Sweet girl

Kakashi and Gai walked side by side, the two having just returned from the bustling market, their bags filled with fresh ingredients for dinner that night. As they strolled, laughter and comfortable banter filled the air between the lovers. They were no more than twenty feet from their house when Gai abruptly stopped in his tracks.
Kakashi frowned, puzzled by his partner’s sudden halt, and asked, "Gai, what's wrong?"
"Shh!" Gai interrupted, holding up a hand for silence. He stood still, his senses on high alert as he listened intently for something. Curious, Kakashi fell silent too, trying to tune into whatever had captured Gai's attention. The minutes ticked by, and Kakashi began to wonder if Gai was just being paranoid. After all, they had just returned from a rather long and grueling mission, and his nerves could be frayed.
Walking up beside Gai, Kakashi gently ran a comforting hand up and down his back. "Come on, Gai. I think your ears are playing tricks on you. There's probably nothing there."
Gai pursed his lips, torn between trusting his instincts and believing Kakashi. However, before he could give in to self-doubt, the unmistakable sound of crying reached their ears. Both men jumped, their eyes widening in surprise.
"I knew I heard something!" Gai exclaimed, his instincts vindicated.
Kakashi quickly shushed him, motioning for caution. "Shh, you'll scare them off. It might be a trap, proceed with caution."
Gai nodded, covering his mouth to stifle any accidental noise. Together, they stealthily moved toward the source of the crying, their senses sharp and ready for anything. They couldn't help but wonder who could be crying near their house. All their neighbors were elderly, so the presence of a young child was puzzling.
As they got closer, the crying became more distinct, and their concern grew. Kakashi's hand instinctively rested on the hilt of his kunai, ready for any possible danger. Gai stood beside him, poised to spring into action if needed. The sound was unmistakably coming from a bush in front of their house. Gai looked to Kakashi, signaling him to pull back the leaves on the bush so they could get a better look, Gai would be on standby ready to defend his dearest rival. Kakashi simply nodded.
Tension filled the two men as Kakashi pulled back the leaves to reveal… a baby? Kakashi’s eye darted around quickly, where the hell had this baby come from?
Gai reached quickly for the baby, her skin was red and covered in goosebumps. She trembled, clearly freezing.
"We have to warm her up!" Gai urged, looking to Kakashi for confirmation.
Kakashi nodded, his reservations momentarily forgotten as he understood the urgency. "You're right. Let's get her inside, warm her up, and figure out what to do next."
The two ninjas hurriedly carried the baby girl back to their home. Inside, they wrapped her in a warm blanket, and Gai started a fire to provide additional heat. As they cared for the infant, their concerns about the unknown child turned into a shared curiosity about how she ended up in one of the bushes in front of their house.
"Okay, so!" Gai looked to Kakashi, "Several problems, my dearest rival!" Gai’s voice was loud, irritating the baby. She had just quieted down, but the whines escaping her throat threatened to begin her cries once more, so both men stilled, waiting for her little whines to die down.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Kakashi looked to Gai, "What are the 'several problems?' I mean, aside from the fact that we have someone else's infant in our living room." He was clearly annoyed at the situation, wanting nothing more than to just come home, eat, and fall asleep. He may have found time in between to cuddle with Gai, but now he’d have to wait to do those things.
"We need to contact the proper authorities about this!"
"Yeah, let's tell the village about an abandoned and likely undocumented child. I’m sure Danzo would have a field day with that. Absolutely not, we have to figure something else out." He looked to the baby lying peacefully on their floor, her short pink hair resembling the color of a blossoming Sakura tree. "Look, I’m not thrilled that there's some random infant in our living room, but I also think we’d be doing her a massive disservice. Let’s check the missing persons' logs. If she's on there, fine. We tell the proper authorities. If not, we figure this out ourselves."
Gai looked at Kakashi, his face full of love, "Why are you making that face?"
"It is just nice to see a caring side to you. I mean, I do get to see this side of you a lot more than most, but it is moments like these where I find myself falling for you all over again." Gai’s sappy words and sappy smile made Kakashi go red.
