Author's Notes: Just in case my wording in the last chapter was off, NO, Gai is NOT naked, just a little... shirtless. Thanks so very much for all the wonderful reviews! And to BrutusOfMiyako; I don't quite know, I've been looking for a story like this for a while and got annoyed when I couldn't find one, so wrote one of my own :B. Thanks KakashiKrazed, for all the lovely reviews, and I think you might enjoy this chapter in particular, you and NoNAMEohmygod have been here since the start (waaaaa) with your lovelyness. Meandsesshy; I'm really trying, but part of me is screaming JUST HAVE SEX DAMMIT!!! Ichkak; of course he doesn't wear anything underneath, except maybe a very sexy pair of tighty-whiteys :3. I nearly spat out my tea when I read your last review, I thought the joke was classic! Pagasius; thanks very much. I have a friend who recently came out, after some persuasion from me of course. He's lovely, but he explained to me how scared he was about everyone finding out and how it would ruin his reputation (he works with cars) and so on, and we had this big long talk. And I cried, and he cried, and my sister laughed, shes such a little trooper! So most of this comes from him and what we talked about. Thanks Carsile! Magnusrae; it's getting harder and harder to stay on the plot, and while it won't be all epic and heavy (ah, the joys of romance!) it will be rather funny because I find the enemy ninja to be idiots X3, so thanks for all the reviews! Kiriko-sama; sometimes I feel sorry for the way I treat poor Gai, but in the near future, he's sure to love what my delusional mind has in store for him :3.

And to anyone else I forgot to thank/metion, thanks so much for the reviews!

Ooopsie, went a little overboard with with author's notes. Sorry!

Warnings: Material of a sexual nature, nakedness, and some swearing.

Through the Haze

Perhaps it was just… one of those times when you really come to terms with who you are. Gai thought he knew himself, knew his friends before that stupid night when Asuma came home. Now… he didn't know anymore.

He trained for so long, worked so hard all to become the rival of even the most talented, skilled ninja of his generation. All because they told him he couldn't do it, they told him he was a failure.

It was funny… he never thought of himself as a failure. He always had doubts, but determination quickly overrode that. Whenever he could feel those negative emotions bubbling to a head, he stamped them down, and was better for it. But now… now he couldn't quite tell where he was with himself anymore.

Gai was a very, very lucky man for the fact that Kakashi hadn't spotted him, and he had the common sense to squash down his presence to nothing the very second a bare inch of his hair emerged from the water.

Now he was transfixed, just watching as the man spat out a jet of water before rising, gulping in the air, puckering the hazy steam surrounding from hot contrasting with cold.

He was utterly helpless, rooted to the spot, just looking as his rival, his friend stepped out to a more shallow area so his upper torso and the curve of his backside were exposed, silver hair darkened by water fell in messy knots across the back of his neck, down is face, into his eyes. He bent, soaking the hair in the lake and threw his head back, slicking the strands behind his ears and out of his eyes.

Gai's immediate reaction was to cock his head to the side, studiously when he mentally applauded the sight. Kakashi looked so much better with his hair back, out of his face.

The man's Sharingan was closed, his other eye contemplative, pensive, when he pulled his hair (which couldn't have been longer than Iruka's) over his left shoulder and wrung it out, like you would a sponge. It was messy, knotted, crazy, but it never seemed to look out of place.

Beads of water rolled down in all directions over the planes of his chest, his back and sides, and he couldn't help but watch the muscle shifting smoothly under the skin paled by scar-tissue.

Kakashi didn't have that many scars, he took note of. He was too good, only the truly fast and talented had a chance of landing a blow on him, and those people were few and far between.

And, he noted, Kakashi definitely wasn't as slender as he looked. There was nothing but smooth, pure, refined muscle.

How could he ever have mistaken this man for a woman? Kakashi was all angles, jutting hip bones, and smooth, strong abdominals and obliques, a hard square chest and deep collar bones. His back was perfect, muscular, shoulder blades dominating the curve of his spine, boasting of a man who could move his body in more directions than a contortionist or a dancer.

That, was definitely the type of body type Kakashi had, Gai decided. He looked like a dancer, angular, full of movement and grace. That was only accentuated when the unsuspecting man twisted, suddenly, a thumb pressing into an itchy area between his shoulders. And through his arching, trying to locate the point of his discomfort, Gai realised something.

Kakashi was beautiful.

Beautiful, with his head tipped back like that, spine arched and muscles glittering with moisture. Beautiful when he rolled his shoulders, long, strong arms languidly by his sides, fingertips brushing the water.

