Kinda short chapter, mostly filler.

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In The Last Chapter... "Okay. We'll compromise, alright? You take… three days between missions, unless injured, to rest up and go see your friends. You don't have to talk to anyone, but go have competitions with Gai, or train with your old classmates. Something social. If not, I'll tell Kushina you've been brooding again."

Kakashi sighed heavily, his brain already throbbing inside his skull with one of the worst headaches he's had in weeks. His ears hurt from the near constant chatter, and it felt like they'd start bleeding with any more. He shook this off, however, to continue one of the ridiculous trials Gai had set up for the day.

1000 strikes on the practice dummy in quick secession. The first to the number wins.

Kakashi moved swiftly, already to about 600, but being forced to listen to Gai blabber on beside him. He had to admit; he was amused by his 'rival'. He was still going to kill Minato for this, though.

Gai was on his 612th strike and chattering rapidly about how wonderful it was to have his rival around to train with once again. In truth, there were few other shinobi his age that were willing to train with him, let alone agree to his perfectly reasonable competitions of strength and stamina. They were in the prime of their youth, how could they not want to see how far they could push themselves? His masked opponent was only a few strikes behind him so Gai, oblivious to the pains of the other, gave a wild shout and picked up his pace.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, speeding up and adding some chakra to his arms. He quickly shot up to 633 before going back to a regular, quick pace. He threw in some kicks for variety's sake. He wanted to get this over with promptly. It's not that he minded Gai, really, but he wished that he'd shut up every now and again. It was nice though; loser had to buy food, so that was a perk.

"I will not lose!" he roared, hitting 630 and struggling to catch up. Gai was determined to catch up, to win! He threw his all into the competition, as he did in every competition, fire in his eyes. By the time they reached 1000, the black haired boy had lost by a total of 5. He was disheartened for only a moment before spinning to face Kakashi, a blinding grin on his face.

"You've won this match, my eternal rival, but I will win the next!" he vowed solemnly, or as solemnly as he was ever able to do.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile a bit in return. He stuck his pinky finger in his ear, cleaning out the wax and trying to stop the ringing. He inclined his head to the other, chuckling softly. "Yeah. I'm sure, Gai," he replied, adding a mental 'and probably will blow my ear drums out as well' onto the end, "How about you go buy us some lunch first? Then I get to pick the next trial."

"Right!" Gai cheered, "As per our agreement; you choose the place and everything is on me. So, where shall we go?" It was very nice to have Kakashi back in the village for more than a few hours.

Kakashi stretched his arms out in front of him, and then over his head. He hummed while he thought, starting out in a walk towards the edge of the training field, trusting Gai to follow him. "I feel like ramen today for some reason," he drawled, back to his lazy and carefree persona.

Gai nodded, trailing behind Kakashi as the other walked. Ramen was good, Ichiraku was nearby as well, so it wouldn't take long to get there.

"Then we'll get some! For failing to defeat you I will walk the entire way on my hands!" Normally, he would have ran on his hands, but Kakashi rarely joined in if he did. So he flipped, landing on his palms, and continued just as quickly as he had been going before with his feet floating in the air.

Kakashi sighed and looked down at Gai, shaking his head slightly. "You know, you really don't have to do that every time I win," he told him, although he didn't slow down.

"I must!" he objected, wincing when a particularly unpleasant rock struck his palm, "Or I will not improve and continue to fail."

Kakashi shook his head again, although now he was giving the other an eye-smile. "Alright, fine. I have to admit, you trump me in the motivation and spirit department. How are you even so enthusiastic? "

"Why would I be anything else?" he questioned, flinging himself into an upright position as they reached the stall, "I have been given the chance to train with you after such a long period of not seeing you at all. I am eager to show how much I am constantly improving! All around us spring blooms with the same youth as we do!" It was true, spring was starting to appear.

Kakashi smiled, but he had to admit that that made him feel a bit guilty. He really had been neglecting his friends lately; his routine was go on a week-long mission, do laundry, sleep, then immediately go on another mission. He used to do that with month long missions, but after three months he'd been firmly cut off by the Hokage.

"I'm sure you're improving, Gai. You're doing great, much better than the last time I saw you," he told the other man as they sat down and ordered.

Gai beamed with pride at the encouragement of someone he viewed so highly, light flashing off of his teeth. "And you as well, always improving! I'm sure you've worked hard to hone your skills! That must have kept you very busy," and away. ANBU training wouldn't be something someone who had only just been promoted to jonin would be involved in after all.

Kakashi nodded, looking down at the bowl that was placed before him, tilting his head slightly to look at Gai before returning his gaze to his bowl. "Yup," he stated, popping his 'p' uncomfortably, "it sure does... Sorry about that, by the way. I should be available more from now on." As per the Hokage's orders.