"Don’t say such weird things out of nowhere!" Kakashi exclaimed, flustered. "Stop flirting with me, we have to situate the child."
"Oh, right." Gai thought for a moment, "We do not have anything for the baby. If we do not go to the proper authorities, then this child will be in our care for a bit, so what do we do?"
Kakashi thought silently for a moment, "Let’s have Asuma and Kurenai bring us a few things. Babies need diapers and bottles, right?" Gai shrugged, his knowledge of kids just as limited as Kakashi's.
"I think they need formula too, but we don’t know how old she is." Gai sat up suddenly, excitedly exclaiming, "She doesn’t have a name either! We should name her!"
"No." Kakashi immediately dismissed the idea, "Naming her will form attachments. We aren’t keeping her. She's just staying here till we figure out what to do. I’ll look in the missing persons registry, you call Kurenai and Asuma." Gai pouted at Kakashi’s dismissal. No matter how right he was, Gai still felt it improper for her to not have a name. "How old do you think she is?"
"A bit more than a few months, four to six months, maybe?" Kakashi was more asking than telling; his tone showed his uncertainty. "Say four to six months. I’ve got no clue."
Gai nodded, and Kakashi got up. He’d have to sneak into the Hokage’s office. "I’ll be back in thirty minutes. Please don’t go overboard. Just get what she’ll need to survive for a few months."
"Of course! When have I been known to go overboard?" The two men exchanged looks, laughing a bit. Kakashi bent down, kissing the top of Gai’s head. "I’ll be back." Kakashi disappeared before Gai could say his own words of parting. He frowned a bit at that. He stood up, walking to their landline. He knew he could count on Kurenai and Asuma; their knowledge of babies was a little more expansive than his and Kakashi’s.
It took them the full half hour Kakashi was gone to retrieve everything and get to their residence, their arrival in tandem with Kakashi.
"Where’d you get a kid from?" Asuma questioned, setting the bags down and beginning to take off his shoes.
"The bush outside our house." Kakashi pointed vaguely to said bush, then he closed the front door. He examined the plastic bags; there were diapers, wipes, bottles, two containers of formula, and a few onesies.
"Thank you, my dearest friends! We are extremely grateful for your assistance!" Gai smiled a wide, toothy smile at Kurenai and Asuma, "Now, Kakashi, what news do we have about the baby?"
Kakashi frowned, "Nothing. I checked any and all missing person logs and all logs of babies born in the past year. Nothing, nada, she doesn’t exist as far as the village is concerned." He turned to face Asuma and Kurenai, "Which means, you two have to stay quiet."
Both new parties nodded their heads, aware of what happened to undocumented children.
Kurenai gently touched the baby girl's cheek with a soft smile. "She's such a precious little one. We'll keep her safe until we figure out what to do next."
Asuma nodded in agreement. "Of course, Kakashi. You can count on us. We won't tell anyone about her."
Gai looked at the baby with a mix of concern and tenderness. "She needs a name, doesn't she? It's not right for her to be nameless."
Kakashi hesitated, torn between practicality and emotion. "I understand the sentiment, but Gai, we've been over this. So, let's hold off on that for now. We can't get attached, and giving her a name may do just that."
Asuma chimed in, "Maybe just a temporary name then? Something to call her for now until everything is sorted out."
Kakashi considered it and nodded. "Alright, a temporary name then. Sakura,” Kakashi began to explain, “her hair is the color of a Sakura tree."
Gai's eyes softened, grateful Kakashi seemed to be lightening up to the situation. "Sakura, it is then. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. But remember, just temporary, okay?" Gai looked around at everyone to ensure they were all on the same page.
They all nodded in agreement. The baby girl, now named Sakura, cooed softly, seemingly content in her newfound company. "Do you like that name sweet girl?" Gai cooed, smiling at the infant.
"Nicknames already?" Asuma questions, "Seems like Gai's grown attached." His tone was joking, although that statement wasn't entirely untrue. They had all grown a bit attached. Kakashi would reason it was cause they named her and had nothing to do with human nature. The need to care and empathize with children, especially those who have not had an easy start to life. Either way, with the immediate needs taken care of, they settled in a bit.
