Waking up to the whimpering of her new pup, Kiya sat up and looked at the clock for a second before checking on Amatsu as he wiggled around inside the makeshift bed of blankets on the floor beside her bed. She feared letting the pup sleep with her since most times she wasn't the most still sleeper. As she picked him up, Luna appeared in a poof of smoke and hopped up on the bed to lay on the blankets.

"Good morning, young one," Luna spoke as Kiya placed the pup near his mom and he wiggled his way over and latched onto one of Luna's teets as he started to eat. "Have you gotten any sleep?"

"Some but it's been a very light sleep. I wake every time he moves…" Kiya chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck. "To be honest, I'm freaked out Luna. I've never taken care of an animal, let alone a pup or even watched over a baby. I know nothing of those that are new to the world. I worry if I be able to handle this, to be able to do my job while there's a pup slung to my side as he adjust to my chakra."

"It's like becoming becoming a mother for the first time, young one. Everyone has those thoughts and raising each pup is different so there is no set way to raise them. You know you can summon me any time or ask Kakashi for help."

"I know, but I don't know how you could help with the anxiety."

"Maybe ask Kakashi if you could stay with in until the pup is a little older. Sometimes, knowing that you're not alone helps," Luna spoke gently as Amatsu stopped eating and started whimpering. "He's already learning who you are to him."

"I guess," Kiya frowned as she picked up the pup and cuddled him against her chest and he stopped whimpering.

"It's only been a couple days, give yourself a little credit. You're doing good."

"Thanks, Luna."

"Try laying the sling out on the empty side of the bed and wrap a rolled up blanket around three-fourths of it so he can smell you."

"I'm not a very still sleeper…"

"Neither was Kakashi so I hear. He was given similar advice and it helped him."

"If you say so," she frowned. "I'll try it."

"Remember, he feeds off your energy. So if your anxious or scared, he feels that," Luna spoke gently as she pressed her nose against Kiya's brow before disappearing.

"What do you think, Amatsu?" Kiya asked as she held the pup in front of her face and let him start licking her nose with his small tongue. "All right then."

She grabbed the sling and blankets off the floor and pulled back her blankets before setting up his makeshift crib again, making sure to put one of the puppy pads under the sling so that nothing would leak into her mattress. Placing the pup on the sling, she laid back down and covered up before resting her hand beside the pup. He nuzzled his head into her hand as they both drifted back to sleep.

Kiya shifted the strap of the sling for what felt like the thousandth time as she walked down the street. She could feel the Amatsu as he wiggled around against her thigh and kept her hand over the outside the sling that looked like a balloon when she wore it to give him room to wiggle around. Luna and Kakashi kept having to reassure her that the seals of the sling made sure that the pup wouldn't be jostled around and gave him plenty of room and air, but she still worried.

She walked into the Hokage tower to see Tsunade since she had been summoned by the tattoo on her arm, but knew that it wasn't emergent enough to teleport. She saw Sasuke and Sakura down the hallway outside Tsunade's office and frowned. She walked closer and they finally noticed her.

"Kiya, where've you been? Are you okay? What happened on that date? It's been a week since anyone has seen you," Sakura asked as she hugged her.

"I've been good. Tsunade just gave me some time off so I've just been at home. I've been adjusting to a special gift Kakashi gave me," she shrugged as she hugged her back.

"Your pregnant? That lecher…"

"Whoa, you got it all wrong, geez," Kiya laughed as Sakura let her go. "He gave me a ninken pup."

"Don't ninken pups stay with their summoner days after birth?"

"Yeah," she smiled as she shifted the sling to open it up so they could see the wiggling pile of golden fur and Amatsu whined spring she closed the sling again. "This sling absorbs small amounts of my chakra into the seals for him while also making it so he's not jostled around or hurt."

"How old is he?"

"About a week. His mom comes when he needs to eat but I do everything else. He gave me a baby, but no, not pregnant. We haven't even gone far enough to even think of talking about all that."

"What name did you give him?" Sasuke asked.

"Amatsu."

"If you haven't been dating long, why a ninken?" Sakura frowned.

"I don't really know. I mean, I mentioned once that I liked animals but never could have one because my stepmom was allergic, but that was it. He said he wanted to get me one, whether or not it worked out."

"Kiya!" Kiya glanced behind her to see Naruto as he dashed towards her. She dodged his attempt to jump at her and let out a small chuckle as he fell and landed face first on the floor. "Ouch, what was that for?"

"She has a baby, you can't just thoughtlessly jump at her anymore, idiot," Sasuke spoke as Naruto got to his feet.

"That lecher knocked you up?!"

"Sasuke I'm going to kill you," Kiya groaned. "No, Naruto. He gave me a ninken pup that is only a week old."

"Oh, that makes sense," the blonde chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "So why are we all here? Where's Kakashi?"

