My Sunshine

Family Dinner - Iruka

"Am I dressed appropriately?  I can't believe I'm about to be a guest at the village leader's home."

She looked nervous.  Iruka gave her a warm, gentle smile. 

"It's just Kakashi and Mizuka. It's not going to be anything like you think it's going to be.  They have three kids under three."

They stepped up on the front porch.  Even before knocking on the front door, Iruka could hear screaming and laughter coming from inside.  Knocking gently, it suddenly became quiet before a chorus of little voices.

"MOOOOOOM!  DOOOOOOOOOR!"

"Get it, Saku!  I'm holding your sister and cooking dinner!"

Iruka heard the door click open, and the two little Hatake boys stood there.  And then their faces lit up in recognition.

"RUKA!"

They both latched on to the hem of his jacket, pulling him inside.  Haru followed, giggling and shutting the door behind her.  They pulled him into the kitchen.

"MOM!"

"MOM!  RUKA'S HERE!"

Mizuka looked like the epitome of motherhood, balancing Kaori on her hip and stirring a pot on the stovetop.  She turned as he entered, still holding baby and spoon, smiling excitedly.

"Hey you two!  Thanks for coming over!"

"Thanks for having us.  Is there anything we can do to help?"

She laughed, making Kaori give a sparsely toothed giggle as well.

"Sure, if you wanna wrangle these little angels for a few minutes.  They're so excited that you both were coming over tonight; they've been talking about it all day. We're excited, too. Kakashi will be home soon; he just had to finish up a few things at the office."

Iruka bent down and picked up a squirming Inari, throwing him up in the air slightly and catching him,  He squealed with delight.

"ME! ME!"

Sakumaru was now pulling on his jacket harder.  He turned and went back to the living room, one boy in his arms and the other at his heels.  Haru stayed in the kitchen for a minute before returning with Kaori in her arms.  She looked surprisingly comfortable holding the little girl.  She sat down, holding her on her lap.  Iruka threw the boys a couple more times each before sitting next to her.  As soon as he sat down, there was a cry from the hallway.  He stood right back up.

"I'll get her, Z."

"Thanks!"

Following the crying, he flipped on the light to find Sarada standing in her crib, crying to be picked up.  Returning to the couch, he sat next to Haru.  She giggled.

"There's four of them?  My goodness!"

Iruka laughed.

"Sarada isn't technically a Hatake, but she might as well be one.  She's Sakura's daughter, but Sakura works out of town a lot so she's basically being raised by Mizuka and Kakashi, with some help from their friend, Might Guy. And, somehow, they make it work."

Haru looked shocked.

"How?  Mizuka works at the hospital and Kakashi's the Hokage?"

"I think one of them takes a baby some days and the other one takes the boys. Other days, Guy helps. He lives at the rehab center since he lost the ability to walk, but he loves to come over and help with the kids. You know that saying 'it takes a village to raise a child?'  That's pretty literal here.