Chapter 29
Beta's by Black Sparrow
"Ouch," came the pained groan from the wind user.
Asuma winced while he held onto the little girl to not let her fall and simultaneously tried to detangle her hand from his beard. His colleagues were no help, they were just laughing hysterically at his misfortune. At last Shiori-san came to his rescue.
"Hinako-chan, NO," Shiori said firmly when she came to a halt only two steps away from him and surprisingly the toddler stopped in her tracks and looked wide eyed at her mother.
"No," the civilian reinforced a second time and gently separated Hinako-chan's hand from Asuma's beard but didn't take her daughter out of his arms.
When Shiori was sure that Hinako wouldn't try a second time she explained with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry. Whenever she is confronted with something new she needs to touch it and then tries to pull it closer. None of her other uncles have a beard and she hasn't realized yet that she is hurting somebody when she grabs onto hair." At the last part the young mother smiled up at him while she stroked Hina-chan's cheek.
'Damn was she pretty,' was the smoker's only thought while he watched Kakashi's wife caress her child's cheeks.
"She has quite the strong grip," Asuma murmured while he watched the toddler in his arms now more warily.
"That she has," Genma snorted. "And just as Shiori-san said Hina-chan also likes to rip on hair when she is in reaching distance so be careful. By the way she is now reacting to 'no' too?" At the last part Genma turned to Hinako's mother, he had just returned from a two week mission.
"Yes, I'm sorry you missed some of her steps Genma but I have written everything down and made some photos, I take you are staying for lunch?" Shiori asked rhetorically.
Genma grinned sheepishly at Shiori who just snorted in return and waved her hand in direction of the cupboards. The senbon wielder stretched lazily and got himself another set for the table. Before anybody else could say anything, Tenzo came strolling in through the backdoor and came to a halt when confronted with so many of his comrades.
"Oh," he exclaimed brightly.
"Tenzo! Looks like everybody is coming home today. Go grab a set, we were just about to start eating," Shiori said cheerfully, too used to their shinobi friends coming and going from her house at all times to even blink at the sudden intrusion.
It hadn't become uncommon to find one or two of them in the middle of the night just sitting at the breakfast bar eating leftovers or taking care of Hinako when she had woken up while her parents were still sleeping. It had been awkward and quite disconcerting for the first few times it happened. After all she hadn't known the males in question for more than a year, and while she knew intellectually that they weren't a threat to her daughter and herself she still had to hold herself back from screaming at them when she came down the stairs first thing in the morning and found a man other than her husband feeding her baby and relaxing in their living room without having been invited in.
Shiori had come to terms that being married to Kakashi meant that his comrades were a package deal after she had just plain asked her husband about this strange behavior one day. The silver haired Jounin had just looked confused at her until she had explained about how civilians considered it rude to enter a house without asking, not to mention about taking somebody else's child without permission. What had followed was an enlightening and somewhat embarrassing discussion with the whole ANBU cell about what civilians and shinobi considered normal. Afterwards Shiori knew that permanent shinobi cells and Genin teams were most of the time even closer than actual families and it was apparently common practice that they invaded the houses of their teammates and treated their children like their own.
"Why is that, that you guys always show up for either lunch or dinner?" grumbled Kakashi playfully.
His only thought to his comrades coming and going was how much additional protection and free babysitting Shiori and he had on hand when they wanted some alone time.
"It is your own fault for marrying somebody who can cook and is willing to feed us," Genma said cheekily before he and Tenzo moved the filled pots and bowls that Shiori placed on the breakfast bar over to the long dining table.
None of the other ninja had missed the byplay and were now assimilating this new piece of information. Kakashi had married this woman so the pregnancy was probably planned because they couldn't imagine Sharingan-no-Kakashi marrying out of duty when it wasn't a direct command from the Hokage.
"Tenzo-san, is the table your work?" Hayate asked curiously after they had walked closer to the oversized table.
"Yes, the last one broke during one of Kakashi-sempai's and Gai-san's brawls," Tenzo simply stated with a side glance at the Hatake clan head.
As a result Kakashi looked as close to sheepish as he showed in public and threw an apologizing gaze at his wife. Shiori just kissed him on the cheek when she passed him; she had accepted that certain things would sooner or later end up destroyed with these men in the house.
"The table really didn't matter, if you had caught the china on the other hand, I would have been really put out," Shiori stated calmly.
With the exception of the china she had removed everything breakable or valuable from the living room. They were shinobi, so fights would happen and now that Hinako had started to crawl she also began to baby proof the rooms to prevent accidents.
