A Family of their Own

Chapter 3--The Best Plans...

"Iruka, that meal was great." Kakashi leaned back in his chair, letting his food
settle. He watched as the chuunin gathered the dishes and put them in the sink to
wash. "Would you like me to do dishes, since you cooked? It'd be no bother."

Naruto sat in his seat, quietly sneaking peeks at the jounin. He knew the man had
eaten with them, but he had never seen him lower his mask. What could he be hiding?
He brightened imperceptibly; maybe Awuta knew! He'd ask later, after the old man was
gone. He came out of his thoughts in time to hear the offer to wash dishes. "I help!
I's good at dishes! Me, too, Awuta!"

Iruka smiled at the little boy, before turning his gaze on his guest. "What kind of
host would I be if I made the guest work for his meal, ne? I'll just put them in to
soak and do them later. Naruto-kun, why don't you go play in the bedroom? I'd like
to talk to Hatake-san in private, onegai."

Naruto pouted cutely, but did as he was told. But he didn't go quietly; they heard
him stomp down the hall and slam the door.

Iruka blushed at the chibi's behavior. He had never seen Naruto act so rudely before.
Hatake-san must think him a bad parent. His blush deepened; he started to do the
dishes to give his hands something to do. He felt warm breath on his neck a mere
instant before arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him away from the sink.

"That can wait until later. You wanted to talk to me?" Kakashi sat down, pulling the
younger nin onto his lap. The jounin rested his chin on Iruka's shoulder, as his
uncovered eye turned up in a smile.

Iruka couldn't think. All the blood rushing to his head was bypassing his brain and
going straight to his face. Kakashi nuzzled his neck, making it that much harder to
think. He let out a soft groan. Wait. What was he doing?! Naruto was just down the
hall! He tried to push himself off of the jounin's lap, but the silver-haired nin
held on tighter, moving his now uncovered lips to suck on Iruka's earlobe.

"Kakashi-san! We...can't...can't do this!" Warm breath ghosting over the shell of
his ear as teeth nipped sharply at the lobe caused the chuunin to shiver and moan. He
turned to face the older nin, intending to push away. Instead, one of Kakashi's hands
gripped the back of his head, pulling him close for a heated kiss.

"Awuta? Whys ya doin dat?"

Iruka broke free of the other teen, and sprang to his feet, face crimson. "Naruto, I
thought I told you to play in the bedroom."

"I's lonely. Whys you all red, Awuta? Is yous sick?" The little blond tilted his
head cutely in puzzlement and worry. If the chuunin was sick, Naruto might have to go
home. That thought brought tears to enormous blue orbs. He didn't want to go back;
here he had company, someone who was nice to him. His birthday was also nearing, and
that ususally meant nothing but fear to the chibi. Naruto wasn't sure of the date,
but the days were getting shorter and the nights cooler. He knew it wouldn't be long.
Running over to the two teens, he flung his arms around Iruka's leg.

Iruka looked down, embarrassment warring with concern. He tried to pry the boy off
his leg, but the little hands gripped with fierce determination. His pants were
becoming wet with tears and snot, as Naruto wiped his face against the material. He
sent a silent plea to the other teen.

Kakashi sat stunned by the blond's reaction to seeing the two older males kissing.
This was out of his league; by the look on Iruka's face, it was beyond him, also.
Neither understood the real reason for the boy's tears, but both wanted them to stop.
The jounin reached out and pulled on Naruto while Iruka pried tiny fingers from his
pantleg.

Once Iruka was free, he picked up the blond and cuddled him. "Don't cry, Naruto.
It's okay. I'm not sick. Really, it's okay. You don't have to cry." Messy blond
hair tickled his chin as the boy turned his head. Watery cerulean eyes gazed up into
chocolate brown orbs.

"Not sick? Wuh-Wuto not has to goes home?"

Brown eyes briefly met a black one, before glancing down again. "Go home? But Naruto
you are home, here, with me. Why would you say such a thing?"

Sniffling, the blond tried to wipe his tears away. "Ifs yous sick, nobody take care
of mes. I not wants to be lonely on my birfday; birfdays is scary."

Kakashi asked, "Naruto, why do you say birthdays are scary?"

Blue eyes swivaled to see the silver-haired nin. Taking a deep breath to calm
himself, Naruto stated, "Peoples chases me and hurtses me and calls mes names. Dey
breaks my house and make messes. Scary. I hides but dey findes mes and makes me cwy.
Dey tink it funny cuz dey laughs."

