A single crow cawed against the late afternoon sky as Hatake Kakashi paced through peaceful woodland. Looking at the heavens, coveted in wisps of thin cloud, tone as rich and sweet as honey, the jounin couldn't help but relax. It had been a long week. Miles from their home city, in a little country torn by war, two bands of ninja had acted as go-betweeners for warring Lords. They had battled through finest ninja servants, through brave and venerable warriors to finally settle upon an unsteady treaty. In these hard times, even that was a Godsend. It would not be a sturdy peace, but it would remain in tact by strands, and the wish to bid farewell to bloodshed.
Their mission had been a trying one. Yet again unproven foes had tested their jutsu and forbidden secrets against the soldiers of Konoha, and yet again, justice had prevailed in their favour. Now, the two teams and himself, they were taking an early night to recuperate from the toils of combat, ready for the long journey back home early next morning.
In that time, the renowned captain of both groups, Hatake Kakashi, had taken off for a spell from the Konoha nin campsite, away from the over-spiced aroma of stewed curry that was slowly setting for supper, to… to appreciate his Icha Icha. With so many feisty nin around, it was difficult to find time to use your hands for anything but seals.
Glancing around the lush woods, the Konoha jounin felt a pang of shame. It was a shame to mar these woods with... well. With a different kind of seed altogether, but- needs must. Soon, he saw it. Aha. As lonesome and sheltered as it had been on his first scouting here. There, amidst the warblers, semi-buried in a beck-bank, was an old lookout shack. From the looks of that sad little structure, it hadn't seen use in decades. That suited him and his, uh, needs, just fine. The warrior perked up, heading towards it, sandles clapping against jutting rock as he made his way down the steep, earthy slope.
However, his relief was short-lived, as footsteps tore into his bliss and shattered it like glass. He shrank back, leaping and then landing into a squat just at the lip of the crator, and then sidled behind a throng of warblers, just in time to see a duo of young shinobi bounding down the other side of the precarious canyon of sorts, scuffling all the way. A downy white dog scampered into view a moment later, yipping away as he hopped from boulder to boulder, occasionally slipping up and catching himself with barbed claws.
"Hey, watch it, boy!" Kiba yelled in concern for a moment, grinning as he used his hands to gain speed and momentum over the other guy, "Heh!"
Kakashi adjusted his headband, and a sudden heavy blue clouded his vision. His blunt fingers twitched upon Jiraiya's masterpiece, a superficial sorrow overtaking him like a beetle eating him from the inside. He felt hollow. Just a couple of chapters and... and he'd know exactly what the main character's new maiden had in store for the hero... granted, this was his fourth reading, but that series felt virgin each time he revisited it. Damn...
"You're gonna have ta do better'n that, Lee!" A rasping voice teased, as the fiery Inuzuka bent to avoid a savage sweeping kick to the neck. His jacket had burst open at the chest, exposing hard pecs that glimmered with warm sweat under netting. His piercing eyes soon widened as the rebound of the blow caught his ankles, sending him flipping back.
Lee smirked, looking over his shoulder impishly at the other boy, "You felt that!"
Kakashi sighed. Ah. These kids were too energetic. Didn't they feel the tug of lethargy after big missions? Perhaps it was something to do with getting older... Although he was barely 28, Konoha's copy-ninja felt burnt-out. Absently, he mulled over failsafes for the future. Maybe setting up a camp curfew on the next one would do it… Or tying them to training posts? Or getting his nin pack to keep a keen eye and jaw on them... Hm...
Of course, none of these solutions were going to help him now. The itch in his hand had become a perpetual throb, beating and pulsing just as the need in his lower belly.
Yare, yare.
With a hanging head, the last Hatake turned. Anou… might as well head back to camp… it would have to wait.
"Oi, Lee… what'd I tell ya? It's perfect, right? Right?" Kiba growled, hands in jacket pockets as he gazed at the shack that Kakashi had his eye on, "Found it yesterday. Ya can bet nobody else even knows about this ol' place!"
Lee blinked at the dilapidated lookout, and raised a thick, boyish eyebrow, "But… Kiba-kun, it's not even a little bit hidden…"
"Ah, so what! It's not like anybody comes here. It's too hard for villagers ta get to, see!" The fang-boy thumbed over his shoulder at the steep, perilous slope. Damn, it'd been hard enough to get down themselves! "Nobody's gonna even get within half a mile of here!" It was right. Exactly the reason Kakashi had ventured so far. A single, half-lidded eye narrowed. Looks like a certain pair of troublemakers had the same idea… "Besides! Akamaru'n me can smell a snooper from a mile away!" the dogged youth exaggerated. Lucky Kakashi always had a knack for staying down wind. Usually when Pakkun wanted to go for one of his long walk talks.
