Jan 1, 2022
Was unable to participate in kkg week but did this one earlier just in time for gai’s birthday :)
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Was unable to participate in kkg week but did this one earlier just in time for gai’s birthday :)
HAPPY KAKAGAY WEEK!
remember to give your eternal rival an extra big smooch 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Kicking it off with my fave maito gai!
Spending your birthday with your husband is the best :))
If you see this wish my bby a happy birthday 😤
Stone Cold Kakashi
Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai
4073 words
for: @tenzoyamato
edited by: @mireleth
Kakashi’s mind raced, replaying the meeting with Tsunade-sama continuously. The moment that he had realized this wasn’t a normal mission she was sending Kakashi and Gai on. That she didn’t have an S-ranked missing ninja for them to hunt down and dispose of.
The moment when his stomach had dropped.
Captain Yamato is missing in action.
The rest of the meeting was a blur. He couldn’t recall one second of what had happened until the moment Gai’s hand had come down onto his shoulder, finally pulling him out of his own thoughts. After that his only focus was getting to Tenzo’s apartment to find something for the hounds to sniff, and heading off to find his friend.
Still, the things that Tsunade-sama had said refused to leave him alone. The warnings, the reminders of their missions. It all kept running through his mind as he and Gai followed the hounds in search of Tenzo.
Likely that he is dead.
This is a body retrieval mission.
The enemy cannot get hold of his body or the cells inside of it.
His head was spinning. Was the universe really not done with him yet? Had he not lost enough already?
Landing on the next branch in a long journey, Kakashi reached out to brace himself against the tree when his eyes started to lose focus. There was too much going on in his head. Too many thoughts. Too much worry digging deep into his heart.
It was getting hard to breathe as it all sank in. Tenzo. One of his best friends who had been by his side for years through Anbu and was now helping him work with Team seven. At least, that’s what he was supposed to be doing when Tsunade-sama had given him a solo mission. She’d told him he was the only one who could do it. The only one she trusted.
And now here they were.
“Kakashi?” a voice called out to him from a distance, but it was drowned out by the panic. His heart raced in his chest, pounding so hard that it hurt. His head was spinning and it was getting difficult for him to breathe.
Short, quick breaths were all he could seem to manage. The burning feeling in his throat from a lack of oxygen only made it more difficult to breathe.
Tenzo.
Everything that could go wrong raced through his mind. The image of Tenzo’s dead, bloodied corpse lying on the ground. Them finding Tenzo alive, only for him to be murdered right in front of Kakashi’s eyes. Even the thought of never finding Tenzo at all, and never getting closure to what happened to him. They all hit him one after the other with no break. No moment to breathe and collect himself.
An endless onslaught of everything that terrified him at that moment.
“Kakashi.” This time the voice was closer, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up. His fingers trembled as they came to rest over his eyes, and the nausea settled in. His brain screamed at him for choosing now of all times to start panicking, but there was no escaping it. He couldn’t slow down his breathing, or force his fingers to stop shaking. No matter how hard he tried the nausea wouldn’t subside, and the world continued to spin around him. “Kakashi!”
A hand came down to rest on his shoulder and with a gentle tug he found himself falling forward into the other man’s chest. Almost immediately, Gai’s scent overwhelmed him. Shoving back the thoughts that were busy assaulting his mind, and giving him something else to focus on. Each breath got easier to take as he focused on that smell. Gai’s sweat, the most easily identifiable scent and the only one that he had learned to recognize as what Gai was offering him.
Safety.
“I know you’re scared.” The words were barely audible through the screaming thoughts in his mind, but they managed to break through. Providing him with something to focus on other than the dark thoughts swirling around in his head. “I’m here, Kakashi. Come back to me.”
The more Gai spoke to him, the easier it became to focus. To push away everything that his mind screamed at him and cling to the soft words that left Gai’s mouth. His breathing slowed as Gai walked him through the breathing exercises he had learned years ago after seeing Kakashi’s first panic attack.
“In and out.” He breathed with Gai’s words, waiting for the next order and following it with ease. “You’re doing good, Kakashi. Just keep breathing. In and out.”
A hand settled in his hair. Fingers ran through the short silver strands, pulling him back down to reality. His fingers stopped shaking after a moment, and as Gai continued to talk to him he felt the nausea fading.
“Sorry.” He uttered the weak apology, not bothering to move away from the safety of Gai’s arms. “I’m wasting time.”
“The hounds are still on the trail,” Gai assured him, smiling when he raised his head just enough to look up at him. “Pakkun stayed behind to lead us to them, and we can go when you’re ready. Either way, we’re going to find him.”
“But what if…” Gai narrowed his eyes. “Gai, Tsunade-sama told us this was a body retrieval mission. You know as well as I do what that means.”
