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Chapter Text

Sakumo is currently melting. Melting while counting his son’s little fingers and toes. Counting them repeatedly, again and again. All his stress and depressing thoughts vanish every time he sees his baby.

Sakumo stared at his newborn Baby. His little face is so red from crying loudly, his chest moving as he breathes air. His tiny arms and legs wiggled, with his tiny hands as if trying to reach for his face. Sakumo held his baby in his arms, it was their first meeting, yet he already felt butterflies in his stomach. His sweet little boy, his only living family.

That was a month ago when he lost his wife and met his new son, Kakashi. Who is currently one month old.

He felt his tears start to gather in his eyes, smiling bitterly as he pulled his son closer to his face, smelling him and pressing soft kisses on his tummy. “There, there Kakashi, Daddy’s here” he hushed softly. Humming with a lullaby in an attempt to soothe his baby.

Soon, the baby’s cries slowly stopped and started to calm, eyes wide open with curiosity. He would raise his almost nonexistent brow and frown, causing the man to giggle from the funny face he was making. His tiny little mouth would move and would start suckling at empty air.

“Looks like you’re hungry.” Sakumo chuckled, grabbing a baby bottle with half-emptied milk. Placing the nipple close to the baby’s mouth, and soon the tiny being in his arms started suckling to fill his hungry stomach.

Kakashi was already asleep when Sakumo decided to place his baby down on his tiny bed, and he started cleaning the little mess he made. Discreetly, he made little to no noises as he walked around the room, arranging his son’s clothes and taking out the bin filled with Kakashi’s dirty diaper. Leaving the nursery room’s door ajar, Stealthy walked towards the kitchen and out the door to dump the trash into the outdoor dumpster.

Walking back inside his house, he decided to take his time and clean as much as he could before his baby would cry again for another meal. He mostly just tidied the place, putting dirty dishes on the sink to wash later, grabbing his clothes scattered on the floor, and dumping them in the laundry basket. 

Minutes later, Sakumo found himself dusting the walls, after being bothered by the dark spots on his wall. Soon he was cleaning and wiping the floor. Somehow, it made him decide to wash the dishes. It almost took Sakumo an hour before he felt satisfied with a clean house.

After he was done, he took a peek at his son, who was still snoring comfortably on his tiny futon. He walked inside the room and sat on the Tatami mat, just beside his baby. He was still asleep, sleeping peacefully despite losing his mother. 

But still, he would make sure that Kakashi will know who his mother is. Telling him how much she cares and loves him. How she was a strong, kind, and brave woman. He wished she was still here. Taking care of Kakashi together, showering him with a much-deserved love, teaching him lots of stuff that he would be curious about as he grows, watching him till he becomes a splendid excellent man.

His Kakashi, how he wished his wife was still alive to watch their adorable baby together.

END

Chapter Text

It was a busy day at the Hatake Household. It has already been three months since Kakashi was born, and Sakumo hasn’t been able to babyproof his house. What he needed was a playpen, which was already solved. Since Kakashi already has a room for himself. But the thing is, it’s not safe enough once Kakashi starts to walk and be curious.

He already had a safety lock on the cabinets that are reachable by infants, who knows when will Kakashi start crawling around, and could open cabinets that are filled with pans, knives, or anything that can hurt his baby. He also made sure that any sharp objects around the house are covered and out of reach.

Sakumo might be a ninja, but his Kakashi is still a three-month-old baby that will need his protection. Others might call him an overprotective father, but Kakashi is his only living family.

Kakashi was left sleeping on his bed, on the floor of their living room. While his father covered any sharp edges that he found, made sure the cabinets with knives and pans had safe locking. His weapons are strictly in his room, and lightly tapped the Tatami mat and wooden floors with his hands, making sure that no tiny sharp objects are left forgotten.

“And what are you doing?” A white-haired man asked, dumbfounded, staring at his friend, crouching on all fours, while tapping the floor.

Sakumo didn’t even bother to look up and continued checking every nook and cranny of the floor. “Checking”

“And you’re checking for what?” Tsunade responded, walking towards the front lawn with her teammate by her side. Taking off her shoe and entered his house through the engawa, followed by Jiraiya.

