Chapter Text
Kakashi is five years old and soon set to start at the academy when his dad came home from his mission. Successful, all team members accounted for, and some council elder somewhere underground pissed. He’s sleeping, dreaming of a field of puppies when his dad enters the house long after midnight. He only knows it’s his father because while no alarm trips, his father's large buzzing lightning nature chakra thrums through the house with excitement.
Half awake and half asleep, the youngest Hatake stumbles to the stairs and makes his way to his father. The older alpha ruffles his hair, and Kakashi trills, a young juvenile trill. He hasn’t presented yet, and probably won’t for a while, but his dad had scented his alpha nature long ago. Kakashi does not doubt this.
“Hey, pup. Didn’t mean to wake you.” The elder alpha rumbles, affectionately rubbing his wrist over where his son’s glands would soon grow. Kakashi can taste the excitement in his father and wants to question it immediately but something else is nibbling on his mind.
There is a smell of morning dew on grass mixed with something so distinctly infantile coming from behind his dad. There is another scent there that he can’t quite place just yet, if only because he’s not sure something is amiss. This confuses him immensely since no one followed his father into the house.
“Pops?” Kakashi asks, rubbing his eyes. His father chuckles and leads them to the couch. He has turned the living room light on.
When Kakashi manages to scramble on top of the couch in haste, his father picks something up, a basket, off the floor and places it on the couch.
The young soon-to-be alpha can only watch transfixed, as the bundle in the basket, breathes softly. Eyes closed and tiny lips opening and closing silently. The pink hair on top of their head is cotton candy colored and Kakashi is half-pressed to believe it tastes just like it too.
He turns to stare at his dad. While Kakashi had sat up on his knees to peer into the wicker basket, his dad had crouched low to observe him and the new baby.
“During my mission, I ran into a civilian couple on their deathbed.” He starts, and Kakashi immediately senses this story is not a good one, “The smell of one of them, well two of them, called to me. It seems we had a distant relative still living on the border of Iron Country and they got caught in the crossfires. I brought back their bodies and we’ll plan a funeral for them at a later date. But their daughter was still alive.”
Sakumo watches his young son absorb his words and then turn to stare at the baby wrapped tight in a blanket. He understands his son’s confusion. They both thought they were the last Hatake alive. Wars did that.
“No matter how diluted her heritage is, she is pack. You can smell it on her.” Kakashi agrees. That earthy undertone to her sent must be hinting at her chakra nature. All Hatake had a Doton nature whether it was primary or secondary. It comes from their ancient Iron Country lineage.
The elder enforces, “So I have decided to adopt her. Her parents thankfully had her paperwork on her. She’s about six months old according to her birth certificate. So she is your new baby sister. I just came back from the Hokage to confirm the paperwork after reporting in.”
Kakashi is staring at the baby, unblinking and it’s beginning to concern the elder alpha until he sees Kakashi reach for her. She had somehow freed her tiny hands. Her chubby fingers make a grabbing motion at nothing until Kakashi gives her a finger and she grips it instantly and tightly. She immediately stops squirming and makes some small babble noises before going back into a restful sleep.
A silent rumble comes from deep within Kakashi as his finger is taken captive and finds himself lying down next to the basket to adjust his position better. Without looking back at his dad, he asks, “What’s her name?”
Because he is still staring at the new pup in their pack, he misses his father's loving smile.
“Sakura.”
The Hatake men are whipped. Well and truly. They do nothing to deny this truth as they walk around the village. Sakura is all Kakashi can think about when he is at school. He is immensely jealous his dad has somehow convinced the Hokage to give him paternity leave. Now the old man was spending every waking moment fawning over Sakura.
Which is unfair.
Kakashi wants to bond with his baby sister too. She’s been with them for three months now, and while she has gained a lot of weight, she still seems too small to Kakashi.
“RIVAL!” Gai shouts as Kakashi leaves the academy and prepares to sprint home, “Let us have a most glorious chall-”
“No. I have to go home to my sister.”
Kakashi has no time for Gai. No time for the dobe. He needs to go home, make sure Sakura is ok, tell her about his day (she loves it if her bell-like laughter is anything to go by), and work through some katas with his father while the pink-haired Hatake watches cuddled up to Tsuki, the current head of the Hatake Wolves. She is always summoned to watch over Hatake pups. Her eyes never leave Sakura when she is on the compound. She does not have to watch her outside since she never leaves Sakumo’s side.
Kakashi, who had sprinted home with no shame, slams open the door. He is greeted with the smell of toads, slugs, and snakes and immediately recoils.
Of course, the sannin are finally here.
Best friends to his dad, the sannin are just as powerful and as popular and in demand. Especially now that his dad is using up every bit of leave he’s hordered to take paternity leave.
He makes his way to the engawa and finds the four adults all sipping tea. Tsunade has Sakura in her arms and is staring at her with an incomprehensible look.
Sakura is staring back with her ever-wide and curious emerald eyes. She looks comfortable atop the last Senju’s generous bosom. His dad and the other two sannin watch, evidently curious about Tsunade’s queer behavior. The alpha Senju had not stopped staring and sniffing the youngest Hatake.
Sakura must sense Kakashi because she stops her staring contest with the busty woman and turns to him. Her eyes glitter with joy and her mouth opens wide, her barely there bottom teeth peeking through just a bit.
With all the gusto she can manage, she squeals, “NII-NII!”
A butchered version of nii-chan if he ever heard one, but it does the job of filling Kakashi’s chest with warmth.
And then there is quiet and subtle killing intent.
The gravity of the situation overwhelms two people, the male Hatake specifically.
“Did you just-” His father begins, eyes glaring.
“She called to me for her first word!” As stoic as Kakashi pretends to be, he cannot deny how pleased he is right now. Sakura spends more time with their dad, but she called to him.
Which he thinks is fair, since she did her first (assisted) steps with their dad.
Sakura is bouncing in Tsunade’s arm. Clapping and reaching for Kakashi.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya are holding back their snorts of laughter at Sakumo. Tsunade, momentarily forgetting her earlier confusion, barks out a laugh.
Kakashi takes the pink Hatake from her hands and holds her close as he practiced.
His dad is glaring hard enough to make a lesser man faint, but Kakashi is unaffected. He’s won this game.
They are tied one to one.