Heyyyyy, I found this chapter I forgot I've written, so I thought I could surprise you with a more regular update for once!

Chloemika, lol, not sure to which part of the chapter you were referring to, but I am glad you've noticed Kakashi is a tad more active when it comes to anything Mizu-related, despite her obliviousness xD

xXSakuraBlossomsXx, I also think Kakashi wouldn't mind giving Mizu a hug or a thousand hugs, but he would want to do it all sneaky-like, as he usually does, maybe it'll happen soon? Who knows, not me *a shrug but with raised eyebrows hinting at what might happen in the future chapters*

To the both guests who have reviewed, your comments made my heart sing 3

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Rock Paper Scissors

or

When Kakashi got Mizu to drop the honorifics

"Mizu-chan, you're oozing with youthfulness, it's truly admirable!"

"Please, don't say "ooze"," I winced, trying to keep up with Gai's insane training regime. We already ran 276 laps around the village, and if Lee could run more than 800 in the canon I knew we were nowhere near done.

"As expected from the maiden who fraternises with my eternal rival!" he simply continued, ignoring my remarks and evident exhaustion.

I pondered if asking Gai for some pointers was really such a good idea as I felt like I would cough out my lungs. Should have known he doesn't give pointers, unless you count literal pointers towards circular routes he wishes you to take repeatedly. We were passing along a busy street when I noticed a familiar bundle of silver hair, and wanted to faint from relief. Since Gai was languidly jogging in front of me, I was able to wave my hands in the air hoping Kakashi will pick up the movement and look up from his stupid book, but to no avail. Sometimes I wonder if he's really someone I could consider a true friend.

I had to take another approach. "Hey, Gai-senpai, speaking of your eternal rival, isn't that him over there?" I barely managed to muster.

"Oh, indeed it is! What a youthful eye you have!" he nodded, satisfied, giving no indications about going towards him. I panicked. It seemed like Gai was planning to have me run until I collapse.

Like hell he will.

I hurried towards the tall figure, silently praying Gai won't take this as a challenge as I passed him. Unfortunately, he did.

"Are we competing who will reach my eternal rival first now? What a splendid display of youth!" he exclaimed and easily overtook me, stopping in front of Kakashi.

Kakashi finally looked up, seemingly not surprised we were there. So he did notice us. I would've pouted if I hadn't been so exhausted. Instead I placed my hands on my knees, and gulped large quantities of air like they were my last. I still managed to answer with a stink eye to his eye crinkling.

"Oh, are you two training? Keep up the good work," he said as he tapped my shoulder trying to go around me and once again be on his way. I gasped and caught him by the arm. "Please, subtly mention to Gai that I am only human!" I practically snivelled.

He glanced at me weirdly. "Gai?"

I was becoming more annoyed by the second, so I decided a suitable demonstration in form of eye-rolling was necessary. "Yes, Gai – your self-proclaimed eternal rival?"

Crap. I realised what confused him.

I forgot to use a suffix. Twice. And I still used san with Kakashi's name.

"Um, hey, Gai-senpai, Kakashi-san has something to tell you," I tried to remedy the situation by showing him I used senpai when directly talking to Gai.

"What is it, my eternal rival? Have you decided to join me and Mizu-chan for our little warm up?"

Cue internal screaming. I didn't want to know what he had in mind for the actual training. I guess Kakashi felt the grip on his arm tightening, because he gently pried me off him and placed his hand around my shoulder instead.

"Maybe later. Mizu here said something about wanting to train more on her own, so I'm giving her some space. Ne, Mizu?"

Is he for real?! Not only did he drop the suffix behind my name completely out of spite, but he did it twice showing it was indeed intentional, and furthermore, he still refused to provide any actual assistance! I furiously shoved his hand from off my shoulder, and glared at him.

"Such a decision is the evidence of her youth that blooms fiercely! Well, Mizu-chan, are you ready for the remaining 233 laps?"

