Chapter Text
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When he graduated the Academy at six years old, he thought it would be a thrilling introduction to adult type work. It was five years since his father’s passing this winter. If Kakashi had known graduating the Academy was simply to give him more C-ranked escort missions, he’d have stuck around for the ridiculous challenges with Gai and the abysmal sparring matches with Obito. Maybe he’d have skipped classes with Genma or stolen smokes with Asuma. Instead, Kakashi has spent the last four years working with the Jonin Minato Namikaze. He had a son a few years younger than Kakashi and had practically adopted him into their family.
However, that didn’t mean that Kakashi wasn’t lonely sometimes. He slept at his clan’s old estates. It was a huge sprawling complex, and normally his only company between missions or training with Master Minato were spent with his ninken. He had eight now— the latest two additions had been born three months prior and were still a bit uncoordinated.
Last night was the first snowfall of the year and he was letting his ninken frolic happily in the white blanket coating the landscape. Uhei and Shiba stood at attention, their tails stiff behind them, ears angled forwards and alert. Then bursting out of the tree-line was a white snow hare.
Though, what caught Kakashi’s attention, was the pink-haired girl chasing after it. While he didn’t know Haruno Sakura, he’d be a poor ninja if he didn’t observe the other ninja of his generation. She was a couple years younger than him, part of Naruto’s friend group. The rankings of the students at the academy were public knowledge, so he knew she was the top ranked kunoichi of her class.
He did not expect to see her chasing after a hare in his backyard.
Then when the hare paused in terror of the pack of ninken, Sakura pounced and caught it in her arms. “Shannaro!”
“What are you doing?” Kakashi asked. “Heel,” he murmured to his ninken and they sat on their rumps. He extended his hand. “Let me help you, it’s slippery.”
She tucked the hare under one arm and accepted his hand, standing before him. She didn’t pull away from his touch and he didn’t let go immediately.
Charcoal clashed with jade and it wasn’t until Shiba whined that Kakashi realized he was still holding Sakura’s hand. He quickly shoved his hands into his coat pocket. “I’m Kakashi.”
“Sakura,” she answered, clutching the large hare against her chest with both arms again. She bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes darted nervously between the hare and his dogs.
“Are you planning to eat that?” Pakkun ask, waddling between Kakashi’s legs. He was glad he’d made them little vests so they wouldn’t get cold in the winter weather.
“Eat him?” Sakura gasped, running her hand soothing down the hare’s furry back. “I just needed to catch him to prove to my dad I can be a decent ninja.” She shifted her gaze between Kakashi and his pug. “Your dog talks.”
“My ninken does talk,” Kakashi agreed. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you need proof for your dad? Or will he take your word?”
“Oh,” Sakura frowned. “I wouldn’t lie to him, but it could be that proof is what he testing me on. Not on my ability to actually catch the hare.” She hugged the hare against her and huffed a cloud of white in the cold air. “Stupid. I should have thought of that.”
“Sometimes we have to look underneath the underneath,” Kakashi murmured solemnly. He leaned over for his rucksack. It had doggie treats and the polaroid camera his dad gave him on his fifth birthday. “Let me,” he said, centering Sakura and her catch in the viewer and then clicking a photo. He then tried the flash-step Master Minato taught him and took another photo of the two of them and the hare. “In case you need another witness I’ll back you up.”
Kakashi turned towards Sakura, his masked covered nose brushed against her pink hair. She smelled like fresh forest and rosemary. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly parched. He plucked the two developed photos and held them out for Sakura, their heads close together.
Sakura giggled and then crouched to the ground and released the hare. She wiped her gloved hands over her pants and then accepted the two photographs. “I can keep this?” Sakura asked.
Kakashi nodded. “Proof. For your dad. So you can continue at the Academy, become a ninja.”
“Like you?” Sakura asked shyly, meeting his gaze. “You’re already a chunin. Everyone always talks about how amazing you.” Her jade eyes swept over the pack of ninken at their feet. “And your dogs talk.”
The tips of his ears burned with the praise. “I’ll need a team soon,” Kakashi said quietly.
Sakura pushed one of the pictures back at him. “I just need one for my dad.” She smiled. “Maybe I could come back? I’m not very good at taijutsu. I heard you’re really good.”