The additional voice caught Sakumo’s attention, sitting up and facing the source of the voice, and saw his visitors. “Tsunade, you also came” He was surprised to see her in his house since he lives not so close to the main town. 

“Why? Are you not happy?” she glared, looking around to see the sleeping baby on his tiny futon. A smile was instantly on her face, as she saw the tiny baby. “And look who we have here, a tiny-looking Sakumo sleeping” she giggled, approaching the baby and sitting beside him.

Jiraiya placed a plastic bag on the table, “Sakumo here are the things you asked for”.

Sakumo smiled and thanked the teen, standing up from the floor and checking the contents of the plastic bag. 

“What’s that?” Tsunade asked curiously. 

“Just some baby stuff he said he needs. A baby carrier, and some stuff he needed for-” Jiraiya squinted his eyes, trying to remember what the other one Sakumo asked for.

“Baby proofing,” Sakumo added, which earned a grin from Jiraiya. 

“Yup, that” 

“Why do you need that?” Tsunade asked curiously.

“For precaution, and also I can carry Kakashi around town with this” The older man grinned, showing the baby carrier to Tsunade. 

It wasn’t long before Sakumo started installing a baby gate to put inside Kakashi’s room and to finish checking his house for any loose objects that could hurt his precious baby. Once he was done, he walked back to the living and saw Kakashi laying on his stomach, wiggling his arms and legs.

“Look at this baby, trying to crawl” Jiraiya chuckled, amused at Kakashi who would move his grabby hands around. Tsunade would chime in, cheering the baby to crawl on his own. 

And as if Kakashi could sense him, the baby stopped his squirm, his face turned towards where he thought his father was. When his eyes saw him, he instantly giggled and went back to moving his legs and arms again, as if to show his father what he could do.

“This brat sure likes you a lot Sakumo, he didn’t even smile at us when he saw us. But then started giggling when he saw you”

“Well, of course, he is his father. '' Tsunade responded back.

Sakumo chuckled, sitting near his son, who was successful in making a turn and was now facing east from his first position, making his bed crumple from him moving around. 

END

Chapter Text

Kakashi has been learning how to stand since he turned six months old, using whatever he could hold onto as he exercises his knees and legs muscles, and as proud as Sakumo was, he started boasting about how his son is starting to learn how to stand, either Sakumo’s hand hovering around Kakashi’s waist, or Kakashi holding on to his hands while teaching him to take little steps. However, he noticed that Kakashi still needed to practice his balance. Whenever he tried to let go, Kakashi would fall down instantly. Causing him to cry from the sudden fall, and sometimes he would throw a pretty bad tantrum.

Sakumo has been observing his son for almost half an hour now. He knows that his little baby is smart, but who would have thought that he’s raising a very curious little man trying to stand on his own, with his bum repeatedly up in the air and standing awkwardly with his hands and tiny feet on the ground. Which resulted in him toppling down to the soft tatami mats when he moves fast. 

He thought Kakashi would stop by now and stay seated but instead, his little ninja prefers to do it again. A chuckle would leave his throat every time Kakashi would push his bum in the air and down. As if he was trying to gain momentum before he could stand.

As much as Sakumo wants to observe and watch his son learn how to balance his body. Sakumo thought that it was best to have his Ninken watch over Kakashi for now, at the same time, he will continue working on the baby walker he made for Kakashi. But alas he doesn’t want to miss the moment of his little boy trying to be able to stand on his own properly without help. He wanted to see how proud his little son would look at him standing on his own and his tiny mouth smiling while trying to reach out to him. Is what he wished he would see soon.

Cutting a wound on his thumb, he let a little blood come out from his finger. He started to do the hand signs, and seconds later an old man-like voice came out from the smoke gathered in front of him. “Hey! Sakumo. It’s been a while since you called.” is what the little dog said, he sat on his hind legs and stared at his summoner. The dog could hear child laughter from the side, turning his head to the voice, he could see a tiny Sakumo look alike clapping his tiny hand while sitting on the floor. “Is that your Pup?”

Sakumo grinned, averting his eyes to his son, who was now crawling toward Pakkun. “Yup, isn’t he cute?”

