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The Hatake House had a traditional style, it was surrounded by trees and a big garden full of a variety of vegetables. There was a wide threshold, that indicated the beginning of the property, that proudly displayed the Hatake Clan symbol at the top. A metal and wooden fence surrounded the house, but the trees worked as a fence on their own, not only did they concealed most of the property, but also provided shade in the sunny summer days. The way inside was marked by a trail that followed a non-straight path to the front door of the house, most of it covered in weeds and flowers that instead of making the house look uncared for, it fit perfectly with the natural aesthetic of the forest.
Itself, the house looked inviting, the green trees and growing food made any by passer want to get inside, perhaps just to explore the place that looked like a maze in the months of spring and summer, the fruits and vegetables ready for harvest, the trees providing an inviting shade...nevertheless very few people had actually put a foot inside the Hatake house.
The first reason was pretty much the fact that it belonged to the one and only Hatake Sakumo and well, you wouldn’t want to trespass the property of a living legend like that.
Hatake Sakumo had a terrifying reputation cemented by a trail of successful missions and proof that, despite not being trained and taught in the same team as the Sannin, he was just as powerful and even more so than them in the battlefield.
The White Fang could be seen sometimes tending to the garden, others coming from the forest. The house was in the middle of it; therefore, part of the property also had a wide piece of forest in it.
The second reason was the fact that the Hatake House was very far away from other important Clan compounds, like the Nara or the Inuzuka, and very close to the outskirts of the village. A couple houses had settled close but still far enough to allow the man to live practically like a hermit.
The Hatake Clan was a recognized one in the village, despite being a rather small one. In fact, up to a couple years ago it was said to only consist of Sakumo himself, who was brought to the village and trained by Sarutobi Sasuke when he was just a child.
The third reason was the big white wolf-like dog that would walk around the house, from the threshold to the part of the forest that was still inside the fence that indicated the end of the Hatake property. Curiously enough, the Inuzuka Compound was far and basically on the opposite side of the village in comparison to the Hatake House, besides, the big dog didn’t look like the Inuzuka wolves and hounds did. The animal looked like it had lived years and years past what a normal dog should, an almost human attitude overflowed it and it was never seen anywhere else but the Hatake House and close to Sakumo himself.
The strangely big dog was always seen wearing something akin of a samurai armor that included spikes and a back plate with red and white decorations and would glare at whoever dared get close with dark eyes where there should be white and an intense pair of yellow irises.
That was why when Yukite Muji had been requested to deliver a scroll to the White Fang, he had been hesitant to even walk close to the open threshold door. Maito Dai was the one the Hokage would usually send, but because the man was currently busy helping in someone’s garden, the task had fallen into Muji’s hands.
He had never visited the house personally, but he had heard of all the rumors surrounding it enough times that he decided taking precautionary measures was nothing to be ashamed of.
Hatake Sakumo was a man of few words, you would never catch him talking about himself, least of all his house. Muji had actually crossed paths with Sakumo once or twice since he had started working at the Hokage Tower a year ago.
Muji’s job consisted mostly of archiving and organizing mission reports and creating schedules for the chunin exams and other academy related events, still, he sometimes found himself in the presence of the Hokage and shinobi and Kunoichi that he mostly knew and had heard of in legends and tales the villagers and other shinobi would tell, like Princess Tsunade who would often be seen trying to drag her team somewhere to drink after a mission.
The few times he had encountered Sakumo the man had been returning from either an A or an S ranked mission. He usually looked pretty serene and lost in his thoughts even when half covered in stranger’s blood and slighty oozing the White Chakra he was so well known for in small fickles of electricity when he thought no one was looking. He was pretty intimidating, all broad shoulders and sharp angles and the known fact that the man was armed to his teeth.
Muji remembered with an embarrassed groan how once the White Fang had caught him staring.