The hot-blooded ninja pouted for a while, looking Kiba right in the eyes, finding much the same emotion burning within the other guy's heart. Finally, they both flashed grins. "…Yeah!" Lee exclaimed after a moment's thought, "You're right!" he affirmed happily, looking the shack up and down in approval.
"Nobody's gonna hear us - we can settle this, right here'n now," he narrowed his jagged eyes at the other boy, baring fangs playfully. The hot-blooded boy returned the game look, smirking as his dark eyes shone.
"Yeah!"
Aah? A silver brow raised. Blunt toes flexed in blue sandals as the jounin thought on that. Then, it happened. A snap. An assumption. An epiphany grasped at.
So that's it. Kakashi thought to himself, halting in his tracks. He considered the array of options open to him. Singed nostrils and a possible few rounds of battle back at camp, or the thoughtful assuring that a pair of his charges were kept safe in a place they barely knew. It was a difficult choice, indeed.
Slowly, the jounin lowered into a crouch. It'd be best to keep an eye on them. Keep them out of trouble. That was the responsible option… right?
Flicking open his leather kunai pouch, Kakashi expertly cut away at the leaves before him, widening the gap of birches a tad from the inside… just a little more... leaves and buds littered his thighs... almost...he could just see...
"What're ya up to, rival?"
His half-lidded eye barely flickered, but the scarred shinobi's heart beat like a sacrifical drum in his chest. Sweat trickled under his hair and into his mask, heating and constricting the material even further. Kakashi looked over his shoulder at his raven-haired co-captain, whose smirk was akin to a certain Kyuubi host who had been gone from the Hidden Village far too long, "Anou… sorry. Am I late?"
"Haha, that doesn't sound like the rival I know and love!" Gai chuckled, tilting his head and folding his arms, still wearing that broad, game grin, "Nah. Kurenai-san said I should keep a check on any of the kids wanderin' off," in truth, the time spent finding them would give the sultry young kunoichi more than enough time to dispose of that killer-MaitoMaito-stew and make something half-decent and wholesome, "just lookin' for a couple of stragglers now. Including one of mine." He pondered, kneading a muscular thigh, "Have you seen any of 'em round here?"
Kakashi blinked, not daring to look at his fresh, er, monitoring outlet. His lone eye smiled sheepishly as Gai looked over his shoulder. The taijutsu-master soon brightened.
"Ah! There! I was wondering what that kid was up to… the scamp! I thought he was playing hookie, but he's just getting in a lil' extra training! I should'a known, haha! That kid!" Gai laughed affectionately, beaming with pride as the treat of tears sparkling in his eyes, before blinking, an leaning forward, "Uun? Is that Kurenai-san's student?"
"Mm." The silver-haired man nodded, "Inuzuka Kiba."
Gai squinted, learning further still, tilting his head so much that it was almost comic. It was a piece of cake to measure the honest, big-hearted man's emotions just by the drama of his body,"Ah, that's right, that's right! Kiba-kun. He's go-gettin' young man! Good match, good match!" Gai responded cheerfully, "Oughta improve 'em both to duke it out a bit. They're both full'a spunk, so they can help each other work it out."
Kakashi's eyebrow raised once again, yet decided to let it slide into place on its own. After a moment of staring proud-eyed, Gai picked it up again, his smile pure and warm.
"Hahaha! Isn't it cute, rival? Nostalgic! Makes me think'a when I was just startin' out!" his teeth sparkled as he grinned, "Nothin' like using spare time like this to get closer to your comrades!"
The genius jounin thawed out a bit. The guy's honest affection and openness could be infectious... even to a bolt to the heart ninja like him...
"...Anou... it looks like they're getting closer, right?" Kakashi commented, as the two youths pushed back against a tree beside the dilapidated lookout shack, unsnapping clasps and zips in their clothing to unearth toned, glistening flesh. The copy-ninja smiled frankly. It was always the troublemakers who you had to keep an eye on… He sent a cautious glance to his co-captain, "Mm?"
Gai was blinking at the scene, a small frown of bewilderment on his tanned face. Soon, his dark eyes bugged out, and his face drained of all color, "WHAAAAAAAT?"
Kakashi's eyes rolled and rocketed around his skull before bouncing back into their sockets. He worked a finger into his ear to ease the ringing.
"Ahhh!" The taijutsu-master roared in surprise, "My cute student! Why? Becoming such a delinquent already!" The strapping man snapped at that, and clenched big hands into iron fists, raven hair rising in his paternal fury, "That kid knows better!"
"Mm?" the copy ninja turned a half-lidded stare, "If I'm remembering it right, you lost it at around Lee-kun's age," he paused, staring passively, before finally, he blinked, "…Maybe younger."