“And if that’s all you focus on, we’ll have no chance of turning it into a rescue mission,” Gai argued. “You’ll get stuck here panicking for the next hour. We don’t have the time to sit around and do that today, Kakashi. But I promise you that once we find him, once we have him safe at home, then you can break down. I’ll be there with you. I’ll make sure you’re safe and we’ll be at home. No-one will see. But for now I need you to stay strong. I need ‘Stone cold Kakashi’”
It was rare for Gai to ask him to wear that particular mask. The one that kept down all of the emotions that bubbled inside of him. Which so perfectly covered all of his fear and pain, keeping it hidden away from the world. From everyone around him, except for Gai.
Taking a deep breath, Kakashi closed his eyes and slowly shut down all of his emotions. Just like his Anbu days. When he was never allowed to be anything short of absolutely perfect at his job, he had never taken this mask off. Even if the Hound’s mask was resting on his desk, ‘Stone cold Kakashi’ would still be there.
As soon as he felt the last bit of fear and worry being shoved deep inside of him, he opened his eyes once again. This time when he looked at Gai it was with the same eyes he would have when facing down an enemy.
Emotionless. Calculated. Calm.
“I’m sorry.” Gai’s hand cupped his cheek as he uttered his apology. There was no mask that Gai hated more than this one, but even he understood its uses. “We’ll make it quick, I promise.”
Taking a step back from Kakashi, Gai allowed his gaze to linger for a moment. Making sure that Kakashi was able to stand on his own and was ready for whatever was to come next. When he seemed confident with what he saw, he turned back to the small pug dog waiting for them and nodded his head.
With that, they were off once again. Soaring from tree to tree towards their destination.
Towards wherever it was that they would find Tenzo.
A camp right next to a large river, no more than five enemy shinobi. That’s what Kakashi and Gai had found at the end of a seven hour hunt. When they had finally caught up to the other ninken Kakashi had been expecting a hideout. Perhaps even a heavily guarded village. Something that was worthy of all the worry he had been trying so desperately to ignore while they searched for Tenzo.
Instead they found a small camp so lightly guarded that from where he was hiding he could see Tenzo, arms chained behind his back and blood covering the majority of his body as he sat propped against a large rock.
This was nothing.
“Mist shinobi.” His eyes scanned the area for any sign of hidden shinobi. “The river will be a great asset to them so do whatever you can to keep them away from it.” Gai nodded, his understanding clear as he prepared to move in. “I’ll take the two closest to Tenzo. You take the other three.”
It would be easier for Gai to deal with the ones that were spread out. His speed gave him an advantage over most shinobi, including Kakashi. At least one of them wouldn’t see him coming, and the second wouldn’t have time to properly react before Gai was able to take him down. The third shinobi would be the one that Gai would have to have a proper fight with, and it’s a fight he was certain that Gai would win.
In his case, the two shinobi guarding Tenzo were close enough that he could hit them pretty easily in quick succession, allowing him to focus his attention on Tenzo. They wouldn’t have time to react at all if he attacked correctly, which would be easy with the hounds’ help.
“Pakkun.” The pug dog didn’t need him to explain the plan. Within an instant the dogs scattered in all directions and waited for his signal. “You ready?” He glanced over at Gai, waiting for him to process everything that they were about to do.
“Am I ever not ready?” Kakashi rolled his eyes. Of course that was going to be Gai’s response. “I’d say let’s have a competition, but clearly I’m going to take down more shinobi than you.”
“We can have a competition when we get home,” Kakashi offered as a substitute. “A race to the dango shop after we get Tenzo to the hospital, perhaps.”
“Oh, Kakashi,” Gai’s feet moved into position while he smiled over at the copy nin, “we both know you’re not leaving the hospital room until he’s released.”
“Fair.” Following suit, Kakashi shifted his feet into an attack stance and gave Gai a soft look. An apology for the date nights that he was going to miss while he was worrying over Tenzo. “Try not to take too long.”
His hand shot up, and within an instant the hounds moved in. Pakkun grabbed a mouthful of the shinobi closest to Tenzo, with Bull and Akino joining in to hold him down. As all of the others turned to see why their comrade had screamed out in pain, Kakashi and Gai moved in for the attack.
As he’d suspected it was easy to deal with the two shinobi that had been placed to guard Tenzo. The first one was still dealing with three hound dogs holding him down, and as the second went in to help his comrade, Kakashi showed up with his chidori already charged up for the attack. Within a second the first enemy was down and he could turn his attention to the second as the rest of the hound dogs came to his side.
Glancing towards the area where Gai was fighting, Kakashi noted that one of his targets was already down, and the second had just taken Gai’s foot to the sternum. A hit that Kakashi had no doubt would put the poor bastard out of commission. That left both of them with only one enemy shinobi to defeat. An easy task to take care of.
Turning his attention to Tenzo, Kakashi started making his way towards him, a low whistle the only order he gave to the hounds before the enemies’ screams filled the air.
Tenzo.
His goal was Tenzo and nothing else mattered. He had to make sure that Tenzo was ok. Breathing. Alive.