Tenzo and Genma snorted before the wood user gently took Hinako-chan out Asuma's arms and deposited her in her custom baby chair courtesy of the Mokuton-user. On the way over he gave Hinako a quick but gentle kiss to the fluffy hair while she snuggled closer to him. Tenzo loved spending time with the little girl and was more than glad that his senpai's wife allowed the contact. When Shiori had sat them all down a couple of months ago and explained what was considered appropriate for civilians and what was just plain rude he had seriously feared that she would limit their contact with Hinako. Instead she had listened to their reasonings as ninja and in the end accepted their quirks with a sigh and a shake of her head.
The newest ninja privy to Kakashi's secret shook their heads while they watched the members of the Hatake household and extended family work in tandem to fill the table, it was surreal and most of the newcomers felt like they were trapped in a strange genjutsu.
Lunch turned out very lively with a lot of ribbing all around. The ninja watched with growing astonishment how the civilian who was known for her calm and polite demeanor, teased or touched Genma and Tenzo without a second thought.
After lunch was finished and the table was cleared they watched somewhat bemused as Kakashi, Genma and Tenzo took over cleaning up while Shiori relaxed at the table. A normal civilian wife would have never allowed this.
"Are they always cleaning up?" Yugao couldn't help but ask.
Shiori looked at her with a raised eyebrow before she confirmed, "Of course. I cook for them and they clean up and make sure the fridge is always filled with groceries."
"You are strange, the civilian wives I know would never let that happen," Kurenai threw in.
As an answer Shiori snorted, yeah she had tried to shoo them away in the beginning too but now she was more than glad for the shared housework. She had been stupid to make things harder for herself then needed.
"That may be so but personally I think that's stupid of them. A child is already a full time job let alone housework, a little help from the partner wouldn't go amiss. Oh and they offered." Then her lips twitched into a smirk, an expression the ninja had never seen on Shiori's face before. "Besides I'm sure your acquaintances aren't running a business besides housework and raising children."
"True," Anko conceded while she watched the woman in front of her.
Okay maybe she would have to keep a closer eye on Hatake Shiori; she was clearly more than just the part she showed at Mariko's. The civilian had never ever even given the slightest hint that she was married to Kakashi and Anko had seen the silver haired Jounin just a week ago at Mariko's with Raido, nothing in her body language had even suggested an intimate relationship. Even the tales about a possible pregnancy around ten months ago had been dismissed by her as just as vicious rumors; a glance at Hinako let Anko grin sardonically, well they had turned out to be true all along.
Kurenai had to concede that her first impression of Shiori being a submissive woman that just did whatever she was told had been dead wrong, the woman that Kakashi married may be family oriented but she didn't take everything lying down and gave back as good as she got.
"Doing dishes?" Asuma couldn't help but tease his comrades when they returned to the table.
In the next moment he called himself an idiot when the scathing looks of all four women hit him, Shiori's gaze may not be as practiced as the kunoichis but it had a certain sparkle behind it that told him that she had a long memory.
"Of course," Kakashi snorted while he took his daughter from Shiori. "Shiori is my wife not my servant," the silver haired Jounin stated as a fact while he absentmindedly stroked Hinako's head and back while said girl slowly fell asleep against his torso.
"Good point." Kurenai nodded approvingly.
While the chuckling continued Kakashi stood up again and carried Hinako into the library to put her down for her afternoon nap, she was already out like a light when she touched the mattress.
"So Kakashi I gotta ask, for years you have kept your face carefully guarded and had people chasing after you to find out what's under it, and now you just carelessly show it to us." Anko smirked at Kakashi.
In return she received a devastating handsome grin that made her ears hot while she thankfully could stop a blush before it became visible on her face, Kurenai and Yugao weren't that lucky, both turned beet red and avoided eye contact with anybody on the table afterwards.
Genma's surprised laugh turned into a cough when Shiori hit him on the arm, the senbon wielder looked a bit too entertained for her taste.
"You are a jerk," Shiori simply stated with a deadpan at her husband but her statement lost some of its bite when the ninja around the table noticed the slight twitch in her lips.
"Your jerk," Kakashi teased her while he grinned down at his wife.
The corners of her mouth rose even more before she gave him a slap to the shoulder and complained, "Stop that, you are horrible for making me laugh, the situation is not that funny. That smile is dangerous and shouldn't be used against your comrades."
"Thank you, Shiori-san." Yugao coughed. "And she's right you know, no wonder you hide your face, you would probably cause more accidents around Konoha than anybody else."
The males around her didn't know if they should feel offended or agree with her, but right at that moment they were pretty glad that Kakashi had kept his face covered for so long, because while they were not bad looking, none of them would be competition for the silver haired Jounin.
