72 Hours to Go
True to his word, Kakashi strolled up to the group of shinobi walking by. "Yo." He raised his hand in a friendly wave and smiled behind his mask.
"Well, hey, Kakashi! Long time no see!" Genma exclaimed. "Thought you'd be holed up reading or something!"
Kakashi's smile shrank by a fraction. "Isn't it funny how things work out?"
"I'm glad you came out of your house for once," Genma whacked him on the back.
"Yeah," Tenzou interjected. "This way, you get to spend quality time with us, Kakashi-senpai!"
"All part of the master plan, Tenzou. Are you guys hungry?"
"Ravenous!"
The first thing Gai did was sprint to Kakashi's apartment. He knew his rival would have some tricks up his sleeve, and it would take all his power to stay ahead of him. He stood in the hall by the door. Now, the question was not if Kakashi had traps around his apartment. The question was: how many did he have?
Picking up a stone he found on the floor, he lightly tossed it at the doorknob. As he suspected, it violently exploded, and he raised a hand in front of his face to stop the shrapnel that was bouncing off every uncovered surface. One trap down.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Clone Gai poofed into being, running at the door with a leaf hurricane. The door rattled in its hinges, and six kunai shot from the walls, clearly intending for clone Gai's life to be short and painful. Instead, the clone twisted gracefully in midair, dodging the projectiles and landing a chakra-enhanced kick on the door. It splintered, leaving a large hole in the wood. Clone Gai disappeared, and Gai himself took a running leap at what was left of the door.
"Dynamic Entry!" The door didn't stand a chance. As Gai soared past the dilapidated doorframe, flames shot out from the floor. He pushed off the wall and somersaulted over the fire, landing sprawled on the floor of Kakashi's apartment, which melted away on impact. On instinct, his hands shot out and grabbed a floorboard that was still there, and he found himself hanging above a knitting old lady on the next floor down.
She looked up at the pair of legs in front of her face, raising a knitting needle threateningly.
"I apologize, good lady!" Gai replied. "I was simply taking part in a yo- um, exciting challenge. I will depart with haste!"
"Get outa my house, ya crazy shinobi!"
"Yes, ma'am!" He pulled himself back up into the apartment, stepping onto solid floor. As soon as his foot left the gap, the circle of missing wood filled back in. At least he didn't have to worry about repairing his rival's floor after this. Now, where was Kakashi's Icha Icha collection?
He turned to his left, where a large bookshelf was standing against the wall. What better place to keep questionable reading material? He started searching. Not on the top shelf, not lower down either, not that one, not that one, what even was that one? His eyes scanned volume after volume (The Death of a Shinobi- glad that one was sufficiently dusty), but no Icha Icha. Where w- Oh! It must be a henge! Gai hit the bookshelf with some chakra, immediately spotting five bright orange volumes. Hm. He hadn't thought it would be this easy.
Kakashi pulled his mask back over his face as he finished his plate of dango. Suddenly, he twitched. "Gai," he growled.
"Hm?" Tenzou looked up from his plate. "What'up, senpai?"
"He touched my bookshelf."
Genma wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "So?"
"No one touches my bookshelf." The copy ninja grabbed Tenzou, whose eyes widened in surprise, and made a hand sign. In a flurry of leaves, the two disappeared.
"Really?" Genma groaned. "This is all a ruse to make me pay for the bill, isn't it?"
Gai stuffed the books into a bag and turned to the door, only to come face to face with an infuriated Kakashi. "Eternal Rival! How unexpected!"
"Did you really think I'd leave my home so unprotected?"
"Well, I thought the explosive tags, kunai, fire, and henge were pretty sufficient. The vanishing floor was a nice touch, as well. I expected nothing less from my rival!"
"Then you still expected too little. As soon as you undid the henge on that bookshelf, I was alerted of your presence."
Gai's eyes narrowed. "But did you come alone? How do I know you didn't stop some solitary place along the way?"
Kakashi wordlessly pulled Tenzou into Gai's line of sight.
"Oh, how yo- eh, um, spritely of you!"
"Spritely?"
Rubbing the back of his neck, Gai looked down sheepishly. "I'm running out of synonyms."
"What a pity. Can you put those books back now?"
"Um," Tenzou interrupted. "Am I missing something? What's going on?"
Neither of the ninja acknowledged his presence.
"On the contrary, Kakashi, those books are not your property for 72 hours. I'm simply aiding you in your challenge. You should be grateful, in fact, that I'm assisting you."
"I'd be more grateful if my door was still in one piece and my books were on their proper shelf."
"Insignificant details! It is the challenge that is important!"
Sighing, Kakashi shook his head. "Fine. Take them. You might regret it, though. I think you'll need all the help you can get to beat me at this. After all, we're not even an hour in, and you're running out of synonyms for 'youthful.'"
"You may seem to have the upper hand to begin," Gai clapped a fist to his chest, "but I will win in the end!"
"Careful about your hand motions, Gai." He grabbed the confused Tenzou again, whispering, "I wouldn't want you to lose too early, after all."
The Blue Beast glared at the whirlwind of leaves beginning to form. He clamped his arms to his sides. "You are wrong, Kakashi! I will be VICTORIOUS!"
The leaves didn't seem too impressed by Gai's determination, and fell softly around the man, skittering in lazy circles on the floor.
"He challenged the wrong man!"
The second thing Maito Gai did was buy a thesaurus.
As Kakashi pulled his former subordinate out of the whirlwind and into the street, Tenzou stepped out of Kakashi's grip. "All right, just what is going on? What are you and Gai up to this time?"
"It's a challenge. That's all you need to know. Just don't be surprised if you see me more than you're used to. And don't get used to it."
Tenzou's face remained confused. "And you're seeing who can steal the other's stuff?"
There wasn't ever a rule against telling others about their challenges, but Kakashi liked seeing others very confused and wasn't one to willingly stop them being confused. "If you see Gai around, make sure to ask him about the power of youth."
"That has nothing to do with my question, and I'm not that suicidal, Kakashi! If at all possible, I'd like to keep both of my ears from being talked off."
"Your loss."
"Wait," crossing his arms, Tenzou looked more closely at his friend, "is this challenge why you dragged me along? Does that mean you're going to take me hostage again?"
"Eh." He shrugged noncommittally.
Tenzou just sighed. "You're both insane."
Thoughts/comments? Who's going to win? Hope your day is awesome, wherever you are!
~JillianWatson1058