Title: Happy Birthday: Before It All Changed Forever Part 1 of 2
Authors: Kita_the_Spaz & Kiterie/SumiHatake
Characters: Sakumo, Kakashi
Summary: Everyone knows Sakumo failed his mission, everyone knows it shamed him, and everyone knows in the end what happened, but not everyone knows everything. This is our story of Kakashi's last Birthday with his father, how Kakashi saw him before it all changed, and the type of father Sakumo was. This is also an entry for Kakashi's Birthday and Sakumo's Legacy Challenge.
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto, but this story is ours.

A/N: Part/Chapter 2 which will be posted tomorrow due to various reasons is the angst.

His father had never been much of a cook, so it was more than a little unexpected to wake up and find him cooking. Even if it was his birthday, Kakashi couldn't help but be surprised by the gesture. Genius or not, he was eight so he didn't bother changing out of his pajamas or brushing the messy spikes of white hair before sitting down at his space and looked the 'feast' over. All the components of a traditional breakfast were there and all of them at least appeared to be cooked correctly. He could smell a lingering scent of burnt rice and fish though, and had to wonder if it was safe to eat.

"Happy Birthday, Kakashi-kun." Sakumo smiled and settled down next to him, dark circles under his eyes.

Kakashi studied him carefully, looking for the 'cracks'. The dark circles were always there lately so he wasn't sure if it was because his father had been up half the night cooking like it appeared or because... of something else, everything else. He thought that there seemed to be more color to his father's face today making the pale skin seemed less sickly and the spikey, white mess of hair was brushed and pulled back in a ponytail for the first time in months. It seemed to Kakashi that the gray eyes, that his were near mirror images of, appeared less hollow and the smile seemed genuine enough, Kakashi decided. "Thank you," he replied, finally reassured that it was safe to speak.

Sakumo's smile widened. "It's not as good as your mother's, but I tried and I think I remembered everything."

Kakashi looked around the table, noting the rice porridge that his mother had been fond of, the natto that his dad loved so much and his own personal favorites- broiled saury and eggplant miso. There were other things, but none of them nearly as important. He looked back at his father and nodded, but didn't say anything.

His father dished out three plates of food. One he set in front of himself, the second in front of Kakashi and the third at an empty space to the other side of Kakashi.

"I think she helped me today, though I'm rather sure she spent a lot of time laughing at me too," Sakumo chuckled, smiling broadly at him again.

Kakashi opened his mouth, closed it again, and smiled instead. It was odd to hear her mentioned again after so many months of silence. It had become almost taboo for him to even say her name, never quite sure of the reaction it would draw. He didn't understand why, now after four years, it was a problem, but it was. His father wasn't the same man that he'd been six months ago, not since... Kakashi cut the thought off and looked down at his food. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating with a determined appetite.

Despite the lingering smell, which seemed to be coming from the kitchen, the food was good. Not as good as his mother's had always been, but good. "It's good." Kakashi smiled again, still the same deliberate curve of lips.

Sakumo let out a sigh of obvious relief and returned the smile before digging into his own food. "I hope the pack doesn't mind eating the burned stuff, I'd really hate for it to go to waste."

They would, Kakashi had no doubt of that. He also knew Azami would bite the ears clean off anyone stupid enough to say that they minded. Maybe not quite literally, though they would probably wish she had. He could just see the twins, Kama and Kaminari, cowering under the porch like they had the last time they'd opened their mouths and let something idiotic slip out in front of Sakumo. The thought pulled a more honest smile to his lips and quiet snort of amusement to match.

The two of them ate in silence and, for once, Kakashi felt like it was more of a comfortable silence than one where they both were uncertain what to say. Whenever he looked over his father was smiling, even when he wasn't looking at Kakashi. Sometimes he'd be looking across the table at the empty place with an almost dreamy fondness.

"Minato says you two have a mission tomorrow." It wasn't a question, just polite small talk.

Kakashi nodded. "Scroll delivery to Suna." From what he knew the new Kazekage had been appointed so a lot of scrolls were being sent back and forth, this was just one more. It was a boring mission.

Sakumo reached over and ruffled Kakashi's hair. "You should have more patience, it'll be good for you. Missions like that are better anyway."

"How am I supposed to become a better shinobi if I never get to fight?" Lately all he'd been sent on were diplomatic missions.

