And so his day began as normal; Hatake Kakashi of the Village Hidden in the Tree Leaves.
He went along on his usual stroll through the village hoping to see some familiar faces, while also equally hoping to avoid that of certain others.
One of those faces he had been trying to avoid was that of his most overly enthusiastic rival, Maito Gai.
There didn't seem to be a time when Gai wasn't challenging Kakashi to something ridiculous, Kakashi felt. But with all the respect he had for Gai, he couldn't really see himself turning him down, at least, not without a very good reason, and thus, he had all reason to keep himself as far away from Gai as possible.
"Kuh-KAshi! So there you are!"
"Oh no. And here, I thought today, I'd be home free." Kakashi thought to himself trying his best to feign excitement as he turned to face Gai.
"Oh hey ... Gai! Nice seeing you here!"
"Huh-ha!" Gai gave an abrupt laugh. "You wouldn't have been trying to avoid our usual competitive rival challenge, now would ya Kuh-Kashi? Took me all day to spot you!"
"Who me?" Kakashi asked quietly, pointing to his person. "Nah. I was just lost in thought is all. Must have missed you as I was walking along. So anyway..." Kakashi gave a slight sigh preparing himself. "What'll the challenge be today, Gai?"
"Well oh well, Kuh-Kashi! So nice of you to ask! But it just wouldn't be right for me to pick the challenge this time around after I determined the conditions of our last face off, as tempting as the idea may be! Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Guy finished with his usual or rather, to Kakashi, his unusual guffaw.
"No, no. I insist. Besides, I'm certain I was the one who chose our last face off." Kakashi replied.
"Ha! You trying to avoid picking the challenge, Kuh-Kashi! Well, no worries. I'm sure I can think up something soon that'll get our blood boiling!" Gai said in excitement.
"Great, great... tell me when that happens." Kakashi spoke in a less than enthusiastic manner as he prepared to use this opportunity to escape Gai's clutches.
But as he turned to leave, someone whom Kakashi had been thinking of lately caught his eye, and that of Gai's as well
It was Shizune. She was heading back to the Hokage's Mansion after having run a few errands for Tsunade.
Walking directly between the two Shinobi, Gai and Kakashi, she gave them both a smile and a greeting as she passed by.
"Hey fellas. Nice day today." She continued forward as she held onto Tonton.
Both Kakashi and Gai had their eyes fixed on her the whole time she moved along, especially upon her smile. There was just something about Shizune; maybe it was the way she smelled, maybe it was that little perk in her step, maybe it was her cute little squeal; they couldn't pinpoint it, but whatever it was, they both knew it made them love her. What neither knew, up to that point, was that they both felt the same way about her.
"Hmmm?" Gai thought as his eyes jetted toward Kakashi and his gaze upon Shizune.
"Ha-ha-ha!" Gai laughed. "This is classic! Seems you and I, both, have been taken in by a certain someone passing by!"
"Who would have thought," He continued on. "two rivals, not only clashing in wits, stamina, and overall skills as Shinobi, but also rivals in love!" Gai exclaimed rather flamboyantly.
"Well, I've figured out our challenge, Kuh-Kashi, and I hope you're ready, because it's going to be a doozy. You and I will compete for the love of the sweet and delicate, ever elegant, Shizune!" He finished as he twirled his hips and smiled.
"Hmm? You say something?" Kakashi asked, seemingly clueless at all Gai just mentioned, and only now just turning his attention away from Shizune, who was now out of sight.
"Ha! That's what I love about ya Kuh-Kashi. That cool 'don't really care' attitude of yours. Makes you my perfect rival!"
"Well, all right. Guess I'll see you later." Kakashi stated still unknowing of what Gai had mentioned earlier on.
After Gai explained his challenge again to Kakashi, his idea wasn't exactly accepted with open arms. While Kakashi didn't deny his feelings for Shizune, he didn't believe the challenge to be very practical.
"First, we'd need to know what exactly would win over Shizune, if anything at all exists that could, in fact, win her over. For all we know, she could despise men competing over her as if she were a trophy. And by doing so, we might effectively ruin any chance we have at getting with her." Kakashi went on explaining.
"Second, even if we did know of "something" and she was perfectly fine with the idea of us competing over her, why, at all, would that guarantee she'd just jump into the arms of whomever won said challenge?" Kakashi finished.
"HAHAHA! KUH-KASHI! You underestimate the power of youth and all its resourcefulness!" Gai answered back excitedly.