The screaming died out behind him, leaving only the sound of flesh being ripped apart and teeth digging into bone. He had learned to drown it out when he was six years old and had seen what his hounds were capable of during his first C-rank mission.
Reaching Tenzo’s side, Kakashi knelt down and checked the binding around his arms. Chains that he couldn’t open himself, at least not without hurting Tenzo. Since that wasn’t something he was willing to risk, he pushed aside all thoughts of the chains for the moment and carefully wedged one hand under Tenzo’s legs and the other behind his back.
“You really got yourself into a mess this time, huh, Tenzo?” He spoke as if Tenzo could give him an answer, lifting the mokuton user into his arms and standing up once more. “I thought we agreed neither of us was allowed to get captured ever again after the Sunagakure incident.”
“Sunagakure incident?” Gai’s hand came down to rest on his shoulder, signaling that all of the enemies had officially been dealt with. “You never told me about this one.”
“You would have freaked,” Kakashi responded in a bland tone, his emotions still pushed into the deepest pits of his being. “It took me an hour to convince Tenzo I could get into Sunagakure without getting caught, rescue our week-long teammate who got himself captured during a mission, and get out alive.”
“And?” Glancing back at the taijutsu specialist, Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “Well clearly you made it out alive.”
“I did.” Holding Tenzo closer to his chest Kakashi turned to face Gai, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the hounds were already starting to cover up their kill. “After the idiot was seen on the way out and I had to kill five Suna Anbu soldiers in order to get us both out of there alive.”
“So, that was the guy’s last mission with you, right?” An unimpressed look from Kakashi gave Gai the answer he was looking for. “Just making sure.”
Turning his attention down to Tenzo, Gai’s shoulders relaxed just a little. Mission accomplished. Tenzo was alive and safe.
Now they just had to get home.
Kakashi was about to head out, determined to get Tenzo back to Konoha as quickly as possible, when a hand came up to rest against his cheek.
“I’m fine.” He knew Gai could see through his lie. He always did. But right now was not the time for them to be sticking around in the midst of a campsite that they had just decimated. They had no idea when someone might stumble upon the carnage, and their job was to get Tenzo home. “‘Stone cold Kakashi’ is here, as requested.”
Gai winced at the reminder. He always hated being the one to ask Kakashi to put that mask on, even when they both knew it was needed to get the mission done.
Gai’s hand moved upwards, settling in his hair while he took a step forward and gently touched their foreheads together.
No words were spoken, but Kakashi could hear the silent apology that Gai was trying to make. There was no-one who hated ‘Stone cold Kakashi’ more than Gai. No-one else saw the mask for what it was. Protection against the pain deep inside of himself. An act that Kakashi had put on at a young age because it was easier to be thought of as a ruthless shinobi, rather than being known as a broken man.
After a moment Gai took a step back and turned his attention down to Tenzo, his free hand coming up to gently lift the bloody shirt away from the mokuton user’s chest.
“A few cuts and bruises.” His hand traced over the worst one. A deep gash in Tenzo’s side that no doubt accounted for a majority of the blood that stained Tenzo’s clothes. “Other than this one though, he seems fine. Let’s put some distance between us and this camp and we can see what we can do about patching it up until we get back to Konoha.”
Neither of them wasted any more time. Bursting up towards the trees, they started on their way back towards Konoha while the hounds each took position around them. If anyone managed to catch up to them they would have to get through the hounds for an attack, and that wasn’t likely to happen. No-one had ever made it through the hounds alive before, and with so much to protect they weren’t going to let Kakashi down now.
A soft creak roused Kakashi from his sleep, his head lifting up off of the bed that he had rested it on earlier and turning to look back at whoever had interrupted him. Sleepy eyes focused on the green clad shinobi now making his way into the room, a soft smile on his face and two bento boxes in hand.
“Mission report is done.” Rubbing his eyes, Kakashi looked up at Gai when he came to a stop at his side. “Tsunade-sama says that other than the deep gash that we were able to stitch up, there were no major injuries. Yamato should be able to leave by the end of the week, but he’ll only be on missions with Team Seven for a while.”
That was the first good news Kakashi had gotten since Tsunade-sama had given them their mission. Tenzo didn’t need to be going on any more solo missions for a while. Not after what he had been through.
Not when Kakashi could still see the images his mind had conjured up of Tenzo’s broken and mangled corpse.
“We got him home,” Gai reminded him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. “He’s alive, Kakashi. There’s not going to be another funeral.”
Hearing the words said out loud didn’t get rid of the feelings deep down inside of him, but Kakashi pushed them back. He was in public, where anyone could walk in and see him at any moment. Now was not the time for him to break.
Turning his attention back to Tenzo, he sighed. Tenzo was home, safe and alive, so why didn’t he feel better? Why was there still this heavy weight on his conscience?
Lost in his thoughts once again, Kakashi didn’t notice when Gai’s hand left his shoulder, or when the door’s lock clicked into place. There was nothing around him that caught his attention until he saw Gai in the corner of his eye, kneeling down so that he was at eye level with him.