Gai's dark eyes widened, taken aback by that. Whether it was from the revelation of that sleazy truth, or the fact that Kakashi had remembered it after all those years was unclear. The hot-blooded fella soon recovered, of course. He was a man after all! Had nothin' to be ashamed of. He grimaced, and folded his powerful arms, "With a rival like you, it was fate to lose that part of my youth so early! Why, I couldn't just stand around and let you overtake me!" he smiled at that, looking down into the wooden alcove below, watching with eyes that saw something else altogether, "Yeah. I was feelin' low for weeks after I sensed the change in ya. Figured it was high time that I change, too! Gahaha! So, I did!"
Kakashi recalled that all too well. At the time, it had felt great. After all, Gai-kun had a lot more go than any ninja he knew. And Gai-kun let him go all-out – no, demanded him to – which was a refreshing change from playing with kunoichi, kouhai… baby gloves. It was only a little later, finding red dew in the grass, that maybe he should have held back. Although… If he had known Gai then as he knew him now, the thought would never have crossed his mind. Gai could not forgive pity.
"Anou. Then it's the same for Lee-kun, and Kiba-kun," his slothful eye moved from his dynamic comrade, and then to the hot-blooded youths, "let them have their fun."
The wind whipped in the warbler bushes for a moment as the two remained silent.
"Lee's an incredible kid," The manly jounin stated after a moment, smiling down at his treasured, hard-headed prodigy with pride as the boy locked an arm around the Inuzuka's neck and squeezed, "but he's gotta lot to improve on," Gai commented wistfully, looking down at the nin below as they rolled around the floor of the aged wooden hut, rolling under Akamaru as he yipped and hopped over them, egging on his master, "He jumps in too quick, ya know?"
Kakashi knew. The kid was just like a certain someone… it was more than just the eyebrows. "Those two should be showing their love through their fists!" Maito narrowed his dark eyes, hunching up his broad shoulders, defining the tight, solid muscles in his back and chest, "that's how the Springtime of Youth rolls! They'll only get hurt; playin' the beast with two backs too early!" He frowned at the sight below. Despite the outward rage and reproach, he was happy for his precious student. It looked like the kid had found a pretty sturdy rival. The hot-blooded man gave a sideways glance to the copy-ninja of Konoha, one of the most venerable of all Leaf shinobi, as he languidly scratched at the tight muscles of his stomach.
So far, Gai had always expected Lee to fall for the true pedestal genius, like his Neji. Gai's gaze softened. Neji. Though he loved that kid like one of his own, he couldn't shake the fact that a true, unbridled rivalry like his would make for a world of despair and disillusionment if the two were ever to... well...
But Kiba-kun. That kid was… frank, hard-line and fiery. Just as a young ninja ought to be! Heh… Almost made him wanna overlook this…
Still.
Though they were full-fledged ninja now, ready to break through to chuunin status, behind all that…
They were just boys.
"I hate ta do it, but it looks like those two need a lesson in restraint," The lively ninja said with a heavy heart, cracking mighty knuckles, "it's for their own good!" Gai took a few paces forward, before turning a glance to his much-loved rival, "Don't try'n stop me!"
Kakashi stared blankly, tearing from Kiba and Lee, who had graduated from playful wrestling to open-mouth, boyish tongue-lashing, clutching and groping at each other with a roughness that was almost hostile. It was difficult to tell if they were even comrades at that sloppy, honest ferocity.
Anou…It was sort of cute.
Finally, the last Hatake gave a nod, moving gloved hands around in his deep pockets, feeling the heat, "Yeah. You're right, Gai-kun."
That sent a vivid beam into the reckless ninja's heart. Nothing made the sun shine quite as brightly as rivals thinking in unison! Beaming at his lover like a child praised, Gai about turned off on his self-made mission. However, just as he was marching those powerfully muscled legs off to beat ass, the copy-ninja's deep, cool voice rose ever so slightly above the late autumn winds.
"It'll be best for Lee-kun…"
The statement hung in the air despite the lulling hiss of the wind in the overhanging trees. Those few words resounded in Gai's ears like so many tiny sweet bells chiming together into something monstrous.
For Lee-kun. Best for Lee-kun. Lee-kun. Lee.
The jumpsuit-clad warrior stopped short. Dead. Slowly, his head turned. A vicious, bestial stare tore across the earth to his rival, who looked back harmlessly, head tilted.
"What do you mean by that? Why only my Lee? What are you trying to say, huh, Kakashi?" His eyes locked with Hatake's single one as he seized the slightly shorter man by the shoulders and shook with all the clout of a hurricane, "Huh? Answer me! Ya wanna fight it out right now, tough-guy?"
As always, it only took Kakashi's smooth voice to sooth the beast; to calm the big lug down some. That, and roughly grasping his hot-head rival back, "Gai." the hand that had been buried in his right pocket came out, and hooked into the azure lip of Kakashi's mark, and when his nose was free, he sniffed at the air. He then nodded, lone eye crinkling into a grin, "You familiar with the reputation of the Inuzuka clan, don't you?"
