Chapter 05
Kakashi sat on the back porch, open books all around him, a scroll and ink brush in his hand. His assignment this week required him to write a paper on an area of ninja arts he was interested in, the basics of the art, and it's applications. So naturally, he chose fuinjutsu.
While mostly focused on writing his draft, occasionally he would look up and check on his sister. Granny Saihara was hanging the laundry on one side of the yard, and Sakura was more in the center, surrounded by a few members of his father's pack.
Since their introduction to each other a few months ago, the dogs had quickly taken her under their collective wing. The first item on their list was to teach her their names. They might have been pack, but they were individually prideful enough to not want to be called "Tak". If dogs could roll their eyes, Kakashi was sure Takkun would have done it.
Within the first month she had learned the other members' names. And now she could say "Sho," "Azu," "DaiDai," "Negi," "RinRin" and "MoMo". They were all very proud of her. Then they decided to play with her to keep her busy, now that she was mobile and extremely active.
The members that favoured that activity the most were the youngest ones, Mirin and Mochi. Siblings, almost identical in colouring, loved to walk circles around the little girl to try to and confuse her. It was one of their favourite games, circle her and then stop in front of her, and see if she could figure out who was who. Sometimes she spun around so much to watch them that she often fell on her bum and giggled endlessly.
The older ones like to keep to the sides, and keep a watchful eye on the rambunctious group. Namely Shoga, Takkun, and Daikon. The other two, Azuki and Negi preferred to think of themselves as mentors for the little girl, occasionally seeing fit to teach her something new.
It didn't take long before Sakura started imitating the pack. It began with the bouncing, then 'falling' down and so the dogs could nuzzle her belly, and she even figured out a human version of the infamous 'play bow'.
Kakashi had nothing to say about it, out loud at least. But he found it absolutely endearing.
But the feeling was short-lived.
He looked up again at the sound of multiple yips and barks, and saw that Mirin and Mochi had stepped up their game. Instead of walking circles around the girl, they had decided to start chasing her. He watched transfixed in mild horror as his little baby sister (emphasis on baby), started laughing hysterically as her steps went from walking to running.
She was being chased. She absolutely loved it. And she was running!
She was running!
His heart almost leapt into his throat as he watched her run away from the pups and straight into the back of Granny Saihara's legs. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when the force didn't knock them over.
"Hm?" granny clipped the last sheet to the clothesline and turned around when she felt something hit her legs. She looked down and saw little Sakura hugging her, a wide smile on her tiny cherub face. "Hello dear, having fun are we?" she patted the babe's head and Sakura simply detached herself, turned and decided she was going to chase the dogs next.
Kakashi watched granny watch Sakura run away. How can she be so calm!? Perhaps granny was really a war veteran and the act of Sakura running just didn't register on her danger scale. That's what he kept telling himself at least.
The back screen slid open and his father stepped out to greet his family and granny. Scroll and ink laid forgotten on his lap as Kakashi swivelled his head from father to sister and pointed, "Dad, she's running!"
The elder Hatake held a hand under his chin as he contemplated the sight before him. He nodded dutifully, "Indeed she is. It's a shame I'm never the first to witness it though."
Kakashi wanted to pull his hair out, why was his father not more concerned!? Did the adults not see what he was seeing?
"What if she trips and breaks an arm or something?" Kakashi felt his palms sweat. Sakumo eyed his son, a gentle smile spreading across his face. His boy truly cared and loved his little sister. But perhaps he was being too protective of her. Sakumo patted his son's head, "Babies are tough, besides, Shoga and Takkun are watching her very carefully. I've seen you do much worse at your age."
Granny walked over to them with the empty basket. She set it down next to the discarded books and took a good look at the fear in Kakashi's eyes. She looked back and forth between the siblings before she started chuckling, "There's no need to be so panicked boy. Sakura's just walking a little faster now."
She. was. running.
As if reading his thoughts, granny merely chuckled again, "I wouldn't really call it running, dear. It's more like... speed stomping. You certainly did worse at that age."
The frantic gears ground to a halt in his mind. He took slow breathes and reexamined the situation again. Now that he could focus a little better, he realized that indeed, she wasn't full out running like a normal person. She just picked up her pace and made heavier steps. She really was 'speed stomping'. A snort escaped him before he quickly covered his mouth.
They watched for a little longer as the back and forth chasing continued until the pups slowed to a stop and howled, the little high-pitched 'awoo's. And then to the shock of all three humans by the porch, little Sakura threw her head back and howled too!
Granny burst into giggles, "Now that," she tried to sound coherent between her fits, "should be more alarming. Everyone will think she was raised by wolves."
Author's Note: I love dogs. Kids are impressionable little things. I mostly started writing this fic because my best friend gave birth last year. And these little milestones and events happen and she tells me about them. "He runs now, his cousins started chasing him and he learned to run! He's laughing his head off and going around in circles. It's amazing and terrifying at the same time." She had told me. I don't get to see them often, but about a month after that, I saw it for the first time at his 1 year birthday party. And she was like, "See, he's running around, it's insane!" But legit, exactly like I wrote it, it looked more like he was speed stomping. Because that's exactly what it was, he moved a little faster, and his steps were a little heavier, but it wasn't running like a bigger kid or adult did. So, there you go, speed stomping.
I just can't get enough of dogs. In case anyone is curious, the names are Takkun (whose full call name is actually Takenoko, as in bamboo shoots), Shoga (ginger), Mochi, Mirin (sweet sake), Azuki (red bean), Negi (onion) and Daikon (radish).