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Kakashi was tired – they had just returned from a long, difficult mission and he needed a bath and a fresh change of clothes. He was sent as an emergency back-up to help with protecting the team of shinobi specialized in sealing techniques – they were trying to capture one of the Bijuu demons, the three-tail. Of course, Konoha was not the only one who wanted to capture the beast.
In the sealing team were quite a few people Kakashi did not know, but beside them there were also Rin and Shizune; both were medical shinobi and their excellent chakra control was a must have during a mission like that.
Kakashi, Asuma, Genma and Ebisu were scrambled together and sent to chase their fellow shinobi when the village received their SOS message. They were short on time so they barely made any stops on the way despite the long distance.
They failed – some of the sealing team did not return home, other teammates were wounded. One of the enemy villages sent three times more people for the same task – they had to retreat if they wanted to survive. Kakashi did not hesitate to call his friends off. After what happened during the mission on Kannabi Bridge, he would never allow the same mistake again. It was his first bigger mission as a lead jounin since the fatal incident, so he felt uneasy and was a little too snappy with his friends.
Still, they did not manage to get back in the same squad in which they initially left. Kakashi did not care too much about the sealing team since his part of the team (together with Shizune and Rin) was safe and sound and they all returned home. He spent the way to the village in some distance from them, mulling over the course of action and his decisions ,but he could not pinpoint anything that could have been done better. The deaths happened either before he arrived and knew the status report. It seemed like he made correct choices but the thought that he abandoned the mission to pull everyone back from the battlefield when they were clearly outnumbered and overpowered was haunting him nonetheless. He could already hear the whispers how predictable it was for him to do something similar, it was just a matter of time for Kakashi to make the same mistakes as his father…
Nobody seemed to be angry or disappointed when they had a brief chat or overheard their conversations. He would have to wait a little longer to learn their true thoughts, he knew that. It was about the same with his father - at first they were grateful just to turn and push the blade between his ribs.
Still lost in his thoughts, he barely managed to dismiss his friends when he heard a loud, familiar yell:
‘KA-KA-SHII!’ howled Gai, waving at him with one hand. It was a mistake; he lost his balance and almost fell. Kakashi turned his head to look at him.
Asuma snorted.
‘You could use legs ya know!’ he called to him.
‘Naah. Who would walk on legs’ Genma grinned, watching his teammate skipping to them on his hands.
‘Hi!’ called Rin with a tired smile. ‘Which one is it?’
‘Fifty one!’ answered Gai proudly, catching up with them. His palms and bandages were dirty, he was sweating; some of his hair was sticking to his moist face and drops of sweat were rolling down his nose and chin.
‘…That’s a lot’ noticed Shizune, crossing her arms behind her back. ‘Is it around the whole village?’
‘Of course it is! I wouldn’t have it any other way!’
Kakashi sighed and crouched in front of Gai.
‘So?’
‘What?’
‘You called me’ he noticed and poked him between his shoulder blades hard enough to make him loose his balance once more. He screeched and almost fell; Genma was kind enough to grab him by his knees to stop him from falling.
‘I want to challenge you, of course!’ He exhaled loudly.
Kakashi groaned.
‘Gai, we literally just got back from a mission.’
‘That’s exactly why we should have a match!’
‘I’m not talking to your ass.’ He stood up and pushed his hands deep in his pockets, giving his friend a once-over. Gai made a strangled noise in a protest, but his arms were on fire and for a moment he thought they were going to give out.
Asuma slapped Kakashi on the shoulder, chuckling. Hatake seemed a bit off since they called it quits – it was the least he could do for him, so he offered his help with the worst part of every mission.
‘I’ll deal with the report. Good luck with whatever it will be’ he offered with a grin. ‘Genma, you’re coming?’
Shiranui shrugged.
‘Only if we’re going to the hot springs later. My shoulder is killing me.’
Sarutobi gasped quietly, resuming his walk to the Hokage’s office.
‘Damn right we are!’
‘Kakashi!’ hissed Gai somewhere around his knees.
‘No.’
‘You’re so heartless!’ he cried and shook his legs in the air since he was still standing on his arms. He almost kicked him in the face.
‘I’m tired’ he corrected, leaning away. ‘And you won’t accept the rock-paper-scissors, so I’ll pass.’
‘Come on, Kakashi! It’s an excellent opportunity for you to push your limits! Reach beyond what you could have done yesterday, so you can get even further tomorrow! That’s how you get better! Do you hear that?’
‘Hear what?’
‘It’s your youth passing you by, wailing miserably! How come you just ignore it?!’