Iruka hugged the tiny blond close, then wiped away the remaining tears. He vowed to
himself that that wouldn't be the case this year. Naruto would have a proper birthday
celebration. "Nobody will do that this year; I promise. Do you know how old you'll
be, Naruto?"

The two ninja watched in silent amusement as two tiny hands came up, three fingers
raised on one and four on the other. The whiskered face was scrunched in
concentration as he tried to count. "One, elevenses, fifs-two, seven. Niney-one?"

Iruka couldn't hold back; he let out a bark of laughter. By the shaking of the jounin's shoulders, he was laughing, too.

Looking affronted, Naruto pouted and scowled, crossing his arms over his thin chest.
"Not funny. I knows when my birfday is; I's not sure how old I is."

Trying to control his mirth, Iruka gasped out, "Naruto, you will be four. We need to
teach you how to count, ne? I'm sure Kakashi-san will be more than happy to help.
Won't you?" He pinned a glare on the no-longer-smiling copy-nin.

Said nin sweatdropped; he knew better, thanks to his observations, not to gainsay the
brunette. "S-sure, happy to help. Any time."

Smiling, the chuunin resumed his seat on the jounin's lap, Naruto still in his arms.
Tomorrow, lessons would commence. Paying no mind to the chagrin apparent on Kakashi's
face, Iruka began to outline his plan for educating the blond.

Naruto was worn out from his crying. Iruka was waving his arms while he talked, and
was jostling him. Seeing a motionless shoulder, he inched his way to it unobserved
and lay his head against it. Sighing, his eyes closed in slumber.

Kakashi had been lost in his own thoughts. Sure, he'd get to spend more time with the
brunette, but he'd have to share him with the boy. As much as he liked the chibi, he
wanted time alone with Iruka, to get to know him better. Then he felt it; gentle
pressure on his shoulder alerted him to his being relegated to the status of pillow.
He pressed a kiss to the blond mop before interrupting Iruka. "Ne, I don't think he's
listening to you. Why don't you put him to bed? Today has been hard on the little
guy. He's tired out."

Iruka slipped off Kakashi's lap and scooped the tiny bundle into his arms. "Maybe we
should call it a day, Kakashi-san. We can work out a schedule tomorrow. I'll be in
the mission room during the morning hours, then have the afternoon free." Glancing
from the jounin to the door, Kakashi got the hint.

Gaining his feet, he pulled up his mask. "Thank you again for the meal, Iruka. I'll
see myself out." He walked to the door. As he stepped over the threshold, he turned
back. "We'll have to try this again, soon." The look in his eye told the chuunin he
hadn't been talking about dinner. Then, the door shut behind him with a click.

~~~~~~

Naruto sat at his own little desk that Iruka had set up next to his desk. Currently,
he was practicing writing the letters of the alphabet. When he was done with that, he
was supposed to practice his kanji. Iruka had shown him how to make the marks that
meant his name as well as those for Iruka. He still hadn't perfected them yet, but he
was getting better. Naruto was also able to count to ten now, using his fingers, of
course, but it was a start.

Iruka was covering the history of Konohagakure with his class, occasionally leaning
over the blond's shoulder to assess his progress. If the little boy continued like he
was, Iruka'd soon be able to start teaching him to read. He wanted to make sure
Naruto was ready to start at the academy come next fall. He had high hopes for his
foster son, and wouldn't let anything get in the way of the child learning. Maybe
after lunch he would let the tiny blond practice throwing paper shuriken, while the
class practiced with real ones. That would give the chuunin an idea how well the
chibi's hand/eye coordination was.

Naruto was pathetic. Iruka looked on as the tiny blond boy threw paper shuriken after
paper shuriken at the target set up for his use. Not one had hit the target, and the
small boy was getting frustrated. Finally, Naruto threw down the one in his hand and
stomped over to the chuunin. "Awuta, I not do dis no mo. It stupid!" He hmphed,
crossing his arms and pouting. He glared at Iruka, daring him to make him try again.

Iruka knelt down to be eye to eye with the small blond. "Naruto, if I gave up everytime I failed at something, I wouldn't be here right now. We have to keep trying
in order to accomplish what we want. Do you understand what I'm saying? Without
practice, we can't get things done." Brown eyes met blue, and the chuunin saw
understanding slowly dawn in the chibi's eyes.

Walking back to his target, Naruto picked up all his fake shuriken and began once
more. After half an hour, he finally managed to hit his target, and let out a loud
whoop of laughter. "I did it, Awuta! Did yous sees me? I did it!" He tried again
and again, frequently missing but hitting more often than not.

Walking home with Iruka after school that day, Naruto was ecstatic. He bounced around
laughing, and talking a mile a minute about how he was going to be a great ninja like
his guardian and the 'old man.' He didn't notice all the glares and whispered
comments aimed his way, but the brown-haired teenager did. Iruka tried to quiet the
bundle of energy called Naruto; he didn't want to draw unwanted attention to them.

The teen noticed a crowd of people blocking the street up ahead and thought to avoid
it by taking a short-cut. He didn't want to take a chance that someone could hurt the
blond. As he turned to go back to the last cross-street they'd passed, he realized a
crowd had closed in behind them as well. They didn't look friendly. Suddenly, there
was a person standing in front of them, wearing a green jounin vest, spiky silver hair
sticking up messily.

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder at the brunette and said, "Sorry I'm late. A
peacock lost a feather and I had to help him look for it."

Iruka rolled his eyes at the lame-ass excuse, but was secretly glad the other nin was
there. The presence of the copy-nin gave people pause, and the crowds soon melted
away. The two nins stared at each other, blushing slightly before both looked
elsewhere.

Naruto had been oblivious to the hostile intent of the crowds, but he picked up on the uneasiness now passing between his two friends. "What wrong, Awuta? Tatashi? You have a fight?" Grinning for all he was worth, he chirped, "I knows! Let's get some wamen! Dat make mes feel better. Come on!" With that, he took off down the street, heading for Ichiraku's ramen stand. Sighing gustily, the two teen shinobi followed.