It was quite early, and the sun had just settled in the blue sky, Muji had closed his eyes as he yawned and when he opened them, Hatake Sakumo was standing in front of him. He was back from an S rank mission; the green vest was dirty with mud and what looked like dried blood. Still his silver white hair was clean and in his usual long ponytail, shining gold as it reflected the sun. The Tantō, that was always strapped to his back in its sheath had delicate markings across the handle and for the first time he noticed the red ribbon that was wrapped around the handmade handle.
Muji was struck with thoughts of how it would be to go on a mission with The White Fang, to see the Jōnin in action, that he didn’t realize the man had asked him a question and he had spent the last couple of minutes staring instead of answering and now Sakumo was just looking back at him with a shy and slightly uncomfortable expression.
Well, talk about making a good first impression to a living legend. Okay so Muji had a crush, the truth was he admired the man and so what if he had spent most of his academy days as a child picking Sakumo when he and his friends would play pretend in the playground.
Turned out, Sakumo had only wanted to know if the Hokage was in his office already and after replying, the Jōnin had disappeared in a poof of white smoke, leaving a 16-year-old Muji wishing the earth would swallow him whole.
He planned in making up for that first impression now, that was if he was able to get all the way to the front door without being zapped by a trap or a wolf…Alright. Time to get serious. He was a chunin now, and he might not have as much experience in the field like his classmates did, but he was a good ninja and his superior had congratulated him many times on his good work at the archives. If Maito Dai could do this, he could do it too. It was literally just knocking on a door and delivering an important scroll to the man he considered his idol, that was it.
Slowly, Muji tried to peek inside to see if he could catch a glimpse of the dog. He didn’t see anything, maybe it was in the back, maybe it was inside with its master or maybe it was waiting for him, hidden somewhere between the trees of the dense vegetation observing Muji like he was a small, scared rabbit that would soon be between his teeth.
Muji shook his head. He was a chunin! A capable, strong chunin that was not afraid of any dog, no matter how big and scary it was or how many stories he had hear of it eating shinobi left and right in the battlefield!
Emboldened Muji crossed the threshold with firm and decided steps, following the clear path between the wide trees and then when he got to the first vegetable patch, he was walking normally, laughing at himself for being scared in the first place at such a silly thing, enjoying the view and trying to categorize as many vegetables as he could on a scale of which patch would be ready for harvest first in the upcoming days.
Then he heard movement.
He turned around but he didn’t see anything, he was instead greeted by the moving trees and a couple of birds flying in the sky.
Muji continued walking, surely a squirrel or a wild small animal had been startled by his steps. He was nearing the front door when he saw it in the corner of his eye, something white (silver?) moving towards him. Out of reflex he took out a Kunai from his pouch and listened intently, but he couldn’t distinguish anything, he looked for any chakra signature but felt nothing either.
Narrowing his eyes and not letting go of the kunai, he moved and there it was again, it seemed that this creature was trying to mess with him. He walked faster through the path, that would go around the different plantations on the floor, each of them seemingly very well taken care of.
When the white creature moved again, he decided it was enough and jumped all the way to the front door, careful not to accidentally hurt the plants and vegetables that grew on the ground and falling on his feet in a confident and ready fight stance. Nothing. It seemed like it had only been a curious bunny, or a cat.
Perfect! He had made it! Grinning to himself, he adjusted his uniform and climbed the wooden stairs to the front door.
He was about to knock when he heard the noise again, this time close behind him. He turned around once more, and saw nothing again. A chill went down his spine but he ignored it in favor of turning around and…
“Hello”
Muji easily jumped at least a meter in the air before falling backwards on his butt on one of the patches full of green plants, his feet getting tangled in the wire that kept the plants up and in order.
Infront of him, watching him with bored eyes was a child, a tiny one at that, probably no taller than Muji’s waist, wearing a green scarf and a medical face mask that covered the bottom half of his face. His silver white hair looked extremely familiar.
Muji got up as quickly as he could, nearly falling again while trying to get the wire away from his feet. Adjusting his uniform and trying to pick up the little dignity he had left after falling in front of a child. Well, at least he had not embarrassed himself in front of Sakumo-San, again.
