"Remind me why I'm visiting a baby?"
"Because you're a nice person on the inside." I stated firmly, dragging Kakashi by the wrist. "Deep... deep on the inside."
"I'm nice to you." Kakashi protested.
"That's different." I rolled my eyes. "And besides, I think your definition of 'nice' is different to mine."
"But why do I have to visit a baby?" Kakashi asked again. "I really don't see the point, he can't even sit up, let alone walk and have an intelligent conversation."
"No, but it's nice to talk to Teren and Kanari, and just see the kid." I replied. "You're really hopeless, you know that?"
"I think your definition of 'hopeless' is different to mine." Kakashi said sarcastically.
"Oh, get over yourself." I rolled my eyes and knocked on the door. Teren opened it, and smiled when he saw us.
"Hey guys. Come on in, Tsumari and Garake are over for the day as well."
"See, Kakashi? I told you it was a good idea." I said smugly.
"It's not a good idea." Kakashi said. "I'll do something wrong, I know it."
"It's fine." Teren said. "You're a friend."
"Yes, but I'm also an assassin trained to kill." Kakashi pointed out. "I don't have the right skill set for handling little kids. Or just kids in general."
"Once upon a time, you were a little kid."
"Twenty-one years ago." Kakashi sweatdropped.
I looked sideways at Kakashi and shook my head. "You're weird. So where's my baby?"
"My baby is in the sitting room with the others," Teren said pointedly.
"Alright." I darted around Teren and into the sitting room. The first thing I noticed was a little play mat which Damaru was lying on, chewing a tiny teddy. He was wearing a white onesie, typical of babies, but it just looked adorable against the tanned skin he'd inherited from Teren and the little fluff of white hair on his head.
"Hey, Miyoshi." Kanari greeted. She was sat on the couch with Garake, and Tsumari was down by Damaru.
"Hey." I grinned, getting down to my knees by the baby. "How's my little ninja today?"
Damaru gurgled, then attempted to fit the entirety of a rubber duck in his mouth. He managed up to the head, which I had to admit was impressive for a baby.
"That bad?" I shook my head. Damaru started babbling, mostly nonsense. I gasped dramatically. "Daddy woke you up? I'll be having stern words with him, don't you worry, baby."
"Now she can talk to babies. Miyoshi Uraka, everyone."
"I didn't bring you here to be a downer, Kakashi." I rolled my eyes. "Look how cute he is. That is my baby right there."
"I don't recall you pushing him out." Kanari said.
"No, but I do recall pulling him out." I countered. "Plus I'm basically his aunt, he's mine."
"But he's mine too, right?" Kanari said, her tone implying that if I said no there would be consequences.
"He's just a baby!" Kakashi groaned.
"Kakashi, come here." I didn't wait for Kakashi to reply, but I reached up and pulled him down into a sitting position by grabbing his wrist.
"What?"
I silently handed Damaru to him, watching in anticipation. Kakashi's eyes widened when he realised there was a baby in his arms, but after a minute, his expression softened just a fraction. Nobody else noticed, but I did, and I smirked triumphantly. "Told you so."
Damaru squirmed in Kakashi's arms, tiny fists flailing aimlessly.
"I-I'm gonna, like, break him or something." Kakashi stammered.
"No, you won't." I tried to compose myself, because seeing Kakashi holding a baby was making my soul explode with happiness. "Look, hold him carefully like that, and make sure you support his head."
Kakashi shifted his arms awkwardly, looking very out of place. I wanted to take a picture and keep it for the rest of eternity. Finally, he decided to give up on trying to cradle Damaru and just shifted the kid so he was resting on his shoulder vertically.
"How adorable is that?" Tsumari murmured to me.
"I'm legitimately trying not to scream." I responded quietly. "Do you happen to have a camera?"
"I wish I did."
"What are you two whispering about?" Kakashi frowned.
"Nothing." I grinned.
"This baby is trying to unmask me." Kakashi grumbled, pushing Damaru's tiny hands away from the hem of his mask. Suddenly, everyone was paying attention, and Kakashi noticed. "Why are you all staring?"
"Kashi, you seriously have no idea how much the entire world wants to know what's under there." I told him.
"You've seen." Kakashi muttered. "It's not a big deal."
"Doesn't mean I don't like looking." I winked, then laughed at Kakashi's reaction.
"You're just doing this because you have an audience," he said accusingly.
"Guilty as charged." I smiled. "It's funny seeing you uncomfortable."
"Oh, excellent," Kakashi remarked dryly. "Uh... the kid's fallen asleep."
"Pass him here." I carefully took Damaru from Kakashi, positioning him as close as I could to how Kakashi had been holding him. The baby stirred a little, but didn't wake.
"Isn't he precious?" Tsumari whispered.
I hummed in agreement. "Though I never thought Teren would be the first of us to have kids."
"I always thought you would be." Tsumari said. "Once you found the right guy, which I'd say you have."
"I dunno." I murmured, rocking Damaru gently. "I know I want to, one day, but..." I gestured helplessly at Kakashi with my free hand; he was up on the couch with Teren, Garake and Kanari now, chatting away to them.
"He'll come around." Tsumari put one arm around me and pulled me close into a one-armed side hug.
"It's not a case of whether he comes around or not." I replied. "I don't care if he wants to or not, I will. It's just that we never... you know." I felt a blush rise to my cheeks.
"Never?" Tsumari raised her eyebrows. "You spent more than a month alone together on that mission a while back, and you still didn't...?"
I shook my head. "Nope. We shared a bed and everything. Kakashi's just not that kind of guy. He's very in control of himself, but he's a little too in control of himself. You can forget about public displays of affection, and even private displays of affection are rare."
"Do you plan on tying the knot?"
"I mean, that would be nice." I replied. "We've been together for the best part of a year now, but it's always hard to tell what Kakashi's thinking. And it would make for a kind of awkward conversation to have. For the moment, I'm content to just go at his pace."
"Miyoshi." Kakashi cut into our conversation. "The Hokage just sent me a message. He wants us both in his office, now."
"Of course he does." I sighed. "Any chance we could skip?"
"Not unless you have a death wish." Kakashi replied. "The words 'Uchiha' and 'Danzō' have been mentioned on multiple occasions."
"Wonderful." I groaned. Tsumari took Damaru from me so I could stand up, though I already missed the tiny body curled up against my chest. Teren and Kanari wouldn't mind if I came by again tomorrow, surely.
I collected my swords from beside the front door, since Teren had a rule that we weren't allowed to have weapons around the house.
"The Hokage wanted both of us, did he?" I checked with Kakashi.
"Yep. Though to be honest, I don't know why I'm involved." Kakashi replied.
"Did the message mention any particular Uchiha?"
"That's the bad news." Kakashi replied. "Fugaku has no idea of this meeting. It's about Itachi."
"Ah."