Gai fidgeted in rare self-consciousness. Just like back in the academy! He hated pop-quizzes! His memory always got him in the corner…! He swallowed, and then thrust big hands on taut, manly hips, and he smirked back gamely, "'Course I do! They are excellent warriors! Highly skilled! Specialise in speed, scent, animal partnering and henge aid jutsu. Ha! Many of my recruits and comrades are from that very clan!" he waggled a finger at his puckish rival, "Tryin' ta catch me out, huh, Kakashi?"
Kakashi rubbed silver hairs on the back of his neck, albeit uncomfortably, "Ah, yeah, that's right…" Gai would have stuck out his tongue had he been any less of a man, "anou…well… aside from that… they're known for something else."
"Something else?" Gai blinked. The wise-ass had become the attentive student.
"They're very active." The copy-ninja replied, and then added gently, "Sexually."
Gai raised a thick eyebrow. It wasn't a condition unheard of. Many ninja were this way. He certainly was. His rival, too. It came with the profession. It came through being a man. The life they led was full of uncertainties. The path of life could meet an end in a matter of moments, a stray kunai could tear through blood canals, the body's fire could be extinguished so swiftly, that every instant was precious. That meant a lot of crashing into each other. A lot of latching. What made Inuzukas any different…?
"Also, I heard that the sex-drive of an Inuzuka starts early," Kakashi continued, closing his eye and folding his arms, "and that the urge to act on that drive is… well… let's say... a little hard to shake off."
The strapping blue-beast knitted his brows, the point not quite getting past that bowl-cut.
"What I mean to say is… Lee-kun... isn't experienced. Kiba-kun is," Kakashi finished pleasantly, kneading the back of his neck.
"Whaaaaat?" Gai yelped out in incredulity, mouth hanging slack and open.
"It's in their scent." The lazy-eyed ninja responded vaguely. It was a skill he had developed over the years. One that his own father had set in motion and he had honed with his pack. He had made an educated guess on Lee. His scent was very faint to his human nose, but the young Inuzuka's was distinctive. It was akin to the kid's mother, in fact. Not at all a feminine fragrance, but a gaudy, tempting and very sexual scent that really cried out for attention. For prey.
The blue beast of Konoha gulped back the drought in his throat, and closed his eyes, a rumbling grunt bubbling in his gullet like a predatory growl. Damn it! So his young student had something to prove after all. Kids these days just didn't appreciate their youth! The dryness had surrendered to fiery heat that coursed from his gut past stone cut abs through to the fella's tender heart. Hot-blooded excitement burned in his eyes, "Just 'cause you've been down a rocky mountain path a few times doesn't mean you'll never trip up. My Lee has fire. Passion!" he folded strong arms and smirked, "That's enough to beat experience any day! Right, rival?"
He looked over, and Kakashi scratched lazily at a toned thigh, "Anou, now..." he trailed off, the itch seemingly unremitting, and the copy-ninja looked away, "..."
"Hey, Kakashi!"
"Mm? ...Did you say something?"
"Oh my GOOOD!" Floods of inner anguish and hot-blooded frustration showered the hapless jounin as he clutched his temples and roared to himself. That was good! Pretty hip, the way you're trying to beat around the bush, Kakashi! Really pisses me off! Shaking off emblematic dew, seaweed and starfish, Gai stomped back over to his sluggish rival, glaring hotly, "Hey! Kakashi! I have all my love and faith in that kid! He's gonna come out top! I'm willing to bet on it!"
"Mm?" There he goes again, another batch of impossible rules courtesy of the Nice Guy handbook... Kakashi reached feebly for Icha Icha, blunt fingers just touching the bent seam. The silver-haired warrior had grown to both love and hate those rules. They could deliver all your desires at times, and tear every last breath from your lungs at others. Kakashi preferred to have a greater handle on his fate. Anou...No such luck here... His broad shoulders drooped, flak pads sagging with them as he heaved a slight sigh.
"My Lee's gonna top this little act," Gai smirked as he thumbed over his shoulder, down to the minute lookout shack, "That's what's gonna happen. And if by a one in a million chance it doesn't... you can have the call on our next act. No questions asked." The raven-haired man grinned gamely, openly at his rival and lover, leaning forward so that they shared each other's heat. His dark eyes shone with raw zeal, before he offered out a hand, "Whaddaya say, rival?"
Kakashi looked at the offered hand blankly. Then, that languid stare sought Gai's passionate one, searching.
Mm. It looked like a promise.
His eye crinkled into a grin, and he clasped his gloved hand around Gai's, giving it a firm shake.
"You're on, Gai-kun."