“You just fell over our carrots” The child said looking up at him with an annoyed glance and wow, this child looked small enough to even talk that eloquently, how did he manage to give off such bossy vibes?
Muji stared back to the spot he had fallen at, indeed he had fallen over them and in the way he had broken a few that were ready to be harvested.
”I—I’m sorry, I…” he tried to straighten the broken plants and put the carrots inside the wet dirt again, only to realize he was pretty much making it worst. He turned back to the child and cleared his throat. “Uh”
The kid rolled his eyes. “What do you need?” If Muji was not looking at the child with his own two eyes he would have guessed he was dealing with an adult with a very high pitched voice.
“Uh, oh yes, I was looking for Hatake-San” The brat raised an eyebrow and looked at Muji with distrust. “I have a scroll from the Hokage” The chunin clarified.
The child still was not impressed and wow, since when did he felt the need to explain himself to a kid, Muji was a chunin, he was an adult!
The brat turned around, completely dismissing Muji. “And he trusts you with that information?” He said in a mocking tone.
“Hey!”
Muji climbed the stairs again, wiping his mud stained hands on his pants.
“Just give it to me, I’ll take it to him” The kid turned and extended his tiny hand towards Muji, who looked at him with disbelief. He couldn’t be serious.
“What but—no offense but this are very important documents and I need to give them over to an adult, this is not a toy, you know?” That had definitively not been the right answer, for the kid had narrowed his eyes again and that killing intent was back in the air and how old was this kid anyways, five? Still, Muji didn’t want to make a relative of the White Fang upset, who knew what the kid would tell the man and then Muji would have to pay for the consequences, after all, that was something Muji’s little brother, Izumo, always did. “Eh, well...listen, are your parents home? Maybe one of them can give this scroll to Sakumo-san”
The child crooked his head in a way that really reminded Muji of a curious puppy before crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, my father is home, and he is more than capable of giving the scroll to himself but he just got back from a mission and he is resting right now, so unless you want to wait until he is awake, give it to me”
Well, Muji was definitively not expecting that.
“You are Hatake Sakumo’s son?"
The boy scoffed like Muji had just asked if the sky was blue. Muji ignored him and instead nodded excitedly. “Nice to meet you! My name is Muji, whats yours?” The boy looked at him with distrust again and waited a couple of seconds before replying.
“Kakashi”
Muji bowed slightly, his mother had taught him manners and Muji was not shy to display them. “Hello Kakashi” The child nodded back.
In the sky, a bird tweeted loudly.
“So, uh” He continued, looking around, trying to dissipate the awkward silence that had settled between them. “I can’t leave the scroll to you, sorry, I mean I could but I might get in trouble”
Kakashi let out a sigh, he sat down on the woken floor, letting his legs dangle over the edge and looking at the ruined carrots on the ground. “That’s alright, I understand” He said with a firm voice.
Muji sat next to him, he had not realized just how small the child was until now, he was even younger than his little brother.
Deciding that the best strategy was to wait for Sakumo-San to arrive, he chose to befriend the little kid and dissipate some of the rumors while he was at it.
“So, eh, is it true what they say about your wolf?”
“You mean Tetsu?” The child replied before shrugging. “She is not here now, I think she went hunting” He said matter of factly. The way he spoke made it seem like he was speaking of a person, someone the child had spent a long time with, perhaps even since he was born.
“In the forest?” He inquired curious.
“Yes, but not this one” Wait what. What other forest? What-- “And she is not a wolf”
Before Muji could ask what exactly she was and which forest did she went to hunt at, the child turned suddenly, his eyes wide in excitement.
“Father is awake!”
Kakashi got up and jumped just in time to be greeted by the tall figure of one Hatake Sakumo, the man catching the child mid air, Muji was surprised the kid even had enough chakra to propel himself like that at such a young age.
