Chapter 7: Meeting Akamaru's Family
The cherry blossoms were falling like slow, pink snow.
Kyuzo watched them from the safety of Kakashi's arms, his small fists knotted in the collar of his father's vest, his green eyes tracking each petal as it spun toward the ground. The Inuzuka compound sprawled around them—low buildings with weathered wooden beams, training posts scarred by claws, and the faint, ever-present smell of dog that clung to everything like a second skin.
He hadn't spoken since they'd turned onto the path leading here. Hadn't relaxed his grip. His breath came in short, shallow pulls, and every few seconds his gaze darted toward the kennels visible in the distance, where the barking had been rising and falling like a tide since they arrived.
"Hey," Sakura said softly, walking beside them. She reached up, brushing a petal from Kyuzo's silver hair. "You okay?"
He shook his head, pressing his face into Kakashi's neck.
"That's okay," she said. "You don't have to be okay."
Kakashi felt the tremor run through his son's small body. Two weeks since the dog bite, and the bandage was long gone—the wound had healed to a thin pink line that would fade with time. But the fear had burrowed deeper than skin. It lived in the way Kyuzo flinched at every bark in the village. In the way he refused to walk past the kennel district, demanding to be carried, his face hidden. In the way he'd stopped asking to play outside, preferring the safe, quiet confines of their apartment.
Kakashi had seen fear before. Had felt it himself, cold and sharp, in the moments before a killing blow. But watching it root itself in his son—watching it shrink the world from a place of wonder to a place of threats—that was something else entirely.
"We're just going to visit," he said, keeping his voice low. "Nobody's going to make you do anything."
"Dog," Kyuzo whispered.
"Yes. A lot of dogs."
"Bad dog."
"Not all dogs are bad."
Kyuzo shook his head fiercely against his father's chest. "Bad."
Sakura caught Kakashi's eye, her expression a mixture of worry and determination. They'd talked about this last night, lying in the dark, their voices barely above whispers. They couldn't force him to get over it. Couldn't pretend the fear didn't exist. But they could show him something different. Something gentle. Something that would let him see dogs the way he'd seen them before—as potential friends, not threats.
That was the hope, anyway.
The reality was a two-year-old with a death grip on his father's vest and a heart beating too fast.
"Kiba said he'd meet us by the old tree," Sakura said, scanning the courtyard.
Kakashi spotted him a moment later. Kiba stood beneath the massive cherry tree at the center of the compound, his hands shoved in his pockets, Akamaru sitting patiently at his feet. The old dog's fur had grayed around the muzzle, his movements slower than they'd been in his prime, but his eyes were still sharp and kind.
Behind them, in a pen lined with soft hay, a litter of puppies tumbled over each other like a crop of fuzzy, yipping chaos.
"Hey!" Kiba called, raising a hand. "You made it."
Kakashi felt Kyuzo tense at the voice, at the proximity of the dogs. He rubbed slow circles on his son's back, feeling the small heart hammer against his palm.
"We made it," he said.
Kiba's grin faded as he took in the scene—Kyuzo's face hidden, his body coiled tight, the way Kakashi held him like he might bolt. Understanding crossed Kiba's features, followed by something softer.
"Right," he said, quieter now. "So. This is Akamaru."
The dog in question thumped his tail once against the ground, a slow, dignified wag, as if to say he understood the gravity of the situation. He didn't move from his seated position. Didn't bark, didn't yap, didn't do anything that might startle the small, frightened creature in Kakashi's arms.
"Akamaru's old," Kiba said. "He's been with me since I was eight. He doesn't chase things anymore unless he feels like it, and he spends most of his day sleeping in the sun. He's not going to hurt anyone."
Kyuzo's grip loosened, just slightly. His head lifted maybe an inch from Kakashi's shoulder, enough for one green eye to peek out.
Kiba noticed. He crouched down, motioning for Akamaru to stay, and brought himself to Kyuzo's level. "You wanna see something cool?"
No response.
"Akamaru knows tricks."
Still nothing. But the visible eye blinked, curious despite the fear.
"He can shake hands," Kiba said. "He can roll over. He can—"
"What's his name?"
The voice was tiny, muffled against Kakashi's vest, but audible.
Kiba's face lit up, though he kept his voice calm. "Akamaru. Like the character for 'red'—his ancestors were known for their red fur. He's mostly white now, though."
Kyuzo shifted. The eye appeared again, followed by the other one. Uncertain. Wary. But looking.
"Akamaru," he repeated, the name clumsy in his small mouth.
"That's right." Kiba extended a hand toward the dog. "Want to see if he'll say hi?"
Kakashi felt a fresh spike of tension from his son. Not obedience? "No. No visitors, no calls, no loud noise."
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