"Being a shinobi is more about avoiding fights so these are better. Remember, a ninja's main weapon is stealth and this." He tapped Kakashi on the head pointedly. "Besides, Hiruzen clearly has Minato in mind to step up after him and if he's going to lead then he needs to know as much as he can about those in power around him. Diplomacy is the best way to learn those things. Learning their strengths and their weakness during war costs lives."

Kakashi tensed slightly, half expecting his father's mood to change, the smile to slip. It didn't and after a moment Kakashi relaxed and nodded. "I know. I still think he should have picked you." He loved Minato-sensei, but he didn't really think his sensei could beat his father in a fight and if the Hokage was supposed to be the strongest shinobi in the village his father was obviously the better choice.

Sakumo laughed, scrubbed his hand through Kakashi's hair again, then leaned over, and kissed his forehead.

Wrinkling his nose at the gesture, Kakashi rubbed his hand over the spot. "Yuck."

The response drew another laugh from Sakumo. "Your mother told me to do it."

"Mmhm..." Kakashi snorted, not believing for an instant that his mother had done any such thing.

"Yow ow ow ow! Get it off me!" Azami yelped, wild-eyed, scrabbling into the room and skittering across the hardwood floors. "Get it off!"

The huge white dog skidded to a splay-legged halt, a tiny, growling brownish pup firmly attached to the end of her shaggy tail, white spikes of fur ruffled and completely on end..

Loping after her came the two black wolfhounds, sides heaving with laughter. Kaminari howled gleefully. "The great and mighty Azami felled by a puppy!"

Kama howled gleefully beside her sister, literally rolling with mirth. "He showed you," she laughed, rolling onto her back and looking upside down at them from across the room, feet kicking in the air dramatically.

Azami turned and growled at the two dogs, her ruff bristling. "You put him up to this!"

Kaminari yipped. "Of course we did. Did you think we could resist having a new accomplice to help torture you?"

Sakumo laughed, but reached over and carefully detached the growling pup from his ninken's tail, gently cradling it in one large hand. He held it out to Kakashi. "Well, I was intending to wait until after breakfast, but it seems things did not go quite according to plan."

Kakashi blinked, staring between his dad, the dogs, and the puppy.

"Happy Birthday, Pup!" Kama piped up, rolling back over to her feet.

Azami licked her tail sullenly. "He's yours, you can deal with him from now on."

Kaminari laughed and trotted over, tail swishing cheerily. "It's her own fault for trying to put a bow on him, we just co-opted him into rebelling for his own good."

"And our amusement," Kama added, following her sister.

The little puppy yipped again, tiny tail beating happily against Sakumo's fingers.

Kakashi snickered and lifted the puppy up off of his father's open hand. "Does he have a name?" he asked the pack, knowing the puppy was still too young to have learned to speak properly.

"Brat," Azami muttered sourly.

Sakumo reached over and rubbed her flattened ears consolingly, but addressed his son. "No. As your ninken, it will be your responsibility to chose the name that will define him."

Kakashi lifted the squirming puppy, regarding it seriously. It yipped and tried to reach his face to lick it, tail beating a frantic tempo against his fingers and paws swimming in the air. Kakashi glanced over at Azami, still sullenly soothing her abused tail, and then over at the pair of great black wolfhounds and knew immediately what his new ninken's name should be. "Guruko," he decided firmly, slyly glancing at Azami for her reaction.

Sakumo laughed merrily. "Little accomplice. I like it. It suits him."

Azami growled sulkily, her ears still flattened. "Just remember, he's yours now, so any trouble he gets into is all on you, puppy." She heaved a sigh and flopped down beside Sakumo, her great head in his lap.

Settling the puppy in his lap, Kakashi fed him bits of the food on his plate, even sharing his fish. Guruko devoured everything eagerly, then just as suddenly yawned and flopped down over Kakashi's knee, dead asleep.

"There's something else for you, under there." Sakumo motioned to the pillow across from himself. The empty one where his wife had always sat and where the extra place had been set.

Kakashi lifted the pillow and picked up a small, brown paper wrapped package. Silver ribbon was tied neatly around it. Carefully he untied the bow and peeled back the paper, heedful not to tear it, revealing a bright blue book. Opening the book, Kakashi flipped the pages, noting several were torn roughly out of the middle and again at the end. He opened it to the first obviously missing section and and looked up at Sakumo.

