Authors Notes: The third in a series of oneshots that have been running around my mind. This one moves away from the dark tragedy of Kakashi's death to a happy moment in his families lives. I wanted to lighten things up and this one just popped into my head. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed imagining it as I typed. I think its cute, but you be the judge. THIS CHAPTER WAS UPDATED 2/13/07 I added a better ending and a few more details.

Major Edit: This oneshot was moved from The Ghost of You series. It has not been altered. I just simply felt it wasnt getting the recognition it deserved hiding with the series. So here it is. Enjoy.

The Ambush

Kakashi cursed under his breath as he hopped on one foot, his other foot clutched in his hand rubbing the painful dent left by the small wooden block. Grabbing the door frame, he lowered his foot kicking the offending object out of the way as he stared down at the floor, letting his eyes adjust to the pitch blackness of the hallway. 'Some shinobi I am.' he thought shaking his head.

He had just returned from a month long mission escorting a wealthy shop owner back to his village when he discovered the ambush just inside his front door. Looking down at his feet he followed the trail of objects, from the block he had just kicked aside to the empty wooden box laying on its side a few feet away.

Rubbing his forehead roughly he dodged the remaining blocks and made his way up the stairs to the bedrooms. Exhausted from the long journey, he headed for his room ready to take a long hot shower and curl up next to Moiya when he passed the twins room and stopped, turning back to listen more intently.

He pressed his ear to the door before turning the knob, peering in at the two cribs on the opposite end of the room. Sakumo stared wide eyed at the door then squealed, bouncing up and down, his little hands gripping the rail tightly as he smiled at Kakashi standing in the door way. Kakashi smiled "I should have known you wouldn't let me get past the door." he whispered walking over and picking up his eight month old son.

Peeking over into the other crib he could see Mari spread out like a rag doll, breathing slow and deep as Sakumo reached up pulling at his hitai-ate. He gently stroked her cheek and watched as the side of her mouth turned upward in a dreamy smile. By the time Kakashi reached the soft squishy rocker in the corner of the room, Sakumo had the metal plate in his mouth happily drooling over the leaf symbol. Kakashi smiled, pulling down his mask and kissing his sons cheek gently.

Sitting back, he gently rocked them, watching as the baby continue to explore the head band until he got bored and attempted to throw it. Kakashi snatched it out of his little fist just as he raised it above his head, his eyes snapping over to Mari when Sakumo started babbling his protests. She simply slept on, unperturbed by her brothers noises. He waved his hands at his father making a scrunched up face that reminded him of his wife and he had to suppress a laugh.

"Shhh. Your going to wake your sister." he scolded quietly, running his fingers through the boys short silvery-blonde hair until the pair of green eyes found something more interesting to play with on his fathers vest. All thoughts of protesting suddenly gone as he explored the latches on the scroll pouches.

It took an hour of rocking, exploration, babbling, and a bottle to finally get Sakumo to lay his head down and go back to sleep. Kakashi continued to rock and pat his back gently for another ten minutes before he attempted to move. Carefully cradling the sleeping boys body against his, he moved the blanket out of the way and then lowered him down onto his back. He watched him sleep for a few minutes before stepping around to Mari's crib, leaning down he kissed her cheek gently.

After finally getting his shower and pulling on clean pajama pants, Kakashi carefully crawled up onto the bed towards Moiya. He was tired, but never so tired to keep him from spending some much needed quality time with his wife he thought inching towards her. She looked so beautiful spread out over his side of the bed, the soft glow of the moonlight reflecting off her soft skin. Leaning down he brushed his lips across her cheek then froze.

Mari and Sakumo looked up quickly as Kakashi stood in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest, an obvious frown on his face. He would have continued to frown considering how tired he was and how he had been ready to wake his wife up in a most pleasant manner. But the looks on the twins faces as the three of them stared at each other was priceless and it was all he could do to keep from laughing at them.

As soon as they saw their fathers face soften, a small smile creeping across his lips, they both smiled. Sakumo clapped his hands together while Mari pulled herself up to the rail whimpering, the corners of her mouth turned down into a pout. With a defeated sigh, Kakashi walked over and pulled her up into his arms, little hands instantly latching onto his face trying to give him her version of kisses and hugs.

