Sakura Hatake

Age: 5

"Kiza-kun the Nin-ken"

"'Kashi! 'Kashi! Look what I found!" Sakura exclaims while running towards the Copy-nin, her clothes dirty and her arms littered with scratches, carrying a….puppy?

Kakashi inwardly sighs and prepares himself to put up a token protest to Sakura's oncoming pleading to keep the little runt. Inevitably, she'll still get what she wants since they both know Kakashi is unable to say no to her.

Kakashi sighs again, thinking of the expenses for the food, hygene, not to mention the collateral damage…

"'Kashi! Are you listening to me?!"

Kakashi nods his head and crouches down to her level with an eye smile. He gently touches the scratches littering her small arms and asks her where she got them.

"Oh, these? They're nothing! I must have gotten them when I was saving Kiza-kun from the mean alley cats that were bullying him! Isn't that right, Kiza-kun?" The girl says, while cooing at the bundle of fluff in her arms.

Kakashi was just about to scold her for carelessly injuring herself again but stops himself short when he noticed the insignia of the collar on the fluff ball. The red twin fang engraving on the metal claims the dog as an Inuzuka Clan nin-ken. It was just his luck that Sakura would pick the one pet that she can't keep. And she even named the runt; separating them was going to be difficult.

"—and then I told them to shoo away or else I'll call in re-een-fourcements—'Kashi how do you say that word again?—because my 'Kashi can summon lots more dogs to fight 'em. So now Kiza-kun is safe and he'll grow up with me as my very own nin-ken! Just like you and Pakkun, 'Kashi!" Exclaimed the excitable pinkette, jumping up and down, while the pup barked joyously with her.

Kakashi almost wanted to say yes, that she can keep the nin-ken, Inuzuka Clan be damned, but knew he couldn't the moment he felt three Chakra signatures approaching them quickly.

He sighs, ruffles her bubble gum hair, and then lazily turns to face the incoming entourage, putting Sakura behind him, blocking their view of her and the dog.

In front of them was the Inuzuka Clan Head, Inuzuka Tsume and her off springs, Inuzuka Hana and the youngest, Inuzuka Kiba. It is also apparent that they came from a formal ceremony of some kind because Tsume was donning a formal Inuzukan hakama reserved for the Head, as was her children. Such occasions only consisted of marriages, funerals and initiation rites. No one has died recently, no gossip on weddings either, which makes it easy to deduce that they came hurriedly during an initiation procession.

Ahhh, young Kiba was getting initiated and- Kakashi slides his eyes towards Sakura's curious form, still clutching the pup—it seems that his chosen nin-ken had run away during the procession. It was an unprecedented occurrence, and if the Inuzuka were a more prideful clan, they would have done everything within their power to stop news from leaking but since they weren't, Kakashi relaxed his form and greeted the newcomers.

"Yo, Tsume-san, long time no see. Missing something?" He says, with his customary eye smile, one hand raised and the other in his pocket. He steps aside to let them see Sakura who was clutching the pup to herself, playing around with each other, cooing and cuddling the fur ball.

Tsume grinned widely, staring down at Kakashi for some reason or another, while Hana looked torn from squealing at the adorable site or placating her younger brother and the youngest looked red as a tomato, no doubt feeling angry that his nin-ken ran away from him, and to what? A pink haired girl. Seriously, who has pink hair?

Once the pink haired girl looked up from the pup in her arms, her beryl eyes widened like saucers at the sight of even more nin-ken in front of her! This was the best day ever!

She ran forwards towards the four giant dogs, her head not reaching higher than their chest, and jumped into their general direction while clutching the smaller dog to herself. The nin-ken were sharp and reacted quickly to soften her fall with their bodies. It was a truly amazing sight, the little girl rough housing with five nin-ken, biting and licking each other- a sight that Kakashi was used to because of his own summons but an amusing one for the new comers.

"Are you sure you didn't steal away an Inuzuka, Kakashi?" Asked Tsume, raising her eye brows in amusement. "Wanna trade? Seems like Akamaru likes her better than Kiba anyway." She slightly teased, her eyes sliding towards her six year old son's pouting form.

"Mahh, I would have to decline, I already have a lot of nin-ken's to bathe as it is." Kakashi added, smiling his infuriating eye-smile towards the young boy, who was quickly being fed up by all the teasing he was receiving because of the girl who stole his nin-ken!

"Mom, just take Akamaru back already!" Whined the young irate boy, while pulling his mother's hakama for more emphasis.