Kakashi exchanged looks with Rin; she chuckled, as always thinking that Gai was actually funny and maybe even adorable.
‘Gai, I wanted to ask if you have time tomorrow?’ she asked, changing the topic and probably wanting to step in and rescue Kakashi.
‘Nothing planned except for training!’
‘Perfect! Can you train with me?’
Both Kakashi and Shizune looked at her with surprise. Gai wavered and finally finished his hand-stand. He looked up at Rin, crouching.
‘Really?’ He wiped his forehead with his palm.
‘Yes! Kakashi always says your taijutsu is so great! I wanted to have some extra exercise in hand-to-hand combat… It’s my weakest point’ she explained with a smile.
Gai pressed his palm to his chest, slowly standing up.
‘I’d love to!’ he almost screamed, having tears in his eyes. ‘I’ll do my best to teach you everything I know!’
‘Thanks!’
‘My pleasure!’ He turned his attention to Kakashi. ‘Rival!’ Two fat tears rolled down his flushed cheeks. Kakashi took a step back. ‘You really think so? And tell that to others?!’
‘…Why would I lie about it?’ He shrugged. ‘Your taijutsu is…’ He was unable to finish; Gai threw himself heavily at him, squeezing his neck with loud ‘RIVAL!’ on his lips. They both stumbled a few steps back; Kakashi automatically caught him and somehow they did not fall to the ground.
‘Oi! Let go off me!’
‘That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard someone’s been saying about me!’
‘Let me go!’
‘I’ll never forget it!’
‘…GAI!’
‘I’ll be the most grateful and the best rival you could ever have, Kakashi! I’ll train even harder to be worthy of your compliments for my abilities!’
‘You’re choking me!’
‘Your taijutsu is great too! It’s to be expected from a genius after all!’
‘Gai, for the love of!...’
Rin and Shizune just held onto each other, laughing. Gai would not let go of Kakashi, who tried to raise his voice enough to get through Gai’s excited screams. During the scuffle and Hatake’s struggles to wiggle from the green limbs and their iron grip, Kakashi’s headband fell onto his only visible eye, blindfolding him completely.
‘Fine, fiiineeee!’ he groaned eventually. ‘I’m challenging you!’
Gai stopped rubbing his cheek against Kakashi’s temple.
‘Mmmm should I believe you? You wasn’t interested a few minutes ago!’ With a grin, he resumed the rubbing twice as fast, making his friend squirm even more.
The girls were still laughing. Kakashi huffed, trying to get out from the headband with his hands locked in Gai’s grip.
‘I’m quite desperate to distract you with something’ he grunted. Gai finally let him go with a wide smile.
‘I’m listening, dear rival!’
‘I’m tired’ he reminded him slowly. ‘So no taijutsu, no running – nothing of sorts. It will be an endurance challenge.’
‘Go on?’ Gai frowned, raising his hand to the chin to give it a little scratch.
‘I challenge you to watch scary movies with me all night long – we can’t go to sleep until dawn.’
‘…A movie marathon?’ he repeated, scrunching his nose.
‘Yes. Horror movies. About ghosts’ he added after a small pause.
Gai froze. Kakashi raised his chin, staring at him with his both, mismatched eyes.
‘What, are you chickening out?’ he teased, retying his headband. He hid his Sharingan again.
‘Wh- Pfh- Of course not! Ghost movies, sure thing!’ He grabbed his sides and cackled, tossing his head back. ‘I’m not afraid of some silly movies! I’m Maito Gai and I will stay up all night watching! Mark my words!’
Rin and Shizune let out loud snorts – everyone knew Gai was scared shitless of ghosts. Kakashi sneered under his mask, well aware of that too. All three only looked at Gai, who laughed loudly again, but it sounded so unconvincing that it made himself stop almost immediately.
‘Alright then, boys, have fun with your date night and see you tomorrow’ said Rin in a sing-song voice. ‘And we’ She grabbed Shizune by the shoulder. ‘Are going for dango and then to the hot springs too!’
‘Oh my, yes please’ sighed Shizune. ‘I need a good soak so badly!’
‘It’s not a date night!’ groaned Kakashi at the same time.
‘It’s a hot-blooded challenge in the prim of our youth!’ agreed Gai, shaking his fist in their direction. He threw his arm over Kakashi’s neck, catching him in a light chokehold.
‘Yes, yes!’ called Shizune over her shoulder. ‘Good luck with your hot-blooded date in the prim of your youth!’
Rin laughed loudly and waved at them too.
‘You can tell me tomorrow how it went!’
The boys silently watched them go.
‘…Why does everyone think we’re boyfriends’ asked Kakashi flatly.
