? "It's okay, Chōko—I won't judge."
Oh god why…
…
…
One of the upsides to babysitting the Takemi triplets was that Kakashi let us go after our job was done. However, because of how well we were doing—which is a hell of a lot better than the previous ten teams—we were stuck babysitting the triplets until Tae's restriction on using shadow clones wore off, which should be within two weeks.
"Just sit back and stay comfy, why don't ya, Kakashi-sensei?" I glared at Kakashi as I dragged Kiku off the ceiling. This was our third day watching these hell-spawns…and I was starting to grow exhausted.
"I'll step in when you need me the most," Kakashi said as he turned the page to the book he most likely read so many times.
"WE NEED YOU, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto yelled as Miku proceeded to throw a shuriken at him. Luckily, for Naruto, Sasuke caught it before it hit him.
"Heehee, it's just a toy, stupid!" Miku stuck out her tongue.
"Falling for such a simple genjutsu…I thought you three learned better?" Kakashi remarked.
"Genjutsu…?" I blinked a few times, my eyes widening afterwards. "Kai!"
Well I'll be damned…it is just a toy—a doll, to be exact. Holy crap, Tae's triplets are waaay too advance for their age…
"That's what happens when you pair up someone like Takemi and Iwai," Kakashi explained. "This is why Takemi doesn't let her kids out of the house, unless otherwise."
I have a feeling there is more behind Tae's reasons, one of them being Danzō… Hell, this is probably the reason why her kids are so destructive. I'd be bored enough to take it out on the new guys if I had to stay inside the house all the time… Well, for the most part. The only reason the triplets are stuck at home is because they are currently grounded.
The Takemi household is pretty huge. It's located on the outskirts of town, near a forest. It's pretty isolated and has a rather large backyard. It's a nice house, overall. It would be even nicer if these hell-spawns would just behave!
This is gonna be a looong two weeks…
…
Near the end of our first week babysitting the Takemi triplets, Kakashi finally stepped in to help us…and it was to keep Riku from sinking his teeth into Naruto. Just what was it that set Riku off? Well, it all starts with Miku and Kiku and it ends with Naruto and Sasuke losing their first kiss to each other because of them. By the way, the "kiss" between Naruto and Sasuke still managed to happened…and wanna know what's ironic about it?
I was the one who almost lost my first kiss, but then Sasuke got in the way and yeah… Even though it was an accident, Riku was rather pissed off. His red eyes were practically gleaming as he glared at Naruto, killing intent radiating off of his body rather potently for someone of his age.
I guess that's why Kakashi decided to step in because holy crap, Riku could have seriously harmed Naruto. For the rest of the day, after that, Kakashi made it a point to keep Riku at his side, making sure the white-haired boy wasn't out of his sight. Meanwhile with Sasuke and Naruto, the two were currently mourning the loss of their first kiss like a stereotypical shoujo protagonist.
And Kiku and Miku were noticeably quiet after Kakashi got involved with their brother. It probably had something to do with Riku's killing intent, considering the two girls stopped laughing immediately after their brother started exuding it. Hell, it turned out that Miku wet herself because of it. She tried to keep quiet about it, but the puddle she left behind was something that could not be ignored, as was the new dress she was wearing.
"I'm sorry…" Miku sniffed. "I didn't mean too…"
Miku was trying her hardest not to cry, but when Naruto just ruffled her hair before going off to get the mop, she started bawling. She hadn't expected Naruto to be so nice to her, especially after all the torment she had caused him. She spent the next few minutes apologizing to Naruto as he mopped up the mess she had made.
Seeing her sister in such a state must have made Kiku feel rather guilty as I soon found her shuffling closer and closer to my side. I thought nothing of it first until I felt a small hand tug on my haori and a rather shaky voice say, "I-I-I-I'm s-sorry, N-Nee-san."
Needless to say, for something that could have landed Naruto in the hospital, had Kakashi not intervened, it ended up doing more good than bad. Miku and Kiku were no longer treating Naruto and I like crap. Riku was still pissed off, but Kakashi was there to keep him from misbehaving and Sasuke was at least doing a good job of explaining why it wasn't nice to hurt Naruto.