I was considering grovelling and begging Kakashi to save me, before I remembered that I have dignity, and I'm a ninja, and I asked Gai to help me with my training, and therefore I had no right to complain. I sighed, muttering "Ready as I'll ever be", and started trailing unenthusiastically after an already fired-up Gai.

Then I noticed Kakashi running next to me. I smirked, but didn't comment in order to preserve the precious air I was already actively fighting for.

"Why didn't you come to me first?" he inquired in a low voice. Not that Gai would've heard us anyway. He was yelling loudly at the passers-by, seemingly being with everyone on a first-name basis.

But I honestly didn't expect that question from Kakashi. I suppose I did try to trick him into teaching me some jutsu, but it never occurred to me I could outright ask him. I shrugged and whispered back: "Well, I wanted to improve my taijutsu, and Gai-senpai is the taijutsu expert. And besides, you seem like you would make me catch you first."

"As opposed to your current situation?"

I gasped, insulted, while furiously continuing the whispering. "I am not trying to catch Gai-senpai! If anything, I am trying to catch up to him. Or, ideally, cut him loose. He always knows where to find me, though, which is strange when I think about it. I mean, he's not a tracker-"

I stopped dead in my tracks. "You—Kakashi-san, you traitor!"

Kakashi laughed heartily, and I had absolutely no choice but to forgive him his misgivings instantly. I did, however, strongly object to this betrayal of his by good-naturedly rolling my eyes. He ruffled my hair, leaving me obliviously to melt at his gentle touch, and went ahead to overtake the green-clad ninja, allowing me to ease up on my current inhuman pace.

"Well, well, Kakashi, you decided to join us! Shall we have a pulse-quickening race, my youthful rival?"

Kakashi smiled at him, and I guess Gai took that as a "yes" because soon they disappeared from the horizon. Well. Now I was officially vexed.

I fumed silently as I fell into a more leisurely pace. I wasn't on my own for long, though.

"Oh, Mizu-san, are you training? Let me join you."

Turning towards the voice, I smiled at Iruka who was also casually running, and slowed down slightly so that he could catch up. Iruka was nice. He was kind, and funny, and I could relax around him, because I considered him a friend. We were closer in age, and that helped when it came to establishing rapport, but mostly it was because he was super-nice to Naruto when no one else was, and I respected him greatly for that.

"I love that you can just randomly go for a run in our village, and pick up friends along the way," I grinned. He politely smiled back, but was a bit confused. We were all ninjas so most of us trained daily, and meeting each other during training was nothing new. I bit my tongue at the slip-up, but decided I wasn't going to try and explain it.

"Oh, that reminds me, I heard Naruto came back from a mission, so I was thinking about treating him to Ichiraku's, do you maybe want to join us?" he suggested coyly. Iruka's so thoughtful, I thought as I proceeded to horrify him with a teary but grateful expression. I didn't know how to put into words how much I appreciate him taking interest in Naruto's life. "I would lovvvvvve that," I emphasised my words by halting and putting my hand on his shoulder while gazing lovingly into his eyes. However, I didn't want any troubling complications in our relationship so I patted the shoulder my hand was resting on in a firm and overbearingly friendly manner.

He awkwardly cleared his throat, and then we proceeded to jog at a leisurely pace, chatting occasionally, until we heard Kakashi and Gai approaching us. We stepped aside to avoid collision, but as soon as they reached us they stopped, and Kakashi dramatically rested his entire body weight on me, panting.

I had to use chakra to hold him, but I still thought it was funny he got so winded up while competing with Gai. I chuckled, and he smiled exhaustedly. "Who won?" he managed to utter. I wasn't really following closely what was going on, I mean, I don't usually do when two fully grown males sprint in my general direction at maximum speed, mistaking me for a finish line. I shrugged, so he quickly adjusted his position in order to catch Iruka's eye.

"I think it was a draw."

I smirked, "But seeing as Gai-senpai is on his feet, and you're practically on the floor, I would say he's the victor."