‘I have no idea, Rival.’
Kakashi gave him a side-eye; Gai was always on his right side since the incident with Obito which forced him to have his left eye covered almost all the time. He appreciated the thought, it was uncomfortable to have someone walk beside him when he could not see him without turning his head, but with Gai it was never an issue.
Gai stared back at him, ridiculously close. Kakashi could not help but notice his eyelashes were really long and thick.
‘You keep leaning on me’ noticed Kakashi grumpily, looking away.
‘You are the perfect height to lean on!’
‘…Did you just call me short?’
‘Of course not!’ He squeezed his neck hard; Kakashi’s hand finally reached to his arm and tried to pry his grip open. ‘I just said you are the perfect height! It was a compliment.’
Since he could not force him to release him from the grip, Kakashi let his arms drop and bent his knees, hanging on Gai’s hold by his neck. He gasped and immediately let him go.
‘Kakashi!’ he huffed. ‘Don’t make me accidentally choke you!’
‘I’ll do what I want.’ He took two steps away to keep a safe distance between them and straightened his shirt. ‘I’ll bring the movies.’
‘I’ll prepare snacks!’ Gai dropped his shoulders and wiggled his eyebrows. He visibly deflated in the next moment. ‘Wait, we’re not doing it now?’ he asked, making a sad, disappointed face.
‘It’s supposed to be a night marathon’ noticed Kakashi. ‘I need a bath and a nap, and it’s what, the middle of the day?’ He pointed at him. ‘Besides, you were training, weren’t you? I’d hate to interrupt.’
‘You’re never interrupting me, Rival!' He winked at him. 'Alright then, let’s meet up at nine! At my place.’
Kakashi shrugged.
‘Fine by me. See you then.’
‘Bye!’ he called happily after his Rival and with a wide grin, he went back to a headstand and resumed his laps around the village. He was only half way through! And he was definitely not scared of ghosts, even if he could not kick them!
Kakashi was in a good mood. He took a steaming bath which almost made him pass out and then he had a nice nap (he woke up refreshed and naps were always a dangerous game which he won that time). He ate dinner, and still having a lot of time, he summoned his ninkens for a little training to kill some time. His favorite past time with them was just running around the woods by the village borders; the dogs were ecstatic as always and Kakashi had some good giggles too. Chasing his dogs’ tails through the bushes would always put a huge grin on his face.
They all kept themselves entertained by hunting a pheasant they spotted – bastard flew over the wall in the end. It was a shame, but Kakashi did not have time that day to deal with the prey anyway. At least it would not go to waste and they went over their joined techniques and formations.
Eventually, he went back with all the dogs back home to have a quick wash, put on a fresh change of clothes and grabbed the movies he rented on his way home.
Since Gai liked Kakashi’s summons a lot – and the feeling was mutual - he decided to keep them around and treat them with an extra walk.
Uhei and Bisuke were chasing each other when they reached the village streets. People were walking out of his way; being surrounded by a pack of dogs had its perks. Kakashi placed his small hand on the massive side of Bull, who trotted slowly next to him. He looked scary but secretly was the sweetest – he would always let Kakashi curl up next to him to keep him warm at night during missions. Sometimes he would even try to give him a little bath. Judging by the smell, Bull could use one, which meant he had to give a good scrub to all of them. If he remembered correctly it was about time to take them for a check-up with the Inuzuka clan’s vet. Sometimes he wondered if he could become one as well. They did have shinobi vets, so maybe it would be possible? He would have to ask. Were only member of the clan allowed to be vets? Well, he was their cousin! His mother was from the Inuzuka clan. He would definitely had to ask.
He knocked on Gai’s door three times with a short pause before the third one, so he would know exactly who was waiting outside. Loud, fast steps reached his ears almost immediately and Gai swung the door open, grinning ear to ear.
‘Rival!’ he beamed at him. ‘Punctual as always!’ He wanted to invite him in, but his eyes finally noticed who was there as well. He gasped loudly. ‘Hi guys!’ he almost did not squeal. ‘What a nice surprise! Come on in, everyone! I’ll get you all some water and treats!’
‘Thanks’ mused Kakashi, following him inside. He took his shoes off. ‘Me love treats.’
‘Don’t listen to him!’ chimed Uhei in. ‘We definitely do want treats!’
‘I know! That’s why I have some ready!’ called Gai from the kitchen. He showed back up with a glass jar full of round cookies.
‘Really? You keep treats for my summons?’
Gai looked at Kakashi like he was being weird.
‘Obviously, yeah? I like them! I want to have something for them as well when you visit from time to time! It’s the same as having your favorite tea!’