Kakashi simply shrugged and turned back to Anko. "I'm married and this is my home, I don't see why I have to hide my face here. Plus none of my stalkers know of this place."
This time it was Shiori that had to suppress a laugher with a cough. "Don't worry anata, I will protect you from the bad, bad fangirls."
Asuma and Kakashi locked gazes and shuddered simultaneously.
"You better do," the silver haired man murmured while his arm went around Shiori's shoulders.
"You two are disgustingly sweet," Yugao deadpanned.
Genma beside the married couple opened his mouth to comment to that when Shiori sent him a look. "Say it and I promise you I will bring out the baby photos."
Genma wisely shut his mouth once more.
"Now you have me curious," Anko said eagerly and also Kurenai and Yugao leaned closer.
"Sorry, I can't tell you anything, at least so long as Genma behaves," Shiori said with an apologetic smile while she saw how the senbon specialist relaxed out of the corner of her eyes.
To tell the truth Shiori would only use those pictures if Genma should do something that was completely out of line. Since Shiori had gotten used to their near constant presence she had started to treat them like brothers or close cousins. Well what she thought were brothers or close cousins, Eliza didn't have a lot of extended family and had seen them maybe once every five or ten years and Shiori had grown up as a single child too. So after the first careful testing on both sides Shiori had found a comfortable rapport with all of them, though she could easily say that Genma was her favorite hands down.
"Pity," Asuma mumbled before he threw her a considering gaze. "I know I'm going to dig myself my own grave with the next question but how old are you Shiori-san? I mean you have been running a successful business for the last three years."
Shiori's lips twitched while the Kunoichi's around the table sent Asuma disapproving gazes, today he seemed to be only able to put his foot in his mouth.
"You are right Asuma, that's really not a question you should ask a lady…but tell anyway I want to know too," Anko at first scolded the smoker before turning to Shiori with a sunny grin.
Shiori snorted before she said amused, "How old do you think I am?"
Hayate quickly intervened, "Don't answer Asuma, you have a severe case of foot in mouth today."
"Hhm, you look young but that could be just good genes, you are pretty mature and are successful in your profession…so I would say around twenty five like Kakashi, maybe a year or two older," Anko answered in his stead.
"Interesting," was the only thing Shiori answered while she looked serenely at the other ninja, nothing on her face betrayed her thoughts.
"Damn," murmured Hayate, "playing poker with you must be a nightmare."
Kakashi guwaffed beside his wife while looking amused at his comrades, oh they were so in for it.
"Hhm, I think she is around your age Anko, twenty four or possibly even twenty three," Kurenai answered as the next person.
"Hhm, Genma, Tenzo any advice?" Hayate asked his long time friends.
"Sorry I'm not going to say anything." Genma grinned while Tenzo just shook his head grinning, he had been watching the conversation contently for a while now and didn't feel the need to contribute.
"Oh well, then I will go with Kurenai, twenty four."
"Yugao?"
"Hhm, twenty eight."
"Asuma?"
"Twenty three."
Shiori and Kakashi looked at each other before they burst into laughter, Genma chuckled beside them, he himself had been stunned when he realized that he was ten years older than Kakashi's wife.
"How does it feel to be regarded older than you are?" Genma asked teasingly.
"I like to think that they calculated more my mental maturity and success then my actual age," Shiori promptly gave back.
"So younger than twenty three?" Asuma asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I turned nineteen last August," Shiori answered.
"NINETEEN?" came to collective bellow from the ninja across the table.
"B-But, I mean…when?" Yugao stammered.
"I met Kakashi when I was sixteen and he asked me to marry him on my eighteenth birthday," Shiori explained before she took a sip from her water.
Asuma, Hayate, Yugao and Kurenai were speechless while Anko waggled with her eyebrows and said teasingly, "Why Kakashi how naughty, taking an innocent young girl to bed."
Kakashi pouted at Anko's quip while Shiori giggled and kissed her husband on the cheek before she turned to Anko and said impishly, "I fear you have it backwards Anko-san, it was me who dragged him into a bed first."
Around the table splutters and coughs could be heard while Kakashi only sighed and sent his wife a long suffering look, why oh why had his sense of humor rubbed off on her.
"What she meant was that I collapsed from chakra exhaustion in her backyard and she dragged me into her guestroom before getting some help from the hospital," Kakashi clarified before he turned back to his wife once more, "and may I remind you that at that time I had already been stalking you for a few months?"
"You two…you know what, you two deserve each other," Asuma said while he shook his head in disbelief.
Stalking? Dragging into bed? Kami-sama help them all.