It took a couple of days, but Riku eventually stopped glaring at Naruto. It probably had to do with the fact that Kakashi made it a habit to drag Riku away from Sasuke every time the four-year-old glared at Naruto. Riku did not like being away from Sasuke. That was a fact and Sasuke knew it, but didn't actually say anything, because he didn't actually mind.
"I only mind if he tries to hurt Naruto or take me away from you guys," was Sasuke's response when I asked him about it.
"So…would you say he is better than most of your fangirls-ttebayo?" Naruto asked after hearing Sasuke's response.
I wasn't that surprised to hear Sasuke say, "Yes."
Because if there was one thing that I could say that Sasuke's fan girls can learn from Riku, it's that Riku knows how to respect boundaries and keep his hands to himself.
…
Come the second week, due to their good behavior, the triplets were ungrounded and were allowed to leave the house. Miku and Kiku were quite ecstatic to leave the house, as was Riku, who couldn't keep himself from smiling. It certainly made it easier to watch the triplets, now that the three of them weren't bored out of their wits being cooped up inside.
The rest of the week was spent with Miku and Naruto making flower crowns using the many flowers that grew in a large patch of grass in the backyard. Kakashi more often than not had to drag my sorry ass down from the large trees Kiku and I were climbing because I got stuck. And by stuck, I mean out of my comfort zone and unwilling to climb down, for fear of falling and getting hurt.
Sometimes I hate having a fear of falling, because I don't mind heights… I just can't stand the thought of a fall from said height. It's the one reason I'm so terrified of roller coasters…well, that and my restriction-based claustrophobia, which I found out I had shortly before my past life came to an end. The things I learn while I'm bored…
And Sasuke was teaching Riku how to handle real shuriken and kunai, because Shisui's influence seemed to have finally revealed itself in some way in the Uchiha. As if Itachi's forehead pokes weren't enough…not saying there is anything bad about it, it just feels a little bittersweet to see it.
As for Tae, she was quite relieved that her kids were no longer sending people to the hospital. She was also impressed with how mellowed out they turned out. She was almost sad to see us go on our last day…almost. Tae was actually happy to return to her previous lifestyle of using shadow clones to watch over her children. Something about just being around her children keeping her mind at peace.
Again, I feel as though Danzō is involved in some way, with Tae trying to keep her kids hidden under his radar.
"Try not to exhaust yourself this time around," Kakashi told Tae as we were leaving the Takemi household.
"No promises!" Tae was honestly amazing for a single mother with triplets.
Miku and Kiku were waving goodbye to us, while Riku seemed to be trying his best not to cry. It was only until the Takemi household was nearly out of sight that Riku suddenly yelled, "I like you!"
I'll give you three guesses to whom Riku aimed his confession to and it sure as hell isn't me.
"Ino-chan's not gonna like this, dattebayo!" Naruto laughed.
"Hn…" Sasuke tried to avoid making eye contact with any of us. He let out an annoyed whine when Kakashi ruffled his hair.
"Crushes are can be quite cute, no?" Kakashi seemed rather amused.
It really depends, but in the case of Riku, it is quite cute. Seeing as Sasuke is starting to get annoyed with us, I guess it's time to change the subject. "So what do you guys wanna do after we get our pay?"
We ended up going to Ichiraku Ramen after we received our pay. Kakashi stuck around with us for a bowl of ramen before going on his way to do his usual thing. Naruto, Sasuke, and I stayed behind. We were mostly just taking the moment to let the fact that we were done watching Tae's triplets sink in… It honestly feels good to get a break from those triplets.
While they can be sweet when they want to, it's still very exhausting to watch over Miku, Kiku, and Riku seven hours a day. I really hope Sarutobi doesn't give us another babysitting mission, because I'm gonna break a door if that happens tomorrow.
"Iruka-sensei's not gonna like that-ttebayo," Naruto said before slurping up another bowl of noodles.
"I don't care—I'm tired of watching people's kids…" At this rate, I'll actually welcome the day we have to retrieve Tora the cat.
"I just want to know when we're gonna start training." Sasuke sighed.