Gai gave an enthusiastic nod. "That is wonderful news! You've been working so hard lately, some of us were getting worried you were neglecting your health. Even the most youthful shinobi need to let their bodies recuperate now and again." It might have been hypocritical to say, but the other boy had been very worried about his rival. It wasn't that he doubted his abilities, but he wasn't blind. He could see that the years had been rough.

Kakashi shrugged, splitting his chopsticks apart and rubbing them together briefly to get rid of the splinters. "Yeah, yeah. I know, trust me. I've been fine though," Kakashi said, stirring his noodles around. Lies.

"Anyway, how have you been?" Kakashi said quickly, trying to throw the focus off himself.

"I've been fantastic! Now that it will no longer stunt my growth, I have increased how heavy my weights are," he began, falling into a zealous explanation of all the training he had done since they last saw each other. In between sentences, he somehow managed to inhale his ramen as well.

"I was also promoted to jonin last week," he finished, both his speech and food.

Kakashi smiled softly to himself, eating his ramen as Gai went on and on about his training with comments about youth in between. After the last bit, his stomach sank a little bit. Wow, he'd really been out of the loop. His friend had made jonin and Kakashi hadn't even said congrats yet, or known about it.

"Really? Congratulations." He said, grinning at Gai although he felt terrible guilty.

The boy had an idea that his rival felt bad for being absent but opted to ignore it. Apologies had already been made, after all. "Thank you! I was hoping to see you at the celebration but regretfully you were out of the village then," realizing that might not have been the best thing to say he plowed on, "however, you've returned safely now and that's what is truly important. "

Kakashi winced a bit, pushing his bowl away. He sighed and pulled out his wallet. He waved Gai away when he tried to pay, regardless of the earlier competition. "No, it's fine, really. I have the money," I sure go on enough missions for it, "besides, like you said, I wasn't at the celebration."

Kakashi stood up and smiled at Gai, starting towards the exit. "Come on, it's time for the next competition."

After several objections Gai conceded to letting him pay, hopping off of the stool quickly and beginning to stretch. "Right! It's your turn to pick! What'll it be? Laps around the village? One handed pushups? Don't look now, but that girl is staring at you? A race up the Hokage mountain?"

"What?" Kakashi asked, pausing and subtly looking out the corner of his eye at the girl that was, in fact, totally staring at him. Apparently she was out of ear shot because she didn't look away. Kakashi could have sworn he'd seen her somewhere before... Oh no. He turned his head fully, just to be sure, but quickly looked away. He ducked his head, trying to shield his face with his hands.

"Shit," he whispered harshly, thankful he and Gai were at the side of the road instead of crossing the street or something, "I think that's the girl who saw my face the other day."

Gai, more serious now, gave the Sharingan user a surprised look. He had just assumed she was curious about the lack of skin showing, as he knew many were. "You allowed a civilian," as she obviously was, "to see you without your mask?" That wasn't a common occurrence. At all. There weren't many privy to the sight of a maskless Kakashi.

Kakashi shrugged and turned back to Gai, giving him a look somewhere between 'annoyed' and 'desperate'.

"I was just going to the store, okay? I wasn't even wearing my uniform. I thought I passed as civilian. Shame on me for wanting to buy soup without suffocating myself with fabric..." he'd lapsed into somewhat more regular teenage speech, a bit flustered as this had never happened before, "Oh no, she's coming over here. I'm going to say it wasn't me."

Gai frowned, unsure what the problem was. Civilians were harmless as far as he was concerned. "Lying is a very unyouthful act when not necessary," the boy commented, watching the girl walk over with a smile on her face.

"Hi!" She chirped brightly, looking only at Kakashi, "I don't know if you remember me or not, but you and your friend came into the store I work in the other night? Or at least I think it was you, your hair is the same."

Kakashi sighed and plastered a pleasant smile onto his face, although it could have easily been a grimace and no one would have been able to tell with the mask. He turned to face the girl and raised a hand in greeting.

"Hi! Yeah, that was me. What's up?" he said, turning subtly to Gai and giving him a disapproving look that said 'See what you made me do? You made me tell the truth'. Gai read the look and gave him a bright thumbs up while the girl chattered. Kakashi glared at Gai before turning back to the girl, right as the girl said...

"Well, I just saw you over here and felt like saying hi. I wanted to know if you were by chance related to a friend of mine, Hikaru Sonohara, but you and your boyfriend looked busy and I didn't want to interrupt. Or at least I assumed he was your boyfriend, you guys looked pretty close..." she stopped talking at last.

At the boyfriend comment, his visible eye widened and he immediately shook his head.