“Sakumo-San!” Muji yelled, his excitement getting the best out of him before remembering he was there on a very important mission from the Hokage to deliver some very important documents to the one and only Hatake Sakumo who was standing in front of him and wait HIS CLAN SHIRT ALWAYS HAD BOTH SLEVES???!! The other shinobi at the Hokage Tower would not believe it!
“Ah, yes” The modulated voice of the older Hatake snapped him out of his thoughts. “I could sense you but honestly I was too tired, I sincerely was hoping you would leave the scroll with Kakashi, Dai does that sometimes”
Muji felt his cheeks go red in embarrassment. “I—”
“He couldn’t, he was told by his superiors to give it to you” Kakashi said from where he had sat on his father’s arm. “I didn’t want to get him in trouble and he was willing to wait, a good shinobi always listens and obeys the orders of their supperior”
It wasn’t a lie, but it was not entirely true, Muji smiled happily, did that mean Kakashi had liked him?
Sakumo nodded and smiled at Muji who only smiled wider and rejoiced in the approval. “Oh that’s good. Still, I apologize for the trouble”
“I—no need to apologize, I mean it was me that fell all over your carrots…” He had completely forgotten the carrot incident. “Oh no! your carrots, I am so sorry, Hatake-san, I didn’t mean to, I was startled, I mean I was not scared or anything, I’m a chunin, you know, I’m not scared easily but I thought, uh there was something and I—I’m sorry for that time too, it was really early and I…”
Muji shut his mouth and simply bent at the waist, taking out the scroll from his messenger pouch and offering it as a deep felt apology. “I apologize for destroying your carrots!”
The White Fang patted him awkwardly on the head, causing Muji too glance up to look at the Jōnin again.
“It’s quite alright, really, you didn’t destroy them, actually are you alright? Must have been quite the fall” The actual concern in his voice made Muji smile again, he was a hundred percent sure he looked like an idiot but for once he did not care.
“Oh sure, I am fine, the step wasn’t as big and the plants took the fall, besides I'm a very good shinobi, some plants can't stop me eh-- Thank you for your concern"
Sakumo nodded and then looked at Muji before shyly saying,“Thank you for the scroll”
“Oh sure, yes. Thank you for meeting me, I mean I’m sorry for waking you up, surely you had a rough mission”
“Not really” The way he said it was not in a showing off way, more like he was clarifying a fact for the benefit of the other person.
“I’ll take my leave now, goodbye Sakumo-San! Goodbye Kakashi-Chan!” He waved at the both of them again, not before taking another glance back.
“Sure, see you later” Sakumo replied, waving back, and Muji almost squeaked because that was The White Fang acknowledging him. Maybe he would say hello the next time he came by the Hokage Tower, ohhh the other shinobi would get sooo jelaous! Specially the ones his age!
Both Hatake watched the boy happily gallop his way out of the property until Kakashi spoke.
“I think we finally found someone as awkward and air-headed as you, dad”
Sakumo looked at his son in mock disbelief. “Kakashi!”
Kakashi giggled. “It’s okay, you are my favorite dad anyways” The boy stated as he let his head fall on his father's chest.
Sakumo smiled and ruffled his son's hair. “I’m happy to hear that, now what about we go and have dinner, yes?” Sakumo walked them both inside the house, locking the doors and setting the chakra traps before placing his son on the dinner Kotatsu, Kakashi took off his mask and slowly drank some water from a glass.
“What are those papers about?” Kakashi asked after wiping his mouth carefully.
Sakumo hummed, serving two rice plates and putting them on the small table before cracking an egg on each of them and adding vegetables on top. “Information about an S-Rank mission in Wind Country”
Kakashi looked up excitedly. “Can I go?”
“Not this time I’m afraid, remember I can’t take you to S-Ranked missions, but I promise we’ll go on the next A or B one I have” Sakumo smiled at his son and Kakashi smiled wider.
“Thank you for the food!” Both exclaimed excitedly before eating.