‘No, of course it is’ he agreed, amused and smiled behind his mask. He snapped his fingers to herd the ninkens in front of him to the dayroom; with all of them inside it got really crowded. Kakashi took a spot by the low table on the floor. ‘Speaking of my favorite tea?...’ He grinned, unseen, but Gai somehow always knew what face he was making behind the mask.
‘It’s brewing.’ He gave him a thumb up. ‘There you go… Bull… Uhei… Shiba…Akino…Bisuke… Pakkun… Urushi… Aw, don’t bite me!’ he laughed.
‘Sorry!’
‘And for Guruko as well!’ Gai offered a cookie for every dog, calling them by their names. The jar ended up on the table, so they knew more treats would be eventually distributed. The room filled with happy crunching and munching noises. Gai just stared at each and every one of them with a delighted look on his face.
Kakashi slowly reached for the jar and took one of the cookies. He gave it a curious sniff, glanced at Gai – who pointedly looked away – and slid his mask off for long enough to take a tentative bite. He frowned, chewing.
‘…They are not store-bought’ he noticed. He put the rest of the cookie in his mouth.
‘Nuh-uh, I made them’ confirmed Gai proudly and turned around to leave. ‘I’ll get the tea!’
Kakashi waited for the other boy to get to a safe distance and snatched another cookie. He could clearly taste peanut butter, maybe a hint of cheese… And most importantly they were not sweet. He blinked, watched by eight pair of eyes.
‘Seriously, boss?’ asked Bisuke quietly.
‘They are good’ he whispered back.
‘They are’ agreed Pakkun. ‘Would be a shame to get only one.’
‘Shame.’
‘A shame, really’ agreed Urushi. Bull only drooled.
‘Shame indeed’ nodded Kakashi and he fished out another nine cookies to share them. He pushed the last one in his mouth and put the mask back on mere seconds before Gai was back with the tea.
He stopped in the threshold, locking eyes with Kakashi. His lips trembled in an attempt to keep a serious look on his face.
‘I’m glad you like them. I can make more the next time, so you will get some too’ he offered conversationally.
‘Shut up’ He quickly ate it.
‘Hehe.’ Gai sat down next to him. ‘So! Movies?’
‘We can pick what we want… Here.’ He tossed the bag on the table. ‘You can have the first choice.’
Gai nodded, reaching to the bag.
‘That’s very noble of you, Kakashi!’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ He pulled his mug a bit closer to himself to stare at the steam coiling above it. It was soothing.
Uhei scooted closer to Gai and leaned on him, giving the film-boxes a little sniff. He moved to snuffle around the boy’s ear, making him chuckle and curl his arms up.
‘It’s tickling!’ he snorted. The dog only huffed, well aware of this.
Kakashi only watched them, warming his hands on the cup.
Eventually Gai picked the first movie; he decided it does not really matter from which they would start - all of them were about ghosts. Since they were going to stay up all night, they could watch all of them anyway!
Gai set everything up while Kakashi took a stroll around the house to turn all the lights off. He also pulled down all curtains to make it even darker to create the right atmosphere. With a grin, he opened one of the windows – he did not move it, only turned the handle. He knew it was creaking, so during the marathon hopefully some wind would give Gai a good scare. He also left one of the door slightly ajar and went back to the dayroom with two blankets he snatched on the way. He tossed one of them at Gai’s head.
Bundled up and surrounded by eight dogs – Bull stretched himself behind them, so both boys just leaned on his massive side, snuggling to his big, warm body – and played the movie.
The flat was dark and silent. Little rivals exchanged looks and glued their eyes to the screen.
Kakashi pulled Pakkun on his lap – Uhei scrambled into Gai’s embrace, clearly having a lot of affection for the boy that day. He earned a lot of ear scratches.
Just as Kakashi predicted, Gai would jump and yelp a lot even on the silliest scenes implying ghosts. Overall the film was not very scary, but Kakashi had fun anyway, and to make it even better, his choice was next. He picked the one that was supposedly the second-most terrifying and went back into warm embrace of his dogs and the blanket. Gai was sitting closer that time, their shoulders touching. He was warm.
They both quickly realized that the previous pick was a poor substitute of an actual horror movie. Both Gai and Kakashi were watching the story in tense silence, heightened by the eerie music and a lot of suspense.
During one of the bigger jump scares, Gai screeched and pressed both hands to his face – Kakashi did not know if the movie made him jump or was it the sound that Gai made right next to him.
‘Stop scaring me!’ he huffed, blaming it on him, because he was not scared of ghosts!
‘Sorry!’ he whispered, not taking his hands off of his face. He only spread his fingers to be able to see.
