Sarada had no idea how she allowed her mother to drag her to this stupid father-daughter dance. Or showed her the stupid picture of the stupid dress that was so stupid and so frilly and poofy that she looked ridiculous (and a bit like a princess).

As she glowered in the corner, arms crossed tight across her pink bedazzled chest, her slipper clad feet tapping not to the music (but rather close-the music was blaring), but to the tick tock of the time before it her mother would allow them to leave this humiliating place.

She heard Chou-Chou before she saw her, spinning around the dance floor with her father, smiling. Having fun.

Her lip curled.

It was Chou-Chou. There is no other logical explanation.
She readjusted her arms on her chest, making them tighter against herself, the sequins digging into her arms, making them itchy.

Stupid mom...stupid Chou-Chou. She looked away from the dance floor. Stupid dad. I shouldn't even be here. She looked up to see her mom talking and smiling with a few of the other moms in an opposite corner. She was talking to Hinata-baa, who was laughing at something her mother said, looking carefree as she had a death grip on Boruto as he tried to break free. (Boruto tried to stand over with her earlier but she reminded him where her fist would end up if he even so much as breathed the same air she did). Her mother said she was in charge of refreshments, and she wasn't going to leave Sarada alone at home while she had a good time. It seemed unfair to her mother.

Who hadn't even touched the refreshment table.

Her mother caught her eye and she quickly looked away. She had tried to dance with Sarada at the beginning of the dance, but Sarada firmly declined.

Sarada felt a bit sorry for her mom. She knew she was only doing what she thought was best. But a father-daughter dance? Sarada looked down at her feet, her scowl deepening. Stupid fake silk dress.

"If you continue to pout, I'm afraid your face is going to forever sit like that." Sarada glared as hard as she could at the voice. "You definitely don't want it to stick like that."

Sarada's lip curled. "What do you want, Hokage-sama."

She watched as Kakashi Hatake, crouched down to her level. She scrunched her face up even more. He knew she hated it when he did that! He poked her nose. She thought of biting the finger as it moved away from her face.

"That's a bit better." She wanted to swat him away, but she didn't want to move her arms away from her chest.

She watched him as he looked around them. "Nice little spot you have here, for brooding."

"I'm not broading."

"You don't even know what broading is." He teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him. He only smiled. It irked her. She shifted on her feet. "Why are you even here?" She looked around. "You don't have a daughter."

"That's quite the deduction." He nodded, putting his hand to his masked chin thoughtfully. "I had no idea Sakura was raising a little detective."

She lifted her head a bit. "Everybody knows that, dummy!" It was still weird hearing him call her mom 'Sakura' without the 'chan' even though it was her idea that he stopped. Or rather, she told him to stop, because he can't call them both 'chan.' That was weird. "How did you even become Hokage?"

He put his hands on his knees. "Naruto's Hokage now."

She shrugged. "So? He can't beat me in chess!"

"But he tries."

She put her hands on her hips, gasping. "You do too!" Kakashi let out a small chuckle, reaching up and ruffling her hair. "Hey!" She pushed her hands down on her hair. "Meanie!"

Kakashi twisted his body, moving over to slide next to her on the wall. They stood (he kind of sat) like that for a long time. He didn't watch her, worrying over her like her mother almost always did. She felt herself relax as his aura of calm and collected enveloped her. She crossed her arms back against her chest, but it was lighter this time. Lower on her waist. They watched as the fathers and their daughters spun in clumsy circles around each other. They watched (well, she watched) where her mother and the other mom's were. Kakashi had called this 'people watching.' A good training exercise for when she became a ninja like him and her mom.

She looked over to him, frowning slightly. As many other times they had done this around the village, he wasn't paying any attention to her.

He was just...there.

She watched him curiously.

He looked over to her. "Why don't you take a picture-it would last longer."

She huffed, and pushed at him. He didn't move. He did make a great sigh and stand, pushing himself off his knees, in almost a lumbering fashion.

"As my duty of ex-Hokage, I have to ask all these little…" he waved his fingers behind him, "girls…" he said like he'd just eaten something very sour, "to dance. Tradition or something." He waved his hand and rolled his eyes. He then held out his hand. "Will you honor me so and have the first dance?"

She eyed his hand skeptically. "For how long?"

He looked around. "There are quite a few girls here. And I arrived a bit late…"

"You're always late!" She couldn't stop her giggling.

"There was a prince who had turned into a frog and needed help-" She was about to open her mouth when he dug into his pocket and moved his hand real fast. "Oh no!" She shrieked, covering her face so the frog wouldn't land in her hair when she heard him chuckle.

She had been tricked!

She put her hands on her hips and stuck her chest out. "Hey!" She looked around quickly as he spun around. Apparently her shriek had brought the attention of the other party-goers. She covered her face as it reddened. She spun around quickly as well, hiding from everyone.

She heard her mother's voice as Kakashi spoke quickly to her, reassuring her that everything was okay.

She felt tears well up in her eyes as her heart beat fast in her chest.

"Sarada, you okay?" He was down at her height again. He lifted her chin so that she looked at him. "I wouldn't have thrown a real frog at you." He said seriously. "Your dress is too pretty to get frog mucus all over." He looked behind them. "They are all covered in Boruto's snot!"

She made a face. "No way."

He nodded. "All frogs come from Uzumaki snot. Don't they teach you that in school?" She grinned. He always could make her smile.

He waddled backwards. "Now, about that dance…"

She licked her lips. "Do we have to go out there?" She pointed.

He shook his head. "I'd rather we not."

She looked at him, then back to the dance floor. She nodded. "Fine."

He held out his hands. "Let's dance!"

She put her hands on her hips. "You're doing it wrong!"

He looked down at himself. "Really? I don't think I am."

She pointed at Chou-Chou and her dad. "He's standing full upright. You look like a duck!"

He followed her finger point, then looked back to her. He shrugged. "Quack!" He kept his hands out. "Hurry! I've got other, more willing girls to dance with."

She sighed and grabbed his large hands. And slowly, in their corner, they began to awkwardly move in circles. Because he was squatting, they hand to move in their circle with her arms almost fully extended.

After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. "I like your dress. It's very sparkly."

"Thank you."

"It makes you look like a little princess."

"Are you-"

"I would never make fun of you." He said seriously. She looked down at his knees. "The purple one would have looked better though."

She looked up at his face, appalled. "You were the one that told mom about the dress! How-"

"I am Hokage, or was." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I have people."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "What kind of people."

"Frog princes." She eyed him with a broad smile. "Sir Ribbitton thought you would look more dashing in green though. With flies instead of sequences." She giggled.

They fell into a comfortable silence.

"You can stand up if you want." She said softly. "I know you're an old man and can't do the things that a young man can."

"And you really need to stop eavesdropping on your mother and I's conversations." He said as he rose quickly.

She took a step closer. "I can't help it. You're around a lot. Like, all the time." She looked up at him. "Like breakfast on Tuesday!"

He raise a brow- "No-"

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "You ate all the cereal."

"It wasn't-"

"I saw you." She smirked as he stared at her baffled. "I'm going to be a good ninja."

"Nah…" He said, shaking his head. "You'll be a great one."

She smiled, pressing herself to his legs as they awkwardly went around in circles.

"Thanks." She said softly. He squeezed her hand as the fifth song went to the sixth to the seventh.