Kakashi didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what came next. As soon as Gai reached out and cupped his cheek he knew it was time. He was finally being given the permission he needed to drop the mask Gai had asked him to put on hours ago.
His demeanour shifted as ‘Stone cold Kakashi’ crumbled away. Every muscle in his body relaxed and within seconds he could feel the tears starting to run down his face. Thankfully Gai didn’t leave him to suffer alone for long.
Wrapping his arms around Kakashi’s shoulders, he pulled him into a tight hug, saying nothing as Kakashi began to crumble. Just sitting there and holding onto him through everything.
The pain in his chest was the first thing that Kakashi noticed. Not just the feeling of his heart breaking all over again either, but the way his chest was compressing in on itself as well. How his lungs struggled to draw in breath as everything came crashing down on him all at once. The slight tremble in his hands as they came up to rest against Gai’s chest.
Every dark thought he had been trying so desperately to ignore came flooding back, bombarding him with the feelings he couldn’t focus on when he had to save Tenzo.
One day.
Just one day without feeling so helpless in a world so determined to destroy him. Was that really so much to ask for? One day where he got to look at the people he loved and not wonder if this would be when he’d lose them. If their next mission away would be their last, and he’d find himself standing in front of another gravestone.
Was that really so much to ask?
“He’s alive.” The reminder was a soft breath against his ear. “We found him, Kakashi. He’ll be fine.”
Yet it still didn’t feel real.
A part of his mind was still screaming at him that something would go wrong. That they hadn’t done everything right, and hadn’t actually been able to save Tenzo. It screamed at him that any moment he could turn around, and Tenzo would be gone. Another friend that he failed to save.
“It’s ok…” Gai’s voice barely broke through the barrage of thoughts. “He’s alive and I’m here. You’re not alone. Breathe in, and breathe out. I need you to do that for me, Kakashi.”
Burying his face into Gai’s chest, Kakashi tried desperately to focus on that familiar scent as he followed Gai’s instructions. One deep breath in, and one long breath out. His throat burned as he did it, but he continued following Gai’s instructions.
Breathe in
Breathe out
It was a mantra that Gai repeated to him and he followed, but nothing changed this time. His chest still hurt, his hands still shook, and his mind was still full of those thoughts. Nothing he did seemed to help him through the panic that coursed through his veins, no matter how hard he tried.
“I’m here.” The mantra disappeared, and Gai held him just a little bit tighter. “I’m here, Kakashi, and I'm sorry.”
Crying.
That’s the first thing Tenzo heard when he started to regain consciousness. Someone crying nearby. A soft sob muffled by something else, but still audible enough that Tenzo could tell what it is.
He couldn’t remember what exactly happened. One minute he was fighting for his life, the next everything had gone black. There was a pain radiating from his side that he thought could be from a hit he took from one of the enemy weapons, but his brain was still a little fuzzy.
The only thing clear was the crying.
Cracking an eye open, he turned to see who it was making the noise. His eyes were still blurry, but right beside him he could make out two figures. Both of them were blurs of blue and green, one a much brighter, more vibrant colour of green.
Gai.
He didn’t need his eyes to focus to figure that out. Only Gai and Lee wore an outfit that bright, and Lee had no reason to be in a hospital room with him.
At least, that’s where he assumed he was if Gai was by his side. Even with his vision still blurred he could tell he wasn’t outside, and he wouldn’t be at his own apartment already. Not when it felt like he had been stabbed.
It had to be the hospital, and that was Gai at his side.
Which only left one option for who the other person was.
Blinking a few times, he watched as his vision slowly began to clear and Kakashi finally came into focus. But rather than sitting slumped in his chair with that awful book of his in hand, he was slouched forward in Gai’s arms.
The realization hit him like Gai’s fist to his face. Kakashi. Kakashi was the one crying. That sound was coming from his senpai.
His mind screamed at him to reach out and try to touch the older man. To bring attention to himself and help him realize that he was alive. That everything was ok. Maybe then he would stop crying.
But no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to cooperate. It wasn’t just his side that hurt, and trying to move made that painfully obvious. All of his muscles were stiff, and there was a dull ache in his back that made it uncomfortable to even be lying there, but there was nothing he could do. His body refused to move.
So he was stuck. Unable to do anything but listen to his senpai crying.
He’d have to make it up to the older man later, but for now he just lay there and watched, smiling softly when Gai’s eyes met him.
At least his senpai had Gai.
Second fic for Kakagai week
Is this a typo or is it too accurate? 🤔
Just lovers admiring each other in a flowerfield
Late piece for kakagai week but :))
Heres my pre-new years animation :))
Early Birthday
Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai
4286 words
Prompt: Free day
edited by: @mireleth
It was early. Far too early for Kakashi to be awake, most days. Outside the window he could see splashes of orange and red painting the sky above, Signaling the beginning of a new day.
