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Being taken from your mother, brothers, and sisters at a month old wouldn't mean much to a human, but to a dog, it meant the world. You had to prove yourself to the rest of the new pack, had to fight even harder for a meal, and had to do silly things to get the attention of the adults. It meant struggling to get anywhere near a warm body for the night so you didn't stay awake freezing, and it meant not knowing all the rules and, subsequently, getting punished for not knowing... a lot.
That's what his mom said.
She was wrong.
The six-year-old human who was supposed to feed him, clean up his messes, show him the ropes, and eventually teach him to work as a ninken was better than that. He was fed regularly, and better stuff than the adults got. He was given a name, Pakkun, not just the "hey you" everyone before called him. He had his own dedicated toys in the young human's bedroom. He had a soft bed of his own, including blankets, but, on the cold nights, he was actually invited to share the bed with the boy. Training was fun, too. The boy used clones of himself as target practice for biting, scenting, and even to keep Pakkun company when he himself had to leave for the day.
Pakkun would slip off on his own sometimes, though. Talking was something that would benefit their relationship more if it went both ways. He could be a better ninken if he could talk to his human partner. Sure, it was always going to be up to Pakkun whether or not to sign on to the main pack the boy's father contracted with, but Pakkun had already made up his mind. He would only work with Kakashi. Kakashi was probably the exception to the rule when it came to how humans treated dogs.
He was almost five-months old when he was confident enough to walk up to his human, greet him at the door with a wagging tail and show off his accomplishment. As the boy's sandals flew off his feet, Pakkun came running.
"Kakashi!" he yelled, then jumped up into the boy's arms... the boy's happy arms that hugged him back and fingers that scratched in the right spots behind the ears. This would be a good friendship and future partnership for years to come. He just knew it!