"Aishh, so impatient. That's why you're so uncute, Kiba." Tsume replies, shaking her head before putting two fingers in her mouth and whistling. Signaling the nin-ken to stop what they were doing and return to their respective partners….except Kiba's. Which only served to irritate the little boy even more; the poor boy was nearly shedding tears. Soon he was on the ground, dirtying his clothes, wailing for the entire village to hear.

Before any of the adults could react to Kiba's abrupt wailing, Sakura dashed towards him, her eyes shining with concern.

"I'm sorry! Did you feel left out? I read in 'Kashi's book about child dep-development that kids cry when they feel left out! Here, come play with Kiza-kun, his friends and I!" The candy floss haired girl exclaimed earnestly, offering the little boy a hand up, as the nin-ken surrounded her.

Kiba accepts her help, and gets up in a daze after drying his tears. Then as he remembers why he was crying in the first place, he scrunches up his face, his eyebrows curling in and nose wrinkling, and tells her in an indignant manner; "N-no! And why are you calling Akamaru, 'Kiza-kun'? He's my nin-ken. Give him back now!"

Then suddenly Sakura was the one crying instead. It was not fair! She just got Kiza-kun!

The little boy did not know what to do, he was panicking, his eyes darting towards the adults, only to find them gazing at him in a disappointed manner. He knew he wasn't going to get any help from them, some adults they were! Then he suddenly remembered what the girl herself said about child dev—whatever it was; he just needed to include her!

And so little Kiba says the first thing he could think he could include her in; "Uhh, stop crying! I-uhm, I'll share ownership over Akamaru with you! Promise!"

Then as soon as they came, Sakura's tears were gone, instead she was smiling at the boy in the same coy manner she uses on Kakashi whenever she wanted something and asked; "Really?"

Kiba felt a little like he'd been cheated but he nodded nonetheless, if only to prevent her from crying again.

In response, Sakura jumps on him, hugging him and thanking him profusely. The boy sputters and doesn't know what to do.

"Atta boy, already a ladies' man at such a young age!" Cackles Tsume as she ruffles his hair messily.

"But you can't necessarily have joint ownership over Akamaru, nin-ken can only have one partner so as not to cause complications, I would offer ya a different nin-ken, girl, but you'd have to be an Inuzuka ta get one." Ume says, her eyes glinting with mischief and hidden plots. Kakashi did not like the look on her, especially since she was directing it towards Sakura.

And looking at Sakura's determined face, he could tell that he wouldn't like her response either.

"Then I'll just have to be an Inuzuka! I'll marry into the Clan and get a nin-ken of my own!" Sakura exuberantly exclaimed.

Hearing this, Kakashi felt himself grow ten years older, she wasn't even seven yet and she was already thinking of getting married? Kami help him.

Tsume and Hana laughs at her reply and tells her that she can marry Kiba when they grow older then.

Kakashi's eyes widen, his sharingan beginning to spin wildly behind his hitai-ate , how dare they proposition his Sakura! He was about to make his own rejection when the six year old pinkette beat him to it.

"I respectfully decline your offer, I would like to marry someone else from the Inuzuka Clan." Sakura states, bowing from her waist, with her hands folded in front of her; she was doing a pretty decent job of looking respectful and demure. Kakashi feels proud that although she got a lot of cavities from all the dango he couldn't refuse her, she at least learned formal manners during their visits to tea shops from their hostesses.

"Hmm, why not?" Asks Tsume, with a raised eye brow, not really offended, while Hana and Kiba sputter off to the side due to Sakura's straightforward rejection.

"Easy. I will not have my future husband be such a cry baby!" Harrumphed the little girl, turning her nose up, crossing her arms in front of her.

There are times when Kakashi thinks he spoils Sakura too much. This was not one of those times. His eye, crinkles into a smile while thinking that yes, Sakura deserved the very best. Sakura deserved the world.

With that, Kakashi excused themselves from the Inuzuka trio, leaving Tsume cackling amusedly, Hana smirking down at her brother and the youngest turning red once again, while Sakura followed after his promise of ice cream on the way home.

As they walk away Sakura looks back at Akamaru, sadly, waving her small hands in a good bye.

"It's alright, Sakura. You can find another pet." Kakashi says, after noticing her melancholy, patting her head to cheer her up, succeeding in only irritating the disgruntled child.

"You said the same thing about Naruto!" The child replied indignantly, holding both hands up in a silent demand to be carried.

The Copy-nin sweat drops, complying with her request and hoisting her up on his hip before saying; "We've been over this before Sakura, boys are not pets, especially little boys whose father is our Hokage."