The dog was about to agree, but the Pup decided to grab his ears and started pulling the poor dog's ears. It didn’t take long for Kakashi to decide to use Pakkun’s head as support when he tried to stand, but the dog was too small, he lost his balance and almost fell face-first to the floor.

“Saved!” Sakumo announced, relieve after saving his son from hitting the ground. Sakumo chuckled watching his son’s face pressed against his palm. Sakumo grabbed his baby and sat him properly in his arms. He thought Kakashi would cry, but the baby decided to laugh and clapped his hands. “Sorry Pakkun, his currently very curious about anything he sees”

“That’s alright, that’s how babies are”

Sakumo sweat drops, awkwardly grinning while setting Kakashi in front of the pug. “I’ll leave Kakashi to you for a few minutes. I have to finish the walker I made for him”

The dog waved his paw at him, signaling he didn’t mind. But started to regret internally when Kakashi grabbed his ears again and observed them. Minutes passed, and Pakkun was starting to get bored watching over Kakashi, the baby has been staring at him for a while now, and would sometimes grab at his nose, squishing them repeatedly. The tiny dog started to get annoyed, till Sakumo arrived with a push walker in his hands. He sat down near them and watched Kakashi crawl toward his father. Sakumo smiled and placed the baby walker in front of Kakashi.

The walker was tall enough for Kakashi to grasp into and push around the house, allowing him to walk and practice his balance on his own. It also has a tiny cloth where Kakashi can sit whenever he gets tired.

Sakumo grabbed his baby and sat him inside the Baby walker, Kakashi held on to the walker and stared back at his father, then at the wood he was holding. He tried to turn around, and so did the walker, soon Kakashi was walking around with Baby steps, trying to reach anything that his eyes caught on.

Sakumo chuckled, happy that his Baby enjoyed the baby walker he made.

END

Chapter Text

Sakumo has been feeling worried lately. 

A week ago, he might have heard his son speak his first word. However, he isn’t exactly sure if it was a word or just his son blabbering random sounds out. Kakashi isn’t exactly at the age when he could start using his tongue properly. The baby likes to stick his tongue out and babble random sounds; particularly, from what Sakumo noticed, it resembles a bark.

Sakumo would hear his son huff repeatedly while he crawled around trying to catch one of his summons. It was cute and all. But he got worried when his son started panting heavily right after playing, so he brought Kakashi straight to the hospital at almost 12 in the morning. Only to have the doctors tell him that his son might have been mimicking someone, as there was nothing wrong with him.

It was three days later when a curious Hokage came to visit after Sakumo avoided doing missions due to him not knowing what was wrong with his son.

“Mimicking, you say” the third muttered, sitting on the engawa with a warm cup of tea in his hands.

“Is what the doctor said, but I don’t know who he is mimicking.” the younger man sighed. Worried for his little son who was busy staring at his stretched toes, while sitting on his father’s lap.

“And the reason you haven’t taken any mission is you want to know the cause of this odd behavior?” the Hokage asked.

Sakumo flinched worried, wondering if he had caused problems. He knows that as a ninja on call, he should be available anytime. But with how worried he is with his son, he can’t seem to promise himself to focus on his work.

“Now, now.” the third smiled, placing the cup beside him, eyes meeting Kakashi’s innocent eyes. The older man raised his hand and offered his hand to the baby. To which Kakashi wrapped his saliva-covered fingertips to the Hokage’s pointer finger. “I know that you’re worried about your son, and it’s not that I can’t understand you. But you know you have someone you can rely on” 

Sakumo smiled back at the older man, repositioning his son, and making him stand on his lap, facing him. 

“Yeah, I do. Isn’t that right, Kakashi?” The baby giggled and started blabbering words while reaching his hands toward his father. “We have Tsunade and Jiraiya, we also have the third Hokage and Pakkun, and soon, when you grow up. You can have more friends.” 

Kakashi giggled, clapping his hands upon hearing his favorite dog’s name. 

“Oh! looks like Kakashi likes Pakkun” Sakumo chuckled, putting his baby on the engawa, and summoned Pakkun. It wasn’t long before they heard a loud screech and giggle while shouting ‘doggy’ that made the two adults turn their heads towards the giggle.

“Doggy!” Kakashi repeated, crawling towards the pug, sitting on his bum beside the dog, and started panting.