He was suddenly breathing normally, proving it was all an act and I had fallen for it, and then he tried to make me give him a piggyback ride. I started giggling because he was slipping constantly, and couldn't get a firm grip, and because I was laughing I was losing my chakra control which made me laugh even more, since it just made us end up closer and closer to the floor. We soon stood up straight, still releasing a giggle now and then, and looked at our companions.

Gai was crying emotionally again (maybe he thought a draw is a loss?), and Iruka was hugging him, and trying to console him, looking increasingly uncomfortable. Just as instantly as he began crying, Gai stopped, and now he was giving us the thumbs up, and yelling something about a blooming flower of youth probably, I wasn't really paying attention, since I noticed Kakashi glaring at Iruka. He schooled his expression too fast for Iruka to pick up, changing it for a disinterested one. Maybe the Academy teacher should abstain from hugging Gai in the future.

Iruka smiled at me, "I want to take a shower before we meet, so I'll get going now. See you around eight?"

I returned the smile, "Oh, that actually a good idea, guess I'll get going too then. Eight sounds about right. Bye, Iruka-san, Gai-sempai, Kakashi-san."

Even after saying my goodbyes, Kakashi trailed after me. "I've been thinking and I decided you should stop using san with my name."

"What do you want me to use then? Senpai? Kun?" I frowned, confused.

"Maa, just say Kakashi," he smiled, and I almost fainted. This was kind of a huge deal. People would start thinking we were intimate. I blushed instantly at the implication, trying to look noncommittal while deciding on names for our imaginary grandchildren.

"Sure, Kakashi, and you can use Mizu, now when I have officially given you, Kakashi, the permission to do so, Kakashi." Dammit, I need to chill.

I was still blushing, so he probably decided a change of topics is in order. "So. Iruka-san and you. I never would have guessed."

"Excuse me?" I croaked. Was he implying Iruka and I were dating?

"Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy, I just figured you would've liked someone…else."

"Um, we are not together. We're taking out Naruto-kun for some ramen. You know what, you should come with us, that way we'll have pairs and no one will feel left out."

Kakashi observed me wordlessly. I arched an eyebrow at him, noticing when he took a more relaxed stance. "Who's paying?"

I smirked. "I'm glad you asked. Kakashi, I am formally challenging you to a rock-paper-scissors game. The loser pays."

He smiled optimistically. I smiled maliciously. I was planning to bamboozle him, and he was none the wiser.

"So, if you win, you'll get what you want, and vice versa?"

"That's a weird way of phrasing it, but ultimately yes. Let's do this."

Heh, heh. You will be the clown this time, Kakashi.

He set his fist closer to me expectantly.

"Wait. Just out of curiosity, why did you phrase it like that?" I feigned innocence. One of the life hacks in my repertoire was the Rock, Paper, Scissors trick. Namely, asking a question before a game of rock-paper-scissors influences the opponent in such a way that they usually end up picking scissors. I didn't really care why he phrased it like that, I already figured out he wanted something else than a free meal, but I was fairly convinced he will abstain from asking for anything distasteful or unreasonable.

He shrugged. "I'll take care of your bill. I just thought it would be such a shame to waste this bet on ramen, especially because you're so certain you'll win."

Okay, I was officially worried. He made me question my strategy. Maybe he had heard of this particular tactic? So he intentionally won't pick scissors, because he knows I think he will. If he knows I'll choose rock to beat his scissors, isn't it logical for him to choose paper? But he knows I've been thinking about this now, so he probably guessed I would be considering his new strategy. So I have to one-up him again.

Besides, 'I'll take care of your bill'? Maybe this was a genjutsu? I should probably ask him a question only he would know just in case.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to, since he started the game. Okay, he'll probably choose something other than scissors which means I should not use the rock, but rather paper. That way if he chooses rock, I'll win, and if he chooses paper, it'll be a draw, and I'll get another chance.

…

Needless to say he chose the damn scissors. I took some solace in the fact that at least my original plan would have worked.

I smiled feebly, "Two out of three?"

He scoffed, and I knew I was done for.