A/N: I'm baaaaaa~aaaaack! After a long absence (in which I suffered terrible writer's block for these stories), I have returned, victorious once again! Enjoy. :)

Twenty-nine - Happiness - KakaGai

Taptaptap! "Kakashi? Are you awake?"

"Mmmf." Head pounding, the silver-haired boy tried to burrow further into his pillow. He'd been up half the night, with his stomach rebelling and his head stuffed to bursting with a cold, and his seven-year-old self was just plain tuckered out.

"There's someone here to see you," his father persisted, opening the door. "I don't think you're contagious anymore, and a visit might do you good."

Kakashi kept his eyes closed. Great - just what he wanted, someone to annoy him when he felt like crap. "Who is it?"

There were a couple thumps as the 'visitor' bounced their way into his room, then the side of the bed sank a bit as someone dropped onto it. "GOOD MORNING, RIVAL!"

Groaning aloud, the little prodigy pulled his pillow over his head. It just had to be him. "Get. Out."

Gai didn't leave, instead bouncing on the edge of the mattress as he waited for his friend to emerge. Headache already added to by the sudden yell, Kakashi gritted his teeth as his "friend" continued to shake the bed. The motion wasn't doing anything for his stomach either.

At last, unable to stand it any longer, he pulled his head from under the pillow, sitting up to glare at the other boy. "Would you knock it off?"

Grinning widely, Gai kept up his steady bounce. "Someone's grouchy this morning! What's the matter, Kakashi, wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"No, I woke up over the freaking toilet, now cut it out!"

"Language," Sakumo warned from the doorway. "I know you're not feeling well, but try to be a little accomodating, okay?" Closing the door, he left.

Slouching back against the pillows, Kakashi scowled at the wall. "Sorry," he mumbled. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Gai adopted a hurt expression, finally sitting still. "Should I not come and visit my rival when he's lying on his deathbed?"

"I'm not dying, Gai, I just have a really bad cold," was the straight-faced reply. "You might not want to stay too long - I don't want to get you sick."

"Not to worry! I came prepared!" Producing a surgical mask from . . . somewhere (Kakashi didn't want to know where Gai kept things in a pocketless training suit), he fit it over his nose and mouth, smiling widely behind the fabric. "See? I'm completely protected!"

"If you say so."

"And I brought something for you too!" Again, something magically appeared in Gai's hand - this time, it was a book with a bright orange cover, a laughing man and woman on the front. "I stole this from my dad," the dark-haired boy whispered. "He keeps it hidden in his closet so Mom doesn't see it, but I found it last week."

Curious, Kakashi tilted his head to one side, reading the title aloud. "'Icha Icha Paradise?'"

Gai nodded, smiling slyly. "It's one of those 'adult' books. Wanna take a look?"

Both boys stretched out on their stomachs, the book between them. For the rest of the day, little giggles could be heard from the other side of the door. Once, in passing, Sakumo smiled when he heard Kakashi suddenly burst out laughing. It was good that his son had a friend to cheer him up now and then.