Angles

11

Naruto stared at the sleeping infant in the cradle. It had been four hours since Naruto woke up and Suki was still asleep. Normally she was awake soon after he did. What made her so tired? He gave a sigh as he tired his hair up with a piece of leather cord, though leaving a few bangs to frame his delicate face. He walked out of the room and went downstairs to be greeted by Iruka. Jiraiya was no-where in sight.

"Where's Suki-chan?" Iruka asked, noting the absence of the infant. Naruto frowned slightly,

"She's still asleep. And she went to bed early yesterday!"

Iruka blinked and then shrugged,

"Maybe she woke up during the night and spent an hour or so awake."

"Yeah…maybe…"

"Well. You want to do some training don't you? How about when Suki's woken up you can go off and train for a few hours. I'll look after her."

"Really, you'll do that?"

"I would be happy to."

Naruto smiled and hugged Iruka around the waist,

"Thanks Iruka-sensei, you're the best!"

As if in cue, they both heard Suki start to cry upstairs.

"I think she's lonely…" Naruto said, recognising her cry. He went upstairs and found her stood up, holding the edge of the cot for support. When she saw him, she held her arms out to him, her crying abating a little bit. He smiled reassuringly at her and picked her up. She stopped crying and stared at him, sticking a thumb in her mouth. He sighed and carried her downstairs, sitting at the table with her on his lap. She looked about as if trying to find something.

"Dah…?" She asked, looking about. She looked at Naruto again,

"Mum-mah?"

He tickled her tummy, watching as she giggled slightly, pushing his fingers away. Iruka came up to them with a bottle of milk, which Suki eyed greedily. Naruto took it from the other man and held it to Suki's lips. As she drank, she clutched the bottle in her hands as if trying to hold the bottle herself. When she had finished, he placed it on the table and watched as she yawned, snuggling close to him.

"Hmm, maybe I can't go training just yet…" He said. Iruka sat down in the nearest chair, looking at the infant.

"How about you just take her outside? It will do her good; maybe wake her up a little bit."

"Maybe…" Naruto said as he stood up.

"I'll go give her a bath and dress her up."

Iruka nodded as he watched the blonde disappear up the stairs.

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After about half an hour, all three of them were sitting underneath the cherry tree in the garden. Naruto watched as Suki was crawling all over the brown haired chuunin as she attempted to escape to explore the surroundings. Naruto sighed and lay back, closing his eyes so he could only hear Suki's giggles and Iruka's annoyed complaints. He yawned slightly, absently playing with a strand of his silky hair.