"So long as it doesn't involve trees, I'm good with anything…" Knowing Kakashi, he's probably gonna try and get me out of my comfort zone little by little, so I better learn to suck it up. At least I know I can depend on him to get me down…
…
…
The next day brought us back to the Mission Assignment Desk, so no training today. Instead, why don't you try to guess what D-rank mission Hiruzen decided to give us?
Another. Fucking. Babysitting. Mission… "Motherfucker!"
That's it—the door is gonna get it!
"Chōko, no!" Too late, Iruka!
Were it not for Kakashi, the door would have never lived to see another day. As for our mission…well, it seems that Team 7 was finally going to see Munehisa Iwai. It turns out the shop owner was in need of some assistance watching over his two-year-old daughter, Michiko. And since Team 7 has been doing sooo well in the babysitting department, the Sandaime decided we would be the perfect team for the job. It probably also helps that we have the most experience working with children of Kirigakure descent, assuming Michiko and her father have shark teeth.
Considering Kiku and Riku, it's highly likely Michiko and Iwai have shark teeth. Let's just hope Michiko doesn't have a biting problem, like her half-brother, Riku…
Of course, the one thing neither of us was expecting when we arrived at the Munehisa weapons shop was the presence of another team that Naruto, Sasuke and I found so familiar. I certainly had the biggest shock of my life when I saw that Lee finally made his transition into looking like a miniature version of his sensei, Maito Gai. Like, holy crap—how are they not related?!
"Chōko-san!" Lee happily exclaimed. "Love!"
You know, I still can't get over the fact Lee has a crush on me—or rather, I still can't get over the fact that someone actually has a crush on me. Also… "Hello, Neji-san!"
Neji nearly dropped the box he was carrying upon seeing me wave at him. "Wh-What are you doing here?"
"We could be asking you the same thing, dattebayo!" Naruto remarked.
"Just what is going on?" I would seriously like to know that, too, Sasuke.
Then Gai decided to make his appearance and upon seeing Kakashi, the iconic bright smile of his crossed his face. "Well, if it isn't my eternal rival, Kakashi!"
Welp, looks like Kakashi is in a similar position as me, minus the crush-thing. At least one good thing is gonna come out of this babysitting mission…and that's that Sasuke, Naruto, and I won't be the only ones suffering, because now Kakashi has to deal with Gai. Isn't karma lovely sometimes?
…
…
…
A/N 3-23-18 STILL EDITING AND FYI, FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL CONFUSED ABOUT IT: Miku is trans and THAT'S what Chōko's outburst is about, because she JUST figured it out after not thinking much about it. And that's about it!
2-28-15 SO SOMEONE MADE ME A THING. CHECK OUT THE LINK ON MY PROFILE! AND ALSO, MANY THANKS TO Vampirelover12100 FOR TAKING THE TIME TO MAKE IT! YOU ARE AWESOME. SERIOUSLY I APPRECIATE IT SO MUCH. :3
It's three in the morning, I am somewhat exhausted, but this chapter got done! Yeah, I happen to have a thing for world-building, which is what this chapter serves as a purpose…aside from setting up an eventual meet up with Team Gai, because that is definitely a thing. Yes.
I hope you guys enjoyed the Takemi triplets and Tae, because I grew rather invested in them. By the by, Tae is aromantic, in case anyone didn't catch on. And she is indeed an acquaintance of Kakashi's through ANBU…and that's about it to that relationship. If anything, Tae is muuuch closer to Munehisa Iwai…platonically. More will be revealed in the next chapter.
So in other news, the poll is finally up (LET THE SHIPPING GAMES BEGIN!), and I'm gonna say this now, if anyone is wondering about the Itachi/Chōko option, it's because a reviewer once suggested it and I decided to put in it for the hell of it. I was not expecting that pairing to get support, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't amused by it. Also, I got the link to the sprite I made for Chōko, so now you can have the chance of getting a visual idea of how Chōko looks like. Enjoy! ^^
Anyways, shout out to Ryu Kitsune Bard84 for being reviewer #270. Sorry if I haven't been responding to reviews this much, I've been rather busy this past week. So just thank you to those who took the time to review. I really appreciate it!
I guess that's it for now…Again, it's pretty late, so yeah. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, so until next time! KD out! XD