“I’m okay,” Kakashi answered. He was actually pretty great, but Kushina said he needed to at least try to be more humble. “We could spar together?”
The smile she flashed him was so big and bright, it made his stomach do funny things. “And maybe one day we can be teammates!”
“Maybe,” Kakashi agreed with a faint smile of his own, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“I better go,” Sakura said with a sigh. She held the photo pressed against her chest. “Would you, um.. Maybe I can come by tomorrow? I can bring a bento?”
The next day was Sunday and he didn’t have another mission until Tuesday. “Okay,” Kakashi agreed. “Let me know how it goes with your parents.”
Sakura nodded. “Okay, Kakashi-kun. I’ll see you tomorrow then!”
Kakashi and his ninken watched as the pretty kunoichi walked away. It was only after she was beyond the trees that he looked at the Polaroid. It was the one of her and the hare. Kakashi smiled. She kept the one of the two of them.
Pakkun nudged his nose against Kakashi’s booted ankle. “Yo, Boss, I like her.”
He leaned down and scooped the pug into his arms, his other ninken followed at his heels as he walked back to the house. “Me too, Pakkun. Me too.”
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There was a skip in her step as Sakura made her way home. She patted the inner pocket of her coat, ensuring that the photograph was safely tucked away. It would count as evidence for her father and a memento for herself. 'Kakashi-kun was really handsome! And he was so nice!' She thought it might be scary talking to him, but he was really kind!
“Hey! Civilian!” The grating voice of the main bully from the academy called out.
Sakura closed her eyes and tried to do the technique Iruka-sensei taught them about sensing enemy. She could hear the crunching of booted feet across the snow and she steeled herself against the incoming assault. There were at least three of them. Which made sense Fuki didn’t taunt anyone without her besties Ami and Kasumi.
She turned around smiling sweetly at the three tormentors. “Good evening Fuki, Ami, Kasumi.” She wouldn’t react to the civilian title as if it were an insult. Naruto’s father grew up a civilian and the Yellow Flash was probably the best shinobi in the whole village!
“What are you doing around this part of the village? This is no place for a civilian. This is where the shinobi live!” Ami sneered, flipping her dark purple hair over her shoulder in a way much less cool than when Ino did it.
“I was tracking a hare,” Sakura answered.
Kasumi began to laugh and the others soon joined in. “Did it stop in fear of your giant forehead!?”
Sakura felt her cheeks heat up at the insult, but she refused to stare down at her feet. She was a strong, future kunoichi! She tracked and caught a hare and proved herself capable. She started to speak, but her throat seemed to swell up and only a puff of white cloudy air escaped her lips. She sucked in a breath and was about to try again when a low growl started at her ankle. She glanced down to recognize the gray shaggy ninken from earlier. Stalking to her other side, the massive bull dog appeared. “I did have a little help,” Sakura answered, her voice calm and confident with the unexpected allies.
“Shut up, Haruno! Do you want them to attack you, you stupid girl?” Fuki hissed.
“Well, it’s nice to know you’re all so concerned about your classmate,” Kakashi said, seeming to appear out of nowhere. The pug was on his shoulder and two of the other ninken were at attention on his flanks.
“Hatake-san,” Ami gasped. “We’re just keeping this civilian rabble away from bothering you.”
“Yeah, you don’t need dead last from our class trespassing,” Kasumi added.
“Dead last, huh?” Kakashi glanced at Sakura over his shoulder, the majority of his face hidden behind his mask, but those dark eyes of his implored her to trust him and Sakura would.
She was the top ranked kunoichi in their class because of her academic scores. Though her taijutsu was middling at best. She certainly wasn’t dead last.
“I mean, you can’t expect much from a civilian. It’s really not poor Sakura’s fault,” Yuki continued. “She has no clan to teach her anything useful, just a couple of civilian parents.”
“Some of us have no parents,” Kakashi reminded quietly.
The three mean girls paled at the comment.
Kakashi stepped back until he stood next to Sakura. He leaned over to scratch Uhei between the ears. “Sakura-chan was invited. You three are trespassing.”
Ami waved her hands placatingly, her smile was sharp and desperate. “Our sincerest apologies. Let me make it up to you, Hatake-san! Can I maybe offer you some dango? There’s a nice sweet shop…. “
Kakashi cut her off, his voice harsh. “I only like one sweet thing and that’s Sakura — my girlfriend.” He laid his hand over her shoulder and squeezed her thin shoulder through the thickness of her fur coat.