A rare sight for him to see. Even rarer since his retirement had been made official. Most mornings he would lay in bed cuddling up to Gai for as long as the other man would allow.
Today, though, was a special day.
December thirty-first, the day before Gai’s birthday. For everyone else it was a day of preparation for tomorrow when they would celebrate the beginning of a new year.
For Kakashi, it was his day to celebrate Gai’s birthday with him. A tradition that they had started when they were still kids. Long before the missions became overwhelming and Anbu stole almost all of Kakashi’s time.
A day just for the two of them. When Kakashi could celebrate Gai’s birthday without too many other people around, Gai would get a day just for him. No mentions of the new year, and the festivals wouldn’t get into full swing until the next day so they could just enjoy some games and treats without the streets being too crowded. A day to celebrate his birthday and nothing else, as it should be.
It wasn’t a tradition that they really had to keep anymore, since they were both retired and on vacation visiting some old spots with fond memories for the both of them. The only people that would be joining them for Gai’s birthday, other than Mirai and Tatsumi who were already with them, were Tenten and Lee. Both of whom had told them their intentions to join upon finding out that the pair’s vacation would be happening during their Sensei’s birthday.
Not an unwelcomed addition to their day, but one that did help Kakashi decide to keep with their old tradition.
Now all he had to figure out was what exactly to do for Gai’s early birthday.
Gai had provided him with a short list of things that he wanted to do for their day together. Some of them were basic, easy to do activities. Others required a bit more thought to make sure they were executed perfectly.
Which was why Kakashi was up at such a ridiculous hour in the morning, while Gai was still sleeping soundly in his futon. There was a lot that he had to plan out, and he wanted it all done before Gai woke up.
Taking one more look over the list, he groaned when he saw the last request.
One Meal – Just the two of us.
An easy enough request to fulfill any other day. Unfortunately for them, they were on vacation with Saratobi Mirai acting as their bodyguard.
Determined to prove herself a capable shinobi, Mirai refused to let the pair out of her sight no matter how often Kakashi asked her to relax. The only time that they had managed to find away from her so far was in the hot springs, thanks largely to the gender split. A restaurant would have no such restrictions, so Kakashi was going to have to find another way to convince Mirai to leave them alone for an hour or two.
Perhaps Tatsumi would be able to give him a hand. She and Mirai had become close in the short time that they had known each other.
“Kakashi?” Gai’s sleepy voice rang through the small room, pulling his attention away from his work and over to the futon where Gai was now sitting up rubbing his eyes. “You’re up early.”
“Keen observation there, Turtle.” Setting his pen down, Kakashi turned to face his husband and smiled. “I was just figuring out some things for today.”
“Mmmm.” Dropping his hands down onto his lap, Gai looked back at him with the beaming beautiful smile that always made him feel warm deep inside his chest. “And what’s the first thing that we have to do?”
He didn’t need to look back at the list to know the answer to that question. It was the same thing that he did every morning before Gai got out of bed to do his daily stretches.
Morning cuddles.
Standing up from his seat, he made his way over to Gai’s side and carefully crawled into his husband’s arms with a happy hum.
He would figure out how to get Mirai to leave them alone for a few hours. After he met his daily cuddle quota.
One Competition
One of the easier requests for Kakashi to figure out that morning. Competitions were a staple of their relationship. Something that Kakashi expected to happen once a week, minimum.
The only hard part was figuring out a competition that was new and exciting. Something that they had never had the chance to do before.
An answer came to him when he remembered that for once they were out of the village and there was a new year’s tradition they could take part in for once.
“Postcards?” Gai had a confused look on his face as he watched Kakashi lay out the postcards on the table between them. “Our competition is writing postcards?”
“Not all of our competitions can be physically active. At our age we have to keep our brains in tip-top form as well, don’t you agree?”
Gai contemplated it for a moment while glancing at all of the postcards that Kakashi had picked out. “So a competition of our writing skills it will be.” Picking up the pen Kakashi had set down for him, Gai beamed. “What are the parameters for this competition?”
“The winner will be decided on who can write the best postcards, with Mirai as judge of course.” He pointed at the chunin where she sat off to the side with Tatsumi, watching them with a bored expression. “And to keep it fair and interesting, I made it so we’re both writing to Kurenai, since that will be a big decider for Mirai.”
“I’ll be grading you twice as hard on that one,” Mirai assured them, an amused smirk pulling at the corners of her lips. “It could be the deciding factor for your whole competition, so think carefully about what you write.”
It had only been a week and she was already learning to relax and have a bit of fun. Perhaps she had gotten a bit of Asuma’s personality after all.
“I will create the most thoughtful, touching postcards that you have ever read in your life!” Gai declared with pride. “You will taste defeat today, Rival, and I will take the lead once more.”
Resting his chin on his hands, Kakashi rolled his eyes. “Technically you’d be tying, since I won the ping pong match.” The twitch in Gai’s left eye did not go unnoticed, even if he didn’t respond verbally to Kakashi’s jab. “But we’ll see. Are you ready?”