A bright flush colored Sakumo's cheeks, standing out even more against the otherwise pallid features, and he cleared his throat. "Ah, well, those are things that you really shouldn't be reading just yet, but you'll like the book anyway."

Kakashi let out an irritated breath and rolled his eyes. Honestly, it wasn't like he didn't already know what adults did. He'd been on enough missions with men and women who were quite a bit older than him to have seen more than he probably should have. It irritated him because now he would have to go find where the pages had been stashed, sort them and tape them back in just so he could read the whole story.

"It's a romance, Jiraiya's first attempt at one, but it has a lot of action," Sakumo assured him, waving his hands to illustrate. "Pirates, samurai, gambling, and all kinds of dangerous monsters."

The explanation and reassurance wasn't necessary; he liked reading and any new book was devoured as quickly as it was acquired. More than likely he would read it until every word had been memorized and could be recited by heart. He smiled and set the book aside. As much as he wanted to curl up somewhere and read it immediately he would wait. First, he would find the missing pages. "I'll read it later."

Sakumo chuckled, reached over, and tossed the fourth pillow aside, revealing a scarred wooden case.

Kakashi knew that case, he'd seen it every time his father had prepared for a long mission. He straightened up, wondering whether his father had another mission.

Lifting the case, Sakumo set it in his lap and opened it. "I meant it when I said before that diplomacy and stealth should come before a shinobi ever draws their weapons. You already know that that's not always going to work though. Sometimes a shinobi must rely on his weapons." He drew out the tanto blade Kakashi had seen him carry on countless missions, resting it on his knees, and set the box aside. "This blade has gone from hand to hand down the Hatake clan, and now it's time I pass it on to you."

He smiled briefly. "Minato has assured me that you have the proper chakra control to use this."

Kakashi stared in awe at the blade and then up at his father, too stunned for words. "But... don't you need it?"

"I'll use your mother's sword. It's time hers was put to the purpose it was intended," Sakumo told him, the simple words sounding suddenly somber. "This will serve you far better than it will me." He turned at the waist, holding the tanto out towards Kakashi, the sheath-covered blade laying across one palm and the hilt across the other.

Kakashi reached a trembling hand out for the blade, but stopped just short of actually touching it. He couldn't make himself bridge that last tiny gap.

Sakumo leaned forward and laid the blade, in its dark leather sheathe, across Kakashi's hand.

Instinctively, Kakashi turned his palm up and curled his fingers around the smooth leather.

Sakumo released his grip and the sudden weight of the tanto dragged Kakashi's hand toward the floor.

Kakashi grunted softly and stopped the blade's descent barely a hand-span above the polished floorboards. He drew the sword towards himself and cradled it in his lap, next to the sleeping puppy. He regarded it for a moment before smiling at his father, prouder and happier than he'd been in a very long time.

Chuckling, Sakumo reached out a hand and laid it on Kakashi's shoulder. "As long as you have it the entire Hatake clan will be behind you. You will have all of the protection they can offer and as of yet no Hatake has ever died while carrying that sword."

Kakashi smoothed his fingers against the leather, unable to find words for how he felt. Finally, he settled on the simplest and most sincere. "Thank you, father. I'll treasure it."

Sakumo smiled. "Finish your breakfast, then I'll show you the proper way to channel your chakra through the blade.

Kakashi ate with renewed enthusiasm, one hand frequently slipping down into his lap to alternately stroke the sleeping Guruko and the sheath of the tanto.

After breakfast his father stood and opened the large doors to the courtyard. Grabbing the broom from beside the post Sakumo stepped off of the porch and began sweeping the large red flagstones that lined the packed dirt center.

Lifting the small pup from his lap, Kakashi set him on his pillow and went to change his clothes.

Guruko woke and Kakashi ran with him for a bit, chasing him and tumbling with him in the dirt until the puppy's boundless energy was exhausted. They flopped down next to Kama and Kaminari in the shade of the cherry tree and Guruko curled up to sleep.

"Get your sword," Sakumo instructed, smiling.

Kakashi sprang to his feet, eager to try his hand with the blade. He ran into the house, stopping only long enough to kick his sandals back off and returned moments later with the blade.

For hours, Sakumo showed Kakashi the finer points of channeling his chakra through the special metal of the blade.

Kakashi picked it up quickly, as easily as he had always picked up fighting skills.