Pakkun lifted his head to give them both a tired glare – he was woken up from his nap, but he was ignored. A few minutes passed – the action was once again steered towards building the tension, so both of the boys leaned on each.
They both screamed when they heard a noise inside the house (Kakashi had long forgotten about the ajar door and windows) and Hatake slapped Gai’s leg.
‘Shut up!’ he hissed, tossing the blanket aside.
‘You screamed too!’ he answered quietly, pulling his blanket a bit higher to his chest. He swallowed loudly and stood up as well, creeping up to the TV. He slowly turned the volume down, bar after bar, to not scare the intruder.
Shadows of the tree branches swaying in the wind were dancing on the curtains; the whispers of the breeze sounded oddly creepy in the almost-silence of the dark dayroom. The boys exchanged glances, watched by the half-asleep ninkens.
Kakashi seemed to forgot about their presence and the fact that they would alarm them if there was an actual danger. Still, he did hear the familiar creak of the kitchen window and it had to be investigated.
They both painfully slowly walked to the kitchen and after a deep breath, they jumped in and turned the light on. Blinking in the sudden light, they stared at nobody in the room.
‘…It was probably the window’ said Kakashi after a moment of looking around the kitchen. He pointed at it.
Gai pressed his lips in a thin line and quickly walked over to shut with a loud slam, and shook the handle a few times to make sure it was really closed. Only then he pulled the curtains back in their place.
‘Stupid thing!’ he laughed, but his voice was trembling. ‘Very in the mood!’
‘Did you seriously scream over an open window?’ mused Kakashi, raising his eyebrows. He put his hands on the sides, as usual standing wide to add himself some confidence.
‘You did too’ he noticed, turning back to him with a frown.
‘I screamed because you scared me!’
Gai scoffed.
‘Lie all you want, Kakashi!’ He pointed at him. ‘I know what really happened anyway!’
‘Bullshit’ He quickly turned around and stormed off back to the day room, followed closely by Gai. They both started to run when the light was off again, but none of them made any comments on that.
When they were both seated again they stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. They resumed the video. Gai slowly grabbed Kakashi’s wrist; he did not push his hand away. If he had to be honest, his friend’s grip was comforting.
After a few minutes, they were tightly holding hands, sitting so close to each other that their legs were tangled.
Kakashi elbowed Gain between the ribs when long asleep Bull let out a sudden, loud snort.
When the second movie ended, they both sat still for a long while, watching the credits with a creepy music in the background.
‘Kakashi’ Gai eventually broke the silence.
‘What.’
‘I need to go to the bathroom.’
Kakashi frowned at him.
‘Then go?’ He let go of his hand and crossed his arms on his chest. ‘I don’t think you need my permission for that.’
Gai did not move.
‘What?’ he urged him; he had to go too, after all he did drink a big cup of tea good three hours ago – and it meant it was past midnight!
The answer did not come immediately; Gai eventually cleared his throat.
‘Nothing. I don’t have to go that much.’
‘Ugh’ he groaned. ‘You’re such a coward…’ He stood up; all his dogs immediately looked at him. He made a small gesture unnoticed by Gai; Bisuke stretched his paws, standing up with a yawn. He slowly wandered off somewhere.
‘I’m not a coward!’ argued Gai immediately. ‘At least I’m not pretending I’m not scared!’
‘I’m not pretending!’ huffed Kakashi proudly. ‘I’m going!’
‘Fine!’
‘Fine!’
‘Tell me how it was!’
‘I will!’ He tossed his rolled blanket at Gai’s face and confidently walked out. He stopped in the corridor.
‘I don’t hear you walking!’ called Gai, the bastard.
‘Shut up!’
‘Scared much after all?!’
‘I’M NOT SCARED, SHUT UP!’
‘THEN STOP PRETENDING YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE IS THE BATHROOM!’
‘I wasn’… Shut your curry-hole, dammit!’ He went to the bathroom, stomping loudly with every step. Bisuke was sitting by the door, staring at him with his usual, unimpressed look on the face. Kakashi gestured him to be quiet (the ninken had far too much in common with Genma – that stupid hyena never knew when to keep it shut and kept throwing inappropriate jokes at the worst times. Unfortunately Bisuke seemed to share that quality) and let the dog in first. When Kakashi turned the light on, Bisuke took a quick stroll around the room and sat down in the middle. He wagged his tail, amused – it was safe, boss, you can take your im-not-scared-piss at peace.
Without a word, Hatake shut the door a little too loud and went on with his business. Bisuke kept himself busy with inspecting a laundry basket in the corner. It looked like Gai was planning to give his bedsheets a wash.
