It was raining in Konoha. The streets were empty, except for a few people out on errands, newspapers, bags and umbrellas over their heads as they darted from cover to cover. Kakashi watched them with one lazy eye, heedless of the droplets pattering against his head and shoulders. He looked up at the grey sky and drew a deep breath through his mask, tasting the tangy spring air of Fire Country. The silver haired jonin wiggled his toes- they were wet, exposed by his sandals. Sakura would be upset when he returned home soaked. Kakashi fidgeted with the umbrella tucked under his arm, which his kunoichi had thrown violently at his fleeing for as he'd left the apartment that morning. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling the bruise, and pondered using it.
Kakashi took the object in his hand and looked at it. No, his dignity if nothing else demanded that he not employ it; as an elite he ought to be fast enough to dodge between the raindrops anyway, right? But as he stepped out into the wide street, Kakashi admitted to himself that the real reason was that he loved the rain, the coolness of it, the way it felt against his skin. If he had been alone, he would have pulled down the mask and allowed it to bathe his face. He wandered leisurely down the street, in no hurry to complete the errand Sakura had sent him on; it was still early afternoon and the shop would be open for quite some time.
As he passed an alley, Kakashi paused. Again he heard the small whimpering sound, like a child or some small creature. Glancing down the street towards his intended destination, he turned into the alley. At first he couldn't make out where the sound was coming from; the alley was dark and the rain obscured everything further, but as he went further down the passage, it came into view: a small cardboard box, dark and mottled with the rain, and inside, a small whitish dog curled, whining pitifully.
Unhesitatingly the jonin dropped into a crouch, unfurling the umbrella as he did so and holding it over the box. After a moment the dog- no, the puppy, Kakashi noted, began to stir, noticing the absence of the drenching it had previously endured. It rolled, tottered to its feet, shook, and finally seeming to take note of his presence, jumped to place its paws on the edge of the box nearest Kakashi.
"Well hello there," he murmured soothingly to the pup, reaching out to scratch its ears. It gave a small yip and licked his fingers, tail wagging madly at the attentions of its benefactor. Kakashi smiled, his eye forming its signature happy crinkle. If there were any kind of small, vulnerable creature he had a weakness for, it would have to be puppies. Perhaps it was from his association with his own ninken, or perhaps it was simply a latent affection for the ridiculously cute infants. Kakashi rubbed his chin. He couldn't just leave the pup here, but it didn't seem that it was lost. A dog in a box in an alley; classic signs of abandonment. An unconscious frown creased his mask at the thought. It had to have belonged to a civilian who left the dog, for it appeared to be perfectly ordinary, and the Inuzukas would never even think of doing such a thing. He shrugged- there was nothing else for it.
Folding the umbrella closed, Kakashi lifted the pup and tucked him (as he had observed) into his vest. The pup had been shivering when Kakashi had picked him up, but soon curled up against the warmth of the shinobi's body and was almost immediately fast asleep. By the time he reached the apartment building, the puppy was rolling and groaning in his sleep, yowling and pressing his feet into Kakashi's stomach. Chuckling, he pushed open the door to the apartment he shared with Sakura, and immediately ducked to avoid the ceramic dish that smashed into the wall behind his head.
"You're late!" the pink haired ninja screeched, although Kakashi couldn't see her. She must have ducked back into the kitchen, where he could smell something cooking. Correction- something burning.
"Well, you see, there was this puppy and-"
"And then you got lost on the road of life, for heaven's sake I didn't believe your crazy stories when I was a kid, what makes you-" Sakura emerged from the kitchen, menacing him with a spatula with one hand, and cradling her distended belly with the other. She stopped dead at the sight that greeted her: the pup had popped his upper body out of Kakashi's vest and was now looking about the apartment with interest, barking and squirming. Sakura dropped the spatula and approached, an incredulous smile spreading across her face as Kakashi lifted the pup from his vest and held it out to her. His eye crinkled happily as she cuddled the dog.
"Surprise."