Chapter Text
This was how it worked. Some people got big marks that were less detailed, and others got smaller ones that were very detailed, and some how those marks would help you find your soulmate.
Kakashi didn’t remember much about his mother, Misaki, but he remembered that her mark was one of the smaller ones. She would brush his hair out of his face with her right hand and her mark would be right there in front of his face, just on the underside of her wrist. Kakashi liked to see how fast he could catalogue which parts of it meant what about his father. The head of a wolf with a leaf on it’s head and a kunai in it’s mouth. It even had shading, which was rare. It was beautiful, and he remembered that she wore it proudly.
He also remembered the way his father would smile whenever he saw it. Sakumo Hatake wasn't an unhappy man, then. Not then, before missions and sickness took so much of them both. Back then, his smiles were not exactly rare. But nothing ever made him smile the way he did when he saw the mark on Misaki's wrist. Misaki smiled when she looked at it too. And because it made his parents so happy, Kakashi smiled at it as well.
"I knew right away that your mom's mark was meant for me." Sakumo told him one night, while they sat in their living room and waited for his mom to come back from her mission. “As soon as I laid eyes on it, I knew mine was meant for her, too.”
“Really?” Kakashi had asked quietly, because even back then he did everything quietly.
“Mm-hm.” His father nodded and kissed his forehead. “Didn’t have a clue what any of it meant though.” Kakashi giggled. “But I knew I wanted to marry her and get a house and have you.” Sakumo looked thoughtful for a moment, closing his eyes and resting his chin between his thumb and his pointer finger. “And maybe another kid.”
“No!” Kakashi laughed. “Babies are gross.”
“Oh, really?” Sakumo grinned. He poked Kakashi's stomach. "But you were a baby once."
Kakashi crossed his arms. "I was a gross baby." He pouted and then yawned, and Sakumo laughed again, because he couldn’t stop himself from laughing when he spent time with his son.
They heard the sound of a window opening. Sakumo tensed for just a bit before relaxing completely. Misaki's warm voice drifted into the room.“What are you two doing up this late?”
Sakumo laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. That was the one thing Kakashi remembered most about his father. When it was just them, an order from the gods themselves wouldn’t have been enough to keep him from laughing. He was a great big ball of sunshine when he had his family with him. Sakumo could light up a room with a smile and Kakashi had always loved that about his father.
"Waiting on you." Sakumo returned and when he turned his head, Kakashi could see the top of his mark on the back of his neck. He rarely saw his father’s mark. Even in when the man had his shirt off, it was way too high for him to get a peek. Still, he remembered the white and gold sword and the blue sun that surrounded it. It was just shapes and outlines, but it was beautiful nonetheless. “What are you doing coming in through the window?”
She stretched and took off her jonin vest. “Doors are for people with no imagination.” Sakumo tried to look annoyed, but the face he made only made her laugh, which made him laugh. “You two shouldn’t have waited on me. You know he has school in the morning.” Misaki said, though her voice was more affectionate than disapproving. She slid into the living room and sat on the other side of Kakashi. He leaned over on her. “I’m gonna put you to bed in a few minutes, okay?” She told her son, more than asked.
“M’kay,” He yawned. One of his hands grabbing the sleeve of her shirt, he nodded off as his parents talked over his head. The sound of his father’s laughter and his mother’s affectionate teasing followed him into his dreams.
He wondered for just a moment, the way little kids often wonder about the future, if he and his soulmate could have something like this.