Author's Note: I know I said that I wasn't going to write any babysitting fics…oops.

Naruto Story Time

"There once was a circus," Naruto began, "the most amazing circus you've ever seen. There were clowns and tightrope walkers, tumblers and fire breathers, but two performers stood out above them all."

The children gasped, minus Roka, who stubbornly had his nose in a book. This particular tome was on medical ninjutsu. Sakura had brought it along for herself but, after seeing Roka's interest in the book and thinking the advanced text would put the new academy student to sleep, let him borrow it. Two hours later, he was still reading it and none of the children looked tired. Naruto had begun to tell bedtime stories in hopes of lulling the other Hatake children to sleep but Roka was too busy absorbing the text.

"One," Naruto continued, "was a juggler, the best juggler you've ever seen. He could juggle while standing on his head, on his hand, or just on his feet. And he juggled all sorts of things: swords, books, newborn children-"

"Naruto," Sakura interjected, annoyed. Despite the story being fantastic, Naruto's stories always were, she would not have the Hokage teaching children that babies were something that could be juggled.

"Okay maybe not that," Naruto reasoned. "But he could juggle anything because he was just that good. He never dropped a single thing, even when he practiced. He was a juggling genius." Seeing he had Kasumi, Fujita, and Hisano's rapt attention, Naruto continued with his story. "He wore his silver hair parted and slicked back so that it didn't hit whatever he was juggling. His costume was electric blue, so bright that it was hard to look at."

Hisano giggled at the description but was shushed by her siblings.

"But even more handsome than he," Naruto continued, dragging it out for dramatic effect, "was the beautiful trapeze artist that soared above the sand of the circus tent."

"Mommy," Kasumi predicted to the twins solemnly. They nodded their agreement before Naruto continued.

"She wore a blue trapeze outfit that was studded with diamonds and glitter that flashed and sparkled as she flew. Although she had long auburn hair, it never got tangled as she leapt and spun in the air. She was just that talented. She could even include her hair in some of the moves."

The twins let out a collected "ooo" which made Roka glance over. He quickly returned to his book.

"And every night," Naruto continued, "the circus would perform for new audiences since they traveled all over the countries. And every night, when the beautiful trapeze artist landed on her platform and was safe from falling, she would glance down at the juggler. And," Naruto held up a finger, "whenever the juggler got a chance, between juggling hundreds of swords at once, he would look up at her. Although they were separated from each other during performances, they were in love."

Fujita and Hisano smiled at each other before hurriedly looking back at Naruto, for fear of missing something.

"But," Naruto held up a finger again. "There were other members of the troop who were jealous of the juggler and trapeze artist. Some envied their skill, others their love for each other, still others just hated them for no other reason than they wanted to be them. Still, the two were happy in their circus life, traveling around and always being together. That was until one night," Naruto made his voice darker and scarier. "There was a great thunderstorm." He held his hands out above his head to indicate the size of the storm. Roka looked over in interest. "There was thunder and lightning. But, as all people who perform know, the show must go on."

Kasumi bit his lip. Fujita and Hisano held hands.

"So just as she always did, the trapeze artist waited for the stage hands to lower a rope down to her that would lift her to the height of her platform. As she slipped her foot into the loop and held on tight, she glanced down at the sandy floor that was quickly growing smaller, until she saw the juggler. He also looked up at her, despite the sixteen swords he was juggling as a warmup.

"At first the performance was going as planned, although the cast members were nervous about the storm. The lightning and thunder got closer and closer together and the rain pelted the tent in sheets. The ringmaster was about to call the trapeze artist and tightrope walkers down from the top of the tent, when lightning struck the center ring pole!"

Fujita and Hisano clutched each other now. Roka watched Naruto with round eyes as Kasumi's jaw fell open. None of the children could bring themselves to speak. Sakura, seeing their astonished faces, prompted Naruto.

"What happened then?"

"Then," Naruto continued with one last dramatic pause, "the tent caught on fire! Right at the top where the lightning struck!"

Roka's mouth was making a small "o" shape now. The medical text lay open in his lap, forgotten.

"Everything was chaos! The tightrope walkers jumped, whizzing down their safety lines to the ground. The trapeze artist however, first had to escape all of the support ropes high in the tent. Where she was standing, there were ropes that held the top of the tent and everything around it in place. If she let those fall, then the entire tent would collapse on the people below!

"The brave trapeze artist was afraid but she couldn't just let the tent collapse! She secured the lines that she could, the screaming of the crowd below urged her on. Once she'd done all she could to keep the tent up, she flung herself back to the relative safety of her platform. However, her crew had fled the tent and she had no rope to get down from the height of the flaming big top. Looking around frantically, she caught sight of her juggler. His face was white but he was frantically pointing at a line hitched up to a series of counterweights. He held a single knife in his hand and the trapeze artist knew it was her only option."