‘Boss.’
‘What’ Kakashi whispered back, reaching for the soap.
‘You know I won’t help with ghosts? They are incorporeal.’
Kakashi did not answer, staring at his hands, seemingly fully engrossed with the soap bubbles.
‘Just so you know for the future’ continued Bisuke with a hushed voice. ‘But I’m always glad to be your emotional support!’
‘Not another word’ he shushed him, turning the tap off. He tapped his palms dry. ‘And you’re not coming back immediately with me.’
‘Suuure, It’s not like he knows how many dogs were supposed to be with him in the room.’
Hatake only squinted at him. He should had taken Akino with him, he never talked back - such a good boy he was! Kakashi would dry Bisuke, the traitor, with hairdryer after the next bath.
Gai was still sitting exactly where he was when Kakashi left the room; the only thing that changed were seven dogs gathered around him and doing their best to lick at his face and ears. He was far from complaining, trying to scratch all of them at once, laughing.
Without a comment, Kakashi swapped the movies in the player – that was supposed to be the worst one. He wanted to get on with it and relax on the remaining movies.
The dogs let him sit back on his place (two ended up on his lap) and Bisuke sneaked back in the room, using the occasion to return unnoticed.
The dogs froze and eight pairs of eyes (except Bisuke’s) stared at Kakashi.
‘What?’ he asked, reaching for the cookie jar. ‘Don’t mind me.’
Bull took it as a sign and gave Gai a long, wet lick on the back of his head – his hair got stuck up.
‘Are you ready for the next one?’ asked Kakashi, looking at the new hairstyle.
‘Of course I am! Bring it on!’
‘Alright’ he hummed in a sing-song voice; the giant dog once more ended up behind them. They happily snuggled against him.
It quickly turned out that the opinion about that movie was on the money. Kakashi could not exactly explain why, but it gave him goosebumps all over his body and he ended up with Pakkun in his embrace. He was squeezing the air out of the poor dog with one hand on every scare while crushing Gai’s fingers with the other.
Gai had tears in his eyes when the credits finally showed up.
‘I-I need a break’ he whispered.
Kakashi swallowed loudly, his heart pounding hard in his chest.
‘You’re such a wuss’ he joked with a tremble in his voice.
‘I’m not! You’re the one almost crying!’
‘Me? Almost crying? Look at yourself! Oh right, you can’t through tears!’
‘It’s because I have to go really badly!’ Gai tossed his blanket aside.
Kakashi blinked at him, confused.
‘You’re tearing up because of your bladder?’
‘Sometimes? When I hold it for too long?’
‘…Okay.’ He finally pulled his mask down to eat the dog treat. ‘Anyway. Go, before you pee all over the place. Wah!’ He snorted, suddenly attacked with a pillow. He tossed it after Gai, who fled the room with a loud laugh on his lips.
When the other boy closed himself in the bathroom, the room suddenly felt cold and empty. Kakashi suspiciously looked around. Did Gai open a window to let in a cold breeze to freak him out? No, he would not do such thing, pranks like that were not like him.
After a round of dog cookies for everyone, Hatake noticed that not only Gai did not come back yet, but it was also really quiet – he should be able to hear the flush and the faucet. Did he saw a shadow and fainted on the toilet? No, he said he had to pee, so Kakashi would hear him falling over…
After a moment of battling his thoughts, he stood up and without making a sound, he followed his friend to the bathroom. The light was off – he could not see the light coming through the space by the floor. He pressed his ear to the door, listening in. Nothing, and yet he could sense that someone was inside. He slowly pressed the doorknob and opened the door. He managed to take only one step, when a wide, pale silhouette jumped at him from above.
Kakashi yelled and immediately attacked back with a quick, hard punch followed by groan of pain. But it was not Gai’s voice. Someone – another one?! – snorted, but Kakashi did not have the time to focus on that sound or reach to turn on the lights because he was quickly approached from behind.
‘KONOHA—‘
‘No, wai!---’
‘SENPOU!”
Kakashi flew backwards and hit the wall, dazed from the kick in the face and hit at the back of his head.
‘Oi! Gai, calm down!’ yelled familiar voice. Someone turned the lights on.
Gai was standing in the middle of the corridor, clearly ready for the battle despite being almost as pale as the bedsheet that Asuma threw on his head to scare them.
‘Genma? Asuma?’
‘And who did you expect?’ groaned Sarutobi, scrambling back to his feet. He was holding his nose; it was bleeding, but it did not feel like it was broken.
‘Who the hell can I expect to ambush me in the middle of the night?!’