"Kiya, Team Seven, come in," Shizune spoke as she opened the door.

"What about Kakashi?" Naruto frowned as they entered the room and Shizune closed the door.

"He's on a solo mission," Tsunade spoke as she poured some sake into her glass. "I'm sending you four on a mission. Kiya, you will be leading this mission."

"Ma'am?" Kiya frowned, confused. "I'm only registered at a Chunin level, shouldn't Sasuke or Sakura be lead?"

"This mission is your Jounin test…" Amatsu started whimpering loudly from within the sling and Kiya flinched in surprise. "What was that…?"

"Um… would it affect this mission?" Kiya asked, cheekily.

"Depends on what's in your bag," Tsunade frowned, her eyes narrowed.

Kiya opened the sling and pulled out the wiggling pup as he started complaining. Luna appeared in a poof of smoke and took Amatsu by the scruff of his neck and walked over to a corner of the room and laid down so she could feed the pup. The room went silent for several minutes as Tsunade watched the pup eat before looking at Kiya who only gave a small smile in response.

"Wait, you got your leave approved but never explained why you needed it?" Sakura asked as she looked back and forth between Tsunade and Kiya.

"Kakashi said that it wouldn't affect anything as long as he stayed in the chakra sling," Kiya murmured, feeling her cheeks get warm from embarrassment.

"Kakashi said that…? He gave you a ninken pup?" Tsunade spoke slowly before her eyes widened in surprise. "So the rumor about you two going on a date…?"

"Not a rumor…" Kiya winced as Tsunade slammed her glass on the desk and it shattered, cutting her palm.

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura dashes forward and immediately started to clean up the glass shards and heal the cuts.

"All the concern… being on time for your lunch breaks… pushing for vacation requests and demanding that you not be summoned or called on for a week…"

"Yeah…" Kiya scratched her cheek. "Should there have been some report made…? I mean, those two still keep professional when on missions…"

"Don't bring us into this," Sakura hissed as she finished healing Tsunade's hand.

"He's your teacher!"

"Not technically… I mean, he helps some, but so do these three. You have always been my teacher. Team Seven has all its members, I'm just a med-nin that you occasionally send with them, but I don't have an official team…" Kiya trailed off as Luna came back to her with Amatsu and she cradled the pup against her chest as Luna sat beside her, instead of leaving. "Luna…?"

"If you are to leave on a mission, I will remain," the ninken spoke.

"But your other pups…" Kiya frowned as she crouched down beside the golden lab.

"There is another who just had pups who will watch over them," Luna spoke as she licked her hand.

"Kiya," Tsunade cleared her throat and Kiya grimaced slightly as she stood back up and focused on the woman as she held her pup against her chest.

"Blame Kakashi," Kiya muttered. "He started all of this."

"And you just follows his lead?"

"No, I followed my own lead. He just spoke of his affection first and we are testing the waters. Now is this going to continue into an investigation or should I just go home?" Kiya sighed.

"You have a mission, nothing has changed that," Tsunade muttered as she pulled another glass from her drawer and poured some more sake.

"But what about the puppy?" Naruto frowned.

"Contracted animals remain with their summoner and get fed their chakra to build up their own. There are seals within the sling she wears that protects the pup. If a mission ever got too dangerous, Kiya would be able to activate the seals to send her pup to the ninken sanctuary," Tsunade spoke as she downed the sake in her glass.

"We've never had to do that with any of our summons," Naruto frowned.

"Because the ninken work differently. There is a bond that is built between chosen ninken and their summoners. Kakashi can summon eight ninken because he raised them himself, but he cannot summon others without the approval and help to the alpha," Luna explained.

"What is our mission, Lady Tsunade?" Sasuke spoke, getting them back to the topic they were summoned for.

"To meet up with Kakashi in Sunagakure," Tsunade spoke simply and Kiya grimaced. "Is there a problem, Kiya?"

"N…no," Kiya mumbled as she lowered her eyes and focused on putting Amatsu back in the sling. "Since this is a test, are there any threats or requirements?"

"We all know that you can hold your own in a battle. This is to show your leadership skills and to show that you can navigate the lands properly. This scroll is to be delivered to the Kazekage as well," Tsunade spoke as she held up a scroll that had the Hokage seal on it.

"Don't those letters usually get sent by eagle carriers?"

"Usually, yes, but since I am sending you there anyway, you are the carrier," Tsunade shrugged.

"Very well," Kiya sighed as she stepped forward and reached for the scroll.

"Don't give him another black eye, Kiya," Tsunade spoke quietly as she held onto the scroll. "I don't care what the reason is."

"He actually bruised?" Kiya couldn't help but smile a little before forcing it away as Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Sorry…"

"If there is a situation like that again, don't aim at the face," Tsunade replied before letting go of the scroll.

"We'll be on our way, Lady Tsunade," Kiya bowed before walking out of the room with team seven close behind.