A/N: KakaGai is my BROTP.
TW: Mentions of multiple suicide attempts and Kakashi's dubious mental health
Chapter Eight
When they'd met all those years ago, Maito Gai had never believed he'd grow to care about Hatake Kakashi.
To him, the younger boy had been too smart at first, then too aloof, and yet, as he stood outside of the other's apartment he couldn't help but marvel at how much he'd grown to care for his rival. Of their peers, he'd found that he was the closest to the silver-haired man, the others either annoyed by the mask he refused to allow them behind, wary of his bloody past, or dazzled by his lengthy career and seeming ambivalence. They had no idea that Kakashi had been broken longer than they'd known him. Perhaps it was why they were so easily fooled.
But Gai, he'd grown up with Kakashi. Their fathers had been good friends, and he'd often been charged with babysitting the young genius, under the guise of hanging out. He remembered being fascinated by the leaps in logic the other made, the way he'd ramble as his extraordinary mind came up with theories and possibilities well beyond Gai's own understanding. Remembered watching as the excitable child began to fade in the face of the village's scorn and disdain, as he grew colder and harsher as the world demanded him to.
When his friend had joined Minato-sensei's team, he'd hoped that it would bring back the child he'd known. Instead, the younger grew even colder, breaking more and more with each devastating loss he suffered, until just after the yondaime's death. He'd come upon his friend lying in a pool of his own blood.
Blood from injuries that the other had purposefully left untreated. That the genius had hoped would kill him.
It was the first time he'd ever yelled at his rival.
The first time he'd realized that Kakashi wasn't as okay as everyone thought he was.
The first time he'd seen Kakashi, strong, bull-headed, Kakashi, cry.
The great heaving sobs that had left Kakashi that day haunted him even to this day, his heart shattering in his chest as his brother pleaded for him to leave, to let him die. To let him join them. He had patched him up best as he could then taken him to Lady Tsunade, who had comforted him and healed him.
The experience had brought them closer, and he was there for him for every step of his recovery.
He was there when Kakashi tried again.
And the third time.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth.
The seventh.
After the eighth, Tsunade threatened to lock him away while Gai told him that he wouldn't be there for the ninth.
He hadn't been.
Kakashi left the ANBU after the tenth time, failed his first team then returned to the corps...but he didn't try again.
Or at least, Gai hadn't thought he had.
When Kakashi passed Team 7, he'd thought that his brother was healing, that he was finally recovering.
Yet as he stood at the door of the younger man's apartment, he felt doubt curling in his chest.
Besides a glimpse of him at the Memorial stone, no one had seen Kakashi since the invasion. When Kakashi had contacted him with the offer to train with their teams, he'd been ecstatic...but the silver-haired man had never shown up.
Instead, one of Jiraiya-sama's summons had appeared and informed him that something had come up, and that Team 7 had cancelled.
All of that, and the steady thum of concern had led him to his best friend's apartment, heart in his throat as he knocked but found only silence in his wake.
He knocked again.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Turning, he raced toward Hokage tower, hoping beyond hope that none could seen the panic beginning to engulf. As he reached the tower, he barely remembered to stop and knock for entry to his leader's office.
As the elderly shinobi called for him to enter, he began to speak.
"Hokage-sama, I can't find my eternal rival!" He yelled, panic masked with exuberance.
"Kakashi-kun and the rest of Team 7 will be staying at the Hatake Compound for the near future." His eyes widened, full of stunned horror, his heart racing because what?
Why would Kakashi stay there, especially given the ghosts haunting his dreams.
He was gone before he could think to stop himself, never wondering why the man had given up the information so easily, nor seeing the calculating gleam in those dark eyes.
*/*
"Should we be worried?"
Naruto snorted at Sakumo's question as they all sat around the table waiting for Kus- his mother to serve lunch. The man had been glancing at the door worriedly periodically, his dark eyes all but screaming his need to chase after the older counterpart of his son. After all, no one had seen the older Kakashi since their argument at breakfast almost five hours earlier and while Naruto had little doubt of where his sensei was, he in no way wanted them to disturb the one sanctuary the man had left. Especially given the uncharacteristic way their brother's mask had slipped earlier that morning.
Knowing the elder man as well as he did, he knew he'd come skulking in any minute, probably through one of the windows, mask firm and heart guarded. Already, his sensitive ears could hear the man coming.
"No, Kakashi-sensei is already on his way back. Just- lay off a little bit alright?"
The man hummed, gaze brightening slightly as, just as Naruto predicted, the older Kakashi slipped into the kitchen through the window, Icha Icha in hand.
"Yo."
"Good talk, Sensei?"
The man hummed, ruffling the kitsune's hair before tilting his head.
"You might want to duck."
"What?"