“Of course I am.” Gai’s smile grew even wider, somehow. “My postcards will have Mirai weeping tears of happiness.”
He could practically feel Mirai dying just at the thought of crying in front of them.
“Whatever you say, Turtle.” The sounds of Gai sputtering while he flipped over his first postcard and began to write were a sweet victory of their own.
Get some Dango
The results of their competition were no surprise to Kakashi. Although he had put a lot of thought and effort into his postcards, Gai had always been a little better than him with words.
There was a reason he had picked that competition particularly. It was a nice change of pace from what they usually did, and there was no doubt in his mind that Gai would win.
Even if Mirai had made it a closer competition than he expected, choosing Gai as the winner only after reading their postcards to her mother.
In the end Gai got the win and the bragging rights for the day, which meant it was time for request number two.
Finding a dango shop in the small village was harder than he had expected, but with a little help from some locals he had managed to do it. So now he, Gai, Mirai and Tatsumi were sitting in a small shop hidden away in an alley, each holding a stick of dango.
Gai didn’t waste any time, popping the first dango ball into his mouth with a satisfied hum.
“This is a… tradition of yours?” Mirai gave him a skeptical look, holding her own stick of dango in front of her face. “You don’t seem like the kind of person who likes sweets, Lo—”
One hard look from Kakashi stopped Mirai from finishing the last bit of her sentence. The last thing that he needed was his day out with Gai ruined because someone overheard that the Sixth Hokage was around.
He wanted a nice relaxing day. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
Still, Mirai did deserve a response to her inquiry.
“Sweets aren’t a favourite thing of mine,” he confirmed even as he reached up to take off his mask. “But today’s not about me.” One dango ball. That’s all he was going to be able to manage this time, which gave Gai two extras.
Sinking his teeth into the top ball on his stick, Kakashi cringed when the overwhelmingly sweet taste hit his tongue. One was definitely enough for him. Any more and he was likely to be sick.
At least Gai seemed to be enjoying himself as he devoured his dango happily.
Everything was going perfectly as planned so far.
Reminisce about their childhood
After their dango stop, the small group made their way to the village shrine to pay respects. Something that Gai usually only did when he was with Kakashi, or when someone he cared about was badly injured.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the shrine, and with a quick bow at the Torii gate Gai and Kakashi headed in to purify themselves, leaving Mirai and Tatsumi waiting for them at the gate.
Once their hands and mouths were clean, Kakashi took care of washing down the ladle’s handle, and they made their way towards the shrine.
As always, Gai put some ryo into the coin box for the both of them and smiled up at Kakashi. He never let Kakashi put in his own coins, but he certainly expected him to ring the bell for them. It was the only thing that he always made Kakashi do when they were together.
Giving the bell a ring, he took a step back to take his place at Gai’s side once more. Two claps in unison, and then the pair bowed.
After that, Kakashi lost track of time as they stood there paying their respects in silence. Nothing new for him, but a little embarrassing when he felt Gai’s hand on his arm.
“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Guess we should get going.”
“We still have a lot to do today.” Gai nodded his head in agreement. “What did you have planned for us next?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Taking a step behind Gai’s chair, he laid his hands on the handles and waited for Gai to give his permission, or refuse the gesture.
Another quick nod told Kakashi that he was good to go, so he took hold of the wheelchair handles and directed Gai away from the shrine.
“Are we going to get to see the fireworks tonight?” Mirai piped up when they reached the front gate, concern etched on her face. “I’ve never missed the fireworks before.”
“They’re the most beautiful thing about bringing in the new year,” Tatsumi beamed. “I can’t imagine missing them.”
“We wouldn’t dare miss the fireworks,” Gai assured the pair with a proud smile. “We haven’t missed seeing the fireworks together since…”
It took a moment of thought for Kakashi to come up with the answer that Gai was looking for, but once he had it he couldn’t help but smile.
“My last year in Anbu,” he supplied. “I was in Konoha due to a bad case of chakra exhaustion. I was supposed to stay in the hospital, but Asuma convinced the doctors to let him carry me to the spot you had all planned to meet. Used the ‘I’m the Hokage’s son’ card to get his way in the end.”
It had been rather embarrassing at the time, holding onto Asuma for dear life while he jumped from roof to roof. Now, though, he’d give anything to have Asuma there with them to do it all over again.
“You let my dad… carry you?” There was a look of disbelief on Mirai’s face. “Around Konoha?”
“Didn’t have much of a choice,” he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “He told me Gai would be sad if I didn’t join them, and threatened to tell Gai about my crush.”
At the time, it wasn’t worth the risk.
“He ended up telling me two years later,” Gai chuckled fondly. “Just before you got your team.”
A fond smile tugged at his lips when the memory of that night came up. There were a lot of things he’d thought could happen if Gai ever found out about his feelings for him, but somehow Gai grabbing his face and kissing him while his mask was still on had not been one of them.