"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" Kakashi asked, hoping to himself that Gai would swiftly get to the point.
"It means that one day while taking an extraordinary jog of 500 laps through the Leaf Village park, I happened by Shizune resting on a park bench. Staying out of her sight, from behind the park bench, I overheard her speaking words of longing, of desire, of youthful passion!" Gai continued on feverishly, much to Kakashi's dismay.
"Would he just get to it already..." Kakashi thought with a plain look on his face.
"Well, what those words were exactly are as followed, 'Oh if someone were to bring me the rare white desert rose, a rose capable of healing a vast amount of disease and injury when ground up and mixed in with other medicine, then he'd surely be my hero and would heal my longing heart. I'd rush into his arms, never to leave.'" Gai spoke in his best, or rather, to Kakashi, his worst impersonation of Shizune.
"So what you're saying is that you stalked her, decided to eavesdrop, and probably misheard what she said? Because what you're saying seems a bit farfetched." Kakashi stated, in a rather unimpressed tone.
"So long as my name's Maito Gai and I live by the Power of youth fueling my Ninja Way, she did indeed say that, Kuh-Kashi!" Gai proclaimed refusing to back down.
"So you see, all we have to do is race to find that desert rose, and bring it before Shizune to win her longing heart over, which if we do find the rose, is surefire guaranteed to win her over." Gai said as he gave his signature shining smile and thumbs up.
"I planned on going all on my own prior to this, but what better way to show my true love for Shizune than to compete with a highly capable Shinobi, such as yourself, to win her over!" Gai shouted.
"Hmmm. Still sounds a little sketchy, but I'll play along. How do you propose we go about this?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, it's simple. We ask the Fifth to grant us a request to head out to the desert on a special personal mission. Then we take it from there!"
Still feeling not so convinced, Kakashi continued his questions.
"And, what's to say we will even find this desert flower? How do we explain being away from the Village if we don't?"He asked Gai straightforwardly. "How do we explain being away from the Village if we do? It's a flower." Kakashi also wondered.
"You again underestimate the power of youth, my friend! Haha! That flower will be found so long as we rely upon the power of youth and loving passion!"
"Okay, thought so." Kakashi answered feeling even less convinced than before, and only hoping Gai would calm down.
Even still, Kakashi would go along with Gai's challenge, granted they got the permission to do so, because as unlikely as it seemed they'd even complete it, he didn't feel comfortable with the idea that Gai would go forth with it even if he didn't, and thus, possibly find the flower all on his own and as a result, win Shizune over.
"You want to what!?" Tsunade asked the two Shinobi before her.
"We'd, uh, like permission to head out to the desert for some time on a 'personal' mission." Kakashi stated, hoping not to get yelled at again.
"And just what is this 'personal' mission all about?" Tsunade questioned.
"Haha! Well, it's a bit difficult to explain, " Gai cut in. "But I assure you it's nothing funny and all straight forward; it's to deal with the matters of the heart, body, and mind, and overall, about being a true Shinobi and a real man. It's unleashing the power of youth in its manifold layers and allowing love to triumph over it all!"
Tsunade became confused with Gai's explanation of the matter. "Just what the hell are you talking about!?"
Just then, Shizune had returned to the Hokage's office, and both Gai and Kakashi couldn't help but gaze over towards her.
"Oh, hi fellas. Here on important business, I take it." Shizune smiled.
"Ah, more important than you know!" Gai said as he began smiling back at her and shaking his hips all around.
Being bothered by this, just wanting to be left alone, and trusting in two of her best Shinobi, Tsunade gave in to their request.
"While I'm usually strictly against sending any of my best Shinobi off on whimsical assignments, I'll grant your request, under the condition that you return no more than ten days from now." She told them.
"Really?" Kakashi asked, being taken by surprise by this.
"Yes. Now, please stop wiggling your hips in my office," She spoke pointedly to Gai."And just go."
After they left the office, they both sorted out the rules of their challenge and decided that first thing in the morning, they'd be heading out toward the desert. Part of the rules included their being allowed to hinder the other in any way, non-fatally, from reaching the goal. In this, Gai felt fully confident.
"Prepare yourself, Kuh-Kashi! Because as of this moment on forward, we're in a race to Shizune's heart!" Gai spoke in a jubilant manner.
"Uh, yeah." "Why does he have to make everything so overly dramatic?" Kakashi pondered.
And so they both headed home to prepare for their race ahead.