"What was?" Kasumi asked, frightened.

"The trapeze artist grasped the rope," Naruto said slowly, "and threw herself off of her platform into the open air. Then, the juggler threw his knife and it cut through two other ropes, releasing the rest of her line so that she could swing down to the ground."

The children breathed a sigh of relief.

"The juggler rushed to the trapeze artist but there was no time for a reunion. They immediately fled the tent. The rain had put out the fire but the tent pole was still weakened. All of the spectators had to evacuate along with the crew. The pair met everyone else outside in the pouring rain.

"One of the jealous people, thinking quickly, accused the juggler of trying to kill the trapeze artist with his juggling knife. He shouted louder and louder until many people were listening to his story. All eyes were now suspiciously looking at the juggler, some going so far as to blame him for the lightning strike. When the trapeze artist tried to defend the juggler, others accused her of setting the fire herself! There were conflicting stories flying about who had done what. One thing was for sure, things were not going well for the couple.

"When someone made a grab for the juggler, the trapeze artist totally punched them in the face," Naruto mimed the swing. "The two performers fled, running through the rain until they reached the docks. Once there, they boarded a ship and became pirates.

"The juggler took the name Sea Foam Wolf and the trapeze artist took the name of Bonny Mei. They sailed the seas for-" Naruto cut himself off, his eyes turned orange for a fraction of a second.

Sakura suddenly said, "Naruto-"

"Yeah, I feel them," Naruto turned to the children, "your parents are coming! Run, run to bed, go!"

Roka closed Sakura's book and tossed it to the side. Kasumi vaulted over the couch with Roka right after him. The girls raced around the couch, their tiny feet pattering on the floor. The Hatake children spirited to their bedrooms, rushing to get into bed and act convincing. The bedroom doors closed right as Kakashi and Mei stepped in the front door.

"You're back," Naruto exclaimed, looking a little too surprised at the couple's arrival.

"How were they?" Mei asked.

Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed in suspicion even as Sakura answered. "Oh, they were just fine," Sakura waved her hand, "they've been in bed for hours."

"Right," Kakashi replied, eyes on Naruto's nervous shifting. "That's why their chakra is agitated. Are they having nightmares?"

"That must be it sensei," Sakura said, still trying to save face. "They're having nightmares."

"All of them, at the same time," Mei asked. Her eyebrows rose.

While the Seventh Hokage squirmed, Sakura bit her lip. "I'd-" Naruto finally started. "I'd better get home to Hinata and the kids." Before another word could be spoken, Naruto was gone in a flash of orange.

"Me too," Sakura said, while inner Sakura raged that Naruto was a traitor for leaving her. "Sasuke is- and- yeah-" And Sakura was gone too.

Kakashi and Mei looked at each other and, without a word, went to check on their children.

They went to Roka's room first. The eldest Hatake appeared to be asleep in his bed. He was even keeping his breathing slow and steady. When Kakashi knocked on his door, Roka pretended to stir and opened his eyes a sliver.

"Mom? Dad? You're home already?" He yawned widely and stretched a bit.

Mei attempted to stifle a grin while Kakashi's eyes shone. "Yes, we are," Mei said. "Although I think you knew that."

Roka opened his mouth to protest but when he saw Kakashi's skeptical eyebrows, he knew that the jig was up.

"We'll talk about our questionable choices for babysitters in the morning," Mei said, more to her husband than to their son. Maybe the babysitting rotation that Team Seven had developed wouldn't work out as well as they'd hoped.

The couple was about to leave when Roka spoke up. "Mom? Dad?" Kakashi and Mei turned to their eldest son. "You weren't ever in the circus or," he stifled a yawn, despite his curiosity, "or pirates, right?"

Kakashi and Mei exchanged glances.

"Well," Mei began slowly, "your father was technically in the circus."

"Mei," Kakashi protested.

"Briefly," Mei amended.

Kakashi pointed at his wife. "Your mother has always been a pirate. Water Country ninja are basically pirates."

Mei rolled her eyes at her husband's explanation. It was true though, the Mist ninja of old were more like storybook pirates than anything.

Roka blinked, wide awake now. He looked between his parents, not sure if they were joking or not. "What," he exclaimed.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's kind of a funny story-"

Mei held up a hand. "Wait, let me get the others before you start. I have a feeling they're all going to have questions. And I'm sure they're all awake as well."

Once all of the Hatake children were settled on the much larger bed in Kakashi and Mei's bedroom, Kakashi began. "I was once on a mission with your uncles Naruto and Lee, along with your aunt Sakura. On his travels, the prince we were guarding had purchased an entire circus! But when we returned to his country, things were not right. We had to launch a surprise attack…"