A/N: I have the most amazing group of readers. I love you all! :3

Also, VOTE! I only have a few votes. Hard to know what you guys want when only 4 people have voted. It takes two seconds. Go. Go. Go.

The Green Beast Gives Advice... Kinda

The rest of the morning Kakashi felt caught in a daze. Sitting through breakfast, he was surprised that he hadn't felt awkward or like he was intruding on family time. Instead, both girls had fully included him in all aspects of their morning routine. He had set the table - for the first time in his life, after all why would a bachelor have need to set out all the assorted silverware in their "proper" places just to eat takeout?

The answer is he wouldn't.

But he was always a quick learner and Sarada was a very kind teacher. When he had told her so, the young Uchiha had stood a little straighter in pride and the wide grin hadn't left her face for the rest of the morning.

She wasn't the only one with a grin. He found himself smiling more than he had in longer than he could remember. He had no idea that someone's cheeks could actually hurt from grinning for an extended period of time. Sarada had found his discovery hilarious as he apparently lost his ability to filter his thoughts and blurted it rather randomly out loud, while Sakura had giggled but there was a look she kept giving him after that. He wasn't entirely sure if he liked that look. It was as though she had just figured out something about him and he had to admit that it made him feel a bit shy. He never did like being under anyone's attention for long. Luckily, he focused on his conversation with Sarada and was able to miss most of Sakura's little secret knowing smiles. Most but not all.

Sarada had asked him what her mom was like when she was her age. He had said that he couldn't say because he hadn't met Sakura until she was 12 years old as her Genin Sensei. This had triggered a new set of questions and soon Sarada was laughing as Kakashi told her funny stories about Sakura and Team 7. He had tried to avoid mentioning Sasuke too much and kept to lighter funny tales, a detail Sakura had noticed and had given him a grateful smile for. She had also added in some funnier stories about Kakashi. He had to admit that he was a bit sad when Sakura said it was time for them to go.

While Sarada got her school stuff from her room and brushed her teeth, he helped Sakura wash the dishes really quickly.

"We should do this again," Sakura had said as she handed him a dish to dry.

"I would like that," he had grinned earning a smile in return.

Groaning in frustration, Kakashi snapped his book closed and let his head thunk back against the trunk of the tree he was perched in. He had to stop replaying the morning over and over again. He couldn't seem to stop thinking about it all.

As he watched them walk down the street away from him, he had been struck by why that morning had seemed so different to him. They hadn't made him feel like a guest. He had been the guest at many peoples' places before. This was different. This was more. When it had hit him, he had felt like he had the wind knocked out of him.

They had made him feel like family.

Family. It was a strange term with many layers. For him, it was how he remembered feeling when his Father walked in from a mission and scooped him up in his arms. That was the feeling he had for his Father. It was the feeling he got when Minato would always find him when he was sad or troubled and how he would sit silently beside him until Kakashi fell asleep against his arm. That too was the feeling of a Father. It was the feeling he got when Kushina fussed over his cuts and bruises and always tried to get him to eat more vegetables; she was the reason he loved eggplant. That feeling he could only remember having with Kushina, the feeling of what it was like to have a mother. It was the feeling he had now with Naruto; there were several times when some official had walked in the Hokage's office to find Naruto's blonde head locked in Kakashi's headlock. If he had to guess, he'd say that's what it would be like to have a brother.

But then what was this family feeling he got with Sakura and Sarada, this sense of warmth and belonging? It wasn't the same as any feeling he had ever had before, not with Naruto now either. So was "brotherly" not the right way to describe the feelings he got this morning? Or, he wondered as the way Sakura's green eyes danced with mirth as she smiled at one of his stories flashed through his mind, was this even a family feeling at all?

Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face. It was driving him mad.

"Heeello, my eternal rival. What's got you troubled? Your super cool vibe is somehow less vibey today," called (rather loudly) the voice of none other than Maito Gai.

Kakashi, having jumped at the sudden booming voice from so close, shot his friend a pointed look, "Volume, Gai. What have we said about volume?"

"A memory quiz?" He flashed a blinding smile, "Stimulating the mind through pop quizzing. A very youthful exercise! I expect nothing less from my rival." Gai tapped his chin for a moment, "You said that I must use my inside voice when in the Hokage Tower so as not to cause a distraction for those working." He gave a thumbs up upon repeating Kakashi's exact wording.

Kakashi could only shake his head as his obvious hint had completely flown over his friend's bowl-cut head. Instead, his mind drifted back to his previous train of thought causing his brows to furrow as he tried to work it all out in his head.

Seeing that Kakashi was truly troubled by something, Gai sat down as well. A bit of time passed in silence between the two until, Gai began to speak, "I once met a monk who taught me many secrets to youthfulness. I trained with him for 6 months during a mission. During that time, I would ask him to tell me the secret to his training and how he stayed so youthful at such an advanced age. He was 103 and yet he beat me every match without getting a scratch. When I would ask, he would tell me that I had to earn such secrets. With each lesson he taught me, I would always ask for the greatest secret to youthfulness."

Kakashi, who had been listening to his friend's story, asked, "Did he ever tell you?"

"No, he passed away quietly in his sleep, ending my mission early and taking the greatest secret with him," Gai answered matter-of-factly causing Kakashi to nearly fall over in irritation at such an ending. "But!" Gai grinned, "I have found that when something is troubling me and making me feel like less than my youthful self, talking about it helps to lighten the burden."

Kakashi blinked at his green friend, "Gai, that is surprisingly good advice."

He gave a thumbs up, "I am full of surprises, Kakashi."

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head, "Apparently." Sitting up from his recline against the tree trunk, he sighed running a hand through his hair, "The problem is that I am not even sure what the problem is."

Gai nodded sagely, "I think I know what's going on here."

Kakashi merely blinked again, "Nani?" Was it that obvious that Sakura was the focus of his troubles?

"Mhm," Gai flashed a blinding grin again, "The answer is simple, Kakashi."

Blink. "It is?"

"Really, Kakashi, I am amazed you haven't thought of it yourself. Perhaps all that time in Hokage Tower has dulled your usually sharp mind and sullied your intellectual genius," Gai tapped his chin in thought.

Kakashi's brow twitched in annoyance.

"What you have to do is-" Gai said with suspense.

Kakashi waited for his friend's bit of wisdom. Anything to help him figure all of this out.

"-figure out the problem and then fix it," he answered finally with a dramatic thumbs up and a blinding flash of teeth.

Kakashi could mentally see the sweat drop that appeared on his own forehead at Gai's very Gai-like response. "Gee. Thanks. I hadn't thought of that," he sighed before coughing slightly as Gai smacked him on the back effectively knocking the wind out of him unexpectedly.

"No worries, my rival and friend. I'm glad I could help. Now I must be off. There are others to help and laps to run," with a final heroic pose, Gai was gone in a flash of green.

Kakashi sat for a moment before sighing and sitting back into his recline against the tree trunk. "So much for words of wisdom," he muttered as he placed his book over his face in preparation for a nap. At least if he was sleeping, he could get a break from his thoughts.

New chapter!

And Gai! Woo!

Haha. I love Gai. He is ridiculous and hilarious. Kakashi really should've known better than to expect any truly helpful answer from his green friend though. Gai is pretty much just ridiculousness all the time. Though he does have his moments of wisdom oddly enough. This, however, wasn't one of them. Lol

Next chapter, back to Sakura. But what is Kakashi going to do with Gai'sadvice?