All three of Sakura’s tormenters stared wide-eyed with their mouths hanging open at the declaration. Then turning his back to the three girls, letting them know clearly he didn’t view them as a threat, Kakashi stood directly in front of Sakura, clasping her shoulders and pressing his forehead against hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Sakura-chan?”
Sakura nodded silently.
“I’m going to have Shiba and Uhei escort you home,” Kakashi said quietly. “They’ll come for you tomorrow to bring you to me for the Bento box. And I’m going to help you improve your taijutsu, okay?” He turned towards the three girls, standing protectively in front of Sakura and blocking her from their view. “Why are you still here?”
Ami, Fuki, and Kasumi scrambled over each other and hurried away, vanishing back towards the village center.
“Thank you,” Sakura sighed in relief.
“They followed you out here. They were waiting,” Kakashi observed, turning to look at her over his shoulder. His thunderstorm grey eyes studied her face for a moment.
“Have you ever had to deal with bullies?” Sakura asked quietly, biting her lower lip and struggling to maintain eye contact. She was no frightened hare, she would look her protector in the eye. Though, the last time these three went after her, it had been Ino that had stood up for her. Sakura’s hands clenched into fists. Maybe Sasuke-kun was right, she really was helpless. She needed to learn to fight for herself. “You’ll really help me with my taijutsu?”
Kakashi stared at her moment longer, dark eyes focused on her lips before he smiled so sweetly his eyes crinkled closed. “Of course. I need to head back to make dinner now, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Would—would you like to have dinner with my family?” Sakura invited, shuffling her feet nervously. “Mama always makes extra. She says you never know when you might have company.”
Kakashi gestured towards his pack of ninken. “I don’t think she was planning to feed eight ninken as well and I promised my team some nice steak.” He reached for her large red ribbon and straightened the bow in her hair, his hands nimble and efficient. “A hitai-ate will look good here. Study hard, Sakura-chan. No girlfriend of mine should look so sad,” he teased.
And then he was gone in a puff of air having flash-stepped away. She could smell the lingering scent of ozone as he used lightning chakra for the technique. Shiba and Uhei whined up at her and she smiled down at the ninken. “He called me his girlfriend,” Sakura whispered.
Shiba yipped. Uhei nudged the back of her knee and she giggled. “Let’s go, Mama will have enough for you two.”
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Watching from the upper boughs of a tree, Kakashi observed the pretty girl and his pair of ninken heading towards the civilian sector of the village. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to claim her as his girlfriend. Maybe he’d ask Minato-sensei about it later. He had been so angered by the jeers of those classmates of hers. It was easy enough to recognize their jealousy — she was smart, fierce, and adorable.
Sakura would grow into a fine warrior one day. She had a heart of fire and now the attention of the village prodigy. Kakashi followed on the rooftops as she entered a modest house with blue wooden facade, white wrap around porch and boxed windows with hardy herbs growing in the planters even during the winter months. He watched as a kindly blond woman hugged Sakura fiercely and invited Shiba and Uhei inside. Then a pink-haired man loomed in the doorway, his bright blue eyes scanned the street until they landed on the rooftop where Kakashi lay hidden, his chakra masked.
Sakura’s father’s eyes narrowed and then he stepped inside the house, securing the door behind him. Kakashi started back towards his own home, needing to start on dinner for his ninken. He would ask Minato-sensei about Haruno-san as well. That man was no mere civilian to have detected Kakashi’s presence. Shiba and Uhei would likely give him a report on their impressions as well.
Kakashi soon stood before his stove, grilling the slabs of steak. The aroma of jasmine rice mixed with the scent of sautéed vegetables. He actually enjoyed cooking. It made him think of his father and more pleasant memories. Eventually, he sat at the small kitchen table, his ninken spread about the tiled floor looking at him expectably before diving into their dinner.
“Itadakumasu,” Kakashi announced before pulling down his mask and taking his time with his meal. No need to hurry in the privacy of his own home.
“Thanks, Boss!” Pakkun echoed, speaking for the others in the pack. “When do you think Shiba and Uhei will get back?”
“Later,” Kakashi answered. “They’re working right now.”
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Art by 4649-exe