"Maybe we could tell my father," Asuma suggested, looking at Kakashi. He received an almost glaring expression. "Look, I understand your reservations about telling someone about this but telling my father is the best way to go about this. Otherwise, one day someone will find out about the kid and ask why you left her undocumented or worse. Maybe they’ll accuse you of taking her."
"Unless one of us intends on keeping the kid, absolutely not. She’ll end up in Danzo’s hands somehow. No matter how much you vouch for your father, no matter how much respect we have for him, he wouldn’t be able to adequately protect her. She would easily end up in Danzo’s hand; the whole reason we aren’t telling people is to avoid him." Kakashi’s words were not untrue; everyone knew that. "We have to figure something else out; we’ll have to figure out another way to go about this that doesn’t end in Danzo taking her or us getting in trouble."
A silence fell upon the group, and they all racked their brains.
"Maybe we should keep her," Gai suggested. Everyone looked at him like he had two heads. "It’s just, I mean, you and I have talked about adopting kids anyway."
"Yeah, when we were like thirty or something!" Kakashi exclaimed. "I mean, we don’t know the first thing about kids."
"But we have to learn anyway if we intend on hiding her here," Gai pointed out. "Not to mention it's just more practical. Then we can go to the Hokage; we can have her documented." He knew he wasn’t winning Kakashi over, "Plus if we tell the Hokage, he can help us look for her parents, and then she’ll get home quicker!"
"That’s if the parents are even looking. She ended up in a bush in front of our house in twenty-degree weather, so unless someone kidnapped her just to throw her in some bushes, her parents abandoned her."
Kakashi looked deeply into Gai’s eyes, in a way it would make sense to go about it in the way Gai suggested. In another way, it didn’t! “I understand you want to help, but in the end, is her staying with us helping? I can barely take care of myself, we go out on missions a lot, and I mean… there are a million reasons us taking her in wouldn’t work.”
"And, there’s a million reasons why us taking her in would!" Gai defended. Asuma and Kurenai looked between the two men. Their heads moved to whoever talked, it was like they were watching a tennis match. “Kakashi, you do not realize how far you have come! You can take care of yourself. Plus, with the mission thing, we can alternate! When you do missions outside the village, I’ll do them inside the village and vice versa!” He exclaimed excitedly. "Plus, I’m sure our dearest friends would aid us when we need someone to watch her, right?" Gai questioned, looking to Asuma and Kurenai.
"Of course!" Kurenai answered before Asuma could deny it.
"See, dearest rival," Before Gai could continue, he noticed Kakashi’s expression. Shuffling closer, he grabbed Kakashi’s hands, "I understand your reservation on this all. I know it extends far beyond what you are letting on, but I promise you things will be okay."
Kakashi knew Gai was right, he knew Gai was being more sensible than him, but that didn’t exactly help. He knew her indefinite stay might last years, so it would make sense to get the Hokage in the loop, but… Kakashi felt by telling people it would make everything all the more real. It was true that one day Kakashi hoped to be a father, a really good one too. He often thought of his father, and how wonderful he was. He hoped one day he could be half the father he was. He was sure if his father was here, he’d be cheering Kakashi on, telling him he was making the right choice by taking her. He was sure his father would say a million words of encouragement.
His father was the reason he wanted kids, so he could be an amazing father just like him. Yet, in another way, his father was the reason he did not want kids. Would he succumb to a similar fate? Would he too take his own life, leaving behind a small child to pick up the pieces of such a horrific event?
Kakashi looked into Gai’s eyes, and Gai looked into Kakashi’s eye. Suddenly, Kakashi’s nerves dissipated. A look in Gai’s eyes reassured him that he wouldn’t allow any of Kakashi's anxieties to come to fruition. His gaze was so comforting, so reassuring, so…
"Okay, we tell the Hokage. He helps us look for her parents."
"And if nothing comes of it?" Asuma dared to ask.
"If nothing comes of it…" Kakashi hesitated. "If nothing comes of it, then she’ll stay with us. If nothing comes of it, we will be her guardians."
"And you guys will be her aunt and uncle!" Gai exclaimed.
"I knew naming her was a bad idea." Kakashi shook his head, jesting a bit.