Seeing Mirai coming to a stop in the corner of his eye, Kakashi halted where he was and turned to look at her. It was a little worrying, seeing her standing there with Tatsumi by her side while she drummed her finger against her chin. Something was clearly on her mind, he just had no idea what it was.
Thankfully, where he failed at picking up emotional cues, Gai more than made up for it. One look at his husband’s soft kind smile told him that Gai knew exactly what was on the chunin’s mind.
“We should stop for a cup of tea,” Gai suggested, his smile only growing when Mirai glanced up at him. “It’s better to talk about old memories and friends with a warm drink in hand.”
Kakashi couldn’t remember a time during this whole vacation when Mirai had smiled as brightly as she did here and now.
As always, his husband knew just what to say.
Dinner- Just the Two of us
Full of tea and old stories about her dad, Mirai was surprisingly relaxed when Kakashi pulled her off to the side just before they left the tea shop to talk about that dinner that Gai wanted.
It wasn’t a perfect situation that they had come to an agreement on. Mirai and Tatsumi would still be in the same restaurant and she refused to budge on that, but they would be on the other side of the place. Or at least as far away as possible.
Not a perfect victory, but a victory nonetheless. Kakashi wasn’t going to try and argue any further. Mirai had her mother’s stubbornness and he knew as well as anyone from their friend group that Kurenai’s stubbornness was not something you tried to face down. You were not going to win that fight.
Stepping inside the restaurant, Kakashi searched out two tables as far away from each other as possible. Once spotted he directed Mirai and Tatsumi to the left side of the place, and led Gai away towards the right with a playful wave goodbye.
Dinner alone was procured, and it hadn’t been nearly as bad a headache as he had thought it would be that morning. Maybe Mirai was starting to unwind a bit more than he had originally thought. Something he couldn’t help but attribute to Tatsumi’s presence.
“They’re cute.” He chuckled when he heard Gai’s commentary. “I think Mirai really likes Tatsumi. It’s a good match.”
“We’re on vacation, Gai,” he reminded his husband. “Not here to play matchmaker with our friend’s daughter.”
“We can do both.” Stopping beside their table, Kakashi pulled one of the chairs away and shoved it towards an empty table nearby, reminding himself to replace it after they were done with their meal. With Gai’s spot now free, he headed to the other side of the table and pulled out his own chair. “Don’t tell me you don’t think they’re cute together.”
Flopping down into his chair, Kakashi groaned. “That’s not what I’m saying,” he argued. “I just don’t think it’s our place to meddle. Mirai is a kid. She has a lot of time to figure things out for herself.”
He could tell from the look on his husband’s face that he wasn’t going to be put off so easily by Kakashi’s explanation, but he stood firm in his beliefs on this one. Mirai had a lot to learn before she should be focusing on something as big as dating.
“Let’s talk about it later, hmm?” he offered instead of attempting to shut down the conversation completely. Clearly it was something that Gai wanted to discuss. “Dinner, just the two of us. That includes conversation does it not?”
Thinking about it for a moment, Gai smiled back at him and picked up the menu sitting in the middle of the table. “You didn’t tell me what kind of place we were going to,” he stated, opening the menu to take a look at all of the options they had. “And the name isn’t much of a giveaway.”
Rather than answering, Kakashi waited a moment for Gai to have a quick look at the menu. It wasn’t a personal favourite of his, but today wasn’t about him. Plus, he knew that if he ended up with anything he wasn’t going to eat that Gai would take care of it for him.
“C-curry?” Gai looked back at him with surprise. “You took us out to a curry place?”
“It’s your birthday,” he reminded his husband, knowing full well that Gai’s birthday wasn’t actually until tomorrow. “We’re celebrating you, so we should have your favourite food.”
“And what about you?” Gai inquired. “You’re the picky eater here, and you’re not particularly fond of curry.”
‘Not fond of’ was putting it lightly. He actually hated curry quite a lot because of the mixture of textures. It never sat well with him, but he never went in without a plan.
“Look at the soup menus.” He smiled, watching as Gai did as instructed and returned his attention to the menu. “I thought ahead for myself, Turtle. Don’t worry about that.”
“Thirty-four years,” Gai grumbled under his breath, his eyes locking onto Kakashi once again. “You’ve been using that nickname for thirty-four years, Kakashi. Are you ever going to find a new one?”
“Are you ever going to stop calling me ‘rival’?” There’s an unimpressed look in Gai’s eyes just before he returns his attention to the soup menu. “Well then, why should I give up my nickname for you? Especially when there are still days where I come home and you’re hiding away in your old tortoiseshell pillow.”
Even with his face half hidden by the menu Kakashi can tell that his words have managed to embarrass his husband, which is perfect in his opinion. It wouldn’t be a nice dinner out if they didn’t embarrass each other.
That was half of what their entire relationship was about. Seeing who could be the most embarrassing shit ever created. Their students hated it, or at least his students did. Lee and Tenten had stopped caring after the first year of being on Gai’s team and seeing the pair of them interact.