~~~~~~

The village was setting things up for their annual festival, commemorating the
Yondaime's defeat of the demon fox, Kyuubi. That meant that Naruto's birthday was
almost here. Iruka wanted to go out to get the boy a present but was afraid to leave
him alone in the house, unprotected. Who knew what the villagers might do if they
found out? He mentioned his problem to Genma one day while they were on duty in the
mission room. Before he knew it, the Hokage had excused himself. His bodyguard,
Namiashi Raidou, followed, scooping up Naruto as they went. Iruka was about to
protest when he was pulled back into his seat.

"Ne, Iruka, it looks like your problem is solved. Why don't you take the rest of the
afternoon off, and go shopping? I can cover for you here. Besides, today is kinda
slow. Go on; get out of here." Genma smirked at the young teen, senbon clenched
between his teeth, as usual. Iruka took him at his word and made a hasty retreat.

Iruka had bought a present and party supplies. He decided he would bake the cake
himself, and had also gotten snacks. He didn't know if anyone would show up, but he
wasn't going to skimp on anything. Naruto would have a happy birthday this year. As
he arrived at his apartment, he noticed his door was ajar. Setting his purchases down
quietly, he approached the door. He sensed no one in the apartment so he entered
cautiously. The place was a shambles; cushions were ripped and thrown about the room.
In the bedroom, Naruto's cot had been destroyed and his plushies mutilated. Iruka
wanted to cry. Instead, he retrieved his packages, shut the door, and began to bring
order to the place. Once the rooms were clean, he went back to the market to get a
new cot and replace Naruto's plushies. He didn't want the child to know about the
break-in.

Home again, he set up the cot and toys the way they had been, and hid the party stuff.
Now, he just had to get the boy back from the Hokage. It was dinnertime, after all.

As the young man neared the Hokage's office, he could hear laughter coming from the
other side of the door. The chuunin on duty let him in; Iruka stood stock still.

There on the floor was Naruto, and the Sandaime who was lying on his back. The little
blond was straddling the man and tickling him! Raidou stood to the side watching with
a smile on his face.

"NARUTO! Stop this instant! Do you know who this man IS?! Show him some respect!" Iruka, who had paled on entering, was now blushing in embarrassment.

"Gomen, Iruka-kun," Sarutobi gasped between chuckles. "It's my fault; I started it.
Don't blame the boy. We were just having some fun, weren't we Naruto-kun?" He smiled
up at the blond currently bouncing on his stomach. "I guess it's time you went home,
though. You can come visit me any time, young man."

Bouncing one last time, Naruto climbed off the old man and rushed to Iruka. "Ne, ne.
I's hungwy, Awuta! Can we have wamen?"

The bemused chuunin shook his head, then looked down into hopeful blue eyes. Swinging
the tiny blond into his arms, he bowed to the Hokage and his guard before taking his
leave. They headed for the ramen stand.

~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. RL has been interferring. Please let me know what you
think.