IT ENDS TONIGHT
Disclaimer: I do not own the manga and/or the anime Naruto. This is merely a non-profit work of fan based fiction.
Pairing: Yama/Gai (with mentions of Kaka/Iru)
A/N: I've always loved the rectangle relationship possibilities with the characters Kakashi, Iruka, Gai, and Yamato. I got the idea for this fanfiction specifically from listening to the songs: "It Ends Tonight" by All American Rejects and "Lips of an Angel" by Hinder. This story is very different from my other fanfictions, as this is NOT a funny story...I still hope you enjoy it.
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HIGH MORALS
Gai didn't approve of drunkenness. It wasn't that he disapproved of alcohol in general; he was not above indulging in a glass or two himself occasionally. No, it wasn't that Gai disapproved of alcohol in of itself—just the use of it to excess. Drunkenness only led to discord and personal weakness. It wasn't productive and it didn't solve any problems. There was absolutely no benefit to it. There was never a good reason to get shitfaced.
At least, that is what the Maito Gai that woke up this morning believed. The Maito Gai of this evening decided that high moral thinking could go hang itself.
"Bad day?"
Looking up from the scummy wood of the bar he was slouching over, his usual 'youthful fire' much dimmed, Gai faced the man who'd spoken to him. By now his vision had blurred pleasantly at the edges, so it was hard to identify the other. The establishment's limited lighting didn't help; most patrons wished to disappear in the dark, to forget the troubles of the day. Tonight, that number included Konoha's Green Beast.
"Sorry, but, do I know you?" After a moment or two, the other's features became clearer. A face with perfectly shaped almond eyes and clean lines, framed by a wooden head piece with his hitai-ate affixed to the top over the forehead (a fellow shinobi, Gai noted), it's edges coming down past either cheek (mimicking side burns), soft, brown hair stuck out of the top of the contraption.
"No, but you know of me. My reputation generally precedes me—as does yours." The shinobi gave a smile, genuine but strained with his own troubles--no one came to a place like this without something on their mind better forgotten. The brown haired young man took a seat on the wobbly stool next to Gai's, and immediately ordered two shots of strong liquor.
Gai examined his drinking companion closer. He was awfully young to look so beat down—the shinobi had to have been only one or two years younger than himself. He'd said that Gai should know him by reputation, and, now that the jounin thought about it, that wooden head piece did seem familiar...
Giving another burdened, yet endearing, smile, the other introduced himself. "My name's Yamato."
No, that wasn't right...Gai remembered seeing those same brown, almond-shaped eyes when much younger, frantic and scared from recent trauma. "Tenzou, isn't it?"
"Originally, yes."
It was that same kid that he remembered from way back in the academy. Years ago, many children had gone missing. Not just children, many Konoha citizens in general had disappeared. It was discovered that Orochimaru was to blame for that, stealing shinobi (no matter the age, from infant to senior) and using them for his inhuman experiments. The sannin had left immediately after being discovered, but not without much damage already being done. Only one of Orochimaru's hundreds of Konoha test subjects had survived: A little boy named Tenzou. It had taken many years for that scared little boy to become the calm aura-ed man with the measured voice beside him today. A man that possessed DNA from the the honored first hogake himself, and, as such, the only person capable of the First's wood jutus.
"I'm Maito Gai." It wasn't necessary to introduce himself, as Yamato already knew of him 'by reputation,' but it seemed the polite thing to do.
"Yes, the tai-jutu specialist."
Gai nodded in acknowledgment.
"Kakashi's lover."
Gai winced and downed the rest of his glass.
Yamato gave a him an emphatic glance, before making both his own shots disappear in succession.
"I'm Iruka's lover."
Gai returned Yamato's glance. It was somehow fitting that they were both here together, forgetting the men they loved, as both Kakashi and Iruka were together in the motel next door, forgetting them.