"Dynamic Entry!"
Sasuke and Sakura groaned while Naruto grinned, team Minato and their guests staring in shock as Gai came barrelling through the window Kakashi had just entered rolling to a perfect stop atop the table.
"W-What the hell...is that?!" Obito yelled pointing at the green clad man who blinked and turned then- screamed.
"Ghosts!"
Sakumo blinked. "Gai?"
The man blinked then glanced at Kakashi who's eyes never left his book. "Eternal Rival? Are- are you seeing them too?"
Naruto snorted, stunned that this was the first time that he'd even heard Gai try to whisper. Yet there was so much unspoken in that one sentence, an undercurrent of concern rarely heard in the man's voice.
Kakashi ignored him for a moment, then deliberately looked up. "Hm? Did you say something?"
Gai scrutinized him for less than a millisecond then gave a gasp. "SO HIP MY RIVAL! YOUR YOUTH IS LEGENDARY!"
"You know this nutjob, Bakakashi?" Obito whispered to younger Kakashi who'd been more subdued since disappearing to speak with Sakumo.
Kakashi frowned and stared at the man currently vying for his older self's attention. "I- I think that is Maito Gai. His father was friends with mine."
"He's also the greatest taijutsu specialist in the history of Konoha, though his student was quickly on his way to reaching that title." Sakura added, sadness flashing through her gaze before it was gone. Just as she finished the man introduced himself and Kushina called for lunch.
As they ate, Sakumo couldn't help but observe his older pup. The man spent the majority of the meal listening as Gai spoke, gaze firmly buried in the orange book he was holding. He couldn't help but wonder what exactly the boy was reading that was so interesting.
"What's that you're reading, Kakashi?" Minato asked, his own thoughts similar and as one Kakashi's students groaned.
"Sensei-"
"Shh, minions. The adults are talking." Older Kakashi admonished, cutting off their protests.
"This, Minato-sensei, is the pinnacle of literature. A series unparalleled in its mastery of characterization and romance. Unmatched in its lust of adventure and action. This is the wonder that is Icha Icha."
"Its porn." Sasuke deadpanned Minato flushed red while Sakumo couldn't help blinking in shock.
"What?"
"The old pervert wrote it." Naruto added pointing to Jiraiya, who laughed nervously as Sakumo's gaze turned on him.
Kushina scowled at Kakashi. "You shouldn't read that in front of your team, Kashi. They're children."
He shrugged. "Too late now. They've been mine for a year now. If I stopped they'd think I was an imposter."
"Why porn?" Younger Kakashi asked, something like despair in his tone, his pale cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. His counterpart eye-smiled, his early animosity seemingly gone and Sakumo knew he would lie or evade before he even opened his mouth.
"Why not?"
The younger Hatake blushed darker but didn't comment.
Gai laughed.
*/*
"You sent Itachi and Kisame to Konoha to observe and capture the Kyubi jinchuriki, correct?"
Pein nodded, curious where his companion's thoughts were going. Very rarely did the older man ask about mission assignments, not knowing that Pein rarely deviated from their plans if at all. Yet there was something else lurking in his voice. Something almost like excitement.
How...curious.
"I did."
"Good. I need them to retrieve something for me."
"What is it?"
"I left behind a wolf. A very powerful one. I need them to retrieve it."
"Are you sure it's still alive?"
"It is."
"Where do you want them to retrieve it from?"
"It will come to them. Tell Itachi to retrieve Ro's wolf. He'll know what it means."
Nodding, he went to deliver the message pausing as his mentor's parting words reached his ears.
"Nagato, I will be very...displeased if my wolf is harmed."
"Yes, Madara-sama."
/*/
He couldn't breathe.
Staring at the missive in his hand, he felt his heart ache as the weight of the request settled heavily on it.
New mission. Bring the Okami of Ro with the 9th.
Of everyone still living in Konoha, there were very few that he still held close to his heart, even fewer that he would consider betraying his mission for.
Yet The Wolf was one of them.
Hatake Kakashi.
The man had been his mentor when he'd first joined the ANBU, never treating him with the lid gloves the others seemed convinced he needed and always, always ready to have his back in battle. To this day, he was the best man Itachi had ever served under and he couldn't help but wonder why (how) Pein had discovered him.
Moreso, he couldn't bring himself not to warn the man.
Casting a glance at Kisame's sleeping form, he scribbled a quick note and sent it off with one of his crows, hoping beyond hope that this would be the one mission he failed.
And yet, even further down, he couldn't help but dread the thought that he knew he would succeed.
A/N: So this chapter flows a bit weird. Next chapter our plot picks up the pace a bit. I'm trying to update a bit more regularly but I doubt I will be able to. Thank you to anyone who has remained with this story. I love you guys' comments.