Sakumo raised a brow, wondering if his son is allergic to furs but he didn’t have any sickness reaction. When he realized that he must be mimicking one of his ninja dogs, he then summoned another dog who does a lot of heavy panting.

Bull stood there huffing and drooling with a whine, from the looks of his face, he was about to snack on his bone but was then summoned in the middle of it. Kakashi only screeched louder from seeing another dog and started to exaggerate his huffing while following Pakkun around.

The Hokage was surprised but amused, “So there’s our answer” he chuckled, patting Kakashi on the head.

Sakumo felt relief, but was somewhat disappointed that his son’s first word wasn’t ‘Papa’

END

Chapter Text

Kakashi is now a year and a half months old baby, and one thing that Sakumo noticed about his baby is that Kakashi is a very well-disciplined little boy. A very good boy who listens to his father, and behaves properly when asked, though Sakumo sometimes gets worried if his boy is too well-mannered for his age.

Not that he isn’t grateful for a good child, but he sometimes wishes that his baby would act a little bit spoiled. A week ago when he went out for a walk with Kakashi after his mission, he thought his boy would throw a tantrum. But instead, Kakashi never acted differently and just called him ‘Papa, bye’ while the nursery staff carrying him held his hand to wave at his father with a very cute smile and his tiny little fang.

He had always thought that Kakashi would have no trouble finding a friend. But alas when he got back after a mission, he went straight to the nursery only to see his son glaring at someone. He did feel a little relief when he saw his little boy showing a different emotion. From what he heard from the staff, Kakashi was sitting in front of the bookshelf when a little boy approached him. The toddlers seem to be having an intelligible conversation and a fight ensues between the two, and apparently, Kakashi now refers to the other child as ‘enemy’.

The next day, Sakumo decided to visit the markets with Kakashi. Eat out and buy him some toys that he would want. The toddler seemed to like the idea and showed him a book filled with fish. “You want to eat fish?” he asked, to which Kakashi nodded eagerly.

With Kakashi tucked comfortably in his arms, they left their home and started heading to the market. Ten minutes later from their walk, Kakashi started fussing and wanted to be put down. Sakumo was confused but obliged, putting his son on the ground. His boy then raised one hand to hold his, making Sakumo’s heart swell at the gesture as they started to continue their walk. Not caring at how awkwardly he walks beside a tiny toddler. He doesn’t mind as long as his boy wants to hold hands with him. Despite his little boy still having wobbly steps, his boy can walk properly as long as someone holds him.

As soon as they arrived at the market, Sakumo opted to carry Kakashi again. Showing him some stuff that he might want to play with or eat. But Kakashi ignored most of them and only stared at items his father pointed at. 

“Ah, it’s the little baby,” someone claimed beside Sakumo, with a high-pitched voice. “Granma, granma. He’s the baby I told you last time” A black-haired boy claimed loudly. Grabbing his granny’s arms who is just right beside them. The older lady turned her attention to her grandson. 

“Now, now Obito. What did  I tell you about shouting?” 

“But Granma, he’s the little baby I saw at the nursery. The white-haired baby. I wanted to play with him, but he got mad, then he told me to go away. I got mad too. So I threw away his book, but then he cried and he made me mad. But I was bad.” Obito sniffed, remembering that day when he fought with the baby.

“Oh goodness, what have you been up to at the nursery.” the grandmother sighed, finally meeting the other’s eyes and awkwardly greeting the other man and the baby. “I’m sorry about last time, um”

“It’s alright. Kakashi wasn’t hurt. My name is Sakumo Hatake, and this is my son. Hatake Kakashi” Sakumo smiled. “Kakashi, can you greet the old lady?”

The toddler in his arms nodded and waved shyly at the woman before saying 'hi'. Sakumo chuckled at his son's new expression. Sakumo thought his son would ask the same when he introduced his friends to him, but his little boy acting all shy is new to him.

“Hello there Kakashi, I’m sorry about Obito acting rudely last time. He just wanted to be your friend. So, I hope you’ll forgive him” With that, the black-haired boy standing beside her, flinched. “Now Obito, what did I say that you should do?”