Kakashi moaned and hissed, slowly sitting up.
‘Gai, what the hell…’
‘What’s wrong with you two!’ yelled Gai, waving his hands. ‘I could have hurt you! You gave me a heart attack!’
‘I almost got my nose broken?!’
‘That’s what you get for pretending to be a damn ghost!’
‘Oi, Kakashi’ Genma took a long step to get out of the bathroom and leaned over Kakashi. ‘You alright?’
‘…I got panic-kicked in the face by Gai. Don’t ask stupid questions’ he mumbled. He slid his mask off, because the odd warmth on his face was a clear sign he was bleeding from the punch. He wiped his face and looked at his palm.
Genma only chortled and patted his arm.
‘Damn, sorry guys. We didn’t mean to end it like that’ he explain between chuckles. ‘We didn’t expect you’d get so worked up by those films!’
‘Ghost movies are one thing, and having someone break-in your house is another!’ huffed Gai, annoyed. He stomped off to the kitchen.
Kakashi slapped Genma, who was still laughing, and let him pull him back onto his feet.
‘I’m so killing you!’ yelled Gai from the other room, loudly rummaging through his refrigerator.
Asuma and Genma only grinned to each other. Kakashi glanced at the bedsheet, wondering briefly whether he could use it to murder them both. He dodged a bag of frozen peas thrown by Gai – it ended up on Sarutobi’s face, wiping off his stupid smirk.
‘Ow!... Oh, thanks.’ He slapped it on his nose and sighed in relief.
‘Kakashi!’ Gai threw another bag, this time with sliced carrots. Kakashi caught it and fished out one of the slices to eat before he put the bag on his busted lip.
‘…Are you guys alright or do we have to intervene?’ asked Pakkun, making everyone jump.
All eight dogs were sitting by the dayroom door, watching the struggle.
‘We’re fine’. Genma waved at them with a smile.
‘Are you sure? You don’t seem fine.’
‘You guys are injured’ added Uhei.
‘We’re fine’ laughed Sarutobi. ‘We just didn’t expect these two to be such babies.’
‘Eat dirt, would you?’ huffed Kakashi, stealing another piece of carrot.
‘So, how’s your marathon going?’
‘Great’ deadpanned Gai. ‘Just splendid. You’ve chosen to be stupid right after the two scariest movies.’
Genma whistled with a grin and fished out a slice of frozen carrot from Kakashi’s bag.
‘Good timing.’ He chewed it, crunching.
‘Since you’re here… Do you want to join us? We still have two more movies to watch’ offered Gai. He was still upset, but he knew that soon he would be laughing at that too.
The unexpected quests exchanged looks and shrugged.
All four boys and the dogs, armed with fresh pot of tea and a tray of snacks, took seats in the dayroom and played another video. The Rival duo again ended up propped on Bull – he was warm and his side was comfortable enough for both of them to start feeling fatigue creeping up on them. The other two boys had a similar problem even if they did not have an alive pillow to lull them to sleep with rhythmic breathing.
Nobody knew who fall asleep first, but later Rivals would argue it was neither Gai or Kakashi for sure. Since there was nobody to confirm which one of the two actually made it until morning, the challenge remained inconclusive.
Hours later, when the sun was already quite high up in the sky, Kakashi and Gai met up with Rin on the training field. She was already waiting for them, busy with a warmup before training.
‘Hello, Rin!’ called Gai with a smile, waving at her. She beamed at them.
‘Hi guys!’
Kakashi offered only a little wave.
‘Apologies, I hoped we’d join you sooner!’ said Gai, immediately starting some light stretches before jumping and running to warm up his muscles too.
‘Yeah, we got lost’ sighed Kakashi. ‘On a road of dreams.’
Gai made a face, crossing arms on his chest.
‘Call it what you want, you just took too long!’
‘No I didn’t. I’d be faster if Genma didn’t occupy bathroom for so long.’
‘Or you’d be faster if you didn’t wake up as the last one’ noticed Gai.
Kakashi huffed.
‘I wasn’t asleep.’
‘Oh, right, I’m sure it was one of the dogs snoring.’
‘I don’t snore?’
Rin chuckled, taking a spot at the ground for more stretches.
‘Yes you do? Unless Bull can snore in duet with himself, then I take it back.’
Kakashi only stared at him in response.
‘He can, actually. He’s very talented.’
That made Gai laugh out loud and shake his head.
‘Aw, come on, Rival! Just admit it, there’s nothing wrong with sleeping in from time to time – especially after a mission!’
‘Whatever’ he murmured and started to stretch his neck. He knew he lost that one, there was no need to keep arguing.