Despite that, Sakumo insisted that he practice using the blade against opponents, setting up targets and pushing him hard.

Sakumo praised his efforts over lunch, smiling and gesturing over his food, describing the moves that he had found particularly clever.

The enthusiastic approval lit a warm feeling in Kakashi's stomach and a desire to earn more of it. After lunch he returned to the courtyard and practiced until exhaustion made his muscles tremble. Sakumo called a halt to it when he missed a basic strike and stumbled.

Smiling, Sakumo helped Kakashi to his feet and dusted him off with a hand. "Enough. Well done, Kakashi, but a shinobi needs to know when to listen to his body and stop."

He led Kakashi back inside and into the bath, where the huge wooden tub was steaming invitingly.

Kakashi's aching muscles made him want nothing more than to plunge right into the hot water, but he conscientiously set his new tanto aside and unwound the bandages from his thighs before stripping off his dusty black training gear, tossing the sweaty clothes into the hamper. He scrubbed quickly, but thoroughly, rinsing himself off with a care to get all the soap off. Climbing into the sunken tub, he hissed, letting himself sink down into the hot water.

After soaking the aches away, he toweled off. His pajamas had been laid out on bench and he pulled on the shorts and the old shirt of his father's, one that hung clear down to his knees, the cotton worn soft from years of use. Sakumo had given it to him when Kakashi had been four and sick with a high fever. He barely remembered that, only images of his father's strong hands holding him and wrapping him in the shirt and blankets. He had worn the shirt to sleep in since then, refusing with the stubbornness of a child to return it to his father.

Sakumo was waiting for him in the study, a game-board out and ready on the low table. Counters and stones were set up, gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight seeping in through the windows.

Kakashi grinned and plopped down opposite of his father. He loved this game, the strategies and gambits always fascinating to his mind, the tactics needed to defeat your opponent's armies changing constantly, depending on what pieces were put into play. Logically, he knew it was to train warriors how to use troops and terrain to their advantage, but to him it was a complex and thrilling game that required him to strain every bit of his mind to win. Especially against as brilliant a tactician as his father.

They played for hours, until darkness crept across the sky and the ninken demanded dinner, Kakashi's new pup yipping and dancing around, bumbling into the larger dogs' legs. Kakashi spent an hour introducing Pakkun to Guruko after the Inuzuka vet who had been treating the little pug for a case of ear mites brought him home. Pakkun grumped and growled, but let the pup tumble all around him and tug on his floppy ears.

Sakumo made dinner with the same exacting care he had put into making breakfast, his hands deft and steady as he chopped vegetables and meat and stirred things in the wok.

Kakashi watched his father cook, laughing at the way even staid Azami abased herself to cadge treats.

After dinner, they retired to the library. The large, light-colored wood shone in the evening light, shades of pink and orange casting across it and the numerous books stacked and in place double stacked on them. A large leather chair and matching sofa filled most of the room and one corner was dominated by a desk.

Settling in on the old sofa, Kakashi let both dogs climb onto his lap and he picked up the book that he'd been reading the night before, intent on finishing it. He was still planning to find the pages for his new one, but that would have to wait until his father wasn't around.

Sakumo sat at his desk, pen scratching busily across paper, writing sheet after sheet that he folded carefully and tucked into a drawer.

Kakashi's eyes were drooping over the pages when Sakumo finally stood up and plucked the book from his hands. "Bed," he announced firmly, hands on his hips. "Minato-sensei will be here to pick you up for your mission first thing in the morning, so you need sleep."

Kakashi yawned sleepily, and moved to push the dogs off of his lap.

Sakumo chuckled and lifted him, dogs and all, carrying him down the hallway to his room. He ignored Kakashi's sleepy protests that he was not a baby and didn't need to be put to bed like one. Sakumo slid the door open with a foot and deposited Kakashi and the two dogs onto his bed.

"Go to sleep," he admonished sternly, pulling a blanket up over Kakashi and the dogs.

The puppy and Pakkun squirmed and wriggled until their noses poked out from under the blankets.

After a last, token protest, Kakashi settled down into the pillows. He was too tired for more than that last feeble resistance, and his heart was full of the joys of today and the belief that finally, his father was getting back to normal.

He fell asleep, with a warm, happy feeling in the pit of his stomach and the feel of his father's fingers gently stroking his hair back from his forehead.