That was never a word his vocabulary tied in with something masculine, but it was the only word that he could think of. The only word that suited him.

A drop of water rolled down from his forehead, down the side of his nose and to the corner of his mouth, where a pink tongue darted out and caught it before it could go further; Gai almost felt his knees buckle. His hand, though large, wasn't big enough to encircle his bicep, but was massaging it, kneading his own flesh, eye just staring at the water, thinking.

He must have been thinking of something funny when a smile passed crookedly over his features and he inhaled deeply, chin tilted towards the stars. His mouth was angular, smooth, only a lighter creamy-pink shade of his skin. His chin was pointed, sloping deeply into a hard jaw-line, exaggerating his high cheekbones and level nose. His neck was long, muscular, supported by wide shoulders, slender in comparison.

Gai knew about the golden ratio, in which the relation of the longer side to the shorter side comes down to a single numerical, and is mathematically pleasing to the brain. The proportions of the facial features are all perfectly measured to fit that single digit, and he couldn't help but think that Kakashi would be the perfect candidate as a model for a renaissance painting, where this ratio was used to signify beauty.

That was probably when Gai started feeling those doubts again; that he just wasn't up to the standard he wanted to be. He knew he was handsome, in a way, had an incredible body honed from so many arduous years of fighting and training and killing, but he just… he wasn't as beautiful as Kakashi was. As breathtaking. And that was something Gai could never change.

And Gai didn't feel… jealous. Just disappointed, that Kakashi was… in a way, too good for him. Now he knew why the Copy-Ninja got so angry. He was too good for Gai, too perfect, too beautiful to even compare to The Beast.

For once, Gai actually felt unattractive. Beast indeed.

In this light, his skin looked even paler, alabaster or smooth white marble cut and sculpted to utter perfection, drenched in water and moonlight and hazy steam.

He was… so unbelievably dangerous, so fast, so agile and strong that, with Gai in the position he was, could easily be killed at any moment if Kakashi chose to look his way.

But Gai just couldn't look away. The side profile was the most incredible view of the man he's ever had, something that he obviously couldn't understand. He's never looked at Kakashi this way before. He's seen him shower, he's seen him with varying degrees of nakedness, sometimes covered in blood or dirt or both, but it's never…

It's never looked so breathtaking, like he was a tricky demon beckoning him into the water. And oh, how he wanted to get into that water.

How did the Kakashi he knew then, feel so different from this one now?

There was a tree on his left, he was far from the lake but not far enough that he couldn't see every incredible little detail. Unfortunately, his voyeurism was cut short when he heard a breaking twig behind him, and he shot behind the tree just before Kakashi's head snapped up to look in his direction. Gai glanced out for a second, to see the caution etched into his perfect features, one eye focused, then the man shrugged and turned to wring out his hair again, away from him.

Gai only realised then he was panting, huffing and leaning against the rough bark behind him, his hands grasping the tree for support, his heart hammering against his ribs. He caught his breath, shuddering, and why was his suit so goddamned tight?! Then he realised…

He was hard, and painfully so.

That was just great, he thought venomously, how his body was reacting without any permission.

Gai thought he knew himself, thought he knew where he stood in the world. Now he was… just confused. Part of him wanted to throw up, another wanted to strip off and dive in and join his rival, the last wanted to die in shame; it felt so dammed ugly. His heterosexuality was curled up in a ball and crying in the corner.

He ran a hand through his flawless hair, down his face and took a shuddering breath. He's never felt like this before, so confused and helpless.

"Gai…?" Senchiyo was awake, peering around a tree looking for him, "is that you?"

She caught sight of exactly who was in the lake before Gai managed to shoot out from his position and clamp one of his hands firmly around her mouth, effectively dragging her out of eyesight and earshot. She was struggling vainly, her hands indignantly encircling his wrists.

She threw him off the moment he let go and hissed, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

He tried his best to keep her quiet, but she stomped her foot, and in the haze and steam, her eyes suddenly widened as she looked from the clearing, to Gai, then down, and back again.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, a hand covering her mouth, "You… you like him, don't you?"

Author's Notes: Ah, don't you just love typical hot-spring scenes? Sorry for the cheesyness, but I thought it was rather fitting.

I never understood why alot of people describe Kakashi as slender. He might be kinda willowy, but have you seen his arms!? Every time he stands next to Gai they're nearly the same height and width! But yes, yes Gai is stronger and taller and... and yum. I love muscle.

I suppose it's only fitting for Gai to be so manly that the sight of more muscle just attracts him. I love his character but I can't help but feel I'm writing him a little too serious and brooding, so I shall have to alter it somewhat.

Thanks for reading!