The boy nodded his head and looked up, prompting Sakumo to squat down, and letting Kakashi stand in front of the other boy. With Obito’s hand clutching on his grandmother’s skirt, he bowed a little with his red face. “You know,” he muttered standing properly while staring at the younger boy in front of him “About last time. I’m sorry. I won’t throw your book again”.

“Okay” is what Kakashi said, before grabbing for his father to be carried. The other boy smiled and giggled after successfully apologizing.

Two days later after finishing another mission. Sakumo went straight to the nursery to pick up his child, only to see Kakashi being pulled around by Obito and another toddler, with the staff worriedly trying to make them stop pulling the little boy who seemed not to care. It seems like Kakashi is a little popular, he thought.

When he asked his son about his day after leaving the nursery. Kakashi had his cheeks turn red, which made him giggle. ‘Looks like I have nothing to worry about Kakashi showing emotion’. He thought to himself, sniffing his little boy, who hugged him in response.

END

Chapter Text

Sakumo honestly never thought that his son could make a friend. With how his son would stare at the other kids his age, or how he sometimes ignores Obito who repeatedly asks him to play. He started to doubt that his son would probably have friends, except for Obito, if he could consider their interaction friendly at all.

They are currently at the playground, hoping his son will learn more about friendship. But that doesn't seem to be the case as Kakashi was just squatting down, using Sakumo’s foot as a seat, while hugging the stuffed animal that one of Sakumo’s students gave him.

Obito was there as well, playing with the other kids. He had hoped his son would be more friendly like the others, but unfortunately, his son took after him a lot. ‘Like father, like son,’ Sakumo thought, staring at the top of his son’s head.

“Kakashi” he called out. The boy on the ground raised his head upward, instead of turning to face his father. “Don’t you want to play with them?” he asked. The boy sat properly and stared at the group where his father pointed. Kakashi stood up from his feet and turned to his Dad. raising his leg to sit on his lap. He leaned on his father’s chest and shook his head.

“No. Go home?” he whined.

“I guess, but you need friends pup”

“No. Pakkun is my friend.”

Sakumo smiled sadly, wondering if living far from the others was one of the reasons his son preferred not having any friends. Noticing his son not really in the mood to play, he decided that they’d just give it a go next time. As he was about to leave, Obito had caught up on them.

“Uncle, Leaving? Where are you going? Are you going home? Can I come? Can I play with the baby? ” were his series of questions. Smiling brightly with another friend he dragged with him.

Sakumo sweats from the questions. “Whoa there, one at a time” he chuckled. Patting Obito’s head. “We’re about to head home since Kakashi looks tired.”

“Is he okay?” the toddler asked.

“He is”. The older man smiled and nodded his head. “By the way, would you mind introducing your friend to us? I bet Kakashi wants to meet her too.” 

With that, Obito nodded and pulled the little girl closer. “This is Rin, she’s my friend. I like her” he claimed. Turning his head to her. “Rin, this is Kakashi, and Kakashi's Dad.”

Sakumo smiled, amused. “Hello, this one here is Kakashi, and I’m Sakumo. Kakashi’s father.” He squatted down and placed Kakashi to stand on his own. The boy stared back at the stranger and then frowned at Obito after seeing him pick his nose.

The girl bowed and introduced herself as ‘Rin’. “Nice to meet you Uncle and Kakashi”.

The boy nodded his head but didn’t say a word. Not until Obito frowned back at him. “Greet Rin back, Kakashi. Grandma said that it is good manners to greet back when someone greets you” he blabbered which made Sakumo barely understand him.

Kakashi just rolled his eyes at him, causing the boy to shriek, “That’s why others won’t approach you. Come, let’s play” he aggressively suggested, and started pulling the smaller boy with him with Rin following behind. “As someone older than you. You need to follow what I say”

Kakashi stared back at him, not exactly sure what the older one was blabbering, but he already felt annoyed when Obito started giving him toys.

Sakumo went back to the bench and sat. watching his son play with other children. He just wished that Kakashi would start being friends with them. Not that he wished for his son to have many friends, but at least those two could become Kakashi’s closest friends.

Hours later on their way home, when Sakumo asked his son what he thought about the two. The toddler seems to like them a lot, despite the pout on his mouth.

END