"The guy I was with last night? No, you misunderstand, I-" but then the girl was being called away by her friends before he could explain. She waved goodbye to the duo, calling back an apology for being an inconvenience.

Oh, she was an inconvenience alright, because now Kakashi was saddled with an inquisitive Gai and an accusation of being homosexual.

"I was unaware you had found someone like that!" Gai exclaimed, "Nor was I aware of your, ah, preferences!" Yes, he thought, that is a neutral word. The perfect description!

"Tell me, is he also a shinobi? How long have you known him? He is a kind person, I assume." It wouldn't do for his eternal rival to be in an unhealthy relationship, though it would explain his aversion to the village...

Kakashi's eye widened even more if that was possible. He held his hands up by his chest defensively, cutting off Gai's line of questioning with a series of 'whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!'s. Once the questions stopped, he took a deep breath and went into damage control mode.

"I am not seeing anyone romantically, Gai. He was just a friend, not even that. I, ah..." think, Kakashi, think! "I was just in the store at the same time, and we struck up a friendly conversation. Only friendly, Gai. I'm trying to, ah, be more outgoing!" Yeah, that works.

"Oh," the green-clad shinobi took a minute to process the words before he was right back to where he started, "Bettering oneself through social interaction and stepping out of one's comfort zone! Such youthful action! I would expect nothing less from my eternal rival!"

"I wonder, though, if there is someone you're interested in. We are, after all, in the springtime of our youths! Interest in that area would be expected,"Gai said, nodding sagely and crossing his arms over his chest.

Kakashi's face burned bright red at that and he buried his face in his hands, now very glad they were tucked out of the way of the main street. He took in a deep, steadying breath and let it out slowly.

"No, Gai, I'm not interested in anyone right now. I'm just too busy. I'm also not setting out to look either." The last part was accompanied by a pointed look, paired with his mortified expression.

Gai tilted his head, smiling dimming only somewhat. "Oh? If you're sure... I know of several young ladies that would be interested in you, unless you prefer others of course."

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his eyes. He thought about it a moment, thinking back to all those times he'd checked out guys and blatantly ignored girls throwing themselves at him... Nope, not something he wanted to think about right now.

"First to go across the village and back three times, including scaling the Hokage Monument, wins." He stated quickly, just to end this topic of discussion. It was something time consuming, so at the very least Gai wouldn't be able to bug him about it for a while...

In a split second his focus shot from finding his rival a date to beating him into the ground. Gai gave a mighty shout and dramatic declaration of how he would win or lap Konoha thirty times before taking off at top speeds. Kakashi sighed and started off after him, speeding up as fast as he could. He couldn't just let Gai win, now could he?

After their little race, Gai and Kakashi sat on the roof of the masked nin's apartment complex with their legs dangling off the side of the building. They were both pleasantly out of breath, and each one had a water bottle from Kakashi's fridge. Kakashi watched Gai chatter on, headache now passed and a small smile on his face hidden by his mask. Gai had won this time (mostly because Kakashi had let him, the masked nin was sure).

"Will you still be here tomorrow?" Gai asked, taking a drink and leaning back on the roof. He had had fun that day, competing with someone who would give it their all (as far a he knew).

Kakashi sighed and nodded, the question ringing a bit accusatory in his ears. "Yeah, I will. I'm not taking another mission for at least this week," Kakashi answered, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He was looking over the edge, passed his own feet, and down at the people walking passed like ants far below. Gai nodded, starting to calm slightly from his earlier hype.

"Good. I was hoping to challenge you for a sparring match if you didn't have any other plans."

Contrary to popular belief, Might Gai wasn't stupid. He forgot things (and people) on occasion, as anyone does, and he was more cheerful than half the village combined, but he wasn't a fool. There was something going on with Kakashi, or why would he have asked the Fourth to talk to him? "You seem troubled lately, is there something bothering you?"

Kakashi looked up at Gai and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head before turning his face away to take a sip of water. Once his mask was back in place, he faced front again.

"No, there isn't. I'm fine," he said, the same rehearsed words as always. He turned to look at Gai, debating turning this back on him with a 'Is there something bothering you?' but he knew that wouldn't go very far. Instead, he asked, "Why?"

"You haven't been acting like yourself for quite a while, but lately it's been more pronounced," he explained, "The few times I have seen these past months, you've either looked incredibly worn out or you walked away before we could talk." It had him very concerned.

Kakashi shrugged and looked back down. "It's nothing, really. I've just been... restless lately." Oh yes, because that excuse had gone over so well the last time. He couldn't exactly say that he could only sleep peacefully if his body was close to collapsing though, or that every time he wasn't in danger or on a mission he felt numb. Maybe he was becoming an adrenaline junkie or something? "It's all passed, so don't worry. I'll be around more often now. I'm fine."