Gai smiled proudly.
‘So, I take it that your date night went well?’ Rin smiled at them, amused and raised her eyebrows questioningly.
‘It wasn’t a date!’ groaned Kakashi.
‘Wasn’t it?’ Gai wiggled his eyebrows, clearly in the mood for some giggles that morning. ‘You did hold my hand all night.’
Hatake froze and slowly turned to face him.
‘Excuse me? You were the one who held MINE hand all night.’
‘You didn’t take it back’ he noticed.
‘It was a tactical decision.’
‘Oh yeah? Rival, you know I won’t judge you for being scared.’
‘I wasn’t scared’ hissed Kakashi through his teeth. ‘I let you hold it because if I tried to take it back, you’d either grab it again or huddle my whole arm instead!’
‘You sure you were not a little bit afraid? I remember you screaming.’
‘Because YOU scared me with your scream!’
‘So you admit that you did scream?’ Gai pointed at him with a grin.
‘It was hard not to when you almost broke my fingers!’
Gai only cackled proudly, propping his hands up on his hips.
‘Rival, my friend, it’s alright to be scared!’ he cooed.
‘I wasn’t scared!’ he called with annoyed sigh in the end. He looked up at the sky, looking for some patience because if he found some strength instead, Gai would have to pick up his teeth from the ground.
Gai exchanged looks with Rin; she was doing her best to not laugh loudly at their bickering.
‘I see.’ Gai slowly walked closer to him, puffing himself up like a rooster. ‘Kakashi. It’s okay if you just wanted to hold my hand too.’
‘What.’
‘I’ll gladly hold it whenever you like! You don’t have to challenge me to ghost movies for that!’ He offered his palm with a blinding smile.
Kakashi could feel his face and ears getting uncomfortably hot. He knew both Gai and Rin could see him getting red. He clenched his fists, turning to face him and slapped his hand away.
‘What the hell you’re even on right now?’ he asked quietly, somehow more embarrassed than annoyed.
‘I’m inviting you for a quick taijutsu spar.’
‘Weren’t you supposed to help Rin?’
‘I am and I will! But first… I’d like to show you my new special move!’
Kakashi squinted suspiciously.
‘…Go on?’
Gai assumed his initial fighting pose – Kakashi slowly followed his suit, getting ready.
‘Watch closely. It’s a special taijutsu technique of the Hidden Leaf Village… Not many had the honor to master it!’ He threw himself at Kakashi before he was done preparing himself, grabbing him tightly with both arms around him and toppling him over to the ground. It made him squeak. ‘A HUG! FOR A SHY RIVAL!’
Rin could not hold it any longer – she burst into laughter, bending in half when Kakashi let out a loud, long shriek before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Gai ended up squeezing a log, laughing on the top of his lungs.
‘Don’t worry, Rival! I’ll be waiting! I believe that you’ll be ready one day and when it comes, I’ll be here with all the affection you might wish for!’
Kakashi bit hard on his lip, crouching on a tree nearby. He took out a shuriken and threw it at the log, making a clear statement that he would rather die before that day comes.
Both Rin and Gai were howling with laughter. Eventually they calmed down enough to start the promised training.
Kakashi lurked on the tree, very much visible to both of them, but he refused to get down. He was busy brooding.
What was it with all those hugs and holding hands? He did hold it back, he could not deny it, but it was only because he was actually a little put off by the movies! There were no hidden motives to that!
Fiine, it was nice to hold hands, but that was it. Gai was just being annoying because he thought it was funny.
Maybe it would be funny for him too if it was not about him and his alleged wish to hold hands with him! Was it because of all those stupid jokes about them being boyfriends? Recently everybody seemed to have that impression, but it was not true, they were rivals! And friends.
But Gai did call him his man of destiny.
They were around five years old at that time, so maybe he did not know what it truly meant. But he did repeat it multiple times, so there was no way about a mistake...
Kakashi’s hand slowly slipped of the tree trunk he was leaning on.
What if rivals was his secret code for boyfriends? What if they were dating since school?!
No, they could not, he did not accept his rivalry back then yet.
He squinted, staring intently at Gai. He was not paying attention to him, focused on showing Rin a sequence of punches and correcting her posture when she was following his lead.
Was it even possible to be in a relationship without knowing? Who could he ask such stupid, embarrassing question? He groaned to himself, annoyed, and ruffled his hair.
He would worry about later, he came here to train and not to dwell on whether he and Gai were boyfriends. Focusing at something else – like punching that idiot – sounded like a good plan to deal with confusing thoughts, so he did just that and Gai was even happy that Kakashi was so passionate about a spar.