Gai was monologuing again.

"Whew! That was one draining training session. But the exhaustion is nothing compared to the power of youth I can feel flowing through my veins…" he panted, trying to hold himself high as he dragged himself back to his home. He couldn't believe how strong Lee was getting. At this point, Gai found it hard to keep up with him.

"No matter!" Gai plastered a grin onto his face, "I will become stronger to match my pupil. We will revel in the bounty of our youth together!"

Some bounty it was providing him. Might Gai almost passed out as soon as he opened the door to his house. The only thing stopping him was the sight that greeted him once he stepped inside: Kakashi Hatake, the Copycat Ninja himself, was perched on his couch with the same lazy expression on his face.

"Hello," he greeted Gai with an awkward wave of his hand.

"Ka-Kakashi? Is that you?" Gai's jaw dropped, rendering him speechless for a moment. He shook his head, attempting to clear away any exhaustion that still lingered in his mind. "How did you get into my house?"

"It's simple, really." He gestured to an open window parallel to the couch he sat on moments before. "You should really lock your windows."

Gai grunted. "Bested again by my rival…" he mumbled, crossing his arms and sauntering over to Kakashi. "Is this why you came? Just to gloat about how easily you can break into other people's homes? I'm sure it's not too hard - after all, I'm quite nimble-"

"No, that's not it." Kakashi refused to look at the man standing next to him, instead turning his gaze to the ceiling. "I just had something to ask you, is all."

"Oh?"

"Do you…" Jesus, why was his face turning red? What was wrong with him? He cleared his throat. "I mean, are you free for dinner tomorrow?"

"Ah! Of course, we need to discuss our next competition! I swear to you, I won't lose this time!" Gai slammed his fist into his palm to make a point, eliciting an eye roll and a sigh from Kakashi.

"No, that's not what I meant. Gai, I know you think of us as rivals, and I appreciate the competitions we have. You're…well, you're the first true friend that I've had in a long time," he paused, closed his eyes, and inhaled. "But the thing is...it seems that I caught feelings for you somewhere along the way. Strange, hm?" Despite his relatively calm and playful demeanor, Kakashi's heart was pounding. He had thought about this for months, debating whether or not it was worth letting Gai in. He despised dating, as it had only led him to heartbreak in the past. However…his belief that life took away all the good in his life seemed to falter when it came to Gai. Kakashi couldn't imagine him losing in anything, not even when it came to the challenges life threw at him. This train of thought was illogical, moronic, and quite frankly was likely to set him up for more heartbreak.

It was the kind of thing Gai would be able to appreciate.

Gai stood frozen in place at Kakashi's words. Not only did he lack the energy for any theatrics, but even if he did this news was too shocking for some shallow, flamboyant action. No, Kakashi's words elicited something more real within Gai.

"Kakashi…" Gai's eyes began to water. He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but his lips only trembled. Despite his best attempts, he couldn't bring himself to blink away the tears, and before he could stop himself, he was openly sobbing in front of his arch-rival.

No, he corrected himself, sniffing and wiping his eyes on the back of his palm, in front of my best friend.

Gai never had felt loved by anyone as a child, constantly being outcasted due to his lack of natural ninjutsu and genjutsu abilities. When Kakashi began to entertain the idea of a rivalry with him, Gai became ecstatic. Even back when he was a kid, Gai knew that Kakashi was a high-profile ninja, that he could be doing other things with his time. Something about him lending Gai his attention lit a spark inside of him from the very beginning, a spark he had never identified as love until now.

"Gai, I understand if you need some time to think it over." Kakashi forced his tone to be steady, but his mind was already racing.

Do you really think you deserve to be happy with him, to taint him with your darkness?

You should have never jeopardized your friendship with him. Look at what you've done, you made him cry.

You're already hurting him, you might as well leave.

With darkened eyes, Kakashi stalked towards the door, not bothering to look back at his sniveling friend.

He needed to take a walk to clear his head. Kakashi couldn't bear to go into town right now: forcing smiles and small talk would be too painful and not at all convincing. He opted instead to head into the forest, where the chatter from the village would be drowned out by birdsong.

Deep in thought, Kakashi weaved his way through the trees. What had just happened back there? Gai was a resilient and passionate man: he often cried out of joy and dedication, but he had never wept as fervently as he did when Kakashi asked him out. There was an unidentifiable glimmer in Gai's watery eyes that Kakashi had seen…he had wanted to believe that it was the same intensity that he always held, simply taking a different form, but if it had been, then Gai would have answered him before he left. Gai wouldn't have let him walk out so easily.

And now, he was wandering through the woods as the sun slowly sank behind the trees. What was he doing?

I'm just trying to clear my head, Kakashi ran a hand through his unruly hair, repeating this over and over as he slumped down against a tree. I just needed a walk.

This didn't explain away the nagging ache in his chest, nor did it explain the daydreams that had been pestering him on his walk no matter how hard he tried to keep them at bay, visions of Gai leaping out of a tree or from behind a bush and engulfing him in a hug, exclaiming a playful "gotcha!" before enthusiastically accepting his date invitation.

Under that tree, he waited. With every slight rustle or snap, he perked up, forcing his lidded eyes to focus on whatever was making noise. It was always a tree branch swaying in the wind or a squirrel skittering by, occasionally a bird swooping above his head.

He couldn't remember when he passed out - probably sometime after nightfall. He wasn't surprised that he had fallen asleep - he knew that if a threat had approached him, he would've been able to sense it and wake up immediately to fight.

What surprised him was waking up on his own couch, a fresh plate of muffins sitting on his chest. Upon jerking awake, the muffins tumbled off of the plate, which he managed to catch before it broke. A note was taped to the bottom of it:

DEAREST RIVAL:

I ACCEPT YOUR INVITATION FOR TONIGHT. LET US CELEBRATE THE JOYS OF OUR YOUTH TOGETHER WITH A ROMANTIC MEAL AT ICHIRAKU RAMEN. I LOOK FORWARD TO BEING IN YOUR PRESENCE ONCE AGAIN.

XO GAI