"Perhaps, you could take a run around the village or find something to do when you get too restless?" Gai suggested, "Or you could come find me and we could train all that excess energy out!"

Kakashi nodded, quieter now. He gave Gai an eye-smile. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. We could do that. Thanks, Gai," he murmured, turning away to take another drink of water.

"Any time! What else are rivals for?" The boy looked towards the sun and got up, stretching briefly, "I'll need to get going soon. I'm going to visit my father today."

Kakashi nodded. He could understand that. "Yeah, I'm going to go visit Rin later, I think," He said before he stood up as well, stretching his arms over his head until his back popped, "Thanks for coming out with me today."

Gai grinned at him, teeth gleaming blindingly. "It was my pleasure. It's good to have you home safely!" Kakashi nodded and smiled at Gai, waving goodbye as the other ninja left over the rooftops.

Obito sat quietly in one of the many trees that lived in the graveyard, masking his presence with practiced skill. His meeting in Ame had ended abruptly when Hanzo's followers had attacked the base and all were forced to flee. The young Uchiha had decided to come and visit his other friend while he was close enough, making sure not to get caught this time.

The sun was setting when Kakashi finally entered the graveyard, igniting the blue sky into a canopy of oranges, pinks, reds, and purples. Kakashi tucked the book he was reading back into his belt as he walked over to the memorial stone, crouching down in front of it to gently touch Rin's name.

"Hey. I haven't visited you in a while, Rin, I'm sorry," he said softly, smiling a bit, "Hope you didn't feel like I forgot about you. Did you know that sensei is going to be a dad? Kushina-san is pregnant, and he said that if it's a girl they're going to name her after you!"

"Something else happened recently, something bad. I'm worried about Obi-... A man I saw. He's different than before, which I should have expected but..." Kakashi shook his head and sighed, "Never mind. Let's not talk about that now. The baby is good news though, right?"

Kakashi gently touched Obito's name next, but he didn't say anything. It wouldn't be right, as the man was still alive, but the boy he used to be and ideals he held... He was gone, and that deserved some mourning.

Behind his mask, Obito's eye grew wide, and he thanked God that he was out of range. Kushina was pregnant? If so, then that offered him a golden opportunity, and one he couldn't pass up. The problem with female jinchuriki's was that labor weakened the seal, which would make everything easier on his end. Plus, his teacher would get to be a father which was something that was undoubtedly good news.

When Kakashi mentioned him, Obito wasn't sure what to think. Of course he was different; only a fool remained as optimistic as he had been as a child! The boy watched his ex-teammate quietly, his words from the other night ringing in his head once more. They still hurt, but Kakashi would understand one day.

After Kakashi had come back to his senses from the sad place thinking about Obito had put him, he finished filling in Rin on important news.

"Minato-sensei wasn't happy with me the other day. Apparently, some of my ANBU teams and friends around the village reported that I was being needlessly reckless or something, and they were 'worried about my mental and physical' well-being..." Kakashi frowned, resisting the childish urge to call them all 'tattletales'. He was a teenager after all, "And oh, I know you wouldn't approve either. You would probably try to smack some sense into me, but I just... I need something to do, otherwise I just feel... numb. "

Kakashi shrugged and sighed. "Anyway, Minato-sensei at the very least let me compromise. A three day resting period between each mission, and no more this week. I'm still cut off from month-long missions and I have to go visit my friends while I'm in the village instead of locking myself up in my apartment. "

Obito made a mental note to send the Hokage flowers; both for getting a family started and for getting Kakashi to take it easy when he obviously needed a break. The bit about feeling numb was worrisome, but there was nothing he could do about that. He waited until Kakashi had stopped talking to stand, flowers for Rin in one hand.

He paused a moment, waiting to see if the other was going to leave.

Kakashi sighed as he stood up straight and waved goodbye to the headstone. He shook his head a little, feeling bad about venting and bothering the dead with his problems.

"G'bye, Rin. I'll come see you again soon, okay?" he said, smiling a bit. He turned away and walked to the edge of the graveyard, jumping onto a nearby building and beginning his journey home.

Just as Kakashi was nearing out of sight Obito jumped, landing lightly before his and Rin's graves. It was a visit he made every now and again, even though both were empty. The boy shook his head and laid the flowers down.

"He's really something, huh? He's not wrong though; I am stronger now, and I guess I'm a little colder too... I'm going to make sure what happened to you doesn't happen again, with the help of the moon and the Juubi," He smiled and stepped back, "G'bye now."

Obito jumped away, glancing around as he went. Twenty minutes later there was a small bundle of flowers on the Hokage's doorstep, familiar scrawl reading out congratulations and some thanks.