Kakashi woke early again with his cheek in pain. The pain hadn't left since that night. Instead of going back to sleep, he decided to go for a walk. He walked around the yard, kicking the rocks around. The sun was just rising, the air was still cold, the forest was dark. There was no wind, there were no children out, there was not a single person out. Until that dreaded kid came out of the bushes.
"1,000!" He shouted and Kakashi jumped slightly. Gai was standing on one hand and flipped over to land on his feet. He stood tall and stretched."Nothing like a good 1,000 flips to wake you up in the morning."
So that's why he's so cheery, Kakashi thought to himself. He hoped that Gai would walk ahead and ignore Kakashi. To his chagrin, Gai looked his way.
"Good morning Kakashi!" He shouted smiling.
"Good morning. Keep it down, everyone's sleeping." Kakashi walked past him.
"Going on a mourning walk are we?" Gai ran up and walked beside him.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Well then I shall join you."
No, go away, Kakashi said in his head. But then again, perhaps he didn't mind having company.
"So Kakashi,"Gai said."Tell me about yourself."
"That depends on what you want to know." Kakashi never like sharing his past with anyone. Not even 'mother' knew anything.
"Who are your parents?"
"I rather not say."Kakashi replied quickly.
"Why not?"Gai asked, disappointed.
"Because I rather not say anything about them. Next question."
"Do you have any siblings?"Gai asked curiously.
"If I had any siblings they are only foster siblings."
"Just like me." He smiled a friendly smile as if he understood. "How old were you when you graduated?"
"5." Gai stopped in his tracks in shock.
"You were only five? Is that even possible?"
"I guess I'm a gifted prodigy." Kakashi shrugged.
"How could you shrugged that off?"Gai was stunned that Kakashi shrugged it off. Gai would have be full of pride if he graduated that young.
"I never gave any thought to it."
"I was only seven when I graduated."Gai mumbled.
"Seven?"
"Yeah I focused more on tai jutsu than anything else."Gai felt ashamed that he didn't focus on the other jutsu.
"You should divide your time evenly with all three."Kakashi advised gesturing them to continue the walk.
"I figured that out afterwards. Are you a chunin?"
"Yes."
"Wow, I'm still a genin."
"Keep trying, in no time you'll become a chunin."
"You think so?"Gai was taken by surprised.
"Yeah, I guess."
Gai smiled proudly.
"You're the first to ever say that to me."
"What? You parents never encourage you?"
"Not really. They just shrugged everything off. What about your parents?"
"What did I say?"
"Oops. Forgive me. What about the other kids?"
"Mai comes from a rich family, they just didn't want to ruin their reputation by having a child out of wedlock."
"Wedlock?"Gai was never really good with big words.
"They had a child before marriage."
"Oh. What of Kenji? Is he related to Choza Akamichi?"
Kakashi chuckled. Someone else besides him noticed that too."I doubt it. Last time I checked, I don't think that the Akamichi try every way to burn the calories."
"Why is Haru so depressed?"Gai asked before he forgot.
"He was left in a basket at their doorstep."
"Wow, that sounds rough."
"I bet it is."
"What about the twins?"
"Kobi and Natsuo are their actual children."
"Oh, I see. That's why they look like the parents."
"Foster parents."
"Yes that's what I meant. Why do they have us call them 'mother' and 'master'?"Gai has been in many foster homes. He had to call them 'Mr.','Miss','Mrs.','Sir' or 'Mam'. But never 'mother' or 'master'.
"I guess it's because she's taking care of all of us like a mother. He's called master because he's master of the house. "
"I never called my dad 'master'. I always called him father."
Father...the word echoed in his head again. Kakashi fought back the pain in his heart. The depressing agony that happened so long ago...
He wished he could forget about it. Pretend he never had a mother or a father. Live like the orphan he was, the orphan he was destined to be.
"Are they also chunin's?"
"Mai dropped out. She didn't want to risk 'breaking a nail'." Gai snickered."Kenji's a genin and Haru is still in the academy."
"Does anyone know about their families?"
Kakashi thought for a moment. Did any of them know their parents?
"I don't think so. It brings up too many memories for most of us."
"You too?Oops! Sorry!" Gai covered his mouth. Behind his mask, Kakashi smiled. The sun came up over the hills and brightened up the world around them. He could hear Kenji waking up and 'mother' starting to make breakfast. Kakashi stopped and pulled Gai behind a bush.
"Ouch." He whispered."Why are we hiding?"
"Ssh."Kakashi said putting his finger up to his looked over Kakashi's shoulder and found 'master' entering the gate. His eyes were swollen and red, his clothes were rugged and his shoes were untied. He walked with a limb up to the house. He mumbled incoherent words and nearly stumbled into the door."We must remain silent otherwise he'll vent his drunken rage on us."
"How do you know that?" Gai asked. Kakashi lifted up a small part of his shirt. On his side was a large, dark bruise. Gai gently touched it and Kakashi hissed in pain.