“It’s the comfiest pillow that we have.” Gai’s voice perked up, clearly having finally noticed the miso soup on the menu. “And it blocks out the sun when I have a migraine.”
There was a reason Kakashi had bought him that pillow for his 20th birthday, shortly after Gai had gotten his first migraine. He had wanted something that would help him keep the sun away from his eyes, and had just happened to be walking past a store with a giant red tortoiseshell pillow. He hadn’t really thought much about buying it at first until the shopkeeper showed him that there was an opening in the middle for a ‘child’ to crawl into.
Even then he’d had no doubt Gai would find a way to fit into that giant tortoiseshell pillow. Even if he was technically too big to fit without contorting his body in new and ridiculous ways.
See the Fireworks together
Gai hadn’t actually had to write this one down on their list of things to do together today. As they had told Mirai, seeing the fireworks together was a tradition. There were few things in the world that could make them miss it.
Finding the perfect roof to watch them from, Kakashi watched as Mirai lifted Tatsumi into her arms and headed up ahead of them. Maybe Gai was onto something about the two of them. Tatsumi had looked more relaxed there in Mirai’s arms than she did most of the time she was with their little group.
“You find a place?” He glanced over at Gai, watching as he moved his wheelchair to the side of the little shop they would be sitting on top of and flipped the brakes on.
“It should be fine here,” Gai confirmed, holding his arms out towards his husband. “You going to do the honours, Rival?”
Keeping any witty comments to himself, Kakashi stepped up to his husband and turned on his heel so that he was facing away from him. Moving down onto one knee he smiled when Gai leaned forward and secured his arms around his neck. Once he was sure Gai was holding on tight, he reached back and tucked his arms under Gai’s legs.
“You ready?” he asked even as he stood up and took a few steps forward before turning towards the roof.
“Is there ever a time when I’m not?”
Taking that as his answer, Kakashi turned to face the building and moved into position. The wind rushed through his hair as he jumped up towards the rooftop, and a smile pulled at his lips when Mirai rolled her eyes upon seeing them.
It was like she was just starting to realize that she wasn’t just a bodyguard, but she was also stuck on vacation with her embarrassing uncles.
“Later.” Gai flicked him in the nose, laughing when he glared down at him just as he landed on top of the roof. “You can be as embarrassing as you want later. After the fireworks.”
“Oh, please don’t give him permission,” Mirai protested, groaning when Kakashi gave her a playful look. “Mom wasn’t exaggerating when she told me this was going to be the most embarrassing time of my life…”
Kakashi made a mental note to have a talk with Yuhi ‘purposefully embarrassed him in front of his crush for years just because she could’ Kurenai about what she was saying to her daughter.
He wasn’t embarrassing.
“You’re embarrassing.” Unfortunately Gai was still sitting comfortably on his back, so it was a little hard to give him a proper unimpressed look when he spoke up. “Ok, correction, we’re embarrassing.”
Well, at least he wasn’t the lone embarrassing adult now.
Stepping up to the edge of the roof, Kakashi carefully knelt down beside Mirai and waited for his husband to let go of his neck and take his seat. With Gai no longer on his back, he moved off to the side and took his seat beside his husband.
“How long?” he asked, eyes already glued on the sky above.
“One minute,” Mirai answered. “This is a tradition of yours, right?”
“Has been for years,” Kakashi confirmed. “Sometimes one of us couldn’t make it because of a mission or injury, but when we were both available we’d go to see the fireworks together. Spend the day together just like today too, if possible.”
They were some of the fondest memories that Kakashi had. Just being able to spend time with Gai and their other friends. Even when Gai got his team and the three of them started to spend the fireworks with them as well, Kakashi had always looked forward to that time with his best friend and partner. Whoever else joined them didn’t matter much to him, as long as he was there with Gai.
Of course, he enjoyed everyone else's company as well. Asuma’s endless jokes, Lee’s insistence that one year he would beat Kakashi to saying ‘Happy Birthday’ to Gai before anyone else. How Neji had started bringing dango in his place after he had been so late one year that he hadn’t had time to stop for any. Even Tenten’s constant teasing was a welcomed experience to the yearly fireworks show.
“Well, I guess it has to be said.” Kakashi’s eyes widened when he heard Mirai’s words. This wasn’t going to happen. He couldn’t let it… “Hap—”
Reaching behind Gai, he slapped a hand over Mirai’s mouth before she could finish what she was trying to say.
“He’s very protective of his right to say it first.” Gai chuckled when Mirai looked at him for help. “No one else is allowed to take it from him.”
With a roll of her eyes, Mirai sat back a bit and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes flickered over to Kakashi, waiting for him to say what he wanted to so she could continue.
With his words now saved for him, Kakashi turned his attention back to Gai and smiled just as the first firework shot into the night sky and exploded bright green and silver colours all over the sky. “Happy Birthday, Turtle.”