Sakumo pointed to them while babbling on about whatever an eight month old thought his father should know at four o'clock in the morning. Kakashi turned to his son and pointed back playfully "I thought I told you not to wake your sister." Sakumo stopped babbling and stared at him for a few seconds before he smiled and pulled himself up. Tilting his head to the side, his ear touching his shoulder, he held out a hand "Ba."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and laughed softly, trying to hold onto Mari who was climbing up to the top of his head. Her voice was a little more high pitched than Sakumo's he noticed when she squealed in his ear then started babbling her side of her brothers little debriefing. Balancing both twins, one in each arm, he sat back in the chair "This is what I get when I stay gone for too long isn't it?" he asked as Sakumo attempted to climb down, Mari poking her fingers into his mouth.

"You two are a lot more active than I remember you being a month ago." Kakashi commented through a yawn as he reached down grabbing Sakumo's leg and dragging him back towards him. Mari, happily drooling over the soft book in her hands, watched her brother being lifted back up onto her fathers lap. Kakashi laid his head back, still rocking as he noticed the soft glow of early morning sunlight peeking through the curtains.

Moiya rolled over stretching her leg out and kicking something heavy at the foot of the bed. Lifting her head she looked down to see Kakashi's vest as she sat up on her elbows and looked around the room. His uniform trailed from the bed to the bathroom and she could see used towels on the floor through the door.

"How many times have I told him to clean up after himself. I don't care how long he has been gone or how tired he is." she complained as she flipped back the blankets, heading for the door "And then he didn't even come to bed." she stood in the hall for a moment before walking up to the twins door and listening, her hand grasping the knob lightly.

She looked down at the unconscious forms of her family piled up in the over sized rocker, a soft smile on her lips as she watched them sleep. Kakashi's head was propped up in the corner, the chair leaning back under their weight, keeping him from falling forward. Mari's head was pressed against his neck, her arms hanging limply at her sides, Kakashi's arm tucked under her butt to keep her from sliding down onto her brother. Sakumo was laying across Kakashi's lap on his back, one arm dangling off between his knees, his legs hanging over the arm that was keeping him from rolling off.

Moiya leaned over her two children and pressed her lips gently against Kakashi's. Leaning back she could see his eyes were open as he stared up into her face "I see their little ambush worked." she whispered then smiled as they both looked over at Mari sighing deeply in her sleep. Kakashi looked back up at his wife, a devious twinkle in her green eyes "Somehow I don't think they worked alone on this one." he smirked. Moiya raised her eyebrows at him "They're your kids Hatake. I watched them sit quietly in that hall and I would swear they strategically placed those blocks just for you." she teased.

Kakashi's chest shook as he tried to keep from laughing at her "Even I wasn't that clever at their age. They had assistance from an ally. Im sure of it." he eyed her suspiciously. Moiya moved to lift Mari away from Kakashi's chest but her dark eyes opened and she whimpered, grabbing at whatever she could find to hold onto her father a little longer. Moiya rolling her eyes and sighed then reached for Sakumo instead, lifting his limp body up and cradling him against her chest.

He seemed to realize he wasn't in his fathers lap anymore as his head shot up suddenly and he looked around the room until his eyes landed on Kakashi. His lip started to tremble and his eyes welled up with tears. It was all it took for Kakashi to melt as he stood and walked up to Moiya kissing Sakumo's head, his little hands grasping at his father trying to pull him closer.

Moiya watched as Mari patted her fathers face gently, her eyes drooping then popping open again just to stare at him until she finally fell asleep. Sakumo was already breathing as deeply as Kakashi, pressed up against his back, one arm draped over his neck. It hadn't taken Kakashi very long to fall asleep once Moiya caved and let him bring the twins into their room. She could tell he was exhausted and that Mari and Sakumo were not about to let him out of their sight.

Sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea, Moiya idly turned a block over and over between her fingers. She remembered watching the twins last night before tucking them into bed. They had dragged the little wooden box over to the hall leading to the front door and one by one placed the blocks on the floor. Every so often one of them would pick up a block and move it to another spot until all the blocks were set out.

It was a precious moment to watch them so involved in their work And they were apparently happy with the setup because they both crawled away and never looked back. 'Somehow they always seem to know when he's coming home.' she thought smiling then looked down at the block in her hand "Definitely an ambush."